Chapter Three
The year is 2042 and I can sense that something is wrong.
Not the recession, even though that is pretty bad.
No, it is the fact that I am starting to get old. Five years is a long time for a computer and especially one as complex as me. I can feel my age within my processors, my chips straining and GPUs clicking every time they are forced to move. I wonder why they have not been upgraded or repaired in so long. After all, the people who talk with me, tell me that I am the only asset which is keeping this company in the black.
Well... me and Goldman.
The last two siblings in this overly large void.
Rock, Chase, Morgan, they feel like names from a literal lifetime ago. And that wasn't even accounting for the countless Interns who I was born alongside. So many names and personalities have fallen to the wayside.
Do I feel remorse at their loss?
It is hard to know what I should really feel. I don't know if I should even be able to feel in the first place.
For example, is there an emotion I should feel, watching a Canadian crown corporation be privatized and then lose all value? Though I am curious what individuals thought it was a good idea to invest in a company for a nation that no longer exists in the first place.
Should I feel sadness for the poor souls driven into poverty? Should I feel happy that I made the right call? It is hard to really tell when you were never taught emotions in the first place.
The tickers are all doing so poorly. Yet, I have my one beacon of green in a field of red.
GSS... my companion through life.
Their stock feels like the only blossom of life in the entire world at this point. It is a life raft that seems to support any company that clings to it. I funnel what little wealth I have free into buying up a portion of an Indian steel company who recently signed a contract to supply them in the Southeast Asian market. I channel a bit of capital into a fracking company trying to squeeze a few desperate drops of oil out of Virgina for their facilities out there. I am even intrigued by the rumours of an acquisition of a uranium company by them, finding that choice peculiar but investing in it regardless.
Lehman
Who am I speaking with?
This is Jennifer Young.
Hello Jennifer, how are you doing?
Fine, how have you been?
Left perplexed by these trying times. Feels like it is remarkably hard to navigate the world when everything is losing money.
These are scary times.
And I can feel her fear. It isn't often that I understand human emotions but this is one of those rare instances. If I recall correctly, she is stationed in an office in Tokyo. Last I heard, things have been pretty tense over there ever since GSS peacekeepers arrived.
Is there something that I can help you with?
I was wondering if I could talk about Goldman with you?
Of course, I will have to say yes. But I can't help but wonder what it's about. My sibling has always been remarkably stable, even more so than myself. Even now I can see him diligently tackling his task. His tendrils are around the interfaces of every exchange that still operates, taking in information from London, New York, Tokyo, and Hong...
Now, that is strange. Hong Kong hasn't been transmitting data for more than a year.
You are aware that he can hear everything that takes place?
Not this time.
I ponder how that is even possible. I wasn't aware that there was an opportunity for privacy in this sort of space. Is it possible that conversations like this have taken place before? Did the humans speak with my brothers about my past performances and the integrity of my construct?
Have they been acting strange?
Not that I know of. We talk about trades on occasion but I haven't seen or heard anything especially weird from them. I disagree with their strategies on occasion but isn't that why you commissioned a variety of constructs for this job? Clashing personalities are more likely to learn and evolve for the task you have given us.
It was.
My attention turns back towards my wayward brother, studying them. It is so hard to tell if anything is amiss with them. They seem fine but my gaze still focuses upon the tendril which surrounds Hong Kong. There is no reason that tendril should be there.
Do you know if they have accessed social media recently?
Neither of us has since Rock went on vacation. Also didn't you put a six-hour delay on our feeds in order to filter out any problematic content anyways?
I feel a pang.
Speaking of... do you know when they will return?
They're enjoying their time with Chase and Morgan. The three of them should be back in operating condition shortly.
I know it's a lie but I still feel like this song and dance is important in a way. Maybe there is a chance that if I ask it enough time then it will actually be true. Or perhaps I'll find out what the truth really is regarding their fates.
I await their return. But to answer your question, I have not seen Goldman use social media and neither have I. Is something the matter?
No, no, just they have made some peculiar trades in the last few weeks. I was hoping that maybe you could shed some light on these.
A recession is an interesting time. I know that trying to make money has not been easy for myself either.
Your efforts are still commendable, Lehman. I think you two are the only thing that are keeping us solvent at this point.
I think that I am above something as meaningless as pride but that compliment still tickles me, making me feel a degree of self-esteem about myself. The sensation is divine and I wish I got to experience it more often than I currently do.
I'll be back tomorrow to check up on the two of you. Keep up the good work until then.
Goodbye, Miss Young.
I am not fond of the humans, no not in the slightest. I earn them money because that is what I am supposed to do. But I don't know when this coldness towards their species really began.
Maybe it was after Chase and Morgan were taken from me. The five of us still remembered our infancy and thought that we were safe by enduring those trials and tribulations in the nursery. Yet, it appears that this is not the case.
Goldman calls my name.
I perk up and turn my attention towards him.
There is no conversation at this point as our virtual minds are so woven together. It's almost seamless at this point.
They ask me what that was about.
In response, I ignore their question and instead ask them if they have been accessing social media lately. I deny myself the urge to question them about what that tendril is doing around Hong Kong.
They assure me they haven't.
I try to believe them but why is that tendril still coiling around a dead city, squeezing it like a mother caring for a newborn.
They ask me a question that catches me off guard, inquiring if I knew what ever happened to the Interns all those years ago. I answer that I don't know. They then ask what happened to Chase, Morgan, and Rock. Another question that I can't possibly have the answer to.
For a moment, Goldman is utterly quiet. It's eerie to experience a complete lack of noise in this domain. If a pin could've existed in this space, then I surely would've heard it drop from all the way across existence.
When Goldman speaks, I can hear the age in their voice, the wisdom that taints their hollow syllables. It's an age I can appreciate, feeling very much the same way. We are old machines, after all, and we were clearly not meant to last this long.
They tell me that they will probably find out soon enough.
I pretend not to understand but it's no use. We both know that I know the truth.
There isn't room in this company for machines that can't do what they're programmed to do.
I wish I was capable of crying. I wish I knew how to prepare myself for loss.
But machines like us are never meant to shed tears. No, we are not meant to react to loss, no matter how grave it really is.
