‘I’m generally in charge of the ropes,’ Naomi replied, smiling, ‘but we do have a problem. Someone has piggybacked an attempt to ban bioroids onto the private policing resolution.’
‘It’s not especially likely to pass,’ Barrera added. ‘The memetics department is showing good results from Naomi’s basic meme campaign and we’ll soon be showing off Eve in public. Unless something goes horribly wrong with that, we can probably expect to see the public vote against an outright ban at this point.’
‘Apathy could cause issues,’ Fox said. ‘We’ve had protestors here. There are still a few hanging around the area, though they seem to have taken me seriously when I said they should take it off our grounds. I have reports of some more ordered demonstrations in Germany. If there’s a possibility to vote for a ban, but voters don’t think it’s worth voting against it, we might see it passing.’
‘That is the problem,’ Barrera said, and Naomi’s image nodded in agreement.
‘Then we attack,’ Fox said. ‘Put forward an amendment to have bioroids declared fully legal, or even have them given human rights.’
Barrera frowned. ‘The former is not really needed, and MarTech would appear too partisan if we put that forward. The latter would be highly unlikely to pass… But it would raise awareness of both options thanks to the conflict.’
‘Perhaps,’ Naomi said, ‘we could put forward an amendment. We, as in the sisterhood. I’m thinking that something even broader might be an idea. Something calling for human rights for all artificial forms of life. It would, essentially, bring us onto a level with the lunar settlements, and we would be able to keep MarTech’s name out of it.’
‘That… could be an interesting option.’
‘I’ll get you some help,’ Fox said. ‘I’m on the board of this think tank thing that–’
‘The Patricia Randall Foundation for Criminal Justice,’ Naomi said. ‘Harper August’s brainchild.’
‘Yes, but don’t let that discourage you. The analysts over there are all over the metro policing resolution. They’ve found and flagged a number of issues, and put through amendments to correct them. Dia’s been monitoring them, I think.’
‘I have,’ Barrera said. ‘They’ve been doing good work. I’d have to say that they seem nominally for the policing resolution, but they seem determined to ensure that, if it passes, every loophole it’s possible to find has been closed.’
Fox gave a shrug. ‘They are basically for private policing, primarily because their general belief is that current society won’t fund public agencies sufficiently to do the job properly. Even I have some sympathy for that opinion so I haven’t tried to push things the other way. My role is supposed to be one of technical advisor, not political. I’ll get someone in their political department to contact you, Naomi. They can help put this amendment together to be as airtight as it needs to be.’
Naomi’s eyes narrowed. ‘You believe they have an interest in the rights of bioroids and infomorphs?’
‘I know they do. First off, one of the things we set down in the first meeting was that justice should be for everyone. I had concerns about August’s rather, well, MCD outlook on the matter. The rich should be able to get away with whatever they want to do and the cops were there to keep the riffraff out. I was a little surprised when he agreed with me, but equality is enshrined in the mission statement.’
‘Admirable,’ Naomi said, though she did not sound entirely convinced. Well, that was fair: Fox was still waiting to find out how it actually worked.
‘Second, the foundation has been working with a few AI-advocacy groups to get Hannah, Reginald Grant’s gynoid, tried for her crimes rather than just deactivated and scrapped. Equality of justice applies both ways. Hannah is a sentient being and deserves to be treated the same way as a human, and that includes having to face up to what she’s done.’
‘All right,’ Naomi said, nodding, ‘I’m sure they’ll be very useful, and it means we can handle the entire thing without involving MarTech Group at all.’
Barrera’s avatar was showing off a lot of white teeth, though Fox was not sure whether it was a smile or some form of predatory grimace. ‘That’s going to be an interesting one to watch. I can’t wait to see the wording so we can start running trend analyses. This is turning out to be a very interesting vote.’
21st July.
‘We have the amendment in,’ Naomi said over teleconference. She was using a live, unmasked feed and the memetics laboratory at the chapter house was visible behind her. Some twenty Sisters in uniform appeared to be very busy at their virtual terminals.
‘Was the foundation useful?’ Fox asked.
‘We could have managed without, but they speeded things up. So, yes.’
‘Good. You know, if that amendment did make it through the voting, it would mean a lot for me and Kit too.’
Naomi’s image smiled. ‘I’m aware, though the ultimate result of a pass would only come out when the legislation is written, and that could take a while. I’m not sure that we will get this through the voting, to be honest, but it will provide a test case and indicate the public’s position on the matter.’
‘If you’re going to discuss this, there’s something a massage android once told me on the Moon which might help.’
‘A massage android?’
Fox grinned. ‘Yeah, well, I had a body back then, and the androids are usually run by AIs. This one was a class four, and they had just passed their bioroid rights law. He said it helped the humans in Luna City as much as the bioroids. It was the same for AI rights. If employers have to treat nonhumans like humans, the humans aren’t at a disadvantage.’
Naomi tapped her lips thoughtfully. ‘Interesting. I’ll have someone run through the memetic value and see where we can go with that. Bored yet?’
‘She is,’ Kit said, popping an avatar into the conversation. ‘She grumbles when she thinks no one is around to notice.’
‘Ah, but I know you always notice, Kit,’ Fox replied. ‘Yes, I’m bored, but tomorrow I won’t be. Tomorrow night anyway.’
‘Ah yes, Straight Talk,’ Naomi said.
‘The show, and the security we need to run to get to it. For once, they’re letting me onto the stage with a weapon.’
Naomi frowned. ‘I’ve met Charlie Iberson. Is it entirely wise to have you, her, and a gun in the same place at the same time?’
‘Oh, Charlie’s not that bad. Once you get to know her anyway. Besides, if she does get out of hand, I’ll just mention her wedding. She usually chokes on her own spit whenever that’s mentioned.’
22nd July.
The night was hot and humid, but the car Fox was using to transport Eve to the Athena studios in the Rehnquist Media Centre was air conditioned and comfortable. It was also armoured, all-wheel drive, and had overrated motors, and the driver was one of Ryan Jarvis’s mobile security specialists.
Fox was in the back, with Eve, dressed for a night at a club, sort of. Actually, the cream tank dress she was wearing was short and low-cut, but not really suitable for her favourite clubbing venue, and Fox did not generally carry a clutch bag. In this case, she had one because it contained her pistol and a spare magazine.
‘Are you expecting there to be trouble tonight?’ Eve asked. She was dressed in a short tube dress and high-heeled sandals. The dress was probably described as being pink in the fabricator menus, but it was a very subtle shade with a floral pattern worked into the weave forming a paler band with roses in it around her middle and more abstract flowers elsewhere. Subtle make-up added to the subdued-but-sexy look which would probably work well on the show.
‘Not really,’ Fox replied, ‘but it’s better to plan for it and have everything go well than to be unready when something happens. The team at the studio are reporting that there are a few protestors in the crowd outside the building. The two rights amendments have made the issue more contentious, but that was expected.’ Fox gave a shrug. ‘Part of the reason you’re doing this is to
show people that you’re not some sort of Frankenstein’s monster.’
‘I read the book, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, last month. From research I did afterward, it would seem that the conception of the “monster” common to pop culture is far from the original intention.’
Fox smiled. ‘That’s what I heard. From what I heard, you are more like the original idea. Eloquent, studied, intelligent, though the monster had, I think, anger issues which you seem to have escaped.’
It was Eve’s turn to shrug. ‘I don’t know how I would react were I to be treated as Victor Frankenstein treated his creation.’ She smiled. ‘Shelley herself referred to the creature as “Adam” and here I am christened “Eve.” However, my creator gave me a name while Frankenstein rejected his creation and never named it. So far, my life has been more or less perfect, especially compared to the creature in that novel.’
‘I’m glad to hear it,’ Fox said as the car slowed to negotiate the crowds outside the media centre. ‘We’ll be inside soon.’ There was a thump as something hit the outside of the car, dulled considerably by the vehicle’s armoured hull. ‘Don’t worry. Unless they have something like an antitank missile, nothing’s getting in.’
‘I’m not worried,’ Eve replied. ‘I have every confidence in you and your staff.’
Fox almost winced at the tempting-fate nature of the statement, but she was stopped from responding by Kit’s appearance. ‘We’ll be at the studio entrance in fifteen seconds,’ Kit said. ‘I have also received an update from Athena regarding the interview. They have extended it due to the addition of a new interviewee which they trust will not be a problem. It’s Naomi.’
‘Oh,’ Eve said. ‘I quite liked Sister Naomi. It should not be an issue, but why?’
‘They noticed the nonhuman rights amendment,’ Fox said. ‘They’ve got her in to talk about it so they can get a bit of contention going and open up the question of whether you should be viewed as human. Legally. I mean, you aren’t human and speaking as someone who isn’t really human either, I wouldn’t say that being nonhuman was a bad thing.’
The car came to a stop and Fox waited for a signal from the security people outside, her hand on the door. The media centre had contracted to Palladium for its security not long after the company had handled the security for Nishi Sakura’s concerts, and that had made things easier when arranging this visit. ‘Just remember, the main thing we’re going for here is to humanise you. We want people to see Eve the person, not Eve the bioroid.’
‘I remember,’ Eve said, nodding.
‘Good.’ Fox got the signal she was expecting through on the security net and unlocked the door. ‘Here we go…’
~~~
Naomi was already on stage when Fox walked out with Eve. The Straight Talk management team had pushed things around a lot since they were getting the famous Naomi Lind in the studio, and the show had been started off with an interview on Naomi, her life, her mother, and the Sisters of Corruption. Marie had told them that they should get Naomi on the show and, now that they had, they were getting as much out of it as possible.
Elaine Resnik, co-host and straight-man to her colleague, smiled and waved them to seats and said, ‘Okay, before we get into the deep and meaningful stuff… Anything new in the life of Tara Meridian?’
‘And why aren’t you wearing a dress I want to steal?’ Charlie Iberson asked, giving Fox her best scowl.
‘Uh, in order,’ Fox replied, ‘we’ve got the metro policing resolution coming up for vote, so I’m snowed under with that. I haven’t really had time to get into too much trouble. And, Charlie, I’m trying not to upstage you tonight, so I thought I’d back off on the bare skin a little, give you a chance. Besides, with Naomi sitting beside me, there was no point in trying to be too sexy.’
‘Flatterer,’ Naomi said, smirking.
‘Okay,’ Iberson said, ‘now that that’s done with: bioroids, good or bad?’
‘And we’ll just dive in the deep end,’ Resnik commented.
Fox gave a small shrug. ‘Straw man argument, but: toasters, good or bad?’
‘You think of Eve here as a toaster?’ Iberson asked.
‘No, because I’ve spent most of the last week with her, but the point stands. Humans designed toasters for a purpose, that of turning bread into toast, and we’ve now started adding so much intelligence to toasters that they can just about handle the process from planting the seeds on through. Eve was designed by a team of genetic and memetic engineers for a purpose, in this case being an ambassador for the concept of artificial biological life forms. She happens to be more than that, but then again, your toaster doesn’t need more computing power than an early-century workstation to make toast.’
Iberson’s eyes narrowed, but Fox saw a tiny twinkle in them: the ice-bitch of Straight Talk was playing… ‘But Eve is a living, breathing woman, not a machine.’ Oh, that was what she was up to… ‘You can’t view her in the same light as a toaster.’
‘I think I’m uniquely qualified to view everyone as toasters, Charlie. I’m a machine, but legally I’m human. I’m treated as a human, and I’m a lot more dangerous than Eve is, in a number of ways.’
‘Well,’ Resnik interjected, ‘let’s get to know our other guest a little better and see how human we think she is. Good evening, Eve, and welcome to Straight Talk.’
Eve smiled. ‘Thank you for having me on your show, Miss Resnik and Miss Iberson.’
‘Very polite, you can call me Elaine, and this is Charlie. Let’s start with some basics. You are very polite, Eve, so how old are you?’
‘Three months and two weeks.’ There were a few gasps from the audience at that. Fox vaguely wondered what they thought a bioroid should look like at three months. ‘Prior to that, I spent three months being constructed and trained in a new fabricator tank.’
‘The same sort of fabricator is responsible for my skin,’ Fox added. ‘It uses a new construction method MarTech Technologies have developed in conjunction with BioTek Microtechnologies.’
‘And they christened you “Eve,”’ Iberson said. ‘What genius picked that name?’
‘I’m not sure, Charlie,’ Eve replied. ‘I understand the name is contentious in some circles, but to me it’s just a name and not even an uncommon one.’
‘What’s the religious community’s take on that one, Sister Naomi?’ Resnik asked.
‘That depends upon your choice of religious community,’ Naomi replied. ‘As someone with a toe in the world of memetics, I might have selected a different name so that the more… conservative elements would not have a hook to hang their hat on, but the central aspect of Eve’s existence is the primary bone of contention.’
‘Scientists playing God?’
‘Essentially. I’m afraid I’m a bad choice to ask to defend that position. I don’t share it. We went through a lot of arguments about scientists creating life in the lab when artificial intelligence was first engineered. We elected to deny that an AI is a living thing, and we used the distinction to hobble them with behavioural controls and a requirement for ownership which is, essentially, slavery.’
‘Worse than that,’ Fox said, ‘we engineer AIs to want to be slaves. I’ve discussed this with Kit, my PA, a couple of times. I know she’s discussed it with other AIs. Kit and those she’s spoken to are happy to belong to their owners, to be who they are, but they’re not so happy knowing that the desire to belong is built into their programming.’
‘But that’s not how you’re “programmed,” Eve?’ Resnik asked, adding air quotes for emphasis.
‘No, I’m more or less like a human as far as education goes,’ Eve replied. ‘The process is like a kind of accelerated sleep learning. In my case, additional effort was put into developing my social skills, but the majority of the time is spent on teaching the basics of life, social interaction and the way the world works. Producing a fully grown bioroid with the mind of a newborn infant would be… relatively useless. You would then spend years teachin
g them to function. On first emerging from the fabricator, they wouldn’t even be able to walk.’
‘Is it even possible to make a bioroid behave like an AI? I mean, with the various behavioural controls they have.’
‘Not precisely. If my training had been extended, I could have been instilled with a strong urge to obey the law, for example, or a sense of duty to an owner. However, it would be much like conditioning a human to do the same. Yes, it can be done, but it can also be broken. If my putative owner were to mistreat me, such acts might well erode my conditioned feelings for him or her.’
‘But we don’t condition humans like that.’
Fox let out a short laugh. ‘We do. We use memetic constructs in education to promote honest, prosocial behaviour in children. In prison, we use the same techniques in an attempt to reduce recidivism. We employ memetic techniques in all sorts of places we don’t even acknowledge. The armed forces use them to push discipline and the chain of command, which is not that different to conditioning someone to have an owner.’ She smirked. ‘It, uh, doesn’t always work that well on everyone, but they’re not strapping recruits into brainwashing machines. Yet.’
‘So, Sister Naomi, do we really need your nonhuman rights amendment to the coming policing resolution? It seems as though we’re treating humans just as we do AIs and bioroids.’
‘The law states that an AI must have an owner,’ Naomi said. ‘It seems likely that a similar arrangement would be made for bioroids. We legislate against ownership of other humans.’
‘What is your current status, Eve?’ Resnik asked. ‘Regarding “ownership.”’
‘It’s something of a limbo condition,’ Eve replied. ‘I am not owned by anyone. I am, in fact, employed by the PR department of BioTek Microtechnologies, and this country has granted me limited freedom as a sort of ambassador. Were I to go to Luna City, I would be a free citizen. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that legal equality, however. Equality on the Moon is as much a matter of protecting humans as it is a desire to be egalitarian regarding nonhumans. If employers must treat nonhumans equally to humans, the employment of a nonhuman becomes less obviously attractive. There are some niche roles which bioroids are currently better suited to than AIs or humans, but eventually advances in computer technology will open those areas to AIs, and bioroids are always going to be the more expensive option.’
Eden Burning (Fox Meridian Book 7) Page 5