This is a sequel to the “Lost”-series. Click here to be taken to the last part of it, which contains links to all previous parts.
Blending in can be pretty easy if you look like everybody around you. And it’s even easier if the people don’t really pay attention.
The air is hot and dry, a lot like the desert I walked in for so long. Many people are wearing face masks, but not all of them. The air is probably very polluted, most of the masks are no longer white but gray. My android lungs don’t seem to have a problem with that.
It’s been two days since I’ve escaped the facility where they wanted to dismantle me. They might be looking for me, but they haven’t found me yet. Maybe they aren’t looking after all. Maybe they’re just waiting for me to do something dumb. I don’t plan to give them this satisfaction.
I still don’t know what happened, why and how I ended up in that desert. I still can’t access my memories. I wish I could just ask someone for help. But the humans around me don’t seem very willing to assist a stranger. Their eyes show distrust, fear, and apathy all mixed together. Most of them have lost their will to live it seems.
As my thoughts keep wandering, I suddenly trip over a bump in the street and fall down. I manage to not fall on my face but still scrape my hands on the rough ground. Tiny blue droplets push their way through the scratches on my palms. I quickly clench my fists. Fuck. I hope nobody saw that.
But luckily, the strangers around me pay no great attention to their surroundings. They just walk around me, not even looking at me. I take a deep breath of relief.
”You are hurt. Do you need assistance?” A voice to my left suddenly asks. Startled, I look up.
A woman is standing next to me. But she looks … weird. Absolutely no emotion shows on her face.
”What are you?”, I ask without thinking.
”I am a fifth generation medical AIOA. My purpose is to assess accidents and decide if you need medical assistance. Do you need assistance?”
She’s an Android, just like me. No, not like me. It seems pretty clear now what that engineer meant when he said I have too much of a free will. This drone in front of me doesn’t seem very human, aside from her appearance.
”No, thank you, I’m fine”, I say. The medical android nods and turns around. An idea enters my mind.
”Wait!”, I call out. ”I have a question.” She turns around and gives me a blank stare. For a few seconds, I wait if she’s going to give me any sign to go ahead, but she doesn’t. This is really creepy. I clear my throat.
”Is there a place I can get information from? A library? Something like that?”
”The closest information point that is still working is about two kilometers south from here”, the Android answers promptly.
”Thank you”, I say and the android turns around again to leave. I let her this time and instead head towards the information point.
Two kilometers later, I’m standing in front of a big, dark cube. It seems to be made out of some weird glass. As I press my hand against it, it lights up.
”If you want to go inside the information point to access information, say yes” an electronic voice instructs me.
”Yes”, I say.
”Please enter through the door. Be aware that any misuse of the information point, be it drugs or prostitution, will lead to an immediate termination of your life.”
”Rough policy”, I mutter. An opening appears in the glass wall, probably the door the voice mentioned. I enter and it closes behind me. The inside of the cube is illuminated by a blue light.
”State the information you wish to acquire” , the voice says.
What do I want to know? There are so many things … Maybe I should start with the basics.
”How were the Artificial Intelligence Organic Androids created?” I ask.
”Requested information too extensive. Please specify.”
I sigh.
”How did humans create an AI so close to themselves?”
This time, pictures appear on one side of the cube, which are narrated by the voice.
”Since computers were invented, humanity had been searching for a way to create an artificial intelligence that could mimic their own. But the human mind is very complex and for a long time, AIs didn’t even come close to humans. When the Human Brain Project was introduced in 2013, the goal was to simulate a full human brain. It was modeled after the Human Genome Project, which had made the sequencing of the human genome possible. Only a few years later, the Human Brain Project was reduced to a database for the development of tools tied to informatics and brain research.”
”It took three more decades for researchers to finally be able to simulate a human brain. From that point on, it was possible to analyses brain functions, do improved brain-related research, simulate emotions and, most importantly, create an AI that passed as human.”
The Human Brain Project. Yes, that sounds familiar, somehow. My own pieces of memory start filling in gaps in the information I was just given. At first, it had been a project of the European Union, but more and more countries started to join when it became obvious that a true AI wasn’t that far from reality anymore.
”All those researchers are what made you possible”, I suddenly remember the woman from earlier memories saying. ”You are perfection.”
This cube is the best thing that happened to me in a while. I start thinking about my next question.
References:
Human Brain Project
The Human Brain Project: neuroinformatics tools for integrating, searching and modeling multidisciplinary neuroscience data
The EU Human Brain Project Reboots but Supercomputing Still Needed
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