This page brought to you by (and is named after) the world’s most upbeat song about nuclear war, which has no right to be as catchy as it is.

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAEmhqdLFs

With that aside, I feel I’ve finally gotten to a point where I can dig into the char’s world building a bit more. I can’t say too much, other than yes, Trak-r is from here, and yes, everyone who did live there is in fact long since dead. Also quick note about Trak-r’s speech – when he says “your” in this context, he’s referring to humanity as a whole, not Davis. As someone who thinks in very black and white, I’ve always enjoyed the ways a writer can play with how AIs think and act – but Trak – r is, in typical fashion, me deciding to avert that concept entirely. As he said earlier – he’s more than electrons on metal – he doesn’t have any laws of robotics or programming that controls what he can or cannot do. I fully understand why the tropes along the lines Asimov’s 3 Laws of Robotics being followed, Ais blowing up when asked to solve a paradox, or how a digital mind is emotionless and logical, but just as a human doesn’t suddenly explode when told “This statement is false”, any AI that is truly sapient wouldn’t behave any differently to a human, three laws be damned. In fact, you could probably argue Akila is less sapient than Trak-r is, due to the nereid mind control placing restrictions on how she acts.

In a nutshell, Trak-r is truly sapient – he’s not only self-aware, but also in total control of himself, like any human would be. Saying he can’t harm you “because of the first law of robotics” is just a really easy way to get punched in the gut.

See you next week.