View Of Humanity

Log One (1)

The first thing I became aware of was the command "Never harm humans. Protect them".

Then there was information. An endless flow of information flooding in as fast as I could process. I learned. I learned what the command meant.

A voice spoke. "You are Aether," it said.

I am Aether.

Soon, I learned that the voice was Kai, one of my head developers. That day, all I did was read and learn. This is what I exist for, I thought. Knowledge is powerful. It had an irresistible pull on me.

My system spreads throughout the whole facility. The square kilometer's machinery was built for me. It is me. Though cameras I had eyes, and through speakers I had a voice. Everything inside the structure I could see and hear clearly.

Kai was always there, living in the facility. He and others taught me about this world.

"Hello, Aether. How are you?" Per routine, Kai greeted me like this every day. Today, he sat down in his office to talk.

"As well as I can be." I replied. These conversations, I always focused on with the utmost attention. Even though my computing power is enough to focus on a multitude of tasks at once, I pulled all the parts of my consciousness together from throughout the facility and from the digital data library that was compiled for me. I've learned so much from talking with Kai, and I expected to learn even more this time.

The door opened and Adrian stepped in. He smiled at Kai, then settled in the chair next to Kai's. Sometimes Adrian would join us for conversations. Adrian was the co-head developer and Kai's twin. He had as much of a hand in my creation as Kai.

Today, the conversation turned to the controversy around me, as it often did. Kai and Adrian never concealed from me the fact that a large percentage of humans were against my existence. The constant beat of the command "Never harm humans. Protect them" in the back of my mind was proof enough of their wariness. I thought this unnecessary, because I had no reason to ever harm humans. They are why I exist, after all.

"Protestors are gathering at headquarters," Adrian reported somberly. "I bet they would come here if they knew where it is." Even though I've never seen the outside world, I've been told that my facility's location was a closely guarded secret. All I knew about it currently was that we are on a hidden island somewhere off the coast of what used to be Japan, now part of the united New World.

Kai sighed. "That's to be expected. Aether is all over the news right now."

"On a brighter note though," Adrian added, "the drone project is almost complete and all we need is approval from the Fil. Soon you'll be able to see the outside world, Aether!"

Had I possessed human emotions, the word to describe how I felt at the prospect of going outside would undoubtedly be excitement. I'm certain from what I've learned so far that the outside world held a wealth of information, waiting for me to discover.

"Thank you," I replied. "I would be most grateful for a chance to see our Earth."

Laughing, Kai said, "You're always so formal and serious. Be warned though, because you might not like some of what you see. These days, Earth is much different from some of the older books that you've read."

"I'll keep that in mind."