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"No, the computer calls us. Or it calls Root; she's got a direct line in her head."

"...Root's the payphone?" Malcolm hazards. This is just getting more confusing. "Hey, if AI tortured you, why do you not mind working for AI but you do mind the Enclosure? Isn't that like getting shot and then being friends with a person who looks just like the shooter but being afraid of guns?"

"I worked for the good AI before I worked for the evil AI," she says, with a shrug. "And I don't hate all robots, or even all virtual stuff. You know those high-end video games you have to wear a headset for? I'd be fine with those."

"Because you're aware of the headset? You know you can take it off?" Malcolm asks.

"I'm aware of what the Enclosure is, and I can walk out anytime I want."

She lets her eyes fall shut.

"The Enclosure looks real, Malcolm. All it is is a reminder that when it comes down to it, real and not real look exactly the same, as long as the tech's good enough and there's someone invested in making them indistinguishable."

“The VR visor looks real, too, though. If it’s not different because it’s easy to remember that it’s fake, then why is it different?” Malcolm asks. “Because you can’t touch the things in it? Is it the failure to engage senses other than sight?”

"VR games are not realistic in the way the Enclosure is," Shaw scoffs. "Have you ever played one?"

“I’m not really a video game guy,” Malcolm tells her. He only even has a television when he specifically wants to watch something. The rest of the time it ascends into the ceiling, hidden. “I hear they’re very… immersive.”

"They're not." She pauses, and then admits, "Okay, I've never actually played a VR game, either. But trust me, they're not like the simulations."

“Okay.” A beat. “So the payphone is Root.”

"Sometimes the payphone is a literal payphone, believe it or not," Shaw says - closing her eyes again, and relaxing a little more. "But Root and the Machine are... they have some kind of weird special thing. Did you know Root's partially deaf?"

“No. I’ve only really talked to her when you’ve been there. Except for when you were in Zero and she stabbed me. I never saw any indications,” Malcolm says.

"One ear's fully dead, and the other's at full strength," Shaw explains. "So it's only noticeable if you approach her from the wrong side. She had a cochlear implant put in, but she never wears the external part of it - I don't think she even has that part of the hardware. At home, all she used it for was to give herself a direct line to the Machine. In her head twenty-four-seven, no off switch, no way a signal jammer can mess with it."

"So the computer was plugged basically right into her brain via her audio receptors? Sounds risky," Malcolm observes dubiously.

"Yeah, uh-- I don't know exactly how it works. But the Machine is-- the term 'Machine' is a misnomer, I guess; it's not tied down to anything physical. It's wireless."

“Like a disembodied consciousness?” Malcolm asks.

She shrugs, something between careless and helpless. Ruminating on the nature of consciousness is Root's forte, not hers.

"Do you actually know anything about AI?"

“I’ve seen I, Robot, like, fifteen times,” he tells her.

So, no.

Yeah, she thought so.

"I haven't even seen it once, so you have a leg up on me."

“Oh, it’s great. An AI gains sentience and decides the only logical way to protect humans from harm is to subjugate them,” Malcolm tells her.

"Yeah, I know the premise. I bet Root has strong opinions on it."

"Yeah? So that's a good conversation topic to bring up?" Malcolm confirms.

"Depending on what your opinions are, she might get mad." Shaw pauses. "You looking to make friends with Root or something?"

"I'm always looking to make friends with everyone," Malcolm points out.

Edited 2024-05-18 02:28 (UTC)

True. Shaw rolls her eyes, making a small sound in the back of her throat.

"Yeah, well, she's not exactly an easy sell."

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