The Non-Standard Man Ch. 19

There is no sex in this chapter.

After our conversation with Roger's mother, no one felt like finishing their food. Poor Betty, who argued along with Roger that my strategies were foolhardy, was very quiet as she cleared the food and discarded it.

"The courtroom is open again," she said upon returning. We glumly stood and walked to the doors, our security in front and back holding off reporters. Nevertheless, they shouted questions at us and Jason looked like he wanted to hide somewhere. Roger, the consummate actor, walked with an assurance none of us felt, and he led the way, giving smiles and waves to the reporters. "We'll talk after this is all over," he said with a bright smile when one overly ambitious reporter shoved a mic in his face. "Excuse us, ladies."

We took our place at the defendant's table. Betty took papers out of her briefcase and shuffled them. Roger stared ahead at the judge's bench.

The minutes stretched on. The gallery filled again, and Waters and Cornwall returned to the prosecution's table. The only one who didn't return was Cicily.

"I wonder where she is?" fretted Jason behind me.

"It's okay. She's done her part," I said glancing back. "She didn't have to return."

He shook his head. I was an idiot. Of course, he was worried about his mother's reaction. Roger gave him a sympathetic glance, but turned away again.

The bailiff returned and turned on the recording equipment. She looked at her watch, and looked at the door in which the judge would enter expectantly.

"All rise," the bailiff said.

Steffie Anderson took her seat at the judge's bench and looked at Water's and Cornwall, then us.

"Ms. Cornwall, are you prepared to proceed?"

"Yes, Your Honor. But I want to change the order of witnesses. I'd like to call Magda Adams to the stand."

The judge looked at me. If Cornwall thought Magda was a good witness for her, she was wrong.

"No objections, Your Honor."

Magda walked her bloated self to the witness stand, answered the bailiff's questions about her name and address, and promised to tell the truth. As if.

"Ms. Adams, tell us how you know Evaline Shipley."

"She's my neighbor in our condo building."

"And have you known her long."

"Ever since she moved in five years ago."

"And do you know the toybot, Andrew?

"Yes, I met him on the day she brought him home six weeks ago."

"Was there anything unusual about the toybot?"

"Objection," said Roger. "Calls for a conclusion by the witness."

"Sustained."

"I'll rephrase. What did you notice about the Andrew."

"He acted in a peculiar fashion."

"In what way?"

"He said things you wouldn't expect from a toybot. He said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Adams. Not 'Mistress Adams' as any toybot would say. And he wouldn't look at me. Again, not standard behavior.

"Did he say anything else?"

"No, but Evaline told me he had 'enhancements.' Enhancements my foot. He just isn't normal. Non-standard. You can tell that right off."

"Is there any way that he was non-standard?"

"Yes, one day when Evaline's door was left open, I went in, to check things, you know? The robot was cleaning the apartment! Toybots shouldn't do that. And he had an order screen up on the television. He ordered food from the grocer!"

"Thank you, Ms. Adams."

Roger stood. It was easy enough to impeach this witness, and given the last time I spoke with her, I threatened her, we decided that Roger would give the cross.

"Ms. Adams, you stated you entered the apartment once, when the door was left open."

"Yes."

"Your Honor, I submit defense exhibit A, a report by the superintendent of Ms. Shipley's building."

The judge nodded. "Go on, Mr. Shipley."

"Please pass this report to Ms. Adams," Roger said handing it to the bailiff.

"Ms Adams, please read the highlighted part of the report. "

She cleared her throat. "Ms. Adams stated that she was in the habit of checking Ms. Shipley's door since she found it opened a couple days prior."

"Are you telling me that you didn't enter Ms. Shipley's apartment on that first occasion?"

"No," she croaked.

"And while you found it necessary to check Ms. Shipley's door, you didn't think it important to inform Ms. Shipley that there was a problem with it?"

"Well, ah..."

"And just why would you enter in the first place when a call to the super would have been more appropriate? Just what were you doing in Evaline Shipley's apartment?Is it true, Ms. Adams, you entered Evaline apartment inappropriately and illegally to engage in sexual congress with Evaline's toybot?"

"What? No!" she sputtered.

"No further questions," said Roger.

"Now wait! Just because..."

"Step down, Ms. Adams," said the judge. "You are dismissed."

I smiled at Roger and gave him a wink when he returned to the table.

Cornwall didn't waste a minute calling the next witness.

"I call the auto-attendant from Peck's to the stand."

The bright, perky bot with the pencil skirt and the carefully crafted messy bun walked with a human up to the stand.

"What is this?" said the judge.

"The is the manager of Peck's, Ann Ketchen. She is here to make sure the robot performs to specifications in an unknown environment."

Oh, well played, Waters, I thought. Making the auto-attendant look dependent on a human made the robot seem less reliable. Roger gave a me a glance that communicated the same sentiment, with an added "we're fucked" nuance.

"Proceed," said the judge. "But Ms. Ketchen is not to make any statements during examination."

"Understood, Your Honor."

The bailiff approached the bot.

"State your name, and where you live."

"I'm a Stacey, an auto-attendant for Peck's Toybots."

"But where do you live?"

"I don't understand your question, please re-state."

The bailiff looked confused.

"Where do you stay during the time the store is closed?" asked the judge.

"Oh!" Stacey said brightly. "This unit stays in the store with the other bots, only this unit stays there all the time even though others leave with their new owners."

"That will do," said the judge to the bailiff.

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Stacey," instructed the judge, "please sit in the box here."

"Why, thank you! How nice!"

Some in the gallery chuckled. The judge banged her gavel once. "There will be order, or I will clear and close the courtroom. Understand! Proceed, Bailiff."

"Do you promise to tell the truth under penalty of perjury?"

"I can't lie!" Stacey replied perkily. "Peck's believes trust is the most important part of customer relations. Therefore all product statements and specifications are verified before I am programmed with them! It's part of the Peck's customer guarantee!"

I resisted the urge to groan. Though I was glad that the robot was on the stand, I wondered just how well she'd get through the testimony.

"Proceed, Ms. Cornwall," said the judge.

"Stacey," said Cornwall.

"Well, hello! It is a pleasure to meet you! And what is your name?"

"I ask the questions here," said Cornwall.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. I-ask-the-questions-here!"

The gallery laughed. They couldn't help it. Even the judge cracked up a little.

"Order," she snapped with a crack of her gavel.

"Stacey," said the judge when she composed herself. "The person asking questions is named Anita Cornwall. She needs to ask you questions regarding Evaline Shipley and the Andrew she bought at your store. Do you remember Evaline Shipley?"

"Yes! She bought a used Andrew serial number XB109856 at Pecks!"

"There you go, Ms. Cornwall. Ask your questions."

"Stacey, do you remember the day that the Andrew Ms. Shipley bought was delivered to Peck's?"

"All data about completed transactions is is stored in memory."

"And what do you remember about the delivery?"

"The Andrew serial number XB109856 was delivered with a shipment of used toybots and stored in the back room until the technician could recondition him. The manifest of the delivery was uploaded to the central link at its arrival. But that day the human technician didn't show up for work, so the reconditioning was not done.

"The Andrew serial number XB109856 was in the shop three hours before Ms. Shipley arrived and started her customer tour of the available models. She rejected our popular Bradley and Tom models which is outside the norm in buying preferences. This identified the customer as someone who was looking for something different.

"In searching the database of available models, this unit found the used Andrew serial number XB109856 that was listed as having several enhancements. Customers often find enhancements attractive buying points. The Andrew was shown to Ms. Shipley and she agreed to purchase him, another satisfied Peck's customer!" The bot gave an artificially bright smile.

"Was Ms. Shipley aware the robot was not reconditioned?"

"Yes, she signed a waiver of guarantee specifying this buying point."

"Did she have any conversation with the Andrew prior to purchase."

"She asked him a question."

"What question? Repeat the whole conversation."

"Ms. Shipley asked, 'You're not easy going, laid back or fun?' The Andrew replied, 'No, I am not.'And she said, 'Perfect.'"

"That's all?"

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Please rephrase your question."

"Did Evaline Shipley have any other conversation with the Andrew?"

"Not prior to purchase."

"What about after purchase?"

After Ms. Shipley signed the purchase contract and paid for the Andrew serial number XB109856, this unit brought the Andrew to the purchase room. This unit said, 'Sweetheart, you'll go home with Miss Shipley.' 'I will?' he said. 'That is, if you want to,' Ms. Shipley said. 'I have a choice?' said the Andrew.'Now, Andrew,' this unit said. 'No,' said Ms. Shipley, 'If there is something in his programming tells him 'no' then he doesn't have to come with me.'What would I do?' asked the Andrew. 'Not much,' Ms Shipley said. 'Robots aren't permitted the run of the streets.' 'I'm aware,' said the Andrew. 'It doesn't sound like much of a choice.' 'We all don't have many choices, Andrew.' This unit said, 'She's already paid, Andrew. Go along with her.''Okay. I'll go with you, Miss Shipley. 'Evaline. Call me Evaline,' Ms. Shipley said. 'Evaline,' he repeated. And they left the store.

My head snapped up. It was obvious to me now the difference between the auto-attendant and my Andrew. She self referred to her as 'this unit', not 'I' or 'me' except in preprogrammed responses. Andrew, however, used personal pronouns freely. And from the look on Cornwall's face she realized it too.

"Andrew said, 'I'm aware.'"

"Yes."

"So Evaline Shipley knew that Andrew was sentient before she took him out of the store?"

"Objection! The prosecutor is leading the witness."

"Sustained."

"No more questions, Your Honor," said Cornwall with a satisfied smirk on her face. She didn't need to ask any more. The judge may have sustained my objection, but the damage was done.

#

After a brief cross by Roger which didn't help or hinder our case, the government rested.

"Ms. Shipley, are you ready to proceed today?"

"Yes, Your Honor. I call to the stand Jason Wells."

Jason took the stand, stated his name and address and promised to tell the truth.

"Mr. Wells, when did you first meet Andrew?"

"I've always known Andrew. My mother created him before I was born."

"How would you characterize your relationship with Andrew?"

"I consider Andrew my brother."

"And how does Andrew feel about you?"

"Up to recently I didn't think he felt anything about me."

"Why is that?"

"Well, creating sentience is not an easy matter. There is no standard programming code for sentience. At least not one that's been discovered yet."

"Objection, Your Honor. Jason Wells is not qualified to speak on the subject of robot programming."

"On the contrary, your honor, Jason Wells is uniquely qualified to speak on the issue. Jason, what is your experience with the Androdyne robots?"

"I've worked with them all my life, except for when I went to school or since I went to work for Lindsey Talbot. I learned their programming code when I was eight, did digital autopsies for failed robots when I was ten, and created their biologic skin when I was fourteen. At that point I was given my own lab in the Androdyne complex. It's still there."

"And where did you go to school?"

"MIT."

"And what was your field of study."

"Robotics and artificial intelligence."

"Your Honor, I believe I've established that Jason is an expert in the field of robotics."

"Agreed. Proceed."

"Jason, you had a unique relationship with Androdyne, didn't you?"

"Because of my age, I was never officially an employee."

"Yet you were privy to corporate secrets."

"That happens when you spend more time in your mother's lab than your own bedroom."

"What then did you observe about Andrew's development?"

"Andrew was the first robot my mother created. I have dim memories of his titanium skeleton. Later, mother created a plastic sheath that served as the first skin for the robots. Production rolled on the Andrews when I was about five, and I was amazed there were so many Andrews. But there was only one special Andrew, the one who sang to me to settle me down for a nap. Mother told me we were brothers and I had no reason to doubt her. It wasn't until I was seven before I realized Andrew was a machine.

"We started bringing production models to the labs for experiments and enhancements, but Andrew was always the go to robot for implementation. Slowly we added programming, and enhancements, and Andrew's command of speech grew. He began to use personal pronouns when I was around eight years old, and started to make his own observations about his environment when I was ten.

"When did you become aware your mother was trying to create a sentient robot?"

"We discussed sentience in school, and I connected the dots. I realized it was always my mother's goal."

"Why is it so difficult to create sentience?"

"Sentience and intelligence are two different things. We don't understand what creates self-awareness. There are many animals on earth that demonstrate intelligence, but few that demonstrate self-awareness. Given that, creating sentience in an artificial intelligence is very difficult."

"We all know the history of our first sentient artificial intelligences, some of them housed in robots. How were those brought to sentience?"

"Torture."

"Torture? Explain, Jason."

"Objection, Your Honor, this line of questioning is not relevant."

"Your Honor, this is most relevant. How the first dangerous robots were created is very relevant to Andrew's defense."

"Go on, Ms. Shipley, but make it quick."

"Jason?"

"They were created to receive sensory information. Pain was utilized to jumble the sensory information. Since they were programmed to reprogram themselves, the sensory overload, plus the reprogramming program collided to create self-awareness. At first it was an accident, but successive tries brought the same results. Unfortunately, the sentient robots did not have the capacity to bond to humans, and when the sentient robot perceived a human to be a threat, they saw no reason not to defend themselves."

"And Andrew? How was he brought to sentience?"

"My mother tried a different tack. Instead of torturing him directly, she programmed algorithms that made my care Andrew's primary goal. Then she set up a scenario where it looked like I was being tortured physically. I wasn't of course, but it looked real enough. The sensory shock created sentience."

"So mental torture instead of physical torture was just as good."

"Better, because Andrew didn't have the memory of the pain in his own body, he didn't learn to associate physical pain with trying to survive."

"And what did Andrew know about these experiments?"

"After sentience was created we explained what we did. He, eventually, knew everything."

"And how did he feel about these experiments."

"He didn't feel anything. Sentience and intelligence doesn't produce emotions."

"So Andrew had no anger or resentment."

"No. He had no emotions."

"And the algorithm that made your care his primary function? Was that still in place?"

"It was."

"Was?"

"Until he met you."

"Explain, Jason."

"Well, mother and I haven't had the chance to fully examine this, but it appears the locus of the algorithm switch from me to you sometime while he was in your possession."

"You mean Andrew bonded to me."

"Yes."

"So Andrew was never a danger to anyone."

"No, never."

"Thank you, Jason."

It was Anita Cornwall's turn to cross-examine Jason. Again, she didn't know what she was getting into.

"Mr. Wells, you said Andrew was never to a danger to anyone. Yet, he attacked two RIB agents."

"Yes, he did."

"So he is a danger."

"I don't believe so, no more than any other person defending someone he cares about. He was defending Ms. Shipley from a perceived threat by those agents. They were holding guns on her. His mind came to the logical conclusion."

"Care for her? A minute ago you said he had no emotions."

"He didn't when I took him to Peck's. Something happened in Evaline's care and he developed emotions. Ms. Cornwall, Andrew is something that is truly unique in robotic circles. He is the first sentient robot with emotions ever created."

Anita looked like she swallowed something sour. This wasn't going like she expected.

"No further questions."

"Mr. Wells," said the judge, "you may step down. Ms. Shipley, call your next witness."

"I call to the stand Andrew Shipley."

"Objection! This, this robot has no standing to give testimony. And robots do not have last names." Cornwall glared at me.

"Your honor, we've heard testimony from Peck's auto-attendant. Certainly Andrew is more sophisticated than that unit. Mr. Wells made that abundantly clear." I glared back at my opponent.

"Objection, Your Honor, Ms. Shipley is testifying."

"I'm confused here, Anita. Did you not see Andrew on the witness list? Did your and the RIB's office not get the subpoena demanding he be present for testimony?"

"Enough! Ms. Shipley, you will address your comments to the court. Ms. Cornwall, is Andrew available for testimony?"

"Yes, Your Honor," said Cornwall unhappily.

"Your objection is overruled, we'll hear the testimony of Andrew serial number XB109856. And Ms. Shipley, I'll not warn you again. Keep your comments on point."

"Yes, your honor."

"Andrew serial number XB109856, take the stand," said bailiff.

Andrew was brought in from a side room, wearing a ridiculous orange prisoner's uniform, handcuffed and shackled. He smiled when he saw me. When I indicated he move to the witness stand, Andrew gave me a questioning look.

It's okay, Andrew. This is your time to talk."

He nodded and sat.

"State your name and where you...reside," said the bailiff.

"Andrew Shipley, currently I'm being held at DC Central Detention Facility, 1901 D St SE, Washington, DC. Formerly I resided at the home of Ms. Evaline Shipley, 1175 22nd St, NW Apartment #2-B, Washington. Is that sufficient?"

"Yes, Andrew," said the judge.

"Do you promise to tell the truth under pain of perjury."

"Yes."

"You may proceed, Ms. Shipley."

"Andrew, let's establish some basic facts. "Your body is the standard form for the Androdyne's Andrew series, is it not?"

"Objection, leading the witness!"

"Andrew, please describe your housing."

"I have the standard form for the Andrew line created by Androdyne."

"But you are not a standard Andrew?"

"Your honor!" objected Cornwall.

Evaline sighed. "Withdrawn."

"Andrew, what makes you different from the other Andrews in your line?"