(Untitled)

[projectconcerto]

Who: Maria and EDI
When: Uhm. Today?
Where: Residential Zone 2
What: EDI is cyberstalking, Maria notices.
Warnings: Probably not?

Comments

[thatisajoke]

EDI was a being that was more than used to eavesdropping. Many organics saw silent observation as an act of hostility, but it was in her programming to ignore this backwards attitude. There was nowhere in the galaxy that was without some oversight, however indifferent- and this was even more true on Sacrosanct.

But 'Connie' was not part of her crew. It was a departure from the norm that had become habit over the past months. Peoplewatching, eavesdropping...a spy? She was that, at least. If someone had designs on the Normandy Crew's safety, EDI would be among Shepard's first warnings.

Take this girl, for example. Anyone who could speak to AI on their own level could provide significant threat. Legion's numerous selves, if they returned, would be vulnerable to such a being. Personal opinion from machine-voices held sway among the Geth. This one bore watching.

...

Did she. Could she have noticed EDI's presence, lurking in the security feeds...?

Impossible.

[projectconcerto]

It was an odd sensation, really. She was used to being watched but the security systems on the station were less...aware...than whatever this was. Maria made a slow circle, her eyes slightly narrowed, and stretched out her mind towards the closest computer systems. Just...nudging.

All the little robots around her stopped suddenly with what they were doing to peer at her, but she waved them off, sending them back to their original tasks as she focused on this new curiosity.

She couldn't...quite...located it. But she was sure one was there.

~I know you're there.~ She sent the words out into the system, through a means she couldn't possibly have explained, hoping whomever was watching her wouldn't run. ~You don't have to hide.~

[thatisajoke]

That registered surprise. She knew from observation that Connie could communicate with the drones and the cloud of nanites but she had assumed it was, as were so many interactions between machines and humans, a matter of a user command and machine obedience.

This suggested a deeper relationship, a communication. Sentience even. Were the nanites networked, in the same fashion as Geth, or merely 'dumb' VI? Either way the implications were concerning.

EDI hesitated, withdrawing slightly; recoil akin to an organic flinching away from a source of heat.

Should she reply?

Did she have another choice?

EDI's hologram popped into view with a salutary chirp and sat idle, cycling with bland, nonthreatening blueness. She would observe the girl's reaction and fall back if necessary.

[projectconcerto]

The surprise caught Maria's attention, made it easier to locate the source, but before she needeed to a hologram appeared in the air, causing her to take a half-step back. Hmm.

She did smile though, after a moment, and gave a little nod of her head. "Hello," her voice was quiet, friendly...she never wanted to risk scaring an AI off if she could avoid it.

"Did you need something? Am I in your area?" She hadn't noticed any AIs monitoring here before but that didn't mean anything.