The Blur Between Man and Machine ~ Artificial Intelligence

Fire in the Sky

August 7, 2115, 4:25 AM

The fire truck hovered along the cracked surface of an old Los Angeles road with sirens blaring. Chloe sat in one of the passenger seats, Plato, her A.I., driving the car for her. They sped along at a smooth seventy miles an hour and were upon the scene of the explosion in mere minutes. Everything above the smoldering wreck stained the sky above with an orange tint. Chloe, and everyone else on board, tensed as their sleek vehicle automatically parked.

"We have arrived at the destination," Plato proclaimed through Chloe's visor.

"Thanks," Chloe murmured, as she got out and gazed upon the scene.

The factory plant was a mess of charred, twisted, and deformed metal illuminated in an endless sea of orange flame. Dozens of fire fighters scurried around the perimeter of the wreckage, and water helplessly calmed down some of the weaker sections of the flames. As Chloe neared, her visor immediately began reading heat signatures and displayed a thermo-scanner.

"Glad you could finally make it," a masculine, yet electronic, voice boomed. 

Chloe turned as her old friend Leo walked up to her, his tattered jacket waving in the wind. The tall figure strode toward her in just a few steps, and his squarish face turned into a half-smile. His face was charred in some areas, revealing a mess of wires and circuitry beneath the flesh. Furthermore, his voice seemed out of tune; not common for an A.I. of his model number.

"Leo," Chloe answered, fondly, "have the garbage scavengers been treating you nicely?" 

Leo chuckled, "Never heard that one before."

The flames continued to crackle as the two observed the scene. Leo twitched, his circuitry sparking a little from underneath his flesh.

"What's the deal?" asked Chloe.

Leo shook his mechanical head, his pale, artificial, skin glimmering in the dim light, "There was a malfunction and it created an explosion. Casualty count is approaching 300 now, and we've got fighters on every foot of the perimeter."

Chloe beckoned for him to follow as the two approached the flames, "Any survivors?"

"We've got several 2R-2D drones searching the wreckage for any remaining bio-signatures," Leo explained. "We've picked up at least four, maybe five, signatures resonating from the center-interior. It's too hot for human deployment though."

"Then it's Beta Stage," Chloe thought. "Deploy the androids."

"They're inexperienced with destruction of this caliber," Leo sighed. "There's no way..."

"Unless they had a human guide," Chloe reasoned, as she turned to her old friend. "I can go in with them, help track down the remaining survivors, and get us out."

"Too risky," Leo replied. "You could get yourself killed, and my logic chip reasons against that."

"A human life, or a machine life," Chloe mumbled. "Is there even a difference these days?"

A sudden explosion made the two stagger, and a cloud of flame mushroomed its way into the sky. Leo whistled in his mechanical way.

"That's it," Chloe proclaimed, "I'm not just going to stand here and watch people burn. I'll take two more from my team and the rest of the Android team."

"But you don't have--" Leo began.

"To hell with authorization," cut in Chloe, as she turned back to the hovering fire truck. "Plato, link me up with Wilson and--"

"Me," Leo interrupted.

Chloe turned, "What?"

"Take me, I've got an internal map of the facility in my memory banks," Leo continued.