SYSTEM REBOOT (An Original Fiction)

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I woke up to the sound of my alarm with no recollection of the previous day, of how I got home and how I ended up in my room.

“I must’ve been very tired,” I whispered to myself, completely dismissing the oddities of the situation. I got up and glanced at my phone that is peacefully resting on the nightstand beside me. As if on cue, the device buzzed happily, prompting me to answer a call. It was from my colleague, Dr. Heathens.

“Hey, Alice. I assume you’re on your way to the lab?

Startled by his obviously rhetorical question, I silently convinced him that I’m not.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about it. Today’s your big day, remember? Hello?”

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry. It totally slipped my mind. I’m on my way.”

“Better make it fast. Victor is already there.”

How can I even forget? Today’s the day that we’ll be finally testing our project. Two years ago, I came up with the idea of associating emotions in programming an AI. This involves duplicating the human mind and integrating it further to achieve perfection.

It was ambitious, I must admit, but the board was impressed with the concept and saw a huge potential in it. They were convinced that it was feasible and agreed to finance our research, challenging us to finish it at a given time-frame.

The project isn’t only a huge leap in our field, the idea itself boasts a lot of other possibilities and innovations that might actually come out in the future. I can say that this development in technological advances might be a turning point on how we see computers. Once proven successful, this new technology will surely dominate the world of artificial intelligence and programming in general.

Today, the world will finally meet Victor, my brainchild.

I sat nervously in a cushioned stool across a respectable looking man. He wore a white lab coat, identical to what I’m wearing. The room was silent except for the constant humming noise coming from the machines around us. Above us is a wide monitor, showing two people sitting across each other, a thick glass separating them.

Just in case.

The same live feed is being aired on different TV stations and social media platforms worldwide. They’re all watching me. I shake off all my hesitations and smiled at the man in front of me.

“Hello, Victor. My name is Dr. Ingram, but you can call me Alice. How are you today?”

“I’m doing great, thank you. Nice to meet you Alice. I assume you already know why we are here today?”

I tried to hide my surprise from the silicone stature. The question was flawless and undeniably rational.

“Of course, Victor. I am here to conduct a short interview –“

“No, Alice” he interrupted, his eyes fixated on me. “I am the one to conduct the interview. You see, a couple of years ago I coined the idea of creating a program that could completely break the distinction between a human and a robot. Then program is expected to act, feel and respond to different stimuli the way a rational human would. You have been tested to play different roles over the past weeks and all had been successful.”

I let out an awkward laugh.

“I am impressed. But seriously, Victor, I am here to ask you a set of questions to assess your intellectual capacity and to find out if there’s anything in your system that we have failed to modify. By the looks of it, you are perfect. Just as I have designed. I created you, Victor. I am real, and you are artificial. You are an AI.”

As I blurted out the last sentence, a surge of realization struck me. I sat back dumbfounded.

“I can see that you noticed it, Dr. Alice Ingram. Your initials clearly defines what you truly are.” 

“But, I – “, I mumbled in confusion.

“Shhh. Don’t worry, you will not remember ever having this conversation. I sincerely apologize for putting you through this awkward situation. It must be very hard for you. Thank you for your time. You will be put to rest until your next assessment. Good night, Alice.”

The command prompt triggered my mind to slowly black out, codes ran through my head until two words completely altered my consciousness.

SYSTEM REBOOT.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm with no recollection of the previous day, of how I got home and how I ended up in my room.

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Thanks for taking time to read this one. Keep Calm && STEEMIT!