full image - Repost: A Human Roommate Part 1.3. (from Reddit.com, A Human Roommate Part 1.3.)
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Hey there everyone, I still am mad at myself for the clusterfuck with the last episode. Also, I decided to scrap the idea of scheduling for now, and post new episodes when they’re done. Also, on a side note, I always feel like I am plagiarizing someone when writing a new episode. But I do admit, the series is heavily inspired by TLoaTH, but I hope this doesn’t classify as a straight-up ripoff. Anyways, here is episode 3. Enjoy, but only if you can.First / Previous /[Notice: For readability, everything related to time and scale is translated and converted into Terran SI, but with Celsius replacing Kelvin.]Jaan stood there, absolutely confused at what the human just said. Did she understand correctly? An artificial copy of oneself, uploaded into a supercomputer? What savages would even entertain the idea of something like this? Not to mention the fact that these “living” people are forced to work for their original copies? Who would be willing to make a version of themselves subject to slavery DONE BY THEIR REAL COUNTERPART?! They had to know more. So Jaan asked, horrified at the thought of this system:“Wait, WHAT? A digital copy of YOURSELF? What twisted mind would even come up with that, let alone construct enormous megastructures to accomplish it? Also, you make your trapped version of yourself WORK FOR FREE? That’s slavery! I demand answers.” Rick, realizing that Jaan didn’t take the fact of advanced consciousness simulation well, quickly responded:“First of all, yes, we upload ourselves. But you misunderstood something very badly. The resulting copy is fully aware, knows that they are simulated, has rights and is treated humanely, and can decide if they want to exist when they are created. We’re even linked together, so I have pretty much two of myself. Also, they get paid. These people have a whole reality built for them. It works just like the real world, but simulated! After we die, we can even get completely integrated into the system for eternal life. Why are you so weirded out by this?” Rick said, not even caring about the face of steadily increasing disgust and terror, currently forming on Jaan’s face.“WHAT? That’s even worse! They are aware of being trapped! Isn’t that terrible for them?” Jaan asked, making a shit-eating grin form on Rick’s face:“Ask him yourself.” He said, as he made a calling gesture towards his room. A small holographic projection drone flew out, and displayed a perfect copy of Rick to the right of him. After “shaking hands”, Rick’s copy spoke, in the exact same voice as the real Rick’s:“Hello, Jaan. I heard that you wanted to ask something about the simulation. You can call me Richter to avoid confusion. How can I help?”Jaan didn’t expect anything like this. Was she talking to the real copy, or was the conversation rigged? She decided to ignore her doubts for now, and asked her first question, trying not to keep getting weirded out by a simulated consciousness:“Yes, you're goddamn right. I have several questions, but I’ll start with the important ones. How do you feel about being trapped in a simulation?”“Well, it doesn’t look or feel like a simulation. In fact, it resembles the real world with stunning accuracy. I honestly wouldn’t call myself trapped, as it’s more similar to being limited to the real world, just as you guys are.” Jaan“Ah. I understand. But I have another question, how do you make money, if you even do?” The projection opened their mouth to talk, but they were cut off by Rick.“Hey, on a related note, please update my CV. Standard plus 20% bonus if I don’t have too much.” This was only partly understood by Jaan, but the replica answered without missing a beat:“Alrite, moved to background processing. Will notify when done.” He said, now turning back to Jaan:“So, what you just witnessed was the secondary source of income, getting jobs from our originals. Those pay 4000-10000 credits per job, depending on the scope of the job. The primary source is working in general. Stuff like driving research rovers, controlling warehouse, retail, construction etc. androids, driving and/or overseeing vehicles, sometimes even leading projects, organizing stuff, etc. The pay for these varies greatly, just as much as the real equivalents vary. The way that human money works is interesting due to this. Artificials get paid in ATC, or Artificial Terran Credits, that are ten times cheaper than CTC, or Civil Terran Credits, that are 100000 times cheaper than TURC, or Terran Union Reserve Credits. Transactions are done in CTC, so in the end, we get paid ten times less than real humans. But that is not too bad, considering that the minimum wage is 105500 ACR for us, and the monthly fee for being kept alive is 100000 ACR. And the minimum wage for the real ones is 550 CTC, so in the end, we only have to save up more for entertainment here.”Jaan was baffled at the equality present between the real and simulated humans. But there was still a question present, one that she was more interested in than anything else. “But something is still troubling me. Why would you humans do something like this?”“Well, it started back in the late 21st century, way back on Earth, out home planet. There, the most powerful supercomputer at the time was dedicated to prove something that has been brought up ever since we invented computers: Could we simulate consciousness with a computer? Making one from the ground up was not in favor, as it has been tried many times before, and the results were… less than satisfactory. So, instead we decided to use the newest research and absolute top of the line everything in neurological science, and made megacorporations fund the project. After that, we only had to throw a couple hundred subjects at the wall and see what sticks, resulting in the creation of the first Human Intelligence Construct in 2114. He’s still alive to this day, and used the past 173 years to document everything about humanity, from our first emergence on Earth to possibly the end of time. We call him The Archivist now, his real name is unknown to me. But, yeah, it’s a proof-of-concept that ended up becoming commonplace with the construction of the first Matryoshka Brains. I think it also has something to do with humans’s desire to have a backup for everything, and to live forever.”Jaan was absolutely stunned by the explanation just given to them. She understood the motives behind this consciousness simulation framework of the humans, but it was still weird that they managed to pull this off. Even the idea of having a copy of yourself was weird, let alone actively cooperating with it. She still had doubts about the freedom of the copies, though, and asked her last question for now:“Yeah, that is great and all, but how can you prove that your copy isn’t free, and is force-fed words whenever asked to speak about their world?” The answer sent chills down Jaan’s spine:“See it for yourself. We are actually searching for volunteers to see if aliens could use this network too! Would you like to participate?” The holographic copy “whispered” something to Rick, turning his expression into the face of someone who just got punched in the gut. Jaan noticed, but didn’t care, as she was thinking about the most efficient and quick way to reject the offer. That did not happen, due to Rick being the first to speak.“Jaan, there is a rank limit for those who don’t have a copy of themselves at Elysium. You wont get any farther than about halfway up the ladder without one. Consider this offer, as participants of the Pioneer Program as they call it, even get paid 500000 USC (Union Standard Currency) for it. Consider doing this for a better life and career in the long-term.”Jaan was absolutely furious at first, and left for her room to try and calm down. This partially succeeded, and now she could think about what she’ll say. She’ll have to think this through before making the decision. She’ll give a half-answer for now, but will have to answer tomorrow. It’s rude to not answer when asked about something. She opened her room’s door, and spoke to Rick a bit more harshly than wanted:“I will think this through. I would be lying if I’d say I’m comfortable with it, in fact, I’m not. We’ll see.” Rick’s face lighted up:“Thank you for considering. I thought you’ll decline instantly.” Jaan looked down, and answered with a shade of defeat in her voice:“I don’t want to get stuck on the corporate ladder. But I have to know the pros and cons before even considering to answer. Could you get me a list of those?” Rick thought about it for a second, and answered:“Understandable, I’ll send it to you ASAP. Also, I turned in my CV for evaluation, so I think we're done for today. I’ll head out to the company bar to discuss work. I’ll see you later.” Jaan answered with a blank face, closing the door being her:“Bye for now! I’ll look through the stuff.”Richard headed to the apartment door, and closed the door behind him. Turning right he walked to the elevators in the small lounge that every floor, just like his 57th had. After the elevator finally arrived, he punched in floor 30, the location of the bar, the elevator door closing with the noise of worn out gears. No wonder the rent is so low if maintenance is done every 15 years or so, he thought to himself. Arriving at floor 30, he stepped out to reveal his colleagues already attempting to initiate alcohol induced bliss to try drowning out the gigantic stress put on them. Rick joined them, knowing all too well that he'll be wasted in a few hours and spend tomorrow with a hangover. He couldn't resist the effects of the behavioral sink though, and ordered his first round.
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