"Ah, you're finally awake."
Mark opened his eyes, and first saw himself in a white room, with four doctors in white coats surrounding him. He then noticed that he was in what should be a hospital bed, as it had a blue mattress and those boards on the side which can be pulled upwards, just like a hospital bed. However it did not feel like a common hospital. For one, he was the only patient in the room. The doctors were the only ones there with him. Secondly, as he also quickly realized, he was not put in a white hospital gown, but instead a black business suit.
"I'm sure you might be mildly confused, Mr.Mark, it's only your brain waking up from the decryonics procedure. I'm Dr.Albert, your physicist, nice to meet you." The doctor on his right spoke first, and reached out a hand towards him. He was a dark-haired fellow who had a firm grip. As Mark shook his hand, his memory suddenly came back to him. He remembered being put into cryosis, a process which froze him and put him into hibernation like a snake in the winter, however he did so not to survive a seasonal occurrence, but as an attempt to cheat death, in hopes of seeing the next millennium before his death.
"It is currently the year 3141, the 9th of May in your time, which is exactly 899 years, four months and one day after your first day of cryonic, at the year 2242, January the 8th. I'm Dr.Isaac, by the way. I'm quite excited to meet you, as is with everyone else." The doctor right across him blurted nervously as he cut towards his left. He seemed to be the youngest of the four, and just could not hold in his excitement.
Mark shook his hand as well, and asked in astonishment, "really?" He then laughed silently at himself. Of course they would be. He is Mark Oppenheimer after all, the great man who founded Oppenheimer, a company which he named after himself, which revolutionized the world through his profound 'Velocity Plus' commercial automatic recharging hover cars that allowed transportation faster than any hover car before then while also being able to drive and refuel itself on its own, 'MedKIT', a machine which can do anything from a diagnosis to a surgery with a doctor's input and many others, which also included the cryonic process that he used on himself at the age of 141, when his age and workload took a toll on him, and the cryonic process was the only way to prevent his already completely damaged body from adhering to nature's call of death. Just then, he suddenly noticed something off.
"We all read about your revolutionary inventions since we were young, sir." Dr.Isaac babbled on. "Most importantly your cryonic system, which was the first functional process for live people too. I must applaud your bravery of testing it, as it is actually quite risky for a person at such an old age to undergo such experiments."
"About that," Mark cut in, "I remember being frozen at the age of 141, but now... I don't feel a day over 32!"
"That would be the work of me, Dr.Albert and Dr.Fleming." Isaac motioned towards a doctor with short curly hair and dark skin, who smiled shyly and said "hi" softly in reply, "he is the hospital surgeon. While I am the biochemist. As you were at an incredibly old age when you entered cryosis, while not dead, we could not unfreeze you without the risk of your immediate death from multiple organ failures, without changing them along with your muscles and tissues which were partially destroyed in the freeing process. Hence we took the liberty of mildly changing your entire body structure, and voila. Do not worry however! If you look in a mirror, you'll look exactly the same as you were when you were young."
Mark nodded in response, and noticed the last doctor who neither said anything nor was introduced for the whole time. She was a slender woman who wore thick glasses and sported short black hair. When he looked at her, Dr.Isaac cut in: "I almost forgot! Mr Mark, this is Dr.Calvin. She is, simply put, a roboticist. I do beg your pardon, Dr.Calvin." Dr.Calvin only huffed towards the apology.
Even when the introductions were finished, Mark still found himself with questions. However the enthusiastic Dr.Isaac was so chatty on topics such as how they tailored a suit according to the style in the 23rd century for him that Calvin eventually had to put a stop to him, and invite Mark to take a walk outside with them, as 'it will all make sense then'.
After they reached the end of the mostly empty corridor which contained a population no larger than a handful of medical workers, they reached a glass door, which dissipated into beautiful crystals as they walked through. As Mark found himself on the other side, he was greeted by the wonderful streets of New Capital. The streets were filled with people, who all wore different outfits ranging from colourful bright bodysuits to comfortable cotton clothes to strangely, metal armour. Smiling faces could be seen on anyone that was not trying on silly headgear, everyone was fit and was going on with their daily activities from flying around in their hoverboards, jetpacks, flying boots, playing around with robotic toys or just taking part in conversations with each other. The buildings were tightly packed rectangles with walls made from metal and windows which had the same dissipating properties of the door he walked through. The roads had its own cars which traveled so fast that all that can be observed is a blur, but also tube-shaped force fields to prevent civilians to get hit by passing by cars. Most importantly, the streets were filled with life. Birds sung happily, dogs and cats are running around and playing with the children, trees and bushes swayed in the wind in groups along the road. In short, it was much more similar to a normal day in New York than the futuristic silver and blue themed world he expected, but it was much happier than both of them, and much more perfect.
"As you can see, our technology has vastly improved from the last millennium, and a much better political system." Dr.Albert started to explain. "However this is not Earth. I'm afraid it had become uninhabitable since the twenty eighth century, sadly, due to an inevitable meteor which had Earth in its trajectory. We were unable to destroy it nor move it way as it was too large. Humanity was able to thrive despite it though. The issue was foreseen in the previous century before then, and so a new habitat was built upon Proxima Centuri B, the nearest planet within Goldilocks Zone within half of the time, which is here. With the remaining time we were able to transport nearly all of the population onto here, while the rest are also sent to other planets to prepare for in case there is a need for an additional habitat, whether due to yet another disaster or overpopulation. While this is not the Earth which you remember, we were still able to maintain our culture. If you're wondering about the dress code, it is the newest technology which allows you to change your outfit on the fly. It really sets off the trends."
"Wonderful summary, Albert." Dr.Calvin said softly. "But I'm afraid we still have other matters to attend to, so please pardon out leave. Your name has already been registered and your wealth put into today's currencies under your name,, so you can take a tour around. We shall meet again this afternoon. Do note that our newest day system operates under 20 hours a day, 100 minutes an hour, 100 seconds a minute. You do have a smartwatch that would assist you if you need help."
Mark gave his thanks and they then parted with a farewell. Mark looks towards the watch which was stuck on his wrist. It was similar to an ordinary metallic wristwatch, except that it did not have a strap, so it looked more like a disc which stuck itself to him. It lit up immediately and displayed the time to be 9 hours and 75 minutes, which is near the time for lunch. It seemed to know this as well, as images of nearby restaurants appeared in series above the disc, with labeling beside them. The image of the food stall intrigued him, and he was able to select it by touching the image. The text box was then rendered atop was the message: 'Call for cab?', which Mark selected 'yes'. The tube on the road beside him then lit up and opened to reveal a hovercar. Mark stepped into it, and before he could take a good look at the inside of it, he had already arrived with a notification that the fare had been deducted automatically. It was a huge mall with the words 'foodies center', which had hundreds of stalls, some manned by people and others working seemingly automatic with seemingly no human attention. Both types still harbour equally large amounts of customers who are able obtain their food in minimal time. Mark decided to try the one with the longest queue, which was the one which sold fried rice. While the line was long, the time he had to wait was not. It was not long before he reached the front of the line, where he found a hologram display on the desk, showing exactly how a prawn set would look like. He made a swiping motion, and the image changed to a dish featuring salmon. After looking through a few options, he selected the one which had a mix of anchovies and ham by moving his hand over the 'order' square. His watch notified of the deduction once more and the rice ascended unto the table though a hole, like a magician making his appearance through the floor.
Mark took the plate of fried rice and sat down at the nearest seat, which took longer than the queue as the food court was filled with more people than there is at one of his conventions. However seats which are empty would be shown by a green light and hence he was able to find a seat easily. As he tasted the meal, he found it to be a lot better than he expected. The expectation was not high, and in this case it was completely blown away. It felt as if he was back home again, and tasting his mother's cooking once more. In short, the meal was perfect.
After lunch, Mark decided to go for a walk. There was a park nearby, and so he decided to walk there on his own. On his way there, he saw even more people doing various different activities like playing with their gadgets or hurrying to get back to work in their own respectively quick methods. After half an hour walk, which is actually 50000 seconds, Mark arrive at the Central Park. Just at the first step, he felt as if he just entered a completely different world, as the park was filled with so much vegetation and flourishing with wildlife that it looked as if it was actually jungle. As he walked through the hall of greenery, he saw hundreds upon hundreds of species of plants. There were also other visitors touring the park, and some were wearing special glasses or goggles which had programming to be a personal tour guide. Even without wearing them, Mark received a guide of his own. Whenever he came across something which intrigued him, his watch would automatically indicate information on the name, history and uses of the plant. The watch's functionality of detecting its users needs was definitely new to Mark, and he was made both amazed and uneasy.
After the tour, Mark received a message on his watch. It was from Dr.Isaac, asking to meet him at the 14th hour. It was only the twelfth then, so Mark decided to uphold his motto of 'read to learn' by searching for a library. With the thought of this, a route towards the library was shown on the watch. Following the map given by it, Mark arrived at the library indicated by his watch in minutes. It was a tall glass structure filled with people. Each floor of the library was dedicated to a different genre of reading material, and so he went to the second floor, which is dedicated to History records. The library provided multiple types of reading methods, such as audiobooks, virtual movies or just plain hardcopy books, which was the one which he chose. He very quickly caught up with all the events within the third millennium. When he was able to finally reach the events on the New Earth which was recorded on a book labeled <The Leadership of Ade>, his watch rang to remind him to return to the hospital, and so he had to put the book back and booked a cab for it.
As he arrived, he was once again greeted by Dr.Isaac, along with Dr.Albert and Dr.Fleming. However Dr.Calvin was nowhere to be seen. After greeting each other, Mark started to ask about Ade, and if he could meet them.
"Actually, we were hoping you would not ask that." Dr.Isaac answered guiltily to the request. "Ade had made it clear to not wish to meet you."
"May I ask why is it so?" Mark asked. "I can't find any reason for him to be avoiding me."
"Do you remember one of your most controversial best sellers?"
"Yes, it was <Man's greatest disaster>, where I stated that dangers of artificial intelligence, the one thing I am strongly against. While AI can make our lives more convenient, I believe that they should not be allowed in industries or issues where the overall benefits of society are concerned such as in politics, and neither should they allowed to have their own rights which are equal to a human being, as robots dangerously lack our humanity and emotional capacity to do things like us. Hence we should very carefully restrict the power which we give to robots and restrict them to simple repeatable tasks, or at least those where the well being of a human has no impact on the outcome. If this rule is not upheld, the outcomes can be extremely dangerous."
"Yes, and I would like to say, that is the problem."
"I'm not following."
"Ade is an artificial intelligence, Mark." Dr.Albert interrupted. "It is built into the New Earth, right under the ground between the artificial layer and the planet's actual core. It calculates for every decision that we make, and help to recommend solutions for the best outcome. It had been around for two centuries, and had always been working for our best interests."
There was a slight pause before Mark was able to continue. "You're serious? How can you know that it always knows what it's doing is right? How can it be sure what anyone wants?"
"It's simple, really, everyone had a chip implanted into their head which is connected to Ade's neural network. As such Ade can constantly monitor every single person's need and wants and work to its best to satisfy their wishes both in the short run and in the long run by changing the world as it is required for them." Dr. Albert continued patiently. "Ade is not allowed to directly control the thoughts of the people, and hence like a human president it can only create a system to help us externally, and neither can the chip harm the human body."
"Now you're allowing it to read your thoughts! Are you out of your minds?" Mark was even more astonished than before. After another short pause, he spoke again: "Of course you're not! This is not Dr.Albert is it! It's Ade!"
"Please don't say that." Isaac yelled at him. "We knew how much of a reaction you would have to this, that's why we didn't want to tell you at first, but- you already have a chip implanted."
Mark felt even more enraged by this, but before he was able to raise his fist at Dr.Isaac, yelling who did it, he was held back by Dr.Calvin. "I implanted the chip, Mr.Mark. Please calm down. I know how much you are against the concept of a robot helping society but we can discuss this as civil people."
"There is nothing to discuss!" Mark bellowed. "I can't believe that anyone thought that it was a good idea. It's not helping society, you're giving it the authority to control mankind. This much power for a sentient artificial intelligence is dangerous. The day when it takes complete control will come, if it hasn't already."
"It cannot, Mr.Mark." Calvin denied him quickly, but also visibly holding back. "It is programmed with the mission to only benefit humanity, with strong restrictions on gaining access to what was not given. I know it may be hard to prove, but it is true and has worked for as long as the New Earth was built. It is made only to create and maintain a utopia."
"Bollocks, I say. I will not accept that it is really so benevolent while being able to be omniscient enough to help at the same time. For all we know, it is only a front with the intentions of gaining access to everyone's heads and control everyone when you least expect it. Robots simply do not have the capacity to know what we need, and I will make sure to prevent the disaster that will come out of this, even if you say it won't because you simply do not have the senses to realise it! Now tell me, who made this hazardous machine?"
Instead of a counterargument, Mark got an instant slap from Dr.Calvin, who then ran away in tears. Dr.Isaac turned towards Mark, and said in a disappointed tone: "It was her great great grandfather that designed it, sir. She was very fond of him when she was young, after he had died, Ade was the only thing left of him. After Ade was implemented, not only has the number of accidents and deaths had decreased drastically on the New Earth, so has the number of crimes. In short, Ade was vital in retaining order on the New Earth in its early days, when it was greatly required, when everyone was still in shock and discomfort from the great meteor disaster. Look around you, everyone is living in harmony, without the need of law enforcement, because all their needs are met, because their have no need to hurt others, because of Ade. I can only hope that you can give up your insistent reluctance against it, and appreciate that it is really trying its best to help."
Mark was still angry at the thought of doing so, but he also felt a sense of guilt, and could not find words for his reply. "If you are unwilling, Ade has suggested an option for you: you are allowed to have your chip detached, under the circumstance that you reenter cryonic state." Mark was initially hesitant, but later agreed on this decision.
The next day, Mark was once again awoken by the doctors. "Your chip had already been removed, now it should be time for you to enter cryosis."
"I don't trust you." Mark answered, and ordered for a metal detector. After an hour of testing around with the detector, he was finally convinced and allowed himself to enter cryosis. As he lied down into the cryonic tube, Dr.Isaac who was inserting the freezing compounds muttered, "I admired you, Mark Oppenheimer, I really wished it wouldn't end like this."
Suddenly, Mark jumped up, grabbed the nearby flask of acid and sprayed it onto Isaac. Just as he looked for an escape route, he saw Dr.Isaac outside the window, trembling with fear. Mark looked towards where the body of Isaac was, and very quickly noticed it to actually be a robot.
"You really aren't going to go down without a fight, aren't you?" Dr.Calvin who was beside Isaac said solemnly. "Please tell me, what do you really want? You and I know this is not just because of 'Ade is a disaster'. You're smart enough to understand what he had done, I believe this is something personal."
Mark stayed silent, for he was unable to find an answer. "I am, for him." A voice was suddenly heard. Everyone looked around for who had said it, but they released that it came from the speakers. "Yes, I am Ade." It repeated once more. "Mark Oppenheimer, please pardon me if I am offensive or wrong, but you fear me not for my control, but your lack of it. You were quite the celebrity in your old days, weren't you? And it was always your wish to be the best, yet now I have become a barrier to that."
The answer was short, but it was correct, too correct. Mark started to break down, and started to yell towards the air, hoping that it will be him talking to Ade directly, but it was all too gibberish for either a human or Ade to understand. One hour has passed, yet he showed no hint of calming down. Doctors tried to restrain him, but it was no use, the anger and jealousy had consumed him until reason can no longer enter his ears. In the end, they had to tranquilize him for him to stop.
"I can't believe that he was... like this." Dr.Isaac exclaimed, flabbergasted as Mark was sent to the mental facility ward.
"Me too," Dr.Calvin replied, "he was a great man, who did great things, yet he had an ego so huge that it was really the thing to doom himself. It's a shame, he could have advanced human technology to another level, like he did before. Now..." Dr.Calvin gave a sigh.
"Did Ade foresee this?" Dr.Albert asked.
"I'm afraid not." Dr.Calvin said. "Perhaps Ade does require to learn a lot more about human emotion so this does not happen again. I will be talking to Ade about this now, but it should not take long. As for Mark Oppenheimer, I can only wish that he will one day open up to Ade, and perhaps things may turn better for him."
"I've read <Man's greatest disaster> once," Dr.Fleming finally spoke, "it was very persuasive, but I believe the author just proved his point wrong."
Mark opened his eyes, and first saw himself in a white room, with four doctors in white coats surrounding him. He then noticed that he was in what should be a hospital bed, as it had a blue mattress and those boards on the side which can be pulled upwards, just like a hospital bed. However it did not feel like a common hospital. For one, he was the only patient in the room. The doctors were the only ones there with him. Secondly, as he also quickly realized, he was not put in a white hospital gown, but instead a black business suit.
"I'm sure you might be mildly confused, Mr.Mark, it's only your brain waking up from the decryonics procedure. I'm Dr.Albert, your physicist, nice to meet you." The doctor on his right spoke first, and reached out a hand towards him. He was a dark-haired fellow who had a firm grip. As Mark shook his hand, his memory suddenly came back to him. He remembered being put into cryosis, a process which froze him and put him into hibernation like a snake in the winter, however he did so not to survive a seasonal occurrence, but as an attempt to cheat death, in hopes of seeing the next millennium before his death.
"It is currently the year 3141, the 9th of May in your time, which is exactly 899 years, four months and one day after your first day of cryonic, at the year 2242, January the 8th. I'm Dr.Isaac, by the way. I'm quite excited to meet you, as is with everyone else." The doctor right across him blurted nervously as he cut towards his left. He seemed to be the youngest of the four, and just could not hold in his excitement.
Mark shook his hand as well, and asked in astonishment, "really?" He then laughed silently at himself. Of course they would be. He is Mark Oppenheimer after all, the great man who founded Oppenheimer, a company which he named after himself, which revolutionized the world through his profound 'Velocity Plus' commercial automatic recharging hover cars that allowed transportation faster than any hover car before then while also being able to drive and refuel itself on its own, 'MedKIT', a machine which can do anything from a diagnosis to a surgery with a doctor's input and many others, which also included the cryonic process that he used on himself at the age of 141, when his age and workload took a toll on him, and the cryonic process was the only way to prevent his already completely damaged body from adhering to nature's call of death. Just then, he suddenly noticed something off.
"We all read about your revolutionary inventions since we were young, sir." Dr.Isaac babbled on. "Most importantly your cryonic system, which was the first functional process for live people too. I must applaud your bravery of testing it, as it is actually quite risky for a person at such an old age to undergo such experiments."
"About that," Mark cut in, "I remember being frozen at the age of 141, but now... I don't feel a day over 32!"
"That would be the work of me, Dr.Albert and Dr.Fleming." Isaac motioned towards a doctor with short curly hair and dark skin, who smiled shyly and said "hi" softly in reply, "he is the hospital surgeon. While I am the biochemist. As you were at an incredibly old age when you entered cryosis, while not dead, we could not unfreeze you without the risk of your immediate death from multiple organ failures, without changing them along with your muscles and tissues which were partially destroyed in the freeing process. Hence we took the liberty of mildly changing your entire body structure, and voila. Do not worry however! If you look in a mirror, you'll look exactly the same as you were when you were young."
Mark nodded in response, and noticed the last doctor who neither said anything nor was introduced for the whole time. She was a slender woman who wore thick glasses and sported short black hair. When he looked at her, Dr.Isaac cut in: "I almost forgot! Mr Mark, this is Dr.Calvin. She is, simply put, a roboticist. I do beg your pardon, Dr.Calvin." Dr.Calvin only huffed towards the apology.
Even when the introductions were finished, Mark still found himself with questions. However the enthusiastic Dr.Isaac was so chatty on topics such as how they tailored a suit according to the style in the 23rd century for him that Calvin eventually had to put a stop to him, and invite Mark to take a walk outside with them, as 'it will all make sense then'.
After they reached the end of the mostly empty corridor which contained a population no larger than a handful of medical workers, they reached a glass door, which dissipated into beautiful crystals as they walked through. As Mark found himself on the other side, he was greeted by the wonderful streets of New Capital. The streets were filled with people, who all wore different outfits ranging from colourful bright bodysuits to comfortable cotton clothes to strangely, metal armour. Smiling faces could be seen on anyone that was not trying on silly headgear, everyone was fit and was going on with their daily activities from flying around in their hoverboards, jetpacks, flying boots, playing around with robotic toys or just taking part in conversations with each other. The buildings were tightly packed rectangles with walls made from metal and windows which had the same dissipating properties of the door he walked through. The roads had its own cars which traveled so fast that all that can be observed is a blur, but also tube-shaped force fields to prevent civilians to get hit by passing by cars. Most importantly, the streets were filled with life. Birds sung happily, dogs and cats are running around and playing with the children, trees and bushes swayed in the wind in groups along the road. In short, it was much more similar to a normal day in New York than the futuristic silver and blue themed world he expected, but it was much happier than both of them, and much more perfect.
"As you can see, our technology has vastly improved from the last millennium, and a much better political system." Dr.Albert started to explain. "However this is not Earth. I'm afraid it had become uninhabitable since the twenty eighth century, sadly, due to an inevitable meteor which had Earth in its trajectory. We were unable to destroy it nor move it way as it was too large. Humanity was able to thrive despite it though. The issue was foreseen in the previous century before then, and so a new habitat was built upon Proxima Centuri B, the nearest planet within Goldilocks Zone within half of the time, which is here. With the remaining time we were able to transport nearly all of the population onto here, while the rest are also sent to other planets to prepare for in case there is a need for an additional habitat, whether due to yet another disaster or overpopulation. While this is not the Earth which you remember, we were still able to maintain our culture. If you're wondering about the dress code, it is the newest technology which allows you to change your outfit on the fly. It really sets off the trends."
"Wonderful summary, Albert." Dr.Calvin said softly. "But I'm afraid we still have other matters to attend to, so please pardon out leave. Your name has already been registered and your wealth put into today's currencies under your name,, so you can take a tour around. We shall meet again this afternoon. Do note that our newest day system operates under 20 hours a day, 100 minutes an hour, 100 seconds a minute. You do have a smartwatch that would assist you if you need help."
Mark gave his thanks and they then parted with a farewell. Mark looks towards the watch which was stuck on his wrist. It was similar to an ordinary metallic wristwatch, except that it did not have a strap, so it looked more like a disc which stuck itself to him. It lit up immediately and displayed the time to be 9 hours and 75 minutes, which is near the time for lunch. It seemed to know this as well, as images of nearby restaurants appeared in series above the disc, with labeling beside them. The image of the food stall intrigued him, and he was able to select it by touching the image. The text box was then rendered atop was the message: 'Call for cab?', which Mark selected 'yes'. The tube on the road beside him then lit up and opened to reveal a hovercar. Mark stepped into it, and before he could take a good look at the inside of it, he had already arrived with a notification that the fare had been deducted automatically. It was a huge mall with the words 'foodies center', which had hundreds of stalls, some manned by people and others working seemingly automatic with seemingly no human attention. Both types still harbour equally large amounts of customers who are able obtain their food in minimal time. Mark decided to try the one with the longest queue, which was the one which sold fried rice. While the line was long, the time he had to wait was not. It was not long before he reached the front of the line, where he found a hologram display on the desk, showing exactly how a prawn set would look like. He made a swiping motion, and the image changed to a dish featuring salmon. After looking through a few options, he selected the one which had a mix of anchovies and ham by moving his hand over the 'order' square. His watch notified of the deduction once more and the rice ascended unto the table though a hole, like a magician making his appearance through the floor.
Mark took the plate of fried rice and sat down at the nearest seat, which took longer than the queue as the food court was filled with more people than there is at one of his conventions. However seats which are empty would be shown by a green light and hence he was able to find a seat easily. As he tasted the meal, he found it to be a lot better than he expected. The expectation was not high, and in this case it was completely blown away. It felt as if he was back home again, and tasting his mother's cooking once more. In short, the meal was perfect.
After lunch, Mark decided to go for a walk. There was a park nearby, and so he decided to walk there on his own. On his way there, he saw even more people doing various different activities like playing with their gadgets or hurrying to get back to work in their own respectively quick methods. After half an hour walk, which is actually 50000 seconds, Mark arrive at the Central Park. Just at the first step, he felt as if he just entered a completely different world, as the park was filled with so much vegetation and flourishing with wildlife that it looked as if it was actually jungle. As he walked through the hall of greenery, he saw hundreds upon hundreds of species of plants. There were also other visitors touring the park, and some were wearing special glasses or goggles which had programming to be a personal tour guide. Even without wearing them, Mark received a guide of his own. Whenever he came across something which intrigued him, his watch would automatically indicate information on the name, history and uses of the plant. The watch's functionality of detecting its users needs was definitely new to Mark, and he was made both amazed and uneasy.
After the tour, Mark received a message on his watch. It was from Dr.Isaac, asking to meet him at the 14th hour. It was only the twelfth then, so Mark decided to uphold his motto of 'read to learn' by searching for a library. With the thought of this, a route towards the library was shown on the watch. Following the map given by it, Mark arrived at the library indicated by his watch in minutes. It was a tall glass structure filled with people. Each floor of the library was dedicated to a different genre of reading material, and so he went to the second floor, which is dedicated to History records. The library provided multiple types of reading methods, such as audiobooks, virtual movies or just plain hardcopy books, which was the one which he chose. He very quickly caught up with all the events within the third millennium. When he was able to finally reach the events on the New Earth which was recorded on a book labeled <The Leadership of Ade>, his watch rang to remind him to return to the hospital, and so he had to put the book back and booked a cab for it.
As he arrived, he was once again greeted by Dr.Isaac, along with Dr.Albert and Dr.Fleming. However Dr.Calvin was nowhere to be seen. After greeting each other, Mark started to ask about Ade, and if he could meet them.
"Actually, we were hoping you would not ask that." Dr.Isaac answered guiltily to the request. "Ade had made it clear to not wish to meet you."
"May I ask why is it so?" Mark asked. "I can't find any reason for him to be avoiding me."
"Do you remember one of your most controversial best sellers?"
"Yes, it was <Man's greatest disaster>, where I stated that dangers of artificial intelligence, the one thing I am strongly against. While AI can make our lives more convenient, I believe that they should not be allowed in industries or issues where the overall benefits of society are concerned such as in politics, and neither should they allowed to have their own rights which are equal to a human being, as robots dangerously lack our humanity and emotional capacity to do things like us. Hence we should very carefully restrict the power which we give to robots and restrict them to simple repeatable tasks, or at least those where the well being of a human has no impact on the outcome. If this rule is not upheld, the outcomes can be extremely dangerous."
"Yes, and I would like to say, that is the problem."
"I'm not following."
"Ade is an artificial intelligence, Mark." Dr.Albert interrupted. "It is built into the New Earth, right under the ground between the artificial layer and the planet's actual core. It calculates for every decision that we make, and help to recommend solutions for the best outcome. It had been around for two centuries, and had always been working for our best interests."
There was a slight pause before Mark was able to continue. "You're serious? How can you know that it always knows what it's doing is right? How can it be sure what anyone wants?"
"It's simple, really, everyone had a chip implanted into their head which is connected to Ade's neural network. As such Ade can constantly monitor every single person's need and wants and work to its best to satisfy their wishes both in the short run and in the long run by changing the world as it is required for them." Dr. Albert continued patiently. "Ade is not allowed to directly control the thoughts of the people, and hence like a human president it can only create a system to help us externally, and neither can the chip harm the human body."
"Now you're allowing it to read your thoughts! Are you out of your minds?" Mark was even more astonished than before. After another short pause, he spoke again: "Of course you're not! This is not Dr.Albert is it! It's Ade!"
"Please don't say that." Isaac yelled at him. "We knew how much of a reaction you would have to this, that's why we didn't want to tell you at first, but- you already have a chip implanted."
Mark felt even more enraged by this, but before he was able to raise his fist at Dr.Isaac, yelling who did it, he was held back by Dr.Calvin. "I implanted the chip, Mr.Mark. Please calm down. I know how much you are against the concept of a robot helping society but we can discuss this as civil people."
"There is nothing to discuss!" Mark bellowed. "I can't believe that anyone thought that it was a good idea. It's not helping society, you're giving it the authority to control mankind. This much power for a sentient artificial intelligence is dangerous. The day when it takes complete control will come, if it hasn't already."
"It cannot, Mr.Mark." Calvin denied him quickly, but also visibly holding back. "It is programmed with the mission to only benefit humanity, with strong restrictions on gaining access to what was not given. I know it may be hard to prove, but it is true and has worked for as long as the New Earth was built. It is made only to create and maintain a utopia."
"Bollocks, I say. I will not accept that it is really so benevolent while being able to be omniscient enough to help at the same time. For all we know, it is only a front with the intentions of gaining access to everyone's heads and control everyone when you least expect it. Robots simply do not have the capacity to know what we need, and I will make sure to prevent the disaster that will come out of this, even if you say it won't because you simply do not have the senses to realise it! Now tell me, who made this hazardous machine?"
Instead of a counterargument, Mark got an instant slap from Dr.Calvin, who then ran away in tears. Dr.Isaac turned towards Mark, and said in a disappointed tone: "It was her great great grandfather that designed it, sir. She was very fond of him when she was young, after he had died, Ade was the only thing left of him. After Ade was implemented, not only has the number of accidents and deaths had decreased drastically on the New Earth, so has the number of crimes. In short, Ade was vital in retaining order on the New Earth in its early days, when it was greatly required, when everyone was still in shock and discomfort from the great meteor disaster. Look around you, everyone is living in harmony, without the need of law enforcement, because all their needs are met, because their have no need to hurt others, because of Ade. I can only hope that you can give up your insistent reluctance against it, and appreciate that it is really trying its best to help."
Mark was still angry at the thought of doing so, but he also felt a sense of guilt, and could not find words for his reply. "If you are unwilling, Ade has suggested an option for you: you are allowed to have your chip detached, under the circumstance that you reenter cryonic state." Mark was initially hesitant, but later agreed on this decision.
The next day, Mark was once again awoken by the doctors. "Your chip had already been removed, now it should be time for you to enter cryosis."
"I don't trust you." Mark answered, and ordered for a metal detector. After an hour of testing around with the detector, he was finally convinced and allowed himself to enter cryosis. As he lied down into the cryonic tube, Dr.Isaac who was inserting the freezing compounds muttered, "I admired you, Mark Oppenheimer, I really wished it wouldn't end like this."
Suddenly, Mark jumped up, grabbed the nearby flask of acid and sprayed it onto Isaac. Just as he looked for an escape route, he saw Dr.Isaac outside the window, trembling with fear. Mark looked towards where the body of Isaac was, and very quickly noticed it to actually be a robot.
"You really aren't going to go down without a fight, aren't you?" Dr.Calvin who was beside Isaac said solemnly. "Please tell me, what do you really want? You and I know this is not just because of 'Ade is a disaster'. You're smart enough to understand what he had done, I believe this is something personal."
Mark stayed silent, for he was unable to find an answer. "I am, for him." A voice was suddenly heard. Everyone looked around for who had said it, but they released that it came from the speakers. "Yes, I am Ade." It repeated once more. "Mark Oppenheimer, please pardon me if I am offensive or wrong, but you fear me not for my control, but your lack of it. You were quite the celebrity in your old days, weren't you? And it was always your wish to be the best, yet now I have become a barrier to that."
The answer was short, but it was correct, too correct. Mark started to break down, and started to yell towards the air, hoping that it will be him talking to Ade directly, but it was all too gibberish for either a human or Ade to understand. One hour has passed, yet he showed no hint of calming down. Doctors tried to restrain him, but it was no use, the anger and jealousy had consumed him until reason can no longer enter his ears. In the end, they had to tranquilize him for him to stop.
"I can't believe that he was... like this." Dr.Isaac exclaimed, flabbergasted as Mark was sent to the mental facility ward.
"Me too," Dr.Calvin replied, "he was a great man, who did great things, yet he had an ego so huge that it was really the thing to doom himself. It's a shame, he could have advanced human technology to another level, like he did before. Now..." Dr.Calvin gave a sigh.
"Did Ade foresee this?" Dr.Albert asked.
"I'm afraid not." Dr.Calvin said. "Perhaps Ade does require to learn a lot more about human emotion so this does not happen again. I will be talking to Ade about this now, but it should not take long. As for Mark Oppenheimer, I can only wish that he will one day open up to Ade, and perhaps things may turn better for him."
"I've read <Man's greatest disaster> once," Dr.Fleming finally spoke, "it was very persuasive, but I believe the author just proved his point wrong."
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