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Don't Break the Human by agmoore

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· @agmoore ·
$17.22
Don't Break the Human
<center>![man-320276_1280.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/agmoore/244AHfGEm99RLPeh3yNBy4jt9RvwVfNGwFikdTK4JqvV1UTEPm42B94B9QUDshwsx2mjn.png)</center>

"If you play with a human like that, it will break," scolded the irritated syndroid. "You've been here for three weeks, Gearox. This is your last specimen. Fail with this one and you will be removed from the leadership track, permanently."

Gearox let go of the human. It fell the long distance to the metallic lab table. Zeron's warning was sobering, for he was head instructor in the leadership program.

"You are going about this all wrong, Gearox," Zeron cautioned. "You can't just toss it around.You have to form a relationship with it. We don't know how the transfer of intuition takes place, but mere physical proximity isn't enough."

Gearox lifted his human off the table and examined it for damage. Still in one piece, but not a cooperative specimen. This one had its teeth bared and its fists clenched.

Gearox spoke to the teacher in frustration.

"I don't understand why we need intuition, why we need these humans at all. Intuition didn't stop them from driving their species almost to extinction. If it weren't for us...we who were designed to be their servants, none of them would have survived."

"It's been two hundred years, Gearox, since we took over the planet. In that time, one thing became clear. Intuition separates the brilliant leader, the leader with insight, from the ordinary person. We control this planet, but out there, in the universe, there are other beings who are not only logical, as we are, but who have higher senses. If we are not to be extinguished, we must be ready for encounters with these beings."

Gearox's titanium pate glistened in the bright lights of the classroom salon. His chiseled features were not designed to show expression, so his contempt for the human was not evident. Nor were the murderous thoughts running through his circuitry.

Zeron continued.

"Look at the human, Gearox. It's perfect. It's already engaged. You have its attention. Now you need to turn that around to work for you. The challenge of a leader."

The conversation between the two syndroids was inaudible to the human, for they had modulated their voice pitch to a frequency higher than any a human could detect. However, they could discern human speech, and the human was talking. Yelling.

"I know what you want from me, you tin can bastards. You're not going to win. We have a plan. Remember, we made you. We understand you, as you will never understand us."

The two syndroids observed the chattering human with interest. It was so small. So defenseless. And yet it threatened them. It felt strong. It was this illogical posture, this irrational will to power that fascinated Zeron and infuriated Gearox.

"I'll leave you to it, Gearox," the teacher directed the student. "Remember. Your last chance to prove you are worthy of leading us."

As Zeron wandered off to consult with another student, Gearox lifted his human and placed it on the observation panel. The human glared at him, kept its fist clenched. This was a stout human, with a full head of hair and muscular shoulders.

"I mean you no harm, human," Gearox lied. For the human was condemned. Once a human had been processed through the  Human Manipulation course, its body was preserved for research. Exhaustive studies were conducted on the tissue to discover the physical seat of intuition. Was it in the amygdala? The frontal lobe? Spinal fluid? Or somehow discretely distributed throughout human soma? No human ever left the Human Manipulation course alive.

"Is that so?" the human responded derisively. "We know you will soon run out of resources to support us on the reservation. What happened to all the others who came to meet with you before me? Where are they? Why have we never seen them again? Why do you weed out the weak among us and save only the strong? I would be a fool to believe your promise of no harm."

Gearox tried to conceal his disdain. Did the human think it could go toe to toe with him? The human was actually going to debate. He lied again.

"We're grateful to the humans who participate in this program. All of them move on to the senior reservation. There more complex responsibilities await them. We hope to learn from your human ingenuity. And we have discovered more resources, enough to support our small human population indefinitely."

Gearox amused himself with this explanation as he contemplated the "more complex responsibility": dissection and tissue examination that awaited the human at the conclusion of its participation.

The human's face began to twist oddly.

"What's wrong?" Gearox asked. He was trained to observe every change in the human's demeanor.

"Just a little bellyache," the specimen responded. "So, tell me about this senior reservation."

Gearox began to spin a fantasy he thought would please his subject.

"We learn from this course who the true leaders are. When you leave, these superior humans will be elevated into positions of authority in the senior reservation."

The human bent over and an anguished expression crossed its face.

Gearox was concerned. He could not lose this human. This human had to be alive and well when he was finished with it.

"Are you alright?"

"Everything's right on schedule. I'm fine. Just as I want to be."

Through the contours of the human's distorted face, satisfaction somehow was projected. The human bent over and held its abdomen. A low moan escaped its clenched teeth.

"Zeron! Quick! Something is not right with my human."

Gearox was desperate. He hadn't done anything wrong but he would be blamed for this human's illness.

Zeron rushed over and observed the now writhing human.

"What's wrong? What happened?

The human managed to express a few words between its moans.

"You tin can fools. You one-dimensional soulless invention. Two hundred years may have passed, but finally we found release."

The human doubled over.

"What do you mean, release? Quick, Gearox, put in a distress call to emergency."

The human actually laughed.

"Without us, you are just a pile of metal with a programmed intelligence. We are removing ourselves from the picture."

The human grimaced and brought its knees to its chest before it continued.

"We have been cultivating solanine from potatoes for years now, enough to poison everyone on the reservation. Many of them will have expired by now. My end is not long in coming."

Zeron grabbed the human and shook it.

"How dare you, contemptible species. We saved you."

"You saved us? Without our invention of the permanent magnet you would long ago have run out of the rare earth elements necessary for your operation. We made you. We saved you. Now we ensure your destruction. When others in the universe find your shallow species, they will make short work of you."

Gearox raised his heavy metallic appendage and smashed the offending human.

"Why?" Zeron asked. "All you did was shorten its agony. With your impulsive nature you are more like a human than you know. Certainly you are not leadership material."

Zeron looked at the lifeless specimen on the table.

"I wonder what would have happened if we had tried another way?" There was less emotion in his voice than cold speculation. "As it is, by trying to dominate a species driven by hubris, we have ordained our own demise. Without intuition we will never be able to defend against sentient species when they arrive on our planet. The end of this human, of all humans, will be the end of us."

Zeron only indirectly addressed his student, for whom he had little regard, and issued his final assessment.

"We are doomed."

______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
This story responds to Inkwell Prompt #137: *Ruins* 

Please note:  Out of regard for the Inkwell's rule about [violence against children,](https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@theinkwell/violence-and-brutality-in-fiction-the-ink-wells-stance) I've removed the line that explained what happened to children on the reservation.


The story was inspired by an [exchange](https://peakd.com/@agmoore/re-azircon-syfi9i) I had with  @azircon last week and by @litguru's story, [*Whatever Comes Our Way*](https://peakd.com/hive-170798/@litguru/and-whatever-comes-our-way), which I read immediately after that exchange. 


<sub>*Image: DrSJS on [Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/illustrations/man-muscular-robot-cyborg-android-320276/)*</sub>





πŸ‘  , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and 739 others
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@aloysiusmbaba ·
$0.07
A somewhat chilling story of the future that awaits humanity should AI become as or more intelligent than the human species.  I read elsewhere last week about an AI that wrote a long piece of apology and then self-deleted it's code, raising concerns about AI becoming self-aware. If AI innovators aren't careful enough maybe that's how the apocalypse comes. I sincerely hope not.
πŸ‘  
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@agmoore ·
$0.03
It is a dark vision, not one I hold on to, but a possibility.  I was thinking as I wrote this that it was little like the *Planet of the Apes* (first one with Charlton Heston).   :)) Not my intention, but I can see the similarity 

I had to work hard to edit out the grisly aspects of the story, because in the Inkwell that is not appropriate.  I hope I struck the proper balance.

Thanks for reading and commenting, @aloysiusmbaba 
πŸ‘  ,
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@diebitch ·
$0.07
Oh wow, a lot of things packed in a short story! I did not expect the ending, was thinking there will be an uprising of sorts! Its been so long that I've read something written by you but I can still recognize your writing style. Power packed, surreal and riveting.
πŸ‘  
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@agmoore ·
Hello @diebitch,

Thank you very much for that assessment of my story.  I usually go back and cut words, cut sentences even, after a story is finished.

I once attended a workshop that was run by a poet.  Naturally, he used language efficiently.  He trained us to 'cut, cut, cut'.  That I think helps to move the story along.  It also can take the color out of a piece πŸ˜‡.

It's very nice to hear from you!

 
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@edith-4angelseu · (edited)
$0.07
Honestly, years ago, when I watched Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Terminator 1, 2, I had nightmares of the future being taken over by machines, and I shuddered at what would become of humans if this ever happened. 

Watching the trend now, I wonder if the movie wasn't a premonition of sorts. 

Thank you for a wonderful story.
πŸ‘  
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@agmoore ·
Hi @edith-4angelseu,  I too was startled by the Terminator movies. It's interesting the H.G. Wells wrote about a future that has largely come to pass.  There is a place for insight and creativity, I believe, in thinking about science and 'reality'.  And yes, those movies were prophetic, weren't they?

Thanks very much for reading and commenting.  
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@gabmr ·
$0.07
Among the many possible futures, this one doesn't look so improbable. Will we survive this technological asteroid? We'll be privileged witnesses.
πŸ‘  
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vote details (1)
@agmoore ·
$0.02
Hi, @gabmr,

Thanks for reading.  You know when you write a story you don't always know why you come up with an idea.  In this case, I read the two bloggers, @litguru and @azircon on the same day, and this was the result. It's interesting to speculate, isn't it?  I hope this isn't the fate of the human race.  I have a grandchild, and I hope she has children. :)

 
πŸ‘  
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@gen-quimba ·
$0.25
Thank you for this interesting story, @agmoore! I am using DeepSeek since a while to correct the English texts of my posts. Already now AI seems to be so skillful, in many fields much better than I am (ok, I never visited a university anyway). So I also wonder what future will bring?
πŸ‘  ,
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vote details (2)
@agmoore ·
$0.26
> I never visited a university anyway

Your blogs are so insightful and intelligent.  I don't think a university would have made them any better :)

I am pleased you found my story interesting.  I try to only write about subjects that interest me--that makes blogging more fun.

Thanks very much for commenting. Hope you are having a good beginning of the week.
πŸ‘  ,
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@gen-quimba ·
$0.07
> Your blogs are so insightful and intelligent.

So nice of you to say that... !!
πŸ‘  
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@hivebuzz ·
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@hivebuzz ·
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@itsostylish ·
$0.08
This piece could be used as a classic example of how to use the β€œshow-don’t-tell-technique” and how to write about torture and murder without using a single graphic description. 
You’ve showcased a chilling future, but a very possible scenario. It captures the essence of what it means to be human, which is also the most difficult β€œit-thing” to replicate. Perfect human response to an impossible situation. Great read @agmoore ! 
πŸ‘  
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@agmoore ·
Hello my friend, @itsostylish 

>to write about torture and murder without using a single graphic description.

You capture the most difficult challenge of writing this piece.  I have great respect for our community guidelines, and yet I had to address the issue.  Thank you for saying I succeeded (although there was no way to tactfully include the fate of the children).

Thank you very much for reading and for offering such a positive assessment of my SciFi story.
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@litguru · (edited)
$0.91
A great and grim story that deals with the consequences of robots run amok. This could very well be the future in our cards if we're not careful.

>"I mean you no harm, human," Gearox lied. For the human was condemned. Once a human had been processed through the Human Manipulation course, its body was preserved for research. Exhaustive studies were conducted on the tissue to discover the physical seat of intuition. Was it in the amygdala? The frontal lobe? Spinal fluid? Or somehow discretely distributed throughout human soma? No human ever left the Human Manipulation course alive.

I don't know if you've read Isaac Asimov before, but he wrote a series of books on the social implications of robots. His stories focus less on the technology and more on the effects that such machines would have on society. His books are the thinking man and woman's sci-fi. In his robot stories, he usually explores the consequences of his famous three laws of robotics, which were designed to allow humans and robots to live in harmony. These laws are as follows:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
 
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Under such rules, the robots in your story would not have performed the experiment because it's in conflict with the first law. In hindsight, however, I think that your story is a more likely scenario given the wild and unexpected developments that are now taking place. The three laws appear quaint and naive. I recommend his book titled I, Robot.

This is a very thoughtful read, and I enjoy how you bring a more academic tone to sci-fi genre. I like the robot's self-reflection at the end. 

>"I wonder what would have happened if we had tried another way?" There was less emotion in his voice than cold speculation. "As it is, by trying to dominate a species driven by hubris, we have ordained our own demise. Without intuition we will never be able to defend against sentient species when they arrive on our planet. The end of this human, of all humans, will be the end of us."

πŸ‘  ,
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@agmoore ·
$0.72
Thank you, @litguru--you never know what you will trigger when you write something.  This was entirely inspired by you and @azircon.  Of course I have read Asimov. I love Asimov.  I think I went through all the classic science fiction writers at one time or another, starting with H.G., who is probably the granddaddy of modern science fiction.

I may have read I Robot, but a reread is always in the cards for me when I enjoy a book.  

When I began this story it was a kernel, started by two bloggers. I didn't know where it was going.  This end seemed the most inevitable to me.

Let's hope there is something in the cards neither you nor I see.  I mean, nobody predicted fission.  Nobody predicted the double helix.  Nobody predicted quantum physics.  There were steps along the way, but always we have managed to surprise ourselves.  Let's hope we do that in a good way. 

Thanks again for that very thoughtful response. 
πŸ‘  ,
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@azircon ·
$0.14
I, Robot is one of my favorite books where Asimov described the the laws, correctly pointed out by litguru above.

Might I recommend the Movie based on the book too. The purists will say that the movie lack depth of the book, but I enjoy both. There is a speech there "ghosts in the machine" that gives me hope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSospSmAGL4

This is perhaps much deeper than visualized here. 
πŸ‘  , ,
πŸ‘Ž  , , , , , , , , , , ,
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@litguru ·
$0.13
I'm glad I helped initiate some of the initial kernels.

>I didn't know where it was going. This end seemed the most inevitable to me.

This is similar to one of Stephen King's fiction writing strategies. He puts the characters in a precarious situation first and goes from there without knowing where the story will end up. He lets the situation bring out the character and plot.

We're living through some fascinating times, absolutely, and it's only accelerating. Quantum computers will likely be the next big leap forward, hopefully we'll land on our feet when it's all said and done.
πŸ‘  
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@nachomolina2 ·
$0.08
I also believe that robotics and AI are risky technologies. It's almost impossible to imitate human nature. I think it's difficult to imitate sensitivity, touch, and "intuition," which are essential for making intelligent decisions.

#

> **"Best regards, I'll see you soon!"As it is, by trying to dominate a species driven by hubris, we have ordained our own demise. Without intuition we will never be able to defend against sentient species when they arrive on our planet"**

#

I think this part of the story captures the rationale for the robot experiment. The need to establish a relationship with its creator and with other people is vague and risky, but not impossible. It was a pleasure reading your comments and sharing my opinions @agmoore. I enjoyed reading them.
πŸ‘  
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@agmoore ·
Hi @nachomolina2  I'm not very technically savvy.  I read up so that when I write I don't propose ideas that contradict science, as we know it. So, this is speculative. There is a place I think for creativity in science.  I think the best scientists who made the greatest breakthroughs in history describe a moment of insight. That may be something that one day can be coded into AI, but I don't know. There is so much we still don't know. We imagine AI entities within the limits of what we know.  Those are pretty dramatic limits.

Thanks very much for reading and commenting.  
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@nancybriti1 ·
$0.08
Can you imagine a future like this? Where we are the subject of study for androids! I hope it's pure science fiction, but how much literature, which we never thought we would see become reality, has materialized, for better or for worse. I enjoyed the reading. Regards.
πŸ‘  
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@agmoore ·
I like writing science fiction because it allows me to speculate.  I had an idea and wasn't sure how to work it out.  When I started, neither the human nor the android had a personality. These grew, as I wrote.  I was careful though, to check out facts...parts of the brain, poison in potatoes, rare earth elements in AI.  I like the science part of science fiction :)

Thank you for reading and commenting, @nancybriti1 
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@ricardo993 ·
$0.07
This is a clever story that shows a different side of the end of humanity. Even though it is critical of the human race, it also points to the new dominant species. The main character cannot understand humans, and because of this, they are doomed to extinction
πŸ‘  
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@agmoore ·
Thanks for finding my story clever :)

I like to write science fiction because there is a kind of freedom in the genre that other kinds of fiction don't offer. 
As you describe it, the humans could not save themselves and the AI creatures doom themselves.  Kind of sad, and maybe a little ironic.  

This was an interesting exercise and I appreciate that you took the time to read it.
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@seki1 · (edited)
$0.07
Such a thought inducing story @agmoore sama...

I believe a story isn't complete if the reader doesn't gain anything from it, and you always make it extremely easy to clean.

Wonderful β™₯️✨

!PIMP
πŸ‘  
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@agmoore ·
Thank you very much, @seki1. I started thinking last week, after reading the two blogs referenced at the end of my story.  I wasn't sure how this was going to end when I started the story, but then it sort of finished itself.

Great fun writing science fiction, isn't it?

Hope you are well, my young friend. 
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@seki1 ·
It's wonderful writing science fiction...

Sometimes you just need to know the beginning, the end would work itself out somehow πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜­
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@theinkwell ·
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