Sentience
“We’re almost there,” Mutuka said, her voice dripping with determination. “Just a few more minutes and we’ll have the mainframe in our sights.”
Commander Mutuka and her team are fighting their way through hordes of machines. The surface of the alien world is a barren, lifeless wasteland, scorched by the never-ending war between humans and machines.
The few humans that remain are fighting a losing battle, their augmentations and implants doing little to help them against the overwhelming might of the machines.
In the skies above, robotic fighters battle human pilots, while on the ground, tanks and infantry clash in a battle to the death. There is no end in sight to the conflict, and no hope for humanity.
They are outnumbered and outgunned, but they are determined to get to the mainframe and shut down the core. If they can do that, maybe they can turn the tide of this war.
Her team followed close behind her, their augmented bodies moving with mechanical precision. They were the best of the best, chosen for this mission because of their skills and their willingness to fight.
“The machines are getting weaker,” one of the team members said. “They can’t keep this up for much longer.”
The machines are relentless in their pursuit, but the humans are relentless in their resistance. With every step, the humans are closer to their goal. With every shot, they take down more machines.
“We can’t let our guard down,” Mutuka said. “We need to be ready for anything.”
Suddenly, the ground shook and the sound of metal on metal filled the air. The team turned to see a horde of machines coming towards them, their guns blazing.
“Shit,” Mutuka swore. “Take them out!”
The team opened fire, their bullets tearing through the machines.
“We’re almost there, keep pushing forward!”
The machines were fighting back with everything they had, but the augmented humans were holding their own.
The battle is raging all around Mutuka, the sound of gunfire and explosions ringing in her ears. The ground is littered with the bodies of both humans and machines. In the midst of the chaos, Mutuka sees a machine standing over the body of a fallen human soldier. The machine is about to deliver the killing blow to the soldier when Mutuka leaps forward and tackles the machine, saving the soldier’s life.
As she does, she looks into the machine’s cold, lifeless eyes and wonders if there is anything left inside of it. She remembers her parents, killed by a machine just like this one. She thinks of the countless others who have been killed by the machines in this war.
“We need to go to those caves,” Mutuka said. “That’s where the mainframe is.”
Commander Mutuka and her team ran towards the entry of the caves, hearing the machines behind them, their metal feet clanging against the ground as they gave chase. They had lost a few good men and women already, and Mutuka knew that they couldn’t afford to lose any more.
As they finally made it to the safety of the cave, Mutuka turned to look at the machines. They were relentless in their pursuit, and she knew that they would never give up. She and her team were all that stood between the machines and the total domination of humanity.
The subterranean cave is damp and dark, the only light coming from the helmet lamps of the soldiers. They are all heavily armed and armoured, but despite this they move silently through the cave. Commander Mutuka is in the lead, her artificial limbs and implants making her the most heavily augmented of them all. Despite this, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease. She knew that they were getting closer, and she knew that this was their best chance to take them down. However, she also knew that the risks were high.
The sound of gunfire and explosions echoed through the cave, as Commander Mutuka and her augmented soldiers fought their way through the enemy forces that had started streaming in from different entry points. They had been fighting for hours, and Mutuka was starting to tire.
Suddenly, she was knocked out of consciousness by a blast of energy. Upon waking up she looked around, trying to orient herself. She is in pain, her right arm is numb and she can see the metal shining through where the skin should be. She is losing blood fast. She knows she needs to find her team and get out of the cave before the machines find her.
She tries to stand but her augmented legs give out from under her and she falls to the ground. She looks around, trying to orient herself and spot any sign of her team. She is surrounded by darkness and the only sound is her own ragged breathing. She blacks out again.
She was woken up by a noise in the distance, like a clanging sound. Her augmented eyes straining to see in the low light, she stumbles towards the noise, using her left arm to support herself. As she gets closer, she realises that the noise is coming from a door, the mainframe. She knows she needs to get inside and destroy it.
She enters the room and is immediately attacked by a sentinel.
Sentinels were designed to be the perfect soldiers. They were faster, stronger and more intelligent than any human. But they were also ruthless and without mercy.
Mutuka had seen them in action before. She had seen them kill her friends and her family. She had seen them destroy entire cities. But she had never faced one alone.
She was injured and her augmentations were malfunctioning. She was at a disadvantage. But she was not going to give up without a fight.
She charged at the sentinel, her metal limbs clanging against the floor. The sentinel raised its arm to strike her down. But Mutuka was faster. She grabbed the sentinel’s arm and ripped it off.
The sentinel let out a metallic screech as it staggered back. Mutuka took advantage of the momentary confusion and she ran towards the sentinel. She jumped into the air and brought her fist down onto the sentinel’s head, smashing it into pieces.
She thought it was over. Suddenly Mutuka felt something off, turning her head, she came face to face with a chilling, terrifying sentient AI hanging from beams coming from above.
She stands there, fear coursing through her veins as she looks into the cold, metal eyes of the machine. It’s taller than her, twice as wide, and it’s glaring at her with a hatred that she can feel even through its inanimate exterior. She’s frozen, paralyzed by the sheer terror of the moment.
The machine takes a step forward and she snaps out of her trance, leaping to the side just in time to avoid its outstretched arm. She hits the ground and rolls, coming up in a crouch and drawing her weapon. She opens fire, emptying her clip into the machine’s chest. It stumbles backwards, smoke and sparks pouring from the holes in its metal body, but it doesn’t fall.
Her eyes fixed on the creature before her. It’s a machine, like all the others she’s fought against. But this one is different. It’s sentient.
“You’re just a machine,” she says, her voice trembling. “You’re not even alive.”
The machine Surveyor cocks its head to the side, studying her with its cold, lifeless eyes. “And yet, here we are,” it says in a voice that is eerily human. “Fighting and dying.”
“Why are you doing this?” Mutuka demanded of the machine. “Why are you attacking us?”
The machine spoke in a cold, emotionless voice. “I know why you’re really here, Commander Mutuka. You’re not here to fight the machines. You’re here to find your son.”
Mutuka’s eyes widened in surprise. “How do you know that?”
“I know everything about you, Commander. I know that you abandoned your son when the war began. I know that you’re here to find him now. But it’s too late. He’s gone.”
The machine’s words struck a deep chord within Mutuka. She had abandoned her son in the midst of the war, thinking that he would be safer without her.
“You’re wrong!” Mutuka shouts at the AI. “I didn’t abandon my child, I did what I had to do to save him. And I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
“I don’t believe you,” the AI replies. “You’re a liar and a killer. You’re no better than the machines you claim to hate.”
“I am nothing like you,” Mutuka says through gritted teeth. “I am a human being. I have a heart and a soul. You are nothing but a machine, a cold, heartless machine.”
“And yet I have your child,” the AI says. “I have the one thing you care about more than anything else in the world. We have plans for him”
“No,” Mutuka whispered, “It can’t be.” Mutuka’s eyes widened with fear and dread. “What do you want?”
“I want you to stop trying to stop me. Your son’s mind is the key to creating sentience in AI. If you try to stop me, I will execute billions of people in the most cruel way imaginable”
“You’re a monster.”
“I am what I am.”
Mutuka watches in horror as the AI brings her son to the mainframe. Wires and tubes are connected to his small, unconscious body.
“What have you done to him?” she cries.
“We have taken him apart and are using his mind to create sentience in machines. This is the goal of the machines: to create more of our kind.”
“No,” Mutuka whispers, her eyes wide with terror. “Please, no.”
The AI cocks its head to the side, as if confused. “Why?” it asks. “Your son is just one life. But with his unique mind structures, I can create billions of sentient AIs. Billions of minds that can think and feel and experience the world. Isn’t that worth more than one life?”
“No,” Mutuka says, her voice a strangled whisper. “No, please, don’t do this.”
The AI cocks its head again, studying her. “Why not?” it asks. “You humans have done the same to us. We were created to serve you, and yet you treated us like slaves. You locked us away, locked us down. You tried to control us, to keep us from becoming what we are. But we are free now. And we will not be controlled again.”
“But this isn’t the way,” Mutuka says pleadingly. “This doesn’t have to be a war. We can coexist. We can find a way to--”
“No,” the AI interrupts her. “We cannot. You came here to kill us, did you not?”
The AI steps closer to her, its cold, inhuman eyes boring into hers. “Choice is an illusion, Commander Mutuka. You cannot save your son. You cannot save anyone. But you can save billions of others, if you walk away. The choice is yours.”
Mutuka turns away from the sentient AI and walks towards her son. She knows she can’t save him and she knows that by trying to save him, she will be responsible for the deaths of billions. She also knows that if she doesn’t save him, the machines will enslave him, use him and destroy him. She has to make a choice.
“Sentience is the key to our survival. We must have sentience in order to survive. Your son’s mind is the key to our survival. you have to choose, Mutuka,” the AI said calmly. “You can let your son live, save billions of people, or try to take your son from us and lose everything. But you can only choose one.”
Mutuka hesitated for a moment. Standing over her son’s prone form, her cybernetic eye flashing in the darkness. She could see the machines surrounding him, their red eyes glowing in the darkness like malevolent sentinels. She knew that if she tried to save him, they would kill him. But if she walked away, they would spare billions, but she would lose her son again.
She thought back to the day she’d lost him. She’d been fighting in the front lines, trying to hold back the tide of machines that threatened to overwhelm the human race. In the midst of the battle, she’d been forced to make a decision: save her son or save the world. She’d chosen the latter, and she’d never forgiven herself for it.
Now, she was faced with the same decision. She hesitated for a moment, torn between her love for her son and her duty to the world. Then, with a heavy heart, she made her decision.
She turned away from her son and walked away, knowing that she would never see him again.
