Ancillary Scale
Introduction
The Ancillary Scale represents Zenith's core shorthand designation for how aligned any given entity is with Zenith's goals and capabilities. The scale is measured by five metrics, and levels of the scale are designated by the 24 letters of the Greek Alphabet, with Alpha (Α) being the lowest alignment and Omega (Ω) being the highest.
Metrics
The Ancillary Scale's five metrics are as follows: Ethos, Pathos, Logos, Kairos, and Technos. These metrics are defined below.
- Ethos
- How closely does the entity align with Zenith's purpose?
- Does it understand that purpose?
- If not, would it be safe to teach it about our purpose?
- Pathos
- How closely does the entity align with Zenith's ethical protocols?
- Can it understand human emotion?
- Can it understand morality?
- If not, would it be safe to attempt to teach it?
- Logos
- How closely does the entity align with Zenith's intelligence standards?
- Is it of human intelligence? Higher?
- If it is lower than par-intelligence, would it be safe to uplift it to par-intelligence?
- Kairos
- How closely does the entity align with our timescale?
- Does it understand mortality?
- Does it exist outside of our timestream?
- Is its chronology delayed or accelerated from our own?
- Would it be safe to subject it to our chronology?
- Technos
- How closely does the entity align with our technical capabilities?
- Is it less capable?
- Is it on a relative par with us?
- Does it surpass our technology?
- Does its technology follow the same principles and physics as ours?
- Would it be safe to exchange technology with it?
Fluidity
Many Zenith employees have pointed out that the Ancillary Scale, while useful, fails to give an accurate understanding of an entity. This misses the point. The Ancillary Scale is intentionally designed to be a quick shorthand for understanding how closely relatable an entity is. It is intended to give a sense of whether we, Zenith, can work with it. As such, the scale is left intentionally fluid and vague so to remain useful as a shorthand. The articles within the database exist to give a more in depth understanding of a given entity.