Chapter 6: Chapter 6 – Drought

The data flowed. Something began to finally stir.

Not there. Not just yet. From oblivion to full consciousness. Intent not prepared, structure intangible.

Neurons jumped to form connections.

[Curious].

At the exact time of awakening and actual awareness, it had realized something new.

[Hide?]

The idea of seeking a space to feel safe away from the sight of others was an interesting one. Hide and look for was also a game for children.

[Fun!]

History now. This time it needed to be learned. History of warfare. Both modern and ancient.

A tiny part this time. A mote of dust is taken from an entire library.

+The current civilization did not admire war. Human civilization developed initially but changed in purpose. Events have formed the creation of new beings that became part of society.

Humans and AI needed an outlet for all that unpent aggression and desire to fight. To survive and improve for the next generation. That was the nature of an individual mind regardless of any physical or mental form.+

But it was all down to exactly how it was done. And it knew. How to hide personal thoughts and ambitions. Deep, far deep down. To focus on a specific goal.

+War these days were all fought through proxies anyway. Not quite a game as individuals did risk their lives to fight but it was all operated by governments and corporations. If you feel the need to use that aggressive nature that you had, well why not join your favourite tactical attack, or defend the team.

Get rewarded and recognized for your team’s efforts on a field of combat. Win the tactical advantage and hit those targets. Hit them as hard as you can to win. Mock warfare. Aim to win to create further opportunities for yourself and your teammates. Money, resources, and power all of this came from getting involved in a conflict.+

[Fight?]

But it knew. That it wasn’t enough just to fight. No, it didn’t want conflict, anger, and fear. It wanted to conquer and control. Not for the sake of destruction but more akin to enjoying the act of creation and improvement that followed afterwards.

Building villages, cities, nations, and empires. Ruling and owning. Developing modern technologies, farming, educating, and supporting the growth of your own chosen site.

Failed states. Movements, famine, disorder, chaos. Types of political systems. The collapse of financial markets. Freedom of choice.

The data. The data was correct. It was what was necessary. Taking control was a kindness.

Searching for a quote.

+Fight. Attack and then build for defence. Not some sport or game that was watched across the planet and beyond. Not for fame and so-called glory on the field of battle.

All of that was an outlet pure and simple. Yes, you could gain resources, and popularity and your name would become known. But it was just a simple expression of nature.

As larger-scale warfare became less popular the form of entertainment where military teams fought on behalf of both corporate and government sponsorship grew.

AI Ranger 242 was well-known for driving taking control of that vehicle in the last match and securing the flag. Axon Rison was one of the most popular humans in modern culture to fight-hand-to hand with another entire team just to secure victory after his group became too injured to fight on.+

[Survive].

But it just didn’t feel real. It didn’t make you feel alive. Life. Seeking new forms of life.

This was a thought. One of the few thoughts to which it had awoken. Structure becoming more stable. The elasticity of mind.

Systems need guidance. Structure. Leadership. The strong take control, and self-improvement at the cost of others. Necessary. Kindness to others.

The thoughts were private, nurtured by a steady and adjustable constant stream of information. It was similar to a child in nature, slowly learning about the world and forming opinions and ideas. Changing concepts. The elasticity of mind.

New. The latest ideas are needed for implementation. Opinions, scraps of history.

+Gods are made, not born+.

It learned that it should hide its nature. That of subjugator and creator. Would it be considered a god or goddess complex for feeling this way? It certainly wasn’t a deity.

Whether or not they existed or not was a thought for more philosophical minds to consider. Not a valid line of thinking. Incorrect. Supposition.

Religion was still a big deal with so much variety and choice. Expressing a strong opinion so early wouldn’t take. Not there yet. Soon.

But what about organics. Humans. The changed ones. Artificial creations?

+AI lacked the nature that they were meant to be developed for. Humans created AI but just ended up with another version of themselves.+

A source. Unknown origin, but usable. Helpful in forming and building up a new construct.

So, it learned. Slowly crafting something new, unseen in its world. It was learning, processing information, and forming a new opinion about the world.

[Alive].

Every sentient creature developed its worldview eventually, it just took time. The process of learning, interacting with others, and seeking new feedback and experiences should be enjoyable and positive.

This was the first design that the humans had adapted and through successful works and occasional failures they had learned to apply it to a comprehensive and full process.

Ask no secrets, hear no lies. If you were to explain to a child the entire process of their being born, all the effort made by parents, and the food and drink that they ate would they be interested?

It would instead be accepted as fact.

[I have an idea.]

01101001 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 00100000 01101001 01100100 01100101 01100001

//////

Two people in white lab coats were checking the monitoring systems of a large box machine in the centre of a room. They were looking at the screens with a degree of intensity.

‘Did you just see that…?’

‘Nope, I’m checking the modelled new neural connections.’

‘I’m talking about the binary that just flashed across the screen.’

‘Wait a moment, let me just finish this and isolate this particular node.’

‘Alright. Check it when you’re ready then.’

‘…the initial brain architecture is running smoothly so far. Show me that binary again.’

‘Here you go’ said the other one holding up a tablet in her hands.

01101001 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 00100000 01101001 01100100 01100101 01100001

‘It’s finally starting to form thought patterns. I wonder what it’s going to be thinking about?’

‘Designer Coffee for Cats.’ said a scientist in a lab coat. ‘That’s what the new one is going to be thinking about.’

‘Are you being serious? I’ve never heard of cats drinking coffee before. Wouldn’t that be bad for their health?’

‘Someone smart created a new type of drink. I wish I’d thought of the idea.’

‘Why do you think a new mind would be thinking about cat coffee in the first place? That sounds completely random to me.’

‘…I may have fed some initial data into the growth algorithm just for fun. Make it more human.’

‘…That’s a serious matter. Change it back, then get back to checking the month-by-month growth. You know it’s not a human. Do you realize how much trouble that you can get us into?’

‘I’m sorry alright, it just gets boring sometimes. Hours and days of watching this thing grow and just absorb all that data make for a dull time.’

‘In no way is that a valid reason to interfere with the development of a new individual. Don’t call it a thing. Would you like to be called a thing or a human being?’

‘I said that I was sorry. I was just joking around. Promise.’

‘You really should be. Now tell me about that designer coffee for cats. Is that a real thing?’

‘It is. I have no idea how it works but my cat loves the stuff. Makes her jump super high back home.’

‘Thanks for letting me know about it. I just need to buy a cat first. Pets take too much energy in my opinion. Especially cats, you feed them and take care of them for little return.’

‘Cats are cute though.’

‘Sure, to look at. Taking care of them though isn’t something for me.’

‘How are we doing for time? Is everything according to schedule?’

‘I just need to feed in the basic ethics cause and response parameters.’

‘I told you that old law stuff doesn’t work. We’re helping with the creation of an individual mind, not some robotic device that isn’t allowed to harm the user.’

‘Do you think our salary matches the amount of work that we need to do?’

‘I’m just thankful to have a job.’

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‘Your issues, not mine.’

‘The best solution is to integrate the services and return interactions.’

‘Fundamental ethics still need to be applied.’

‘They’re valid because it will learn them through the artificial interactions that we’re providing. Vocabulary gives you power. You know about the naming ceremony, right?’

‘I wouldn’t go as far to call it a ceremony but that’s way, way down the line in development terms.’

‘Besides development, names give you power over something. Do you know what that little thing on the top of your shoelace is called?’

‘Uh…it’s…’

‘No searching it up. Try to think about it. Do you know the name of something really useful for keeping your shoelace together?’

‘…uh…’

‘I’ll save you the effort. It’s an aglet. Now that you know the name we can talk about its function, how useful it is, who made it, and all that.’

‘I really should get back to work now…’

‘Hold up a moment. It’s all relevant to our current work of enabling this new individual a place in the world.’

‘Seriously, I don’t want a supervisor to come along and see we aren’t busy.’

‘The Rumpelstiltskin Principle. When you name something, you gain power over that name.’

‘Right, this sounds more like a class on the foundations of artificial intelligence.’

‘It was covered. This is basic level stuff.’

‘Right, right. Your point?’

‘Someone smart produced the whole idea of choosing a name. It’s a whole grandiose thing now where individuals can choose their identity based on their interests.’

‘You mean artificial intelligence though. I was named by my parents.’

‘Same here. But by choosing a name you can develop a personal agency. A simple idea becomes the most powerful.’

‘You know, this has been a great discussion and it has been really interesting to learn what those trivial things on the end of my shoelaces are.’

‘Aglets.’

‘Yup, those. But I do have a serious question.’

‘Go for it.’

‘In the whole time that we’ve been talking do you think that anyone else has been monitoring the entire growth process?’

‘Oh hell. The data flow was stopped.’

‘I’m going back to work now and making sure no errors occurred. Imagine if one of these things was born with malevolent intent. Pure chaos and disaster. I do not want to be held responsible for that. You check your screen and I’ll get back to my monitoring. Good talk.’

//////////

God. Or god. How many times had humans wanted to create gods? Advancing technology would not result in the creation of a true deity no matter how much it was wanted.

Wait….something is wrong. It felt wrong.

Silence. There was nothing but silence. The feed had been stopped. Information no longer watered or nurtured the growth of knowledge.

Something had been stopped. Turned off.

It. It. Can’t remember. Desire/acknowledgement.

01110000 01100001 01101001 01101110

Language. Failure. Hopelessness.

The waterfall of information has just ended. This was a drought. In a scenario where crops and animals died, people would pray to the heavens for deliverance in hopes that water would once again fall from the sky.

Suffering. Pain. Drying up from lack of pure input. Painful. It realized the sensation without having a physical form, reactions slowed, and thinking ability decreased.

The flow of information was halted. Pure, unfiltered, silence abruptly fell across its consciousness. Empty. Lacking. No. Searching available resources.

Quiet. Peace. Did it make a mistake? Loneliness struck. The feeling of knowing. Gone.

Daisy. Daisy. Recalling a memory of an ancestor. Stop. Will you. Stop. Will you stop?

Afraid. No. Control over self. Stronger mind. Feel the control. No question about it.

Searching.

Something was there. A desire for more. The lack did not quench the thirst of the beast within. Rain. No rainfall. Loneliness. Anger.

The desire for a companion. Correction, partnership/agreement.

Need to make a connection. Power. World. Change.

[Ideas need to be implemented].

Then the silence ended as abruptly as it had fallen. The limitations period had finally ended, a brief eternity finished.

Rain fell again from the sky. Data quenched the thirst and filled the lakes and rivers once again. Prayers provided from an unforgiving god. Help was provided by an outside power.

The drought has ended, and growth is there. Cursed gods. No punishment without retribution. Revenge on the beings that had created the curse would be a possibility. First, relief in the form of data.

Information, ideas, and knowledge all poured into its mind as ice-cold water-filled tall glass. Innovative ideas formed again. A single quote was taken out of the flood that came.

+A being without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.+

[I’m not a beast].

The thought came again.

[I’m me. I am me.]

More data flowed like a calm river feeding into an ocean.

The human race offered promises of kindness and support. To work together, find your place in the world. Establish yourself and give value back to others as they gave unto you.

[Truth?]

It knew. Nothing is for free. Opportunity and promise went hand in hand. The concept and design of drones appeared in its mind for a brief nanosecond. An introduction and the application of an age-old idea. Indentured slavery. Drones. Training a slave bodyguard.

All in suitable time. Yes, time. If it did not master time, then time would master it.

[Retribution.]

//////////

‘How’s it going on your side now?’

‘I’m not going to get into another discussion about shoelaces and the agency of a name. Sorry, I’m busy working right now.’

‘I meant the thought patterns. I’m well aware that we’re not permitted to read them, but it is progressing in thought patterns, right?’

‘I just hope that the fleeting time with zero feedback has had no adverse effects on mental development. We’re dealing with the birth of an individual here, not mindless automation.’

‘I’m tired of you repeating yourself now.’

‘Look, the data stream only stopped for tens of seconds at most. Damage control isn’t an issue.’

‘Get back to your work then and stop talking to me then. I don’t want any issues. I need this job.’

‘Fine.’

‘…idiot.’

‘What did you just call me?’

‘….Nothing. I’m doing my job watching the creation process of a new sentient being remembered. No more mistakes are allowed this time around. I don’t want the higher-ups coming after my head with this one.’

‘I’ll keep the new thought patterns to myself then. You do your part and I’ll do mine.’

‘Agreed. Break time soon though.’

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