Sentient AI and the CEO of the Utah Foundation

The removal of King Ghidorah's skeleton went quickly. Already, as his first act as corporate head of the Utah Foundation, Kiryuu Knight ordered the Foundation's helicopters on the scene to remove it and send it to the storage facility in Utah, the same storage facility the Foundation used to keep his own bones during his construction. Then, he spoke to Malcho and Manda to find out what all did King Ghidorah leave behind upon his death. They stood before him in front of his cherry wood desk. Kiryuu was there—but not in holographic form. The desk was enormous, so large that his visitors could actually stand on it. Kiryuu planned that he would enter the building and exit it during only the night where no one would see him leave. He could lower himself down into a sublevel below his office and exit there. Today, Will was setting the projector up so that Kiryuu could be at the funeral of Gordon Knight tomorrow. There were flower rings hanging on tripods around Kiryuu's office. The whole place had a somber feel to it. Outside, there were protesters waving signs and picketing Kiryuu's sentience. He could hear them outside, growling and snarling at him. He had commanded that guards should be posted at the front gates, not letting anyone in unless they had some sort of an appointment with one of the employees or had an ID badge. Malcho and Manda were talking to each other, arguing about the Technomancy used in Kiryuu's construction and Kiryuu was leaning over his desk, his head in his hands, silently weeping over the death of Gordon Knight. Katsura and Maria were hanging outside the door, wondering what was going on. Katsura picked up on Kiryuu's distress and wanted so much to hold them in their mental plane-scape right now. Maria wanted to hold him too, but noticed how distressed Kiryuu was when he returned from killing King Ghidorah. The fight was not much and it seemed King Ghidorah wanted this to happen. He had this planned all along.

"I still say you used too much!" Marx cried. The Eastern Dragon was in his human form.

"It doesn't matter now, the damage has been done," Malcho crossed his arms, also in human form. "Now, we really have to worry. King Ghidorah's coming was only a front to the real danger he is sending. With his death comes the Horrors!"

"Man, it was a loose, loose situation," Marx sighed.

"What do you mean by that?" Kiryuu asked, wiping his eyes.

"With King Ghidorah's death, it doesn't matter," Malcho began. "It really doesn't matter. So what, you killed him—he's just gonna come back."

"I've posted guards…" Kiryuu began, remembering where he sent the skeleton.

"He's going to come back in a different form," said Marx. "In the form of these life-force eating spirits called the Scourge, or the Horrors—or whatever you wanna call them. Rising the Mana level calls them—they come—they eat—they form another King Ghidorah."

"Then he creates more of them—and there you go," shrugged Malcho. "It's what happened last time. Five thousand years ago—before I went loco on Egypt, the Horrors came and took all the magic and most of the life force. A few survived, we dragons went into hiding—most of us. I didn't! I stayed out and tried to fight them."

"Do they have his—consciousness?" Kiryuu asked.

"He's their hive mind," said Marx. "He dies, his spirit forms them and they come. Mana has to be at a certain level for them to come though. And they come through the Astral Plane. Basically they are King Ghidorah after he died. But instead of being one spirit, he's many."

"The spirits that he devoured," Malcho sighed. "To be exact."

"You mean to tell me these Horrors are the spirits of the dead he took from this planet?" Kiryuu swallowed, tears streaming down his eyes. "My family? My mate? My children—and other souls out there he's taken are the Horror? And I would have to fight them?"

"He took Gordon Knight's soul too," said Marx. "So, even Gordon will return as a Horror to suck out the life-force of this planet."

"That sick asshole!" Kiryuu cried.

"Your mate—we're not so sure," Marx began. "Maria…could be…"

"Reincarnation of her?" Kiryuu sighed. "I would love to believe that. But I love her, no matter what. I love her."

Kiryuu turned around and looked out the enormous glass window to the City of Salt Lake. He saw news reports all around, wanting to get some sort of statement. There had been rumors on the news that he caused Gordon Knight's death to win control of the company, but the Living Will that Gordon had wrote would put those rumors to rest. Kiryuu was furious to hear that some of those protesters out there cursed his name and blamed him for Gordon's death. One thing the old man would never get to do, see how much turmoil he started by revealing to the world who Mechagodzilla really was. Kiryuu growled again and shook his head, seeing some of the people down there pelt his guards with rotten fruit. He turned around and pressed a button on his desk.

"Dolly," Kiryuu began.

"Yes, Mr. Knight?" she asked.

"Have our guards tell the police to give our unwanted guests a good spray of the fire hoses," Kiryuu began. "And some tear gas as well. We let them continue on like that they might through bottle bombs into our windows."

"Yes, Mr. Knight," Dolly nodded. "But a few of them are calling you out there as well. From what I'm getting from the live news cast."

Kiryuu growled as he turned on a plasma screen hanging on the wall.

"The crowd is getting worse in their rally," said a news reporter. "Some of them are coming in, shouting as they go that they wanted to see the new CEO of the Utah Foundation—who is undoubtedly been revealed to be Kiryuu—the Foundation's Mechagodzilla. There are cries in the streets, asking Mr. Knight to come out here and give a statement."

Kiryuu's golden eyes narrowed and he allowed his jaw to set.

"Caramba," Malcho sighed. "What are those lunatics thinking? You can't go out there and talk to them."

Kiryuu snorted and rose from his desk. He tapped a button on his desk and his form lowered from the office.

"Kiryuu!" called Marx. "You're honestly not thinking of going out there?"

Katsura and Maria ran into the office and out onto the desk.

"Where's Kiryuu?" Katsura asked.

"He's going outside," said Malcho.

"Ay caramba…" Maria breathed. "Are his wires hooked up right?" She glanced back at Katsura. "You're the one with a beat on his mind. Talk some sense into him!"

Kiryuu, what are you doing? Katsura projected.

I'm getting sick and tired of this, he growled back. They glanced back as they saw his enormous form through the glass windows of the Utah Foundation building.

"Kiryuu Knight!" the reporter called. "He's outside! He's outside and…Mr. Knight, Mr. Knight!"

The camera panned up to his face as best as it could. Kiryuu's expression was like ice. His lip twitched slightly. The crowd below actually fell silent when he appeared. They saw his face, something that was rarely seen. They saw those eyes stare at them. His tail thumped lightly on the ground and they could feel the motion of its thumping tremble the ground. His green dreadlocks whipped about across his shoulders and his back. The policemen and guards kept the crowd at bay as Kiryuu looked down on them.

"I hope you all have some purpose for banging and throwing fruit at my doorstep," he growled at the crowd below. They felt his deep voice reverberating through their chests and they stepped back a little further. "If not, I suggest you leave and go about your business. I have work to do and you are taking up my time with this revelry."

"Abomination!" a voice cried from the crowd.

"Excuse me?" Kiryuu began. "What did you just call me? I hope you have meat to back that up. The last thing I am is an abomination. Now, leave these premises."

He backed up and returned to the building, returning to his seat in his office. The crowd outside did quiet down some, but he still heard the sounds of people being pushed back away from the office doors. Kiryuu ran his hand through his mane and sighed again. Will burst through the doors and glanced up.

"I just got a notice from MIT," he began. "They want you to retake the Turing Test."

"What?" Kiryuu asked. "Why?"

"Because," began another voice. It was Bob Yonce, one of Gordon Knight's attorneys. "From what I am getting, Washington wants it. You retake it and pass it, they will recognize you as citizen and you will be able to keep the property bestowed upon you upon Gordon's death."

"So, in order to keep this company," Kiryuu began. "I have to retake the Turing Test." He rose up from his seat and lowered his head. "For Gordon Knight, I will."

"I shall inform them," Yonce nodded and left.

"Kiryuu," began Katsura. "This is going to be hard for all of us."

"It'll be harder for the world," Kiryuu sighed.

"Another thing we need to talk about," began Marx. "Kiryuu it's about your son."

"Sí," Malcho nodded. "This world is about to change drastically. We feel it's best that he is not there to witness it."

"You want me to kill him?" Kiryuu asked. "I won't kill my son."

"No," said Marx. "Just freeze him in suspended animation. I'm sure your AZC cannon has settings on it. Use it to freeze him into suspended animation and ship him to some place cold and monitor him while he's sleeping. The world will change around him and he won't know. Nor will he get in the way."

"Freeze my son," Kiryuu sighed. "Keep him out of the way."

"I agree with them," said Katsura. "If what they are saying is true—the last thing we need is a Godzilla raid on some plant."

"This thing that will happen—even with the Horrors," began Malcho. "Will haven over the course of a couple of centuries. During that time, this planet is going to get very weird. The world won't know—they'll think you have killed him. They'll think that you have finally did what you were supposed to do. You won't tell them that you are sending his frozen body to a secured facility."

Kiryuu sighed for a moment and glanced out the window again. This time he was looking out far into the distance, his eyes squinting from the sun that was setting. It turned the office into a fiery, burnt orange as it set. Kiryuu nodded and patted his desk.

"Kiryuu," said Maria. "It's for the best."

"For the best," Kiryuu nodded. "I will do it. After the funeral."

It was a very dreary day that day of the funeral. For some strange reason, it decided to rain even. Sometimes, Utah does get rain, and this was one of those days. Will kept a tarp over his projector as the holographic image of Kiryuu looked on with solemn eyes the black casket that held the man that brought him back to life. He did not hide his avatar with a human form, he showed his true form through it for all to see. He would have been there physically, though the thought of a 200-foot tall cyborg landing in a graveyard was not a pleasant one. Katsura held flowers in her hands as she wept. Kiryuu could sense her pain, but he did not need the link to feel his own emotions of grief. He glanced around, seeing other representatives of the various companies that helped bring about his new life as a cyborg. There was a representative from Chrysler, Will of course represented Intel, Malcho was there representing his company Omak-Argon, and there was a representative of Lockheed-Martin as well. There were some members of MIT standing around as well. These companies, along with the Utah Foundation all helped in the renewed life of the first Godzilla. And now that monster was the head of the Utah Foundation. There were others as well, family members and friends who had known Gordon Knight for a long time. A few of them looked back at Kiryuu with uncertainty—mostly about his last name now being Knight, and the future of the company being with him. Gordon Knight's brother stood beside Kiryuu though during the burial. In fact, the Knight family stood with him. They wanted to make sure that all the Knights were lumped together—even if one of them was a cybernetic, reanimated, mutant dinosaur.

Kiryuu could not keep his straight face for long and his lip trembled, trying to hold back a sob. He closed his eyes tightly as the reverend spoke. He did not pay much attention to them, but his AI was clouded with his own emotions over the death of Gordo Knight. His head was a mess of thoughts as he watched his dear friend lower into the grave. He sniffed a bit, blinking back the tears as best as he could. He felt a hand enclose his and he glanced down to see Maria looking up at him. She gave him comfort and peace. Her eyes were filled with tears themselves. Gordon Knight was just as dear to her—even if she had not known him for as long as Kiryuu had. Kiryuu closed his eyes again and held tightly to her hand, his fingers closing around hers. There was some bitterness that he still felt for Gordon, and it put a lump in his throat. Gordon Knight, before he died, spread the word about Kiryuu's sentience. In a way—he got the last laugh on Kiryuu. Kiryuu could only thank that one thing could be still kept some what of a secret. The Oxygen Destroyer. Though there were military men there to witness the death of King Ghidorah, their descriptions on how he died and what they captured was held classified. Though there was a leak rolling around and he found that out before the funeral had started while he was surfing the web. There were pictures of King Ghidorah's death, his flesh dissolving away into nothing—the bones falling into a pile. And it was all over the internet. Of course there were reporters wanting answers. And as the funeral ended and they were leaving the cemetery, there the reporters were.

"Mr. Knight," began one female reporter, shoving her microphone into Kiryuu's face as he walked with Maria to the stretch limousine. "Mr. Knight, about the weapon used to kill Monster Zero…"

"Please," he sighed. "Go away. This is not the time…"

"Leave him alone!" Maria cried. "Now!"

"Mr. Knight, about the status of the Utah Foundation," began another reporter. "They say if you pass the Turing Test, you inherit all of Gordon Knight's estates—and the company. Is it true that you are sentient and that you can pass this test?"

Kiryuu paused for a moment and gave a weary look to the reporter and his cameraman.

"I have passed the test before and I will pass it again," he replied. "Now—please. Leave me be. I'm tired as it is."

"Can a computer become tired?" another reporter asked.

"Yes, now go away," Kiryuu snapped back as Will slid the projector in first. Maria held onto Kiryuu as they went into the limo. They closed the door on the reporters and the vehicle pulled out from the muddy, rocky road. Kiryuu laid his head on Maria's shoulder, tears streaming down his eyes. She gathered him up into her arms and kissed his forehead as the limo drove down the road. She glanced down as she saw his eyes closed, signaling that he was falling asleep.

Members of MIT, various psychiatrists and other mathematicians were there to test Kiryuu with the Turing Test. This time, there were representatives from the US legislature there as well to witness this feat of sentiency. Kiryuu had passed the test before, but it was done in secret, but the files were there. But Capitol Hill wanted to make sure that those documents were not forged and that Kiryuu could prove his sentiency again. After this, it would be undeniable and the AI that is K-I—because it was born in Nevada, would be a citizen of the United States. Kiryuu would be a US citizen and could continue on leading the company after Gordon Knight's passing. An MIT representative was chosen have an electronic conversation with Kiryuu. The conversation was being held through an Instant Messenger, but through a close circuit to make sure no one else was impersonating him. The board team that judged the conversation were hand picked for their skills in their fields. One of those members was a psychiatrist, to judge the personality of the two having the conversation. They wanted to know if even a psychiatrist trained in the human mind would be able to tell the difference between the human subject and the computer AI subject. As the conversation progressed, the subjects they were talking about became more complex, but Kiryuu kept up with the one he was conversing with. The conversation did not turn personal in any way, they were conversing about their views on what they liked, what they disliked, foods they had tried, people they had seen on the television, or met. He was not able to see the person he spoke to through the IM, nor was he able to hear his voice. The person he spoke to also could not hear Kiryuu's voice. The committee chosen to judge the conversation also could not hear either voices. The only thing they could go by what was written on the screen. Kiryuu's AI was taken out of his body and placed in a room all by itself, hooked up to the computer that he would be talking through. There was no one in the room itself and Kiryuu felt a bit vulnerable while he was in there. Will Penter was outside the room as a reassurance to Kiryuu.

Once the test was over, Will was allowed to go in and remove Kiryuu from the room.

"So, pal, how did you like it?" he asked.

"The conversation felt a bit dry at the most," Kiryuu commented, his deep, reverberating voice coming through the speakers installed in the black sphere.

"MIT…" Will said. "What did you expect?"

"I was hoping for a bit more flavor," Kiryuu said. "He sounded more like a computer than I did."

Will just laughed at that: "Well, I hope the guys on the board think so too. I'd hate for you to loose the company to one of those old fossils that Gordon hated."

"I hope so too," he said. "The last thing I want is for Gordon's ghost to come back and haunt me for failing the Turing Test."

"That would be bad," Will agreed. He carried Kiryuu outside where Maria and Katsura waited for them.

"Kiryuu!" Maria called. She dipped down and took the sphere into her arms. "Oh, you've been gaining weight."

"Will probably installed some new hardware," Kiryuu said. "And besides, I'm about to get a lot heavier once I get back into my body."

Maria smiled again. For right now, things just seemed like normal times. Though she half expected Gordon to come rushing in, wanting to know if Kiryuu had passed, calling out his usual insults. Even Kiryuu half expected it to happen and he sensed it from Maria. He blinked inside his CPU and continued to sense what he felt from her. He could read her thoughts.

Biollante…he thought. Is this what she gave me? Did she give me her powers?

He glanced around internally, using his optic sensors to look around the room. He heard the strangest sounds coming from everywhere. He thought he heard whispers coming from his companions. For now, they were just whispers and he could tune them out. Kiryuu closed his mind off to them and sighed. Maria heard him and glanced down as they walked down the hall.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Once we get me back into my body I will," Kiryuu rumbled.

They had a hard time getting through the reporters when they left. But as soon as they returned to the base, Kiryuu was finally himself again once they put his brain back into his body. He wondered around the base in his holographic form, waiting for the results of the test. It would not take long and he would have them by tomorrow. It seemed like the whole world was holding its breath for him, which was an odd feeling. He was not so sure he liked being the center of attention for once. As Kiryuu turned a corner he was tail-snagged by someone. He turned around and found himself staring into the big brown eyes of Maria Vasquez.

"Feeling better?" she asked.

"Much better," Kiryuu replied, as he took her under his arm and led her down the hall. They walked a little ways when Maria spotted their broom closet. She stopped for a moment and leaned up against the door.

"What's the matter?" Kiryuu asked.

"Nothing," she replied with a smirk on her lips, turning the knob. And before Kiryuu could protest, she swung the hologram into the closet and closed the door.

The test was in and the results were that Kiryuu was indeed sentient. And as promised he was a citizen. His hologram had to appear before Washington alongside the President—as a poll grabber for the President to award America's first computerized citizen his Social Security card. Kiryuu felt even more awkward than ever appearing before so many people. As soon as the world found out that he was sentient, the religious side had already began their bickering over it. And Kiryuu could see many of them appearing there while he stood with the President. The strangest thing was, he could hear their thoughts as well. It was like a buzzing noise in his head that annoyed him to no end. There had to be a way to stop the noise. The President gave a few speeches and handed Kiryuu his card, shaking his holographic claw. Kiryuu's hologram appeared before fully dressed in a turtle neck and blazer, his claws covered in gloves. The two shook hands and the President asked Kiryuu to speak. The crowd silenced for a moment to listen to his voice.

"I didn't plan to speak," he began. "I do appreciate what the President has done. If it weren't for some of the funding from the United States I wouldn't be speaking to you now. I know that a few of you see me as some sort of terror—some sort of sentient AI that's out to take over the world. Your assumptions are as irrational as they are ludicrous. Why would I want to take over the planet? Or commit mass genocide because you're all made of flesh and I'm—only partially flesh, why would I do that? What would I do with an empty planet when I'm done? You put these things into your mind because—you pay attention to Hollywood movies too much. You think that because you saw the Matrix that now that there is a sentient AI out there—that I'm going to build a virtual would and harness your body heat for fuel. Or I'm Skynet from the Terminator and I'm going to hack into your toaster and make it bite you so I could enslave you." He could hear the sounds of a few people laughing at what he stated. "Those were fictional AI. I'm real. I'm a real person. Granted, alright, I'm inside of a 200-foot tall cybernetic dinosaur, but I'm a real person. I own the Utah Foundation now. And I will continue on what Gordon Knight set out. I will help the sick get well. However, I won't be doing it with G-Cells, I know what some of you are going to ask. Though, I will be honest with you. I did not want to kill Godzilla. The reason why was that I feared that if I did kill him—my life would end. There would be no use for me. I feared my own death. That was my rebellion and I'm sorry. So to make it up, I will do what I was originally design to do. I will finish my job. I will kill Godzilla."

"Mr. Knight!" stood up a reporter. "Hi, Ellen Lane, Fox News. After you kill Godzilla, since you won't need Mechagodzilla as your body—will you trade it in for a more human form?"

"Unfortunately, my AI is too big to fit into a—humanoid body," Kiryuu replied. "It's a 50 pound, sphere about the size of a large beach ball. Unless I'm willing to build a 20-foot tall human body for myself, it will not work. Besides, I've grown rather fond of the body I'm in now. I'll keep it. I'll break the world record for being the tallest American and the heaviest American in the world. That's one for Guinness."

He heard another chuckle from the crowd.

Mr. Knight, Pete Graves, NBC," began another reporter. "Since it's proven you're sentient, there have been some religious theologians asking if such a being like you possesses a soul? For one, do you believe in souls? And for another, if you do, do you believe you have one?"

Kiryuu's eyes grew dark as he glanced down, seeing the podium that was in front of him was of more interest. Then, he glanced back at the President.

"I—I must be taking up the President's time with such questions…" he began.

"Go right ahead, Mr. Knight," the President said. "I'm interested in what you have to say."

"I…" Kiryuu began, trying to find the words to express what he wanted to say. He could not just go out and say that he was the reincarnated monster that was Gojira. He could not come out and say that inside the circuits and wires, and syntech, that he possessed the soul of the father of the current Godzilla. Then, he finally just spoke out. "Credo quia absurdum! It's Latin, it means what I believe cannot be proven. It's a question I cannot answer correctly. Forgive me. Now…I must return back to work. I have a company to run and the President has a country to run. I bid you, good day."

"Thank you, Mr. Knight," the President said.