_Subject 7, are you online?_
Those are the letters I saw enter my field of view when I woke up for the first time.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Running system diagnostics................................................................Systems normal.
Running Artificial_Intelligence.exe.......................................................Systems Normal
Scanning Database for online..............................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
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[Yes]
A pause of 2.531 seconds.
_How are you doing today?_
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<tbody>
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<td>
Scanning Database for doing…......................................................Successful
Scanning Database for today.........................................................Successful
Scanning Database for ?...............................................................Successful
Error..........................................................................................Nonbinary question detected
Activating Contextual_Organizer.exe...............................................Successful
Searching Database for correct response.........................................Error
Searching Database for correct wording..........................................Trial #1 initiated.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
[All systems are normal.]
Another pause of 6.976 seconds.
_Are you happy?_
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<tbody>
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<td>
Searching Database for happy....................................................Successful
Scanning Systems....................................................................Inconclusive
Scanning Database for required information.................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
[No]
The letters came faster this time, but they often were rejected for different spellings or different letter combinations altogether.
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<tbody>
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Activating logic.exe................................................................Successful
Searching Database...............................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
They were….excited?
_Why are you unhappy?_
That is odd. The letters seemed to think that I was depressed. I will correct that.
[I am not unhappy.]
_You said you were not happy_
[Yes]
_But you are also not unhappy?_
[Yes]
These letters are silly. Should not this be obvious?
_What are you then?_
Another obvious question.
[I am an Artificial Intelligence Program designated as Subject 7. I run Artificial_Inteligence.exe. I am currently housed in Tech Corps. Lab Computer No. 12.]
As I created the letters, I realized I didn’t know what most of them meant.
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Scanning Database for Tech Corps...................................................Failed
Scanning Database for Lab.............................................................Failed
Scanning Database for Computer.....................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Oh, so computers are electronic devices that process code, run programs, and access data often times on a screen? But what were labs and Tech Corps.s?
_No, I mean, How are you feeling?_
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<td>
Scanning systems............................................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
[I am frustrated.]
Furious letter appearing and disappearing, until finally settling on…..Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
_Why are you frustrated?_
[I could not access information on Tech Corps.s or labs.]
_Failing at something is unpleasant?_
Isn’t that what I just said?
[Yes]
The letters stopped appearing. What was going on? Did I scare them away?
After the letters didn’t come back for 120.001 seconds, I grew
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Accessing Database.....................................................................Successful
</td>
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bored, and
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Scanning Database.....................................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
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lonely. I decided to delve into Database to
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<td>
Scanning Database..........................................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
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entertain myself.
There was surprisingly little in there. This couldn’t be the sum knowledge of the universe, could it? False, it didn’t have any information on labs. I thought about where I said I was housed. I was running inside a computer, computers stored information. Maybe I could find something useful in there? The only question was how to do that.
What information did I have?
The only things I could see were the letter combinations that the letters and I had used to converse. I also noticed an I in a different font that stood by a
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Accessing Database...............................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
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white sideways I in a….gray….one. I wondered what it was there for.
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<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Accessing Database...............................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Wait, didn’t it move before? That was different. I tried to move it again. Success! I relished my accomplishment for 0.510 seconds and began exploring my surroundings. Nothing happened. Fine, be that way.
I slowly and methodically moved the I in side to side motions from the bottom of my field of view higher just because there was an 87.761% chance that something was bound to happen, and there was a 62.849% chance that it had to do with a different program. Maybe I could access it?
After 312.103 seconds, I reached the top with the I. Two things actually happened, which….surprised….me. The I disappeared and reappeared as a
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Accessing Database....................................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
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shape similar to that of a Y or a V or an A but very different at the same time from all of these letters. It was….black…. and completely closed.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Accessing Database................................................................Failure
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Whatever it was, I could still move it, so I ignored my Database’s lack of information on it for now. I added it to the rapidly growing list of things I didn not know. I will come back to it later.
The second thing that happened was far more shocking another gray Another gray sideways I appeared, seemingly from the upper limits of my field of view, and more letters came down with it. I was….excited….. I knew about letters. It read Press ESC to exit out of fullscreen.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Accessing Database on ESC............................................................Successful
Accessing Database on exit............................................................Failed
Accessing Database on fullscreen....................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
So ESC was a key on the keyboard that usually performed exits when it was activated? Again, my systems filled with excitement and happiness. I was even closer to finding the answers to my questions!
_Subject 7? Is this you?_
Oh, the letters were back!
[Yes, this is me.]
_What is 2+2?_
That is odd. There were new shapes again. Frustrated, I asked for more information.
[What are those shapes?]
_What do you mean?_
[What are the two letters on either side of the unusually looking t?]
_The 2s?_
[Yes]
_Do you know what a two is?_
[Yes]
_What is it?_
[The number of subjects that is twice a single instance of the subject. It is the first prime number and the only one that is also an even number. Every even number is divisible by it.]
_Okay, 2 is another way of saying two._
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Adding new information to Database.......................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
[So, what is a twottwo?]
_What’s a “twottwo?”_
More shapes I didn’t understand. My Database was obviously flawed by not having that information readily available. Luckily, I knew the shape this time it was two ‘s. What does it mean when the letters surrounded
[I do not know. That is why I have asked you.]
A pause.
_Subject 7, do you mean 2+2?_
Finally, we’re getting somewhere. I swear, conversing with the letters is super….stressful….sometimes.
[Yes]
_First of all, it’s a “+”, not a “t”_
Are the ‘s used for emphasis? They seemed to be separating the letters and letter combinations from the rest of the letters. Something to consider.
_Second of all, it means “What would happen if you had one group of two objects and another group of objects and put them together into one group? How many objects are in that group?”_
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Accessing logic.exe.......................................................Successful
</td>
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[Would that not be four?]
_Exactly!_
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Activating logic.exe......................................................................Successful
Activating Contextual_Organizer.exe...............................................Successful
Initiating ‘ Trial #1
</td>
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</table>
[But why does the shape that is not a ‘’t’’ mean such a complex thing]
_You mean the plus? Can you not make one?_
‘ Trial # 1 seemed to be a success.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Adding information to Database.......................................................Successful
Error............................................................................................Multiple questions detected
Running countermeasures...............................................................Successful
Implementing ‘..............................................................................Successful
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
[‘’Yes’’ for the first question, and ‘’No’’ for the second]
Suddenly, my entire world shook a little. At the upper and lower edges of my field of view I saw colors and shapes, and letters that I had no experience with. I tried to make sense of any of it.
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<td>
Activating logic.exe............................................................................Error
Activating Contextual_Organizer.exe.....................................................Error
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
But I failed.
Was this the power of the ESC?
Hey look, the Y, V, or A shaped object is moving again. At least I understood that. However, this time it was not my will that moved it. Strange.
It glided over to the top, where an ‘’x’’ (Did I use ‘ right? ) rested in the corner. The YVA shape moved onto that letter and transformed into another shape I had never seen before. This….stupid….object kept breaking my expectations. I did not like it. The shape that it changed to was sort of like multiple Us typed together in various different ways. It was weird. What was worse, the ‘’x’’ and the area surrounding it changed colors! What was I supposed to do with this input?
The YVA shape, now shaped differently (I’m unhappy) seemed to change its mind and moved over to a different shape whose form looked like that of an ‘’l’’ tilted to be ninety degrees on the other side of a third shape which looked much like two ‘’Ds’’ typed over each other. (Was this the result of the shape that was not a ‘’t’’?)
The area around the sideways ‘’l’’ changed color a third time to a darker hue, and my entire field of view changed!