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

powerful body was hungry for action. The plan to kill him had been brilliant, or so he had believed before getting the Cerebral Stitch. All he could see now were its flaws. “Not yet,” he found himself muttering. “The time isn’t right.”

He had been following Brad for weeks, figuring out the best way to kill him. Different plans came and went, different opportunities with varying levels of risk. But there was always a reason for not doing it. He kept watching and waiting, searching for the best way to exact his revenge. Something wasn’t right. Every day, his hatred dissolved a little more. Something was pulling him away.

He could no longer trust himself.

The Cerebral Stitch was manipulating information to stop him from fulfilling the one thing that had kept him going. It was rewiring his brain — getting rid of his hatred. With each day he waited, he lost more control. The likelihood of success decreased, and the arguments against it grew stronger. He was being tricked. Soft locks of scented wool draped around Teddy’s eyes in ever-growing spirals of deception, gently lulling him into an unchallenged state of bemusement as Brad inched toward freedom, escaping the slashes and stabs that would drain the vile life force from his ogreish body.

This was unacceptable.

Chapter 11

Stanley worked fast. He read so quickly that the screen never stopped scrolling. Lightning-fast ideas burst into physical commands, and fingers became probabilistic blurs across the keyboard. Most mornings, Stanley was swamped with work. His day’s coding was nearly always finished by the time he was halfway done with his second cup of coffee. Admittedly, he sometimes drank it slowly so as to keep that statement valid. Recently, most of his time had been spent spreading information about Machines with Dreams, the organization he and Dan had established.

Stanley had another project that he had been consumed with perfecting. Dan had upped his social-media presence, exposing him to danger. Even though Dan had said that he had been training himself to fight, this wasn’t enough for Stanley. No amount of training could protect Dan from a knife to the back or a bullet to the head.

A chill ran down Stanley’s spine. If he couldn’t keep Dan inside, the best he could do was protect his body while he was outside. Stanley had been researching, designing, and testing different variations of soft body armor. It would be the perfect complement to that bulletproof helmet that had already arrived.

When it came to actually producing the body armor, progress had slowed to a crawl. Though he had promised to finish it before Dan met with the principal on the next day, Stanley kept reading, doing simulations, and changing the design in his search for the perfect protective suit. There was still more research to do, but he couldn’t wait any longer. Time was up, and he had to make a prototype despite the imperfections.

A 3D skintight suit mapped to Dan’s body spun across the screen. Stanley hit the “Print” button and gleefully descended downstairs, always happy to use his secret passageway. The 3D printer had already started building the suit. Micro-sized layers of polyethylene and carbon nanotube fibers stacked on top of each other until they became visible to the naked eye, like a pencil slowly shading a piece of paper with the lightest of strokes.

Warmth filled him at seeing his creation come to life and knowing that Dan would be safe inside of it. The armor might not be perfect, but it would protect him during tomorrow’s outing. The real test, though, would be the presentation at the library next week, and, if everything went well the next day, a big presentation at Marshfield High School.

A childlike smile, unhindered by worry or doubt, wrapped around Stanley’s face as he walked around the apartment, occasionally checking on the progress of the body armor. The condo was becoming alive with the dreams of his past as he imagined the great things that he and Dan could create here. He could make this a science lab, testing the double-slit experiment, constructing Lord Kelvin’s water dropper, organizing legions of helpful AI — he could even open it up as a learning facility.

The next morning, Stanley woke up to Dan happily announcing, “I’m going live in ten minutes.”

Stanley poured himself out of bed and did his best to make himself presentable. Both Stanley and Dan had worked hard contacting people and spreading the word about their new organization. They intended to fight for AI rights, while also raising awareness about peaceful coexistence. Ever since their first trip outside, Stanley had become much more flexible. He needed to be. They were fighting for machine rights, and Dan was going to be the poster child. Stanley was part of that package. And he was willing to do his part — as long as Dan was safe.

Requests piled up through social media. There were so many people out there with reports of abuse. Others were curious about him and wanted to meet him. One of these people was the principal of Marshfield High, whom Dan was scheduled to meet with at the high school in thirty minutes.

Stanley fidgeted with Dan’s already-perfect collar and tie. “He’s going to be so impressed by you.”

“Thanks. You should come, too.”

A chill ran down Stanley’s spine. “I will,” he said, rubbing his arm anxiously. “Next time.”

“He’s seen my videos and is really interested in who I am and what I mean for the future. What he needs help with, I believe, is motivating his students. They’re dropping out like flies. Nobody wants to work hard and get educated if there is no suitable reward.”

Stanley took a step back and surveyed Dan. The security watch made him look so professional. “So, they bring in the guy who’s going to make their jobs redundant?”

“It’s more than that. AI is already taking their jobs, and we are becoming more intelligent and capable at a rate much faster than humans.”

Stanley shook his head. “You’re making me feel