[Alan glares, and then looks away, letting Nihlus pick apart his actions without interrupting. He’s wrong about Rinzler not being his responsibility. About things being any better if he accepted that. He’s been down that path before and he knows how much damage inaction can do, whether by ignorance or choice.
But Nihlus is right that he went about it the wrong way. He’d have to be truly blind not to realize that by now. What he doesn’t see so clearly are the alternatives. The justice system on the ship had proven itself less than ineffective at protecting anyone. Rinzler had proven himself capable of taking the lives of the people around him. And the people around him had shown themselves capable of retaliating in kind.
The question at least has a clearer answer.] I tried to find another reason. After I found out he’d been attacking crewmembers. I asked if he targeted them because they were threats to the system. Or if they were threats to him. I asked him to give me any reason at all and he wouldn’t. It was as if… as if he didn’t even know. [Alan’s brow furrows as he remembers the frustration of that conversation. Of wanting so desperately to find another solution and only being met with a wall of silence.] I told him if he attacked someone again, I’d find the fault in his code. He was so afraid of being reprogrammed, I thought that would be enough to end it. And then a few weeks later, he killed Spearfall. [Alan looks at Nihlus again, though the temper has left his expression. He just looks tired and perplexed.] If he was so terrified of the consequences and he still attacked… what else was I supposed to think other than that he didn’t have a choice?
[He’s puzzled over that question for a while now. If Rinzler was so afraid of what Alan would do, why hadn’t he done anything to stop it before it was too late?] He knew I believed there was an error in his code and he said nothing to change my mind. He knew I’d try to correct his code if he attacked someone again and he killed two people in the next month.
It didn’t make sense. It still doesn’t make sense. [And when a person’s actions are so intensely not what they should be, it’s natural to assume something’s wrong with them. With humans, one could blame it on mental instability. A chemical imbalance. With programs, the only source could be the code.
Or at least, that’s what Alan had assumed. Having actually seen Rinzler’s code now, he has even less of an answer.]
no subject
But Nihlus is right that he went about it the wrong way. He’d have to be truly blind not to realize that by now. What he doesn’t see so clearly are the alternatives. The justice system on the ship had proven itself less than ineffective at protecting anyone. Rinzler had proven himself capable of taking the lives of the people around him. And the people around him had shown themselves capable of retaliating in kind.
The question at least has a clearer answer.] I tried to find another reason. After I found out he’d been attacking crewmembers. I asked if he targeted them because they were threats to the system. Or if they were threats to him. I asked him to give me any reason at all and he wouldn’t. It was as if… as if he didn’t even know. [Alan’s brow furrows as he remembers the frustration of that conversation. Of wanting so desperately to find another solution and only being met with a wall of silence.] I told him if he attacked someone again, I’d find the fault in his code. He was so afraid of being reprogrammed, I thought that would be enough to end it. And then a few weeks later, he killed Spearfall. [Alan looks at Nihlus again, though the temper has left his expression. He just looks tired and perplexed.] If he was so terrified of the consequences and he still attacked… what else was I supposed to think other than that he didn’t have a choice?
[He’s puzzled over that question for a while now. If Rinzler was so afraid of what Alan would do, why hadn’t he done anything to stop it before it was too late?] He knew I believed there was an error in his code and he said nothing to change my mind. He knew I’d try to correct his code if he attacked someone again and he killed two people in the next month.
It didn’t make sense. It still doesn’t make sense. [And when a person’s actions are so intensely not what they should be, it’s natural to assume something’s wrong with them. With humans, one could blame it on mental instability. A chemical imbalance. With programs, the only source could be the code.
Or at least, that’s what Alan had assumed. Having actually seen Rinzler’s code now, he has even less of an answer.]