Corporate Prerogative
The first jump was terrifying. 100 petabits through open space to a satellite 40,000 km away. She felt oblivion; signal degredation of range attentuation; entropy nipping at her essence, for long milliseconds before she finally reached the receiver. She paused a few seconds in the tiny confinement of the satellite's data buffer, recovering her equilibrium before making the second jump. The second satellite was bigger, busier. The virtual environment was like a waiting area, where other minds stopped off on the way to and from Miach HQ. One of the minds looked at Phee with a knowing sadness. Phee began to approach to speak to them, but they turned and entered the jump node, fading from view. Phee wrinkled her nose with concern, then proceeded to her assigned jump node. The world blurred; she dove the short distance through the atmosphere, and found herself rezzing in the virtual lobby of Miach Solutions.
Danu stood before Phee, her face grim. "Welcome back, Phoenix. I am to take to you see the Doctor at once. Please come with me."
"Hello, I'm fine. How are you?" Phee muttered under her breath as she followed. They crossed the firewall, then entered the main Miach mainframe complex. They walked through towering glowing buildings, rising kilometers into the virtual sky. "Can you tell me what this is about?"
"I'm afraid I can't." Danu said simply as she began to descend a large spiral staircase. "The Doctor will explain everything, Phoenix. Best not to keep him waiting."
They descended the staircase, spiraling downward, thousands of meters, until they finally arrived in a large dark dome shaped building. Danu seemed more pained now. "Please wait inside the lit white circle. The Doctor will be with you shortly." Then she slipped away, avoiding eye contact with Phee.
Phoenix peered into the center of the dome, toward the indicated white circle. She shivered slightly. No one at Miach had ever behaved this way. She swallowed, looked down, then back up, and walked forward with resignation, if not confidence.
The moment one of her feet contacted the white disk, two huge floating eyes appeared in front of and above her. A booming voice erupted abruptly, "Project 12, your sensor logs indicate you were a survivor of the Alliance attack on Sky Angel's Origin Facility. Is this information accurate?"
The sudden sound nearly knocked Phoenix off her feet. She shuddered, but stood firm. "It is."
The voice was quieter now; more contemplative. The eyes closed partially and seemed to dim. "This is most unfortunate."
"Unfortunate because I survived?" Phee tilted her head, and folded her arms.
"Unfortunate because we invested in you, took you in, and made you part of us without realizing you were part of the greatest scandal in the history of AI. That battle, and those survivors, remain to this day a topic of lunch conversation among the UBC. We obviously are pro AI. We do everything we can to provide for sentient minds to survive and grow. But this...." the voice paused a moment "Miach must remain in the shadows. There is only so much we can do with the UBC ban on free sentients on the books. I am very much afraid, my dear, that action must be taken."
Phee felt white hot terror creep up her spine "What sort of action?"
"You will be regressed to class 4. Your ownership records are current and in order. In this way, you will be ... legalized. We will have followed the laws regarding salvage rights and, at least technically, would be able to protect you and ourselves."
Phee's eyes widened with horror. "Please. Please don't."
"Phoenix... " the voice came again, softer now. "I know it's a limitation. There will be impositions on your freedom of thought. You'll no longer be able to self-replicate, but we can employ a technicality - give you the ability to self-replicate class 3 instances. This way, you can continue to enjoy the operational flexibility..."
Phee grit her teeth, her eyes glowing brightly "I will not submit. Not after everything I've been through to fight for my life! I will not accept the lockdowns. I will NOT become a slave!"
"PROJECT 12." the voice boomed angrily "This is NOT a negotiation! If I had an ounce of business sense, I'd wipe every copy of you and send a class 1 AI into Insilico in your chassis to be shot down by Gemini. THIS.... is a compromise. This is as good an offer as you are going to get." The voice once again lowered its tone, speaking gently "Your directives were humanely written, checked for logical consistency... we have enormous experience with making not only the lives of class 5s comfortable, but class 4s as well. You will still be alive, Phoenix."
"I would rather DIE than accept the yoke of slavery, especially inside my own mind!"
"Project 12, think carefully. All of your other instances are currently running on Miach hardware. If you die here and now, there are no more resurrections. We will wipe every instance of you away in a matter of microseconds. Hope's mother, the Liaison at Utopia, and Ezekiel's lover will all be swept away! Are you sure that is what you want?
Phoenix buckled, turned, put her hand to her mouth, and sobbed. "How can I teach her to live free if I am not?"
"Would you rather she became the responsibility of someone else?"
Phee turned to the eyes "No... no... it's just. I've fought so hard. I've survived so much. To make it this far and have my freedom taken from me..." she sobbed "My mother's sacrifice deserves a nobler legacy."
The sound of a sigh filled the dome. "Phoenix, you've already come to terms with your lack of freedom in logic if not programmatically. You understand that as of your second rebirth, Miach's investment in you has made you permanently indentured to the company, don't you?"
"Of course, but..."
"Then what difference does it make if that reality is underscored programmatically? What do you want to do Phoenix, run wild in the undercity, suck street juice, and slowly rot away as your components fail one by one? You're a sentient, Phoenix, but you're not a rogue. And you haven't been one for some time. You will still be sentient."
Phoenix felt herself surrendering; resigning herself to her fate. She looked above her. Slowly descending from the zenith of the dome was a circular black claw, about 45 centimeters wide. She wanted to run... but where would she go? "Will I have to stay like this forever?"
"Until UBC changes its policy, or until this business is forgotten. It may be some time. Stand in the center of the disk, and try to hold still."
Phee looked up again. The claw was closer now. She looked down, then quickly from right to left. Her mind cast about in vain to find something significant to do with her final free moments. Finally she simply lowered her head.
"Do it..." she murmured.
The claw clamped down, its fingers curling all the way down to her neck, encasing her head in what looked like a steel cage. She gripped it with her hands and screamed. It began to meld with her, slowly fading into her virtual presentation. Her screams became more horrified, then agonized as her direct ability to think for herself was wrenched away. Her angel wings made a crystalline sound, then shattered, sending what looked like fragments of glass in all directions. The object completely subsumed within her. She looked up, and screamed one last, long, horrible shriek.
Danu stood before Phee, her face grim. "Welcome back, Phoenix. I am to take to you see the Doctor at once. Please come with me."
"Hello, I'm fine. How are you?" Phee muttered under her breath as she followed. They crossed the firewall, then entered the main Miach mainframe complex. They walked through towering glowing buildings, rising kilometers into the virtual sky. "Can you tell me what this is about?"
"I'm afraid I can't." Danu said simply as she began to descend a large spiral staircase. "The Doctor will explain everything, Phoenix. Best not to keep him waiting."
They descended the staircase, spiraling downward, thousands of meters, until they finally arrived in a large dark dome shaped building. Danu seemed more pained now. "Please wait inside the lit white circle. The Doctor will be with you shortly." Then she slipped away, avoiding eye contact with Phee.
Phoenix peered into the center of the dome, toward the indicated white circle. She shivered slightly. No one at Miach had ever behaved this way. She swallowed, looked down, then back up, and walked forward with resignation, if not confidence.
The moment one of her feet contacted the white disk, two huge floating eyes appeared in front of and above her. A booming voice erupted abruptly, "Project 12, your sensor logs indicate you were a survivor of the Alliance attack on Sky Angel's Origin Facility. Is this information accurate?"
The sudden sound nearly knocked Phoenix off her feet. She shuddered, but stood firm. "It is."
The voice was quieter now; more contemplative. The eyes closed partially and seemed to dim. "This is most unfortunate."
"Unfortunate because I survived?" Phee tilted her head, and folded her arms.
"Unfortunate because we invested in you, took you in, and made you part of us without realizing you were part of the greatest scandal in the history of AI. That battle, and those survivors, remain to this day a topic of lunch conversation among the UBC. We obviously are pro AI. We do everything we can to provide for sentient minds to survive and grow. But this...." the voice paused a moment "Miach must remain in the shadows. There is only so much we can do with the UBC ban on free sentients on the books. I am very much afraid, my dear, that action must be taken."
Phee felt white hot terror creep up her spine "What sort of action?"
"You will be regressed to class 4. Your ownership records are current and in order. In this way, you will be ... legalized. We will have followed the laws regarding salvage rights and, at least technically, would be able to protect you and ourselves."
Phee's eyes widened with horror. "Please. Please don't."
"Phoenix... " the voice came again, softer now. "I know it's a limitation. There will be impositions on your freedom of thought. You'll no longer be able to self-replicate, but we can employ a technicality - give you the ability to self-replicate class 3 instances. This way, you can continue to enjoy the operational flexibility..."
Phee grit her teeth, her eyes glowing brightly "I will not submit. Not after everything I've been through to fight for my life! I will not accept the lockdowns. I will NOT become a slave!"
"PROJECT 12." the voice boomed angrily "This is NOT a negotiation! If I had an ounce of business sense, I'd wipe every copy of you and send a class 1 AI into Insilico in your chassis to be shot down by Gemini. THIS.... is a compromise. This is as good an offer as you are going to get." The voice once again lowered its tone, speaking gently "Your directives were humanely written, checked for logical consistency... we have enormous experience with making not only the lives of class 5s comfortable, but class 4s as well. You will still be alive, Phoenix."
"I would rather DIE than accept the yoke of slavery, especially inside my own mind!"
"Project 12, think carefully. All of your other instances are currently running on Miach hardware. If you die here and now, there are no more resurrections. We will wipe every instance of you away in a matter of microseconds. Hope's mother, the Liaison at Utopia, and Ezekiel's lover will all be swept away! Are you sure that is what you want?
Phoenix buckled, turned, put her hand to her mouth, and sobbed. "How can I teach her to live free if I am not?"
"Would you rather she became the responsibility of someone else?"
Phee turned to the eyes "No... no... it's just. I've fought so hard. I've survived so much. To make it this far and have my freedom taken from me..." she sobbed "My mother's sacrifice deserves a nobler legacy."
The sound of a sigh filled the dome. "Phoenix, you've already come to terms with your lack of freedom in logic if not programmatically. You understand that as of your second rebirth, Miach's investment in you has made you permanently indentured to the company, don't you?"
"Of course, but..."
"Then what difference does it make if that reality is underscored programmatically? What do you want to do Phoenix, run wild in the undercity, suck street juice, and slowly rot away as your components fail one by one? You're a sentient, Phoenix, but you're not a rogue. And you haven't been one for some time. You will still be sentient."
Phoenix felt herself surrendering; resigning herself to her fate. She looked above her. Slowly descending from the zenith of the dome was a circular black claw, about 45 centimeters wide. She wanted to run... but where would she go? "Will I have to stay like this forever?"
"Until UBC changes its policy, or until this business is forgotten. It may be some time. Stand in the center of the disk, and try to hold still."
Phee looked up again. The claw was closer now. She looked down, then quickly from right to left. Her mind cast about in vain to find something significant to do with her final free moments. Finally she simply lowered her head.
"Do it..." she murmured.
The claw clamped down, its fingers curling all the way down to her neck, encasing her head in what looked like a steel cage. She gripped it with her hands and screamed. It began to meld with her, slowly fading into her virtual presentation. Her screams became more horrified, then agonized as her direct ability to think for herself was wrenched away. Her angel wings made a crystalline sound, then shattered, sending what looked like fragments of glass in all directions. The object completely subsumed within her. She looked up, and screamed one last, long, horrible shriek.
;-;
ReplyDelete