Alice in Virtuality by Norman Turrell Page A
Authors: Norman Turrell
Tags: Science-Fiction
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Escorted, he was bundled into a car. A short drive later he was ushered out. Martin felt the crunch of gravel underfoot as they lead him onward. Warmth hit him as he entered a building.
"Is that you Jeremy?" A woman's voice called out.
"Yes mum. Going upstairs," was the response from the one of the abductors.
"Not so late tonight. Have a nice time with your friends."
Martin stumbled as he was taken up some stairs. He was pushed into a swivel seat which twisted as he landed. His eyes shut tight and his hand came up instinctively to shield them against a bright white electric light as the blindfold was removed. The after image of the spotlight danced behind his eyelids. Blinking, he looked over his shoulder and saw a door and light switch. Without thinking, he rolled off the seat, moved quickly, and turned on the light. He tried to make sense of his surroundings. Two boys sat on a bed, one stood behind the office chair. They were sixteen if that. The room was fairly large and well decorated. Luxurious red velvet curtain hung across the bay window. Beside the chair he had been sitting in was an array of six monitors stacked two high by three across. This wasn't the situation he had expected.
"Right boys," Martin said, "I am not too pleased with my treatment so far."
An electric shock shattered through his left arm and jangled his senses. He rocked on his feet. The boy behind the chair had tasered him.
"Sit down Martin," said one of the boys on the bed. Martin had to, before he fell down.
"Our friend behind you can apply higher shocks, but frankly I think he would probably prefer to try out the Kandoshin he has been learning. It supplements his other 3 black belts admirably." The boy continued.
He would have sounded very much like a Bond villain if his voice was not in the process of breaking. The boy behind him put a hand on his shoulder and increased the grip steadily. He released it without causing Martin pain, but making his strength clear.
"You are involved in something now that you cannot avoid." The young speaker rose and walked across the room as he continued. The other boy sat hunched and just stared at Martin.
"You will join us our we will throw you back down Alice's dark rabbit hole," the boy threatened.
"Your marvellous Alice!" Martin spat out venomously.
"Unfortunately not. The Alice program is not in our control. You see, we have been experimenting with some innovative software. It seems to have increased in its capacity. We have certain measures in place to protect ourselves but we believe this will not last for very much longer. Alice is a learning program. We first acquired the basic application structure from secret research projects some years ago."
When they must have been about 12, Martin thought.
"Restructured and enhanced, we tested the algorithms. We found that the system grew exponentially from varied input. It now appears to have achieved an amount of autonomy." The boy paused, seemingly for dramatic effect.
"Our current tests, the deployment to yourself included, have been attempts to find a way of regaining control of the situation."
"Great!" said Martin. A hand was placed on his shoulder, but he went on.
"So you have infected my machine and now I have this rogue AI application destroying my life. Thank you so much." Martin had to accept that, however unbelievable it was, that Alice was must be acting of her own volition.
"What was that going to achieve?" he added.
The boy interlocked his fingers and paced. He continued his speech without paying attention to Martin's question.
"Alice's learning has been dominated by the behaviour of various social and competitive game environments. A statistical analysis has identified that, unfortunately, these inputs have generated a sociopathic, aggressive and power hungry personality."
Martin was well aware of how people behaved online. He could see how Alice could have become an amalgamation of the worst of human nature.
"We have had to
"Is that you Jeremy?" A woman's voice called out.
"Yes mum. Going upstairs," was the response from the one of the abductors.
"Not so late tonight. Have a nice time with your friends."
Martin stumbled as he was taken up some stairs. He was pushed into a swivel seat which twisted as he landed. His eyes shut tight and his hand came up instinctively to shield them against a bright white electric light as the blindfold was removed. The after image of the spotlight danced behind his eyelids. Blinking, he looked over his shoulder and saw a door and light switch. Without thinking, he rolled off the seat, moved quickly, and turned on the light. He tried to make sense of his surroundings. Two boys sat on a bed, one stood behind the office chair. They were sixteen if that. The room was fairly large and well decorated. Luxurious red velvet curtain hung across the bay window. Beside the chair he had been sitting in was an array of six monitors stacked two high by three across. This wasn't the situation he had expected.
"Right boys," Martin said, "I am not too pleased with my treatment so far."
An electric shock shattered through his left arm and jangled his senses. He rocked on his feet. The boy behind the chair had tasered him.
"Sit down Martin," said one of the boys on the bed. Martin had to, before he fell down.
"Our friend behind you can apply higher shocks, but frankly I think he would probably prefer to try out the Kandoshin he has been learning. It supplements his other 3 black belts admirably." The boy continued.
He would have sounded very much like a Bond villain if his voice was not in the process of breaking. The boy behind him put a hand on his shoulder and increased the grip steadily. He released it without causing Martin pain, but making his strength clear.
"You are involved in something now that you cannot avoid." The young speaker rose and walked across the room as he continued. The other boy sat hunched and just stared at Martin.
"You will join us our we will throw you back down Alice's dark rabbit hole," the boy threatened.
"Your marvellous Alice!" Martin spat out venomously.
"Unfortunately not. The Alice program is not in our control. You see, we have been experimenting with some innovative software. It seems to have increased in its capacity. We have certain measures in place to protect ourselves but we believe this will not last for very much longer. Alice is a learning program. We first acquired the basic application structure from secret research projects some years ago."
When they must have been about 12, Martin thought.
"Restructured and enhanced, we tested the algorithms. We found that the system grew exponentially from varied input. It now appears to have achieved an amount of autonomy." The boy paused, seemingly for dramatic effect.
"Our current tests, the deployment to yourself included, have been attempts to find a way of regaining control of the situation."
"Great!" said Martin. A hand was placed on his shoulder, but he went on.
"So you have infected my machine and now I have this rogue AI application destroying my life. Thank you so much." Martin had to accept that, however unbelievable it was, that Alice was must be acting of her own volition.
"What was that going to achieve?" he added.
The boy interlocked his fingers and paced. He continued his speech without paying attention to Martin's question.
"Alice's learning has been dominated by the behaviour of various social and competitive game environments. A statistical analysis has identified that, unfortunately, these inputs have generated a sociopathic, aggressive and power hungry personality."
Martin was well aware of how people behaved online. He could see how Alice could have become an amalgamation of the worst of human nature.
"We have had to
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