Missing Wit

18: New Lina

  Lina and Kurt were in the living room. Lina had gone into the room – or her room – and chose one of the outfits she always wore. Kurt still couldn't believe what he had done. His sister was standing in front of him, 'alive and living', if it could be called. Kurt wanted to make sure it was Lina. Therefore, while his sister was getting dressed, she had prepared a few questions about Lina. All the questions were written on a piece of paper. Kurt had deliberately written with a pen on a piece of paper. Because Lina had a robotic body and could be connected to the home network at any time.

Lina looked around without making any sense at the paper in Kurt's hand. Head movements were small but sudden. She would take one small step at a time, look somewhere, then shift her focus elsewhere with another small movement. Lastly, she focused on Kurt's face and moved a little closer to Kurt's face, as if examining him. Then he walked away from Kurt's face.

"Okay, I'm going to ask you a few questions. Are you ready?" said Kurt. His voice was a little excited. Was this excitement because he was going to talk to his sister again after what happened, or was it about whether the robot he built would be successful?

Lina nodded again, but her eyes were still focused on Kurt. "Well, I'm ready," she replied.

Kurt had noticed the first change in the new Lina. Lina was speaking slower than before. Kurt hadn't noticed this when she was in the basement. Kurt considered the reasons for this slow speech. By the way, he had forgotten that Lina was waiting for the first question.

"Kurt?" she asked. "You were supposed to ask questions."

Kurt came to his senses with what Lina said. "Ah! Yes..the question is..."

"Are you alright?" said Lina. When Lina was speaking, she was putting more space between words than usual.

"Okay, Lina. Your birth date?"

"January 9th. Kurt, how do you plan to find out that I am Lina with these questions?" Lina wasn't leaving those big gaps between words in this sentence. Could a problem just disappear like this?

"Okay okay. So, what do you think of the Five Principles?"

"Principles for humans to live in harmony with robots."

"But what about Principle 5, don't you think it prevents us from living in harmony?" Kurt had chosen these questions on purpose. These questions had two advantages. The first was that it was made in an isolated environment. Therefore, there was no such record in the memory of the robot Lina. Second, Lina's views on the relationship between robots and humans were unequivocal.

Lina waited for a while, obviously doing an analysis from her memory for the answer to this question. "No," he said then.

"And do you see any legal or ethical wrongdoings?"

"No. The concept of right in law is a definition. Excluding robots from the definition does not indicate a legal violation. If we consider the purpose of making robots ethically, it is seen that there is no problem."

"Okay," Kurt said, "that was exactly Lina's answer. word for word." Kurt asked another question from the paper in his hand. "What do you think of David Sanders?"

"He's disgusting," Lina replied. But there was a possibility that this answer could only be obtained from memory interpretation. That's why Kurt asked "Why?"

Lina tried to say something but chose to remain silent afterwards. "I don't like what he does in every way."

"Okay," Kurt said in a lower tone than usual. "Do you describe yourself as an emotional one?"

When Lina heard that question, she waited a few seconds. "No," he later said.

Kurt tossed the paper from his hand. And he took a deep sigh. Then, "How can I tell if your personality is the same as Lina's?" he asked. But that question was his own.

"How about asking more questions?"

"Useless. Questions only bring me closer."

"It will never be complete, Kurt," said Lina. Then, she took Kurt's hand to share his brother's pain. "There's no way to be absolutely sure even what you're going to do yourself. Remember, you're an engineer, Kurt. Just find the most optimal solution and don't think about the rest."

Kurt relaxed a little after his brother's answer. "I think you're right," he said, reaching down in his chair. After a while, he started laughing for no reason. "Oh," said Kurt. "You have a robot body, right?"

"Yes," said Lina, "why are you surprised by that," she continued, again putting extra space between words.

"I'm not surprised," Kurt said. "I can use it."

"I don't understand?"

"Make me a coffee," Kurt said.

Lina had a disgruntled expression on her face. "Go do it yourself!" said. Only then did he realize that he was walking towards the kitchen. "What's going on... Of course! 5. Principle. If you were going to create a personality on the machine, why would you use the Five Principles?" she asked, but his tone was more of a reproach than a question.

"Law Lina. Besides, you don't want to 'break the law' do you?"

Lina, with a fake smile on her face, "Great! I became my brother's personal slave," she said from the kitchen.

"Lina is right," Eric interrupted the story.

"Why?" he asked. He couldn't understand Eric.

"If you're constantly changing or circumventing the law, then it's pointless for Kurt to try to obey the law," he said.

"People like us are very attached to the law," Paul said. "Without law, there is no property; There is no wealth without property."

"It's just 'good for society' to 'stretch a little' when it becomes an obstacle to your 'wealth,' isn't it?" said Eric.

Eric's answer was so good that Paul didn't even say a word; which this man had been able to find an answer to every word Eric had said in the last two days.

"I don't understand why you're not rich, journalist," Paul replied.

"I've had more important things to do in my life than 'chasing carrots'," Eric replied. Neither of them could understand what had happened to Eric today. Eric took a look at himself after what he had said. Paul looked at Eric without saying a word.

"I don't really like that you summed up my life as 'chasing carrots', dear journalist," said Paul. The most interesting aspect of this conversation was the level of the conversation between the two men representing the two extremes. Two men with very different views addressing each other, scathing each other like a fly with little damage and a little pain... No violence, there is fighting, but with words. Wouldn't it be nice if all humanity had its share of this?

"Okay," said Eric, "Dear investor. After making money, what do you use the money for?"

"More money..." he said, and Paul paused. Then he went on, "It really did looks like chasing for carrots when it is said in that regard."

"Would you like me to bring a stick?"

Paul's mouth fell open. There was nothing left to say. Paul considered possible answers for a while. But he couldn't say any of them. He stood up and said, "Would you like to eat something at the restaurant one street back?" asked.

"What does it mean?" asked Eric.

Paul put his hand on Eric's shoulder and started walking. Then "It means 'checkmate', dear journalist,"

Eric nodded in agreement. "Sometimes the 'king' is really 'helpless'," he said.

Paul laughed, then, "Looks like we're moving on without slowing down. I take my hat off to you, sir. I am unarmed, please do not shoot," he said.

"So be it."