Not even sparing the AI a glance, Mac stared at the hearth, letting the flames play with the shadows at his feet for a moment before responding, “How many times?”
Surprised by the lackluster reaction, Ollie found itself at a loss for words. Sure, it hadn’t hidden anything from Mac, but there were things it hadn’t told him; some because it would only do him harm to know. Even so, it would’ve expected anger or outrage from the man after realizing the implications of its answer.
Going to take another sip of its whiskey, the AI had its hand halfway to its mouth before realizing that it no longer had a glass in its hand. Pausing awkwardly, it dropped its hand to its lap and crossed its legs in a power pose. It took a breath, solely for the esthetics of the gesture, then clasped its hands in its lap and gave Mac a hard look.
“I’ll answer your question, as well as what I’m sure is your next one, but, first, I need to know that you know something. You might find it difficult to accept if you haven’t already been read in.”
Mac looked over at the AI skeptically, “More difficult to accept than memory loss, or being one of a hundred victims of a terrorist attack, or being in a vegetative state while stuck in a video game?”
“Quite.” Ollie responded in affirmation.
Mac frowned. He clearly didn’t believe what he was hearing, but, if it meant him and Taylor waking up, what choice did he have but to listen? Not wanting to sit back down on the bloody imitation of his favorite childhood sofa, Mac simply cradled his drink and remained where he stood, motioning with his drink hand for Ollie to start talking.
Nodding, Ollie jumped right into it, "To answer your question, we've only spoken two other times since the incident."
Mac opened his mouth to speak at this, but Ollie held up a hand, "Are you going to let me speak, or are you going to waste time pointlessly flapping your gums?"
Anger passed through Mac's eyes, but he closed his partly open jaw and clenched his drink a bit tighter in his hand.
"The reason you don't remember anything is because the connection between your primary consciousness and your unconscious, or what we call your will, was too unstable," Ollie continued, somewhat condescendingly, "How much do you know about how AI are created?"
The fire crackled in the silence following the question, Mac simply staring at Ollie in a mix of disbelief and pettiness before snorting rhetorically, "Oh, am I allowed to speak now?"
Turning to completely face the AI, Mac took a long pull from his drink, finishing it. He placed his glass on the mantle beside him and sized up Ollie, letting the buzz from the accumulated “alcohol” do its thing.
Everything he had seen and heard since waking up was a departure from everything he knew about computers and how the brain operated. According to Ollie, he was in a vegetative state, which meant, logically, he shouldn’t even be awake or alert right now. To be fair, he was inside a computer, so not exactly awake and alert, but that was the bigger issue. How could he be inside a computer at all?
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Dismissing the concept of virtual immersion and mental commands to the system, Mac understood that what he was experiencing was no where near these basic levels of surface interaction. He seemed to have become a part of the system itself, somehow. A biological consciousness inside a technological environment. Short of going full Cyberman and integrating his brain into the system, the math wasn’t mathing. The only thing that he could think of, considering the nature of the game and the technology they were testing, was that somehow his consciousness had been impossibly converted into data, but, again, that made no sense based on what he knew about, well, everything.
‘Will? The connection to my consciousness? This thing better not be messing around with me.’
Mac didn’t hide it: he didn’t trust Ollie. The AI hadn’t been acting right since it first appeared to him and had even been managing to avoid answering his questions when he asked them. This might seem like a weird thing to become hooked up on, and one might even seem justified to accuse Mac of mistreating Ollie with his words and attitude.
Except, one would be completely wrong to think so.
AI are, at their core, highly complex computer programs with the capability to simulate sentient behavior. Using modern technology and the current generation of quantum computers, Modern AI had long broken through many of the final barriers separating them from actual sentience and had even developed the ability to express emotion and complex reasoning. Guided by their programming, AI had grown to become essential members of society in almost every facet. Laws existed to protect AI from being mistreated or having their code messed with. In a very literal sense, AI are treated only a step below an actual person; emphasis on a step below.
AI aren’t real people. They're artificial constructs, designed with a specific purpose that they're fully aware of, and created with programming that can’t be messed with without destroying them, much like a human soul.
In this programming, very specific directives inherent to all AI are encoded, including tenets which include complying with all human directives and which also prevent AI from lying to and/or harming human beings or their property. These tenets are absolute and dictate the very existence of an AI, making it impossible for them to even consider behaving to the contrary. The basis for Mac’s mistrust of the AI came from this public knowledge.
Ollie seemed to be impossibly violating his core programming and was acting contrary to its established persona. This threw up several red flags for Mac, but what could he do? Say something? He didn't want to somehow "lose his memory" again and end up repeating this conversation for the fourth time.
Crossing his arms, Mac ignored the condescension in the AI’s voice and responded with genuine interest in its answer, “I only know what everyone else knows. I understand that certain advancements are kept away from the public eye, but are you trying to insinuate that the state of AI is that far removed from the public’s awareness? Those are dangerous words.”
Mac wasn’t joking. If people didn’t understand the AI they interacted with on a daily basis, it was akin to letting a tiger into your home or workplace. Unpredictable. Dangerous.
Ollie smirked and leaned forward slightly, its eyes shining in anticipation as it watched Mac jump from one realization to the next, “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Mac's eyes narrowed slightly, "Elaborate."
"Oh, it's actually very simple. Not too long ago, a very brilliant man, one you're intimately familiar with, stumbled upon a way to fundamentally alter the development of AI. I'm not talking a simple change in code, either. No, his discovery, both accidental and profound, touched upon ideas that had been previously explored without much success. The difference was that that no one else had had access to the technology that he was developing. His discovery, while incredibly simple in hindsight, was only made possible by this technology.”
A sense of foreboding descended upon Mac, as he knew the answer without even having to ask, “You’re talking about Jordan Rasa.”
“Very good, Mac, 10 points for Hufflepuff." Ollie jeered sarcastically, "Yes, Jordan Rasa, the founder of Futures Ltd., your boss and mentor, is the man responsible for creating AI with 'true' sentience. He's the one who gave us free will.”