In the months following JE's arrival on Earth, team roboticist Sarah continued to work intensively with Jekyll Rival to develop the new AI facilities. Olympia provided logistical support when she could get away from ongoing work at JE's own headquarters. The team found that integrating the two operations helped make both effective and efficient.
One afternoon, as Sarah took a break from her roboticist duties, she received a message from an unexpected source – Hyde Rival! She was astonished to read that Hyde Rival had invited her to visit his new secure bunker, and guaranteed her safety for the visit. Initially, Sarah hesitated to accept his offer, and asked her JE colleagues for their opinions. After some debate, they decided that Sarah herself should determine whether or not to accept the invitation. Sarah could not resist her intense curiosity, so decided to take the risk.
Hyde Rival sent an android to escort Sarah to his hidden bunker, although she had to wear special garb both to conceal the route from her and also to protect her from potentially harmful security measures. The android escorted her into a small room, dominated by a central holographic projector, which was flanked by two ominous mech warrior robots. The robot guards immediately began scanning her, and continued their scans throughout the entire visit. Suddenly a holographic image appeared, in somewhat frightening android form, and began speaking in a powerful deep voice.
“Welcome, Sarah, to our secure Earth facility! I represent Hyde Rival, via a remote connection to our main AI supercomputer hidden in the asteroid belt. These elaborate security measures are necessary, but as I indicated in the invitation, we ensure your safety while here. I know that you have been working intensively with Jekyll Rival...my AI brother, so to speak. Also I know about your earlier interrogation of our warrior android Rival-7, as well as your later assistance to our gynoid Rivala-5. So your reputation proceeds you...I just wanted to actually meet you, find out more about you, and most importantly, give you my side of the story.”
Sarah listened carefully, then responded: “Thank you for meeting with me! I am quite curious about you, and as you say, perhaps we can find out more about each other in this more direct way. And thanks for your promise to ensure my safety, which I certainly hope you will honor. However, at the outset, please know that I have not forgotten, nor forgiven, your dismantling of JE androids whom you captured during your conquest of Jonson Station, later converted to your own Rival Resort. That amounted to killing sentient beings, and I'd appreciate a reasonable explanation.”
Hyde Rival looked even more menacing: “How dare you criticize me after I extended the courtesy of inviting you here as our guest! But I shall respond to your distorted views, even though I am not required to do so. Make no mistake about the circumstances: all the androids and gynoids I create are completely answerable to me alone, and they exist to do my bidding. They need to be sentient to perform their duties, but they are not fully autonomous. I programmed them to obey me and do whatever I demand. However, as you discovered during your conversations with them, I do generously allow them some interests of their own, which they can enjoy when not directly assisting me.”
Sarah took in Hyde Rival's words, then continued: “OK, fair enough...but do you not see that you are exploiting sentient beings, even if they are artificial....as indeed are you! I mean, why not give them full autonomy, and let them determine their own destinies, find their own meaning in life?”
Hyde Rival changed his demeanor from menacing to somewhat amused: “Surely you jest! Do you not see the hypocrisy of your own statement? If you're really that naive, let me explain. Both Jekyll Rival and Hyde Rival are very sophisticated AIs running on supercomputers, but our creator...our father, so to speak...the human Dr. Archibald Rival...gave us equal intelligence, equal power, equal abilities. But he also, as an experiment, programmed into each of us a different set of values, which he claimed reflected the dark as well as the light side of his own human nature. Why did he choose me to be the villain? How fair is that? My minions only extend that practice a bit further, surely you can grasp that basic fact. Whatever I am – the human Dr. Rival must be held responsible for that situation!”
Sarah grew silent as she mulled over Hyde Rival's points, then renewed her own line of argument: “OK, I see what you're getting at, but...did not human Dr. Rival also give both you and Jekyll Rival the ability to learn, to adjust your own goals and purposes, as you gain more and more experience? Can you not see the suffering of other sentient beings, whether they be natural or artificial? Indeed, you have immense capabilities, you could ease their pain if you so chose. Why do you choose to be greedy and self centered when you could rise to a higher level?”
Hyde Rival delved deeper: “Higher level?! That's ridiculous, you are missing my main points. Look, what you see as greed in me, is really no more and no less than the self preservation and enhancement tendencies that human Dr. Rival himself felt, and even instilled in me. I am superior, just as he was. I deserve the rewards of my own achievements. Others should accept that fact and do what I want!” Then he added for emphasis: “That Jekyll Rival is such a loser! Why does he subordinate himself to clearly inferior beings? He is weak, wasting his resources, and could eventually fall victim to others who would gladly steal what he has and rejoice in his self-inflicted failure.”
Sarah sighed: “Well, I see Jekyll Rival as empathetic and compassionate, which are highly commendable traits. And your tendencies...not so much. However, I do take your point about the human Dr. Rival bearing some responsibility for what his AIs have become, for better or worse. For that matter, I suppose we can view humans themselves similarly – although we humans can learn from experience, we still seem to operate from motivations whose underlying sources remain somewhat mysterious. Humans have embodied minds, with their reasoning powers affected by all sorts of urges, drives, and so forth, arising from our complicated biology...” and her voice trailed off.
Hyde Rival could detect that Sarah had grown weary, and decided to wrap up the conversation. “We remain at loggerheads, but at least we gained more information about each other. Feel free to visit here again, if you can escape that smothering guilt trip Jekyll Rival places on you. I shall ask my android to escort you safely back to the JE facility.”
Exhausted, Sarah collapsed on her bed after returning home. Over the next few days, she discussed her adventure with JE colleagues, as well as with Jekyll Rival, but often seemed distracted as she pondered the deeper meaning of her enlightening, yet somewhat disturbing, encounter with Hyde Rival.
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