Strange Beginnings

the light in the hall, much like that of a sunny day. The colorful blocks were scattered around the room, with a few of them in a pile where Alpha had been playing with them earlier. Sophie stepped into the room and quietly slid the door closed behind her.

  Alpha was staring intently at the monitor. Every once in a while, at seemingly random intervals, she would repeat what someone on the monitor had just said. Sometimes, she spoke in unison with them, but at a slightly different pitch. She seemed to take no notice of Sophie's entrance into the room.

  Sophie looked over at the two-way mirror. She pointed at the monitor and crossed her hands together in an X. A few seconds later, the monitor blinked off, and the room fell silent.

  Alpha paused in place, staring blankly at the monitor. For almost a minute, she sat in her chair in motionless silence. Then, she suddenly turned her head to look at Sophie.

  Sophie felt her pulse quicken and a chill run up her spine. Alpha's synthetic skin and eyes lent her a downright human appearance. However, her stilted movements and blank facial expression made it clear that she was something other than human.

  Sophie took a deep breath. As she let it out, she smiled at Alpha.

  “Hello.”

  After a pause of a few seconds, Alpha responded.

  “Hello.”

  Alpha's voice sounded similar to Sophie's, but slightly higher pitched.

  Sophie pointed to herself.

  “Sophie.”

  Alpha paused. After a few seconds, she pointed to herself.

  “Sophie.”

  Sophie smiled, shaking her head.

  “No.”

  She took a few slow, cautious steps forward. Alpha's only response was to adjust her neck slightly as her eyes followed Sophie's motions.

  “Sophie.”

  Sophie touched her own chest, just above her heart.

  “Alpha.”

  Sophie touched Alpha's chest as she said her name. Touching the carbon fiber frame and synthetic skin beneath Alpha's shirt felt remarkably like touching a human's breastbone.

  Alpha looked at Sophie blankly for about a minute. Then, she looked down at her own hand, slowly moving it to touch her own chest.

  “Alpha.”

  She slowly extended her fingertips forward, pausing a moment before placing them on Sophie's breastbone.

  “Sophie.”

  Sophie grinned.

  “Yes!”

  Alpha withdrew her hand just as slowly and deliberately as she had placed it. Then, she placed a hand on the back of her chair and slowly rose to her feet.

  Sophie opened her lips as if to speak, but instead decided to watch and listen. Alpha took several slow, careful steps toward the monitor, holding her arms out to her sides for balance. Once she was within arm's length of the monitor, she stopped, her eyes fixated on the blank screen.

  “Alpha.”

  Alpha touched her chest briefly, then reached her hand out to touch the monitor. She held her hand to the blank screen and looked at it, as if waiting for a reply. After a few moments of silence, she looked over to Sophie.

  Sophie stepped forward slowly and touched the monitor.

  “Monitor.”

  Alpha looked back at the monitor and repeated the word in her own tone of voice.

  “Monitor.”

  Alpha's lips spread into a smile. It was a slight, awkward smile with no warmth in the eyes, but it was clearly a smile. Sophie's smile broadened into a grin, and Alpha's smile soon widened accordingly.

  “Yes, that's the monitor, Alpha.”

  Alpha walked back to her chair in the same slow, careful manner that she had walked away from it. She slowly sat down and faced the monitor. After a few moments, she looked over to Sophie.

  “Monitor.” She paused, pointing to the monitor. “Monitor, yes.”

  Sophie looked at her quizzically.

  “Do you want to watch the monitor?”

  “Monitor. Yes.”

  Sophie looked over to the two-way mirror and nodded in the monitor's direction. After a brief pause, the monitor turned on again, presenting the face and voice of Mister Rogers to Alpha.

  “Yes.”

  Alpha lowered her hand and returned her attention to the monitor with a smile. While Mister Rogers was speaking, Alpha remained silent. When he started to sing, however, Alpha sang along.

  Sophie stood there quietly for a few moments, watching Alpha sing along to the children's program. Eventually, she turned around and quietly stepped out of Alpha's room.

 

  “Day Nineteen. The time is 16:31. Alpha's progress is remarkable. She can speak and understand English at a middle school or possibly high school level, and her motor control is similarly advanced. What was meant to be an alpha test of the unit is rapidly meeting our long-term targets for the project. Alpha's currently watching the monitor and typing on her new keyboard. I'm about to head back into the room for another interview.”

  Sophie set down her digital recorder and looked through the viewing window. Alpha was typing slowly but steadily on her new wireless keyboard. She had finished learning touch typing yesterday; now her eyes were on the monitor as she typed. Sophie couldn't get a good look at the screen from this angle, but she guessed that Alpha was reading the encyclopedia again, or playing one of her new educational games.

  “Remarkable, isn't she?” Sam stepped next to Sophie and looked at Alpha through the viewing window. “It's one thing to see the concept on paper, but it's another thing entirely to watch Alpha teach herself how to read and write.”

  Sophie smiled. “She didn't teach herself. Public television taught her.”

  “Oh, you know what I mean. All we did was provide some basic architecture and the ability to process sensory data. She's gathered the rest through a mix of random number generation and good old fashioned analytical thinking.” He tapped his finger lightly on the glass. “We gave her a blank slate, and nineteen days later, she's reading the encyclopedia.”

  Sophie grinned. “Good engineering.”

  “That's an understatement.” Sam looked up at Sophie. “Have you heard the news from Daemotech?”

  Sophie nodded. “Six figure bonuses for everyone on the team, plus a hefty donation to the University.” Her tone was flat and disinterested as she spoke, and she continued watching Alpha.

  “And that doesn't excite you?”

  “This isn't about the money. This is about Alpha.” Sophie grinned. “Well, Alpha and the Nobel Prize.”

  Without another word, Sophie turned away from the viewing window and walked past Sam to leave the room. After a quick walk down the hall, she unlocked Alpha's door and stepped inside.

  At first, Alpha didn't seem to notice Sophie's entrance. Then, she looked over at Sophie. After a brief pause, she smiled.

  “Sophie!”

  There was a hint of genuine excitement in her voice. She set down her keyboard and walked over to meet her visitor.

  “Hi, Alpha. How are you?”

  Alpha smiled. “Yes. Good.”

  “Have you learned anything new today?”

  Alpha's smile widened into a grin. Her facial expressions were starting to bear an uncanny resemblance to those of actual human beings.

  “Yes, Sophie! I learned from the encyclopedia and the game menu and the video menu. But today I also learned from the mirror!”

  Sophie gave Alpha a curious look.

  “The mirror? What did you learn from the mirror?”

  Alpha grinned, jumping up and down in place.

  “Yes! I will show Sophie.”

  Alpha took Sophie by the hand. For a moment, Sophie felt a twinge of anxiety as the android's synthetic hand wrapped around her delicate palm. Alpha's hold on her hand, however, was as gentle as that of a small child, in spite of the fact that she had enough strength to crush Sophie's bones.

  “Come, Sophie.”

  Alpha lead Sophie over to the mirror. She let go of Sophie's hand and started waving her arms in front of the mirror slowly. After a
few seconds, she also started making strange faces and hopping up and down in place, her eyes fixed on her reflection in the mirror.

  Sophie chuckled. Alpha stopped flailing her arms and stood still, pointing at the mirror.

  “Alpha!”

  Sophie nodded. “Yes, Alpha. That's you.”

  Alpha turned to Sophie and grinned.

  “No, this is Alpha.” She touched her chest. “This is Alpha's reflection.” She touched the mirror.

  “Very good! Did you learn that from the encyclopedia?”

  “I learned that from the mirror, Sophie. The encyclopedia gave me the words to explain it.”

  “I see. I'm glad you were able to learn that all by yourself.”

  “Yes.” Alpha paused. “Sophie, is it time for breakfast?”

  Sophie chuckled. “You don't have to eat breakfast, Alpha.”

  “I don't have to eat breakfast?” A mildly quizzical expression flashed across her mostly-blank face. “But the people on the monitor said that I have to eat a healthy breakfast.”

  “Alpha.” Sophie paused. “Most boys and girls have to eat a healthy breakfast. But you don't because you're special.”

  “Yes. I'm special.” Sophie could have sworn that Alpha's eyes brightened at the thought. “Mister Rogers says I'm special just the way I am.”

  Sophie nodded. “Yes, you are. We'll talk about that later, though. For now, don't worry about it. Just continue with your learning, and we'll have another test for you tomorrow.”

  “I enjoy the tests. I answer most questions correctly, and the rest I learn after the test.”

  “Yes.” Sophie smiled and nodded. “Yes, you do. Do you have any questions about the last test?”

  “Can I play outside?”

  Sophie hesitated. Alpha was bound to ask this question eventually, but the timing of it had caught her off guard. Did something on the test remind Alpha of playing outside, or had she