Wednesday, 3:03:05 pm, Renaissance Center, Detroit
Much of this day was like any other day. There were the inevitable squabbles between city pigeons, and those early risers were making their way to appointments. Street by street, illumination played upon the French inspired matrix design of Detroit’s city layout. Rays of sun drew patchwork placements, first here, then there. The long shadows of skyscrapers traced toward the west, obviously. Steam still rose from the sewer grates, any time of year, a relic of a time gone by. A distant siren rings. The smell of morning in the city is rising.
On the 23rd floor of the Renaissance Center towers, a group of engineers are planning the next evolution of Theilus. This upgrade would by far be the best one yet. Two years in the making and filled with the promise and expectations of a connected city poised to be the new capital of the tarnished, but still United States of America. The best and brightest minds from across the globe were in on the upgrade. Though Theilus had been running for some years now, there were upgrades needed as part of the Social Utilitarian Network, SUN system needed integrating.
There were 3 head engineers. Two female and one male. The rest of the team was in a support role. The room at the end of the sterile corridor was closed off from the rest of the laboratories on the 23rd floor. This was a safe room indeed. Unsuspecting among a host of other unsuspecting grey, heavy metal doors. Behind this specific door was the future of Theilus, and the rest of the cities of the union. For the first time in the history of Theilus being online, the scheduled upgrade was in fact a news media event. There were a few members of the media in the room, sharing one camera source. The connected nation was viewing the event, and based on previous upgrades of the system, there was to be a great renewal of appreciation for science and human coding.
For the most part, it was a less than miraculous upgrade. All systems go, and not much to mention. The media knew this, even though they had touted it would be great viewing. The interviews commenced, all in the room got their soundbites and recognition, and the media got what it came for; a brief but important clip for the well-being of the nation. This was a needed moment in the communities making up the states in the union, still recovering from the “affordances” of Web 2.0, which brought the rise of social media and also all but destroyed the fabric of society. Theilus helped clear the smoke of the fuming country in helping cut through the chaos which ensued once deepfake initiatives and filtered biases turned friends and families against one another. Just as it was intended.
What a truly sad time for the people of the first world. But it was bound to happen. The initial days of rogue AI infecting people’s digital lives and identity with such rage and hatred and on such a personal level. Thanks to the combination of Web 2.0 with deepfake initiatives from malicious players, fabricated visuals on nearly every level made fact and fiction indistinguishable. One could easily watch a “live” video of their own mother casting dispersions and claiming completely false narratives of hate, and not be able to tell the difference. This was how good the malicious technology had become. Unless you were sitting in the room, watching the person closely, there would be no true way to discern fact from false narrative. And because it was infecting systems at a personal level, no two people were exposed to the same toxic narrative as the other. The Theilus AI was put to the ultimate test, and for the most part it succeeded. The smoke cleared from Web 2.0, and Theilus had a major role in restoring much needed trust and most civility in the land in no small thanks to its built-in Cognitive Behavioral Therapies. For the first time in years, people indeed wanted to take part in making their surroundings better. There was a sense of civic pride which was not foreseen by most.
Upon its own volition, Theilus developed what would come to be known as SUN, the Social Utility Network. It worked as a social network to place citizens in local projects around the communities. Over this period of time, Theilus itself became a popular entity in the eyes of the information media. So one can imagine, when its most recent upgrade happened, people were very interested. And it went off without a hitch.
As the upgrade occurred, a most minute glitch in the system, a data stream corrupted in a part of town not many paid attention to. It was a part of town most had forgotten even existed. This part of town was considered by most as the penal colony just outside the city limits. Home to those who were monitored as part of the nation’s prison reformation initiative. The first of their kind; A Quantified Prisoner.
Between the years that Theilus first came online and its second upgrade, congress and the rest of United States government passes resolutions for mass prison reformation. In a sweeping nation wide program, the prison system turned to data. Prisoners were administered implants. In this Midwest region of the country, Data Prisoners were to work within the forgotten confines of the DPC, Detroit Penal Colony until their sentence was concluded. The data restrictions were commensurate with the degree of their crime… It was a vast sentencing spectrum. High surveillance and management on a bio-metric level.
Of all places for a stream of data to be corrupted, this was the worst. Except, for the man whose sentence was terminated, 13 years shy of its scheduled termination.
Wednesday 3:03:19 pm, Detroit Penal Colony, Detroit
The prisoner was woken up at 5 am, fed a steady amount of nutrients matched to his specific health report, preparing him for what would be a long day working in the fields cultivating much of the organic produce which would eventually make it into the city to help fortify the citizens. Every step closely monitored. Every meal, carefully dedicated to the measured health reports of the prisoner. Were it not a prison sentence, one might welcome the level of quantifiability these prisoners received. Where once upon a prison sentence it was 3 squares and a cot, the Data Prisoner received that and a bit more, the complete monitoring of everything from blood sugar levels to read outs of the oxygenated blood in the brain. Theilus had complete control over the every moment of the Data Prisoners.
After some hours in the field, each prisoner was allotted time for lunch, 30 minutes of “free time” and then they were off to civic duty for several hours. Civic duty came in many forms. For the lucky ones, with lighter sentences, it could mean anything from rubbish clean up to loading and unloading necessary freight containers. For others, with more stern sentences, there was anything from sewage system renewal to underground systems maintenance.
After civic duty commenced, there was a time period which varied for most. It was mandatory for all Data Prisoners to be involved with some form of vocation. Many chose physical fitness as their topic. Still others were given opportunities to learn more on almost any topic they chose. Within certain parameters.
It was during this timeframe which the Data Prisoner in question first noticed something astray. A day like most others. But, no. Except during this portion of his day, he felt a sizzling tingle in his low back. He’d felt this before, though not at this level of intensity. He put down his book and walked to his bathroom. He shot himself a look in the mirror. He recognized himself, of course, but something was off. His (quantified) cell had a quiet he’d not heard for years, ever at that location.
He scratched his chin and made a face in the mirror. His teeth grinded a bit before he motioned to the screen on his left. The screen was blank. He took a deep breath and turned around, facing the towel rack and resting his hands on the sink behind him. This was not right. Still, he thought of his father in a comfortable chair, and the chili his mother used to make. He imagined how life for these walls of data surrounding him. His thoughts rapidly traversed growing up just a few short hours away. In a matter or moments, his synapses were working in overdrive thinking of a specific moment where his life went wrong, and how just one simple choice would’ve made the difference.
He looked again at the screen, still blank. He moved quickly to the kitchen and called the name of Theilus aloud, a rare event in these parts indeed. There was an eerie silence where once there would’ve been at least a blip, beep, or hum, or a voice. The Theilus system was not present. “What in the actual… ?” He thought loudly to himself. He went to the front window and looked out upon the surrounding terrain. There were the others, going about their sentences. Did they too feel something out of place? He could only imagine what was going through the rest of the penal colony collective mind. Again, he called out to the system in an attempt to reconcile any discrepancy which could cost him. OK, he thought, the cameras in his cell must still be functional. One by one, he waved his hands incessantly. There was no response. He slowly noticed that not only was his bathroom screen blank, but every screen within his confines was black. Not a pixel among them glowing.
The prisoner quickly moved to his refrigeration system, and grabbed a branch of broccoli and shoved it in his mouth, then slammed the door with a questionable shove. He chewed hard for five bites and swallowed. Looked around with still anticipation, there was nothing. He reached in again and grabbed the juice which was filled for his morning shift in 7 hours. He began chugging the juice with fervor, dropped the jug, and quietly listened for the slightest alarm of going off protocol with regard to the refrigeration unit. Still nothing. With faster and more reckless movements, the prisoner shoved anything and everything he could see in the unit into his mouth and pockets. He gave the unit a shove and punch, for seemingly no reason. Partly out of anger, partly frustration, and partly to see if any of the sensors would register his movement. Most importantly, would Theilus finally make its presence once again known to tell the prisoner of rising cortisol in his bloodstream? Nothing.
He hit the unit again and nearing unconscious rage started to break anything around him. No unit alarm. No Theilus announcements. No monitors colored with alarming circumstances. No light shift in the housing unit administered to calm prisoners down. There was nothing but blank screens, and a silence he’d not witnessed for some time, and vegetation in his pockets. He knew not what was going on. However, he did know one thing; this was his chance.
Wednesday 3:03:42 pm, Detroit Medical Center, Detroit
Liz was working in the education unit of the children’s hospital. She was helping young Joshua work through his alphabet. He was just about to get his blood monitor implanted that afternoon and Liz was assigned to him as he waited. She gave a quick pat on the head and swallowed hard. That’s interesting, she thought, begrudgingly admitting to herself, she did not feel normal in that moment. And felt more disconnected from her body that usual. She’d silenced her comms … still, she felt the phantom vibrations of their placements. “Hello,” she asked wondering.
Joshua asked his question again. However, it was the third time Joshua asked miss Liz that her attention was again shifted toward the child. Alarmed, she was. And rose to her feet, kissed the child and tapped her totem. A beautiful design she knew since her youth. Opal and purple waves of an emotional ocean.
Liz called a nurse into the room to take over, and said goodbye as she collected her belongings. This was not where Liz needed to be. She exited the facility and walked toward her favorite bench under the oak. She saw her vitals were incredibly healthy. Liz saw that, but still felt otherwise. Report after report, Liz became more and more quantified, running different diagnostics, one by one, her devices chimed in and all was reading normal. She felt something to it beyond her on and off depression.
“Am I on drugs right now, or am I on drugs?” Liz joked internally. Liz had done drugs in her past. She preferred a drink these days. Stouts and other dark beers. She ran thoughts in every conceivable form on her bench. Liz called her aunt to chat, no answer. (If her vitals were to record any alterations in a major way… a local paramedic would respond. So, she COULD call for help with this feeling… ) Liz’ heart rate rose and her blood ran quicker than normal through her body. A chime indicated her blood pressure was on the rise.
Liz took off her device and put it in her bag. Stand, walk. Her thoughts were direct. She stretched a bit. “So fucking weird.” She again activated her communications system. Notified her friend she wouldn’t be coming out. “Depression strikes again,” she quipped. A familiar cohabitant of her human shell. It came on in a wave, seems like normal. This was a bit different she argued with herself. With a tap on her wrist, she hailed a ride to the place where her mother laid in digital preservation.
“Authenticating Access Authority,” a hollow voice mentioned as Liz walked closer . She fought back tears and walked into the darkened room, almost immediately the lights dimmed and the digital apparition of her mother appeared. “Elizabeth Jane Merrill, ...my sweetest girl,” her familiar voice chimed.
Liz was silent. The stored digital representation of her mother understood there was something troubling Liz. “Darling, I’ll love you forever, tell your mother what’s wrong.”
Liz could no longer hold back the tears as streams flowed down her already flush cheeks. She still had trouble interacting with the hologram, even after all these years. In the darkened room, her totem glowed then dimmed again. “Run your youthful program,” Liz requested through a solemn tone. Before her eyes, her mother became roughly the same age as Liz, for some reason this brought a sense of peace to Liz, a mother and friend.
“I had another one….”
Her mother’s voice was only slightly different, same intonation and tone, but a more youthful approach and representation. “You just need to sleep more, honey… we’ve talked about this.”
“This is different. It’s…. I just can’t do it anymore.”
“You need more rest, Elizabeth.”
“It’s Liz now, mom... call me Liz.”
“You need more rest, Liz. You always forget to take a break… you always have.”
Liz interrupted, “Run … 27.”
“Well, when your father and I first met you, you were just shy of 2… Such wide open, wonder in your eyes, just like most children. I wasn’t much older than you are now. We’d known about you for only a few weeks before we were to take you home. You can imagine we had a lot to consider before taking you home. When we signed the paperwork and brought you home for the first night, your father and I didn’t sleep. You did though, the whole night through. Well, your father kept waking you up, which was funny. Do you remember your girlfriend from school? Kelly Simpson… You two were inseparable for so many years. Both of you always had a scrape or some form of bandage, all the time. Tom-boys through and through.”
These familiar stories slowly brought Liz a much needed smile. As her mother continued to talk about the childhood Liz could remember, she composed herself and abruptly halted the transmission.
“I love you, mom.” Liz spoke aloud softly to an empty, dim lit room.
Liz spent the remainder of the evening in her apartment. This was something she rarely had time for between her SUN duties and social life of a late 20-something in the city, she kept a busy schedule and an even busier mind. She stayed in Capital Park, a relatively nice part of town with as many creature comforts as one could desire. The city below was bustling with citizens and vacationers alike. Moving about in a symbiotic fashion. The city needed them to stay vibrantly connected. And in a way, it did. The upgrade to Theilus, while commissioned and planned earlier that afternoon, was an ongoing process. This upgrade just happened to get national attention. Unknown to most, Theilus was learning from human interaction at every waking, and sleeping, moment that humans were on the network… and humans were always on the network.
Even when Liz took off her totem, Theilus system knew nearly every like and dislike she had. Theilus knew her every cycle, often better than she. Energy levels in a day, week, month, and year, for as many years as she’s been on the network. Which is her life. Theilus had deep learning and understanding of Liz. Of course, she was no exception. Everyone in the city was connected. Across the nation, the Theilus system was connection.
“T,” as she called with familiarity, “Play early Detroit Techno.”
“Carl Craig is my favorite, or would you rather hear some DJ Stingray, I know you like that.” Theilus: neutral, calm tone.
“Stingray… but looooow volume.” Liz insisted.
“Is there anything I can help with, Master L?” Theilus followed up: attempt at humor.
Liz simply shook her head side to side. Theilus added for comfort, “You know I’m here.”
Liz acknowledged the notion. She took a long look at her SUN schedule for the coming week. Soon she dozed off as the beat of the music intensified. Theilus faded the lights in her apartment slowly, the sound too was diminished.