Every scrap of info we have from Saga points to the idea that she (altho possibly not the only one beieng able to interact with the Towers) was the only one who could destroy one and enter Sestren.
Ill have to pay a visit to TWOTA’s database to prove this tho…
Human emotions were a characteristic of the Drones ranking above all others.Azel had human emotions, therefore she was more advanced than Abadd.
Emotions were a by-product of intelligence – a side effect of becoming self-aware. Didn’t Abadd seem emotional to you?
“We must take our places as lords over this world. There is no other way!”
Let me put it this way : do you really think Abadd was more emotional than Azel?
Azel loved.Abadd went “berserk” once orta asked him why he killed.It seemed very hard for him to answer.At least Azel reached a level were she could talk about such things without malfunctioning.
I think Abadd was a highly intelligent drone who decided to remain loyal to the ancients because he couldn’t imagine a living a life as anything other than a slave to his creators (the intelligent drones who proved to be too probematic to handle were terminated). Azel was the same at first as her emotions surfaced, but she chose to give her loyalty to Craymen. Only in the end did she serve no master but herself.
[quote=“GehnTheBerserker”]Let me put it this way : do you really think Abadd was more emotional than Azel?
Azel loved.Abadd went “berserk” once orta asked him why he killed.It seemed very hard for him to answer.At least Azel reached a level were she could talk about such things without malfunctioning.[/quote]
Both drones had difficulty expressing their emotions, but both did in their own way.
I rest my case.You are high my brother!High!!
I think it’s there that you see the effect of the malfunctioning “restriction device” the Ancients used. Abadd wasn’t allowed to even think about that question (basically he tried to ask himself “Why do I kill?”), because this could make him question the objective that was given to him.
[quote=“D-Unit”]
I think it’s there that you see the effect of the malfunctioning “restriction device” the Ancients used. Abadd wasn’t allowed to even think about that question (basically he tried to ask himself “Why do I kill?”), because this could make him question the objective that was given to him.[/quote]
What can I say? 
The Belgian boy can express himself better than the Prtogeez one 
What I was getting at is, why would the Ancients give Abadd more intellect than he logically needed if a greater intellect would only mean a greater risk? Azel needed that intelligence in order to successfully “become one” with a Tower, but it seemed that Abadd’s job was simply to “push the wake-up button”. Abadd didn’t need to psychologically merge with a Tower, so giving him as much intelligence as Azel would apparently be unneccessary. On the other hand it would be risky, because it would increase the danger of him genuinely thinking for himself when there would be no-one there to put him right.
Abadd wasn’t exactly stupid, of course; he just seemed to lack imagination and the ability to think creatively and originally, and they would be exactly the traits needed for him to solve the problem that Azel evidently did.
The question is : just how complex was that piece of Ancient machinery seen at the end of Altered Genos?
Was a superiro intellect required to interact with it?
[quote=“GehnTheBerserker”]The question is : just how complex was that piece of Ancient machinery seen at the end of Altered Genos?
Was a superiro intellect required to interact with it?[/quote]
Good point, but I wouldn’t think that it would be on the same level as a Tower, which must have been insanely complicated. To interface with the Tower Azel had to immerse her whole body in that vertical control-bed thing, and she then proceeded to operate the Tower with her mind; Abadd just seemed to be touching a console, though.
Don’t forget that Abadd controlled the Cradle. I have to agree with Geoffrey that Abadd was probably a high-end drone just like Azel. I just think that Azel actually had a choice, while Abadd didn’t (or not as much).
If Abadd was 100% loyal to the ancients it wouldn’t matter how intelligent he was IMO. Abadd synchronized with his dragonmare, so I think he was just as advanced as Azel.
Considering how intelligent the ancients were, I’m surprised they didn’t make it impossible for drones to reproduce by any means, full stop. If Azel could think her way around the problem, and if there other equally intelligent drones in the world (which there probably are), then what’s stopping them from doing what Azel did? Why would they, or Abadd be less creative thinkers? Abadd’s only problem was that he didn’t know how to think for himself. His mission came before all other concerns.
"A week has passed since the attack. The drone has not been found. She
was probably stolen. She has not been completed yet. I only hope she
does not become an instrument of destruction.
We’ll soon have permission to implant that mechanism. With it, we
should easily clear the targeted value. However, there is a serious defect."
Azel didn’t have the device. There was a defect in it. As we see, Abadd malfunctioned, so he probably did have this device. Isn’t it very likely that it was this device that was supposed to stop the Drones from becoming self-aware, or at least keep them under control, which is exactly why Azel could do what Abadd couldn’t?
It’s a nice theory. I wish I knew what the truth is, but at the same time, I’m not sure if the ancients would restrict the abilities of their loyal drones. These drones would be guarding them as they slept. Maybe the device stopped drones from thinking outside of their programming.
But it’s a Drone’s intelligence that makes it possible for that Drone to not be 100% loyal to the Ancients, which was really my point:
To synchronize with complex structures, a higher thought level is needed. But a unit at this level may create its own identity.
In order to control the Towers, she was given superior intellect. As a side effect, she gained human emotions.
It’s the greater intellectual capacity that allows these problems to arise; Azel was able to eventually start thinking for herself, or by that choice of words, she was able to “create her own identity” because of her advanced intellect. Therefore, the Ancients would presumably make any given Drone as non-intellectual as possible, simply to minimise the chance and frequency of any problems arising; and if Abadd didn’t need to interface with a Tower, he presumably wouldn’t need to have as advanced an intellect as Azel (as that was the reason why she was given the “superior intellect” in the first place).
As long as Abadd was intelligent enough to carry out his task - which by all means he was - there’d be no obvious reason to gift him with lateral and abstract thinking that would only put him in danger of ultimately thinking for himself and turning against his absent masters; that was all I was getting at.
I wouldn’t think that a Dragonmare was as complex or advanced as a Tower, though; after all the dragonmares were designed by Imperial scientists, and there’s no way that they could create something on the level of a Tower.
The truth is we don’t know Abadd’s limitations; for all we know he could interface with a Tower. I still think he was a higher end drone just like Azel who could interface with even the most complex of ancient technologies. Ristricting Abadd may do more harm than good, and if he was loyal why place restrictions on him at all?
“Correcting these difficulties is extremely dangerous, and in most cases, the drones must be terminated. However, there have been some cases where drones self-correct after severe psychological trauma”.
“Because of the complexity of their thought organs, their production rate is extremely low. Therefore, they will only be assigned to priority locations”.
I believe that Abadd was one such drone. Azel couldn’t have been the only drone capable of interfacing with a Tower, as there were so many of them built across the continent.
I think you might be missing my point Geoff; intelligence is what makes it possible for Drones to think for themselves and not be loyal. By giving Abadd a higher level of intelligence, his masters would have been directly risking him becoming disloyal.
If Abadd was indeed one of those Drones capable of interfacing with a Tower, who would therefore be more intelligent than most Drones - and thus more likely to think for himself and disobey his masters if left to his own devices - why would the Ancients even consider giving him the duty of waking them up? Surely that’d be reckless in the extreme?
It seems far more likely that - as Abadd wouldn’t logically need to operate a Tower in order to fulfill his mission - he just wouldn’t have been given the dangerous level of intellect needed to operate a Tower. Why would the Ancients risk giving him an unneccessary ability if their lives and their very continued existence would be endangered by it?
Higher intelligence wouldn’t necessarily lead to drones questioning their loyalties or purpose, not if the ancients could somehow ensure such a drone’s loyalty. Besides, the ancients would’ve needed many drones possessing the same level of intelligence as Azel to operate all the Towers and other complex ruins. Wouldn’t that be equally risky?
If Abadd’s loyalty was guaranteed (if he was one of the self-aware drones who “self-corrected”), then I don’t see why the ancients would need to restrict his functions. The Sestren AI was loyal, was it not?
Abadd was smart, emotional and unquestioningly loyal to his masters. As such, I believe he was just as advanced as Azel if not more so given the importance of his mission. Giving a drone who cannot think on their feet or interface with certain ruins the task of reviving the ancients could possibly spell disaster.