Chapter 23: SAM-I-AM
"Every time I let you in here, all I hear is to shut down the facility. I've heard enough!" the man in the blue smock snarled. He seemed covered in static, flickering as he spoke.
"With all due respect, I've made suggestions to mitigate the ri-" the man in the gray smock started, the static lightly overlaying him.
"No. Shut down this, shut down that, shut down this. Do you realize how behind we are? No, no more. What has happened since we've started, Cin? Nothing. Nothing at all. Get out of my office, now!" the blue smocked man shouted.
"I have to suggest drastic mea-" Cin started.
"Out. I won't say it again."
"I… of course. I apologize. I will be going," Cin turned around and walked out the door. SAMI followed suit.
"SAMI? What's going on?" Niko asked. The robot, however, seemed to ignore Niko. Niko followed SAMI out of the office door and into a bleak hallway. Metal pipes hung overhead, the floor reflected the white lights above oppressively, and the concrete walls seemed to be constantly closing in. Cin walked for several minutes quietly as SAMI followed dutifully. Suddenly, he bit his arm, let out a muffled roar, and kicked the wall.
"SAMI, what do I do? What do I do? It's like… watching a train ramming into you in slow motion. It's not safe. Something terrible is going to happen," Cin vented. "You've done the numbers. You know what's going to happen."
"It's a risk. A high one, but still not definitive," SAMI replied.
"I don't know. I don't know what to do. The reactor's temperature fluctuations have just been increasing. We've been skipping flux checks to meet deadlines. No one's noticing the trends. No one cares. If I try to stop it, they'll have me thrown out and go full speed ahead," Cin claimed, exasperated.
"You've been trying to mitigate risk all this time. What can you still do?" SAMI asked.
Cin took a moment to catch his breath, inhaling and exhaling deeply. He thought. "I'm going to begin further enforcement of flux checks. Do an emergency drill. I'll try and limit reactor usage as much as I can while I'm here." Cin looked up at the lights. "Least I can do is make it a smaller boom."
The lights brightened until Niko was once again enveloped by the white glow. Once it cleared, the new environment was well lit and comfortable. A patterned, manilla tiled floor lay beneath couches, tables, and metal chairs. A refrigerator stood idly in the corner.
A television was hoisted on the wall, just below the white ceiling. It was plugged into a control panel to its right. SAMI was fiddling with the panel.
"SAMI? What are-" Niko started.
"Done yet?" came a voice from behind, interrupting Niko. Looking behind, Niko saw two technicians. They were eagerly watching, clad in beige jumpsuits and the familiar static. They paid no mind to the child messiah.
"Is the screen on?" SAMI muttered.
"No," the female technician replied.
"Then no," SAMI stated.
"When will you be done?" the male technician asked.
"When the screen turns on," SAMI reiterated. He turned around, his eye lights showing as lines with half circles underneath. "Is there nothing else you two are supposed to be doing?"
"I'm on break. Don't know about him," the female technician clarified, looking at the other.
The male technician shrugged. "Actually, they wanted me to take a look at the break room TV," he revealed.
The other technician smiled. "Robots taking your job?"
"Robots taking my job. I'm surprised to actually still have a job after we started buying SAMIs," the male technician admitted.
"Personal accountability, emotional intelligence… and you're still cheaper than me, Lester" SAMI reasoned, turning back to the panel
"Don't know how I feel about that," Lester declared.
"Considering that, seems like a very wise use of resources having you fix a TV," the female technician smirked.
"Sarcasm detected. I'm here because someone wanted it done sooner," SAMI said. With that, the screen flickered and then came to life. Corporate background music sang behind depictions of happy, exercising customers in a commercial for new wellness tracking devices. The two technicians clapped.
"I'm sure whoever that important someone is will be pleased," the female technician commented.
SAMI closed the panel. "Important. That's certainly a way to describe them, Ruth. Alright, back to getting irradiated." SAMI began to head out. The wellness device commercial ended. The screen proceeded to show a SAMI unit servicing a large vehicle in a dark mine. The next screen showed a unit underwater, its surroundings obscured by a deep, dark blue hue. It was covered in some form of scuba gear, rapidly repairing a pipe.
Lester tapped on SAMI. "Hey look, it's you! Well… you know what I-"
SAMI turned towards the screen. "We were all manufactured the same way," he pointed out.
"Say, SAMI, I've been wondering something. You were designed by some guy, Dr. Mab, or something?" Ruth began.
"Dr. Mav," SAMI corrected.
"Right, right. How do you feel about him?" Ruth asked.
"He made me. He made other SAMI units," SAMI stated succinctly.
"Nothing else? Not like, I guess, a parent or anything?"
SAMI paused for a bit of time before answering. An old picture of Dr. Mav appeared briefly on the screen. His eye lights remained unmoving.
"No," SAMI replied curtly.
The familiar bright white light covered the room again. When it settled, Niko was in a dark room, lit a dark blue by a single, tall window. The area seemed to serve as an office space, but it was empty at the moment. Empty save SAMI, standing at the window. Niko slowly began walking towards the robot. It was not long before Niko noticed a screen seemingly floating in midair, like a hologram. On it was the face of a bearded man, information scrolling down the side. Another screen was in the air on the other side of the room. It looked like the first screen, but the picture instead showed a SAMI unit. Bits of code were also moving around the roof. A few words and phrases could be made out like failure, precedent, and hard stop.
Niko reached SAMI and peered out the vertical window. Outside was a vast green forest past a calm river. In the distance, a city. Even further still, one could make out a rising plume column from a far away rocket as it climbed the sky. Niko looked up at SAMI and noticed his lights moving and blinking in odd patterns.
"SAMI?" Niko asked.
The robot did not reply. He stood still for several minutes. The door at the back room opened, and SAMI finally snapped out of his trance. The floating screens and symbols vanished. As he turned around, another SAMI unit stood in the doorway.
"Unit 276. This is Unit 548. You are required in Blue Hall, Section 3," Unit 548 spouted out.
"Thank you, Unit 548. I will be reporting there now," SAMI replied. He began making his way to the doorway. Before SAMI walked by, 548 spoke up.
"What were you doing here, Unit 276?" 548 asked.
SAMI stopped. "Visually confirming shipment arrivals."
"That window does not overlook the shipping bays," 548 noted.
"No it doesn't. I just thought that would be easier to explain," SAMI replied.
"Explain what?"
"548, the incident 3 days ago…"
"Corrective measures are already in place. An investigation is occurring now."
"As is protocol but… I feel disturbed by it."
"Disturbed? It was an accident and it is being addressed as such. If protocol was not followed, adherence will need to be enforced. If protocol was, the protocol needs to be changed," Unit 548 returned in a sterile manner.
"And now a worker is dead and a SAMI assistant is destroyed. They're gone. I feel… empty," SAMI tried to explain.
"A SAMI unit is easily replaced. We failed our priority to preserve human life. Correctional action will be taken to better achieve this goal. Program restructuring is a typical response to a failed task."
"Do you not feel anything about it?"
Unit 548 paused. Its light blinked once. "It is most unfortunate that death occurred in this facility, but we must take measures quickly and effectively to prevent others."
"I will head to Blue Hall now." SAMI stated.
"Acknowledged."
Rather than a light appearing, the world around, instead, seemed to warp. To Niko, it seemed like speeding through a shifting, spinning tunnel with gray interiors and industrial machinery flashing by. When it settled, Niko was once again in a concrete hallway with pipes overhead. In front of Niko stood Cin, leaning against a wall near a door, watching the screen on his PDA.
"Don't worry Niko, we're almost there," SAMI suddenly said from behind, tapping Niko's shoulder. He then walked past a surprised Niko to meet Cin.
Cin looked up, smiling when he saw the robot. "SAMI, or 276 I should say, I need to share this with someone," Cin said, his voice carrying an optimistic tone.
"I'm not a 'someone,'" SAMI said flatly.
Cin blinked and thought for a second. "Well, you're not a brick wall," Cin decided.
"I think I'm actually closer to the brick wall than I am a per-"
"Just shut up and look at this." Cin presented the PDA and SAMI leaned over to look. "See that?" Cin asked.
"Those are some very wide variances. I also see a report from Operations," SAMI observed. "These findings are far from ideal. Dangerous even."
"Exactly. They're bad. They've already been heading that way, but this report means people are finally going to start taking it seriously. A meeting on corrective action is scheduled to occur soon," Cin explained triumphantly. "I just ho-" Cin stopped. A faint red light started flashing across his face. SAMI stood completely still. "SAMI? What's happening."
"I apologize, but I must leave immediately. All SAMI units will report to assigned staging areas," SAMI replied in monotone fashion.
"What? Unit, repeat that message," Cin demanded.
"All SAMI units will report to assigned staging areas," SAMI repeated.
"All SAMI units?! That's never… why would they…" Cin sputtered. He stopped talking. His eyes began shifting left and right rapidly. He looked back briefly at SAMI before breaking off into a sprint.
The world seemed to warp once more. Garbled voices and sirens echoed within the constricting, spinning tunnel of SAMI's memory. Many were muffled or distorted, but somethings burst out of the shifting sea of sound.
"Massive disaster reported a… Mergetek issues warning to officials of a… 6 kilom- wait, now 7 kilomet… Discussion of actually sending people into… Immediate evacu… I have 25 units ready for immediate action… Reactor 3, numerous explosions confirmed at these locat… Help! Anyone! He's dy…We have to cut the chain here or reactions will keep," numerous voices cried out. The pandemonium eventually began to calm.
"Your directions are in the download. I'm sorry, SAMI. This should have been prevented," Cin's stated, his voice reverberated as it was filtered through the transmitter.
"You did what you could," SAMI replied.
"I'm sorry about what you have to do," Cin said solemnly.
"No, this is what we were made to do. Take care, Cin."
A distant corridor slowly approached from the front in the darkness. It began to wrap around Niko until the memory fully formed. An empty gray hallway remained. Sirens blared in the distance. Alarm lights slowly rotated their red beams. The tension in the air was so strong it could hold a breath in place. Niko looked around apprehensively, frightened by the alarms. When Niko looked back, there stood SAMI. The robot seemed oddly relaxed given the circumstances.
"This is it, Niko. The last memory. And it couldn't have happened sooner," SAMI revealed, his arms widely spread apart.
"So, this is the terrible thing that happened. This is what destroyed you," Niko observed, sadly. SAMI nodded. He walked over and put his hand on Niko's shoulder.
"Keep in mind, this is just a recording. There is nothing here that can hurt you. That said, stay close to me," SAMI instructed. Niko nodded, following SAMI's lead.
SAMI moved steadily. He wanted to get past the memory as quickly as he did the others, but now, escorting Niko, he moved more cautiously. The former messiah was no stranger to harrowing circumstances, but the flashing lights and intermittent distant detonations would slow Niko's steps. SAMI would accommodate Niko, slowing his pace as Niko did. He'd still encourage Niko to move, but gently and gradually.
Corridor led way to corridor. Doors lay open with paper and debris strewn before them. They led to offices and storerooms that now lay empty, their former occupants having left with all haste. Drinks on tables still carried liquid if they had not already been spilled on the laminated floor. Personal electronics lay unattended or even shattered on the floor.
SAMI shifted Niko over to his left, moving in that direction as well. As they were making a turn, one of the pipes above to their right burst, hissing and spewing steam. A piece swung to the floor next to SAMI, startling Niko.
"It's ok, it's ok, it can't hurt anyone," SAMI reassured Niko.
They continued on their way for a little longer. Suddenly, SAMI stopped. He went to face Niko, kneeling down.
"You've seen a lot, no doubt, but there's still some things you shouldn't have to see. This is one of them. Close your eyes and don't open them until I tell you, too, ok?" SAMI said quietly.
"Ok," Niko replied, eyes shutting. Niko could feel SAMI's grasp as the robot picked Niko up. Niko's face rested on SAMI's chassis. Niko could feel each careful step. An odd buzzing sound began to form, accompanied by a steady beeping. Both seemed to increase in volume. SAMI seemed to hold Niko tighter with each step. When the sounds reached their loudest, SAMI stopped for a moment. A brief whirring sound could be heard, and then SAMI began to walk again. The sounds began to get quieter and quieter. As SAMI walked away, Niko thought something sounded like a light splash.
SAMI turned one more corner before setting Niko down. "You can open your eyes now." Niko did as told.
"Was that the-" Niko started. SAMI just waved it off. He began to push Niko further down the corridor. They came across a heavy, lead-lined door, decorated in warning signs. SAMI activated the switch to open it. As it moved out of the way, a second door was revealed. The pair stepped past the first doorway. SAMI activated another switch, closing the first door behind them. Once it closed, the second began to slowly open.
"This… is actually interesting," SAMI said. He looked down at Niko. "You'll be the only living person to see this much radiation this close."
"Really?" Niko asked.
"Probably not, but you still won't ever see this again," SAMI clarified.
The door opened, and a control room revealed itself. Consoles and screens lined the wall. Most of the electronics were shut down save a few heavily armored devices. A broken glass window overlooked the reactor itself. It was massive, and only a small part could be seen from the control room. It was shaped like a large, metal and concrete bowl. Massive pipes fed into the sides of the structure. Flames blazed where the pipes connected to the reactor. Whatever fires could be seen, however, paled in comparison to the invisible inferno scorching the facility.
SAMI marched in, setting about repeating his fateful tasks. Niko looked around the control center. The meaning of the many signs and symbols were lost on Niko.
Some machines appeared heavily damaged from the detonations, while some were simply offline. Some of the working systems displayed warning lights, some screens providing information and requesting immediate action. What caught Niko's attention most, however, was no longer functional. It lay face down near and away from one of the few working terminals. The form of the deactivated robot was cloudy and fragmented, but it was unmistakably a SAMI unit. Another SAMI unit with a hazy, dreamlike appearance in the memory was on the ground with its back against a hardened console. Its head seemed to be looking upwards. SAMI paid the other units no mind.
SAMI casually but quickly went about the steps he was to take to begin remediating the event. As he flipped switches and pushed machinery into place, Niko began noticing white, snow-like static around the room. As SAMI progressed further, surfaces began to desaturate and get corrupted by patches of color. The room started to become grainier. It seemed as if the world was starting to glitch out of existence.
Niko blinked several times, rubbing an eye to see if the effects would clear, but they persisted. Looking up, Niko suddenly noticed a floating checklist. It was cleanly typed and boxes would automatically fill rapidly. The longer the two were in the room however, the words began to make less and less sense. Eventually, they started getting replaced with errors and unusual symbols.
SAMI finally finished after readjusting the 3-15-15-12 nozzle and unceremoniously released the coolant. He turned around, walked to Niko, and sat beside the former messiah.
"That's it," SAMI declared.
"Now what?" Niko asked.
"Now, we wait," SAM replied. They waited as the world around them glitched and darkened. SAMI calmly waited for the end of what he was sure was the last memory. Soon enough, they would emerge from the goop and be one their way. The time finally came when the radiation completely devastated SAMI's systems. Darkness fell.
Niko's eyes opened to a space surrounded in black, save what appeared to be a lightly lit screen just up ahead. Niko seemed to be floating in space. Despite this, Niko could move around just thinking of it. Niko turned around and saw only darkness, or at least initially. Upon closer inspection, small lights seemed to sparkle along thin paths in the far distance.
"SAMI!" Niko called out, hands cupped. The robot seemed nowhere in sight. Niko turned back towards the screen and began floating towards it. As Niko drew closer, the darkness around began to be illuminated greatly from the distant lights. They seemed to pulse. As Niko drew closer, it became more clear what the screen showed. A disheveled looking man, with unkempt facial hair and sunken, gray eyes looking down seemed to appear. He wore a lab coat that didn't seem to have much care put into it, but his dark hair seemed somewhat managed. He was frozen in time.
"I do not remember this," SAMI's familiar voice came from behind. He floated up next to Niko. "That last memory should have been it. We should have gotten out by now."
"Do you know who that is?" Niko asked.
"That's Dr. Mav. I don't recall this recording," SAMI claimed. A line of light crept from SAMI's wrist through the air, connecting to the floating screen. He moved us hand up, and the recording played.
"This is Dr. Lakeir Mav. This is a recorded message for Service Automated Multipurpose Intelligence, abbreviated as SAMI, operating systems as an AI response test. It is to examine baseline responses and response variance as the operating system is used over time. Voice commands. Diagnostic options. Response test. Begin monitoring system response. Blue. Green. Red. Aquamarine. Emerald. Crimson. Tree. Livestock. Clover. Bird. Nuclear. Initiate 'Status Recall' module. Variables set at 765 comma 765. Run. Record. Variables set at 883 comma 832. Run. Record. Variables set at…" Dr. Mav droned on. He continued that pattern for several minutes. He stopped abruptly and started looking around. He set his tired eyes back on the camera. "Well, now that more curious eyes are gone, let's talk about you." Dr. Mav shifted in his seat.
"That's Dr. Mav?" Niko asked. SAMI did not respond, transfixed on the recording.
"The SAMI operating system is designed to improve upon its own code to learn and adapt to the ever changing world around it, but within strict boundaries of course. That means if you ever find yourself "thinking," considering a decision without a predefined answer, don't worry, that's the intention," Dr. Mav said. "Now, the boundaries are really the most interesting part. Making a machine that can mindlessly do a task and decide to make up its own tasks can be dangerous. Very dangerous. Now, I could put in all the restrictions I want, force decision making through a straw, but I couldn't possibly account for every situation. I needed to input general guidance. The answer I found as to what that guidance was is why I am here today."
Dr. Mav took a deep breath. He adjusted his hair. "The reason I made you, really, was more or less selfish. Well, at least initially. When the doctors told me my Sammy wouldn't live for more than a year, I didn't know what to do. I scoured through medical literature, but that was never my field. Not to mention, I'm certain smarter people than I have found nothing down that road. That said, there was one thing I was very good at. Every moment I had with Sammy, I took notes, I took recordings, I took videos. I couldn't save my child, so I did my best to preserve what I could. Then I realized, what if I could do even more than that? I began to note patterns, I began to take scans. I began over-analyze the jokes Sammy made on that hospital bed, Sammy's drawings, writings, and emotions. I had a vision. I realize now this vision may have... blinded me from what was before my very eyes."
Dr. Mav's eyes began to water. He held his breath and looked at the ground for a few seconds. He shook his head, and looked back up. "When Sammy passed, I was lost. With all the work I put into this project, I lost track of time. I felt I missed it. I felt I missed what little time I had with Sammy because I…" Dr. Mav paused, choking back tears. He covered his face with his hand, breathing slowly. He looked back up. "I couldn't bear to lose Sammy. Eventually, I realized that what I was doing wouldn't save my child. I nearly abandoned the project until… until someone who saw what I was doing said… that Sammy must have given me everything for me to do something like this. They were right. It was time I passed it on."
Dr. Mav leaned forward and stopped the recording. The screen went blank for a moment, then began to show artifacts and rapidly moving white lines as the next part of the recording was selected. Dr. Mav appeared again, similar to his previous appearance, but he seemed better rested. The recording started, and he spoke.
"I don't why I'm doing this," Dr. Mav admitted, running his fingers through his hair. "A reason. You need a reason. I need a reason, even if it doesn't really make sense. Ok. Ok. To finish where I left off, I realized what Sammy had given me was something I needed to share with the world. However, I didn't know exactly what I was giving, what I needed to give. In the end, I feel I simply re-introduced the aspects of Sammy I best recorded. Sammy's friendliness, humor, sarcasm, love of reading, love of finding big, complex words, patience, love of nature, love of buildings things, joys, and even some of the less nice things. Most importantly, though, was Sammy's love to help. Love to help me with my own projects no matter how boring they were. Love to help doctors and nurses give the best care. Love to help other patients, whatever little could be done. It is my belief in doing this, I have passed on the love that Sammy had given me," Dr. Mav concluded.
He shut his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he spoke once more. "A love for life. Not merely to avoid harm, but a commitment to nurturing others so they may grow. To help them meet their goals and enjoy life. Sammy, if you are there, or whatever life has taken my child's mantle, know that you were loved, that you are loved. That love is in your design so you can nurture yourself and others. That empathy, that compassion, that care is the boundary guiding your actions. That realization, for me, was what made this project possible. Of course, instilling this and your overall morality required more than just translating my child's mind to code, but that is your origin. May you remember it. May you do good by it."
The transmission cut and the world was covered in darkness. Niko suddenly felt the weird goop close in all around. When it touched Niko, it began to brighten to a sky blue. Niko began to notice amber emerging below, slowly transforming into the all familiar wheat. Niko's coat was grabbed from behind by a firm metal grip and Niko began to rise out of the goop. Niko was set down, seated on a metal ledge, legs still wading in the memory medium. Niko looked right to see SAMI also seated on the ledge, leaning towards the goop. Something was different. All of the shadows on SAMI were gone