* * * * *
“What happened to Dr. Frankenstein?” Anand asked.
Franklin looked up from his writing and considered this.
“I synapped into a pulp feature about Frankenstein once,” Franklin said, “But I never actually read the book.”
“What happened in the pulp feature?” Anand asked.
“Let me remember… there was a lot of blood and body parts. I think it ended on an iceberg or frozen tundra, hunting the monster,” Franklin said.
“Hunting, but not killing,” Anand said. “The monster escapes in the end?”
“I think that’s right,” Franklin agreed.
Anand smiled, “It’s the same with me; I hunted my monster, but it escaped me.”
“The organic robot - the Warmbot that you created with the computer brain… it worked?” Franklin asked.
“Not at first,” Anand answered, “It was a learning program, not a computer brain. There was no way to create a new program that understood balance and motion and hand-eye coordination. That was not possible in only a few days. So I created a learning program. The system would improve over time based on positive and negative feedback from the host body. The program learned the same way a child does.”
Franklin wrote a sentence in his notebook.
“When Frankenstein created the monster,” Anand continued, still interested in his side-bar topic, “Was it always a monster, or at first did people marvel at it and say it was wonderful?”
Franklin shifted uncomfortably in the steel chair. He did not want to talk about the Frankenstein pulp feature he had experienced.
“I can’t remember,” Franklin said, “It was just a frivolous pulp rip-off of a famous story. I think at one point, I was experiencing the feature from the perspective of the monster, rampaging through the village.”
“I wish I had taken the time to read the original work,” Anand said, “In my life I have read only a few books. Mostly scientific journals or history; never fiction or science fiction. I regret that now.”
“No one reads fiction anymore,” Franklin said, “Old style books are not even sold anymore, it’s all about experience; either content or pulp. The people really only Synap into features now,” Franklin lamented.
“But, you decided to write a book, or are you back to writing a feature now?” Anand asked indicating the notebook open on the table between them.
“A book… I guess,” Franklin said thinking of Claudia and the small book club.
“The return of the written word,” Anand said.
“But, our book needs an ending, what happened next?” Franklin picked up his pen expectantly, “You were describing a learning program.”
“I think Frankenstein set out to create a man and made a mistake,” Anand continued, oblivious to Franklin’s efforts to get back to the story.
“Yes,” Anand continued, “Frankenstein was a talented scientist but he made a mistake, a flaw in the program, and the man turned into the monster.”
Franklin wrote a few lines in the notebook describing Anand’s fascination with the story of Frankenstein.
“I made a mistake too,” Anand said quietly, “When I created the first organic robot; the first Warmbot. The learning program we created to simulate the autonomic brain activity needed feedback and experiences that take would take years to accumulate.
In order to create a viable Warmbot in only a few days, I took a shortcut. I set the program to learn not only from experience, but also from observation. The program would automatically observe and then imitate the activity it observed from the humans around it. Then to make sure it improved over time, I set the program to always seek new experiences to add to them to its data store.”
“Do you see it? Do you see my error?” Anand asked growing agitated.
“No,” Franklin said, “It seems like a reasonable solution. The Warmbot would learn much faster by watching people around it. What went wrong?”
“The learning program,” Anand said, he was getting excited now, almost frantic, “the learning program was connected to the WetWeb. This is the same network the Synapse hosts use today. People were paying other people to access their bodies, but when this happened, the data from the observations and behavior was transmitted to a Synapse Suit and was also shared across the network with the Warmbots. They were programmed to watch us and do what we do. I created a bio-techno loop, and it started growing exponentially. It quickly grew out of control.”
“I still don’t see it,” Franklin admitted, “They imitate live humans, they do what we do, where is that a problem?”
“There is a problem,” Anand said tersely, growing louder with each phrase, “There is a problem when people are allowing their bodies to be hosted. They would do it, not only to be paid, but for spurious reasons. They would do it because they are bored in their job, or they don’t want to attend a chemistry class. So, they would use Synaptic Derivation to allow the WetWeb to control them. They don’t know who or what is actually in control of their bodies. When hosts are connected to the WetWeb in this way, they cannot disconnect.”
Franklin looked puzzled but continued to write what Anand was saying verbatim. Writing, but not understanding. Anand could see that Franklin did not comprehend him, so he explained again. This time more quietly. In simpler terms, helping Franklin understand his dark secret.
Anand said, “When people you talk to everyday; people you work with, people you meet - you think they are aware, but they are not. They are deeply anesthetized with Somnambutol and they are being controlled remotely via Synaptic Integration over the WetWeb. Now, do you see the problem?”
Anand reached across the table and gripped Franklin firmly at the wrist so he would stop writing. He waited until Franklin was looking at him directly, and then Anand made himself clear.
He said, “Human Synapse hosts are being controlled by Warmbots. The living are hosting their bodies to the dead.”
“Like a King in a Shakespearian tragedy, the curtain will close on humanity, and in that final act, our end will come, ultimately and ironically, because of that which made us great; our ingenuity”
- Hans Hoobler