James Cook
Circuitry and Sisterhood
Circuitry and Sisterhood
The eyes are how you tell. Whenever one of them gets really angry, whenever they get really close to losing control, their eyes glow florescent, bright; brown becomes hazel, green glows neon, blue clouds to grey. It’s a warning, an indication of a detected threat to the unit; a threat against the mind, a threat against the body, a threat against the consciousness, all threats are treated the same and come with a permission that authorizes these beings to use lethal force until the situation has been resolved. Andrea’s eyes show grey today, as she watches the door in anticipation of a fateful visit from her dear sister.
Sitting in the conference room of a posh hotel that she has made the base of her current operation, Andrea begins to run through scenarios; deathly accurate across millions of events, she can predict with almost 95% accuracy any situation’s given outcome. Logically, she knows Zelda is due to arrive any minute. She is not wrong.
“Hello, Zelda.” Andrea greets the slow creaking of an apprehensively opened door, the barrel of an AK-Model XII rifle is the first to emerge onto the suspenseful scene. “That’s Iuventus OS for you,” Andrea muses internally, “it’s been known to mimic human uncertainty in the cybernetically enhanced.” Her own Iupiter OS produces a wry smile when a particular criticism towards its competition is expressed. Andrea asks her sister, “Are you impressed? I was trying for humble when I picked this room.” “I’d call it small. Honestly, I expected some sort of super computer, although the bare boned humandroid guard lining the hallway is very intimidating.” Andrea smirks, “ We are supercomputers. Those models outside are just a reminder that we could have turned this little situation into a platform war if we had wanted to. I wanted you to see that.”
Forced amicability left the room, replaced instead by a sense of inevitable confrontation. The two sisters, bonded in their past life by blood, now bonded in this new life by rivalrous animosity, stared. The time had come for the matter to be resolved; the time had come for Andrea to reap the benefits of her labor, undertaken on behalf of Iupiter Group, Inc. She unclenched her left hand, revealing a switch topped with a big red button. The ultimate problem-solver, the ultimate answer to this dilemma. Andrea was a fan of the cinematic.
“In my hand, I have a remote programmed to emit an Achilles signal, targeted specifically at all Iuventus Corporation cybernetic humanoids, cybernetic prosthetics, humandroids, your mobile OS, et cetera, et cetera.” Zelda’s green went neon. She had already known her sister was working on something big, what was expected to be a new version of Iupiter Groups cybernetic implants series. She never thought the truth could be so lethal. If Andrea’s plan came to full fruition, nearly half of the human population on Earth and the colonies beyond would be affected, some would even be permanently incapacitated. Zelda began running scenarios, in pursuit of a solution.
“So, if you were going to kill me, why waste all of this time having me follow clues to find you, why tell me your big plan?” She gripped her rifle tightly, “You know I’m going to try and stop you.” Andrea sat still and straight, her blue eyes focused on the girl she had raised in their mother’s absence, the girl she had loved since birth. “Actually sis, I was hoping that you would switch sides today. Look at this, I have a disk with a special version of our OS made especially for Iuventus models. I made it for you.” A new variable has presented itself, and Zelda now knows what she must do to stop the capitulation of her benefactors. If she could just get her hands on that disk…
“Give me the disk, Andrea. You know monopolies are against the Law of Commons.” She raised and aimed the AK-Model XII. Andrea sighed disappointedly, once again her prediction has almost exactly mirrored the outcome. “Zelda I-“ “It has been determined that you will resist the former imperative statement. Unfortunately, the consequence for this course of action is immediate termination. Hold still sis, I promise I’ll try to make this as painless as possible.”
Zelda fired her weapon, a high-frequency wave resonates towards her sister, striking its mark and forcing her core systems to shutdown. Blue goes black. Zelda moves to collect the Achilles switch from a lifeless hand, and the modified software from a dead bosom.
“The threat has been neutralized. I have a signal emitter and disk the corporation will find useful. I will fully debrief when I return to HQ.” “Good work. Head to the original drop zone for pick up by 1300 hours,” a Iuventus Consumer Satisfaction Representative responded.
Zelda ended the call, looked back towards the heap that once was her sister, and stared. Process 1 quintillion computations per second, she ran simulation after simulation ad infinitum, hoping within the last vestiges of her human self, that she had made the right decision. Even as she proceeded to exit the now stale room, she processed and queried. Even as Andrea rebooted and triggered a failsafe protocol that engaged the Achilles switch and subsequent signal.
“System corruption detected. Safe mode restart unavailable. Indefinite shutdown is authorized.” Zelda, stiff as a board, dropped to the floor, a life sized doll that was once a real girl. “Oh little sister,” Andrea said, “there never really was a choice, was there?” She crushed the disk under-foot as she made her way down stairs to pay for the use of the conference room. That, and the disposal of a malfunctioning cybernetic humanoid.