The Ladies Diplomatic Circle

[Joy 0]

Joy left the Cardassian embassy suite, deep in thought. She hadn't expected the Cardassian priorities. Perhaps she should have. She was not pleased, but the problem was one of the primary expected problems of the sector. She started back up Embassy row, her eyes meeting the two guards flanking the entrance to the Rhinasu suite. She hesitated briefly. Would a visit be more appropriate than a comm? She decided on the personal approach, bowing slightly to the guards. "If this is a convenient time, may I be permitted to enter?" They nodded, stepping aside to allow the android passage.

 

Hestral sat behind the main desk, idly looking over the ambassador's appointments for the next few days. Always seemed to be some event his presence was requested at. Her eyes flickered to the cybernetic being that entered. "Ambassador," she said, standing out of courtesy. "Was there something I could help you with?"

 

Joy smiled. "Nothing urgent. In time, a courtesy visit with the ambassador seems in order. I thought that might be arranged."

 

Cycling through his calendar, she nodded. "Perhaps Thursday afternoon, Ma'am? It appears he'll have some time then."

 

"That would be quite acceptable."

 

"Very well. I'll pencil you in." She keyed in the appropriate data before returning the ambassador's smile. Fascinating, that peoples of the Federation could create such devices that could walk, talk, act, and show emotion like sentient beings. But were they sentient?

 

Joy hesitated. "There is one other question. It might not be quite proper, but I'm not sure who else to ask. Admiral Goran. He seems to play a very strong, very emotional game. He seems easy to underestimate."

 

She shrugged, glancing to see who else was in earshot. "I'm sure that he has matters well in his hand. After any time in his position, he knows what cards he has." Looking the ambassa-'bot in her optical sensors, she smirked. "I wouldn't be the one to underestimate him, if I were you."

 

"No?" Joy tilted her head sideways, hoping the woman would elaborate.

 

"He's a strategist, after all. A military man, with the rank to show for it."

 

"That he has, though on Earth, that is sometimes considered a disadvantage. A military man seeks absolute control, and seeks decisive victory. In Council politics, or whenever many races are involved, there is a call for balance of interests and compromise. The skills are very different." Joy looked for a moment at the Rihannsu trappings about her. "But it would be different with your people?"

 

The smile grew a shade darker. "Among our people, some of the highest-ranking officials and politicians reached their standing through the Galae, the Fleet. Our politics favor control and victory, Ambassador."

 

Joy nodded. "It did seem my Admiral and your Ambassador understood one another."

 

t'Oryla paused, considering. "tr'Aeolix is a bit of an exception. For my time with him, he's been exclusively a diplomat. A rarity, I suppose."

 

Joy almost seemed to laugh at herself. "That might be well, for my sake. I am beginning to think my sisters and I have spent too much time in San Francisco. The processes on the frontier are very different. Is his experience more on the borders, or internal to your people?"

 

"Mostly non-internal matters. His expertise seems to lie in dealings with non-Rihannsu."

 

"Which is why he would be chosen for here, of course." Joy considered. "Are there any questions you have of me, of Mudd, or of my people?"

 

She thought of a few, but ones unlikely to cause an interstellar incident were few. "I'm certain the ambassador does, though none jump to my mind."

 

Or at least none that leapt out of her mouth. But then, today at least, both ladies were being polite. Joy had been in enough bars where inhibitions had been less, but answering the unasked questions might seem as rude as asking them. "Well, if any occur, feel free to call."

 

"That I will." One wouldn't hurt, would it? "Do you -- the Mudd-designed androids -- consider yourselves... lifeforms?"

 

"We consider ourselves sentient. If, as the Federation Guarantees say, all sentients shall be equal under law, then we are equal. Life? That would depend on how one would care to define the word. Do we have DNA or the equivalent? Do we reproduce? By many perfectly good scientific definitions of the word 'life,' we do not count, and it does not seem terribly proper to make everyone change their use of the word to include us." Joy decided not to mention the various doctorate level discussions in various AI journals, where the definition of 'sentient' was still under discussion, and champions of organic superiority were still fighting vigorous rear guard actions.

 

"Ah, I see. So to be politically correct, the Embassy should refer to you as living entities. " She considered opening a "definition of alive" debate, but after all, surely the ambassador would not appreciate her making things any more difficult than needed.

 

Joy smiled. "We will not quibble what the humans call 'political correctness.' For my sake, anyway, don't go out of your way to come up with fancy language just to be inclusive." Her eyebrows came down, though. "One exception? Try to avoid the word 'robot.' This implies lack of sentience and clumsy construction that could not possibly pass for a living thing. When my sister Seven was young and insecure, the word was over used by political opponents. After the fuss she made back then, we have to stand firm that 'robot' counts as the equivalent of an ethnic slur."

 

Ambassa-'bot... "Of course. I'd never consider such a travesty."

 

Joy smiled. "Of course not." Joy decided not to ask for the equivalent list of Rihannsu slurs. She was sure any of her contacts in Starfleet could bring her up to date.

 

"I'm certain that you and your... sisters... are more than qualified." She sounded more like she was reassuring herself of the fact than stating a fact.

 

"We were qualified enough for San Francisco. However, the job of Federation ambassador is much easier when one is surrounded by enough other Idealists to flirt with a working voting majority. Out here? I have not found as many Idealists as I would like, and Council is very far away."

 

A nod. "You seem to be managing without the close support from those directly sharing your opinions. My compliments, for what they're worth."

 

"Thank you. And I appreciate your frank speech. I suspect we may not always be able to agree, but hopefully we will be able to listen to one another." Which would be an improvement, in Joy's mind, over the local Federation Pragmatists.

 

"I would hope so. I always have a willing ear and a sharp tongue, if you ever wish to discuss anything."

 

Joy stood, and smoothed out her long flowing skirt. "Then I, or my sister will be back often, I'm sure."

 

The Romulan inclined her head slightly. "As you see fit, Ambassador." More than one of them? Fascinating. Smirking, "And remember -- Thursday afternoon is your appointment."

 

"So it is. I shall see you and the ambassador then, if not sooner."

 

"At your convenience, Ambassador."

 

"Until then." Joy dropped her small diplomatic curtsy, and started to retreat from the room.

[Joy 0]

Hestral hesitated a moment before asking another question. "Ambassador... doesn't your necklace signify what model of the Joy android you are?"

 

"Model? No. It is my name, or, if one is a little blunt, perhaps my serial number." She turned back to face her companion. "When only one member of a given class is present, we go by the name of the class. In my case, I am Joy. When more than one of a class is present, the number is about the only way one can tell us apart. One uses the number as a name if one wishes to speak with a specific individual. At the moment, there are actually three Joys in system. I am Joy Eight, captain of the MMS Mudd and ambassador at large. Two is on the surface of Cardassia with the Gorn Ambassador Sidega. Junior Lieutenant Twelve of Starfleet is passing through on the USS Republic."

 

"And you're all distinct entities?"

 

"We are a unique sort of hive mind. Most of the time we each work in a stand alone mode. Whenever we have an opportunity, however, we meet to exchange memories and associations, to merge data bases so to speak. Twelve has been away from the rest of us for some time on Republic, so it is fairly important to us that Two visits Twelve before Republic leaves the system, to sync data bases. When Two returns to Aegis, she and I will sync, so we will all share memories of each other's recent experiences."

 

"Ah, I see. So in essence, you are able to share the knowledge and experiences of a score of minds?"

 

"Correct. There are Eleven Joys. We have been active in Starfleet and in Federation diplomatic circles for over a decade, which gives us more experience than our young looking construction would make obvious. Many of Mudd's classes have five hundred members. If you visit our embassy next door, you will encounter Alyce 256, Stella 333, and others. The Joys are a very small class. Well... It all has to do with Joy One dumping a glass of wine in Milord Mudd's lap. Unfortunate in some ways, but... I don't know how much you might know about Harcourt Fenton Mudd, but it was worth it." Joy smiled evilly. "It also has side benefits. With fewer sisters, there is more memory available. The Joys are a little more free to take on diverse jobs than other classes."

 

"So the Joys are a more advanced model, I take it."

 

"We are one of the few emotion chip classes. This does allow us to interact more normally with organics than most of our cousins. However, an Alyce class android or a Vulcan would question your choice of the word 'advanced.' I prefer to be an emotion chip model. The Alyces claim we are unreliable, irrational, and unstable." Somehow, from her tone of voice, one got the impression from Joy that the Alyces would not in her opinion count as 'advanced.' "An Alyce would never have poured wine in Milord Mudd's lap."

 

Hestral nodded. "So you have emotions. Not so different from a positronic android, actually." She interlaced her fingers, resting her chin on the cradle they made. "I don't seen an emotional android any worse off than an unemotional one. After all, it's no different from, well, the differences between my people and Vulcans."

 

"The differences in processor design, with or without an emotion chip, can be very real. Don't get me started. I could go into bitter detail on AI designs. But the Vulcans?" Joy shook her head. "You are what you are. Your emotions drive you to behave in ways which have been beneficial over the life time of your species, though not without cost, not without crises. The Vulcans attempt to shut down an important part of their... decision making circuitry." She shook her head. "Politically, the Vulcans and Mudd often advocate much the same policy. They too push the Idealist agenda. But as an designer of artificial intelligences... How can a people deny what they are?" Joy stopped. She suspected she was preaching to the choir.

 

"Circuitry. Interesting way of putting it. Very interesting." She smiled, getting new senses that Joy was both very alive, and very machine. Or, perhaps she was both. Even though Hestral didn't like to admit it, that was a logical thought. "I suppose we all have some circuits we like to shut down now and then, even if we aren't Vulcans -- or androids. And after all, I suppose we're all mechanisms of a kind. I... I somewhat admire your resolve as a people, not to be pushed to the side as organics take center stage."

 

"We are trying to make our place. We are, however, a people of Law. Not all places embrace Law. Aegis station may be one of those places."

 

Her brow furrowed. "Law? As in something other than normal interstellar legalities?"

 

"The Makers designed us to behave in specific ways. Some of the basic cultural principles one finds in many cultures -- thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, the concept of chain of command -- are hard wired in us. Many organic cultures include the same principles, but soft wired. They might in abstract hold such laws in a high place, give them much lip service, but then find a reason to ignore them. We cannot ignore Law. We can be as obsessed with Law as the Vulcans with logic. Perhaps this is not rational. It is the natural result, however, of Asimov Processor AI design."

 

"I see. Would that be the Law of Robotics?"

 

"Yes, or variations of them. You have likely heard of the famous Three. The Ferrengi have an entirely different set. Obey your owner. Maximize his profits, and minimize his loss... Starfleet Academy added their Prime Directive to the Joy Class at Priority One. Most Asimov Processor androids have a fairly limited number of basic Laws. Too many, and the process gets to complex. Response time goes way down. Simple is good, and a few carefully chosen Laws can be enough." Joy snorted slightly... "My Sister Six once wrote a paper saying that any android with both an emotion chip and an Asimov Processor is apt to become convinced that their own Laws and Priorities are the best of all possible Laws and Priorities. Take my Laws, for example. If everyone in the galaxy just shared my values, the galaxy would be a better place. I believe the humans call this mode of thinking being human. "

 

Hestral listened to Joy speak with the slightest sense of awe. Electronic or not, this was articulate brilliance at its finest. "So they tend on the side of conflicting with each other? Contradicting each other's functions? But in a way that it mimics human emotions, providing a conscience."

 

"A conscience is precisely right. If I were to kill or injure a sentient, the emotion chip would be triggered in horror and guilt. If I were to allow myself to become damaged, the emotion chip becomes triggered in pain. The gain settings are high enough that I try very hard not to injure or be injured. In terms of processor design, it is fairly simple. Organic beings have similar emotions. The gain settings are just not so high, or the laws are cultural so not every individual learns the same rules in the same way."

 

"The chip and processor work as something of a level ground for morals?" Made sense. If you were a manufacturer, you didn't want androids running berserk. "Organics have too much variation in their perception of right and wrong."

 

"Many would say that. The other distinction is that androids are designed to exist in a given optimal environment, while most species of organic beings compete and evolve. A competitive organic individual or culture will attempt to maximize territory controlled, to optimize the amount of resources available to it. If this is the objective, a Law not to kill or injure ever is not optimal. It is too restricting. It limits... decisive action, the ability to seek absolute control." Joy found herself wondering if they had managed to swap cultural positions.

 

Hestral nodded, smirking. "Do you ever regret not being able to aspire in the ways humans do, without the constraints of your processor?"

 

Joy shook her head. "No. Remember Six's paper? I just happen to have the best of all possible sets Laws and Priorities. How could I wish to be different? My only regret is the opposite of aspiration. Five of my six Laws are shalt nots. They make me feel bad if I do what is improper. Only one of my Laws is positive, giving me pleasure if I successfully follow it."

 

Pride? "To pass along your values to organics?"

 

"No... to obey legal orders from my valid Starfleet chain of command. The problem is, that while I am an Ambassador, I have no valid Starfleet chain of command. While organics aspire to authority... I don't. Meanwhile, to avoid being miserable, all I have to do is prevent organic cultures from interfering with one another, and not let any organic beings kill or injure each other. Simple enough?"

 

"Ah, I see. So you get to play the interstellar peacemaker. A good Law for a diplomat, I'd think. Rewarding."

 

"It can be when I succeed. I would feel much more comfortable if I was surrounded by enough Idealist Council members to form a working majority. As is, here at Aegis, I suspect I will be dealing with more control seeking decisive military people than I'd like, though I found Ambassador Sidega of the Gorn surprisingly easy to talk to, and the Romulans are either very clever smooth talkers or far less vile and evil than one would expect." Joy smiled, trying to make sure this was read as humor.

 

With the most innocent look she could muster, t'Oryla returned the smile with a coy one of her own. "It could be a combination. After all, what good diplomat isn't a smooth talker? Even you must admit that there's an art to it."

 

"Oh, yes."

 

"It's a rather fine line to walk. Perhaps harder for one who's more of a glorified aide than someone actually in power herself." The smile turned wistful.

 

"Your turn may come, though, some day?"

 

"I would hope so. I view this more as a chance to learn than as a permanent station. But what a splendid opportunity to learn, at that."

 

"Agreed. Though... at this point, am I allowed a few questions of my own? I fear they are grounded a lot more than the abstract lines we have been following."

 

"Of course, Ambassador."

 

"I know the Federation and Rihannsu fleets have been working closely together, especially in Gamma Quadrant. I was wondering if this might have resulted in the Ambassador getting enough of a Federation security clearance to join strategic discussions?"

 

"At the moment, I'm uncertain exactly how far his -- and the Empire's -- current standing extends into tactical discussions. I wish I could help you more there."

 

Joy nodded. "Admiral Goran is invoking security regulations in keeping diplomatic personnel off the control tower. I don't know if this is at all important to you, or how stubborn the Admiral will be about it, and getting the proper paperwork through might or might not help, but at the moment at least a few the diplomatic corps are on the Admiral's not friends list. It might roll over to you as well."

 

That was something of a surprise. "Over what matter, specifically, does he issue this decree? The general state of affairs, or was there an incident of sorts?"

 

"You missed that one? There is currently an order out preventing all traffic from leaving the station. Ambassador Sidega was rather pushy in having his courier pull out in spite of the ban, and the tower personnel were not up to speed on diplomatic courtesies. They tractored the courier, and beamed the crew to the brig. I was in the command tower as they did this, and fired off an official protest which described their actions as plausibly an act of war. Anyway, Ambassador Sidega and I are not very popular in some circles just now. An order to exclude all diplomatic personnel from the tower is of course the logical response to the problem."

 

"But of course," she muttered, sarcastically. "One or two diplomats say something contrary to your plans, you have them all removed." Sighing, she nodded. "I'll inform tr'Aeolix. Were there any other pressing matters I needed to bring to his attention? Any other questions you might have?"

 

"Two."

 

"Very well, ask."

 

"I doubt you would be surprised by a Cardassian desire to remobilize? I will let Legate Dukor make his own presentation and arguments, but if you could give me a broad impression of the Rhinasu position, I'd like to hear it. If not now, perhaps Thursday?"

 

"Thursday would be more opportune, I believe. I would need to clarify certain details with the ambassador before making any statement of that nature."

 

"Very good. The other issue lurking is a severe medical problem on Rixis, which may be becoming violent. Have you started following that situation yet, and could you talk things over before taking any independent action?"

 

"Another issue that the two of us have yet to discuss, though I am aware that tr'Aeolix has taken an interest in it. We would of course be amenable to any open discussion before the Empire makes its own response."

 

"Very good. That clears my queue for the moment. We can go deeper Thursday, if trAeolix is so inclined."

 

"I'll mention these issues to him this afternoon. I'm sure he'll be interested to hear your views and insights."

 

"As I would be pleased to hear his agenda." Joy was aware that some played a selfish game with information. One won the game by learning much while saying little. By the rules of that game, Joy had 'lost' this discussion horribly. The Idealist game, however, was to deal always with people who understood what was going on. Mutual ignorance often meant everyone lost. Hers was a slower game, which would not start paying off for a while.

 

Hestral considered a moment. "I suspect most of the same. He is... reserved, keeps such matters to himself." Her face twisted into a wry smirk. "Though, I do suspect you're going to receive a few questions about AI sentience, Law, that sort of thing."

 

Joy smiled. "He had best have time to listen, then. As you may have noticed, I have a few opinions."

 

"Quite a few. And I've blocked out a considerable length of time for your discussion. Tell me... do you prefer a food or beverage be on hand for the meeting?"

 

"Water, pure, cold would quite suffice. I fear I am not equipped to appreciate anything fancy."

 

Scribbling down a note on a tablet, she nodded, chuckling slightly. "Water we can manage." Tossing it on the desk, she sighed. "But I'm sure you're familiar with some of the exotic requests I get from ambassadors tr'Aeolix meets with. Taxing on his staff to track down the dishes or wines they demand..."

 

Joy made a note herself to contact the Contessa. Could she recommend a holo sentient cook? "With Ambassador Sidega, you might also want to consider volume. He has an appetite."

 

Smiling, "I'll remember that. Hanny'yo."

 

Joy stood. "Until Thursday then? Or the next crisis of the moment?"

 

"Until Thursday, and we'll just hope that everything stays quiet until then." Standing, she offered a hand. "A pleasure meeting you, Ambassador."

 

"My pleasure as well." She accepted the handshake. Diplomatic firm.

 

"And I'll keep in mind the insight you have shared regarding cybernetic beings. It will undoubtedly prove useful in years to come," she added, smiling slightly.

 

"I hope so."

 

"Indeed." She retook her seat, half-mindedly gathering the notes she had made. "We will expect you Thursday, Ambassador."

 

"Farewell." Joy retreated, deep in thought. Communications achieved, at least. She had made reasonable contact with three of the five players. The two sticky ones remained. The Ferrengi... and Starfleet.