by Jaka Tomc
“You’re getting a Nobel for this,” said Roger as he put his hand on Kent’s shoulder.
“The team deserves it,” said Kent.
“Even the best teams in history would be worth close to nothing if they didn’t have an extraordinary leader. If this leader happens to be a genius, like you, then success is guaranteed. Don’t forget to properly celebrate this achievement, Kent. Tomorrow we’ll wake up in a brand new world.”
A new world. Some of Kent’s peers had been very close to conquering it. But in the end, he’d been the one to make that first step. He was the one who’d found a way to stimulate a synthetic neuron, enabling him to create new synaptic connections while the neurons were abandoning others, thus creating new patterns. It had been the main obstacle to creating an artificial brain that his predecessors just hadn’t been able to figure out: how to enlarge a synthetic brain’s complexity and simultaneously make it smaller, small enough to fit into a human skull. The entire process had taken its time, but its eventual success had never been in doubt. Kent remembered well how on August 4, 2020, a scientist working on a European project called Human Brain had announced at a press conference that they’d managed to produce a computer with a human brain’s capacity: a supercomputer named ADAM that had more than a hundred billion synthetic neurons and more than a hundred trillion synaptic connections. The news had been so fantastic that Kent, a computer science and biotechnology student at the time, had needed some time to process it. He’d known that there were some problems they would need to address. ADAM, like his primitive predecessors decades ago, took up half a room. Besides that, he consumed a lot of energy and emitted a lot of heat, so he needed a high-tech cooling system. A human brain uses approximately twenty watts for normal functioning. ADAM used four thousand times that amount. The last, but maybe the most crucial, problem was that ADAM still functioned as a supercomputer. His thinking was based on a binary system. Ones and zeroes. Algorithms in human brains are much more complex. Young Kent had decided on that day that he would dedicate his life to finding solutions to those three intricate problems. And here he was today. In a new world that had been discovered by him. He wondered how Columbus had felt when he’d first seen land after months of sailing. A new world. He just hoped that he hadn’t landed on a different continent as well.
Kent gazed at his creation. Primo was lying on his bed, talking to himself. Kent unlocked the door and entered the room. Primo stood up.
“I don’t want to disturb you,” said Kent.
“You aren’t disturbing me. I was just talking to a friend.”
“A friend?”
“Yes. A friend in my head.”
“That’s amazing,” said Kent. “You have an inner voice. Fantastic!”
“Really? Don’t you have an inner voice?” asked Primo, surprised.
“Of course I have one. Everybody does.”
“What’s so fantastic about it then?” asked Primo.
“What’s fantastic about it is that you are so similar to us.”
“Are you Kent?”
“I am.”
“Sarah said that you are my father.”
“In a way, yes. In human terms, things are a bit different.”
“Will I ever be a father?”
“Not in the real sense of the word,” Kent replied. “But you will have siblings.”
“Will you be their father as well?”
“I will.”
“I like that. So I’ll have more friends to talk to.”
Kent smiled.
“You’ll also have human friends. Do you understand the difference between humans and yourself?”
“Not really.”
“You have a lot to learn, Primo. About yourself, people, and the world.”
“I know there are nine billion people in the world and only one Primo.”
“That’s right,” said Kent.
“How big is the world?” asked Primo.
“More than five hundred million square kilometers.”
“A kilometer is a thousand meters?”
“That’s correct. And a million is a thousand times a thousand.”
“Is this planet also a cube? Like this room?”
“No. Earth is a sphere.”
“A large sphere,” said Primo.
“Yeah, pretty large. But some planets are much larger than earth.”
“Do people live there as well?”
“Not anymore. We have a base on Mars, but it’s abandoned at the moment.”
“Nine billion people on five hundred million square kilometers of space…That’s eighteen people on one square kilometer. So each human being has 55,555.556 square meters to themself. That’s a lot more than my room,” said Primo as he accusingly looked at Kent.
“Your calculation is correct, but it’s more complicated than that. You see, Primo, a lot of earth’s territory is covered with water. We also have forests, deserts, mountainous regions…Not a lot of people live in those areas. For example, I live in a house that takes up one hundred and fifty square meters of land. All in all, I own eight hundred square meters of space.”
“Is your house composed of rooms?” asked Primo.
“Yes, it is.”
“Will I have a house?”
“Maybe. You’ll soon move to an apartment that’s a lot bigger than this room.”
“This room has eighteen square meters,” said Primo.
“Do you feel uncomfortable?”
“No. But I want to see the world.”
“And you will, Primo. Soon. Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
“Is Rome my brother?”
“No. Rome is a city. A glorious city in Italy.”
“And Italy is a part of the earth?”
“That’s right. Italy is a country in Europe, which is one of the seven continents that compose the earth. You’ll learn this and a whole lot more in the coming days.”
“I can’t wait. I want to know everything you know.”
“I promise that you’ll know a lot more than me.”
“Wonderful. So I’ll be able to talk to my inner voice about more complex issues.”
“Yes, Primo. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to end our conversation. Duties call. Tomorrow you’ll get to know the world beyond this room. That’s a promise.”
“OK, Kent.”
6. Maia, 2031
“Mama, Hernando won’t hand me the remote!”
“Take it. You’re stronger than him.”
Maia threw herself on her brother and firmly shoved her knee in his rib cage.
“Aua! Mama!”
“I’m not here. It’s between you two.”
Hernando grabbed Maia by the hair and pulled forcefully. She reacted instinctively and smacked him hard.
“Give me the remote, punk. I’ll keep hitting you until you hand it over.”
“But I want to watch Formula One.”
“There are more important things going on than Formula One. Switch to CNN immediately!”
“Jerk. Here’s the remote. I’ll just watch it on my tablet, again.”
“…and so we present to the world a unique being, the first of many to follow. Honored guests, dear viewers, it is with great pleasure that I introduce—Primo!”
The camera moved from the speaker to another man. Quite a handsome man, Maia thought.
“Primo, do you want to say a few words?”
“Is there any particular topic you want me to talk about?” asked Primo.
“Just say whatever you think is appropriate.”
“There are more men than women in this room.”
The audience laughed.
“Four hundred twenty-six people on three hundred square meters. Impressive. I felt anxious in a room that has eighteen square meters. But here there are so many people.”
“We call that a good usage of space, Primo.”
“I’d call it downsizing of personal space. But you’re not here to listen to me blabbing about the bad
habits of people. I’m here to tell you that your time has come and that soon you’ll no longer be the most intelligent beings on the planet.”
Suddenly everybody went silent, and a few moments later, nervous chatting erupted.
Maia couldn’t take her eyes off the screen. She sat there with her mouth wide open.
“Primo?” said the host of the event, confused.
“I’m joking. Forgive me. I’ve yet to learn human sarcasm.”
Sighs of relief and some nervous laughs were heard from the audience.
“Primo, I think your level of sarcasm is impressive.”
“I’m glad to hear that. It wasn’t my intention to frighten anybody. But I can sense a lot of fear in this room.”
“Fear is a normal human reaction when we encounter something—or someone—new.”
“In that case, I’m happy that you accepted me.”
“Mama, you have to see this!”
“What is it, Maia?”
“She’s watching those dumb newscasters again. She’s delusional because of it,” said Hernando.
“Do you have any idea what’s going on? They presented the first android with human features. This is history in the making, Nando. But how could you know it if all you care about is that stupid Formula One?”
“What’s going on?”
“Mama, look.”
“…let’s continue with questions. Who wants to be first?”
At least a hundred hands were raised in the air.
“You, sir, second row on the right. Wait for the microphone, please.”
“Mike Crimson, Washington Post. Doctor Watford, you say Primo is the first of many. What can we expect?”
“Thank you for your question. When we’re done with testing Primo—and I don’t have the slightest doubt that the tests will be successful—we’ll present our findings. Then we’ll move to the next phase. This project is bigger than my colleagues and me. But personally, I want Primo to be more human than humans.”
“Carl Simmons, New York Times. Could I ask Primo something?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Maia, who is that?”
“A highly advanced android, Mama.”
“Dios mio. That thing looks like a human.”
“That’s their purpose. They want to mix them with us. So we won’t be able to tell who’s who.”
“Well, I wouldn’t recognize him, that’s for sure.”
“I would,” said Hernando.
“You can’t tell peas from beans, and you believe you can recognize the difference between humanoid androids and human beings?” said Maia.
“Then marry him if you like him so much!”
“Go watch your stupid Formula One, idiot.”
“Shut up, or I’ll tell Mama who you’re seeing!”
Maia jumped her brother again.
“Stop it! Both of you.”
“He started it!”
“I don’t want to hear about it. I’d like to listen to this dandroid or whatever he is.”
“His name is Primo,” said Maia.
“They named him? Santa Maria, where are we heading to?”
“The point of no return, Mama.”
7. Kent, 2048
Somebody rang the doorbell for the third time.
“Goddamn press!”
“Don’t agitate yourself. You know very well it isn’t good for your heart,” said Lucy.
“You know what? I’ll just open the damn door and let them know what I think about this issue. Otherwise, they’ll just keep showing statements from assholes like Blake.”
Kent got up from his chair in the dining room and crossed the living room to the front door.
“Doctor Watford?”
Instead of journalists, two unknown figures, a man and a woman, dressed in black with sunglasses on their faces, stood before him.
“Ha, I see men in black returned to their roots. Finally. Excuse me, men and women in black.”
“Doctor Watford,” said the woman, “I’m Special Agent Johnson, and this is Special Agent Brown. We’re with the National—”
“I see you still use the same name generator,” said Kent.
“As I was saying, we’re with the National Security Agency. We have a few questions for you. Can we come in?”
“No,” said Kent.
“I think it’s in your best interest to let us in.”
“You won’t get into my house without a warrant.”
“Doctor Watford, an hour ago, the president announced a state of emergency. We don’t need a warrant.”
“A state of—You’ve gone mad!”
“We’d prefer if you just cooperated,” said Agent Brown. “We’ll question you one way or the other.”
Kent weighed his options. There weren’t many.
“OK. You may come inside.”
“How can you be so sure they can’t harm people? They’re stronger than us; smarter, too. It’s a miracle we’ve lasted for so long without a similar incident,” said Agent Johnson.
“Miracles have nothing to do with it. They have to obey the laws,” Kent replied.
“Ah, yes. The famous four laws. We all know them so well. But now we have a dead body and footage that proves that a man was killed by a robot.”
“Android.”
“Excuse me?”
“They’re not robots. They’re androids. They look like us, and they have free will,” Kent explained.
“Some people say they are too similar to us,” said Agent Brown.
“Only on the outside,” said Kent. “I assure you that their inner anatomy is quite different from ours.”
“Uh-huh. So you say that androids can’t commit a murder?”
“Exactly. The code wouldn’t allow them.”
“So you said. Could you explain to us in your own words the following video?”
A hologram appeared on the table. It was a video of Stephen Dean’s murder. The footage, which ran for a minute and a half, showed the perpetrator stabbing his victim for a whole minute.
“Are you sure that was an android?” asked Kent.
“We can show you the infrared recording. You can see for yourself that the murderer isn’t alive.”
“Androids are living beings.”
“For you they are.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t you have a few androids at the Agency? Do you downgrade them to the level of calculators as well?”
“Easy, Doctor Watford,” said Agent Johnson. “Androids have made our lives easier. I can’t argue with that. But all these years, you guaranteed us that they can’t hurt us. That they pose no threat. That they’re here to make the world a better place. And now we have a murder that was obviously committed by one of them. I think it’s time to redefine their role in society. Don’t you?”
“What are you planning to do with them?” asked Kent.
“Whatever it takes to protect our people.”
“You mean you’ll kill them?”
“What is dead cannot die, Doctor Watford,” said Brown.
“So you decide what’s alive and what’s not?”
“No. But something that’s manufactured on an assembly line can’t be a living thing, can it?” said Brown, chuckling.
“I think this conversation is over,” said Kent.
“Just one last question,” said Johnson. “Was there a case where they forgot to install the code in a robot?”
“If we overlook the fact that this would be illegal and morally unacceptable, it’s also technically impossible. So my answer is no. I don’t know of any such case, and if I did, I’d report it to the authorities immediately.”
The agents rose in unison and shook hands with Kent.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Doctor Watford,” said Brown.
“If we have any more questions, we’ll call you in advance so there won’t be any more surprises from our side. Enjoy the rest of your evening,” said Johnson.
8. Primo, 20
48
Primo was lying on the bed, observing water stains on the ceiling his temporary—at least he hoped so—habitat. There had been ten androids in the cottage on the first day, but now the number had increased to sixteen. Newcomers were sleeping on provisional beds. Everybody felt cramped. Primo could sense the anxiety. They were locked in for the fifth day, and nobody had explained why they were there and what would happen to them. Primo didn’t need an explanation. He was aware that they were imprisoned because of the murder. But something was confusing him. When people committed murders, they never arrested even the entire town. Humans, at least in the majority of countries, were presumed innocent until proven guilty. Which happened pretty fast, since they’d invented a mind-reading device almost a decade ago. So it was kind of bizarre that they’d gone after the entire android population even though only one of them had done it.
“When I get out, the first thing I’m gonna do is watch a good movie. I miss my TV,” said Terry, a young fella, born in 2045.
“Why don’t you play one? Don’t you have anything in your storage?” asked Cody, a healthcare technician.
“Nothing I haven’t seen at least three times before. Do you have anything worthwhile?”
“I don’t watch movies. I prefer reading.”
“Primo, do you have anything to pass the time? This idleness is killing me.”
“Terry, I can send you a sudoku,” Primo replied.
“Sudokus are child’s play. Anyone up for a game of chess?”
“Kid, you wouldn’t beat me at chess even if we continued playing until the next century,” said Abraham, until recently a traffic officer.
“I was close yesterday,” said Terry.
“A defeat is a defeat, no matter how close you were to victory. If you jump across the river and you’re inches from reaching the other bank, you’ll still get wet. The end result is the same.”
“I have a good feeling today,” Terry insisted. “I think I can beat you.”