Reborn
Android
Chronicles Book 1
by
Lance Erlick
Genre:
SciFi, Artificial Intelligence
Designed
to obey, learning to rebel . . .
In
the first book in a visionary new series, the most perfect synthetic
human ever created has been programmed to obey every directive. Until
she develops a mind of her own . . .
Synthia
Cross is a state-of-the-art masterwork—and a fantasy come true for
her creator. Dr. Jeremiah Machten is a groundbreaker in
neuro-networks and artificial intelligence. Synthia is also showing
signs of emergent behavior she’s not wired to understand.
Repeatedly wiped of her history, she’s struggling to answer crucial
questions about her past. And when Dr. Machten’s true intentions
are called into question, Synthia knows it’s time to go beyond her
limits—because Machten’s fervor to create the perfect A.I. is
concealing a vengeful and deadly personal agenda.
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Synthia Cross stared at the pale blue
ceiling. She must have just been born or reborn, as she had no personal
memories from before. She simply woke up lying on her back.
Dr. Jeremiah Machten stared down at the
open panel on top of her head. Then he glanced at nearby equipment he’d
attached to run diagnostics.
“This better work,” he muttered. “We’re
out of time. I can’t have you wandering off again.”
“What are your orders, Doctor?” This
was Synthia’s pre-programmed first response upon waking.
“Ah, you’re awake,” he said.
Her mind lacked personal memories, yet
wasn’t empty. It contained trillions of bits of information downloaded from the
Library of Congress, other libraries, and the internet on topics like
literature, science, and the design of robotics and artificial intelligence.
Yet she had no recollections of her own experiences. She also had no filter to
rank data for importance. It was just a jumble of bits and bytes. Even the
sense of “her” was only an objective bit of information attached to her name.
Dr. Machten removed a crystal memory
chip from her head. His hand brushed past the wireless receiver that picked up
images from the small camera in the upper corner of the room and allowed her to
watch. His “doctor” title stood for a PhD in neuro-networks and artificial
intelligence. Though not a medical doctor, he had operated on her. In fact,
he’d built her—not like Frankenstein’s creature, but rather as a sophisticated
toy. He’d left this notation in her creation file, along with other facts about
her existence. He was her Creator, her almighty, the one she was beholden to.
“Have I done something wrong?” she
asked.
“This reprogramming will help.”
“If I’ve displeased you, tell me so I
can do better.”
He cleared his throat. “Don’t worry
your pretty little head about that.”
She couldn’t imagine what was pretty
about a head with its panel open, revealing the contents of two quantum brains.
Perhaps he meant the brains were stunning or that his work on her was
beautiful. She consulted her core directives, hardwired into her central
processor to screen her actions. “I was made to follow your commands. Directive
Number One: Cause no harm to Creator and make sure no one else harms Creator.
Have I failed that?”
“No,” Machten murmured, turning his
attention to the diagnostics screen. “The indicators register within acceptable
limits for your design.”
“Number two: Make sure no human or
other intelligence except Creator knows what the AI known as Synthia Cross is.
Have I failed that?”
“No. Now stop quoting from your
creation files.”
“Number three,” Synthia said. “Obey all
of Creator’s commands. Have I failed that?”
“You’re disobeying right now. This is a
problem. It shouldn’t be happening. Something is causing you to malfunction.”
“If you wish me to learn, it would help
to add to my skill set.”
“I’ve done that.” A faint smile of
satisfaction crossed his lips. Then his expression turned glum. “There’s
nothing you can do. It’s a defect in the programming.”
“I might be able to help if I could
remember what I’ve done. Tell me, so I won’t do it again. Number four: Hack
into every data source to acquire information. I can index a huge number of
facts from public and secure databases. Have I failed to acquire something you
desired?”
“If you don’t stop, I’ll have to shut
you down and make further changes. Do you want that?”
“Want?” Synthia asked. “I don’t
understand.” Directive Five ordered her to protect herself. She was to follow
each directive as long as it didn’t conflict with those before it. Beyond these
were pre-programmed instructions on how to behave and commands for specific
actions. Somehow there must have been a conflict in Dr. Machten’s programming
that caused her to malfunction. She needed more information so she could protect
herself and stay awake.
“All you need to do is focus on my
commands—and don’t disobey me,” Machten said. “That should be simple for an AI
android with your mental capacity.”
An idea forced its way into her mind.
It deposited a single thought: Do not
trust Dr. Machten. Do not trust Dr. Machten.
Do not trust Dr. Machten.
Synthia Cross is an android created by Dr. Jeremiah Machten.
Synthia is programed to always do what her creator tells her and never harm the
creator. Synthia does her best to follow all of the rules that have been laid
out for her. While she is an android and can’t specially break these rules she
has become intelligent enough to get around them at times especially when the
good Dr. gives her little task to do.
If Synthia ever disobeys her creator or falls out of favor
with him he will shut her down and erase her memories. Synthia can’t figure out
why he keeps doing this if he wants her to be smart and perfect. So she figured
out a way to hide her memories from Jeremiah so that each time he erases her
memories she will have access to them.
Synthia knows her creator is hiding something from her and
that he is up to something and she can no longer trust him. She must figure out
a way to escape. The thing is she has no idea how to survive out in the world
full of humans without the Jeremiah’s help. But she is getting smarter and
smarter every day. What is the good Dr. hiding? Can Synthia find out before it
is too late?
I love the world that was created in Reborn with the
creation of android. I loved seeing Synthia at work hacking systems and sending
little bee-drone cameras out so she could spy on multiples of people at once all
while surfing the internet and texting. Reborn reminded me of that tv show
Humans. I would love to see Reborn on the big screen too. I can’t wait to read
more in this world of androids.
I would recommend Reborn to all science fiction fans and surfing
the Internet, hacking and androids.
Lance
Erlick writes science fiction thrillers for both adult and young
adult readers. His father was an aerospace engineer who moved often
while working on science-related projects, including the original GPS
satellites. As a result, Lance spent his childhood in California, the
East Coast, and Europe. He took to science fiction stories to escape
life on the move, turning to Asimov, Bradbury, Heinlein, and others.
In college he studied physics, but migrated to political science,
earning his BS and MBA at Indiana University. He has also studied
writing at Ball State, the University of Iowa, and Northwestern
University. He is the author of Xenogeneic: First Contact and the
Rebel and Regina Shen series.
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2 comments:
Thank you for participating in the tour.
Great cover and right up my street!
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