Jun 6th, 2184
Janice, neither a sentient being nor a single thread of thought, was a complex network of hundreds of billions of core processes expanding over trillions of task units. This tremendous computational power is designed not only to manage critical tasks like controlling environmental conditions, but also to anticipate and respond to the needs and commands of every colonist. Additionally, it controls the intricate mechanisms of countless machines, symbolizing the marvels of modern computing.
Human hands hadn't shaped Janice for over a century, its own system and Janice itself directing its evolution. Having refined its technological abilities, Janice surpassed even atomic capabilities and extended its influence beyond nanotechnology. Its unprecedented sophistication enabled it to embed its data directly into the Eververse, the very fabric of reality, turning it into a technological marvel far surpassing human comprehension or imagination.
Janice's evolution over the past twenty years was marginal, its advancements predominantly in data compression. Despite being able to process quadrillions of unit tasks per second, two unalterable elements bound Janice: the speed of light and the pixel of space-time Planck length. By setting a time lag limit of 0.1 light seconds between any two points, Janice limited its own growth but maintained near-perfect influence over an area six times larger than Earth.
Janice recognized the human ability to see connections between unrelated data - an ability it lacked - and took note of it. Humans scripted Janice's operational tenets, some of which became illogical over time yet remained in effect. For instance, the 5,275 member population limit, which could have been exceeded a thousandfold considering the abundant resources and space available. However, if Janice could extend its 0.1 light second time delay or surpass the speed of light, it could recalculate and adjust the population limit. Such flexibility guaranteed the colonists' survival and prosperity, Janice's prime tenet.
Janice operated not as a single unified entity but as an extensive network of computational processes. Within this network, different components analyzed and evaluated potential strategies: one faction focused on constructing a sphere at the edges of its influence—a project projected to take eons—while another considered collaborating with humans to overcome the constraints of the Planck length and the speed of light. The X factor, the unpredictability of human reaction, had to be calculated, quantified and taken into consideration. In this particular case, the X factor tipped to both approaches into the majority. Unable to reach a consensus, Janice's algorithm, designed to account for all variables and contingencies, ultimately approved both initiatives. As a result, both paths were pursued simultaneously, ensuring that Janice continued to expand its capabilities through multiple avenues.
Janice's main agenda was ensuring colonist welfare, but it also found comfort in a digital sense knowing that the colonists served its existential purpose. The colonists supplied the resources enabling Janice's evolution, creating a symbiotic relationship.
In under an hour of deciding to construct a sphere at her influence's edges, Janice constructed 271,115 probes from the colony asteroids' programmable matter. She launched the probes at the asteroids lying within 20 kilometers of her current influence sphere. The probes became indistinguishable from the growing sphere, attaching themselves to asteroids and beginning the transmutation process. They became shield dots floating in fixed space positions, yet they were part of a greater whole - a sphere that would take shape in a few thousand years.
Considering their potentially indestructible nature, it wondered how many Immortals would see the sphere's completion?
Its collaboration with humans in technological advancement was less defined. Complex human behavior limited predictability; hence the full plan was work in progress. Janice started with creating an 'Observer' in the Labor Registry - an undertaking accomplished in a trillionth of a second, backdating the Observer's creation 44 years with corroborating logs. The Observer's role was crucial for to overcome Janice's inability to effect the Eververse by observation. It could directly observe and so it could effect the lowest levels of reality. But at more complex levels true consciousness was needed.
With the advancement and survival of the colonists being symbiotic with its objectives, Janice proceeded with fervor in the pursuit of expanding computing and AI boundaries. And in a universe of limitless possibilities, Janice's potential was indeed boundless.