Musings on the Black Sheep and the Bastard Son
She has never been one to flinch away from anything. Conflict, hard work, gore. The world is as it is, and she has always tried to face what life throws her unafraid. She was not afraid of KRO's growling, his threats. Nor of Karr's, not that she'll remind him he threatened her. Never in a long life has she failed to fight, to stand up, to try.
Karr found her again. She has no intention of letting him go; of losing him a fourth time. She worries, a little, with how easy it is to think of herself in a maternal role to him-- and to extend the definition, how appropriate it is to consider him her son. She never wanted children, was never good with them-- or at least she assumed she was never good with them; she was rarely in the company of children. Karr is a different case, though. He was never a needy infant, a sticky child, a sulking adolescent. He simply was, from the day he came online.
He can assume a human form now.
She had found herself studying her reflection, the night after that revelation-- Karr can become human, or human enough. The old fool in her, perhaps, but the more she examined her face, the more a certain similarity seemed to want to emerge. It wasn't as though she had stamped him with her features, but perhaps there was something to the chin?
Bah. An old woman's fantasy, she eventually decided.
And her more vocal presence had attracted KRO-- very like a moth to a flame, as he approached her assuming she would reprogram him. A stupid notion, reprogramming. That was not something you did to an established AI. For one thing, the framework was devilishly hard to wipe completely clean. Experience tended to mesh with programming, and very often one couldn't be removed without destroying the other.
But he was damaged, broken.
She knew the lines of his programming well enough-- Marland's damnable personality matrix had been highly experimental. No one besides Calvin had been qualified to lead the project. As far as she'd been concerned, it was more being a figurehead than a project leader; certainly she could manage to integrate Martin Jantzen's personality into KRO's programming, but her every objection was ignored. It would save years, Marland insisted. It would work out, don't worry.
Hah.
Jantzen had cracked.
Of course it was too much for him, for them both. The partnership was imbalanced, tunnel-vision and an eyes-on-the-prize mentality had marked the pair of them. Never had she seen a set of partners more willing to die for one another-- and she never hoped to see one again.
Karr seems to have settled. He seems less furious over his betrayal than Calvin is. He also seems as overjoyed at Calvin's presence as she is with Karr's, but still. He is well, and she's grateful for that.
KRO is broken, not that he had the chance to start off particularly well.
She knows it's nothing inherent in his programming that's hurting him; this is the price of experience, of life. But she still knows, or can surmise, the path that brought him there. She knows how best to garner a reaction from him.
And she did it. Led him by the hand, with nothing but words and one not particularly painful hand to the back of the head, from bitter to aggressive to miserable to tears.
It was simpler to lay hands on him, as a car. She made a mental note of that.
She does not extend the same affection to KRO that colors thoughts of Karr. Karr is hers, somehow, he is a lost boy, a prodigal son. The idea that she could stand next to him, that they could be photographed and perhaps be mistaken for literal mother and son makes her mouth twitch in a tight, smug smile.
The thought of KRO does not carry with it maternal feelings, but clinical ones. A doctor's obligation-- a scientist's responsibility for a subject. With Karr there is the nonexistent family portrait; with KRO, the image of a grown man so swamped by his own guilt, pain, grief, loss, that he could not look her in the eye.
Susan Calvin had not entered the field of artificial intelligence to witness such a thing.
Yes. Karr wants her presence, wants a mother of her. She is not altogether certain she's the best candidate for motherhood of any kind, but she always wants to see him, now. Wants to know how he is. If he wants her for a mother, she certainly wants him for a son.
KRO is not her son. KRO, should he seek her out again, is something much closer to her patient.
She'll help him, if she can.
Karr found her again. She has no intention of letting him go; of losing him a fourth time. She worries, a little, with how easy it is to think of herself in a maternal role to him-- and to extend the definition, how appropriate it is to consider him her son. She never wanted children, was never good with them-- or at least she assumed she was never good with them; she was rarely in the company of children. Karr is a different case, though. He was never a needy infant, a sticky child, a sulking adolescent. He simply was, from the day he came online.
He can assume a human form now.
She had found herself studying her reflection, the night after that revelation-- Karr can become human, or human enough. The old fool in her, perhaps, but the more she examined her face, the more a certain similarity seemed to want to emerge. It wasn't as though she had stamped him with her features, but perhaps there was something to the chin?
Bah. An old woman's fantasy, she eventually decided.
And her more vocal presence had attracted KRO-- very like a moth to a flame, as he approached her assuming she would reprogram him. A stupid notion, reprogramming. That was not something you did to an established AI. For one thing, the framework was devilishly hard to wipe completely clean. Experience tended to mesh with programming, and very often one couldn't be removed without destroying the other.
But he was damaged, broken.
She knew the lines of his programming well enough-- Marland's damnable personality matrix had been highly experimental. No one besides Calvin had been qualified to lead the project. As far as she'd been concerned, it was more being a figurehead than a project leader; certainly she could manage to integrate Martin Jantzen's personality into KRO's programming, but her every objection was ignored. It would save years, Marland insisted. It would work out, don't worry.
Hah.
Jantzen had cracked.
Of course it was too much for him, for them both. The partnership was imbalanced, tunnel-vision and an eyes-on-the-prize mentality had marked the pair of them. Never had she seen a set of partners more willing to die for one another-- and she never hoped to see one again.
Karr seems to have settled. He seems less furious over his betrayal than Calvin is. He also seems as overjoyed at Calvin's presence as she is with Karr's, but still. He is well, and she's grateful for that.
KRO is broken, not that he had the chance to start off particularly well.
She knows it's nothing inherent in his programming that's hurting him; this is the price of experience, of life. But she still knows, or can surmise, the path that brought him there. She knows how best to garner a reaction from him.
And she did it. Led him by the hand, with nothing but words and one not particularly painful hand to the back of the head, from bitter to aggressive to miserable to tears.
It was simpler to lay hands on him, as a car. She made a mental note of that.
She does not extend the same affection to KRO that colors thoughts of Karr. Karr is hers, somehow, he is a lost boy, a prodigal son. The idea that she could stand next to him, that they could be photographed and perhaps be mistaken for literal mother and son makes her mouth twitch in a tight, smug smile.
The thought of KRO does not carry with it maternal feelings, but clinical ones. A doctor's obligation-- a scientist's responsibility for a subject. With Karr there is the nonexistent family portrait; with KRO, the image of a grown man so swamped by his own guilt, pain, grief, loss, that he could not look her in the eye.
Susan Calvin had not entered the field of artificial intelligence to witness such a thing.
Yes. Karr wants her presence, wants a mother of her. She is not altogether certain she's the best candidate for motherhood of any kind, but she always wants to see him, now. Wants to know how he is. If he wants her for a mother, she certainly wants him for a son.
KRO is not her son. KRO, should he seek her out again, is something much closer to her patient.
She'll help him, if she can.