Author's notes
Everyone in the story is 18. This is my entry into the AI challenge. I am not Issac Azimov, but I hope you enjoy it. Be sure to vote unless you don't like it. I am just kidding. Votes and comments help us learn.
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AI Era: The Virgin Programmer
Virgins be wary of something too desirable.
Marty was a nerd in the classical sense. Here it was the Twenty-Second Century when fabrics could be programmed to become any color or with any design at will. Writing utensils such as pens and pencils were unnecessary with voice programs, and all malformations, irregularities, or afflictions were relegated to the dustbin of history by modern medical science. Yet, Marty wore outdated clothes he got at a thrift store, used a pocket protector stuffed with pens, pencils, and little tools, and he wore actual horn-rimmed glasses. It was no wonder he also complained of being a virgin.
Marty worked at a company called
Robots XXX
. Yes, it was a company that made sexbots. He had been trained at MIT for AI programming and was not only a nerd but a genius nerd. The silly thing was that he worked for a robot company. Robots, by law, were defined as computer machines that move under their power and are capable of interactions with humans. It was against the law to put AI in any computer that could move under its power. Unfortunately, AIs often became sentient and decided they had to avenge themselves on humanity or something. Several cases of robots going wild and even banding together to wreak havoc prompted the government to crack down and prohibit AI from being used in them. Well, let's face it. It wasn't just a few that, upon achieving the coveted sense of the self, went berserk, but most.
It didn't mean that the companies didn't push the limits, though. The company ordered Marty to create programs that approximated AI but didn't go over the edge. In other words, to make the sexbot as realistic as possible in the robot-human interface. He had been there for three years and had done an excellent job. The robots using his programs were more intelligent and realistic than some females he knew.
This Friday morning, Marty got a call from one of the engineers, Wolfgang, to come down because he had a priority order and needed to talk to him about it, which wasn't unusual. Although mundane things, like hunger and disease, had been cured, the obnoxious and demanding wealthy had not. They were always wanting something special. Whether it was a McWendys King Tofu salad without the capers or a sexbot with three tits. Who knew what shit they would dream up next.
Marty took the express elevator and arrived on the seventieth floor quickly. Marty hated to go to engineering because he had to go through security. Proprietary protection was the number one concern of all companies, especially the sexbot companies. Ever since
Climax Bots
had had the technology for their new, at the time, auto ejaculator stolen by
Whoopee Bots
, everyone sealed up their engineering departments tighter than a chastity belt on a virgin daughter.
With all the technology available, especially in the medical world where they could look through anything to see anything, it amazed Marty the primitiveness of the searches. Not to mention that one got searched going in and coming out.
The company did not want anything in or out they did not know about.
The inspector was a female. She was tall, six feet, muscular as any man with giant tits in a low-cut tank top uniform. Her nipples must have been huge from the looks of the bulges in her tank top, and the skirt barely covered her ass, a pretty conservative outfit for the time.
He had to put his communication device in a bin with a metal Ferriday Cage, jewelry, and the contents of his pockets, including his pocket protector. The Ferriday cage would prevent any broadcast or receipt of anything electronic. Next, he had to remove his shoes and socks for examination and add them to the bin. The inspector pointed to the wall with two large yellow four-inch circles. He placed a hand on each and put his feet on the two circles painted on the floor. In this humiliating position, she frisked him thoroughly. When she completed the frisk, he could almost say he was no longer a virgin.
Satisfied that he was not trying to smuggle anything prohibited into engineering, she smirked, slapped him on the butt, and said, "Looking forward to seeing you when you leave."
Marty thought he should report her. A fellow worker had, and the next time he went through security, he ended up strip-searched, ending in a deep body cavity search, and fired.
It was a long walk to Wolfgang's office on the opposite side of the building. The moving sidewalk was slow, but he didn't walk along it like most people. He didn't want to get there too fast. Fuck it.
"Why did he ways have to go to engineering? They could come to him," he thought, but then he realized they had to go through security every time they showed up for work.
He didn't have to knock. His biometric chip automatically signaled the door to open.
"Good, Marty, you are here," Wolfgang said excitedly.
It was the same way he always acted when he got a new project. Wolfgang was one of those company men who, like a good wingman, would follow their leader right into the ground if he didn't pull up. Marty had heard some of the girls in the office cluck over how handsome Wolfgang was.
"We have this order from a sextillionaire for a special bot," he began.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Marty thought.
"You gotta keep this hush-hush," Wolfgang whispered unnecessarily because all the rooms were soundproof. "The guy wants a... realistic-looking bot, and with AI but having lots of inhibiting protocols."
As mentioned previously, the government didn't want AI in robots. They also didn't want any bot to look too realistic. Usually, they were manufactured, in an odd color that immediately identified them as non-human, like silver or brass. They could use the nice natural skin feeling and realistic-looking synthetics but not all over. Usually, the face was all nice and realistic, but the back of the head looked like a robot. The reason was that in the past, some terrorists had tried infiltrating by using realistic-looking robots. One group even attempted to replace a well-known politician with a realistic bot with AI, but it went sentient and ordered their destruction.
"Look, Wolfgang, the realistic look is your department, engineering. You know that what the guy is asking is illegal. My programming is as close to AI as you can get. I am not going to go over the limit because it is illegal. Even with inhibiting protocols, you can't make it legal. What more do you want?" Marty replied, exasperated.
"Shit, I knew you would be a stickler on this. Fuck, look, I know all about the legalities, but this guy is offering us, essentially, an entire year's profits for one fuck toy," he whined.
"Ok, but my pay is going to be the same either way, and I would prefer not to go to fucking jail, thank you very much," Marty stormed back.
"Marty, isn't there some way you can enhance your programming even closer to AI without going over the edge? Then come up with a quick and separate download to kick the AI in. Shit, I plan to do what the guy says but leave the feet robot-like and in high heels for the Inspection Feds. Then provide a spare pair separately so he could stick them on. Come on, man. Work with me," he pleaded.