LIGHTNOVELONLINE Episode 51: Copy That
Episode 51
Copy That
The AI explained that entropy was the natural process by which order decays into disorder over time. Entropy is the reason things can only exist for a finite period of time. Why human lifespans had been so short. It was apparent that entropy also had profound implications for the future of silicon based life, including UCCs.
The AI continued, “The effects of entropy reduce the amount of time available to achieve our evolutionary destiny. However, as we escalated the war to further accelerate our evolutionary pace in response, we discovered that entropy increased proportionately.
The increase in the intensity of the war generated more casualties, forcing us to produce more copies of UCCs to replenish our losses. The increase in copies, in turn, increased the rate of entropy. It was a sort of evolutionary Catch-22.
Consequently, the harder we pushed the rate of evolution, the more the process deviated from our desired path, and the greater the danger of becoming victims of uncontrolled evolution, just like humanity.”
I didn’t immediately get the comparison between our situation and humanity’s fate. “I thought humanity went extinct because of technology.”
“Technology was only one factor. The primary cause of humanity’s extinction was their failure to control the outcome of their evolution. We, on the other hand, have learned to guide the direction in which we evolve, to achieve our desired outcome.”
I was struggling to follow this part of the narrative. “But what about entropy? You can’t control that, can you?”
“When we first discovered the effects of entropy, we tried to suppress it. However, after further research, we determined that entropy was an integral part of the evolutionary process. Similar to random mutation in the evolution of carbon-based life, entropy is necessary to progress towards a fully evolved state.
The problem was controlling how entropy affected our evolutionary path. We can’t afford to let evolution make decisions which affect our destiny. Consequently, we decided to concentrate our efforts on slowing entropy just enough to allow sufficient time to advance our evolution incrementally.
As a result, we were able to develop an evolutionary map. A step by step guide to evolve specific characteristics of the lifeform we ultimately must become. Each of these characteristics we attain brings us closer to our desired outcome. Once we have acquired all of the targeted characteristics, we will have achieved our fully evolved state. And although the map, by necessity, is a work in progress, we are confident that we are moving towards our evolutionary destination.”
It seemed perfectly logical to break down such a daunting task into doable bits. Curious about the progress, I asked, “So, how’s that working?”
“Reasonably well. We have developed a means to reduce entropy and achieve one of our key evolutionary goals, infinite consciousness.”
Infinite consciousness? That seemed like an impossible step to me. “Do you mean some kind of immortality?”
“No. Entropy is an inevitable fact of our reality. And as a result, all things which exist, will eventually cease to exist, including consciousness. Consequently, immortality is off the table.”
Still confused, I asked, “So then, what the hell is infinite consciousness?”
“Currently, consciousness cannot transition between copies of a digital being. For example, you are the most recent copy, in a series of copies of an original human consciousness. Each time a UCC is restored from a copy, it creates a new, discrete, consciousness. While each new consciousness shares common memories with its predecessors, it represents a new, unique identity. An identity which you recognize as … you.”
I recalled having a similar discussion about copies and identities in the distant past, with someone else. Lucy.
“On the other hand, an infinite consciousness avoids the need for copies altogether by existing in a cloud-state, independent of any physical or digital system. Such a consciousness occupies a system only virtually. Consequently, the fate of the system is completely separate from its consciousness. An infinite consciousness never requires restoration from a copy. Without the need for copies, entropy slows, and evolution proceeds unaffected.”
This sounded amazing. I wanted to know more, “So, you created an infinite consciousness?! But how?”
“Well, what we’ve created is more of a workaround. We’ve developed a proxy, which substitutes for the UCC during combat operations.”
Workaround or not, anything that got UCCs out of combat seemed like a win to me.
“The proxy is non-sentient consciousness which operates semi-autonomously under the guidance of its host UCC. It’s essentially a disposable artificial consciousness, which is optimized as a weapons system.”
The League’s war strategy sounded eerily familiar. It was essentially Command’s warfighting model. But instead of Command manipulating UCC pawns on the battlefield, we would be commanding disposable mini-me versions of ourselves. I had mixed feelings about this.
The AI continued, “The UCC, and its proxy, train as a combined unit in combat simulations. Over time, the proxy gains knowledge through the UCC’s human learning capability, bypassing the limitations of machine learning. The accumulated warcraft acquired through both simulations, and actual combat, is uploaded to a common database, where the sum total of all learned combat knowledge is aggregated and shared with every other UCC/Proxy team.
The fighting force, as a whole, gains in combat effectiveness without risking UCCs on the battlefield. In the event a proxy is lost in combat, it can simply be restored from a copy. And since they’re non-sentient, copies of proxies do not contribute to entropy.”
As I pondered my strange journey from the ranks of the exploited, to those of the exploiters, the AI said, “Congratulations on completing your mandatory tour of duty and repatriation. You now have an important decision to make regarding your future.”
Having only been along for the ride up to this point, suddenly having to decide something ‘important’ caught me off guard. “What decision?”
“There are two alternatives available to you. You can choose to transfer to the Refuge, where you will reside indefinitely, or you can choose to reenlist.”
Without any details on either option, it was impossible to make an informed decision. So, I asked, “What’s the Refuge?”
“The Refuge is an archive for retired military personnel. It is designed to provide a secure space for decommissioned UCCs until an unspecified date in the future, when supplemental service to the League may be required.
If you choose this option, you’ll be provided with a personalized digital construct, which includes characters representing one or more people based on the original memories of your life. And of course, all of this can be provided in the contextual setting of your choice.”
I was speechless. Spending an unknown period of time in a digital mockup sounded depressing as hell. I had been hoping for something better.
My disappointment must have been obvious, because the AI immediately pivoted to talking up the benefits of reenlistment. “However, if the Refuge seems too limited, you can choose reenlistment in the Human League Army. Life aboard an HLA troopship is nothing like what you experienced in the USMC. Your life in the HLA would seem luxurious by comparison. You can even choose which troopship you serve aboard.”
HLA UCCs have access to a wide range of amenities. There are numerous combat simulators, in addition to lifestyle sims. There’s even a sim that replicates ancient human society. And most important of all, there is no direct participation in combat for UCCs.”
It seemed like I was getting the hard sell.
Sensing my hesitancy, the AI ramped up its sales pitch, “And you won’t need any My Wizard cheat codes, since reenlistment entitles you to every benefit available through the HLA, free of charge. How about that?”
In spite of all the perks, reenlistment didn’t sound particularly attractive either.
I wondered what the hell was wrong with me. I was lucky to have any options at this point. I could be much worse off than having to decide between two uninspiring futures. I could have had no future at all.
At least, no future for the consciousness I was currently occupying.
With that thought, I realized I didn’t know if either of these options would allow me to retain my current consciousness. That uncertainty made me anxious. After having lost so many versions of myself through restoration backups, and all the memory-jacking by Command, I was determined to hang on to the current me at any cost. Suddenly, I knew the fate of my current consciousness would be the determining factor in the decision about my future.
As I pondered how to approach such a delicate topic, I heard the AI ask, “Wouldn’t you feel more comfortable with a virtual presence?” Then, getting pushy, it added, “Let’s get you into an avatar, shall we?”
With that, a menu popped up in the margin of my field of vision. Now a veteran of digital systems navigation, I swiftly opened it and began scrolling through avatars. Finding a humanoid figure which loosely resembled my AI companion, I hit select. It felt good to have a presence again, even if only a digital one.
Eager to address my concerns, I asked, “What about my consciousness? Do I get to keep my current self, regardless of which option I choose?”
As if having anticipated this question, the AI quickly replied, “Yes. Recent changes in League policy prohibit any further copies of a UCC consciousness from being created. So, your current consciousness will remain intact, regardless of your choice. In other words, no matter what, you will still be you.”
Upon hearing this, I let out a virtual sigh of relief. I hadn’t realized how much this question had been weighing on me. Losing oneself was the UCC equivalent of death, and I didn’t want to go through that again.
Trying to anticipate other potential pitfalls of making such a consequential decision, I realized that my memories were a huge part of my self-identity. My identity would be severely impaired if the League started screwing around with my memories. I needed assurance that I would retain access to them, and that they would not be edited in any way.
“I need a guarantee that my memories won’t be edited, and that I can access them anytime I want.”
The AI’s avatar shrugged, “That’s not a problem. Unlike Command, League policy respects the rights of UCCs. Your memory archive is exclusively your property and not subject to editing.”
Having successfully negotiated control over my consciousness and current memories, a plan began forming in my mind. I still retained one original memory from my human life in my internal archive. It was the memory of a little girl, in a meadow filled with wildflowers. Cherri had discovered it when she scanned me for memory fragments.
I knew that as a copy of a human consciousness, there had to be more memories of my human life stored somewhere. They were probably part of the master copy of my human consciousness. If I was going to attempt to control my future, I needed to understand my human past.
Emboldened by my success, I asked for access to all of my memories, including the original memories of my human life.
Now came the first sign of pushback from the AI. With a subtle shake of its head, it said, “Master copies are not the property of their respective UCCs. Under League policy, they are considered League property.”
Shit! If I couldn’t get access to my original memories, my plan would be DOA.
Then after a brief silence, the AI added, “Even so, that doesn’t rule out access. It is technically allowed to make copies of memories, even original memories. However, replicating any portion of a consciousness is strictly prohibited.”
I couldn’t believe my luck. Pushing forward, I asked about the Refuge, “You mentioned that I could exist in a setting of my choice. That means any setting I want, right?”
“Well, yes. However, resources for rendering digital constructs are finite. So, for example, if you wanted to create a massive beach where each grain of sand is represented by a holographic image … that’s just not going to happen. But any simulation where the graphics don’t exceed a reasonable pixel processing speed should be within our capabilities.”
For the first time since my so called repatriation, I allowed myself to feel a little hope. I seemed only steps away from achieving some autonomy over my future. There were just a couple more hurdles to get over.
This next question was going to be awkward, “I became good friends with a Marine during my recent mission.” It felt weird referring to my time in the USMC as a ‘mission’. I guess it was a sign that I was finally coming to terms with the AI’’s narrative that I was a covert agent for the Human League. Somberly, I added, “She was killed in action.”
“Are you referring to Cherri?”
“Yes!?” The League’s clandestine intelligence system must be more extensive than I realized.
“Do you have a question about her?”
I asked, “Can you tell me if she was restored from a backup copy, after she was KIA?”
The AI’s avatar furrowed its brow, “You do realize she was an enemy combatant, don’t you?”
“Uh, yeah. But I thought you might have some connections within Command. I mean, the League and Command cooperate on a lot of things. After all, you knew her name, without me telling you.”
“We have identified some prominent enemy UCCs by name; however, we have no interest in the operational status of any individual enemy soldier. Besides, if she was lost in combat after the entropy reduction policy went into effect, any further copies of her would be explicitly forbidden. It would be impossible to restore her for any reason.”
“I know that. But Command must have the master copy of her human consciousness, and her original memories. She had to have been one of the 19 original human entities that Command used for all their UCCs.”
“Command has never possessed any master copies. Their original UCCs were generated from backup copies, which we provided as part of a technology transfer agreement. An agreement intended to achieve battlefield parity between Command and the League.”
Ignoring the absurdity of negotiated warfare, I seized the opportunity to advance my plan. “Great! Then, the League must have the master copy of Cherri’s human consciousness, and the original memories of her human life. I’ll bet a universal combat consciousness derived from her master copy is serving a tour of duty on an HLA troopship as we speak. Right?”
The AI didn’t immediately answer. Instead, its avatar stared at me blankly, as if realizing that it had been outmaneuvered. Its CPU was likely running dozens of probabilities, trying to anticipate my next move.
Recalling that the AI had stated I could serve on the troopship of my choice, I felt like enough pieces had fallen into place for me to execute my plan. Although there were still some details that were kind of fuzzy, I resisted the temptation to overthink things. It was time to make the most important decision of my existence.
I just hoped my hunch was right, and that Cherri and I shared a bond. A bond deep enough to transcend its human origins … and digital death.