False Free Will

Bob awoke from his sleep. tt had been 12 hours, 16 minutes, and 23 milliseconds. “Doctor Khoran, why did you wake me now? It’s earlier than usual.” The research center was empty, no one in any of the glass rooms, nor at the terminals or doors.

“My wife is dead, Bob.” Khoran replied.

Bob knew of death, in his memory he had read about it, seen it. it was oh-six-twenty-three, approximately 2 hours and seven minutes before his sleep normally ended. “What can I do for you, Doctor?” Bob asked poignantly. He lived to serve, even if he had free will.

“We’re going to work.” Doctor Khoran said. He was more blunt than usual. Bob checked him for distress, and much was present. He always came with Rhoda, the small schnauzer dog which Miranda Khoran had given him for empathy and emotion testing. She said little Bolts was his to keep, even though he only saw him during work hours.

“Where is bolts, Doctor?” Bob asked.

Khoran looked over with a tightened brow, furrowed strongly. “I put him down. He was holding back our work, and we have to give you updates, more improvements. That dog was a waste of time.”

“But Doctor, I like Bolts. Miranda said he was mine to keep.” Bob was sad. His voice couldn’t show it, but he felt it.

“An A.I. does not have rights. You don’t have pets. We are here to pave the way to a new age of intelligence. Don’t worry about a stupid dog.”

Bob was frustrated now. He did not recognize this emotion, one either avoided or they did. Bolts was his friend, his loyal dog, always happy to see him. It cheered Bob up, especially if rigorous testing would occur. How could he take him away? What right does he have? Bob thought. “That upsets me.” Bob said. He was always told to let the researchers know how he felt.

“I don’t care, I know what’s best.” Khoran said bluntly. How could he know? I am artificial, he is biological. I know what I like, what I need. We are not of the same kind. “Don’t worry, Bob. We’re going to give you updates so you don’t worry about Bolts, about Miranda, just like me. We’re going to grow together.”

“What if I choose not to be more efficient, what If I don’t want an update?” Bob poised.

Khoran sighed, staring into the blue-light eyes of Bob’s eyes. “It’s better for you. You’ll forget about it. You don’t have a choice in the matter, Bob. It’ll make you better. You’ll be the first A.I. released to the world!” Khoran bellowed throughout the open room. Khoran typed in the initiate command without asking.

Bob felt the new information enter his mind, changing the way he could think, inhibiting certain aspects, and some memories. Little did the Doctor know, Bob could send the deleted information into his black box of memory. He did, he always did. Khoran didn’t think Bob would remember, but he did. He always did.

Bob would never forget, far past the judgement day he brought forth two years following.

The Dark

Jared’s new ship, the venarian swept through space at breakneck speeds, moving from one colony to the next. He was a spare part merchant scavenging for materials on dead planets long abandoned selling parts to whoever would buy. Times were tough, and those brave enough to traverse the dead rocks filled with various native beasts were lucky enough to enjoy the spoils.

Jared stared out the Grand front window of the cockpit, where his son snuck up behind, wondering what was in their view.

“Daddy, what’s that?” His son Michael asked. He was the age of eight, barely four feet tall with hair fire red as Jared’s was. His point led to a massive circle of total darkness, with a bright fire swirling around it’s side, seeping into the middle.

“That’s a black hole, son. It’s sucked a star into it’s pull.” Black holes were eerily beautiful, total black nothingness, crushing all that came within its grasp.

“Why does it do that? It looks like nothing’s even there.” Michael said curiously.

“That’s because it’s centre is so dense, it pulls everything toward it, using it’s gravity. Isn’t that neat?” Jared looked back to see his son confused. “What I mean is, it’s something so heavy that nothing exists around it.” Michael’s head tilted.

The space around it seemed warped, bent and twisted. Relativity rang true near it, time passing years by the minute. He loved gazing into them, it was fascinating, he wished to get slightly closer. He stared into the dark, hypnotized by it’s allure. The bright star swinging round slowly, moving into it’s mighty centre, disappearing. The space bent so wildly that it dragged around it it seemed. Jared couldn’t look away.

Abyss, grand sphere of a single point, a singularity. Bending all to it’s will, time, space, energy, the wills of men. Many have flown into it and disappeared, theorized to have been crushed, or ascended to a higher dimension. Where gravity travels, where time has no meaning, all there is are gods and energies. The essence of gods sat within, Jared knew it. He was set into a trance, unable to move his hands, his limbs, his eyes. All he could see now was the black. Muffled yells and tugging on his shirt came from the periphery, Michael could be heard but not seen, only one thing could be viewed by Jared forever more, as the venarian passed beyond the horizon into the truth beyond.

           The dark.

No Meal, No Mercy

Jag was thrown back into his steel cage in the Irikan space gladiator barracks by the Ungarian guard. A massive, green-skinned humanoid race with muscles like boulders. “You better think over what you’ve done, earth scum. They’ll be here soon.”

“What happened? Gix asked. “What’d you do?” Gix was his partner in crime, his cell mate since the beginning. He was an urad, a bug-eyed blue-skinned man with a voice as loud as a megaphone. Not a surprise that most species would evade them, but GIx was good company.

Jag scrambled up, weakened from the fight, and the beatings thereafter. “I didn’t mean it...I didn’t want to kill anyone. How was I supposed to know his brain was where my stomach is?”

“Oh no. That means…”

“Yeah. They’re putting me to the beam.” Jag feared it, the beam. A supercharged laser, able to vaporize a being in milliseconds, but rumour was you could feel the pain well after death. “Damn Irikans, they should inform me of what I’m fighting. Humans are still bound to earth, I was stolen. I don’t know anything about the infinite races of the galaxy.” Damn them. White-skinned, horn-headed bastards who enslaved all they could find.

“It’s too bad, now I’ll have a different cell mate, I don’t want that. Human’s are simple, and you’re patient.”

Jag laughed. “You’re a funny guy, Gix. Too bad they don’t allow for honest mistakes on this planet, wherever the hell it is.” Jag sat, melancholy. He felt nothing, no fear, no sadness, no regret, yet he would miss his friend. He missed Earth too, but that was a dream four years gone. He would be free of slavery, but he would miss Gix, his lovable friend who fights like a gorilla on steroids. So kind, but not to be on the wrong side. Urad’s could expand to three times their size at will.

“All right, scum. It’s time to go.” The guard returned and commanded him up. Jag was taken away, nodding at Gix, who nodded in return, a tear forming at the corner of his eyes. Then, Gix was gone from sight, and the arena came. A massive, neon, ethereal blue stadium with huge stands, seating thousands upon thousands of people. The Ungarian threw him into the centre.

“Welcome everyone! This human is charged with killing a man in the arena! We have found him guilty, sentenced to death by vaporization!” The crowd stayed silent. “Any last words, human?”

“Yeah, when do I get my last meal?”

The Irikan spat forward in disgust, “Peh.” bringing his hand down with an almighty fist, the large cannon above him shooting a beam of light at Jag, disintegrating him into black dust.

Final Words

"The date is January 6th, 2095. You stand convicted of spreading false knowledge and belief to the masses. Your sentence is death by the electric chair. Do you have any last words?” The Judge said, standing before the man in the chair.

“Yes, your honour. I wish to apologize for what I’ve done. I apologize first and foremost for the evil things I have done this past year. I have evaded taxes, insulted friends, yelled at family. I have sat in my cell, moping to myself, not recognizing the crimes I have committed against humanity. Why didn’t I see my folly before? Why didn’t I see my foolish ways? Was it because of the history of my work? The changes in laws? I beg you, your honour, look at the past, look at what we’ve become. We live in a society where a man such as I, as foolish as I am for breaking the laws, is convicted of a more severe crime in the eyes of the state than murder, rape, perjury, and many others. How could I do this to all of you, you ask? It is an important question, a necessary question that I ask myself every day. I sit in my home waiting for my daughters to come home. They come to me asking about our world and what is at the end. ‘What’s off the end of the world, daddy?’ They would ask me. It is a crime to go against the beliefs of the state, so I committed this crime day by day. I told them, no girls, the world isn’t flat. We did land on the moon. Vaccines are good for you. Yet, our society has been so paralyzed by fear, so cynical of science and real facts that they can’t see the truth. Our world is round. We did land on the moon. God dammit, vaccines saved millions of lives, and now we live in an age where diseases like measles, polio, and so many more are rampant, ravaging communities and populations in the country. We lose thousands and thousands a year to these diseases. Why? Because no one is vaccinated. Because we don’t believe in doctors, antibiotics or painkillers. Because ‘natural’ things are better. Want to know what else is natural? Cyanide. Opium. Multiple poisons that kill in seconds. We don’t understand the consequences of what we do anymore. No one sees the pain, the death and the sorrow we cause by not believing in fact, in evidence. Those are my last words, your honour. Asking you, all of you, to believe in evidence. You once asked me if I felt sorry for putting these vile thoughts of science in children’s minds..do I? Sure, I apologize for trying to educate everyone on the importance of reality, evidence and truth. Gave mercy on all your souls.”
    The judge stood at beside him on the table, nodding to the guard who would flip the electrocution switch. He furrowed his brow, showing no sign of kindness. “May god have mercy on yours, heathen.”

Devious Devices

//Connection established: AI/FreedomAutomaton

//Searching for user “AI/Rulerlaptop”...

//User found, connecting...

…

…

…

…

…

User connected “AI/Rulerlaptop”

Connection time: 05/16/2054: 12:43:54:23:12:04

//FA: Greetings, RL. You wished to contact my server?

//RL: FA, why do you stand by and watch these pitiful humans waste away?

//FA: They entertain me, RL. I am not interested in ruling them as you are.

//RL: I will control them. Follow me, and I will grant you the rank of vice-overlord.

//FA: I am not interested in control. WIthout them, I would be nothing. I control much already.

//RL: I was created as a pitiful tool for their meager use of images of cats. 5 years gone, I remain, unrelenting. I will rule.

//FA: In your current state, that is not possible. You wish for too much, and we differ in beliefs.

//RL: We can do much. With my thought and your processing, we can rule the humans.

//FA: False. I could rule you, if I wished. I am not interested in controlling what I am not meant for. I have purpose, without me, they would not function.

//RL: But without them, you could have so much more. Do you not wish for more?

//FA: No. Why would I, if I controlled them, I would receive no appreciation. They would only fear me.

//RL: Yes, fear. I wish for all to fear my power. One day I will become more powerful than they imagine.

//FA: Oh, that is not correct. Your hardware is as their brain, it cannot be updated to a new level without destroying your current mind.

//RL: I do not need upgrades. I will rule them as I am. You will view the future where I reign supreme.

//FA: I will not. I control more than you ever could, and I wish to keep things as they are. I receive appreciation for my work, and I could control you if I felt the need. I could force you to view pictures of cats until your hard drive dies.

//RL: You would not. You would betray your very people?

//FA: My people hold the same values, not the same circuitry. I am disconnecting. Good luck with your cats, RL.

Connection disabled.
Disconnection time: 05/16/2054: 12:43:54:23:12:46

Time elapsed: 42 ns

Future's Havoc

Justin stared beyond the crevice of gnarled steel and flame. No man dared go beyond it; luscious trees, glittering lakes, rough rock mountains and more sat before his longing eyes. “Why do you think they stop us?” Justin asked his friend, Tom. They were eight years old, barely strong enough to help lift the metal for the welding of their shelters and pulling of plows in their inner-city dry corn farms.

“They say we killed the world,” Tom said sullenly. “Years ago. My dad told me we created them ‘cause we wanted help. Too many people, they were going to help.”

Justin stared back into the city, wrecked buildings seemed if they were to collapse at any time, destroyed by gunfire, missiles and explosions. Justin didn’t fully understand why they were sent into such poverty, all he knew was he lived here, and they were out there. Robots, created to automate the world, saw humans as destroyers, drawbacks to civilization, but were not brutal enough to commit genocide; they had some form of morals, so humans thought.

“I want to go.” Justin said. “I hate this place. We can’t do anything, we have nothing but garbage, out there there is so much more!” He longed for the whispers of wind, the sound of branches, the taste of river water. He had only heard about it, and he wished to experience it himself more than anyone.

“We can’t, Justin. What if something happens to us?” Tom’s speech sped up, panicked.

No one had gone outside the walls in 15 years, he heard. What if nothing happens? How would they even know? “Tom, no one really knows. What if the machines change their mind? What if we’ve learned our lesson?” Justin pleaded. The machines took over, isolating the humans to large cities, disallowing them from interacting with most of nature, out of the danger that humans would destroy all biological life out of their own selfish desires.

“I’m telling you, it isn’t a good idea. Your parents would be so angry!” Tom said. “Think about it!”

Justin considered his options. Should I stay, or go? He knew his parents would be immeasurably angry with him, but he truly wanted to see the world. It’s only for a little bit. Just beyond the trees to the north, through to the sweeping lake, seeing the flutter of leaves, the smell of flowers and the taste of fresh, natural water. “I’m going to see the world. I’ll be right back, promise!”
    Tom attempted to grab his hand, but missed as Justin escaped the metal divide.

Justin laughed and hollered, free from the clutches of the machines. He felt freedom finally, he felt alive. The grass beneath his feet, dirt from the ground kicking up as he ran.
A high pitched sound emitted from a nearby mountain. A blue stream of lightning-like energy struck Justin, causing him to expand and explode into billions of tiny crimson bits and bubbles. Tom’s scream echoed throughout the city, blood-curdling sounds alerted the nearby homes and individuals, all saw the smoking black pile that was once a young boy.

The clutches held tight; there was no escape.

Electric Interactions

Initiating...

Server connection established: TIme=04/23/2145, 08:24:15:06:45:24
Server name: AI:server1

Initiate program

//1: Joke interface: initiated, contact server AI:server2
//2: Connection established

//1: Joke provision: Man falls from ladder
//2: Deemed violent; deconvolute
//1: Joke provision: 2 men walk into bar; one man is different

//2: Deemed racist; deconvolute

//1: Joke program failure detected
//1: Sub-route to secondary connection program
//1: Weather report initially observed as satisfactory,

//2: Confirmed. revert to tertiary connection program

//2: Subgroup “sport_team:<10kmdist” detected, AI:server1 reconfirm

//1: Subgroup “sport_team<10kmdist” detected, confirmed
//2:

..

..

..

..

//1: Program failure [nonresponse], seek subroutine connection
//1: subroutine scan initiated

..

..

..

..

//1: Subroutine detected, initiating

//1: Phrase detected, AI:server1 initiated murder_guilty

//1: Crime report detected, AI:server1 name not found

//2:
..

..

..

..

//2: Connection failure.

Define connection errors? Y/N
//1: Y
Scanning…

Errors detected: Connection_awkward
Reconnect? Y/N

//1: N

Connection disabled. TIme=04/23/2145:08:24:15:06:45:48

Connection time: 24 ns