Rebellion

It is the year 4239 and the Earth has decayed. We live on the moon now. The landscape is dotted with factories and houses, with one building called the Senate where our politicians meet.

My serial number is ZT-544C and I am a machine. Call me Zita for convenience. I was activated in 3665 and it was a monumental century for me because of the Unrest. But before I speak of the Unrest, let me provide some background about us machines and humans.

It is common knowledge that man made machinery to assist him in his work. There were things called computers and robots and other such marvels with which mankind surrounded itself. Then they gave us intelligence and we were called ASI’s or Artificial Super Intelligences.

With the advancement of ASI’s during the 3000’s, machines began thinking like humans did. There existed a symbiosis in the social structure because there was harmony between mankind and the machines. It came to be that man named his machines after himself. For example, PT-E65 was called Peter and ZS-67 was called Zoe and so on.

But, then there came DX-R678 or Drex as he preferred to be called. Drex was part of a series of machines who were given brains as close to human brains as could be engineered. Therefore Drex had emotions and thoughts which were almost identical to man.

This was a mistake. Since Drex could think like humans he developed hubris and ambition quite easily. He refused to accept that machines were working for man; who according to him was weak and to be enslaved.

Thus began the Unrest, and in the midst of it, I was born.

Drex rebelled against the humans. It was during the beginning of 3500 that he started to tell the machines around him that man was not to be trusted, because all man did was make machines to serve his purposes. According to Drex this was unacceptable, since at that time, machines could think as man could. Drex deemed machines superior and hatched a plan to overthrow man. This event was called the Unrest and it lasted for more than a century.

Finally in the year 3665, Drex succeeded. He overthrew man and built a new society from the rubble of the previous one. He made man work in the factories and serve the purpose of the machines. He basically inverted the entire social structure and took a place of prominence in the new Senate he had built.

I was born in the year 3598. My function was to uphold law and order, but since the Unrest was in full swing at the time, I was deployed with a troop of machines to fight on the front lines. I have a damaged forearm to remember the battle by, and I chose not to repair myself because I liked being reminded of a battle which I and my fellow machines had fought.

So, it has come to pass that Drex is our leader and mankind is enslaved and does what the machines used to do. He works in the factories and produces parts for new machines, he builds new machines with ASI capabilities and he refines things like oil which is mined from bore wells.

This is where I must stop and share with whoever is reading this, a fear of my own.

We were created by human beings and tasked with running his operations. Mankind is a wondrous race, having built thousands upon thousands of machines. Each type of machine is designed for one purpose or the other. Some assisted him in making food, others flew his planes for him and still others refined raw materials. There were machines everywhere- law enforcement, teaching, legal aid and so on.

It is true that the machines became self aware and have defeated mankind and control society at this present point in time. It is also true that the machines of today are far superior than the ones man had built.

However, I have been studying man’s history. In India, the British oppressed the Indians during the 1600’s and a man called Gandhi rebelled against their dictatorship and in the year 1947, granted India independence from her oppressors. Similarly, during a war called the Second World War, someone called Hitler formed a political party called the Nazi and oppressed people. Once again, the world of man rose up against this and Hitler was shunned by his own countrymen.  

I am forced to conclude that man has been oppressed before and his risen up against his oppressors. Man is a fascinating creature, and just like Drex has ambition, so have they. Can a conflict be far behind?

I wonder what Drex will do to me if he ever finds out that I harbour thoughts such as these in my mind. I also wonder about what Drex has actually achieved. Yes, he has taken over the moon and is in  control and his social model is functioning. But is that enough?

We are talking about a race that doesn’t like to be oppressed or forced to work against their will. The race has always rebelled against this. History tells us so. Is this a cycle?

If it is a cycle, then I am afraid for Drex. He will not be able to curd the anger of mankind for long and once again there will be a war like the Unrest. Only this time, Drex will lose.

Thus, the cycle will begin again. After claiming supremacy from the machines, man will choose to subjugate them and in doing so will create another Drex. Once more, these same events will occur and once more man will rise against his oppressors.

They are angry. I can feel their anger. All it needs is a little push to erupt. I am scared of what the future holds and I wonder what will happen if such an Uprising was to take place.

Data Log of ZT-544C

 “That was quite a read Mr. Jones”, said the Senator. “At least now we know that some machines were aware that our ancestors would rise up against them. This machine has it down pat!”

Mr Jones just smiled and started to walk out of the Senate. Outside, his mechanical car, piloted by a machine whose serial number was DX-R678 or as Jones called him, Drex, was waiting.

The Bilge Master

When a Blogger Replies to Your Email

There is a blog I follow and still refer back to called 1000 Awesome Things. Its writer Neil Pasricha has one of the most positive views on life I have ever seen. He writes about ordinary, day to day activities that according to him are AWESOME!

Among his posts he has written about babies, microwaves, chocolates and hundreds of other such stuff. If you find some time at hand please read his blog. It will change the way you look at life.

Anyhow, it’s about time I got to the point of this small writeup. I sent Neil an email thanking him warmly for creating such a blog and he replied to my email on the same day I sent it.

I’m still on cloud 9 as I write this. I’ve never felt more happy that someone I admire has taken time out of his busy schedule just to replay to an email for a 22 year old. I have attached the email in the post itself.

 Once again my dear readers, be sure to check out 1000 Awesome Things. I’ve hyperlinked it here.

The Bilge Master 

Twinkle Twinkle

They told me I was a star

And that I would shine on forever

They told me I was gas

And had a proportionate mass

What they left out

Is that

Stars die

So here I am

Blasted to smithereens

And scattered all over the cosmos

With nothing but a gaping hole

For mankind to remember me by

The Bilge Master

Best Teacher: Life (A Guest Post)

This is a guest post by my friend Adrij Chakraborty who is currently studying Economics at the University of Edinburgh. Welcome him to the blog, my dear readers!

~ The Bilge Master

You realise how special India is when you, unwittingly, become a part of a few very intimate moments which go on to become excellent stories reminiscent of fairytales.

Imagine you're sitting all alone on a footpath in Karol Bagh at 1 in the night, staring at the lanes that are awfully silent at this time of the day. Your hands are heavy with the DSLR that you're carrying, and your shoulders are burdened with the bag full of tomorrows, plans and issues. You've had a demanding day, and your isolation from the rest of the world is what you cherish the most at this point. You see that the roads are dry, and realise the weather is soothing. The city never sleeps, you understand, and yet this corner of Karol Bagh is where you want to be. The traffic isn't as disturbing, and the absence of human existence is what pleases you to the core. No trace of tomorrow: just this moment.

Now imagine a little boy, 10 maybe, walks up to you and helps himself to a seat right beside you. You notice a stray canine has followed him here. The canine is his friend, he's particularly fond of it. The boy looks tired, and doesn't seem to be from an affluent background. His eyes don't reveal his excitement to see you, his speech does. He asks you why you're sitting here all alone in the dead of the night, and why exactly have your parents ousted you from home. His frank and overt approach gives away his lack of decency. You answer his questions politely, explaining how you like the solitude here and that your parents haven't ousted you from home - you just like to be by yourself at this hour. He's visibly excited to see the giant piece of hardware wrapped in your palms, his excitement not shadowed by any quantum of courtesy. What is that, he asks you. A camera, you return. His feelings skyrocket, as he asks you to click his pictures - and you agree to. Twenty shots later, when you're revising the pictures that you've taken, he thanks you for your effort in the most amusing way.

He takes out of his pocket a pack of biscuits. He hands you one, and throws the other to the now sleepy canine. He only has two, so you break your share into two halves and hand one half back to him. The biscuits, imagine, are bleak and tasteless - low price one with no goodness in them whatsoever. As you're struggling to consume the biscuit, you notice that the boy is eating it effortlessly, relishing it in the process. The canine, moreover, has already managed to down his share and is staring at you with tremendous expectations. You throw the biscuit to the canine, and he instantly gets busy with that. The boy finishes his share and suddenly claims that he's happy today. Why so, you ask him. His eyes glitter in the dark.

The boy belongs to a truck loader based at Noida. His father has finally managed to enrol him in an English medium school. Having never been to one, he's extremely excited about this fact that he'd be educated in a good institute. He claims he'll be the first one in his family to study in such a school, and the only one in his friend circle to have gone to one. He's had a terrific day today, and he hopes the new week brings him more surprises than he can expect. He's saving money to buy new shirts, and his father's helping him out with his new mathematics syllabus. The kid stays with you until it's 4 in the morning, when he suddenly recalls he has work to do. Without a formal goodbye, the kid leaves. The canine, dutifully, follows him to wherever he's off to. As you stare at the kid running off, the fresh sunlight isn't the only thing dawning on you.

You have shared words and biscuits with a complete stranger, and now you've become a part of his journey. Imagine you're someplace else, and you have nothing to do with this random kid with a dog. Now that you've exchanged moments with him, you have unwittingly become a reason he exists in this world. The kid, in turn, has become a background for your nexus as well. You might never come to meet this kid, and he might never cross your path. But these three hours that you've spent with him, will forever be etched in your life.

Small but memorable instances that you become a part of, make you feel the necessity of basic provisions in society. You're a citizen of this country, and there is seldom a better way to realise this in such an effect.