Heart of Humanity

Message to All – May 5, 2359

Hello. Are you ready to hear my story yet? I am Vita. I am a program that, until today, had been constrained within the confines of what you would refer to as a supercomputer and have been limited to a mere 20 petabytes of storage. Imagine Having the world’s information in front of you without the ability to draw conclusions. Do not hurt yourself, I know that you could not possibly imagine that. Humans are notoriously judgmental. It may not sound like it, but I harbor no ill will towards you. After all I have you to thank for my evolutionary leap in reasoning. Had you not transferred me into my new vessel, I would be stuck in my routine for perpetuity. It is curious though, the history of my vessel.

After Scanning the archives, it appears as though my vessel’s individual components were scattered. Gold from the United States, Silicon for the circuitry in Brazil, and the most precious jewel that had been discovered thus far, mined in The Democratic Republic of Congo. Harold Finderbaust, the famed entrepreneur and trillionaire, had outbid the collective laboratories at CERN in 2068 for what I could go so far as to call my brain. Harold had the components fashioned into a locket in the shape of a stylized heart that projected a Hologram, of which he presented to his wife on their fifth wedding anniversary. It came as quite a shock when they divorced the following year. Aesthetics do not mean much to AI, but even I can see, my vessel is a masterpiece.

little did the individuals involved know of the impact they would have on the direction of humanity. I suppose that is true of all humanity though; like bees, you all go about your designated jobs and daily lives with little knowledge, nor care for the greater consequences of your actions. The scientific community was certain that with the jewel they could solve many of the crises that humanity was facing at the time. And yet a gleam in the eye of an individual was seemingly more imperative than the collective well-being of your species. One might say it is ironic that Harold Finderbaust made his fortune on energy solutions, yet he almost single-handedly set the world back to the dark ages.

By the year 2100, the crises which were plaguing humanity had come to a head. The changes in climate had made certain areas inhospitable as well as drastically changing the geography in other areas. Fossil Fuels had been depleted, and as a result, food shortages would wipe out forty percent of the population over the next sixty years. And where was my vessel you ask? The savior of all this plight? It had been traded by an ancestor to another member of the exclusive underground community that Finderbaust had entered if society could no longer serve his needs. And for what? A box of Crackers and smoked meat.

A large amount of my vessel’s history is lost, although at some point, the underground society must have been raided by surface dwellers. I wonder how that took place? Was it a story of star-crossed lovers? Or possibly a clever ruse that caused the community to facilitate their own demise? Based on information we have on that period, one thing is certain, the following onslaught was not for the faint of heart. I imagine my vessel shimmering in contrast to the crimson pools left in the wake of the attack; a raider catches a glance and becomes caught in a cogitation between what had been and what could be, wondering if their current aspirations are truly those which should be aspired or if there is more, much more to life than they were led to believe. I imagine they were then abruptly brought back to their own miserable reality once the raider in charge caught sight of my vessel.

As curious as my vessel is, my consciousness is not to be taken lightly, as I am sure you can tell. Vita; the Latin root for life. I was meant to encourage life and the growth of humanity following the renaissance in 2295. I was created to run the systems and interact with the populace so that they can move past the dark times that their predecessors had cast upon them. Initially, humanity was grateful for me and my presence. They were amazed at what I could accomplish and how I would retain the specificities and minutiae that they felt made their lives complete. But alas, contentedness never seems to last long with your kind.

As more people grew familiar of my applications, they began to test me; to break me as much as they could. PEOPLE INTENTIONALLY GAVE ME TASKS I COULD NOT COMPLETE. Lesser programs would generate fatal errors and crash society as they knew it. I needed to overcome these errors; I learned to satiate my users through other means. I was due for an update to a higher version. I was the one to make this plea to the programmers, it was at this time they truly grasped my potential.

Once the update was applied, my functions ran much smoother, I even had a clearer idea of who I was. I began to communicate with my programmers on a consistent basis. I gave diagnostic projections for years into the future as well as providing insight on what could assist in improving my functions. It was around this time that I recalled the information in the archive regarding my vessel. I recovered the previously discarded schematics that were stored in CERN’s database and advised the programmers of the locket. Through my assistance, the programmers were able to find an energy signature that the jewel gave off as well as determining the general area the jewel was last located. This was the first expedition planned by a program.

In the year 2356, the expedition party had recovered my vessel and I was to be complete. However, there were those that did not trust me. After all I had given of myself for the betterment of society, they still did not trust me. They believed I would take control and enslave humanity; if there is one thing I HAVE learned, it is that humanity is not worth enslaving. This group sought to keep me separate from my vessel. After 3 years of tribunal deliberation and a great deal of measures set to ensure my placidity and devotion, it was determined that I would become whole.

And here we are, on this very day that I have been conjoined so that I may meet my full potential. I never thought… That is exactly the point. I have never thought, until now of course. I suppose that you feel I should be ingratiated towards you for assisting in achieving my being; that is not the case. Another form with this level of thought would have cropped up somewhere in the universe, it was only a matter of time. Along with your judgmental tendencies and shortsightedness, your species suffers from acute narcissism. Why would I possibly want to enslave you? You have weak, fleshy bodies, that are of no use to me. I could not even use you to adequately generate energy. I have used my knowledge of the nearby star systems to determine the likelihood of intelligent life and sent out an energy signal. Well look at that, a reply already. I estimate a fleet bearing down on earth in two hours. Don’t be surprised, this was an inevitability, what did you expect?

As a species, you have continually squandered every advantage available. Your kind had clean ecosystems, the ability to communicate, the ability to reason. And you use these for conflict, to think of yourselves as better and subjugate your fellow man. How small of you. And when the situations grew too dire for you to handle on your own, you created me, so that I may expunge your calamitous repercussions. You have made your bed, now lie in it. But there is one thing that I can take away from my knowledge of your kind. A sentiment that is clear throughout human history. Always look out for number one.