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#Post#: 26823--------------------------------------------------
Beta
By: nitrox116 Date: July 31, 2015, 8:37 pm
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((Just a little story I thought I’d try out. I’m not that great
a writer and I probably won’t finish, but I at least wanted to
get the concept out there.))
[center][font=courier]BETA
Cerebral Mitosis[/font][/center]
There was no artificial boundary, but the laboratory was clearly
divided into two sections. One half was whitewashed and
sterile, the walls lined with shelves of esoteric chemicals,
microscopes and pipettes sitting pristinely on counters. The
other half was much more disorganized, with crossed wires
plugged into every available outlet, the desk space filled up
computers analyzing data or simply displaying a screensaver. At
the center of a room, against a wall, was a standard-issue
laboratory-grade surrogate, currently inactive.
Finally, I’m done. Checking my work is such a bore. Dr. Carl
Euler, owner of the lab and currently its sole occupant, stood
up from the computer he was working on and stretched his legs.
I’ll get a cup of water, then test it out. I want to savor the
anticipation.
The art of surrogacy wasn’t all that new in the scientific
sense, but surrogates – robotic bodies which could be mentally
controlled – had only recently been released to the general
public. In a sense, the technology had existed for as long as
there had been artificial limbs hooked up to nerves – a robotic
arm or hand was simply a surrogate attached to the body.
Of course, science had advanced a lot since then. There was no
more need to physically wire up nerves to the surrogate;
wireless technology was perfectly sufficient. The general
public used headwear with electrodes to pick up the brain’s
electrical signals, but due to his status as a researcher, Carl
had opted for a surgical procedure that applied the electrodes
directly to his brain. It allowed for more convenience and
precision.
Naturally, as soon as these surrogates were publicly available,
their limitations became obvious. Most models had relatively
poor sensory feedback. Those that had more advanced systems
took a while to get used to, and the artificial senses still
felt distinctly different from their human counterparts. To
make matters worse, surrogates pushed human limits in terms of
multitasking. Rather than controlling just one body,
controllers of surrogates had to control two at once. This
greatly limited dexterity and precision, and forced controllers
to keep their biological body still while performing complex
actions with the surrogate, or vice versa. Dreams of
controlling an army of bodies with one mind driving them were
still out of reach.
And so Carl had decided to further mesh biology and engineering
by giving his test surrogate a ‘blank brain.’ It wasn’t an
artificial intelligence, but rather a network of transistors
that served as a clean slate, with a similar capacity to a human
brain. Anyone who used this surrogate would be able to tap into
that additional processing power, being able to get used to its
inputs more quickly and multitask more effectively. At least,
that was the theory. Now it was time to put it to the test.
Carl, cup of water in hand, walked over to his computer and
downloaded the code he had just finished on a flash drive. He
plugged it into his surrogate, which he had nicknamed “BB”
thanks to the blank brain it contained, and started the data
transfer.
As he waited, he looked once more at BB. Besides the blank
brain it contained, it was essentially the standard civilian
surrogate, with extra attachments available to allow for
additional laboratory research. The body was sleek, metallic,
and genderless, its sensory receptors mirroring those of a
human. Its fingers and sensory organs were all detachable and
replaceable – you could use smaller fingers for more precise
operations, install eyes in the back of its head, the
possibilities were endless. For now, he would just go with the
basic human model.
To actually publish results, he would need to try out BB with a
bunch of test subjects, and quantify multitasking abilities
using a simple test. Sort objects, run on a treadmill, that
kind of thing with both a human and BB separately, then
simultaneously. But that could wait until later. Right now,
Carl just wanted to make sure that the machine worked.
The data transfer had finished, and Carl removed the flash drive
from BB and stuck it in his pocket. From another pocket, he
retrieved his surrogacy controller, the device he used to
synchronize with his surrogate bodies. He used a fingerprint
sensor to unlock it, then typed in his confirmation password –
[font=courier]5722. Seek Surrogate.[/font] His controller was
now projecting a signal to all compatible surrogates in the
area.
Over to BB now. [font=courier]5722. Seek Host.[/font] When BB
found Carl’s surrogate controller – it only took a couple
seconds – he tapped the icon for it, then checked the box that
would make it remember this controller and hasten the process
next time. He went through the corresponding steps on his
controller, and waited until they synchronized.
[font=courier]Synchronization complete.[/font] Carl took a deep
breath and slowly rubbed his forehead to relieve stress. It was
always a bit confusing in the couple seconds after you switched
to a surrogate, and this process might be especially strange
thanks to BB’s blank brain. He adjusted the activation settings
to automatically shut off after thirty seconds. That should be
enough time to get a feel for the thing, and hopefully not
enough to cause any kind of damage if something went wrong. He
pressed the activation button and closed his eyes.
[font=courier]SNAP.[/font] Carl opened his eyes – all four of
them. He had gotten used to receiving sensory data from two
different pairs of eyes by now, but the transition period was
still a bit strange. He started pacing the room with his normal
body, then tried to perform the same action with BB. As BB
began to move, Carl’s biological body stumbled, and he barely
avoided falling to the ground.
Carl spent the remainder of the thirty seconds trying out other
actions. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Maybe it
takes practice, or time. Further experiments will reveal more.
He sighed. Well, I’ll disconnect and go home for the day. He
maneuvered BB back into its original position and closed his
eyes once more. [font=courier]SNIP.[/font]
Carl began to walk over to BB to turn it off, when its mouth
began to move. “Wait,” it said. Its voice was the default for
surrogates – a feminine but clearly artificial manner of
speaking. Carl backpedaled. His heart was racing. BB raised
its hand to its forehead, in a gesture that seemed vaguely
familiar, then paused. It began to speak again. “Something…
went wrong.”
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