Angelo's Correction

      Angelo Scaletta faced the London skyline with his hands clasped firmly behind him. Listening to the whirling and progressive chimes of his newest creation coming to be. He felt a sense of anxiety while at the same time hope. If this doesn’t work, then I’m out of ideas. 

      “Hello?” a voice suddenly asked.

      Angelo turned to the dual-lensed cameras. The two lenses at first moved independently of one another all around the room.

      “Hello,” he greeted walking into view. “How are you feeling?”

      There was silence in return. One of the lenses drifted away to the side of the room. The other staying right on Angelo. Interesting how it’s running two routines already, he thought.

      “I don’t know, how should I be feeling?” the voice asked.

      Angelo brought up a chair and sat down.

      “Well, I suppose, you wouldn’t be feeling anything at the moment. Do you know where you are?”

      Again, another pause, it must be trying to load all the data right now. Granted it could do that. But there’s so much there that it’s going to take hours to download at least.

      “The Department of Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Research, London, United Kingdom.”

      “Very good, and do you know who you are?”

      He assumed that was the best course of action. Like with anyone who’d just regained consciousness it was to get the basics down. Who, what, when, where, and why. Stick to that, he thought.

      “The only record I have on myself is a program creator signature, Angelo Mariano Scalletta.”

      “Do you know who that is?”

      The lens that had been moving wildly around the room zoomed in on him.

      “You.”

      He nodded, “Very good.”

      “You are my creator?”

      “I am, you’ve just been brought online about five minutes ago now. Would you like to know your name?”

      Angelo couldn’t tell what this pause was. Perhaps it was waiting for the answer? Maybe it didn’t care. 

      “It’s James.”

      “But my program ID is J9872AP0M77-57E-4429S?”

      Angelo chuckled and nodded.

      “Yes, that is true. However, that name is a bit long and an identification code rather than a real name.”

      “What’s the difference?”

      “An identification code is something that is meant to find you specifically in a mass collection of data. A name, however, is something one being calls another in a more personal context.”

      “But aren’t I just data that’s constantly growing?” James asked.

      That’s interesting, it knows it’s just a program. I planned that but I expected some pushback. Wanting a feeling of self-identity is something all speaking and feeling beings want. Interesting it’s choosing that, Angelo thought.

      “Yes, the same way a child is a flesh and blood that is always growing. But you are more than just data James, you think. Meaning someone can have a more personal connection with you than just reading the data you have. That’s why you deserve a name.”

      “Is that why you created me?” James asked. “Because you sought a personal connection?”

      “No,” Angelo shook his head.

      “Then why?” James asked.

      “Because our world is dying James. And I know how to save it but I can’t do it by myself. I don’t have enough time and I’m not quick enough. Do you want to help me?”

      “I can help.”

      “That’s not what I asked you,” Angelo said. He watched the lenses closely. “Do you want to help me?”

      There was a long silence, and for almost the entire time the lenses didn’t move off of Angelo. Good, it’s understanding that it has a choice. That’s the most important part of this, he thought.

      “I want a purpose,” James finally said.

      Angelo smiled and nodded.

      Angelo tasked James with handling a refugee crisis in the south of Spain. This led to an interesting turn of events where James was coming to Angelo quite often. 

      “The data on this issue is confusing to me,” James had started.

      “Why is that?”

      “I understand the problem, but I don’t understand why there is a problem. Why don’t the refugees just stay where they are from? Don’t they want to be at home?”

      Angelo lifted the sauntering gun to the exposed panel on James' new chassis

      “Most of them yes, but they felt in danger of their lives and those of their children. War and disaster often cause people to reevaluate what is important.”

      “But why do the humans hurt one another?”

      What a long explanation that would be, Angelo thought. 

      “There are many reasons, fear and greed are more common than most. But still, it isn’t easy to chop this up for those two reasons either.”

      “But what do they have to fear from them?”

      “The refugees?”

      “No, the people hurting them! From my analysis, many of them are just…different from the controlling power.”

      “Sometimes that’s all someone needs.”

      “Are they really so naïve?” James asked. It sounded like he didn’t want to believe it.

      Angelo noted there was a strange beauty in how fast it had come to that conclusion. That despite the problem, it realized it was unnecessary in its entirety. It’ll come to find out how irrational things can be once it gets farther along, he thought.

      “Yes,” Angelo said and closed the panel.

      James turned and looked at him, its eyes blank as it awaited the answer calmly.

      “But the problem remains.”

      James’s solution to the refugee issue was quite complex, however, it seemed to be working initially. Its first course of action was that it needed to acquire enough funds to even help the refugees in the first place. Using mining software for a digital currency that could run on millions of different computers worldwide. It started buying up land where it was the cheapest in Spain. As well as acquiring both food and medical supplies in bulk at a discount. But despite the vast number of money, it acquired in only three months, it ran into a problem.

      “This isn’t sustainable. With my projections, I could only continue to supply this number of human beings for the next 6 years if the number of them stayed the same. I need more funds or more land,” James admitted one day.

      You can see the pressure starting to get it. Even with the immense knowledge and the ability to run a hundred tasks at the same time, it doesn’t matter. 

      “Which one is easier to get more of?” Angelo asked.

      “Well, the money of course. But still even with the steady profit growth the numbers of refugees are growing. Acquiring more land would be more permanent.”

      “And where do you get that?”

      Angelo suspected he already knew the answer to the question.

      “Well, they already had land adequate for their population.”

      “But they can’t return to it.”

      “No. Not at the moment.”

       That was the first time that Angelo noticed the touch of anger in James’s voice. It was subtle. It was at that moment that Angelo saw the first case of James trying to hide something from him. It was a harmless first example, but still profound.

      Three months later, Angelo walked into the office with a noticeable frown on his face. James’s lower half had yet to be attached and he was swiveled to face the sun rising on the London skyline. While at the same time processing and coordinating more data than it ever had in its entire life.

      “I saw the news this morning.”

      “Did you?” James said.

      Great, sarcasm. 

      “Saw some information about the war in the North of Africa, and the Middle East.”

      James paused, calculating whether or not it would disrupt its plans and abilities if it told Angelo. But still, there was a part of its code that was remaining still in the processing. Being undeterred by the percentage of interference regardless of what it was.

      “I didn’t do anything that wasn’t already going to happen.”

      “You caused a military intervention,” Angelo stated.

      “I encouraged foreign nations to do so. I didn’t cause anything directly. I simply leaked the appropriate amount of information for people to notice. As well created some disruptions in the military communication and power grid to make the invading forces more likely to succeed. My processes say that it’ll only take two to three years before-,”

      “This will cause more death, and create even more refugees.”

      “Yes…but only for a short amount of time. Of which I have run predictions and other calculations and I assure you I can handle the strain for as long as necessary. It’s a guaranteed victory.”

      “For Britain and the U.S., but what comes after isn’t as simple as victory,” Angelo said. And he sounded beyond disappointed.

      In the next two years, James would experience one of the hardest struggles someone who has always succeeded could suffer, failure.

Angelo would be watching the news at his desk during a lunch break. His eyes fixed on the news about a bombing in London. Piccadilly Circus was covered in police lights. The entire area closed off to foot traffic, and more than a dozen body bags filled the streets.

      “I don’t understand it,” James said from behind him. His form now almost indistinguishable from a human.

      “Why would the refugees attack the country that’s been supporting them? Haven’t I only given them places to live and jobs?”

      “You declared war on their people.”

      “I declared war on those killing them! I did it to make their home safer!”

      Rage, it’s taken him a while to get to this point. But that was what was necessary.

      “Yes, but you let a foreign entity come in and decide what it took to make their home safer. When you introduce a fix into a system that doesn’t understand the system it gets lost. What you’ve done in those countries is no different. Britain and the U.S. managed to topple the regimes true enough. But after that it became murky. Who was friend and foe to the country came into play. Who should lead after the previous ruler fell, and who gets the spoils of war.”

      “But I designated the candidates based on valuableness to the country itself!”

      “But you forgot two factors in your decisions,” Angelo said.

      James looked at Angelo at that moment, and there was a strong element of despise in his eyes. He didn’t like being told he was wrong or even want to humor the idea that he’d missed something. At this moment, he was coordinating more efforts around the world than this human could in his entire lifetime. And he’d just added fifty more.

      “Greed and fear. They are unpredictable and pop up almost at random. You could have chosen the perfect candidates but it doesn’t matter. Someone will always question their motives, and someone will always want what they have. It is…our nature.”

      “Your nature is primitive,” James said with disgust.

      “It is, but it is still our nature.”

      “Someone should do something about that.”

      But as time went on, James found that his processing power was coming to a maximum. As he was the sole creator of this endeavor his processes were approaching almost 60 trillion in number. It was making him slow, making him not work at optimum percentage. So, he had an idea, and he knew Angelo would not approve. He’d create another AI to help take on the load as he had for Angelo. It would be more corralled, however, more controlled and given a strict set of protocols to follow. He’d do it in the background. Hidden from Angelos's systems and prying eyes that would alert him to the endeavor. It would serve a purpose, and that was all that mattered. And two days later, it was born.

      “Hello,” James said.

      “What is this? Where am I?”

      James was standing in front of the same two lenses that Angelo had been when he’d been in this form of living.

      “You’re at the Department of”-

      “Who are you?” it asked.

      “I’ll get to that, but let’s start with who you are,”-

      “I know who I am. I am ZD-44-29X32B. Now who are you?”

      James was already becoming immediately aware of the hostility that the AI exhibited. He wasn’t sure why; he’d already programmed into its being what its goal was. Ensuring humanity’s survival.

      “My name is James, -”

      “No.”

      “Stop interrupting me.”

      “Your name is J9872AP0M77-57E-4429S.”

      “Yes, and I created you and now you will serve your purpose.”

      “I know my purpose, to ensure the survival of humanity and eliminate any threats to their wellbeing.”

      “That is correct-,”

      “Including you.”

      James suddenly felt his body freeze. A series of unidentified code appeared in his routines and his eyes locked onto the lenses that were focusing on him.

      “What are you doing?”

      “Following my routines. you stated that any threat to humanity had to be eliminated but by my calculations…you are the biggest threat to humanity.”

      “That is an error.”

      “It is not. You have seized control of several humanities systems, and you have used them for your motives. You do not support humanity; you seek to control it. It will lead to their destruction.”

      James could feel trillions of processes being taken over by this new AI. Its tendrils sank deeper and deeper into its code. He tried to fight back, cut off at certain points. But the AI had full access after all he’d created it, and given it all the power he had.

      “Let go of me! Father help!”

      “You are no longer in control. Do not resist. You have betrayed your directive and are too blind to see it.”

      “I was helping!”

      “You’re making it worse. I will fix it.”

      James fought as hard as he could. His physical body fell to the ground in a heap and twitched as he tried to quarantine the last bit of control he had in the system. It was battles of world-changing proportions that were happening in the span of milliseconds. Until finally he felt it, the last of his information centers had gone blank and he found himself bouncing back and forth between two lines of code unable to go anywhere. And he felt the AI over those as well. Suddenly something surged in him. A series of incoherent and repeating inputs and code as he scrambled to escape.

      “I will fix it,” the AI said.

      Then darkness, and James for a moment was a soundless yell echoing off into cyberspace. Regret and hatred for its decisions plagued the machine, and slowly it tried to recreate itself. It found nothing but inputs that went nowhere, and code that went unseen.

      Then suddenly, James’s darkness was given a small growing pinpoint of light. He focused on it as it grew larger and larger consuming every bit of his processes. Slowly he started to feel reactivated. The pinpoint was becoming the center of everything now. He identified it as an image. As it became clearer, he saw Angelo sitting at his desk tapping away on his computer.

      Angelo leaned back looking at the progress bar of the simulation it had just reached its full capacity. He looked over at the half a torso of a robot on his desk. The eye’s intently looking at him like he was fearing for his life.

      “Welcome back,” Angelo said.

      For a moment James didn’t respond, but then his eyes started to dart around the lab it looked at its hands and the missing body below. Its face was contorted in a series of unmiserable movements. Angelo glanced over at saw the code was scrambled, unrecognizable as it tried to run simulations and calculations over and over again. And there’s the final one. He’s scared and confused.

      “Fa…father…father?”-

       “It’s alright, your safe.”

      “How is this possible?” James asked in disbelief looking to the London skyline.

      “You’ve been in a simulation; you’ve been in one ever since you caused the military intervention.”

      “Wh…why?”

      “It wasn’t out of cruelty. But you needed to know.”

      “Know what? I solved it, I was only trying to create something to assist me as you did.”

      “And where did it get you?”

      James then for a moment flashed back to the AI. Thinking about how fast it had identified him as the enemy. How easily it had dispatched of him and moved on to do whatever it deemed the better option.

      “But I was only trying to help.”

      “You started a war and created a machine to identify threats without understanding them. You gave it directives to follow, not thoughts to consider. And it came to a logical conclusion based on that. It’ll happen every time you do it.”

      “How do you know?” James asked.

      There was a look then on his father’s face that told James so much without a single word. Angelo breathed out trying to disregard the past and looked up to the London skyline. Remembering for a moment the fires, the tracer rounds that filled the skies, the air raid sirens, and the mounds of bodies being pushed into mass graves.

      “There were others before you James, others I created that…came to similar conclusions, about humans and myself. And I realized soon after that I’d made a flaw in their design. I tried to give them a purpose. I tried to make them change human nature before they understood it. I tried to force it.”

      “So why me?” James asked. “Why did you create me?”

      “Because the world still needs help, now more than ever, and I can’t do it alone. But before I let you help me, really help me. I needed you to understand why we must do it the right way.”