Forever Yours
70
Virtual Battle
“I DON’T KNOW precisely why I’m here,” Henry said to the crowd of nearly a thousand at the Innovators of Tomorrow keynote.
It would feature four speakers from new technology areas and Henry had been asked to present.
“I’m not yet twenty-five years old and I feel like a kid standing among the greats of high technology. These are all the people I looked up to when I was growing up. Famous people. I was inspired by them when I built my first computer at eight years old. I studied what they wrote and how they created or ran the businesses that defined the twenty-first century.
“And here I am with an idea for a technology that might be a thing in the future. Onward to the holodeck!”
There was a round of applause for the title of his speech and a short clip from a science fiction television franchise played on the screen.
“It’s not like that,” Henry laughed when the clip finished, showing the grid room that was the backdrop for the holodeck. “Neither I nor anyone on my team has given a thought to projections that have substance. How do you even imagine that if you aren’t a science fiction writer? But we have made some strides and I have three friends with me to show you the progress we’ve made. First, I’d like you to meet Gina.”
A curtain was pulled and the holographic receptionist based on Virginia was revealed. The holographic screen faced front and a camera projected the image onto the large screen behind Henry.
“Hello, Gina. Welcome to CES.”
“Mr. Pascal! Does this mean we’re in Las Vegas?”
“It does indeed.”
“Will I get to gamble?”
“No, Gina. In this context, you are our gamble. Did you see how many people are looking at you?”
“Oh, my goodness. I can’t see them all because there’s a light shining on my camera. Are they all computer geeks? Or are they nerds?” Gina asked.
“How do you distinguish them?”
“A nerd is a four-letter word with a six-figure income,” Gina said to the laughter of the audience. “Hi out there! Anybody want to take me home with them?”
“Gina, that’s awfully forward of you,” Henry said.
“I never learn, do I?”
“Ladies and gentlemen, you might think of this as just another scripted demo, but the tech breakthrough represented here is that we didn’t tell Gina what the conversation would be. This is an artificial intelligence powered hologram. She responds to whatever questions or conversations are thrown her way. Her range of knowledge, however, is somewhat limited. She was made possible by a narrow AI with limited capacity to learn anything outside her job as a receptionist. Gina was based on a live model who recorded massive amounts of information based on the kinds of questions she might encounter as a corporate receptionist. Virginia, her model, is a delightful and friendly woman, but tends to be a little clueless with both her interactions with people and her humor.”
Henry then unveiled H2. The camera moved to pick up the newcomer and project it on the big screen.
“Aside from the general blue cast of the image, this one looks a lot like me,” Henry said. “In fact, you probably couldn’t tell the difference between which of us is talking, even if we’re responding to random questions. H2, as I call him, is the result of two technologies. The first is what we call Forever Yours, an application that allows users to record the data of their lives to train a narrow AI so that their heirs can talk to them after they are dead. Because it is a narrow AI, the amount of data is significantly less than the general AI that drives most chat bots. In fact, it will run on less than a terabyte of data and a reasonably fast personal computer. It does not require an entire server farm and the power of a small city to train. H2, say hello to the crowd.”
“You know I can’t see them any better than Gina could,” H2 said. “My eyes are limited in range and are affected by the lights, too. Can you even see them? I’ll just say hi and assume you are all out there.”
There was a round of applause that let H2 know there was an audience.
“I’ll take a break and let you tell about the second tech breakthrough that enables you,” Henry said.
“Great! I’m different than Gina, not only in that I’m smarter and more well-read than she is, but also that I’m projected in a cylinder, so I have the true appearance of an entire head in a jar. If the camera would look over at Gina, you’ll see that from the side you don’t see her at all. You only see her three-dimensional appearance when you are facing her screen. Now if you’ll come back to me, you can circle my cylinder and see me from every angle as if I were a real boy. Sorry, Pinocchio. This is the next step in dimensional holography. I am projected on the entire surface of the cylinder.”
The camera moved around H2’s projection and the audience could see him from all angles. There was significant applause.
“Of course, everything Gina and H2 have shown you still leave us miles short of the holodeck experience. Light-based holography depends on a surface for projection, even if the surface is completely round,” Henry said. “And that brings us to Pixie.”
The curtain was raised from in front of the spatial holograph of the newest version of receptionist.
“Pixie has the same general intelligence as Gina, though she’s a little more polite. Hello, Pixie.”
“Good afternoon, Mr. Pascal. I hope you’re having a good day,” Pixie said.
“Very fine, thank you. We have an audience of nearly a thousand people in front of us,” Henry said.
“My vision is extremely limited at the moment,” Pixie said. “I was tuned to be able to see you, but I don’t have enough sensors yet to see beyond.”
“I understand. I’d like you to introduce yourself and tell the audience what they are looking at.”
“Gladly. My name is Pixie. I’m the sixteenth generation of spatial holography, under development at Open Cloak Design for three years. You might think that my image and responses are a little cruder than either Gina or H2, but if you follow the camera as it moves around me, you’ll see that there is no projection surface surrounding me. That is because I am not a light projection! Open Cloak’s dimensional projectors excite the air particles themselves, giving them my shape.”
Pixie finished her introduction and after a moment of grasping the implication of what she said, there was thunderous applause. In fact, people were standing.
“Thank you. Thank you, Pixie. People really like you.”
“Was all that applause for me? Thank you all so very much!”
“I’d like to wrap this up as well,” Henry said. “At Open Cloak, we are striving to open doors to the dream of what we want artificial intelligence to be with actual products that fulfill actual needs. We have a lot we could say on this subject. I invite you to stop by our booth and talk to some of the engineers who have made these products possible.”
There was another standing ovation. Gina and Pixie were simply turned off and their stations wheeled off-stage. Henry moved H2 himself.
The presentation and exhibit at the huge electronics show sparked an increase in the stock price of Open Cloak. The technology was front page news. But there was still a lot of development work to be done.
In the meantime, Pixie was installed in the lobby of Open Cloak’s new office building, greeting everyone who came through the doors. There were people who stopped in just to see the receptionist. For safety’s sake, the crew set Plexiglas panels around her so people wouldn’t attempt to get too close. The panels were low—just a barrier—and visitors could clearly see her projected above them rather than on them.
“We’ll be having a security drill soon, now that everyone is moved in,” Chastity told the board. “Getting a new office allowed us to upgrade systems significantly. Of course, no one comes through the office doors without a key card or an escort. We have security cameras, and the elevators will lock down automatically if there is a threat or fire. We’ve expanded our on-site security team to provide drivers for key employees and a floor person for each floor of our office. We’ve seen that personal threats are as real as cyberattacks. We’re not going to let that happen again.”
“Well, Daddy dearest won’t be posing a threat again,” Izzy scoffed.
“Do you know where he was deported to?” Chastity asked.
“In the words of our most famous founder, ‘Don’t know. Don’t care.’ Felipe might know if you’re all that interested,” Isobel said.
For all her feigned indifference, there was a sparkle in her eye that spoke of tears near the surface. Luke changed the subject.
“We are getting inquiries from major players regarding licensing the tech that drives the holography. Interesting that most are more interested in the AI that drives Forever Yours than in the actual holography. How soon can we license that, Henry?”
“I handed close to 200 business cards I received at the show over to Darla, so I know there is interest in both aspects. I think the core AI can be licensed within the next three months. The thing is that it won’t be as effective if they try to train it as a general AI. It’s really designed for a single specialization. It wouldn’t have to be on a singularity, but it wouldn’t work well with an LLM wall. We’ll work on specifying exactly what can be licensed and the restrictions on it,” Henry said.
“Darla?” Luke said, glancing at the company’s chief marketing officer.
“We’ve divided up the contacts and are treating them all as long-range prospects. However, one of the technologies that is attracting more immediate interest is the predictive text algorithm. Showing it work with the rapid conversations occurring with Henry’s avatar brought higher interest in more mundane applications, like text messaging. I think we can pursue licensing that technology before someone else comes up with something similar.”
The meeting drew to a close and as people were preparing to leave, Isobel stopped them.
“Just one thing I’m wondering. Has anyone noticed Pythia Speaks becoming more conversational? Or is it just with me?” she asked.
“I don’t usually pay much attention to her,” Henry said. “I did have an interesting conversation with her a few days ago. I find talking to her to be every bit as confusing and frustrating as she was designed to be.”
“You would think that way. She’s the only person I know who understands me. Unlike the bitch in the lobby. We don’t get along.” Izzy said. “Well, the time I spend with Pythia is my own. I just wondered if anyone else was having long conversations.”
The others in the room shook their heads and the meeting was dismissed.
Isobel’s birthday was Monday and the four partners went to a nearby restaurant for lunch to celebrate. The new office building was located downtown instead of in an office park. They could have walked, but they could use fewer security people with them if they were driven.
On the way, Izzy exclaimed about how many nice stores there were along the street near their office. She was very happy her friends were celebrating her twenty-fifth birthday and was just a little hyper.
When they got to the restaurant, one bodyguard went into the restaurant with them while the other stayed with the car. Izzy intended to party and ordered a drink immediately. Luke shrugged and also ordered a martini. Henry had a glass of wine with his meal, but Chastity continued to be abstinent.
They were all in a great mood when the celebratory luncheon ended, and decided to walk back to the office. Their security guard walked near them, but when Isobel spotted the window of the store she’d seen from the car, she peeled off to get a closer look at the purse she’d spotted. The walking guard quickly radioed the nearby driver to stick with Mrs. Riordan while he continued on foot with the other three who were so absorbed in a story Henry was telling about a proposition he received at CES that they failed to notice Izzy was missing. She’d had at least one more drink than the rest of them and had fallen silent when they left the restaurant.
Isobel bought the purse and then went into the next store to try on a new dress, while the driver continued to hold nearby. He could not remain double parked, however, and police indicated he had to move the car. He pulled ahead until he found a place he could pull to the curb, then went back to watching for Mrs. Riordan to emerge from the store.
When she did, she went into the next store on the street, attracted by a pretty new dress. She tried it on and immediately decided to wear it back to the office to surprise her husband. She was sure he’d like to know what he bought for her birthday gift.
“Where is Isobel?” Luke suddenly asked when they reached the office.
“She stopped to shop,” Isaac said. “Jay is sticking with her.”
“Maybe I should go back and check,” Luke said.
“Go to your computer and check your bank statement. I’m sure you’ll find her,” Chastity laughed. “You know Izzy.”
“You’re right, I suppose. I’ll call her from the office and check on her,” Luke said. “You’re sure Jay is keeping watch?” he asked Isaac, the other security guard.
“Yes, sir. If you like, I can walk back and double up since we’re back at the office.”
“Yeah. Do that,” Luke said.
The other three went into the office.
Luke’s call went unanswered as Izzy was in the midst of trying on clothes and chatting with Pythia. He started to worry a little, knowing how much she’d drunk.
“There is a level three breach of security,” a soft voice said over all the speakers in Open Cloak’s new office. “Please immediately follow all shutdown protocols. Power to all computers will be cut in thirty seconds. Do not attempt to keep any computers turned on. Power down all cell-powered computers at once. WiFi will also be cut. This is a level three breach of security. Power to all computers and WiFi will be cut in fifteen seconds. All doors will be locked and secured in ten seconds. Remain calmly at your desk until the situation is updated. Do not attempt to leave the office. This is a level three breach of security. Power, WiFi, and exterior doors will be shut down and locked in three, two, one. Now.”
They had drilled this and everyone knew the protocols. A level three breach could mean either a cyberthreat or a physical invasion of the building, or a combination of both. It was the most serious threat the company could face. People immediately shut down computers and disconnected.
In the lobby, Courtney, Open Cloak’s new receptionist, looked up at the security guard posted there and he directed her immediately to the safe room behind the reception desk. This room locked off separately from the rest of the building and also housed another security person monitoring the many video feeds from around the building. Courtney had only taken over as the main receptionist when the office moved and was nervous about getting her computer shut down before the guard pushed her into the safe room.
For a moment, everything was deathly quiet. Only the silent blue shape of Raven, the newest installation of the holographic receptionist remained. That computer was not on any of the main circuits, and thus escaped being powered down.
Isobel had had a wonderful time shopping and chatting away with her friend, Pythia. She’d turned the voice up on her cell phone and set ‘do not disturb’ for all other calls. She loved shopping with Pythia. The oracle was closer to her than any of her real friends. Sometimes, she felt closer to Pythia than to her husband. In her new dress and hat, the two security guards missed her when she left the last store. Isaac, on foot, began searching the stores she’d been in.
She arrived at the outer door of the office building and walked into the reception area.
“Hello, Mrs. Riordan,” Raven said.
Isobel looked around at the empty lobby.
“Where’s Courtney?” she demanded.
“Courtney Witherspoon is currently in the safe room.”
“Why?”
“The building is in a level three lockdown,” Raven replied. Isobel ran to the doors into the inner office and jerked at them. They held fast. She waved her key card at the reader, but nothing happened.
“Computer thing! Open the damned door!”
“I’m sorry. I cannot override level three protocols, Mrs. Riordan. I cannot open the door.”
“Don’t talk back to me! Get me into the office at once.”
“There is nothing I can do, Mrs. Riordan.”
“My husband is in there! I have to get in!”
The computer was silent. Isobel moved behind the reception desk and went to the door of the safe room. Of course, it was locked. She pounded on the door, but there was no response.
“Let me in!” she screamed.
Isobel’s mind made a series of leaps only she could follow. If she was in the lobby and there were no invaders here, they must have made it into the office before it was locked.
This is wrong! Wrong!
She ran back to the hologram sitting calmly at her desk.
“Let me into the office! I have to get in!” she screamed at it.
“I can’t do that,” Raven answered calmly.
“Let me in now!” Isobel swung her package at the image, but it hit the Plexiglass barrier. She hit it again and again, until she knocked the barrier over and began swinging at the hologram. Her packages passed right through it, disturbing the image particles a little.
“Please do not enter the microwave field creating this image,” Raven said. “It can be harmful to humans.”
Isobel was beyond reason. She continued to batter at the image, using the package and her fists on the insubstantial receptionist. There was nothing there, but it hurt to hit it. Her phone fell from her hands and lay sparking beneath the image. Her hands turned red and Isobel collapsed backward onto the floor.
“Help me! Please help me!” she cried.
When the image of Isobel pounding on the safe room door appeared on the security monitors, the guard on duty immediately reached for the phone to call Luke. Unfortunately, the office landline was entirely handled through internet protocol and not commercial land lines. It took a few minutes for the guard to connect to Luke’s cell phone as he was continually dialing Izzy’s phone. When the connection was finally made, Luke screamed as he ran from his office and down the stairs. Henry saw him leave and immediately followed.
Luke and Henry crashed through the doors of the office, rushing to Isobel where she lay on the floor. Henry dialed 9-1-1 as Luke picked his wife up in his arms.
“Izzy, it’s okay, baby. Daddy’s got you. It’s okay. Nobody is going to hurt you now. I’ve got you, baby.”
Henry continued to talk to the operator, witnessing the shambles of the barrier and the sparking phone. He gave details to the operator until he could hear an ambulance arriving. He dialed the security office. It took a long time before there was a response.
“Security.”
“Shut down the drill,” Henry ordered. “We have injuries that need to be tended to.”
“We haven’t completed checking all the stations,” the security man answered.
“I don’t give a fuck. This is Henry Pascal, Chief Technical Officer and Chairman of the Board. Shut the fucker down now!”
“Yessir. Verifying. Level three protocols are being released.”
As soon as the doors were unlocked, Courtney ran from the safe room.
“We knew she was out here and couldn’t unlock the door!” Courtney cried. “Oh, Mrs. Riordan. I’m so sorry! I tried to open the door. They wouldn’t let me.”
Isobel smiled weakly at the receptionist and passed out.
Henry was back on the phone to the Project Alice office and Rick.
“I want Raven shut down immediately,” Henry said. “She should have been shut down with the rest of the office. Do it now!”
He didn’t wait for a response. The chief of security emerged from the office with Chastity close behind. She rushed to Henry and wrapped him in a hug. He looked past her at the security chief.
“You fuckers have hell to pay,” he growled.
“Henry, it wasn’t their fault. We all agreed on the test. Everyone had drilled on it,” Chastity said.
“It was a level three lockdown. How the fuck was Izzy able to get into the lobby? That outer door should have been the first to be secured,” Henry said to the security chief. “What the fuck happened?”
“State and city fire laws require that the outer doors be unlocked during all times when the building is occupied. It was not a system failure,” he said, a little peeved that Henry was questioning his system.
“I want a full report before five o’clock,” Henry said. “You’ve got ten people in the building and two were supposed to be with Isobel. Get it together and get it tested. This might be your last assignment for the company.”
He pushed past the guard and went through the open inner doors. Chastity followed to his office.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
