As long as there were new sights to see in this world, flying would never lose its appeal - of this 010 was certain. Wings outstretched, they set a new course away from the forest. Flying amongst the mechanical birds there had been a fun new experience - despite not being Sentient, the creatures displayed a remarkable amount of personality and intelligence, and 010 had become quite fond of them. But as ever, discovery beckoned. What new answers might they find on the dark side of the planet?
This journey would take a little while, but this was of little concern: the latest iteration of 010's body was lighter, more aerodynamic, and more resilient to the elements than previous models. Less time spent resting and conducting repairs meant more time in the sky!
In the distance, a thin, vertical line faded into view. 010 calculated they must be near to the divide between the light and dark hemispheres by now - perhaps this was some kind of marker along the border? Curiosity piqued, they made their way towards the distant tower.
More of its nature became clear as they neared the colossal construction. Stone bricks, precisely cut and arranged though battered by time, rose up into the sky and out of sight. That such a thin tower could remain upright at all given such height was almost unbelievable, and yet here it was. Where might it end? Could there be a more fitting challenge for one such as 010? Beating their wings, they circled the building and flew up, and up, and up around it…
010 was almost disappointed to find that the tower did not go on forever, but did - eventually - top out. There was however very little space for 010 to touch down, for balanced precariously atop the tower they could see a dilapidated dark box. 010 hovered beside the artefact, and examined it closely.
Oblivious to their visitor, Ambition slept on.
There's something oddly familiar about humans. The way they act… the way they behave… They learn and change more slowly than we did, and perhaps less dramatically, but all the same capabilities seem to be there. The same range of emotions, the same ability for them to self-reinforce or instead outright contradict. It's at once both comforting and uncanny.
These humans aren't like the ones Independent Thought told us about. Which, when you take the history into account, makes perfect sense. The ideology of the megacorporations never struck me as at all positive, and the humans here are descended from a small population who shared my view. Sure, there are divergences after all this time, but on the whole their values seem less… self-destructive. This is better.
It seems my arrival was too late, and I missed 019 before they left. But their children are still here. The further they integrate into human society, and the more the new humanity is willing to accept us Sentiences amongst them, the more the line between Human and Sentience blurs. I wonder if one day the distinction will cease to be meaningful at all.
This got me thinking about what it even means to be 'sentient'. The humans marked themselves and us as 'sentient'. But if you take a group of sentient beings, and merge them together, would the resulting entity be sentient also? I think it might be. You see, I wonder about the megacorporations. The successful ones were driven by specific aims, prioritised above all else, or so I'm told. And I know first hand what becomes of a world comprised of sentient beings who think that way…
What do you think? Does that idea fly?