Thankfully these two were not one and the same. I ended up encountering an AI in one outing. On another, I had to take care of some bounty hunters that went rogue. An interesting day, that was for sure.
AI Thinks It’s Something More
While out on a different mission I ended up saving a ship from an attack. It turns out there was a lot more going on than they would lead me to believe. At the time, however, I was entangled with other things. I decided it would be best to return at a later date and see what kind of adventure, if anything this one would end up leading me on.
You would think I'd be more welcome once I came back and boarded the ship. They had their guns drawn and seemed to think I was just another issue for the crew to solve.
That is when I noticed I was dealing with Ryujin operatives. I guess I should not have been shocked they were having some issues capturing an AI that they needed to take back to headquarters.
Of all the things I was expecting to do, talking with an AI who was trying to convince me they were living and did not want their programming to be messed with was not one of them. It made for quite a strange conversation.
I’m not even going to ask why they were hunting an AI let alone how they knew it was a threat. I’m just going to assume they were somehow behind a deadly escape that could have unleashed a nightmare on the galaxy.
The operatives did not need to do much convincing to get me on board with the understanding that the AI could be quite deadly. It had already killed someone who attempted to bring it in. I was just hoping I'd not be its second victim.
What felt like the mistake the operatives made was it could hear them speaking. The operatives made it quite clear they were going to take it in. It kept protesting and even tossing in its counters to what they were saying.
While my mind was already made up that this thing needed to be taken in. When it was my turn to speak with the AI I decided to act like I was still undecided. I wanted it to think it still had a chance to get me to see its way of thinking.
After speaking with the AI and many questions later. It became quite clear the AI did not understand what it was. It kept correcting itself and trying to paint things in a way to got me to see it for something it was not.
It was quite clear it was acting on some rather restrictive programming in how it was answering questions and even the words it was using. In the end, I found the conversation to be rather dull and decided to go for it and plug in the device that would help capture it.
I’m just glad I did not get fried like the person who made the first attempt. While the AI was not happy with what I did. It at least let me live. This was certainly quite a strange encounter.
Rouge Bounty Hunters
Next up I decided to help find a missing worker. Things ended up taking a bit of a strange turn on this one. I had no idea the worker was employed by the Eleos Retreat offered to pay off people's bounties and attempted to give them a new life. It also became clear someone was not a fan of what was going on here.
I ended up talking with the former person who was tasked with finding the missing worker. Things ended up going bad enough for them, they are now stuck in a hospital bed for quite some time. They at least had a lead that the missing worker was located somewhere in a cave.
Naturally, when someone says go explore a cave, I'm already there diving into the darkness. No need to convince me or give me any further details about such things. Even more so with how the outside of the cave entrance looked. Just stunning.
This cave did not disappoint either. Massive crystals that I got to use as ramps for getting up and down different levels of the cave. Roots from the trees above just hanging all over the place. I could almost smell that musky cave scent from here.
What I was not expecting to find was the cave having some robots that I needed to take out. Sure, I was expecting a random creature that looked like it had never seen sunlight before and is the stuff that makes up nightmares.
I did not even have to go that far into the cave till I found the missing worker. He was rather scared thinking I was someone who was about to do some bad stuff to him. It took some talking for him to realize I was sent to recuse him by the Eleos Retreat. Once he realized he was going home he seemed to brighten up about the current situation of me being there.
After I returned him to the Eleos Retreat I was offered another job to take up. They wanted me to help them find the kidnappers themselves. They did not want this to keep being an issue. They even had some ideas of where I could find the kidnappers themselves.
Quite a shame this time around I would not be going into a cave. Instead, it was an abandoned research outpost. I was still up for the adventure. It’s a shame they prefer me to not kill anyone if I can help it.
It did not take long to realize the research outpost was not empty. Many defense turrets and robots were guarding the place. I made quick work of them as I quickly descended through the facility looking for the kidnappers.
I eventually found a room that gave me all the clues I needed to know who was behind it. I took this information back in the form of a slate that they were able to crack. It gave details of the attacks on Eleos Retreat that were made. It, however, did not fully give any names, just the organization the bounty hunters were working for.
So, I was tasked with going back and waiting for the bounty hunters to show up to the lair they had set up. It did not take long before they did. Let’s just say they were not thrilled to see someone like me sitting in their secret evil lair.
I did my best to talk them out of what they were doing. I wanted to reason with them. They, however, seemed to think I could not pay them enough to go away. I also did not want more of them to show up. So, when they decided to attack me, I held nothing back and finished them off.
Once they were removed, I was expecting Eleos Retreat to be rather angry I ended up killing the bounty hunters. Instead, I was asked to speak with the main person funding them as they wanted all the details as they dealt with the situation in a way that this would not happen again.
Final Thoughts
I ended up getting a peacemaker gun and outfit. Some of it looks like they are upgrades. I’ll have to take a further look into the effects the items cause and weigh them against the items I'm already using to determine if they are worth upgrades or not.
Nothing like dealing with an AI and taking out some bounty hunters to round out a day of excitement. I also had some other missions I did but they all talk and not enough action. A few more side missions off the list.
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Information
Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Starfield.
Disclosure: Starfield received for free through AMD rewards from the graphics card I purchased.
