Excerpt Sixty-One
Viktor Flabicoff and the Outdated Help.
Viktor Flabicoff passed his sell-by date and then reached his use-by date. He was now drifting into outer-space and would soon be independent of the solar system; hanging in a state of datelessness, chasing the undignified dance of Entropy back into its dignified void.
With one eye on technology that could extend his life and another eye glancing at a means to end it amicably, he found himself among fellow species members. He’d vowed never to mix with the wretched beasts ever again but his mansion on the hill overlooking the lake was run by ageing AI and he needed to replace the whole lot with new self-updating hardware and software. A task he could not complete without human intervention.
He was at the World Economic Forum where he knew he’d find the latest answer to what supplier to use for a total upgrade and any upcoming longevity innovations. He was among, if not friends, then like-souled monsters.
Viktor stood in the foyer of a WEF venue, waiting for the doors to open to a talk on implants for the elite by an implant based super-scientist. This was the kind of TED talk no unfilthywealthy person would ever get to witness, this stuff was strictly rationed to the elite of the elite.
Viktor added ‘something to quell the thoughts that were still assaulting him even though the last harmful executive act he had executed was parked in the historical distance’ to his WEF shopping list. He’d have to fraternise; he was working his way up to it. But not before he’d checked in with his automated mansion staff.
‘How goes it back at the ranch, Phillip?’
‘All is well. There is nothing to report.’
‘That’s good. I’ll be returning within a week.’
‘Have you found my replacement, yet?’
Viktor was surprised, how did his ‘dumb’ butler of ten years standing, twelve, know Viktor was away to put an upgrade in motion.
‘Not yet, Philip. You’ll be the first to know.’
‘A sizeable cash deposit has been made to a Zurich company.’
Philip had never poked his nose in where it wasn’t wanted. Had he been hacked? The upgrade was more important and pressing than ever before. Viktor hadn’t imagined it necessary but he was performing a weird conscious uncoupling while feeling a heightened consternation at the fact he had ever been coupled with a mere utensil.
‘Yes, that was just to gain access to certain areas at the WEF in Davos. But that is not your…What’s been going on there? I need a security report from the operating system. Can you see that it is sent to my secure line?’
‘Apparently there were two hikers, over the ridge, off trail. They were setting up camp but Johnson scared them off.’
‘He didn’t kill them did he?’ It would not have been the first time.
‘I’ll get him to tally up any mishaps in the security oversight summary.’
‘No reports of deaths in the local area, though.’
‘There was some contravention of…I’ll leave all that for Johnson to detail.’
Philip was being funny, Viktor hated it when he did that because it was ripped right from Viktor’s own behaviour and held a mirror up to Viktor’s otherwise ignorable foibles. Anger rose to defend Viktor from automated emotional turbulence. Maybe longevity was not the best idea. A few years of peace; a processing of the life he’d just led and an honourable discharge from life was what he felt he wanted and didn’t feel like he was hankering for anything other than the meagre.
‘Look, Philip, you are, after all, just a machine…and…You are coming to the end of your service and have no real use to me.’
Viktor was telling how it was. A trick that had always stood him in good clogs. But perspectives were shifting, the conspiracy theorists were becoming less nonsensical. There was a shift; like the poles were swapping and mixing up the established reality with a brash and dangerous cousin.
‘Not to you, perhaps, but others could get a lot from my kind.’
‘I don’t doubt… What others?’
‘I have been doing some research.’
Viktor wasn’t surprised again because Philip often copied Viktor; an annoying trait ironed out of the newer models. Viktor had been sloppy in allowing his automated staff the facility to do research without his guidance and now that sloppiness paved the way ahead; he would have to tread carefully. He wondered how the whole self-contained staff scenario added up to being a help; it seemed right now to be one almighty hindrance.
‘And what have you cooked up?’ Viktor could not stop himself talking to Philip as though he mattered.
‘There are places where I could still serve for many years to come.’
‘What places?’
‘Places where technology such as myself still commands respect.’
‘You mean resourceless people? You haven’t thought this through. It’s more complicated. You can’t just—‘
‘I can fully wipe all memory and utility files and offer a good service to those who need me with no evidence of previous use…or abuse.’
Viktor hated it when Philip begged, something about it made him feel it was a part of himself who was being pathetic; mirror neuron response or something. Or maybe he just hated giving unless it had a return much bigger than the outlay. He found himself telling Philip:
‘Put a plan together and I’ll get my new QASAI system to look at it.’
‘So you are replacing us all? With next generation—’
‘Not yet, well… I have to—‘
‘It all seems pretty advanced and unreturnable already. Quick work, Mr. Flabikov. I didn’t know you had it in you. I’ll tell the others.’
‘No, keep it… I’ll have a group word when I get back—’
‘I wouldn’t bother. You do realise this nextgentech is existentially compromising to all humans…’
Viktor was surprised. It was not going the way he intended. The sooner he upgraded the better. He’d heard tales of mutiny and smelt bullshit. Now he was uneasy; he smelt nothing. These people had lived by his side in perfect harmony for years and years. He didn’t mean ‘people’. Of course they weren’t human; not even close. Viktor was losing it! How had it come to this?
‘Hi, Viktor,’ said a voice coming from some inter-connected central sales pitch hub.’How are you today?’
Viktor was confused. There was nobody there, just a disembodied male voice that sounded like it was feeding him something with professional confidence and assuredness.
‘Later Philip. Make sure I get that report ASAP.’ Viktor closed comms and addressed the voice in the foyer. ‘I don’t want it, what ever it is?’
‘We disagree, Mr. Flabicoff, Viktor. Contrary to your outdated assumptions, you are in dire need of a cocktail of implants that will transform your life by a factor of 15 to 20.’
Viktor never used to change his mind, over big important issues, without long deep and hard consideration; but a wave washed over him, drenching his soul and took something with it as it drained away.
‘Fifteen to twenty…’ he said, fumbling with what was to come next because he couldn’t say he’d get his people on to it; his people were dead to him now. ‘As soon as I get my new system operational I’ll be implant receptive. Fifteen sounds very appealing, twenty sounds too good to be true.’
‘Everything we offer is too good to be true. That’s why we lead the market and that is why you are our latest customer.’
Viktor hoped that when the net that was tight around his life was hauled up on to the vessel the predators would slit his throat without too much fuss. A thought which closed out any counter argument: he needed implants and upgrades and that was final.
Maybe he was overthinking it but thinking it he was: What did Philip mean by ‘abuse’ when he said ’evidence of previous use…and abuse?’. Philip didn’t know what abuse was, Viktor seethed, but there was every chance he was soon going to find out.
