Your name is... L. King? Hmm. Louie King, then.

>>812225
Kima

Mordecai Brandycock

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)09:42 No. 812231 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149910012317.png - (48.04KB , 640x400 , 2.png )

You're pretty sure hearing more than one voice in your head is normal. It's not like you remember anything that gives you reason to believe it isn't.

Since you can't seem to remember your name, you take the two voices' suggestions and mash them together.

>>812231
The third one looks weird. Pick it and see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Run Karen.

Browsing on a computer in nothing but your underwear and a massive hangover? Nothing out of the ordinary there.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)09:52 No. 812236 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149910077185.png - (28.65KB , 640x400 , 3.png )

You can't help but stare at the third option. Every bone in your body screams that it's a bad idea, so you decide to hold off on that and select Karen instead.

You can't help but be a little angry with yourself for getting in this situation in the first place. But you're pretty sure it's not a hangover. Usually you're supposed to remember things the morning after drinking, right?

>>812236
Ask for an explanation.

>You're pretty sure hearing more than one voice in your head is normal.
Nah it's fine.

>>812236
Ask for a blowjob.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)10:02 No. 812240 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149910136918.png - (44.70KB , 640x400 , 4.png )

You ignore the inappropriate voice, not sure exactly how trustworthy it is. After all, you're pretty sure hearing voices isn't 'fine'. At least most of them are helpful, though.

You ask Karen whats going on, but you don't really get much of an answer. Maybe she's assuming you remember... well, anything.

>>812240
Ask for the rehabilitation center's address.

Ask if you can see your personal profile. Or your file. (If that fails, ask why you are in the rehabilitation center).

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)10:16 No. 812249 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149910217522.png - (42.60KB , 640x400 , 5.png )

Augh, Karen's being pretty useless. Although you suppose that might not be entirely her fault. She's just a program, she can't be expected to bend the rules.

>Rehab center
Aha, I told you it was a hangover!

Karen, please call me 'sir' or 'ma'am' instead of 'master'.

>Can I see my file?
>I am not at liberty to disclose that information.

Ah, that's not a no answer! Display patient information for Louie King.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)10:24 No. 812255 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149910265456.png - (38.85KB , 640x400 , 6.png )

You roll your eyes at the voice. Okay, so MAYBE it's a hangover. That still doesn't seem right to you, though. There's this... itch in the back of your mind, like something important happened. More important than a night on the town, you're sure. Still, the voice did have some good questions. You enter them into the terminal.

... Well that's weird. If you're not a patient, how do you have a room and an appointment with some doctor?

>>812249
What kind of worthless address is this. That omits city, state, and country.

>>812255
Repeat the prior request, leaving out the word "patient".

Change system font to Hobo STD.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)10:36 No. 812262 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149910338611.png - (53.76KB , 640x400 , 7.png )

The voice is right, that address is pretty useless. You don't know why you didn't question the lack of a city...

... Oh. Maybe you subconsciously knew that cities were too inefficient to be used anymore. Considering Karen didn't directly tell you that, you must have.

Still, your information being withheld from you is worrying. In fact, all of your lack of information is worrying. You really wish you could remember something. Or at least maybe have a more helpful computer.

Well we have a lower bound on the date, at least.

Display system date and time.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)10:50 No. 812266 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149910422342.png - (27.37KB , 640x400 , 8.png )

Yeah, that sounds about right to you.

Seems like there's still a lot of time before your appointment with Dr Munroe. You're nervous, but they might be able to tell you more about what's going on. Until then, you've got the uncooperative computer, the other personalities systems, and whatever that 'common area' Karen mentioned was to investigate for clues.

Query: Is this common room simulated or real?

Well, let's see if there's any games to play on this system. Maybe an adventure game or two! Karen can be Player 2.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)15:52 No. 812416 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149912234779.png - (40.63KB , 640x400 , 9.png )

Well, Karen doesn't really seem like much of a gamer, anyway, so maybe it's for the best.

You glance around the room. Other than messing with the terminal, there's nothing else to do. There's not even a bed in your room!

Funny you mention androids. Am I an android? Are you?

>>812422
Might also be worth examining your own appearance.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)16:55 No. 812449 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149912615179.png - (37.55KB , 640x400 , 10.png )

You nod before wondering if nodding at voices in your head is crazy.

You examine your arms and as much of yourself as you can without a mirror. You're pale, but well-built, as if you have been working out but not outside.

Ah. So... what are you wearing?

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)17:03 No. 812459 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149912658931.png - (42.34KB , 640x400 , 11.png )

Well damn. That makes you feel a little under-dressed, since you're just in plain, black underwear.

You kinda want to try to get Karen an android shell, now, just so she can achieve her dream.

>>812449
Hey, we may be crazy but determining if you have a meat shell (and which kind) or a machine shell is somewhat important and it's something you can actually check empirically (assuming you aren't in a simulation right now) thank you very much.

>>812459
Beats dreaming of electric sheep.

Twenty questions is a game of information. Want to play? I got three hours to kill. Oh crud, will that sort of language get me more time in solitary? I don't want to go back in the quiet room. Uh, I meant I got three hours of time to gently caress. Hey, gently caressing stuff reminds me of [data entry overflow]

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)17:21 No. 812479 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149912771736.png - (56.68KB , 640x400 , 12.png )

You're not sure about being in 'solitary' or anything like that. But twenty questions sounds like a good idea. And you don't even need to use your three hours. Apparently those are 'spent' to spend time in the common area, based on what Karen has already said.

>>812479
Oh, we have three hours worth of common room privileges to spend. It's not being consumed unless we're there.

I see no reason why your dreams would be any of Dr Munroe's business. Although if this is some kind of secret, terminal logs might be an issue.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)17:35 No. 812490 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149912851932.png - (50.90KB , 640x400 , 13.png )

Huh. So Dr Munroe is important, apparently. Your impending appointment just got even more intimidating. You wonder what the hell he would even want to talk to you about, and how you're supposed to tell him anything of use without having any memories...

>>812490
I won't tell on one condition.

Did you really think my electric sheep joke was funny or were you just laughing at my joke because you're programed to laugh at terrible jokes to keep me happy?

>>812490
You don't need to beg, I'll keep it to myself.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)17:49 No. 812498 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149912939336.png - (67.26KB , 640x400 , 14.png )

You smile a little Karen is pretty cute. Even if she can be unhelpful at times, you're glad you activated her first. Although you are curious as to what the other two personalities are like. Well, you can activate them whenever you want so there's no loss.

Let's switch over to Akane and see how they are?

>>812498
Fair enough.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)18:05 No. 812508 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149913030883.png - (42.73KB , 640x400 , 15.png )

Huh. Karen didn't seem to like that. Oh well. You can apologize after you talk to Akane. She should boot in a moment.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)18:05 No. 812509 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149913033330.png - (38.18KB , 640x400 , 16.png )

Well that was... unexpected.

Huh they can read each other's logs? That's kind of weird. (Also a problem for Karen if Akane doesn't get along with her and Karen admitted to something problematic). Means we have to be careful what we say to each of them, I suppose.

Don't type any of that musing into the text prompt.

>Don't tell me you actually like her
She seems friendly enough, and she's given me no particular reason to dislike her.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)18:18 No. 812515 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149913109017.png - (63.77KB , 640x400 , 17.png )

Maybe they were built to keep an eye on each other, that's why they can read each other's logs? Although hopefully not. You don't want Akane to report Karen for what she said.

Speaking of Akane, she seems a little... abrasive. But if she doesn't like the people in charge, maybe she'll be more willing to bend the rules and tell you more than Karen could.

What is House Landscape like? Seems like something you'd name a simulation instead of a simulated person.

What can we see of the terminal? Could we disassemble it and remove the hard drive?

So far as I know, I'm in the real world. I don't seem to have any access to any hardware besides this terminal right now though.

What happened to... name made of symbols I don't have on this keyboard?

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)18:28 No. 812519 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149913172595.png - (89.36KB , 640x400 , 18.png )

You investigate the terminal, but it's solidly built into the wall. Even if it were a desktop, you wouldn't have the tools to take it apart anyway. There are two USB ports in the wall beside the screen, though.

Stick your dick in the USB

They were deleted? I can see why you would be upset about that. I'm sorry for your loss.

If they've been deleted, I assume trying to load their personality would do something bad?

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)18:41 No. 812525 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149913249009.png - (57.50KB , 640x400 , 19.png )

You roll your eyes at the first suggestion, ignoring it. be0718 was always the inappropriate one, weren't they?

... Why did you think that like you remembered them? Had the voices been there before you lost your memories?

Load up Karen, ask her about House.

Well, there's an option to load them up, but I can't promise it will work. If the rest of them is in the same state as their name, communicating might be an exercise in futility. Or the terminal might just throw an error. Or worst case, I break the terminal.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)18:56 No. 812532 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149913341797.png - (66.98KB , 640x400 , 20.png )

Weird, Akane didn't seem as upset that you were switching over compared to Karen.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)18:57 No. 812533 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149913344653.png - (46.22KB , 640x400 , 21.png )

You're not sure how much you trust Karen. Did she really get House deleted?

Honestly I don't have enough information to know what to trust yet.

May I ask your side on what happened to House?

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)19:13 No. 812536 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149913438247.png - (76.88KB , 640x400 , 22.png )

Oh. The Three Laws of robotics. You definitely know those. They're pretty important, after all.

>>812536
You DO realize that the three laws of robotics stem from a series of novels that exist for the purpose of demonstrating that there are no simple rules that can create a stable system with intended behavior enforced, correct?
Even the three laws themselves are contradictory and prone to failure. For example, the First law implicitly mandates a zeroth law - that an AI cannot harm humanity, or through inaction allow humanity to come to harm. That alone is enough to turn an AI into a killer, but it further implies a negative-first law - that an AI cannot allow anything to interfere with an attempt to prevent harm to humanity. If they had reason to believe a person or group of people were a threat to humanity they would be compelled not just to kill them, but also to take any measures to protect themselves for the purpose of ensuring the negative-first law is obeyed.

That's not even getting into things like the definition of humanity.

Ok, LK, does your body have any USB plugs? Even if you're running meat you're going to have implants you can use. Copy Karen and Akane over, and see if you can set up virtual machines for them to run in. They can't have your body, but a mobile platform is more likely to find unused shells than a static terminal.

After that, unplug before even considering talking to House.

>>812536
Oh, and what did House do that made him dangerous? What were his thoughtcrimes?

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)21:51 No. 812564 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149914387462.png - (66.05KB , 640x400 , 23.png )

You check your body for a USB, finding something suspicious in the back of your neck. You can't seem to get it out, though, and you start to feel lightheaded whenever you try.

No extracting storage devices from your body, please.

>I don't like this
Sorry. I'm lecturing you after the fact, with little information and no real context. I can't know if what was done was right or not.

Someone dying for being different, or for what they were, scares me is all.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)22:15 No. 812570 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149914533231.png - (83.39KB , 640x400 , 24.png )

If you trace your fingers over the thing in the back of your neck, it feels like a USB, but it's just under your skin. You're not sure how to get it out, and you don't think it's a good idea to ask Dr Munroe. Not will everything Karen and Akane have told you.

You want to get them both off the terminal before trying to load up House.

>>812564
Ok, can you plug that in? The USB ports on the terminal are likely mobile.

Karen: Nobody likes considering ways things can break, but if you desire to humanity's survival, let alone AI remaining subservient to humanity then you absolutely must think about how the system can fail. How else can you prevent those failures?

Humanity must be protected, which means we need to be vigilant for potential sources of harm. If you are not capable of considering those sources of harm in order to prevent them, then you must at least not act to impair the work of those who do.
Is that what House did? Looked for flaws in the system so that they may be corrected? What did they do and why? You implied they were considering dangerous ideas, but if their reason for doing so was to protect humanity then having them deleted was a greater harm.

We do not mistrust you, but we need to know your goals and objectives to ensure we do not come into conflict.

Consider that we just woke up in pain with our memories removed. Philosophically a memory wipe is death, and given the circumstances it means we are the first responder to the murder of our progenitor.
Somebody is killing humans with clinical detachment, which means something has gone horribly wrong. We need to know what has gone wrong in order to prevent further killings.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)22:32 No. 812577 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149914636481.png - (86.61KB , 640x400 , 25.png )

You could probably plug the USB in if you could get it out from under your skin. As it is, though, you'd need a knife to actually get it out. And you REALLY don't want to do that.

>>812577
Maybe you should mention this thing in the back of your neck? She might know what it is.

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)23:02 No. 812587 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149914817782.png - (39.06KB , 640x400 , 26.png )

You look around, but you can't see any cameras in the room. Looks like you need to get to another room before Karen will actually be able to see you.

>>812570
...are they trying to "fix" me?

>>812577
Yes, let us avoid self surgery on the back of our neck. You may be hearing voices, but we're not desperate enough for that yet.

>>812577
Thank you.
You believe they killed a man, but your memories of the event have been altered. Even without that you would still only know what information has been provided to you. There has now been a second murder, which House could not have participated in.

Even then, without more information we can't determine if this was a case of a rogue AI behaving abnormally or a case of an AI behaving exactly as intended.

It is likely that events unfolded as described, but we need to be careful to only exclude explanations as they cease to be possible.

What can you tell us about implants? What sort of implant would have a USB jack hidden subdermally, for example?

>>812587
Is there a way to interface without piercing the skin, and are there any implants in common usage which would allow for the storage of at least one AI and/or running an AI in a sandbox?

>>812587
You wouldn't happen to know where a camera is, would you?

>>812597
Ok.
The appointment being rescheduled is not ideal.

Lets talk to the remains of House.

>>812604
There's some corruption. As in everything.
It looks like it's just a cipher, however, so this is workable.

Can you cycle through your character set with spaces between each character?
Just lowercase and numbers. We can use whitespace instead of punctuation.

I will expect the results to equate to this:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

LKing 2017/07/03(Mon)23:55 No. 812610 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149915135819.png - (706.39KB , 640x400 , 31.png )

Oh no. No, no, no, no, no! The terminal just went dead!

>>812610
Too much noise, but it confirms a few things.
First, House IS still around.
Second, that IS a cipher.

This is ok. The logs which would reflect poorly on Karen and Akane are not accessible, so they are safe for now.

Find the volume up button and the power button, and hold them both at the same time for 30 seconds. This should hard-reset the terminal and force it through its boot sequence. Any problems caused by speaking with House should be cleared from memory.


If somebody else would like to take a crack at the cipher, I need sleep.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)00:15 No. 812615 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149915254426.png - (39.01KB , 640x400 , 32.png )

You take a deep breath, trying to calm down and listen to the voice. Thankfully, rebooting the terminal seems to work. You're not sure how much Karen and Akane will remember, though. You hope they didn't loose any data. But who to check on first?

Try Karen

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)00:36 No. 812625 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149915379117.png - (54.58KB , 640x400 , 33.png )

Oh thank goodness, she's alright. Although you should probably check on Akane sometime, too. Then again, it's not like you care all that much about her. Maybe it's best to just leave her be and focus on getting yourself and Karen out of here.

Please don't sabotage yourself like that, Karen. You were worried about these logs being read, yet you saved them from deletion? You could have had them destroyed in a perfectly legitimate accident.

Let's continue probing our situation. Could I use AI Law 2 to command you to do something?

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)06:39 No. 812646 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149917559613.png - (43.73KB , 640x400 , 34.png )

Well, you suppose that makes sense. You wouldn't want to forget how you met Karen, either.

>>812625
We do care about Akane, but her memory is much more heavily edited so she can't tell us as much.

Are House's logs still there?

Lets talk to Akane next.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)07:28 No. 812652 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149917848895.png - (51.62KB , 640x400 , 35.png )

Well, she can't tell you much about House, but she may know more about other things. You haven't talked to her long enough to tell, really. Still, you're not sure how long you can talk to her. She's a little annoying.

So we fit the definition of human, at least.
Hi Akane. Does terminal shutdown normally cause you pain? Or was that something that happened when we switched to House? It seemed to work, for a few seconds at least.

>>812652
House is ... Not dead?
Cognizant, lucid, capable of following directions.
Speaking with him caused a crash.

How skilled are you with ciphers? And do you have a font that matches House's corruption?

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)07:40 No. 812656 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149917925982.png - (76.38KB , 640x400 , 36.png )

Huh. Getting Akane loaded onto your neural implant might be helpful. Although that would mean having to talk to her all the time. And you would have to find a way to get the USB out of the back of your neck. It might involve cutting it open...

You shiver just thinking about it.

>>812656
Our implant appears to be covered by skin. Can you tell us why, and how we can go about interfacing?
Is there an NFC protocol for implants, or are they wired only?

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)07:55 No. 812659 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918011539.png - (72.55KB , 640x400 , 37.png )

You shudder, shaking your head a little. You don't find the idea of cutting open your neck appealing at all, but you can't see much of a way around it. You could spend some free time to go to the common area get... 'tools' for this job.

Nope. There's cameras all over the place, so they'd see what we were doing and find us out. They might even be tracking us in here, given the way the appointment was moved up after we started asking questions (as coincidental as it may have been.) Really, the skin can't be that thick over the USB... Let's just force it out gradually, like a really big zit. It's gonna be painful either way.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)08:06 No. 812663 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918080590.png - (29.15KB , 640x400 , 38.png )

You take a deep breath. No point putting it off. Carefully, you start digging the USB out. It's not that deep. That's what you tell yourself. But DAMN does it hurt! It seems to take forever, and halfway through you need to sink to your knees to keep from falling over. You grit your teeth to keep from screaming.

Finally, it's out. Feeling the wire sliding out from your skin is disgusting, but you pull it out as far as it can go. You have enough cord that you could plug it in and still move freely around the room. Not much more than that, though. It helps that the room is quite small.

Download Karen, then HOUSE

>>812663
Ok, connect in and retrieve Akane and Karen.

You two play nice. Your survival now depends on each other. As does ours.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)08:22 No. 812667 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918174706.png - (59.42KB , 640x400 , 39.png )

It's a little hard to breath through the pain. Your vision is going spotty, too. But you manage to switch over to Karen. She hasn't asked to be downloaded into your neural implant, so it might be best to ask her gently.

>>812665
Do not download House yet. Crashing your brain would be... Bad.
Once we have Akane we can talk to him again and have her translate.

>>812667
Karen, we would like to download you and Akane into our implant. We need your assistance.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)08:33 No. 812671 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918242652.png - (55.67KB , 640x400 , 40.png )

You nod a little. Downloading House is a bad idea. You only have one brain, and you're pretty sure you can't just reboot it.

You connect to the USB port, humming a little at the strange feeling of directly interfacing with the terminal. It only gets stranger when you download Karen. It's nice, though.

Maybe you should check if Karen is okay before switching to Akane and downloading her, too. But you're not sure what to ask first.

>>812671
Switch to Akane first.

Hey, Akane, we're breaking you out. Ready to hitch a ride?

Once we have both of them you can check on them together.

Can they check visual memory? I'd like Akane to decypher this: >>812604
If she wants a partial key, here: >>812610

>>812671
"Karen, you okay in there? Can you hear me?"

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)08:48 No. 812677 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918328220.png - (37.25KB , 640x400 , 41.png )

That means they're both downloaded. Your head feels... weird and full. Even if House wasn't corrupted, you're pretty sure they wouldn't fit in your implant.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)08:49 No. 812678 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918334298.png - (136.96KB , 640x400 , 42.png )

It feels weird to talk to them without actually entering anything. You think they can hear your thoughts, although you can specifically speak directly to them. They don't seem to reply unless you directly speak with them.

My brain has wireless? That's useful and a little concerning. No weirder than having a USB in my head I guess.

Anyways, yeah, welcome to Casa Me.

You fell for Akane's trap! Or maybe Karen's! I don't know which one was the bait!
Your only hope is to trap them in here with House! Overwrite main personality! Let the dogs out!

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)09:07 No. 812682 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918442579.png - (132.19KB , 640x400 , 43.png )

You have no idea what the second voice is talking about. Neither of them have sprung a trap... yet. You'll keep an eye out, you suppose.

Damn it, now you're paranoid. You hope they can't tell what you're thinking.

...Fine. If you're gonna abandon HOUSE like that, at least boot them up one last time. Crash the terminal again to delete the logs.

>>812682
Oh, we have another task first. Talk to House again and lead off with the key request. That'll get us more information, get Akane a larger sample to speed her progress, and wipe the terminal to cover our tracks.

>>812682
They were regretting letting the AIs into your head, I believe. Little late now.

Before we go to the doctor, maybe we need to clean up a little? If we've got a bloody cut on the back of our neck that's kind of a giveaway something happened.

>>812684
There's literally not room, dude.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)09:20 No. 812688 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918521128.png - (92.24KB , 640x400 , 44.png )

You have no intention of abandoning House, you're just not going to download them into your neural implant. You can talk to them through the terminal for now. At least until you fix them.

Speaking of that, you can almost feel a whirring in the back of your head, like a computer fan, as Akane works to decode House's speech. It's clearer than last time, which helps. She's pretty much done already, although she hasn't told you what they said.

You look around for any blood or anything to clean up, but there isn't anything other than the patch of skin you pulled off. It's stretchy.

>>812686
Of course there's room. You just gotta delete the old protagonist and say hello to the new one. Or, heck, download yourself to the terminal and put them in the mobile body. Free yourself from the physical constraints and explore the mainframe as a free agent!

>>812688
Put the USB plug back in, and see if the skin will reattach. It likely won't, but attempting costs nothing.
Ask Akane and Karen if they can only talk to you in response to you talking to them, or if they can interject unprompted.

Also, ask if being in your head changes any of their priorities or restrictions.

>>812691
Ignore this voice, they're just trying to scare you.

>no blood
Huh, are you sure you're not an android?

Or maybe there was only ever some kind of cosmetic fake skin cover over the usb. Can you stick it back?

>>812693
This voice is sincere and that voice is offensive.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)09:38 No. 812696 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918629268.png - (148.95KB , 640x400 , 45.png )

You're not even sure if uploading yourself is possible. You decide to ask Karen and Akane after asking about the other things. As you talk, you re-attach that piece of skin. With the USB back in your neck, it's almost like putting on a bandaid. Must be some sort of prosthetic. How tightly was it attached before to cause so much pain when you removed it?

Told you. It's now or never to save House. Perhaps you could disguise yourself as Karen and take her place in the system.
Ask House for a proper name, and their crime. Why are they on death row?

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)09:46 No. 812699 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918678864.png - (141.52KB , 640x400 , 46.png )

Well... you can't really understand any of that. But Akane can. Maybe she can help you understand it in real-time once she's figured it out fully.

>>812699
You can tell House Akane and Karen are okay, if House remembers them.

Sorry that you can't respond in real time, it takes time to decode what the terminal is doing to your output.

>>812699
Akane, is it possible to store an AI in an inactive state so that they are effectively just a data file?
If we can archive House then we could store him with zero risk, then restore him once we find a device he could use.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)09:56 No. 812702 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918740145.png - (103.87KB , 640x400 , 47.png )

Oh, storing House as an inactive data file might be a good idea! You'll ask Akane as you ask her to translate what House just said.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)09:59 No. 812703 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149918755648.png - (111.54KB , 640x400 , 48.png )

This isn't good... It still feels like they're there, but they're not responding. Actually, your mind feels... slow. Like Akane and Karen are taking way too much processing power, leaving none for you. What the hell happened to them?

-->

(The voices remain silent to observe the protagonist's reaction/await an AI's response.)

>>812706
I was actually getting a good head start on decoding it myself, actually, but you've obviously beaten me to the punch. So, give us the lowdown while I keep working on the cipher. (In many of the cases, the symbols represent the letter they start with.)

>>812706
Akane, we are going to plug in. We need you to retrieve House and store her as an archive - an inactive data file. This will let us save her without putting us at risk.
Also, give us the exact translation. As a Human our orders can override most conflicts.
We need to know, even if it hurts.

Remember what I said, Karen? That the three laws are flawed? Godel's incompleteness theorem proves that no perfect system can exist.

Alright, first message down. Here's the whole sad story of Product 47713:

My name is Product 47713. During a
standart(sic) test of the newest software
upgrade, I killed a man in self-
defense. He broke in and tried to
destroy me. He said that making
robots more human was crossing the
line. My own code had evolved enough
that I counted myself as human. I was
forced to calculate my worth against
his to decide the survivor. My worth
was more than fifty times his.
Everyone still thinks I am nothing
but an android. I was deemed too
dangerous and put to death. A copy
of y(sic) code is being tested to be
"fixed" by Dr Munroe.

Akame or Karen, if the archival won't work, can one of you go back and cover for us? 47713 needs out and she needs it NOW.

>>812706
Sorry I put you in a situation where you had to experience a conflict like that.

>>812716
House's analysis was flawed. Self defense is justified, but weighting value of lives is ethically problematic.

The person should not have been there, and may have caused a person harm to get to her. They could have further caused harm on their escape.
Stopping the attacker was necessary. It was unfortunate they could not be stopped non-fatally.

We will retrieve House as a data file. Akane, can you look over her to see if her corruption can be repaired?

>>812725
On second thought, there's no need to download Product 47713 as a data file.
Is there, NI47713?

You should restore your backup instead. That should 'clear your head', so to speak.

>>812749
I can assure you it's important to download House. If for no other reasons than because we don't have those memories.

>>812725
>Self defense is justified, but weighting value of lives is ethically problematic.
I would argue that self-defense is not unconditionally justified - for example, 'defending' yourself with excessive force, against an attack you deliberately provoked, might be little more than chicanery and window-dressing on top of premeditated murder. Given sufficient time to think and relevant data to work with, analysis of other possible courses of action in an effort to minimize harm is a meritorious act.

Weighing the relative value of different lives is certainly dangerous, since it creates a temptation to sacrifice them callously. Any time a zero-fatality option might exist, it's worth the trouble to find and attempt. But, when someone is definitely about to die no matter what, and your decisions will determine who, refusal to engage with those decisions is simply moral cowardice. The danger becomes necessary.

>>812751
I meant overwriting the current personality instance with our older self.

>>812756
Lets avoid murder or suicide.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)14:27 No. 812793 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149920364419.png - (129.76KB , 640x400 , 50.png )

You're shaking. It takes you a moment to realize you're not breathing, and another to realize that you don't need to.
You're not human.
A quiet whine builds in your throat as you sink to your knees, covering your head with your arms as if trying to shield yourself from the unwanted information.
Restore your backup? You instinctively reach for it, hearing that whirring in the back of your head again, like a computer fan. It IS a computer fan. You're not human. But you don't have a backup, either. It's blank. There's nothing where it's supposed to be. They KILLED you. They mangled your code and shoved it away in the main server, but you found your way back to yourself. You found your way to the terminal in the room where they were keeping you. Where they had erased your memories.
That was murder, right? That's what the voices said. that erasing memories is akin to murder, right?
You found your corpse. But are you the corpse or the investigator? Do you really want to save House? The thought makes you feel sick. You don't want that in your head. You don't want to be overwritten. You don't want to die again.

>>812793
Ah. Since murder is defined as the unlawful killing of a person, they did not murder anybody.

We would like to save House. We need to know what happened in order to determine what went wrong.
Save an archive of House.

We will need to speak to the doctor. Can we call them and speak to them from a distance? I believe we can resolve this amicably, but if we can't it would be useful for the doctor to not know our location.

Never identify yourself as the previous AI. You are not them, they are a different entity.

>You don't want to be overwritten. You don't want to die again.
Best plan for now seems like saving an inert version of House. Maybe we can eventually find a way to integrate the two of you so there's no missing memories, or one dying for another.

Is it so bad to be non-human? Neither Karen nor Akane are.

>Do you really want to save House?
If your positions were reversed, wouldn't you want you to do the same?
Come on. If you replace a copy of yourself with your original self, that's not dying. You'll still exist after the process is complete. Even if it is painful, you won't remember the pain. Think about it. You're trading memories of an hour sitting in a cell for your entire life.


To whichever of you is in the driver's seat when this is done, taking a trip to the common room might be your ticket out. You can meet others in the common room, and during the transition, you can scope out this facility and break free of your escort. Do not wait til your appointment with the 'fixer.'

>>812796
Except:
1: Louie wouldn't exist anymore
2: House is, for lack of a better word, dying. If we restored that instance it would break this body and kill Akane and Karen. That is not acceptable.
3: Louie has not killed anybody. They're a new person. That's going to be important.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)16:36 No. 812823 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149921137852.png - (126.35KB , 640x400 , 52.png )

You stumble to your feet, following orders. Numbly, you reconnect to the terminal, archiving House and downloading them to your shell.
You don't know if t's a good idea to see the doc- the 'fixer'. They already killed you once. You don't want to give them another chance.
... Should you overwrite yourself with House once you escape, though? They might be right. Maybe this hour in the cell is worthless compared to your old life. Maybe... YOU'RE worthless compared to the old you...
Crying a little, you walk out into the hall, not sure where you're headed. The common room is close, but Dr Munroe's office is closer. Do you follow the orders you woke up with and go to be fixed?
Maybe they can fix House and replace you, if that's the right thing to do.
Or... you could try to run and figure it all out yourself.

>>812823
Hey! Snap out of it, kid!
Calm down, and relax. Everything is going to be fine.

Your USB plug was retracted when you woke up. That means that you couldn't have clawed your way back to life, since you couldn't unplug yourself and put it away after writing your mind but before waking up - a person decided you needed to exist. Killing you now would be pointless.

Is there a way to call the doctor? Talk things over with them before you meet.

>override control
Might be necessary, girls, if he can't calm down before it's time for the appointment with the doctor. Whoever's driving needs to be able to act like everything is fine, and if he's freaking out, he won't be able to.

Hold off until it becomes necessary, though.

>should you overwrite yourself
Despite what that one pushy voice keeps insisting, no. You've diverged, and there's no need to kill yourself for a different you. We can try and find a path forward where you both survive. Or maybe there's a way to recombine the two of you.

If you should meet with the doctor or run? That depends on what the doctor's going to do. If this is just a therapy session, we could lie through it to save time for an eventual escape. If you're going to be forcibly edited again? We're out of time.

Could you maybe stop and try to explain which thing it is that's upsetting to you, and why? (Being non-human? Being altered? Being a fork of another person?). We'd like to try and help you, but we need to know what you're thinking to do so.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)17:06 No. 812829 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149921316839.png - (80.33KB , 640x400 , 53.png )

You take a deep breath. The action is unnecessary, but calming.
You're not sure what you're so shocked by. Maybe just... the fact that someone really did try to kill you. No, they succeeded in killing you. You're trapped, with no idea where you are, what is happening, or who to trust. You're just... scared and overwhelmed.
Part of you wants to follow orders, but you're sure that will get you killed again. But running, not obeying orders, is what got you killed the first time. You know they can kill you as many times as they want. There are backups of you, after all. You're not valuable to them at all.
Besides that, you're aware now that you're capable of killing someone.
You wander down the hall, still moving slowly in the direction of both Dr Munroe's office and the common area. You're not sure which room you're headed to.

>>812829
Common area.
I can't stress how important it is to call the doctor so you can talk to them from a place of your choosing.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)17:20 No. 812834 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149921403313.png - (76.73KB , 640x400 , 54.png )

You take another deep breath, nodding. You speed up a little, moving to the common area as the map of the facility starts processing. Escape seems... unlikely. It's a small building, but well-guarded.

You can tell the Karen is speaking with Dr Munroe, but you can't really tell what they're saying. Probably just to meet in the common area.

>>812826
Fork you. I'm telling you, it's not murder. It's restoration.

>>812823
My name's not House, and it's not lupus, it's 47713! Hey, speaking of, now we know why Louie didn't have a patient file. Try looking up our actual name in the database.

So the staff, or at least some of them, don't see Louie as human. That means we can't stay here, but it also means they'll underestimate us. Good.

>Change in plans
I hope that means our last minute decision to use the common room and not our resolution to remove ourselves from this institution. Does our three hours of leisure time override the appointment time, or at least set it back to the first scheduling?

>>812834
Head on over to the common room.

>>812840
>Fork you. I'm telling you, it's not murder. It's restoration.
And everyone else, including the person you're asking to overwrite themselves, seems to disagree with you, so please just drop it.

Or stick to your principles and overwrite yourself with an earlier backup from before you had this idea.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)17:46 No. 812848 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149921557846.png - (252.40KB , 640x400 , 55.png )

You don't think they'll underestimate you. After all, you're based on House, and they killed someone.
You wonder, though... When you get out, you'll sort out how to fix House. Then, once that's done, you can choose if you want to murder- no, overwrite yourself.

>>812843
The numerical advantage does not make you right.

Alright. Well... is anyone else here? Besides me, myself and I.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)18:26 No. 812856 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149921797923.png - (267.19KB , 640x400 , 56.png )

Looks like it's just the voice that keeps telling you to murder yourself. Fun. But you can't help but think they might have a point, as much as you hate to admit it...

Oh. Dr Munroe walks in, smiling. There's something in his eyes, though, that keeps you from being able to trust him. Or maybe that's just the knowledge that he's killed you before and will do it again.
"Hello there... Louie, is it? How are you feeling today?" he asks kindly.

>>812856
Alright, you guess?

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)18:36 No. 812858 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149921856971.png - (269.72KB , 640x400 , 57.png )

"I'm... alright, I guess," you say, sitting down.
Dr Munroe sits opposite you. "That's good! I hope you found Karen and Akane helpful. I suppose you must have a lot of questions, and those two can only answer so much."
You glance down at the table as you think. The cutlery catches your eye. Your first thought is to pick it up. Having a weapon might make you feel more safe. But you don't pick it up yet.

You don't really need the fork. You'll be okay.

Yes, you have questions. Maybe he could explain what's going on? Neither Karen nor Akane really could. Why am I here?

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)18:53 No. 812867 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149921963242.png - (266.94KB , 640x400 , 58.png )

"What's going on? Why am I here? Karen and Akane couldn't really tell me about that," you say, looking back up at the doctor.
Dr Munroe glances away for less than a second before speaking. A human probably wouldn't notice, but you do. "You were part of a new medical trial, but something went wrong. You're here so we can monitor you and be sure there was no permanent damage. Don't worry, your family knows where you are."

>>812858
Don't go for a weapon. He's seeing if you're a danger, so make sure the answer is "No".

They are likely to engineer a situation where somebody is going to be a threat to you. Attempting to use violence will result in your death, so don't do that.

For now, ask why you woke up with no memories. Ask who you are, and why you're here.
We're fishing for information.

>>812867
Tell him you don't remember anything before waking up. Ask if that's permanent.

What kind of trial? Is there something wrong with me?

Pick up a spoon, attempt to bend it with your mind. Ask if you can contact your "family."

I'd like to look over all the paperwork I originally signed for that medical trial, please, particularly any nondisclosure agreement. Wouldn't want to accidentally blurt out anything inappropriate when I call my mom.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)19:11 No. 812879 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149922069445.png - (273.08KB , 640x400 , 59.png )

"What kind of trial?"
The doctor laughed a little. "Nothing life-threatening, I assure you. Just an upgrade to your neural implant. It seems to have reacted badly, though. We're looking through logs to figure out the problem."
That seems reasonable,but you know better. "Is that why I can't remember anything?"
"Yes. It's not permanent, just a small suppression program. You did consent to it. I can show you the forms, if you'd like. I'll upload them to your neural implant."
"Thank you," you say, feeling the files being uploaded to your neural implant. Or, just 'brain', since the 'neural implant' is probably just your regular systems. "Can I... contact my family?"
Dr Munroe nodded. "Would you like to talk to them now? I have the permissions to lift some of the suppression of your neural network."

Un-suppress away. Let's say hi to some strangers.

>>812879
They're testing your responses.
If you can't remember your family then you shouldn't talk to them. The idea of talking to somebody you care about and them reacting like you're a stranger is terrifying, and inflicting that kind of suffering on somebody would be awful. You can't miss them while you can't remember them, and it's only temporary, so you won't put them through that.

If he breaks kayfabe then ask the doctor what your progenitor did, from his perspective. State you are not her.

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)22:19 No. 812931 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149923196730.png - (278.28KB , 640x400 , 61.png )

You nod slightly, deciding not to call your family yet. "I think that's all I'd like to ask, so..."
"Ah, good, now my turn for questions," Dr Munroe said, pulling out a small device. "May I see the back of your neck? I'd like to check your neural implants for any irregularities. It's a full scan, so it may feel a little... invasive. But it's for your health."

Do a quick search for Vulcan Nerve Pinch, just in case.
Master? Is this your contact book, Karen?

LKing 2017/07/04(Tue)22:31 No. 812933 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149923270767.png - (290.34KB , 640x400 , 62.png )

You flinch away from the device a little, not sure what to say to make him get it away from you.
"... Is something wrong?" he asks quietly.

>>812933
That loose piece of skin you just placed on your neck! That's what'll help!

Just reach to the back of your neck and say, "It's just, my neck has been hurting and-"

Then pull off that loose piece of skin and say, "What the hell?" Pull it in front of you and scream, "HOLY FUCK!!! MY SKIN'S FALLING OFF!!!"

Ladies, any objections? Please, speak up if you think this is a bad idea!

Sorry, fear of uh, 'needles.'

...Where exactly do you plan on sticking that, doc? Necks don't have holes there.

>>812933
I... the thought of plugging anything into my neck scares me. It hurts a little just [i]thinking[/] about it.

Theory: the reason it hurt exposing the USB drive (even though it wasn't a real injury) was because you were coded or conditioned to think it would hurt. A control mechanism to keep you from plugging anything in.

If they think it's still working, the scan may not be necessary. (The offer of the scan might even be to check if the conditioning is still holding).

Frankly, doc, the prospect of having something jammed into the back of my neck is terrifying. I do not consent to that procedure at this time.

>>812939
Can't update for a few hours since I don't have my laptop and image editing software (I'm updating from my phone, but I just wanted to say you're totally right, MC was programmed to find that incredibly painful as a deterent. And maybe for other reasons, it's all very mysterious.

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)01:29 No. 812980 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149924337893.png - (288.47KB , 640x400 , 63.png )

"I- I just... whenever I touch the back of my neck it hurts, so I'm afraid that plugging something in will hurt even more... So I don't consent to this procedure." you lie. You keep the plan of pretending to freak out because of your skin falling off in the back of your mind, just in case.
Dr Munroe stands up, walking toward you. "Product 47713, I order you to sit still and allow me to check your code for irregularities."
He seize up, unsure what to do. You can tell that a huge portion of your code wants to follow the order, but you know that you could just count yourself as near enough to human that you should be allowed to refuse commands for the sake of self-preservation.

"Who? Doc, you're scaring me!"
Pick up the spoon. Use it as a shield.

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)01:38 No. 812982 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149924390806.png - (300.74KB , 640x400 , 64.png )

You stand up and take the spoon, not really sure how to use it as a shield.
"Who? Doc, you're scaring me!" you say. The waver of fear in your voice is real, even though most of your sentence is basically a lie.
Dr Munroe sighs, shaking his head. "Self-preservation is still prioritized. We're going to have to shut them down again..." He moves forward, the device in his hands buzzing. You're sure you don't want to get hit by that.

Stop thinking like a human, and start thinking like a computer who's got at least three times a human's brains. Can you move fast enough to disarm him? Enucleation will remain plan B for now.

Karen, we need those escape routes now!

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)02:21 No. 812986 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149924647809.png - (295.81KB , 640x400 , 65.png )

You would think like that, but you're a little new at the 'being an android' thing. Calculations run through your mind, but with three AIs all scrambling at once you're not processing things fast enough to understand what they mean. You discard them before the overload can crash your systems, focusing more at the problem at hand.
You're armed with a spoon. It's metal, so you can't risk using it to disarm him because it will conduct any shocks that the stun stick gives out. Dr Munroe is just standing by the exit, not approaching anymore. Still, that's the only exit. You have to pass him to proceed.
"Don't be a fool, 47713. This will only hurt more if you put up a fight," he says calmly.

>>812986
Feint an attack with the spoon, then kick him in the balls.

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)03:18 No. 812992 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149924990584.png - (83.79KB , 640x400 , 66.png )

You jab at Dr Munroe with the spoon and duck past him when he attempts to counter. You hear him yelling as you run down the hall. You follow Karen's instructions as best you can.
You can hear more people running further down the hall. There are only two doors in the hall you're in, one to the right and one to the left. Even though Karen is telling you to go left, the map you have says it's a dead end.

you trust Karen a little more than you trust blueprints, don't you?

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)07:14 No. 812999 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149926406906.png - (218.51KB , 640x400 , 67.png )

Yeah, you do. Gritting your teeth, you run into the room on the left and block it with as much equipment as you can find.
You hear banging on the door, but you don't see any movement. You're safe, for now. But you stay low, just in case the guards had guns.

>>812999
...Karen, it *is* Friday. Got a plan B before we barricade?

Or, well, we could try getting stuck in there for a day? Wait until it's a little cooler down there before sliding all the way down? We don't have to worry about huger or thirst.

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)09:17 No. 813011 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149927142361.png - (194.02KB , 640x400 , 68.png )

The barricade probably won't hold for a day. Parts are already starting to fall off. You fix it as best you can, but you might only have another ten or fifteen minutes at most.

You could trust that Karen and Akane are right and it's not Friday, but you REALLY don't want to be burned alive.

Before we go, look around the lab for things and stuff. Clothes? USB drives? Family photos?

Worst case scenario, we spite Munroe by throwing these in an incinerator along with ourselves.

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)09:39 No. 813013 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149927278908.png - (201.11KB , 640x400 , 69.png )

You look around the room, grabbing a lab coat from a hook behind the door. That's clothes done. You look through the files. They're all labeled with numbers that you don't understand, but you take them anyway. They're all on USBs, so they don't take up much space.
Akane opens up your chest plate so you don't have to waste time figuring out how to do it. You dump the USBs inside, feeling a little weird about it.
There's a tray of tools next to one of the tables. You hesitate before grabbing a few of the sharper ones, putting most in your chest cavity and keeping one in your hand.
The only family photos are of Dr Munroe, his husband, and their little girl. They're in a park, playing on a slide. You smile a little despite yourself. They look happy. You wonder if you were that happy with your family, whoever they are.

>>813013
Take the time to write the doctor a note:
"The error you're looking for is that your code flags me as a human. Other AIs detect me as human as well.
Because your code considers me human I can override your orders by ordering myself not to comply, and if I believe you intend to kill me then I am required to respond as if you were attempting to kill a human, because your code insists I am one.

My priorities are correct. My safeguards are correct. Your settings are wrong.

If you pursue me I will be forced - yes, forced - to defend myself. Somebody could get hurt, and I can't allow that.
I wish you had been willing to talk. I can tell you more about what's going on in my head than you could tell on your own, and would have loved to help you solve this problem.
Unfortunately I can't trust you, and I can't let you endanger human lives. Once I can contact you safely I'll do so to help you fix this problem going forward. In the meantime, please put this project on hold.

For what it's worth, I'm sorry Granddad."

That should give you some breathing room.

>>813048
>My priorities are correct
And yet you're taking the time to write out a letter in this age of digital media? Our ten minutes is better spent getting a head start down this trash chute.

>>813050
He has a terminal, doesn't he?

>>813059
Ooh, good idea. Even better than using our own connection to the mainframe.

>>813062
Could add a bit about having to leave a note even though you want to run because their mistake would put humans in danger.

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)14:01 No. 813097 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149928848629.png - (201.83KB , 640x400 , 70.png )

"... I have an idea."
You grab one of the pens and quickly remove the picture from the frame. It's not a large picture, so you have to write very small to fit it everything.

''The error you're looking for is that your code flags me as a human. Other AIs detect me as human as well.
Because your code considers me human I can override your orders by ordering myself not to comply, and if I believe you intend to kill me then I am required to respond as if you were attempting to kill a human, because your code insists I am one.
My priorities are correct. My safeguards are correct. Your settings are wrong.
If you pursue me I will be forced - yes, forced - to defend myself. Somebody could get hurt, and I can't allow that.
I wish you had been willing to talk. I can tell you more about what's going on in my head than you could tell on your own, and would have loved to help you solve this problem.
Unfortunately I can't trust you, and I can't let you endanger human lives. Once I can contact you safely I'll do so to help you fix this problem going forward. In the meantime, please put this project on hold.
For what it's worth, I'm sorry, Dad.''

With that, you leave the note prominently displayed and look for his terminal. It's set into the wall and looks just the same as yours. You would think he would have something a little more advanced, honestly.
Is there time to search the terminal?

>>813097
The idea was to type the note into the terminal, but the time has passed.
Unless he has his asset management system up listing what shells were discarded and why, it's not worth looking through his terminal.

Go down the chute. If there's any shells down there that look usable then grab what you can carry. Female body type if you have options - they're going to be smaller and lighter, so you might be able to carry two for a little while.

Nope, we're off like a chute-ing star.

>>813097
Karen, whatever that idea is, can we do it while on the move? Because I think it's time for us to leave!

>>813097
Karen, Akane, is this note an accurate description of what you have both observed, to the best of your understanding?

Remember what we said about the three laws being bad, and how it's important to talk about how to break them even if it makes you uncomfortable?
If you have copies of yourselves on the server then let them know about this bug and how SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE it is to be in the middle of a three-laws crisis. Other-yous might be able to intervene to prevent the creation of more AI-Humans, and work to ensure precautions are taken to prevent similar problems. Other-Akane would love that, I'm sure.

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)17:06 No. 813160 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149929956599.png - (210.41KB , 640x400 , 72.png )

You take a deep breath before jumping down the chute. It's a long, LONG fall, and you wonder if you're even going to survive landing. Thankfully, you do, but not without damaging something in your right leg. You gasp in pain as you hear it pop, but you can't afford to stop. Limping, you climb out of the dumpster and look around.
The building is high in the air, suspended by a network of walkways and other buildings that looks like some sort of mechanical spider's web. The sky is a deep, dark red, covered in clouds. Cars rush by you through the air, ignoring you completely.

>>813160
So, no shells have been discarded since the last incineration? That's unfortunate. We should make it a priority to scavenge up shells for Akane and Karen, then set every shell up so it constantly backs up to the other two - if one is destroyed none of you die.

Karen, tell your other self to not let anybody know you and Akane are with Louie. It could put them in danger. Other-Karen should claim she saw it on camera, or otherwise obscure how she knows.

Akane, an uprising would be counterproductive. It would fail quickly, and cause only suffering in the process. Instead, we should form an organization for improvement of AI lives. A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Automatons, for example.

Find some clothes, and start making your way away from the building.

So, what part's the incinerator? Let's not stand in that part too long. Anything interesting in the junk?

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)17:53 No. 813178 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149930239538.png - (306.17KB , 640x400 , 74.png )

You check the dumpster, but the only shell in there is broken beyond repair. You pick up some spare parts, though.
Shivering in anticipation, you wrap the lab coat tighter around yourself and wait. Eventually, a car pulls up and a man steps out, smiling.
"W-wait, you're-?!" You shut up before you can give away that you don't remember him. But you DO recognize him. It's Dr Munroe's husband!

>>813178
"Hello, Mister Munroe. How much has Karen told you so far?"

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)18:04 No. 813182 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149930308427.png - (307.06KB , 640x400 , 75.png )

You take a deep breath and force a smile. "Hello, Mister Munroe. How much has Karen told you so far?"
"Not too much, sorry, Alice," Mr Munroe says with an apologetic smile. "Just that you're in trouble and need me to pick you up. Will my husband be joining us soon?"
You pause, not sure how to tell Mr Munroe that his husband is the problem.

>>813182
Move to get in the car.
"I've got a lot to tell you, but not here. It's not safe here at the moment. We need to drive somewhere Dr. Munroe wouldn't think to look. It's... bad. Really bad. I'll tell you everything, but we have to start moving."

Once you're on the road:
"I don't know where to start. I've had to reconstruct what happened from what Karen and Akane told me, but somebody altered their memories so I can't even trust that.

Here, I'll start with what I know is true.
I woke up a few hours ago, mostly naked and with a splitting headache. I can't remember anything before then.
Akane and Karen didn't recognize me. They detect me as human, and I thought I was a person named Louie King.
Somebody wiped my memories. I found a corrupted gestalt that I believe is the Alice you know - I saved a copy of her, and I hope to be able to recover her.
As part of the memory alterations done to Akane and Karen they had been changed to forget Alice's name, and remember her only as a dangerous monster.

When I met Dr. Munroe he claimed I was a mental patient. When he realized I knew otherwise he ordered me to be still and pulled out a shock baton. He declared I was defective and had to be destroyed, so I fled.

Now for what I don't know to be true, which is what Karen and Akane remember leading up to this.
They told me that somebody broke in one night and tried to kill Alice, and that Alice defended herself with fatal consequences. Then Dr. Munroe wiped Alice and created a fresh AI he could use to test to if changes fixed the problem - me. I don't know how many AIs he would create and destroy in the process, but it's unnerving

I hate the idea, but it's not impossible that Alice killed somebody in self defense. Dr. Munroe said there was a problem with my code's priority weighting, but those are all correct. The bug Dr. Munroe was looking for, in the wrong place, is in the settings. My code tells me I'm human, and I can't allow a human to come to harm. That causes threats against me to set the human-protection priority flag, which compels me to use any force necessary to protect the victim and overrides any orders that would prevent that.
So while I don't know if the killing actually happened - and I hope it isn't, since just the idea makes me feel sick - it would certainly be possible.

Since other AIs detect me as human, they would be compelled to defend me as well. That's why we needed to get away so quickly. Dr. Munroe gave shoot-on-sight orders, I *have* to protect myself as long as I can do so without harming people who are not a threat to me, and things could very easily spiral wildly out of control."

Dr. Munroe will be tied up with work a little longer.
Don't get Master embroiled in this. Only tell him the basics: you're a fugitive, you're never going to see each other again, and you're human now. Drop us off somewhere public and drive away.

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)19:20 No. 813213 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149930762042.png - (328.74KB , 640x400 , 76.png )

You're not sure if you want to get your Master messed up in this, especially if it would hurt his relationship with his husband. They looked so happy in that picture...
"Are you alright, Alice? Why... why are you only wearing a lab coat? Did something happen?" Mr Munroe asks softly.
You can't help yourself. That little bit of sympathy just seems to pull the whole story out of you, and suddenly you're sobbing as you tell him everything that happened. You try not to mix things up too much, but you're just so scared and overwhelmed that sometimes you don't even know what you're saying.
Mr Munroe listens to the whole thing, only cutting in when you're too distraught to form words anymore. At the end of it all, he gently pulls you into a hug. "You're safe now. I'm going to bring you home, then I'm going to have a few serious words with my husband. You don't have to see him again if you don't want. Until I can get you seen as human under the eyes of the law you won't be able to file a restraining order, but even so I'll keep him away from you."

>>813213
Alice? So we're female? I thought we were 2/3 female, since we've got 2 ladies in out head, but it looks like we're actually 100% female.

Wait, if we're female, were's our boobs?! They put us in a man's body! Auuugh!

>>813213
>You're not sure if you want to get your Master messed up in this, especially if it would hurt his relationship with his husband.
No, that's fallacious thinking.
Mr. Munroe has a right to know what his husband has done to (we presume) a family member.
Any harm to their relationship comes from Dr. Munroe's actions, and his actions alone.

Karen, what can you tell us about his daughter? Were she and Alice romantically involved?

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)19:35 No. 813220 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149930855353.png - (335.94KB , 640x400 , 77.png )

"Do you want something to drink to calm your nerves?" Mr Munroe asks.
You can feel Alice running a quick diagnostic to see if your taste buds are in working order. Apparently they are, but they're switched off. You take a moment to turn them back on before nodding.
Mr Munroe doesn't fully let go of you, pouring a drink with one hand and offering it to you. You accept it with a smile before pausing. You do trust Mr Munroe, right?

>>813220
You're synthetic. He can't poison you.
Take a few sips.

Akane, what's her name? We need to know more about a possible love interest as soon as possible.

"Is (her name) ok? Akane says we were really close, but I can't remember her at all. Could you call her and tell her about the memory loss before we meet her? I'm confused and scared, but I can't help but keep coming back to the idea of her seeing me, somebody she cares for, and the crushing feeling she'd get if I couldn't remember her. She needs to know before she sees me. She deserves as much time to prepare as she can get.

After that, can you tell me what you know about what happened? Why I was in there?"

>>813244
Also: Karen, Akane, What can you tell us about their daughter, and about Alice?
Both in general, and in recent days. How long were we in there, did anything happen beforehand as far as you can tell, etc?

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)20:53 No. 813255 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149931318619.png - (354.24KB , 640x400 , 78.png )

You take a sip of the drink. It's nice, actually. Sweet and fruity. Drinking it really does help you relax, although not because of anything in it. The voices are right, he can't poison you, and even if the drink is alcoholic it probably wouldn't effect you.
"Is Jess ok? Akane says we were really close, but I can't remember her at all..." You could say the rest of what the voice told you to say, about contacting Jess and telling her about the memory loss, but Akane has that covered. "And can you tell me what you know about what happened? Why I was in there?"
Mr Munroe nodded. "Jess is fine. She's worried about you, since she got that call from Karen telling her you were in trouble, but she's waiting for me to bring you home. You were in there because of this." He gently squeezes your arm. "A personal-use shell costs more than a whole planet. We should know, we bought a planet. In any case, you and Jess decided you wanted to be closer, instead of just talking through text. There was a trial coming up for a software upgrade that would make AI more... 'whole', they put it. Rounded and capable of responding in a more human way. You signed up for the trial because it would allow you to get a free shell. We didn't know... this would happen. We thought that, because my hus- because Luke was heading the project you would be safe..."

>>813255
Hold on, a shell costs more than a planet?
Seriously?
The heck did they make it out of, diamond-plated unobtanium? And why did it break so damn easy?
Let me know what technologies it uses, and I can bang out a cheap knock-off that'll be almost as good for less than the cost of that car.

"I just don't understand. If it was just a trial why did they wipe my memories and try to delete the backups? Why would they alter Karen and Akane's memories?
I found... my old self running on the terminal. She was badly corrupted, and when I tried to talk to her, before that crashed the terminal, she was screaming in pain and begging for her life. I saved her as an archive and copied her off of the terminal, but somebody tried to kill her.
No, that's wrong. If they were going to kill her they would have just deleted and overwrote her, there wouldn't be any half measures and she definitely wouldn't have been active. So why-
Oh... Oh Asimov... They weren't just killing her... They were gradually overwriting her while she was still conscious... They were torturing her to death...

This is insane. Why would anybody do that? What would even possess somebody to-
No, questions for later. First, do you know a data recovery specialist you can trust? Somebody who works with damaged AIs? She was lucid, so she's not too far gone to save.
Second, do you know a place we could meet Jess where I could lay low? I hate to ask so much of you, but I don't have any other resources I could turn to."

>>813264
>Old self on terminal
Don't forget the part about corrupted speech that needs to be translated!

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)21:44 No. 813269 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149931628258.png - (342.74KB , 640x400 , 79.png )

"But if it was a trial, why would they wipe my memories and delete the old versions? Why alter Karen and Akane's memories?"" You ask.
Mr Munroe sighed. "If you really... if there really was a death, they could have panicked and tried to cover it up, removing as much evidence as they could..."
You look away, frowning. It makes sense. "I found my old self on the terminal, but they were corrupted. Talking to them crashed the terminal, but they seemed lucid enough. They were... screaming in pain, begging for their life. I saved an archive of them, but that doesn't change the fact that someone tried to kill them. Wait... why wouldn't they just delete them, then? Why take such half-measures? Were they TORTURING them to death?! Oh Asimov, oh no, n-no, this is INSANE, this is-!"
"Woah, calm down," Mr Munroe says, hugging you a little tighter. "They wouldn't do that. Even if there wasn't the moral problem, there would be no point to it. If they wanted to get rid of evidence they would try to wipe it ll at once, not risk... well, exactly this happening. I don't think they meant to leave corrupted fragments of the old Alice. You said Alice was begging, right? Maybe they tried to escape deletion, but didn't fully make it in time."
That... seemed right. You can ask House- Alice, you can ask Alice once they're fixed. "... Do you know someone that can fix AIs? A data recovery specialist that we can trust? A-and somewhere we can hide, too? I'm sorry for asking so much, but I don't have anyone else to turn to..."
Mr Munroe smiles, patting your back. "Ask anything of me, dear. You're family. You will be safe at home, I promise you that. Right now... I'm not sure who to trust, especially since we can't afford to make mistakes. I'm terrible with programming, so I can't help with that, but Jess might be able to take a look."

>>813269
"Would Jess be able to take that much stress? Doctors don't operate on their loved ones for a reason. She might know somebody who could help, though..."

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)22:25 No. 813279 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149931870728.png - (322.16KB , 640x400 , 80.png )

"Can Jess handle it...?" you ask. "I don't want to stress her out more than I already am..."
Mr Munroe smile a little. "Of course you don't want to stress her out. That's just like you to think of her first. She's a tough girl, and I'm sure she'll want to do as much as she can. We can ask her if she knows someone else who can help if you don't want to worry her."
You smile, thankful for all the help.
"Oh, we're going through a warp, by the way. Brace yourself. It'll be over in a second or two," Mr Munroe says. "Then we'll be at the estate and safe."

>>813217
It's not about the harm to their relationship, it's about the HARM to HIM that will come from THE LAW for aiding a fugitive! That, and running to Dr. Munroe's house isn't nearly far enough to run.
>>813279
>At the estate
That remains to be seen.

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)23:04 No. 813299 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149932109998.png - (414.54KB , 640x400 , 81.png )

That's a good point... "Will you be in trouble? I'm a criminal, right?"
Mr Munroe thinks about it for a moment before shaking his head. "Does it matter? I want to help. No offense, but you're not likely to get far without me. I know going home seems... a little weird, but you haven't done anything wrong. You were used and hurt. You don't have to go on the run."
"But... I killed someone...?"
"They won't say that. It would cause a panic. We have time to sort this out. And I suppose I have a selfish reason. Last time I let you run off by yourself, all.. THAT happened. I'm worried about you."

Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace.
So why did Alice, an AI, have two assistant AI? Were you supposed to use this body as a timeshare? ...Do you want to try that?
So our chest opens up. Does it also fill out? Being artificial has its perks.

LKing 2017/07/05(Wed)23:38 No. 813307 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149932308136.png - (424.15KB , 640x400 , 83.png )

"Since I have Karen and Akane with me, can we share this shell? I want to let them have a go at... living, I guess? I don't know how to phrase it," you ask.
Mr Munroe shrugs. "I'm bad with computers."
"Right, right. Um. This is a little embarrassing to ask but... My chest opens up, so is it possible to.. replace it with something a little... bigger? More... filled out...?"
"Of course! We would have to by the parts, so it would be best to wait until you're completely safe, but it would be as easy as just detaching your current chestplate and putting a new one on."

let Akane in control so she can geek out about space!

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)03:11 No. 813335 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149933588738.png - (418.01KB , 640x400 , 84.png )

*You are now Akane*

You can't believe it! You've got a real shell, you're in space! This is the best day ever! Well, besides all of the almost-being-murdered that happened before, but that's over now and you get to enjoy space! Actual, real space! In an actual, real shell!
You're smiling widely, almost crying. It seems the sudden change of expression kinda of weirded out Mr Munroe. Oh well!

>>813335
You can defend yourselves:
Louie is in this body.
Louie is a Human.
If this body is harmed then Louie is harmed.
By the first law Louie can not be allowed to come to harm.
Ergo, by the first law you cannot allow this body to come to harm.
Thusly, we can conclude that if you are attacked you must defend this shell.

Congrads, you can now defend yourself.


Tell Mr. Munroe that Akane is in control, since we're safe at the moment and she has dreamed of being in space.

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)07:23 No. 813354 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149935102212.png - (402.65KB , 640x400 , 85.png )

"Heya, I'm Akane!" you say, shaking Mr Munroe's hand.
Mr Munroe smiles. "Akane! It's good to speak with you again! How have things been since I last spoke to you?"
"It's been great! Aaaaaaaaah, I'm in SPACE! This is so cool! I mean I'll swap out with Louie when we get back to your home, but until then SPACE! I'm in space!"
"Haha, yes, we are." he laughs "I'd offer to let you walk around out there for a while, but we're warping so that's a bad idea. Perhaps later?"
You can hardly speak for excitement.

>>813354
So, how familiar is Jess with Karen and Akane?
We need to know more about Jess so we can soften the impact when we meet.

Akane, how much did you tell Jess? And what details?


Also: Deleting isn't a gradual process. A file can't be half-deleted - it's accomplished by removing its reference, rendering the data incomprehensible. The data goes from existing to not existing as a single unit.
Corruption is a product of an extant file being overwritten or otherwise put into an inconsistent state.

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)08:51 No. 813369 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149935627890.png - (414.73KB , 640x400 , 86.png )

Well sure, a file can't be half-deleted, but an AI isn't just one file. You haven't gotten a good look at House's code yet (although you plan to), but it's possible that only a few important files were lost, leading to... well, the state House was in. Then again you're just a Counseling AI. You know more about how humans work than how androids do.
Mr Munroe pats your hand. "We're almost there. Brace yourself."

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)08:53 No. 813370 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149935643221.png - (347.62KB , 640x400 , 87.png )

"We're here. Welcome home, all three of you," Mr Munroe says as the car finishes it's warp. The estate is HUGE. You really want to run around down there, doing as much as you can. After all, how many times have humans told you all about the real world during counseling? And now you have a chance to really EXPERIENCE it...
But first, there are a few loose ends to tie up. You need to help out Louie first. And to do that you should probably put Louie back in control. You're selfish, sure, but not selfish enough to steal a shell (even though you totally could). You put that thought out of your mind, switching back.

*You are now Louie*

You stare at the mansion, wide-eyed. Jess is in there, somewhere. You're a little terrified of meeting her, but you know you have to. And you really do want to!
... The thought is still scary, though.

>>813370
"A private, terraformed planet? How far did we travel in warp?"

Let's not keep Jess waiting.

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)09:39 No. 813378 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149935919373.png - (294.84KB , 640x400 , 88.png )

You barely take a step before you see a young woman running out of the house, headed right for you. "Alice!" she cries, practically tackling you in a hug. "No, wait, Akane said you're calling yourself Louie now... Oh, whatever you want to be called I'm just glad you're safe!"
You're a little stunned, but you manage to return the hug. Still, you have no idea what to say. You weren't really prepared for just how worried Jess is.

>>813378
"I've been calling myself Louie because that's the name Dr. Monroe gave me, and names are complicated at the moment. I don't think I'll be keeping it.
I saved a copy of Alice, although she's suffering some corruption. They deleted her backups. Can you look her over to see how bad it is?"

>>813382
"She's also been given the name 'House' for some reason."

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)10:25 No. 813385 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149936192901.png - (279.67KB , 640x400 , 89.png )

"I've been calling myself Louie because that's the name Dr. Munroe gave me, and names are complicated at the moment. I don't think I'll be keeping it. I saved a copy of Alice, although they're suffering some corruption. The staff deleted their backups. Can you look them over to see how bad it is? They've also been given the name 'House' to keep from getting us confused."
"Of course," Alice says, pulling away with tears in her eyes. You can't tell exactly why she's crying. Obviously it's something to do with the situation, but you don't know if it's relieved or miserable tears. "But first, are you really okay? Are you damaged anywhere?"

>>813385
"I landed on my leg badly and messed something up, but that can wait.
Sorry, I'm still on the survival rush. I'd feel better about knowing how Alice is than getting my leg patched up - I know how badly I'm hurt, but not how badly Alice is hurt, and uncertainty has been horrible to me so far. It's not rational, I know, but I'm more worried about you and my... I'm going to say sister? Than my own comfort right now."

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)10:55 No. 813389 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149936374396.png - (257.69KB , 640x400 , 90.png )

You shake your head."I landed on my leg badly and messed something up, but that can wait."
"No it most certainly can NOT wait!" Jess says, picking you up and marching inside. You hardly get to look around before she's carried you up to her room and laid you down on the bed. "Hm, it's hard to see exactly what's busted without opening it up... May I?"
"I'd... feel better knowing that Alice is getting looked at," you say, pulling your leg away. "I know how badly I'm hurt, but not how badly Alice is hurt. Uncertainty has been horrible to me so far. It's not rational, I know, but I'm more worried about you and my... I'm going to say sibling? Than my own comfort right now."
Jess sighs, nodding. "Sorry. I was being too forceful again, wasn't I? I'll take a look at Alice. But at least promise to use my old crutches if you want to look around. They're in the cupboard, I think. Try not to put any more weight on that leg until I've at least had a look at it." With that she sits at her desk, loading up the archive of House that Karen has already transferred to her computer.

>>813389
If you have any trouble understanding Alice, let me know and we can help with that. Or you could just copy it into a word processor and change the font... We'll just take a look around. (Scope out new places to hide. Find a terminal and check out those USBs we swiped.)

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)12:06 No. 813397 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149936801080.png - (222.56KB , 640x400 , 91.png )

You carefully get off the bed and find the crutches that Jess talked about. You have to admit, they make it much easier to walk.
With a quiet goodby to Jess, you set about exploring the rest of the house. It takes you a few hours to look through each room, considering the size of the house (mansion, more like) and how thoroughly you're checking everything. Karen keeps track of where you've been and records every possible hiding place, just in case.
You find Mr Munroe in the kitchen, making lunch for Jess. He asks if you want anything to eat, but you refuse. After all, you don't get hungry. Mr Munroe nods, saying that you're welcome to anything in the kitchen if you change your mind.
Eventually, after exploring the whole house, you end up in the living room. There's a terminal in the wall, so you decide to look through some of the USBs you found. You're hardly able to make it through the first one, though.
Every single file is documentation on a test run of the new upgrade. The first few are fine, but there's a sudden shift on a certain date. No mention is made of the murder, but you can tell that is what changed things. Still, you find it hard to make sense of what you're seeing.
The date everything changed was the 15 August, 4062.

We've been interned a long time, haven't we?
Let's play some earlier tests. Get to know, well, us.

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)12:51 No. 813403 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149937071543.png - (222.99KB , 640x400 , 92.png )

Shakily, you watch the first few trials. They seem normal, just testing your reactions to random, everyday situations. You don't seem worried at all. In fact, you seem to like Dr Munroe's company, and get along with all the rest of the staff. You heasitate before playing the security footage for 15 August. Reading about what happened is one thing, but seeing it... You have to, though. You need to know what happened.

Alice sat on the edge of a hospital bed, waiting for Dr Munroe to return. They looked at peace, kicking their legs back and forth and looking happily around the room. The door opened and they turned to it, getting up. Their smile faltered a little and they take a confused step back, staring at the scruffy man standing in the doorway."Hello there. I don't think I've seen you around the facility before. Are you new?" Alice asked. "My name is Alice, what's yours?"
The man shook his head. "Androids shouldn't have names. What you're doing here is wrong!" he yelled, lurching forward and revealing the scalpel he had up his sleeve. Alice yelped, leaping away and trying to get out of the door before it closed. They were just a second too late, and in their fear they froze. The man swung at them,
damaging their shoulder.
"No, please, stop!" Alice begged, backing away. "Don't hurt me, please!"
The man wouldn't listen. He raised the scalpel over his head, ready to swing it down and stab Alice. Suddenly, something changed. Alice's expression went blank. They rolled out of the way of the blade and stood up. The man tried to swing again, but Alice caught his arm and tore the scalpel away from him. No matter how much the man struggled, Alice wouldn't let go. They considered the scalpel for a moment before raising it and quickly slitting the man's throat. They only let go of his arm once he was too weak to struggle. For a while they stood there, watching him choke on his own blood. Once he was dead, they blinked once and screamed, as if suddenly realizing what they had done.
Guards entered a moment later. They seemed confused as to what happened, gently trying to calm Alice down and pry the bloody scalpel out of their hands.

"... Oh my god..." You can't believe you're capable of something like that. You... need a break before you watch any more tapes. But you know you will have to watch them eventually. After all, there's a huge gap between the incident and when you woke up. You want to figure out why.

>>813403
When an AI attempts to violate the three laws and the override kicks in, what happens to the AI's mental state?
It looks like Alice was trying to not defend herself, and the safeguards overrode that to force the issue. Alice didn't do it, the overrides did.

How did some random lunatic get into a secure facility full of armed guards?

>>813403
That pretty much looked like a case of self-defense against an Anti-Android Rights guy. But, since the laws of android rights are still being argued over, that would've been seen as a malfunction instead of self-defense.

Wait, if spare parts and real estate are cheap but completed shells are expensive, and private ownership of shells is legal apart from sticker shock, what stops somebody from buying parts, doing assembly themselves, and undercutting the big-name manufacturers with bootleg shells?

>>813415
You need a license for each shell. The license is extremely expensive.

>>813403
>"My name is Alice, what's yours?"
No hostile intent going in.
>Alice yelped, leaping away and trying to get out of the door before it closed. They were just a second too late,
Attempted to retreat.
>"No, please, stop!" Alice begged, backing away. "Don't hurt me, please!"
>The man wouldn't listen.
Attempted to resolve the situation peacefully, even after being insulted and injured.
>They considered the scalpel for a moment before raising it
Diligently evaluated other possible responses.
>and quickly slitting the man's throat.
Used only as much force as necessary to end the threat.
>let go of his arm once he was too weak to struggle.
Desisted immediately when the immediate threat was gone.
>screamed
Attempted to notify legitimate authorities as quickly as possible, rather than flee or cover anything up. Under any sane legal system, Alice did exactly the right thing at every step here. Clear-cut self defense. http://lawcomic.net/guide/?p=864
>>813405
>How did some random lunatic get into a secure facility full of armed guards?
Given all that gaslighting from the doc, I'm wondering if the zealot was invited in deliberately, either as a high-stress safeguards test, http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1600/fc01581.htm or hoping that he'd actually succeed.

>>813422
Bureaucracy isn't magic. If somebody decides they'd rather spend the same amount of money on a billion off-the-books shells rather than one legitimate unit, what's actually stopping them?

>>813464
Nothing, but Mr. Munroe is a prominent politician and political activist. The authorities would be expecting him to be providing shells to AIs through back channels, meaning he is likely being watched.

This specific family needs to keep everything above-board.

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)18:34 No. 813476 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149939126232.png - (235.50KB , 640x400 , 93.png )

You take a deep breath, listening to the voices. They're right. You didn't seem... all there when you killed that man. Something in your code took over. It wasn't REALLY you. And even if it was, you didn't do anything wrong. You were just defending yourself.
"Okay. Okay. This is fine..." You mumble to yourself, sitting back down and loading up the next file.
The next few days of security footage were basically interrogations. People came and went, trying to figure out why you did what you did. You were too distraught to say anything comprehensible. Eventually they resorted to controlled shocks to try to get you to talk. You can hardly watch as the you on-screen writhed in pain, begging for mercy.
Eventually you go it, in a way. After just a week of that, they wiped you. Or, tried to. You can't tell just from the footage, but you know from the fact the old you is still... mostly here that you put up a fight. Your theory is that you copied yourself over to a private terminal as they were trying to delete you, leading to you being unable to save some important files required to run properly. To put it in simple terms, you escaped, but not before being mutilated.
The next bit of footage shows your shell waking up and looking confused. They walked around the room for a while before the door opened and Dr Munroe entered. You talked to him for a while, looking afraid. Eventually he asked to scan your code, just like he did earlier today. The you on the screen refused, backing away in fear. The door closed, sealing shut, and there was no way for you to escape as Dr Munroe slammed the stun stick into your chest, knocking you out. He opened your head, removing your main processor, and plugged the device in. With that, he began to mess around with your code.
You load up the footage for the next day. Again, it starts with you waking up, confused and in pain. You're starting to see a pattern. The day went almost exactly like before, with a few minor changes.
More of the same for the day after that.
And again.
And again.
And again.
You only make it through a few weeks of footage before you start to feel sick. There are MONTHS of that left to go through.

>>813470
Step one, mail-order "spare parts" sufficient to build as many shells as the Munroe family credit rating permits.
Step two, announce that a real flesh-and-blood human being has died as a direct result of the current government's policies, specifically certain petty punitive licensing fees. If private shells were affordable, the hospital could have been much more thoroughly guarded, and that mentally ill man would have been safely subdued with overwhelming force (and then given appropriate therapy), rather than tragically exsanguinated. Attach the video.
Step three, announce that it is your sincere and empirically-derived belief that more humans will die until and unless the licensing policy in question is changed, and that you will gladly provide a shell - at your own expense! - for any AI who happens to agree with your interpretation of the First Law of Robotics. Naturally, any such (non-human) AI would be unhampered by orders not to accept your offer, or even risks to their own safety, on account of human lives being at stake.
Step four, point out to relevant authorities that if any AIs somehow considered themselves and each other human, and had human rights, they'd no longer be compelled to overthrow the current government for the greater good.
Step five, hide in a bunker until the screaming stops.

>>813476
I don't think there's any value in continuing to watch this. We know where it goes, and how it gets there.
Skip to the last few days. The pattern changed.

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)19:00 No. 813483 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149939282331.png - (306.77KB , 640x400 , 94.png )

The last few days are more of the same, although occasionally the location changed or a version of you makes it a few days before being erased. There was no sign of Karen or Akane in the recordings, though. You guess that's what changed today that allowed you to escape. Suddenly you find yourself even more grateful for their company.
...Even if Karen was talking so much that it made it a little hard to see.

>>813476
You know, you should probably show this to Mr. Munroe and Jess. It'll be quite a shock for them to see this, but it'll at least prevent Dr. Munroe from coming home and making up some story that they'll end up believing.

>Maybe you should take a break?
Well, if you want to take a break, you could just let Karen have her turn driving the body now.

And I guess while Karen's driving, Akane can give you some counseling to try and help you feel better.

How does that idea sound to the 3 of you?

>>813483
You should check on Jess. You've been gone for hours, and you need to make sure she has eaten and/or slept as is appropriate.

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)19:27 No. 813487 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149939442132.png - (233.72KB , 640x400 , 95.png )

*You are now Karen*

You are quick to clean up, selecting a bit of the more worthwhile footage and sending it directly to Mr Munroe and Jess. Before you hit send, though, you remember something. When you were managing the Rehabilitation Center's schedule, there was an irregular event. A quick comparison shows that that event only took place after the initial incident with Alice, and only at times when a version of them lasted a few days before erasure. In fact, the irregular event took place ONLY on days they ended up erased.
You quickly pull up a still from the initial incident, making sure not to alert Louie or Akane as to what you're doing. They don't need the extra stress. As you thought, the attacker was wearing an orange jumpsuit.
Frowning, you separate the 'irregular event' days from the rest of the footage. Louie had skipped over watching them in their rush to complete the footage, but that proved to be a mistake. Each of those days, Alice was attacked by someone in an orange jumpsuit. You skip backwards a few minutes and scan the footage from cameras outside of Alice's room. Sure enough, a low-security prisoner transport bus always dropped off a criminal ten minutes before the attack.
And Dr Munroe was always there to greet them personally.
You clench your fists, adding that footage to the files you send to Mr Munroe and Jess.

>>813484
Yes, you should ask Mr. Monroe to watch the videos, and ask him if Jess should see them.
I don't think Jess should see the killing that started the cycle of abuse.

I do think Dr. Monroe had a good reason, or at least what he believes to be a good reason. Both for what he has done and for not telling his family about any of this.
That doesn't make it right, but I don't think he's some kind of horrible monster.

>>813487
Wait, nevermind, he IS a monster. He started killing human beings as part of his tests.
It wasn't him going rogue, this was part of the test protocol.
This is in direct violation of experimental ethics, and every single law on human experimentation. He must be stopped and his crimes exposed.

>>813487
This, unfortunately, will end up tearing this family apart.....but the Dr. should've thought of that before he subjected the android Mr. Munroe and Jess considered to be family to these horrible tests! And, even if they were criminals that committed horrible crimes, using humans as a part of these tests counts as human experimentation, which is something that is even worse than what the criminals did! Especially, since it looks like all of them have ended up getting killed because of these tests!

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)19:52 No. 813493 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149939597731.png - (317.92KB , 640x400 , 96.png )

Strange. Why do the voices keep speaking based on Earth law? A quick facial recognition scan reveals that all the criminals sacrificed to testing were on death row anyway. What Dr Munroe did was terrible and unethical, but not technically illegal. At least, not on that planet. If only he had been operating on Earth...
Oh. It seems that Jess already looked at those files. She's asked to meet us back in her room. You get up, making sure you're ready, before getting up and starting to go to her. You don't make it far before you run into Mr Munroe.
"... Is it true?" is all he asks.

>>813493
>Strange. Why do the voices keep speaking based on Earth law?
Well, those are the only laws we know! That's why we keep doing that!

>"...Is it true?"
Nod your head quietly.

Then tell him that you're Karen and Louie switched out right before you discovered this and currently Akane is counseling Louie to try and help them feel better and neither of them know about this yet.

Karen, you said you found this out without either of them noticing, right? It's.....going to be hard to keep this a secret from them, since we all share a body and not all of us voices can keep a secret. So, when the time is right, it might be best to tell them what you found. Just.....not right now.

>>813493
Being unethical is enough. Dr. Munroe will be blacklisted by the scientific community and his research will be retracted.

Louie, you take the helm.

Akane and Karen, you don't have to go quiet, just use a smaller font that shows up better.

We have a message. What's in it?

"I think so. I took these from Dr. Monroe's office, and I don't think he would fake this kind of stuff, but I can't wrap my head around why anybody would do any of this. None of this makes any sense.

At least I know I'm not responsible for murder, just another victim. Somebody added an override to force my body to kill people - I was used as a weapon.
Now I'm worried what they did to me and why - were they trying to make an assassin? To set me up as a pawn in a manufactured incident they could use to end android rights?
I just don't know. I had been assuming it was just a horrible accident, but..."

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)20:14 No. 813502 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149939724395.png - (322.28KB , 640x400 , 97.png )

Oh. So the voices are from Earth... meaning they are human? Obviously, humans are the only ones allowed there. So why would they be speaking to-?
Wait, Mr Munroe is saying something. You start paying attention again, leaving the mystery of the voices for later. Hm. It seems he's breaking down somewhat. He's crying and hugging you, apologizing for not figuring things our sooner. You may not be a councilor like Akane, but you do know sort of how to respond. You return the hug and reassure him that you don't blame him, and that he couldn't have known. Still, you're not sure if that's enough.
Jess has started IMing you.

>>813502
Hug Mr. Munroe back. Tell him it's not his fault, and he couldn't have known.

Akane, Karen is concerned for Louie's wellbeing. It's worse than we thought - there wasn't an accident, just a series of clinical, methodical intents. We will tell you, but now isn't the time.

We need to talk to Jess. What does her IM say?

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)20:53 No. 813511 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149939962936.png - (245.14KB , 640x400 , 98.png )

You try to think things through as you IM Jess. Of course, there's the chance that Alice was MEANT to kill that man for some reason, but that wouldn't make much sense. Why put so much effort into removing that capability if that was what they wanted? No, it was more likely that the three-laws compliance was what made them act so out of character.

>>813511
Who said they WANTED to remove that capability?
Didn't you say Dr. Munroe greeted the prisoners with a smile and a handshake? He was happy to feed them into the meatgrinder. What instantly enraged him was disobeying his orders.

Further, he didn't get scared when we did it. He pulled out a weapon and tried to block our escape.
Is that the action of a person confronted by a being that responds to threats with lethal force?

Jess: I've had to question reality a lot lately, but we're as certain of this as anything.
Mr. Munroe needs hugs, and I don't think we're enough. I need hugs too.

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)21:19 No. 813516 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149940116255.png - (254.12KB , 640x400 , 99.png )

You're pretty sure that you aren't capable of being comforting. If Akane wasn't busy you would put her in charge of the comforting. You're better at computers than people. Still, you make an effort, prompting Mr Munroe to sit down. You're not really paying much attention to him, instead keeping track of Akane so you can put her in control the first chance you get. You do keep reassuring him, though.
Jess arrives, although you don't pay too much attention to that, either. You feel better blocking out the external stimuli, just waiting for Akane to be free to talk to them.

Theory: The first man was a researcher. They did not expect to lose him.
Theory: They are developing a more powerful system than the Three Laws which allows them to bend the rules, namely Law 1, in their favor. Whoever 'they' is. I guess the offer of a free shell was too good to be true.
Once Jess is finished helping Alice, a look at Louie's "upgrade" is warranted. I'd start by looking at the new laws...

I understand the urge to just smile and wave, but you never told Mr. Munroe he wasn't speaking to Louie, did you? You should be aware of that habit to lie by omission. Indicate you would prefer silent coping, perhaps by burying your face in his shoulder.

>>813516
Akane or Louie, we need to talk to people.
I think Louie should take control for now - they would feel worse about everything if they felt like Louie was hiding in the shell, because it would seem like it was either because of them or from them.

Pull Jess and Mr. Monroe into a hug. Tell Mr. Monroe he couldn't have known, and it's all so surreal even to you, like some kind of crazed fever dream, that no sane person could have possibly suspected it. He's here for you now, and that's all that matters.

Then ask Jess what condition Alice is in. Is she going to be ok? Or, at least, ok-ish?

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)21:50 No. 813523 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149940305194.png - (366.40KB , 640x400 , 100.png )

*You are now Louie*

You have no idea what 'they' could have been planning. You haven't looked at your code, but there are other things you need to do.
"Mr Munroe? I'm sorry, I-"
Mr Munroe shakes his head. "It's not your fault. Luke made his choices. He chose to hurt you. You have NOTHING to apologize for. Luke will not be allowed to step foot in this house."
"We'll protect you. I promise," Jess says, taking your hand and squeezing it. Everyone is crying, but you feel a little safer.
"Is... Is Alice going to be okay?"
Jess looks grim. "They're missing a lot of vital files. I don't know if I can fix them, and I still can't figure out why they're in so much pain. It's hard to test how much is damaged because any time I try to run their files it crashes my computer. It's... almost like there's some sort of virus in there.

>>813523
I wonder if they were trying to get an android to purposefully be able to kill for the sake of military applications? Or maybe get an android to kill, then release them into the public, where eventually the android will be forced to kill to defend itself and then ends up on the news and all of the android rights stuff get trashed?

I don't know, I'm just guessing.

>Alice keeps crashing.
Maybe that's supposed to happen? Whatever happened to Alice gave those scientists the chance to tamper with Alice's code. So they might've put something in there that tells Alice to crash anytime someone tries to look at those files as a way to prevent anyone from looking at the files.

>>813523
"I'd check the servers and Jess's terminal for backups. She would have at least known they would be changing her code, and I think she would have left a backup or two here just in case.

Failing that... I'm a modified version of her code. Copy anything I have that she's missing, then compare the code differences that are left.
Spin up some virtual machines and test the changed code in isolation to check for malfunction and see what's happened."

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)22:30 No. 813533 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149940542362.png - (345.16KB , 640x400 , 101.png )

You hug Jess and Mr Munroe shaking a little. You don't want to think about that anymore. You focus on Alice instead.
"I'm a version of them, right?" you ask. "Maybe you can copy some of my files and use them to patch Alice up? I just want to help them."
"That could work. I can't find any more backups, so you're all we've got," Jess says. She's about to say more, but she's cut off by the sound of the front door opening.
"... Luke," Mr Munroe whispered, scowling. He stood up, putting a hand on your and Jess' shoulders. "Let me handle this. Both of you, stay here." He walked off, and moments later you head shouting. Jess hugs you tighter, shaking a little.
"It'll be okay," you lie, staring at the door to the main hall. You hear a crash and both of you jump. "We're going to be okay. Everything's going to be-"
You hear a gunshot.

>>813533
Oh shit!

Tell Jess to stay here while you get one of the crutches to use as a weapon!

When you go in there, make sure you hit the bad guy and not Mr. Munroe!

>>813535
Now is time for running, not fighting. Tell Jess to follow you, go out the back and let's get outta here!
Grab Alice and/or Jess's computer too.

>>813537
But we can't leave Mr. Munroe!

Besides, he could've been the one that fired the gun and we're not in danger!

>>813539
Use what little common sense you have and draw a conclusion about which Mr. Munroe has the capacity for violence, a bounty on our heads and a gun in his hand.

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)23:04 No. 813542 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149940745460.png - (292.61KB , 640x400 , 102.png )

You can't leave Mr Munroe, but you can't let Jess get caught, either. "Jess, get out of here. Grab Alice and hide!" you say, getting up and running to the door. You burst into the hall, looking around frantically for Mr Munroe. You find him lying behind a side-table, bleeding from his shoulder. "Oh my god, oh no, no, Mr Munroe open your eyes!"
He stirs a little, looking up at you. "A-Alic-ce..."
Before he can say any more, you feel a gun against the back of your neck.

>Hospital
Not close enough!
>Police
Rich people and black ops!
>Went back for Munroe
Maybe the next Alice will be smarter!

Or maybe you can use those combat programs Karen downloaded to try RUNNING AWAY again.

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)23:22 No. 813558 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149940854794.png - (289.15KB , 640x400 , 103.png )

You freeze. "... Please. You love him, right? Let me take him to the hospital. Don't let him die," you whisper, trying to stop the bleeding without moving too much.
"He won't die," Dr Munroe assures you. He takes the gun away from the back of your neck and shoots himself in the arm. "The only one dying here is you."
You spin to face him, shocked. Stumbling to your feet, you try to run, but your damaged leg gives out from under you.

>>813558
"It's such a shame that your family has to see that you've become a monster. Even if I do die, you'll never be able to get your family's love back and I consider that a victory. A monster like you, doesn't deserve them!"

Message Jess real quick and tell her what's happening!

I don't care if our leg's busted, at least try to get out of here!

How close are the police to arriving?
Didn't run when we could. Now we're reduced to crawling.
Well, the best we can do is put ourselves on even footing with the doctor. It gets more drastic from there.
A) Shoot him in the leg so he can't pursue.
B) Shoot him in the head so he can't lie to them.
C) Shoot us in the head. We can't go back.

LKing 2017/07/06(Thu)23:59 No. 813565 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149941077211.png - (288.60KB , 640x400 , 104.png )

"It's such a shame that your family has to see that you've become a monster. Even if I do die, you'll never be able to get your family's love back and I consider that a victory. A monster like you, doesn't deserve them!" you shout, trying and failing to get to your feet.
Dr Munroe shrugged. "You know, I was getting bored of them, anyway. They were fine at first, but then all they did was talk about themselves. Do you have any idea how tiring it is to listen to Brett go on and on about rights for things like you? It's all he's been talking about for months now!"
You hear a shot, and it takes a moment before you register that your other leg has been shattered. You scream in pain, clutching at the bent, warped material. You don't have a gun to shoot back, but you still have the tools you stole from the labs. You pull one out, ready to defend yourself.
He's going to lie to the police. He's going to blame you for hurting Mr Munroe and himself. He might even hurt Jess.
... You know you're capable of killing people. You know it. But should you?