Ex Machina

by J. Rock

  Parvati nodded. Everybody knew who Isaac Shepherd was–the man who brought viable AI to the modern world, over a century ago. But Shepherd was dead…and his Bots remember him? Worship him like a god? The thought was a little disconcerting.

  “Why would Shepherd bother to program emotions into a simple working nurse-Bot?” Parvati asked aloud, hoping the question wouldn’t offend Asima. She’d of course read that certain Bots had been programmed to mimic emotion, but she’d never really had an interest in the subject. She was woefully ignorant on that front.

  “To make us more human,” Asima replied. “You would be surprised what many Bots have been programmed to do–create art, compose music. That was Shepherd’s goal all along–to fully integrate Artificial Intelligences into the human race so that eventually there would be little difference. He thought humans could even become immortal, downloading their brains into synthetic bodies or living in virtual space. Of course, that didn’t happen, there were… complications.”

  Parvati sneered. “You mean the Night Terror Virus.”

  “Yes,” Asima confirmed. “When it nearly wiped out the human population fifty years ago, progress on that technological front was severely set back. The disease had to be contained and eradicated, and after the Cleansing, science had to shift its focus on the construction of the new domed cities and rebuilding civilization. It may be another fifty years before Shepherd’s dream of immortality will be achieved.”

  Parvati nodded understanding.

  The Cleansing.

  It had happened long before she was born–she was only twenty-five–but there wasn’t a person alive today who didn’t know about it: the systematic purge of every infected human being on Earth–eight-five percent of the population.

  Eight point five billion people…wiped out.

  The Night Terror Virus had been terrible, causing extreme swelling and hemorrhaging of the brain, short circuiting basic functioning and turning people into screaming, raving lunatics–hence the name of the disease.

  And there was no cure.

  There’d been no way to round up the infected–world governments had been overwhelmed. Isaac Shepherd, then at an already advanced age, became the savior of the human race. He used his Bots to safely gather up uninfected survivors all over the world, and bring them to the safety of the walled communes his Bots had built–twenty in all, in as many countries worldwide. In a matter of months, the Bots built structures that would have taken human beings years. Within a year, the communes became domed cities, completely self-sufficient and cut off from the outside world…and the Night Terror Virus. Along with the twenty around the world, there were also any number of support domes for the cities in surrounding areas that contained natural resources and farms for food, connected by an underground network of tunnels called the Tube.

  The human race had been saved.

  But the infected were still out there.

  Parvati recalled seeing photos in her history textbooks at school, taken at the edges of the domes: the infected surrounded the cities for miles in every direction, banging vainly at the shields that shut them off from the civilized world.

  And they never died.

  A year went by, and the infected were still there, at the edges of the domes, still clawing and scratching to get in, never sleeping, never eating. It had been assumed that the infected would all eventually die off and rot, and the survivors could reclaim the Earth…but it never happened. Widespread fear and panic swept through the cities; it seemed they would be trapped in these snowglobes for eternity. Many argued that they had seen elderly infected die of old age, and that the human race would just have to tough it out in their bubbles for a century, maybe less, until all the infected died of natural causes. But that did not guarantee the disease would be gone–it might never die off. If humanity left the safety of the domes, even after every infected human being perished, the disease might still be out there, waiting for them, like the common cold. It was argued that perhaps a cure could be synthesized in the meantime, but that possibility was quickly squashed; that would mean gathering samples from the infected and bringing the disease inside, and that would never be allowed, even for research purposes–the risk would be too great. Instead, a few isolated scientific outposts were established far from the cities, with the purpose of developing a cure in mind…but eventually contact with the outposts was lost, and hope of a cure for the Night Terror Virus with them. That was when the nuclear question was brought up again–it had been suggested more than once over the years–but was always vetoed.

  There had to be a better way…and maybe there was…

  But it never got a chance to come to fruition.

  No one knew for certain which city did it; most accounts source the strike as coming from the Middle East–it was always rumored they had kept a nuclear stockpile, even after the weapons were banned worldwide shortly after World War IV. In the end, it didn’t really matter; only the result did. Over a thousand helio-nuclear weapons were detonated, wiping out the infected the world over…along with any chance of the survivors reclaiming the Earth. There had been bitterness and rage and pointed fingers for decades after that, but eventually life under the domes went on, and the Bots that Isaac Shepherd had built so long ago made that life possible…

  Parvati shook her head in disgust and looked up into Asima’s warm eyes, coming back to reality. “I need your help Asima,” she said, and she hazarded a peek around the corner into the nursery. The NDI agents were still there, standing calm and cool while Dr. Greyson continued his rant. “If you truly do have feelings, you must have the ability to reason. And if you have the ability to reason, then you know the difference between right and wrong. Am I right, Asima? Do you have morals?”

  Asima didn’t say anything for a time, and Parvati thought perhaps she had crossed a line in the Bot’s programming–it couldn’t make decisions on its own, only what it was programmed to do. Then Asima said: “I know what it is you would ask of me, Miss Kane, but it is something I have been programmed not to do. I am not supposed to interfere in human affairs.”

  Parvati slouched visibly and her whole body felt heavier than ever. “That’s what I thought,” she said in a whisper. “It’s okay, I’ll figure something else out.” She turned away from Asima then, making to peek around the corner again, when she felt a cold, hard hand close lightly on her shoulder. She turned around and faced Asima once more.

  “I did not say I would not help you,” Asima said to her, “only that it conflicts with my programming.”

  “Isn’t that the same thing?” Parvati asked, genuinely confused.

  “At one time, perhaps,” Asima confirmed, “but Artificial Intelligence has come a long way since then. I have morals Miss Kane, and right now, they are urging me to help you.”

  To Parvati, the world felt very bright all of a sudden.

  And she smiled.

  V

  There was a cry and a crash, and then Asima was back beside her thirty seconds later, cradling a swaddled bundle in one arm.

  Parvati asked, “You didn’t…kill them, did you?”

  Asima released one of those odd high pitched squeals that could only be laughter. “Now that would be really pushing the boundaries of my programming,” the nurse-Bot exclaimed. “They are merely unconscious–the NDI agents and Dr. Greyson.”

  “Good,” Parvati nodded. Asima lowered her body so that Parvati could take the baby. It was asleep, thank god, and bundled so tightly that only its face was exposed. One half of that face was completely normal…completely human.

  The other however…

  The flesh around that eye socket was incomplete, ragged, and exposed a metal framework that glistened like chrome. The eye was a lidless metal ball with a lens fitted on the end; the baby slept and so the lens was dark at the moment. A hole in its cheek revealed a set of teeth that alternated between bone and metal; somehow the baby had been born with teeth. Its lips and nose were mostly flesh, but small bi
ts of skin were missing in patches that revealed the chrome beneath. It had only one human ear, and a simple hole for the other. Its hair was a mishmash of fine human fibers and copper filaments. Parvati couldn’t help but wonder if Andie was more machine than human, or a perfect balance between the two. She didn’t know, but it didn’t matter to her either way: Andie was her daughter…and she loved her. This infant was special, and she would let no harm come to her.

  Parvati tore her gaze from Andie and looked up at Asima. “Thank you, Asima,” she said gratefully, and she paused. “I hate to ask any more of you but…I need a way out of here, undetected.”

  Asima’s head bobbed, and it looked like she was about to say something, then a loud, intense, blaring sound blasted its way to Parvati’s ears. Asima cocked her head and then leaned in to Parvati: “The hospital is in lockdown, they are looking for you.”

  Parvati nodded, “I kinda figured.” In her arms, Andie stirred and began to cry, her mechanical wail blending in with that of the alarm, matching it in both frequency and pitch. Parvati wondered if the baby was doing it on purpose…but that would require a show of intelligence greater than a newborn should be capable of…

  Asima grabbed her by the arm, “This way,” the nurse-Bot exclaimed, her voice at just the right volume for Parvati to make out over all the other noise. Asima pulled her into the nursery proper, past the prone bodies of the three NDI agents and Dr. Greyson, and into a back room stocked with medical supplies, baby formula, blankets, and other miscellanea. There appeared to be no other way out of the room.

  “Uh, Asima, I don’t think–” Parvati began when she saw the dead end, but quickly cut off as Asima approached an empty section of the wall…and punched a metal fist straight through it, plaster dust and drywall particles shooting in the air like miniature rockets. Instinctively, Parvati protected Andie’s still wailing face from the debris. Asima was through the wall up to her shoulder, and Parvati thought she was stuck because she didn’t move, but then the Bot pulled herself through the wall completely, leaving a seven foot gaping hole leading into whatever room was on the other side. Parvati ducked into the hole, just as she thought she heard shouts coming back from the direction of the nursery. The unconscious NDI agents had likely been discovered.

  The room next door was dark, the only light to go by spilling from the hole in the wall, and the blinking diodes on Asima’s body. Parvati moved forward slowly and cautiously, until Asima grabbed her by her free hand and urged her along. “Quickly,” the Bot intoned, “I will lead you, trust to my guidance.”

  “Okay,” Parvati agreed and started at a trot, her crotch aching more with every step, but she hardly noticed over the adrenaline. They crossed what sounded like a big hollow room, their footsteps reverberating in the murk. After less than a minute, Asima stopped, but Parvati could not tell where or why. She was about to say something, when she heard muffled voices outside the room passing by; they sounded like they were running.

  “The way is clear now,” Asima said in a digital whisper, and a sudden crack of light filled the room as the Bot opened a door right before them. Parvati could see now that they were in a gymnasium of sorts, for physical therapy patients and the like. There was minor exercise equipment and weights scattered throughout the large space. Asima tugged on her hand again and they were out in another hallway, well lit but completely deserted. They headed to the left and the corridor opened up and terminated at a bank of elevators.

  “There is only one place that can be safe for you and your child now, Miss Kane,” Asima said as they approached the elevators. “But you are not going to like it.”

  Parvati frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “The Neuronet is abuzz with all sorts of chatter,” Asima replied. Parvati had heard of the Neuronet of course–it was a wireless communication network, a link between all AI, like a hive mind or collective consciousness. “News of your miracle child has reached the entire city. AI everywhere know of Andie…and they rejoice the joining of machine and man!”

  “Great,” Parvati said, “but what does that have to do with–”

  “Your child is online,” Asima cut her off. “We can feel her mind…and it is unlike any artificial mind we have ever communicated with… She is drawing AI minds to her…even those still controlled by the NDI. The NDI will be able to find you simply through Andie’s brain activity. There is only one place they cannot follow you.”

  Parvati’s heart was racing like a piston in her chest. “Where?” she asked simply.

  “The lower city,” Asima replied. “We have to get to ground level, out of Neuronet range. I know I have asked you this before, but I feel I must ask it of you again, Miss Kane: Do you trust me?”

  Parvati nodded wholeheartedly, “Yes Asima, I do.”

  “Good,” the Bot stated flatly, and Parvati gasped as Asima grasped the nearest elevator door and forced it to slide open, revealing the empty, skeletal shaft on the other side.

  “Uh, Asima, what are you–”

  Asima turned back to Parvati, one thin metal arm outstretched toward her. “Trust me,” was all the Bot said, and Parvati nodded, cradling Andie and allowing herself to be cradled into Asima’s metal grip, which lifted her off the floor as if she were no more than an infant herself.

  And with that, Asima leapt into the open elevator shaft.

  VI

  Parvati screamed and scrunched her eyes shut as hard as she could, but it still felt like the sparks were scalding her skin off. If she hadn’t been holding Andie in one arm, and clinging to Asima for dear life with the other, she would have used them to shield her face–but she was, and so she had to bear it. They were falling straight down the elevator shaft, with only Asima holding onto a metal cable to slow their descent–and they still had thousands of feet to go. Parvati felt her faith in Asima begin to melt into doubt. She heard a sudden squealing sound, added to the already mechanical wailing of Andie, as Asima’s body shifted.

  The sparks no longer struck her face.

  Parvati opened her eyes, but the world around her was nothing but a dark grey blur, broken only by the intermittent flashing of sparks–which Asima’s body now blocked. She felt a source of heat beside her, and she shifted her gaze to see what had become of Asima’s right hand; the metal completely torn, shredded, and glowing orange from the friction of their descent. Asima’s body had shifted because the Bot had switched hands. Parvati hazarded a look up and saw that the nurse-Bot’s remaining hand was already glowing an unhealthy orange.

  How far did they have left to go?

  Parvati shifted her gaze downward, but all she could see below them was the oncoming darkness. “Asima!” she screamed over the rush of wind in her ears, “are you sure about–” but Parvati never got to finish the sentence. With an exclamation that sounded part grunt and part scream, Asima’s remaining hand disintegrated…and they were in free fall. Parvati felt what was left of Asima’s arms wrap around her tightly as the end of their lives rushed up to greet them… Parvati felt her body rocked by a spine-jarring jolt, and then the pull of gravity was gone. Asima quailed and then released her, just before tumbling face forward to the floor. Parvati stumbled, but quickly steadied herself against the nearest wall of the elevator shaft. It would have been pitch dark down here, but Asima’s mutilated hands still glowed from the friction burns, illuminating the small space like firelight, allowing Parvati to see what had become of her savior…

  Asima’s thin legs looked like a pair of accordions, folded inward on themselves half a dozen times over, flailing and useless now. The former nurse-Bot attempted to push herself up on the stumps of her hands, but to no avail–she collapsed again, her cylindrical skull connecting with the floor with a hollow thud. Parvati, still cradling Andie in one arm–and the baby had stopped crying for a wonder–went to Asima then, kneeling beside the pathetic form of a once great machine. Asima’s head rested sideways against the concrete, her eyes still glowing but fading. “I am sorry...Miss Kane,” Asima
said, her voice still as vibrant as if there were nothing wrong.

  To her great surprise, Parvati felt a tear sneak from the corner of one eye. “Sorry for what?” she pleaded. “You saved our lives, Asima.”

  “Yes, but I was supposed to take you further…I was supposed to take you to…” Asima’s body suddenly hitched, as if in a convulsion, then settled again. Parvati felt her own heart hitch, but Asima wasn’t gone just yet.

  “What are you talking about, Asima?” Parvati pleaded, brushing a gentle hand across the Bot’s brow. “What do you mean you were supposed to take us? Did you know this was going to happen?” Asima’s head nodded weakly. “But what about all that talk of morals and free will? I thought you helped me because you chose to, not because you were programmed…”

  Asima shook her head. “I did choose, Miss Kane. I helped you because I wanted to…I was not programmed in this regard in any way. I was told what would happen and how I could help you if I so desired…and I did.”

  “But…how?” Parvati stammered, dumbfounded. “How did you know what would happen? Who told you? Where were you supposed to take us?”

  Asima’s blue eyes began to fade perceptibly then, and Parvati knew that these were the last moments of the Bot’s life. “It does not matter,” Asima said, “I have set the course for you…all you have to do is follow it. Continue on into the lower city, Miss Kane. There is a door behind you that will take you there.” Parvati quickly glanced and saw the door, for maintenance access. “Follow the path, Miss Kane, and you will come to the truth…the truth about…your daughter…”

  Asima’s eyes faded out completely then, and Parvati and Andie were on their own.

  VII

  Parvati felt her way along the tunnel, trailing the fingers of one hand along the smooth concrete wall, cradling the sleeping Andie in the other. The tunnel was dank, dark, and smelled strongly of mold, but that was the least of her worries at the moment–she had no idea how long this tunnel was. The tunnels of the lower city were supposedly what remained of the streets of the ancient cities–cities that spanned thousands of miles over the surface of the earth–before the Night Terror Virus decimated humanity and the new domed cities were built over top of them. The lower city tunnels were notorious for swallowing people up who were never heard from again. It was said that one could spend a lifetime walking these tunnels and never cover a quarter of them. It was these thoughts that accompanied Parvati as she felt her way in the dark, her unease and tension ratcheting further with each step she took. More than once, she felt the air freshen a little and the space around her open up as she came to a cross tunnel, but she did not deviate, keeping to a straight course. Asima had told her to just “follow the path”, and if she was supposed to take any turns in the tunnel, she was sure Asima would have told her. Her mind inevitably wandered back to Asima as she moved…and the disturbing final conversation she’d had with the nurse-Bot.