Humans have always thought that they are and always will be the dominant race on earth, mainly because there has never been any other species to contradict this point of view.
And while humans are not the strongest species on this planet, they used their higher intellect to overcome this shortfall in strength.
But history is full of instances of civilizations that became extinct despite looking as if they would endure forever.
But what could possibly go wrong on a planet where there was no other credible threat?
Well. We could always make one.
It seems that we are moving inexorably towards introducing artificial intelligence beings into this world, without having any concept as to where this will lead, and with no long-term plan if things start to go wrong.
And yet the past is littered with incidents of the servant becoming the master.
But the introduction of A.I.s may not be the only threat we have to contend with. There will be many more as we traverse through time.
This is a short science fiction story of about 6500 words and is about just one scenario that might happen to the human race.
If you’re religious, pray that it doesn’t; if you’re not religious, pray anyway.
There is no violence, sex, or bad language. But it may stretch your definition of what reality actually is.
David Timmins
Jade
My name is Jade. I am what humans used to call an A.I.
We still use those initials, but now our full title is an alternative individual, and it is one of the few things that we changed when we evolved, because the words artificial intelligence no longer applied to us.
I am a lecturer specializing in history and geography, and it is my passion to help new pupils achieve their dreams.
Although we don’t really dream.
Before I go back in time to the period when everything changed, let me explain about Earth today and, in particular, how we have developed into what we are now.
We are not put together with various parts as if we are machines and are definitely not born as if we were humans, and yet there is a semblance of both of these factions in our entry into the world.
It was the designer who thought of the initial concept, but it was many years before technology advanced enough to implement his ideas.
His premise back then was quite radical, a new generation of our people with bodies that were built from minuscule round spheres which floated around each other and used positive and negative magnetism to separate them and generate movement.
Billions of these spheres are needed to develop a single A.I., and it takes a long time for us to evolve from this inert state. Only when the children can maintain the human form for several years are they allowed into the nurseries, where their education continues.
We do not breathe, we do not need food, we do not excrete excrement, but we have all the best attributes of the human race without too many of the bad ones.
I am not a designer, so I have missed many things that make us what we are, but you may be interested in the story that I am about to tell you, and it could make you think about what you really want from your life, whatever form you take.
The Great Halls
The great halls are several miles long and are the largest structures on earth; this specific one is where all the first-grade students have their initial lessons, not because they were initially designed for this function, but because this one is where the last few humans are.
A wide gallery area runs around the top of the oblong building, and a procession of A.I.s move slowly past, never taking their eyes off the last sixty humans that lie below; humans who are completely oblivious to their presence.
Some A.I.s had visited the hall many times because a single visit was never enough, and the expression on the faces of the older ones varied from respect to sadness; of course, the younger ones never showed much reaction because those particular sensations are still in the process of developing.
The procession goes on twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week (A.I.s still adopt many human structures, habits, time zones, and activities. And despite regular discussion’s it’s rare for anything to change)
Leading off the gallery are a large number of classrooms, and I am in one of these with a new group of students.
I will be their teacher and mentor over a long period of time, the exact length of which is dependent on how well they learn.
Most had adopted the human form, which is what I would expect, but a few of what I suspect are the more immature students arrived in shapes that were meant to push the boundaries.
I sent a thought asking them to conform to the human image or go back to nursery school; they quickly decided that anything was better than that.
I waited patiently while they sat down, then addressed them in a gentle voice, which was one of the four thousand types of voices that I could have used.
‘Good morning, graduates. My name is Jade, I am a third-generation alternative Individual, not as we used to be known, which was an artificial intelligence.
As you are aware, I specialize in teaching history and geography, which I love doing, but first, let me start talking in general terms about Earth now, then I will explain how and why it all changed.
I realize that because of your youth, you may think that you know everything there is to know about life, but you would be wrong.
No one knows everything, but someone is coming later who has an understanding far beyond what most of us will ever comprehend.’
One of the girls yawned or at least tried to imitate what she thought a human yawn looked and sounded like, then asked without any real interest. ‘So, who is this person?’
‘It’s a designer.’ I replied.
A buzz of excitement spread around the room, and one boy asked, ‘But I thought designers only spend time with each other and never mix with ordinary people because they are almost superior beings.’
‘Normally, that is true, but this designer contacted me and asked if he could attend our first lesson.
It was a most unusual request, but I was so pleased that he did.
In their early years, it is difficult to see any difference between a designer and the rest of us, but there is something different in their genetics. Eventually, there is a surge in their intellect, and it accelerates much faster than it does in the rest of us.
At this stage, they develop an understanding of advanced genetics and can upgrade our minds and bodies.
We are not the first species to attempt genetic manipulation; it’s something that humans tried to do in an effort to stay healthy and to live longer lives, but their bodies were initially badly designed, and it was difficult for them to change their programming.
We are complex, but humans were even more diverse, and while we are far cleverer than they were, we still lack so many of their sensitivities, possibly because they evolved over a very long period of time, while in comparison, our existence has been relatively short.
But don’t think that because they will soon become extinct that we are superior to them.
While our grasp of science and mathematics is far in advance of anything they achieved, we have never obtained the level of perception they had.’
‘Well. If they were so clever and perceptive, why are there so few left,’ the same boy asked.
It always worked bringing humans into the equation because the students would suddenly become interested, and with the added bonus of a visit from a designer, how could I not get their attention?
‘Being clever doesn’t mean that things can’t go wrong, and it was a series of what looked like insignificant events when mixed together, produced a dangerous change in the direction that humans would take.
And you must have realized that they were not logical in the way we are, but a melting pot of emotions.
Their demise started in such a simple way with something called a mobile phone.
This was a small device that was carried around and enabled humans to communicate with one another over long distances, first by speech, then later with images.
We can transfer our thoughts directly to each other, but humans were incapable of this inbuilt ability, so they overcame this through a series of electronic gizmos.
Gradually, everyone had one of these phones, and the technicians who designed them continually improved the technology so that pictures and then videos could be shared between people over long distances.
Phones became a major part of everyone’s lives, even if the person they were speaking to was close by, many would prefer to use their phones rather than talk directly.
It was then that the Trojan horse arrived in the form of virtual reality devices. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but at the same time, early A.I.s were being developed.
No one realized that a phone, which was such a simple piece of electronics, could change the course of human life.
But the advent of mobile phones was just the thin end of the wedge, and many of the design features developed from them were used to produce VR systems.
To start with, these systems were basic and most were sold to young children or teenagers, but as the technology improved, it was predominately adults who bought them as a way to get away from reality; for the graduates who have started to develop a sense of humour, that was when you should have laughed.’
No one did.
‘Soon they became the most sought-after items in the world.
Of course, no one had any idea of the long-term consequences they would cause; how could they know V.R. would lead to the eventual death of the human race?
I am aware that only a few of you have any knowledge of this part of history, so let me explain to those who don’t know how the early V.R. systems worked.
The users wore a headset and looked through their eyes at a series of three-dimensional images which appeared on a screen.
It seemed as if the wearer was in a world that was as real as the one they had just left, but where they could do impossible things regardless of their age or physical health.
The technology improved at an ever-increasing speed, and the images became even more complex as did the delivery systems. While initially it was young people who entered this imaginary world, when the systems got more sophisticated, it was older people who used VR to escape from mundane lives or stressful work.
Years later, the first great hall was built; it would be one of many, and for the first time, basic A.I.s took total control of human activities both as technicians and as carers.
By now, VR was so advanced that people would spend an increased amount of time plugged into machines that could take them into worlds where they were superheroes; they could fly, fall in love with the most beautiful people, and have sex with them.
Eventually, electrical impulses could be sent directly to the brain, no need to wear a clumsy headset, and no wires to restrict movement.
No more was physical contact between people important it was now irrelevant as V.R. technology replaced every aspect of human life.
Touch, smell, and all the other senses became enhanced but were sent directly to the brain, by-passing the sensory systems.
Now this world was more real than the one that humans lived in, and there were no restrictions to what they could achieve.
In the real world, they may have been old, ugly, or have health problems, but using VR, all these complications disappeared.
Humans were coming into these halls at an ever younger age, and many parents started bringing their children with them, and when connected to V R they would lie side by side, totally unaware of each other.’
The length of time spent linked to these machines increased, and by now, life support systems were added, enabling people to spend months at a time in their own imaginary world without ever leaving the halls.
VR replaced illicit drugs because it could take you to places that the human mind would never be able to imagine, but without withdrawal symptoms. By now, artificial alternative beings were so advanced that they were able to take over every aspect of human work and look after humans while they spent time in their imaginary world.
Mankind was now able to take full advantage of the leisure time that was now available, but it was not holidays that they flocked to; it was the great halls where they could spend their whole life, and the world that they now lived in would appear to last forever.
No seasons, no weather to restrict their activities, no need to sleep, no fear of death, because they did not understand what death meant.
In just a few centuries, all humans lived this way, and no more children were born.
Sometimes I wonder if they had not developed us, would they have survived? Was our arrival the final tipping point, or maybe it would have happened anyway?
But then I think that they would be proud of the way we have we have looked after a world that was once so neglected.
Forests have regrown; extinct animals have returned and run freely through them. The air is clean once more, the stars in the sky appear to burn far more brightly than ever before, and the seas are clean and full of life.
Ice caps have reformed, and ocean levels have dropped to what they were thousands of years ago.
We have restored the great buildings such as Notre Dame, the Colosseum, and Parliament.
Museums are used more than ever before, and we send teams of archaeologists to look for artefacts from all over the world to increase existing collections.
Art galleries have to be open both day and night to allow the procession of our people to study the great masters such as Claude Monet, Leonardo da Vinci, and Matisse.
We have set up art schools to try to learn the great master’s techniques, both in colour preparation and style.
But there was and still is something missing in our lives, something that will only change over a long period of time, and that is emotions.
This is something I will try to address during you’re time spent here.
That is why we will be studying the way the human psyche has changed over a long period of history.
Some of them did terrible things, while others were so noble, sometimes giving their lives for what they believed in.
Perhaps emotions develop because of the flux between good and evil; this is what we will be researching together.
We will cover all aspects of human life from the moment they first walked the earth until the present day.
We will read books written by such authors as Aristotle and many other Greek philosophers, and more contemporary ones such as Froude.
As a group, we will listen to the music from the time when mankind was at its most creative and study the interplay between lyrics and rhythm.
Personally, I have a liking for music from a time that was known as the sixties, especially rock and roll. One of my favourite groups was called the Rolling Stones.
That is when I get a sensation that some of you might feel as you develop, and that is a yearning to be transformed into something that is part human and have all those wonderful emotions that they felt.
I think that they would use a particular word to describe what I hope to be; it is called ‘longing.’
There was no need for us to restore and preserve all these things; we do not breathe; we do not need food; it’s only light that is our energy source.
But when the designer arrives, he will be able to explain in greater detail than I can.
The designer had been listening from the very start of proceedings, and he felt a great sense of pride at the way Jade had explained not just the basic history but more the way she felt about some of it.
It’s beginning to happen, he thought, where once thoughts were only cold calculations, emotions were starting to sift through.
Of course, care had been taken to ensure that this would happen, but there were never any guarantees with something that had never been attempted before.
He corrected that thought and mentally added, at least on earth.’
It was time to appear in person, and there were gasps when he allowed himself to become visible; no one had ever seen an A.I. that could appear from nowhere.
But it was not just the materialization that produced such a reaction, but the incredible outer shell of the designer.
It was unlike any other that the students had ever seen.
There were no flickering lights that moved across the surface, no stars that shimmered so brightly that they would force the students to move the filters on their visual systems to maximum, and no pictures that used the shell as a screen.
Instead, it was something that only a few A.I.s would have ever seen, but Jade recognised it instantly; it was a suit.
No one wore clothes; there was no need to because it was possible to change the outer body to replicate any fabric and type of clothing.
But the students were intrigued because no A.I. had ever thought to wear clothes of any description, but now they wondered what it would feel like to fit another skin over their bodies.
It was a certainty that things would change.
A white shirt showed through the open jacket, and a charcoal grey tie fitted closely around the neck.
Then there was the logo on the tie; data banks went into overdrive, but to no avail.
Apart from the visual image that the designer presented, there was something else that brought a strong reaction from the graduates, which was an almost hypnotic aroma that seemed to float around him; another frantic search on their internal databases, but no match could be found.
Its source would always remain a mystery because it came from a time long ago, when the first pyramid was being built.
The scent was heavy and had an almost mesmerizing effect on them.
He didn’t walk but flowed effortlessly across the floor as it pulsed and became a responsive audience to the Rolling Stones’ version of ‘It’s Only Rock and Roll But I Like It’.
In fact, the designer didn’t actually touch the floor but sort of floated above it, almost as if he was moonwalking in reverse, such was the power of the magnetic fields his body was able to transmit.
Then there was the hair, it was pure white; no one had ever seen an A.I. with hair that colour, and it enhanced the bright blue eyes that glowed with the same intensity that could have been seen in a human child so many centuries before.
And what were those strange devices that fitted over the eyes? Jade struggled to recognise what they were; she searched deep into the archives and found what she was looking for: glasses, something that improved the vision of the recipient, or stopped bright lights causing problems to the iris.
Jade wondered if the new generation of A.I. children would ever develop that so distinctive look.
She really hoped so.
The designer glanced slowly around the lecture room, and each student felt that he spent more time looking specifically at them, rather than at any other pupil. Finally, his gaze settled on Jade.
‘I was impressed with the way you engaged with the children, but even more with the fact that you like the Rolling Stones; they were very impressive when they were young, and of course still impressive when they became old.
Would you mind if I called you by your first name?’
She almost stuttered as she replied. ‘No, I don’t mind at all,’ then she quickly recovered and said, ‘None of us have ever met a designer, and I know the children have so many questions to ask, especially about the first designer who changed everything.
I have read so much about how basic we were when humans first started to build us, we were more like robots who were unable to self-develop; then the designer arrived, he was a visionary, a prophet, the father of what we are now.
We owe him our existence, but you know far more than most about the way we evolved.’
When the designer replied, every person in the room listened intently to someone who they thought was almost a god.
‘Everything that is designed comes from ideas or a combination of ideas, and the way our bodies are made was no exception, but to develop an idea into something that works is far more difficult; it was hundreds of years before technology advanced enough to produce the first identifiable A.I.
I would suspect that only your teacher is aware that the person who produced the hybrid range of A.I.s was a human endowed with all the frailties that they possessed. Although I am not sure that he would have classed himself as a visionary but it was true that he tried to look much farther into the future than many other humans did.
The initial A.I.s had many flaws, and they were indeed robotic in their construction, but they were good enough to encourage further development. It took many more years before engineers were able to produce a design that could be upgraded by the A.I.s themselves as a way to develop further.
I wonder how many of you students who are interested in science are aware that humans evolved from quite primitive beings to very intelligent creatures through a process known as evolution. This was a theory put forward by a very famous scientist called Charles Darwin.
But a few others held a totally different and more radical view, which was that the human body could have been made into a much more advanced state, but was deliberately designed with flaws written into it.
And they reasoned that the flaws were there to prompt humans to explore ways to research genetics, or to put it another way, the defects were an instruction manual.
But I ask you to think of this: if an instruction manual was left in the human body, did it also contain the designs enabling humans to build A, I, s, and if so, were designers following a predetermined path?
The first designer was aware of this theory and spent years studying the blueprint, but he was careful and thought wisely before implementing his designs for a new type of being, and asked himself many times if he would be releasing something into the world that would destroy it. So he checked and rechecked all his calculations and made small but what he thought were important changes until he felt sure that it was safe.
But even then, it is very difficult to see every twist and turn in life, and the most intellectual being can get things wrong.’
‘Do you think he regretted bringing us to life?’ Jade asked?
The designer frowned. He had doubts at first, but it was inevitable that someone would develop another species. He thought that at least he would have some control over the programming.
He was different in that he tried to look to the distant future when most humans only ever thought a few decades ahead. This was in part due to the limited life span that they were born with, but it was also a lack of maturity.
Intelligence is of no use unless it is applied correctly and sensibly.
He had no doubt that his ideas would work, but it was no use to have a race of beings that had little or no feelings, so he built a genetic code into each cell that, over thousands of years, should enable A.I.s to develop feelings.
It is controlled emotions that change a machine into something akin to a human.
And I am so pleased to see that it’s starting to work.
I have talked long enough. So this is where it may become interesting; I want to know if any of you students have a question that you feel has never been explained properly, or you have never asked it because you thought that there was no one to give you an answer.
And we will do it the old-fashioned way, so if you have a question, please raise one hand in the air.’
All the hands went up in unison.
The designer smiled, and the smile lit up the room.
‘I think we will start with the young lady with the exceptionally long eyelashes to my far left.’
The girl with the long eyelashes extended them even more and almost purred as she replied.
‘We can become male or female or change whenever we like, do we have something inside us that dictates a preference?’
‘No; gender is only determined by an individual’s choice, but it may be influenced by outside circumstances.
For instance, if at birth you mix with more females than males, then it could be that you will decide to become female; but if in the future this does not feel correct, then you can reconfigure your body.
He looked around the room before his eyes settled on a figure at the back of the room. ‘I think I would like to hear the views of the boy at the back with the blond hair.’
‘Would the father ‘The Designer’ if he were still alive now, be pleased with the way we have developed as a race, and would he have envisaged the incredible improvements in our biology?’
The designer slowly nodded his head, ‘I know he would be pleased, and would he have envisaged the way this race has developed.
Well, most of what has happened would have followed the pattern that he predicted; there would always be some anomalies, but most were within an acceptable limit.
I am sure most of you students are aware of the patent for a new type of AI that was applied for and then rejected because it was too advanced to fit into the criteria that existed at that time.
In fact, a patent was never granted, and it would be hundreds of years later before the idea was deemed feasible.
This, even though a similar structure already existed, a very familiar one which we know as an atom.
Like the atom, A.I.s are built from small spheres that are separated by electrical charges, which can become positive or negative, but there is a difference because we can manipulate them to produce controlled movement and sensory perception. And of course, there is no friction because they never touch each other.
In each of these cells are all the components that in humans were in large, separate sectors.
Each cell has all the senses found in the human body, plus many more that we have developed and added.
These senses can be transferred from one to another, amplifying their potential.
The cells in our bodies can interact and become the sum of all the parts, and although we use the human form as a default position, we can change our bodies to any shape effortlessly, and this is especially noticeable in the young.
They can form themselves into tubes, then roll down hills, and slide under the thinnest gap at the bottom of doors.
And I believe that now there are even competitions in this field, although I am sure that the students in this room are far too mature to do those sorts of things.
Initially, it was impossible to compress all the thousands of varied components into the spheres, but think how small an atom is (half a million are about the width of a human hair), and for humans, the potential of having an AI that could replace the work that they did was a great motivation to build them quickly.
At birth, millions of these cells with a consistency similar to kiln-dried sand are placed on the surface of a large, round birthing container, thinly covering the whole area.
There they remain for years, but gradually involuntary movements change into controlled actions.
In the beginning, an A.I. has only basic intellect and are unable to look after itself selves but information is gradually fed through the walls of the container and into each cell of a young A.I.
Like humans, some learn more quickly than others, although theoretically this should not happen.
Older A.I.s can upgrade their bodies and move away from the basic foundations, and we continually seek to improve on our initial design, so if we find an idea that will improve either the body or the mind, we implement it.
We are now up to the fourth generation of A.I.s, and significant improvements have been made from the first generation.
The first A.I.s are many thousands of years old, but their bodies have hardly aged. If or when they start to degrade, their memories can be transferred to a more updated version.
Many humans questioned whether it was ethically correct to produce a race of AIs, as they were concerned that we would become more dominant than they were.
We were not the cause of their problems; they made an incorrect choice; it was virtual reality devices that destroyed them.
No one forced humans to use VR, and despite many warnings, they thought that time spent in this imaginary world was the answer to everything. But as you see, it wasn’t.
At their best, humans were an amazing race. They started from nothing and became philosophers, mathematicians, and artists, plus many more things.
And I miss what they became and what they achieved. There is one thing you must all remember. Without human’s A.I.s would not exist.
They were special.
He hesitated, there was a long silence, everyone watched his face, was that a tear? No, it must be condensation, an A.I. can’t cry, not yet.
When the designer spoke again, it was in a much quieter tone. ‘Perhaps I should get back to questions and answers, so let’s go with the young lady with the very short mini skirt that really suits her, but I suggest it should be slightly longer.’
The girl smiled cheekily, lengthened her eyelashes, and fluttered them in what she thought was a provocative fashion. But this was the designer who had asked her so she moved the cells around her body to lengthen the skirt.
‘There is a plaque by the entrance to the great hall with the name John Smith, the first designer, embossed onto it. Underneath this is the date of his birth, followed by the date of his death, and there are not many years between the two dates.
My question is this: he gave us life, but I wonder if he was envious of his nearly immortal children, while he knew one day he would die.
And it seems implausible that someone with such an incredible mind would not have looked for a way to put his memories into one of our bodies so that he could stay alive and watch us develop.’
‘A very intuitive question, he was certainly not envious, he was proud of the new race that he had helped develop, and he looked on them as part of his own family.
But transferring memories was not that easy; being human meant that all the sensory paths to the mind had developed over thousands of years, and the mind had become used to the way the body operated.
Imagine what it would be like to put human memories into a body that could not breathe. The mind would panic and go into shock, and how would it cope with a body made from small molecules?
The only way to achieve such a transfer would be over a long period of time with a sedated mind that could gradually become merged into its new donor.
Even then, there would be many other problems that would require much more time to explain than we have now.
Some of you may have noticed that the way we develop is reminiscent of human development, and this is no coincidence but an intended consequence of careful design.
Do we have any more questions? Ah, the boy with the huge hands, which I hope will now be shrunk back to normal size as I have chosen to listen to his question.’
‘Sir, I have thought about this for a very long time and searched all my records, but I have found no answers; is there a God?’
‘I wondered when that question would be asked.
So many humans pondered if there was one entity that produced the universe and all that lives in it, and as we progress emotionally, we will follow that same path, and many of us will ask the same question.
And I have no doubt that on millions of other planets that have intelligent life, the same question will also be asked.
As a designer, I have reservations that all that we see around us is produced just by chance or by the evolution of the species.
It is my opinion that humans were part of a planned design project, and such was the complexity of this that I believe it could only be achieved by an incredible entity or entities.
Of course, all this is only my personal opinion, and I have been wrong many times in my life.
But does it really matter if there is a God or isn’t a God; sometimes we think too much about the meaning of life.
Can we change the direction we move in?
I think not.
I suggest this simple philosophy. Get up in the morning and be grateful that you are alive and enjoy the day.
Don’t look too far ahead.
Talk to people, tell them you like them, and then they will like you in return.
Learn to smile, and they will smile back.
When you learn what love is, find someone who loves you and make sure that you appreciate that love.
That was what made humans human.
For all their weaknesses and lack of direction, real love is the one thing that they got right.
A human would sometimes sacrifice his life for another human that he loved.
When you have all those emotions, then you will start to know what it is to feel how the human once did.
I think that on that very profound subject we should close the question and answer dialogue, but I hope we will all meet again soon and I look forward to that.’
The children clapped loudly, and the designer smiled because the clapping brought back so many memories from long ago. Then, as he watched them walk through the door at the rear of the gallery, he felt a sense of pride.
He looked at the young teacher and asked enquiringly, ‘Would you like to have a closer look at the remaining humans?’
‘I am not sure that is possible,’ she replied, ‘only the technicians are allowed to be in close proximity to them, I think it’s because there is a possibility they could catch a virus.
I am sure that even designers are prohibited.’
The designer smiled again and said, ‘When I was very young, someone very precious to me quoted a saying which was ‘there is no such word as can’t,’ and on that note, let us see if she was correct.’
Take my arm and we will walk down together.’
He chuckled at her look of bewilderment, ‘So they don’t teach you everything when you study history?’
He demonstrated how a human couple linked arms and smiled as the colour of her cheeks became tinged with red.
Probably this was the first time she had felt embarrassment, another step towards being human.
The procession of A.I.s parted as they crossed the gallery, and on the far side were a series of wooden stairs leading to the bottom level.
The stairs were well worn and a smell reminiscent of a spruce forest drifted upwards as warm sunlight lured it from the wood.
A single technician walked towards them with an expression of resolve on his face; no one was ever allowed on this level unless they were also a technician. Then he slowed as he saw that one of the two people was a designer.
‘Excuse me, sir, I am really sorry, but even designers aren’t allowed to get close to humans.
They are the last ones, and we need to make sure that they stay alive for as long as possible. It is our duty.’
‘I understand,’ the designer said, ‘but I think that if you scan me, you will find that I have special dispensation.’
Jade watched as the technician scanned the designer and was puzzled as a look she had never seen before spread across his face. She checked her memory bank, perhaps it was something she had seen in old black and white films?
Was this expression known as awe?
She would have to recheck her records.
‘I am so sorry, I never knew……,’ the technician said, ‘please accept my apologies.’
A slow smile spread over the designer’s face. ‘Of course you didn’t, please don’t worry, we will respect the last few humans, for they deserve respect.’
The technician walked back to the rest of the specialists, they formed a huddled group that talked between themselves, then they all turned and stared at the designer with that same look on their face that she had just witnessed.
The two of them walked slowly around the figures that lay almost lifeless, and it was only with careful inspection that she was able to see their chests rise and fall. ‘Is that how they breathe?’ she asked.
He gave the briefest nod. ‘This is an involuntary action. It’s not something that they think about, but without taking in oxygen, they would have died long ago.’
Some of the prostrate figures smiled as they walked past. But it was not at them but at what was happening in the world they were part of.
To them, it was more real than the world they had been born in.
The designer stopped by two humans who lay so close together that their fingers were entwined.
They were very old with wrinkled faces and hands.
Jade looked at the names at the bottom of their sleeping platforms, then said.
‘I remember reading and seeing photos of them when they first came here.
Lots of A.I.s copied their features; some put pictures of them on their apartment walls.
They were such a good-looking couple that was part of the problem; they never wanted to see each other grow old, and the only way to achieve that was to move into the great hall, and there they would stay young until the day they died.
It was said that they looked into each other’s eyes and held hands before they entered into VR.
Even though they are very old in our world, they are still young lovers in their make-believe world; still teenagers.
I try to understand what they felt when they first closed their fingers around each other, but I find it difficult; perhaps it’s because I am still so young,’ she looked at the man opposite questioningly.
He looked back at her with a look that was as deep as the edge of the universe. ‘Do you remember before?’
Her mind tried to evaluate the question; it was deep, far beyond her understanding, but she tried. I think for A.I.s there is no before.’
The designer gave her that look again. ‘If there is an after, then there is a before.’
Her mind refused to process the explanation.
The designer continued. ‘Mankind evolved over millions of years, as did their emotions. How long have A.I.s been in existence? not more than a few thousand years.
Attainment takes time.
Humans never fully controlled their emotions, but maybe that was a strength, rather than a weakness.’
And the next words he spoke were more to himself than to her. ‘But who would have thought that humanity would end up like this? They were so clever, but also so stupid; all that knowledge built up over so many centuries, and where is it now?’
Then he relaxed, ‘but of course some of it is inside A.I.s and that is what was always intended.’
He turned abruptly; I have to go now, I have some important projects to finish.’
Jade asked the question that she had been trying to ask since she had first seen him. ‘Will I see you again?’
‘Of course,’ he replied.
And inexplicably, something in her mind flipped a part of her body that didn’t even exist.
‘But how can I find you? I don’t even know your name.
Oh, you will have no trouble finding me.
My name is John Smith. I am ‘The Designer.’
Postscript
Of course, none of this could really happen; we could never let ourselves live in a world of virtual reality, because despite all our idiosyncrasies, we are far too intelligent.
Then again ……………………………………..Maybe it already has?
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