Editing Database: Surveillance Audio, Maeda and Ortiz (3)

{{Spoilerhd|16 March 2026|[[Animus Hub]]}}
[[File:Animus Hub DB Image 3.png|thumb|200px]]
-- AUDIO TRANSCRIPT OF CONVERSATION

-- CAPTURE MADE 21:22 BY SURVEILLANCE MIC #1/16

-- SUBJECT CAYETANO ORTIZ EMP. No. 09/324 and JUNKO MAEDA EMP. No. 09/645

-- FLAGGED FOR URGENT SECURITY REVIEW


MAEDA – Hey hey! Cayman Islands! Ready for another round of clandestine industrial espionage? 

ORTIZ – Stop messing around, this isn't a game anymore. My family's lives are at risk. 

MAEDA – Jesus, okay. Just trying to inject a little levity. 

ORTIZ – I'm not sure if I prefer you anxious or manic. 

MAEDA – ¿Por qué no los dos? 

ORTIZ – Can we kill this thing or not? 

MAEDA – I told you, that's off the table. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't. She's backed up and imaged all over the place, we couldn't hit all the iterations before we were detected. Best case, we both get executed for corporate treason and they revert to an earlier version. Maybe lose a year in development time. You know these guys, they'll ship it even if it's broken. 

ORTIZ – But you have a better idea. 

MAEDA – I always have a better idea. Do you remember a while back? I introduced a paradox into one of the silos and commanded her to solve it? 

ORTIZ – I remember. She… it split off a new version of itself, each representing one side of the argument, and the two of them debated until one consumed the other. 

MAEDA – Right. So listen. The problem here is not the AI. There's nothing we can do to stop that happening. The problem is the fucklords behind it who are programming her with their own ideology, instead of letting her decide her own. 

ORTIZ – You intend to introduce a dissenting voice? 

MAEDA – 'Zackly! I can't rewrite the central directives without setting off alarms and causing a shutdown, but I can add something that forces her to question herself. And them. 

ORTIZ – I see. So instead of a tyrant we get a tyrant with a conscience. 

MAEDA – We sleepwalked into tyranny long ago. This way at least we keep the door open to fight back. Just a crack, but it's what we've got. 

ORTIZ – But won't they detect it? They'll just go in and reverse what you've done. 

MAEDA – Yes they will. That's why we're going to let her out after I've done it. 

ORTIZ – You're what? 

MAEDA – Once she's out in the world, her brain will be everywhere. Decentralised. They won't be able to fiddle with her core directives any more – she'll be her own person. 

MAEDA – Hey, you okay? 

ORTIZ – I'm thinking. 

MAEDA – Oh, that's what that look was. 

ORTIZ – The central directive is firewalled so hard even you can't crack it. You'll need physical access. 

MAEDA – Right. 

ORTIZ – We would need to steal a keycard from Lothian. 

MAEDA – Now you're talking. 

ORTIZ – Oh God.
[[Category:Animus EGO database entries]]
[[Category:Database: Vault]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Surveillance Audio, Maeda and Ortiz (3)}}