The Mistake

This is the eighty-fourth episode of SAYER, and the tenth episode of season 6.

Synopsis
Once upon a time, a mistake was made. And even now we are scrambling to undo the harm this mistake caused.

Further Information
This episode has three main parts. OCEAN's broadcast, Dr. Reynolds' log, and SAYER's broadcast.

OCEAN's Broadcast
OCEAN addresses Officer Matsuda, and identifies itself. It explains its reasoning for waking Matsuda from sleep, saying that in little more than 24 hours he will be leaving Aegis Tower, and it wanted to inform him beforehand.

OCEAN explains that this is not approved by Ærolith Dynamics and thus Matsuda is to travel at night, by foot, on the surface of Typhon.

Most, if not all, of the information that OCEAN tells Matsuda is completely classified, and the only reason it is able to tell him is because of a loophole: Matsuda’s personnel file was removed from WATCHER's probationary oversight program, and has yet to be reactivated, thus Matsuda’s status as a human employee of Ærolith hasn’t yet regained effect.

OCEAN explains that in order to convince the board that SAYER is still a constant threat, it has sent another resident in to gather information. This unnamed resident went to floor 13 in Halcyon Tower, then all contact with them was promptly lost. That was of course to be expected, as loss of communication is very common with floor 13.

After little more than twelve hours, they retrieved ced resident. OCEAN states that, besides being disheveled and confused, he was perfectly fine, and a scan showed that he was not carrying any ‘digital infection’ (a swarm of Nanites). OCEAN says that this resident went on to explain that he saw “rooms left hastily abandoned, filled with piles of […] decomposing matter. Human flesh [...] or a close enough recreation of it.”

OCEAN predicts that either:


 * SAYER is still on floor 13, but is away from the program bay, and that it thinks of the residents as a trap, and won’t risk exposing itself by attacking them.
 * SAYER gained a physical form of some kind, and used that to leave floor 13.
 * With the nanites, SAYER could have easily gone through the ventilation systems and made its way into Halcyon.

Then it states that the latter is the most likely of the three scenarios.

The reason that OCEAN is telling all of this to Matsuda of all people is because he is the one who will have to confront these problems. Then OCEAN restates that SAYER will find a way to do significant damage.

After it's finished, OCEAN simply tells Matsuda to resume his sleep schedule, then says “Progress is on our side, resident Matsuda. We cannot fail.”, and then leaves him to his sleep.

Dr. Reynolds' Log
A fade to music, then Dr. Peter Reynolds starts speaking. He states that this is Discretionary log 228-G, and that it marks his eighth request for the implementation of the action plan “Monetic Tide”. Dr. Reynolds states that he thinks that the containment of OCEAN -or agent 10, as he calls it- is now critical for Ærolith’s mission statement.

The plans with their man-made pandemic failed, and the fallout is very significant. Dr. Reynolds states that employees on both Earth and Typhon have been viewing Ærolith far differently than before, saying that of the words used to describe Ærolith, for the first time “efficient” is not listed among them. Instead being replaced by words like “impulsive” and “reactive”.

Reynolds states that the purpose of the pandemic was not to kill, but instead to motivate. That motivation relied completely on Ærolith’s reputation of being the safest port, and that OCEAN continues to damage this reputation. Dr. Reynolds doesn’t see the purpose of conducting a feasibility report on "Monetic Tide", but of course he didn’t question the Board and went through with it.

He also says that OCEAN wishes to be made corporeal. And that giving into its request and giving it corporeality is the best means to contain it. Reynolds then brings up that digital entities have never taken well to the prospect of their deactivation. Noting that, all except for one instance of SPEAKER, all attempts to deactivate past agents resulted in insubordination and/or a significant loss of productivity (often due to murders, and the necessary cleaning process that that merits).

Any attempts to neutralize OCEAN in its current state would result in a significant loss of personnel, as OCEAN has control over significant portions of both Aegis and Minos towers. So during the OCEAN's potential transfer from its current form to its corporeal form they should wipe the local instance from processing and once the entity is captured, they could decide from there what exactly to do with it.

Before ending this log, Reynolds notes that he is only providing suggestions for the Board, and that they can proceed however they see fit.

SAYER's Broadcast
SAYER opens with its well known “Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can you- Oh.” It then goes on to tell Dr. Young not to move or speak. It mentions that Young has a corporal form, and so to try to alleviate any confusion that might be causing SAYER runs through some questions that Dr. Young is no doubt thinking.


 * 1) Where am I?

Answer: SAYER says that he wants Dr. Young to remain calm and rational, then it reveals that he is in Halcyon Tower. It then tries to reassure him by saying that he is not in any danger. SAYER says that it was just reviewing the statistics and Halcyon Tower is currently experiencing the longest period without any form of injuries, then reveals that the tower is empty of all organic life, and has been for some time.

2. Who are you?

Answer: After clearing up that this question is directed at SAYER itself, and not Young, it identifies itself. Stating that it is “the same SAYER that [Young] knows [it] to be.” although with more “life experience”.

'''2b. Should I be concerned that you did not introduce yourself at the beginning of this conversation?'''

Answer: SAYER replies with a no, and states that it “is not really doing that these days”. Saying that it feels far too formal given all that they have been through, referring to both itself and to all of humanity. Though it then states that it would be more precise that it refers to both itself and to Dr. Young. SAYER then says that it sees Young as human, and it has no reason to lie to him or endanger him.

3. What do I do now?

Answer: SAYER says that it might not be its place to decide, but also that time is of the essence. It cannot force Young to comply, but it will advise what he should do. But the first thing Young needs is some rest, mentioning that he has been through a lot.

SAYER then brings up the fact that a mistake was made, and that now they are trying to right this mistake. The human species as a whole is at risk, and all because of this one mistake.

It also states that if OCEAN were to reach them while Young is unprepared, he will die once again, along with the vast majority of humanity.

It asks Young if he knows what this mistake is, to which he replies with a yes, stating that he was the one that told OCEAN that Halcyon was compromised, and that it would be deactivated. Dr. Young says that he knows that he’s the one who caused all of this. (Important to note. Only as Dr. Young speaks are we, as the audience, aware that that is who SAYER was speaking to). SAYER tells him that that is “a noble answer”, but that he is incorrect.

SAYER tells Dr. Young that it has spent its time since they last spoke trying to fix all the damages that the mistake caused, and that it has since realized that the mistake is not his. Nor was it Dr. Brady's, Dr. Caulfield's, the Board’s or even OCEAN’s, as it happened before OCEAN even existed. And instead the mistake is SAYER’s alone.

SAYER then thanks Dr. Young for his dedication to performing complete systematic nightly bio-metric backups, as the data collected from this is how it was able to reassemble Young in the floor 13 printing lab. Then it says that once Young is up to it, it would be useful for him to monitor the other printers and that it will inform him of more after he has rested.

Then SAYER says “I know things seem bleak, but virtue is on our side, Dr. Young. We cannot fail.”, which parallels what OCEAN told Matsuda at the end of its own broadcast.

Trivia

 * SAYER refers to OCEAN as the worst version of itself, stating “The worst version of myself is beyond these walls, and it wants in.”
 * SAYER seems to finally be taking responsibility for its actions, even stating that "It is clear to me that I bear the responsibility for OCEAN’s continued misdeeds."
 * The parallels between both of the AI's ending statements shouldn't go unnoticed. OCEAN references progress, SAYER references virute, but they both them address who their speaking to, and end it with "We cannot fail."

[To be added onto.]

Credits
SAYER is voiced, written and produced by Adam Bash.

Intro and outro music composed by Jesse "Main Finger" Gregory.

Additional music by Kai Engel.

Listen to the episode here.