9
"Excuse me"
Ianto turned to find a pretty little woman behind him, her petite barely 5ft frame holding her nicely as she smiled up at him, a lanyard around her neck had a visitor's pass on it "My, you are tall."
"A habit I am afraid, I do try to be smaller but… habits are a terrible thing" he said, and her eyes widened for a moment at the rare Welsh accent and then she giggled softly. He took pity, seeing the reporter's badge and knowing she was a bit lost "How may I assist you?"
"Well… I was wondering where the word Sim comes from actually."
"Ah. Come sit, we can talk without straining either of our necks" he motioned, and she followed him into a side room with a Sim standing inside looking at a screen. The Sim instantly reacted by rushing to his side. "Ah. Artimus. Can we get some sodas and…. You look like a cream cake kinda girl when no one is looking? A cream puff or three."
The Sim bowed and rushed off.
"My. Attentive." She said as she accepted a chair and was pleased to find that Ianto chose a lower one, so they were almost eye level.
"He is one of the new models, better problem-solving skills" he smiled "Now. Sim. As in Simulation or Simulator. You see, the first, early Androids, Droids were simply factory machines. Labour intensive and boring as hell. The humans that had to work in heavily Droid field areas were depressed and morose. My Grandfather, Doctor Loyd and Mister Harkness created this company. The idea was to create some minor … personality you might say. Simulators were used to recreate human emotion, characteristics, and mannerisms. It was all recorded from many staff to find common motions and such and downloaded to the memory banks and with trial and error they created a brain."
"Wait… you are one of the oh my god. You are the Grandson of Doctor Loyd?"
"Yes. I am Doctor Jones. My mother Jennifer Loyd married her lab partner Ifan Jones." Ianto waved a hand to dismiss the unimportant stuff "You see… over time the simulation become more real, easier to recreate and then the mind became good enough to mimic on it's own. These are learning devices; you show it a trick… it will repeat it flawlessly each time. Show it a joke, it will understand that the punchline involves timing. They learn, adapt and in a dangerous situation, will have it's unique processes to act with. A child about to be hit by a car. One Sim might run and snatch back the child, another moth simply throw itself at the car and sacrifice itself to stop the vehicle in time. But it will act. A couple or more, might run to cradle the child, form a cage together to take the impact… they are learning and in that sense each one is slightly different. You do get attached to personal companions because of this."
"I always wondered… the Medical ones…."
"Ah. Yes. The females resemble my mother. Her face was used as the base. Only their hair differs according to preference. Mama was a pretty natural platinum blonde. My niece has inherited her hair and is going to be a heart stopper." He grinned widely.
"Are they all modelled on someone?"
"No. We try to make them as bland and … nonspecific as we can as we are serious about the 'no human recreated' thing" he wagged a finger at her "But some of the staff did volunteer to have casts of their faces made to be tweaked and made into Sim faces. Sort of like… signing your work I guess."
"How long have you worked for the company?"
"Well, my Grandfather started me here when I was… sixteen? Due to my advanced IQ I sped through university and was bored with it all. Here… I was allowed to let my freak flag fly and just… live. By the time my Grandfather died… leaving it all to me… I was already in charge of most of the day-to-day stuff in the processing area. Jack one the other hand, he is magnificent at negotiations and dealing with the money side, the paperwork and boring shmoozing. I am not one to shmooze. As you saw me trying to escape. So introverted and antisocial I should have been a cat really… maybe in a previous life I was" Ianto settled back and grinned as the door opened and tow Sims entered, placing the food and drink down. A small model resembling a little girl hesitated around the door. A school companion model for those with special needs.
"Father?"
"Hannah?"
"May I go down to play with the doggie?"
"Yes, remember to sign off so another can take your place serving sweetie"
The Sim lit up, taking off as the woman watched with interest "she…"
"Yes. We are trialing an emotion chip. My Mother was one of those that began that, I finished it. We are not adding anger or fear, but joy, excitement and even a childlike playfulness is able to be imputed to a degree. My niece and nephew are the ones who helped create the Child Minder Sims in the classroom for those kids who are scared and need a special friend. Of course, for every one that is purchased by those who can afford it, we place another free of charge in the low-level schools to ensure those kids get a chance too. Those taught how to deal with special needs are needed by every school."
"I did not know you did that."
"Yes. Every Sim purchased by someone with the money to do so has a twin, placed free of charge in nursing homes, retirement villages, schools… anywhere they are needed but out of the price range of the average person." Ianto nodded.
And the Harness brand moved up in the popularity stakes.
Ianto was making sales as he spoke, without thinking about the return of this interview was generating. He was a natural salesman.
He did not eat the cream puff, sliding it over to her with a wink before he left.
Lovely man.