Entry 43

“Please continue explaining, Blaue,” John prompted. “I am very interested in hearing about the Android Acts.”

“I would be too in your position,” Blaue agreed. “When they create you they give you an understanding of what you should obey, but they never tell you why. They make you compliant without explaining.” I glanced at John, wondering how much of what she said was true. What would it be like to be told at creation that you must adhere to a certain set of rules but never told why?

“It is an understatement to say that when androids became commercially available, chaos ensued. One set of organics were convinced that androids were their equals, therefore, buying and selling them was immoral and slavery. They lobbied for androids to be given full citizen status and be essentially set free. On the other end of the spectrum were the organics who believed androids were abominations and simply morally wrong. They believe that androids were organics’ attempts at trying to become gods but failing and instead creating creatures that would compete with organics at every turn. Androids are smarter, stronger, and more desirable than organics, not to mention the indefinite lifetime. The idea of such competition in the universe was terrifying for these organics.” It scared me slightly that I could understand the reaction to androids that these extremists had, on both sides. But I did not want to understand the people who hated John. He was my brother. I did not care he was an android. Or so I told myself.

“Most of the universe was unsure what to think, but these extremist groups were so vehement that is seemed the entire universe had been polarized. Androids were being stolen and ‘liberated’ on one planet and found and destroyed on other planets. The governments of the planets and the Universal Parliament had no idea what to do. They needed to end the chaos that ensued for nearly an Earth Century.

“That was when an organic named Rauoitlin stepped forward and proposed a compromised called the Android Acts.

“The Android Acts state that no synthetic sentient can be declared a citizen. Androids are considered property, which are ultimately the responsibility of one individual organic sentient. An android cannot leave their owner’s property with direct permission and written signed instruction from their owner. An android is forbidden from leaving any planet, moon, or otherwise inhabited planetary body without their owner. Planets were also allowed to outlaw androids, refusing to allow them to step foot on the planet. An android must also always give identification when asked. However, an android does not have to volunteer information at any time or obey anyone but their owner.”

“That’s a compromise!” I exclaimed in surprise. “Doesn’t sound like there is anything good for androids in that.”

“Oh, but it was a compromise in many ways,” Blaue responded. “Many wanted androids to wear markers visible to organic eyes so an android could be identified on sight. However, the Parliament felt that would continue to make androids a target for both destruction and ‘liberation’.”

“It still seems far from fair,” I said. “You’re saying John basically can’t go anywhere without me.”

“The parliament would say that is for his own protection,” Blaue countered. “You will always be with him to keep him from being destroyed or stolen. You can protect him.”

“John doesn’t need my protection,” I said. “I need his.”

“That is a common use for androids,” Blaue said to my confusion. “Because of the restrictions, androids have become both hard to procure and difficult to have. However, many organics use androids for the purpose of body guards since they are stronger and more durable than organics.”

“John isn’t my bodyguard. He’s my brother,” I responded, upset that she would insinuate I was simply using John.

“You are in the minority when it comes to feeling a strong connection to your android,” Blaue informed me. “Only victims of the Society of Anthropologists have such feelings and the universe it not even filled with a fraction of a percent of such organics.”

I chewed on my lip, glancing at John. What was life going to be like in a universe where John had no future outside of mine? On Earth he had college and an important career to look forward to. Out here, he could not even leave my presence without my permission.

“That’s the basics of the Android Acts though there are more laws involved,” Blaue said after a moment of silence. “If you want to see the entire set of laws they are in my databases and can be easily accessed.”

“Thank you, Blaue,” John said. “I’ll probably want to see that later. For now, can you leave me alone with my sister?”

“Of course,” Blaue responded. She smiled at us both. “If you need anything, let me know. If you run into Ven, don’t take anything he says too seriously. He may be captain, but I’m the ship. He can’t do anything without me.” Then without a further word, Blaue disappeared.

“Carlee, are you ok?” John turned to me with a serious expression.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I answered without hesitation. John’s expression turned flat.

“Really?” he responded. “Don’t try to lie to me, Carlee. I Know you better than you know yourself. Now tell me. Are you ok?”

Entry 42

“The Android Acts are a series of laws,” Blaue said, her face becoming serious. “They were enacted about five hundred Earth years ago, shortly after androids become a commercial item. In order to better understand I should explain some of the history of androids.

“The idea of androids has been around forever as a scientific and engineering challenge. Engineers wanted to be able to perfectly replicated organic sentients in every way: motion, function, and thought. The scientists hoped this would reveal more about organic sentients’ functions and help them to troubleshoot problems and conditions that befall an organic body.

“However, it was much easier said than done. In order to begin understanding how to recreate motion robots were created. The first robots were very limited in function, designed to do the most basic of tasks such as recognizing and fetching objects. They slowly grew more complex in abilities and intelligence, but they were never meant to perfectly replicate sentients. A robot is nothing more than a complex, intelligent machine. Organics accepted robots as they became commercially available, though there was some resistance to robots being designed to do jobs done by organics. But the bottom line is no one thought robots were morally wrong. They were simply complex and useful machines.

“In order to discover how to replicate organic minds, Artificial Cognizants like myself were created. The first Artificial Cognizants required several large processors to run and could only very basically simulate an organic intelligence. Most of the original cognizant could only simulate personality with preprogrammed responses. The major breakthrough in our design was when a Cognizant called Ltka was created. It had a natural unprogrammed personality. The engineers actually had to back engineer Ltka to figure out what they did differently to create such a unique unfounded personality. Ever since cognizant have been almost identical to organic minds in personality and reasoning.

“Cognizants were accepted very well by organics commercially. Everyone wanted one for their house, ship, or business. No one protested us because we simply made life easier. We were put in place of already existing computer systems and we were far easier to interface with. Before long everyone had at least one and many had multiple cognizant for various specialized purposes.

“Shortly after the acceptance of Cognizants, robots with cognizance were developed. These were created for experimental reasons and were available only limitedly in commercial markets. Organics were unsure how to feel about them, but if they had redeeming qualities it was that so few of them were created and that they only resembled organics in the most basic sense.

“Androids were developed long after that simply because of the challenges of developing synthetic skin and bodily systems. The first androids developd were simply robots that on the outside looked like organics, but they did not function like organics. Slowly androids became more and more like organics. First they developed muscle systems instead of complicated hydraulics. Then false nerves were made instead of wiring. Then they derived their power from eating and required sleeping. Now the only difference between an android and organic is that androids are made in factories and organics are made in homes and hospitals. That is why the name android is actually now considered politically incorrect. Organics like Carlee are organic sentients. Androids like John are called synthetic sentients. From my perspective as a cognizant and many pro-androids’ perspectives, organics and synthetics are equal in every way. Therein lays the problem and the root cause of the Android Acts.

“Wait, Blaue, can I ask a question?” I asked, a little overwhelmed by her explanation.

“Of course, Carlee,” she responded with a smile.

“So you are an Artificial Cognizant,” I said slowly, trying to figure out my thoughts. “What is the difference between your mind and mine? Or yours and John’s?”

“Well comparing you and me, I have a computer and you have a brain,” Blaue answered. “I am also capable of more computations and taks than you are. However, I have the same sort of reasoning and critical thinking facilities. Like you, I also have a personality.

“Comparing John and I, I have more extended computing abilities because I have more processing power. I am after all a ship while his processor is contained in his brain. Other than that, his intelligence is essentially the same as mine.” I frowned, more confused now then I was before.

“Then why do you consider yourself a sub-sentient thing?” I asked. “Isn’t it the mind that counts – that makes a person a person? If your mind is equal to mine and John’s, does that not make you our equal?”

“That’s very kind of you to think so,” BLaue said with a gentle smile, “but you overestimate me and my capabilities. I am much more specialized than you or John. You are both capable of many things, many possibilities. I am just a ship, and I am quite limited to my structure.” I still did not understand, and I wanted to argue, but John subtly shook his head. I understood what he meant; there was no arguing with someone who was as convinced as she was. However, Blaue seemed so alive, so vibrant to me. She seemed like a person. I could not, would not accept that she was my inferior.

Entry 40

Sometimes I have dreams that feel so real that they feel like memories. When I wake up, I am convinced they actually happened. It’s very disconcerting when I fully wake up and realize something I thought happened had not actually happened at all.

As I woke up that morning after our escape from the Society, however, the opposite occurred. In my half asleep full awake state I was sure that the events from the day before were just a very realistic dream. Surely when I woke up I would discover I was at home in my bed – not in a hologram as I had dreamed – but in my actual bed I would wake up and discover it was yet another school day. Life would be as normal.

I lavished in that certainty as I floated between a sleep state and an awake state. I was expecting my alarm to go off any moment to wake me up for school. Ntil I heard it, however, I would just float on the edges of awareness.

But the alarm never went off. I drifted closer and closer to awareness without ever hearing my alarm’s grating tones. The worry that I forgot to set it and might be oversleeping caused me to wake much faster. I essentially woke myself up and looked about wildly for my alarm.

My room was pitch black, a pitch black I had never before encountered in my life. Usually even in the middle of the night light from the street snuck through the window. My alarm clock also gave off light as did my iHome. My room was never this dark. I could see absolutely nothing.

Then I remembered how dark my room had been last night when I went to sleep. No light broke the darkness because there were no windows or doorways. I was in a ship.

“Lights, please, Blaue,” I called. Instead of lights filling the room and completely blinding me, a weak light appeared in one corner. The orange light did not overwhelm me but just provided enough light for me to see everything in my room.

“Good morning, Carlee,” Blaue’s bodily voice said. “The lighting in your room is currently at the lowest setting. As you wake I will brighten the room at small increments so your eyes have time to adjust to normal brightness.”

“Thank you,” I responded, surprised that she was so considerate with the light.

“No need to thank me,” Blaue responded. “Ven and I had a long talk when he first became my captain about the sensitivity of human eyes. My last captain just had me turn on full lighting every morning. Ven found that very unpleasant.”

“I can imagine,” I said. “The lighting seemed very bright yesterday.”

“And that’s not my brightest setting,” Blaue responded. “When you’re ready, let me know. John is awake and waiting for you in order to eat breakfast.”

“Oh, ok,” I said. I swung out of bed and got to my feet. “Tell him I’ll be ready in like fifteen minutes.” I did not foresee needing too long to get ready in this technologically advanced ship.

“I’ll let him know,” Blaue responded.

I quickly got ready, taking a shower and discovering more clothes in my closet. Blaue had to advice me on how some of them were worn. I ended up in what seemed like a short gray halter top dress but was worn over a tight long sleeved pink shirt and tight pink pants. I don’t normally like tight clothes but the gray dress was not tight at all, making me feel much more comfortable.

“You look wonderful,” Blaue commented. “In that outfit you would fit in nicely on the Human Colony.”

“But John won’t fit in regardless of what he wears,” I responded as I laced up my shoes.

“Not all humans are the same, surely you know that,” Blaue said. “Don’t judge the colony based on Ven.”

“So the entire colony doesn’t hate androids?” I asked.

“No,” Blaue answered, “but androids are outlawed on the colony accept in extreme cases. It all had to so with the Android Acts.”

“The Android Acts?” I repeated. “Can you explain those to me?” I had been hearing a lot about them, and they seemed to limit an android’s activities. However, other than that, I knew nothing.

“Yes, but perhaps it would be best if I explained it to you and John during breakfast,” Blaue said. “I’ll join you in the mess.”

“Alright,” I answered heading towards the door that Blaue had opened for me. It struck me as odd, however, that John would not already know about the acts. Should he not as an android know everything?