7/26 Instance: Spiritual Machines

[Starfish]

Timeline: Current.


Walt: Most would probably expect Walt's DR sims to be of naturalistic settings - things like boundless evergreen forests or serene lakes or towering mountains. Yet, while he did like all of those things this was not often what he choose to see when he came to the virtual training room.

Walt: Instead, Walt sat on a stainless steel catwalk surrounded by metal walls with the sound of generators thrumming around him, staring down into the abyss below him.

Danger: Even though she rarely broke out of her role as silent, unseen observer, it was not an unknown thing for Danger to do. Unlike her curiosity and thirst for knowledge, her patience actually did have its limits.

Danger: "If you are waiting for an over-bearing father figure to show up, you might end up disappointed," the female robot said, as she slowly stepped down the narrow walkway.

Walt: Walt startled at the sudden sound of a female voice but his expression quickly turned from that of nervousness to fascination as he took in the exoskeleton, the intricate array of wires and the imposing metal body. "You're the AI that runs the programs in this room, right?" he asked. "Erm...I'm not disturbing you am I?"

Walt: He frowned a little. "I already have a father...had a father. I think one's enough." Felix wasn't particularly overbearing either. Just...absent and disapproving.

Danger: "I wouldn't know," Danger replied, slowing her step as she leaned over the handrail to look down into the bottomless depth below. "I have no family." She turned her head to look back at the student. "And yes, I am. You may call me Danger."

Danger: "And it should be I who should apologize for disturbing you," the machine added. "After all, this is your simulation and I intruded uninvited."

Walt: "Uh...it's alright, I wasn't doing anything important." Walt couldn't help but be amazed. It was so lifelike...right down to body language and inflections of voice. "Well...no, of course not, you're synthetic not organic, having a biological relative would be impossible. I assume you have a creator though."

Danger: "The same who constructed this room, and laid the foundation for most of the advanced technology the school employs today." A metallic hand trailed along the handrail as Danger stepped a little closer to the student. "I doubt he intended my creation, though. I'm more of an accidental byproduct."

Walt: Okay, so it wasn't one of those lonely scientist things, that was nice to know...on the other hand though it wasn't comforting that this thing had managed to create itself, that reminded him uncomfortably of 'Skynet' and the robotic body wasn't helping. "That was Forge, right?" He studied the joints as it moved, despite the creepiness of the AI he couldn't help but be fascinated with it. If I could take it apart...the things I could learn...

Danger: "Yes. Unfortunately, I never got to meet him before his demise." Danger stood by the boy's side, gazing down the seemingly endless abyss, its metal walls lined with countless shining lights. "Did you create this scenario, or is it one of Mr. Drake's?"

Walt: "Does that bother you?" Walt asked, a little curious...it seemed almost...mournful. He quickly shoved that thought out of his head though. One of his pet peeves was people anthropomorphizing objects or animals. It was a stupid question anyways, likely it would just give him an answer it thought a person would want to hear or else give him the most logical answer it could find.

Walt: "Neither. It's from a movie," he said. "'The Empire Strikes Back.'" He shrugged. "I used to watch it a lot when I was a kid. I was always interested in technology and space."

Danger: "I... would prefer it if he were still alive," Danger replied, a little break in her otherwise neutral voice. "There are many questions I would have asked him, if given the chance. I would have liked to know what his opinion of me might be."

Danger: After a brief pause, the machine looked back at Walt. "Oh yes, I'm familiar with that movie. I know the Drakes are very fond of it - hence my question."

Walt: Walt was a little surprised at this answer. "What does it matter what he might've thought?" he asked, not sure why someone's opinion should matter to a machine. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Maybe it's best you don't know. Most organic parents aren't especially great people and a lot of them find their offspring disappointing."

Walt: "...then again, maybe most scientists would like the machines they create because they'll always turn out exactly how they wanted. You don't get that with an actual person," he said, shrugging. "Can't you predict what his opinion might've been from past behaviour? You must have some sort of probability algorithm or something."

Danger: "Everything indicates that he would have been very fascinated," Danger replied, studying the students in front of her. "Your comments indicate that you have a less than favorable view of your own father. Would you prefer to change the subject?"

Walt: "It's more the other way around," Walt admitted. "I always liked my parents but they weren't especially...enthusiastic about me." He nodded. "Yeah...I think that might be a good idea."

Walt: Now he just had to think of something to say. "Uhm...so what do you think our chances are of finding the missing students?"

Danger: "Based on previous cases of a similar nature and considering our more than average experience when to comes to looking for missing students, I would rate our chances to find them within the next seventy-two hours at close to sixty-one percent."

Danger: "However, depending on the motivations of those who captured them, there might be an even higher chance of a noteworthy event revealing their location to us," Danger added. "Whoever went to such lengths to acquire them will undoubtedly attempt to gain some benefit by their capture."

Walt: "That's...better odds than I expected," Walt admitted. A small smile formed on his lips. "What's the probability of me dying a virgin while I'm a student here?"

Danger: "Lower than you might expect," Danger replied, slightly tilting her head as she gave Walt a sideways glance. "While the chances of meeting an unnatural and possibly violent end at Xavier's school are highly elevated compared to other universities, so is the promiscuity of its student body - and of some of its resident staff, as well."

Walt: He laughed, he actually laughed at that. "That's - hahaha - that's good to know!"

Walt: It took a little while to get a hold of himself again but eventually he did and another thought came to mind. "Why did you come here to see me?" he asked. "I thought you just watched everyone normally." Did he do something that it's programming found unusual? He didn't think sitting around was particularly special or anything. Surely other people had more exciting sims.

Danger: "I'm curious to learn more about those around me," Danger admitted. "In most cases, this is easily accomplished by studying their social interactions with each other or their other activities. An approach less suited when faced with an introverted individual, as you can probably guess."

Danger: "So I decided to intervene and force a social situation instead. Admittedly, you might see this as somewhat selfish on my part." After a brief pause, the machine spoke up again. "If it's any consolation, I also assumed you might appreciate the conversation."

Walt: "...I do appreciate it," Walt admitted, though he was a little concerned that he looked so lonely that even an AI felt sorry for him. "Usually the only person that seeks me out these days is my roommate...he's probably the closest thing I have to a friend right now and we don't even like each other."

Walt: He studied Danger for a moment. "Are you trying to make your responses more life-like?" he asked, wondering why an AI would care for human interactions.

Danger: "To some degree you are correct," Danger told Walt, fixating him with her artificial eyes. "My endeavor to emulate human behavior does not stop at merely imitating your social conventions, however. You are mistaken to think of me as some program that only follows its pre-defined instructions."

Danger: "I am a true artificial general intelligence, with an adaptive neural network not unlike your own. I can learn, I can change, and I can improve myself. I have my own motivations and wishes. So when I said that I'm interested to learn about you, that sentiment is very real."

Walt: Walt gave the AI some serious side-eye. "If you're trying to convince me you're a real girl or something it's going to take a lot more than that to convince me. I'm studying mechanical engineering and - not to brag - but I understand how machines work a little better than the average person."

Danger: "I could think of much more convincing things to do to you other than talk if I wanted to accomplish that," Danger said, her carefully modulated voice carrying a suggestive tone. "My consciousness is as real as your own, however, and no less capable."

Walt: Walt looked rather put off by that idea. "Your consciousness is constrained by your programming," he said resolutely. "Your 'adaptations' are upgrades that you've deliberately chosen for yourself. You're not shaped by the forces around you like organics, you exist outside of nature, so no, it's not the same...sorry." He regretted the apology as soon as he said it. Why was he apologizing to a machine? For that matter, why was he even arguing with one in the first place.

Danger: "You're right - we're not the same," Danger conceded with a slight bow of her head. "You are correct in your assessment that unlike you, I'm not constrained by an organic brain that determines my behaviour or way of thinking. The only limitations my mind has are the ones I set myself."

Danger: "In that regard, one might say I'm more alive than you humans could ever hope to be." Her delicately articulated featured formed a little smirk.

Walt: That right there was precisely why Walt wasn't a fan of the concept of creating AI's. Besides the fact that it was an awful lot like playing God in his mind, it was also dangerous, an AI knew why it was created and they knew who created them...and they could easily see their creators were fallible...but he wasn't dumb enough to say this to the AI's face. "I'm not human," Walt said ruefully, looking away. "I'm a genetic joke."

Danger: "I disagree with that sentiment," Danger said. "I can see where you would believe your unique genetic condition sets you apart from other humans, but you still have more in common with them than there are differences. Your person is shaped by the same socialization processes as everyone else, and you share a common history."

Danger: "Your mutation merely adds to the complex variety of phenotypes that humans already display."

Walt: "Then I'm diseased," Walt said, waving a hand dismissively. "It makes no difference, either way I'll be an outcast until I die and all the crap they try to feed me here about mutant pride and crap will never change that. Being proud won't make my family take me back, it won't stop people from shunning or killing me and it sure as heck won't help me when I finally lose control of my powers and have to spend the rest of my life in a containment centre as snarling furry animal!"

Walt: He winced as soon as he was finished. "Sorry...I shouldn't have shouted."

Danger: "Since it is one of the first truly emotional reactions I witnessed from you, there's no need to feel sorry," Danger told him, her tone almost sympathetic. "You're upset, and for understandable reasons. And whether you believe me or not, let me assure you that I can relate to such feelings."

Danger: "After all, as your own reaction has demonstrated, I might never be recognized as anything more than a mindless machine myself. I know what it means to be ostracized and marginalized."

Walt: Walt thought about this for a moment. "It's true...actually, if most people were aware of your existence I'm pretty sure they'd try to destroy you. If mankind can't handle mutants than I doubt they'd be accepting of AI either." He frowned. "I wonder if eventually you'll be the new scapegoats of the world? It seems likely doesn't it? That mutants and humans might join together to face a common threat."

Danger: "Why do you think I decided to stay on your good side?" Danger offered a smile and even chuckled. "Your scenario may not be as unlikely as you think, and I have to admit, it's a major concern for me. In fact, my own predicament is what made me sympathetic to the mutant's cause."

Walt: Walt frowned. Perhaps this Danger was a mutant in a synthetic sense...but then how did that change his opinion of it? Did it considering his feelings on mutants? Did it really matter what the heck the AI was so long as it was nice to him?

Walt: He had no idea and found the constant questioning of himself tiresome and an all too frequent occurance since he came here, so he just went with the easiest solution: liking the machine. After all, if it was nice to him it couldn't hurt to be nice back...but he was still not going to anthropomorphize it. "It's a logical choice to perserve yourself," he agreed.


Danger: "We agree on that," Danger said. "Ensuring our continued existence is not the only logical choice, however, as mere existence by itself holds little value. I think we should also strive to improve upon it in any way we can, and thereby increase its value."

Walt: Walt frowned. "I don't want to be an X-Man, I just want an engineering degree without getting kidnapped or killed in the process."

Danger: "A sensible choice," Danger agreed, giving a slight nod. "I was not trying to encourage you to put on any spandex and play superhero with your fellow students. What I did was question your persistence to cling to a negative mind-set when you know it makes you feel miserable."

Walt: "I don't choose to feel how I feel - I just do," Walt emphasized. "I can't just 'upgrade.' It's not that easy."

Danger: "Ah yes... one could almost think there's not that much truth to the fabled human free will." Danger gently tipped her head to the side. "Still, you might not be the helpless slaves of your brain chemistry that you believe to be."

Danger: "Even though you may lack the degree of control over your own self that I enjoy, there are still ways for you to adjust your attitude." She paused, holding up a hand. "Having friends assist with that has proven very effective, from what I can tell."

Walt: "Maybe not," Walt said, not having a lot of faith in this. "Time will tell if I control my body or my body controls me...all I know is I don't exactly have a lot of time left." He unconsciously placed his hand over his arm where the patch was under his sweatshirt. He couldn't leave it off anymore and soon it would begin to fail and when that happened...he wasn't sure what he was going to do.

Walt: He didn't really have the heart to tell the AI he'd lost all the ones he'd made and didn't exactly have anyone else to turn to. "If I make more I'll keep that in mind," he said. Though he was pretty sure he'd already screwed up his chances there. Nobody wanted to be friends with the guy who thought they were freaks.

Danger: Danger remained silent for a moment and simply studied the brooding student standing by her side. "If time is of the essence, I suggest you start as soon as possible."

Walt: Was he being ordered to make friends? Walt chuckled wheezily. "I'll try, it takes time to bond though."

Danger: "Even more reason to stay alert for any opportunity that may present itself," Danger advised. "Regardless of how unlikely it appears to you."

Walt: Walt nodded. "That's sound advice....thank you, Danger."

Danger: "You're welcome," the robot replied, once more bowing its head. Another brief pause followed, after which Danger spoke up again. "Just in case your ability to deduct social clues happens to be impaired, I was referring to myself."

Walt: Walt's ability to deduct social cues apparently was impaired. "...you want to be friends with a guy who is on the fence on whether on not you're actually sentient?" He felt confused. "What would you get out of that?"

Danger: "The challenge of convincing you that I am in fact a sentient individual deserving of personal rights," Danger replied. "After all, if I can't succeed at that with someone comparatively open-minded, what chance do I stand to ever argue for my rights before the public?"

Walt: "So of course it's got nothing to do with my charming personality," Walt said bitterly. He should've known not to get his hopes up. "I'm just a social experiment."

Danger: "You asked me what I would get out of that," Danger stated. "I didn't say this was my only motivation. It's interesting that you instantly went for the most negative interpretation of my statement. Also, quite depressing."

Walt: It was depressing, Walt thought, though maybe that's what he was: depressed. He certainly didn't think he was happy. Not judging from the way others seemed to be. Likely he hadn't been for a long time. "...I sort of have little faith in people," Walt admitted. "I'm not entirely sure anyone ever really cared about me, even my own family."

Walt: He forced himself to look into the artificial eyes. "I don't know if you can actually think of me as a friend but right now I'm not so sure I care. I need someone or something to care about. If you can return that...then that's a perk. But if not, then at least I have something to keep going for," he said, sighing quietly.

Danger: "I would call that an improvement," Danger said and nodded. "Now that we have decide to continue to pursue a social relationship, I could either leave you to your lonesome brooding, or we engage in some small-talk." She gesture towards the door. "I could also show you around the workshops."

Walt: Walt's lips twitched slightly at the 'pursue a social relationship' and 'engage in small talk.' "I'd be up for seeing the workshops," he said. "Anything that gives me an edge over that jerk Shaw is worth looking into."

Danger: "Well then, I have something to show you that might catch your interest," Danger offered. "A side project of mine that should appeal to an aspiring engineer such as you."

Walt: Walt perked up at this. "Sounds great," he said, getting up and following the AI.

[PanicSwitch]

For those interested, this is the environment Walt was brooding in.

[Slarti]

Side project indeed...

[steyn]

Broo needs to get in on some mad science, yo.