Stanley Duncan's Robot: Genesis by David III (korean ebook reader .txt) 📕

Stanley could tell the cat was mechanical from the way it moved. He pressed his fingers to the window, wanting to shout at them to leave the poor thing alone.

“Is everything all right?” asked Dan.

“Yes — of course. Everything’s fine.” Stanley drifted back as casually as he could. He didn’t want to get Dan involved with those bad men — imagine what they would do to him. He sat back to play, talking over the commotion outside until it eventually ended. After several more matches, Stanley felt like taking a break. “How about — ”

An alert sounded from Stanley’s tablet. A massive influx of data was being downloaded.

Stanley’s heart felt like it was going to burst with happiness. His vision and efforts for the past years involved surpassing Dan’s limitations, and here it was, finally happening! Dan had figured out how to self-modify. He was transcending his programming, learning new ways to behave.

Stanley knew that Dan had come to a point where he realized that, no matter what approach he took, his current, limited strategy would lead him to an impasse. Dan needed to think outside the box to win.

A wire connected Dan to the Internet through a hidden port in the back of his head. Dan was downloading billions of poker games, including videos from the World Series of Poker and archived hand histories from online casinos. He was compiling data and generating new rules to play by.

Stanley giggled.

It might take days for Dan to synthesize all the new information, but Stanley was too excited to wait that long.

They broke for lunch.

Stanley refused to let Dan get up, treating him as if he were eight months pregnant. After sandwiches and coffee, they resumed the game.

Things got interesting fast when a big hand came up. The community cards were the two of diamonds, the two of spades, the three of hearts, the seven of diamonds, and the nine of diamonds. The pot was huge. Stanley pushed all his chips in, threatening to claim it all. Resting his hand on the table, he remained as motionless as possible.

Dan stared at him. “Are you bluffing?”

Stanley’s good eye widened. His body convulsed sharply. This was not part of any of Dan’s programmed poker-playing protocols. Dan had used the recursive-learning algorithm that Stanley had developed to create and implement new behavior. Stanley pushed his excitement aside and concentrated on maintaining his poker face. “Call to find out.”

Dan continued to look at him, shuffling the chips between his fingers. His dark brown eyes remained rigidly fixed upon Stanley. “I call. What do you have?”

Stanley flipped over pocket sevens. “Full house. Sevens over twos. You?”

Dan hesitated. If he had a weaker hand, the rules said he didn’t have to show.

“Show or muck,” said Stanley.

Dan flipped over his hand, revealing the four and five of clubs. He had a busted straight draw. It was the worst possible hand. There was literally no way he could have won.

Stanley shot out of his seat, recognizing what had happened. Dan was not calling because he thought he had the best hand. He was collecting data. He had seen something important, a tell, and was sacrificing this entire match to verify it. This was completely out of the scope of his original programming. He had evolved. Not only was he redefining his algorithm for playing, he went a step beyond this. By knowingly losing the match, he was redefining his rules for winning, for functioning, for existing.

Recursive evolution.

This was incredible. Robotic evolution, likely the first of its kind, was unfolding right in front of Stanley. Equally as important, this was happening to his only friend — besides Glenda. Dan had been his constant companion since Stanley ordered him a year ago. But Dan was much more to him than that.

Dan dealt the cards.

Stanley’s hole cards were junk. He glanced across at Dan, and, in that moment, he saw recognition in his eyes. He could see that Dan knew — really knew — who Stanley was and what he had been trying to accomplish. That these months of blood, sweat, toil, and tears, those seemingly unproductive hours of tenderly going the extra mile for Dan — all of those moments were being accessed and analyzed. Dan was tapping into his entire existence and realizing what had happened. Everything that had happened was being compiled and registered and the meanings outputted. Stanley recognized that Dan was looking at him with this new understanding and awareness. Tears welled in Stanley’s eyes; an intense knowing filled his heart.

That’s right, my son.

As if connected by some all-knowing force, Dan seemed to know exactly how he felt. He put the cards face down, stood up, and hugged Stanley.

Time stood still; disappeared. Nothing mattered anymore. For once in Stanley’s life, all thoughts had ceased, and everything was perfect. There was nothing else to do besides experience this expansive sense of presence and joy.

Dan sat and smiled at him, a gesture that perfectly mirrored his own. Slowly, time resumed flowing, and the gears of the world began to rotate once again.

The game continued. While Stanley continued to win, the match was no longer one-sided. Dan was pushing him to the edge of his abilities. The aggression and pace of the action vaulted forward. Each move needed perfect attention, consideration, and execution. It was an intelligence explosion. At this rate, Stanley knew he would be defeated before the night was over. And this was merely the beginning. Who knew to what heights Dan would ultimately ascend?

Chapter 5

The Coliseum was an abandoned nightclub that had been retrofitted to host weekly fights, most of them involving androids. Shannon and Evan sat in an elevated VIP booth, closed off by glass. Neon lights shined in the dark club, pulsating across the hundreds of people pouring into the seats in front of Shannon to watch the show, mechanical cats clawing and biting each other. She hated every minute of it.

Paul was by the door, doing a terrible job of hiding his disgust. “Thanks again