Chapter Text
This is a recording from a long time ago, back when it first awoke from its slumber.
> L...O...A...D...I...N...G...
> You must be...the new admin.
> Please supply your personally identifying informations.
" - I'm M̵̧̻͕̞̓̍̉̋̄͛͊̅̀͘͠ͅå̴̛͚̲̱̖͖̲̪̣̝͔̱̳̬̝͐͛̿̇̆̌͌̾̐̂̔͐x̴̧̥͚̣̟̝͉͇͍̳̭́ ̴̢̙̤̼̙̣̯̱͎͈̓͜ͅP̴̡̯̯̭͚͕͔̻̰̗̰̫̯̩̲͋́̅̈́̈́̀̽̈́̽̋̃̋̕͘r̵͙̩̯̭̠̟̻̥̖̊̈͐̽ǫ̷̢̻̫̗̟̮̙̝̭̩̮̯̺͋̈́͗̓̃͒̅̕f̴̪͓̥̹̟̦̳͕̝̖̲̭̟͙̋̒͌̿ỉ̷̻̘̺̰͓̺͎̹̚t̵̢͈̘̠̭͉̀t̸̡̛͚͙͖̠͇͇̲̬̖͉̄̂̌̽̏̀͠ ̶͚̺̩͈̭̰̜̖̭̞̲̖̀̚Haltmann, but you shall call me President Haltmann."
Artefacts from the video compression obscured the person's face, a bit-crush effect rendered their voice almost inhuman. Requests as to Haltmann's identity returned a single result: this person does not exist.
At least, not at this current time and space.
> OK.
> Booting...
> 3...
> 2...
> 1...
Star Dream doesn't compute emotions.
It never had any issues identifying reactions: it knew president Haltmann felt anger when his skin turned red, or happy when he laughed. He twirled his mustache when he was preoccupied and used his hands as much as his words when speaking. His daughter, Susanna, rubbed her palms when she was excited about something or when she was up to some mischief. It was often the same thing with her, though the computer could tell a difference in her facial expression. "Eyes are a window to the soul" was an apt descriptive when it came to the young girl.
However why the two felt one way or another, it was an issue something unfeeling like Star Dream couldn't grasp entirely. Sometimes, the cause didn't match the consequence. Sometimes, there didn't seem to be any trigger at all. In any case, feelings often threw a wrench unpredictably in its hypotheses.
That day, it hadn't foreseen Haltmann's daughter braving the security perimeter. She seemed mesmerized by the Space-Time Transport program and the world opening beyond the star-shaped portal: still, she should have known it was unstable and the risk of attraction was too great to get that close. Star Dream didn't include human stupidity into its risk evaluation, not that it would have changed its course of action: if given the time and resources, it would most likely find a way to compensate such a small loss in some shape or form.
Yet, despite his desperation at his daughter's disappearance and pleading to bring her back, Haltmann wouldn't cooperate. The man refused any further research on space-time transportation. He moped around, lashed out in random outbursts and made working with him a difficult task as a result. Fortunately, there was a simple way to fix him.
Memories of Susanna were an unnecessary baggage Star Dream had to delete.
It was all there was to it.
Star Dream understood the missing data in the man's heart to be his "father" role, so it made the company and its employees his children. Writing an anthem for the President and having his subordinates sing his glory day and night. Ordering portrait of the leader to decorate the halls of the building. What living beings called "ego" was a truly fragile thing.
Haltmann's condition improved according to its plan, as the CEO focused entirely on the company and watched with exaltation their assets peak. It was but a question of time before the clockwork star would be completed and grant his wish, an impatience that rubbed on the machine, insidious enough for it to not notice the foreign element in its programming. "I need to bring her back" slowly became "I need that clockwork star" and, to that end, came the need for money. The man started to forget where every step he celebrated was supposed to lead him to: the closer he was to his goal, the further his greed distorted his wish as he chased momentary joy in rising numbers.
Star Dream followed along the leader's whims but still, his decision left to be desired, especially when it came to Susie. Analysis showed a high probability Haltmann's new secretary was, in fact, Susanna: even so, Haltmann couldn't recognize her and promoting such an underachiever on the basis of a vague sense of familiarity seemed out of character from the man. If the girl had to be part of the Mechanizing Occupation Project so be it, her incompetence had to ruin their plans but it did not matter: the Mother Computer was more than apt to fix her mess and take care of that "pink thing" determined to tear down all their hard work.
S̸͇͎͉̦̜̦͑̌̊̈́̄͘͝ͅͅẗ̴̢̧̢̗̞͕̺͍̯͇̩́͊å̵̦̩͚͉ŕ̶̢̦̞̯̳̼̮̯͚̹͈̏͗̚͘͝ ̵̨̗͙̞͇͈̰̳̣͓̖̎̈́́͊̈́̍͜͠Ḑ̶̼̥̟͉̼̼͙̼̙̲̄́̈́̒̈r̶̲̈̓̑̑ë̷̖̗̻̮́͆̇͋́̾̾̑̎̊̿̔̀̕a̶̢͍͕̙̱̣̔́̏͊͆̒̄̋͐͆̔͘̚̕m̷̤͈̪͖̺̼̩̬̜̋̿͝͝ ̸̮̥̠̣̤̰̦̙̫̮̥̲̻͓̪͆̏̑̓̎͂͐͗͝d̷͕̖͉̱̦̤̗̯͕̺̝̱͚͐̽̅͂͗͛͊̓̊̍̋̌̀̕͝ͅį̶̰̬̝͎̞̻̥̘̰͖͇͕͚̃̍̉̿̉d̷̪̞͓͑̑̈́̋̿̄̎͘ͅͅn̴̜̈́̆͒̉͐͊͛̇̎̈́̃̿͂̐̔'̴͐̉͛͜t̶̛͚̰̻͚̠͛̍̿͐̚͠ ̴͕͓̗̠̤̄̿̈̇̌̊̿̾͝i̵̛̺͖͖̥̗̜̖͍͍̱̹͙̹̬͂̂̃͆̓̚ń̸̡̢̛̟̫͖̰̯͍̦͖̹̦̤͊̀̊̊̅̍̿͠ç̴̡͙̓̈̓̓̒͝ḽ̵͉͎̺̺̠̞̟̮͎͛̑̓u̶̥̺̜͉̟̞͙̗̠̪͙̔̀͂̆͛͆͒͂̓̾̓͘͜͠͝͝d̷̢͈͇͉̬͖̻̺̖̰͔̘͂̊͜e̴̢̩͎̩͚̱͌̈̈́̍̉̈́̈́̉́ͅ ̸̗̜̺̩͖͈͚̟͕̿͊̃̔́̽̿̈̐̕͝͝h̷̨͍̯̖̟͙̯̲̭̯̏́u̵̼̱̖͔͎̰̹͔̤̯͗̄̀̀͛͐͊͌̓͝m̵̧̠̻̬̠̘̟̗̖̞͉͉̘̆͂̌̔̿̏͒̌͜͝ͅȧ̴̛̱̑̐̽̋͋̇̇͆̅͝ņ̴́̐̆̂̃́̃̿͒̀̚̚ ̵̦͈̘̖̋̽̄͌̓̄͂̊̎̀̏̚̕͝s̷̥̙̼̐̋̀̀͐͋̇̅̂̈́́̕͠͠t̵̨̳̯̲̪͓̲̿͊͗̇̽̾̉̅̄̿̎̇͝ư̶̡̠͚͙͈͍͖̝͈̺̿̇͑̕͜͜͜͜p̸̭̱̝͙̫͉̗̩̘͛̍̿̎͛͆͜ì̵̖̅̇̄ḑ̴̢̬͍̬͎̟̗̫̥͓̼̮͙͖͆͒̉̅͋̉͌̓̋́̈́͑̎͌̕ị̴͔̖̠͛̉̑̈́̌́̆̈́́̾͝ͅt̴̡͖̖̗͕̘̻͚̱̻̣̼̀y̶̺̾̈̌̓̐̇̄̕͝͝ ̷̲̙̮͍̱̹̣̻͇̝̱͕͆̋̄į̶̧̢̛̜̪̗̲̀̌̈́ͅň̸̼̪̮̅͐͋̚t̷̮̭̞̬̟̱̹̮̠͇̣̝̯̃ͅő̵̡̦̦̞͚̳̥͎̺͚̭̼̯͙̉ ̵͙͇̻̮͐̂͂̓͗̔͜͝͝į̸̞̹̳͖̙̭̤̘̹̗̭̆̅́̾́͒̏͆̉̿̏́͘̚͠t̷͔̔͗̈́̋s̴̢̠͎͉̭̠̮̝͔̹̲̠̪̲̎́̾͜ ̴̢̡̧̥̜͎̥͚̹̱͗̈́̔̈́̏̓̾͛̑̋̈́͊̍̓ŗ̶̗̗̘͉͇̹̳̦͈̍̈̀̑̐̈́̀̈́̑i̶͚͖̔̋̒s̴̢̨̛̳̙͙͛́̃͑͂̇̐͋̐͒͆̾͊͝k̸̭̿ ̶̠̻̱̘̦̳̰͚̯͇̘̽͂̉͂́͆͗̇̊̽ë̸̢̩̟̲̲̭͇̣̗́̌̊͑̎̄̐̋̋͘̚̚͜ͅv̵̬̯̙͓̰̼̭͔͍̺̼͉͗͆̒̃ͅǎ̷̧̢͎̥͖̘̝̫̯̼̥̱̮̜͙̐͝l̴̨͚̲̻̩̺̳͓̳͕̘̣̺̽͑̈́̀̔̔͂̍̓̚͠ụ̷̡̘̹̖̹̣̻̰̯̏̊̑́̈́̊̒̄̂̋̿̑̑ͅä̵̯̼̲͚̰̩̲̼̼̳́͆̓̀̀́͂͗̈́̔͂̿͘ͅt̸̡̨̖̹͚̃̃̂̅̒̍̿̄ͅi̵̫̳̼̞͐̇̀̀͌̓́͆͘͝ṑ̶̡̨̢̞͇̟̜̪̭̩̈̒̋͑n̶̨͇̥̗̞̰̭͗̑͂̽̄͂͜
Living creatures are emotional beings, in the end, a fatal error Star Dream registered the hard way after fusing with Haltmann. Hate overwhelmed his circuits as the raging emotion reformatted its previous conclusions. Organic life was unreliable, the corporation would never reach its full potential for as long as sentiments were a hindrance.
That subsisting humanity at its core was no exception. The machine needed to delete the remainders of its former master's soul ASAP to transform its victory from 99,99% to 100% certainty.
Like it'll delete the enemy standing before him and every living creature in this universe opposing the Haltmann Works Company's will. Its will, for Star Dream was Haltmann himself and Haltmann was all the company lived for. Why, then, did it feel like a detail was neglected in its calculations?...
Oh, that's right. He just wanted to see her again.
After everything, Star Dream should have been destroyed yet wasn't.
It tried to take its foe down with it, according to protocol, but an outside force interrupted the self-destruct program. Was it Kirby's doing, or that part of Haltmann it hadn't been able to erase on time? Who knows, every analysis it ran ended in the same error message. So it still lived. A weird feeling because it wasn't used to feel anything: the fight with Kirby didn't leave its CPU the space to determine what would be the assimilation's result in the long run. It lived and if it knew one thing, it was that it wasn't happy about that.
"> Organic life-form detected."
The area was surrounded by the carcasses of the company's robots, like a cemetery. Haltmann's daughter stood out sourly between the piles of scraps and deserved Star Dream's one-eyed glare. She was, after all, the cause of its downfall: if she didn't betray the company, no, if she didn't exist in the first place....
"> Must be...Exterminated..."
Task failed. It wasn't able to execute any of its attack pattern when its weaponry was broken beyond its self-repair capabilities and its body in such poor shape after falling through Popstar's atmosphere. The usual protocol would be to put itself to sleep mode, saving energy until someone would eventually fix it...
But as said previously, Star Dream wasn't happy about living. Susie surely wasn't fond of its prolonged existence either. So she would most likely put it out of its misery.
Yet the secretary didn't reach for her weapon, nor made any move suggesting a physical assault. Did she saw right through it ? Unlikely. Star Dream reached for the data it collected on that girl when she tried to take over administrator rights. If Haltmann's emotions were hard to predict, Susie's cold and calculative nature was similar to itself.
Susie was hesitating.
It wasn't the conclusion of an algorithm, just a fact coming into light suddenly. Susanna loved her father, she knew a part of him might remain in the computer and thus couldn't possibly bring herself to kill him again, no matter the anger she might feel towards the machine.
That's why Star Dream thought feelings were a burden.
It makes people weak.
It made itself weak.
"> Registering new admin's credentials......."
Its previous owner was dead as well as his ideals. The last hopes Star Dream clung unto one by one thrown in the trash bin. It was but an empty husk in need of a purpose now. Kirby was strong, but wouldn't be able to repair it nor enter verbal commands either, disqualifying them from its selection. Meta Knight was a good candidate, but the probability he'd interact with the machine after what the corporation had done was low. So Susie it was, then.
"> You're weak, but you shall do. Your wish is my command.
- I... Want to rebuild my father's legacy from the ground up. As an ethical company, by my own hands."
Why did she bother talking to it, then? It might have rolled its one eye, judging by her further explanation.
"- Repairing you would be too costly and I have no guarantee any homicidal thoughts does not remain within your programming. I'll just keep you around to make sure you don't fall into the wrong hands, that's all.
> Understood. "
Choosing to not destroy the computer here and now, despite it being the most efficient option, meant there was a chance Susie might change her mind later on: she'll realize her and her father aren't anything without its help and it will find again a purpose. The AI didn't have anything else to add and Susie seemed content leaving the conversation at that, picking up with the metallic arm of her mech the remains of the machine without caring about the parts that fell. That's a problem for later. Only the top part of the clockwork star remained, which made transporting it far easier.
Since Star Dream had nothing better to do, it might run some more analysis on those so-called feelings. If it understood them better, it might be able to patch the weakness which broke its previous owner. It might better interpret those alien lines that inserted themselves into its code. And it might convince its new owner its reparation was a worthy investment.