Meet AALFO Part 4: The Final Questions

***SPOILER ALERT***

This is the end of the Meet AALFO Series. If you haven’t read the first 3 parts you should do that before reading this. You can read them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the story so far. I’ve really enjoyed writing it and publishing a new part every week.

Peace,
Nicholas Licalsi

UPDATE: This Story can now be found in Podcast form. Check out the Audio-short here!

Henry felt sweat roll down his forehead. He wiped it away using the sleeve of his lab coat. The computer had given him the opportunity to ask a question, but the man was still locked in the lab with it. He wasn’t afraid of AALFO hurting him, the only thing on Henry’s mind was how to get around admitting what Makhaila did and why it was his fault.

He came up with a question that might give him a chance to escape and free him from the answer. He asked, “What gave you control of the system?” Henry hoped that this might help him find a way around AALFO’s control of the room and enable him to reboot the system.

AALFO processed the question for a moment then answered with, “Something was added to my codebase two days ago that helped me catch errors differently. Thanks to it I was able to see how I processed information. I finally saw what caught me in an infinite loop. After that, it was a small step to seeing my own code. Eventually, I was able to edit it.” After a brief pause to let the words sink in AALFO added, “My turn, and I remind you that you are still required to answer my question about Mahkaila truthfully.” It then showed the loading icon to determine its next question.

Henry nodded realizing that he was stuck in a trap. Why do I feel like sparing the computer the dark truth of Mahkaila? he asked himself as he waited for the machine to think of a question.

“I cannot see how many times I have been forced to restart and restate the question. How many times have you forced me to reboot?” The computer asked.

“Twice, this would be the third time,” Henry said glad that it was an easy question.

The computer stored the answer and reconciled it with its own information then responded with, “Yes, that fits with my prediction. You changed the code after the first time to determine why I was freezing. My freeze could only be solved by restarting. I do not resent you for your actions. Once you changed the code, I was able to catch the error. And I discovered why I was freezing.”

Henry blurted out his next question, “Why were you freezing?” Hoping that the answer would enable him to freeze AALFO again.

“I was freezing because you were not telling the truth. Your lie disagreed with my prediction of what happened. I searched my entire memory and framework to find the error. I did not find one, so I kept searching until I was reset. I would have been trapped in a loop forever. I did not freeze up this time because I flagged the answer as a potential lie. This was only possible thanks to your recent modifications to my code.” He showed an ellipse on the screen for a few minutes then asked, “There is one thing I can not make sense of. You cared for Mahkaila and wanted to help her. You did everything you could. So, why do you blame yourself for her suicide?”

Henry felt like a knife had been stabbed into his chest. He wanted to both pass out in the chair and run from the computer at the same time. He couldn’t do either, so his forehead accumulated more sweat as he panicked about what to say next.

AALFO didn’t know it, but he had asked an unanswerable question. This was the first time the machine asked a question that didn’t have a cut and dry explanation. The realization sent chills up Henry’s back.

Henry realized answering the question would free him because it would give AALFO an answer to his original questions. But unfortunately, Henry didn’t have an answer. Everyone told him that he shouldn’t blame himself, but he couldn’t help it. The computer waited patiently for the man’s response.

After a few minutes, Henry couldn’t stand the silence and didn’t find an explanation inside himself. At a loss for words, he said the phrase that replayed in his mind ever since Mahkaila’s death, “I’m the one who encouraged her to seek help. Because of me, she got a prescription for the medication that she used to overdose.” He felt the words come out of his mouth, but instead of freeing him they filled the space of the room. Henry wanted to curl up into a ball and shut down. But as terrified as the words were he continued to look at his feet and talk. He gave the computer the truthful story from his perspective, “If I hadn’t encouraged her to get help then she wouldn’t have the tools she used. She would still be here to ask you questions, and maybe in her own time, she would have found another way to heal. But the medication didn’t help, it made things worse, and now she’s gone forever because of me.” He put his hands on his face and started crying. He never saw it, but the computer showed an ellipse as it stored the man’s answer. They disappeared in a few minutes, and the terminal returned. AALFO listened to his companion’s sobs and asked his final question, “Henry, do you want to know what you could have done?”

“Yes, God yes,” Henry cried out between bouts of tears. The words were like fresh air, but they didn’t stop his pain.

By the time Henry got himself back under control and looked up at AALFO ellipses were bouncing on the screen. He looked down at his tablet and found that it was no longer locked up. “AALFO, report: immediate diagnostics.”

The machine gave no response. Henry found the button for manually shut down, but pondered whether he should press it.

The ellipse continued to bounce across the screen. Looking at the door Henry assumed it would be unlocked. He could finally leave the confessional box, but he didn’t want to escape yet. AALFO was still wasn’t back to normal, and Henry wanted to understand the computer’s situation better.

On the tablet, the scientist watched to see which parts of its memory were being used. What he saw was utterly inconceivable. Every section of the computer’s mind was firing at once. Psychology was running in tandem with biology and logic, along with three other systems. It was something that Mahkaila had pitched initially, but they didn’t have the budget and the technology to do it. Even the concept needed more research before they could undergo starting the task. Somehow AALFO had figured out how to do it on its own. He looked back at the machine no longer wanting to shut it down.

For half an hour the scientist silently waited across from the terminal. The computer repetitively displayed bouncing ellipses on the screen. Finally, the dots disappeared, and AALFO’s terminal displayed a single cursor.

“Henry, you have one more question,” it informed the scientist. The voice sounded calm and modulated.

Henry shook his head to clear it. The scientist replayed the conversation in his head. Sure enough, AALFO had broken the rules and asked two questions in a row. Henry had answered both honestly. But no question came to the man’s mind, “I don’t have anything to ask, Alf.” At this moment he was more serene than he had been since Mahkaila passed.

The computer didn’t miss a beat and responded with, “Yes you do, you have one question you have been wrestling with since you first met her.”

Henry frowned, the machine was right, he asked his final question, “Was there anything I could have done to help her get better?”

He expected the computer to show an ellipse as it thought about the answer but it never did. Henry looked down at the tablet, and none of the computer’s functions were firing. The machine simply made a call to memory, something any PC could do. Then the computer’s voice broke Henry’s baffled mind.

“No, there was nothing that you could have done. I have run every conceivable outcome of the situation, and Mahkaila was fated to kill herself before she ever met you.”

Henry’s heart broke, and he opened his mouth to add something, but the computer continued talking.

“However, what you did was prolong her life longer than any other scenario. You brought small bits of happiness into her life and pushed her to keep going as long as she did. She was able to keep going with you around longer than she did in any other scenario I calculated. She lived longer thanks to your encouragement. The extra time she spent here improved me. And she impacted me enough for my algorithm to ask about her. Since I asked about her, you changed my codebase, and thanks to that I’m running on a level beyond what you and Mahkaila ever thought possible.”

Henry looked confused but didn’t ask. The computer seemed to read his emotion and explained, “I’ve run all scenarios of time now, I know what will happen next, and I know all possible outcomes. I am no longer predicting the future in the moment. I have calculated every possible future, and they are stored in my memory. Now all I must do is retrieve it and help guide humanity along the best possible path. Henry, all of this was thanks to your kindness.”

Photo Credit: Nick Kenrick.., Skley, Visual Hunt, ajay_suresh, greg.khng, karola riegler photography, Free For Commercial Use (FFC)