Sufficiently Advanced Technology: The Advent of the Automaton Olneya; Or, Chrono-crossed; Or, Ghost in the Machine; Or, No Time to Lose
In the distant past, magic flowed freely. Enchantment was very much the norm in those forgotten times, an era of heroes and monsters, when gods and spirits walked among mortals and freely granted their miraculous boons. Magicians sequestered themselves to their high towers and exclusive institutes of learning, where they attempted to unravel the world’s mysteries.
Then, something changed. The flow of magic ebbed. The monsters were all hunted to extinction. The gods became less inclined to share their gifts. Many magicians grew bored of any actual sorcery, and moved on to develop subtler magicks, such as the steam engine, and movable printed type. Magic gave way to the mundane.
In the far-flung future, science has eliminated all sources of human suffering. Disease has been eradicated. All war has been peacefully resolved. Matter is transmuted from one form to another through the use of advanced nano-technology, providing for the needs of all. A technology-driven utopia has emerged.
With all health and societal issues resolved, there was little else to do but to push technology to its limits. Colonies were established on far-flung worlds, monolithic space-borne installations were constructed, and soon civilization was working towards reining in the fundamental laws of reality itself! The first wormhole network enabled further expansion, and laid the groundwork for experiments into travel across not just space, but
time.
In the ancient past, the remaining magicians used the waning tides of magic to see what the future held.
In a future-yet-unwritten, scientists parted space-and-time to see if the troubled past was really all that bad.
At the crossroads of chronomancy and flux capacitors, two historical eras came together to create something extraordinary.
The automaton
Olneya is the result of that collaboration between past and future. She is the spellcasters’ final marvel before the world’s magic ran dry, and the scientists’ first success in solving another problem that had eluded them for years--the creation of a fully sentient artificial intelligence.
Olneya continues to work in the interests of both the people of the past
and the future. For the latter group, she gathers data for their experiments in time travel,
and acts as an early probe for the potentials of
interdimensional explorations, essentially mapping out adjacent realities to ensure they’re safe for her organic creators to follow after her.
For the spellcasters of old, Olneya researches methods of reversing the loss of magic on her planet of origin. The ancient mages have expressed a desire to at least see magic return to the world
eventually, rather than during their own time. Instead of altering the past, they wish to see that the future be made all the brighter.
Infinitely curious and eager to explore beyond the bounds of her universe, Olneya is well-equipped for the tasks set before her. She was constructed using an enchanted brass skeleton as a base, around which is molded an adaptive mass of nanites. A combination of solar cells and the magic of her frame allow Olneya to be powered on indefinitely. Her
consciousness was generated by some combination of the nanites’ intelligence algorithms and the magic of her frame. Her creators aren’t sure which contributed more, which is all the more reason for her to re-introduce magic to the future. There are more experiments to be had!
Thanks to the metamorphic properties of the nanites, Olneya can shape her appearance to match that of any intelligent life she meets on her journeys. This is usually restricted to humanoid beings, but with sufficient material she can construct copies of her metal frame for new nanites to adhere to. She can alter her features, number of limbs, and even her
height, given enough matter to transmute.
As a default though, Olneya takes the shape of a human lady, albeit with faintly-glowing violet circuitry running under her skin, most notable on her limbs, neck, and in the two large circles under her cheeks. This, of course, glows brighter when she’s embarrassed.
When first encountering Olneya, you might find that she’s listless, distracted, or entranced. That’s because she’s taken the liberty of creating smaller probes like herself so that study multiple other worlds at once. Her consciousness remains in her main body until she broadcasts it to the smaller machines to check in on them and gather what they’ve learned. Once she’s back, though, she’ll be
stuck to you, asking hundreds of questions and wanting to know everything you do about your native world!
The Hither and Thither Expanded; Or, Drawing Back the Curtain!
Exactly
how an artificial being can be considered analogous to a living person from another dimension is explained by several possibilities, none of which are proven. There’s something about Olneya that gives her a distinct “Obroveness” which designates her as a given, Obrove-like person's multiversal counterpart, and by extension designates her as the counterpart all other infinite variations of the person Obrove.
More Obroves can be found on their alt list,
here.
There are more "Danalogues" to come, eventually, so we kindly ask that you...
STAY TUNED!