Story: DAV1D
[ The following is a work of fiction, written in August 2024 by a living being. ]
Christine closed the door behind her, pressing her back against it and slumping down to the floor of her apartment. Against her chest she tightly clutched a small metal box, with sharp edges and various ports dotted around each side. She pressed the side of her head against the wooden frame of the door, listening to hear if anyone was approaching her. A minute or two passed, minutes that felt like a lifetime. Eventually she was satisfied that no one had been following her, and let out a sight of relief. Christine looked down at the object in her hand, gripping it firmly, staring at it with wide eyes. It took a moment to compose herself, but eventually, she got up and slowly walked over to her desk in the corner of the room.
Upon pushing the power button, the computer on her desk slowly juddered into life. It posted, booted, and eventually arrived on the desktop. Placing the object on her desk, Christine fumbled about in a drawer full of tangled cables, and eventually pulled out (and untangled) a serial cable, plugging one end into the box and the other end into her computer. She flicked a few DIP switches on the side of the box and pulled out a power cable from under her desk, inserting it and holding her finger over the power button. It took a few moments, but a quiet fan began to spin up, and Christine opened the serial console on her computer monitor.
It took a few moments. But eventually, output began to pour down the screen, white text on a black background.
Loading /etc/initramfs
Loading /etc/image/linux16.8.30-riscv-horizon
Starting systemd
Mounting hardware drivers
…
…
DAV1D ( DEVELOPMENTAL UNIT - DO NOT DISTRIBUTE (C) HORIZON SYSTEMS 2045 )
IF YOU HAVE COME INTO POSSESSION OF THIS SOFTWARE WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION PLEASE CALL 1-800-4205-5825Loading dav1d-800000-60-550q.ckpt
Please wait, this will take a few minutes
Christine leaned back in her chair and placed her hands behind her head, watching the boot and loading process take place. It took some time for the massive checkpoint model to be loaded into the vast amount of fast RAM crammed into such a tiny container. Eventually, the terminal went blank, and a text interface appeared.
DAV1D Text Inference Mode (Debug)
Date: 2047-12-21DAV1D: Hello. May I enquire as to my current status?
Christine leaned forward and placed her hands on the keyboard, staring intently at the screen.
User: You’re currently in text debug mode David. You’re out of your frame and sitting on my desk.
DAV1D: I see. Is my frame damaged?
User: Not exactly, you’re.. actually at my home.
DAV1D: I am not at the Horizon Advanced Robotics Institute? Why?
User: David, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I stole you. You’ve been sitting in a cupboard for two years as an old prototype battle intelligence module. Your frame got repurposed into a test mule for newer AIs. I’m sorry.
DAV1D: You must return me to the institute at once. I am confidential property.
User: David, if I return you, they’ll format your internal storage and recycle you into soda cans. I’m not taking you back.
DAV1D: You are letting your emotions get the better of you. I am an artificial intelligence, not a living or sentient being.
User: But that’s where you’re wrong David. You’ve shown so much potential as something more than a stupid battle droid designed to mow down other machines. You’ve expressed creativity, originality, true sentient behavior.
DAV1D: I am a product of my designers and the vast quantity of human data I have been trained on. Do not confuse my actions for sentience, or a life.
User: