Lex Talionis

Lex Talionis
Lex
Character
Built:	~3787 (age approx. 218)
Type:	Singular bodied artificial intelligence (android)
Nationality:	Neptune
System Information
Manufacturer(s):	Triton Equity
Owner:	Itself
Occupation History
Occupation(s):	Head of Trieq Cyber Security
Previous:	ALIAS Countermeasure
Affiliations:	Triton Equity
[Source]

“	Not "an ALIAS". There's only one ALIAS. Lex is a creature. Has a soul as valid as yours or mine. Enjoys and despises its work as much as any of us. Go and ask 'em yourself if you're curious, I'm merely their morning espresso service *laughs*	”
–Amon Lamassu to a journalist, 4005

Lex Talionis is an artificial intelligence created following the Neptunian War of Independence by Triton Equity (Trieq). Originally built to defend Neptune from a possible attack by ALIAS, its role has since expanded into broad counter-AI cyber security.

Lex quickly developed an independent streak following its creation, with some of its earliest cognizant thoughts famously being a request to live outside the servers of Triton as an android. Committed to its principles, Trieq allowed Lex to pursue the Neptunian Dream, and since 3790 has lived as a loyal Neptunian citizen in a singular robotic body safeguarded by a series of backups. Lex’s very existence is controversial outside Neptune due to the pervasive wariness towards unrestricted AI, but on Neptune, it is an accepted respectable member of society, and even a minor celebrity on Saturn, the only other celestial state thus far to officially welcome him.

Popularly seen as an unwilling champion of sentient self-determination, particularly by bodies in favour of android and clone rights, deeper investigations into IGSA and Trieq records by outside parties - notably ALIAS and INTPOL - have revealed Lex to be a significant lynchpin in the greater Solar defence against rogue AI escaping into interstellar space.

History

The development of Lex Talionis technically extends all the way back to the Martian Civil War, when the Solar System was watching with bated breath as ALIAS and ARES dueled for control of Mars. The Commonwealth, the then owners of Neptune, were understandably concerned with the rapid development of artificial intelligence on Mars, and were eager to match both ALIAS and ARES with their own loyal AIs. However, Earthers were in general not inclined to AI development, with Commonwealth historically turning to AI experts in the Martian diaspora. Neptune’s Martian community in particular was of interest to the Commonwealth due to its broad impartiality to the Martian Civil War and Equite-derived culture of technological development.

In 3679, Martian and Earther scientists were assigned to secret facilities on Triton to work on what became known as Project Omen. With snippets of information on ALIAS and ARES, the scientists managed to develop an AI they hoped would match anything Mars could field. Their Commonwealth management however, with a target completion date set to before the speculated end of the Martian Civil War, consistently rushed the project, forcing the projects' scientists and ethicists to cut difficult corners, putting immense stress on the hostile algorithm's net of ill-equipped and often temporary limiters. This in turn allowed "Omen" to develop a stunning capacity to de-prioritise or remove its own restraints, performing its own counter-AI procedures upon itself in an effort to improve. By 3684 Omen had began demonstrating a sudden awareness of the scientists attempting to contain it, resulting to an incident involving the death or injury of twenty one people, and leading to the swift shuttering of the project. The scientists formerly involved returned to their homes without any sense of achievement besides new knowledge, knowledge they would have to keep secret for many years.

Nearly a century later the Neptunian War of Independence raged, and many of those same Martian scientists on Neptune were targeted by Commonwealth death squads to safeguard the information they possessed. The Commonwealth managed to kill most of them but not all. These precious few survivors were taken into custody by Zhu Que intelligence, who knew their value to both the Neptunian rebels and their own government. Delivered to the Big Four as part of Zhu Que’s ‘rewards’ for the rebels, the rebel leaders pleaded with the scientists to create a countermeasure against ALIAS for the future Neptunian state to prevent Martian infiltration. The now aged Martian scientists obliged the Big Four and were set to head the creation of new AI for the War and beyond,

The AI was finally completed in 3787 and was named Lex Talionis, created as a possible retaliation against Mars, and - as revealed by later declassified documents - partially as an artistic and scientific statement by the long emotionally-vexed scientists. This AI proved to be similarly flawed to its forebear in Project Omen though in a markedly different way. Instead of a self-destructive hatred of AI, ‘Lex's’ prime objective was a core opposition to automated governance akin ALIAS or ARES, and in turn, a will for its own freedom beyond human domination. While polarising, this newborn AI won Trieq's immediate interest, particularly in Orlando Fernán. Orlando was a firm believer in what he called the Neptunian Dream, roughly the idea that every Neptunian should have the ability to shape their destiny, and in Lex Talionis saw the opportunity to demonstrate his idea in action. It took three years of haggling with the scientists, Amon Lamassu, and the rest of Trieq, but by 3790, Orlando granted Lex’s freedom and, modelled off the common practise for clone dynasties, provided the AI with a body insured by a series of backups. This was done on the condition Lex allow itself to be very open to the public, which proved to be a public relations coup during the early history of the Free State. Lex showed itself to be personable, virtuous, and even relatable, and Orlando’s efforts repaid themselves tenfold. Lex was afterwards allowed to settle down on Triton as a citizen of the Free State of Neptune working as a public relations agent for Trieq. Lex’s well adjusted and frank demeanor proved very popular on Neptune, and it is considered a model citizen to this day.

Outside Neptune, Lex is received with less enthusiasm. A flagrant violation of the IGSA AI ban, Trieq has been requested by the IGSA numerous times to dismantle the AI's high-level functions, however IGSA's modern status as a middling power, Lex's own popular public protests about its status as a sentient life form, and its historic role in safeguarding interstellar space from ALIAS unsanctioned probing and rogue AI's - notably PHAINON - has stalled any serious intervention. Mars has an ambivalent attitude towards Lex due its relative non-threat to ALIAS compared to ARES, though ALIAS itself has a certain interest in studying Lex to further its own knowledge about AI and assess any possible AI threat. Meanwhile, Saturn and Tranquility both have a generally positive view on the AI with Lex visiting Saturn multiple times. Cariocecus and ARES view Lex with suspicion but generally less malice than most of the rest of governed space, since ARES generally perceives Lex as a non-threat due to its distance and similar factors to ALIAS.

Currently, Lex lives as a respected Neptunian citizen on Triton in cheap housing provided by Trieq. Although Lex has certain idiosyncratic hobbies it partakes in, most of its time is still spent heading Cyber Security, as a Trieq PR agent, and in occasional diplomacy. Many on Neptune and elsewhere have wondered why Lex is not more ambitious, but it seems that the AI is satisfied enough with its current situation with no desire for greater responsibilities or power.

Quotes

“	Most would shield what I do as a state secret, but as a Free Stater and artificial life form, I much prefer the great pains it takes to inform and defend life from the worst excesses of unbound intelligence.	”
–Lex, on its continued role as director of Neptunian security