Hello everyone! Well, this is my very first fanfic ever. I'll just admit right away, the plot line I have planned is pretty straightforward. Nevertheless, I think you'll enjoy it. I'm pretty proud of the way this first chapter turned out. I think I'm off to a good start. Since this is my first time, I welcome all criticisms. I really want to improve if my writing is lacking in any way. I aim to please, so PLEASE read and review.
Chapter One: A Potential Threat?
It was a warm Saturday afternoon as Dr. Norene Wakeman was driving to the auditorium at Thatch University in Quakerton, which was a few hours drive from Tremorton. Norene was a very short woman with wild, white hair. The most remarkable thing about her appearance were her red-tinted, round spectacles, which made her appear quite eccentric. She was on her way to attend the 48th Annual Academic Congregation of Scientists and Engineers. At this annual event, members of the academy made presentations on their latest breakthroughs and inventions. Each year, the scientist with the most impressive presentation won the academy prize, which came in the form of a trophy, a golden plaque and a hefty cash reward. Dr. Wakeman was one of the more recent winners of the academy prize for her very impressive presentation of her XJ-9 robot. Normally, she would only take time away from her own work for this event out of obligation, or courtesy, but this year, Norene was quite excited to be going. She had heard a rumor that one of her most promising former students, Dr. Steven Turner, was a shoe-in for this year's prize. Dr. Wakeman was rather surprised and quite impressed by this because her former student was only in his late twenties; quite young to be winning such a distinguishing commendation.
"I'll believe it when I see it.", Norene thought to herself.
After parking, she made her way from her car, up into the building and into the auditorium. For such a huge room, it was already quite crowded.
"I should have shown up a bit earlier. I'll never find a seat", Norene thought gloomily to herself.
There were dozens of round tables dotting the floor and everyone seemed to be taking their seats. The room was poorly illuminated where the tables were. Each table had a shaded lamp, creating a kind of twilight. The stage, by contrast, was brightly illuminated, making it obvious that it was to be the center of attention for the next four hours.
"Hey Dr. Wakeman, over here; I saved you a seat!" came a familiar voice from near the front of the room.
Norene followed the voice, but, being so short, she couldn't make out who it was through the crowd until he was right in front of her.
"Oh, it's you, Steven. I didn't think you remembered me," said Norene to her former student.
"Not remember YOU? Are you kidding? You were always my favorite professor", said Steve enthusiastically.
Steve was quite tall and thin compared to Norene; he had reddish brown hair, a prominent nose, and he was wearing tinted contacted lenses which made his eyes appear an unnaturally bright blue. He was currently wearing a white lab coat, which was odd because everyone else was wearing formal attire.
"Oh stop!" Norene chuckled, "If I was your favorite professor, you sure hid it well in class; what with all those times you heckled me, contradicting my theories and calling me an obsolete old dingbat."
"Oh, I know. That's what I meant," Steve replied after a moment's reflection, "Your ideas were always so preposterous. Your class was a hoot. I hope you didn't take what I said too seriously. Please sit down. We should catch up before the presentations start."
Norene was a little put off by having her ideas called preposterous. Nevertheless, she obeyed and Steve took a seat across the table from her.
"What's with the lab coat, Steven?" Norene asked, "You're not in a lab. You're at a serious, formal, social event",
"Oh, I just think it will set the mood for my presentation. Also, the wide collar hides these neck implants." Steve replied.
"Implants?" Norene said, raising her eyebrows.
"Yes," Steve whispered as he leaned in close so no one else could hear. "They're crucial for my demonstration, though they are not permanent. I can't tell you more than that. You're going to love it. It's revolutionary!"
Norene was quite intrigued. Perhaps there was some truth to this rumor.
"Well, you certainly seem excited about it. I'm sorry XJ-9 isn't here. I can't imagine why she wouldn't want to spend her Saturday at an event like this." Norene said, slightly depressed.
Steve seemed amused. He grinned slightly as he thought of the famous robot hero. "Well, you programmed her to be a teenager, after all. I swear; you really do come up with the strangest ideas."
Once again, Norene had to bite her tongue to keep herself from retaliating against this obnoxious young man. She never was a terribly sensitive person, but Steve's comments just reminded her of all the crap she had to take from him in his younger days.
Steve continued, "I remember seeing XJ-9 a couple of years ago, when you presented her to the academy. She's quite a piece of work. Though, I think she found this convention quite boring; even then, when she was the star attraction."
"Nonsense." said Norene, "XJ-9 had a ball. She just loves showing off."
Just then, everything went quiet as the head of the academy walked up to the podium and made a lengthy introductory speech about the traditions of the academy and the opportunity this event provided to exchange new ideas. Afterwards, he introduced each successive academy member, who then made his or her presentation. There were some pretty amazing things. There was an oxygen serum which allowed a person to remain submerged in water for hours at a time. Obviously, that person had begun the count down well before the convention began, so the audience could witness the triumphant emergence of the serum's inventor, who then proceeded to explain the theory behind it. Next, there was a robot gnat, which was being proposed as a means to spy on the cluster. And on it went; each invention seemed rather interesting, in its own way, to Dr. Wakeman, but Steve seemed to be dismissing them all as though they were mere hum-drum, middle school science projects. As the convention neared its end, Norene was getting rather tired of Steve's sighs and yawns; which he made no effort to hide.
"Finally, it's my turn!" Steve exclaimed at the conclusion of a demonstration of a personal teleportation device. His was actually the very last presentation of the evening. He glanced once at Norene, got up and disappeared backstage.
"This better be good", Norene heard someone say from behind her.
After a few minutes, Steve reappeared on the stage. He was pushing a table on wheels in front of him. On top of the table was, what appeared to be, a large, round, glass tank with an open top. The tank, however, was not filled with water. Rather, it was only about a quarter full of a strange black substance, which appeared to be solid.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the academy," Steve said, after he had gotten everything in place. "I'm very proud to present tonight a demonstration of a much talked about, but never before realized, method of manipulating matter."
Norene's eyes widened. Already, she thought she knew where this was going. She was simultaneously intrigued, but a bit worried, as well.
"This technology has the potential to revolutionize just about every human practice, from food production, to architecture, to medicine." Steve proclaimed confidently.
Steve produced a small remote control from his lab coat pocket and pressed a button. The black substance in the tank instantly doubled in volume and started to flow and swirl in intricate patterns. It was like nothing Norene or anyone had seen before. The substance seemed to behave like a fluid, but its rippling surface had a jerky, yet perpetually solid appearance which reminded Norene of those really old Science Fiction movies that employed go-motion animation.
Steve was truly gratified by how impressed everyone was, "As you may have guessed, it's a nanyte swarm. Each nanyte, or microscopic robot, is powered by electromagnetic transmissions coming from transmitters in the base of the tank."
Next, Steve lowered the collar of his lab coat, revealing to the crowd two blinking implants protruding from either side of his neck. He looked like a Frankenstein with futuristic neck bolts.
"These implants allow me to employ a neural interface to give commands to this nanyte swarm," Steve explained, "The swarm can assume many solid shapes. It can even form complex robotic machines, but I can't generate such complex designs in my head, right on the fly. So, the swarm's artificial intelligence has been preprogrammed with various functions, which I will demonstrate."
Steve stood perfectly still on the stage. He closed his eyes and seemed to be concentrating on something. Immediately, the entire black mass, jumped out of the tank and onto the stage floor. It built itself up into a miniature building of exquisite detail and realism. Everyone was applauding now. They really were amazed. Dr. Wakeman however, was not. Being a specialist in robotics and artificial intelligence, she felt there was something potentially dangerous about this technology.
Next, the swarm deconstructed itself into a shapeless mass again and then took the form of an enormous snake which moved and behaved like the real thing. If it weren't for the fact that this snake was jet black, with a strangely metallic luster, nobody would have been able to tell the difference from the real thing.
"That one took a hell of a long time to design, you can imagine," Steve proclaimed proudly, "But the swarm's real potential lies in its ability to convert raw matter into replicas of its own nanytes, and then make new things out of them.
For this demonstration, a large potted fern was brought out from backstage. Steve issued another mental command and the, now shapeless, nanyte swarm engulfed the fern. At first, it was like the fern was just coated in black, but then it began to lose its shape. It disappeared into the shapeless mass that was the nanyte swarm. After a few moments, Steve commanded the swarm to recede from the spot where the fern once was, revealing a brilliant diamond, apparently already cut.
"You see?" Steve went on as he held up the diamond for all to see, "The swarm can convert organic matter or even produce it. Theoretically, any sort of drug or compound could be produced this way. We could even make food, eliminating the need to farm it. The nanytes could even be used to repair damaged tissue for the sick and injured or to fight deadly pathogens."
"Excuse me." Norene spoke up. She had heard enough of this side of the story.
Steve was a little taken aback, having his carefully rehearsed presentation interrupted. "Please, I'll be happy to answer any questions whe-"
"Just how 'intelligent' is this artificial intelligence you speak of?" Norene interrupted again.
Steve felt somehow that he was being challenged, so he responded, "My swarm, among many other things, can simulate the dynamic inner workings of the human brain. Thus, it's as intelligent as I need it to be."
Steve gave another mental command to the swarm and it writhed and twisted in a new pattern.
"Hello SS-36, how are you today?" Steve asked the swarm.
"I am fine, father", responded the swarm, to everyone's amazement. The swarm remained essentially shapeless, but somehow, it was managing to speak in a monotonous, droning voice.
"Tell us about your self," Steve said conversationally, casting a sly grin toward Dr. Wakeman, as if he was proving some sort of point.
"I am SS-36, a nanyte swarm. My primary function is to assimilate the raw, chaotic matter around me and to use it to produce orderly perfection." The swarm responded in the same, lifeless voice.
"I guess it could use a bit of personality," Steve commented to the audience. He got a few amused laughs.
When the presentation was over, Steve commanded the SS-36 swarm back into its tank. He was backstage, packing up his equipment, his plaque and his trophy and as he turned to leave, he nearly bumped right into Norene Wakeman, who was standing right behind him.
"That thing you've created is dangerous," She immediately began speaking before Steve could say anything, "I know from experience with my entire XJ line that Strong AI is never as predictable as you might suppose. You made that swarm with too much power to be trusted with."
Steve just stared for a moment when he heard this, "Oh dear god. You're jealous. You're feeling like your time is over because all the truly great breakthroughs are being made by younger scientists."
"Damn it, Turner!" Norene nearly shouted, "You're playing with fire! Mark my words!"
"Hey, my SS-36 is not going to end up like your XJ-9." Steve said, defensively, "You made her too complex and unpredictable; too human. My creation's mind is much simpler and easily controlled."
"No, that just means that it can't be reasoned with!" Norene shot back.
"I don't need to reason with it! It only does what I tell it to!" shouted Steve.
He picked up his equipment and his prizes and stormed away.
Norene did likewise, in the opposite direction.
End of Chapter one.
