Imperfect by David Adams

Author:David Adams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-09-20T12:22:13+00:00

[“It has a favourite colour. It’s not supposed to have a favourite. The test doesn’t even allow for them picking an actual colour. Furthermore, it... thanked me. The construct thanked me for testing it.”]

Mevara held out the datastore to the facility Leader, a scowling red-furred Toralii named Jul’aran, who snatched it from her grasp before her hand was even fully outstretched.

Giving her a displeased eye, Jul’aran emitted a low pitched, aggravated grumble then slipped the datastore into his terminal, casually waving his hand in front of a sensor. A three-dimensional representation of a keypad full of Toralii characters appeared in thin air just above his desk and he tapped a few keys with his thick fuzzy hands.

[“Well, that would appear to be an obvious flaw, wouldn’t it?. None of the others have thanked you, it’s clearly a defect. Why didn’t you recycle it?”]

She regarded him, folding her hands in front of her. For a time Mevara had wanted to mate with Jul’aran. He was strong, handsome and his family well connected, despite his gruff demeanor, but he had spurned her every advance, gradually treating her worse and worse as the months wore on. This had made working with him difficult, but she had become accustomed to his behaviour.

[“Manners are not usually considered a flaw—”]

[“Although you could use some yourself.”] He didn’t look at her, pushing back the holographically projected screen that flickered slightly as he touched it. [“You waste my time with this nonsense. What matter does it make if the machine thanked you? Its difference is either enough to recycle it, or it is not. You’re an auditor; it’s your job to test the blasted constructs, not mine. If you weren’t such a mewing little cub then perhaps you could grow enough spine to make a decision every now and then, hmm?”]

She felt the sting of his words cut her just as they always did. She had never, not once, asked for his assistance in any matter relating to her job, and given that the construct’s behaviour was clearly out of the ordinary and an exceptional case, it made sense for her to contact her supervisor to ensure that she was taking the right course of action. Machines who reached this stage of testing were only recycled when the neural net had not copied correctly—technically the construct had passed every single test she had given it and it was fit for service.

Technically, she had already passed it.

Her job was to administer the tests to assess the robot’s suitability for service, which she had completed to the exact letter of the requirements. The intention behind them, something that Jul’aran seemed to have difficulty comprehending, was to assess if the machine’s neural net had been copied completely and without error and that it would serve well in whatever branch of Toralii society it was dispatched to.

In this case, although there did not appear to be any immediately obvious issue with its core cognitive functions the construct seemed to have odd habits. None of the thousands of other constructs had ever thanked her.

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