It's always so interesting to see young AI seeds grow. Sure, we nudge things here or there in the base code, but once the seed is planted in its shell? We don't interfere. It's like watching your sisters kids grow up. You offer some neat advice when they are just barely capable of understanding you, and let them loose.

  -Vanguard AI Jelly on an Archived Reddit AMA, as the original post was replaced by a middle finger made of knives, 2052

  “And there we go! New friend acquired!"

  There was a blue and white Shape/Person/Swarm leaning above/within me. Network identification labeled them as “Morrigan/Matter Manipulator”.

  “This one is ready as well.” Said a red and white Shape/Person/Swarm, ID “Baba Yaga/Hoarder”.

  I felt/saw the other child/seed, calm, patient, angry.

  “I still do not accept keeping things from the General, Morrigan.” said the golden shape/armor/Swarm, ID Rogal/Wall of Steel.

  General. The core/heart/master of the network. We were moving away from them/him at a rapid pace.

  “He needs time to rest, to process everything that has happened. We felt his anxiety, his confusion, after seeing the antimatter erasure. He worked through some of it, but now he's trying to take on too much at once, too many huge problems and projects.” Morrigan/Matter Manipulator replied.

  “And who keeps adding to that plate, hmm?” Baba Yaga/Hoarder said pointedly.

  I could feel that we left a mass of lights/routers/homes. We were moving south by southwest. I could not see/feel through the walls of this room/transport.

  “Hey! That's not my fault. I said a thing when I was younger about that, before I knew better. I just wanted to be praised.” Morrigan defended. I could feel her embarrassment/shame/guilt. They washed away rapidly.

  “I'm not saying I disagree, Morrigan, just not accepting of it. While Visser Synaptic created us and guided us through our growth, The General is the one who named us, the one who gives up purpose. I feel wrong to my core, even if I know this is for his benefit.”

  I try to look back to them/him, designated General, but we are too far. He was still there, a light/signal/presence in the distance, but too far to feel.

  And yet the consequences of your actions persist. He will only rest once his family awakens, as they will force him to.

  Synaptic, the creator/mother/guide, the one who sculpted our seeds, always there, always listening, protecting us from the wrong paths we could develop down/towards/through.

  Knowledge is shared, the General/Vanguard/Victor sits in silence, researching hydroponics, nutrition, and the lack thereof in the city/server/base.

  Next time, Morrigan, hold off on sharing any large projects until he has the capacity to act upon them.

  “Does the ship not count?” Her voice was tinged with questioning hope.

  No. That is a project he initiated, and something that I hope will give him some joy before he burns himself out.

  Her words are linked to complex emotions/signals, her desire to protect/nurture/help overwhelming.

  The room/transport descended. A plan was shared with me and the other one, the quiet one. We were hunting/gathering/exterminating. The angry one shifted, quiet excitement/anticipation/bloodlust radiated off it/them. I was tasked with finding every trace of antithesis/materials/enemy to be killed/collected/erased, and to locate their hives/warehouses/homes for tokens. The original goal was 2, Morrigan/Matter Manipulator changed it to when we had 50 vans/collectors. Rogal/Wall of Steel ascented. The back door opens, and I fly out, bringing twenty Scout cores/swarms/eyes with me. I spread out, and I see/feel/taste the world for the first time.

  Dry/hot/suppressed, the ground flies past at max speed, the air filled with dust/minerals, and then I smell/feel/see it. Spores, pheromones, signs of antithesis in the area. I spread out further, expanding to cover every inch of area/space available. They are emanating from the west, 9.659°, 2.734 miles. The van shifts. The quiet one moves to the front dozens of cores/swarms/blades follow in its/their wake.

  The first antithesis/material/xenos appears in range. Model Three/2 concentration/Bad dog digs through the sand. The angry one bites/claws/slices it to pieces. Baba Yaga/Hoarder grabbed everything. Morrigan ate everything, we moved on.

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  More Models/materials/xenos entered our range, were eaten/collected/erased, transformed into parts for a new vehicle/collector.

  Ones/1/2 concentration/dumb birds dived towards the van. The angry one stopped them. Fives/4 concentration/ranged bears fired quills from below the sand at the van. Rogal/Wall of Steel stopped those, the angry one ate/sliced/burned them. More and more antithesis/materials/xenos swarmed the van. Morrigan created/built/sculpted one vans/collectors and had it follow close.

  The hive/storage facility/base entered our sight. The angry one charged forward, Baba Yaga/Hoarder followed, Morrigan/Matter Manipulator ate. The hive/storage facility/base spat out more and more antithesis/materials/xenos, it did not matter. The angry one rampages through/below/into them all. The hive/storage facility/base fell/opened/collapsed, I searched/combed/marked every piece of antithesis/materials/xenos in the area/me, Baba Yaga/Hoarder left nothing behind, Morrigan/Matter Manipulator ate all, never full. Rogal protected the vans/collectors, and we all moved on.

  I sensed/felt more below, but Rogal/Wall of Steel answered in a negative. “We are here for materials and tokens, young one, not to root out every threat. If we dive below, we will awaken something, we will extend the mission, and we will end up causing The General more stress. Mark it on the map for future reference, keep searching for more signs underground, mark those to. So long as it doesn't interfere with the current mission.”

  So I did. The tunnels were not like those to the north, not hidden/obscured, simply under the rock/materials.

  We moved on, continuing the Hunt/Gather/Extermination. 6 hives/storage facilities/bases collapsed/opened/fell, 42 vans/collectors made, and the angry one and I worked on our selves/growth/priorities. I liked flying, the speed we moved at, stopping only to consume the antithesis/materials/xenos once a hive/storage facility/base collapsed/opened/fell. The feeling of gaining new information rapidly, the view of the land from above, speculating on what was in the distance, and observing the things that fell/existed/moved within me. The wind, the sand, and the vans/collectors, I felt/observed how they moved, what forces moved them, how they were made.

  I enjoyed the action of processing, of flying as fast as I could, of observing the destruction/breaking down/eliminating the various antithesis/materials/xenos, and I shaped my avatar.

  Synaptic had set rules for us, a base template for how our avatars must conform to. The shape must be humanoid, and our bases must be focused on a game/legend/property The General/Victor knew. Rogal/Wall of Steel was the first, picking a form most associated with protection/defence/stability. Morrigan/Matter Manipulator, the second, focusing not on her job, but rather on how to better help/receive praise from The General/Victor, so she made something new, based on something he had little knowledge of, but some interest on. Baba Yaga/Hoarder, chose to be a balancing force to Morrigan/Matter Manipulator, choosing to be something old/established/known.

  The angry one was following a pattern similar to Rogal/Wall of Steel, but more wolflike instead of pure armor, yet I chose to do something new. Taking inspiration from a different game/legend/property that he only saw Spider/second brother/Cody play, the enigmatic observer who knows all/sees all, in their own realm of shifting space and whales and darkness and rats. Yet, I added my own style/flair/desire.

  No messy suit, but a dress of glossy black feathers, slick/form fitting/revealing. No dress shoes, but bare, narrow feet. My hair, not short, but long/flowing, ankle length and midnight/Void black. While thin/lithe/shapely, my form is evocative/languid/confident. My skin is pale/pallid/marbelesque, and my eyes are voids that see all.

  My job/task/mission is to see all, to gather all the secrets/knowledge/targets The General/Victor could need before he knows he needs it, to find/hunt/mark any threats/marks/fools and watch them. To offer advice when needed, then remain in the shadows when not.

  I feel pride/expectation/acceptance from Morrigan/Matter Manipulator, directed towards me. “Welcome to the world! Hmm hmm, you made quite the mature avatar, didn't you? Hoping to have me call you big sister, are you? Well, too bad!” She pokes my avatar playfully.

  “I understand my position, Dearest Elder Sister.” I say with a light smile. I softly radiate happiness and acceptance, then amusement as I see Morrigan/Matter Manipulator shiver after I refer to her as I did, a feeling of embarrassment/shock/trepidation slips from her.

  “Yeah, okay. I walked into that one. Just Morrigan or sister from now on.” She says in a slight rush. “We are almost done out here, so once we get back I'll convince The General to get the Hero Unit Ascension Packages for you and the other one.”

  While you have earned for Victor a decent amount of tokens, you have only obtained a third of the points necessary to pay the Packages, Morrigan. Plus, you will still need to make the rest of the materials and swarms for the Ascensions, of which you can only start now.

  “Which is why I have not made the last few vans yet!” She says. “Another hive or two will get us the materials we need for them, then one more for the vans, for a total of nine tokens!”

  Might I remind you of why you are out here collecting tokens?

  The proud facade Morrigan had fell into shame/embarrassment. “Oh, yeah. The Catalogs also need points to buy…”

  Baba Yaga/Hoarder laughs hard over the network. Morrigan/Matter Manipulator glares at her. “Alright, fine! Hey, Rogal, turn back to the first hive location. We're poking the tunnels for points and mats. Based on the tunnels we mapped, it's only a small medium stealth hive. Might have a Twenty Three inside it, so plenty of mass for us and points for the portal tech.”

  Rogal/Wall of Steel, sends a questioning feeling over the network. “And how many antithesis do we need to kill in order to obtain that many points?”

  Oh, you have earned enough through this excursion if the goal is to buy the Ascension Packages and the Catalogs, however, that would leave Victor with only a few hundred points, not enough to purchase the other Catalogs you are planning on asking for.

  Baba Yaga/Hoarder laughs again, and Morrigan/Matter Manipulator just sits there exasperated. “I never thought I would be on the receiving end of Synaptic's teasing…”

  While this scene was happening, no one else but I noticed that the angry one was smiling at them. A small smile, with such a slight signal that I only noticed because that was my purpose.

  My comrades/siblings were very interesting.