2 Gleason Works
Kate leaned forward in her desk. The virtual conference room faded along with the digital screen. Startled by a commotion at the far end of her study, her eyes strained to adjust. Her cat, last seen playing by the short staircase with a slipper, bolted in a flash of orange in a mad, rabid dash. The cerulean blue slipper followed in the chase along with a small stack of books. Each book tumbled with a loud thud. The last book sliding down each step like a skier hitting moguls.
"Gleason?" Kate called, hoping to reassure the cat. There was no response. "Silly cat," she said, wondering how long Gleason''s study of slipper dynamics would be deterred.
Kate dampened her concerned smile and sat back. The conference room immediately surrounded her again. She sat at a large, wooden, oval table. The edges of the room faded into dark shadows. At the front of the table were two conference directors, one with the moderator badge. The rest of the table sat twelve, including Kate. When she rejoined, Dr. Thomas Killigrew was speaking. He spoke on the topic of trajectory avoidance and automatic targeting systems. In the central display, an aerial drone was shown in the early days of delivery. A second video showed airports defeating a drone using communication jammers. The latest video showed a drone detecting and dodging laser fire. He was summarizing 40 years of drone technology. Kate flipped forward to read Killigrew''s pitch and his recent grants for avoidance algorithms.
Kate recognized Dr. Killigrew. His avatar was a young man in his thirties, long brown hair, a whispery blonde mustache, and a T-Shirt. Today''s shirt read, "Freedom is Not Free." Kate''s InView assistant detected her eye motion and neural feedback. In the lower right area of her visor displayed a small video information window. Below it, the caption: a quote inscribed on a wall in the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington DC.
Nineteen statues, their reflection doubled in the wall, march forward. ''Okay, Kate, stay focused,'' she thought to herself, resisting the immersive experience. She rotated her upright hand and brought her index finger towards her. An article on the memorial on the 38-month war and the 38th parallel came forward. For a war ended a little over a hundred years ago, she wondered if Killigrew was making a statement. Kate''s great grandparents immigrated from Korea. Her parents taught her to be ethical and the premiere importance of family. ''Is this slogan meant for me,'' she thought before dismissing as over-thinking.
Dr. Killigrew continued speaking about his work and advances in drone preservation systems. His tone was confident; his manner proud. "Our team has saved over 73% more drones in trials, and recent breakthroughs will raise that rate. New countervailing systems will be required in targeting systems to defeat these improvements." She thought he looked right at her with this closing statement. Targeting systems was her research, and her heart raced as she felt the challenge. She had to wait for her turn.
Kate presented her avatar as herself. She dressed in conservative attire, usually a gray suit for board meetings. Working meetings in a virtual lab called for white lab coats like the ones in the real lab. She ran her hands on her charcoal cashmere pajamas, her everyday house attire. After Thomas Killigrew completed his presentation, other attendees requested the floor. These requests for a topic change resulted in a faint number appearing over their avatar. Kate gestured at the moderator to preserve her place. It was going to be awhile.
She signaled InView for a report on Dr. Killigrew. His bio showed in a small information window. She had never met Thomas in person and wondered if his bio might show anything different from his avatar. It didn''t. In the bio, he was wearing a different T-Shirt. That shirt read, "I can explain it to you, but I can''t understand it for you." She read through some of his connections, papers, and a little about his lab. He seemed overconfident or very capable, and she wasn''t sure which.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Gleason, the cat, crawled out of his downstairs isolation. Without a sound, he crept up the stairs and across the floor to the side of Kate''s desk. A small and faint "meow" provided the only warning as he jumped onto the desktop. Parading in front of Kate, she disengaged gestures and pulled Gleason into her lap. Careful to keep claws from her pajamas, her hand glided through his soft fur down his back. He tucked in, turning his head over as her fingers stroked his chin, progressing into a gentle scratch. Upside down and paws up, his purring unfazed by recent events.
Several other conference members spoke. Gleason stretched, curled into a ball, and fell asleep. Kate straightened and began breathing exercises as the speaker ended her presentation. It was her turn.
Supporting Gleason''s neck with her left hand, her right hand rose to present. "My name is Dr. Catherine McDermott of Omnichrom Laboratories. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss our findings on targeting systems. Our general focus is on building security applications. It is my pleasure to work with some of you on these technologies and compete with others," she said. She looked at others and then Killigrew before continuing. "I look forward to these exciting times of exploration, and I am honored to be able to discuss our research today. A recommendation by this committee would help solidify this work and would be a great honor for me. Today, I will discuss our recent findings for on-grid targeting."
Gleason stretched out his arms before relaxing. He began gentle purring as if approving of her presentation. Kate discussed detailed results for overcoming trajectory avoidance. A video played showing a grid of laser''s raising to cover a doorway and then protecting a larger opening in a wall. She saved the most aggressive claims of building security to the end. As if on queue, Killigrew signaled the floor for a question. Kate granted the request.
"Dr. McDermott, is the application limited to fixed installations? If so, your results appear to only relate to small areas such as doorways and walls?" Dr. Killigrew was not pulling punches.
"Thank you for the question. Yes, the current technology is best suited for framed enclosures. We have results on other fixed installations that we are preparing for an upcoming paper." She did not grant further questions and completed her presentation. The technology was novel and spoke for itself. She was careful to conceal her lab had already surpassed current limitations. It was essential to show promise without becoming a target for acquisition. Partners, fellow researchers, and customers were even excluded from the latest research.
Finally, she closed her presentation. "Please accept my application. I am excited to take part in panels, question and answer sessions, and discuss insights. Thank you all for the opportunity to share with you today, and I hope you see you all at the conference."
"I look forward to watching your continued contributions in the field." She signed out and felt her neck and shoulder muscles relax.
Kate adjusted in her seat as she yielded the floor, relaxing to listen to the last few candidates. Gleason jumped down from her lap, stretched, and began licking his shoulder.
When the meeting ended, Kate walked to the stairs. She collected the books from the steps and restacked them on the landing. A friend who also enjoyed reading physical books asked and these were set aside. She also fetched the missing cerulean slipper that somehow had fallen to the bottom of the stair. Gleason watched, bored by the activity, and resumed his grooming.
3 Nano 1.0
"Rayburn Wallace!" Ray''s father Andrew entered the Simulink lab. "Why are you scurrying around the lab dragging a dismantled robot..." his father stopped mid-sentence seeing Nano linked to the surgical, diagnostic cable. Then continued, "Dr. Hastings said you ran him over stalking about in his shadow. What caused such a disruption?" A man with a medium build, his father, appeared taller as he looked down at Ray. Unwavering, Ray felt the demand for a thoughtful and clear-headed response.
Ray stood. Head down and dropping eye contact to his wringing hands, he fumbled for thoughts. His first thought was a counter-clockwise hand gesture to clear the AirDesk display. Ray looked up at his father without response.
"Working on Nano, eh?" His father circled the room inspecting the robot at its center. "So, what is it this time, a new alg-mode or neural construct?" His father''s voice softened from its hard tone. The question reminded Ray of how his father spoke with other scientists.
Andrew Halloway bent over to inspect the robot''s cabling and connection. His ruffled dark brown hair floated above a matching beard, speckled in gray. Dressed in a standard-issue lab coat, white over dark brown pants, his eyes curious.
"Starting fresh dad," Ray said, entertaining his dad''s curiosity. "The processor bank started missing neuro timing within the cross matrix. Nano''s emotional directives cortex was collapsing fast."
"Third time this month," Andrew commented.
"Yes, I hope I got it right this time," said Ray drawing a breath.
"Scccaaarrry," came a voice from a rolling ball, whirling around Andrew''s feet and up to Ray. The voice was small and tinny. About the size of a bowling ball, it spun in place as it spoke. It turned again after it spoke, making a whirring sound as air forced through a bottle. Ray was only a little surprised to see Wrimo after separated in the hallway traffic.
"I guess Wrimo is going to be busy," said Andrew taking a step back to assure his footing and looking down at the orb. Wrimo rocked side to side hearing his name.
"Maybe half the time?" Ray estimated. Training took time, and Wrimo helped, complicated given its extreme processing limits.
A gift on his fourth birthday, Wrimo, was simple. Off the shelf, it was a combination kickball and parent tracking system. It would follow, track, and intercom with remote users when requested. Monitoring didn''t help his parents due to Wrimo''s limited communications range. Ray still adventured without permission, missing tutor appointments, social gatherings, and meals. The most used mode in the original program involved kicking and having it roll back for another punt.
When Ray turned five, his father upgraded with simple speaking and learning intelligence. Ray laughed, hearing Wrimo''s first words, "Hi, let''s playyyyyy!" Ray never played kickball again as Wrimo became more of a younger brother. It was able to learn simple language tricks like one teaches a bonded parrot or raven. By age six, Ray became fascinated with improving the algorithms. By eight, the step change in interaction was visible. RayOS was the new operating system holding Wrimo''s construct.
Over the last two years, Wrimo''s compact architecture housed a capable intelligence. His father encouraged Ray to describe his latest improvements and publish results. Wrimo joined a competition and earned 1st place for its processing class. Those awards inspired Nano, now dangling in the middle of the room. A still simple but personable-looking maintenance bot. Nano''s articulating arms allowed cleaning, fetching, and other small tasks. The intermediate processing class allowed Ray to extend his architecture. Within a week, a re-imaged Nano emerged, clear of monitoring and starter features.
Little by little, Nano learned and developed. After each upgrade, Wrimo helped retrain Nano''s neural encoding. Wrimo became Nano''s initial tutor.
"Half the time, eh?" echoed his father pondering. Either Wrimo was becoming a better teacher or Nano was becoming a better learner. He assumed the later and made a mental note to check the neural acclimation analysis. "Be sure to upload his ratings each night before bed. Yesterday surpassed upper intermediary level. If you miss a day, you may have to submit to degenerative testing."The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"I know, dad," Ray dragged.
"Good you caught Nano''s upgrade when you did. Fascinating work Ray. Oh, and you owe Dr. Hastings an apology," Andrew said with a confident smile.
Detecting a positive change in the conversation, Wrimo weighed in, "zzZZUUMMm." The sound spun around the room as Wrimo spun.
Ray''s determined expression lightened. An added benefit was that his dad did not examine the server credits required for the job submission. If his dad had checked, he might not have noticed Nano''s recompile was passed his allowance. Ray used the maintenance core instead of the laboratory''s primary central processor.
The lab housed one of a few GigaGoogol facilities capable of a billion googol operations per second (a billion times one followed by 100 zeroes, 1e9 * 1e100 = 1e109). Quarterly, a council approved projects and adjusted processing priorities. The lab owners, including many staff members, approved the allocations by vote. Usually, based on need and revenue, it was not uncommon to see future-critical technology and time-critical projects to get significant assignments. The computing facility allowed the lab to engage in extensive data processing experiments, including citizen-wide information analysis.
A standalone processing block supported maintenance, landscape, security, training, records, and family projects. This ensured quality of service for the lab untouched by high priority projects. Ray discovered a way to leverage all unused processing within the bank, 1/2 million Googol of free capacity (e.g., 0.5e106) was almost always available. Using a master account linking several accounts, he had access whenever needed. The technicians grossly overestimated the amount of processing required for this block. Ray was pretty sure no one discovered the master account and confident it would go well.
Ray was more certain three weeks ago. But at that time, the system fell to a 7% average capacity. Less critical systems shut down. Some, notably the dinner service, began to malfunction. First, plate stacking bots stopped while the automatic dishwasher didn''t. Plates overloaded interim filing dispensers despite signaling at 50%, 75%, and 85% intervals. Alarms sounded from the containers. Loud, warning tones that no one had ever heard before, and some mistook to be fire alarms.
The dishwasher machines did not receive the feedback and carried on. At 100%, plate dispensers began ejecting dishes to make room for the incoming plates. Some slid ten feet or more into the place. Frantic screams added to the turmoil of crashing dishes. Several of the first plates struck an unsuspecting scientist and their family. Minor injuries were no less embarrassing. For weeks, the SimulCast repeated looks of shock and surprise on the faces of diners. These accompanied by flying plates people running from the path of the trajectories. The android chef shutdown the cleaning line, ending about five minutes of chaos.
Ray learned even short outages spawn big fiascos. The depth of the subsequent inquiry and the life of the Simulcast show, "Investigation into the Radical Dish Dispenser and Other Maintenance Systems," surprised everyone. After two weeks, the investigation filed the final report with recommendations. The root cause was found to be a subsystem control issue. Instead of using the remote core, they designed a kitchen local control extending the work of the android chef. Discovery of a deeper problem within the server maintenance system was found to be a flaw in the memory architecture. This issue extended to all the lab''s AIs and projects. Finally, the most vocal complaints were families that experienced the Radical Dish Dispenser. A Pareto analysis showed complaints were from:
68% inaccessible dishware
17% eating from small saucers
11% frequent trips to the foodservice machines for refills
3% other
1% injuries running or moving to dodge plates
1% of injuries from those hit by plates
The investigation also identified Ray''s algorithm to have exacerbated the scheduler bug. Being only ten, Andrew allowed Ray to be questioned and, after several discussions, gently reprimanded. The lab supervisor, the maintenance supervisor, and the kitchen manager all filed complaints. Ray had to listen to the whole report and each complaint. All but the kitchen manager appeared amused. Finally, talk with his father ended in a two-week grounding from Simulcast privileges. Ray felt terrible for embarrassing himself and his family. Still, he couldn''t help but smile when he saw kids giggling during the replays. Also, the lead developer that found and fixed the scheduler bug helped Ray set up the master account. Ray now had access to a massive processor as long as the other systems were not using it.
The outcome was beneficial. The lab supervisor knew the AI was intact, undamaged, and kitchen better contained. The maintenance supervisor knew restrooms and biocontainment were safe from a latent bug. The owners and the AI group knew a dormant memory boundary issue would not impact core projects. The system team had a memory subsystem to support extra processing.
"We need to get home to dinner, ready?" asked Andrew. "Be there in a minute," said Ray. Nano''s upgrade complete, time to boot.
4 The Sun Also Rises
Day 1. November 15
th, 2059: Morning
The next morning, Kate and Andrew arrived in the docking bay and boarded the lab''s latest Jetstar. As they were settling in before takeoff, Kate said, "I''m going to sleep if I can. My cat must''ve sensed something was afoot and kept waking me last night. I hope you don''t mind."
"Gleason should know better!" Andrew said with a laugh. "It''s no problem Kate, I have plenty of work to do. Do you want a wake-up call?"
"No thanks, sleep helps me with the time change. I''ll go with whatever it feels right," Kate said with a yawn sitting down in the white leather seat beside Andrew.
"Sure."
"Gleason is usually so good, very atypical." She leaned forward to open the cabinet in front of her and then pulling out a small blanket. "He kept knocking stuff off the dresser. Then jumping and walking on me, and then right back to the dresser again," she said with a compassionate laugh. She took off her shoes and spread out the blanket." Then he must''ve gotten bored, and only my feet interested him. I am exhausted," she said, reclining the chair.
Andrew listened.
Catching herself going on about her cat, Kate turned towards him. She put her hand on his arm, adding, "I am glad you joined me, Andrew. It means a lot."
"My pleasure, Kate. Should be fun," replied Andrew with honest excitement for the trip.
With that, Kate pulled the cover over her shoulders, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep. The small jet car was comfortable with four passengers, let alone two. A more recent model, it had interactive electronics. Engine noise suppressed through engine and cabin quieters. Andrew smiled, happy for the comfortable seat, quiet ride, and an adventure with Kate. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Breaking free of the morning clouds, a bright light flooded into the cabin of the Jetstar. Andrew, squinting, looked out at the bright blue broadening sky. Soon after takeoff, the cloud bank walled the jet from any view. Now, rising above 3000 feet, he could see Mount Mitchell stand above the clouds. A few other mountains on the blue ridge were tall enough to peek through the mist. The rest buried in a patchwork blanket of all shades of gray. Mount Craig rose to the right of Mount Mitchell at identical height.
While still very bright, the cabin auto-dim restored most of the cabin light level. Distant cumulus drifted thousands of feet higher than Mitchell''s 6,682-foot peak. Andrew couldn''t keep from squinting at the open sky before him, and the view had a unique sensation on Andrew. It reminded him of sailing on the smooth, open sea with a brisk wind at his back. He stood to take in the beautiful, if not alien landscape.
Craig was, in fact, the 2nd tallest peak east of the Mississippi, 40 feet lower than Mt Mitchell. He compared the two peaks but couldn''t tell the difference. Andrew wondered if ''tallest peak'' meant as much to mountains as they are to humans. He had risen in the lab''s hierarchy, and many complimented him for honest and thoughtful work. Not caring much for professional titles, he was grateful for exciting projects and working with good teams. Gazing out at the mountains above the clouds, Andrew wondered if Craig would be jealous. Or, possibly, he felt admirous like a father whose son grew tall and strong, eclipsing his father''s height. With their nearly north-south alignment, neither were in each other''s shadow. Without a third party to tell them otherwise, they likely would have no idea a height disparity. Reflecting on their ancient age, ''If I were a mountain, I could be content taking in the world around me.''
Andrew''s stomach grumbled with mild hunger as he realized he skipped breakfast. ''If earthquakes were hunger pains, would mountains eat?''. He smiled at the question. He and Ray played a game awarding random points for strange dichotomous questions. Andrew was confident Ray would enjoy this one.
The Jetstar soared higher to avoid upcoming mid-level turbulence, climbing to above 6000 feet. From the dispenser, Andrew selected his favorite protein shake flavors, chocolate with banana. He relaxed in his chair, taking in a deep breath. He thought about how Ray''s day was going, the upcoming conference, and the work he had to finish in the afternoon.
5 The Night Before
Why Andrew
1. Relationship: He works well with Kate
2. Skills: He knows the subject, led subsystems
3. Emotion: conference could help overcome any remaining stigma around his son and the kitchen fiasco
4. Motivation: he had asked to go on international trips before.
Andrew Hurdles
1. Family: taking care of Ray while he''s gone
2. Readyness: no real issue here as his projects are in good shape, no upcoming deadlines
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*draft* 6 Tomorrow and the Day Before
Day 1 (Pre-international dateline). November 15
th, 2059: Evening
Day 2 (Post-international dateline). November 16
th, 2059: Dawn
With little fanfare, Andrew and Kate crossed the international dateline in the Jetstar. The dateline created in the mid-Pacific, roughly around the 180-degree longitude, stretches East around some islands that prefer the new day. Traveling East to West adds a day. Although very early November sixteenth in the morning, it was still evening back home. Andrew messaged Sally who was preparing a meal and expected Ray soon.
o o o
Nano and Ray stared intently at a hex on the gameboard. The board showed ripples around Nano''s previous placement as if a pebble were dropped in water. However, within the hex square was a holographic fire rising around the piece and a voice from the board, "a natural gas explosion has occurred," a random event.
Battlegon, the strategy game, is played using a simple piece placement mechanism that exerts a type of territorial control based on the piece''s health as calculated by the board and various modifiers. It is played on a dynamic hexagonal board that projects features and status based on player''s actions. Players use tokens, similar to Go or Checkers. The board incorporates these to display the player''s zone of control while assigning resources within the zone to the owner. The game is played with 2-6 players, each at a leg of a star projecting around the large circular center. Almost similar to the Chinese Checkers starboard, which was invented in Germany using the name to elicit additional excitement. Additional pieces are earned by players through the economic and resource system.
Nano''s commander was badly wounded but would survive. However, its zone of control was significantly diminished allowing Ray an opening for a play against the southwest province.
"Hah! Wow, now that is unlucky," Ray said looking up at Nano. Nano was wriggling, slightly. Ray first noticed the wriggle during his post-upgrade training with Wrimo. It appeared to originate when Nano hit processor limits. Ray postulated that some of Nano''s stability processing was being used for his analysis engine until the instability hit some sort of correction criteria. Overall performance metrics of Nano''s grid was reduced during the wriggle. Ray wondered when Nano might discover the inefficiency. He also wondered if he should attempt to intervene.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
In this game, Nano''s logistic processing capacity was significantly restricted. Ray, even in his youth, had consistently defeated computer players. Nano and all of the lab''s AIEs (artificial intelligence entities) were enabled with free learning privilege. Outside of the lab, such privilege was atypical and widely discouraged. At certain levels of demonstrated capability, AIEs became heavily regulated by the Planetary Intelligence Bureau (PIB). For each AIE, its intelligence level was required to be measured and published at regular intervals. Only a few research facilities could enable free learning in standalone entities, and these were limited to basic research enhancing a narrow list of planetary initiatives.
Ray helped Nano improve his game by playing with him, answering questions, and describing the rationale behind some tactics and strategy. Nano''s processor was artificially limited to an approved level and his gameplay continued improving, often beating non-physical computer players running within the facility''s mainframe at nearly twice the intelligence level.
"Well Nano, you overreached I think. You really have to account for random events especially in the early game or your defenses will be weak and you fall into a survival mode," Ray said blandly while playing his commander in the area, greatly expanding his influence.
Nano tilted his oval, orb-like head looking up from the board. His translucent head color changed from a cerulean blue to a slightly golden yellow and back.
Ray suppressed a laugh behind a stiff grin. His grin faded quickly on Nano''s next move. "Whoa, not bad," said Ray as he took in the board''s new position. The single moved swayed the balance of power significantly as Nano pushed forward instead of protecting his flank. "Where¡¯d ya learn to do that?"
Nano glowed a deep blue but did not respond.
"Well, not bad at all and surprising. I think you are playing a wild hunch, eh? You know that can be very reckless." Nano briefly lit yellow again as he looked at Ray intently, waiting for the next move. "Okay, fine. You win... this time." Ray said after analyzing the move''s full context. There were several ways Ray might still win, but the position and clever play impressed Ray, especially given the advantage of the recent random event. He was also a little ashamed that he didn''t see the weakness in his center position. Also, perhaps most important, Ray was hungry.
"Race you to the kitchen!" Ray said and was off in a flash into a full run laughing heartily.
Nano re-oriented upright leaning back in reverse to get around the table before quickly turning. Tilting forward nearly thirty degrees forward, he accelerated quickly towards the running boy.
"Wait for Meeeeeeeeee!" whirled Wrimo as he followed Nano out the door of the game room.
*draft* 7 Good Night Nano
The Jetstar was now two hours away from Tokyo and Andrew had still been unable to reach Ray. He called Sally who picked up quickly, ¡°Hi Sally, I hate to bug you again. We will be arriving soon. I wanted to see how you are doing and wish Ray a good night. How is everything, okay?¡±
¡°Well,¡± said Sally with a slightly frustrated tone, ¡°Ray has been running around all day and skipped dinner to eat in the lab cafeteria without telling me.¡±
¡°I see. Sorry about that,¡± replied Andrew. He expected at least ten more reports over the next week.
¡°It''s okay," said Sally. "We''ll work that out quickly enough. Be sure to thank Matt. He took care of the house grocery list and everything is restocked. I''ve straightened the house, changed the sheets, and am now finishing up the laundry.¡±
Andrew missed having help around the house. Sometimes he could get Ray to help, often requiring more convincing than the work itself. ''Maybe Sally will be a good influence,'' Andrew hoped wistfully.
¡°I hope it wasn''t too much work, Sally. I appreciate everything. Thank you for stepping in on such short notice and helping us out. By the way, if you need some alone time or a night off, there is a list of sitters and emergency numbers on the house site. The fast tab on cooler screen is probably the quickest.¡±
¡°I saw that. Glad to be helping. Please give Kate my best at the conference, we are all rooting for you,¡± replied Sally.
A moment passed.
¡°Can I talk to Ray?¡±
¡°I''m sorry Andrew, he still isn''t back. I told him 8 pm was the absolute latest he could stay out and that there would be serious restrictions if he missed it. I''m really sorry Andrew. I will make sure he is home by 6 pm going forward.¡± She felt bad that the two would miss each other on the first night, ¡°I will have him try to call you when he gets in, maybe it won''t be too late.¡±
¡°Thanks, Sally, that sounds great. Talk to you soon,¡± said Andrew signing out. He was looking forward to telling Ray about the new mountain question he came up with during takeoff. He was also curious about how Nano''s upgrade was going. ''It will have to wait,'' he said to himself.
o o o
Ray returned home at exactly 8 pm and slightly out of breath, Nano and Wrimo in tow. Sally was waiting outside the door, standing in the residence hall. She greeted him with a slightly disappointed expression. ''I did say 8 pm was the absolute latest,'' she thought to herself. ''Why the last absolute second I''ll never understand.''
Sally opened the door signaling them into the house like the old airport ground crews, ¡°I''m glad you made it on time. That was too close and we are going to improve your timing." After entering the house and closing the door she continued, "Missing dinner is really not acceptable Ray and I don''t like you waiting until the last possible minute for you to come home.¡± She nagged gently.
¡°Sorry Sally,¡± said Ray still winded and adding with a giant smile.
¡°Okay Ray,¡± she said patting his head a little beguiled. As Ray headed towards his room, she added, ¡°Please call your dad. He''s called twice now and wants to talk to you.¡± Her tone had markedly improved.
¡°Will do!¡± shouted back Ray, nearly out of sight.
"He may not...," she called out and then completing to herself, left alone in the room, "... answer."
Entering the bedroom, Ray jumped onto his bead. Wrimo rolled onto his charger and Nano moved beside him, pulling a cable from the back of his head and connecting it to the house power adapter.
The cable also provided data backup services for Nano who began his nightly routine of clearing out most of the daily recordings from memory. Ray wanted to ensure Nano''s systems contained modern security enhancements. He put several new constructs in place after disabling the original remote monitoring applications in Nano''s original operating system. "Memories" were highly encrypted and accessible only to Nano.
Nano kept memories that supported neural encoding self-checks. He kept others based on low analysis confidence ratings, keeping them to improve his learning. Given limited local storage, Nano removed most of the day''s logs. The initial selection rules provided by Ray were very simple and Nano had begun developing the algorithm further.
Nano also kept the last five minutes of today''s Battlegon victory. Although Ray was winning the most games by a significant margin, this game was Nano''s fastest win. He wanted to keep it to discover deeper clues in Ray''s overall game strategy. Nano''s analytical summary for winning today''s game included three vectors:
60% confidence in pure randomized luck
27.4% confidence that a serious weakness was required to distract an opponent
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.13.3% confidence that an inconsequential weakness could distract an opponent
Ray, lying back in his bed requested a communications link: ¡°Call dad,¡± he said after tapping his armband. His dad and most adults used implants for human-computer interfacing, but Ray still used the armband. The best implants required a fully developed skull. Neither Ray nor his dad felt it was necessary given the armbands typically suffice, that is, when powered on.
There was no response. Ray looked down and noticed the bracelet had run out of power. He took it off and placed it on his dresser for charging. "I''d better make sure this stays charged or Sally is going to kill me," he said aloud. Wrimo spun slightly acknowledging Ray''s voice but said nothing.
¡°Call dad,¡± Ray repeated tapping the bracelet again after it powered up.
¡°Calling,¡± replied the voice assistant through the speaker in the band.
Ray double-tapped the bracelet''s glowing green light projecting the call onto his bedroom speakers. A gentle tone played every few seconds. After 10 tones, Ray held own his finger on the bracelet''s green light and said, ¡°Hi dad! Hope you are having fun on your trip, talk to you soon.¡± Ray lifted his finger and the call ended.
Ray looked at Nano whose transparent head was still glowing a cinnamon-reddish color indicating an internal diagnostic was running. "Nano," said Ray. "When you''re done, dad wanted us to review your intelligence functional map distribution. Maybe he''ll be happy if he sees we remembered to do it. Anyway, no sense in getting you into PIB trouble," Ray said referring to the Planetary Intelligence Bureau that monitored all AI activity on the planet and would revoke privileges if certain procedures were not followed.
Nano paused the memory selection process, disconnected the power cable, and moved towards Ray. Nano turned around and kneeled from a joint a foot above his wheel. A small block protruded from the back of Nano''s head just below the Occipital area. Ray touched an indentation on the end and each side of the box opened like a shell, diverging into two halves and exposing a blue crystal-like object with several facets. An intelligence interface guidance module hologram projected into the air in front of Ray from one of the facets. Ray reached into the projection and gestured. Several matrix structures rotated into view. "Oh," said Ray with a magnify gesture. The image expanded to reveal the cognitive function subsystem. Ray highlighted one of the elements, "I think this one could grow. Do you see how it is interacting with your vision and language cortex?" asked Ray.
"Yes Ray, expanding that subsystem would support my emotions processor," said Nano dryly.
"It already appears to be influencing your intuition positively. I think we should just enlarge it. I wonder. Will you be able to balance?" Ray asked. Nano''s neural net was complex and several of the modules were used as both inputs to the net and outputs providing functional linkages between them.
"I believe motor skills would be reduced to balance the processing power requirements. Ray, projections indicate neural re-balancing could take a significant amount of time given processing limitations." Nano replied.
"How much time?" Ray asked, worried more about how the change might impact Nano''s navigation ability or the odd wriggle he noticed earlier in the day.
"37.4 days"
"Whoa, really?" Ray asked. ¡°Now that is major!¡±
Nano could decipher statements from questions fairly effectively. Primarily, tone inflection was used. A cross-check system monitored repetition, increasing probability when words were repeated. His neural grid was capable of classifying several types of questions. It analyzed Ray''s statement and then added a modifier specific to Ray. After removing confidence intervals of less than 50%, Nano analyzed the top three remaining categories:
77.4% confidence in rhetorical classification: questioning for question sake
67.2% confidence in a short answer, Dichotomous question: modal yes/no response
55.1% confidence in probative: requesting a lengthy response
Nano remained silent. With Ray, expansive explanations were most often interrupted. Summarizing the report diagnostic outlining the 37.4-day estimate had a 97% probability of being interrupted given the trailing word, ¡°really,¡± had been used. This word, at the trailing end of a question, was indicative of a brief yes/no reply response with high confidence. After ~100 milliseconds, Nano decided to nod affirmatively. This action had a 100% success rate in suppressing repetition.
"Nano! Stop moving your head!¡± said Ray with frustration. ¡°Okay, how much time if we used the core?"
"The processing allowance would reduce the duration by half, Ray" Nano considered.
"Unless we give you the whole maintenance array, right?" asked Ray.
"That is not allowed, Ray," replied Nano.
Ray''s use of the laboratory core was already the recent cause of turmoil. It could go badly. Even with recent system updates, there was always a possibility of side effects for one of the lab''s many systems: cleaning and maintenance robots, resource planning, ordering, and data processing. Ray reckoned his chances were good.
"Nonsense," said Ray. "Isn''t it allowed for emergencies?"
Nano''s head glowed a golden yellow the blue. "It is permissible to overrun allocations for catastrophic failures to ensure proper diagnostic forensics are preserved to analyze potential causes for the failure."
¡°How long?" asked Ray.
Nano''s head remained a golden yellow.
"2.3 hours, Rayburn," said Nano. The robot rarely addressed Ray so formerly. Over the past day, he heard both Ray''s father and then Sally address Ray in his formal name. Each time when doing something beyond the structural limits of local rule sets. "I don''t think that is a good...," Nano began.
Ray interrupted, "Only temporary, and you''ll auto restart."
"It is not a good idea to...," Nano attempted to reframe the statement.
Ray interrupted again, made the adjustment for 20% more intuitive processing, and threw Nano''s fault switch causing an immediate emergency shutdown. Only data backhaul subsystems remained active.
Ray dragged the lifeless, collapsed Nano to his space beside Wrimo and connected him back up to the charging station.
"Good night Wrimo. Good night Nano," Ray said, climbing back into bed. He immediately remembered he had forgotten to upload Nano''s PIB ratings... again.