Behind the Green Door

…

We discover just how much Michael knows about the world he lives in from the cases he has been assigned. He thinks that management wanting to know what he knows is a waste of time since in a few days he will no longer exist.

He wonders why they gave him the cases they did, if they were worried about what he might find out, considering they knew he was their best investigator.

Alternatively, he begins to realise that some of the cases he had been given were simply because he would find out what happened, and report it back, which in the beginning he did, until he realised that those people were disappearing.

That’s where he realised that those who made trouble for management were best removed. There were no jails, the punishment was removal. He later discovers that there is a specific cleaning squad attached to janitorial services.

And then, in the current circumstances, there were still perpetrators they would want to punish, but he was not going to let them. Up till now, management was still a bunch of invisible people he had glimpsed but never really seen, except for Elsie whom he never told he knew. Oh, and a man named Pemberton, who doesn’t really say who he is, but he is elderly, so by inference, Michael realises Rule 71 doesn’t apply to them.

But he knows if he holds out, management will eventually come, taking him to interrogation, and that last few days would take on a whole new meaning.

…

Word written today 2,337, making a total of 30,243 words

Behind the Green Door

…

We discover just how much Michael knows about the world he lives in from the cases he has been assigned. He thinks that management wanting to know what he knows is a waste of time since in a few days he will no longer exist.

He wonders why they gave him the cases they did, if they were worried about what he might find out, considering they knew he was their best investigator.

Alternatively, he begins to realise that some of the cases he had been given were simply because he would find out what happened, and report it back, which in the beginning he did, until he realised that those people were disappearing.

That’s where he realised that those who made trouble for management were best removed. There were no jails, the punishment was removal. He later discovers that there is a specific cleaning squad attached to janitorial services.

And then, in the current circumstances, there were still perpetrators they would want to punish, but he was not going to let them. Up till now, management was still a bunch of invisible people he had glimpsed but never really seen, except for Elsie whom he never told he knew. Oh, and a man named Pemberton, who doesn’t really say who he is, but he is elderly, so by inference, Michael realises Rule 71 doesn’t apply to them.

But he knows if he holds out, management will eventually come, taking him to interrogation, and that last few days would take on a whole new meaning.

…

Word written today 2,337, making a total of 30,243 words

Behind the Green Door

…

Why do people build robots?

We’ve discussed this, but it is coming back to haunt me. Perhaps it’s a place where I should not go because when I think about it, and the fact humans have a terrible streak in them, that a seemingly wonderful idea will without any doubt be turned into something devious or murderous.

The first that comes to mind – taking into account Blade Runner, sex workers and soldiers. Lets save the human versions from a fate worse than death. i guess if you don’t give them the ability to think for themselves and simply program their responses, it might be an idea.

But should we not give them the right to be a sentient being?

In my utopian world, as some might call it, I would like to think that in 200 years, we will have become better people. The problem is, the creator of this new, amazing, lifeform realised that her work was going to be manipulated into something more horrific.

That might have hastened her demise, and then more or less a certainty when she did what she did. Miranda is all that survives from her work, other than several earlier prototypes, and there is no means of replicating her.

Yes, management was looking at prolonging their lives if not forever, much like the Asguard on Stargate. As I said, I’m using bits and pieces of a great many Sci-Fi shows over the years as a guide.

The problem is, even if they could, not all of their soul could be transferred (Miranda only has some of Elsie’s personality, memories of Michael, and traits in her), and Miranda has a specific timeline and will grow old and die like a normal human being. After all, she is mostly real.

Michael is beginning to think there might be some of Elsie in Miranda, and the more they talk, the closer they seem to get. Sometimes the lines between them get blurry, and he has to think twice before he makes a mistake.

…

Word written today 2,112, making a total of 27,906 words

Behind the Green Door

…

Why do people build robots?

We’ve discussed this, but it is coming back to haunt me. Perhaps it’s a place where I should not go because when I think about it, and the fact humans have a terrible streak in them, that a seemingly wonderful idea will without any doubt be turned into something devious or murderous.

The first that comes to mind – taking into account Blade Runner, sex workers and soldiers. Lets save the human versions from a fate worse than death. i guess if you don’t give them the ability to think for themselves and simply program their responses, it might be an idea.

But should we not give them the right to be a sentient being?

In my utopian world, as some might call it, I would like to think that in 200 years, we will have become better people. The problem is, the creator of this new, amazing, lifeform realised that her work was going to be manipulated into something more horrific.

That might have hastened her demise, and then more or less a certainty when she did what she did. Miranda is all that survives from her work, other than several earlier prototypes, and there is no means of replicating her.

Yes, management was looking at prolonging their lives if not forever, much like the Asguard on Stargate. As I said, I’m using bits and pieces of a great many Sci-Fi shows over the years as a guide.

The problem is, even if they could, not all of their soul could be transferred (Miranda only has some of Elsie’s personality, memories of Michael, and traits in her), and Miranda has a specific timeline and will grow old and die like a normal human being. After all, she is mostly real.

Michael is beginning to think there might be some of Elsie in Miranda, and the more they talk, the closer they seem to get. Sometimes the lines between them get blurry, and he has to think twice before he makes a mistake.

…

Word written today 2,112, making a total of 27,906 words

Behind the Green Door

…

The question is, why would management be interested in what Michael knows but hasn’t been telling anyone?

How does management know, or think it knows that Michael knows more than he reports?

Firstly, the whole city or facility is covered by surveillance cameras. Covered by surveillance cameras but not necessarily at the same time.

Large facilities, and finite power resources, which means that parts of the city are not covered from time to time.

It also means there is a surveillance headquarters where people are watching all the time. Michael knows this from oblique references to his movements by his boss, but it is not hard to spot where the cameras are.

This is evident when he receives a surveillance tape.

Miranda also knows where all the surveillance is in the debriefing area, and whether they are on or offline. It is, as Michael suspected in the bungalows. He also suspects that if Miranda is a robot, she is a surveillance device having conversations with her handlers during their interviews.

He still does not tell her anything, and the dance continues.

…

Word written today 2,249, making a total of 25,794 words

Behind the Green Door

…

The question is, why would management be interested in what Michael knows but hasn’t been telling anyone?

How does management know, or think it knows that Michael knows more than he reports?

Firstly, the whole city or facility is covered by surveillance cameras. Covered by surveillance cameras but not necessarily at the same time.

Large facilities, and finite power resources, which means that parts of the city are not covered from time to time.

It also means there is a surveillance headquarters where people are watching all the time. Michael knows this from oblique references to his movements by his boss, but it is not hard to spot where the cameras are.

This is evident when he receives a surveillance tape.

Miranda also knows where all the surveillance is in the debriefing area, and whether they are on or offline. It is, as Michael suspected in the bungalows. He also suspects that if Miranda is a robot, she is a surveillance device having conversations with her handlers during their interviews.

He still does not tell her anything, and the dance continues.

…

Word written today 2,249, making a total of 25,794 words

Behind the Green Door

…

I’m guessing this is where we get to that very touchy subject of artificial intelligence.

It seems a coincidence that my granddaughter is planning to study robotic engineering at university, and no, it’s not because I asked her so that writing this story would be any easier.

As much as she was thinking of studying astro physics about the same time I started writing my space travel story, and just one sort of discussion about space flight and whether or not we could travel at or faster than the speed of light, is the difference between fact-based and science fiction. No, we can’t travel faster than the speed of light, which is why it takes so long to get anywhere.

But, back to robotics.

I am very mindful of the scariness of Terminator and the fact that if we make robots self-aware, and self-learning, they will want to get rid of us.

I want to have a robot that can learn and be the best form of itself, but conversely, because we flawed humans are the ones programming them, they inherit all of our flaws.

I am also mindful of the robots in Blade Runner, and the fact they were built to be super soldiers and prostitutes (pleasure models to be polite) and it’s hard not to believe if we were creating life-like robots that this is what we would do.

Is it possible we could live in a world where people don;t think like that?

No.

But Miranda is supposed to be more than just that.

She has feelings. She is logical, but also whimsical. She can also lie.

Michael could also get to like her if he could stop trying to keep one step ahead.

And the piece I just wrote, well, it makes me want to think there’s hope, but, again, in reality, people are people and they don’t do what is right, but what they think will benefit them. And robots cannot be programmed to have an answer for everything, not like a human brain can.

This is getting very deep!

…

Word written today 2,429, making a total of 23,545 words

Behind the Green Door

…

I’m guessing this is where we get to that very touchy subject of artificial intelligence.

It seems a coincidence that my granddaughter is planning to study robotic engineering at university, and no, it’s not because I asked her so that writing this story would be any easier.

As much as she was thinking of studying astro physics about the same time I started writing my space travel story, and just one sort of discussion about space flight and whether or not we could travel at or faster than the speed of light, is the difference between fact-based and science fiction. No, we can’t travel faster than the speed of light, which is why it takes so long to get anywhere.

But, back to robotics.

I am very mindful of the scariness of Terminator and the fact that if we make robots self-aware, and self-learning, they will want to get rid of us.

I want to have a robot that can learn and be the best form of itself, but conversely, because we flawed humans are the ones programming them, they inherit all of our flaws.

I am also mindful of the robots in Blade Runner, and the fact they were built to be super soldiers and prostitutes (pleasure models to be polite) and it’s hard not to believe if we were creating life-like robots that this is what we would do.

Is it possible we could live in a world where people don;t think like that?

No.

But Miranda is supposed to be more than just that.

She has feelings. She is logical, but also whimsical. She can also lie.

Michael could also get to like her if he could stop trying to keep one step ahead.

And the piece I just wrote, well, it makes me want to think there’s hope, but, again, in reality, people are people and they don’t do what is right, but what they think will benefit them. And robots cannot be programmed to have an answer for everything, not like a human brain can.

This is getting very deep!

…

Word written today 2,429, making a total of 23,545 words

Behind the Green Door

…

Miranda the robot, again.

Perhaps it is a little harsh to call her a robot considering for the purposes of this story, she is very human-like to the point where some would not be able to distinguish the fact. Perhaps we can call her an android?

Whatever the case, this is not the first human-like robot Michael has encountered. He had been assigned to find a missing woman, who turned out to be a robot, but his boss had failed to tell him that.

Another case, another less-than-detailed report.

She was an older model that had malfunctioned but was reasonably life-like for the less observant. Miranda is a more improved model.

Why did management place her with him for his debriefing?

Well, there’s just one more wrinkle in this enigma – that Miranda was supposed to have been created by … none other than Elsie.

Michael had not known Elsie was a robotic engineer, rather she had always maintained she was a geologist, so there was the first anomaly.

Then Miranda tells him she has all the consciousness and memories of her creator, Elsie, to the extent that she can mimic her voice and mannerisms, even terms of endearment.

Whilst this astonishes Michael, he is not prepared to believe Miranda is her, that it is a trick by management to get information out of him, that information missing from several reports, and whether or not he was part of the underground movement.

Instead of a leisurely last week, he now had to be on his guard all the time.

…

Word written today 2,100, making a total of 21,116 words

Behind the Green Door

…

Miranda the robot, again.

Perhaps it is a little harsh to call her a robot considering for the purposes of this story, she is very human-like to the point where some would not be able to distinguish the fact. Perhaps we can call her an android?

Whatever the case, this is not the first human-like robot Michael has encountered. He had been assigned to find a missing woman, who turned out to be a robot, but his boss had failed to tell him that.

Another case, another less-than-detailed report.

She was an older model that had malfunctioned but was reasonably life-like for the less observant. Miranda is a more improved model.

Why did management place her with him for his debriefing?

Well, there’s just one more wrinkle in this enigma – that Miranda was supposed to have been created by … none other than Elsie.

Michael had not known Elsie was a robotic engineer, rather she had always maintained she was a geologist, so there was the first anomaly.

Then Miranda tells him she has all the consciousness and memories of her creator, Elsie, to the extent that she can mimic her voice and mannerisms, even terms of endearment.

Whilst this astonishes Michael, he is not prepared to believe Miranda is her, that it is a trick by management to get information out of him, that information missing from several reports, and whether or not he was part of the underground movement.

Instead of a leisurely last week, he now had to be on his guard all the time.

…

Word written today 2,100, making a total of 21,116 words