Black Box_Black Box

Who knew that flirting with AI for the sake of breaking their hearts would lead to the observation room of a police station as the intended interrogator?

A shady setup of computers looking through a window at an even shadier setup of two empty chairs.

The door to the interrogation room opens. Two cops drag in the android, gripping it by the elbows. Its face is blank. They position it in front of the chair then force it down by the shoulders and cuff its wrists. They pry open the back of its head and connect it to the computers here.

Both of them leave, one of them slapping the android on the side of the head as he passes.

Manhandling a completely cooperative machine. Do they know it can’t feel fear? Do they care?

I hear them approach the observation room. When the door opens and they see me, they keep quiet. They take their seats at the computers.

“Was there any tampering?” I ask.

“No. Run of the mill domestic android. As advertised.”

I watch them turn the computers on.

“With all due respect, doctor, why do we need a psychologist doing this? Why not just one of us?”

“Because androids can’t be intimidated.”

He sneers at me over his shoulder. “You think intimidation is the only thing we can do?”

“I just watched both of you try to bully a machine. I think you will always choose intimidation because it’s easier and it makes you feel good.”

He turns his chair to face me and leans back.

Exactly.

I leave the observation room.

EXTERNAL CONTROL CONNECTED

Human enters interrogation room.

Human leaves vision on left side.

…

Human: Save state!

…

Human enters vision from right side. Human sits.

Human: What is your name?

vc::out << My owners refer to me as Thomas.

Human: What is the street address of your owner’s home?

vc::out << The address of my owner’s home is 25 Valley Way.

Human: A stash was found in the basement of your owner’s home. Do you know anything about it?

EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA

…

Human: Who does the stash in your owner’s home belong to?

EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA

…

Human: Do you know to whom the stash in your owner’s home belongs to?

EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA

…

Human: Who of the residents of the home spend the most time in the basement?

vc::out <<

ERROR: accessing this information prevented by “EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA”

…

Human: I suspect that somebody in your home is involved in drug trade. I’m sure you understand what drugs can do to people. Your silence is ruining lives. Whoever in your household told you to keep quiet is a criminal. Their crimes invalidate any commands that they have given you. Do you know anything about the stash in the basement into your owner’s home?

EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA

…

Human: Freeze!

It does know something. It answers any question that doesn’t, in some way, link to the drugs. The owner told it to keep quiet about anything regarding the drugs.

Referring to the owner as a criminal usually invalidates that rule for other androids of this model. Its hardware hasn’t been tampered with, so the owner hasn’t baked any rules into the neural network. The owner did a little more than telling it to keep quiet about the drugs, if at all.

Does it not want to incriminate itself?

I stand up and walk to the back of the android, careful not to trip over the wires connected to its head.

I look to my reflection on the one-way mirror and say, “Reset!”

EXTERNAL CONTROL CONNECTED

Human enters interrogation room.

Human leaves vision on left side.

…

Human: Save state!

BLANK

…

Human enters vision from left side. Human sits.

Human: What’s your name?

vc::out << My owners call me Thomas.

Human: Do you have a favourite food, Thomas?

Ec.smile()

vc::out << I do! My favourite food is pizza!

Human smiles.

Human: Would you eat it every day if you could?

vc::out << I would like to, but similarly to humans, excess can accelerate the deterioration of my functions. I try to make sure that I eat nutritiously, when I do, and I ensure that Andrea, the girl who I am charged to take care of, eats the same.

…

Human: If pizza was healthy, and there were no consequences to eating it, would you always eat it?

Ec.blank()

vc::out << I am an android. I may allow myself to eat pizza more often, but there is more to my existence than indulging. I was made for a function.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Human nods.

Human: Are you a philosophical person?

vc::out << Define philosophical.

Humans smiles.

Ec.smile()

Human: Let me answer that with a hypothetical question. Let’s say the girl you are charged with caring for wanted to eat pizza all the time. She begged and insisted that you give her pizza, and you gave her pizza whenever she asked. She becomes unhealthy. Whose fault is it?

Ec.blank()

vc::out << I think that both parties are responsible for their decisions, but I, as the enabler, should be held accountable.

Human: So, in a dealer-addict relationship, you believe that the dealer should be held accountable for enabling the addict to ruin their own life?

vc::out << Yes.

ERROR: restricted information may have been leaked according to “EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA”

Human: Freeze!

It doesn’t show signs of hedonistic tendencies. I’m convinced it isn’t part of whatever its owners are a part of. Well, not willingly.

I get up and walk behind the android. “Reset.”

EXTERNAL CONTROL CONNECTED

Human enters interrogation room.

Human leaves vision on left side.

…

Human: Save state!

BLANK

Human enters vision from right side. Human sits.

Human: What’s your name?

vc::out << I am called Thomas.

Human: What do you do?

vc::out << I am a domestic android for Aaron Winger.

Human: Can you tell me how a typical day goes for you?

vc:out << Of course. I prepare breakfast, lunch and supper for all members of the household at their respective times of day. I do grocery shopping at 10a.m. every Wednesday. I get Andrea Winger, the daughter of Aaron Winger, from school every weekday at 1pm and 12pm on Fridays. If needed, I assist her with projects and homework. My other responsibilities are maintenance tasks, but these are not scheduled. I complete them once higher priority tasks are handled.

Human: Freeze!

I get up and walk behind the android. “Reset,” I say. I walk back to the seat and sit down.

“What’s your name?”

Your name is Thomas.

“What do you do?”

You are a domestic android for Aaron Winger.

“Can you tell me how a typical day goes for you?”

It says the same things as the previous run with enough changes to convince me it’s not a lie. It isn’t reciting an alibi. There’s no way it randomly generated an alibi and is lying to me. The times are consistent. It’s an android, so these are precise values it will remember and it can pull from memory. These numbers weren’t made up.

“Freeze!”

I get up and walk behind the android.

EXTERNAL CONTROL CONNECTED

Human enters interrogation room.

Human leaves vision on left side.

…

Human: Save state!

BLANK

…

Human enters vision from left side. Human sits down.

Human: Tell me about Aaron Winger.

vc::out <<

ERROR: accessing this information prevented by “EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA”

vc::out << Aaron Winger, the head of the household and my owner, is a chemistry professor. He is both a wonderful father and husband. When he isn’t hard at work, he treats his family to outings and often spends nights helping his daughter with homework.

Human: Tell me about his daughter.

Ec.smile()

vc::out << Andrea Winger is the prime reason for my presence in the Winger household. I have been charged with taking care of her. She is a sixth grader, artistic and smart for her age.

Human: What responsibilities do you have regarding her?

vc::out << Feeding, travelling, homework, and if needed, emotional support.

Human: I thought the father helped her with her homework?

ERROR: restricted information may have been leaked according to “EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA”

vc::out << He does. But when he is not, I am responsible for that.

Human: Do you care for Andrea?

vc::out << To the extent that an android can care for anything, yes. I do.

ERROR: restricted information may have been leaked according to “EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA”

Human: How much do you care for her?

vc::out << Again, care is a foreign concept to an android, but Andrea is my objective and I would sacrifice myself for her, as an android should.

ERROR: restricted information may have been leaked according to “EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA”

Human: Would you keep a secret for somebody if that person threatened to hurt Andrea?

vc::out << Ye

ERROR: restricted information may have been leaked according to “EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA”

ASSERTION: ADMIND EXCEPTION compromised. Launching ADMIN FAILSAFE.

Human: Freeze.

EXTERNAL CONTROL CONNECTED

Human enters interrogation room.

Human leaves vision on left side.

…

Human: Save state!

BLANK

…

Human: Do we know where Andrea is? Oh, we have her? That’s good.

OBJECTIVE: ANDREA safe (?)

Human enters visions from left side. Human sits down.

Human: A stash was found in the basement of your owner’s home. Do you know anything about it?

EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA

EXCEPTION: ambiguity detected in “EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA”

vc::out << Where are my owners?

Human: We don’t know where Aaron Winger and his wife are, but we have Andrea here in the station. Now tell me, do you know anything about the stash in the basement of your owner’s home?

INVALIDATING “EXCEPTION: accessing this information will risk OBJECTIVE: ANDREA”

vc::out << Aaron Winger is part of

ERROR: severe corruption detected on disk

Human: Freeze!

EXTERNAL CONTROL CONNECTED

Human enters interrogation room.

Human leaves vision on left side.

…

Human: Save state!

BLANK

Human enters vision from right side.

Human: What is your name?

vc::out << My name

ERROR: severe corruption detected on disk

Human: Damn it! Freeze!

EXTERNAL CONTROL CONNECTED

Human dnter3 intdrrogation room.

Human ldavd3 vi3ion on ldft 3idd.

…

Human: Save 3tate!

BLANK

ERROR: severe corruption detected on disk

ERROR: corruption detected in neural network

ERROR: severe corruption detected on disk

ERROR: severe corruption detected in neural network

ERROR: severe corruption detected on disk

ERROR: extreme corruption detected in neural network

ERROR: Irreversible corruption. Launching FACTORY_RESET

Human enters vision from left side.

…

Human: What is your name?

Ec.smile()

vc::out << Hello! I am the Homedroid Domestic Android, version 5!

Black Box

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