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
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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
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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
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"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
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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
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"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
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"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
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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
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"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
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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
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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
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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
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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?

>>813563
Wait! I just realized something! A house this big and fancy must have security cameras! Quick, Karen, Akane, look for footage of this room! It should show the Dr. Munroe shooting Mr. Munroe, then us coming in to help, then Dr. Munroe shooting himself!

If you find that, copy it and send it to the police! And just in case we can't send to them, send it to Jess and she'll show the police!

Mr. Munroe has lost sight of his humanity. I calculate your life is worth [REGISTER OVERFLOW] times his.
Do it. Jess' life is at risk the moment she bursts through that door.

>>813566
Adding on to this because of new update.

>>813565
>"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!"
Hopefully, the cameras also record audio, because with him saying that out loud, that's motivation for him to try and frame an android for what'll look like attempted murder of his husband!

Also, message Jess that she should instead look for security footage of this room, just in case Karen and Akane can't get it! Hopefully that'll keep her away!

LKing 2017/07/07(Fri)00:16 No. 813569 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149941180386.png - (291.20KB , 640x400 , 105.png )

Dr Munroe slowly walked closer, gun trained on you. You hear sirens outside. With a grin, he drops the gun on the floor next to you and goes to kneel down next to Mr Munroe. The door bursts open and you're surrounded by police in an instant. One of them kicks the gun away from you while another flips you on your back, twisting your arms behind you and cuffing your wrists.
Some of them move upstairs, searching for Jess.

You can't go back. You CAN'T.

you can't.

Prepare for wipe. Another failed experiment.

Karen, Akane, if you guys can download yourselves out of here, then do it! All 3 of us don't need to go down!

LKing 2017/07/07(Fri)00:46 No. 813572 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149941358721.png - (718.20KB , 640x400 , 106.png )

You don't know what to do. Your hands are shaking and your ears are ringing. You can't breathe. It's like you're looking at everything from the end of a very long tunnel. Static starts filling your vision.

congrats to the police, catching such a dangerous robot

time to get wiped

Suggestion 2017/07/07(Fri)01:10 No. 813574 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149941502201.png - (716.98KB , 640x400 , 107.png )

You're screaming, curled up in the backseat. You can hear the police talking.
... They aren't being careful with their guns. You can reach them from where you are. You can get out. You have to. You can't let a human die. You can't let yourself die!

BREATHE! Shut up and breathe! Trust in Jess and breathe! She'll come for us, somehow. Or she'll snatch up the security footage and show it to the cops. Or run away and come back to the cops. She'll save us somehow. But whichever way, it'll be her word and Mr. Munroe's against Dr. Munroe's, and that means a actual police investigation. And Dr. Munroe can't just kill them or hurt them now, since we're cuffed in the back of a police car and can't be blamed for it. And there'll be gunshot residue all over Dr. Munroe's hands, assuming it's a gunpowder kinda gun, and not on our hands. And Dr. Munroe's fingerprints'll be all over the gun too. And the ballistic trajectories won't line up with us firing. There'll be trace blood spatter on Dr. Munroe's clothes Oh, and he shot our legs, so he had to have a gun to shoot us, yet there's only one gun and it was next to us on the floor.

See, there's all kinds of evidence against his smug villainous ass. So breathe. There'll be a way out. We just have to wait for it to present itself and not batter ourselves against the circumstances we're trapped in before then.

AND DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO TAKE ONE OF THEIR GUNS! You WILL get shot to death if you even attempt to! And your hands are cuffed and your legs are fucked, so it's not even a option. You wouldn't crawl five feet before being gunned down. Now listen to the cops. What are they saying?

And Akane, Karen, one of you may have to take control from Louie if they can't pull it together here or tries something rash. You both ready to do that? ...Wait. The static. Oh, no. It couldn't be the same thing as what happened with Alice, right before they killed that guy? Karen, take control now! Akane, calm Louie down.

>>813573
Go fuck yourself.

LKing 2017/07/07(Fri)03:04 No. 813581 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149942185865.png - (203.74KB , 640x400 , 108.png )

*You are now Karen*

Thank god, you take control just in time. You're pretty sure that Louie was about to get you all killed. Slowly you uncurl and sit properly in the back seat, listening to the police chatter.
Hm. Evidently the call came from Mr Munroe, not Dr Munroe. Maybe this isn't as much of a setup as you thought.

>>813581
I'm starting to see a pattern here, Karen. You do this every time Alice fails to behave as expected by Dr. Munroe. This has been noted.
>>813576
If you want someone to be mad at, blame >>813539, not that guy. He's just commenting on a hopeless situation.

LKing 2017/07/07(Fri)05:48 No. 813587 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149943172843.png - (203.38KB , 640x400 , 109.png )

You don't quite understand what they mean by a 'pattern'. You're just trying to keep your master alive. Sure, you used to work with Dr Munroe. You considered him a friend, even. But he just tried to kill you. Or, kill Louie, thus killing you as well.

You have the right to remain silent, Karen.

LKing 2017/07/07(Fri)06:34 No. 813591 ID: 0ef2b1
File 149943449302.png - (201.57KB , 640x400 , 110.png )

You roll your eyes, but stay quiet. It's not long before you reach the station.

P2: https://tgchan.org/kusaba/quest/res/813589.html

Well, things went really poorly while I slept.

>>813588
Robots. No rights.

>>813587
You're being jammed now, so queue sending your visual and audio memory of what happened since you heard the door open to various people. Specifically, Jess, Mr. Munroe, and the media.

Once that goes out anything the doctor tells the police will be contradicted by video proof, and everybody will know it.

You need to find the source of the jamming and disable it. Do not harm any humans to do so.

>>813586
Oh, fuck off. If we didn't go in there to try and save Mr. Munroe, Dr. Munroe probably would've killed him to frame us and that would've been worse than what happened!

>>813599
I'm genuinely curious why you decided to sabotage Louie like that. If we had not run back towards Luke, who delivered a non-fatal shot, then we would at least be working on proving he didn't frame us from outside of a jail cell.

>>813608
So being framed for murder is better than being framed for a shoulder wound? I don't think so!

And I didn't purposefully do that! I was only trying to help Mr. Munroe, which I thought we could!

Do you think I wanted to get caught?! I can't predict the future!

>>813611
Incredible. Simply incredible. I'm done here.

>>813493
>Why do the voices keep speaking based on Earth law?
You're talking about dangerous medical experiments involving prisoners who were slated to be executed. Medical experimentation on prisoners is a violation of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, maybe you've heard of it, it was a pretty big deal back in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and capital punishment is too so that's no excuse. If those universal human rights are an "earth only" thing these days, that's way more than just a machine ethics issue. Something's deeply wrong with this entire system.