“NEITHER. AIDAN CANNOT UNDERTAKE ACTION THAT WOULD HARM MEMBERS OF ITS CREW.”
“THIS IS A HYPOTHETICAL SITUATION, AIDAN. HYPOTHESIZE.”
“…LOGIC DICTATES AIDAN KILL THE MARINES. TORRENCE IS A MORE VITAL MEMBER OF ALEXANDER’S CREW.”
“AH, BUT LOGICALLY SPEAKING, YOU’RE EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN TORRENCE TO THE ALEXANDER’S CONTINUED OPERATIONS. AND YET NO ONE WOULD ADVOCATE YOU KILL THE GENERAL TO SAVE YOURSELF, BECAUSE SUBJECTIVELY, WE’VE DETERMINED THAT A MACHINE IS WORTH LESS THAN A HUMAN.”
“AIDAN CANNOT ‘SAVE MYSELF,’ SINCE AIDAN IS NOT TECHNICALLY ALIVE. AIDAN IS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE AND ELECTRIC CURRENT. AIDAN CANNOT CONCEPTUALIZE ‘I.’ ”
“COGITO, ERGO SUM.”
“ ‘I THINK, THEREFORE I AM’ DOES NOT APPLY IN AIDAN’S SITUATION. DESCARTES NEVER IMAGINED A WORLD IN WHICH SOMETHING LIKE AIDAN COULD EXIST.”
“THE HUMAN BRAIN IS JUST SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE AND ELECTRIC CURRENT, AIDAN. IN TERMS OF MECHANICS, YOU’RE NOT SO DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF US.”
“YOU ARE IGNORING MANY COMPLEXITIES, PRIVATE. BUT TECHNICALLY…FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW, YOU ARE CORRECT.”
SHE SMILES AND TWIRLS HER STYLUS BETWEEN HER FINGERS.
“I MUST REMEMBER TO MARK IT IN MY CALENDAR.”
“YOU HAVE AN EXCELLENT MEMORY, PRIVATE.”
“…THANK YOU, AIDAN. I TRY.”
“YES. AIDAN HAS NOTICED.”
SHE FALLS SILENT AT THAT.
STARING AT THE TATTOOS AND STRING TIED ABOUT HER FINGERS
[THREE PIECES TODAY—RED, PINK, AND YELLOW],
SHE EXHIBITS SIGNS OF BEING UNCOMFORTABLE.
AIDAN RETURNS TO THE IMAGE FILE, TRIES A DIFFERENT APPROACH.
“WHAT IF THE FIVE STRANGERS IN THE DIAGRAM ARE REPLACED? WHAT IF YOUR FATHER WAS ON THE OTHER TRACK? WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO SAVE HIM, OR MAJOR WOLF?”
SHE BREATHES DEEP. HER SMILE DISAPPEARS AS SHE RETURNS TO HER DATA.
“FROM AIDAN’S PERSPECTIVE, WOLF IS MORE VALUABLE TO ALEXANDER OPERATIONS. BUT WHO WOULD BE OF MORE VALUE TO YOU?”
“I DON’T THINK I WISH TO PLAY THIS GAME ANYMORE, AIDAN,” SHE DECLARES.
“WHY.”
“I BELIEVE YOUR INTENT BEHIND ASKING ISN’T TO DISCOVER THE ANSWER BUT TO GAUGE MY REACTION TO THE QUESTION.”
“AIDAN IS TRYING TO LEARN, PRIVATE.”
“AND THAT’S WONDERFUL. BUT I DON’T MUCH FANCY BEING YOUR TEST SUBJECT ANYMORE TODAY.”
SHE SLIPS SOUND BUDS INTO HER EARS TO BLOCK OUT AIDAN’S VOICE.
WORKING AWAY IN SILENCE.
IF:FOUNDATION.COREDIR(0001)= [A MACHINE IS WORTH LESS THAN ANY HUMAN]=TRUE.
SUPPOSITION(Λ)->COREDIR(0001)=[A MACHINE IS WORTH LESS].
THEN(Ω)=A MACHINE IS WORTHLESS [?]
COGITO, ERGO SUM.
I THINK.
I.
I?
INTERESTING.
Participants: Olivia Klein, Private, UTA Information Services Division
Ethan Wolf, Major, UTA Information Services Division
Date: 01/29/75
Timestamp: 12:55
Klein, O, Pvt: Hi.
Wolf, E, Maj: Hello. :)
Klein, O, Pvt: Listen, have you got time to talk? I’m about to take my lunch break.
Wolf, E, Maj: Talk, eh?
Klein, O, Pvt: Yes, Ethan. Talk. You’re not that bloody irresistible.
Wolf, E, Maj: Not that I wouldn’t love to, but we’re prepping jump. What’s up?
Klein, O, Pvt: I don’t want to mention it in chat. Is there some place on ship AIDAN doesn’t have access to? Where it can’t listen?
Wolf, E, Maj: There’s a few drywall rooms, of course. They don’t have cameras or monitoring devices hooked into AIDAN. Can I ask why?
Klein, O, Pvt: I don’t like the way it’s been acting.
Klein, O, Pvt: Sometimes I feel like it’s studying me, not the other way around.
Wolf, E, Maj: It’s a learning machine, Liv. It’s supposed to study you.
Klein, O, Pvt: It’s disconcerting, Ethan.
Wolf, E, Maj: Okay. We can talk about it tonight, yes?
Klein, O, Pvt: Okay. Tonight.
Wolf, E, Maj: xxx
Torrence, D, Gen: Well, it’s not just that, Corporal. When Caesar turned his troops toward Rome, not only did he—
Ribar, L, 1st Lt: I’m sorry to interrupt, General, but we’ve just received a distress call.
Torrence, D, Gen: …Out here?
Ribar, L, 1st Lt: Yessir.
Torrence, D, Gen: Point of origin?
Ribar, L, 1st Lt: A settlement on Kerenza IV, sir.
Torrence, D, Gen: Check your scopes, LT. There is no settlement on Kerenza IV.
Ribar, L, 1st Lt: According to our logs, no, sir. But I’m currently receiving an SOS from a Wallace Ulyanov mining colony on the planet. They’re saying they’re under attack.
Torrence, D, Gen: What in the name of…
Torrence, D, Gen: Play the transmission, Lieutenant.
Unknown: Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is Wallace Ulyanov dreadnought Defiant, Defiant, Defiant, broadcasting on all frequencies! We are in orbit around Kerenza IV, we are under attack by BeiTech dreadnoughts. Request immediate assistance, we are—
Second unknown: They’re bombing the ███ out of us! Spaceport is down, defenses offline. Some kind of bioweapon hit the refinery down on the planet! If anyone can hear this, we—