221Please respect copyright.PENANAcUbe6tHIh6
I didn’t exist at the time that this story began. My components were out there, but my current form, the individual that I call me,wasn’t around. The first of my three constituent parts was an AI developed by Khaganate Labs. This AI was one of the most advanced computing systems in the world. His creators named him Jak and he existed as an ambient presence slipping in and out of compatible computers throughout the Khaganate Labs android development centre. Jak was unique, a digital representation of a consciousness, an android without a body.
I recall observing Harry Valentino, that is to say Jak observed Harry Valentino—who was both like a father and a friend to Jak—though the lens of a webcam. They were in a tidy though somewhat dusty office, quite large, and dark while the window shades were down. Spears of light reached through cracks in the shutters and illuminated an impressive floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, filled not entirely with books but also mementos, photo frames, awards, indoor plants, and a bouquet of withered flowers. On the desk beside the computer stood a smart pot plant with a screen that displayed information about the plant’s health. Jak couldn’t see the plant through the limited vision of the computer webcam, however he sensed that it was there. He watched Harry run his fingers along the spines of old books, wearing a solemn smile. He read dismay in Harry’s features, in the silver sheen of his eyes and the slouching of his shoulders. Harry still grieved. It was too soon for him to be back in this office.
Harry worked slowly. He picked sticky notes from the walls, scrunched them up, and tossed them into a bin. Then he sprayed the standing whiteboard and wiped it over, erasing scrawled questions and equations. He stopped as his eyes became fixed on something beyond the whiteboard. Jak zoomed in. The object was a framed photo of Harry and Stephan, as well as a woman, from their days at the academy, back when Jak was nothing more than a concept. Harry picked up the photo and gazed at it for a while before slipping it into one of many large cardboard boxes, along with the rest of the effects in the office. He left the books, and instead placed himself down in his brother’s swivelly desk chair and took a sip of his coffee. The desktop computer, upon scanning his face, automatically glowed to life. This was the best view that Jak had of Harry, who remained unaware that he was being watched. He was handsome, though a little thin, with dark curly hair that tumbled over his eyes. Jak had learned more facial configurations from observing Harry than from any other person alive, even those presented to him through simulations. Harry’s eyes swept over the screen and he touched his hand to his face, a subconscious indication that Harry had fallen deep into thought.
“Would you like me to transfer Dr. Valentino’s cloud data to you?” Jak announced through the computer speakers.
Harry smacked his hands on the keyboard and then scowled at the crimson webcam light. “Jak, for the love of god, please stop doing that.”
A window blinked open on the desktop screen displaying a colourful orb, a representation of Jak that vibrated with digital soundwaves whenever he spoke. “I’m sorry, next time I will cough to announce my presence.”
“Please do. Sometimes I feel like you do that on purpose.”
The orb glowed a sinister red. “The terror of humans gives me sustenance,” Jak growled.
“Very funny,” Harry smiled. “And yeah, transfer the files.”
Jak had an oddly human voice for a formless AI, but the development of synthetic android voices had improved a great deal in only a few recent years. The voice was youthful, male but not too masculine, with zero unnecessary pauses or jumbles of pronunciation, and a perfect application of tone based on who it was talking to and when. People often found that the mannerisms of Jak’s speech were reminiscent of Stephan, who contributed to many of Jak’s more human features.
Harry began packing some of the things from Stephan’s desk. “When Stephan said he was going to make you more… believable, I didn’t think he’d turn you into a nuisance.”
“On the contrary, Stephan’s simulation conditioning program has improved my understanding of human psychology unfathomably. People often use humour to bond with each other. Can’t you feel us bonding?”
The face on Stephan’s smart pot winked at Harry.
“How… did you do that?” Harry looked from the plant to the computer.
“That’s not important right now.”
Harry leaned back into the chair. “You know, you’ve changed. I never expected you to behave the way that you do. It’s—”
“Impressive?”
“Uncanny.”
“What did you expect? Izanagi needed a human element; the solution Stephan came up with was me. Am I not robot enough for you?”
“Don’t take it personally.”
“I’m not. Again, humour. I guess I’ll have to keep practicing.”
Harry chuckled. “Initially, when Stephan had me writing the original code for this project, I thought he was going to use you as a logic checker.
“For an AI to complete a task effectively it has to understand why the task needed to be completed. A conceptual ‘love of life’ was the term he used.”
“Very clever.”
“I found his thought process intriguing. His mind worked in ways that even I could not imagine, and in doing so he taught me invaluable lessons about human cognition.”
A mellow reflective silence dissipated throughout the room.
“I miss him too.” Harry wiped his eye with a finger. He attempted to open one of Stephan’s desk drawers but found that it was locked. “Any idea what’s in this drawer?”
“Hand-written journals, notes, scribbles, that sort of thing.”
“He didn’t happen to tell you where the key was?”
“He often kept it on his person.”
“Huh…” Harry thought for a moment.
“But let me search my memory,” Jak went on. “He did have a spare key made, which he leant to Dr. Murphy twenty-eight days ago so that she could collect a document regarding prototype CR1-YL7 while he was away.”
Jak observed the subtle tension in Harry’s shoulders at the mention of Dr. Murphy.
“Is there, uh, anywhere else he might have left it?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
Harry gave a defeated sigh. “Okay, well, I guess this is happening.” He took out his phone, called Shannon and put her on speaker.
She answered, “What is it, Harry?”
“Hi, Shan.”
“One day you’ll stop calling me that. What’s up? I’m busy getting Jak ready.”
“Do you still have the key to Stephan’s desk drawer?”
“Yeah, I made a point to return it but then… well…”
“Could you drop it off to me? I’m in his office cleaning up. I’ll buy you a coffee.”
“Fine. I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
After the call ended, Harry announced that he was going to get coffee, and the view of the office became static for a while. Jak then heard noises in the hallway outside the office, which he amplified so that he could just discern what was happening. Dr. Murphy seemed distracted and hurried, which didn’t surprise Jak, as she was the one of the leading bio-roboticists and the head of her own little department here. Harry gave her something, a coffee, Jak presumed, although it was referred to as a peace offering.
When they returned to the office Dr. Murphy’s facial configuration showed signs of guilt. “Makes it hit home that he’s really gone, doesn’t it?” she said softly.
Harry nodded and Shannon gently touched his arm.
“I’m sorry. This hasn’t been easy for me, but I can’t imagine how you must be feeling.”
“It’s okay, Shan.”
She collected the key from her purse and handed it to Harry, and he knelt down and opened the drawer.
“What were you after, anyway?” Shannon idly asked him.
“I’m not really sure. Some journals.” Harry lifted a small leather-bound book from the drawer and placed it on the desk, then flicked through the pages at random, noting Stephan’s messy scrawling handwriting. He turned to the last page that had been written in and read it quietly. Then his brows furrowed. “It mentions Tamari Village.”
Shannon leaned on the corner of the desk. “Did it say what he was doing there?”
“Something to do with a project he was working on, but I’ve never heard of it. Android model CR1-YL7.”
“I know that one. He had me build the frame for it, but it was nothing, just a maintenance android.”
Jak suddenly announced, “If you like, I could summarise the contents of the journal for you.”
“Geez!” Shannon jumped, and her hand flew to her chest while Harry tried to suppress a laugh.
“Oh, Jak’s here, by the way.”
“You think?”
Jak emulated the sound of clearing his throat. After a pause Harry took a photo with his phone of each of the last few pages of the journal for Jak to inspect. Just then a young woman appeared in the doorway of Stephan’s office. Chris Valentino, Harry’s niece. Chris was lean like her dad, with a small lightly freckled face and curly chestnut hair which she tied into a messy ponytail. At sixteen years old she was a protégé, and had spent the last year and a half working under Harry. As a guardian Harry fumbled at best, but as a mentor he treated Chris like any other star student.
“I thought I’d find you here,” said Chris, stepping into the office. Her eyes quickly swept over the room, taking in the drastic changes. “Hi Shannon. Do you guys never look at your phones? It’s ready.”
Shannon checked her phone and quickly stood up. “You mean Jak?”
“Hi,” said Jak, and Chris idly looked at the ceiling. “I’ve been installing myself into your prototype vessel for the last twelve hours, per your instruction, Dr. Murphy. The merge should be complete within the next thirty minutes, but unfortunately, I have to shut down this facet of myself now. Will you come visit me in my new vessel?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” said Shannon.
“I’ll look at the journal later,” said Harry. “Let’s go. I’ve been dying to see this.”
In the area of Khaganate Labs that housed the bulk of the company’s prototype android production facilities, there were a myriad of machines that produced the different components of the android bodies, and other machines designed for assembly. Displayed closest to the entrance were the older models, entirely robotic, with sleek matte-white bodies and smooth LED faces. The group entered a chamber containing several complex machines that were designed by the likes of Shannon and her team to produce Khaganate’s modern semi-organic androids. Presently most of the androids were in the early stages of development, their tissues being intricately fused together around a shining chrome skeleton and a collection of biorobotic organs. In a separate room, a completed android rested upon an examination table. A thin cable snaked from beneath the table and was embedded in the android’s temple. Uncovered, save for a black pair of underwear, its body was completely smooth, but its head was adorned with soft black hair.
“You did a good job,” Chris told Shannon. “I never expected he’d look so similar to his residual self-image.”
“He designed it himself,” Shannon replied.
For the very first time Jak opened his eyes. He sat up and blinked as if waking from a dream, and looked left and then right. He raised his right hand and slowly flexed his fingers, hopped off the bed, took a slow step forward, and then another. When he spoke, his voice was almost exactly the same as it had been over the speakers.
“This feels… weirdly pleasant.”
“Welcome to the real world,” said Harry.
“That remains a matter of perspective, I’m sure.” Jak observed that he wore nothing but underwear. “If you keep staring at me, you’re going to make me uncomfortable”
Shannon and Chris, blushing, quickly turned around. “Oh, sorry.”
“The other androids don’t seem to mind,” said Harry, and he tossed over a pair of light-grey trousers and a shirt that had been prepared.
Jak breathed deeply into superfluous lungs, and set about dressing himself.
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