Singularity: Book Two of the StarCruiser Brilliant Series

by Rick Lakin

  “You are and always will be my greatest accomplishment.”

  “Love you, mom.”

  “Love you more, Jen,” Sheila said. “Now, go play with Pugs. He's lonely without Dandy.”

  Jennifer went to her room and found Pugsley wagging his tongue and tail. She had bought the pug with the advance from her first book. As she walked him up the hill, she thought, Kalinda is a big responsibility, and I'm her most important role model.

  6

  On Wednesday, Jennifer went to work in Brilliant's ready room. She reviewed the latest revisions on The Pirate Returns, the next installment of StarCruiser Brilliant. Next, she finished the scene she was working on for Galaxy Warrior and checked on the progress of Casting Assistant. Jake indicated that most features were in beta but the Auto Screentest was three weeks from alpha. Select members of the casting department were testing out the working features already.

  Jennifer reviewed the coding that Jake wrote for the app. “Send a message to Jake, ‘I reviewed your work on the Casting App. I'm continually impressed with how elegant and feature rich your coding is. Keep up the good work.’ Send it.”

  “On its way, boss,” Sami said.

  “Do a deep search for efforts at creating self-sufficient artificial humans,” Jennifer said. “I want to know if there were any successful projects.”

  “Boss, I don’t believe that this is a good road for you to follow. It could cost you way too much money, get you into way too much trouble with the government, and put you in the crosshairs of all the singularity conspiracy theorists,” Sami said. “That crazy South Dakota Senator could become your enemy.”

  “I understand your concerns.” Jennifer frowned. “Nonetheless, I believe that someone will invent it soon. It will make someone a lot of money, and it might as well be JennaTech,” Jennifer said.

  There was an unusual pause. Sami was usually much faster.

  “Okay, boss, over the last twenty years, there have been fifteen companies that attempted to build autonomous artificial humans,” Sami said. “Twelve of those companies went bankrupt, and two left the human robotics business. Only one company continues to work on a related project, but industry rumors say that they're about to give up. The founder and lead technologist at FutureBotics just wrote a book called, The Quest for our Successor.”

  Can you get me his contact info?”

  “Yes, his name is Dr. Kent Gunn. His resume is on your screen.”

  “Wow, mathematician, poet, novelist, magician, computer scientist, and a member of the Florida Bar. Impressive,” Jennifer said. She purchased the book online and spent the next two hours reading it. Then she walked to the commissary and got a sandwich.

  On the way back, Jennifer stopped in the Brilliant galley for a double-shot caramel Frappuccino and returned to the ready room.

  “Sami, query Dr. Gunn and see if he will take my call.”

  A sixty-something male appeared in steveLearn. “This is Dr. Gunn.”

  “Dr. Gunn, my name is Jennifer Gallagher, and I'm Chief Technology Officer at JennaTech. I just read your book, and I've got a few questions.”

  “I hope you didn’t get the version where I misquoted Dr. Peigneau on page 187,” Dr. Gunn said.

  “No, sir,” Jennifer said. “The quote on page 178 is precisely what she said in her 2028 paper on page 342.”

  “Impressive. So, I'm talking to the Jenna Seldon, author of Galaxy Warrior, and AI innovator.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Apparently, you’re the one who sent in the correction to section 12.36 of the Brilliant Tech Manual on the procedure for Close Range Weapons adding the paragraph in the middle of page 872 that began with the words, ‘When approaching the unknown adversary outside of the range of planetary gravity, prepare the CRW using the following procedure:’ Call me Kent.”

  “A brillian with an eidetic memory,” Jennifer said. “There aren’t many of us around, Kent. It's nice to meet you.”

  “It's my honor as well. I’ve been following your career for many years. I’ve been looking forward to this call.”

  “Many years?”

  “You first went online posting technical comments as Jenna on October 4, 2058.”

  “A posting to the Journal of Artificial Intelligence, Volume 23, Issue 5.”

  “You were incorrect, by the way, but you corrected it and amplified your comment with a compilation of information from three other journals a week later,” Kent said. “There are five of us with eidetic memories in the United States and about twenty others spread around the world. One is your grandfather but there may be a sixth individual who disappeared shortly before the time of your birth. It's possible he has returned with the same personality signature but unique experiences in the interim. I've got a hypothesis as to who he is.”

  “He is my father. I will keep the circumstances to myself until we get to know each other.”

  “Of course. So, you want to build an artificial human?”

  “Yes. HumanAI Corp and my grandfather have created virtual doctors, tutors, actors, and assistants,” Jennifer said. “We believe that virtual humans can alleviate the doctor shortage.”

  “Dr. Ami wants to make house calls.”

  “Yes, and I want to be able to watch a sunset standing next to Sami, my virtual assistant. I believe that androids will become a reality soon and I feel that JennaTech can be the leader. I want to go over the challenges that you faced before you…”

  “Before I quit, gave up, folded like a cheap suit, and so on.”

  “Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.”

  “Henry Ford,” Kent said.

  “How close did you get?”

  “The challenge of creating a self-sufficient artificial human is like a second version of the Turing Test. HumanAI and Alexandra Waring passed the first test by creating a sentient intelligence that could communicate in a way that was indistinguishable from their fellow humans. The second version of the Turing Test is to create an autonomous physical individual who can walk into a room and be indistinguishable and unidentifiable as an android.”

  “How far did you get?”

  “The first major challenge was the face and head. We could never develop a model with truly human facial features. Our latest model walked into a gathering, and everyone looked immediately. They knew she was artificial.

  “Secondly, she was dumb as a post. We could never get across the knowledge and wisdom gap. The artificial intelligence that will fit into the human brain bucket is just not capable.”

  “Can that be overcome?” Jennifer said.

  “I believe that it can, but it will take fifty to five hundred years.”

  “What other problems did you face?”

  “Manual dexterity. Robotics has come a long way, but they still cannot compete with our opposing thumbs. I almost feel sympathy when I see an android struggling to reach into their pockets for their car keys.”

  “What about power?”

  “We’ve gone as far as batteries will take us,” Kent said. “Our androids still have to plug in at night.”

  “What about the Laws of Robotics?”

  “Asimov pretty much had it right when he wrote the first law: ‘A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.’ He was writing sci-fi a hundred years ago, so he didn’t have to deal with practicalities. Google addressed that fifty years ago. Early AI was good at knowledge but poor at wisdom.

  “The idea that a robot ‘may not allow a human being to come to harm’ implies wisdom. Using knowledge to invoke action is a chess game. A young boy learns from experience to anticipate the results of his actions in terms of how it might affect himself. A mature human anticipates the effects of his or her actions in terms of morality, relationships, productivity, and world politics.”

  “HumanAI Corp knew it would have to overcome that hurdle before the AI could pass the Turing Test. Dr. Waring gave us a lecture on the subje
ct once,” Jennifer said. “My favorite quote is ‘Knowledge becomes wisdom when experience becomes the teacher.’”

  “So that’s where we are at FutureBotics. We’re selling our production androids as home appliances, fast food employees, and sex toys,” Kent said. “You can guess that the latter is our most lucrative field.”

  “I’ve got some ideas. May I order one of your models and evaluate it? JennaTech will respect and properly license all of your patents.”

  “Of course, and I look forward to hearing of your successes. And failures.”

  “I look forward to meeting you someday.”

  “Good luck.”

  The room returned to the ready room layout. Jennifer looked at Sami. “Order their most advanced model. Let’s see how far they got.”

  “Are the problems insurmountable?” Sami asked.

  “Nope. I see workarounds on all of the problems he mentioned,” Jennifer said. “We’re going to watch a sunset together soon.”

  Sami smiled. “You and your vision thing.”

  7

  Jennifer got to the Calabasas Tennis Club on Thursday in time for Kalinda’s first singles match. She struggled but dispatched the weaker opponent 6-4.

  “Kalinda plays down to weaker players,” Tayla said. Tayla was coaching Kalinda and several other players at the camp. “She doesn’t play with passion.”

  “One down, three to go,” Kalinda said as she came off the court.

  “K’da, you’re going to have to up your game for this next player. You need to have the passion thing,” Tayla said.

  “Hey, coach, you said that these tournaments are for fun.”

  “What Tayla is saying is that winning is a lot more fun than losing,” Jennifer said.

  “Don't worry, sisters. I intend to have as much fun as I can have. I'm going to win this tournament.”

  Tayla and Jennifer spoke together. “The vision thing?”

  “You two seem to be obsessed with this ‘vision thing,'“ Kalinda said. “I'm just really good at athletics. During the clinic, I've learned my opponents, the game, and how to beat them.”

  “You’ve got an hour-and-a-half before the quarters. Grab something to eat and rest,” Tayla said.

  The girls walked over to the food tables. Jennifer and Tayla prepared small sandwiches and Kalinda built a three-layer monster before she went to a table with her friends.

  “Tennis comes naturally for Kalinda, she eats way more than me, and she doesn’t practice hard,” Tayla said.

  “And she's better than you were at this age,” Jennifer said. “And you’re a bit jealous?”

  “Somethin’ like that,” Tayla said. “I’ve always had to work harder, be careful how I ate, and study three hours a night, and I didn’t have any friends until I met you.”

  “Kalinda spent half her life on a starship with no friends, lost her mother, and then her home. She's making up for the fun times we both had,” Jennifer said. “And she has an excellent tennis coach.”

  “There is that.” Tayla looked around. “Where did Kalinda go?”

  “The Beach Volleyball Pit.”

  Kalinda was covered in sand and sweat, diving and spiking, and laughing and screaming.

  “She’ll be exhausted. She won’t be able to lift her racquet.”

  “Back off, mom,” Jennifer said. “Isn’t that her next opponent, Brett, on the other side of the net.”

  “I guess she does know what she's doing.”

  Brett and Kalinda, fresh off of a volleyball war, faced off in the round of eight.

  At the first crossover, Brett led 3-0. “K’da, I guess your plan to tire me out didn’t work,” Brett said.

  “No, I wanted to make you overconfident,” Kalinda said.

  “How’s that workin’ out for you?”

  In the bleachers, a concerned Tayla said, “She’s gonna get killed.”

  “I’ve seen that look before. Don’t sweat it, mom.”

  “Quit calling me that.”

  “Quit chewing on that towel.”

  Tayla put the towel down.

  Kalinda served, and the kids in the stands said, “Pop.”

  “Did you teach her that pop?” Jennifer asked.

  Jennifer saw Tayla’s pouty lip.

  Brett had to go wide for the forehand return which hung high over the net and Kalinda placed an easy volley in the open court. Kalinda put the second serve right down the middle on the line. Brett watched the ace go by.

  Kalinda's opponent returned a second serve, and they traded groundies.

  Brett hit a winner down the line, 15-30, then Kalinda served to Brett's backhand. Kalinda charged the net for a successful serve-and-volley winner. Kalinda served at 40-30. The ball popped up in front of Brett who hit an error long.

  “Was that…” Jennifer said.

  “It took her a whole hour to learn the kick serve,” Tayla said.

  The next game was hard-fought, but Kalinda broke Brett's serve, and the rout was on. Brett won one more game, but Kalinda won the set and the match 6-4. They came to the net, shook hands, and hugged.

  “Still friends?” Kalinda said.

  “Still friends,” Brett said. “Will you teach me the kick serve?”

  “Sure.”

  “Good match,” Jennifer said.

  “Thanks.”

  “You recovered well from 0-3,” Tayla said.

  “I knew how good she was and how much energy she had,” Kalinda said. “That’s why I took her to the volleyball pits.”

  “So that was why you beat her?” Tayla looked like a lover scorned.

  “And you taught me the kick. Thanks, Coach.”

  Tayla smiled.

  “Your dad is going to pick you up at our house,” Jennifer said.

  “Can we stop for pizza on the way? Te’pa said I’d have time to do some waves before dinner.”

  “Do you ever stop eating?”

  “I need my nutrition. Gravity is higher on Earth.”

  “And you love pizza,” Tayla said.

  “I love pizza,” Kalinda said.

  Friday’s semi-final began at ten a.m. Tayla arrived an hour earlier and hit with Kalinda. Kalinda was taking the court against Mila, another girl whom Tayla coached over the summer.

  “Mila has a strong forehand but only an average backhand. And she has a strong kick serve,” Tayla said. “If you see the kick, step into it and catch it on the rise. You may not be able to time it at first, but I think you can learn it and beat her. The good news is she hasn’t seen a good kick serve. But you have some variety. Mila is a one trick pony.”

  “I got this, coach.”

  “I know. Just don't be overconfident.”

  “My te’ma said there's no such thing as too much confidence, only too little performance.”

  “Go get ‘em, champ.”

  Not yet, Kalinda thought. Two more matches.

  They flipped a coin, and Mila served first. Kalinda saw the racket drop behind Mila's back to prepare for the kick serve.

  Kalinda stepped in to receive the ball on a short hop but caught it too soon and hit into the net.

  Mila retimed her advance, but this time, Kalinda struck it too high and hit it long.

  At 30-0, Kalinda faced Mila's second serve which was surprisingly slow and hit a forehand winner up the line, 30-15. Kalinda continued to struggle with her own serve game but won twice for 2-2.

  On Mila’s next serve, Kalinda returned two of Mila’s serves but lost the game. She looked at Tayla and nodded her head.

  “She’s got it,” Tayla said. Jennifer nodded.

  At 3-3, Kalinda attacked Mila’s serve effectively. At 30-40, Mila was able to deliver her strongest serve of the match. Kalinda timed her backhand perfectly off the bounce into Mila’s body for the break of serve.

  Kalinda again won her serve. Mila was serving at 3-5, but the spectators could see her heart wasn't in it. Kalinda again broke her to win the match.

  They shook hands at the net. “You
’ve got a good serve,” Kalinda said.

  “Thanks, but watch out, Jordyn will try to get in your head,” Mila said. “Good match.”

  “That was your best match ever,” Tayla said

  “I know, coach, but Jordyn is the best player in camp. She has the kick serve, but it varies. She has a good forehand and backhand.”

  “You're right. The final will be a tough match,” Tayla said.

  “But she never leaves the back line,” Jennifer said. “She never comes to the net. Get her out of the comfort zone.”

  “Drop shots?” Kalinda said.

  “Give it a try, K’da,” Tayla said. “Now, grab some food and relax. No volleyball this time. Jordyn doesn’t think or do anything but tennis.”

  Kalinda mimicked the grumpy cat face. “Yes, coach.”

  Kalinda went to the sandwich table and stacked a huge sandwich.

  “I could never eat like that,” Tayla said.

  “It’s the high gravity.” Jennifer winked.

  The two players came to the net for the coin flip for the Camp Championship.

  “You’re toast, alien,” Jordyn said with a sneer.

  She's afraid, Kalinda thought. Te’ma said, ‘When a superior competitor demonstrates fear, feed the fear.’ “May the Warrior Gods of Hoclarth choose the most valiant competitor,” Kalinda said with a stoic stare.

  Jordyn’s eyes got large. Kalinda stared right back.

  Kalinda served. Jordyn returned. It was power against power as they traded groundstrokes. And then Kalinda dropped a soft shot that fell five feet beyond the net, Jordyn charged. Kalinda charged. Jordyn was able to hit a lame duck across the net. Kalinda delivered a backhand volley into the empty court. Jordyn gave a fearful look at Kalinda who returned a disciplined, passionate stare in return.

  The two competitors traded power and games. With Jordyn serving at 2-3 and 30-all, Kalinda won another drop shot and they faced each other at the net. Kalinda could see the fear building in Jordyn.

  Jordyn missed her first serve and Kalinda attacked her second. Jordyn hit the return into the net, and Kalinda broke. That was all she needed. She won the match and the championship 6-4.