| |
Richard was in Springfield, it was where he spent almost all his time; as part of a pre-arranged schedule, he was expecting William Jackson. The president would be coming over at an increased rate for the next four weeks while Richard’s new project, to build X3, was starting. For the moment, Richard was idly thinking about what was going on, how he planned to advance his AI agenda. The president had been destined to arrive within the next thirty minutes
There was no doubt that people of the president’s ilk would largely think of Richard as a rather simplistic technocrat, advanced in the ways of technology but socially and politically baron. William Jackson would have been a little surprised to realise that Richard had been weaving him a yarn about the construction of the new droid. Richard may have appeared submissive in his dealings with William Jackson, but that was only a ploy. For his part, William Jackson had considered the future of Richard at Springfield, it all fell under the label of contingency. William Jackson always incorporated contingency into any plan he made, it was part of his political reasoning. The president figured that Richard could be replaceable, although it would not be straightforward since he would need to silence him in some way so that the secret of Springfield would not get out. Disposal of the body and other macabre thoughts had entered the mind of the president. Then the president had dismissed such thoughts. He had a certain fondest for Richard and felt certain of Richard’s loyalty. There was also no question about Richard’s superb technological expertise.
William Jackson would classify Richard to himself as, “His technological stalwart.”
Actually, Richard was the antithesis of most of what William Jackson imagined him to be. Strange indeed that Richard would do such a thing as pull the wool over the president’s rather politically haughty eyes. Richard may have been saying all the right things but he didn’t always mean them. In the end analysis, it was difficult to ascertain who was the most political, was it the president or was it, Richard.
In the building of the latest droid, what Richard intended to do was nothing like he and William Jackson had agreed. Richard would, however, give William Jackson what he required but by a different route, a route which the president would surely disapprove. Richard’s construction of his newest droid would take him into uncharted territory. A place where he could not truly imagine what the assembly of the components would produce. That would offend the president’s sensitivities and since the president had such unfailing faith in all that he thought and did that would magnify the effect. Would anyone expect anything less from a stereotypically conceited politician? The rules and regulations, which the president applied to every facet of his life and not least of all to his political crusade, would be broken. Richard would break them. For once, William Jackson would not have the ultimate control. It was the technical fellow, who held all the cards.
Richard would impose none of the usual restrictions on the droid. The new droid would be testament to Richard’s skill as a technological behemoth. It was true he would construct the droid in the best way his skills would allow, but he always did that. However, Richard would ignore all the surplus bells, whistles, and regulations, which normally slowed down and minimalised the construction. Everything would be simpler; it would be like a stripped-down racing car, things would move faster.
“It’s like removing all the surplus software on your communicator. The damn thing just runs faster,” Richard had said to Craven.
“No.”
There was no way Craven could repeat anything that Richard told him. Richard knew that. In the area of curiosity or inquisitiveness, Craven’s ability was running at the level of an amoeba. Then there was the fact that Richard never really said anything controversial and Craven didn’t know the innermost thoughts of Richard’s mind. Richard had also neutered Craven in the area of thought penetration. To Richard, Craven was nothing more than a passive and very affable automaton. It was all very convenient.
Richard would vouch for the new droid’s safety and he convinced himself that the new droid, X3, would definitely not be violent, or aggressive. Dangerous was a little different, it was hard to specifically define. The new droid’s mental facilities would be head and shoulders over anything, which he had made before. That could make it dangerous in the sense that some of the most dangerous criminal elite were in the upper echelons of intelligence.
Richard looked at Craven and by doing so seemed to reassure himself conveniently that a droid could not be that clever. A droid could not be as subtly clever as a human could, surely, at least in his lifetime. His droids could have an intelligence commensurate with humans, which was true, but there were always subtle idiosyncrasies like sarcasm which Richard had not been able to instil in his droids. Finally, Richard decided there was nothing to fear. However, fear or not the new droid would almost certainly not be as passive as his previous droids. It could have a mind like a raging inferno, although he was not exactly one hundred percent sure. He looked at Craven again, he knew that Craven’s mind was like greased lightning when it was number crunching, but anything, which required thinking on a higher plane was restricted. Richard dismissed his fears and consoled himself with the notion that, not only would his project be safe but also that he would indeed be breaking new ground in the development of droids.
With a firm commitment to rolling back the boundaries of AI technology, Richard let his negative thoughts abate.
“Everything will work out just fine.”
If anyone queried what he had done, then he would initiate his backout plan. He would put into play his old ploy of substandard components.
Richard had thought out what he would say before, “A faulty component. It is unimaginable that such a circumstance could happen this way. These damn things are so complex that all you need is a very small component error.”
Richard would easily explain away the situation. In the past, he had heard of politicians using the excuse of their brain ‘short-circuiting’ amongst other gems. His excuse would at least be believable.
The X3 droid Richard would create would not be an official specification and he knew the president had no clue about how he was planning to assemble it. Richard had trusted that the president had handled the project protocols correctly, so at least the project was official. However, the one thing he had found a little mysterious about the project was the degree the president wanted to uphold strict secrecy in everything Richard did. The president had confirmed via private sources that Richard was security worthy. Everything seemed to be progressing well for the president. The only continual niggling query was from Richard as to why the president was working in such a clandestine way?
~
THE PRESIDENT HAD ARRIVED in Springfield by drone car. William Jackson came by himself as was usual, even if Richard could not imagine who else would choose to come with him.
The conversation, which ensued was normal. Richard and the president were talking about the AI minds he was developing.
“...That’s my interpretation of artificial intelligence. That’s the essence of artificial intelligence,” Richard had wanted to compartmentalise what he was saying for President Jackson’s sake so that the scientific complexities would not overwhelm him.
The president immediately changed the premise of the discussion and brought the subject back to something he had discussed with Richard before.
“So how does one implement a moral code into this creature, this droid?”
It was very clear that the president was interested in incorporating a set of morals into the next droid, and who knew what else. Richard sighed at the imprecise way the president handled improvements to the AI unit. Richard knew some of the tremendous complications he would face installing a moral code and ethics into his droid and he would be relying on the new components from Sharlene. Richard, in all honesty, hadn’t, at that moment, the vaguest notion of how to proceed. Richard nevertheless took the option to sound, at least, a little optimistic about the president’s uninformed query.
“Erhh, that is a good question.”
Every one of Richard’s new projects demanded a new construction. Everything was continually changing. In truth, Richard had enough trouble with his own normal designs without considering anything as complex as a set of morals. That was why his suppliers had initially modularised all the components so that his experts in other locations could take some of the heat off him. Sadly, that didn’t solve all the problems since all the components were also in a perpetual state of flux. Even droids of the same level were subject to constant changes. That was why Richard had insisted upon Craven. Craven kept a record of the changes in the metaphorically vast interior of its small AI unit. Keeping current with the new changes was Richard’s greatest challenge. Now the president was throwing a curved ball and demanding things about which Richard was unsure.
One thing, which was doubly confusing about droid projects was the problem with documentation, the technology was moving so fast that the documentation was sparse. That was why his skills in assembly were in demand. There were not many people of his ilk. It was almost as if he had a sixth sense. Richard could literally read between the lines, he as much went by instinct as he did by reading the insubstantial component instructions.
The president was no more than five feet from him, talking in a supercilious fashion about flights of fancy, which Richard didn’t know how to answer. The president was sitting in one of the lab’s chairs looking at Richard but Richard did not return the favour. Richard could not look at him without getting irritated. Richard looked in the other direction at Craven. Richard continued the conversation in a way, which did not show his contempt.
“The basic construction of Craven is a technological chasm from the way this new droid will be developed.”
The president pounced, “So you are saying you cannot finish the project!”
The president realising that he had displayed a side of his character, which he seldom displayed publicly, withdrew.
The president calmed himself.
Then he said in a measured way, “It will be difficult for me to find help for the project. You need to tell me if the work will progress.”
In a split second, the president had changed from a tyrant to his normal slimy political persona. Richard could almost see the ingratiation ooze from the pores of his skin.
Then Richard nearly put his foot in it. He nearly asked the question, which had been bugging him. He knew his skills were scarce and maybe that was what the president meant when he said it would be difficult to find help for the project. However, Richard did not think that at all. He thought, in fact he convinced himself, that the president thought that it would be difficult to find anyone else because there was something going on about the secrecy of the project. Richard was so sure that secrecy was at the heart of the president’s concerns. If that was indeed the case, that begged the question, why did the president not want anyone else to know about it? Richard wanted to know what was going on. For once, Richard was not using his sixth sense purely for technology. It was Richard’s sixth sense analysing a thought, which was going on in the president’s mind. He was curious as hell to know why the president was shielding this project. To Richard, strange thoughts were conjuring up in his mind and it was stranger because he didn’t normally think that way. There was something about this whole project, which was evoking images of subterfuge.
Richard lied to the president, “Yes, of course, Mr President everything is progressing as it normally does. It is a new project and there are new challenges. New ground to tread.”
Richard had hoped that the way he said it would come across in a positive way. He almost patted himself on the back. He was not only an expert in droid technology, but he was becoming an expert liar.
~
RICHARD HAD ESTABLISHED that the way he was working on this project was vastly different to any other he had taken on before. It was more complex, but he was sure the project would cause him fewer problems. The innovations in the components he had received, from his many contributors throughout the world, were becoming more mature and that would guarantee the assembly would be easier. The latest project would be, without question, easier than the time he assembled Craven. Craven was more complex to assemble than X3 would be, yet X3 would be more powerful in every conceivable way. Craven had demanded much more time and meticulous attention to assemble. To Richard, it seemed strange and almost morally indefensible that it should be that way.
“Hard work should be morally commended,” Richard said to himself not thinking that the president was in earshot.
“Surely Richard it is a fundamental strength of our country. Another one is ‘if you can define it you can build it’. If you can ally morals to hard work, then you can create it.”
Richard then looked at the president trying to figure out what he meant.
Finally, through sheer irritation, Richard asked the question, “Mr President why is there such a desire to introduce morals and emotions into this droid and why the incessant need for secrecy in this project?”
“Richard, you build droids, it is your life. Me, I build countries and deal with all manner of people in the most expeditious way.”
“Sorry, Mr President I don’t fully understand.”
“Sure you do, Richard. I want you to build me a droid, which can do my job. To do that it will need it to have all my sophistications in dealing with people. Just like me. All my quirks and all my foibles.”
The president looked at Richard and smiled. At that point, it was unnecessary for Richard to use his sixth sense because the role of secrecy in the project had become clear.
