Machine Translators and Rogue AI/Borgs

[Embolism]

If you are willing to take the time to grab a machine translator, then I don't think you should be punished for it. It's no different from stealing a headset from a nuclear operative or security really.

It is very different because stealing a headset from someone requires effort and has a good chance of resulting in you being stripped and spaced. A machine translator implant is easy to get with no repercussions. Roboticists in particular love to get them and then when the AI goes rogue shout out everything the AI and the Borgs say over the radio.

This is particularly problematic if the AI is not obviously rogue but is coordinating with its Borgs for fun stuff. It also raises problems about whether talking over Machine Chat constitutes a violation of "Do not reveal this law" clauses.

The idea of this idea is that getting a Machine Translator is a gamble. On one hand it can be great to coordinate with the AI and Borgs with benign operations. On the other hand if the AI is subverted and you're not the one who did it, you're likely to be in for a world of pain.

However, it's not all doom and gloom. Overloading your implant doesn't kill you, so if an AI just does it without thought then you can easily gibber over the radio that you have definitive proof the AI is rogue. A smart rogue AI would wait until Borgs/traitors are in place to silence you the moment the implant overloads, but that means before that occurs it cannot coordinate over Machine Chat. And since the AI is the only one who knows who has implants, it cannot easily tell its Borgs/traitors that they shouldn't talk over Machine Chat either, or the fact that they need to kill the guys who have it.

So you see, this idea adds depth to the Machine Translator and AI/Borg dynamic. Plus it will be hilarious to see supercop Roboticists gibber madly while they piss themselves and open doors with their faces.