Uncanny

You sneaky so-and-so.

Oh, you poor silly bastard.

Are you ready for the waterfall?

Mr. Kressen?

Who dares to interrupt this monumental battle?

Joy Andrews is here.

The reporter from High Tech Quarterly.

Joy Andrews. The reporter from...

High Tech Quarterly, yes. Go ahead and send her up. Check.

Check.

Check.

And mate.

I think it's putting it mildly to say you're a bit of a mystery.

Most people don't graduate MIT with a BS in Computer science...

...and Masters in Mechanical Engineering at the age of 20.

- Nineteen. - Nineteen.

And those that do usually join a think-tank.

Or apply their knowledge in broad, greater good ways.

I get that.

But when a Simon Castle presents you with an opportunity, it's very hard to turn down.

It's even harder to negotiate terms.

Right. And why all the secrecy?

I mean, you've been a recluse.

- I wouldn't say it's that bad. - No?

I basically have a blank check to explore any field I want.

This workshop has been like an intellectual Darwin bubble.

The work done here has progressed with very little input from outside academia.

The world of academic science can be a little stagnant.

Ideas tend to be reactive.

Back and forth and you get these little ego-driven Eddy currents...

...that slow overall advancement.

People focus on minutia just to get a paper published...

...with very little desire to be the first to the next big thing.

When Castle started Castrole Computing from his garage...

- Mm? - ...he had a vision...

...that wasn't beholden to any previous notions of what a computer system could do.

This, Workspace 18, is the modern day application of that.

To give one person unfettered freedom and unlimited access...

...to do something amazing.

Well, it looks like you're drinking the Kool-Aid.

I guess so.

Everything I've built over the last decade was cooked up on this table.

- That's a lot of Terabytes. - Peta... bytes.

- What's that? - Feel it.

- It's warm. - It's realistic, durable skin substitute.

It can actually generate and emit heat signatures that match body temperature.

That patent's already through.

Within three years, that will be the gold standard covering for prostatic limbs.

Feel that.

- It's light. - Aerated titanium.

Has the same physical kinematic properties and weight balance of human bone.

We bubble argon through it.

But tensile strength like an airplane fuselage.

The eye is probably the single most complex component of the human body...

...but with this camera, we're able to convert a hemispheric, fisheye image...

...into a planar representation that allows a computer to see it...

...in a way that is analogous to the way we do.

- So you're talking about robotics? - Bingo.

I used to study robotics. Grad school type stuff.

I know. That's why Castle chose you for this article series.

He really enjoyed your paper on Subsumption Architecture.

That was my dissertation.

My unfinished dissertation. I never technically defended it.

Doesn't mean it wasn't on Castle's radar.

Maybe he had you in mind for a workspace of your own. Once upon a time.

Look, these are amazing feats.

But if you know half as much about my work as you seem to...

...then you know that this stuff isn't really new to me.

I've done a bunch of pieces on emerging tech...

...and I tend to be my editors go-to for all things robotic.

I get why I'm here, I just don't get why I need a full week of access to interview you.

It won't take me that long to write about what I've seen here today.

Follow me.

- Adam. - I hope I didn't offend you.

These things are amazing. The eye especially will make for a fascinating piece.

Don't worry, it's fine.

- Why don't you talk to Joy for a bit. - Oh, no, that's okay. I don't need to.

Trust me, talk to Adam.

So how long have you been David's assistant?

- Seven years. - Oh, wow. What exactly does that entail?

We plan and manufacture the components for our work.

- And you participate in the assembly? - Yes.

Okay. So you have a background in mechanical engineering and coding?

- Yes. - Okay. Graduate study?

Okay. No graduate study.

- Adam, do you have a last name? - Kressen.

- So you're related? - Yes.

Yes, we are.

Cool.

Can you think of anything that would help...

...prevent development erased condition in a system I'm designing.

Utilization of a carnal map would allow for simplification of Boolean expression.

And subsequently result in detection and elimination...

...of erase hazard prior to occurrence...

...as well as minimization of other involved functions.

That sounds about right. Thank you, Adam. You're a programming Rain Man.

The remote automated information manager...

...is the proprietary publishing platform of America Online.

It's actual coding is at the highest levels of corporate security.

I was never involved in its programming. Where did you hear that?

I was actually referring to Dustin Hoffman.

Adam, could you wait here a second while I talk with David?

What?

Clearly something's up with him. What's the deal?

- What do you think the deal is? - David, don't waste my time.

This kid the next big thing? Some Asperger's cousin of yours...

...ready to get all Good Will Hunting on coding and change the world?

Oh, my God.

What?

You're not doing a piece on the eye...

...or the bone, or the lab, or my prodigy programmer.

- Well, not directly, anyway. - I don't get it.

Look...

...Adam is the amalgam...

...of everything you've seen here and more.

I made him.

He is the most convincing Artificial Intelligence...

...ever created.

Do you know what the best part is?

The best part of all this is that he fooled you.

You, of all people...

...with a graduate study in robotics no less.

Of course, you technically did drop out.

Do you still think a whole week will be enough time for your article?

It felt like he was rubbing it in my face.

No. No. Yeah, I'll admit, I was probably a little sensitive...

...after the nonchalant name drop of my failed doctorate. It's my baggage.

It doesn't mean he wasn't a smug fuck, though.

Yeah, I got to admit, it's pretty intriguing.

Oh, come on, let me bring the drama out of the moment.

Humanoid AI?

And, Caleb, let me tell you, on cursory interaction, you cannot tell at all.

Not at all.

I... I was kicking myself when I found out.

Can I sleep on it? I've got to ruminate.

Having David fucking Kressen intellectually judge me for a week...

...is not my idea of a good time.

Uh-uh.

No, don't tell Aubrey just yet. Can I let you know?

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay, bye.

Bye.

- May I interrupt? - What's on your mind?

What if she doesn't like us?

What's not to like?

Look, I know it's tough.

It's been you and me for so long, but you were not made to be locked up forever.

It's time to share you with the world.

I'm not sure this is a good idea.

EGBOK.

- "Everything's going to be okay." - You know it.

Do you think she's pretty?

Her hair is nice. Good facial symmetry.

Delicate features. Nice fashion sense. Yes, I do. I think she's pretty.

What do you think?

I think she's very pretty.

Well, that's good to know. You have impeccable taste.

Interesting.

I have a pretty static chess rating. 2180 Elo. Give or take.

It's strong, but it would probably give me some problems on a national level.

When Adam and I started playing, he was around an 800, a novice.

But after a couple of weeks with a game every morning...

...he's sitting at a 1700.

Thought you'd go for that.

Checkmate. See, I sacrificed my queen.

I knew he wouldn't be able to resist.

It's a big a event, but here it's a distraction.

Who needs a queen when you win without one.

Always be focused on your primary objective.

Your lack of focus on what's important made you miss the big picture.

And that made you lose the game.

Make sure he doesn't beat himself up too much over it.

Are you okay?

He had me beat six moves ago.

Excuse me?

With a Knight threat, I would have had the castle and then mate in two.

He chose not to do that. He let the game go six moves longer...

...so that he could beat me with a queen sacrifice. Why do that...

...if the primary objective is to win?

Maybe the primary objective wasn't to win.

Then what was the primary objective?

To teach you. It's a flashier move, and he did have a point to make.

Perhaps he chose... to make me look foolish.

Perhaps specifically...

...making me look foolish was his primary objective.

I don't think you should read into it.

It's a just a game.

No, it's a learning exercise. Strategy is the means to the win which is the end.

He abandoned a surefire win in order to attempt to humiliate me.

That doesn't fit...

...within the confines of programming.

People do things for different reasons, Adam.

It's programming but in a different sense.

Hey.

Sorry.

Why?

The way you looked at my hand. I thought, maybe, you didn't like to be touched.

I don't have much of a frame of reference...

...for being touched.