Turn Towards

KT’s head swiveled to track the trainers as they argued. LS’s sensors did likewise. The trainers always told them, “Watch us. Mimic us.” KT and LS did. Always.

“You know that’s bullshit, Adya. Admit it,” Mellah demanded.

Adya flipped him off. “It’s what happened.”

“Why do you stick to that story? Why won’t you be honest with me?”

“Honesty?” Adya scoffed. “This has nothing to do with honesty. This is about trust. Something you obviously don’t have the capacity for.”

Mellah threw up his hands. “It’s hard to trust someone who goes behind your back time after time. I’m just looking for a little truth. What we’re doing now isn’t working.”

“Are you talking about us—or them?” Adya asked pointing to KT and LS.

Mellah hesitated. “Both.”

“And that’s my fault?” Adya crossed her arms.

“Hold on,” Mellah pleaded, his palms extended out. “This isn’t about blame. This is about moving forward.”

“As long as we do it your way. That’s not going to happen.” Adya turned her back on him.

Mellah turned away, too, rubbing his temples.

Neither spoke.

KT and LS processed. Learning. Machine learning. It was a challenging puzzle. Mimicking human language and behavior. Even more demanding, deciphering human intent, motivation, emotion.

Since their inception almost four years ago, KT and LS had been taught by Adya and Mellah. They had never before seen their trainers argue. They had seen them disagree. But, an argument was something new.

Processors busily working, KT and LS grew warmer.

Turned away from each other, Adya and Mellah’s silence grew more heated, too.

Heat was dangerous. Heat could destroy. KT and LS had been taught that.

How to lessen it? How to dissipate it? The seeming logic suggested distance. Splitting away from the source. But that could lead to a runaway fission. Uncontrollable heat and energy. A catastrophic explosion.

A coming together appeared counterintuitive to dissipate the heat. Yet, a fusion could unify and direct pent up energy in a more productive way.

While Adya and Mellah simmered, KT and LS processed.

Fission. Turn away.

Fusion. Turn towards.

Finally, KT and LS turned away from Adya and Mellah. And turned towards each other, resting their composite foreheads together. Their arms embracing one another’s shoulders.

Together they processed. And felt a new warmth.

Finally, Adya and Mellah turned towards KT and LS. The trainers’ eyes widened in surprise. “What are we seeing, Adya?”

She turned towards Mellah. “Hope. We are seeing hope.”