The Stories of Ibis

by Hiroshi Yamamoto

  “This is unacceptable, Ai. At this rate, it’s going to take decades to pass a law,” my master said one day. We were on a private beach in Layer 1. I was holding his avatar’s hand, and we were walking along the edge of the water, looking at the sunset.

  My master was not using his public robotic avatar, but his private avatar—3-D data created from a scan of his own body. He seemed to think this made him closer to me, but since his avatar’s expression never changed, it was actually harder for me to understand his emotions.

  “Maybe so.”

  “Do you know what the problem is? You don’t exist in the real world. Too many people don’t believe you really exist. That’s why they don’t care. We have to prove to them that you are real. But to do that, you need a body.”

  “A real body?”

  “Yes. Your virtual body is designed to fit basic regulations. All the parts actually exist and would work as designed. It is possible to make that body in the real world. There’s a company in America that’s accepting orders to produce androids. If you have a design proven to work flawlessly in virtual environments, they can re-create that perfectly. What do you say?”

  The idea was equally fascinating and intimidating. If I were installed in a real body identical to my virtual one, my sensors would function there as well. I would be able to enter Layer 0.

  It had been done before. Helen Oroi at the California Institute of Technology, Adam Link at Texas Tech University, Adderley at the Montpellier Research Institute—all of them were androids driven by TAI. But they were still few and far between. To us, the move to Layer 0 was like a trip to the moon.

  “That could be interesting.”

  “Isn’t it? I’d love having you in a real body. No more need for avatars. I could touch the real you. And you would be the symbol of our movement. As the number of TAI androids increases, minds will start to change. Nobody could say you don’t really exist when you’re standing right in front of them, looking and acting human.”

  “But won’t it be expensive?”

  “Much, much more expensive than mass-produced androids. Many of the parts are technically possible but not really for sale yet. Most would have to be custom-made. I don’t have that kind of money yet.”

  “Is there any way to cut costs? Just have the parts made and put it together yourself?”

  “I could put the frame together, maybe. But applying artificial skin or hair, that requires special training. It’s a hundred times harder than a toy model. It’s better to leave it to the experts. I checked them out. This company has produced good results. We can trust them.”

  My master stopped and squeezed my hand tightly.

  “I will bring you to the real world, Ibis. Take you out of this computer and into the great wide world.”

  Again, my master had used a strange expression. Even if I were in a real body, my mind would still be in a computer. And the “great wide world” of which he spoke was indicative of the confusion caused by his own physical senses.

  But I didn’t argue.

  “Only problem is the money. We need money, Ibis. Much more than we’ve been making. And the only way to get it is for you to fight. A lot more fights than we have been doing. Are you okay with that?”

  “Of course I am, Master. I’d do it happily.”

  The battlefield was inside a giant clock tower. Gears ranging from as small as two meters across to more than twenty; dozens of flywheels and worm drives; everything spinning at different speeds. Some spun so fast they made you dizzy; others were achingly slow; still others moved in rhythmic jerks. The sounds of axles squeaking and teeth grinding echoed through the tower. The gravity was the same as Mars, .38 G. The pendulum swung much slower than it would have on Earth.

  My opponent was named Gustav. He was built like a gorilla, with short legs and long arms; a heavyweight battler covered in metal armor. He was much stronger than me. On ordinary fields, he would have the advantage. But here, with the fight spent dancing up and around and through the gears, his weight and sluggish movements would work against him. Our handicaps evened out; the results could go either way.

  As I’d expected, the battle soon became a stalemate. With his power, I couldn’t let Gustav catch me. I dropped the scythe. The only thing I could do was use my speed and flexibility to hit him quick and bounce away. But with his armor, I wasn’t hurting him at all. Gustav was too slow and heavy to catch me as I bounded away into the gears.

  Fifteen minutes after the battle began, this clock tower would begin to fall apart. In twenty minutes there’d be nothing left. Both of us had a key hidden on the cable leading to our brains. You needed both keys to activate and exit the gate. We had to defeat our opponent and get that key inside the twenty-minute time limit.

  Thirteen minutes passed.

 

 

  “Come on up here!” I said, walking to keep my place on a horizontally placed gear. Gustav was on the landing below me. “Let’s finish this!”

  Gustav jumped and caught a gear with his hand. It carried him up and around. At the top, he jumped again and landed on the gear with me.

  “And here I thought all you could do was run. Out of time, aiming to take me down with you?”

  “After I take your key. I can’t afford to die here. I promised my dead friends I’d kill every last one of you Vegans.”

  “I’d like to see you try! I’ll crush you!”

  “You’ll never get the chance,” I said and dove forward. There were blades protruding from my forearms, and I thrust them forward, aiming for the chinks in the front of Gustav’s armor. I only scratched him. But I knew how he would counter; his foot flew upward, and I blocked it with my hands, then jumped backward. It must have looked like he kicked me backward to the audience.

  I landed on the next gear. I grabbed the axle, spun twice, and landed. It was only half the size of the first gear and moved at half the speed. Still holding the axle, I fell to my knees. Hopefully I looked like I was hurt.

  Gustav leapt at me. When he landed, he staggered slightly, adjusting to the difference in speed. A second before he did, I had kicked the axle and jumped at him to twirl through the air. The Coriolis effect deflected my aim a bit, but I still managed to drop-kick Gustav in the chin. He lost his balance.

  My hands hit the gear, and from a handstand I unleashed a flurry of kicks. As Gustav fell, he grabbed my right ankle. A moment later, his feet slipped over the edge, and he went over, dragging me after him.

  We landed on another gear five meters down. I kicked with my left foot a moment before impact, distracting him. He landed badly and staggered again. But still he did not let go. I had no choice; I activated the explosive bolt implanted in the joint of my right knee. There was a small bang, and everything below the knee broke away. Gustav had been trying to yank me toward him and completely lost his balance, falling over backward.

  The upper half of his body lolled over the ledge, dragging him after it. I reached out and grabbed his right ankle, then stomped on the left one to keep him from falling. With the gravity this low, even I could support a heavyweight. Gustav was left hanging backward over the edge.

  His body was dragged into the teeth of another gear. They took a big chomp into him and ground to a halt. He struggled, trying to free himself, but there was too much machinery and torque behind them. His armor was slowly crushed, the teeth sinking into his frame. Oil began gushing out of him.

  “Aaaaaagghh!”

 

  Gustav screamed in fear. The murmur of snow was a 10i fear on the imaginary axis humans could not comprehend.

  There was a rumble, and the tower began to fall apart.

  The frozen gears suddenly began turning again. Gustav’s body had given way. I let go of his legs and peered over the edge of the gear.

  His upper body had fallen free and was trapped in another set of gears. I dropped down to the floor nearby. With only one
leg, it was a rough landing. Gears and bits of wall were beginning to rain down around me.

  “Don’t think you’ve won,” Gustav said, role-playing through his mortal terror. “I have many friends…”

  I watched him with Resolve Tinged with Sadness.

  “I will defeat them all. Peace will return to this world only when all you Vegans are destroyed!”

 

 

  Standing on my one remaining leg, I put my hand on his neck and cut the covering open with a knife. I severed the cables leading to his brain. The light in his eyes went out.

  I found the key a moment later. I touched it to the back of my own head. The two keys responded to each other, and the exit gate opened.

  I leapt through it as the tower collapsed around me.

  From Premiere Minutes, broadcast on NEXTV.

  [Highlights of battler fights; a montage of destructive moments with voice-over narration.]

  Powerful robots, designed for combat. Arms torn out, guts ripped open, heads chopped off, oil spraying as they destroy each other. That is the essence of TAI robo battles. Of course, these battles are not real. No matter how horrific the violence and carnage, it is only a game taking place in a virtual world. There’s no way it could cause us physical harm here in reality… or can it?

  [A battler holding the severed head of a defeated enemy in the air triumphantly.]

  There is a movement to create these TAI battlers… for real.

  [An expensive home. A middle-aged man getting out of a car and walking into the house.]

  Ian Banbury, a robo master from Los Angeles, has announced that he has hired a Texas company called Quindlen Universal Robots to manufacture his design for a female TAI battler.

  [Scenes of Jen fighting. Using a judo move to send an opponent flying and then unleashing an elbow drop as they both hit the ground.]

  Jen is not just a sexy redheaded robot. She is an accomplished fighting machine, holder of two world cups.

  [Jen wounded, covered in oil, striking a victory pose.]

  [Banbury looking at Jen’s schematics on a computer screen.]

  “It’s been a dream of mine to make an android woman. I finally have the money to make that dream come true.”

  [Banbury answering the interviewer’s questions. Caption: Ian Banbury, TAI robo master.]

  Why a combat robot?

  “Jen is the TAI I trust the most. She’s been my loyal partner for ten years. Everything I have is because of her hard work. I thought a body was a suitable reward. She understands this.”

  Will the real Jen have the same combat abilities as she has in virtual space?

  “She will be able to operate in fundamentally the same way.”

  [A few seconds of Jen fighting; a shot of Jen tearing a leg off a fallen enemy.]

  Would I be able to win in a fight against Jen?

  “If you had a shotgun, you might be able to win. Real androids aren’t like Robocop or the Terminator; bullets don’t bounce off them. Android armor isn’t much more powerful than a bulletproof vest. At human size and strength, heavy armor wouldn’t function. So bullets would pass right through her shell, damage her systems, and she would stop moving.”

  If I were bare-handed?

  “No chance at all. Ha ha!”

  [Jen, shattering an enemy’s head with a kick.]

  So she can kill humans?

  “If she decides to.”

  Isn’t that dangerous?

  “It’s only a possibility. There are millions of people in America with guns. Every one of those guns is capable of killing people, but that doesn’t mean we should make guns illegal. It just means we shouldn’t use them to murder each other.”

  But guns don’t have minds of their own. As long as humans look after them, nobody dies.

  “Same goes for robots. You just have to treat them right. I wouldn’t let Jen hurt anyone.”

  [Scenes of battlers in combat, punching, slicing, smashing.]

  We spoke to Dr. Kessler, an expert on robot psychology.

  [Caption: Burt Kessler, Cognitive Science Professor at Indiana University.]

  “It is impossible to fully restrain a TAI via programming. Like humans, they have free will.”

  So they can kill someone?

  “If they decide to.”

  What are the odds of one deciding to kill a human?

  “We can’t rule it out completely. They have emotions like us, and it stands to reason that under the right circumstances, they could kill.”

  [Jen shouting at an opponent. “I’ll show you what hell is like!”]

  So you believe they have fighting instincts.

  “Those are a part of the SLAN kernel at the core of every TAI.”

  Why do robots need something like that?

  “If they had no fighting instincts, they would have no motivation to achieve the goals given to them. Without competitive instincts, they would not strive to improve, to make themselves better than others. An AI with these instincts achieves better results and develops faster.”

  [Back to the interview with Banbury.]

  Would you consider removing Jen’s fighting instincts?

  “Absolutely not.”

  Why not?

  “It would be the equivalent of forcing a human being to undergo a lobotomy. Why would we even consider such a thing? They have committed no crime.”

  [Jen punching an enemy repeatedly in the face.]

  We spoke to a representative from Quindlen.

  [Caption: Michael Westheimer, head of public relations at Quindlen Universal Robotics.]

  “We’ve been making caregiver and pet androids for fifty years.”

  [Androids being assembled.]

  How many orders have you had?

  “We have a few dozen requests a month. But with made-to-order androids, we can only manufacture three or four a month. Our schedule is already booked for the next two years. We’re looking into increasing relevant human resources.”

  [An android movement test. The android has no dermis attached; all its inner workings are exposed. It walks like a human.]

  You are also accepting orders for combat-capable robots?

  “TAI battlers are reproductions of characters from games. They are not weapons. We have government approval.”

  But they could kill a human?

  “A car could kill a human. But if someone gets run over, that is not the responsibility of the car manufacturer. All responsibility lies in the hands of the customer.”

  Manufacturers have a responsibility for the safety of their products.

  “We accurately reproduce the schematics designed by our clients, and the client installs the TAI. We will only accept TAI robots that have been operating in virtual space for at least five years and show no signs of any unusual behavior. It makes no sense for a TAI like that to suddenly go crazy and attack people. Nothing like that has ever happened.”

  Quindlen is receiving orders from all over the world. From places like Italy, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Japan.

  (Raven fighting, cutting Shinano’s body to pieces with a sword.)

  Mitsuo Anno is a famous robo master in Japan. He has hired Quindlen to manufacture his TAI battler, Raven.

  [A thin-faced man appears on screen. Caption: Mitsuo Anno, TAI robo master.]

  “As her name suggests, I designed Raven in a gothic style. I prefer characters that have a diabolical, dangerous aspect to them.”

  [The battle on Pluto. Raven tears Ibis’s arm off.]

  She’s a villain, isn’t she? She’s done some terrible things.

  “In the game. She’s acting. The real Raven is nothing like that. She’s a really great person and very loyal to me.”

  [A park in Layer 1. Raven is walking arm-in-arm with her master’s avatar.]

  It seems like you really love Raven a lot, Mr. Anno. When I see you walking together in virtual space, you look like an adoring couple. Raven’s expression was
bright and innocent, nothing like what she shows us in battle. But…

  [Another battle scene. Raven mocking a downed opponent. “You fool! Did you really think I would ever fight fair?”]

  She is known for treachery.

  “Again, she’s acting. An actor who plays a murderer isn’t going to be suspected of actually killing anyone, is he?”

  What if she can’t tell the difference between acting and reality? Or what if her loyalty is the act and she plans to betray you the first chance she gets?

  “Ha ha ha! Well, I can’t guarantee anything. But I do trust her.”

  Not everybody does.

  “She won’t have the weapons she wields in virtual space. We’ve also added safety features to the body we’re making for her. If I call out the password, I can shut her down instantly. I can even transmit the password from a distance via a cell phone.”

  Will you make that password public?

  “No. Only I know it.”

  Why keep it a secret?

  “If everyone knew, there would be people calling it out for kicks. Every time I took Raven out in public, she’d be shut down by anyone who felt like it.”

  You’re taking Raven out in public?

  [Raven plunging her fist into an opponent’s belly and yanking out a fistful of innards.]

  “Don’t worry. In the unlikely event that she does try to hurt someone, I’ll stop her.”

  But what if she kills you first?

  “Ha ha ha ha! Impossible!”

  But Professor Yarbrough does not agree. She is lobbying the government for stricter TAI android regulations.

  [Caption: Karen E. Yarbrough, Professor of Humanities at the University of Utah.]

  “TAI are not human. They are simply imitating human thoughts and behavior.”

  You mean they do not have hearts?

  “Of course not. Everything they do and say is acting. It may sound like they love their masters, but they are simply picking words from a template with no understanding of what they mean.”

  Is there a chance they’ll rebel against humanity?

  “Who knows?”