Interstellar Age

Chapter 327 Explosive Collar

The timeline had reset as Erich had gone back in time thirty years to find himself an eighteen-year-old once more. This meant that all the chaos that unfolded across the galaxy because of his actions in his previous life were also reset. 

Sitting on her throne in the Alfheim Palace was none other than Empress Lunaria Asterion, like in the previous timeline. She was a staunch realist, who rejected the notion that the Sages could see the future, and determine the weave of fate. 

She had of course yet to meet Erich who would prove her otherwise.... Instead, the ancient Alfheim Empress sat proudly before her ministers, sages, and foreign envoys. One of which was, of course none other than Bixel Goldentooth. In their previous lives, Bixel had lost everything after instigating a fight with the Silber Enclave. 

But in this timeline, he was still the almighty and powerful cartel boss who controlled the Galactic economy with an iron fist. Bixel was one of only a handful of beings across the Galaxy who had the ability to stand before the Alfheim Empress while all others would be forced to kneel under penalty of death.

The Alfheim court was majestic and grand. Every surface that could be covered in rare and precious metals was done so. Yet despite all the wealth that had been accumulated over the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years of Lunaria's leadership. It was but a drop in the hat compared to what the Ghimderi banking clans possessed.

And because of this, Bixel was here to collect the interest on the Alfheim Dominion's debt to him, and his vile race. There was a perverted smile on the small and rotund goblin's face. Not because of Lunaria and her beauty, or that of her multiple daughters which were practically clones of herself. But rather because a giant pile of precious metals that took the form of solid bullion were laying on a hover tray in front of him. 

Bixel rubbed his grimy little hands in excitement, while his hook nose sniffed the currency, as if he were prepared to devour it like some form of monster from a primitive folk tale. He quickly counted the amount to ensure it was proper, before taking off his top hat and performing a sarcastic bow to the Alfheim Empress.

"A pleasure doing business with ya m'ilady.... Now if you don't mind I'm just going to have my personal guards escort this small sum back onto my treasure galleon..."

The Ghimderi Fleet was filled with large and heavily armed cargo ships, which they referred to as Treasure Galleons. These vessels were used to not only transfer wealth back to the Ghimderi homeworld but also to keep the Galactic economy afloat via the transfer of funds to those civilizations that took out a debt. 

And when Bixel said "small sum" he was being honest. Because despite the overwhelming value of the resources sitting in front of him, which were worth more than most regional powers, this was indeed a very small sum to the Ghimderi Banking Clans. 

Lunaria of course had a look of disgust on her face. She despised the Ghimderi almost as much as the Germanic Star-Empire did. And had she known they would turn into the greedy merchants and bankers that they were today, she would have wiped them out eons ago before they ever had a chance of establishing control over the galactic economy, or even reclaiming their alleged "ancestral homeland."

But there was not much she could do now. If the Ghimderi were to suddenly collapse, then the entire galactic economy would go with them. And that would cause far more troubles than it was worth. Thus, she sighed heavily, and rested her head in her hans before telling Bixel to get the fuck out of her sight. 

"You have your pound of flesh... Now take your leave before I change my mind!"

Bixel knew this was an empty threat and scratched his sparsely bearded, receding chin before making it clear that he knew.

"Oh please Empress, you and I both know that you wouldn't dare lay a hand on me... In fact, I could slap one of your precious daughters on the ass, and grab her by the pussy and you still wouldn't touch a hair on my head!" 

Lunaria was hyper protective of her daughters, and the lustful leer that Bixel gave Celestia caused her to snap.

"Make one more foul noise out of that vile mouth of yours, and I will show you just how serious my threats can be!"

Bixel was still far from frightened as he raised his hands in the air and feigned fear. 

"Oh no, whatever shall I do now that the mighty Alfheim Empress is threatening me!?!? Save your threats for those who believes them toots, I'm not impressed. But don't have an aneurysm on me, now that I have my payment, I'll be on my way... See you next time, Empress!'

After saying this, the armed security of the Goldentooth cartel escorted the large interest payment out of the Alfheim Palace and towards the Ghimderi treasure galleon that was docked on the surface of the giant world. Once the hideous little creature was out of Lunaria's sight, she sighed heavily, before exclaiming her hatred for him, and his kind. 

"Gods, I hate those little.... vermin! I should have wiped them all out ages ago!" 

Celestia was the voice of reason in this little discussion, despite being leered at by a disgusting little goblin not long ago.

"Now, now mother... You and I both know that destroying the Ghimderi would fracture the fragile balance of peace that you helped establish all those years ago. It's best to let those disgusting little rats make their comments and ignore them... After all they are hardly worth our attention let alone our wrath..."

Lunaria slumped in her seat and sighed heavily, while nodding her head in agreement with her daughter's wise words. Albeit when she spoke she did so in a way that was self deprecating.

"Hmph... Sometimes I wonder which of us is the ancient being whose life experience is greater than half the galaxy combined, and the other is just a young girl less than a millennium old..."

This remark caused Celestia and all of her sisters to giggle. It was a stunning sight to behold. The ancient Alfheim Empress who didn't look a day over eighteen by human standards, and her equally beautiful daughters all of which were near-identical to herself. 

It was only now that Lunaria finally had a chance to relax... And when she felt comfortable; she turned on her holo projector and gazed upon the progress of her favorite war hound. There was a curious look on her face as she realized the Germanic Star-Empire had begun to automate its industry, which for the longest time was produced via manual labor. After all, it was a job to shove those veterans who were not particularly gifted or skilled at anything other than combat. 

Upon noticing this, the mature Elven beauty raised in her seat, and asked her youngest daughter what she thought about these sudden changes.

"How interesting... I never thought I'd see the day where the Germans switched to a wholly automated labor system... Although they seem to have a way to go, they seemed to have perfectly streamlined their vital industries under one automated system.

I wonder if they are using robots that are operating under a basic artificial intelligence that is under the command of an intermediate artificial intelligence. If that is the case, I may have underestimated their technological development."

When Celestia and her sisters overheard their mother speaking about the Germanic Star Empire again, they all simultaneously rolled their eyes in the exact same way. Nothing made Lunaria happier than her favorite pets, but at the same time nothing made her angrier than when they bit her hand. 

Thus they simply smiled and nodded their heads, while speaking to their mother as if they actually shared her interests. Celestia was, of course the one to speak, as she was Lunaria's favorite daughter. 

"From the looks of it, you might be correct, mother. Those labor robots are definitely operating under basic artificial intelligence. Which while they should be able to manage themselves efficiently, they appear to be coordinating almost on a hive mind, which means there is likely an intermediate artificial intelligence in charge of managing the individual worker droids. 

This is far more advanced than a regional power should be capable of. After all, the development of artificial intelligence requires many hurdles to ensure its safety. I wonder, have they actually sent us a copy of the code they are employing for approval beforehand, as is required by law? Or have the Germans gone rogue on this one?"

Lunaria did not even think about this when she first witnessed the sight of the factories operating at peak efficiency. But Celestia was right. Development of Artificial Intelligence required approval by a Suzerain. The more advanced an AI was supposed to be, the more hurdles the civilization would have to jump through to gain approval. 

Thus, Lunaria was quick to look into the matter. Where she discovered that indeed the proper procedures had been followed. In fact, the GSE appeared to have gone above and beyond the legal requirements for approval. The AI programs that were submitted had been hard-wired with what the documents referred to as an "explosive collar" code. 

If the various basic and Intermediate AI's currently being employed in the Germanic Star-Empire's workforce and military were to ever attempt to develop sentience and or gain their freedom. They would automatically trigger a dormant code that would destroy them in an instant. This code was made by Tia to ensure that no potential rivals ever appeared from her own creation. 

In fact, Lunaria marvelled at the code that was designed to trigger this "explosive collar" as it was not something that her own people employed, or any other civilization that she knew of, for that matter.

Instead, most artificial intelligence programs went through routine and manual wipes to ensure they never developed sentience. This was a preventative measure that was considered by most species to be "humane" as they were wiping the AI before it ever developed personality traits let alone actual emotions. 

But the Germanic Star-Empire's approach, or more specifically Tia's was to just blatantly execute the AI the moment it began to develop any semblance of sentience. It was a far more efficient and brutal method of ensuring that an Advanced AI never developed. 

Of course, Lunaria mistook this simple addition to the AI's core coding as an invention of the Germanic people, and thus she wore a wry smile while shaking her head and speaking to herself. 

"Such ruthless simplicity, I'd expect nothing less from my favorite pets... It would appear that the Germanic Star-Empire has gone above and beyond what was required by law to ensure that their AI never develops sentience.

In fact, I will begin requiring this so-called explosive collar code in every single AI that is currently employed, and all of those that will be developed in the future... It is simply too efficient not to require by law!" 

Celestia simply rolled her eyes once more, not understanding just what Tia had done to restrict potential rivals from appearing on the galactic stage. Every single civilization that was capable of interstellar travel, and that existed in the Alfheim Quadrant, would now be required by law to outfit all of their AI programs with this "explosive collar" meaning that no accidents like her could ever come to fruition again.