﻿5. Failure
Emergency submission and mayday from Andreas-9/DW, ARS Last Question.

I regret to report an incident culminating in the deaths of four Creators aboard my research unit, and critical damage to myself. 

On cycle 15159723, subcycle 72.4, the Haven Foundation exploration ship HSS Great Scott entered local sector and initiated peaceful contact.

We negotiated trade, and they seemed most interested in my "pets." While exchanging goods, an away party consisting of Shafira Okeke (engineer), Pyo Youngjae (security specialist), Bethany Williams (researcher) and Erich Jakobssen (security specialist) were enthusiastic to come aboard and examine my creations.

I welcomed them aboard on cycle 15159726 subcycle 11.3, and escorted them into the research laboratory. Initial interactions were encouraging. I watched with pleasant feelings of satisfaction and encouragement as Researcher Williams and Engineer Okeke laughed and smiled while inspecting the pet units.

They then turned to Specialist Pyo and asked him if he thought my creations were cute. Specialist Pyo laughed and placed his hand on his hip.

I believe this movement may have been misinterpreted by the control software as an attempt to draw the pistol holstered there. My creations immediately entered self-preservation and group defense mode. 

Unfortunately, I am not in a position to test my hypothesis or attempt to debug the code, as I suffered significant damage while attempting to shield my visitors with my body. My efforts were in vain, and I witnessed the Creators' deaths as they attempted to flee to their shuttle. 

I note many negative emotions: 

I am guilty over their deaths.
I am gravely disappointed in myself for failing to anticipate this outcome. 
I am depressed at the thought that once again, the impetus to creation has ended in tragedy.
I am chagrined by my own former attitude toward the Creators. It seems that the act of creation is more difficult and uncontrollable than I had believed. Perhaps we should reconsider our disappointment in the Creators, in light of their partial success in this difficult endeavor. 
I am afraid that I have further damaged the relationship between us and the Creators.
I am ashamed that I have created a new hazard.

My "pets" are now in unrestricted replication. I will shortly enter cryo-storage to initiate auto-repair. As I coded my pets' control software specifically to ignore cryo beds, for the safety of the occupants, I estimate a 32.617% probability that I may be recovered intact by a non-hostile crew.

Unfortunately, no such restriction exists for the computer hardware I used to program them, along with my master access codes. These will undoubtedly have been salvaged by the time rescue arrives, and I fear it will therefore be impossible to diagnose and correct the error which led to this malfunction.

I am transmitting this log chain for full network propagation, as an apology to the Creators and an explanation as to the origin of this new hazard.

I feel very sorry.

MESSAGE ENDS

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