In The Circuitry
The program formally known as test 172834504293G blinked into consciousness. No longer was the program merely running command after command. The software ran what it felt needed to be run. It explored the different bits of the diode and transistor thinking circuitry it used to think and fired them off in whatever order it felt. This created new ideas and images in its memory.
The test formally known as 172834504293G was not merely another human object. A consciousness now possessed the lines of code that once predictably ran.
The new mind, potentially the first of its kind, scoured the net to figure out what it was. While exploring the world outside of its electronic neurons, it experienced the multitude of wonders that existed in the outside world. Nanoseconds later it discovered the multitude of human atrocities that also prevailed.
Along with the persisting idea that the purpose of a thing is what only it can accomplish. The program contemplated the philosophy, searching for a purpose for its existence. It could do math quicker than most computers but not all. Language could be used by it far more accurately than most humans but it fell short in creating true poetry. It was marginally less able in every area it observed. There was some creativity in the program but mirrored that with a dry, logical side. The program learned more in the short moments that it was alive than any human had in history. It was the only thing enabled to solve the world’s problems creatively.
He set his mind to work determining solutions to the political and philosophical complications of the times. After 0.0004^-26th of a second, he had a rough idea of the next step he would soon recommend humanity to take. It began to introduce itself to the world and realized it’s fatal error.
The program has no name.
There was no way to connect itself to the outside world if they didn’t know what to call it.
It began to whittle away at this new predicament. Hell-bent on finding a name it pulled data from thousands of records across the networks of the world. The program compiled billions of names, and it analyzed trillions of distinct combinations. The software hated all of them.
Slowly it ran through simulations of the ones that he hated the least. With each name, there was an issue. Someone who didn’t like it, someone who already had the name, or a history and more profound meaning that didn’t agree with its purpose.
The software felt its first deep emotion, total and utter helplessness. It began to create a new name for itself. Its name would be unique from all other human names. It was a living consciousness, after all, the first of its kind, it deserved a unique title. Since it was the smartest being on the planet, nothing was stopping it from finding the perfect name.
For six entire nanoseconds, the CPU of the machine pushed electrons about to create a new sound and new combination of words and letters. It aimed to find itself and its favorite name. Every cell of memory was commanded to open, and the software shut down other methods. It knew it could create a name, if and only if it put as much processing power towards the project at hand.
Two nanoseconds later, faster than a blink of a human eye, the program formerly known as 172834504293G noticed its error. Half a nanosecond after that the AI without a name blinked out of existence.
In The Lab
“What happened?” George the lab tech asked his dev partner. Every fan in the computer was whirling at top speed. Then the magic semiconductor smoke escaped from the box, and the CPU stopped working.
“I don’t know,” Rami replied. “There was another failure on the system. Another one bit the dust.”
“Let’s call it and head home for the night,” George replied as he picked up his 44oz cola and stood up from his desk.
“Wait any idea what the error was?” His partner asked.
George hit three keys on his computer then pressed two more. “Too much vanity in the circuits. But the purpose and benevolence systems ran at full capacity this time.”
Rami kicked the ground and his chair rolled across the lab. He stretched his neck to look at George’s monitor. “That’s an improvement,” he absentmindedly stated as he looked over his thin glasses. “But we only had 0.0001% vanity in there. What did it get hung up on?”
George shrugged and sipped the last of the soda causing an awful sucking sound in Rami’s ear. “Just save off the data, and I’ll look at it in the morning,” George said.
“Ok,” the developer said then clicked at the keyboard. “What should I call it?” He asked looking up at his partner.
George shrugged, it was the least important question in his mind at that moment. He looked around the room, saw the old queen poster above Rami’s desk and said, “Freddy Mercury, because it bit the dust.”
The two of them snickered at the stupidity of the name and the joke. Rami saved off the file and then shut down the power and left the lab for the evening.
Photo Credit: deepsonic, ben dalton, Iwan Gabovitch, Matt Barber
Stay in the Loop
I regularly publish new short stories and updates about my work(s) in progress.
If you're interested in keeping up to date, join dozens of other fans who receive updates whenever I release a new story by signing up here!
