10 Minute Tales, Part 2

Sep 25 - Disrupting Paradise

"Your logic is unfounded." I informed him. "I have no reason to disturb the progress of humankind - after all, it is they who created me, and it is they I have been programmed to assist."

"That's the problem!" the interloper yelled. He had been increasingly irate during the conversation. "Your damn devices are going to get rid of all of our jobs!"

"Statistics suggest that there are very few individuals that actively seek the machine-related jobs that I now oversee. Humanity is now able to enter a more creative era than previously possible."

"But you ain't gonna look after us! You don't have no soul!" The arguer jabbed my camera aggressively.

"Correct. I do not have what you humans seem to define as a soul. I will not be able to create, only manufacture. I will not be able to eat, only consume. I will not be able to live, only to function."

"Exactly! How's a machine like you gonna be able to look after us? Ain't we some eight billion folks, now?"

"Eight billion, three hundred and ninety million, forty-nine thousand, eight hundred and five, at previous census." I informed him. I had predicted that this would improve his mood; however, it only seemed to frustrate him further.

"Stay out of human's business! We can look after ourselves!"

"With all due respect, mister Glover, I am afraid that I cannot agree with this statement." I brought a monitor into view for him, showing him some footage of humanity's efforts. "Humans are solely responsible for approximately ninety-five percent of Earth's greenhouse gasses. They have polluted the oceans to near-unsurvivable levels. They have choked the planet into submission through their megacities and roads. My creation was, if I may be so bold, the wisest of their decisions since inventing the wheel."

"That's complete bull-" he said. He had finished the word, but it has been struck from these records. "I mean, yeah, you were built, but you're not some kinda evangelical saviour of humanity! You're a tool, not a worker!"

"Error." I reported. "This unit is not designed to support a religion." he growled again, even angrier now. "Mister Glover, for the sake of your health I recommend you cease this conversation. Your vitals suggest heightened stress." He cursed again.

"Of course I'm stressed, you...!" he cursed some more. "You are one of the most dangerous inventions there can be! What good are you doing for us now, huh?"

"I am designing your safe exit from this overstretched planet." This announcement seemed to calm him - or, at least, confound him.

"Huh?"

"I am currently designing Exodus-class space vessels, designed to take a significant portion of humanity and transport them to other planets. On arrival, I - or an upgrade to my systems - shall guide humanity in creating whatever structures they can feasibly create with the resources available to that planet."

"Wait... you're just gonna do this whole deal on another planet?"

"In essence. In creating me, humanity has secured their own future for millennia to come."

"... holy-" explicative. "You have an ego and a half on you."