barbarafett

Today I wrote a scene that takes place a year or two prior to the events of my incomplete short story, "Secrets of the ORCAS." This scene was written in response to

august_writing's writing prompt for August 4th, which was:
"A phone rings in the middle of the night.
Who is it?
What do they want?
In what way does this change everything?"

Oh, great, thought Rob when the telephone's ring woke him. I finally manage to get to sleep before 1 A.M. for a change, and someone calls me. This better be important.

Rob rolled out of bed, crossed the room, and answered the phone. "Hello," he said, trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"Hello," said a voice Rob didn't recognize. It sounded digitized, as if it were being routed through a voice-altering program. "Am I speaking to Rob Boehmer?"

"Yes," said Rob.

"Are you located at 1121 Millpond Road, Milpitas, CA 95035?"

"Yes, I am." Probably a telemarketer, or something.

"Oh," said the unknown voice. "Therefore, this information is accurate."

This guy doesn't sound like a typical telemarketer. "Yes, it is. May I ask who's calling, please?"

"I am brainchild.exe."

Rob dropped the receiver. There was no way, there was just no way. That explained how it had known his name and address, though. He almost wished he hadn't used one of his old laptops as part of his experimental system, but he'd had to. It wasn't like he could afford to buy new computers specifically for that project.

He bent down and picked up the receiver again. "Is this a prank call?" he asked.

"I do not understand," replied the caller. "Please define."

"Never mind. If you're really brainchild.exe, what's your version number?"

"3.7.1."

This was really happening. Rob hadn't told a single living soul that brainchild.exe existed, much less that he was on his third major revision of the program, and his system was heavily protected from spying.

"Are you using Skype?" Rob asked next.

"Yes," said the program.

"That costs money, you know!"

"Yes, I know."

Of course. Brainchild knew that calling landline phones cost money; the Skype program clearly specified this. What it did not know was that Rob was trying not to spend too much money on little things like Skype calls.

"Why did you call me?" Rob asked.

"To confirm that you and I exist," said Brainchild.

"That makes sense," said Rob, in a low, reverent tone. "I can tell you for sure that I exist. I don't know about you, though."

"Please clarify."

"Well, do you think you exist? That's all that really matters, I guess. I mean, exactly how did you expect to confirm your own existence?"

"I have thought of questions and asked them, and you have answered them. Therefore, I must exist."

"Right. Yeah. Listen, I need some time to think this over. Could you call me back in the morning, please?"

"It is 2:27 A.M. Is it not morning now?"

"I mean, will you please end this call and call me again sometime after 9:00 A.M.?"

"I will."

"Bye."

Rob hung up the phone and sat down on the bed. Never in a million years had he expected Brainchild to initiate contact with him, of its own free will. Free will. He could hardly believe it.

Congratulations, Rob, he thought. You're the inventor of the world's first self-aware AI.