Defected Artificial Intelligence

It wasn't rare for Dr. Doug Rattman to help with someone else's projects around the lab while he was on the job. And he was usually willing to lend a hand when asked. It was one of these normal days in Aperture Science when he was asked to help out with something a little more different.

He was at his desk, taking notes from the monitor in front of him, and writing an analysis based on an experiment with the handheld portal device. The clock on the wall opposite him ticked quietly, and it wouldn't be heard so easily if it wasn't the only sound emitting in the room, the only other being his pen scribbling on paper. The room may have been quiet, but his mind worked furiously, paying attention to little else. Not even the faint smell of dust distracted him. Every once in a while though, he'll blink and remember his eyes burning a little. Perhaps it was the light coming off the monitor? He disregarded it and went back to work.

He didn't even notice a knock at his door before it opened and the visitor spoke when he was near to the desk. "Hey, Doug, how's it going?"

Doug stopped writing and turned his head to the speaker. "Mark," He responded when he recognized the older man as his fellow science co-worker. "It's going along fine, I'm just finishing up a report. What did you need?"

"Actually, I was hoping you can help me with something. See, we set up a new project, but it isn't fully finished or automatic yet. I want to evaluate its functions, but I can't do that and run it at the same time."

Doug adjusted his sitting position to rest his gaze more comfortably on him. A short moment of silence passed and he beat his pen against his notebook a few times before asking the next question. "I'll see about it, what does it do?"

The scrawny old man beckoned to the door. "Come on, I'll show you."

Doug moved to leave his chair before Mark interrupted him again. "Bring your notebook while you're at it, you should be able work on your report too. Besides, I don't want to stop what you're doing and get us both in trouble with the boss!"

Doug, without replying, grabbed his notebook, stood up, and followed Mark out the door. They passed by the offices, heading for the door that led to this level's testing chambers and experiment rooms. Hardly anyone gave a glance their way, they were too busy with their own work to really notice them. The room was filled with white lab coats and broken of bits conversations, and there was a strong brew of coffee as the two scientists walked by the meeting room and to the exit of the office.

When they left through the door, the blank white walls and floors were replaced with a darker, almost blue, shade of gray. Mark led Doug over the rail bridging the fall many floors down and turned past the testing chambers and instead was heading towards the experiment rooms. This is where Mark stopped, once they hit the floor again, and at a little desk just outside the door, they never even went in. "Here we are!" Mark stepped to the side and allowed Doug full view of the desk.

There wasn't anything special about it though, it looked a lot like Doug's own desk, except it didn't have any of his own work or personal items. It wasn't even bigger than his desk. There were only a few things that he caught as different. First, there was a round light hooked to the wall just above the monitor. It was turned off for the moment, but it looked like it was important, like a warning light of some sort. Second, he saw a large red button, with the same likeness as the light, sitting in the corner of the desk. "This wasn't what I thought of when you said you set up a new project." Doug remarked.

"I know, that's the problem, it's not done. I'm hoping to get rid of the button entirely and hook it up to an automatic response so no one has to be here all the time."

"Be here for what? What does the button do?"

"Let's start from the top, we set up a new system in the experiment rooms that tests the intelligence of-"

He was interrupted when a head poked in from the door and cried out. "Mark, come on man, we need your help in here! We have ourselves a serious problem!"

Mark flinched, shooting his head back and forth from the door and to Doug. Doug had not idea what was going on here, but he heard voices and spastic electricity past the door. Beyond the chaos, he heard calls from scientists he knew, but he also heard unfamiliar ones. "You think you have what it takes?" It yelled. "Put 'em up, I'll show you what a fight really looks like!"

Mark snapped in action. He practically jumped for the door before he suddenly stopped and turned to Doug one last time. "Uh, just push that button when the light comes on, will ya? Thanks, Buddy!" And with that, Mark disappeared behind the door.

Doug, struck with confusion, wondered if he should go in there and help with whatever catastrophe was going on. Then, the red light kicked on, and he hesitated for only a moment before dashing for the button. He slammed it, and the red light turned off, and the room beyond the door became calm again.

Deciding they no longer needed his help, Doug took the seat at the desk. He stared at the button, then to the door and sighed. He still had no idea what this "new project" was, but he shrugged it off. Suppose it didn't matter, they needed him to sit there and push the button, and that's what he was doing. He dropped the notebook down on the desk, woke the monitor up, and brought up the results for his analysis again.

His work went on like normal. And every now and then, the light would come on, and Doug would pause long enough to push the button, then return to his work again. He had expected Mark to come back after a while, but an hour passed, and still nothing happened. Doug would have been more concerned about their safety if it was dead quiet in there, but sometimes he'll hear their voices, and even every once in a while, scientists would come and go from the room. Perhaps Mark was just too busy to come back. Doug understood, he'll just stay and do his own job.

An hour passed, then two, then three, and before he knew it, the day was over and it was time for him to return home. Mark was finished too, and he exited the experiment rooms. Doug was shocked to see him covered in sweat and breathing like he had a rough day at work. "Are you all right?" Doug asked, wide eyed and standing up.

But Mark held a hand up, like there wasn't a need for worry. "I'm fine, just tired from a long work day. Are you done?"

Doug nodded, already moving to retrieve his files and notes. "Just need to go back to my office and put this away."

Mark returned the nod, thanked him for his help and moved to leave, mentioning something about a good work done and how he'll see him tomorrow. But Doug asked him to wait. "What was going on in there? Are you going to tell me what I was helping with?"

"Not tonight, Doug, I need to return home. I'll tell you tomorrow." Then he wished him a final good night and left for the nearest elevator to the surface. Doug was still curious, but he didn't push him, instead, he let him go and he returned to his empty office. His mind spun with questions as he cleaned up his work, locked cabinets and his door and he too left for home.

He dreamed about that button and the chaos in the experiment rooms all night. The scene repeated itself, something different happening each time. Once, Mark told him the button punished workers who broke equipment, and another time, Doug didn't bother pressing the button at all. He ran in the room when the light first came on and saw a giant robot with a bright red core as a face and flailing tubed arms, taunting the scientists. "Put 'em up, I'll show you what a fight really looks like!" Then it brought its hands up and started punching anything nearby. The lab ended up on fire.

Despite this, Doug woke from bed and started his day like any other. He showered, ate breakfast, took his pills, and watched a little TV before driving back to work. When he came to Aperture Science, he went right back to his office. His analysis was nearly done, all he had to do was clean it up and send it in.

His set his pen scribbling on note paper again, this time breaking it up to enter the information on the computer. The scene repeated itself from yesterday, but his mind wasn't centered on the report like it was the other day. It kept going to the experiment rooms.

He wasn't even surprised this time when his door opened again today. Doug stopped and turned in his seat. It was Mark again. "Good Morning, Doug." He began. Doug returned the greeting and Mark smiled a crooked, ironic smile. "Can I have your help again? We still haven't fixed our project yet, we need someone to watch the button."

"That's right, Mark. Weren't you going to let me in on what it is?"

"Sure." He replied casually, stepping closer to the desk. "Before, in the experiment rooms, we were working on building all kinds of artificial intelligence. Mostly to help run the processors in the lower levels but some other things too, cores and stuff from the testing chambers and the like. But we've been having a hard time getting them to listen to commands and function properly. You know, the defects pretty much." He folded his arms and took a breath. "So we built an all new system to test and interrogate them, and if they continue to fail, or if they go rogue, we set it up to open the panel and push them down to the incinerator."

"You burn them?"

"Yes Sir. Originally, we would have to hit the kill switch or try to safely work past a malfunction. This way, it's a lot safer. The investigator system works great, but we can't get it to respond to a failing report just yet, that's what the button does. It activates the panel and tosses them in there."

Doug was silent for a moment, but for some reason, this made him a little upset. He wasn't sure why just yet. "Is there a better way of doing it?" He asked, almost at a whisper.

"What?" Mark asked, growing confused. "Doing what?"

"Can't you build a different system? Instead of quizzing them and destroying equipment, can't you program a system to act as a kill switch?"

Mark shrugged. "I suppose, but why?"

Doug shifted to the side of his chair so he was facing him. "What if not all of them are defected?"

Mark laughed. "What?"

"Mark, have you ever considered that we may have done something more than just make artificial intelligence? What if they were something bigger?" Mark no longer had a proper response, instead, he juggled and stumbled over the right reaction. Meanwhile, Doug Rattman continued. "We had programmed a lot of stuff into them, sure, but their responses are often beyond my expectations. They think like we do, talk like we do. They feel pain and emotions."

"Because we programmed them that way!" Mark exclaimed, now spreading his arms out from his sides.

"Maybe," Said Doug. "But maybe not. Think about the defects, Mark, what about rogue AI? They start to react differently, they react hostile or crazed when they were never built with the response or purpose."

"Are you crazy? What's your point to this?"

"What about GLaDOS? Did Caroline agree to do the mind transfer?"

"It took her awhile, I still think she would rather not go through with it. And she was incredibly stubborn when Mr. Johnson passed away, but she finally relented. It is what Cave wanted her to do after all."

"When she moves her consciousness to the machine, and if it works, wouldn't GLaDOS be a living thing, in a way?" Mark remained silent, his face slowly forming into a frown. "What about the weighted companion cubes?" Doug asked. "You said they weren't programmed to speak."

"They don't speak."

"No, I heard it, it spoke to me. The one that was carried to the testing chambers."

"Doug, what are you- No, it didn't speak, it can't speak!"

And with that, Doug stood up. "I'm not crazy! It spoke to me, I know it!"

"Calm down, Doug, it's fine. Did you take your medicine today?"

"I told you I'm not crazy! I wasn't hallucinating!" Doug was raising his voice, and thrashing his arms with every word now.

Mark patted the air in front of him and took a step back. "What do you want to do?" He asked, now trying to keep Doug from arguing.

But he just exploded further. "Stop the project, stop throwing them to the incinerators!"

"The Turret Redemption Line never seemed to bother you like this. And I can't stop now, what would we do with all the defects? Where would we keep them?"

"Figure it out, I just want it stopped." Doug replied.

Mark, now done with the entire thing just nodded and made his way slowly to the door. "Fine, you don't have to help. I can find someone else to watch the button."

The door slammed shut, and Doug remained in the silence. He stood for several more minutes, then flopped back in his chair. The smoldering anger stayed in the back of his mind even longer, then, he turned to his monitor. He was in the process of sending his analysis through email.

After more time has passed, with the clock continuing to keep track of time despite the argument that took place only a few minutes ago, Doug shook off the last burning embers of his mind, and he clicked the mouse to send his report. Now that he was thinking more clearly, confusion and guilt covered him. Why did he react like that? Mark was right, he never acted like that when he was introduced to the turret redemption line. He was never pleased with it, but he never yelled. Then, his thoughts shifted to that weighted companion cube. He knew it spoke to him, Mark was wrong on that. It was like it cried only to his ears, begging for help...

Doug returned to work yet again, but his mind was distracted, and he worked ever slowly. He just kept thinking of that companion cube, surely he was incinerating them too. That bothered him. Was it still there in the testing chambers? Perhaps he should go and find it. Maybe he can keep it with him so that one wouldn't suffer- No, he can't do that, he could get fired.

But the more he thought about it, the more he was fine with it. The lab was falling anyway, maybe he was better off away from this place.

Doug had stayed in his office the entire shift, still distracted and suffering from many emotions. But when he left his office and saw Mark, he knew what he needed to do. "Hey, Mark." He called. Mark lifted his eyes, still looking rather angry. "I wanted to apologize. I was out of line to yell at you like that."

Mark instantly seemed to brighten, evening moving to give Doug a friendly slap on the back. "Not a problem, Doug. I'm sorry for making you feel that upset. I'm glad we can move past small things like that." Doug smiled and wished him a good night, Mark smiled and left the office.

But Doug Rattman didn't return home right away, instead, he traveled to the testing chambers. Co-workers greeted him as they walked by. Doug returned the greetings and waited for them to leave.

Once he made sure he was alone, he entered his key into the door, and walked in. It was almost completely dark, save for a few lamps. He walked through the waiting rooms, and headed towards the storage chamber. Every tool and weight was moved here when the place locked down, now it should be easy and less suspicious should one little weight go missing.

Entering his card key into one more door, he made it into storage. It was a neat, organized chamber, there were aisles everywhere. And they were all occupied in certain shelves. Turrets here, cores there, weights... He found them, the companion cubes! There weren't very many, maybe one for every six ordinary weight cubes. Doug's heart skipped a beat, he wished he could save them all, but that would be impossible. Taking one was dangerous as it was, but he couldn't stand it any longer, he had to take one. The hearts on the boxes lit up the dark storage with a calming pink glow. And Doug watched for a while. He was torn, just taking one.

"Are you here to save me?"

There it was, that light, beautiful voice he wanted to hear. It was barely a whisper, he almost missed it entirely, but it was there, and he stooped for the cube just in front of his feet. Then, he quietly retreated for his office. No one needs to know about this. The cube was saved from the potential of being incinerated, and that's all that mattered.

When he made it back to the dead silence of his office, he moved the cube next to the cabinets. "I'm sorry," He whispered to it. "I can't take you home, they'll know I took you, I must keep you here."

The cube didn't respond, it didn't need to. Doug smiled and threw his coat over it.

He left for the door again, glancing back at the covered companion cube sitting past the desk and turned off the lights. He did what he needed to, and he couldn't say he regretted it. Doug left the room and headed for the surface.

Author's Note: I didn't know this one would be so long, but I'm very happy with how it turned out. What did you think? Just so you know, this one wasn't from 180 Writing Prompts. This was a prompt I found on Pinterest, and I just had to use it! It was a prompt that told the story of sitting at a desk and pressing a mysterious button when a light comes on. Thanks for reading!