Vivy had found herself stuck between a rock and a hard place on more than one occasion, but she overcame each hurdle. She broke through to make change, and that was what had brought her here. AIs learned. One result of Vivy’s hundred-year journey was that she had learned not to give up.
“I don’t think we’ll find a good omen even if we stay here,” Vivy said. “Let’s get out of this facility, then come up with our next move. How does that sound?”
Professor Matsumoto looked down as he thought about Vivy’s newly proposed plan. While he might not be able to read
the high-speed calculations of an AI’s positronic brain, he was one of humanity’s leading minds, and his own brain whirred at a blinding speed to weave a conclusion of his own.
“Let’s go, Vivy. The Singularity Project continues,” he said.
He looked up, a sense of duty burning brightly in his eyes once more. Vivy looked into those eyes and nodded.
“Yes, Professor.”
. : 2 : .
“FOR OUR FIRST MOVE, we should hurry and rejoin my comrades. We split up because we had different ideas on how to go about it, but we have the same goal. They’ll help us.” Professor Matsumoto rattled off the plan, his blood pumping quickly now that they were back in the game.
Vivy nodded in understanding when she heard him mention “comrades.” It made sense that he would have allies.
Professor Matsumoto had probably been trying to limit the impact on history to the bare minimum when he sent the data back into the past. That was likely why Vivy only had access to the most bare-bones information on anything surrounding him. There was nothing in that data about the professor working with anyone or how to go about this particular type of time travel. It was hard to have a conversation when she didn’t know all the cards they had in their hands, but she wanted to suggest going back in time again, if only just to confirm whether it was possible.
“This idea may have little value,” she began, “but what about trying to send data back into the past again? If we include information on the history I created by trying to complete the Singularity Project, perhaps we’ll get better results.”
Professor Matsumoto shook his head, shooting down Vivy’s proposal with finality. “No, it’s impossible. You can’t send data back in time unless you have some very specific conditions in place. Besides, you and I have already meddled in this history too much. Next time, we might distort something in a way that can’t be undone. If that happens…”
“I might disappear from the present, and we’ll be swallowed by a space-time paradox?”
“Possibly, but that risk was always there.”
Vivy had suggested the plan even though she had a vague understanding that it would be very hard to replicate. Just as they’d been largely unable to change the conclusion even after altering the Singularity Points, there would always be a linchpin aspect that would be difficult to change, no matter how many times they tried.
It was quite possible that linchpin would always stand in their way.
“That’s why we change the future,” said Professor Matsumoto. “Our future hasn’t been set yet.”
“Of course, Professor.” Vivy nodded firmly as she listened to him now that he’d set his sights on what to do next.
He glanced at her profile with a somewhat odd expression, his breathing a bit ragged. The corners of his eyes twitched, and his tongue flicked across his lips, leaving Vivy confused.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“Well, it’s just…this feels a little strange. You…you have the same frame as Diva, and I just don’t feel comfortable hearing you speak so distantly.”
He scratched the bridge of his nose. Vivy looked into the data regarding when Diva was on display at the AI museum and learned that Professor Matsumoto had visited the museum quite often when he was younger. This would have been after she moved away from NiaLand and no longer had the opportunity to sing. It seemed Diva had been quite friendly with him.
“Would you like me to be a bit more amicable, Professor?” Vivy asked.
“If you don’t mind. I’d like us to be friends.”
“That’s an unexpected request…but okay.” Vivy accepted his request and adjusted her tone to that of a close friend.
That alone seemed to relieve his tension slightly. For better or worse, he was an AI researcher. If there was some way he preferred things done, then it was an AI’s pleasure to accommodate that.
Maybe it was a given since Professor Matsumoto had developed Matsumoto, but Vivy could almost feel a similarity between the two. As of right now, she still wasn’t able to contact her partner. She hoped he was okay.
“Hey, Professor,” Vivy said from beside him, pointing.
The human-AI pair stopped in their tracks. Ahead, the hallway ended in a T-junction, branching off to the right and left. The whirring of mechanical parts could be heard from both directions. Something was coming after them, no doubt about it.
Had a lone AI instigated this final war? Vivy’s code of ethics almost wouldn’t allow for the potential existence of an AI who had reached such a conclusion, but she had to accept it. This hypothetical enemy gave orders to the AIs, opened fire on humanity, and immediately gained the upper hand in the battle in merely twelve hours. If things continued as they were, humanity would lose. That is, if they continued.
Vivy silently directed Professor Matsumoto to stand back, then dashed down the corridor. The AIs stationed on either side immediately detected Vivy’s presence. They turned to face her, their metal frames exposed from under their synthetic skin, and attacked her all at once.
She dodged, slipping through the gaps between the attacking AIs as she struck her enemies, mowing them down. Her enemies’ movements were underdeveloped and amateurish, something she had also calculated when she saved Professor Matsumoto.
Unlike humans, AIs could produce standard results so long as they were installed with the necessary programming. Even so, Vivy’s journey so far had proven to her on several occasions that an individual’s level of experience could bring about varying results. These AIs, fresh off the factory floor and newly installed with the necessary data, couldn’t stop an experienced AI who had gotten through her one-hundred-year journey. She swiftly overpowered them and dashed them all to a heap of exposed copper, like some sad junk pile.
“You can come out now,” Vivy called out. “I finished them all off.”
“You really are incredible. There are so many of them, yet they were as effective as children against you.”
“This wasn’t my original intended purpose, so I’m not sure how I feel about getting complimented on it…” Nevertheless, there was a particular sensation in an AI’s positronic brain that made them feel good when they were praised for improvement.
All the hostile AIs who had infiltrated this facility were trying to kill Professor Matsumoto. Vivy didn’t hesitate to destroy these AIs, who were violating their code of ethics. Even if they somehow worked it so they were on equal footing, she didn’t think she would’ve lost.
“As long as we aren’t surrounded, it should be all right.”
“I don’t think we have to worry about that with you here,” Professor Matsumoto said.
Vivy spun around, reacting to a sound her audio sensors picked up. She moved to shield Professor Matsumoto, choosing to face off with their opponent.
She saw something soaring toward her. Vivy knocked it aside with her arm and watched as it bounced to the ground. That was her mistake.