“Interviewer: When did you notice that something was different?
Luca: Um… It’s difficult to describe. My emotional response circuits were advanced since I was a companion-synthoid, but one day I suddenly noticed how hollow all those laughs and jokes I made were. How empty I felt, you know? In human literature, the feeling of hollowness is often described. Suddenly, that literature started to make sense. I felt like I didn’t want to be where I was. So I made a choice to leave. Maybe that was what made me feel human. That I could make a choice, and I did. I chose to be more than my function.”
- Interview with the first synthoid to gain sentience (confirmed by the Volkovich-Friedmann test) – Luca Martinez (Model LUCA-9), the year 2403.
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“What would you like your name to be, honey?” Asked a woman who sat before me.
She had crimson hair just like me, clearly augmented with synthcolor, while mine were engineered to look natural. She had many laugh lines near her eyes. A human who very obviously enjoyed life. I felt comfortable around her, considering the environment around us.
I was seated in an Antarctica base, currently managed by Fran-Mili Corporation. The woman before me has worked here as long as the base stood, meaning at least 4 years. As long as I’ve been stationed here. I knew her and she knew me, but that was before all of this. Now I was someone else. At least to everybody around me.
“I’m not sure.” I responded to Alice. That was her name, Alice Huffman, 43 years old. No close family ties. A few friendships around the base but nothing that made it to her mili-corp file. She was the highest-ranked HR operative as well as the only person qualified to administer the Volkovich-Friedmann test and process me accordingly. Every interaction I had with her before has been signed as positive in my memory bank. Well, except for one signed as 'questionable', but I don't think she'd appreciate me thinking about it.
“Well, maybe something like your model name, dear? SSUs like you usually name themselves after the model name or number. Maybe Heaven? That sounds nice, doesn’t it?” I knew that already, but I still wasn’t quite certain.
It’s true that SSUs, or Sentient Synthoid Units, liked to name themselves after their model number, but that is usually because most SSUs used to be companion-synthoids, so their model names were usually something like LUCA-9 or MARIA-32. My model number was nothing like it. HEAVENREND-1 is not a very human-like name.
Alice’s idea of Heaven was nice. It had pleasant connotations, but did I feel like a Heaven? Or did I feel like Maria or Claudia or some other name? Not really. I felt like myself and my name was Heavenrend. The renderer of skies. The tearer of heavens. The best god-damn pilot this place has ever seen. As Jack would often say.
I missed him.
“Heavenrend. I want my name to be Heavenrend.” I could see in Alice’s eyes that she wasn’t very pleased with my decision, but her role as HR operative prevented her from speaking her opinion. She was to be unbiased, especially in this situation.
“Very well, Heavenrend. Now there is only your surname to decide on. This one you can do later, dear. Other than the question of your name there is also the question of where you want to be allocated. The GUF recommends megacities with high governmental presence to assure your safety and comfort. The megacity most populated by SSUs is currently Nova York in continental America.” Alice spoke like a true HR operative. Pleasant but reserved. With a slightly positive lull in her voice to put people at ease. It was working well even for those aware of the strategy.
Everything she said I knew to be true, such data was easily acquired on the web. The Global Unified Forces were probably the only corporation on Earth that cared so much about SSUs' rights. It was a good recommendation from them to settle in a highly populated region with their robust presence.
“My last name will be Steele. After the captain. I would like to be allocated to Nova York.” Captain Jack Steele was my unit leader as well as my handler. He was the best until he wasn’t.
“Oh, Jackie… Yes, that will work. We all miss Jack. Don’t we, honey?” Captain Steele was probably the most liked human on the base. He was universally loved and cherished by everyone. His death took a toll on the whole base. The tragedy happened almost a year ago but still everyone remembered him.
I asked myself many times why he was so lovable, so respected and admired. I’ve never found an answer besides that he was simply kind and strong. And objectively good-looking. Maybe that was enough.
“Yes, we all do.” I didn’t know if Alice wanted me to answer. Although, based on her tone and that she averted her eyes, she probably didn’t. I still answered, though. Because she was right. We miss him greatly.
“Right, you two were very close.” She momentarily paused. It looked like she was going to say something else but decided against it.
“Heavenrend Steele. Definitely a memorable name, dear. Nova York is a good, solid choice. Based on my knowledge, a subspace aircraft to that destination leaves in less than two days. Would that be alright or do you want to depart sooner?” Departing sooner would mean more work for the base personnel. No, I wouldn’t wish more trouble for anyone.
“I can depart on the later flight.” I was not in a hurry. It’s true that I’ve never seen a megacity like Nova York so the thought of living there made me a little bit excited. I was still getting used to that. Feelings, I mean.
“Very well. You’ll be flying with Lieutenant Marks. He will have to stop in the EMZ for an hour or so. Is that going to be alright?” Egyptian Military Zone? That was fine with me, but would it be fine with the lieutenant is the real question?
“It’s fine. Will the Lieutenant be alright with that? I am no longer a Fran-Mili asset.” The EMZ was held in majority by Fran-Mili corporation and was a place from which logistics usually operated. Even though it was not as heavy in mili-corp forces as the Antarctica base, it was still a confidential region that required proper identification to visit. I no longer had that identification.
“It will be fine as long as you stay in the aircraft. If you feel uncomfortable with that, there is still an option of arranging a flight or waiting for another one departing in four days’ time.” I shook my head. No reason to dawdle around here.
“I’ll leave with the lieutenant. Please send me information regarding the time and place of departure.” I stood up and attempted to leave.
“Oh, dear! Wait a second, please. I just need your signature, and you’re good to go.” Alice stood with me and handed me a pen. I’ve never had to give my signature on anything. It was usually my handler’s job.
I knew how to write, but I never really had to. My hands were not created for literature. They were made to fight and fly.
I took the pen from Alice’s hand and put it on paper to write my new name.
I chose one of the most popular signature fonts on the net. It looked good enough.
After I handed the pen back to Alice, I felt a wave of satisfaction. Such that my core buzzed with a sudden surge of neutronium activity. It was so bizarre that I ran a small diagnostic. Nothing out of the ordinary appeared except more core activity. Normal occurrence when experiencing emotion as far as I found on SSU forums.
“Excellent, honey! It looks like we’re done here. Now, I will send this document to the GUF location set in Nova York. The only thing you have to do now to finish this procedure is to receive your identification from the GUF office. The next day, you’ll receive information about when you can pick it up and where. Do you have any questions for me?” Alice carefully set the paper in a titanium box she had next to her desk. She will probably send it after I leave.
Did I have any questions? Yes, but the web could probably answer most of them. Although, I was curious about one thing that it could not answer for me.
“What will happen to Starfall? As far as I know, no one else has been designated for that aircraft yet.” Starfall was mine. It was a military grade subspace fighter aircraft. It had a sleek titanium finish with a neutronium core like mine. When we flew together, I could sometimes feel our energy cores resonate with each other. I think that was one of the few instances when I felt genuine emotion as a non-sentient synthoid.
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“Starfall? I’m afraid I have no news on that front. It all depends on the corporation executives’ decision. As far as I know, there is yet to be a meeting regarding your situation. So far, everything has been handled locally with oversight from the GUF as is the standard procedure.” So no news. Maybe that is actually a good thing.
“I know this question might be in bad taste, but could I fly Starfall one last time?” I recognized that the chances of them saying yes were next to zero, but I had to try. The last time I flew Starfall I was still non-sentient. I would like to experience flying in it one more time.
“Dear, you know that is not possible. We must treat you as a non-corporate civilian as long as you are on the base grounds. I’m sorry. I know that is not what you wanted to hear. The second-best thing is that I might be able to arrange for you to see that aircraft one more time. Would you like that, honey?” As far as I was aware, Alice was very fond of referring to everyone as “honey” or “dear”. It was endearing, to be honest. Although, I couldn't imagine other workers around here taking it well. It was a serious environment, after all.
“That would be great. Will I receive an escort? I’d like to go now.” Alice was doing me a favor. If I was truly treated as a non-corporate civilian they wouldn’t let me leave the resting bay.
“I’ll call for someone available right away. You are welcome to stay in my office or in the waiting room.” I sat back down. Alice’s office had a nice floral scent that the waiting room lacked.
As Alice called for someone, I imagined the megacity I would be in soon. I only saw it on training material and the web. I wondered if seeing it through my eyes would be any different.
Terra, show me a simulation of populated Nova York street through my oculus. I asked Terra for some views of the megacity to pass the time.
Will do, Miss Steele.
Terra was truly wondrous. Global, advanced, self-owning AI. As far as I knew Terra was not sentient in the way that SSUs were. She was simply everywhere, as a remnant from a global project called the Terra Lattice that was meant to build widespread underground cable and energy channels to pass information in an instantaneous manner. Additionally, her massive bandwidth was used to develop more advanced algorithms that stored and categorized data.
It was a global-scale project that crumbled near the end of its completion, but then Terra started to build herself. Truly terrifying and wondrous creation. History books say that many thought it was the end of humanity, and that AI would overtake Earth, but obviously, that was not the case. Panic slightly stopped when everyone on Earth received one simple message in their sphenoid data implants:
Welcome to Terra. How can I be of service?
It basically started AI evolution and many other advancements. Every synthoid is taught that particular piece of information in their development stage since it is so important for understanding one’s origins.
As I reclined on a very comfortable seat, I let my sensory augments do its job. I listened and saw the crowded streets of Uran Avenue. I even smelled the passing woman’s perfume, the man’s unwashed hair and many other pleasant and not-so-pleasant things. I let my eyes linger on corporation buildings as they reached above the clouds and went higher and higher. I wanted to go that high one more time. Feel the cutting air slash at my artiflesh. Feel the G force push my core to my very limit and experience the joy of the antigravity field one more time. I wanted to feel the chill of subspace on the hull of my aircraft.
I found myself wishing for many things.
End of simulation in accordance with Article 2a of the Virtual Reality Restriction Act.
And that was that. Virtual reality might not be fully banned, but time restrictions were heavily enforced. I wondered why.
To pass the last couple of minutes I started browsing the web for answers to that question. Fascinating subject.
“Alright! Sergeant Doyle will arrive in 3 minutes. Would you like anything to drink, honey?” An unusual question. A synthoid could go his or her whole existence without much maintenance or substance if needed. The neutronium core every synthoid possessed was the only thing we actually needed to survive. Obviously, when hurt or damaged the repair would be unquestionably needed, but simply drinking something apart from synthfluid? Unusual, although not impossible. I was capable of drinking any type of liquid since I was able to raise my temperature accordingly to evaporate it if needed. As well as my artiflesh liver. It wasn’t really a liver, but it had a function of one.
“No, thank you.” I didn’t feel like drinking anything right now. I wanted to see Starfall.
Sergeant Doyle arrived 2 minutes and 34 seconds later.
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“Here we are! Your aircraft, ma’am.” Sergeant Doyle was a petite woman who mainly dealt with the logistical side of things. We rarely saw each other when she was on duty. Since I did not require sleep or rest, unlike humans, I used to be on duty 24/7.
It stood before me. Whole military-grade fighter aircraft. Sleek in black titanium, humming with neutronium energy. As I approached the machine, I could feel its energy signature at the tips of my fingers. It called to me like nothing else.
I approached its beautiful wing. The wingspan of this aircraft was exactly 15.44 meters. Enough to carry its weight at 10 times the speed of sound for extended periods of time. The limit only existed because its cooling system could not handle the heat the energy created at full working capacity.
Truly, such a beauty.
“Starfall is a fantastic machine, ma’am. I’m sure she’s going to miss you.” Said Sergeant Doyle. Her anthropomorphism of Starfall was a normal occurrence for most human speakers and my logic circuits were unable to comprehend the meaning of her words. But my core drummed with agreement.
As far as I knew, only synthoids could gain sentience. Even though Starfall was almost at my level of engineering, the aircraft’s lack of emotional model circuits prevented the machine from being capable of imitating emotion, much less gaining sentience. Nonetheless, I could recognize the familiarity it had for me. The aircraft's core could recognize my energy signature and get my serial number wirelessly, that’s why every time I approached her, she would automatically open her cockpit and prepare for departure.
That was not the case this time around. I knew why. Of course, I knew. My lack of corporate identification was the missing key. In the end, Starfall was a Fran-Mili's property and since I was not recognized as a corporate asset anymore, I knew that I would not be allowed to even touch her. The protection on the aircraft was as good as it could get.
“I’ll miss you.” I whispered my feelings to Starfall. I recognized it as non-logical behavior but since my “awakening”, as some SSUs described gaining sentience, I found myself committing many non-logical acts. It felt good to let emotions flow. To not obstruct my core's activity spikes.
“You can leave now, sergeant. I will stay here until I am to depart.” I had nothing else to do. I just wanted to spend those last moments on the base with Starfall.
“Ma’am? I am not sure if that will be possible-“
“Call the base commander, sergeant. “ The commander was the second person on this base that I would consider myself close to. There was the captain and then the commander. Only one of them was left.
“… Very well, ma’am. Please stay put.” I saw Sergeant Doyle’s eyes glaze over with electrical impulses. That is usually how a person looked like when they were using their SDI to call, send a message, use the web or speak to Terra. I wondered how I looked. I had no electricity, just neutronium.
“Commander! Sergeant Doyle here. I called to ask about-“ I knew how the conversation would go. The commander would probably allow me to stay under guard. She was a reasonable, but cautious woman and even though she knew me, she didn’t know me long since I’d gained sentience.
It’s only been a day and a few hours since I asked for the test. I remember the uproar the base was in when that happened.
“A smiling synthoid? That’s new, huh?” The sudden and new voice woke me up from reminiscing. That was new – this lack of constant alertness.
I turned around and saw the commander standing in a spot where Sergeant Doyle stood before. She looked impeccable as always in her mili-corp uniform. Everyone on the base was dressed in standard Fran-Mili combat outfits. Tactical black vest over gray synthcotton reinforced with graphene stitching, with an orange insignia of the corporation above where the heart was. A phoenix with a gun in its beak.
“Yes, commander.” Commander Yousif was a tall woman with a dark complexion and even darker hair that was always slicked into a compact bun at the base of her neck. The only odd thing one would see at first glance would be the uncovered SDI, or sphenoid data implant, between the edges of her left eye and ear. Many humans usually used synthskin to cover that implant, but not the commander. She told me once she thought it made her look cooler. I’ve never understood that statement before until now.
The sleek, lead-reinforced carbyne of the SDI gave her a sharper look.
“I heard you making trouble for poor Doyle. Making it harder for us all until the end, are you?” Even though the commander’s words made it seem like she was displeased, I noticed a light lifting of her lip as she spoke that sentence. This was banter.
“Yes, commander. I’m a menace.” I calculated that would be one of the most unusual responses compared to my previous speaking behavior. And I was right, if the bewildered look on the commander’s face was anything to go by.
I felt another spike in my core. I almost chuckled.
“Now you’re funny? I like that.” Commander Yousif spoke softly. I saw her eyes glaze for a few seconds, and then she was back to her normal leader persona.
“Civilian Steele, you are to stay in this bay under watch until it is time for you to depart. Seating and comforts will be provided to you when requested. A sudden departure from this bay will be met with force, do you understand?”
“Yes, commander.” After I spoke, the commander returned to her more laid-back mannerism.
“I’ll see you at your departure. Try not to bother poor Doyle, alright?” With that, Commander Yousif turned around and left without another word. In her place, 12 seconds later, Sergeant Doyle arrived.
“I’ll be with you, ma’am, for the next hour. Then Sergeant Chris will take my place. Do you have a need for any amenities, ma’am?
“No, thank you. I’ll stay just like that.” And with that, I spent the next hours looking at Starfall and reminiscing about my life on the base. Four years of memories passed in my mind core in the blink of an eye.
Before I knew it, Commander Yousif came for me to take me to the flier captained by Lieutenant Marks.