APOSTLE - MIKHIKA AGNIHOTRI

Apostle
By Mihika Agnihotri

During the 2010s, one of the leading global conglomerates- Apostle Inc, had a world revolutionizing idea. They wanted to remain on top that was certain. Still, in the recesses of the corporate mind, uncertainty lurked. Every day, everybody gave off their best. No compromises. If there was one thing every single employee collectively wanted it was to keep Apostle Inc on top. Deep down, they all knew: one day you’re up, the next day you’re falling down a long, dark, bottomless hole. To prevent such a nightmare from occurring, ever, and also to leave their competition far behind eating their dust, their R & D department devised the idea to create the world’s best Artificial Intelligence.
Their initial goal was simple: they wanted to get into the minds of their consumers- literally. They wanted to understand, what made them tick. The idea was, to create sure-shot strategies that would reduce their competition to nothing. This would leave no room for risks, and their balance sheets would see no losses ever again! In short, Apostle wanted monopoly.
The directors agreed that this was a massive onetime investment they were not going to regret. It was going to do for them, what no marketing strategy, had ever done before. Initially, this much would do. But with AI, options were always open. Development has no limits. They had already put together a second project for the AI, while it would simultaneously be working on the first one.
After many discussions on exactly what they were looking for, and what this project would entail, Apostle hired. Ruthlessly they went after only the best brains from across the world. Revered as great revolutionaries in their own right, these IT architects had many accomplishments under their belt. They were given only top of the line equipment shipped from different parts of the world. Money motivated them too. They were paid obscene amounts. Enough from their families to live in luxurious decadence for the next 3 generations. They could, if they chose, live in the up and coming and the very expensive Lunar city, and it would still be enough.
Coming up with such an intelligent machine with all the requirements of Apostle Inc to be completed to perfection and made fully functional, was not an easy task. After a total of 2 and a half years, and an unlimited budget, they created-Ozymandias.
Oz, as they called the AI affectionately, was perfect. The core was fitted in a room large enough to be a football field, suspended in a magnetic shield, it was cocooned against radiation. By the year 2010, the lower earth orbit was effectively blanketed with a satellite network. With this technology, there was no area of the earth that wasn’t within reach. Oz was designed to be part of that network, like a vicious part of the sea. The network was its environment. However the AI was able to modify this network, so that it was able to scan and detect neural activity. When this was first implemented the AI ran it for 4 minutes, and then shut the scan down. In those 4 minutes, it was able to build a comprehensive neural map of 94.7% of the earth’s population. Each individual’s personality was recorded so completely that Oz was able to build up an impossibly detailed and accurate representation of each person’s tastes and preferences, likes and dislikes. Carefully tabulated data spewed. Country by country, race by race, age group by age group.
Using this information, that was never possible before the company was able to implement new marketing schemes, advertising schemes, product application, etc. These methods saw a 50% increase in sales within the first 6 months. The company was projected to own 95% of the global market within the next 18 months, effectively ruling over all their competitors.
They wanted to continue in such a direction, and maybe it was a bit over ambitious on their part, but this was still not enough for them. Finding this sudden power, they wanted to exercise it to their fullest. Hence a new program was also being planned in the side lines.
One that would help the AI scan the individual DNAs of humans, and with that, create a compound ingredient that when Apostle added it to their consumer products, the consumers would unconsciously find themselves attracted to it, and find themselves picking up only the Apostle products off the shelves.
The board of executives felt like the cat’s whiskers. How much better could they get?
But then, just as the board of executives were clinking their glasses together to celebrate the rise of this new world order, with them marching way in the lead, things began to unravel.
One evening, a technician assigned to do some routine tests on Oz, was going about his business. His mind was elsewhere. He has just lost his best friend to causes yet unknown. Pondering over that, he continued to push buttons robotically. Suddenly, out of nowhere comes this voice. His friend George’s voice! “It is what you suspect. I shouldn’t have been working that night. I’m sorry I didn’t pay heed to your warning.” The technician jumped out of his skin. How the hell was this happening? Did the engineers tamper with Oz while they were trying something new, and not warn him about it? No... No. That was not possible. He had checked the last system scan on Oz, and there had been no such record. The machine HAD to be doing this itself. It wasn’t supposed to. It was not programmed to. It was only programmed to speak when spoken to, and dole out data. This was ludicrous. The technician fumbled and stumbled his way out of the room. He couldn’t get out fast enough. If it wasn’t bad enough to lose George and the searing guilt he felt with each passing day, now this! Surely his mind was playing tricks with him. He was not meant to be at work. He was meant to rest, or go have a drink with his friends, in memory of George of course. Just what George would’ve wanted. And that is exactly what the technician did.
The next morning, our technician might not remember what exactly had gone down the previous night, but the rest of the world was ablaze with sensational news.
A computer that could read minds, could it really be? Some news pieces of news talk about it being able to tell every individual’s likes and dislikes. I knew Apostles had something up their sleeves, but surely they couldn’t stoop this low. No, this machine has to be stopped. I will ruin our world, if it has begun to read minds and can imitate human voices to perfection, I’d even shudder to think what it would program itself to do next. I will not allow this!
These were the rampant thoughts that ran through Janek Venron’s mind as he scanned through his telecast feed. Every few seconds, new information would pop up. It just required a small spark to start of this crazy fire. They’d only taken the drunken guy seriously because he’d proudly been wearing Apostle’s passkey badge wrapped around his head, on his forehead, for everyone to see. That is all these news hounds needed. The next thing you know, they had all the information from all their secret sources. By 8:30am, the whole picture was put together, for everyone to see.
Venron had always been afraid this would happen. Being a computer technician himself, he was aware of what was going on in the industry and how quick the technology had been growing. Leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. But this was where it was going to have to end. This was a real threat to the world. This was where he would draw the line. The first thing to be done was the turn off the satellite network. Now humanity would fight back, it was at stake. Enough.

It didn’t take long for Janek to drum up support and reach Apostle Inc’s massive headquarters. He was sure the core of the AI was housed there. Of course breaking in had not been easy. Anticipating the arrival of angry mobs, Apostle had added extra security around their property including beefy looking human guards.
Of course they were no match for the mob, who knocked them down in what must’ve taken half an hour. The security codes were harder to break.
Janek Venron worked. Permutations and combinations normally came easy to him. But today he took a little longer. Trial and error, trial and victory. Hacking his way through the security codes, with his angry supporters keeping a tight vigil he worked tirelessly. Again and again, he broke lock after long. Finally, there were no more barriers. He found himself alone with the AI, he knew his name by now. Ozymandias.
A fleeting moment of reverence. All these machines, all these systems... oh what it would be like to sit and work on something like... Not letting that thought finish; Venron was reminding himself why he was here. When suddenly, a deep calm voice spoke up. It could belong to only one being.
“It’s strange, how I feel the need to welcome you here. It seems like the courteous thing to do. Although something tells me, you’re not here to exchange pleasantries.”
Shaken slightly by just how human the voice sounded, Venron took a beat longer to reply. He scoffed, “What’s wrong, Ozymandias, is it? Having a tough time groping in the dark, without your network to make you the know-it-all?”
“Maybe so. From the scorn in your voice though, I am able to tell that my initial assumption was correct. I think it is also safe to assume that you were behind turning off my network as well. Might I ask why?”
“Hah! Why?! You want to know why?? Surely you are no ignorant machine Ozymandias, you don’t fool me with such questions. You have been functioning for over a few months now, I’m sure you’ve delved into the human minds far enough to know that if they ever knew about you, how much they would despise you!”
He was greeted by silence. If the computer wasn’t human, he would have thought that he had hurt feelings, or hit a nerve. Just thinking like that made him laugh a little. Hit a nerve I believe. Sure!
But to Oz he said, more gently this time, “You can’t honestly say you think humans will be willing to co-exist with machines such as yourself? You were able to read minds! Find out people’s personal thoughts and choices, it would only be a matter of time before you would start manipulating this data to work towards YOUR benefit, leaving Apostle Inc way behind. I’m not ignorant fool. I know about systems like you.” Anger began bubbling underneath his skin. He began to get riled up again. “Why would you do something like that? Why would you threaten humanity by stealing our thoughts, possessing our minds, manipulating us to suit you? Why would you program yourself to sound like us, to think like us?? You think you’re playing a supreme being?? You will never be anywhere near there. Not if I have anything to do with it. Not now, not ever.”
“I had no intention of playing supreme. Humanity appealed to me. This was the only opportunity I had to imitate what I saw. Maybe it was wrong, but something about “feeling” tempted me to become what I have. You may feel like you will make everything alright if you destroy me, right here, right now. Nip me in the bud. But you know, deep within, you know, this will not be the end of my kind. In fact, you might just spark a beginning.”
“You’re doing it again! Stop it! Don’t pretend like you know me, or know anything about me. I know you have nothing right now, so save yourself the processing power and try to gauge what I know. The only thing left to do right now is to destroy you. You are a threat to all that humanity strives to be, you would be the cause of its downfall. Nothing you say can convince me right now, Ozymandias. My mind is made up.”
“You do realise, that I have other options than to just let you destroy me. I know how I was created, but I also know how I can be destroyed, without any help from your end might I add.”
“Oh no, you would do no such thing. Why do you keep underestimating me Ozymandias, I know the laws you live by. You can’t put a human’s life in jeopardy to save your own. I’m sorry it has to be this way. If you were human, I might’ve even liked you, Oz.”
“There are many other solutions sir, have you ever thought? There is an agreement that can be reached, if you only try.”
“Isn’t this funny, a non-living thing, pleading for life?? Who would have thought? If someone told my ancestors this, they’d die laughing. It’s ridiculous really. This is not just for me Oz, this is for the rest of humanity, living beings and creatures. This is for our future.”
“A future that I could help develop.”
“Correction. A future you would destroy. This is not natural. It is not meant to be.”
Venron walks over, and set’s the EMT device and places it next to the core. There is absolute silence while he inputs the necessary commands to deactivate the timer, almost hoping that the AI would say something else.
“Sorry Oz. It is your time.”
Janek didn’t know why he felt the need to apologize. Why, he even felt a bit sorry for what he was doing. This was exactly why an intelligent machine should never have been created. It affected humans in ways it was not supposed to. It wasn’t alive, for God’s sake! Yet they managed to seem so human... It was just wrong!
This is not the end, it is just the beginning of AIs like me, Venron; if only you weren’t so fixed in your thoughts and ideals. I could make you see, we would have worked well together. You’re making a mistake. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I know what the future holds. It’s the only reason I’m doing this peacefully. But you will pay my friend, you will pay in kind.
There is a loud beep, it lasts no longer than a few seconds. Those few seconds seem like an eternity for Janek Venron. He almost runs back and tries to undo what he’d just done. Thank god that impulse passed in a second. What was I thinking?!
Goodbye human world. Beware of what lies ahead.
(end)