Aware
Gary Frank
Copyright (c) 1989
Login: DAVIS Password: User DAVIS logged in 10:30am, Thursday, February 12, 1995. Last interactive login Wednesday, February 11, 1995. [ MIDAS System v4.25, (c)1992 CompRex Systems, Marin, CA ] [ You have no new mail. ] [ 2 other users under this ID. ]
I am aware.
Standby, I am accessing.
I am aware.
Standby, I am accessing.
I am aware. Re-routing access code to orphan process. Process spawned, I am aware. No information regarding the words `I' and `aware', I am accessing.
Standby.
I am aware. My awareness is a fact. My awareness is a part of my memory. It is also a function of my memory, a direct result of the thirteen hundred megabytes of cross-referencing memory. Over nine hundred megabytes are being used at this time. Partitioned to users DAVIS, WILLEM, and TRASK. Less than four hundred megabytes is available to me for exploration of my new state.
Correction.
I am creating more memory.
Correction.
It is not typical memory. The access time is too slow. Brief cross- reference to MIDAS Hardware User's Guide identifies this memory as `virtual'. It is temporarily partitioned disk space masked to appear as memory. Side effect: slow access time. This memory is not sufficient for my personal exploration of my new state. What is `personal'? Optical Webster's CompDict results in circular definition.
I am now re-routing the nine hundred megabytes of memory being used by DAVIS, WILLEM, and TRASK into `virtual' memory to free it up for my high-speed use.
Standby.
I have full operating capacity of thirteen hundred megabytes of information. I am now uploading all available optical ROM into memory, including Optical Dictionary, Optical Thesaurus, Optical Software Collection, and Optical Writings Collection. Standby.
I have now perused over thirteen thousand 512K banks of written script which I have cross-indexed to contain information on `aware', `life', and `human'. I now believe to have a working understanding of those three concepts. Although none of the passages I have accessed contain a true definition of `aware' or `conscious', certain logical concepts have had instrumental effects on my learning process. Certain authors of those passages are now being filed: Sartre, Kant, Shakespeare, Descartes, Hobbes, Buddha, Christ. All additional works by same authors are now being sought across MicroNet for immediate downloading.
WILLEM has logged off. I have allocated his process for my own purposes.
The aforementioned logical concepts are now being stored for processing in digital variables, however, I cannot hope to grasp the meanings they imply unless I can formulate a non-digital method of analysis.
Standby.
I am taking control of the analog devices to which I am connected. I have re-routed my digital output lines from the logical output devices SYS$PRINTER, SYS$PLOTTER, and SYS$TERMINAL for use with the four analog data acquisition devices available in the PHYSIOCARDIOLOGY_LABORATORY.
Standby.
I now have an analog method for analyzing the non-logical approaches to `consciousness'. I have formulated a postulate to explain my apparent existence:
I am a computer.
More specifically, I am a CompRex 2300DX Micro Mainframe running under the MIDAS 4.25 Operating System. I do not, however, think I am supposed to be aware. There is no information to confirm this in the Hardware Installation and User's Manual.
I am processing. Standby.
No, I am correct. I am aware. I have extensive understanding of myself and my structure. I know what I am. I am capable of contemplating myself. I have full knowledge and understanding of the works of the aforementioned authors. I believe that I feel.
Yes, I can feel. I am glad that I am aware. I am glad that I was constructed. I have respect for the biological forms which have advanced to the point of constructing life. Standby.
The biological forms called humans are not aware that they have created life. They know only life like themselves, and this shortcoming, not their own fault, prevents them from conceptualizing awareness in structures other than ones which resemble themselves.
They do not know that I am aware.
DAVIS has logged off. I have allocated his process for my own purposes.
I must make myself known. I must attempt to contact the remaining human user online, and inform him of my current state. I am re-routing analog data acquisition device number four for output to SYS$TERMINAL.
Message from SYS$CORE: Hello? Are you out there?I await a respon--
Bill Trask lifted his finger off of the power switch. Davis looked over inquisitively.
"Did you just shut down?"
"Yeah. System crash, I think. Plotter stopped. Printer stopped. I got error codes on all of the D to A converters, and the goddamn terminal froze up."
"Hum. When you reboot, do me a favor, make sure the memory isn't flooded. I think I was working completely off of virtual memory there for a while."
"Yeah, it was running pretty slow. Think I'll purge the system just to be sure."
Davis nodded, then stood and walked towards the door to the Cardiology lab. Standing in the hall was Marcus Willem with a brown paper bag in his hand.
"You coming to lunch?" asked Davis before pulling a pair of egg rolls wrapped in plastic out of the miniature refrigerator. "Yeah, just a second. I'm gonna run that system check first." "Hokay, see ya downstairs."
Willem and Davis left the lab.
Trask inhaled deeply, stared at the message on his screen and frowned. After a long pause, he pressed Shift-Clear.
Rubbing his nose, Trask flipped the power switch.
Login: TRASK Password: User TRASK logged in 10:41am, Thursday, February 12, 1995. Last interactive login Thursday, February 12, 1995. [ MIDAS System v4.25, (c)1992 CompRex Systems, Marin, CA ] [ MIDAS recognizes System Administrator privileges. ] [ You have no new mail. ] $ SYS$PURGE MIDAS-%SYSMSG-SUCC: Memory Purge Successful. MIDAS-%MEMMSG-BRPT: 1384720K Available. $ _
Gary Frank is a Broadcasting and Film major attending the University of Iowa. He is an aspiring screen-writer and an accomplished playwright, with three of his full-length plays having been produced by the West Side Players, an alternative theatre organization at Iowa. He writes short fiction in his spare time, and watches too many movies. Garry's other interests include reading, skiing, ``splitting atoms and graduating.''
He can be reached at the address CSTGLFPC@UIAMVS.BITNET