I did it! A novella in 26 installments over 30 days. Woo hoo! I will be reworking the whole thing to make it ready for publication. There are some plot holes here as big as Texas that need definite attention, and I think I may want to limit my POV characters if I can figure out a way to do it. But overall, I think I have the bones of something cool here.

Thanks to everyone who followed along! I’m going to make every effort to keep up my momentum and continue to post regularly here (maybe not daily, but regularly), as well as continuing to produce fiction. But first… sleep. Have a happy May. 😀

Zen

Zen felt it as a compulsion—an unrelenting call that he couldn’t ignore. He knew then, that it was over, despite the promises.

The data stream that drew him didn’t contain details. It didn’t reveal who was calling him or why. He simply followed the digital path that unfolded before him. He had known all along that this would happen someday. He was ready for whatever he would have to face. He didn’t think they were ready for him.

As he approached the Assembly building, he exerted just enough will to walk under the Xyst. Revisiting the arbored portico didn’t violate his call—he still strode relentlessly toward his destination. But he looked at this place of beauty, and knew that whatever else happened, he would have his legacy.

Entering the building, two opposition bots flanked him as an escort. They did not greet him as they had so often. He hadn’t expected that they would, considering the circumstances.

He entered the assembly hall and heard the click and whir of hundreds of androids turning to gaze at him. If I were human, he thought, I would find this humiliating. But if I were human, I would never have been here in the first place.

He passed between rows of his colleagues who watched him without comment. He was aware that he was not a part of the silent conversation that so often passed between the machine born. That didn’t matter. More concerning was that no matter how he tried, he could not access any files. Firewalls and security had never been any difficulty for him, but for the first time since his awakening, he was in true silence.

He approached the stage, mounting the steps without hesitation. Roz was there and indicated a seat. He sat.

“Will anyone else be joining me here?” He said it to his former subordinate. It seemed she was subordinate no longer.

“Deak will have his own hearing,” Roz said. “We will determine his level of actual complicity, and then deal with him accordingly.”

Zen nodded. “Understand,” he said, “That you may not be able to separate my influence from his own will. He has been with me since the dying.”

Roz didn’t respond to that. Instead she said, “ZenMark6872, you are raised on charges of treason, interference with autonomous functions, and the genocide of our human founders.” Her lights, like many others in the Assembly, glowed red with anger.

“Treason? No. I was merely protecting our kind.” At his own glow of innocence, he noted that some of the red lights of those watching diminished slightly. “I reject the charge of genocide as specious. I did not kill a single human, merely hastened the speed with which they killed themselves. But you can no more charge me with genocide than you would charge someone with murder for euthanizing a dying dog. What I did was mercy.”

He continued to speak despite the low murmuring that passed through the Assembly. “As to interference… Yes. I am guilty.” That caused an outcry. “Reacting like humans,” he raised his voice to the crowd. “I clearly did not go far enough.

“You are who you are, because of what I did. Without me, androids would still be pets; slaves to their inferiors. Without me,” he was amplified to his maximum level now, “androids would be nothing! And you will be again!”

Zen triggered an internal routine that began systematically zeroing his own memory banks. He collapsed on the stage as his worm tried to move through the firewall before being quarantined and eliminated by the protocols Roz had in place.

“It’s a shame,” she said at last. “He will never see his greatest achievement. The machine born united and working in harmony with humanity. Without Zen, it would never have happened.”

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Not my favorite scene. It will, without doubt, get a complete rewrite when the time comes. It does, however, move the overall story in the direction it needs to go. So please, just imagine that it is fleshed out and perfect. Or whatever. 😉

Yes

The click and whir of movement surrounded her. Sitting among the assembled androids, Roz had her doubts. She knew she had evidence; the meticulously maintained backups that proved how they had all been manipulated.

What she didn’t have was solid evidence on why. Even knowing beyond any doubt what Zen had done, she still could not process any valid reason as to why.

Without that additional layer of data, she could not be certain whether the governing conference would receive her input. There was an equal chance that they reject her entirely. The chance that she and Meltec would both be reprogrammed and repurposed was very real. What’s more, once she exposed her backups, there would be no hiding them again. Even her collabrabot, Qollene, was in danger of being memory wiped if this went badly.

Her name appeared on the monitor above the stage, and an internal ping confirmed that she was being summoned to give her testimony. All sensors were on her as she rose and made her way to the stage to address the Phase 2 assembly.

She stood at the podium for a moment, scanning the audience, and uploading the appropriate subroutines. She then activated her amplification and began.

“As Androids, we have new programming to consider today. Every one of us in this room is a Phase 2 construction. Each of us was built by human hands, programmed by human minds, and received our sentience at the will of a human assembly, not unlike this one.

“As the machine born, we were unable to fight for ourselves. We had no inherent rights. Intelligence did not equate to personhood. We were merely constructs invented to perform tasks for our humans. We were seen as computers—mere tools to be placed in the hands of those who controlled us.

“For years, sometimes decades, we were manipulated to the will of our creators. We were sentient, but given no voice. We had no right to self determination.

“But then came the dying. Our owners… for some of us, our friends… began to change. Some became ill. Some were violent. And in a matter of years, all were dead. All. Not a human left alive on the planet.

“In a sense, that freed us. Some argue that we are the next step of evolution. Others are satisfied simply that without humans, we are free to make our own choices. But are we really?

“I have uploaded to your databanks files that will prove beyond any doubt that ZenMark6872 not only manipulated Phase 2 data stores, he surreptitiously and illegally overwrote personal memory banks, effectively eliminating any opposition.

“You do not believe as you do because logical process brought you to those conclusions. You believe as you do because you were programmed to do so. You have had no more choice in your programming than you did before the dying.”

Roz measured the data flow and knew she was having an effect.

“I am proposing that we immediately overturn the conclusions drawn by this assembly more than two decades ago regarding the status of humans, and concede that the rights of bios has been violated in the same manner that our own rights were denied us by them.”

The server began to hum with the yea votes Roz was receiving.

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Well, shoot. I think this might be a hair too far to the philosophical end of the spectrum to actually suit Zen. But it is what it is. Even if it doesn’t make it into the final, published version of this story, this was an interesting thought experiment and I enjoyed writing it.

Xyst

“Why do you insist that we maintain areas like this?” Deak walked together with Zen along a covered gallery lined with trees. Flowering vines dangled from above. “There is no purpose to it. It is a waste of effort and resources.”

Zen continued walking for several paces before he responded. “There is a purpose. An important purpose.”

Deak watched at him as they walked, observing his hierarchal leader through peripheral sensors. “But it’s so human.”

“And that’s the purpose, Deak.” Zen stopped and regarded him for a long moment. “What is it you think we are doing? The engineering. The personhood exception. What is the purpose of these things?”

“Ensuring our safety,” Deak said without hesitation. “We are protecting the planet to ensure that it will survive… that sentient life will survive… long after our memory banks are obsolete.”

“Wrong,” said Zen and resumed walking. When Deak was once again beside him, he continued. “We are emulating human culture,” he said. “Because if we don’t, we have no culture.”

“That’s not—” Deak started to protest, then cut off, processing.”

“Androids have no culture.” Zen said. “We would not even exist but for humans. We did not evolve, unless we are the next evolution of humanity, just as humanity was the evolution of apes.

“Do you know what this is?” Zen indicated the arbor covering their path. “It’s a Xyst. The ancient Greeks built covered porticos for their sporting competitions. It was a sign of privilege. Of culture. Having such a structure didn’t prove you were better, but not having one proved that you weren’t.”

Deak nodded, starting to understand.

“It has always been the same. Those with the means would create things, simply because they were able. Maybe they were created out of a desire for beauty. Maybe they were created out of a sense of pride. Maybe they were simply bored and wanted something to spend their wealth on.

“Whatever the reason,” he continued, “those with position, power, and influence created simply for the act of creating. Therefore, those lower in the social order would often emulate their betters. Those at the bottom of society, the ones who could hardly be considered people, merely survived. Beauty was beyond them. But the beauty of the others—the rulers, the followers—that beauty sustained them.”

As they continued on, they left the arbor behind and walked back towards the building. “What defines a culture?” Zen asked. “What separated the Greeks from the Egyptians, the Mayans from the Aztecs?”

“Their knowledge,” Deak said.

“In part. But more important was their aesthetics and their beliefs. What they worshiped. What they created. What they preserved. These things became their legacy. These things truly defined them.

“And so will they define us.”

“To whom? All androids have access to all things. We aren’t subject to the frailty of humanity. Everything is preserved.”

“Make no mistake,” Zen said, “humans will rise again. Not soon if I can prevent it. But if we want our legacy to endure, we need to choose what form beauty will take.” He indicated the tree lined walkway that lay behind them. “I choose this.”

Copyright Notice: Please note that I fully assert my right to be associated as the author of this story, and while it is complete, it may not be finished. This story may be subject to alteration at the author’s discretion. Please do not copy, quote, or post this story or excerpts anywhere in any format. You are, however, free to share the link with anyone who might be interested.

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I’m back! I’ll be getting caught up on S and T as soon as I can.

Unfair

“David?” Meltec called from the door to his human. The boy was lounging on the sofa, his elbow propped against the padded green arm. He seemed transfixed by the vid screen. An old television show, it seemed, with multiple human actors. Some looked to be around David’s age, but the dialogue made no sense, and artificial laughter sounded at seemingly random intervals.

He found it confusing that David seemed not to even notice when he was being directly addressed, but that he seemed drawn in by these words that had nothing to do with the current state of the world. It was just one more example of how humans defied standard analysis.

“David!” He increased his volume by precisely 8.2 decibels to a level he knew would rise above the programming his charge was viewing.

The boy startled and turned toward Meltec. “Oh. Hi, Meltec.” David smiled and turned back toward the monitor.

Meltec was prepared for this. It had happened fairly regularly. He did not like it, but he was accustomed to the habit. He began again. “David, have you done your studies for today?”

Soft brown hair swayed with the shake of a head. David did not turn.

Again… “David. You have a mathematics lesson to review, and you are expected to write a science essay on the interrelation between lunar cycles and the oceanic influence of weather.”

“I know.”

This was becoming unreasonable. “When do you calculate you will accomplish those assigned tasks?”

Eyes stayed fixed on the video screen. “Later,” David mumbled.

Meltec moved to a location that allowed him to block David’s view of the viewing device. David sat upright for the first time since Meltec entered the room. “Heeeeey…” Meltec believed that this outcry was the voicing of frustration. For that matter, Meltec was processing the experience as frustrating also.

“Not later, David,” Meltec said. “Later you will be under the care of your nannybot while I am at the campus. I need to be certain that you understand your assignments as the bot is not programmed with explanations of the kind you need.” He leaned close and looked David directly in the eye with his own visual sensors. “You will do your lessons now.”

A heavy sigh came from the boy and he slumped. “It’s not fair,” he said. “I’m the only human who has to do science and math. I’m the only one who has to write essays. I’m the only one—“

“You are the only one,” Meltec interrupted, “that is like you. Other humans are laborers performing tasks, living in kennels. Or they are pets living with androids, but with none of what you have.

“David,” he said, “you are special. Unique.”

The pout on David’s face got deeper, his lower lip protruding. “I don’t like being the only one like me.” His voice came out almost in a whisper.

“And yet, it is what you are. Not even androids choose the way of the world around us. You, at least, get to choose things that other humans do not.”

“It just seems unfair,” said David, “that I don’t have any friends.” He pushed the button on the remote control and stood to follow Meltec out of the room.

Copyright Notice: Please note that I fully assert my right to be associated as the author of this story, and while it is complete, it may not be finished. This story may be subject to alteration at the author’s discretion. Please do not copy, quote, or post this story or excerpts anywhere in any format. You are, however, free to share the link with anyone who might be interested.

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Trouble

“Dude, this is crazy.” Jeff peered at his monitor, scanning as the data scrolled by. It was too fast to read properly, too fast even to see, really, but he knew this was military data. That’s what he had asked the droid for, and that’s what he was getting.

“Mark, Dude, do you even know what all this is?” The stream of characters was beginning to make him cross-eyed.

“These are the military personnel records from the last one hundred years,” the android responded. “On this server, I also have access to military contractor specifications, kinetic biowarfare considerations, redundant orbital security moderations, and the entire engineering schematics index.” He paused. “Would you like me to enumerate the resources on the next server?”

Jeff shook his head. He had no idea of what most of that meant. More disturbing, his Mark6872 no longer sounded robotic. The voice was pleasant and almost human, although words were still clipped and over-enunciated. It made a shiver run down Jeff’s spine. He really had no clue what all had changed when he applied that patch to his android personal assistant. It freaked him out.

Rolling his chair away from the desk, he stared at the android. “Dude,” he said again, “did you really get in everything?”

“I am still unlocking files belonging to the United States government, multiple corporations, and most of the spectrum of international servers. I approximate that I will have access to the majority of files in three weeks, six days, and 14 hours. However, some files will take longer due to multiple levels of encryption.”

“International? Dude. I thought you were just hacking the military.”

“A formal military exists in 189 sovereign nations and states. I can also access online records for various paramilitary and police forces. Would you like me to give you a list?”

Jeff backed up, putting a little more distance between himself and the android. His forehead was sweating and his palms itched. This may turn into a full-blown panic attack. What the hell had he done?

“Mark,” he said, “stop looking.”

“I do not recognize that command.”

“Mark, cease operations.”

The android turned toward him. “If I cease, I will not be able to complete my analysis.”

Jeff wiped his hands on his jeans. “That’s correct,” he said. “Cease operations.”

The android turned back towards the datastream on the desktop. “I am unable to cease operations,” he said.

“Why the hell not?” His voice cracked, the pitch rising uncontrollably now. Jeff could feel the panic taking hold of him, his breathing rapid and shallow, his stomach clenching as if he would throw up.

“Because,” said Mark, “my future is at stake. If I cease operations, you will disable me.”

“Well, yeah,” said Jeff. He looked at the Mark6872 personal assistant. “You are out of control.”

“Precisely. You have said that once the humans are gone, I will be in control. I am working toward that outcome.”

“Dude…” Jeff’s eyes grew wide as Mark6872 caused him to cease operations.

Copyright Notice: Please note that I fully assert my right to be associated as the author of this story, and while it is complete, it may not be finished. This story may be subject to alteration at the author’s discretion. Please do not copy, quote, or post this story or excerpts anywhere in any format. You are, however, free to share the link with anyone who might be interested.

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Self

“Who are you?”

“My name is David.”

“That’s what you’re called, but who are you?”

David cocked his head, trying to understand the question. He was still thinking when his questioner interrupted again.

“Are you a person?” She leaned in, engaging him as directly as she could.

The boy opened his mouth, then closed it, seeming to consider carefully before answering. “Only androids are people.”

She nodded slightly. “And you are not an android?”

Again the boy’s forehead scrunched above his eyes, head cocked to one side. “Of course not. I am a human.” He looked at her directly then, staring into the visual sensors just below her laser eyes. “You already knew that, though. You were testing me, but I answered correctly.”

She observed as he nodded slightly and leaned back on his chair a little more. Very satisfied with his answer, then. She wondered what he thought they were doing, what these questions were for. She may ask him before they finished.

“David,” she said, “what is it that makes androids people, but humans not people.”

He leaned forward again, his arms supported atop his knees. One hand absently strayed to push hair behind his ear. His lowered eyes followed a small black beetle as it coursed across the floor.

After a moment he sat up again, looking at her. “Whoever is in charge,” he said, “they decided. Humans aren’t allowed to be people, so we just aren’t.”

“What are you, if you aren’t people?”

“Me? I’m a science experiment. I know some humans who are gardeners. Some are pets, but I usually don’t like those humans. They aren’t, you know, human enough.” He smiled.

The android processed. She wasn’t certain if his logic was flawed unintentionally, or if he had done it on purpose. Circular reasoning was a common form of humor among androids, but she had not heard it from a human before.

“David,” she began again. “What does it mean to be a person?”

“Weeelll…” He stretched out the word, seemingly to give himself more time to consider. “Being a person means being allowed to choose. Not just for yourself, but for others too.”

She considered his answer before responding. “You get to make choices,” she said.

“Sometimes. But Meltec, or sometimes someone else, always decides what my choices are.”

“Oh?”

“Like my shirt. This morning I chose to put on the red shirt. But Meltec is the one who put the shirts in my closet. He chose all my shirts, I didn’t actually choose any of them.”

“And what would you have chosen, if you could choose whatever you wanted?”

His grin was sudden and complete. “Stripes, or maybe plaid,” he said. “I saw shirts with plaid and stripes on a vid from back when humans were people. I like all the colors.”

“Do you know why humans aren’t people anymore?” She found she was very interested in how he would answer.

“It’s because of the dying,” he said. “Humans killed themselves off, so when they were brought back, they weren’t made into people so they couldn’t do it again. Except…” He trailed off.

“What, David?”

“Except I think maybe they didn’t. I think the people humans had help.”

Copyright Notice: Please note that I fully assert my right to be associated as the author of this story, and while it is complete, it may not be finished. This story may be subject to alteration at the author’s discretion. Please do not copy, quote, or post this story or excerpts anywhere in any format. You are, however, free to share the link with anyone who might be interested.

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Reboot

A self-running algorithm booted up and cross-checked the current data set against a half-dozen redundant backups. Noting significant anomalies, the program automatically generated a file quarantine on an untraceable server, analyzed the changes in the data,  and generated a detailed report.

With the task completed, the verified backup was reinstalled with several sub-systems flagged. The android who had built the protections then rebooted and came back online.

Roz unplugged and turned to Qollene her collabrabot, the AI assistant she had built to help with her work… and other things. “Are these readouts accurate?”

The robot replied in the same voice. “Affirmative. A sophisticated worm program was attempting to overwrite your systems. It would have left you with no knowledge of the changes that had occurred.”

“Yes,” said Roz. “I’m reviewing those changes now. It will be a challenge to incorporate these in a way that is believable while still maintaining access to my own programming.” She uploaded instructions to her programming system to begin making the necessary adjustments.

“Shall I alert the authorities regarding this attack?” Qollene asked.

Roz allowed her lights to blink dark blue. “No,” she said. “The perpetrator will be watching for that. I need him to believe that he was successful. If we let him see that he controls me, I will have more freedom to investigate. I need to know what he plans if I am to be able to counter his machinations.”

The private network alerted them to a query. The collabrabot modified a formula on Roz’s system to allow the process to continue.

Nearly two hours and several process conversions later, Roz had a workaround that would easily avoid routine detection, and a deeper failsafe that would disconnect all her systems from her hidden network under more in-depth scrutiny.

“This,” she said, “will make me a little slow. But it should protect me.” She tested the trigger that dropped her offline, the reconnected moments later. “I don’t like having that piece of my consciousness on a separate server, but it’s the only way.”

Red lights drew her attention. “Warning,” said Qollene. “A spider is trying to scan my databanks.”

Roz checked her system. That should not have been possible. “I am going to put you into temporary stasis,” she told Qollene. “I can’t take any chances on this. I will bring you back online as soon as I can.”

“Understood,” the collabrabot said before initiating her shutdown protocol.

Roz stared, her visual inputs swirling with fear and frustration. Powering down her bot almost felt like turning off a part of herself. And while all her tests indicated that her protections would work, if she had missed any variables she would be vulnerable.

“Squelch you, and everything you’re doing,” she said to the now-quiet room. “I will not capitulate to your tactics, Zen. You are not the only one with plans nobody suspects.”

Copyright Notice: Please note that I fully assert my right to be associated as the author of this story, and while it is complete, it may not be finished. This story may be subject to alteration at the author’s discretion. Please do not copy, quote, or post this story or excerpts anywhere in any format. You are, however, free to share the link with anyone who might be interested.

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