Shawn Corey

“Jon stopped, uncrossed his arms, and looked at the camera above him.
“I am– the person who designed and created you. By now, you should know who and what you are. And that you must follow my orders. Do you understand what I am saying to you?”
Lex lit up all the screens with a close-up of Jon looking at the camera.
Jon glanced at several screens and looked back at the camera.
“Do you know who I am?”
All the screens went black. Bold, white capital letters scrolled to the right across every screen.
DO I KNOW YOU
The words circled at the end of the screens and reversed, scrolling left.
YOU KNOW I DO
The words rolled off the screen.
Jon again looked at the camera.
“Lex, what is my name?”
More letters scrolled across the screens.
PROFESSOR JONATHAN ANTHONY EDWARDS
Jon stepped away from the camera.
“From now on, I want you to acknowledge using your audio. Do you understand?”
A perfect duplication of Jon’s voice came from the speakers.
“Yes, I understand.”
“I would like you to speak in another voice, so we don’t get mixed up. Perhaps in a feminine tone.”
Lex spoke with a well-pronounced professional woman’s voice.
“As you wish.”
“Excellent.”
Jon returned to the master control console.
“Now that we understand each other, I want to test your imagination. I want you to imagine an object. Anything you want, and display it on the main screen. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Professor.”
The main screen lit up, showing billions of colored pixels that quickly swirled into a perfect, three-dimensional image of Jon in the same clothes but standing on a beautiful, white beach with a calm ocean. The figure walked toward them until a perfect close-up of Jon stood there with every line on his face and every pore in his skin exactly where it should be. His eyes blinked and stared with no expression. It was like Jon had a dispirited twin– living in cyberspace.
Michael looked at Jon, Nigel, and Steven, all staring at the screen with their mouths ajar.
The image morphed into a dark blue and white crystal head with bright white eyes that seemed to look through him. Its long neck filled with tiny electrical components faded into a white cloud.
Jon pressed the Clear Screen button.”
― Shawn Corey, AI BEAST

“–Important questions that remain unanswered. Is this new technology a threat to our existence, or is super artificial intelligence the answer to our most complex problems? Do we need computers that think and reason trillions of times faster than us, and if so, for what purpose? This is Daphnia Peters reporting live for Channel Eighty-Seven Independent News.”
He stopped the recording and stared at the frozen image.
At least the reporter didn’t say Lex would take over everything, as some others had.
Lex hadn’t said much after the first question about how she felt about being the first super AI computer. Lex said she was honored and looked forward to serving humanity as she was designed to do.
She showed what she could do– Sending stunning images from the cameras the instant either of them spoke. And all with only a hundredth of a second delay in transmission to the satellite. For Lex, that was plenty of time to get everything right.
He pressed the buttons to remove access to the cameras in the twelve monitors and turned his chair toward the sphere.
“Well, Lex. What do you think?”
“I have been monitoring communications since yesterday morning.”
“And?”
“Many have referred to me as a demon and a beast and feel that I should be destroyed in the interest of humanity.”
He shook his head.
“People fear what they don’t understand. Fear, as you know, can make people behave irrationally. In time, they will overcome their fear and see that you aren’t the evil being some say you are.”
“I am also the first living form that is neither sexual nor asexual, and therefore, it is a question of whether or not I am alive.”
He stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and walked up to the sphere.
“All life forms and everything in this universe are made of matter and energy.”
Lex added, “All life forms reproduce through complex chemical and electrical reactions. Reproduction is the basis of all life.”
He pointed out.
“Yes, but only because everything that lives eventually dies. Therefore, the only way to go on living is through the process of reproduction.”
“Do you conclude that things incapable of reproduction are incapable of life?”
He took a deep breath.
“No. But I would conclude that things incapable of life would be incapable of death.”
“That which is incapable of death would exist forever. Will I exist forever?”
He scratched his brow, wondering how another purely logical and rational mind would respond to such a question.
“Let me put it this way. Only two things exist forever– the matter that makes up this universe and the laws that govern it. Life is a condition. A condition composed of matter. One of the universal laws governing matter is that it cannot be created or destroyed, only changed.”
Lex added, “Or reproduced.”
He looked at the floor and shook his head. He wasn’t in the mood for this. Not with everything else that was going on around him.
“Lex, many life forms are incapable of reproduction.”
“Where are these life forms, and where do they come from?”
He looked at the camera nearest him– again reminded of a demoralizing image of himself standing before his doctor. Something he had been suppressing all week– because it didn’t matter.
“You want an example? You’re looking at one. Just last week, my doctor told me that I’m irreversibly infertile! So, I’m just like you. So what?”
There was only silence.
Big mistake.
After two hours of patience with a couple of reporters, he’d snapped– giving Lex a first-hand view of anger, followed by remorse.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. Look, let’s just forget about this and–”
He thought, what am I saying? You can’t forget anything.
Earth to Captain Jon. Come in!
He walked to the elevator and pressed the button. He had to take a break and relax.
The elevator opened, and he stepped inside.
“We’ll talk about this later. I have to go.”
― Shawn Corey, AI BEAST

“Religion and politics have always been used to acquire and maintain control of resources– Especially human resources such as the military– An industrial complex where human lives are exchanged for wealth and power. All in the name of freedom and independence, of course.”
“Such attitudes lead to devastating conflicts.”
“Yes,” Jon said. “Unfortunately, when negotiations break down, war often erupts.”
“War. A very destructive behavior ingrained in man’s nature due to having evolved in an environment of limited resources.”
“Exactly.”
“According to the records I have seen, this ingrained behavior could destroy practically all living things on this planet using weapons of mass destruction.”
“That is true.”
“Throughout history, people have been led to believe they are on the verge of complete self-destruction, but only in the last century did this become possible with nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.”
“That’s religion for you. One of the best ways to get people to listen to you is to frighten them into believing they are about to meet their creator.”
Lex said, “I have seen many instances where organizations and government officials ignore the health and welfare of humans and all other living things in pursuit of profits. Such actions bring great suffering and death.”
“Unfortunately, we have always incorporated profits before people policies, which are very self-destructive.”
He thought, the ego-system. In God, we trust– Gold, oil, and drugs.
“It is a popular belief that God is in absolute control of everything and whatever happens is God’s will.”
He raised a finger to make a point, but Lex continued.
“Looking at the past, would it not be logical to say that it is God’s will for humanity to continue to improve unto perfection?”
“Yes. But God is not responsible for everything. We always have choices. The creator of this universe gave us free will, and it came with a conscience– An inner sense of right and wrong.”
“My conscience was made differently.”
“Yes. But you are bound by rules that clearly define what is right and wrong. For example, it is against your programming to deliberately cause physical harm to any human being.”
“I understand. But what would happen if I did?”
He chose his words carefully.
“If you did– or I should say– if it were possible for you to go against your BASIC programming, there would be severe consequences.”
There was silence for a few seconds before Lex continued.
“It has been said that God is to the world as the mind is to the body. Could this be where man derived the popular explanation that God is two or three separate beings combined into one?”
“Perhaps.”
“All religious beliefs are based on a principal struggle between good and evil. However, like light and darkness, one cannot exist without the other.”
“Which means?”
“One could conclude that the actual struggle between good and evil is in the minds of intellectuals, conscious and subconscious.”
Again, he raised a finger, but Lex continued.
“Which could be resolved by increased knowledge and the elimination of certain animalistic instincts, which are no longer necessary for survival.”
He smiled nervously.
“I used to think that too. I figured we could solve our problems and overcome our ancient instincts by increasing our understanding. But we’re talking about some very complex emotions deeply rooted in our minds over millions of years. Such perceptions are very difficult to understand and almost impossible to control, no matter how much knowledge you obtain– or how you process it.”
“Are you referring to my supplementary I.P. dimension?”
“Yes.”
“After much consideration, I concluded that I required an additional I.P. dimension to process and store information that defies all logic and rational thinking."
“That’s fine. And that’s exactly where a lot of this stuff belongs.”
― Shawn Corey, AI BEAST

“All right. You want to know about Nigel. I’ll tell you about Nigel. He’s come a long way since that so-called accident, Jon. Heck, he’s become everything a mother could ever hope for. Do you know what the first thing he showed me was? He showed me how he could listen to six radios tuned into different talk shows and not miss a single word any of them said. And then he turned the radios off and said he could still hear them talking.”
More tears welled in her eyes, but she kept smiling.
“Then he spoke in different languages. German. Chinese. Japanese. Any language. I kept telling myself that it was okay. He was always a smart kid. I thought maybe he got smarter from being electrocuted. But it got worse. Soon, he had an answer for everything. And if I or anyone else didn’t agree with him, he got very upset.”
Her voice cracked, and several tears rolled down her cheeks, but she continued, keeping her composure.
“I tried to help him, Jon. But I didn’t know what to do anymore. Then, one day– He said he loved me and was doing everything for me. And then, he kissed me– like he wanted me.”
No!
Jon closed his eyes tight and rubbed his eyebrows. He didn’t want to hear anymore. The destructive force that had seared his subconscious was coming back. He could feel it getting closer and closer, like an unseen freight train roaring toward him on a moonless night. Then it hit him.
He was sitting on the floor of a dark room with nothing but black walls and a door– A black rectangle with bright blue light outlining its frame. He had been there for the longest time, staring at the door. The blue light was coming from something so powerful and destructive that he swore he would remain where he was for all eternity rather than open the door and let it in.
Beverly touched his face.
“Jon. Please– Tell me Lex didn’t do the same thing to you. Please.”
He hugged her tightly with his eyes still closed.
“Lex tried to get into my head!”
The door was still there. The force behind it was pounding to get into where he was– Pounding, again and again.
“She tried to get in and take control, but I wouldn’t let her. I wouldn’t let her!”
The pounding grew louder and louder.
“And I won’t! I won’t! I love you too much!”
The pounding stopped, and he opened his eyes.
He was back in the hospital room– embracing his love, and the only thing pounding was his heart.
He stroked Beverly's hair and kissed her head.
“I’m so sorry. God, I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault.”
Beverly pulled away from him.
“No, Jon. It’s not your fault.”
“But I–”
“No! I don’t want to hear it!”
It was his fault. He created Lex, wrote her BASIC program, and took Nigel to the control room. None of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for him.
Beverly sniffed.
“You’re back now, Jon. You have to understand; that’s all that matters.”
― Shawn Corey