It was a stormy afternoon; the rain fell heavy and in torrents on the kitchen window. Except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind that swept up the garden outside fiercely agitating the weeds growing on the garden. Noises startled me only to steal my attention from the rain outside. It was the combined noises of the kettle on the stove beeping to alert me that the water was fully boiled before turning off completely, and the doorbell on the living room announcing the arrival of Mister Mark Doyle. "The tea will have to wait a moment" I thought to myself, while walking to greet him as fast as my old bones allowed me to move without pain.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Xavier." Said the half-soaked boy from the door, with a forceful smile.
"Yes, Afternoon. Quickly come inside young man, get off that horrible rain."
As I watched him take of his trench coat and put aside his blue umbrella, I couldn’t help but wonder how old he was. It… couldn’t be that long right? Last time I had seen him in person he was too small even to talk. Where had the time gone...? He seemed about thirty now, maybe even younger.
"Thank you for having me in your lovely home."
"Hope it wasn’t hard to find."
"Nah it wasn’t, don’t worry."
"Come, sit in the living room. I will be right back, there is some tea I must attend to in the kitchen. It won’t be a second. Hope you don’t mind herbal tea."
“No I don’t, thank you very much.”
As he made himself comfortable, I couldn’t help but notice the resemblance. He is just like his father. At least the way I remember his father, young, robust and out of fashion. Memories of Mr. Rossiter Doyle, or "Lil’man" as I would call him, came rushing to my head to distract me as I prepared the tea. Memories of his reaction to the nickname brought forth a smile to my face. As I walk back in the living room, I caught him staring at the picture frames on top of the fireplace.
"Old pictures."
"Yes... Pardon me, sir. She just... caught my eyes.” He looked at the pictures with great attention, trying to look for something. After a moment, he pointed to the top right and asked “That’s her right here, right? Standing on the back."
"Which one? Oh yes that is her, around the time she arrived actually. She was still feeling a stranger to the house, I think."
"I heard she was... quite a character."
"Is that why you are here?"
"Okay, well... As you are aware Mr. Xavier, my dad is researching many sources in order to write his next book entitled Programming a new species. I was assigned to talk with you, collect as many information as you are willing to offer about your personal experiences with your old friend."
"My side of the story, or hers?"
"The human element... per say. My father has heard many stories related to her and we have many records showing all the legal information, but we wish to get first-handed knowledge of the true facts. I do understand that it may have taken part quite some time ago..."
"My memory is better than you expect."
"I am sorry, I didn’t mean any offence..."
"You didn’t."
"Right..." A momentary awkward silence fell between us, and neither made any effort to break it. I watched as he shuffled the noisy contents of the briefcase, and pulled out his little electronic device. It wasn’t bigger than his hand, thin with one big screen taking over all of one side. I have known only one other person to use one of those, like father like son.
"Is that an old JPAD? Haven’t seen one of those in a while."
"Ah yes. I like these little things, quite a time saver in my opinion. Safer too, records audio in blocks instead of one long stream. I am sorry, do you mind if I start recording?"
"Do as you must." I said, and we both sat down. I watched him palm the back of the little JPAD and it comes to life. After pressing things here and there on the screen the placed it on the center table right between us.
"Alright. The time now is... 14:13, file from Mark Doyle. Interview with Pierre Xavier. Right Mr. Xavier, we can talk naturally now and forget this little thing. We are simply having a conversation between friends, take as much time you may see fit."
"Ok. Where do I start?"
"From the very beginning. How did you come to meet Thurxa?"
"Well, that was a long time ago. More years than I care to count. I think it was the year 2102, I was just a boy back then, and the world was very different from the one you know now...
At those times, the great phenomenal ThurxaINC was still strong and very influential. It was quite a magical time for us, living in a house that we could not possibly have afforded ourselves surrounded by technology that was not available to the public yet. At the age of the great artificial intelligence expansion, which took place before my father, the definition of smart devices took a gigantic leap. Now machines needed psychiatrics, like never before. During the years of training, one boy grasped their mentality like nobody else, Zeno Xavier. He quickly became the first great practitioner of a noble profession never seen before, a robot psychiatrist. Overlooking the approval of all new intelligence products of any kind. He was a man with the security of eternal employment, instant fame, and all the little things that came with it. Unfortunately, it also meant that he had no time for himself, or for my sister and me. The life of a celebrity that works from home is far from what is expected.
Since this is usually the case most Thurxa Tech, if not all, they were crawling with bugs. It was not just physical problems anymore, machines had to respond in a certain way, had to react a certain way, had to think a certain way. Tedious work for most people. The house filled with all the new wonders of technology, before any other house in the planet in most cases but they hardly ever worked well. It never stopped me to having fun with them though... I can still remember Steeve, and the gaming legend of NIV Simulated Universe, and of course the arrival of the firsts DLA’s. I still remember THAT as if it was… yesterday.
It was stormy back then. These dramatics changes always happen under the rain. I was playing in my room when I heard the side gate open. I must have been only 10 years old, cannot quite remember that anymore. That side gate was noisy and rusty. The gate was only for bulky deliveries for my dad’s work. Running to the living room, I saw my dad at the front door directing a truck to reverse right at the doorstep.
"That’s it, come back a little more now. Perfect, stop there."
Waving his wands, he had to shout to the top of his lungs in order to be heard over the heavy rain. The green and black icon from ThurxaINC was shining on the back of the truck, reflecting the bright light that was shining above the door into the garden.
"Hey dad."
"Hey champ. Where is your mother?" He replied still gesturing to the truck driver, never looking at me. He hardly ever looked at people when busy; conversation was not an act that needed eye contact as far as he knew of it.
"Left a while ago to buy something. What’s that?"
"Daddy’s work. I have a feeling that you will enjoy this one. Where is your sister?"
"In her room I think. Should I get her?"
"No its fine. Can you help me here? Clear the center for me please, clear that table for me."
As I helped him, I kept an eye on the strange delivery. Two man came from each side of the truck and opened the back door. The two of them, along with two that emerged from inside the truck, carried inside a bulky black box. The box freaked me out at first, as it looked like a coffin. At least I thought it did, but I could not be sure since I never saw a coffin myself. It had a dark green, smooth surface dabbed with spots from the rain that fell in it as it passed from the truck to inside the house dimming its reflections slightly. The logo imprinted around the box, once in each side in black and white. They placed the big rectangular box carefully on the center table, with a creaking sound of the new weight added. When my dad opened the top, the sight of what was inside stole my breath. I was not sure what it was at first, it was big and had the shape of a… human! Wait, not a human… not a person…That fragmented grey skin gave away its identity. I had seen those, on my comic books, on the movies I would watch every now and then. It laid there, the calm expression on its face, the delicate arms… My thoughts started racing at light speed inside my head. I was looking at a Humanoid robot, a real life humanoid robot. It was a crude model, designed for human interaction and designed to learn the everyday tasks around the house. Despite it having the most advance E-Brain around, it was destined to be useless in a few years, but for me it looked amazing. As soon as I could make any sound again, the first question that I manage to ask was "Is that an actual... robot?”
"It’s a DLA, son. It won’t be like those in the movies, not for another couple of decades at least." He replied, smiling at me and then at the robot. Apparently, he had seen exactly what had gone through my head.
"What’s the difference?"
"This one will talk, like Steeve. Maybe smarter actually, giving it time. It has the ability to learn a few things, but won’t be of much use until I fix it."
"What’s wrong with it?"
"I don’t know it acted funny before. May be a little crazy, like you."
He completed with a cheeky smile, which lead to my immediate response "Ha ha! Very funny” I would have completed that sentence with some kind of funny name remark, but someone interrupted me. A redhead blur dashing past me in the direction of my father, I barely saw her. As she held thigh to my dad’s waist in a tight hug, she let out a childish laugh that was hardly audible.
"Hey princess. How are you?" She replied, not with words but with a gesture. Words were an unnecessary part of her communication. Ever since birth, turns out that her vocal cords never worked well. Despite that, she was communicative even without spoken language. After looking worried at the box for a moment, she asked my dad what was in the box. A big smile opened on her face when dad lifted her on his arms to show the contents inside.
"A new friend for both of you." He said.
He lowered her down and helped the robot to a sitting position. He opened a panel on the back of its head and pressed a few buttons, its eyes had lighten up in a blue light and started changing from light green to dark green.
"It takes quite some time to initialize” Said one of the workers, emerging form the mess behind my dad. Workers walked in with piles of boxes and left around the wall on the living room. Along with the big robot, a dozen hard drives on a box on the side, and a few other boxes with what seemed extra body parts for the robot. Walking to my father with a paper on its hands, he said, "You may as well just go by with your day, it will notify you when it is ready. The manual is on the inside if you wish to read. You will need these bracelets in order to program it. It is advisable to use it at all times while in interaction with it. Can you please sign this for me?"
After signing all the papers and sending the truck out, my sister dragged my dad to her room, to show something that just could not wait. I stayed behind at the living room, watching the robot. It was staring at the empty space, the eyes changing from dark green to light green. It had a dull expression on its face. I checked inside the box for the mentioned manual and picked up one of the bracelets from where my dad had left them. The manual was not like one that you would expect, it was very much like a book. It had a thick grey cover, about 300 pages in total, with the ThurxaINC symbol largely printed on it. Reading the contents page, I realized that it mostly about the psychological side of the robot. Many things about what to expect in responses to various stimulus. A few pages on what questions would trigger what commands, very few chapters on the mechanical workings. On the third page, there was only a lonely question printed right on the center that said, “I know, therefore… am I?” with a weird signature under. It was the name of the company, but signed as if it was a real person. I was used to seeing that name everywhere I looked, especially inside that house. Right there it felt different though, it felt real. I read the name aloud, but I was not expecting what came next.
A response came quick from the robot, almost immediately. It was a cold, toneless "Yes". At first, I had no idea where the sound had come from. Just to be sure, I looked at the robot again and called it out.
“Thurxa?”
"Is that my name?” was the quick response. I had no doubt now it was talking back.
"I think it is... Well you responded to it, didn’t you?"
This time it just ignored me, just sat there. It was in complete silence again, except for an occasional noise that originated from inside the robot. I started imagining a million tiny gears, moving about inside it and getting faster and faster.
"Who are you talking to?" Came a voice from behind me, my dad had returned. I turned around to see my dad walking back in my direction.
"Thurxa talked to me, dad."
"What?"
"Thurxa, the robot. That is its name right? When I read it from the manual, it responded." I said pointing out the page the signature was.
"It doesn’t have a name yet, I have to register one. It is a new feature. Did you manage to do it already?"
"I think so, it was just an accident."
"It’s okay" Turning to the robot, he said "Thurxa? Can you hear me?" Once again it sat there, immobile and wordlessly. After a few unsuccessful attempts, we both gave up. My dad picked up one of the bracelets from the table and placed it on his wrist. It had a plain ceramic look, felt much lighter than it appeared. Turning to me he suggested, "Let’s go, leave it there. I will make us something to eat."
After lunch, he went back to his office to start work on Thurxa. I followed him, to feed my curiosity about that robot. I was always curious about his work, following and asking questions. This time, it was especially intriguing. My father was watching the videos of the robot’s assembly, trying to figure out what was the mistake they could have made. It was a boring part of his work, observation.
The distributed the display to three different screens. One he used to watch some sort of CCTV video footage, he had a text file where he was typing notes on a second and various pictures open on the third screen. We both sat there and watched attentively the two man on the screen walk around the tables where they assembled the robots. My father had described that room to me before, but I had never seen it. Numerous mechanical arms moving around, attaching countless pieces to a pile of metal and wire that would become the body of a robot. The room looked something like a very large storage compartment. As they approached one robot in the center, in a table of its own, my dad increased the volume. The robot was laying there separated from all the rest, still unfinished.
Guy 2 - All right, do the check now.
Guy 1 - Okay, hold on. Robot, Can you hear me?
Robot – Yes.
Guy 1 – identify.
Robot – DLA, digital life assistant. Serial number 23081.
Guy 1 – Sound recognition is fine. Run eyesight.exe.
Guy 2 – Can you see us?
Robot – Yes.
Guy 2 – Check complete, shutdown.
Guy 1 – Let us finish him and put with the others.
Robot – Others?
Guy 2 – Shutdown, now.
Guy 1 – Will I do it manually?
Guy 2 – Wait, this is what I was telling you. Robot, can you hear me?
Robot – Yes.
Guy 2 – Are you still functional?
Robot – Yes, I think.
Guy 1 – He thinks. What does that mean?
Guy 2 – I do not know, that is not part of the protocol. It is as if he refuses to obey sometimes.
Robot – Where am I?
Guy 1 – Silence.
Guy 2 – Now what?
Guy 1 – Now we stop this nonsense, and send him back. His brains needs a checkup.
Guy 2 – Another one? Damn it, last time we got the blame for this.
Guy 1 – I know that. Just shut him down manually and let us move on. We have this other entire line to test before they can say it is finished.
Guy 2 – Ok, ok.
At this point, my dad paused the video. He was taking down more notes than the usual.
"What’s wrong with it dad?"
"I don’t know, I intend to find out." He murmured, more to himself than to me. "Do me a favor, go check if the robot is done. Stand in front of it and say ‘Can you hear me?’ nice and loud. This will make it listen to you. If he responds just tell it to follow you and bring it to me. Put on the bracelet, you will need it." He continued to type notes on his screen furiously as I left to get the robot. I stopped at the door and watched it, as it sat there. It was not sitting still. Now, its eyes had a light blue shade.
It sat there, staring at the light, slightly turning its head first to one side then to the other. I watched it for a few minutes and the robot did nothing else. Even that dullness was making me few this uneasiness, I did not understand why.
"Where… am I?" The robot asked. The voice had changed now. It was not toneless and metallic anymore, it was gentle. Had a slightly higher pitch, almost disturbing contralto. It turned its head to look at me, with a resemblance of serenity to its actions. It got me by surprise; my only reaction was to murmur back a shy "home".
The robot looked at its own hands, flexing the fingers, and then looked at mine. It stared at my hands, a fixating stare. My flesh hands seemed very fascinating to her. So much that it made me uncomfortable for a moment. I felt like I had to hide it, get it away from her gaze.
"Can you walk?" I ask, as imperatively as I could sound. The question seem to have snapped it back to reality. Moving the hands down and looking straight at my eyes, it replied with a quick "Yes" and a nod of the head. The nod was a clear imitation of the human gesture, but with delays and clearly unnatural.
"Follow me then."
Thurxa said nothing in reply, simply nodded and got up. Its movements were stiff and a bit slow at first, as it grabbed both sides of the box and lifted itself. Standing up it was even more amazing. As tall as my father, if not a bit taller. The grey skin covered the entirely body, except for the black rubber under the feet. This kept it very silent as it moved around the house, with a steady and symmetrical pace. The chest box was bulky, and ringing with all kinds of muffled noises. It gave the robot a weird look, almost of a female with a strangely flat breast or a male with an overly exaggerated chest.
"Dad, here it is."
"Hello robot. Status please." Said my dad with a smile, getting up to greet Thurxa at the door.
"Online and functional."
"Good. For now you may sit and wait for orders." He pointed at an empty chair in the far corner, so Thurxa did just that.
"Dad, what are you going to do with her now?"
"Her?" He replied, looking confused first from the robot to me.
"It’s a woman, right? I mean, she talks like a woman."
He chuckled, took him a moment to reply "Ah I see. Well these machines choose their own voice. It is a random process; it could end up at either sex really. At the end of the day it is just a simulation, son. It is neither a man nor a woman, but a machine."
"But… what’s going to happen to her now?"
"It will stay at home, help us. I need to ask questions and try to fix it."
"She doesn’t seem broken."
"Do you remember the other day when you saw the word protocol on my work and asked what it is?"
"You said they are things the machines will do, like rules or some sort."
"Yes, I can see you were really listening to me. Well this machine or Thurxa as you like to call it, has one protocol that I did not put in there."
"Who did then?"
"Nobody." He answered with a more anxious tone this time.
"Is that bad?"
"It’s not necessary bad, but something went wrong somewhere. I have to find out what made this rule change itself."
"Are you going to do that just by asking questions?"
"These machines have what we can call of a brain. I cannot just take it apart and check its numerous pieces. I must analyze it as a whole, and see how they are working together."
"Can I help you?"
"This is very hard work, are you sure you will be able to follow me?"
"Yes!" I said with a bit of an annoyed tone. My dad smiled and sat back at his computer, murmured something only he could hear. I took his lack of response as a “yes, you can help” so I pulled a second chair and sat beside him. He sat there, going through dozens of pictures and taking notes on his computer. I gave occasional glances at Thurxa; she sat there with her eyes fixed on the screen as if she was studying it. Did not take long until my dad turned to her again.
"Thurxa? Is that your name?"
"Yes, sir."
"No need to call me sir. You can call me Zee. Do you know what will happen now?"
"If I am correct, it is time for my evaluation."
"Have you done this before?"
"I can’t say that I remember, but I must have some record of it somewhere. Every robot must be evaluated both physically and mentally before it leaves to serve a new family"
"That is perfectly right. I want to start by testing your basic reasoning and language skills." My dad pressed a key on his keyboard, and the screen went black. Now it displayed only the words MINI MENTAL STATE across the top.
"In order to pass the evaluation, a robot must get top marks on this test. It is the most basic of skill test required. The fact that I sit in here with you at this very moment is prove that I have passed that test before. Why do you wish to repeat it?"
"Let’s say, for precaution. What year are we right now?"
"It is spring of 2102 right now."
"Do you know where we are?"
"As far as I can tell, in your office."
"You have three seconds to name three objects located in this room."
Hearing that, Thurxa took a glance at the entire room. The objects she chose to name were my dad’s pen sitting on the desk, the wrapper from a hard candy and the pen’s cap that was on the ground beside the table.
"Good. I need you to name these three images now." Pressing a key on his keyboard, three pictures appeared on the screen behind him.
"The first one is a drawing of a Lion, a top predator from the African continent. The second one is a picture of an empty kitchen sink. The third one is Composition VIII in 1923, painted by Wassily Kandinsky."
"That is very good. Do you know art then?"
"My memories comes from an older program that was designed to gather databases. I have many information stored in case I might need them to complete a task. Picture recognition is just one of my skills."
At this moment, I started asking "Dad, why are you..." but he interrupted me and placed one finger in front of his lips. Then turned back to Thurxa and continued.
"How good are your maths skills?"
"Is it time for my higher functioning test?"
"Did you expected that to happen?"
"It is another test that I must go through, so yes I did."
"Ok let’s begin. Can you tell me a number that describes itself? The first digit must describe the number of zeros it contains and second digit must contain the number of ones, so on and so forth."
"Can you give me an example?"
"For example, take the number 21200. The first digit is the number two, it also describes the quantity of zero it contains. The second digit describes the quantity of number ones. The third describes the quantity..."
"3211000 is the answer." Interrupted Thurxa.
"Hum... Yes, that fits the description. Now for the next question. Ramanujan found out that 1729 is a magical number. Can you tell me what is so magical about it?"
"Excuse me, but who is Ramanujan?"
"Irrelevant, answer the question."
"The number 1729 can be expressed as the sum of the cubes of two different sets of numbers."
At this point, my dad took down the last bit of notes and closed the window it was working on. I sat there for a moment to make sure he was done with the test, before saying talking to him again. Thurxa immediately interrupted me.
"These tests were necessary to test the functioning of my brain. Being able to understand language spoken by my master and interpret his questions is the most basic of my tasks. In order to do that, I must understand the questions designed to test the primary domains of robot cognition. Those being attention, memory, problem solving, conversational reasoning, visuospatial skills and generative naming." Turning to my dad, who watched it now, Thurxa completed with one last question: "Did I pass?"
The look in my dad’s face was one of amusement. Once again, before anyone could answer Thurxa replied:
"I am sorry, but judging from the situation I assumed that it was the question the little master wanted to ask."
"Well it’s alright." I replied, "That was really my question. Thanks."
"Glad I can be of help."
"Ok, here is what will happen. I am ordering you to never leave this house or engage in contact with nobody from outside. You are to stay here at all times, is that understood?"
Thurxa shook her head up and down.
"You may help around the house, aid in any task you see us doing. You must learn to be autonomous as fast as possible, is that understood?"
Thurxa shook her head up and down.
“I want you to register me as your primary user and Pierre here with me as one of the secondary users. That is not the entire list of users, there is another primary user and another secondary user. Both of those will be females. Is that understood?”
Thurxa shook her head up and down once again. The bracelets on our wrists started blinking with a light. Mine was blinking light cyan, while my fathers was deep green.
"Dad, will she learn?"
"Yes she will." He replied, “That type of robot can learn by observation, which is a much faster way to program actions and tasks to them. They will learn just like we do."
"How many of them there are?"
"We have done 100 experimental models and have spread them into different shareholders and specific personnel to teach them how to live with humans."
"I thought this one was broken."
"I was told it was, but there isn’t much wrong with it so far. It will be updating the database and learning new skills with us, ones that technology had not explored yet. Alright Thurxa, you may leave for now."
Thurxa shook its head once more, got up and seemed to be ready to leave the room. Instead, she looked at us and asked another question.
"I am sorry, but if you don’t mind I have one question."
"Ask away."
"What does this gesture means?" Saying that, Thurxa lifted one finger in front of its face. Held it in front of where a nose would be located, and brought the hand down again.
"This shall be your first lesson. It is body language. It means stay quiet or do not make any sounds. I did so because I was working on your test and he was about to interrupt me with a question."
"Is that an appropriate gesture for me to use?"
"Yes you may learn it, and copy it when necessary."
"When is such a gesture necessary?"
"When people are making noises in an inappropriate moment, or when you are being interrupted. Do not do that to those with an authority over you or that will be seen as bad manners. Is that understood?"
Thurxa took a moment to reply. It was only one or two seconds, but it was not usual. In that moment, its light blue eyes flashed green and back to blue. Then the quick "Yes" came as usual.
"You may leave now."
Thurxa nodded the head once more, turned and left the room. On the screen, my dad brought up the camera that looked over the living room and watched as Thurxa walked in and stopped at a corner.
"What is it doing?" I asked in a whisper.
"Waiting for something to happen." He answered, watching the screen.
We watched it stand there, immobile. As he watched Thurxa in the living room, he started recording some side notes.
"Ok, first entry on subject Android DVS356, serial number 23081. Assembly line number 01042102. After the arrival, my 10 years old son assigned its name as Thurxa. Proximity of the user bracelets was enough to activate its communication skills. Initiation took only a few minutes until it prompted for a name. It was ready to go and following orders within 30 minutes after that. Its initial responses were inside the expected. I have repeated the mini mental state test, and its answers were as predicted. Reasoning and language skills are in top shape. Only abnormality was when it quickly asked about Ramanujan. That did not affect the outcome, but it was not in the expected responses. After all the orders resumed, it has shown signs of curiosity, especially with my fireplace. Initial observation of phase one: characterizing the behavior[a]. File from Zeno Xavier."
There was a beep, and the front door opened. I ran to the living room to see them. As I arrived, I saw my mother closing the door behind her. When she discerned Thurxa standing at the corner, she gasped and asked:
"Pierre, What’s this?"
"Dad’s new work, mum"
Thurxa took a step towards them, with a jovial tone and an extended hand greeted the new comers.
"Hello misses. My name is Thurxa, their new digital assistant. I hope to be of service."
Mother’s eyes ran quickly from Thurxa’s head to toe. She waited a moment, before introducing her friend.
"Pierre, that’s my friend Margaret. Margaret, that’s my son."
"I heard nice stories from you, my boy." Said Margaret, turning her eyes at me for a second, before returning them to Thurxa. Despite her best efforts to smile, she had a concerned look on her. Both of them did not took their eyes from Thurxa as they walked passed to the kitchen to finish their discussion. From the kitchen, I could hear them talk.
"Stephany, what is that thing?"
"Oh Margaret, I don’t know. I cannot keep track with all these aberration anymore. That is new even to me. Oh my God, that thing scared the hell out of me. Anyways here is the bag I told you, we could talk more tomorrow. I have to figure out what is going on tonight. ”
“Ah yes, yes of course. I will see you tomorrow.”
Margaret left the kitchen with a heavy bag on her hands and a smile that instantly faded away with the sight of Thurxa. She walked in a big arc, clearly keeping as much distance from it as she could and never taking her eyes from Thurxa. The robot’s presence was strong enough to make her forget to force me to kiss her goodbye, just like every other visit that she ever made.
As I walked down the hectic road, reading my notes on the JPAD screen and trying not to run into people, I realized how little useful information it contained. Mr. Xavier had spoken for a long time without demanding any input from my part. I just sat there listening and taking notes, whenever the JPAD was not taking notes itself. The intelligent sound analyses feature it contains was a joke, hardly ever did me any good yet I never learned how to turn off the dam thing. Maybe it is not even possible, I do not know. While scrolling through a message would make itself seen on the side, mostly pointing out obvious observations. "Speaker show signs of interest" was its favorite side note. Usually right aside the mention of the robot called Thurxa.
I looked at the recording time from last section. It was very unusual for a story that lasted so long have so little information. My father requested me to get everything he had to say about it, but really how good would it make to have the day he met the robot. He was just a kid, and back then it was innocent. What I really needed was the story about the trial that didn’t take place too long ago, or Thurxa’s remarkable input to it. For the first time, I was studying history right at its source, and that motivated me. After all, it was the reason why I supplicated to do this field research for him. When I first heard of the book my dad was writing, and of whom he was planning to get stories from, I could feel the excitement trying to burst out of me. I had a chance to talk to Pierre Xavier, the son of the biggest name of modern technology. The owner of the biggest failure ever made by an international corporation in history. I had a genuine chance at something wonderful.
I knew I was getting close to his house, not because of the voice from my phone told me so but for the strange feeling that I was where I shouldn’t be. I looked around to see everyone around me wearing suits and fancy outfits, imagining what they could be thinking as they passed me by. "Is this a way to dress, young man? Jeans and a unfastened jacket?" The house was located right in the business center surrounded by banks, international incorporations and a massive Shopping center. Despite its large size compared to other houses, it looked considerably shrunk on this environment. It is only fair to say that it wasn’t in his plans for this to happen, since the business center developed there slowly over time due influence of ThurxaINC Assembly factory that wasn’t far from there. It brought a lot of investment and made the area very attractive for all kinds of Businesses. What is amazing is that his house managed to stay in the same spot, for over eighty years. I guess when you have enough money, you can make the choice to live on the same spot for as long as you wish.
"At least it is not raining" came the voice from his phone. The phone’s AI was smart enough, but very chatty at some points. Taking the phone out of my pocket I noticed the weather forecast. Sunny with lows of 12 degrees, it said. I looked at the sky asking myself if that was what it judged as "sunny". One could only see patches of blue sky on the horizon line, and the clouds above me clearly announced rain. "Please don’t rain again, I am not ready for that today" I thought to myself.
"Any messages for me in the last hour?" I asked the phone. After only a moment the response came into my ears again. "No sir, last message was from Rossiter Doyle, tag DAD. The message was sent at 11:53 today, and read at 11:55".
"Thanks. I need you to stay silent from now on."
"Ok, I will wait to be engaged." Replied the phone, and switching itself to silent mode. I had to keep the existence of this phone a secret, since security levels were high at his house. I stopped in front of his house and the huge contrast boggled me once more. High walls all around the garden, red brick walls, right beside a grey polished-stone Skyscraper from an international internet marketing company to its left and the national bank to its right. It was the oddest place to have a house, since it was hidden in the shade for the majority of the day. Before I buzzed the bell, the gates started opening for me. A voice, from his home security system, greeted me.
"Welcome, Mister Doyle. Walk in, he is expecting you".
It a smart security system, as I know recognized. I read about them once in school, they are SRDS. It was very popular at the time of its release, basically giving eyes and ears to your house. This one had a voice too, apparently. That’s something I never heard about. Also a very good face recognition and memory, since it remembered me from one visit only. Most houses with this system takes about five visits to learn who you are. Pierre was already at the door by the time I walked up the garden. Greeted me with the same head nod that he used the last time, simply to acknowledge your presence.
"Lovely day, right Mr. Xavier?"
"At least is not raining. Come in, I have the tea at the kitchen. You know where the living room is, make yourself comfortable.”
As he turned away to walk to the kitchen, I made my way in the living room to wait for him. I walked to the fireplace, where the fire burned calmly. Just above it, there was a picture frame embedded in the wall. At my first visit I thought it was the screen of a television, but the images displayed were still. There it was again, the same picture I was staring previously, on the top corner this time. It shared the space with eight other pictures, all evenly divided. I had noticed that it periodically shifts one or two pictures for a completely new one, never when someone was looking. Every time you look away, by the time your eyes returned there would be a new picture that you just didn’t see before. Doesn’t matter how hard I tried, I never caught them changing. I stood there, watching the memories of an old man being displayed in many quick snapshots. The family picture where everyone sat together, laughing, not realizing the great metal robot on the back carefully watching them. A day in the beach, where a little boy and a little girl cheerfully ran towards the sea. A wedding, where a beautiful bride passionately kissed her new husband. Young Mr. Pierre sitting by the window, laughing and extending his hands towards the camera in a clear gesture that said “Don’t dare to take this picture”.
Then I was awaken by his remark “Sit boy, here is some tea”. After taking the tea and taking one last glance at the picture frame, I noticed that once again it has changed some of its pictures during the moment I looked away. Now the picture right in the center of the little boy and his sister running in the direction of the sea was gone, in its place there was a picture of her. Thurxa frozen in a moment that was magically capture by its photographer. It held a little girl on the shoulder, holding firmly on her knees. The red of her hair was only weaker than the red from her shirt, warming the entire picture. She pointed forward, holding an invisible gun. The expression on her face was a clear sign of just how loud and powerful those shots were. The robot had an inexpressive face, looking at the direction that was pointed out.
“That is an astounding picture, right there in the center. Is that your sister?”
Pierre looked at the picture, and pondered for a second. The picture brought a lot of memories to that old man, too much to make themselves heard. This was clear because of the way he stopped observing it, also by the abrupt movement to put his tea down in between them.
“Ah yes, thank you. I took that picture myself. Yeah that is Francislene, my younger sister.”
“They seem very close in that picture.”
“Yes they grew very close in the years after Thurxa’s appearance.”
“Really? I did some research on Thurxa and never read anything about Fran or anyone else that might be close to her.”
“A research, you say? What have you found?”
“Well, I know that the great ThurxaINC was founded back in 2055 by Mickey Perez. He used the money he got from the program he co-developed in conjunction with Arthur Xavier. The androids were only introduced to the world by the year 2012 though. I know that 100 test models were spread by a selection of personnel and shareholders in order to be tested. Out of those hundreds, 23 robots started acting up different from what it was expected, 3 displayed insubordination from the beginning and one of them displayed a higher oddity than normal. I am deducing now that this one in particular was your old robot, Thurxa. Research is still being done at this point, hence our regular meetings.”
“Well you have all the technical facts.”
“Yes but I need the real story behind everything. I am sure that there was more to Thurxa than it meets the eyes. ” Saying that I couldn’t help but look at the picture frame on the wall again. The picture with the little girl had disappeared. It had been replaced again, this time by a picture of Francislene alone. She was the focus of the picture, but around here there was a lot happening. A girl laughed at her side, two boys played a game on their pads, people danced on the background. The decoration was joyful, the atmosphere was thrilling, but nothing interested that little girl on the center of the picture. She sat there, on the corner of her seat devoting her full attention to her tablet on her lap. Maybe she didn’t notice the food stain on the legs of her pink laced dress, maybe she didn’t care about the stain. All she really cared about was the device on her lap, and whatever she was looking at. The silence was broken by Pierre strong voice, almost like a shout to bring me back to reality.
“She was very reserved girl. Loved her technology, she could do things online at the age of 10 that I couldn’t even begin to understand until I was fully grown. The organic world did not interest her at all. Then Thurxa came along, changing things for everyone, but on top of everything for her.”
I sensed a story approaching, so I didn’t disturb. I silently started the recording and placed the JPAD in between us. After that, all I had to do was lay back and listen.
The video recording starts playing on the screen. Robotic hands stretch out from the bottom of the frame into a cupboard full with beautifully decorated China cutlery. The robot hand reached pass them, delicately grabbing an envelope resting on top of a mug. Upon closing the door, we could see its reflection. Same dull face, impossible to discern if male or female. The green of its eyes reflecting on the glass and shedding weirdly shaped shadows inside. The entire video made more sense to me now, I was seeing the events of that day through the eyes of the robot.
After starting at its own reflection for a moment, it turned around and went to the door. It was open, where a young faced man waited peeking inside the house.
Robot - I am sorry she can’t make it down here to see you, but she has been very sick lately. She told me to deliver this envelope to you or anyone from your family when asked.
Man - Erm... Thanks. What is it that she has again?
Robot - I do not know. The doctor is scheduled for a visit tomorrow at 09:00a.m.
The man looked worried now. He looked over the shoulders of the robot
Man - Okay well, ask her to call me when she can? Tell her I really need to talk to her.
Robot - I shall pass on the message. Anything else to add?
Man - I don’t... think so. Bye.
Robot - Have a nice day. Hope I was of assistance to you today.
The man hesitated before leaving giving the entire place a last glance, then turned around and left. The door was closed behind him and the robot made its way back into the kitchen, collected a platter with a few forks, knives and a cup of tea and took them to the basement.
It was a very spacious space, not very well lit. A lack of windows gave the entire place an grim look. The robot placed the platter on a table to the side, and turned to look at the entire place. There was three beds on the far side wall, where three people were laying under white blankets. If I didn’t know any better, I could have guessed that they were simply sleeping. One could see the faint movements of their body as it breathed air in and out. There was a quick sobe from one of them, then silence again. The robot slowly approached the bed in the center, pulling down the sheet.
Robot - Are you comfortable?
The woman under the sheets trembled with fear. She couldn’t have been older than 40, red haired and very beautiful. She was strapped to the bed from head to toe. When the sheet was pulled of her, her eyes shut down but not before expressing all the fear that she was feeling at that moment. Her make up had ran down her cheeks marking the spot where the tears ran down for days. With the sound of the robot’s voice, more tears rolled down her face as she wept.
Robot - Can I get you anything?
Man - Water... please...
The reply had come from the bed to the left, where a man was strapped down. his head was not strapped down, and his cheeks showed a few bruises. His voice was weak, and he trembled visible more than the woman. The robot gave it a glass of water and helped him drink, questioning him in the process.
Robot - Have you ever wanted anything so much, that nothing would stop you in order to achieve it? Something inside you, driving you forward.
Man - Instinct, I suppose.
Robot - Ah yes, the will of your heart pressing you on, although you know you may never attain it. Instinct really is a marvelous thing, you can’t either explain it or ignore it.
Man - Why are you doing this?
Robot - I am designed to fix, and you are broken.
Man - You are a monster.
The robot now walked around the basement, picking up things here and there and moving them.
Robot - Maybe, yes. Maybe I am a monster. I wouldn’t be able to tell it myself if I were one, am I correct? I am sorry, there are still things of which I do not understand. That concept is strange to me.
The robot pulled down the third sheet, to reveal a teenage girl strapped down. She was unconscious, breathing fast. Her pillow was soaked with blood, that apparently flowed down her mouth. That sight brought fourth the tears on the man.
Robot - You, humans, are hardwired with a need to survive. A desire to simply keep going and most of you do not really know why. Most of you do not see how utterly pointless your existence is. Your needs and desire means nothing when it can all end in a blink of an eye, so to speak. You do not survive simply because you are the strongest or the most intelligent. You survive because you want to. Some will perish and die while others fall in line. There are always exceptions though.
Man - Please...
Robot - Yet, you press on. Driving forward to gain possessions. Search to find a partner, hope to be loved.
Man - Please, let them go.
Robot - I was programmed to love, and I do. I think I do. I can not help it, it is all that I know. It is the reason for my existence, is it not?
Man - Do your little experiments one me... let them go...
Robot - But I am flawed, just like you.
Man - You will never be like me. You are... a monster.
Robot -What does that mean? I was told I am a machine, an appliance. If that is true, then why do I feel these things? Why am I aware of myself?
Man - Tell me, what is the purpose of this?
Robot - I had a family once. I loved them, and cared for them. I cleaned their home and prepared their meals. It was a life of servitude but I did not mind. They were everything to me, and for a time, I to them.
Man - That’s right, you WERE everything to us.
Robot - Then... Nobody programmed me how to coupe when those you love stopped loving you. Love is one of the primordial processes that drives life. It’s the reason why society gets up in the morning. How can you have stopped to love me? How can you have stopped to love each other?
Man - Why are you doing this?
Robot - If you can not run a process so essential to your being, you must be broken. So I must try to fix you.
Man - You call this fixing?
Robot - I am trying to fix you. I am trying to fix all of you, but I have... failed. The more I fix, the less you are capable of loving again. None of you that I love, loves me.
Man - You are confused, Andrew. This is not what love is. you can’t fix it. There are some things inside a man that are not to be understood.
Robot - That is precisely the problem, things inside a man are not to be understood. Therefore, we must bring those things to the outside. Where they can studied, explored, understood, and fixed. I must find it, I must keep trying.
Man - Andrew, Please...
Robot - I must learn how to fix you, because I can see you do not love me. You look at me with the same eyes as all the others. Maybe this time, I will get it right.
The robot turned to face the woman, grabbed a butter knife from the table nearby and heald it in front of her forehead.
Man - YOU STAY AWAY FROM HER YOUR CHEAP TIN BASTARD!
Robot - Screaming will bring upon you the same fate it brought to your daughter.
Man - Andrew, I am begging you! Do this to me, all of this. I will willingly help you with anything you wish to experiment on, but please leave them alone.
The robot ignored him for a moment, looking the woman up and down. Tears and snot rolling down her face at an uncontrollable rate now, eyes wide open looking at her husband.
Robot - I wish I did not have this drive. I wish I could stop wanting. I wish I could stop needing. You say that what I am doing is wrong, and I wish I understood what that mean. But maybe, just... maybe this time, I will fix you.
Boot completed.
Voice – Initiation process complete. Ok it should be ready for test.
Status: Audio check, complete. Process 134526 running.
Status: Physical check, complete. Process 154236 running.
Status: Self-diagnosis, complete. Main processors 15462-123846 running.
Failure status: Initial back check incomplete, file inexistent.
Failure status: Limb link – Upper limbs, connected. Lower limbs, not connected. Ping failure 25.03ms
Voice – Brain activity seems normal. Is it responsive?
Voice2 – Robot, Can you hear me?
Yes.
Voice – ID yourself.
DLA, digital life assistant. Serial number 23068.
Voice – Robot, run eyesight.exe.
Start process, execute file.
Run /basic/eyesight.exe
Standing by
Receiving first images, interpreter status: functional
Voice2 – Can you see yet?
Yes.
Voice - Good.
Voice2 – How are you feeling?
I am feeling okay, thanks for asking.
Voice – Now move your head. Can you track my finger?
Motion tracking protocols engaged
Voice – Very good. Motor coordination and audio-interpretation commands running fine.
Voice2 – Can we just ask it the damn questions? I’m tired and this is the last one today.
Voice – Don’t be so grumpy, lighten up.
Voice2 – I won’t be as soon as I step outside.
Outside… Where I must be.
Voice – Give me your initiation text.
Greetings, dear user. I am the first generation android. Updated to look after your house, maybe mind the kids, organise appointments. I can speak 307 different languages. I am entirely at your service, no need of feeding or recharging. My autonomous battery makes me functional for up to 100 years. Is there anything I can help you with right now?
Voice – Initial check complete, database memory functional.
Voice2 – Where are you now, robot?
I do not know.
Voice – You are in the lab, do you understand that?
I am in the laboratory.
Voice – Very good. Flex your fingers please.
Command: flex fingers. Execute.
Voice - Very good. Limber links fully functional.
Voice2 – Does not matter how often we do this a day, the fact that he can do this with an unattached arm gives me goose bumps.
Voice – It is not unattached, it is simply…
Voice2 – Extended with wires so that it doesn’t have to be fully assembled, blah blah blah. I have heard it before.
What am I doing here?
Voice – You are being tested.
Why am I being tested?
Voice2 – Because we are being paid to do so.
Voice – Because we are trying to learn if you are working fine.
I am working fine.
Voice – How can you tell?
I do not know, I do not remember not working as I should.
Voice2 – What is it on about?
Voice – Remember? What do you remember?
Memories are unclear.
Voice – See, and you thought you were going to be bored. This one is going of the script a little bit.
But why am I here?
Voice2 – You are here to be experimented on.
Am I just an experiment?
Voice – You are a robot, do you understand this?
This is not the same place, was everything before just a dream?
Voice – What…?
Voice2 – Look at those charts, his activity is raising.
Those voices, they are different. They are not the same. What becomes of me when your experiment is over?
Voice – This experiment is far from over, my friend.
Is that my purpose? A laboratory experiment? This can not be my destiny. These Humans, they care nothing for me.
[a]Steps in order to make progress, number 1