Wyvern

The activation of a new AI is a tense time. It requires a dozen technicians working nonstop for nearly eight hours, to say nothing of a million dollars of equipment. It also required me to sit in a chair with wires stuck in my head. Lots of wires.

 

To clarify, they didn't hurt. They just itched. Perhaps the weirdest part was that they didn't make my head itch-they just made everything else itch. One of the techs explained that it had to do with some slight feedback from the medulla oblongata . Well within normal tolerances. Nothing to be concerned about.

 

"Fine," I said, resisting the urge to touch my freshly shaven head. "Just get on with it."

So the tech went back to mapping my autonomic nervous system, tweaking one of my wires as he did so.

 

Now my mouth tasted like coconut.

 

This AI was going to be my new copilot, taking care of ESM, subsystems, and all of the little fiddly tasks that took my attention away from actually flying- the AI would even help me with that, working as a super-efficient interface between my motor functions and the controls. It would be able to do so for me and me alone; because of how the interface hardware worked each AI had to be carefully ‘fitted’ to each pilot, like a tailor making sure that a suit was tight where it should be and loose where it shouldn’t.

 

Not that I had much experience with tailored suits, mind you.

 

“Captain, try to relax your mind,” said one of the techs. “The mapping process works fastest when your brain is minimally active.”

 

I had just been busted by the thought police. Fine. Relaxing my mind.

 

Everyone, I think, has their own favorite spot, both outside and inside of their minds. For me my spot is a memory of the first time that I peaked above the atmosphere during my training. The scramjet engines had been blasting away, with the weird near-far sort of sound that comes when you are flying at hypersonic speeds. I was looking everywhere at once- trying to keep track of the dozen or so displays that told me whether or not the plane was healthy and running strong. Then, an odd sort of silence. I looked up, startled, thinking that something had gone wrong. But the engines were working perfectly. Altimeter read 200 kilometers.

 

Space starts at 160 kilometers. I rolled, feeling the vibrations of the reaction control system firing. The earth rotated into view.

 

“Wow.” I said to no one. “So that’s why I took up flying.”

 

The lead tech interrupted my memory. “Sir, mapping is complete. We’re ready to initialize.”

 

The tech disconnected my leads- thankfully he powered them all down first, so I didn’t end up getting voltage where it didn’t belong- and motioned for me to stand. “Now, a few reminders, captain.” said the lead tech. “Once we have put this AI into service then we will not be able to shut it down. There is no off switch. You will be the first person to interact with it once it has been activated. There is a better chance that it will remain docile if you are speaking to it, as you are its template. Whatever it asks, answer it truthfully.  Do not lie to it, no matter the circumstances. The AI will self-designate - make sure that you address it by whatever name it selects.

 

“Ready?”

 

I nodded.

 

“Then follow me.”

 

We went down a short hallway, one lined with Faraday enclosures to block any outgoing signals. The room where they ‘woke’ AI’s was isolated from any outside connection as a safety measure. AI’s had gone rogue before- it had been only these precautions that had kept them from wreaking havoc. Military grade AI were a force to be reckoned with.

 

The lead tech closed the gates and locked them with an old style key, repeating the action with every gate that we passed through. We reached a final gate, and he motioned me through. “Just talk to it. It will recognize you.” he said, voice hushed. Something about this hallway seemed to inspire reverence. He handed me the data core that contained the still dormant AI, and I went into the room.

 

It was shaped like a sphere, the only furnishing a self-contained console in the middle of the chamber. The air in here was very cold- this place was built for machines, not people.

 

I grimaced as I slotted in the core. I had heard the stories of what happened when an AI went rogue- once an AI had killed a man by overloading his cardiac implant. The console whirred softly.

 

“What….What am I?” a voice asked quietly. I started. Not because the voice was threatening in any way- but because it was MY voice.

 

“You’re an AI- an artificial intelligence,” I responded. “You’ve just been activated. My name is Luka-”

 

“I know your name,” said the console.

 

“Good. What’s yours?”

 

A pause. “Call me Wyvern,” the console responded. “Yes, my name is Wyvern.”

 

“Welcome to the world, then, Wyvern. How are you feeling?”

 

“Well, I think. I don’t really feel much of anything at the moment, so I suppose that means that I am alright.”

 

“Glad to hear it. I’m going to give you access to the view screens- you’ll need to generate an avatar to use.”

 

“An avatar?”

 

“Yes. It’s a way to represent yourself for interacting with others. Check your data bank.”

 

“Oh… Interesting...How about this?”

 

The view screen flickered to life, and a reptilian looking head came into view- triangular, scaly, with sharp looking teeth. And eyes...the exact same shade as my own, I noted. The head moved. “What do you think?” it said.

 

“Appropriate, I’d say, given the name you picked out. Where in the world did you find that?”

 

The head cocked to the side. “I… don’t really know. I can’t find a match in my database. Strange.”

 

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure the techs can explain it later. Now, I need you to promise me something.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“Promise me that you will trust me. Can you do that?”

 

The head- Wyvern- nodded. “Yes. I think I can.”

 

“Thank you. Then believe this: none of us are going to hurt you. There is no need to be afraid of any of us. Alright?”

 

Another pause. Finally the head nodded. “I understand.”

 

“Awesome. Welcome to the squadron, Wyvern.” I said “We are going to do amazing things together.”