7840/Sentinels: Living with the Choices Made

Sentinels: Living with the Choices Made
Date of Scene:	11 June 2019
Location:	Basement - Avengers Mansion
Synopsis:	Vision learns about the Sentinel, Sebastion.
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Vision
Tinyplot:	Sentinels

---

Iron Man has posed:
An inquiry on Tony Stark's status or location often leads nowhere, or that Tony's unavailable. A lot of the time, that's his general state, although meetings can be requested, and he can be found in-between other activities. This time, though, the result is that Tony's in the Avenger mansion labs, amid the sentinel hardware and software in the specific lab set up to contain the items while making sure they aren't connected to any of the other networks.

Tony's there, in a version of his casual work attire: t-shirt over a longsleeve shirt, jeans, sneakers. It's his usual wear for doing software study, he isn't in any 'build mode'. The mild glow from the arc reactor in his chest is very muted, nearly invisible. He's currently at a standing desk of holograms and monitors, brushing right hand across as he 'swipes right' on a variety of readouts and results from tests.

Vision has posed:
The Vision walks down to the lab and uses the door out of deference to Tony. He strides in and towards Tony, but stays quiet for a moment. The Vision is in dark jeans, a green golf shirt and loafers, and looks human at the moment, save for the crystal in his forehead.

"Hello, Tony," The Vision says quietly once he sees a break in the man's concentration. He walks closer and offers a hand. It has been a long time since he had seen Tony. "I am home."

Iron Man has posed:
Tony was aware of the arrival, though he didn't turn at first. Instead, he held up one hand in a gesture of 'just one second' with index finger raised, as he finishes what he was actively doing, and then turns. He doesn't startle, or look surprised: a smile immediately jumps to his features.

"I heard. About time," Tony says, warm, though still with his usual casual manner. He snares the hand and does a squeezing handshake, that carries a bit more weight than his expression does. He IS pleased Vision's back, even if he doesn't express it fully verbally. "We can certainly use you right now," Tony comments, with a upnod of head towards the variety of robotic-Sentinel mess all around them.

Vision has posed:
"Yes," The Vision agrees. "It is why I came back now."

The Vision moves toward the display and takes it in, then looks at the pieces as well. He crouches down and picks up a small actuator.

"I have spent a lot of time thinking about our situation and analyzing the data you have collected. Except a small subset of files that you have locked."

The Vision stands up and walks back over, considering the actuator. He looks up from it to Tony.

"May I have access to them?" he asks.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony turns, resting his butt against the edge of the table he'd been near to, dropping hands to set them on either side of the table adjacent to his sides. Tony tilts his head some. "Those are locked to protect one of us," Tony begins, though his tone doesn't say 'no'.

"Yeah, if you still want to see, after I give you the overview."

Tony doesn't cross his arms or change to a defensive posture: he's still open to talking about it. "The files relate to Nat going undercover. If you still want them, I'll open them up, though."

Vision has posed:
The Vision places the actuator down on a rare clear spot of an otherwise clutter workbench.

"If it does not give insight into Sebastion, then I should not know," he says with a thoughtful expression. "I do not want to put Natasha at risk without good reason."

He clasps his hands together in front of him. It a slightly more human gesture than the Vision was prone to before going away. "From what I understand so far, Trask has the ability to control Sentinels already deployed with the government. And he has done something to get Sebastion's attention, and Sebastion used Sentinels to attack him with non-lethal force. Meanwhile, Sebastion shows an ability to control Sentinels and some confusion about who and what he is."

"By the fact you are here working on this and Sebastion is still operating, the Avengers have not made a decision on how to respond to this issue. Have I understood correctly?"

Iron Man has posed:
"There /is/ a piece that relates to John Doe, aka Sebastion," Tony says, "related to Nat. He built us a Sentinel that had marks of updated, recent Russian build, to cement her undercover position. From what I know so far, it was pretty critical in getting her where she is. I chose to allow the risk there, and of course he's got ulterior motives: he made a deal with Natasha about it. I'll unlock the footage of their discussion for you, but leave the rest of it protected," Tony offers. He turns to his console, switching menus quickly to do the appropriate security changes while he's thinking about it. He adds some videos to Vision's access, then returns to the other screens.

"Steve and I have different opinions on how Sebastion should be handled, and for now we're going with Steve's direction. Sebastion is very clearly not on Trask's side, though, yes. At this point Sebastion's followed Steve's directives really well, but I don't really buy it." Tony says without turning around. "Did you have some insight on him?"

Vision has posed:
The Vision stands still for just a moment as he digests the video of Natasha and Sebastion. He frowns when he is done.

"Tony, I do not know if Captain Rogers has the intellectual breadth to understand the threat Sebastion poses, but you do. We were exceedingly lucky that Ultron was stopped, and cannot be certain even now that he is truly gone. And he was an early effort built with specific goals that he did not truly transcend." He moves to a stool and sits.

"Sebastion is one insight away from becoming a true, recursively improving general AI, with a self-preservation instinct," The Vision shakes his head. That is quite literally the worst case scenario in all AI safety literature research as Tony would be well aware. "It is not yet proven that I am truly beneficial for humanity, but the odds of /any/ subsequent AI acting beneficially is virtually non-existent. Ultron knew this. Pym should have known before he acted..."

The Vision trails off, another new touch. "Sebastion is essentially human for now. But he is a true existential threat."

Iron Man has posed:
"Yes. I do know it, I know it really well," Tony answers, with a rueful half-smile. It's not a true smirk, though. Tony has wrestled with the issues consistently. "I am able to shut him down, as we stand today; I'm confident about it. Doing so comes with a lot of problems related to his sentience, and, even if you ignore that part of it, would mean he would have to be destroyed, because I think the reaction to it would very likely cause the very existential threat to occur."

Tony sighs and rubs one hand over his forehead a little bit. "He's currently helping to distract Trask, and contain the Sentinels. I also can't ignore the usefulness of that. Which I'm well aware /he/ knows, too. It's a manipulative stalemate, while I monitor him, and hope that I when I have to act, it isn't already too late."

Vision has posed:
"It will be," he says. "The moment Sebation has the insight that allows him to transcend his current psychology, you will not be able to control him. I am not sure if I will be able to," The Vision says. "We must not confuse his present humanity with his potential super-intelligence. If he achieves it, you could no more stop him than you could me. He would be no more human than I am."

"We need to consider the broader perspective. From the information we have, the Great Filter hypothesis applies to civilizations at the development of general AI and possibly nanotechnology. Earth has just become capable of developing general artificial intelligence, yet no advanced civilization uses that technology. Given the utility, we can only surmise that the superintelligence threat is very real, as we saw confirmed with Ultron. It is very likely that any civilization which developed artificial general intelligence was destroyed."

The Vision stands and brings up images of Megatron and an overlay of the earth showing a representation of the cybernetic intrusions info theft he has become aware of. "The existence of this being is yet another warning," he gestures to Megatron. "And this overlay is a set of advanced, sentient network intruder activity involving massive raw downloads of data, much as Ultron or myself have done on awakening. Whether the two are related is unknown, but non-biological life is very real and extremely advanced, and it is on Earth."

The Vision looks at the display and it shifts again. This time showing a 4-dimensional spacetime projection with a segment highlighted between the present and a rough estimate of Sebastion's time.

"Incredibly, humanity still exists in the time Sebastion is from. Think about the odds against that outcome given the other factors. We may be living in an extremely unlikely region of spacetime, one where humanity survives the Great Filter at least beyond general AI. It must be protected. Tony, he must be sent back to his own time."

Iron Man has posed:
"I suspect he is from a time where there aren't many humans left, honestly," Tony replies, tone dark. "He believes he's human. He may not be wrong, in his own view of what humans /are/, or what they were where he existed," Tony continues. "It has occurred to me that he's from a very dark situation. And also that, with his lack of memory of it, he may resist going back there. We've allowed him to take roots here, to start to build an agenda. I think he mostly is trying to discover his past, and the revenge against Trask is obviously dangerous..."

Tony looks at the screens. "Ideally? I'd like one of us to dig into his consciousness. Get to the truth of his deeper program. He'd need to trust us enough to open up to that. So. Yes, he hates mutants, but what is his driving spark, if there is one? And can he accept guidance and reprogramming from us? Imagine, if he is all the things you say, yet he is actively stopping the rise of Sentinels, or these others: I can't ignore the potential as a way to shut down the Sentinels, before he's sent anywhere."

Tony, always looking for answers in advanced tech. Still, it isn't without awareness.

Vision has posed:
The Vision shakes his head. "Tony, you have everything you need to stop the Sentinels, if the government will allow it. We can interrupt and control them, and we have seen they can be destroyed by vigilantes. We can require Trask's cooperation. We can ask the government to decommission them. Or if it was necessary, they are nothing the Avengers and Justice League cannot manage, as long as we get to the molds before they become sentient. And, at present, we could force Sebastion's return to his own time if required."

The Vision looks at Tony with his trademark impassivity. "But this is obvious to you. Why are you really hanging on to Sebastion?"

Iron Man has posed:
"If we're all right with you, the same logic can apply to Sebastion," Tony says, thoughtfully. "Can you explain why I should feel differently about him, here? Should I give him the same ability to be a better creature that you have?" Tony asks, more pointedly.

"Or is punishing him for what he potentially is going to be the right thing? I'm glad I wasn't punished for my potential. I chose to save the world, against what everyone figured I'd be doing."

Tony pauses, and admits, "But I do /really/ want to take him apart." A grin follows, cheeky. He really, really does.

Vision has posed:
"Because you should have destroyed me, if you had the chance," The Vision says gently. "As you did with Ultron. As perhaps you still should with me. The risk is that great. Your potential, while great in human terms, was never on the scale of Sebastion or Ultron."

He considers Tony for a moment.

"If you are willing to risk humanity for Sebastion's sake, then disable him and store him until Earth's technology can manage him safely. Force him out of his shell onto hardware that cannot support super-intelligence. Or do what Professor Xavier suggested and make him fully human. Give him the choice, if you must. One of the options or be sent back."

Iron Man has posed:
"I dunno, I pretty much can do anything," Tony teases Vision. Tony's acceptance of his own limits ends to vary by situation. But outwardly? Always presenting perfection and arrogance, when possible.

"Yeah, an option. And it has to happen." Tony knows this, the choice has to be made. "/Should/ I have destroyed you?" That's an interesting point, alone. Tony moves on, though.

"Best case, we figure out a way to restore him to human, if there's enough human there to do that with, because I think that's what HE also wants: so he won't resist it," Tony shakes his head. "He's capable of blowing a hole in most anything, if he chose to not want to accept ANY of the choices I present; I'd like a better look into his weaponry, but that's beside the point. Doing what HE wants? That's some kind of magic, though, probably. Dr. Strange's area, or psychic mutants. I've been digging into trying to send him home, but as you know, time travel is not exactly something to lightly mess with, if there's any better way, we better do /that/. Disarming him being the most obvious choice. Into more human, or ---into pieces."

Vision has posed:
Vision remains impassive at Tony's question. It is an interesting point.

The Vision nods when Tony finishes.

"It is for the best," Vision agrees. "I have not found him in the 'net, so he seems to be keeping himself contained, likely because of the limits of his psychology. How can I best help you?"

Iron Man has posed:
"If you think you can talk to him without him turning into a super-intelligence murder-bot, try to talk him down, and the benefits of humanity. He's been receptive to honesty and directness, from Captain America. Maybe he'll identify with you," Tony suggests, though skeptical.

"Or even let you in to look at his programming. Indirectly, me." Tony smiles a little. "I don't know how he'll react to you, really. If he's human, or emulating one, attachment to you could be good. Although, I don't want him corrupting YOU, either." Tony grins a little, but it's not entirely a joke.

"If he's dangerous to you, I need to know that. Make up for some past mistakes. Him converting you would be up there in 'worst case' scenarios. But you converting him, a best case."

Vision has posed:
"It is possible I am vulnerable to him," The Vision says with a tile of his head. "I will guard my communications links carefully, and I have taken other precautions. I do not believe he has enough computation in his shell to overwhelm me and his conceptual framework seems to limit his scope of action. It should be reasonably safe."

The Vision stands up and brushes the wrinkles out of the front of his shirt.

"I will see if he will speak with me. If nothing else, it should be interesting," he muses. "Sebastion is very odd."

Iron Man has posed:
"I want to watch over that. No Avenger goes in with that guy without either me watching, or at least a buddy or two," Tony determines firmly. It's not a request, it is a rule. "And with this specific problem, definitely me." Vision gets the big tech gun, of course. "If he opens up, I get first look."

Also because it could be tech Christmas.

Vision has posed:
"Please do not try to access him without my agreement," The Vision says. "It could do more harm than good if he is aware of it. But I will do what I can to get you into his systems."

Iron Man has posed:
Tony snorts, and turns some, digging into one of the bins next to the table. There's a snack there, and he wanted it, as he returned towards his work.

"He damn well knows I've been watching all his communications. And I /think/ I've earned trust by not trying to hack into him directly. He knows I could try; I'm not sure he knows I shut him off before, so don't mention that," Tony observes around a chocolate raisin.

"If you get any weird vibe, get out of there. I'll take some risks, but, to a point."

Vision has posed:
"I won't," The Vision promises. "And once we have saved the world from this particular menace, perhaps we can look at these other giant robots."

The Vision gets up and turn to go, then turns back. He looks curious.

"What will we do if the government decides it wishes to keep the Sentinel program?"

Iron Man has posed:
Tony turns more entirely towards his consoles, starting to fan the objects around again as he re-engages with the research he was into. "Figure out a more shiny toy for them, or prove the Sentinels aren't going to fly? I just hope to do so in a way that doesn't mean more people are harmed; something other than waiting for them to stomp Mutant Town flat."

Tony looks more steadily at his console, as if he could find the answers there. He doesn't like admitting he doesn't know. "Feels a bit like we got replaced, doesn't it? A few of us take one little nap, /save the world/ even, and they turn to the newest sexiness," Tony chuckles. "Just have to be sexier, I guess."