CHAPTER 1


 

The Hubot Project:

Day One, Year Three 2097 A.D.

HER FIRST AWARENESS of existence was a chaotic flash of colors, meaningless and yet in an odd way logical; why, she wasn't sure. Birth is the most significant event in life, and yet it is never memorable; at least not for the newborn; but then she really wasn't a newborn, even though it was the first day of her life.

The flickering colors merged into shapes and then the shapes became clear images. Within seconds, she morphed from a bio-mechanical experiment to a viable functioning possibility, and her AI programmer was ecstatic. Years of research and failures were forgotten when the Hubot's eyes first opened to examine her surroundings. They were so human that Carley was caught off guard. Had she not been part of the project from its conception, no one would have convinced her that the object lying on the table was anything more than a fairly attractive woman who had just awakened from a deep sleep.

The Hubot's short silver hair was fashioned after a stylish fad that had been popular for a few years. Although it would have attracted attention several years ago, no one would pay much attention to the color now. Her skin was slightly tanned but not excessively so. The one thing that would make others take notice, though were the eyes. No matter how human she looked, teal wasn't natural, but that could be explained away. Colored lenses were popular.

"Do you understand me?" Carley asked, enunciating each word slowly to give her creation time to assimilate the sounds of speech, and its meaning.

The Hubot blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the visual stimuli assaulting her optic nerves and flooding her nano-processors. Empathetically, Carley waited patiently.

It's probably like walking from a dark room into sunlight, she thought. When the blinking slowed to a normal rate, she tried again.

"Do...  you...  understand...  me?" she repeated.

Turning her head toward the source of the sound, the Hubot saw her first human and quickly filed the data specific to the object in one of her memory banks.

"I have analyzed each word and the structural sequence of your vocabulary. You do not need to separate your words in such a manner for me to comprehend the meaning."

"I'll take that as a yes. Welcome to my world."

The Hubot remained silent. The greeting required no response since it didn't make any sense to her.

"Do you have any idea what this is about? I mean who you are?"

"I am Hubot 1A526, Prototype 1A of the Hubot Project."

"Is that it?"

"I do not understand the question? Was my response incorrect?"

"Well, no. You're correct. What I want to know, though, is do you know the purpose of this project?"

"The Hubot Project is a scientific endeavor to combine bio-mass with trabecular metal technology to design a pseudo-human body that can be controlled by a series of multi-directional cascading laser quadro-core nano-processor chips that will theoretically simulate human thought and behavior. The purpose of the project is to create a functioning organism capable of serving humanity by providing daily assistance to disabled humans or to do manual labor in place of humans under dangerous or extreme circumstances. I am Hubot 1A526, the first generation prototype for the project."

"That's partially correct."

"Partially means I am either incorrect in my analysis or have failed to define my purpose in its entirety. I have run an analysis on all data stored in my memory banks and find no other available information. Please advise."

Carley patted the bio-machine on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it for now. You have correctly defined your initial purpose. I'll explain the rest later."

"If that is what you require of me."

Carley smiled, pleased with the results from the first few minutes of interaction with the Hubot.

"It looks like we're well on our way to achieving our goal. Still, we have a long way to go before you'll be able to interact with the outside world, so we'd better get started. Please run a diagnostic on your neuro-circuitry and bio-mechanical systems to see if everything is working properly."

Within seconds, she had her answer.

"I have completed the necessary analysis. All processors are functioning within the required specifications of each subprogram with the exception of sector 6B412, cache 3778 of memory bank eleven. Biological, mechanical and electronic components are operating within desired parameters."

"Which processor isn't working properly?"

"Core chip seven has a point seven nano-second delay when processing data through circuit 871C4."

"Hmmm. Is it causing you any serious problems?"

"No."

"Alright. We'll run some more tests on that later. Right now I think we can start your education. If you're going to join the human race, you have a lot of growing up to do."

"My growth is limited to the physical structure of skeletal and biological mass. I am presently at maximum potential based on the height and weight of my trabecular frame. It is impossible to exceed those parameters without compromising the integrity of my biological and neuro..."

"It's a figure of speech 1A526."

"Figure of speech: an expression that uses language in a non-literal way."

"Yes. Do you understand what that means?"

"Of course. It is a synecdoche."

"Synecdoche? I'm not familiar with that word. Explain."

"Synecdoche. By using the word growth you are not referring to my physical structure but instead my intellectual advancement. You wish me to achieve a level of competence that will allow me to emulate a human."

"Uhhh. Sort of...  How about we continue this discussion after you've had time to interact with a few humans in the lab?"

"Is that a question requiring a response or a directive?"

Carley realized she and the Hubot could go around in circles forever if she didn't take control of the situation.

"A directive for now. Okay 1A526...  You know I really hate calling you by your number. If we expect you to integrate with us, you should at least have a name."

1A526 remained silent, unable to comprehend the logic behind the human's comment. She was assigned a specific number which was a better identification method than a name. It was specific to her. Humans often shared common names. That information had been programmed in her initial software to make it easier for her to identify the people working around her.

"I see you're not going to be any help with this. Well, since you theoretically represent the dawn of a whole new era of technology for humanity's benefit, I'm going to call you Solaria. It means sun." Even as she said it, Carley realized how overly-dramatic it sounded and winced inwardly. "What do you think about being called Solaria?" she asked somewhat sheepishly.

"I do not think of it at all."

"Okay, okay. For now you're Solaria. You can always change it later."

"If that is what you want. What do I call you?"

"Me? I'm Carley Branson. You can call me Carley."

"Hello, Carley."

Carley smiled and nodded. The greeting was Solaria's first step to becoming human.

"Hello, Solaria. Now let's get to work, shall we?"