Masters of Science Fiction

From the very beginning,

we have wondered how life began,

what our purpose is,

and where we are headed.

We have struggled to understand time, matter,

the infinite universe,

who we are, and if we are alone.

Great minds have imagined the most wonderful

and the most terrifying answers to these questions.

In a world that grows increasingly dangerous,

what will we sacrifice in the name of security?

Another late one, Mr. Kramer?

Yeah. I guess so.

Take it easy, now.

Yeah.

Hello, Charlie.

Armed with both anti-personnel

and anti-vehicle capabilities,

the Watchbird drone has proven itself

as the most flexible and effective weapon

in America's arsenal.

It has been hailed by military strategists

as the ground soldiers' guardian in the field.

Enemy troops, screened for their intent.

In microseconds, the Watchbird responds

with two levels of firepower.

One to stun and disable,

and a second to deliver a lethal blow.

Vigilance Technologies' Watchbird.

The weapon system of the future

transforming the battlefield of today.

Alright! Whew!

I guess I don't have to tell any of you,

but if you manage to survive

in the cutthroat world of hi-tech,

you're a fortunate man.

And if you help save the lives

of the young men and women on the front line,

you are blessed.

But you manage to do both,

and by golly, you are one lucky bastard.

Pardon my French.

Do we still say that?

Now, we're here tonight

to honor the man who made Watchbird possible,

with maybe a tip of the hat to the genius who hired him.

When Charlie first came to me with the idea for Watchbird,

I have to admit I was skeptical.

Two and a half pounds of tin

floating around out in the desert,

kicking butt and taking names.

I figured, action figure sold separately.

But damned if that boy wasn't on to something.

There he was, throwing charts and diagrams at me,

as if I knew microsurge telemetry

from duck a l'orange.

Now, the way Charlie explained it,

someone's about to kill.

Their bodies give off dozens of telltale signals.

You give an armed drone

the ability to recognize those signals,

you are on to something, something amazing.

"But how are you going to keep them

from zapping one of our own?" I ask.

"Simple," says Charlie.

You give the good guys encrypted chips.

The rest is just a turkey shoot.

And here we are, three years

and God knows how many soldiers

returned to the bosom of their families later,

and I got to tell you,

I am one proud CEO.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the man of the hour.

- I love you. - Come up here, Charlie.

Charles T. Kramer.

Charlie.

Charles T. Kramer, man of the hour.

If I ever agree to do anything like that again,

you have my permission to shoot me where I stand.

I thought it was lovely and well deserved.

Gee, and I thought you actually liked me.

Okay, so you weren't exactly in your element.

No.

You know,

I never would have thought in a million years

that this is how I'd make my mark.

It makes what you've done all the more incredible.

Well, I don't know about that.

Really?

Do you think that things will change?

You know, when we're married?

You mean will I be keeping more respectable hours?

Believe me, I have no illusions about that.

Mm. Yeah.

I just worry, you know?

I'm so happy right now.

Well, why would you be any less happy after we're married?

I don't know.

I mean, maybe we'll start taking things for granted.

Is that crazy?

Yeah. A little bit.

It's a little crazy.

I can't imagine ever taking you for granted for a moment.

Charlie.

- Good to see you. - Hey, boss.

This is Jack Valentine,

Assistant Secretary for Homeland Security,

and his chief of staff Bradley Tanner.

Gentlemen, Charlie Kramer.

Hi.

Hell of an honor, Charlie.

I mean that.

How are you?

Shall we?

Thank you, Denise.

Charlie...

The president wants to bring the bird home.

I don't understand. Did something happen?

I thought everyone was pretty happy with the program.

We are, Charlie.

In fact, we're so pleased with the program

that we'd like to extend the security that Watchbird provides

to all Americans,

not just our troops.

Homeland Security wants to deploy the Watchbird

on the home front.

Well, it's not as easy as it sounds,

with all due respect.

We're not talking about sea to shining sea, Charlie.

We envision 10 or 12 metropolitan areas.

To begin with.

Seattle, of course, would be included.

It's all detailed in this brief.

Yeah, but, see...

the thing about Watchbird is—

I mean, the whole idea behind Watchbird

is that it was designed for a battlefield environment.

The war we're fighting, Charlie, the big war,

it doesn't respect borders.

We're fighting an enemy that thinks nothing

of killing innocent civilians.

Watchbird is the most effective tactical weapon

in our arsenal, Charlie, and we have the opportunity

to bring it where the need is greatest,

right here at home.

But in Iraq and Afghanistan,

we equipped the coalition troops with chips.

We couldn't possibly use that strategy domestically.

Of course.

Uh, Mr. Ludwin has been kind enough

to share with me the findings of your research.

Well, you can't do business with people

and keep them in the dark, Charlie.

The government needs to be armed with the facts

to make informed decisions.

I mean, we're talking about the security of the United States here.

You theorize in these documents

that the Watchbird could be programmed

to distinguish between criminal intent

and the legal use of force.

In theory.

Homeland Security's looked at this, Charlie.

So have the key Congressional chairs.

So has the President of the United States.

Frankly, Charlie, I think you're duty-bound to cooperate.

Well, then...

I think it's safe to say that we've moved forward.

Congratulations, Charlie.

What we're witnessing here is nothing less than the beginning of an era.

- Congratulations. - Yeah.

Long may we prosper.

Mm-hmm.

What they're asking is impossible.

Did you tell them that?

I tried.

You feel that they're jumping the gun?

They didn't even give me a heads-up.

Suddenly, they want the Watchbird

patrolling the streets of America.

You're not convinced it's ready.

It's just a machine, Sarah.

It's a machine with limitations.

And if it makes a mistake, it's irreversible.

With no due process, no appeals,

in a split second, thanks to me,

it's a de facto judge, jury, and potential executioner.

You said that the Watchbird's intelligence

is analogous to human intelligence.

The first smart weapon worthy of the name.

We're in a process of refinement.

We're trying to reduce its margin of error, and—

I just don't think we're there yet.

But its decisions are guided in the same way

an intelligent person's choices would be, right?

Intelligent people make mistakes.

And as smart as it is,

it's just an analog of human intelligence.

So whatever our flaws,

the computer runs the risk of compounding them exponentially.