Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 33

"Alas no, sir," said Cecil. "The memories are confined to the module, sir."

"Hmm," said Will, thinking it over, his eyes flicking to Libbi.

"I can remunerate you handsomely," said Cecil. "I am in a constant search, sir, for new personality ranges. Anything with a pop." He said the last word with gusto.

"There certainly are a few games I'd love to pre-order," said Will. "A few more, I mean."

"Will, don't even joke about this," said Libbi. She was putting on a brave face, but the uneven ridges in speaker output betrayed her nervousness.

Will scoffed. "Of course I won't sell you off. Didn't you hear, I won't get your memories. How else can I win the competition?" He smirked. From a scoff to a smirk in less than five seconds. For those playing at home, that's a new record.

"A pity," said Cecil. His expression soured and his voice changed, no longer possessing the upbeat cadence. "It's becoming harder to access genuine personality code from the big boys. They've opened up their own retail businesses now, cutting out boutique outlets like my own. And the manufacturing processes for the humanoid forms are improving every day. Barely any off-cuts."

Will eyed him strangely. Libbi did the same thing but wasn't noticed.

"Oh, I may as well admit it," said Cecil. "All these models have defects of some type."

"You wouldn't know," said Will, learning his sarcasm from Paige.

"The leg joints on the sales assistant you met earlier are stiff. There's not a lot one can do to change that, with parts not sold separately. The rest are deformed in some way: a missing eye, two left feet, an extra nipple."

Will's ears pricked up.

"That's why they were so cheap," said Cecil. "None of them passed queue-aye at Unyonintso."

"I like that," said Libbi. "It makes them unique."

"Hmph," said Cecil, "tell that to potential customers. I've barely had a sale in the past month, unless you count that new--"

"No, no," said Libbi. "You're looking at it wrong. Why would you want the exact same thing as everyone else?"

"Do you think?" said Cecil.

"It's like with humans," she said. "The small faults are what make us real."

I thought I'd be forced to stop Will from interjecting with some kind of reference to her inhumanness, but in a complete shock he was far too polite. Or simply wasn't able to conjure up a joke. I'd lean toward the latter.

"Perhaps," said Cecil. "I need to embrace their faults, not hide them. Do you think...if I were to market it just right...there's a chance...?"

Libbi's whole body bounced up and down in what could, at a stretch, potentially be described as a nod.

Cecil's mood had lightened. It wasn't the same faux happiness as earlier, the plastered smile replaced with a genuine optimism. "It might just work," he said. "You've been endowed with compassion and wisdom. I wouldn't have expected a selfiebot to display such insights."

He was talking to Libbi. Treating her like an independent consciousness. Will found this...perplexing.

It was Libbi's turn to give Will a look. Hers contained 15% pride, 22% hope, 12% relief, and 65% I told you so. I'm not too sure how that last one manifests visually, but if it were a hunk of Play-Doh you'd find a deep fist imprint.

"Are you sure I can't convince you to become a personality module?" said Cecil, connecting a cable to her hidden data port.

"No," said Libbi, fluttering about uncomfortably.