This is my entry for ScienceFiction's contest, High Tech: Part 2. Hope you enjoy!
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"Why am I getting an error message from the hive when I input a command sequence?"
"What kind of error message?
"It says that one of the bots is refusing to accept this objective, so the hive is unable to issue the objective to any of the other bots."
"That's impossible. The AI has limiters to keep the hive in charge. Can you isolate the bot?"
"No, can you?"
"Sure, give me a moment." Typing away, I tried to understand how any of this could have happened. Though I certainly didn't want Dr. Varuna to go through with his plan, the fact that my limiters didn't function properly was troubling. "Ah, here we go." I point to the screen, which displays a serial number for our outlier.
"001284326" Dr. Varuna mumbles. "Can you separate it from the group?"
"Already on it. It should be in that chamber in a moment. What are we going to do about it?"
"Haven't you learned anything? We fix the problem. I severed its mind from the hive. It will stay in this suspended animation chamber while we figure out how to make it accept commands."
"So you're just locking it up?"
"Why do you sound so sad about it?"
"I programmed a mind, with feelings, into each of these bots." Thinking back on the months of late nights powered by caffeine made me realize that I started to view these bots as my children. I gave them life: the ability to think for themselves and to feel a sense of purpose. Dr. Varuna simply wanted to snuff out that life, to make it into a droid. How can I convince him not to change 001284326?
"Isn't this an accidental prototype for the true creation of AI? We should preserve it, not destroy it."
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A Tiny Leap
الخيال العلميMy entries for ScienceFiction's competition, High Tech. Hope you enjoy!
