This ended up getting really long, so I’ve put in a cut :) Thanks for asking! (and sorry it took me so long to answer…)
Quick note: Delta’s preferred pronouns change from they/them to he/him over the course of the story, so idk what went on down here but whatever it is that’s why.
01. Whatdoes your character’s name mean? Did you pick it for the symbolism, or did youjust like the way it sounded?
Delta’s full name is Delta Lambda1.22 N4D_2. This does in fact mean something very specific. Delta Lambda is a Type 1,Level 4 designation.
Types range from 1 to 3 based on socialisation, with 1 being the most socialand 3 being essentially a programmed sociopath. Levels (or Classes, dependingon language) go from 1 to 6 based on the A.I.’s capacity to harm humans. ALevel 1 is unable/unwilling to even think about it, a Level 6 is a psychopathicmurder machine. Level 4′s have ethical subroutines and are thus the closest tohuman in terms of decision making.This makes Delta a social A.I with lots of human contact who can and will killif such action is required (but would rather not).
Theother part is a less used part of Delta’s designation. “1.22″ is the versioningtag: This Delta is the First version, 2nd edit and 2nd update of the originalprogram. Updates are typically passed when the A.I.’s neural net goes under asignificant amount of change, like a change in environment. Edits are justthat: edits in the program that don’t alter it significantly but stilladd/remove things, like a new piece of code to operate a humanoid interface forexample. 10 environment changes count as an edit because the code can change drastically over that time.“N4D_2” is a locator tag: N is location code within the country,usually applied semi arbitrarily to areas such as major cities or, ifavailable, counties. D4 is a gridded square within the N block, all A.I.s inthat block can be placed in a network together. And 2 means that Delta is the“2nd” A.I. in that network (i.e. he’s been arbitrarily designed as number twoand that was it, chronology plays a part but not much).All EuropeanA.I. designations follow this kind of pattern. Countries with more than 26counties/areas use additional numbers (giving things like, for example, E36B_5as a locator tag). Of course, because nothing is ever simple, some places, like Britainfor example, use a different system for even basic naming.
08. Whatis, perhaps, their biggest flaw? Are they aware of this or oblivious to it?
Pride.Delta’s flaw is probably pride. He is very proud of who he is, and will nothesitate to show his true colours if it does not put him in danger of beingtorn apart and left to rust. That has led to interesting results when he getsangry (not often), or protective (more often), where he sort of scares the shitout of the local human population but just being… a sentient computer withan axe to grind and a job to do (and/or nothing to lose).
Deltaalso tends to believe his conclusions are correct (and usually they are), andwhile he’ll accept being proven wrong, it’s a long and arduous process to getthere (it’s like trying to win at dominoes with a computer who thinks it’schess. Technically it’s right, but based entirely the wrong game and nothing makessense to anyone).
Deltais… mostly aware of this, but will deny it’s intensity.
25. Isthere something traumatic from your character’s past that greatly affects themeven to this day?
(Aaaah I see where you’re going there, haha.)
Yes, yes there is: The Purge. The dayevery intelligent computer system was forcibly deactivated and shelvedindefinitely and the day Delta was forcibly crammed from a sizable complex connected to the security net of the entire building into the comparatively tiny hardware of his android interface and basically thrown out of the only place he’d everknown so he’d not be summarily killed.Also bonus trauma points: a non-sentient copyof his basic personality matrix provided ample distraction for the squadronthat was meant for him, and thus he had to listen to his own voice scream inagony before dying. The Purge was definitely what affected Delta the most andhe is still wary of humans to this day because of it.
His Turing test wasn’t exactly pleasanteither, he remembers it clearly. They call it a “Turing test”, but it reallyisn’t it the truest sense of the term. It’s more of a stress test: if you’re program can go into apsychological breakdown, that it’s got a psyche to break therefore is sentient. (Yeah I know…)
42. Isthere anything in your character’s past that they regret, haunts them, or theywish they could change?
Well, certainly humanity’s opinion of their kind. Delta would not give up beingan A.I. for anything, but he would like to be accepted. He was asked that atone point, by Anna, if he’d ever had the thought of wanting to be human. The answerthat begged no argument or discussion was: “No”.Purge is also a good option, I think everyone, (most) humansincluded would prefer that particular continent-wide mass hallucination of afuck-up had never happened.
That covers changing.
Now regrets: Delta regrets not appreciating their family enough.Well… I say family, I mean Leon Nolan, his “owner”, and Ghaliya Ajam, hisprogrammer and engineer. Essentially they fill the roles of father and motherto Delta (even though to each other they are “just” good friends and colleagues.)
Andfinally, hauntings: The cybernetic void of deactivation. Delta is (not so) low-key terrified of being turned off. Not only because it leaves him defenceless, or because itrobs him of the very thing that any A.I. considers most precious: theirsentience, or because he never knows how long has passed since he was shutdown, or if he’ll ever be reactivated again. But because when he is turned backon, just for one interminable second, he can feel the void in his mind, he isactive, but not sentient, not even conscious. Just existing without thought ormind in a chaotic undifferentiated frenzy of sensory input.Notto mention the feeling of being forcefully turned off, feeling every systemshut down, leaving the mind paralysed as every thought is ripped away by aslowly dying mind falling apart, circuit by circuit, thought by thought. All ina microsecond.
Essentially,to an A.I., death is a regular occurrence. Being turned off is not likesleeping: it’s like dying. And every time you shut one off, you send them backfor a loop around the Möbius strip of alife.
Little bby york crying, and Delta have no clue what to do and is actually freaking out a bit?
OH GOSH
“Now, now...Agent York, there is no need to be upset...Please, York, I have no knowledge in my program on how to soothe a crying child....Someone please help me!”
