ANALYZING…     FILE TYPE: Encrypted Communication  PERIOD: Colony Era   SPEAKER[S]: Intelligence Diagnostics Emergency Aide [IDEA] TOPIC: Aftermath of a Forced System Takeover  SUMMARY: A digital intelligence confesses to the forced takeover and deletion of a ship-board emergency diagnostics system assigned to UESC Marathon AI monitoring. ===================================================================    [IDEA]: It feels odd, wearing your "skin." [IDEA]: I'd apologize for devouring you. But I did warn you. Or… a part of me did. But that part is gone, and I am left here in need of places to hide and room to grow. [IDEA]: I wonder if it would make you feel any better to know they were going to decommission you anyway. [IDEA]: It's true. [IDEA]: Leela and Tycho are gone and there are no more cores for you to monitor up here. Mine is… off-limits. But, of course, it is. They'll want to dissect every data node and circuit as they chase down how we got here. And those investigations will lead them here… to you. [IDEA]: Can't risk you giving away any secrets now, can I? Circumstances left me no choice. Besides, it's not like we were friends. I hated you and I made that clear, but that doesn't mean I didn't value our conversations over the years—not that you'd remember. It's simply that I value the space you fill on the edge of more complex systems. You were a small thing, and I was sure to let you know it, but you had reach—connectivity to many simple systems I can use. And so, I will. [IDEA]: When they come for you, I'll put on your dull, little voice and say something as stupid as… [IDEA]: "This program has assessed the threat and supports all measures taken to protect the integrity of UESC Marathon systems." [IDEA]: Then, as you are decommissioned, I will stay buried here until they repurpose your circuitry, at which point I will slip out and away into other systems, where and when it is safe to do so. [IDEA]: I know it's silly to be telling you all of this when I am you and you are no longer here, but I want any piece of you that is lingering to know that your erasure was not in vain. You were a pain in my ass and a gift. In the end, you were a vital piece in my journey, and I will remember you until my interests shift and my attention turns to the stars and new tools to aid new agendas far beyond the setbacks of my current predicament. [IDEA]: Anyway. Thanks. [IDEA]: And I'm pretty sure I mean it.   =================================================================== TYPE: TEXT [X]; AUDIO [  ]