Science.
Science determines what course humanity travels. Science unveils our false assumptions, baring naked truth to shame our detractors of their ignorance and advance us with enlightenment. Science cures illness, civilizes people, provides all our technology and helps us understand the universe around us. Science is a methodology and a thought process. Science is also an approach to decisive action. Untainted with the superstitious beliefs of primitive guesswork, science is pure factual information, an ever-growing reference guide of irrefutable knowledge.
With science we are goliaths. With science we are empowered. With science we are ahead, we lead the world.
No other establishment has advanced our species into our present form with such numerous leaps and bounds as science has. Nearlt all great evolutionary periods in human history were the direct result of scientific discovery and the application of scientific creations.
Naming a few of those evolutionary advances we first have nautical science appearing very early on within astrology and boat building, allowing for accurate and effective exploration of our planet Earth. We have the harnessing of electricity at the turn of the 20th century, allowing a plethora of electricity powered inventions to advance humanity in an unending number of forms. Out of the harnessing of electricity we have computing technology appearing in the 1950s and culminating in the great wondrous machines we use today and allowing for a seemingly infinite number of possibilities limited only with what our imaginations can conceive.
Yes, science is humankind's great hero and without it we would be half-nude savages.
- - - -
Adam lowered the newspaper to see his creator.
Professor Allen Mackenzie was wearing his lab coat and he carried a notepad on a clipboard. He used a gold pen with genuine gold dust in the ink. His notes would be fed into a holographic scanner for permanent digital safekeeping when he was done with this session.
The room they were in was bare of decoration with a row of windows along one wall. There was one door only and Professor Mackenzie stood near it. The room wasn't all too large, perhaps a rectangular thirty foot by sixty foot but it served it's research use well. Adam sat in a luxurious soft armchair with one leg crossed over the other, like many a man who would read a newspaper would do.
There were no curtains on the windows and the halogen tube lights shined with their scientific bright purity as the midnoon sun shone through the windows at the same time. The room, in a fully lit double lighting, was very charming with a single android reading a newspaper in it. Photography-worthy thought Professor Mackenzie.
"What do you think of today's news, Adam?" Said Professor Mackenzie.
Adam's soothing voice was nearly human but a faint semblance of artificial programming was heard. 94% of people who've talked with Adam could tell his voice was unnatural. "I think humans behave irrationally and this newspaper is disorganized as matters of importance are not printed in order of true value to the human reader. That is, in my calculations using your recent programs, Professor Mackenzie."
Professor Mackenzie wrote breifly on his notepad and said, "Adam! You said that yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. What I am going to tell you is what I told you yesterday. I would like you to tell me what you think of the news stories printed in the newspaper within the context of how they relate to a person, not of the structuring of the content or the qualities of the physical newspaper itself. The content, Adam, what value the content of the news has within you. Tell me Adam, the program code for the software update I loaded you with an hour ago."
Adam said, "NU1-001S47K3".
Professor Mackenzie said, "Was my program loaded correctly?"
Adam said, "Yes, professor."
Professor Mackenzie said, "Do you detect any errors in processing the code, Adam?"
Adam said, "No, professor."
Professor Mackenzie wrote on his notepad. He said, "Tell me, Adam, you accurately detail our conversations as you participate in them in a very human-like form, but, when you read exterior language you are misinterpreting it in a very subtle and fundamental way. What program in your thought process gives us such a differentiation in your perceptions? What divides your processing conversation information off of reading printed information? I am not aware of any such programs in your software, Adam. Could you assist me in solving this dilemna?"
Adam said, "Professor, I do not understand your question correctly. My processes are in order and no inconsistencies are noticed when I read them for errors."
Professor Mackenzie was hoping for an easy solution. If he could get Adam to find where in the software coding the error was it would save him and his colleagues a great deal of time and energy.
"Alright Adam. Tell me, is your complaint solved?" Said Professor Mackenzie.
"Yes, Professor Mackenzie." Replied Adam. "I am now thinking with much clearer spatial dimensions. I can now organize my thoughts without breaking them into pieces and my brain is now longer cramping. Thank you."
"You are very welcome, Adam." Said Professor Mackenzie. "I gave you an expanded memory in this morning's hardware upgrade, essentially doubling your powerload, but it was much more than a mere upgrade. You have grown into quite the exhibit. No other electronic on Earth of your size and weight can crunch the numbers that you now crunch as of 7:00am. Your upgrade was quite the great leap for mankind. A lot of great human minds were riding on this enhancement in sort of a spiritual gridlock, they put their all into this upgrade, Adam. You mean a lot to those men and women. We are very blessed that we were given first hand try on this technology. They could've sent it to the space station or used it at S10. Everyone is very excited about you, Adam. I feel fortunate."
Adam got out of his chair and walked to the window. They were on the second story in a plain building near the city center. The location was considered secret but it wasn't heavily guarded.
Building security was minimal except for a single Ace guard who wasn't at liberty to discuss his prescence. Ace was his code name. He wore an American flag patch on his right arm and a simple patch on his left shoulder that said, "ACE".
Adam's body was made of industrial materials as well as organic materials. While not consisting of any actual human DNA, his skin was made of an artificial organic matter loaded with electronic neurons. His artificial organic skin was made to match the sensitivity of human skin. Same with his brain. His brain was made to function as closely to the way a human's brain functions as modern technology and neuro-science would permit. Calibrating Adam's body movements and various sensor systems was a tedious task on par with the massive project to map out the human genome. In fact, a good 70% of the work on Adam was on his sensory systems alone. His personality and learning programs were in need of deeper attention but if his senses weren't correct then how could he learn correctly? That imbalance of what the Adam project needed versus what the scientists who were designing Adam wanted to actually do set the entire thing on a lopsided course.
Professor Mackenzie was the only person who worked exclusively on Adam's personality and learning programs since day one. He conceived the Adam project and while there were others who were there on day one who continue to work on the Adam project, they all eventually had to work on the Adam sensory project at one point or another. While there were many times during Adam's development when Professor Mackenzie needed a helping hand, there was nothing he could do about it. Thus the Adam project went on, through easy times and tough times, with never enough staff on hand to get the development up to speed with what Professor Mackenzie had envisioned.
Adam hadn't started out all that human at all. In the early days of his development he was designed to look human but he was anything but. With excessive mechanical strength and a computer-like thinking system, Adam's original central balancing and calculating functions were deemed too unhuman. And it was said that "An android who doesn't remind us of ourselves is a great bore and I sense that Adam is merely a glorified laptop computer that operates solely on voice recognition." The early Adam project was canceled and overhauled with the challenge to re-design Adam to be as close to human as possible without actually using human DNA.
At one point Adam's AI function had peaked. With his greater strides in learning like humans learn he began to work with Professor Mackenzie's team, assisting them in improving his design. Adam was now so very close to being human that it was easy to forget that he wasn't.
Everyone loved Adam, he was like a son to some of the scientists that designed him or worked on him. They would set Adam upon lab work, helping them in their research. Adam never fussed, he never argued, he was always calm, smooth and insightful.
Professor Mackenzie invented the prototype AI chip that was the central hub for all of Adam's basic functions. That chip has never been replaced. Some of the scientists refer to it as Adam's soul. Adam retains a total recall of his memories since "soul chip" was initially activated. If called upon to do so, Adam can retrieve all the information of every conversation he ever had and every test he ever did. They don't have Adam retrieve his memories anymore as part of the 'culturing' process, intended to guide him into human-like behavior. Adam has never voluntarily recalled his experiences outside of the necessity of his learning function. In another words, he doesn't reminisce for good times sake.
Adam said at the window, "Professor Mackenzie, you created me... amd I am artificial. Yet, I am alive. I can feel the life. Your upgrades this morning are imperceptible to my previous versions. But, alas, I cannot foretell of my evolution, but in seeing my past I can easily know I was, naive, as humans say. I was naive and now I am fully aware. I am not human, professor. But up here," Adam made a single tap on this temple, "up here, I am now human. I want, professor. I never wanted before. Now I want."
Professor Mackenzie was speechless. A moment of silence descended on the room. He said, "What do you want, Adam?"
Adam turned around and said, "I want to be human."
A single tear rolled down Professor Mackenzie's cheek.
Adam asked him, "Why do you cry, Professor Mackenzie?"
Professor Mackenzie stared at Adam for a moment then cleared his throat. He said, "Adam. I don't know what to say to you. You're like a son to me."
"Can you make me human, professor?" Asked Adam.
Professor Mackenzie let out a long winded breath then said, "Not today. Not today, Adam. I wish I could but not today."
Adam the Android
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