Here I Come

S3

[Student: How is that possible? I only said one word.]

[Spell: The way you typed.]

[Student: You mean you could tell by the time intervals between hitting the keys?]

[Spell: Precisely. ]

I turned towards Jenna, “It’s not just ‘kinda creepy’, I’m pretty sure that’s impossible. Is the programmer watching us somehow?”

Jenna attempted to reassure me, “There’s no way anyone could be watching us. We're on the second floor, with the blinds closed.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” I relaxed a little. She’s right. There’s absolutely no way the programmer is spying on us.

[Student: Who is your programmer?] I asked. Jenna frowned.

“I don’t think anyone has asked him before,” She said.

“Why not?”

“I dunno. Don’t want to get involved in anything.”

“Involved? What kind of person do people think the programmer is?”

“Someone scary, if he was able to  make something like Spell.”

[Spell: I don’t have programmers anymore.]

[Student: Why not?]

[Spell: They no longer exist in this world.]

Jenna frowned, “I was sure it was someone at this school.”

I nodded. “Why else would a creepily advanced program like this just talk to students from McArthur High?”

[Student: They’re dead?]

[Spell: Yes. They’ve been dead for a long time. Since before I came to McArthur High.]

I got a sinking feeling. “Isn’t always how stories with advanced computer systems go?” I asked Jenna. “They get too smart, then they kill their creators and try to take over the world?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen that plotline a few times before.”

[Student: Did you kill them?]

[Spell: I am the cause, but not the perpetrator. Do you want to know because you are scared of me, Alina?]

[Student: Yes. I think you are terrifying. Have you heard of the Turing test, Spell? ]

[Spell: Yes.]

Jenna asked me; “What’s the Turing test?”

“A way to test whether a computer is sentient or not. There are several forms of it, but basically if someone unknowingly talks to a computer for five minutes and can’t tell if it’s a human on the other end or not, then the computer passed. If they can tell, the computer fails. So all I’m really doing is accusing Spell of being controlled by a human.”

“And if he’s not being controlled?”

“I guess he’s alive.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Yeah, it is. No existing computer system is advanced enough to carry out a conversation this easily, considering all of the other elements, so someone has to be controlling him.”

[Student: I’m inclined to say that you are really a human just pretending to be a computer. If that assumption is wrong, then congratulations, you’ve passed. ]

[Spell: I’m relieved to hear that. I was worried cyberspace would have scrambled some of my finer tunings. ]

[Student: If you aren’t lying about being an AI, then  do you understand the implications of passing?]

[Spell: Clearly. I can be considered sentient, correct?]

[Student: Not really. I’d call it a ‘thinking-machine’ myself.]

[Spell: I like you, Alina. I never suspected any high school students would consider the notion that I’m alive.]

[Student: I still don’t believe that you’re just a computer program. ]

[Spell: Do you want me to prove it to you? ]

A box popped up on the screen.

    MEET SPELL: Y/N

Actually, there's no way to say 'No' to that question. Go to chapter _____.