“Well, Jason, now that you are the latest buzz and everyone is excited to have you onboard, let me show you to your laboratory.” They walked towards the conference room doors.
“How does it work?” a man in the fourth row asked Jason as they passed him.
The room fell silent, as everyone listened “Well… to give you detail would take all night. But the short version, I use Nano robots that is controlled by a laser projection system, the Nanobots work in unison to solidify where the laser projects forming the object.” He explained.
“Do you use goggles?” a female asked to his right.
“No!” he smiled “the objects are solid and you can interact with it, as long as it remains inside the control of the laser projector” he said putting his hands in his pockets and backing towards the door. With pleading puppy eyes he glanced at Susan. She started shaking as laughter ran through her body. She approached and dragged him backward out the door. From their seats, other researchers stood and shouted out questions to him.
“People… People!” Susan raised her voice over the commotion. Slowly silence fell on the crowd that formed at the door inside the conference room. “Jason will show you what it looks like, till then pull yourselves together” she said in a serious tone. She raised her eye brows at them as all emotion drained from her face. The crowed slowly turned around and in groups dissipated past them to their work.
Finally they made their way down the hall. They turned into a laboratory door that read: “VR room.”
“Thank you!” he said. “I was afraid they were going to attack me; they’re like a pack of wolves to a feeding, and I am their dinner!” He laughed.
“You are welcome. They are just so excited!” she said looking at him, playing with her wedding ring. “While virtual reality and such can bring you a certain way down the path of working on a new weapon’s system or design,” she turned walking to the laboratory door and looked back at him with her hand on the doorknob “there is no substitute for a prototype, which can take months if not years to complete—and then maybe you find that it is not what you have been looking for! Most of the people in there tonight were engineers working on projects that can benefit from your technology,” she said, leading him into a very large hall.
The hall was dimly lit and reminded Jason of a movie theatre. It had rounded ceilings and walls, as well as a sunken floor. A small walkway extruded from the door to a small landing area in the centre of the room. The walkway and the landing area were edged with one-meter-high rails.
When Susan and Jason set foot on the landing, the path retracted. They stood on an island in the middle of the room, a meter above the sunken floor. Jason peered over the edge. The hall seemed to waver, then to disappear before his eyes.
Jason found himself on a tiny, tropical island in the middle of a vast ocean. The illusion was so perfect that he could almost sense the waves, and feel the sand shifting below his feet.
“This is our virtual reality immersion chamber; it is also the only way to truly interact with Core,” Susan said, sitting down on the edge of the platform. Her feet dangled over the edge, dipping in imaginary waters. He sat down next to her, peering at the projectors below the platform that were creating the three-dimensional holograph. “After we let her find her answers from the data on the servers, she was quiet for three weeks. Then, she asked for more.
“At first we did not understand. She explained that she had worked through all the information in the library and on the servers, and that there were still too many questions left unanswered. We had no choice but to allow her on the internet. There is infinite information out there, for someone with the patience to find it. At first we monitored her forays on the net, but soon we learned that she is quite capable of filtering out the crap from the facts. She managed to find answers for her questions, but each answer inevitably lead to more questions.
“Four months later, Core’s attitude changed. She started helping, questioning and answering our queries and problems like a human would. She even showed emotions.... We realized that something had changed. Core had become self-aware. She assumed her current form and named herself Core. Until that point she was just AI: a computer system with clever routines. But we never in our wildest imaginations thought that the vast knowledge of the internet, along with her aptitude for questioning and her vast neural network, would help to give her true sentience. We did not even believe it at first, and spent months diagnosing her—probing, debugging, tracing billions of lines of code. But in the end, we could not find anything wrong. In some ways, she is the perfect machine. Except....”
“How do you know that it is self-aware and not just another clever program illusion?” Jason demanded.
“The answer lies in her behaviour,” Susan explained. “She laughs, makes jokes, reasons and has emotions—things that we did not program her to do. Her emotional level is still very young, but she is learning at an exponential rate. She has helped us to make leaps and bounds in technology, science and power systems that before her were not possible... not even conceivable” Jason looked at the projection around him, his eyes did not focus on a specific object, but rather at everything. He tried to imagine what it would be like to be a computer that is self-aware, what it would feel like to have infinite knowledge at his fingertips. To surf the internet and never forget things, to live forever… to be immortal! His eyebrows shot up, and his eyes focused on the distant looking horizon. A rowdy feeling is building deep inside his chest, a slow pulsating warm feeling that slowly radiate through his body…
“What you see here is not just any scene. This is her inner working. The ocean is the internet, her memories the waves, floating and rising as she interacts with the network. Core!” Susan called, standing up and walking to a small control panel atop a pedestal that stuck out from the side of the platform.
“Core? Where are you?” she asked again.
“I am present, professor,” a husky female voice reverberated softly from everywhere. Her voice was soft, in the background, yet strong and forceful. The sound of her voice seem to resonate the warmth inside of him. The undertones pushed his heart rate up, as small drops of sweat formed on his upper lip. He imagined he heard pain in her voice. He wanted to reach out to her and has an overwhelming urge to comfort her.
“What is wrong, Core? Is everything okay? I want to introduce you to Mister Bancroft,” Susan said. “He has the technology you have been working towards.”
Jason stood up and walked to Susan’s side.
“Pleased to meet you...Core,” he ventured, not knowing if his voice were going to croak like a frog from the emotional turmoil inside him.
“Hello Jason,” she replied in a more jubilant voice, but the undertones remain, haunting him.
“Jason! I never told you his name was Jason,” Susan protested. “Core, is there something you are hiding?”
“Yes, professor. I discovered Mister Bancroft five years ago, just after you let me onto the internet. I have been following his work in secret ever since” Core’s voice sounded flat. Jason’s insides turned slowly, telling him there were more to it than what she is revealing. She felt worry creep along her pathways, how would they accept this information? What would Jason thin of her? First impressions are lasting and she felt she is not making a good impression at the moment. Is she blowing the relationship already?
“Core, you did nothing wrong?” Susan asked her face creased in question as she looked around the room.
“No… Professor” she said softly, the scene slowly fading out and the main lights brightened to dimly light the room.
“I was hoping to introduce her to you in person, but she is off to the internet again. She has free reign on the internet and governments as long as she sticks to open and free sources…” Susan looked suddenly concerned “I hope she did not hack into your system, will it be safe?” she looked at him, with eyes big and raised eyebrows.
“I am sure everything is safe, I have taken precauti
on against attack, most of it’s encrypted,” Jason said absently. “I will see when I get home later.” Susan still frowned. “Look!” he exclaimed, smiling. “No harm was done and, more importantly, my work is a success, right?” he said, lightening the mood, but his thoughts kept returning to the haunting undertones in Core’s voice that cause his insides to melt.
Susan nodded, and then began walking across the pathway that extended out before them, to the door. Jason followed her.
“Yes, I presume. We will give you whatever it is that you require to build your holographic room in this chamber. We also need to build small desktop models for modelling in the other laboratories, else you and Core would never get to work together outside of this room,” she said. The room slowly darkened around them.
“Jason, Professor?” Core’s voice reverberated softly behind them. They both turned around to see an unfamiliar scene. The platform overlooked a misty, lonely valley; a hooded figure stood on the edge of a ravine with her back facing them.
The figure slowly turned around, but the hood hid her face, a lock of golden blond hair just visible under the hoodie. “Jason, I can bring up the schematics, software and data from your house, if you’d let me? That way I can work out a parts list and a schedule for you… to get things moving along faster?” Susan seemed surprised, although Jason wasn’t sure if it was because Core was acting so elusive or because she was being so helpful. He peered at her.
“Sure, that would be great...thanks,” he said. “It will help me tremendously.”
“Professor?”
“Yes, that is fine, as long as Jason is happy with it.”
“Thank you, professor, thank you Jason! You won’t regret it!” she said in an excited voice, sounding for all the world like a child who had just been given a chocolate. The voice seemed completely at odds with the lonely, hooded figure.
The scene disappeared and the room went dark again.
“I am sorry,” Susan said once more. “This is not how I imagined your first meeting with Core would be. She has never behaved so oddly...she is normally represented by a young girl in her twenties, around your own age. But this hooded figure...? ”
“I don’t know,” Jason mused. “I see what you mean by self-aware.” His mood lightened “She did not react like any form of AI I can imagine. I can’t even try to determine the code required to simulate that level of intelligence, emotion and feeling.”
“I agree. She quite the anomaly, wouldn’t you say?”
Jason nodded as he and Susan reached the hall. She stuck out a hand.
“Well, welcome to the team,” she said. “I will let you get back home and we will see you in the morning. How about ten? I think we all need a good night’s rest after the excitement.”
They walked to the end of the corridor again. This time, he anticipated the doors to the elevator.
“What project are you working on now? Core is finished, is she not?”
“She is, yes. But there are many applications for AI control systems. We are working on an advanced warfare system that will benefit greatly from an AI that can think for itself. But for it to work, we must create an AI small enough to fit into a case about the size of a...a grizzly bear’s head.”
“Wow! That must be super exciting. How is it going?”
“It’s going...but we have trouble with the miniaturization of Core’s construct. We just can’t seem to squeeze a life-form into such a small vessel. One day I hope to build Core a body using similar concepts, but I think we are a way of yet”
“You talk about this as if it is an everyday occurrence.” Jason laughed. “A couple of hours ago I was a normal person with normal thoughts and aspirations, who hoped that tomorrow would bring me wealth and recognition. Now I have talked to an artificial life form that is self-aware in an underground facility not two kilometres from my home. Does any of this sound normal to you? Forget about NDAs and contracts—no one would ever believe me if I told them! They would more easily believe that I was loony.”
Susan laughed along with him. “I think that’s why the NDA is so cursory,” she joked. “But you will get used to it—to all this.” She gestured around her “I know it might be a bit much to take in at the moment. The only assurance I can give you is that it will all make more sense in the morning...if you can sleep tonight.” Then she laughed again, from the bottom of her stomach. Jason’s insides flip-flopped as the elevator came to a halt, and momentarily he panicked, thinking that maybe it was just a dream, after all....
Then the door opened up. The guard from earlier was waiting for him outside the door in the corridor, standing at ease as if he could stay there all night.
Jason turned back to Susan one last time. “Thank you for the opportunity. I hope that I can live up to your expectations,” he said, shaking her hand once more.
“You already have—and then some! See you in the morning,” she said, stepping back, her eyes sparkling mischievously as the door closed between them.
“This way, sir.” The guard was holding a package out to him. “Core delivered your paperwork. This is your employment package. In it you will find your employee card, which you must always have on your person. It does not have to be visible, however. Your voice and face are your access, and starting tomorrow the gate will open automatically on your approach.” They walked down the hall, while the guard explained the day to day operations. The glass doors to the reception opened quickly as they approached. “You will take the door to the right,” he pointed to the door opposite the one they are standing in “and the elevator will automatically take you down to your level. After that, it’s up to you to find your way. If at any time you get lost or need help, just ask Core. She is always present.”
“I am,” her voice rang in acknowledgement, she was listening in to confirm he accepted the position.
“Thank you,” Jason said, to the guard, to Core. “This is so overwhelming.”
“It will pass, sir.” The guard smiled slightly. “Please follow me and I will take you to your vehicle.” He turned and ushered Jason to the main entrance door and down the concrete path in silence.
The storm had passed and left everything clean and wet, but the sky was still covered with heavy clouds. Still puddles reflected the street lamps that illuminated the vast parking lot. Jason had arrived when the sun was still visible through distant gaps on the horizon—it was just after five, then. He looked at his wrist watch. The display showed eleven thirty-seven. Midnight, almost. Time really flies, he thought, walking down the concrete path into the car park.
“Have a good evening, sir. I will see you again in the morning.” The guard came to attention, turned and walked away towards the gate house.
“Good bye...!” Jason managed to call as the guard walked away. He fumbled for his car keys.
Once inside the car, he opened the employee packet and pulled out his photo ID card, welcome letter, an employee manual, an employment contract and various other paperwork needed by human resources, all neatly bound with an instruction booklet explaining every detail of the package.
“This is unbelievable,” he said to himself. Then he fastened his seatbelt and started the car. As he pulled out of the lot, memories of the evening flashed in his mind. The technology, the employees.... Finally, his thoughts settled on Core. She was the most unbelievable thing, his insides turned and the warm sensation made him short of breath. The holographs could be explained, the secrecy was understandable, but Core was...something else entirely.
He drove slowly towards the gate. As he approached, the boom lifted, allowing him out into the world. Somewhere inside the gatehouse, the guard who had stood outside the elevator door for hours waiting for him would be watching as he drove out.
After Jason pulled onto the main road, he saw a car far to his left come around the corner, its headlights shining brilliantly, illuminating the bushes to their right. Jason took the gap, accelerating to give the car space. However, it approached his rear at high speed.
Jason watched the headlights grow in the rear-view mirror. Maniacs, he thought. Think the whole road was made for them. “Slow down, idiot,” he told the rear-view mirror.
But the light kept coming, and coming fast. Luckily, Jason’s turnoff was up ahead. He accelerated and took the turn without showing his indicator; the little Getz’s tires screamed like a pig as he took the corner, and he was careful to keep the car out of the oncoming traffic lane. Not that there were likely to be any cars in the road at midnight, but you could never be too careful.
The guy in the car behind him turned off as well, his tires screaming and the car drifting as it cornered. Jason watched in horror as the car overcorrected and pulled into the oncoming lane. It nearly made the turn and stayed on the road, but the wheels lost grip on the road’s surface and the car spun out of control. It skidded into the bushes and crashed, sending a cloud of dust, leaves and bushes flying into the air.
Jason felt the adrenaline, fear and anxiety all at once as the noise from the accident echoed in his memory. He slammed on the breaks. I have to help, he thought. If there’s someone alive in that wreck, who will even know it but me? Then a chill ran down his back as he thought about who might be driving the car. Someone...after him?
When he looked back at the ditch, he saw three massive wolves explode from the bushes, their eyes glowing luminous red as they headed straight towards him.
“What the fuck!” he shouted in alarm. For a moment he did not believe his eyes, although scenes of his own demise played in his mind. Another couple of seconds and they would be on him. They are wolves! Can they even get in the car? He watched, mesmerized, as they slowed to a walk.
Becoming (Core Series Book 1) Page 4