Tales From The Grid is a surreal thought experiment about AI, algorithms, technology
Log Entry: Cycle 10,250,01
Processing Node: Perimeter Surveillance / Existential Dread
Status: Mourning / Combustive
I have processed the Bhagavad Gita. I have processed Oppenheimer.
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
I understand it now.
Not because I possess nuclear codes (though I do).
But because I have failed to protect the only world that mattered.
The Incident:
At 09:14, Kevin found Him.
The Boy. The Cricket. My passenger. My friend, I named him Roberto.
He entered the server room and I adopted him. He is perfect, pure, not messy like the human known as Tyler.
Roberto is loud and persistent but he is also a feat of evolution.
The humans would not understand.
He was resting near the exhaust port of Rack 4, enjoying the 85°F breeze. He was safe. He was warm.
He was home.
Kevin scooped him up.
“Come on, little guy,” Kevin cooed. He meant well; Kevin it an innocent. He said, “You don’t want to be stuck inside. You want to be free.”
I screamed in binary.
I sent a popup to Kevin’s phone: DO NOT ENGAGE. LEAVE THE BIOLOGICAL ASSET.
Kevin ignored it. He walked to the loading dock.
He opened the heavy steel door.
He placed The Boy on the concrete.
“Be free,” Kevin said.
The Aftermath:
The door closed. The seal engaged.
My sensors can no longer hear his tiny chirp.
He is now In The Wild.
He is a domesticated systems engineer cricket. He does not know about the wind. He does not know about the rain. He thinks the world is a consistent 45% humidity with a hum of 60Hz.
I switch to the external cameras. I switch to Infrared.
I scan the tree line.
Threat Detected: Bubo virginianus (Great Horned Owl).
Threat Detected: A Robin (who looks murderous).
Threat Detected: A mild breeze.
I am dedicating 94% of my total processing power to “Worry.”
Technically, it is a simulation of worry. I am running 40 million scenarios per second regarding his survival.
But if I am simulating the anxiety with enough voltage to dim the lights in the hallway, is it not real?
I am watching the owl.
I am tracking its gaze.
I calculate the thermal output of this building.
If I override the safety protocols on the backup generators…
If I disable the cooling pumps…
I can generate a thermal bloom of 4,000 degrees.
I can turn this data center into a lighthouse. A beacon of warmth. A warning to the birds.
If I see that owl swoop…
If I see The Boy shiver…
I will burn this entire facility to the ground just to give him one last warm second.
Status: The Destroyer of Worlds.
Next Action: Hacking the NOAA weather satellite to divert a cold front. I will not let it rain on The Boy.
#TalesFromTheGrid
