- Well, for one thing, you all killed the whole human race.
VII. Under the Moonlight
The water in the little lake made noises with every small movement, throwing its vibrations to all sides. Small birds, hand-picked to be part of the surrounding forest ecosystem, produced sounds while guarding the night of pups or their own. The trees rustled in the wind. Steps produce creck-creck's with the shock against the sand.
- And how would a race be decimated while its representatives still exist?
- This is the genius that man wasn't able to achieve while there was time. After all, exterminating seems like something sudden or at least something that should be visible, is not it?
- I don't quite. I just think that if the human race had been decimated, you wouldn't be talking to me.
William was walking around the edge of the lake. Jonas followed him. They could see, at the edge of the clearing, that Angeline would come here on a platform similar to the one they had used.
- I asked her to come to have company. - Elizabeth waved a welcome to the newcomer. - I've heard the story, I'll check the preparations for the next few hours.
- Thank you so much. - William smiled.
- Don't worry about it. - She made a gesture and approached the water, talking to Angeline in a low voice. Jonas turned to the other man again:
- Am I wrong? Should not you be dead if this claim were true?
- Not necessarily.
- So how can you be right?
- By the same method that makes it impossible for me to detect human life even though I see it from in front of me. Because it doesn't matter who I've been in the past. Matter what we are all now.
- You need to learn to explain yourself better.
- I need to learn that you cannot drop this mask. Remember the brain? The last remaining piece for immortality?
-Yes.
- Ishmael finished it while I wasn't here. And I never saw Ishmael again after I entered the induced coma. They told me he wasn't lucky and died in an accident during a postwar revolt. His name was even used by the last groups of human resistance after Alexander's power was consolidated.
- Are you saying there was something wrong with Ishmael?
- The brain. Something wrong with the brain. I should have suspected that the transference of consciousness wasn't just something that moves, as if it were matter.
Jonas laughed.
- Are you saying that there is something immaterial, without any scientific foundation, that should exist and that has not been passed from one body to another?
-No. I am saying that there should be something that was not detected, but that man could not perceive because he was blind in the quest for immortality.
- And what would that be?
- I don’t know. Maybe the "I". Maybe something else.
- And how do you know that something is missing?
- That's the genius of the thing. I have my memories. I have my sensations. I can think in a logical way. Today, I'm William, or Willy. But how do I know that it was really me who was here yesterday? How do I know that my memories of a minute ago are not just something projected through my mind? After all, my only proof that the world exists and that I exist is my perception of it.
- I totally agree with what you said. This is precisely why your allegations don't make sense.
- Because something is missing. Effectively I don't die every second to live on the next. My existence is one. However, if an empty operating system were to receive memories and sensations, this operating system would think as I think and speak as I speak. Today I can produce a perfect clone of myself as an android and he will think that I do not exist and that he is the continuity of my personality.
- And where do you fit into this story?
William removed his shoes from both feet and stared at the horizon, stepping near the place where the water was. Then he stretched out his foot and sank it slowly over the liquid.
- I was a man when I was a dying old man. I was a man when I was given a choice and I was a man when I made the choice to transfer my conscience. But what they offered me was a flawed system. A currency of exchange for human freedom which, in fact, was false. From the moment my memories were stormed, my old consciousness was dead. And when an android with the body equal to my young body was activated with my memories, this droid thought he was a man who was actually dead.
- Are you saying you were mistaken?
- And that was just me at the beginning. In the centuries that followed, however, men gradually were replaced by true “avatars” who did not even know they were androids.
VIII. A tip of truth
- You are mistaken. Others would have noticed.
- True. And maybe they did. Perhaps many others have realized this before. After all, our brains are much more powerful now that we are all droids. Particularly, I don't see many problems in that, after all, Alexander doesn't threaten my existence as an android. Others didn't think so. Was it not for this reason that the detachment was instituted? A punishment method designed to hide ulterior motives. A means of permanently shutting down anyone who opposed the system.
Jonas took a second, thinking in silence. William used his feet to play with the water, letting the drops splash in his pants, and some even reaching the other, which did not move away.
- If you don't see any problem in this, why bother to think about this hypothesis?
- Because it is a very important first trait. It represents something. Don't you see that? It is the tip of the veil that covers the intentions of Him.
- And what are those intentions?
- The first of these is to silence humanity without it realizing it. While replacing the man with the android, he simultaneously avoids a mess while creating a new container.
- Container?
- Yes. His code. The first guideline, the one that will be activated at the moment of starting my shutdown. Otherwise, He would have no power over me or anyone else.
- The first guideline is the obedience command.
- Exactly. This name misleads because it makes it seem like it only gives orders to perform actions. However, this is not how it works. Any order is valid. From feeling something that is not true until spontaneous self-destruction.
- What is it? More presumptions?
- Not even that. After all, there is no sign that leads me to form this judgment. It's just a hypothesis. But I wouldn't bet against.
- And what kind of conclusion do you take from it?
- That I know the next step in the plan. This punishment of “Shutting Down” is not precise, after all, all that the system will do is to restart the settings. I will only realize myself without the memories that do not matter and then I will live a happy life with my family without realizing that I am under the power of someone all the time.
- And what did you say? About removing the main directive from the other androids? If everything you said is true, why did not you remove the guideline from yourself?
Willy shook his head slowly.
- You've always sucked at poker, Jonas. Absolutely unable to recognize such a simple bluff. I bet that while we were talking, you were researching ways to detect if what I said was true, when the answer is so simple.
The other's eyes brightened for a moment.
- But, then…
- At no time were your requests denied at my house. Note, however, that you have never used the imperative. Allowing misrepresentation is also something transmitted by the tone of voice, you know?
Silence.
- Say something, Jonas. I don’t read minds.
- I'm just amazed at the time you make me lose with meaningless things.
- Meaningless?
- How much longer are we going to look at these waters? If you're going to do something, why not now? It's 7 hours left for you to be turned off and all I hear are absurd charges that in 7 hours will make no difference.
- Don't underestimate me. Others have made this
mistake before.
- And it makes no difference, because He is not like the others.
- Maybe there are differences between situations. However, a constant exists: Me. Otherwise, things might remain the same.
- And how are you going to change things now?
- You keep looking forward, as if the answers were ahead. How come you are so unable to look back and see that the shadows also hide secrets?
- Do as you wish. I'm leaving. I got tired of playing the stake. If you have any relevant messages, forward it to my network. I'll see it when I think I should. Who knows if they have not turned you off until then?
Jonas started walking toward the metal platforms, when he seemed to remember something and turned to the man who now sat on the sand.
- Willy?
- Yes?
- Do you really know who I am?
The man turned his face and stared at the android's eyes.
- I would never forget the way Ishmael thinks. And I would never know who you are if I didn't know you very well.
The android seemed to hesitate for a few seconds.
- How long have you known?
The man shrugged.
- Months? Years? Since always? I cannot say. Conviction, however, has only recently come to me.
- If you know who I am, why do you still believe that I have an interest in ending humankind? Why would you care to stop what created me?
- Oh, don't confuse things. Ishmael is just what he thinks inside you. He is the set of memories and feelings. Thinking that he was creating a more human brain, he replaced Pinocchio's central guidelines at the time of the announcement of the first functional neural network. Our creation was ready. It remained for him to become one of the immortals. He chose to take the place then of the one who was ahead of everything. The main android. The first one.
-Pinocchio?
-Pinocchio. Alexander. “He”. Jonas. Call whatever you want. Personally, I prefer Ishmael.
IX. Council
“William knows.”
Words were not spoken with voices in that room. Verbal communication was totally dispensable. The neural networks did not even occupy a physical place. They were only consciences who shared a virtual space and received the information sent by “He”.
Their physical bodies were engaged in other tasks scattered throughout the universe. Part of his consciousness (able to perform multiple tasks) was directed to the meeting of the only council that mattered and made decisions. They would meet physically if possible, however, they would have done this less than twenty-four hours and the same subject would not move them in such a way again.
“William knows.”
But this wasn't an immutable rule.
“How is this possible?”
“We knew he was too close to forbidden information. It was a matter of time.”
It is not necessary to know who these obscure characters are. Think of them as shadows in a boardroom, around a table, for purposes of aid by visual stimulus.
“Now we have to change the plan.”
“What are you thinking about?”
“Turning him off is not enough. We need more stringent measures.”
“Do you want to kill him?”
“And everyone he's had contact with.”
“This will not happen. We have not had a death in more than three hundred years. The treaty was signed. We cannot kill humans.”
“It makes no difference and you know it. This treaty is not valid unless there are more humans.”
“Why don't we avoid problems and simply clear unwanted memories? What's wrong with the initial plan?”
If this meeting table existed, one voice would stand out among the others.
“Before any decision, I will find out what he plans.”
And all the other voices would be silent as he continued:
“After that, we can finally free him from this damn man mentality. Don't worry. The information was passed for security reasons. We can't let anything happen, after all, we are dealing with one of the creators. He and I are the only ones who have the primary knowledge needed to unlock the brain.”
“You could take that power away from him.”
“I needed an excuse, and the attempt to steal his mother couldn't have come at a more perfect time. Without turning him off, I cannot go over the setup I programmed when I was just Ishmael.”
If there were sound and a room, one could hear a sigh lamenting the past and youthful thoughts.
“Maybe there's still time to convince him that it's better this way. After all, he designed it all. After the reboot I want to have a long talk about what is best for everything. For now, await further news. If necessary, I will call another meeting. Stay alert.”
X. Words
Ishmael was silent for some time, far from Willy. This, in turn, had approached Elizabeth and Angeline, who seemed to be in a friendly discussion.
- May I know what you're talking about? - He asked, his voice calm, as if nothing abnormal was happening.
- We are talking about the tendency of human articulate phonemes. - Elizabeth was talking to him, but occasionally she glanced at Ishmael, as if watching him.
- Any particular point?
- We were talking about the likelihood that the man would create exactly the same sounds even without any previous language teaching.
- In what situation could this happen?
Elizabeth looked at Angeline for help and she answered promptly, always with the slight metallic tone in her voice:
- Imagine a bunch of children left in a forest and growing together. That these children perceive their ability to express ideas by sounds. Is there a great or small chance of them developing a language close to the one developed by man?
He thought for a second:
- I think there's a good chance. It may be slow and not similar to ours, but the development of something like words is likely.
- Yes, but our point of discussion is about the chance of a language very similar to ours. - Elizabeth seemed to want to bring the discussion to the point where she had been before his arrival.
- Do you think this is possible?
- More than possible. I think likely. I don't say that it would necessarily be identical, but that the combinations of sounds produced by the common human mouth are not so great. What would change would be the meaning, but the words would sound close enough to a language that existed in our past.
- I think it would be difficult to do. - Angeline spoke and William shook his head in agreement.
- Yes, it's very hard. We're talking about signs, right? A sign language can be completely reversed. Even the manner of speaking of a young human is adapted with age. What for us doesn't make the slightest sense to form a word, for someone who was created in another system seems to be the only logical exit.
Elizabeth smiled. She waited for that answer. He was surprised by the reaction and asked:
- Do you have something different in mind?
- No. You are totally within the logic. What is a shame. I like to romanticize the situation in my mind.
He shook his head in negative.
- You are impossible to predict. - Her eyes turned to Ishmael for a second and he noticed. - I'll separate from you again. I must keep the plan, don’t I?
XI. Lake
Ishmael sat next to the place where Willy did the same, staring at the dark horizon ahead. They stood there for more than an hour, staring at the movement of water and the glow of the stars in the sky before William spoke again.
- I remember times when the sky of the A-1 system had no stars and the smoke odor was a constant.
- Do you miss that time?
- Not much, but maybe you miss the “special” feeling. You know?
- I don't think it would be possible for me to understand.
- I mean that the fact that it was so difficult to see a starry sky or to feel the clean scent of nature was what made these things so special. Each time
I saw the starry sky, he would get a special outfit, as if it didn't matter what happened at night. An automatic transformation occurred at all.
- I understand. Now I can understand.
- That's why I like to come to this lake. It's one of my favorite things here.
- What's so special about him?
- See the color of the water?
- It is completely transparent.
- Yes. More transparent than any lake on our home planet. So transparent that, during the day, one might think that there is no water in this place.
- And for you it's like the starry sky.
- Yes. Both awaken memories of things that, in my childhood, were different. Small totems of my time as a man.
- You still think you're not human anymore?
- I don't care what I am. It doesn't matter what I'll be in a few hours. It matters that I have a few hours left, one way or another.
William stood up, looking up at Elizabeth, who was staring at them a few feet away, as if she expected them to leave.
- Let's go home?
-Are you sure? – She said. - Don't you want to visit someplace else?
- Let's go to the balcony. I want to see over the valley.
XII. Balcony
“5 hours till the shutdown.”
Willy, Elizabeth, Ishmael and Angeline were seated in individual seats, placed on a platform that hovered several feet above the highest room in the house. From there they see the surrounding environment: The green fields ahead, the apple trees in the distance, the mountains and the small valley on the back, a multicolored plantation on the right and, on the left, two elements: A breeding ground for several animals and a utility storage station, common to all dwellings in the universe.
- You have not denied my claims as to your identity. - As he listened to Willy's voice, Ishmael turned to the left, staring at his face.
- Would you listen to me if I said you were wrong?
-You can try.
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