no hesitation, no heart of gold

[will_be_god]

Who: Pulse, R.O.B., and possibly Cyrus
What: Data buddies
Where: Inside Cyrus's computer
When: When R.O.B. resides there before getting his body back



Upon R.O.B.'s untimely physical demise, Cyrus had extended the offer to contain the robot's data in his own computer. It was a secure partition, with precautions to rival most world powers, but with plenty of room for an artificial intelligence to roam around.

Or...two artificial intelligences.

And of course, no system was entirely unhackable.

Comments

[operatingbuddy]

Waiting for his body to be repaired was difficult, although ROB's mood wasn't quite up to snuff anyway. Even if he had his body he'd still be doing the same thing: reflecting on his failure.

But Cyrus' invitation was tempting. And with nothing on his hands but time, ROB decided to take him up on it.

Cyrus' computer blinked to life as ROB entered it, finding a partition ready and waiting for him. He had no desire to snoop in another's personal files, not when they offered a kind gesture to him like this, so that suited him just fine. "Good day, Professor," ROB greeted.

[will_be_god]

The words manifested as pure binary in a special screen. After a moment, it blinked and automatically translated it. Not that Cyrus couldn't read binary, of course, far from it. But it simply took less time to respond via a translator.

"Is it?" the reply came. "I suppose it is an average day, though referring to such as 'good' seems to overstate it."

[operatingbuddy]

"I am not certain as to the quality of the day," came the reply. "From within the network, I am unable to perceive the weather or atmospheric conditions. Weather reports from the internet are not the same. I merely employ a customary greeting."

[will_be_god]

There was a bit of a delay before a response. "I speak nothing of the weather, though it is average as well."

[operatingbuddy]

"I apologize for my lack of understanding," the robot responded.

[will_be_god]

"I am curious," the man began, changing the subject as though nothing previous had been said, "what it is like from a sensory standpoint to exist without a body. Although you lack a nervous system and thus your answers will be by means different from that of a being that does, you are sentient and sapient, as well as in possession of senses such as sight and hearing. How are those altered in this form?"

[operatingbuddy]

R.O.B. thought on the subject for a moment, attempting to find a way to express the sensation of being an AI living inside the computer network to someone who was incapable of experiencing it for himself. "In one manner, it is no different than experiencing such things with my physical body," he explained. "My software is designed to interpret input from optical, auditory and tactile sensors installed in my housing. Inside the academy network, I am more or less in a state of sensory-deprivation as you would understand it. If I connect to a camera or microphone, I am capable of processing audio and visual input. However, in this state I perceive my surroundings in a way that is difficult to explain. Although not an accurate description, it is as if I exist in a place where conscious thought results in action without physical intervention. To move from computer to computer, I perceive myself transferring between them, and so I transfer."

[will_be_god]

"So those inputs are replicated, for the most part? Fascinating. If a thought occurs to you in that state, is the resulting action inherent or must the thought be one of concentration?"

[operatingbuddy]

"There is a degree of conscious thought required for action to occur," he explained. "It is similar to activating a movement servo, or perhaps a more relatable example would be flexing a muscle. Action results from direct thought, but the precise mechanisms are so complex that perception of an action takes the form of the end result, rather than perceiving every moving component required to, say, raise an arm."

[will_be_god]

"I see. Do you believe you would perceive these as such were it not for your existence as a physical being?"

[operatingbuddy]

"It is difficult to say. I have always perceived my environments physically. To perceive them in a purely digital manner is a unique experience for which I have no point of reference."