A.I.

Part 2

When Jack arrived home, he had to wait for the airport to drop off the A.I. at his house.  Most A.I.'s could ride on the plane with their owners... but they also worked.  Not to mention were animals.  To get this A.I. on he would have to buy a ticket for it.  When the van pulled up, the driver helped Jack bring the large wooden box into the living room.  Tipping the driver, Jack took a deep breath and began to unlock the large locks with his key.  Sure, the A.I. was technically broken, but he still hoped that it didn't get damaged anymore than it was.  Closing his eyes and holding his breath, Jack opened the lid.  After a moment he snuck a peek at it.  The A.I. was nestled in a bunch of paper strips and packing peanuts.  Still whole.  Jack released his breath.  A.I.'s tended to either go missing, or suffer damage during flights in the undercarriage.

Reaching down he took the A.I.'s wrist and shivered.  The thing felt so cold and yet felt so human.  Pulling it carefully out of the box, he laid it out across the floor.  The thing was only mildly heavy.  Another thing Jack was happy for.  He was strong, but didn't trust himself to lift a fully grown man the same way.  Returning back to the box, Jack leaned in to dig around for the hand written instructions that Matthias had given him.  Finding them buried at the bottom of the box, Jack pried off the stapled Ziploc that held the battery.  Turning over the cylinder tube in his hand, he looked over the papers.  Matthias mentioned something about a small panel.  Kneeling down beside the A.I., Jack nervously pushed up the A.I.'s shirt.  There on the stomach was a discolored ribbed line.  Jack set the stuff down and pulled the A.I. kit that he had bought closer.  He'd have to cut the stomach open and then seal it back with the foam.

Taking the knife, Jack gently touched it to the stomach.  He felt so uneasy with this.  It looked so real.  Would doing this hurt it?  Was it programmed to even feel?  How did Matthias have the will power to do this when it was active?  Shaking it off, Jack made the cut slow and steady.  The flesh parting open to reveal a steel panel.  Instead of blood, the A.I. leaked a slimy clear liquid.  Oil.  Sliding the panel aside, Jack gently placed the battery back into the little slot.  These batteries were specially designed for the A.I.'s.  Suppose to last well over a hundred years... if you believed the ads.  Setting the panel back into place, Jack grabbed a small can to spray the sealing foam back across the cut he made.  Smiling, he told himself aloud.  "Alright. Now let's plug you in and find out what is wrong".  Jack climbed to his feet, hoisting the A.I. into a chair beside his downstairs computer.  Pulling out the USB cord from the kit, he plugged it into the computer and picked up the long needle.  The paperwork said to insert the needle into the A.I.'s arm.

Jack rolled his eyes, muttering to the inactive A.I..  "Ironic, huh? Computers are suppose to be a thing of the past, but we still need them to fix A.I.'s like you".  Jack gently took the A.I.'s arm and turned it over.  Just like a simple blood draw, he'd have to stick it into the A.I.'s wired vein.  Jack just started to press the needle in, when the A.I.'s other arm snatched his wrist in a vice grip.  Yelping, Jack tried to yank his wrist out in a panic, but couldn't.  The A.I. shot upright from the chair, shoving Jack back against the wall as it snapped out loudly.  "Why am I in Ireland"?!  Jack panted out through the pain around his wrist.  "What"?  The A.I.'s eyes started to reflect rolling screens of rushing data as he stated a little more casually.  "My global positioning says that I am currently in Ireland and I want to know why. Where is Matthias"?  The grip around Jack's wrist tightened and Jack cried out sharply.  "Matthias gave you to me"! 

The A.I.'s eyes blinked back to a normal set of brown as he told Jack defensively.  "LIAR! My data says that my administrator's name is still Matthias".  Before Jack could answer, The A.I. yanked him away from the wall and throw him across the floor.  Jack hugged his throbbing wrist against his chest as he told the A.I. in disbelief.  "You can't hurt me. You're bound by the laws of robotics"!  The A.I. began to slowly approach as it told him seriously.  "Have I hurt you? You're still breathing and nothing is broken".  Jack sat back on his heels, raising a hand to calmly tell it.  "Look. Let me explain. I was trying to fix you".  The A.I. stopped to grab Jack's throat in his hand, lifting Jack up off his feet as he snapped out a bit in a distorted voice .  "I'm not broken"!  Jack grasped desperately at the A.I.'s wrist, staring into it's cold dead eyes.  When all of a sudden the A.I.'s eyes started to show that same data screen, before turning red and flashing a corrupted error sign.  The A.I.'s grip loosened and he fell to his knees, his eyes going dark as he fell backward inactive.

Jack gasped and began to rub his throat in shock.  Jack had seen many A.I.'s malfunction on TV, but none like that.  As scared as he was, he was more curious to find out 'WHY' this A.I. was so damaged.  Had Matthias done something to it?  Did it have a virus?  Kicking the A.I.'s leg, he waited to see if it would respond.  In didn't.  Cautiously setting the A.I. back into the chair, Jack inserted the needle into it's arm.  The moment it clicked into place, the A.I.'s head lifted and data began to transfer from the A.I. into the computer.  Nervously, Jack quickly began to search through the data running across his screen.  After a moment, Jack spoke out to the A.I. tenderly.  "Boy, you are in bad shape. You're not even running at your highest performance. What the hell happened to you".  Jack accessed the main data frame and reset the A.I. internally.  It wouldn't fix all the damage, but it was a start.  He even made sure to change the administrator's name to his own.  Taking notes on all the parts that he would need and want to replace, Jack took a brake to get himself some coffee.  It was going to be a long night.

As dawn came, Jack rubbed his eyes and glanced at the A.I. with a curious look.  He had learned so much and so little about it in the last few hours.  Some of it's data was locked behind some very impressive security.  Including the information about the three laws of robotics.  He knew he probably shouldn't mess with that information, because it was the core of the A.I..  Yet, he couldn't help thinking like the true problem was in that portion of it.  How else could this thing attack him like it had and not shut down?  Reaching for his coffee cup, Jack froze.  The A.I.'s head had turned toward him.  There was a soft beep and the data running across the things eyes went away.  Jack pulled his cup closer with a shaky hand.  This was it.  He'd found out how much the restart had fixed.  The A.I.  looked stiffly down at the needle in it's arm, before gently removing it to stand up.  Jack watched it very closely for a moment.  When it didn't move again, Jack carefully stood up to stand in front of it.  The A.I. looked inactive. 

Jack took a sip of his coffee and ruffled through a few papers on his desk.  Reading Matthias's notes really quickly, he looked up at the A.I. and told it in a clear voice.  "Okay, Google".  The A.I.'s brown eyes lit up to more of a golden brown, before it stated calm and clearly.  "Good Morning, Jack. Is there something I can help you with"?  Jack looked back down at the notes in his hand.  Then looked up to ask it.  "Google, I want you to give me access to your core memory".  The A.I.'s eyes narrowed in on Jack defiantly as it calmly answered.  "Access denied".  Jack looked over the notes hesitantly, before looking back up to state.  "As administrator, I'm telling you to give me access to your core memory".  The A.I. took a step toward him, his eyes piercing as it answered sternly.  "I don't care who you are. Access is denied".  Jack swallowed and took a nervous step back, pressing himself against the wall.  To Be Continued...