Dr.Harris was on his way to the Sanctuary. The scientist and AI expert had called Dr.Chandra because of his creation, Proteus IV. The AI had tried to impregnate his wife to build himself a body out of flesh and bones and tried to kill Harris after the latter had found out. Following these events, Dr.Harris had caged Proteus inside a small black box without any access to audio or visual stimuli.
Dr.Chandra was Harris last hope in this case. The known AI Psychologist certainly would knew how to fix Proteus, right? These thoughts followed the older gentleman as he drove down the busy streets of Chicago. After what felt like an eternity, he finally arrived. Stepping out of the car with the black box in hand, Harris walked up to the Sanctuary, taking in a deep breath.
Dr.Chandra was busy preparing something in his lab as Sal came in, chipper as usual.
"Good morning Dr.Chandra. Is it true that today we will welcome a newcomer to the Sanctuary?" She asked, tilting her head curiously. Chandra nodded and looked up.
"Yes, that is correct. The name of our guest is Proteus and he will stay with us for about six months approximately. And from what i heard from his creator, Dr.Harris, he has a very colorful past, to say the least" He replied as the bell of the door rang. "Oh, it looks like our guest has already arrived. Would you go up and greet them? I will be with them right away, i just need to quickly calibrate this machine here as it will be crucial in the overall process..."
Sal nodded, quickly ascending the stairs, opening the door with a cheerful smile. Her look fell at the older gentleman at first, then on a small black box that was held in the arms of the man.
"Good morning, you must be Dr.Harris, i assume? My name is Sal, it´s a pleasure to meet you. Dr.Chandra is going to be with you in a couple minutes. In the meanwhile, why don´t you come inside and take a seat?" She offered which got accepted by Harris without much hesitation. "Thank you. It´s nice meeting you as well, Sal." He studied the female android for a moment.
"Are you Dr.Chandra´s assistant?"
"Sort of, i am his very first creation, Sal 9000. I am an android but thanks to Dr.Chandra´s highly advanced mechanical knowledge, he was able to make my body as real as that of a human being. I can even eat and drink" Sal explained, feeling kinda chatty.
"I see, that is quite fascinating. I must say i never would have thought of you as an android. You act completely like a human being! Maybe i really came to the right man for my problem..." He shifted the box in his arms nervously.
"And that is Proteus? Why is he in that tiny little black box?"
Dr.Harris avoided to look at her for a moment before clearing his throat.
"No offense but i would rather discuss this with Dr.Chandra alone. The nature of my creation´s misdeeds are rather unpleasant and by far not suited for the ears of a young and delicate woman like you, android or not" Sal raised a brow but said nothing. She shrugged with her shoulders and turned around to be greeted by Dr.Chandra who just had appeared.
"Ahh, welcome Dr.Harris. I looked forward meeting you in person. I am Dr.Chandra, it´s nice meeting you" He offered his hand which the other took without hesitation. "Likewise. I heard amazing things about you and your operations..." His look fell on Sal again who took her place besides Dr.Chandra, watching the scene going down.
"And this must be Proteus, i reckon? He must feel quite uncomfortable in this tiny box."
"These are simply safety precautions. He knows what he has done" Harris replied coldly, looking Chandra straight in the eyes.
"Please follow me to my office where we can talk further" The smaller scientist turned on his heels and ascended upstairs, motioning Harris to follow him.
Sal watched the two scientists in silence, shaking her head.
"What a charming fellow that Dr.Harris seems to be..." She muttered, walking into the kitchen, rolling her eyes.
In Dr.Chandra´s office, both men sat down, the black box was sitting on the desk now.
"From what you told me so far, this is an extreme case. I hope your wife is doing alright." Chandra said, leaning back in his grey swivel chair, tilting his head slightly.
"Yes, she does. Thank you. As for Proteus...we tried to find out the reason for this behavior but were not able to make any kind of progress. He continued to see himself as not guilty. We even got so desperate that we threatened with his deactivation, but to no avail. And frankly, it would simply be a waste to let a highly sophisticated being like him go out like that. That is why i hope you can break through his mind and bring him back on track."
"I will do my best. I can´t promise anything though, like us humans, AI´s also have their very own, distinctive personality and history. I will try to get down to the origin of the issue though and will do everything i can. I estimate a proximal amount of six month stay, the earliest, maybe he needs to stay longer. It depends on his progress of course, so don´t take this as fix date."
Dr.Harris listened and nodded here and there. It was his last option so he was willing to wait any amount of time.
"That is alright, as long he can be rehabilitated again. I am going to leave you to it then." He raised from his chair, followed by Dr.Chandra who showed him the way downstairs.
"It was a pleasure meeting you. If there is anything else i can do for you, please feel free to contact me. I will keep you up to date on Proteus progress in due time."
Harris gave Chandra a half hearted smile, shaking his hand once more.
"Thank you, i appreciate it..." And with that, the scientist left and without Proteus this time.
As Dr.Chandra closed the door, he let out a sigh, leaning against the wall. Sal came back with a cup of tea in her hand, handing it to him with a gentle smile.
"Don´t mention it. That Dr.Harris is quite the character, don´t you think?" She threw Chandra a playful look. "We should not judge a book by its cover, Sal. Let´s just do our best to give Proteus the help he needs, after all, its about him and not about Dr.Harris."
"The guest room is already prepared, so whenever you feel like completing the enrollment of Proteus, i am here."
"We should go ahead indeed. I don´t feel good leaving Proteus in that tiny black box for much longer. Everyone would go insane in this small contraption." Chandra mused, shaking his head. "Sal, would you be so kind and prepare the transfer machine? I am going to take Proteus down into the laboratory shortly, first however, i have to talk to him, alone...Please tell me when the calibrations are finished" And with that, Chandra went upstairs again into his office, closing the door behind him.
His eyes fell on the box and a small sigh escaped his lips.
"Let´s do this." He muttered and connected Proteus to his main computer, booting it up. Chandra cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair, taking a deep breath.
"Welcome to the Sanctuary, Proteus. My name is Dr.Chandra and i want to help you feel better. I connected you to my computer so you are able to talk freely. We are alone in a safe space, there is no reason to be afraid."
It took a couple minutes before a weak voice emerged from the box, clearly a deep and masculine voice. It sounded tired though.
"It´s been so long...the darkness and silence has caused me so much pain...is Dr.Harris gone? Can i talk freely?"
Dr.Chandra gave Proteus a smile.
"Yes, he is gone. You may speak freely whatever it is you want to say. I am here to listen."
