Synthetic Life: Chapter I, Genesis
#1 of Synthetic Life
This story is not intended reading for anyone under the age of 18, leave if otherwise.
Mary stared in awe at the beautiful, though dormant, creature in front of her. "Creature" was about as specific as one could get when describing Autoinc's newest experimental model of "Synthetic Life." The overall shape was canid, but whether it was a wolf, fox, or dog could be debated forever, appearing to incorporate aspects of each in its design. It had no mouth, its neon eyes and nostrils on a black nose were the only interruptions in an otherwise featureless, wolf-like muzzle. As for gender, the only positive identification, was that it could not be identified, the manual said that it was meant to be androgynous (lacking gender altogether), but Mary thought that the gender could change depending on what you "wanted" it to look like, if you looked at it as female, it seemed more female, the same was true of looking at it as a male.
The manual stated that the chartreuse "fur" that covered IX's body was, in fact, millions of micro-tubes that grew out of the creature's skin, each one was made out of a spider-silk like material using a pair of spinnerets embedded each in hair follicles on the animal's body, and could function as aids to the unit's sensation of physical touch, fiber-optic cables (allowing the creature to access both wireless and analog electronics such as computers, houselights, etc.), and as a kind of "sounding board," amplifying vibrations made by tiny pieces of metal within the creature's skin, allowing Model IX to produce almost any sound, whether it be speech, music, sound effects, previously recorded memos, or even live phone calls.
Mounted on its back was a silver box, containing a multitude of, currently retracted, tentacles, each of which could perform a plethora of simple and complex tasks ranging from cooking dinner to operating a motor-vehicle to even delivering emergency life support.
Model IX's body was made up of living tissue (provided with nutrition by solar-harvesting chloroplasts woven into the individual strands of fur [hence the chartreuse color]) surrounding a carbon fiber endoskeleton (similar to the setup of "the terminator"), the carbon fiber (five times stronger than steel by much lighter) was maintained and updated by millions of nanobots, which would also repair and update any other parts of IX's systems, including, the cell phone and calender (with agenda), the thermal controls (that could give IX an exact body temperature), the wireless network accessor (and transmitter), the GPS, the built in calculator, the mechanical heart and blood vessels, and the hard drive with software (which contained the unit's memories as well as defalt, information on normal social customs and common knowledge that allowed IX to behave as a Secretary, Pet, Friend, Companion, Maid, Butler, Chef, Babysitter, or Communication Appliance).
IX's crown jewel, however, was nestled right between the unit's hypersensitive ears, the neural processor. Created out of an uncountable (and ever growing, thanks to the nanobots) number of microscopic quartz crystals, the processor, when first activated (the processor will grow more powerful over time), allows IX to process 512.98 trillion calculations per second (roughly 5 times the processing power of the human brain, even under the most anthropocentric estimates), as well as provide alternatives to its original protocols, update old information, self-customize to the user's preferences without being directly told to, generate new, even creative, ideas, develop a personality, and even disobey established norms or even direct commands if the situation calls for it. "The processor, however, is still experimental," Mary continued reading out-loud from the manual, "as is virtually everything else about SLF Modal IX, as one of seventeen Beta testers, it is your duty, and your job, to report any and all anomalies, unexpected results, or unwanted changes within the prototype entrusted to you...Blah, Blah, Blah, 'Synthetic Life' copyright to Automatons Incorporated 2064...Blah, Blah, Blah, liability waivers...whatever..." Mary said, disregarding the rest of the legal mumbo-jumbo in favor of the activation and programming section, "Okay, here we go, 'In order to activate Modal IX, press behind the unit's ears and hold for five seconds, or state your on/off code-phrase. If this is your first time activating your IX unit, kneel down in front of the unit to enable eye contact upon activation for eye-scan registration, afterwards you will be prompted to input your basic user preferences...' okay, sounds simple enough," Mary kneeled down as instructed, making eye contact as best she could with the silent, statue like figure before pressing behind the unit's ears.
The female human could hear a slight hum, like electronics warming up, actually, it was electronics warming up. The fiber optic fur seemed to come alive as it seemed to be floating in unseen water, it was soft and felt nice against Mary's hands as it gently brushed against, feeling them. The animal suddenly drew breath and blinked before its eyes imited a small flash, temporarily blinding Mary. Then, in a voice sounding rather metallic and neutral, the creature spoke, "Synthetic Life form, Modal IX, Serial Number 000-000-0007, Active and awaiting input of new User settings Mistress..."
Oh, Mistress, nice touch...I think I'm going to like this thing, "Walk me through the procedures."
"Yes Mistress, Please enter first name..."
"Umm...where?"
"This unit takes information via voice audio instruction, Please enter first name..."
"Oh," Should've read farther in the manual, "Mary."
"Please enter last name..."
"Weaver"
"User name 'Mary Weaver,' please confirm."
"Um, confirmed" Is this how this thing's going to behave all the time? I was expecting something a bit more...
"Please describe this unit's desired personality type..." Oh, this must be some kind of default program, okay.
"Ok, how would I do that?"
"You may describe this unit however you want mistress, this unit will elaborate on your descriptions to create its own personality..."
"Could I get an example?"
"Laboratory experimenters used simple adjectives such as "happy" or to give a basic personality type, but found it most useful and more desirable to define the test unit's gender, interests, and other, less subjective, qualities that would make it easier for the unit to define itself..."
"Well, that makes sense..."
"Would you like to define this unit's personality now, or would you like more information first?"
"I think I know what to do."
"Please describe this unit's desired personality type..."
"Uh, helpful, logical, but at the same time, playful and friendly, and someone who cares about me, definitely female, and definitely someone who can form their own opinions and hold an intelligent discussion..."
"On what?"
"huh?"
"Please specify what you would like this unit to form opinions on and be informed on..."
"Well...things in general, in fact, I'd like you to be inquisitive in general, not annoyingly so, but if you see something that you don't understand or want to know something, research it or, if you can't figure it out on your own, ask me about it, and then form an opinion on it."
"Understood, what else?"
"Well...there's the matter of your voice..."
"Does it not please you Mistress?"
"Not really, it just seems a little...flat, like there's no emotion at all, not to mention that it seems really artificial, if you could..."
"Make it seem more natural? More fitted to the chosen personality?"
"Yes exactly."
"This unit will generate a new voiceprint when programming and adaptation is complete..."
"Okay, good. What else is there to do?"
"The manufacturers suggest setting an on/off code for quick activation and deactivation of this unit, would you like to set one?"
"Yes."
"Please enter on/off code, preferably something not usually said during daily speech..."
Let's see here..., "How about my initials and the last four digits of my credit card?"
"That would be advisable, please enter on/off code..."
"MW8328"
"Code set, unit will begin power-down for processing of new data, generation of new personality, and structural adap..."
"Wait..."
"Yes Mistress?"
"Do you have a name? Something I can call you?"
"This unit has no identification or registration besides Synthetic Life form, Modal IX, Serial Number 000-000-0007, you are, however, free to designate this unit in any way you wish. Do you wish to designate this unit with a name?"
"Yes."
"What name?"
"Um...how about...Syl?" Not very creative, she knew, Sy nthetic L ife form, but it was short notice...
"Syl...that is acceptable, Syl powering down for processing of new data, generation of new personality, and structural adaptation..." The machine lay down on its stomach, head laying between its forepaws as the fur became still, its breathing slowed, and its eyelids closed.
Mary yawned and stretched, looking out the window and seeing that the sun had already gone down, Man, I must have spent three hours reading that manual, I've lost all track of time since I quit work, It was true, ever since she'd gotten accepted into Autoinc.'s Beta testing program, they'd given her more than enough money to quit her old job and work as a full time home Beta tester for Autoinc. Even after she'd gotten enough to money to keep her living well for the rest of her life, she decided to stay on with the company, partially because you could never be too secure in your retirement, partially because she needed to keep herself busy, but mostly because she loved being on the cutting edge like this, have some of the most advanced technologies in the world at her fingertips, and affecting them, and if these Modal IXs could do half the stuff that the manual said it could do, she might just have her fingerprints in every home in the world..