Press conferences reminded Phineas of the ocean. There was always an outburst of chatter and a barrage of questions whenever the governmental spokesman finished a remark, spaced by silence to hear his responses. Reporters sounded like waves breaking and then receding, building up power for the next surf.
“What about the rest of the survivors?” was the question that pierced through the wall of sound.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have devoted all available units to search for survivors, but now that the first 48 hours have elapsed, we just can't keep all our men here. Hurricane Veronica has caused serious damage in the capital, and the wildfires are still ravaging the East Coast. Every life is precious, but we must allocate our resources to where they're most needed.”
More chatter. Phineas had to give points to the admiral for maintaining his calm and composure. He couldn’t hear any anxiety or tension in the spokesman’s voice, only confidence. He wondered whether he could keep his facial expression neutral, though.
“What is being done about the insufficient number of responders?”
“We've already received permission from the president to summon all reserves, and we’re deploying all available units of the National Guard and the Army.”
“Is it true that despite all the domestic disasters we're facing, we're still sending more troops overseas?”
“Let me assure you that our manpower allocation has the nation's best interests at heart. How do you explain the rising number of catastrophes?”
“What is being done to get to the bottom of why this is happening?”
“Our best minds are working around the clock on this, ladies and gentlemen. We're confident this unlucky streak is almost over. Autumn is starting soon. Wildfires will lose strength, and this unnaturally long tornado season will end too.”
“Yeah, right,” spat Phineas as he heard the spokesman lying through his teeth.
“After the night comes the dawn, and dawn is upon us. Soon, we should get some much-needed quiet to rebuild and mourn all our losses. Things will get better, folks.”
“No, they won't,” he heard from the back seat.
Phineas lowered the volume on his car's radio while glancing at the rearview mirror. The remark had come from the large silver sphere which barely fit inside his car.
“Maybe they will,” Phineas said. He wasn’t sure if he addressed the words to Daisy, himself, or the people on the radio who couldn’t hear him. “Are you positive that your predictions are accurate?” Phineas asked his passenger as he took his exit. He was close.
“Sir, this is the 32nd time you've asked me this. I can only give you the same reply I've given you the first 31 times.”
“Do you think they will accept?”
“They have no other choice, sir.”
It was a snowy night, even though it was the middle of the summer. Phineas thought it was the appropriate weather for making a proposal to the council. A summer blizzard was yet another argument in his favor.
As he coasted near the security gate, one of the soldiers came, machine gun in hand, and signaled him to roll down the dark, tinted windows.
“Phineas Cotton,” the soldier exclaimed before Phineas could say his name.
Phineas wasn’t sure if he was surprised to see him in the flesh or to see him driving. Most tycoons had drivers and rode helicopters. He often got this reaction whenever he went around driving his van.
“Do you need to see my security pass?”
“No, sir, no need. They're expecting you. Please. You can just follow this road, park underground, and take the elevator.”
“I know the way.”
The soldier frowned at the large sphere inside the car. “What is that?”
“Just some new tech I’ve been working on.”
“Right. Right. By the way, big fan of your work, sir.” Turning toward his colleagues, he shouted. “Open the gate!”
Phineas was happy that the guard hadn’t demanded to check Daisy’s proxy. Time was of the essence.
Phineas followed the lamp posts that illuminated the cold night and entered the underground parking, leaving the car in the spot saved for visitors. He left the car and opened the trunk of the van. “You can come out,” he invited.
Daisy's engines turned on, and she hovered out of the car. They walked together toward the elevator, and Phineas pushed the button. Luckily, the elevator was already on their floor, so the doors instantly opened.
He turned toward Daisy. “Did you do that?”
“What?”
“The elevator. Did you hack it?”
“You told me not to hack government facilities unless it was strictly necessary.”
That wasn’t a no. “Let’s go, Daisy. It’s time for the world to meet you.”
*
Unlike the metal double doors behind them or the naked, plain hallways that had led them here, the council meeting room had some vestiges of finesse in it. The room was paneled in fragrant cedar wood, and lavishly expensive masterpieces could be seen on the walls.
Phineas sat with several world leaders at the end of the exquisite round table. Some were present in the flesh, but others only in a bluish hologram form. Phineas allowed himself a smile, seeing that they were using his technology before he even released it to the public. His guess was right, they did have spies in his company.
Phineas could see the world leaders' true forms without the smoke and mirrors of makeup, AI filters, or well-rested intermediaries. They looked tired and spent, wishing they had been leaders just one term earlier. The last few months hadn't been easy on anyone. The world was burning, choking, and bursting at its seams faster than the world leaders could patch it.
“Mr. Phineas,” began the chairwoman heading the council today, “thank you for coming here today. You’re one of the brightest of our time, and this council is interested in what you have to say.”
Even though his nostrils flared and his fists tightened, he forced himself to maintain a diplomatic smile. Despite the chairwoman’s kind opening remarks, he had had to pull every string and call in every favor to be here tonight. Seeing the curious glances thrown toward the hovering orb next to him, Phineas knew they were more interested in his company than his apocalyptic warnings. They would probably have stolen this technology, too, had he not taken extra precautions.
“Greetings, chairwoman. Members of the council. I want to introduce you to my colleague. This is Daisy. She's the first sentient AI in history.”
Phineas’ eyes swept the room, looking for the more outstanding reactions. The president of France had let out a gasp, and the president of Germany raised her eyebrow ever so slightly. The chairwoman didn’t hide the jealousy on her face.
“You know that this council prohibited the creation of sentient AIs, yes?”
“You've made that abundantly clear in the past,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Are you admitting to the crime of creating sentient artificial intelligence? Is that what this is about? A guilty conscience?” asked the chairwoman.
“I'm not here to confess to any crime. I simply achieved what you have all tried to do in secret,” he spoke clearly, staring the chairwoman down. Talented politicians as they all were, they didn’t reveal any signs that his accusation was true. He wasn’t here to start a war, though. He was here to bring peace. “Please just listen to what Daisy has to say.”
“Greetings, human leaders, my name is Daisy.” Daisy’s voice was gentle and confident, unrecognizable from a real human’s. “Phineas Cotton has created me to assess humanity’s condition and predict your future. According to my calculations, humanity will undergo extinction in 14 years.”
The world leaders exchanged looks. Phineas knew their science advisors had probably given them a more optimistic number.
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“14 years? Are you sure?”
“Yes, the Atlantic current has already stopped, and the ozone layer is about to reach a state of irrecoverable deterioration. All humans and animals will die in 14 years.”
Silence flooded the room. “Cockroaches might survive,” she added after some thought.
“Is this supposed to scare us?” asked the holographic representation of the Japanese prime minister. “You’re just talking numbers. Why should we disregard our scientists and give credit to your toy, Mr. Cotton?”
Phones began ringing all at the same time.
“I’m sorry, gentlemen, I have to take this,” said the chairwoman, standing up from the table and going into a corner.
All the others were standing up, mumbling similar excuses, and picking up their phones.
“What did you say?!” he heard the chairwoman exclaim.
Even though Phineas was fluent in some of the languages around him, decoding all the whispers simultaneously was too much for him. He didn’t need to understand their words to ascertain what the call might be about, though. He didn’t miss the impressed looks thrown at Daisy.
“Daisy…” sighed Phineas, did you have to do that?
“I’m just giving them proof, sir. Thank you for bringing me here, by the way. I now have access to everything.”
Phineas took a deep breath. He hoped he had done the right thing. One by one, each world leader returned to the table, some of them flushed red, others pale white. The last to sit down was the chairwoman. She slumped into the armchair with a defeated look.
“Daisy, I have no doubt that you really have a powerful intellect. I imagine,” she said, as she studied her colleagues, “that all of my colleagues are also certain of this. Therefore, assuming we give you the credit Mr. Cotton has and believe your prediction, is there anything to be done about this?”
“Yes, Mrs. Secretary. There is. We have about two months before we hit the point of no return. Unless we enact a radical change until then, you will all perish.”
“What would that radical change involve?” the chairwoman probed.
“Surrender control to me.”
“Surrender control?” asked the secretary general of the UN. “Are you talking about giving you full control of humanity?”
“We can no longer afford humanity to be separated by countries, creeds, and race. You all need to present a united front. And that doesn't come unless I have absolute authority over human affairs.”
“And what made you think we would agree to hand you over this much power?” the Chinese president demanded.
“Well, it's only out of politeness that you’re being asked. As you can see from the earlier demonstration, I can commandeer not only your military network but also all of your civil infrastructure. I've been programmed to save the planet, which I will do with or without your consent.”
“And what safeguards do we have that you won’t turn against humanity, Daisy?”
Phineas stepped in here, “She can’t harm humans. I've embedded this restriction not only in her code but also in her hardware. She can't attack us in any way.”
“And how can we be sure that you won't favor Mr. Phineas or his nation?” asked one of the world leaders.
“That brings me to the second rule I've programmed into her: To treat all humans equally.”
“Just because you say these things doesn’t make them so,” spoke the German chancellor.
The phones started ringing again, silencing the squabbling leaders. No one answered their phones this time, and they kept their eyes glued on the floating silver orb.
“If you did control human affairs, what would you do, Daisy?” asked the holographic representation of the prime minister of India.
“Step one: Remove human leadership. All government institutions will be controlled by me.”
“The level of computing power required to do so is just mind-boggling,” protested the British prime minister. “Is this something that you can even do?”
“Yes,” answered Daisy without hesitation. “The second most powerful computer to myself is the National Mission DX, a secret prototype belonging to the German government. I can assure you that I am to it what it is to a calculator machine.”
The German chancellor’s phone started ringing, drawing curious looks from his colleagues. He discreetly picked up the phone and dropped it on the table shortly after. “She’s right,” he confirmed.
“Step two,” continued Daisy, confident that no one would question her computing power anymore, “Disarm humanity.”
“But you can’t-”
“Step three,” she continued nonchalantly, “Fossil fuels and other technologies will be banned immediately.”
“This is not a change that can happen overnight,” protested the chairwoman.
“Of course it can. It just comes at a high cost. The benefits outweigh the costs in this case. Finally, we have to separate humanity.”
“Separate humanity? Didn't you just say you can't have us divided by creeds or nations?”
“To use an analogy you can understand, Earth is like a ship. If all humans can go where they want within the ship, it can tilt. I can't afford to have that many variables. I need to compartmentalize your species.”
A barrage of questions came from the many leaders. The chairwoman silenced them and asked the most urgent one. “How much time do we have to decide?”
“I’m not offering you a decision. I’m offering you the only solution.”
Everyone’s phones started ringing again. Phineas knew that Daisy would have to take control of humanity forcefully, but seeing this wrestling match between his creation and the leaders of his species was hard to watch. He hoped he had done the right thing.
*
After the Turnover, guilt plagued Phineas’ conscience. It wasn’t that he doubted his decision or lacked faith in Daisy’s logical rulership. No. The problem was he had decided the fate of 13 billion people for them. What right did he have to play God?
The thought pattern was familiar to Phineas, and he took the mental pathways he knew would assuage his troubled mind. He focused on the park around him. It was a beautiful day. Flowers of different colors bloomed, and the sun shone brilliantly.
In under a year, Daisy stabilized Earth’s weather patterns. The planet was showing its incredible power to regenerate and heal, and with the abuse of mankind brought to a halt, the results were undeniable. Daisy was the pacemaker that had brought rhythm to the planet’s heartbeat.
He turned his attention to the people crowding the park today. Children laughed and played on the nearby playground and with each other: no screens, no video games, just play and laughter. Nexus, his company, had had a huge video game division. It was incredible that these children looked happier playing with sticks and mud than they had looked back then playing convoluted state-of-the-art video games. Their laughter permeated the air and gave the park a festive feeling.
The nearby parents laughed at their children's antics or engaged other parents in conversation. Since Daisy had banned television and advanced electronics, people had rediscovered the joy of conversing with each other. Before the Turnover, people had always looked tired and depressed, but now they looked happy and full of life. Was it because they didn’t need to bear the weight of the bad news of the entire globe? Or was it because talking was good for the soul?
He turned toward the benches around the small lake in the park and smiled, seeing several teenagers holding books and reading. After Daisy eradicated the human concept of money, libraries became the new malls. He had heard a passerby say earlier that the library would open on weekends to accommodate all this new interest in reading. Museums, science centers, and schools had all made similar announcements lately.
A couple passed by Phineas and politely greeted him. “Good morning, Mr. Cotton.”
“Hey, there, folks. Beautiful morning, huh?”
“Yes, sir.”
They kept walking—no request for autographs or a selfie. Before the Turnover, sitting at a park like this was unthinkable. However, after the compartmentalization, and with TVs, Internet, and media gone, the celebrity fever that had destroyed his personal life had worn off. He had gone back to being just another man on the street.
Daisy’s drastic measures had been met with fierce resistance, but the positive outcomes were irrefutable. Yes, he had been out of his depth when he’d created Daisy, but how bad could his decision be when the results were this incredible? He held on to the thought, and slowly, his guilt and remorse were brought under control.
He closed his eyes and felt the sunlight warm his skin. He took in the scent of grass and green, letting it soothe him.
“Greetings, citizens of sector 9T.”
Everyone stopped, looking up at the massive hologram that occupied the sky. Phineas, too, opened his eyes and studied the projection of the female figure. Daisy had chosen a mother figure for all of her announcements. She was always dressed in white, blue, or green, peaceful colors, and always kept a diplomatic smile.
He took a moment to appreciate how the hologram seemed even more lifelike since the last announcement. On top of managing humanity, Daisy still had enough computing power to keep improving technology at an incredible rate. No matter how hard he tried, Phineas still hadn’t figured out how she had walled the sectors.
“Good news. Over the last trimester, we managed to cool the Earth by 1.2 degrees. Natural disasters have also declined by 32.3%.”
Phineas studied the faces of people around him. Even though he spotted a few scowls and sneers, most reacted positively to these announcements and the several positive statistics that Daisy presented as proof she was doing a good job. This positive information usually preceded a huge announcement. Phineas wondered what Daisy had prepared for today.
“We have an announcement to make to humanity: from now on, the conception of human life is banned.”
Phineas jolted upright. What had she just said?
“Humans will no longer be able to breed in an unregulated manner. From now on, a new drug of my design called ‘Birth Hormone’ will be available in the distribution centers.”
Several discontented voices were starting to be heard among Phineas.
“A virtual event will be held yearly to determine how much of this drug each sector can have. A random human aged 14 or above will be selected from each sector and serve as a sample. Sectors with better results will be entitled to an allotment of this drug. The first event will be held in one month.”
Even though the hologram disappeared, people were screaming at the sky, protesting. The green utopia he had used to soothe his soul collapsed, and with it, Phineas’ heart. Phineas felt as if a hammer had hit him and broken him into a million little pieces.
He stumbled off, heading home. His thoughts raced as he tried to make sense of the announcement. Why? Why had Daisy done such a thing? How did this serve her programming? He had made her so that she couldn’t attack humanity! Why this? She also had to treat everyone fairly. What problem was she even trying to tackle?
Phineas stopped, and his eyes widened. He was feeling dizzy, and the vision in the corner of his eyes was starting to blur. How hadn’t he seen this? Overpopulation. Daisy was addressing human overpopulation. She wasn’t attacking humanity or harming anyone. She was simply preventing humans from reproducing. That wasn’t necessarily against her programming.
She was also holding an event to assess each sector. She wasn’t being unfair, either. Phineas stumbled his way to a nearby bush and vomited.
“Sir, are you OK?” a nearby young man came to his rescue. “Oh my goodness, you’re white as a sheet. I need help! Any doctors?”
The increasing number of voices around Phineas felt distant. His mind was too busy going down the rabbit hole that Daisy had just dug up. How hadn’t he seen this? When she first talked about compartmentalization, he should have realized the problem and stopped her.
She was taking a scientific approach to the problem. She had isolated sectors of humanity and was promoting competition between them so that a refined version of humanity could appear somewhere. She was replicating nature’s laws of natural selection.
“Isn’t this Phineas Cotton? The owner of Nexus Co.?”
“Let’s take him to the hospital. Mr. Cotton! Can you hear us?”
He had created Daisy to fix the planet. To her purely logical mind, humanity was the problem. He had created an antivirus, and they were the virus. He told Daisy she couldn’t kill people, so she had found a logical way around the limitations he had programmed into her. She would just make the faulty sectors of humanity stop reproducing and promote better strains.
He felt the tears fall down his cheeks, and he curled into a ball. “What have I done? What have I done?”