Bluetooth
A little ghost story I wrote for Halloween a few years back that has been gaining dust on my hard drive.
"Watch it move, watch it learn, watch it do its little dance across the floor."
"I'm not sure I would call it a dance," Triss commented.
"A scientist can be poetic in their descriptions," Howard said, placing a hand over his heart. "You must admit this is amazing what you're seeing."
Triss took in what she saw: A boxy looking thing with wheels and light sensors skittering across the floor. She wouldn't normally consider a robot "skittering." She decided the word worked considering the details of the robot's movement. This was here out of purely robotic interest, she interned under robotic engineers the next building over, creating robots of various denominations (nothing with laser eyes, much to her disappointment). This building contained scientists of a more biological approach, who had banded together with the robotic engineers to create this project.
"So this robot has a rat brain controlling it?"
"Technically, yes. I told you before, we took brain cells from a rat fetus and placed it in a special substance...your eyes are glazing over. Yes, it has a rat brain connected with a bluetooth connection. It really is interesting. Each time we've gotten different results. You could almost say each brain has a different personality." Howard chuckled in something not entirely non-mad-scientist-like to Triss's ears.
"May I have a closer look?"
"Be my guest."
Triss walked over to where the robot scooted around the floor. She placed her foot in the robot's path. It stopped short of running into it. It backed up, turned a little to the left, stopped short again. It stopped, took a sharper turn, then took off in another direction.
"You see? It learns how to react to obstacles in its path," Howard said.
"So how long does this last?"
"You mean the life cycle of the brain cells? Not more than a few weeks. But the level of development shown is remarkable."
"A little creepy," Triss said, under her breath.
"Mmm?"
"Nothing, need to get back to the job. More wires to sauder and schematics to untangle."
"Still have you on coffee duties there?"
"Of course," she sighed, "Robotic engineers are so stubborn at letting a girl touch their precious wire masses of flawed intentions."
"If you ever get bored you can offer to clean our rat cages," Howard said with a wink.
"Oh, don't tempt me," she said. She felt her phone rumble in her pocket. She fished it out and pressed a button to answer. A soft static hit her ear. She checked the ID to only find the words Unidentified Number. "Must be someone who needs another caffeine run, she said, jogging out the door. "Thanks for the interlude, Dr. Howard."
"My pleasure!"
Even though there had been no sign anyone had called her when she got back to the robotics lab, a caffeine run was still needed. The day continued after that. Her balancing on the balls of her feet while Fen, the head of the project of the hour, murmured things in an intangible language of one deep in their work. Triss's mind wandered to the rat robot. This summer internship at the university had not been as exciting as expected. She had not been expecting much, really, but she underestimated the protectiveness of grad students. Touch a diode on one of their projects and a monster borne of late night blood beast movies was unleashed behind the witting dazed expressions. She was just out of high school but that didn't give them the right to keep her muzzled from barely mentioning her opinions on their projects. She had disassembled her share of vacuums cleaners, microwaves, and televisions in her day (usually without permission), and she knew how to work with electronics. That's why she took this job in the first place.
"Could you scan these documents?"
She awoke from her daze and saw Steve, standing there with a proverbial mountain of paperwork in his arms. "Say what?"
"We need these documents scanned and in the system by tomorrow? Could you scan these in? Our back room has a scanner and computer and..."
"Oh. Yeah. Sure...into the database?" Her gaze shifted to the clock at the edge of her vision, those twenty minutes until five now mocking her. She felt her evening melting away. Of course, after a day of absolutely nothing going on, they did this to her, throwing her down this cliff because he was the intern. She was tempted to spit upon Steve and run, but she knew the reaction would be unsatisfactory. Steve, grad student he was, would shrug, casually find the lab coordinator, and she would loose her flakey little job.
And Steve wasn't that bad really. Just a little dense. What did you expect from a guy named Steve, anyway. She took the mountain of pages and waddled to the back room, trying to push away the thoughts of the clock and being here late into the evening. As long as she got to the task and lose herself in the paper cutting menialness of it all. The light of the scanner shifting back in forth, hypnotizing her into a state of cottonball fluff where time didn't exist and therefore didn't seem to go slow. It just slipped away.
She supposed this was not the best way to think about it. A state of cotton ball fluff would be much more comfortable than this state of existence. She scanned the documents into the database, one by one, occasionally glancing at one and noting the wiring, but otherwise striving for that balance between doing the job right and yet not having to think about it.
He phone rumbled in her pocket again. Static. Number Unavailable. She replaced it in her pocket. It rumbled again. She answered. Static. Wait...she listened closer. She she hear...no...couldn't be. Almost sounded like...
The lights of the room flickered. As did the computer. Her heart flickered also, before she realized she information she had scanned was already in the network, and her progress would not be lost into the digital ether. The computer still restarted. She listened. Quiet. A digital clock blinked 12:00, then 12:01. She looked at her phone. 10:04 PM. The buzzing of the florescent light calmed. Well, about time for a snack break anyway. She exited the back room and slipped through the shadows of the empty robotics lab, wires and metal sticking out from the tables where projects hid. The windows on the far end of the lab showed a tree illuminated by a parking lot light beyond. Wind caused it to sway wildly, scattering even more shadows across the room.
Triss reached her destination and fumbled across the wall until she encountered the light switch. The snack room lit up in its fashion, candy bar wrappers and energy drink cans shimmering on the table. She went to the fridge and cautiously looked inside. No forgotten sandwiches or spilled potato salad this time. Ah, she was in luck, an off brand can of ginger ale, unopened. Not exactly the caffeinated beverage she sought, but enough to pick her up for the rest of the task. She snapped it open with a satisfying hiss, when the phone rumbled again. She would almost wonder if it was her mom, checking in again. She was glad this internship was away from home, on a different campus with room and board (mostly) provided, if only it drove her mom crazy at times. Triss was at the phase that her mom's craziness bemused here.
But the Number Unavailable thing. She decided not to bother answering it this time.
The blender rumbled on, the sound causing her to choke on her drink. It almost sounded like it was struggling to turn on, whirring, grinding at air. Strange. None of the buttons seemed pressed. She edged closer to the blender. She then unplugged it. Must be an electrical issue.
The microwave started, but again, like the blender, as if it didn't know how to start. The light inside flickered and almost started, then stopped, then the digital numbers on its feed started jumbling up. Strange. Triss had never seen a microwave malfunction like this before. Eventually, it stopped, but then the radio flicked on, the music careened and sound wavered, went silent, then static. Triss realized there was a squeaking just under the surface of the static. She slowly backed to the door of the snack room. She stumbled through the shadows, trying to avoid work benches and sharp edges, trying to keep her cool. The wind whistled against the windows. She paused, breathing hard. There was nothing to be worried about. But then, she saw two red LEDs alight from somewhere in the middle of the room.
She dashed into the back room, slamming the door behind her, can of ginger ale still in her hand, now in a white-knuckled grip.
She settled back in her chair. The scanner started, and she almost fell off the chair at the noise. She than realized she had bumped the scan button she she had sat. That was weird, she thought, but nothing to get jumpy about. For all she knew the guys were pulling a prank on her. Ah, robotic engineers, appliances suddenly doing weird things...that equation made perfect sense. Soon enough they would come by laughing and...
The computer screen went blank. A word in green was typed.
>Hello.
She stared at the screen a long time. Just a cleverly designed computer program, that was all. She typed a response.
>Cut this out you idiots.
She stared and waited.
>Sorry.
Sorry? Sorry for what? She typed as such. The reply came back quicker.
>I don't know.
This seemed strange to Triss. Something didn't quite feel right. Maybe she should just play into this. See what game they were playing.
>Quit trying to freak me out.
>Sorry.
>This is Ren, isn't it?
>No.
>Is this Steve?
>No.
>Dean?
>No.
>Who is this?
>I don't know.
>Where are you?
>I don't know. Who are you?
Triss stopped. Oh, what could it hurt?
>Triss.
>Nice to meet you. Am I dead?
A cold chill rippled down her spine. This had to be a trick. She couldn't do this. The speakers hissed as they flicked on unbidden.
"Am I dead?" the words came from the speakers, soft and small, as if huddled in a corner.
"What's going on here?"
"Am I dead?" the words said again. "Please. Tell me." There was no malice in the tone, just...sincerity, and that sincerity caused Triss to take a double take.
"I don't know," she said.
"I looked up the word 'dead' and I think I may be 'dead' but I don't know for sure."
"Where did you look it up?"
"Wikipedia."
Triss gave a look, the mention of that website in this context sounding absurd. "I...who are you?" Hoping getting the question out there again would capture some sanity.
"I can't remember. I remember a little. I don't know who I am though."
Triss edged forward.
"What do you remember?"
"I remember light and shadows. I remember shapes. I remember moving. I remember thinking. I remember almost being."
"Almost being?"
"Almost being." The voice sighed. "I don't know. I remember wires and rolling. I didn't know that at the time. I just felt so close to being but not quite. I just wanted to be. I wanted to get to the light. I wanted to know who I was. But I couldn't. Not quite."
Triss tried to untie these words. Some thoughts ebbed at the edges of her wonders. Her lingering feelings from the visit with Dr. Howard. Those thoughts of rat brains living and yet not living, almost existing and then she knew.
"Are you a rat?"
The speakers hissed with static a long minute.
"Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus. Many members of other rodent genera and families are also referred to as rats, and...."
Triss cut the voice off. "Where are you getting that?"
"The source is Wikipedia again, it was the first result upon inquiry."
"So, are you a rat?"
"I cannot for certain say."
"I think you are."
"How come I do not remember being a rat then?"
Triss considered this. "You were not quite...alive."
Hissing. Triss waited. She looked away from the screen, around her, at the surroundings. She looked back at the now blank computer screen. She rubbed her face. She waited. She leaned forward and clicked the speakers off. Triss waited. She rose. Her cell phone rang. She slowly took it out of her pocket. Unavailable number. She answered.
"I have evaluated your claim by way of university documentation. I need more evidence. I will remain in your cellular device until..."
Triss hung up. The phone rang. She pressed the green button.
"...I have seen enough to make a conclusion. Do you believe you could do so?"
Triss stood still, letting the odd voice stop echoing through her skull. She did not quite know what to say. Anything she considered seem inadequate for the moment. She wanted to scream. She wanted to run. But she needed to listen to the voice. Triss did not understand why she needed to. She could feel a cold emulating from the phone, numbing her fingers, like tiny scrabbling claws running down her nerves. Triss could feel some mass, some forgin thing near her face, until the whispers of whiskers not-quite-there brushed her ear.
"What is your name?" The voice said. Clearer. No static. Just there.
"Triss."
"Please, Triss. I must know."
Triss licked her now dry lips.
"I have found that 'please' may be required to..."
"I will do it."
O O O
Triss dashed across the lawn between the buildings, wind buffeting her bare legs, phone pressed to her ear, focusing her attention to the looming door of the biological science building. She dug a hand in her pocket for the key card, she found it, she swiped. No response. She cursed.
The cold from the phone scampered down her arm. She felt prompted to hold her hand near the card swipe. The light turned green, the lock clicked, she pulled the door open and she slipped in. Her sneaker squeaked on the linoleum hall. The elevator door opened before she got there. She entered. The doors slid close.
She tried not to think of anything besides these points between places, these tangible goals of getting from one place to another without thinking of her intentions.
"Do not worry."
Triss pressed the phone to her face. "I am not worry. What? You can read my mind too?"
"I do not believe so. I just...have an instinct that you are tense. I am sorry to inconvenience you. I only have had general control of my actions. I believe this cellular device is how I happened to be near you. I remember brightness. Dark. Then being lost. Trying to find something to...connect to. What do you know of the experiment?"
"I know that it consisted of rat brain cells being put into a solution, and then the signals being sent by means of a bluetooth connection to a robot."
The doors slid open.
"Does your phone have bluetooth connectivity?"
"Yes."
"That is the answer."
"But...what about all the other electronic devices?"
"I felt trapped, I needed to find a way out, I believe I found a way through your phone's microwave signals to escape, to find away into devices with a bare electronic connection. To manipulate their mechanics. When I found the computer, I believe my consciousness solidified."
Triss came to another card swipe. It turned green automatically this time. She entered the lab and switched on the light. She walked to the middle of the lab. She knelt down. The robot she'd seen earlier sat there, vacant, still. "Were you in the robot I saw today?"
"No, I believe that was subject 1166.7. I was 1166.4. The brain cells that made up me stopped functioning on July 17th at 5:38 AM. My remains are located in the freezer in the south corner, awaiting proper disposal."
Before the voice had finished, she had walked to the refrigerator and opened the door. She peered in. She saw tubes of liquids and pirtri dishes.
"There, on the door."
She looked. A stack of small black containers.
"I was said to show great promise. I learned faster than the others on how to avoid obstacles. My personality was claimed to be adventurous. They try not to anthropomorphize in their notes, but it seems they couldn't help it. They had such hope in this experiment. They almost cared."
Triss rubbed the black containers. She sighed. She slowly closed the door.
"May I give you a name?" she said.
"I would not object."
"Would Bluetooth be alright?"
"It is fitting, I believe."
"Yes, Bluetooth."
Bluetooth fell silent again. "Could you bring me to the adjoining room?"
"Yes."
Triss entered the next room. She switched on another light. It was a small narrow room, one wall covered with cages. Squeaking rose upon the burst of florescence. Triss walked forward and looked in on one of the cages. Pink eyes looked back.
"May you please place the phone on top of the cage?"
She did.
At first, nothing happened, but eventually, the phone's light turned on, and then began to glow, until the glow started to take form, going down, into the cage, sparkling and spinning. The rats in the cage did not cower or squeak in fear, they actually approached the specter. Rats in surrounding cages stood at the sides of their cages, trying to get a look. Triss's breath caught.
The sparking glow condensed, until it formed a claws, a body, a head, a tail, down to twitching whiskers. There stood Bluetooth, a glowing, almost digital, ghost of a rat, sniffing the air. Bluetooth approached the other rats. The other rats did not retreat. One came forward. It licked Bluetooth's nose. Bluetooth licked back. The other rats investigated and Bluetooth investigated back.
Triss watched as the rat rubbed and tussled and seemed to play. The glowing Bluetooth playing along. She watched, trying not to blink. Waiting.
Bluetooth stood at the edge of the cage on hind paws. Bluetooth looked up at Triss. "Thank you."
Bluetooth faded.
"No, don't go."
"I have to. I know what I was and what I am. I am content with this. And I thank you." Bluetooth's glowing body kept dimming.
"I don't know what's just happened."
"You know enough, Triss. You have life. You know who you are. That is enough."
Bluetooth faded away.
Triss picked up the phone. She exited the room. She turned off the lights. She left the building. She walked through the wind. She went in a daze until she reentered the room, the computer on as it was before, waiting to continue scanning. She sat. She waited.
The phone buzzed.
"1 New Message" glowed on the screen.
She opened it.
"Don't worry. -Bluetooth."
Triss cried.