saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red:

Thoughts raced as time seemed to slow down for Yellow. The turrets probably wouldn’t be enough to even scratch those gargantuan creatures.

Her sidearm at full power could, though that would draw attention to her. But what choice did she have? She’d sworn to protect these people.

She would not fail her charges. Not again.

Golden light flared as Yellow brought forth another wide barrier field before the convoy, just in time to block an opening volley of shells. The projectiles bounced off the wall of light, itself strong enough to stand up to artillery fire.

But just enduring wouldn’t be enough. They needed to move and fast.

Yellow’s party members quickly began firing at the giants as the convoy spread out to avoid being taken down in the first volley.  Vesperr fired off some ice magic at the fire giants to take advantage of their elemental weaknesses, but the giants would not fall quite as easily.  The Fire Giants, for their part, employed teamwork to target their own opponents, coordinating their volleys to try and catch as many opponents in their shots as possible.  But they were not invincible, and their armor was not invulnerable.  The firepower would wear them down eventually.

Still the barrier held, and Yellow had taken a few shots of her own at the Giants.

At full power, her Caduceus pistol released lances of golden-white fury that blasted many angry, boiling craters deep into the skin of the Giants. But the Giants had answered with some return fire of their own, hammering away at the barrier.

It continued to hold, but Yellow had a sinking feeling the large beings were going to try more heavier assaults. If they had any magic attacks that equaled artillery in strength, then it would start to be troublesome.

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red:

Serina could not help but reflect on those who worshipped her, as well as Astrid’s advice.

They were certainly few in number, if one considered 18 million sophonts, both organic and synthetic, few.

Until this moment, she’d continuously tried to convince them otherwise. As the goddess had pointed out, still the worship continued. At this point it would be far more beneficial if she accepted their worship.

“You speak the truth. Very well, I will ensure my…faithful (how strange to say that, she mused) do not get out of hand.”

“Excellent!” Astrid declared.  “Once I get a solid enough grasp on how good you are at running your faith, we’ll go to the next step and I’ll grant you a proper apotheosis to finalize what’s already readily apparent.  Still, i’m sure there’s nothing to worry about there.  You are pretty effective at keeping an eye on your mortal followers, after all.  It’ll get even easier once you’ve achieved your proper apotheosis.

“All that’s really left then is for you to figure out what direction you want to take the faith, what you want your Primary Domain to represent, and what afterlife you want for your followers, and I’ll get the rest done for ya.”

Astrid certainly seemed to be enjoying that Serina was willing to at least accept her divinity now, if not embrace it.  She had plans for the AI goddess before her, most certainly.

Serina had her own plans for what was to be her faith.

She certainly had every intention of keeping them on a tight societal leash. The Initiative had kept religion out of the public sphere for decades, and she would not start intruding upon it now. Any worship was to remain a strictly personal matter, not one meant for society.

Astrid’s comments on Domains and Afterlives was marked for clarification. Still, no time like the present.

“You spoke of Domains and choosing an afterlife for those who worship me. These are active choices?” the hypermind inquired.

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red:

Serina was beginning to have the same suspicions herself. She was definitely not a deity, merely a transapient AI. So why the treatment as an equal?

“ I…see.”

Astrid’s words on the relationship between gods and their followers resonated with her, for some reason. She herself preferred to keep her interference to a minimum for practical reasons.

But setting an example? The history of countless species showed that had less ideal outcomes than perhaps was intended. Religious wars had been a thing for many races, after all.

“I find it strange, miss Astrid. You have referred to me as if I was an equal when I am clearly not. I ask why.”

“Nah, you passed the divinity threshold a long time ago in my books, you just aren’t willing to embrace it yet,” Astrid mentioned.  “There’s only two real qualifiers to godhood in my books: Extreme amounts of power beyond that of any other mortal, and a religion in your name.  You have both, and you’ve had both for a while, so congratulations, you’re quite plainly a goddess in my books by now.

“Seriously, Serina, you can create artificial planets easily, and folks in the GDI actually worship you as a goddess.  No need to be so modest about yourself and what you are!” Astrid couldn’t help but put on a grin at the topic.  She clearly enjoyed pointing out this fact to the AI.

“Now then, Serina, you really should stop trying to be so modest in your divinity and try and do something about your faith.  There’s a lot of good you can do when you have worshipers who will obey your commands.  And besides, trying to suppress your faith isn’t going to stop people from worshiping you.  Take it from someone who tried running away from my faith.”

Serina could not help but reflect on those who worshipped her, as well as Astrid’s advice.

They were certainly few in number, if one considered 18 million sophonts, both organic and synthetic, few.

Until this moment, she’d continuously tried to convince them otherwise. As the goddess had pointed out, still the worship continued. At this point it would be far more beneficial if she accepted their worship.

“You speak the truth. Very well, I will ensure my…faithful (how strange to say that, she mused) do not get out of hand.”

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red:

“Even so, the mere fact that you are a deity should have changed your very being.” Serina argued. “Morals and ethics, at best, are but psychological constructs, whereas capability is unarguable. Surely you know that whether we like it or not, the universe runs on pure calculus. A stronger force dominates the lesser, always.”

It was a fact even she preferred not to admit often. Despite having transcended her original self and directives, the drive to make the universe a better place held strong in Serina. To her, it was only the more clearly beneficial option.

“If the deities are not so different from the baselines…these mortals you speak of so casually, then I fail to see how the universe, or indeed all universes, has survived this long without descending into endless conflict.”

“Couple of reasons,” Astrid answered.  “First, gods are just as capable of being good as they can be selfish, and many gods wish to take care of their creations, like a parent would a child.  And more often than not, the deities who care for their mortal followers end up in better positions than the selfish, cruel ones.

“Just because we’re powerful, doesn’t mean that we aren’t capable of being good people.  I mean, look at yourself.  You’re every bit as willing to help do good to mortals as any other person.  The question becomes whether we use our power for good or for evil.

“And when it comes to gods? More often than not, while us gods are as capable of the same vices and virtues as our followers, there’s nothing that says that we can’t want to do right by our followers.

“While yes, stronger forces tend to dominate the lesser, that does not inherently mean that we’re going to be all that different from our followers.  And when it comes to the divine level, there are a lot more gods that care for their mortal followers than there are gods who wish to dominate mortals.  Even if it’s more of a care that someone has for their creations, it’s still possible for gods to care for mortals.”

..The fact that Astrid kept saying “we” and “us” when referring to gods, and even using Serina as an example probably wouldn’t have slipped by the hyper-AI.  Did Astrid view Serina as a deity?

“As for another reason, well, most gods tend not to get directly involved in mortal affairs, either because someone’s keeping our hands tied or the fact that we simply don’t believe it’s our place to rule over mortals like kings and queens.  You’re thinking about this from a cynical perspective, that gods are inherently selfish, cruel beings if they’re just like mortals.  But that’s not the case.  Mortals are just as virtuous, if not more so, than they are sinful.  And the goal of us gods is to set an example for our mortal followers.”

Serina was beginning to have the same suspicions herself. She was definitely not a deity, merely a transapient AI. So why the treatment as an equal?

“ I…see.”

Astrid’s words on the relationship between gods and their followers resonated with her, for some reason. She herself preferred to keep her interference to a minimum for practical reasons.

But setting an example? The history of countless species showed that had less ideal outcomes than perhaps was intended. Religious wars had been a thing for many races, after all.

“I find it strange, miss Astrid. You have referred to me as if I was an equal when I am clearly not. I ask why.”

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red:

As Yellow felt her vehicle move, she kept her attention on the barrier.

It had held incredibly well, given the sheer weight of the hordes bearing down on it. The rear half of the convoy moved out, and once every last vehicle was clear of the pass, Yellow collapsed the shield with a thought.

She could hear the snarls of the monsters as they fell into the pass proper, some picking themselves up and attempting to chase the convoy.

Those attempts were soon met by turret fire. Yellow didn’t say a word, focusing mainly on taking out the receding enemies.

But another part of her mind kept track of her fellow party members as well. Thankfully, none of them were injured.

Unfortunately, the way forward found themselves under siege by Fire Giants.  A massive, fiery bolder was flung right at them, smashing into the ground and just barely missing the convoy as they swerved away.  About five Fire Giants came stomping into view, each one armed with their own set of weapons, though they seemed to wield what amounted to tank cannons as rifles.  The weapons were big and nasty, and the Fire Giants were aiming them right at the convoy.

Thoughts raced as time seemed to slow down for Yellow. The turrets probably wouldn’t be enough to even scratch those gargantuan creatures.

Her sidearm at full power could, though that would draw attention to her. But what choice did she have? She’d sworn to protect these people.

She would not fail her charges. Not again.

Golden light flared as Yellow brought forth another wide barrier field before the convoy, just in time to block an opening volley of shells. The projectiles bounced off the wall of light, itself strong enough to stand up to artillery fire.

But just enduring wouldn’t be enough. They needed to move and fast.

saviorgoddessastrid:

fleet-admiral-red:

It was rare that Serina appeared in person, for whatever counted as a personal appearance by transapient standards. She’d always found it far more practical to use her many fragmented avatars when interacting with others.

But this occasion deserved much more, as close to a personal manifestation as reality allowed. Sometimes, things were just that important.

Before Astrid, a female form shimmered into existence from woven light and energy, a long-haired ravenette. Clad in a form-fitting white uniform emblazoned with a curious geometric emblem, one might have mistaken her for a scientist of some sort.

“Recent events have been…complex. The Initiative continues to run, albeit with troubles on both large and small scales. I will leave these to them, they hardly need my assistance in that regard.”

“But I digress, miss Astrid. We are both entities who have grown far beyond what we were at our beginnings. Yet one thing about you eludes me.”

Serina laced her hands behind her back, gaze level with the cheery goddess.

“I have studied my own growth beyond the singularity, and that of other similar minds. Beyond that final line, humanoid psychology models become impractical, perhaps even irrelevant. ”

The hyper-AI met Astrid’s eyes with her own. “Yet every observation I have made of you goes against this principle. Your capabilities are beyond even mine. *How* did your mind remain human, after *all this*?”

“Eh, being a goddess isn’t all that different from being a mortal,” Astrid commented.  Perhaps Serina may have noticed that Astrid used a term she usually disliked using due to perceiving it as an insult.  “Sure, we’re far more powerful than mortals, but we’re still prone to the same vices and virtues as our followers.

“The idea that we have to abandon our normal psychology models is silly to me.  It’s the kind of mentality that leads to ‘might makes right’, the idea that just because you have power, you’re free to do whatever you damn well please to others.  I guess I maintain my human mind because I don’t see the purpose in losing my human mind to my power.”

Astrid shrugged at the thought of becoming ahuman in morality.  “Honestly, most gods aren’t that different from their followers, you get used to it after a while.  Doesn’t mean I don’t have my problems with mortals, but hey, what can ya do?”

“Even so, the mere fact that you are a deity should have changed your very being.” Serina argued. “Morals and ethics, at best, are but psychological constructs, whereas capability is unarguable. Surely you know that whether we like it or not, the universe runs on pure calculus. A stronger force dominates the lesser, always.”

It was a fact even she preferred not to admit often. Despite having transcended her original self and directives, the drive to make the universe a better place held strong in Serina. To her, it was only the more clearly beneficial option.

“If the deities are not so different from the baselines…these mortals you speak of so casually, then I fail to see how the universe, or indeed all universes, has survived this long without descending into endless conflict.”