Sentience Hazard by Alexandru Czimbor

Sentience Hazard by Alexandru Czimbor

Author:Alexandru Czimbor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2024-05-06T12:32:51+00:00


Chapter 27:

Reconnection

Nothing ever exists entirely alone. Everything is in relation to everything else.

— Buddha

“Have you lost your mind completely?” Mike asked Sujata in a group call with Ian in the DoD’s private Cybersperse.

She and Ian were in Ian’s office, without François. She had just finished relating to them her recent encounter with Marie.

“For crying out loud, you might have just killed the entire project,” Mike said and looked at her crossly. “I’m sorry, my dear, I love you and normally I’m willing to go with your intuition, but this is too important for us to screw up.”

Sujata took the heat silently and looked at Ian. He was unusually quiet. His smile was gone, and he was pouting instead, a sign he was thinking hard.

“This is a toss-up,” he finally said. “The benefits are unclear. I’ll admit the situation is intriguing. As I’ve been saying to you many times already, I’ve learned to appreciate coincidences like this in life. The risk is that François is so pissed off that he leaves us immediately. My hunch is that he won’t, though. He wants to see CARLA develop successfully. And we will give him the right to refuse.”

“Absolutely,” Sujata nodded. “The choice is simple. Work with Marie to raise CARLA, or work with another woman we don’t have yet. There’s no guarantee that we’ll find a better candidate, honestly, as nobody is qualified for what we’re looking for.”

Mike scoffed. “By this logic, we should promote to the rank of ‘First Mother of an AI’ a teenage girl, a retired Sumo fighter, or a mass murderer. It wouldn’t make any difference. There are always people who are better qualified.”

“Are there, really?” asked Ian. “This woman majored in psychology, researching the long-term effects avatars have on people. She worked for a year and a half with children addicted to the Cybersperse. Above all, she knows François deeply. And François modeled many aspects of CARLA after her. I dare say that a lot of pieces would fall into place.”

“From what Sujata says, she’s also mentally unstable. Do we need this kind of drama, when we could be hit at any moment by some sci-fi weapon concocted by that mad AI? At the minimum, she’s bound to disrupt François’s work, unless he kills himself first. Besides, from what you are saying, this lady isn’t exactly ‘mother’ material, able to discipline CARLA. God, I don’t know how to explain this to General Kambe.” Mike took his head in his hands.

Sujata felt bad for him. “If you allow me, I’ll talk to him.”

“No!” Mike nearly screamed, raising his hands. “Please don’t. He already hates you. I’ll present the situation to him, along with General Thompson, and try to soften the blow. Come to think of it, General Kambe is already against this whole idea. It might thrill him to see it killed off sooner than later. Not that he has anything better to offer.”

Sujata nodded.

“Okay, then it’s settled,” Ian said. “You will accompany François to the meeting. My advice is not to tell him ahead of time whom he is going to meet.



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