Android Paradox (6 page)

The Council laughed.
 

“X, you’re being silly,” the councilman from North America said.
 

“I am not kidding, sir. He was smoking marijuana even though it would not have given him any benefit. Also, he had killed the family of the home and left their bodies on the floor of the bedroom.”

The Council groaned again.
 

“He was also talking nonsense. I could not follow his logic; his words were irrational, and he kept talking about an Android Winter. I tried to reason with him, but he was irreparable. I had no choice but to terminate him. I recovered his black box and gave it to Shortcut.”

Shortcut cleared his throat. “Yeah, um, I entered the black box’s virtual environment and tried to recover Brockway’s diagnostic codes to figure out why he went rogue, but I discovered some sort of security mechanism. I couldn’t get past the firewall.”

“Why?” Fahrens asked. “UEA programmers designed the firewall. You have full access to all the UEA virtual systems.”

“Someone changed it. I couldn’t crack the code. The moment I tried, there was a digital explosion and I saw a logo of a burning condor on the door.”

“Is it safe to return there?” Fahrens asked.

“I think so, sir. The logo was only meant to be a warning.”

“Go in, and broadcast what you see.”

Shortcut pulled the black box from his pocket and connected to it. He created a digital screen in front of the Council and then beamed himself into the box, giving everyone first-person footage as he trekked through the virtual environment and came to the door. The condor was still there, burning brightly.
 

“Brielle,” the councilwoman from Europe said, “Note the door and create a separate record of it in the national security database.”

Brielle’s eyes flashed green in acceptance of the command.
 

Shortcut left the black box and turned off the screen as the Council murmured among itself.
 

“Could it be a hacker?” Fahrens asked.
 

“If it is,” Shortcut said, “there may be other androids in the city who will go rogue.”

“History lesson,” the councilman from Asia said condescendingly. “Androids are hack-proof. We went through this in the singularity, and androids today have more advanced technology. Logic! Reason! That being said, a virus is not improbable, but there is no way that a Crenshaw android could have been hacked. This is clearly an isolated incident and I do not believe we should be concerned.”

“I agree,” said the councilwoman from Europe. “I see no reason to believe that there will be a copycat.”

“In any case, this is going to go public soon,” the councilman from North America said. “I just came back from comforting the families of the victims that Brockway killed. This can’t happen again. Fahrens, can you decode the black box by tomorrow? I’d like to know what we’re dealing with by then. The media will want answers.”

“Yes, sir,” Fahrens said. “We’ll have our engineers get to work right away.”

“You both did excellent work,” the councilman from North America said. “You are dismissed.”

X, Shortcut, and Fahrens left the room. They were halfway down the escalator when Shortcut sighed.

“Man, that was brutal.”

“You both did well,” Fahrens said. “The Council was impressed.”

Shortcut patted X on the back. “I was just the backup. X was the one who got to see the action.”

“As long as you carry out your missions as directed,” Fahrens said, “you’ll get no objections from the Council. They’re concerned about the black box.”

“Do you think they’ll be able to hack into it?” Shortcut asked. “I would have tried again, but I didn’t have my tools with me.”

Fahrens nodded. “I have every confidence that we’ll have it cracked by the end of the night. We’ll call Dr. Brockway—he designed it, so he should be able to give us invaluable help. Good work, gentlemen, and good night.”

The escalator brought them into a huge atrium, and Fahrens left them among a landscape of trees, flowers, and butterflies. A creek zigzagged through the space, and elegant wooden bridges crossed over it. Birds occasionally flew overhead, circling between the trees. The air smelled of roses and green grass, and the fragrance of a nearby blackberry bush was so strong they could taste it. Androids and humans sat on benches scattered throughout the atrium, reading and talking and relaxing among the wildlife. Squirrels and chipmunks scurried up trees. A calico-colored school of fish fed in a pond near the escalator. Above, a glass ceiling showed the night sky full of stars.
 

“Time to get some rest,” Shortcut said.
 

“Night, Shortcut,” X said, patting Shortcut on the shoulder. “Maybe you’ll see some action next time.”

Shortcut rolled his eyes. “Yeah, no. I like being backup.”
 

As X walked away, Shortcut saw Fahrens crossing a bridge and started toward him. “Sir, wait!”

Fahrens turned around. “Yes?”

“I wanted to talk to you about that promotion.” Shortcut said, falling into step next to him.

“You mean your rejection.”

“Yes, sir.”

Fahrens continued walking, touching the flowers with the back of his hand as he passed. “Did you know that many of the plants here were previously extinct specimens? Until recently, most humans didn’t know or care that plants could go extinct.” He stopped at a bright purple orchid and caressed it gently. “Take this orchid. It’s called dragon’s mouth. It was considered extinct in the year 2025. No one could find one except in laboratories. And when we faced the singularity, preserving nature was the last of our concerns. Yet, after humanity recovered, the UEA made wonderful efforts to secure seeds from an underground facility long forgotten. Now the flower flourishes again, given a new life by our hand. Reincarnated, just like much of the wildlife in this atrium. A modern marvel of human civilization, Mr. Aaronheart.”

“Why are you telling me this, sir?”

Fahrens let the orchid go. “My lesson is already lost on you. What do you want to know about the job, Mr. Aaronheart?”

“Well, it’s just that … I feel I deserved it. I’ve proven myself for the last three years. I’m totally loyal to the UEA. I had the best scores last year on the hacking examination. I—”

“You start every sentence with I. It’s annoying.”

“Sorry, sir. I—I mean, it’s not fair.”

“Do you know why I hired James Crandall instead of you, Mr. Aaronheart?”

“Crandall,” Shortcut growled. “That no-good hacking wannabe? All he does is sit around and watch cat videos!”

“Do you know why I hired him?”

“Let me guess: he’s more involved in extracurricular activities. That’s not a real indicator of talent.”

“No. Guess again.”

“He knows someone in the UEA. No, wait—he has connections. An uncle? A grandfather who died and left a special request in his will?”

“No,” Fahrens said, folding his arms. “Final chance. And I’m getting agitated now.”

“I don’t know, then, sir.”

“Crandall didn’t have the audacity to flag me down after hours, after a successful mission in which the Council praised his innate ability. He didn’t presume that he was the best engineer in the UEA, he didn’t badmouth a colleague who has done nothing to date to warrant such verbal abuse, and finally, he didn’t pester his superior who was being generous by giving him three clear chances to back down from his offensive line of questioning.” Fahrens handed him a tulip. “Life happens. We don’t always get what we want. Get over it.”

Shortcut stuttered in shock, trying to find the words to respond.
 

“The next time you’re feeling slighted, think about the flowers here. Life wasn’t fair to them, either.”
 

“I don’t get it. What do flowers have to do with my job application?”

“Enjoy your night, Mr. Aaronheart.”

Fahrens put his hands behind his back and strode through a patch of bamboo.
 

Shortcut studied the blue tulip that Fahrens had given him, feeling its smooth, green stem between his fingers. Its cloying fragrance caught in his mouth.
 

“So much for that.”

He walked through the atrium, his mind racing.

It’s not fair. What do I have to do to get promoted?

He would have to work harder, smarter, and even then it wouldn’t be a guarantee. He cycled through the words that Fahrens had said: audacity, presume, life happens.
 

No, life wasn’t just supposed to happen. Not in the year 2300. Maybe that was true in the early days of humanity, when the secrets to life hadn’t been figured out yet. But what secrets were left to discover in an era when most of the world’s problems had been solved?
 

The world had bonded after the robot wars. Countries renounced their governments and a world government was born. It created an economy where anyone, no matter who they were or where they were from, could pursue their dreams. All sorts of new businesses popped up. Every career became a viable way to make an honest living. All of this, and he still couldn’t get a promotion.
 

“I’m going to get so good they’ll have no choice but to promote me next time,” Shortcut said. He activated his lens and scanned lines of android code as he walked. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Fahrens had said. He couldn’t concentrate, so he switched over to the audio network and started listening to heavy metal, bobbing his head as he walked.
 

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Brielle smiling at him. He switched the music off and blushed.

“Hey, Brielle.”
 

“The Council told me they were impressed with you.”

“Ha. Impressed seems to be the word of the day. If only they treated me like it.”

“I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t get the job.”

Shortcut rubbed his head. “It’s okay. Hey. I found this.” He gave her the blue tulip.
 

Brielle’s eyes changed from brown to red as she scanned the flower. “It’s a—”

“Tulip,” Shortcut said, pretending to know what he was talking about. “Did you know it was extinct for a long time before the UEA replanted it?”

“Yes.”

“Well … there’s little you don’t know, huh?”

“It is in the UEA database. I knew everything about it the moment I observed it. Sorry. I know that’s unnerving for humans.”

“It’s okay. You can keep it.” He took the flower and put it in her hair, tucking it just behind her ear. “That looks really nice.”

Brielle took the flower out and laughed. “Tulips aren’t meant to be worn in one’s hair.”

“Why not? Did you know that people used to wear flowers in their hair? They used to go to meadows, pick whatever was there, and adorn their hair with it.”

“Why?”

“Dunno. Guess it helped them be one with nature. They didn’t have lenses or androids back then. They didn’t even have cars. Life was simpler then.”

“You’re always citing natural history when you’re around me.”

Shortcut blushed. “I guess you remind me of it, that’s all. Isn’t it nice to talk about beautiful things?”

Brielle looked at him unflinchingly until he turned away. She laughed. “I just wanted to tell you not to worry so much about getting promoted. It’ll happen when it’s meant to happen. Isn’t that the human saying?”

“Yeah. But I’ve got a point to prove.”

“Who are you trying to impress, Shortcut?”

“Someone who never believed in me.”

She touched his shoulder. “You’ll get where you need to be.” She put the flower back in her hair, smiled, and walked down a long corridor to the android quarters.
 

He watched her disappear down the corridor and sighed. His heart beat quickly, and he felt warm. “She’s so beautiful.”

He loved her even though she was an android. He had been there when she was created, back when he was an engineering student, and he had watched as the android engineers programmed her consciousness, watched as she opened her eyes for the first time.
 

She was a state-of-the-art UEA android with all the accoutrements of a real human, modeled after the classic Crenshaw androids like X. She was an experimental android, and a critical success. She was based on the mind and personality of a woman who had agreed to donate her brain to science after death. No one knew who the original woman was—privacy laws—but Shortcut knew that her soul had to have been beautiful. He wondered if the woman was still alive in some way, and if she was aware of her evolution.
 

Other androids had emotions but could never love. Brielle had a human mind. Shortcut wondered if she was capable of love. He had to know; he had to try to show her how he felt, to see if some human part of her deep down would respond.

He pulled up his digital screen and dictated: “Encounter in the gardens. Talked about the mission. Her hair was so beautiful with the tulip in it. She touched me on the shoulder.”

He filed the log away with all the other encounters of Brielle and stared down the corridor, pursing his lips confidently. Then he took the escalator to the human quarters, coding as he walked.
 

Chapter 6

X spent the night in the UEA library scouring the digital archives for any mention of Android Winter.
 

The library was a sprawling room with a domed glass ceiling that revealed the night sky above. Even though all books were digital, the UEA believed in the power of places of learning, and they had created this library for the agents. Each of the library’s three floors had tables and cubicles for study, and wood scents funneled in through vents in the floor to enhance the studying experience. Human engineers often came to find a quiet place to study. Androids sometimes came to find a place to be alone.
 

X set up in a shady cove on the third floor, under the sky. He sat in a white pod with a digital screen hanging in front of the seat and activated his memory of the encounter with Brockway. He watched at ten times speed and analyzed every word the rogue android said, looking for patterns.