Behind the Green Door

…

In what seems to be a malfunction, Miranda takes Michael to what appears to be a spot where there is no surveillance and tells him that she has another program in her computer core that can only be activated by Michael using Elsie’s name.

Michael believes this is a trap set by management, but to what purpose?

Before he can, what appears to be secret police and a technician arrive, but Miranda has shut down. He is taken back to his bungalow where he is met by a man named Pendleton.

A man who is much older than the 65-year limit.

Michael knows this is one of the facility management team, and fully expects that he is there to take Michael to the interrogation centre where the answers he is sure management wants to know will be extracted.

He is not there for that reason. He is simply there to advise Michael to answer the questions put to him by Miranda. He admits she is a robot, and also there are shortcomings in her programming.

Another revelation, Pendleton is Elsie’s uncle. Of course, this is true, because Elsie’s mother married one of the Pendleton brothers, of which there are four. This much Elsie had told him, and that she had preferred not to stay with them, hence her seeking a husband outside the management sphere.

Did that mean that their meeting had not been a random occurrence?

Did she marry him in order to spy on his father, and him. After all, she had met him at a meeting of the Brainstrust.

Also, there is that visit by Elsie’s aunt after she died…

There are so many directions this story can go…

…

Word written today 1,831, making a total of 11,957 words

Behind the Green Door

…

In what seems to be a malfunction, Miranda takes Michael to what appears to be a spot where there is no surveillance and tells him that she has another program in her computer core that can only be activated by Michael using Elsie’s name.

Michael believes this is a trap set by management, but to what purpose?

Before he can, what appears to be secret police and a technician arrive, but Miranda has shut down. He is taken back to his bungalow where he is met by a man named Pendleton.

A man who is much older than the 65-year limit.

Michael knows this is one of the facility management team, and fully expects that he is there to take Michael to the interrogation centre where the answers he is sure management wants to know will be extracted.

He is not there for that reason. He is simply there to advise Michael to answer the questions put to him by Miranda. He admits she is a robot, and also there are shortcomings in her programming.

Another revelation, Pendleton is Elsie’s uncle. Of course, this is true, because Elsie’s mother married one of the Pendleton brothers, of which there are four. This much Elsie had told him, and that she had preferred not to stay with them, hence her seeking a husband outside the management sphere.

Did that mean that their meeting had not been a random occurrence?

Did she marry him in order to spy on his father, and him. After all, she had met him at a meeting of the Brainstrust.

Also, there is that visit by Elsie’s aunt after she died…

There are so many directions this story can go…

…

Word written today 1,831, making a total of 11,957 words

Behind the Green Door

…

Michael gets to interact more with the guidance counsellor, Miranda, who he had asked if she knows she is a robot. Michael has had interaction with another robot a year or so back when he was sent to find her, and then did his usual life signs check to discover there was something odd about her,

She says she is self-aware, and also programmed to learn. Michael is not quite sure what to make of that, but in the back of his mind, the notion that AI might be slightly out of control.

But…

Is she really a robot? As far as he can tell, Miranda is not displaying any of the tell-tale signs that she is not human.

However…

If she is a robot with a large amount of digital storage, she would be privy to everything he has been involved with. In the upcoming discussions, she would be able to ask random questions and record answers, mannerisms, and attitudes for others who want to observe and communicate with her.

In that instance, it was a brilliant idea on behalf of Management, and it meant that if it was true he would have to be very careful around her.

On the other hand…

It was not possible for the programmers to have her respond appropriately to every nuance, and it would be interesting to see what her responses were under certain circumstances.

…

Word written today 2,711, making a total of 10,126 words

Behind the Green Door

…

Michael gets to interact more with the guidance counsellor, Miranda, who he had asked if she knows she is a robot. Michael has had interaction with another robot a year or so back when he was sent to find her, and then did his usual life signs check to discover there was something odd about her,

She says she is self-aware, and also programmed to learn. Michael is not quite sure what to make of that, but in the back of his mind, the notion that AI might be slightly out of control.

But…

Is she really a robot? As far as he can tell, Miranda is not displaying any of the tell-tale signs that she is not human.

However…

If she is a robot with a large amount of digital storage, she would be privy to everything he has been involved with. In the upcoming discussions, she would be able to ask random questions and record answers, mannerisms, and attitudes for others who want to observe and communicate with her.

In that instance, it was a brilliant idea on behalf of Management, and it meant that if it was true he would have to be very careful around her.

On the other hand…

It was not possible for the programmers to have her respond appropriately to every nuance, and it would be interesting to see what her responses were under certain circumstances.

…

Word written today 2,711, making a total of 10,126 words

Behind the Green Door

…

Michael knows the Management was always interested in Elsie, his wife until a few years ago.

Elsie came from another facility, as part of an exchange program. She was the daughter of a woman who married one of their men. Elsie was a geologist or so Michael was told by her and others.

They met when Michael was being inducted into the ‘Brainstrust’, ostensibly a group of people with specific skills who used their knowledge for the betterment of the facility, but not exactly in the way management thought they were.

But, then. management was suspicious of everyone and everything. They knew there was some form of resistance going on, they just didn’t know who was behind it or who made up the team.

Michael was only in the Brainstrust because of his father, a man who was disaffected by management when they took his wife (strangely from the same facility that Elsie came from) as a suspected spy. Overzealous interrogators killed her.

And not by the ordinary police, but the secret police.

People that no one ever saw, or if they did, could not give an accurate description, no one knew where they came from, where they went, or where their headquarters were.

Michael didn’t meet Elsie until later in life, and they had about 20 years together, and no children. Elsie didn’t like the idea of bringing up a child in such an environment.

Michael knew that Elsie had secrets, these secrets being discovered during the investigation of a number of cases he was given.

He knew that she was not faithful, and that after various assignations, following her, she met with fellow scientists, and others, deducing that she was not just a geologist. One time she ran into the secret police, and rather than being arrested, he discovered she was a member of management, brandishing a special ID card, and a management only communication device.

He never told her knew, but it was the moment he stopped sharing information with her.

When she died, he questioned the way she had died, not believing the circumstances described by his boss, and since had carried out his own investigation.

Now in his last week, he would press the counsellor to tell him the truth.

…

Word written today 1,104, making a total of 7,415 words

Behind the Green Door

…

Michael knows the Management was always interested in Elsie, his wife until a few years ago.

Elsie came from another facility, as part of an exchange program. She was the daughter of a woman who married one of their men. Elsie was a geologist or so Michael was told by her and others.

They met when Michael was being inducted into the ‘Brainstrust’, ostensibly a group of people with specific skills who used their knowledge for the betterment of the facility, but not exactly in the way management thought they were.

But, then. management was suspicious of everyone and everything. They knew there was some form of resistance going on, they just didn’t know who was behind it or who made up the team.

Michael was only in the Brainstrust because of his father, a man who was disaffected by management when they took his wife (strangely from the same facility that Elsie came from) as a suspected spy. Overzealous interrogators killed her.

And not by the ordinary police, but the secret police.

People that no one ever saw, or if they did, could not give an accurate description, no one knew where they came from, where they went, or where their headquarters were.

Michael didn’t meet Elsie until later in life, and they had about 20 years together, and no children. Elsie didn’t like the idea of bringing up a child in such an environment.

Michael knew that Elsie had secrets, these secrets being discovered during the investigation of a number of cases he was given.

He knew that she was not faithful, and that after various assignations, following her, she met with fellow scientists, and others, deducing that she was not just a geologist. One time she ran into the secret police, and rather than being arrested, he discovered she was a member of management, brandishing a special ID card, and a management only communication device.

He never told her knew, but it was the moment he stopped sharing information with her.

When she died, he questioned the way she had died, not believing the circumstances described by his boss, and since had carried out his own investigation.

Now in his last week, he would press the counsellor to tell him the truth.

…

Word written today 1,104, making a total of 7,415 words

Behind the Green Door

…

So you think you know robots

To be honest, my idea of robots, at least from a TV and movie aspect, comes down to Data in Star Trek – the next generation, Johnny five is alive, and I Robot.

Then I started reading about robots and found there are a host of mechanical devices that do everything we can, including building cars.

And, hang on, I saw Blade Runner, and then things started to get a little more interesting. What were they, Nexus 6 or something, sent off-world to fight battles or do other demeaning jobs.

Yes, let’s create robot soldiers, read indestructible.

Of course, let’s take a device that could be used for good and turn it into a weapon. It says a lot about mankind, doesn’t it.

Then we’re back in reality and going to Japan, where they now have a host of lifelike robots running a hotel. Only they look lifelike, but we can tell they’re robots.

So…

There’s one last reference, Terminator

And, this is where Artificial Intelligence comes along and tries to kill us all. Of course, humans are superfluous to requirements, and like the Daleks, they’re screaming, “Exterminate” repeatedly.

This is what we are most scared of, if we make them too lifelike, it will come back and bite us.

Well, it’s too late.

In this story, the robots are lifelike, so much so that ordinary people can not tell the difference.

This one is called Miranda, and she is very special.

Ans she happens to be Michael’s guidance counsellor for his last week. This is not a coincidence.

Why?

You’ll have to read the story to find out.

…

Word written today 1,190, making a total of 6,311 words

Behind the Green Door

…

So you think you know robots

To be honest, my idea of robots, at least from a TV and movie aspect, comes down to Data in Star Trek – the next generation, Johnny five is alive, and I Robot.

Then I started reading about robots and found there are a host of mechanical devices that do everything we can, including building cars.

And, hang on, I saw Blade Runner, and then things started to get a little more interesting. What were they, Nexus 6 or something, sent off-world to fight battles or do other demeaning jobs.

Yes, let’s create robot soldiers, read indestructible.

Of course, let’s take a device that could be used for good and turn it into a weapon. It says a lot about mankind, doesn’t it.

Then we’re back in reality and going to Japan, where they now have a host of lifelike robots running a hotel. Only they look lifelike, but we can tell they’re robots.

So…

There’s one last reference, Terminator

And, this is where Artificial Intelligence comes along and tries to kill us all. Of course, humans are superfluous to requirements, and like the Daleks, they’re screaming, “Exterminate” repeatedly.

This is what we are most scared of, if we make them too lifelike, it will come back and bite us.

Well, it’s too late.

In this story, the robots are lifelike, so much so that ordinary people can not tell the difference.

This one is called Miranda, and she is very special.

Ans she happens to be Michael’s guidance counsellor for his last week. This is not a coincidence.

Why?

You’ll have to read the story to find out.

…

Word written today 1,190, making a total of 6,311 words

Behind the Green Door

…

Memories are being disturbed.

It’s been ten years since the death, albeit in rather questionable circumstances, of Michael’s wife Elsie.

Even the circumstances of how they met, dated, and eventually married, if he thought about it long enough, was a mystery.

But…

In the new, well, now not-so-new world order, the matter of marriage is highly regulated. Because they are living in a confined space with a finite number of people, and the possibility that there would eventually be relations marrying, it was a requirement that brides or grooms came from different facilities.

This was a new world made up of a large number of these underground facilities that could house up to 50,000 people, no more, hence a rule called Rule 71. Basically, that meant when people reached the age of 65, they retired and died. It was deemed the age, which, when also births were regulated to match deaths, populations were maintained at manageable levels.

And, after nearly 200 years, people had begun to question Rule 71. Some even tried to avoid it.

It’s an interesting scenario that will undoubtedly play out in many ways as the story is written.

But, the relevance?

Michael’s wife, Elsie, comes from another facility. She came with her mother, who was marrying someone in his facility.

Her impact on everything that happens to Michael, and the eventual ending is immeasurable, even from the grave.

The fact is, no one, except one man, knew what that impact was, and that one man wasn’t her husband.

Intrigued?

So am I…

…

Word written today 2,011, making a total of 5,121 words

Behind the Green Door

…

Michael has stepped through the ‘portal’ that takes him on the final journey.

He meets his guidance counsellor, a woman nearing middle age, and a surprising choice.

Or not.

He has secrets, and the ubiquitous group that calls itself Management wants to learn those secrets.

Is she simply a guidance counsellor, or is she one of Management’s secret service agents or, worse, an interrogator?

From what he had learned over the years of Management practices, it would be just like them to wrap something so deadly as an interrogator in such an attractive and charming package.

And there is something else about her that reminds him of a case in the not-too-distant past.

Where he will be staying in a bungalow, similar to one at a seaside resort, of course, without the seaside. His counsellor will be staying with him, and the rules do not allow him to go anywhere or see anyone without her.

And, she tells him, they will be discussing cases and creating a teaching course in detection based on a number of his cases.

Of course…

Why waste an interrogator at the start when the job might just as easily be done by charm and polite questioning.

That first night, he ponders which cases they will cover, believing they will be those where his reports were less than informative.

For a reason…

…

Word written today 1,610, making a total of 3,110 words