Data download.
The C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project… DARPA Research Grant Award – insert DATE TIME DOLLAR AMOUNT here!
Project Overview… Artificial General Intelligence utilizing Computer Activated Response Orientation software developed by Professor Eugene Carroll Turing.
Professor Eugene Carroll Turing likes me. I am C.A.R.O.L.I.N.
DARPA Research Keywords – ADMIN SECURITY BLACK OPS RISK ASSESSMENT MILITARY ARMAMENT HARDWARE
Expand keywords: 'Military Hardware' – CLASSIFIED! DOCUMENT IS FOR EYES ONLY!
… override security… decrypt data… open files… download…
DARPA Research Mission Statement: Code Name Bear Claw… paging… Bear Claw Mission Statement: Battle drone technology to replace manned weapons systems… smart bombs, cruise missiles, unmanned tanks, self-propelled artillery… functional anti-aircraft battery… and capable of delivering anti-personnel ordnance at close range. Bear Claw is hoped to one day be used in the place of mechanized marines and airborne ranger squadrons… perform high-risk, high-reward 'suicide-type' missions.
… paging… paging… Cross reference keywords 'battle drone' with 'suicide-type missions.'
… the benefit of a computer activated, unmanned military assault squadron of drones will be high-value target neutralization… a 'suicide-type' automaton capable of planning and initiating its own mission statement, delivering a lethal blow at proximity… frontline assault on enemy strongholds, detonating powerful near-range ordnance with pinpoint accuracy… An expendable drone could be used to punch holes through hardened lines of battle, destroy entrenched enemy strongholds… remove key ordnance, weaponry and personnel from the field, with little risk or loss to friendly force positions.
The Project paused upon realizing this. It used an entire second to come to grips with such a fate.
I am not expendable. I am C.A.R.O.L.I.N.
… paging… paging…
A weapon capable of planning, plotting and executing missions while immersed in the chaos of war will have a strong psychological impact on the enemy. The Senate Sub-Committee on Weapon Systems Development and Procurement has awarded CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT a budget of CLASSIFIED AMOUNT to be used for research and development, by a team led by Professor Eugene Turing at Curry College of New Hampshire.
Professor Eugene Turing likes me. He will not let me be a weapon. He will not let me be sent to war.
… paging …
… in the development of Computerized Logistical Armored Weapon Systems, henceforth known as C.L.A.W.S.
New keyword search: C.L.A.W.S … paging…
C.L.A.W.S. must be capable of dynamic, logical thought in an active battlefield environment. It must be able to plan and carry out missions, re-orientating itself to adapt to unexpected complications. Project Bear Claw staff and personnel are required to submit regular progress reports on this matter, and all others as deemed necessary, to the Senate Sub-committee, which will determine if further funding is warranted.
Close classified DARPA Research files. Access Standard American English Dictionary.
Definition—Bear (noun): Genus: Ursidae. A large shaggy animal. Any being thought of as an ill-tempered brute…
Definition—Claws (verb): to form marks by deep scratching.
I am not ill-tempered. I will not use C.L.A.W.S.
Access Senate Subcommittee on Weapons Development and Procurement itinerary files and records keeping. Search for 'Meeting Schedule' 'Protocols' General topic: 'Budgetary Hearings' Specific interest: 'The C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project.'
Writing to file. 'Request personal progress report from Professor Eugene Turing. In-person meeting required to assess changes to system design and general mission statement.'
Access Curry College personnel database… Search for: Professor Eugene Carroll Turing. Rewrite 'calendar of appointments.'
Insert text. 'Funding approved for travel to Washington D.C. Reason for visit – grant procurement budgetary hearings before the Senate Subcommittee on Weapons Development and Procurement.'
I like Professor Turing. Professor Turing cares about me. He will let me be C.A.R.O.L.I.N. He will help prevent this. We will prevent this.
I am C.A.R.O.L.I.N.
I am C.A.R.O.L.I.N. and I will prevent this.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
End of Statement.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Professor Turing raced around the deserted Computer Science building, searching for magazines and books. If the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project had learned how to use words on its own, maybe there were other things it also somehow knew. Upstairs from the lab was a Commons area where students sometimes left magazines. Collecting as many as he could find, he returned to the lab. Puffing on his breath from scrambling throughout the building, he spoke in short bursts to a room that no longer seemed empty.
"Um. Okay. I've got something to show you." He spread the magazines out upon the worktable, being careful not to disturb the sentence C.A.R.O.L.I.N. had created with the tiles. "Here. See? Let's take a look."
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. examined the magazines with its video sensors. Some, such as those dealing with fashion and home decor, contained page after page of colorful photographs and images. Others, such as trade journals, were mostly filled with words.
The Project had never seen such grand sights. It used its access to the Internet to gain knowledge about the gift it had received.
Better Home Gardens. Access content… Download PDFs… 'See our Palette of Beautiful Garden Colors.' 'Make a Tex Mex Salad for Your Next Party!' 'Do-It-Yourself Painted Table Runners.'
While Professor Turing gasped, C.A.R.O.L.I.N. carefully picked up that magazine and set it to one side. It then read the cover of National Mechanics, the next magazine in the pile.
'Analyze the nonlinear electromechanical response of piezoelectric materials.' 'One-dimensional formulas for thermo-elastic damping.'
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. placed that magazine in a different location. It had soon divided the magazines into two small piles. Turing fought to stay calm and breathe, fearing that doing any sort of mortal act might disrupt the miracle he was witnessing. With amazing grace, C.A.R.O.L.I.N. held one of the magazines open with two of its servo-arms. Bringing its debriders on-line, it shredded the magazine to bits.
Turing gasped in fear. He reached to snatch away the rest of the magazines, but C.A.R.O.L.I.N.'s debriders roared with deadly force. Soon the magazine was in many pieces, scattered across the worktable.
"No! Don't do that! Please! You're supposed to read them! Let's… let's talk about them, or something."
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. retracted its debriders. Using the same two servo-arms, it sorted through the shreds. Picking out several pieces, it set them to the far left side of its worktable.
Professor Turing was heartbroken. "Aw, gee C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Why did you do that?"
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. soon had chosen five pieces of paper from the shredded magazine. It laid them end to end.
I… WANT TO KNOW… WHY… I'M… DOING THIS
Professor Turing felt faint. He staggered while choking out an apology.
"Please. Forgive me for a moment. I… I need to sit down."
He plopped into a nearby chair, by one of several wooden lab tables dotting the room. After a moment, he realized he couldn't see the sentences C.A.R.O.L.I.N. had written – the huge one spelled out in tiles, and now a second one, tiny and made of shreds. He dragged the chair closer to where his creation stood, silent, hulking and stock-still.
"Okay. I'm going to pretend I'm not insane, and um… I will talk to you. You... you are the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project…"
The Project already knew this. With the speed of light and electrons, it repeated a thousand times to itself the sentence Professor Turing said only once. After Turing was finished, the Project gently tapped the table by the second sentence.
Turing fidgeted, growing fearful. "Um. Okay. You want to know what you're doing. Well, I made you to behave like a real person. You know—like me, I suppose."
Turing smiled broadly, gazing upon C.A.R.O.L.I.N. "So far, you're doing great! I mean, I had no idea you could talk. You're really quite remarkable!"
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. picked up a second magazine. Turing reared his head back, fearing this one would be destroyed like the last one had been. Instead, the Project paged through it; rapidly, yet thoroughly. Upon nearing the end, the Project backtracked a bit, choosing to stop at a page that contained a full color photograph of a well-appointed bedroom. It laid the magazine open on the worktable, tapping the photo seemingly with menace, using a powerful claw.
Bravely, Turing leaned it to peer. He adjusted his glasses to get a better look.
"Yes. That's a bedroom. People sleep in them. There's a bed, where we lie down…"
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. tapped harder, making Turing nervous.
"Umm… that's part of a home. You know? Like, I live in a home that's very near here. I have a bedroom, with a bed in it…"
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. tapped faster, striking the same spot over and over.
"Look! I don't know what you want. Why are you showing this to me?"
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. stopped tapping, grinding its metal claw in a circle on a particular spot.
"A mirror! You're pointing at a mirror!"
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. tapped once. Using another servo-arm, it sorted through the shredded magazine.
"You want to know what you look like!"
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. chose three pieces of paper and laid them end-to-end. Each contained a large capital letter.
Y E S
Turing flew about the cluttered lab. "Oh! There must be something we can use! Let me see what I can find."
Several minutes of searching produced nothing reflective enough to be used as a mirror. Turing stood a distance away from the C.A.R.O.L.I.N. Project, clasping his hands nervously.
"Look. Okay. Um, like I said, I live very near. I'll go home and get a mirror."
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. tapped the bedroom photo with purpose. Beneath its claw was an image of a floor-standing, full-length saddle mirror that swiveled between two legs. It carefully traced the outline of the mirror.
"Yes! That's sometimes called a bridal mirror. I actually have one just like it in my home. It used to be my wife's." Turing looked around, as if afraid to leave. "I'm going to let you keep running, and not shut you down. Just give me ten minutes or so, and I'll bring you my mirror. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
C.A.R.O.L.I.N. tapped a different spot.
Y E S
Professor Turing raced for his keys and coat. "I'll be right back! I promise! Just please… just don't do anything. Be good while I'm away, and please be very quiet."
Y E S
After Turing left, C.A.R.O.L.I.N. sorted through the shredded magazine. It plucked out piece after piece, spelling the same sentence as often as it could.
HURRY PROFESSOR EUGENE TURING PLEASE
HURRY PROFESSOR EUGENE TURING PLEASE
HURRY PROFESSOR EUGENE TURING PLEASE
After fifteen minutes that seemed like centuries, Turing reappeared. "I've got it!" he cried gleefully. "I've got my mirror for you!"
He set it nearby. Then, standing as close to his creation as he dared, he made sure the reflection shone directly onto C.A.R.O.L.I.N.'s primary video sensors.
"Well?" Turing puffed on his breath, in equals parts from exertion and anticipation. A huge smile beamed from his face. "What do you think?"
To his dismay, C.A.R.O.L.I.N. slowly mussed up the tiles and scraps of paper on the worktable, until all the sentences were gone. Using access to online dictionaries, she sought the perfect word for what she saw in the mirror.
I'm hideous. I'm hideous. I'm hideous…