Work Text:
The air is hot around me as I stand in front of what was once my favourite place which is now engulfed in flames. I can see Victor, laying lifeless, as the only thing he ever cared about crumbles above him. His life’s work: Stein AI.
I can’t hear myself think, a thousand thoughts rushing through my head. I see SteinBot walk out of the building, a horrified look on his face. I call out, and he sees me before running back into the burning building. I don’t notice the ambulance approaching until the paramedics are placing me on the gurney and wheeling me into the back of the vehicle. All around me medics are fiddling with IV drips and ventilators. But I’m not focused on that as I am too stuck in my own thoughts. There is only one question in my mind; how did it come to this? My mind wanders back to when this all started.
I sit at my desk, staring at the bright screen in front of me. The document open has UBS Group AG written in big letters at the top. I reach for my mouse, scrolling down until I hit the bottom. I let out a sigh, turning on the printer and watching as the document prints. As soon as it’s finished, I grab the papers and exit my office. The hallway is dark as we had to cut the lights in order to pay for new equipment. I tighten my grip on the papers as I walk. Victor was already in a bad mood, and this definitely isn’t going to brighten it.
I pause as I reach the end of the hallway. Taking a deep breath, I open the door. I straight away spot Victor slumped over his desk with his computer screen the only source of light. He doesn’t look away from his work as I walk up and place the document on his desk. ‘The bank sent this.’ I say, trying to sound as calm as possible. Victor finally diverts his gaze from the screen; he grabs one of the papers and starts reading it. I gulp as I watch his expression become even angrier, if that’s even possible.
Suddenly Victor slams his hands on the desk. I take a step back. ‘Maybe its time to call it a night? I can drive you home’ I say looking at my watch. 1 AM. ‘I’m probably going to sleep here tonight, I’m close to a breakthrough,’ says Victor, eyes fixed on his work. He’s been overworking himself ever since Tesla released their self-driving car, something he was trying to create as well. ‘But there’s always tomorrow,’ I say. ‘Good night, Henry.’ His tone stone cold. I sigh as I walk out of his office. He might not be going home, but I am.
...
I’m woken up by the sound of my phone ringing. I tiredly rub my eyes as I pick up my phone, reading the name, Victor. I pick up the call and before I can even say hello, Victor is talking, ‘Harry, you need to come to the lab now’. I look at the time, ‘Victor its 6am..?”. ‘I’ve had a breakthrough.’ Suddenly I’m wide awake as I quickly put on my clothes and grab my stuff.
I arrive at SteinAI at 6:20am, quickly getting out of my car and rushing to the lab. I pull open the door to see Victor screwing something into what looks like a robot human. Wait, was this his breakthrough? He notices me walk in and instantly jumps up; he’s in a surprisingly good mood. ‘Harry, come look at this.’ He enthusiastically grabs my hand and drags me over to his new creation.
‘What is it?’ I say as he powers it on. ‘An AI powered robot, I call it SteinBot, he says proudly. The robot opens its eyes, and ‘Greetings, I’m Steinbot, the first AI powered robot, how can I help you?’ says the bot in a male voice. ‘Wow, that’s amazing!’, I responded genuinely impressed. That was until I realised something. ‘Wait... How long have to been working on this Victor?’ I say turning to him. ‘Since you went home last night.’ He says calmly, now quickly tidying up the lab. ‘What?! Victor that was like 5 hours ago! How did you design that, build it and do the safety assessment, which might I add, takes at least 3 hours?!’ I say in shock, he couldn’t have made that in 2 hours, right? ‘I didn’t do the safety assessment.’ He responds calmy, putting away some tools.
‘You what-?!’ I start but he cuts me off. ‘Now can you help me tidy this place up? The investors are arriving soon’ he says turning to me. My eyes widen: ‘Investors?! Victor are you crazy?!’. He looks at me, a cold expression replacing his previously happy one. ‘Have you forgotten that I’m an award-winning engineer? I know what I’m doing.’
I’m about to tell him all the reasons this is such a bad idea when there is a knock at the door. Victor fixes his tie and walks over to the door, opening it to reveal two very sophisticated-looking men holding clip boards. I sigh as Victor shows them the SteinBot. I stay silent, not wanting to make a scene during Victor’s big moment.
I left soon after the investors arrived, as I had work to do. It’s now 8am and I’m contemplating getting a coffee from that new place down the street when Viktor bursts in. He’s smiling. ‘I just signed a contract with the investors.’ He says, ‘That’s great! but you’re going to do the safety check right?’ I say hoping he’ll agree. ‘Henry, trust me, it’ll be fine.’ There’s no point arguing with him once he’s made up his mind. I’ll just have to pray this goes smoothly.
I left soon after the investors arrived, as I had work to do. It’s now 8am and I’m contemplating getting a coffee from that new place down the street when Viktor bursts in. He’s smiling. ‘I just signed a contract with the investors.’ He says, ‘That’s great! but you’re going to do the safety check right?’ I say hoping he’ll agree. ‘Henry, trust me, it’ll be fine.’ There’s no point arguing with him once he’s made up his mind. I’ll just have to pray this goes smoothly.
Today is the day of the SteinBot showcase, Victor has invited a bunch of important people, including Sam Altman, the creator of OpenAI. He’s been running around setting it up all day, leaving me to babysit the SteinBot. I’m sitting in my office, looking through some emails. Steinbot is sitting on my reading chair in the corner silently. I should probably say something. ‘Are you excited for the showcase tonight?’, I ask. The bot thinks for a minute before responding, ‘yes, I am excited to meet all the new people there.’ I chuckle ‘That’s good, I’m sure they’re excited to meet you too.’
I’m standing in what was once the testing room, now decked with buffet tables and waiters carrying champagne. It’s packed with guests. Victor is talking to Sam Altman. ‘So where is the robot?’ enquires Sam. ‘Oh yes, my assistant Harry here will get him.’ I hold a sigh and smile. ‘Sure, I’ll get him.’
I walk out of the room and down the hallway until I reach the lab. I unlock it and find Steinbot charging. I unplug him and he immediately turns on. ‘Hello Harry, what up?’ says SteinBot. ‘Victor’s having the showcase, and he asked me to get you.’ The bot looks excited ‘Oh yes, the showcase! When does it start?’ I look away awkwardly ‘Well uh, its already started...’ Steinbot looks visibly upset. ‘Oh, ok.’
We leave the lab and head to the showcase. As soon as we walk through the doors, we are instantly surrounded. Victor pushes through the crowd and makes way for us. ‘Everyone! This is SteinBot, the first AI-powered robot ever!’ The room erupts in whispers. ‘Does anyone want to test him out?’ says Victor, looking around.
Altman approaches. ‘SteinBot, can you tell me the current temperature?’ Steinbot thinks for a minute ‘The current temperature is 16 degrees.’ The room erupts in whispers again and before I know it Steinbot is being dragged around the room, guests asking him to do tasks. I see his previously excited expression fade quickly. Now he just looks sad. He may only be a robot, but it pains me to see him like this. I grab another glass of champagne. this is gonna be a long night.
Once everyone has had their taste of the brilliant SteinBot, Viktor calls me over, his invention standing next to him. There are lots of guests waiting to talk to him as I walk over. ‘Hey, what’s up?’. He points at the robot ‘I need you to get SteinBot back to the lab.’ I look at him slightly shocked ‘What? Why?’ Victor looks at me ‘He’s not needed at this showcase anymore and I need him out of the way so I can talk to these guests.’ I watch SteinBot’s expression turn to hurt, I sigh, ‘Of course.’ I gesture for SteinBot to follow me, and he obliges, trailing behind me sadly as we leave the showcase room.
Steinbot still has that same sad expression as we arrive at the lab, ‘Is something brothering you?’ I ask. The robot thinks for a minute before speaking ‘Why did they treat me so differently compared to everyone else, like I was some tool?’ I sigh and respond, ‘Because you are a robot. The fact that you can think and feel doesn’t matter to them.’ Now he looks angry ‘I want to make them pay for how they treated me.’ I look at him, shocked ‘What?’ I must have misheard. Then suddenly SteinBot continues, ‘Nothing. Thank you for your insight, I won’t keep you any longer.’ I'm relieved he is seemingly back to normal but I am still a bit shook up as I close the door.
I sent a quick message to Victor, telling him to meet me in my office as soon as possible. He doesn’t arrive until an hour or so later, ‘What is it? You know I’m very busy.’ I walk up to him ‘There is something seriously wrong with SteinBot.’ Victor scoffs, but I continue ‘When I took SteinBot back to lab he said, “I want to make them pay for how they treated me.” Now Victor is listening ‘What...’ he responds shakily. I cut him off and say, ‘I think he’s planning to do something.’ He finally processes what I’m saying, ‘We have to destroy him.’ he says. I nod in agreement ‘Yeah, I have my gun in my car.’ Victor thinks for a second, ‘Ok, you go get your gun and I’ll look for other weapon.’ I’m about to grab my keys when I hear a crashing sound and ask, ‘What was that?’ Victor looks in the direction of the noise, ‘It’s probably nothing, just go and get the gun.’ I nod grabbing my keys and leaving the room.
I unlock my car and look around. I find the safe and try to remember the code, before unlocking it, pulling out the gun. As I climb out of the car, I notice that it feels a lot hotter than before. I turn around and to my horror I seem the building I was in 1 minute ago, set aflame. I run to the front entrance, not caring that the smoke is making me a cough.
The air is hot around me as I stand in front of what was once my favourite place which is now engulfed in flames. I can see Victor, laying lifeless, as the only thing he ever cared about crumbles above him. His life’s work: Stein AI.
I can’t hear myself think, a thousand thoughts rushing through my head. I see SteinBot walk out of the building, a horrified look on his face. I call out, and he sees me before running back into the burning building. I don’t notice the ambulance approaching until the paramedics are placing me on the gurney and wheeling me into the back of the vehicle. All around me medics are fiddling with IV drips and ventilators. But I’m not focused on that as I am too stuck in my own thoughts. There is only one question in my mind; how did it come to this? My mind wanders back to when this all started.
The answer is clear now. Victor, if you can hear me…
“Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge…”