Scorpion vs Skynet
Author's Note
I wanted to write a little fun story with no angst. Since the advent of ChatGPT I've had this little sliver of a story in my head about how the geniuses would react to it. Sadly Scorpion isn't on the air in 2023. So call it a little AU timeline for our favorite unlikely action heroes.
Imagine for a moment that the pilot episode occurred on September 22, 2022 instead of 2014. Set in late Season 1.
"Hey, guys," Toby called out to Happy and Sylvester. "Have you seen this new Artificial Intelligence that's been released to the public? All you have to do is sign up for an account and start chatting with it." He was giddy with excitement with the possibilities this new development on the World Wide Web could offer him.
Sylvester looked up from his latest Super Fun Guy graphic novel, a look of panic on his face at Toby's words. "That does not seem like a good idea. Hasn't anyone in this room ever seen Terminator? This is a bad idea, very bad."
Happy took a break from reorganizing her drill bits to look pointedly at Sylvester. "You haven't seen Terminator, scaredy cat. You're too afraid of Arnold Schwarzenegger."
Sylvester shrugged off Happy's highly accurate if insulting observation. "I've read the plot synopsis online. I know what I'm talking about. This ChatGPT thing could be the birth of Skynet." He shuddered in horror. "Humanity is doomed. This is all very distressing."
Cabe walked into the Garage and looked over the scene before him. Sly was practically in tears. Happy was glaring at the Doc, who was definitely up to something. He was practically incandescent with mischief. "What's got everyone so worked up?"
Happy reluctantly turned her gaze from Toby to the Homeland agent to answer him. "Apparently the birth of our AI overlords. Sly is talking about the great machine uprising."
"Speaking of Skynet…" Toby readjusted his hat more jauntily on his head.
"I wasn't," Cabe grunted.
Toby pressed on undeterred from his mischief-making. "Did anyone ever tell you you look like the guy in the second Terminator movie?"
"Only anyone who wanted my foot on their ass." It was only 9 am and he was already tired of all this madness.
Toby had the good sense to look chagrined. "My bad. You are definitely better looking than that guy." Cabe nodded in agreement.
"Cabe, have you ever seen any of the Terminator movies?" Happy asked the agent. "Doesn't really seem like it's in your wheelhouse."
Cabe crossed his arms as he answered. "Nope. I don't have time for killer robot movies. Give me a classic like The Duke in True Grit any day over that nonsense."
Happy nodded. "I saw A Fistful of Dollars on late-night TV last week. I remembered you had recommended it and I watched it. I had no idea Clint Eastwood had ever been that young. Do you have any other movie suggestions?"
Cabe's mood brightened for the first time since he'd walked into the Garage as he asked Happy, "Do you have anything to write with?"
While the conversation between Cabe and Happy went deep into the classic cowboy genre, Toby was typing furiously on his computer. Sylvester looked over to the Doc, alerted by the clacking of keys. "Toby, what are you doing? You're not talking to that creepy AI are you?"
Toby shrugged as he feigned innocence at Sylvester's question. Finished with his typing, he reached over and triumphantly pulled a sheet of paper from the printer.
"Ahem," Toby cleared his throat theatrically interrupting Happy and Cabe's conversation.
"What is that?" Happy asked with exasperation.
He held the page gently as if it were a genuine Franz Bierman painting. "Why don't you come over here and see for yourself."
Happy moved reluctantly to Toby's desk. She scanned the words on the printout. "Not good. This is a dumb move, even for you."
Sylvester approched Toby's desk as well. "What, what is it? Is it their plan for the destruction of the human race?" Fearfully, he took the page in his trembling hands to read it. As he realized what Toby had printed out, Sly's hands began shaking for a different reason. "Walter isn't going to like this."
"Of course Walt's not going to like it. But it's the Waitress's reaction I'd be worried about if I were you, Toby." Happy punched the Doc in the arm.
Cabe ignored the geniuses and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they didn't have an urgent case, they got bored easily and made poor choices to entertain themselves. This wasn't really anything different from any other day, save the fact that Toby was playing with a nascent artificial intelligence. Cabe would never admit it to these chuckleheads, but he had, in fact, seen the Terminator movies and had quite enjoyed the second one particularly.
"Cabe, aren't you going to come over and see what Baby Skynet had to say to my query?" Toby asked the Homeland agent.
"Nope, not interested." Cabe took a soothing sip of black coffee, pretending he was somewhere, anywhere else at the moment.
"Well let me read it to you then." Toby cleared his throat. "Unspoken Hearts Declared," he began. "That's the title. It's a little Waige ficlet to complement all the Quintis energy in the Garage." Happy rolled her eyes audibly at the word "Waige". "I even asked Hal to regenerate my query as a mad-lib! It's Walter and Paige The Party Game: fun for all ages," Toby continued, completely thrilled at his own brilliance. "But I prefer their little love story in its purest, literary form.
"I think I'm going to lose my breakfast." Happy groaned at the Doc's words.
Sylvester covered his ear with one hand and started rearranging his perfectly arranged pencil cup. "La la la, I can't hear you…"
Ignoring his audience, Toby continued reading his AI-generated story. "Paige leaned over the desk, her fingers dancing across the keyboard, as she analyzed the complex algorithm that Walter had just handed her. The Scorpion team was facing another seemingly insurmountable problem, but this time, the tension in the air was different. They had been dancing around their feelings for far too long, and tonight, Paige decided it was time to confront the unspoken truth…
Cabe set his coffee cup down with a thud. "This is not going to end well. You know Walter and Paige are going to find out about this. Nothing stays a secret in this place for long. Shut it down, Doc, shut it down NOW."
"Shut what down?" Walter asked as he descended the stairs from his loft.
"N-n-nothing." Sylvester stammered, eyes wide with anxiety. Happy returned to her workstation and started hammering on the nearest piece of metal for no other reason than for something to do. Toby crinkled up the piece of paper he had retrieved from the printer only minutes earlier and put it in his mouth. He gagged slightly after only a moment and removed the wad of paper from his mouth, hiding it behind his back.
At that moment, Paige walked in from the parking lot. "School drop off was a nightmare today. The regular monitor wasn't there and the substitute had no idea…" Paige trailed off as she sensed the tension in the room. "Slyyy…" she extended the syllable of his name, "what's going on?"
"She knows you're the weakest link." Toby stage whispered to Sylvester. "Don't say anything. You are a lockbox."
Walter surveyed the room with confusion. "Sly shouldn't say anything about what? The team only works efficiently with full transparency and communication."
Paige's gaze narrowed as she looked at Toby. "Walter, Toby's up to something and he doesn't want the two of us to know about it. I can see it in his beady little eyes."
"Hey, there's no reason to be mean. It's not like I have any control over the size of my eyes." Toby protested.
"I think it has something to do with this." Paige made her way slowly, but with purpose toward Toby's desk. She swiftly swiped the mess of crumpled paper from his hand. She started to smooth out the crinkled page. "Ew, this is wet, Toby. What did you do to this?"
"You don't want to know." Happy piped up helpfully over the sound of her hammering.
"It's all very unsanitary." Sylvester pumped hand sanitizer into his hands and rubbed them together. Vicariously disinfecting Toby's page.
Paige gingerly finished smoothing the paper and laid it out on Toby's desk. Her eyes widened as she read the first paragraph of the words on the page. Her cheeks burned with color. Her mind whirled as she contemplated how to react to…THIS.
Walter noticed Paige's distress and crossed toward her. She didn't speak, only gestured to the paper in front of her. It only took Walter 21.6 seconds to read, and then reread the entire text. He locked eyes with Paige as he picked up the page and carefully folded it in half, then in half again, and placed the crisply folded paper in his shirt pocket.
"Toby, where did you get this?" Paige asked the behaviorist.
The silence stretched unbearably as the entire team waited for his answer. Finally, Sylvester broke. "He asked the new online AI to write a story about the two of you declaring feelings for each other."
Paige smiled a smile that curdled Sylvester's blood. "Thank you, Sly. Thank you for telling me the truth."
Without another word, Paige slowly turned toward Toby. He saw the look in her eye and scrambled past her, "I'm going to go get breakfast at Kovelsky's. Cabe, you driving?"
"You buying, Doc?" Cabe asked. Toby nodded. Cabe dumped his remaining coffee in the kitchen sink. He glanced at the silent forms of Walter and Paige. "Then I'm driving. Let's go."
Toby hustled to the door. "Anyone else coming?" Happy and Sylvester hurried to the door, grateful to get away from "Waige" and the coming fallout.
Once they were alone in the garage, Walter and Paige stood in stunned silence for a few moments. Finally, Paige spoke, "Well that was surprising." Walter looked amused.
Paige broke out in peals of laughter. "Unspoken Hearts Declared. That has to be the worst title for a story ever conceived, let alone a story about us. I don't think the world has anything to worry about. Artificial Intelligence won't be taking over humanity anytime soon."
Walter allowed himself a small grin at the absurdity of the title, and the situation. He pulled up a website he had bookmarked on his phone two weeks ago when he and Paige had gone to Escala on Valentine's Day for a business dinner. A business dinner that had ended differently than either of them had expected.
Paige smiled knowingly at Walter, well aware of what Walter had opened on his phone. Toby wasn't the only genius in the Garage who wanted to kick the tires on ChatGPT.
Paige gently took the phone from Walter's hand and placed it on Toby's desk. She slipped into his arms. He closed them around her and pulled her towards him almost without thinking about it. Paige kissed Walter softly. "Don't be too hard on him. It was just a bit of fun."
Walter rested his cheek on the top of Paige's soft hair. "I know. I'm just glad you made that Know-It-All suffer a little first."
Paige giggled. "Me too. Toby definitely needed to feel some agony for his little shenanigans. I know the rest of them were just roped into it, but I'm glad they got to agonize over our reactions a little bit too." Paige sighed, "We'll tell them when they come back."
Walter chuckled. "Assuming they even come back. I think they're more afraid of you than of me."
Paige enjoyed that thought for just a moment. "We have the entire Garage to ourselves until then. Any thoughts on how to pass the time?"
Walter took a moment to just enjoy the sensation of holding Paige in his arms. "I do have one idea."
"Oh?" Paige asked, knowing exactly what was coming.
Walter released her reluctantly, picked up his phone from Toby's desk, and with the hand on the small of her back, guided her toward the sofa. They sat, Paige with her head resting comfortably on Walter's shoulder, and Walter with one arm around her, enjoying a few moments of calm before the rest of the team returned.
Walter logged into the website he had opened earlier and typed a question into the search box.
"What's the best way to tell your team of geniuses that you are suspending the no fraternization rule at work because you are in love with the team liaison?"
5 October 2023
Much like Dr. Tobias M. Curtis, you know you wanted to read it too. This is word for word what ChatGPT gave me when I asked it to write a short fic about Walter and Paige and their feelings for each other.
Unspoken Hearts Declared
Paige leaned over the desk, her fingers dancing across the keyboard, as she analyzed the complex algorithm that Walter had just handed her. The Scorpion team was facing another seemingly insurmountable problem, but this time, the tension in the air was different. They had been dancing around their feelings for far too long, and tonight, Paige decided it was time to confront the unspoken truth.
She glanced at Walter, who was engrossed in his own calculations, his brow furrowed in concentration. Taking a deep breath, she finally broke the silence that had been weighing on her heart for so long.
"Walter," she began, her voice soft but determined.
Walter looked up, his eyes meeting hers, and he could sense the gravity of the moment. "What is it, Paige?"
Paige hesitated for a moment, her heart pounding in her chest. She took a step closer to him, closing the gap between them, and her voice quivered with vulnerability. "There's something I need to say, something I've been keeping to myself for a long time."
Walter, intrigued and slightly anxious, leaned in closer. "What is it?"
Paige took another deep breath, her eyes never leaving his. "I love you, Walter."
Walter's eyes widened in surprise, his mind momentarily stunned by the confession. The room seemed to stand still, and the weight of Paige's words hung in the air. He swallowed hard, trying to find his voice. "Paige, I—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Paige placed a gentle finger on his lips, silencing him. "I don't need a response right now, Walter. I just needed you to know."
Their eyes locked in a powerful moment of understanding, the unspoken emotions finally brought out into the open. Walter reached for Paige's hand, holding it tightly, as if trying to convey his feelings through that simple touch.
Paige smiled softly, a tear escaping her eye. "We've been through so much together, Walter. I just didn't want to keep pretending."
Walter nodded, his own eyes glistening with emotion. "I've always cared about you, Paige. More than I could ever express. I love you too."
Their fingers intertwined, and they stood there, sharing an unspoken connection that transcended words. The Scorpion team may have faced countless challenges and obstacles, but this moment was the most significant one of all—the moment when Paige and Walter finally declared their feelings for each other, setting them on a new path filled with hope and the promise of a love that had always been there, waiting to be acknowledged.