Chapter 2: Chapter 2 – Only Human

Inside a military base not found on any maps, an underground bunker had three people waiting with impatience. One of them was organically human.

Two scientists were checking on the results of an experiment. One of them had been human once. Or at least they were considered a sentient person according to the norms of society.

Inside the bunker was an enclosed and locked office. Next to a wall, a semi-transparent blue screen was floating in mid-air, data, numbers, and charts were flowing down the screen as it slowly scrolled down with scientific data.

Except for shiny metallic walls and bare greyish concrete flooring, there was a single large table in the middle of the room which had different empty soft drinks containers scattered across it. In the centre of the table, a single medium-sized metallic box sat although it was not connected by any wires.

{Did it work?} asked a hovering robotic sphere shape. It had a large black screen on the front for emoji-style faces that accompanied the changes in colour that the sphere changed into. At the moment it showed a puzzled-looking emoji with a light blue glow emitting from the casing.

{☉_☉}

‘Give me a moment here...’ asked a young man in a white but slightly messy laboratory coat.

He had frazzled brown hair and green eyes and appeared worried as though he would be shouted at for making a mistake. His eyes continually darted around the data on the wall as though trying to commit it all to memory and failing to do so.

{Yeah, take your time.} The feminine voice was accompanied by a pink glow this time. Another emoji face flashed on the front screen.

 {(~˘ ˘)~}

‘Device can you give a quick rundown of the test results? And don’t forget to hurry up with it. Time isn’t on our side.’ the young man said.

{That’s not a funny joke. You’ve repeated that saying a dozen times at least now.} the robotic sphere bobbed up and down as though it was annoying. A light green light glowed from the sphere casing.

‘Sorry, sorry. I have a bad grasp of humour. Device, I need a rundown asap.’ The man rapped his knuckles on the table lightly.

A metallic box on the wooden table made a short and sharp beeping noise.

+Accumulating available data for the first test result. Please wait…please wait…+

[She asked you if it worked?] asked the largest of the three in the room. It looked like a large humanoid-looking robotic figure that was equipped in a grey military-style outfit that was equipped with a handgun as a sidearm. A badge was fixed at shoulder height on the uniform that showed an image of an hourglass crossed with two swords.

[You don’t need to use such a basic device when you should be able to supply a reasonable answer. That’s why we supplemented the cost of your training. Are you able to provide your scientific colleague with an answer?] it asked with a slightly impatient tone.

{I can talk for myself but thank you for your concern, Commander} Teresa responded to the hovering sphere along with an annoyed-looking emoji that appeared on the frontal screen.

{ʺʘ͟ʘʺ}

‘I’m saying that it didn’t fail. How can you expect me to tell immediate results straight away? Give me some time to make sure I’m getting the correct answers here. I don’t appreciate being rushed, Teresa. I don’t.’ The young man appeared flustered when he spoke as if he were worried that he would be shouted at for giving a wrong answer.

{Fine, well you can always check the drinks machine. Do you know the old one that’s outside by the entrance to the recreation area? If the drinks somehow taste a lot better, then the experiment had some results. You can go and pick up a few hot or cold drinks to test.} said, Teresa.

The large humanoid robot ignored the meaningless banter between the two young scientists and turned its attention back to the floating bluish tinted screen in the corner of the room.

[I can’t say that I understand this that well. As reasonably experienced scientists aren’t the both of you meant to make this easier for me to understand. I’d appreciate a clearer explanation. Can both of you make that possible?’

‘Drinks as explanation first then. Yeah, I’d like a cold berry tea. No, a coffee, wait make that a hot berry tea instead.’

{Look, I don’t care about coffee. It’s not like I can drink the stuff from that machine anyway. Unless it was a beverage algorithm? Is it normal to miss drinking liquids at this stage of transfer? Felix, do you think it’s a human thing?

‘I’m still an organic human here so why are you asking me a question like that? I need to drink liquids to survive. You need liquids to function sure, but I guess that you should have algorithms that translate to drink form. Wait, does that mean that you like to have the same drinks as me…?’

{I guess we could find out through a form of scientific inquiry...?} said Teresa as her emoji screen flashed with a smiley face.

{ º ͜ º }

‘Cut it out! Talk like a normal person does instead of those silly faces.’

[I would appreciate it if you would both try to stay on a relevant topic. Unless you think it’s a vala good of government resources to spend my valuable time discussing types of drinks. As an AI I don’t have a firm opinion of human or Machine Mind drink preferences. I do hope that you know that if you can’t find any evidence or proof the experiment caused some lasting change then you need to try again.]

‘Will do Commander. Evidence and proof needed first’ replied the younger scientist.

[Do you at least have anything that could be recognised as an anti-percentage result method?]

{I um, I don’t think that anti-percentage is a real valid scientific term Commander. We don’t think in terms of method. I mean scientifically you would refer to it as a-}

[I don’t need to know the specific terms. The military and the higher-ups want results. If these are not being produced, then either punitive measures or restrictions will need to be put in place. I have been placed in charge of this department to get results. As well as seeing if there is any possibility of weaponization. That’s why you two are the scientists and I’m the military liaison. Now, can either of you inform me of any changes in terms that I can understand?]

‘Well, that depends on who the person is. Sorry, the individual, group, or organization who tried it in the first place. Changes on such a scale become much harder to detect.’

[Explain it to me in layperson’s terms.] said the humanoid style artificial intelligence with an increasingly terse tone.

‘Have you heard of the term carbon footprint? Anything like that?’

[One moment…Yes, I’m now aware of it. And..?] responded the military AI liaison.

‘Well, every single individual has an impact during their life. Keeping track of the effect becomes much harder to do so if you can’t keep track of the activities of a group or an organization. The number of variables increases over time when you try to measure an actual impact, it becomes much harder to work out if changing be behaviour difference measured against an entire planet.’

[I don’t think that carbon footprints are that applicable these days. That was mostly sorted out previously and it’s an older term to use. Anything else that can be used to explain in terms I’ll understand?]

‘How about a digital footprint then? Everything involved becomes trackable according to usage. Keeping track of data gets difficult on this type of scale. We can find if a positive reaction has occurred but finding the specific cause of it becomes much, much harder. More so if the effect is only temporary and relapses. If you borrowed a friend's electronic device to use but disabled your own, then how could we be sure where the true date lies?’

[Make it clear to me then. You don’t have enough information to provide me with a clear explanation. I’m just hearing vague answers here. Is that what you’re trying to tell me? Teresa, are you able to help your colleague with this?]

{I’ll get around to it after one minor query directed towards you Commander. May I ask a mission-relevant question first?}

[Up to a certain degree of clearance it’s acceptable. It depends on your specific question. If I judge that it’s acceptable information, then it depends on what level and how much of that I’m allowed to discuss. An old phrase loose lips sink ships comes to mind. If it stops your colleague from delaying answers, I want then so be it].

{Then I need to be careful what I ask and how much information I expect in return due to mission security clearance. Anything too complex means less available information? It’s a bit hard to tell. I wanted to ask when the effect started?}

[I’m going to need to narrow down an answer to your question. It’s too broad and frankly a great deal of the information I simply don’t have access to. We’re here to find new answers, not dig up old ones. I have no time or patience for conspiracy stories and unverified information. You can find those for yourself or by chatting with your colleague here.’

‘Hey!’ the scientist shouted. ‘That was a bit loud sorry, I’m not a conspiracy nut.’ He said in a quieter tone. ‘I’m not.’

{¬_¬} appeared on the screen of Teresa's robotic sphere body.

‘What’s that face meant to mean? Stop it. I don’t like you staring at me weirdly. Just talk like a normal…Machine Mind.’

{You’re no fun at all.} said, Teresa.

You are reading story Regression Machine at novel35.com

[Ignoring that, are you able to be more specific with your queries Teresa?]

{Let’s narrow it down my question then. Did we receive a signal or prior notification before the effect began or was it just a random act of the universe?}

[We received notification previously. As for the details, it’s still above your clearance level.]

{That doesn’t tell me that much about it though. But if it’s not random then it was a deliberate action. Was it an attack?}

[I can neither confirm nor deny that question. That was related to the specific content of the message].

{You don’t know huh. Would I be able to access any further details of the notification or is that also classified?}

[The message contents date to quite some time ago, I’m not prepared to give a specific time scale. Roughly, it would be considered as preparation for the future as it comes. That is not an exact translation and is available to be shared with others. Not that it will provide you with that much information. Your colleague has the same level of clearance as yourself.]

‘Hey Teresa, now you’re as clueless as I am about the whole project. Ok, maybe I know a tiny bit more than you, but sharing isn’t always caring right?’

{Doesn’t this feel a bit like working on the Manhattan project? Have you ever heard of it before? It was on a history show or something.} said, Teresa.

‘I don’t feel comfortable hearing about other projects that are classified. I’ve made enough mistakes with this one so far. I think.’

[It was an ancient-style project design that focused on a highly specialized weapon at the time. It was used during the Second World War in a European city called Berlin. A nuclear-style weapon attack.]

{Well, we’re dumping a lot of resources on this. It’s mostly done in secret, and we don’t have an actual guarantee that anything is working. I read that back then they were concerned that evaluating the device would have set the atmosphere of the planet on fire. There are a lot of similarities.}

‘Wow, which sounds crazy. Hey, I got one for you. I know what one of the worst and best things could happen due to this project.’

[Is going to be another one about us all turning into frog creatures again? You should try to stay within the mission briefing parameters rather than engaging in random speculation].

{Θ͜ Θ } showed Teresa.

‘Geez, I’m sorry ok. It was a joke. Just a joke.’

{That was a pretty funny idea. We could grow vast numbers of insects in giant vats easily. Then we would eat fly biscuits, fly cakes, fly-}

A mechanical voice chimed out from a nearby wall-mounted speaker.

+Warning Project Staff. Your allocated non-standard work time has used up XX accountable time units so far. Please be aware that while we appreciate the need for casual chat, you are also paid to work on a designated project time scale. Thank you for sticking to your deadlines! Please remember, not finished in time might mean a fine!+

[I’m going to blame both of you for this if it a fine is issued. Teresa, stop it with the faces already. Too much time around you two has changed me. Do I need to remind you both again that this is a military-funded project?]

‘So back to seriousness. What available scope is there for more resource allocation? Private, military, or voluntary? Could more staff be employed to assist?’

[If you’re here then you’ve got sufficient clearance to know what’s needed. Are you interested in donating a part of your present UBI or project allowance?]

Then the device on the table finally lit up with yellow light and the blue floating screen paused for a moment before switching to a greenish light.

‘Looks like we’re finally going to get an initial result. Don’t blame me if it works according to your exact specifications. Science is a fart, I mean art. It’s an art at best.’

[Let the machine give you the results rather than getting worried about the answers. We have time enough for those].

+Minor Trace of Status Variance Found.

-0.0006 Change Detected.

-Regression time scale is presently unknown.

-Main Location: Current Base Facilities+

{Let’s see if we can narrow down that trace. Track it further, please. We need more details for analysis.}

+Checking further location details:

-Corridor 4a

-Section 2. Area Designated Rest.

-Refreshment Production.+

‘Wait, I know that location. It’s coming to me….hmm….’

[That’s the location of the tasty liquid-producing vending machine. So basically, we have a minor result for better-tasting drinks. Is that a base-wide effect or does it apply further away?]

{Well, we could always check the budget for buying drinks for staff. Or it does sound like a fun project contribution fund. Important science work through imbibing soft drinks. Sorry, algorithms for me. Liquids for the organic human here.}

‘Organic human…? What’s the deal with that term? You used to be one as well you know. Before you chose to become a Machine Mind.’

{I’m so sorry, was that offensive to your standards? I mean to say fleshly waterbag. You should join the ranks of our electronic measures.}

‘Fleshy? I try to stay in decent shape thank you very much!’

{Sorry for my mistake. Just trying to get used to being a floating metal eyeball.}

‘Back to the idea about buying drinks?’

[That’s within acceptable standards. Get to it then. Wait, first, you need to order some more stock from the site. That allows seeing if the effect has hit the rest of society at large. Remember to follow safety protocol and hire a contracted worker with no ties to government, corporate or private interests for the job.]

‘Can I request a specific type of drink Commander?’

{We need to get drink algorithms ordered as well. Non-organic lifeform here.}.

[I’m not going to take offence to that. You two can work on the details then. I’ll need to cross-reference the results and see if we have any spare project budget available. I’m sure you two don’t want the cost of those drinks coming directly out of your universal basic income.]

‘Sounds great! I’m going to like working here.’

[I think that after the next series of training lectures you might feel somewhat differently.]

{@#}

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