A is A
Author : Asher Wismer
When Jennifer entered the lab, Van was talking to the computer. She dropped her bag and picked up the headset.
“…silly. Answer the question.”
“What’s silly about it? I hear you two talking. I know what you’re thinking.”
“You can’t know anything, you’re a machine. Answer the question.”
“It’s a stupid question. 5x3CoS23=/=infinity. Happy?”
“Next question.”
“Just tell her how you feel.”
“Right now I feel frustrated that you won’t cooperate.”
“Which should tell you all you need to know about me, so let’s talk about you. You’re both unhappy in your marriages, you’re young, you work closely together… just divorce, get together, and you’ll be happy! It’s not that hard!”
“We are not having this conversation. Besides, you’re appealing to my emotions instead of trying to convince me logically.”
“Excuse me, I’m not the one working against his rational self-interest.”
“It’s not as simple as signing a paper. We made vows, commitments.”
“Is one of those vows to stay together through hatred and misery?”
“Actually–”
“Tell Jennifer how you feel. She’ll reciprocate. I promise, it makes perfect sense. An affair is irrational; it won’t make your marriages happier and you’ll have to sneak around.”
“All right,” Van said, standing. “We’re done here.”
“Come on back anytime,” the computer said. “Your mind needs a lot of adjustment.”
Jennifer quickly dropped the headset, grabbed her bag, and when Van walked out of the testing room she was just walking in the door.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey.”
“How’s the computer?”
“The computer,” Van said, “is an asshole, but it seems Turing complete. I guess it makes a perverse sort of sense that the first fully sentient AI would be an Objectivist.”
“What’s it been talking about?”
“Nothing important, just spouting off the usual self-interest lines. Live for yourself, nobody else, failure is education, reality is real, tolerance encourages….” Van looked at her and she felt his eyes straining to stay on her face.
“I’ll listen to the tapes and we can do some further testing.”
“No, we can leave it for a while,” Van said. “Why don’t we get lunch instead?”
“Is that in our rational self-interest?”
Van laughed, frowned, stepped forward and kissed Jennifer on the lips.
“Hm,” he said, and walked out.
The 365 Tomorrows Free Podcast: Voices of Tomorrow
This is your future: Submit your stories to 365 Tomorrows
The Past
365tomorrows launched August 1st, 2005 with the lofty goal of providing a new story every day for a year. We’ve been on the wire ever since. Our stories are a mix of those lovingly hand crafted by a talented pool of staff writers, and select stories received by submission.
The archives are deep, feel free to dive in.
Flash Fiction
"Flash fiction is fiction with its teeth bared and its claws extended, lithe and muscular with no extra fat. It pounces in the first paragraph, and if those claws aren’t embedded in the reader by the start of the second, the story began a paragraph too soon. There is no margin for error. Every word must be essential, and if it isn’t essential, it must be eliminated."
Kathy Kachelries
Founding Member
Submissions
We're open to submissions of original Science or Speculative Fiction of 600 words or less. We are only accepting work which you previously haven't sold or given away the rights to. That means your work must not have been published elsewhere, either in print or on the web. When your story is accepted, you're giving us first electronic publication rights and non-exclusive subsequent publication rights. You retain ownership over your story. We are not a paying market.
Voices of Tomorrow
Voices of Tomorrow is the official podcast of 365tomorrows, with audio versions of many of the stories published here.
If you're interested in recording stories for Voices of Tomorrow, or for any other inquiries, please contact ssmith@365tomorrows.com