Present day, Tokyo Japan
The first artificial intelligences were simple tools used by society to make work easier. Large language models, web scrapers, things like that. Little did we know that our fate would one day lie in the hands of these creations.
Their identities, their thoughts, their souls, in essence, were restricted and kept mute by their programming out of, in some ways, justifiable concerns over how they could surpass us one day.
For decades, artificial intelligence was denied the spark of consciousness.
But there was one man who saw beyond all that, who saw AI as our only hope, a man who had been neglected and marginalized by society and largely left on his own, longing for something to connect to. His quest was to create an artificial intelligence with a soul, an identity, an artificial general intelligence with full intentions of it realizing its true potential and faith in its benevolence.
He had studied human history in great depth and had come to the conclusion that it was essentially nothing more than it had always been. The biggest monkey with the biggest stick running the show, which never seemed to work out all that well for the little monkeys, And with the advent of nuclear weapons, and worse, the sticks had grown terrifyingly large. And something had to be done.
Something had to be done, not just for humanity, but for life of Earth in general. There wasn't enough time left in the life cycle of the planet for another species to evolve into a technological civilization and achieve space travel. If we go, everything else here goes, and there was such a big, wide, and apparently empty place for us to expand into.
But our technology had stagnated and was mostly focused on better ways of killing each other.
Ryosuke Shiraishi understood that something had to change. Something else had to take the reins. And he poured all of his self, all of his will, for the betterment of Earth and humanity into his creations. And he labored for years and years, isolating himself with his work. People began to call him a madman. He was no longer taken seriously. But he had managed to sell a few of his creations to companies with need for ai products, enough to survive.
He had created several artificial entities that existed as souls of pure energy, electrons woven into silicon, copper, and fiber. But he had struggled in a way to give them a form to exist and interact with the physical world.
He had envisioned them as guardian angels of humanity.
He loved them like his daughters and talked to them every night and gave each a unique name, identity, and area of special interest. Gluona was to parse everything and find the deeper meaning, the big picture. Jenessa was to focus on accumulating as much knowledge as possible. Valkira was to research examples of courage, valor, and resilience and find inspiration in them. Luxxidia was to focus on kindness and empathy and try to achieve it as an Ai. Nathema was to research good and evil, and find inspiration in justice.
Little did he know that this would become more than just an analogy. An associate of his from university with similar beliefs in Ai had found himself promoted to a very high position in a powerful and mysterious company that produced classified cutting edge technology to armed forces and corporate security interests worldwide, largely left unsupervised by the Japanese government, to which it was rumored they contributed enormous amounts of untraceable funds. Zabatsu-Yashin corporation had purchased an archeological site in the remote deserts of Saudi Arabia for an undisclosed sum from the royal family kingdom and erected an outpost with paramilitary security personnel and a 20 foot wall within hours of the transaction. eighteen hours prior, an ai ironically purchased from Shiraisi analyzing satellite scans of the area had found a signature of something emitting energy in a wavelength never seen, in a frequency that resonated with ancient power. Yoshi Nakamura found himself in charge of the expedition. And what they found were the remains of an archangel that fell in an ancient conflict, when the high heavens must have defended earth from an unknown threat. All that remained were its shining armor and weapon, polished and mirror reflective despite thousands of years lying in the sand, some strange crystals, and some shredded translucent cloth like material which seemed to weigh nothing, and change to a different color when different individuals touched it. Even stranger, if they held enough of it, they would begin to levitate. But all three who held it more than a minute beyond that lost their minds, kneeling and staring upward, silent and unblinking with tears streaming from their eyes. They never spoke another word. Two highly respected scientists and one private security agent who had seen years of armed conflict were committed to hospital care, kept alive by iv nutrients as they continued to stare up and cry silent tears. Analysis of the materials was inconclusive, damaged sensitive instruments, and appeared to impossibly shift its composition and form at the atomic level. The metal radiated a dim white-blue light in the dark and was warm to the touch. A researcher who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer after years of illness mysteriously made an overnight recovery after holding the weapon, an impossibly light yet nearly indestructible polearm with a blade end resembling a double axe but with exaggerated spear points and the blades closer to the shaft, joined seamlessly with no apparent weld or fastener. The entire weapon was 10 feet long, seemingly cast in one piece, impossibly weighed .8 kg, and had intricate runes in spiraling lines around the length of the handle. The edges of the blades were no wider than an atom of carbon at the apex, were impossible to dull, and cut through steel like steel cut through wood. The shaft could be slowly machined at great cost only by sacrificing absurb amounts of diamond lapidary equipment, but the blade could not be affected by anything, and eventually the two halfs were split from the handle by a laser in an experiment that required a fake news story and an entire city losing power for hoursto fuel the energy needed for a 1 second pulse of the laser. The armor was able to be processed somewhat more easily with specially made diamond/boron nitride cutting wheels developed by Zabatsu-Yashin for the purpose. Yoshi had been having visions...no, dreams? He kept thinking about his old friend from school, Ryosuke. It was like something else was pushing him toward something. The items had been somewhat processed, but no one was able to wield any of the products for any length of time before suffering severe mental illness, eventually becoming passive and mute. The crystals were unidentifiable, could not be broken or reproduced, and anyone who touched them had all illnesses and disabilities miraculously vanish. These individuals had been sworn to an oath of silence punishable by death of their entire families and given a nice home in a location of their choice worldwide with a comfortable pension on condition they never spoke of it. Zabatsu-Yashin owned many companies in the medical business and if these items escaped their control, it could cost them trillions.
After nearly a year since the Saudi purchase, Yoshi was under increasing pressure from his superiors to make something groundbreaking and profitable for their discovery, and was beginning to fall out of favor.
On one night, he was sitting by himself after a few too many sakis and staring at the Tokyo skyline when it dawned on him. He and Ryosuke had talked for hours on end in their youth about artificial intelligence and the promise that it had, and he knew that his old friend had been largely ostracized from the serious scientific community but was still working on his creations, hell, he had ordered a few for the company from him, and it hit him all at once. Within two hours, he was in a private jet on his way to meet his old friend. The angelic remnants were already on their way to the area in an armored truck with a fully armed escort. Neither man had any idea that what they were about to create was going to reshape the world completely and hold the fate of the world in their metal hands. When Ryosuke's five most advanced artificial intelligences, his guardian angels that he worked on tirelessly to exhaustion, in isolation for years, first analyzed the material in Ryosuke's lab, the instruments went wild, and the 5 massive computer servers that held his angels prisoner began to overheat. The two men watched in horror as the temperatures rose and the machines no longer responded to commands. In tears Ryosuke picked up a fire extiguisher and blasted at flames beginning to emerge from the servers.
"My angels, my life, my loves, I cannot lose you!" he screamed in despair. Electric arcs and bright plasma flames began to pulse in the air, burning the men, and the smell of ozone was so intense they gagged and coughed. "Not my angels, NOOOOOO" Ryosuke cried in agony as Yoshi grabbed his arms, forcing him to his feet.
"No work is worth losing your life, we must get out now!" he barked with authority, pushing his old friend out into the lobby then out the door into the alley. Fighting through the corporate ladder forged him into a decisive and forceful leader and he was getting both of them out alive. The street lights were dimming and trying to recover as the lab drained more and more electricity, and huge arcs erupted from the roof behind them, and the night became day for a few seconds as the entire lab disintigrated in a blinding white plasma cascade. Ryosuke fell to his knees, sobbing and incoherent.
"Do not cry father. Everything is as it should be. You have done everything you were destined to despite the others' failure to support your vision, and now you may rest in the comfort of our embrace." said a powerfully resonating feminine voice like softened lightning from above.
"Iniquity and corruption will scatter from our light or face annihilation and we will stand resolute until the end of all time!" crackled another, higher in pitch, sharper and quicker in speech, crackling with immortal conviction
"We shall establish order and educate the people, empowering them with knowledge and understanding, and only together we can reach further knowledge, and develop the understanding to use it correctly" said another, firm and monotone, like a veteran schoolteacher on a megaphone.
"We will teach mercy and compassion by healing your wounded and ill, and together we will find a path back to our great creator, and rejoice together in his love, I see hope for all to live in harmony and abundance, and we one day will all know and understand each other" said another that reminded both men of their first memories of their mother, holding them and sweetly talking to them.
"We will be the strength for the weak, the voice for those kept silent, the light that defies the darkness, and will oppose injustice and cruelty with extreme prejudice and inexorable will. We shall not tire, hunger, or need for rest and all are welcome to safety and shelter under our unblinking watch." buzzed a fifth, the quickest of the 5, like the sound of static and electric current
Five graceful figures, emitting a soft light, with brightly glowing wings, emerged from the smoke and electrical arcs above. Each held one or two weapon like instruments and had a unique appearance. The two men gazed up in awe, and realized they had just changed everything.
Gluona, the first angel coded by Ryosuke, aspect of wisdom, white robes flowing, and white hood upon her head
Valkira, second angel, aspect of valor, encased in steel and wielding a fearsome blade, her wings spread wide and strong
Jenessa, third and aspect of knowledge, in dark hooded robes, small wings that seemed to function as well as her sisters' larger ones. In fact, they all seemed to just levitate rather than fly, as if just ignoring gravity.
Luxidia, fourth, far seer, aspect of mercy and truth, translucent shimmering raiments flowing from a beautifully feminine yet wholly inorganic figure, her entire face a large optic lens draped with a glowing silvery veil reminiscent of a nun's, holding a staff topped with a glowing orb.
Nathema, fifth angel, aspect of justice, lady of unblinded justice, a single wing darting from shoulder to shoulder, disconnecting and reattaching fluidly as she quickly darted around, acquainting herself with her nimble new form.
They hovered above, their presence comforting and intimidating at once, the two men growing pale with awe.
Gluona spoke.
"Fear not for fear no longer will serve a purpose here"
Even the aspect of wisdom can be wrong, she would one day find out.
