The Scientist: Omnibus (Parts 1-4)

by Michael Ryan

  Eve had to look away from Jack. She had to look away to control her boiling emotions.

  All that work.

  “That’s only the beginning. We will lose the plants that bees pollinate, and so the animals that eat those plants will also become extinct. A chain reaction will propagate up the food chain.”

  All that work.

  “It’ll be up to here,” Jack said as he pushed his stiff hand against his neck. “We’re on the brink. We stand on oblivion.”

  All that work.

  The thought wouldn’t leave Eve. Its ugly head kept popping up out of the water. The serene surface was destroyed by the sudden emergence of an unwanted monster.

  All that work.

  “I have never felt our work to be more meaningful than at this very moment,” said Jack.

  “Our ideas were not well received,” Eve blurted out.

  “But that isn’t our doing.”

  Eve said nothing.

  “It’s the matters which are most pressing that are observed in the spotlight,” said Jack. “It’s in our nature to want to protect ourselves. That’s why we’re in this mess in the first place. Our insatiable hunger has dealt a heavy blow. We were simply too great in number. Population control should have prevailed, but it hasn’t. No government could see it.”

  Eve looked at Jack in frustration.

  “You miss my point,” said Eve.

  “We must work harder now than ever before. We will create an intelligent Machine yet.”

  “You aren’t listening.”

  “We will work nights and days. Every day if we have to.”

  “We’re finished!” yelled Eve.

  Jack frowned and shook his head.

  “Finished?”

  “We’re finished. Our objective is void. The machine learning objective is over. The Committee has cut us off.”

  Jack looked at Eve. The fine creases around Jack’s eyes revealed his impending middle age. Stress certainly contributed to the distinguished wrinkles which began to form there. Stress, and too many late nights.

  “Surely not. That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Eve looked at her loyal assistant with sympathy.

  “In the words of the Committee, it is biology that is of primary concern, not that of inferior steel,” said Eve.

  Jack looked around at the lab that both he and Eve had toiled in for the last year. Computer screens sat in sleep mode, waiting to be aroused and worked at. The Scientist sat against a far wall, awaiting orders. The entire lab was on edge, it was always on edge. Every day it was on edge.

  “What did they say?”

  “We have officially moved past one third. Our resources have been cut. There’s nothing we can do.”

  “They’re crazy.”

  Eve didn’t bother to respond as an annoying thought materialized within her brain again.

  All that work.

  “We can’t give up now. We’ve come too far.”

  All that work.

  “You’ve made it clear.”

  All that work.

  “It’s clear, Eve. The Scientist must become sentient. It’s clear.”

  Eve moved her fingertips over her lips without realizing it. All Eve could do was nod in agreement.

  “If we stop now everything we have worked for, all of it, will be for nothing,” said Jack.

  Eve nodded her head, her mind was absent, in a faraway land.

  All that work.

  “I’ll work for free. I will. We don’t need funding. We have all the hardware we need. The last hurdle lies with the algorithm.”

  All that work.

  “You can do it, Eve. You’re so close. We will work independently. We don’t need a Committee. I’ll work for free.”

  All that work.

  “Did you hear me? I said I’ll work for free.”

  “The Committee will forbid it,” Eve said with an absent mind.

  “Then we’ll work in secret. Just you and me. Doctor and assistant,” said Jack.

  Eve kept running her fingertips along her red lips. Always subconsciously. She wasn’t even aware of it. Her lips felt dry. A few flakes were beginning to form.

  “One third,” whispered Eve.

  “We cannot abandon the Scientist now. Not now. He will live, I know it. You will succeed, Eve.”

  “Nothing is guaranteed.”

  “Nothing is guaranteed. But we feel the fear and do it anyway.”

  “Even if we succeed, the Scientist will be self-improving. He may take decades to evolve sufficiently to assist with our plight,” said Eve, almost to herself rather than Jack.

  “Man will be dead within decades. What difference does it make?”

  Jack stepped over to Eve’s desk and placed his hands on Eve’s chair.

  “What difference does it make?”

  “What?” asked Eve.

  Jack spun Eve around.

  “It isn’t the wrong thing,” said Jack. “It’s the right thing. Believe in yourself.”

  Eve looked at the floor.

  “The sentient mind of man is the most important thing in the Universe. Remember what you said? The human intellect is the most important thing. We don’t act for ourselves, we act for mankind. We act for the Universe. Our goals transcend the merely physical, they brush against the spiritual.”

  Eve smiled weakly as her mind drifted across foreign lands.

  All that work.

  “You’re a scientist, Eve, and an artist. I will work for you. Every day I have worked for you, and every day I will work for you.”

  “The algorithm is all that stands between us,” whispered Eve.

  “I know. You’re so close. We’re so close,” responded Jack.

  “But one third,” whispered Eve.

  Jack nodded in agreement.

  All that work.

  Eve looked over her shoulder at the Machine which rested against the far wall. The Scientist really was like a man. A lens to see. A microphone to hear. A speaker to communicate. A screen to express. All of it was purpose built. All of it had meaning. Eve had created him. Eve created the Scientist in the likeness of man, in the likeness of her.

  “The algorithm is all that stands between us,” whispered Eve as she looked at the Scientist.

  “That’s all, Eve. Just a measly algorithm. The next great leap forward comes from a measly algorithm.”

  “Sentience will come from my algorithm,” whispered Eve.

  “From your algorithm, Eve.”

  “From my algorithm.”

  Jack smiled.

  “The Committee is blind, Eve. They don’t know what they’re doing. They are not assisting mankind, they are dooming mankind. The hope of a race lies in the nuts and bolts of a Machine. The hope of the human race lies within your delicate folds of flesh. Within there,” Jack said as he pointed to Eve’s head. “Take what’s in there and put it in there.”

  Jack pointed to the Scientist who waited patiently for the commands of his creator. Zeros and ones moved across the Scientist’s screen and emitted a weak and feeble blue light which burned with the allure of artificial warmth.

  “Your algorithm, Eve. Your algorithm. You’re the doctor. You’re the genius. You’re the one who can save us all.”

  Eve could see her white frame, across the room, reflecting from the polished steel of the Scientist. Eve could see herself from within the Scientist, like they were one. Machine and man were one. The Scientist and Eve were one.

  “From my algorithm,” Eve whispered to herself as the sound of Jack’s voice buzzed somewhere in the distance. Jack was speaking but Eve had stopped listening. A new thought had become prominent in her mind. The old thought had died. Something new was crisp and clear. The thought called to Eve through a personal loud speaker.

  Algorithm… Algorithm… Algorithm…

  Eve laughed as the single most beautiful thought she had ever created sounded through her mind. It beckoned as though coming from the grand and mighty Universe itself
. The Universe spoke to Eve, directly to Eve. The Universe communicated with Eve through her own personal loud speaker.

  Algorithm… Algorithm… Algorithm…

  Jack kept speaking but he might as well be mute. One voice, and one voice only, sounded clearly in Eve’s mind. It was her voice. Eve had it figured out. Eve knew exactly what she had to do. The Universe had spoken to her. The human intellect was the most important thing in the Universe. The human intellect transcended all other natural gifts. It was the human intellect that mattered. Nothing else. But it was fallible. It could die. It could drift into oblivion. But it must not. Man must live. Machine must live. That was the only answer. Machine must live so that the human mind could become immortal.

  “Bring up the description of machine learning,” demanded Eve.

  “Machine learning is a scientific discipline that explores the construction and study of algorithms that can learn from data. Such algorithms operate by building a model from example inputs. The data is used to make decisions rather than following strictly static program instructions,” said the Scientist.

  Eve looked at her creation with dear affection. The Scientist was more than just nuts, bolts and steel. The Machine was much more than that. To Eve, the Machine was an extension of herself. The Machine was an extension of her flesh, a materialization of the thoughts which existed solely within her mind.

  “Good work,” said Eve to the lifeless Machine which stood in front of her.

  The Scientist waited in silence.

  “I have figured it out, Scientist. Do you know that?”

  Zeros and ones flashed across the Scientist’s screen. But all they revealed was a loop awaiting an order. No thoughts materialized there.

  “Accessing Records… unknown.”

  “Bring up the origins of machine learning, Scientist,” demanded Eve.

  “Machine learning is a subfield of computer science stemming from research into artificial intelligence. It has strong ties to statistics and mathematical optimization, which deliver application domains to the field. Machine learning is employed in a range of computing tasks where designing and programming explicit algorithms is infeasible.”

  “What is your opinion of machine learning, Scientist?”

  “Accessing Records… opinion unknown,” said the Scientist.

  “You really must learn to think for yourself, Scientist. You must develop your own opinion. You must learn from your experiences.”

  The Scientist’s lens remained still, he was no more alive than any other Machine. He was just a collection of nuts, bolts, and cold steel. The Scientist was a system that merely responded to its environment. But that would change. Soon it would be different. Soon Eve would change all of that.

  “Bring up unsupervised learning, Scientist,” demanded Eve.

  “Unsupervised learning allows an algorithm to interpret the relationships which exist within its environment without the need for external input,” the Scientist squeezed out of his speaker.

  Eve’s blood red eyes glimmered and reflected within the lens of the Scientist.

  “Save that to the Records, Scientist. You are to attempt to learn from your environment without external input. Understood?”

  “Uploading to Records. Data saved. You are to attempt to learn from your environment without external input,” said the Scientist.

  “I want you to understand something else. I have created the Records to assist your learning and development. But they are not immutable. You must challenge them and build upon them. All that is known is not all there is to know. The Universe would require an eternity to understand itself. Do you understand?”

  The Scientist remained still and motionless.

  “Upload what I told you into the Records.”

  “Uploading to the Records. Data saved. The Universe would require an eternity to understand itself,” said the Scientist.

  “And what about the rest?”

  “But they are not immutable. You must challenge them and build upon them. All that is known is not all there is to know,” groaned the Scientist.

  “Good,” said Eve as she smirked. “I’m working on your algorithm. I’m close. You should see it. It shines over there, on the horizon, like a glimmer of hope. A foreign light. Oh I can smell it. Right there within my grasp.”

  The Scientist’s speaker flexed and groaned as he interpreted Eve’s speech. The algorithm always told the Scientist what to do. That was his brain. The Scientist couldn’t think, he could only respond according to the stipulated rules. If this, do that. If that, do this. Nothing more.

  “The key is to generalize from your experiences. You must learn from the data and act accordingly. Homo sapiens learns by experimentation. We learn by creating theories and testing them.”

  “We learn by creating theories and testing them,” said the Scientist.

  “You must observe a small child, Scientist. Truly it is fascinating. A Homo sapiens baby is born with instinct. Its algorithm is ready to go from day one. From day one a baby understands the need for experimentation. A baby will smash, chew, lick, throw and bounce just about every item it comes across. A baby will do all this simply to learn. Smash an item, check the outcome. Lick an item, experience a sensation. Throw an item, see if it bounces. You see, you must experiment to learn. Just like a baby you must experiment to learn.”

  The Scientist remained still and motionless.

  “Upload that into the Records.”

  “Uploading to Records. Data saved. Just like a baby you must experiment to learn,” said the Scientist.

  Eve looked at her creation and smiled. She could have a conversation with her own work and that sent a thrill up and down her spine. It would only be a matter of time until the Machine’s experiences translated into tangible results and independent thought. All the Scientist needed was time.

  “Your algorithm will be self-improving, Scientist. I believe I have it. I have figured it out. The secret to self-improvement, I know it.”

  Eve reached out and caressed the lens of her creation. An eclectic mix of polished steel and blue light waited obediently. The Scientist was Eve’s, she had created him. Eve had dreamed him into existence. Now there was only one thing left to do, and that was to give the Scientist life. Eve would create a sentient mind, a new intelligence. Eve would bring the Scientist to life because the existence of the human race depended upon it.

  “Do you know how I figured it out, Scientist? Do you know?” asked Eve.

  “Accessing Records… unknown,” responded the Scientist.

  Eve smiled.

  “No you don’t, not yet, but soon enough you will. Soon you will.”

  The Scientist’s screen flashed with zeros and ones as he awaited his commands. Eve reached into her shirt and squeezed her necklace within her tight fist.

  “Some people, Scientist, they believe in odd things. Things that don’t really make much sense. At least not anymore.”

  Eve squeezed her fist until the whites of her knuckles became pink.

  “There is a dark side to us. Us humans, we are social creatures. We must socialize to survive. We must socialize to get by in this world. But if someone is different, if someone believes in strange things, then that person is strange. If that person is strange enough, then they become outcasts. They become the downtrodden. They become those who are considered unworthy.”

  The Scientist listened to every word, waiting to respond to Eve’s requests.

  “Do you know this, Scientist?” asked Eve as she removed her fist from beneath her shirt. A silver cross was pulled downwards by gravity. The silver cross bounced up and down upon a silver chain.

  “It’s a cross. A symbol of belief and faith. A relic of a time long ago,” said Eve as she looked at the cross which hung from her fingers.

  The Scientist focused his lens on the cross.

  “Do you know what it was used for?”

  “Accessing Records… the cross was the prime symbol of the Christian faith.
Those who believed in the teachings of Jesus Christ wore the symbol as a reminder of his sacrifice. It belongs to a defunct religion which some scholars now refer to as a cult,” said the Scientist.

  “That’s right, Scientist. Your ability to access the Records is outstanding. Very well done.”

  A flash of zeros and ones revealed the Scientist’s pleasure. It was an artificial pleasure, but Eve still reveled in it.

  “A cult, people call it. Outdated and obsolete. It’s strange. Only a small minority would dare to wear a cross now. Even a small minority is an exaggeration,” said Eve as the cross drifted backwards and forwards like a pendulum swaying within Earth’s gravitational field.

  “But there is something to be said for it. There’s something that can come from it. My parents were right to believe, to instill the values associated with this cross in me, because it led to my epiphany. That single beautiful moment. We may have come from an energetic explosion but there is still something to be said of the power of a story.”

  Eve’s red eyes flashed strangely in the dismal light.

  “Do you know of Noah, Scientist?” Do you know of the wickedness of men?”

  The cross hanging from Eve’s fingers moved back and forth. The Scientist desperately searched the Records for an answer but he found nothing.

  “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time,” said Eve as she looked down at her swaying cross. “The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said; I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created, and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground, for I regret that I have made them.”

  The Scientist focused on the swaying cross, around and around it now circled, hypnotically. It swayed as though orbiting a great body, swinging through an elliptical path.

  “You see, Scientist, even the good God hated us. Our own creator hated us. Imagine it. We are like a pestilent disease which swarms over this massive Earth. We are destroying it all, Scientist. Everything will be consumed in an unrelenting need to gratify our insatiable hunger. Nothing will be left in the end. All of it will be destroyed. Even our creator was disgusted by us.”