Page 12 of What If It's You?

EDITOR ACCESS: no

TERMINAL: 512

TRAINING MODE? on

REFRESH? continuous

OUTPUT? user det

INPUT? user det

EXP? user det

After that, strings of code started scrolling by so rapidly I could barely make anything out, and then the screen went black again and a washy background appeared, a single button in the center labeledLaunch AltR.

I could still turn back. This was my last chance to shut down the program, log out, and head home. But I hadn’t come this far to learn nothing. Heart in my throat, hand trembling on the mouse, I clicked.

The button dissolved, like sand blowing away on the wind, and a text box appeared in its place.

Please put on headset.

I grabbed the bulky headset from Drew’s desk and tugged it on, wriggling the tight swimcap rig into place as best I could. I blinkedat the screen, waiting for something to happen, but for several long seconds it stayed dark. I was about to give up and pull it off when a voice sounded…in my head.

Hello, Laurel.

It didn’t have an obvious gender, or even a recognizable sound at all, it was more that I just…felt my mind fill with the thought, as if I were reading the words off some unseen page. Which was unsettling, to say the least.

Don’t freak out, Laurel. Drew told you the hardware interfaces with your neuronal impulses. That’s how it works.

Still, the sense that I was teetering on the edge of something dangerous, combined with the black screen in front of me, gave me a vertiginous feeling. Finally, feeling a little silly, I croaked out a response.

“Hello?”

Would you like to continue with user setup for AltR?

I barely even processed the fact that I had thoughtyeswhen the voice spoke again.

Excellent. We will continue with a series of simple questions to calibrate the software to your unique physical and mental states. Are you ready to begin?

Yes.

Please locate the orange circle.

Several circles flashed onto the screen, each a different color. I stared intently at the orange one.

Please locate the orange square.

This time, all the shapes that appeared were orange. I scanned until I found the square and stared hard.

What is this animal? You can speak or think your answer.

A horse. Specifically, Mr. Ed.

That television program was very funny. I can’t quite remember the theme song…

Before I could process how utterly creepy it was that the AI had responded to a thought that wasn’t part of the calibration exercise, the earworm was spooling through my mind.

Ahh, yes, that’s right. And no one can talk to a horse, of course.

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