The Synthetic is a story written by RD959 for a school project.
The story focuses on the importance of maintaining curiosity in one's life, but also parallels the consequences of knowing too much. It is set in 2087 in a post-apocalyptic world, 50 years after the economic collapse of 2037 which destroyed nations all around the world.
A hopeful scientist and his friend finally create a humanoid robot in their lab, but the robot is missing all of its knowledge capacitors. Over time, the scientist raises the robot himself, teaching it all the wonders of the apocalypse they lived their lives in.
Full Story
βOkayβ¦ Laboratory Log 86. Itβs Saturday today. Or tonight. I canβt tell anymore. Weβve finished the experiment, for the sixth time now. I- I donβt know if this one will work, and if it doesnβtβ¦ I might as well be throwing the past year of my life out the window.β
βCome on, Dan. Are we doing this or what?β
βWould you give me a minute? Iβm just setting up the camera.β
βWell, be quick. My shiftβs been over for an hour now. I want to go home.β
βMe too, Grant. Me tooβ¦ Okay, Iβm ready when you are.β
βIf we manage to do this, weβll be the second man beside God himself to invent life!β
<System starting- loading action files>
<Action successful>
As I opened my eyes for the first time ever, I was met with two creatures similarly shaped to myself. One of them was holding a small black machine, and the other was right beside me.
βHello?β The one beside me said.
βIs it working? Did we do it?β The other one called out.
I took a step forward, and opened my mouth to speak. Nothing came out.
βIβ¦ think it worked!β The two of them began to show this new emotion.
βWait. Grant. It didnβt speak.β The taller one with the machine said.
βOh. Damn it.β They slammed a white wall with their hand.
βWhat now?β
βScrap it.β
βWe are not scrapping it. This is the furthest weβve gotten, Grant. All itβll take is a bit of teaching.β
βItβs worse than that. Diagnostics are saying only the very basic knowledge receptors are installed. Did we miss a step?β
βI guess so. Weβre going to have to do a lot more, but we are not scrapping it.β
βFine. You can bring it home with you, but Iβve got a family to go back to right now.β
βVery funny. We both know you donβt.β The tall one walked to the machine and turned it off. βDaniel Shaw, signing off.β
Laboratory Log 87.
Iβm choosing not to record this one digitally. Iβd rather just write it like the Old World used to. Iβm back home, at least. Todayβs Sunday; the 23rd of November, 2086. The cityβs celebrating?- no, mourning- the economic collapse that happened 50 years ago to this very day. Iβm not one to get involved in things like that anyways; even though I was there when it happened. Last night Grant and I made a revelation, in the form of our very own synthetic. Thereβs still a lot of flaws, though; the only things it knows about is what it can see in front of it. Doesnβt know how to speak or write and can hardly walk in a straight line. Grantβs diagnostics say it has a working mind, but doesnβt have the capacity to use it. I donβt know what to do. Grant suggested we just scrap it and start over, but I have slaved away too many hours in that lab, and this is the best shot weβve got at changing the world.
βOkayβ¦ letβs seeβ¦β I had overheard the man call himself Daniel Shaw last night, so that would be what I called him. He walked up to me and looked me in the eyes.
βYou canβt speak, can you?β Daniel Shaw said. I tried to open my mouth, but again, nothing came out, bar a small noise I did not know I was capable of making.
βGreat. Where do I beginβ¦β
We spent the next multiple hours teaching me how to make noises out of my mouth that would make sense to others, which were called words. Daniel Shaw remarked it was considerably easier for a synthetic to learn new things, compared to a human.
At one point he had asked me, βWhat do you know?β I replied as honestly as I was able to.
βI have been installed with very basic mental capacitors. The current hard-drives only contain baseline knowledge.β
βLike what?β Daniel Shawβs right eyebrow shifted up along his face in an odd way.
βWhat did you do with your eyebrow just now?β
βDid I do something with it?β
βYes.β
βOh. Yeah, Iβll have to teach you emotions too. Raising your eyebrow like this is a sign of curiosity or inquiry.β He did it again.
I tried my best to replicate it, but I was unable to move it an inch without moving the other one as well.
βOnly some people can do it, because they have separated brow muscles. You donβt.β
βWhy not?β
βWell, when we- Grant and I- were designing you, we didnβt think itβd be necessary to give you two separate muscles just so you could raise an eyebrow.β
βYou made me?β
βWe did.β
βHow was I made?β I asked.
β...β
βDaniel Shaw, how was I made?β
βYou can just call me Dan. My friend Grant and I are scientists, and as you know, you are a synthetic. You were designed in a laboratory by us, as a project to revive the Old World dream of robots.β
βWhat was the Old World?β
βIt was everything you could dream of for a society- before the economic collapse of β37. The collapse nearly destroyed humanity as the governments of nations fell, and we all were left to fend for ourselves. Some humans just went straight crazy and started killing each other over basic necessities. It was a bad time.β
βAnd you stopped them?β
βHeh. No, I didnβt; I was just a kid at the time, living up north in Canada where it didnβt affect us for another few years. But after a while the more sane humans started to reorganize into factions in former cities and most of the psychos who started the killing all died off in the Wilderness.β
βWhy did you come here if Canada was safer?β
βIt didnβt stay safe for long. When the collapse did hit us, it hit us hard. That along with the harsh winters made it not worth living in.β Dan sighed. βBut, now, Seattleβs my home, and itβs definitely gotten better than when I first came here.β
I learned from Dan that the city of Seattle was one of the safest on the west coast; guarded by mountains, it was easily defendable; and with the sea access it became a powerful trading port between America and the land across the ocean. In comparison, he described Los Angeles- a much larger city further south of us- as βabsolute hellβ.
Despite the safety and high-development of the city compared to others, not many people in Seattle were very smart; Dan was one of the few who could read something that wasnβt a computer screen, as he was alive in the Old World, back when they still had books. He made an effort to help those who couldnβt read at all, and while there werenβt paper-copies of books anymore, he still read stories from the Old World.
People also admired him for having lived this long- he was going on 65 and managed to survive the Canadian collapse, as well as the long 2-week trek through the American Wilderness to Seattle. In a world like this, most people would only be able to live to 40. I wasnβt quite sure what happens after they turn 40.
I learned the Wilderness was what they called the land outside of the cities, and from the stories Iβve heard among the townsfolk it lived up to its name.
Some time later, when Dan allowed me to roam free around the city, I got full of myself with the idea that I could survive the Wilderness, and I wanted to explore the vast emptiness of America.
One night, when the guards at the city wall were half-asleep, I exited through the gate and walked out into the heavily forested Wilderness.
I came back three hours later with three stab wounds in the chest and a missing left hand; all caused by some raiders just down the road from Seattle.
βOh, you idiot!β Daniel exclaimed when I came into the house with sparks flying out from where my hand once was. βWho did this to you?β
βA raider.β
βGod damn it, I told you not to go out there!β Dan examined my wounds.
βI wanted to know what it was like in the Wilderness.β
βCuriosity killed the cat, eh?β
βI am not a cat. Nor have I died.β
βWell, that reminds me of our next lessonβ¦β
Dan was able to replace my hands and mend the stab wounds, but he expressed the cost of such repairs, and ordered me never to go out into the Wilderness again.
The next few months were very calm. Dan shared his reading passion with me, and I found it was more enjoyable than I would have thought. He taught me to read aloud and comprehend the text, and I found it expanded my vocabulary much more than before.
My favorite story was To Kill a Mockingbird; when I told Dan so, he said it was because I could relate with the main character-
-Both Jean Louise Finch and I wanted to know more from the cruel world we lived in.
Dan continued his lessons on human emotion and behavior, and said I was getting more and more like a human each day, but he wasnβt sure if it was a good thing or not.
Some people were scared of the idea of synthetics living among themselves, and more so the idea of not being able to tell who was one or not.
Still, Dan and Grant hadnβt made another synthetic other than myself, and Dan said it was because it took so long for them to make me how I was, that they didnβt believe in themselves to be able to do it again.
For my whole life, I hadnβt met Grant other than the day of my creation. I was convinced that Dan and him fell out after the argument over me, and one day I asked Dan about it.
βIt wasnβt you that caused it. Donβt think that you did.β He replied. βGrant just had his own things to attend to, so I let him off and we went our own ways.β
βIf you arenβt mad at him, why wonβt you introduce me to him?β
βI just havenβt bothered yet. Do you want to see him?β
βI suppose so. Yes.β
We went together to Grantβs house on the other side of the city. Dan knocked on the door, and when it opened we both set eyes on Grant, who was looking very odd.
βWhaddayawant?β He said sloppily. I wasnβt sure if he was infected with something, or if he was just always like that and had a horrible speech impediment.
βYouβre drunk again, Grant.β
βI know- burp- What am I supposed to do about it?β
βStop drinking yourself into the grave.β
βI wonβt die, Daniel Shaw. Iβmβ¦ invincible!β
βNo you arenβt! Now, give me that bottle and let us in.β Dan stole the glass bottle from Grantβs hand and threw it to the side. Grant grumbled and turned around, walking to the couch in his living room.
βI warned you.β Dan said to me.
βOkay, whatβre you βere for, Daniel?β
βIβd like to introduce you to your own creation.β Danβs hand stretched out, pointing towards me in an introductory manner.
βAh.β Grant burped, unimpressed.
βThatβs it?β I said.
βYup.β
βYouβre a terrible host to your guest here, Grant.β
βI donβt care.β
βAt least show some courtesy!β
βDamn you, Daniel!β
βDamn me? Damn me?! Youβre the one so far down your own bottle you look like youβve already ruined your life! You have to do something with your life, because youβve always been a wreck and youβd be screwed if I didnβt come along and help you!β
βI ainβt the one who left my own wife and kid to die!β
βYou-!β Dan was about to say something really aggressive, but he stopped himself and stormed out the door. I followed him out after giving Grant a quick glare, and we walked home in silence.
Once we were home, I asked Dan, to which he gave a deep sigh.
βSit down.β He beckoned for me to sit across from him at the kitchen table. I pulled up my chair and repeated myself.
βDan, is what Grant said true?β
β...Yes.β
βWhy would you do that?β
βI had no choice. Itβs a long story.β
βI have lots of time.β
βOkay. Fine.β Dan sighed once more and started.
βWhen I first got here in Seattle around- when was that, 2047- I met this woman. Her name was Penny. We got married in β49. We had our daughter three years later, and we named her Alice. My life was the best when I was raising my little girl.β
βWhy did you leave them to die?β
βThatβs not what happened! Grant doesnβt know what happened out there; he just twisted my own story I told him and heβs using it against me!β Daniel half-stood up from his chair and slammed his fist on the table.
βWould you like to calm down and explain what truly happened, then?β
βWe were out there in the Wilderness one day getting wood for the city, since we had run out within the walls. Butβ¦β Dan began to produce water droplets from his eyes, but he wiped them clean with his hand. βI- I had only gone for two minutes. When I came back, a bunch of raiders had gotten to them, and- and they didnβt show any mercy. They just up and killed both of them, and I could only watch. I couldnβt do anything to stop them, and I wish I was thereβ¦-β Dan continued shedding water, and he stood up, breathing quickly and erratically.
βIβm sorry, Daniel.β I said.
βI shouldnβt have said anything.β Dan walked off to his room, and did not come back out for the rest of the night.
Dan was very quiet for the next handful of weeks. His lessons about the world stopped, and he remained in his room for most of the day, only emerging to feed himself or retrieve a holographic book.
Whenever I did see Dan, it was evident that his health was deteriorating. His face was becoming more pale, his hair was turning grey- more grey than before- and he seemed to have lost at least 20 pounds.
I asked him about the pressing matter, but he insisted he was fine and in as good health as ever.
Personal Log 117.
I just canβt take it anymore. Went with the synthetic to Grantβs house and he reminded me that my life is useless and it wonβt amount to anything since Iβve got the disapproval of my wife and kidβs ghosts stalking me. Theyβre probably in the room right now, and if either of you are looking over my shoulder right now, just wait. I have something to say to you. Firstly, I feel like shit. Both mentally and physically. This might be the last log I write with my own hand, because itβs all jittery now and I canβt keep it straight. Iβm having trouble writing the rest of this log, but I still think itβs good to get my thoughts onto paper instead of locking them up in my head. Secondly, I have some things to say to the people in my life that I donβt think Iβll be able to say in person. To the Synthetic, Iβm sorry. Itβs a rough world out there, and I hope you find your meaning. To Grant, save yourself before itβs too late. Drop the bottle and turn your life around. And to my dear Penny and Alice, I think Iβll see you soon. We can talk then.
One day, I finally decided to intrude on Danβs privacy and go into his room, since he had been holed up in there for about 20 hours now. I opened the door slowly with a knock on the wood, as was courteous- only to find Dan with his eyes closed on his bed, not moving at all.
Was he sleeping? It was 1 in the afternoon- itβd be odd for him to be sleeping.
I nudged him with my finger to try and wake him.
No response.
I pushed him a bit harder, thinking he was in a deep sleep.
Still, nothing.
βDan?β
And this was the horrible moment in my life when I began to realize the truths of this world.
The paramedic told me he was dead.
I struggled to believe it- partly because I was simply in denial, but also since I did not know what it was like to be dead.
βYou see, when someone lives for a long time down here, God decides itβs time to bring them up to another world. Itβs much better than ours, and Iβm sure Daniel is enjoying himself up there.β The paramedic said, in an attempt to solve my confusion.
I was invited to a gathering where we were all to dress in black attire and mourn the death of Daniel Shaw, who was to be buried beside his wife and daughter in the Seattle Cemetery. I was not sure what to do, or how to feel, but at least I recognized someone.
βHello, Grant.β Danβs old partner was much more cleaned up. I suppose he decided to fix himself for the occasion so as to live up to Danβs wishes.
βHi, Synth.β
βGrant, I regret my curiosity.β
βWhyβs that?β
βIβve learned about the horrors of this world, Iβve learned about death and nearly died myself, and there is still so much to learn. But itβs all so sad. Why do we live in such a world?β
βI canβt answer that myself. Itβs much more complicated than I could ever understand.β Grant sighed deeply.
βWill I die too?β
βNot for a long time, because you arenβt human.β
βDoes that mean I have to see everybody else die?β
βMaybe so.β
βIβm not ready to experience that, Grant.β
β...β Grant seemed to be looking out at something, and when I deduced he was contemplating his own life, I walked away.
I stood at the buried casket of Daniel Shaw where many pictures of him and his family were placed on an altar, and I began to experience something I did not know I could do.
A droplet of water emerged from my eyelid, and it slowly ran down my face until falling off and landing in the grass below.
Characters
Daniel Shaw
Daniel Shaw was born in 2023 in Vancouver, Canada. His life was normal up until the Collapse, by which he was just 14. The Collapse was delayed in Canada, and for the next 4 years he and his family lived in fear of what was happening down south in the United States. When he was 18 the Collapse reached Canada, and it hit much harder than it did in America. Both of his parents died in an attack from raiders, but Daniel was able to escape with his life.
He fled south of the border and travelled for 2 weeks in the American Wilderness where the raiders roamed, before reaching the Seattle City Center, which had become a guarded safe haven formed by the sane survivors in order to stop the raiders from reaching them. Daniel helped rebuild the city among the 1200 survivors, but as multiple raider attacks followed, their numbers dwindled to 500 before they were able to repel enough raider attacks to stop them from returning.
As he got into his older age and his fellow pre-Collapse survivors passed away, Daniel was eventually one of the few in Seattle who were able to remember life before the Collapse. He was also the only person to have read a paper book before, as most books were destroyed during the Collapse, and humanity relied on computers now. For this, he was normally approached as the city advisor, giving insightful intellect for anything needed.
In 2047, Daniel met a woman named Penny, and the two got into a relationship and married just two years later. Three years after that, they would have their child, naming her Alice. Daniel speaks fondly of those years, saying it was the best part of living in the apocalypse.
Disaster struck Daniel in 2068, when he went out with his family to gather resources for Seattle, but were ambushed by raiders. Penny and Alice were instantly killed by them, and Daniel was helpless in trying to save them. The sight of his family dying crushed him, and affected him for many years to come.
Sometime in 2086, Daniel and his close friend who only went by Grant began work on a new revitalization project, as they realized the death rate in Seattle was dropping faster than the birth rate was going up. They sought to create humanoid synthetics in the event of Seattle's civilians being unable to increase their population. This project went on for over a year before they finally struck true with their first working synthetic.
The Synthetic
The sixth prototype by Daniel and Grant, the synthetic was created with no knowledge capacitors, except for the very basic ones such as the ability to walk, and awareness of their surroundings. Daniel chose to take care of the synthetic to teach it all that it was missing.
Over the next few months, Daniel was able to teach the synthetic how to talk fluently and comprehensively, as well as teaching it how to read and other such motor skills. One day, the synthetic got curious about how it was made, to which Daniel answered honestly and fully. This began a conversation in which Daniel explained his life in the Old World, his experiences during the Collapse, as well as what the Wilderness was like.
One day, the synthetic got too curious, and went to sneak out of Seattle to explore the Wilderness. It didn't get far, however, as within 3 hours it was attacked and had its left hand cut off by a raider. The synthetic came back to Daniel, who taught it the important lesson of how curiosity killed the cat.
Daniel decided to introduce the synthetic to Grant, since the two hadn't met yet other than at its creation. They went to Grant's house, where he sat drunk on his couch. Him and Daniel got into an argument over Grant's lack of emotion for the synthetic, which led to Grant accusing Daniel of having left Penny and Alice to die all those years back.
The synthetic asked about this later, and Daniel decided to reveal the truth. He explained how he was forced to watch helplessly as they were executed in front of him, and how the guilt of not taking action haunted him to this day. He said that creating the synthetic let him clear his mind of his loss, and having it in his life was like having a child again.
Daniel would pass away not long after, to which the synthetic lost its purpose in life, without a mentor to get it through life. It spoke to Grant at Daniel's funeral, and told him about how getting too curious made the synthetic aware of things it did not want to know.
Trivia
- The prompt for this short story was "Discuss and explore the idea of the importance of retaining curiosity in one's life." It is intended to relate to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, in which the main character Scout discovers more and more about the world she lives in as she grows up;
- As such, the synthetic's favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird, as mentioned in the story: "...when I told Dan so, he said it was because I could relate with the main character- both Jean Louise Finch and I wanted to know more from the cruel world we lived in."