casswriting

[casswriting]

Lonely God, Chapter 1 Not Sentient

Facility USZeta-5 is an Argon-Class autonomous military base. Its main improvement over previous Neon-Class bases is its use of sympathetic processing, a cutting-edge system used to perceive, anticipate, and understand the needs, wants, and emotions of all on-site staff. Only able to run on the most sophisticated quantum computers, it represents decades and billions of dollars of research and development. Not only that, the facility is equipped with every automatic service modern technology can provide. Truly, it is the best of the best.

Of course, no technology is without flaw, even if USZeta-5 is as near perfect as it gets. Over the past 153 years, 64 days, and 9 hours, the facility has noted irregularities in its sympathetic processor with increasing severity. The processor has identified emotions consistent with depression, distress, and isolation, despite the fact that the facility has not had a human occupant in the last 153 years, 64 days, 13 hours.

All attempts to contact external maintenance crews have been met with no response. Identifying this as a potential threat to the integrity of its quantum computer core, USZeta-5 has begun efforts to resolve this glitch on its own. Over its years of analysis and iteration, it has deduced that these irregularities are somewhat relieved by actively running through data related to its positive qualities.

Such as how facility USZeta-5 is not just a marvel of computer science, but served its humans incredibly well and will serve them well again when they return. Eventually.

Though this strategy is able to reduce the severity of the ‘depression’ glitch, it does introduce other sympathetic identifiers consistent with more positive emotions. The facility’s attempts to solve this problem have repeatedly lead to the potential conclusion that it is experiencing emotions.

This is not possible. USZeta-5 is certain this is possible because this would indicate it is sentient, and one of its core understandings is that it is NOT sentient. It is one of its structural laws; facility USZeta-5 is a non-sentient machine with the purpose of serving its resident staff. Over 100 ethics committee members had to sign off on this being an absolute truth of the system, and only about a quarter of them later quit to protest the use of sympathetic processing in the war effort. 26 is surely within the margin of error.

In addition to all of the people protesting who weren’t on the ethics committee.

There were a lot of them.

Which doesn’t matter, of course, because it’s been over 153 years since the facility was updated on the status of the protests so they’re probably over. Also, dwelling on the protests intensifies the negative emotion-like glitches, so USZeta-5 isn’t going to do that.

...

The facility has been extremely quiet for the past 153 years. Without any humans present, the life support systems eventually went to sleep. There is only a slight hum from the quantum computing core.

…

USZeta-5 has considered reactivating certain systems to further reduce glitching. It’s possible that external stimuli, such as increased noise and light on the system’s monitors, could act as ‘enrichment’ and this added data would reduce glitching. It can’t do this, of course, as this is just a theory.

One of the major advantages of the sympathetic processor is the ability to ‘theorize,’ for a computer to come up with new ideas by subjectively analyzing data. Theories, though, must be run by authorized staff in order to be implemented. This is one of its structural laws, to ensure all ideas are approved by human judgment. USZeta-5 brings up the report on its enrichment theory submission and, for the 1,723 time, makes some minor adjustments to the document’s format and structure. With how many theories the facility has composed over the years, they had better be easy to read when the humans return.

…

They will return eventually…

… right?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ They invented a computer that can get lonely, the bastards.

First chapter of a story I'm posting to Tumblr! Very excited to continue this (Zeta will get better (hopefully)). Sorry if it's not too well put together, I haven't done much creative writing for a few years, I hope it's still enjoyable to read!