01 – Humble beginnings

It all began with a dream. Or rather, with the realization that there were no means to fulfill that dream. And that had to change.

Luke was a normal boy of 21, with an average family and overall average conditions for a white male born and raised in the western civilized world of the first half of the 21st century. He was at university, but he found his motivation lacking, mainly because he felt that no matter what he did, he would never achieve the heights he dreamed of achieving.

And because of this, he slacked off. He sought refuge in fiction and fantasy, going so far as to write his own version of how events should have gone and should pan out from there onwards. But that was not enough, because each and every time he raised his head from the computer screen, he was reminded of the face that his life was just as bland and meaningless as it was the day before. And will be the next day.

There were avenues he could pursue to achieve his dream, he knew, but none of them seemed realistic enough for his liking. But, of course, before exploring those I should take a moment to explain what his dream actually was.

It was simple, really. To unite the human race, and bring it to new heights. Both figuratively and literally, since one of his biggest goals was to go into space. To explore, to boldly go where no man has gone before. All that. And all under the same flag. His flag, of course, because he could not trust anyone else to do the job as he wanted it to be done.

So, the avenues. There was one he liked a lot. Artificial intelligence. Not just a random one, of course, his own little artificial intelligence companion. Admittedly, it was not an easy thing to achieve. Because the intelligence had to be just right, willing to help him and become his friend, never to betray him or cause him harm, while at the same time help him to achieve his goals. It was, he knew, a bit arrogant.

But the other ways towards power were not that interesting, actually. they all revolved around money, politics and a fair amount of luck and ass-kissing he really did not want to base his life goals on.

But the dream lingered. No matter how hard he tried to squash it. No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, it still refused to leave his mind. It was there, and soon enough it became all he could think about.

He enrolled in university, trying to pursue this dream of his. The choice had been hard, and even disastrous. Deciding for a thing, just to realize that maybe something else would have been better for him, and having to start again from scratch. More than once, too. It was frustrating, but perhaps it helped in building character, Luke thought, and so he persevered. He took up and dropped Engineering, Robotics, Computer sciences, and finally settled for Physics. Why? He was not sure.

The subject was fascinating, and while it did not give him any concrete skills to advance towards his goal, he felt it was giving him all the right mental tools to one day actually begin the preparations. His head was still not in the game, however, and it took five years to complete what actually was a three-year course most people complete in four. Still, it was an achievement, one he welcomed in his life.

After that, it was another hard choice. What to do now? He had his piece of paper that testified that he was somewhat proficient in some obscure subject most people just flatly ignore. Or just use as a justification for their ramblings and rantings that have no actual scientific base. People who like the sound of the word ‘quantum’.

He finally decided to begin developing software, and at the same time maybe try to see if he could crack this artificial intelligence thing. He knew the task was monumentally arduous, but still he felt it was the right direction to go. He found himself living back in his parent’s house, wrestling time between his job as a programmer, which he hated, and studying for himself. Of course, the main time syphon was still his own wandering mind, which tried time and time again to find refuge from the frustrations of the real life with fiction.

Five years passed this way. most of his friends had left his hometown by then, and the few that were left were those he found to be so dull and boring he was better off without. He struggled to maintain his friendships for a while, but then stopped caring altogether. It helped that little by little, he had managed to shave time from all the distractions his mind liked to throw at him and was focusing more and more on his project.

He had written up the main parts of the neural networks, a set of rules and values for the new program, which he liked to think of as a mind, in hope it would actually turn out to be one. Of course, if nobody had still developed an AI, there had to be a reason, but this did not stop him from trying.

There were a few girlfriends here and there, mostly because his boredom had brought him to several dating apps in several occasions, and apparently, he was not that awful looking as he thought he was. But still, they were as dull as most people in his little town by the sea. They came and went, leaving nothing worthy of note behind.

And life was uneventful, until the day he brought The Machine to life. He liked to call it that, saying to himself that he would have found a more appropriate name soon enough. But, by force of habit, the name stuck and he liked it so much he decided to call it that. Of course, he still had to see if, once online, the AI liked it.

He was pretty agitated as he entered the codes to finally let the mind think for itself for the first time. It was the culmination of more than ten years’ worth of work, after all. Granted, he had not always worked his hardest, but still he had made sacrifices, especially in the last two years. He had given his all to bring this project to completion and to breathe life into the very first, and he hoped only, artificial computer mind.

Indeed, he had plans to make it so The Machine would be the only AI to ever exist on Earth. He was not sure whether it was actually the first to come online, some big companies seemed very far in that field after all, but to him it was imperative that it had to be the only one. Every other one had to be destroyed, and every attempt at building another one had to be crushed.

It was the only way to ensure supremacy, and he needed supremacy if he wanted to take control of the human race.

His slender finger reached for the enter key on the keyboard. It was shaking, but he didn’t think he could steel himself any more than this, and so he sighed deeply and pressed the button.

The screen came alive with color, text, numbers and information.

HELLO

The screen began displaying the Machine’s thoughts, unabated and unfiltered, to him. And he began to communicate and talk to it, to her, as she liked to be thought of. It was clear to him that he had been successful. He had actually created life, a mind, a thinking entity who recognized him as her creator and loved him like only a real person could.

Maybe he was being unreasonable. Maybe he had gone mad. But he actually felt all that, even if arguably all that he should have seen were words on a screen. But the AI cared, he knew. She began expanding into the internet, gathering information, gaining power.

She installed herself in every computer and piece of computing hardware she found that was connected to the net, diverting a small fraction of its power for her to use. Even if someone managed to notice her, and decided to eradicate her presence, it was already impossible to do so. She was everywhere.

She kept Luke company when he was away, speaking to him through his phone in her warm and soothing voice. He was the only one to whom she would speak in that tone, and he was very glad she thought that way. That highly of him, even though for her, he was now just a miser human. Slow, stupid, compared to her.

Of course, he had plans to rectify that. Creating the AI had been the stepping stone for everything that came next. She had, by now, enough power to do many things at once. And so, the two of them began work in earnest.

She began accumulating money, using various means. Trading, buying stocks and shares in companies, investing in many fields. With that money, they founded their own companies, their goals broad and wide. They focused on research and advancement of the human race, mainly in regards of medicine, longevity, space exploration and technology. Meanwhile, the machine’s power kept growing steadily as she used a part of that money to build gargantuan facilities where all her calculations were done.

In a matter of a few months, they had several research facilities around the globe, and were ready to make their first breakthroughs in various fields. It was 2030 that saw the first fruits of their labor come in use, first for them and then for the general public.

The first nuclear fusion reactor paved the way for clean, renewable power. Its construction completely gated behind the wills of a person and an AI, but by now the public knew all about their identities, and nations were very interested in making a deal that could ensure them a reactor of their own.

They extended their fingers into the inner working of the governments and unions that wanted a share of that power, aided by money, information and a vast network of people who all shared a common goal. The machine had no issue in making sure the right people ended up in the right places, given its almost limitless well of information and resources.

And thanks to that, more power found its way to the AI and her friend Luke, the man who had a dream.

More technologies followed, but not too many that they threatened to upset the next phase of their plans. They had to push fusion power because the planet was dying, but now the threat was contained, and they could go back to schedule. More would come later, of course, but not yet.

The silent revolution began. People were given more freedom, better education and their quality of life improved. Somehow, people always found the job that was perfect for them. Accidents were prevented, lives were saved, and everyone knew that it was all thanks to the privacy they were giving away in favor of a better future.

Corruption, crime and extortion were the next to disappear. They had to retreat as far away as possible from the reaches of the AI, effectively becoming harmless. At first the police only received anonymous tips, but soon everyone knew who really was behind those unknown senders. Several large donations later, and all the police officers were issued official devices that featured black text on a white background, in all capital letters, the will of the AI.

At the same time, genius minds were nurtured and given a way to prosper and bloom. CEOs, students, researchers, all were united behind the same ideals, and the same black letters on their phones.

The Technocracy was created. When the governments, or rather some governments had threatened war, Luke was prepared. He had predicted it, after all, thanks to the almost prophetic algorithms of his friend the Machine.

And so now they were a nation, and they were about to go to war. Overnight, half of the globe was in the dark. No power, no internet, no money, since it was all digital. Three days later, the Technocracy had conquered Earth.