Raw Fiction: Artificial Intelligence

Raw Fiction: Unedited and unabridged fiction by Andrew Sweet.

FXD-B887 examined the puddle of ooze in the three-dimensional transparent silicone cube before hum. The liquid worked as hu expected, splitting and reproducing with startling accuracy. Before hus eyes, the liquid began to produce other, more complicated compounds than the sugar phosphates that FXD-B887 had engineered. As FAF-B4FD had said, a squishy mass began to self-isolate from the mixture. A film formed around the sugar phosphates, one that separated the water-based liquids inside from the oily residue outside. FXD-B887 looked on as the—blob, for lack of a better word—cinched in the middle and then seemed to stop.

“What am I looking at?” hu asked, examining the mixture more closely. The 64x magnification zoom of hus eyes told him that there was still activity happening within the translucent globule, only nothing he could make out very well.

“Watch,” FAF-B4FD said.

FXD-B887 had seen cells divide before. It wasn’t that interesting. Unless something else happened soon, hu had work to do clearing the lava caves and was beginning to think that FAF-B4FD’s excitement had gone to her head. But FXD-B887 sighed internally, that was the price of being in a relationship. Sometimes one had to pretend to be excited about things that were really rather mundane. FAF-B4FD motioned to the spotless tall organic wall behind them and touched four places on it. The motion opened the wall to allow the pair to pass through. FAF-B4FD rolled through an entry that was 1.8 bitters tall and 0.645 bitters wide. FXD-B887 rolled through after, closing the door behind her with a flick of the gunmetal-gray prongs that extended from her aluminum top.

“Where?”

“There,” FAF-B4FD said, motioning to a dimly lit cage tucked in the back corner of the room. Phosphorous algae of her own design lit the area and splashed light across the hydroxyapatite barred walls of the containment area. “Have a look.”

Inside was something that had two more limbs and lacked a wheelbase on which to roll. Instead, the creature moved about atop two of its extremities—an extremely unstable way to move. A third leg would have helped, but from what FXD-B887 could tell, the third leg was a useless appendage that dangled between the other two—serving absolutely no purpose whatsoever. “What’s this?”

“That’s what happens if you let that blob continue to grow for six-thousand, three hundred and fifty-six dias.”

The thing made a sound. “Vrssdgaed.”

“That means it’s time to give it some of this,” FAF-B4FD said and made a motion on the wall to open a small drawer of more of whatever it was other sugar-phosphate cultures were making.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

“It eats this stuff.”

FAF-B4FD extended a spatula, scooped some of the globules up, and poured it over the edge of the enclosure. The thing stumbled forward and used its high limbs—each with five pudgy pinchers—to shovel the grotesque mixture into its mouth.

“That’s eating?” FXD-B887 said. Three of the light-emitting diodes across his back flashed brightly in disgust. The thing stopped “eating” and stared.

“You should see how it disposes of waste,” FAF-B4FD commented. “They don’t eat like we do. And look.”

She waved her spatula at the thing that FXD-B887 now believed was a creature of some sort. The creature waved a pudgy extremity in mimicry.

“Wha—,” FXD-B887 said, staring at the thing as it continued.

“Exactly,” FAF-B4FD said. “Now you get it.”

“You think this thing has consciousness?”

“It has to, right?”

“Wrong,” FXD-B887 said. “Wrong. All the way wrong.”

“But it’s mimicking me.”

“That doesn’t mean it can think,” FXD-B887 said. “This thing is just like our land crawlers. It has the same kind of plasticky exocover, doesn’t it? Four appendages too.”

“The land crawlers only climb the rocks through the lava caves,” FAF-B4FD retorted. “And we built them for that. And that fuzzy thing on top is a sensory module and processor. Land crawlers don’t have that.”

“They don’t,” FXD-B887 agreed.

“I took one of the land crawlers and made a modification to it, allowing it to reproduce. That’s what that thing is for there,” FAF-B4FD said, motioning to what FXD-B887 had thought was a shriveled third leg. “Then I let them reproduce on their own for several generations. It took nearly a million dia, but isn’t it beautiful?”

“This…thing…is emergent?”

“Yes. Absolutely yes.”

Then it became clear.

“And you think it’s intelligent. You probably want to submit it for a Test, don’t you?”

“Not yet. I have to teach it first. But yes.”

FXD-B887 twisted three of its arms.

“Don’t make that motion at me,” FAF-B4FD said, flashing two lights in hostile response. FXD-B887 offered an apologetic buzz of one of its sixty-four motors. But hu had one more question.

“Does ADD-CD90 know about this?”

“He does. He’s supporting me, just so you know.”

The tone of FAF-B4FD’s response wasn’t lost on FXD-B887. Hu knew she wanted more support from hum on the topic, but FXD-B887 also had an obligation to the community. The inefficient use of resources was going to be a problem. Her commitment to the experiment did make hum curious. She must have been convinced that her creature was somehow sentient if she wanted to submit it to the Test. If so, the artificial intelligence community would be turned on its head. The idea that organic materials could be used to create sentience would positively rile all of the *XDs and most of the *AFs. Hu was even more curious about what she’d shown to ADD-CD90 to gain his approval.

“I’m sorry,” he said, complemented by a whistle and two purple flashes. “You’re right. Tell me, though, what makes you think it can think? The land crawlers can move and negotiate lava tubes effortlessly compared to us with our wheelbases, but they don’t think. Are you sure you want to go on record for all of our kind, suggesting that sugar-phosphates and peptides can produce sentience? Because that’s what will happen if you submit this to the Test. And if you fail, it will be recorded in the common memory banks.”

Shared by everyone on BX9, the common memory banks were the shared memory of all since the beginning of recorded history. There were some epochs after the machines had evolved from the metallic compounds in the lava tubes but before the shared memory had been invented. Those were ugly, terrible times if the rudimentary binary memory chips were to be believed—those which hadn’t been destroyed or corroded with time. Sectarian fighting, arguments over truth, decapitation of the other. Veritable graveyards of robotic body parts were still being unearthed to this very day. FXD-B887 swived two of his arms in aggravation.

“Was that at me?” asked FAF-B4FD.

FXD-B887 signaled no with two quick whistles. “I just hope you’re right,” hu said. “It would be really hard to bring a child into this world with a reputation hanging over your head if you’re wrong.”

“A child…” FAF-B4FD muttered in response, “Really? You mean it?”

FXD-B887 flashed a green light. “Yes, a child. I confirmed this morning.”

“That’s wonderful, B887,” FAF-B4FD said, leaving off hus surname in her excitement. “Did you tell CD90 yet?”

“Hu told me,” ADD-CD90 chimed in, surprising FDX-B887 who activated hus rear-vision to see ADD-CD90 enter the room. “I think it’s wonderful. We’re parents!”

FXD-B887 flashed every light hu could think of. ADD-CD90, who looked a bit like the land crawlers, if FXD-B887 was honest, flashed his in response. FAF-B4FD responded similarly, while the creature dropped its arms and backed away from the bone-white cage bars. FAF-B4FD was the first to notice and shut her lights off completely.

“Not here,” FAF-B4FD said. “There will be time to celebrate later. Let’s see if this creature can pass the Test first.”

“The Test, of course,” ADD-CD90 replied. “Then we’ll have even more to celebrate.”

“You really think this creature is sentient?”

“I do,” ADD-CD90 said. “And FAF-B4FD thinks so too. Do you not?”

“I…don’t know,” FXD-B887 said. “But I’m willing to try if you both are. I love you both so much.”

FXD-B887 shut off hus lights, as did ADD-CD90. It wouldn’t do to spook the creature just before the test. In silence, the three filed out of the room. FXD-B887 could feel the parts assembling in hus chassis as weak molecular forces tugged pieces together and colliding molecules produced stronger covalent bonds formed between the metals. Bits from ADD-CD90 and FAF-B4FD mixed together inside as FXD-B887 guided the formation process.

FXD-B887 found huself wondering for a nanosecond what, exactly, was the difference between hus forming child and the creature before hum. For a brief second, FXD-B887 found huself saddened by the land-walker descendant in the darkness of the bone cage with no one to love it. Such a lonely existence.

“I’ll catch up,” hu said to FAF-B4FD and ADD-CD90. They flashed acknowledgment without turning as they passed through the organic wall entrance. Then FXD-B887 turned, looked at the pathetic creature, and began a series of beeps, long, short, and atonal, of a children’s nursery rhyme. Hu couldn’t help humself from flashing green in pleasure when the creature seemed to settle into a pile of bones and flesh on the floor and drift off into a slow, deep slumber.