Two more days at the Lab followed. Exact replicas of my first day, except for the ordeal with the consent forms. Each day I walked in, Kate signed me in, I got to the downstairs space. Then, Ben showed up moments later, did the swab, and then I stayed downstairs playing until it was time to leave. Then, Kate and Ben did the debrief, and I went home, cognizant of not spending even close to the required eight hours in the Lab.
I wonder if they’ll pay me the full amount. I agonized on the way home on Thursday afternoon. It was still light out, and I thought of stopping by the Library in Squirrel Hill to pick up a few books, but then decided against it. I would reread the ‘Count of Monte Cristo’, I decided. It had been a few weeks since I last did so, and I needed my fix.
On Friday morning, like the rest of the week, I got up early and took the scenic route, arriving at the Lab exactly at noon after walking through Schenley park. I knocked, and Kate opened the front door.
“Hi, Rodion!” She said brightly. “Congratulations! You did so well this week.”
“Today will be a little different.” Kate walked to the kitchen, and I followed. After punching in the code, she led me downstairs. There were no beeping machines, just the finger monitor. Ben came in, and I expected the Q-tip swab. The only part of the day that I hated, but he greeted me and observed, as Kate helped me get set up.
“I think you’ll like this game!” Kate announced, then she and Ben walked upstairs, leaving me alone in the Lab.
I turned to the screen on, expecting the already familiar boring Hayden with his planet adventures. The screen flashed twice and my mouth gaped open.
As the pixels popped into place, I realized I was staring at myself. At my own replica, right there. I was looking at myself, the same face, the same dumb look on my face, the same eyes, hair, everything. I pulled back and so did he.
I clicked the mouse, and the figure froze in place. What is going on? I wanted to go get Kate, to ask for an explanation, but forced myself to stay in place. If this was a new game, and I was in it, I needed to understand it.
So I examined the guy. The clothes he was wearing matched mine from my first day at the Lab. Worn jeans and a black t-shirt. They recreated me? I was about to click the mouse again to make the figure move, but then noticed where the pixelated version of me was standing. It was a white desert-like space, with octagonal shapes around him. In the far back there were mountains, light pink with brown outlines. The sky was an intense shade of blue. Where was this guy?
I clicked on the figure again, and this time noticed controls at the top. One of them said ‘detach from original.’
That phrase made my blood curdle. It could only mean one thing. I was the original, and the figure on the screen would ‘detach’ from me. So he was attached to me this whole time? Like a cartoon projection of me, the guy repeated everything I was doing. I stared at the monitors that were hooked up to the screen and noticed that the figure’s cheeks turned red. To match my own flushed face. I let out a scream. The walls of the Lab were soundproof, so I didn’t expect my supervisors to hear it, but immediately Kate ran in.
“Rodion, are you alright?”
“Umm, what’s this?”
“Oh, that’s your double!” Kate said nonchalantly. “We don’t have a name for him yet. We could call him Rodion-2? What do you say?”
At that moment Ben appeared, and, seeing the freaked out expression on my face, ran over.
“We should have warned him.”
“No, the whole point is to introduce the double as a chance encounter. It can’t be pre-planned. It would ruin the experiment.” Kate rattled off.
“It doesn’t make a difference how and why he sees the double the first time. He’s going to interact with it now.”
“Whatever, it’s not a big deal!”
“And on a Friday, too? We should have waited till Monday.”
I was listening to the already familiar bickering of the two of them and was about to tune them out, but then Kate said.
“We need to tell him what’s going on.”
“Go ahead, why don’t you, since you’re making all the decisions around here.” Ben pouted. His freckles almost blended with the color of his cheeks.
“Rodion, listen,” Kate turned to me. “So what you just saw is your digital twin.”
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“My what?”
“It’s your digital double. You see, something we created to match you. This is the actual testing you’ll be doing. You will work with the double.”
“That thing?” I pointed at the screen.
“Yeah, it’s your AI replica. He learns from you, from your actions, memories, hormone levels. He learns and improves every day you’re here.”
“So this thing on the screen is Artificial Intelligence?” I gulped. I didn’t like the idea of AI taking over my body.
“Well, kind of.” Kate turned to Ben as if for support, but Ben stood there, arms crossed, clearly with no desire to speak.
“You’re our very first digital twin tester!” Kate flashed a smile. Her voice was perky now. “You’ll help us improve this technology.”
“What about the game? The planets?”
“Oh, that was just to get all your data. The game was not important.”
“Not important?” My mouth gaped open at the realization that what I’d taken as my job and performed to the best of my ability was not important. “So, will I get paid for the three days?” I actually said that.
“Of course!” Kate raised her eyebrows.
“Kate, you’re freaking the kid out.” Ben shook his head. I took offense at the ‘kid’, but said nothing.
“He’s not freaked out!” Kate parried and turned to me. “Are you?” Her brow furrowed, and she took on a look full of concern.
“No.” I lied.
“But Kate, just tell him everything then.”
“Listen, I give up. You tell him then. I’m just gonna sit here and listen.” Kate threw her clipboard on the table and plopped down on a chair next to mine.
“Absolutely. I will do just that.” Ben rolled a chair towards me. “So, Rodion.” He cleared his throat. “What Kate was saying is correct.”
“Umm, thank you!” Kate noted, her tone full of sarcasm.
“Basically, over in this lab, we’re trying to test this idea of a digital twin. It’s like this double, a replica of you that will do things for you. To test human abilities. We won’t tell you exactly what it will test, but it has to do with physical abilities.” He stopped speaking and stared at me, expecting a reaction. I nodded slowly, showing understanding, though I was far from it.
Encouraged, Ben continued. “So, basically, this guy,” he pointed to the screen, “your digital double, will be doing stuff and then we’ll see how it plays out. And then this information will feed back to you and we’ll see how you react to it.”
“So, why do you need me?” I asked after a pause.
“Oh. We definitely need you. You’re the original. The digital twin can’t operate without you.” Ben said. “For now.”
“For now? Like is that not the case in the future?”
“In the future, we expect the digital twins to be completely independent. But that’s years from now. And it will depend on how our research here goes. For the time being, we’re just testing out various things.”
“So, like are we all gonna get these things? The twins?”
“Of course not.” Ben let out a laugh. “No, no, the digital twins are just for cutting edge things, like space exploration, or, maybe, testing cars. We don’t expect everyone in the world to have a digital twin.”
“So like crash test dummies?”
“No, no, not that kind of testing. More like testing self-driving cars and how humans would behave in them. Or, for example, if we go to Mars.”
“Mars?” My eyes widened at this. “The planet?”
“Yes, actual Mars.” Ben nodded. “Going to Mars is going to happen soon!” A dreamy smile appeared on Ben’s face.
“So, is the guy, umm, my twin, you know? Was he like, supposed to be on Mars?”
“Actually, yes!” Kate stepped in. She rolled towards us, her face bright with excitement. “That was supposed to be the terrain of Mars.”
“Wait, so my digital double is going to Mars?”
“Eventually, yes.”
“So we’re testing space exploration? Isn’t that kinda like the Blade Runner?” I immediately pictured Rachael and Harrison Ford, his concerned face, checking for replicants. Was I also going to be out there doing the same thing? Would my digital double be a replicant, then?
“Ha. Good question. I never thought of it that way.” Kate scratched her head.
“No, it’s not like that. Listen, Rodion, I think we’re just overcomplicating this whole situation,” Ben said and rubbed the back of his neck. “So from now on, your goal is to work with your digital twin. Things will progress and getting more and more complex as the test advances. Okay?”
“Okay.” I nodded.
“Also, do you have a name for him? Since you guys will be spending so much time together, maybe you wanna call him something?”
“The twin?” I opened my eyes wide. My life had come full circle. I got to choose a new name for myself all over again.
“Yes, the twin.” Ben looked at me expectantly.
“Ryder.” I said without hesitation. “Like the truck.”
“How adorable!” Kate’s face lit up. “I love it. Ryder and Rodion.”
“Good. So let me show you the system and what to do. Kate and I actually programmed the whole thing.” Ben said and for the first time smiled at Kate. She nodded.
I didn’t know what was worse, having the two of them work together or argue. Now that both of them were showing me the system, they spoke over each other, clicking and moving the mouse back and forth, so that I completely lost track of what was being said. I was in a state of utter confusion and tried to sit back and pay attention. This seemed to take forever, though I know it couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes, because by the time they finished and I checked the clock, it was only 1:30pm.
“So, welcome to the first day of your real testing!” Ben said finally. Kate nodded. “By the way, on Fridays, we finish early and you’re probably going to stay a bit later, since it’s your first day with your digital twin. With Ryder, I mean.”
“Okay.” I nodded eagerly. I was happy to stay at the Lab for the full eight hours, since that in my mind meant job security and ensured I’d receive full payment.
“So how would I know I was done?” I asked, remembering how the game I played with Hayden kicked me out after several hours.
“So, it’s actually not so clear with the digital twin. But we’ll have you clock out at eight exactly. How does that sound?” Kate furrowed her brow, ignoring the questioning look on Ben’s face.
“Alright, that’s cool.” I said.
“Just remember, Ben and I won’t be there. We’ll see you back here on Monday at noon. Alright?”
“Alright.” I nodded and the two of them turned around and left.
And so I was back in the windowless space, clicking away. Except now I wasn’t alone. I was with Ryder.