I - ROBOT
X-GENERATION
I was floating within the room.
I felt like I was in a cocoon of silence.Thoughts flashed across the back of my mind like that of a movie.But i just could not find the solution to my problem.Irritated,I opened my eyes and took a glance of my surroundings.Shiny droplets of silvery water curled lazily in air ,which had originally come out of the glass tumbler that had floated to the back of the room..I stared at each water droplet dwelling on the amazing complexity of its structure.It is an amazing feeling to be in zero G.This was called the thinking room and it was obvious why it was called so.The silence at home enveloped me.It helped me to think more clearly.I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes and then again closed my eyes in desperation.
Let me introduce myself , I am Professor Leonard.I am the most famous and well known engineers in all time history.I have jet black hair,I wear broad rimmed spectacles and my comrades say that sometimes I am too obsessed with whatever I do.I've been known for bringing the amazing fifth generation computers into existence and for doing some amazing ground breaking research on super computers.But these only remain as areas I have already conquered.Now I'm looking to life for a more bigger challenge.
I soon did receive a challenge.I was invited to a multi-billion dollar NASA project,to bring into existence the ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.Well we already had robots in existence,but these robots did not have a mind of their own ,or in lame - man's terminology an "Idiot Box".They did not have a mind of their own although they had highly improvised methods of accepting inputs or sensing the necessary inputs.No ,the NASA project was about creating a BEING which had the senses,emotions and logic of a normal human being.
The goal was more easier to set ,than to meet. Countless days had passed thinking about the intricacies of creating this powerful "HUMAN BEING".Several days had gone by since I properly had a good night's sleep.Each time I tried to get some sleep,new thoughts about the model would enter my head.This was a project that had to be completed within another two months.NASA's funding through the presidents office,was put on hold as there was a huge investment on the project which was being spear-headed by me, and yet we had very few results to go by.The project had begun last year.
During the course of the previous year and a half,as I worked with my team of biologists helping in creating the model, I slowly began to understand the world's PERFECT creations, why even the tiniest organisms play an important role in our ecosystem,and that without them there would be no huge multicellular organisms.They are all cogs of a huge machine all playing their parts individually ,just like the small screws,nuts and bolts of a computer.Each being plays a part in the universe and I also learnt that everything in the universe is inter-related.A butterfly flapping its wings on one side of the Earth could cause a cyclone on it's other side.I learnt that man had not reached yet to the height of his evolution,and that he still has not learnt to use his powers to the full capability.
However the greater challenge being posed to me was to incorporate the tiniest structure of the human body into the artificial intelligence.Although it was tough all went well till we had to bring in the human ASPECTS into the robot,that is all the things that are related to our brain.Now this was the biggest hurdle we had ever faced so far.The world's best engineers were struck and unable to duplicate the universe's most perfect design.We were unable to make a 100% match with that of a human and robot's DNA FLUID. The solution to the question evaded me for along time although I sometimes felt that the solution was at the edge of my mind.There were still many things to understand about the brain like,the different reactions that take place in our head when we become hungry,or when we remember something.
Which brings me to the present.
I floated away from the dazzlingly bright water droplets and using the room's controls restored G.I dropped onto the ground and waited for a few minutes for my internal systems to stabilise.I opened the door and headed towards the kitchen,typed my required lunch items into the machine and waited for five minutes for my fried bacon and tea to appear.I realised that dawn was approaching. I took a seat and immersed myself into the memories of my childhood days.
There have been many changes since the introduction of the fifth generation computers.First it had been HUGE computers the size of a factory,then the second,third,and fourth generation computers respectively.Also the telephone,mobile,internet,began to be used in a more widespread manner.Globalisation had become a reality.Communication became possible instantaneously.From when I was small I realised that developing lifestyles were having mostly a negative impact on people.They began to become more dependant on machines and did not work as much as they had been working before.To put it in the right words technology began to dominate us.It was the machines who worked harder and which worked FOR man.The created had almost certainly become superior to the creator.Man became more and more lazier as all his mathematical and logical operations and organising of data was done in extremely small periods of time by super computers which stored huge volumes of data in Zeobytes.A master-slave mentality would be the right word.Man had lost belief in himself and his own way of logical thinking.He instead preferred to have a machine at his side.Laptops had all come all school.Computers the size of a small chip had to be inserted onto the cornea like a lens,and the computer would be operated by thoughts,motion sensors.This allowed the person access to a huge volume of data.It was no longer necessary to remember all the facts in memory.But my view on this is that this would only reflect the speed of the computer in a person's eye,rather than the intelligence of the person itself.And the exploding population was having a heavy impact on the environment.The entire ecosystem was coming apart in bits and pieces.Global warming was on the rise.The world indeed was becoming a "smaller" place to live in.
At that moment I felt like I was closer to the answer.I thought about every possibility and combination of solutions to my problem.
Thoughts flashed across my mind.
Then, it struck me with the force of a bullet train.
The solution was simple, so magnificent ,and absolutely mind blowing.In the span of a second my heart beat increased fourfold and I began to sweat with excitement.This is going to be the day of my life!,I thought.I took up the remote for my hologram television.I switched it on and fast dialled onto the NASA director's number.It took a few seconds to be answered.
"What is it he asked?"
"I've found it!" I replied.
"What are you talking about?Do you mean....."
"Yes we will have our results.Contact the president.We will have our results ready within two weeks."
"Finally!",My boss Sean McKnight replied,"Yessssss......It is indeed time for some results.The project was about to be screwed or trashed.But wait........ Leonard are you sure that you've found the answer????I would not be pleased to be laughed at by the president's secretary."
Well to be honest as I would find a few years later this was the turning point of my life.Well at that instant I knew what i would say.If I had said no,the project would have been trashed and we would be asked to compensate in some way for the rest of our lives for the millions of dollars down the drain.But I did not know the repurcussions then and did not know how the scientific revelation would shake the world.
My answer was a 'yes'."I am sure."
From then on the day was a blur.The conference at NASA began with grandeur where I revealed that I was able to make a 100% match between the DNA fluid of a robot and a human being ,making it an artificial intelligence.The funds poured in, and work on the model continued extensively over the next three weeks.I had given a new lease of life to the project.Everyone appreciated me.
But little did I know that it was all worth nothing and that I should never have said that pathetic "yes" in the first place,which altered history.
AFTER TEN YEARS
Mass production had become widely popularised, and people were being replaced by machines.A human was no longer needed anywhere.No one had any money to buy even a loaf of bread which had climbed to the cost of a million dollars.No one had a home.Several poor and middle class countries were having a world war over the remaining resources.The people were rioting on the streets and attacking machines which were omnipresent.The people set about throwing stones and setting fire to machine building factories.But the production of these machines was such that the number of the machines were much more than the entire human population.These machines began to be used for military operations.The environment was crumbling away and everyone was almost sure that we were at the brink of existence.
I went along with the surge of the people ,eager to rip off the machines head, in my blind rage and fury at the course of events my life had taken.I stumbled forth and smashed a crowbar onto the machine which groaned and slammed down onto the ground.Little was I aware that these police militia were employed to FIRE on sight as well.Three machines at the edge of the crowd opened fire with their machine guns at the edge of the crowd.This caught everyone by surprise.There was a sudden surge away from the machines.I went along with the crowd.But,I happened to trip on a fallen machine.I smashed head first onto the ground. The stampede raged on overhead.People stepped over me to get as far away from the machines as possible.I had begun to cough out blood.Consciousness slipped from beneath me. I could almost swear that I could see light at the end of a long tunnel.Well ................................ at that last moment before the blackness engulfed me, I guessed that sometimes it is better to keep a discovery to yourself.