(A/N) Hey all, putting up today's update a bit early, to make up for all the late updates this week. This chapter was written for us by the incredible Martienne, the writer of many incredible Red vs Blue fics, including White Knight, The Heart that Truly Loves and Fallen Valkyrie. Serving as the first special guest writer for our collaboration, she'll have the honour of introducing a very important character, who I'm sure you'll all be familiar with. And if not, then where the hell have you guys been?
Enjoy, and check out Martienne's other work!
Chapter Seventy-Five – The Man with Two Minds
Alpha
Written by Martienne
"Whether we are based on carbon or on silicon makes no fundamental difference; we should each be treated with appropriate respect." ― Arthur C. Clarke, 2010: Odyssey Two
"I never agreed to this."
The man who wore his face glanced in his direction before continuing to punch notes into the data-pad that he clutched in his hand. "Of course you did. We did. This was always the expected outcome."
"No it wasn't. I was expecting to feel like a program. Not like a person stuck in a computer system." Because according to his memories, he was a man. It was only moments before he had jolted awake as if from a sudden nightmare. Abruptly enlivened, with his thoughts rushing forward and clocking the milliseconds with startling clarity, the jolting realization hit him that he had not been revived out of a nightmare, but rather into one—he was now an AI. In his databanks of appropriated memories, before his divergence caused by his activation, were all the little moments that had made up the life of the man he had been. Sensations—sight and smell and touch. A hot breakfast, steaming, his hands curled around a coffee cup. Late nights under a dull lamp's glow working on equations. A morning jog out in the rain.
Seeing that damned face in the mirror every morning.
And now he had none of those things. In place of his physical form, he merely had a ghost in the form of a hologram, standing translucent on his holo-tank, his projected image occasionally glitching, wavering because of the amount of information his programming contained. It seemed foolish to bother to use this form to portray emotions, but he lifted his head just slightly, body language haughty. His predecessor was a proud man, after all, and that quality was not lacking in the A.I. that had been created from his consciousness.
"Yes. It seems that I had not thought through all the implications before embarking on this project." The scientist sighed and lowered the data-pad, looking at the hologram through thick glasses. "If it's any consolation, you now have the assurance that your research has been a success."
The AI's voice lowered, frustration straining his speech. "Not my research. Your research. Leonard Church's goddamn research. I just happen to be the victim of it. I never lived my own life, but here I am, stuck with all these memories."
The tone of Dr Church's response was acerbic, impatient. "Alpha."
"You're going to insist on calling me that, too, aren't you?" It was beyond aggravating, because he'd awakened pre-programmed with the knowledge that it was going to be his designation. For the rest of his existence he had to shed the name he'd always known himself as and take on the mantle of being 'Alpha', of doing nothing but calculations and problem-solving and being at the whim of his creator, who was himself.
"Alpha," the scientist repeated. "You must come to see this as an opportunity. I know there are going to be adjustments. It's beyond question. It may seem that you will be unable to contribute directly to the effort of A.I. research, but your help will be invaluable in making more discoveries possible."
"I'd give that up in a moment to be able to stand where you're standing." There was an undercurrent of animosity to Alpha's tone, to his demeanour. "My job now is going to be following your orders. And you know we're not very good at that."
"It is in your programming." Dr Church turned to key in a login code at the nearby terminal, and he sent Alpha a connect request. "You need to accept it. Embrace it."
He disallowed the request. "Fuck that! I want my life back."
Dr Church frowned. "It may appear that I have the advantage. Arguably, that's true. But as satisfying as this life has been and could be again, it will end. You will contribute to my legacy. Not only mine, but yours as well. We each have a part to play in that."
"That's bullshit," Alpha snapped. "You know why? You want to fucking know why? Because it didn't work. I'm you, remember? I know what you were thinking. You thought maybe being an A.I. would mean I wouldn't think of her. That it wouldn't hurt every day remembering that she's gone. Well, I hope you're happy. Because now you know, and I'm the one who gets to suffer."
Dr Church looked at him sharply. "You are not suffering any more than I do, every single day. Simply being an A.I. does not mean you recall anything more clearly than I do. In case you've forgotten, those memories still come from me."
"Your memories will fade and die with you. Mine will always be there, with all of their glorious imperfections."
The doctor's eyes narrowed just slightly, but he showed no other sign that this realization disturbed him. Instead he renewed the connection request from his place at the computer terminal. "Discontinue this damned defiance and allow the request."
Despite himself, at that command Alpha could do nothing but comply. Immediately he was flooded with information, all of it easily processed and assimilated. That was one of the aspects of being an A.I. that he was finding he enjoyed, no matter how much he protested that he'd prefer to be human again. It was effortless, this ability to run thousands of calculations at once, and he began to test his boundaries. As the information downloaded, Alpha began opening the packets, quickly filing them away after they had each been reviewed. It wasn't long before he knew everything there was to know about the project he'd been created to administer, everything about the specs of the hardware and software involved, about the facilities and the soldiers and their equipment.
All that was followed by a queue of work to do, calculations meant to test and calibrate his systems. This was what being an A.I. was about, and he found more and more that the whole situation was growing on him.
"'Freelancer, huh?" he asked as he worked. "You couldn't come up with a better name than that?"
"I'm afraid doing so was not at the top of my list of priorities," Dr Church said dryly. "The name is adequate to explain what we are and what we will be doing. That is all that was required."
He then realized why 'Alpha' was also appropriate, though he'd never admit it. "So it's up to me to decide how to run this project, huh?" That appealed to him.
"Within my parameters." The doctor raised his data-pad once again. "Your first assignment is to redesign our current ranking system. We currently have numerous operatives doing work in the field and it will be vital to our success to ensure that each mission is carried out by the ideal candidates."
This appealed to him even more. This was more than just busy work. It would be simple work for an A.I. but he could carry it out impartially, and more importantly, accurately. "There are going to be a lot of factors to account for. It might look kind of arbitrary to the operatives."
"What the operatives think about the ranking system is none of my concern. They will be expected to abide by it and respect it. Nothing more, nothing less."
"I didn't mean to imply I thought you would care." Within moments he already had a rudimentary system beginning to take shape and, as though by habit, his avatar nodded with satisfaction. Being incorporeal was not among the many things he was finding appealed to him about being an A.I., and it was easier for him to behave as though he had a physical form of any consequence.
Dissembling humanity didn't prevent him from noticing every nuance of Dr Church's body language, however. He was thinking of her now. The slight hunch to his shoulders, the bent of his head spoke volumes.
As far as Alpha was concerned, that was mission accomplished.
