Self-Destruct
Dr. Hillary Arbeid stared at her co-worker in surprised disbelief. Dr. Jason Baumgartner just continued shaking his head in a tightened resolve. They were standing around in the break room that served as a home away from home for many scientists working on a late-night project, much like they were.
Hillary knew that Jason had taken their experiments on artificial intellegence just a little further and designed his own robot to act as a prototype for others. As part of an agreement to use company supplies, he started studying his creation’s psychology and collecting data for a report. Thus far, nothing substantial had come from his observations, so Hillary felt safe to ask how it was going, not expecting much of an answer. What she received instead was much more than she bargained for.
“What do you mean, he committed suicide?” she asked.
“Well, you know I put in a circuit breaker just in case he got homicidal, but I didn’t expect him to push the button himself,” Jason answered, bitterly.
“Did this just come out of the blue?” Hillary asked. “Suicide just doesn’t happen randomly.”
“I suppose there were signs of attachment and separation anxiety, but I didn’t think that was more just the programs desire to serve.” He sighed, “God, I should have known!”
Hillary walked over and put her hand on Jason’s shoulder. “You couldn’t have known; this was a breakthrough experiment.”
“He was more than just an experiment to me. I made him and designed him and I was really getting fond of the guy. Now he’s gone.”
Hillary didn’t know what else to say. She knew dealing with grievers was not her strong point. “I’m sorry,” she answered. It seemed appropriate. “Let’s go back to work and get your mind off things right now. We can talk about it later.”
Jason nodded. “We still have a lot more to finish of this project before tomorrow morning.”
Author’s comments on post 383: I was working on a project for class and reviewing Arthur C. Clarke’s space odysseys when this idea popped into my head. I was intrigued by the idea so I sat down to write it and when I went to save it, my word processor crashed and lost the story. So this is the second draft, not quite as magical as the first, but I still like the concept.
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