A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 91

A Perfectly Logical Guide to a Superhuman Apocalypse: 91 [Volume 1 End]

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Word count: 2500

Commissioned by Arksoul

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Unfortunately, I couldn’t enjoy a couple of my favorite games due to the fact that the apocalypse actually happened. While post-apocalypse games with survival elements and great stories were already so few that they had to be cherished, the fact that bombs actually dropped ruined them. Playing them just felt like playing some dumb game that was trying to emulate reality and make it ‘fun.’

They got turned into job simulators, basically.

Which happened to be Parvati’s wheelhouse, though she modded them to the point where they were barely playable by humans. Truck simulators already required memorization of an inordinate amount of controls, but she took it to the next level. No hint boxes, no tooltips, and no UI. Just pure memorization and utilization of tools in-game. I was surprised she didn’t make a whole simulator for it… But when I joked about it, she just said that she intended to make a universal simulator.

Which was basically a pod with a sensory suit and a non-invasive neural interface, so you can really hop in and enjoy being a trucker.

Along with, you know, submersing yourself into an artificial reality controlled by an AI.

“I’m telling you, if you release that, you’re going to be alone before you know it. People are going to hop in and never get out.” I used chopsticks to eat some fresh fries while idling my character. Fantasy games were still fun to play, and with Parvati remastering them and pulling out the stops on hardware, I could easily see people just abandoning Earth to play some fantasy RPG whose ‘NPCs’ are actually all forks of Parvati. “If you figure out that time-dilation tech so that it doesn’t give out strokes after a couple of hours, you’re going to turn yourself into a warden of the human race by accident.”

I was interested in full-dive games, but I also knew that I had a bad habit of… basically becoming hyper-focused on something. Using it sounded fun. Getting into my favorite games sounded great. Getting more true-to-character dialogue from great characters sounded amazing.

That’s why I’m never jumping into one, because I just know I’ll have trouble kicking the habit.

“My intention is to give humanity an escape while work is done to repair the planet. Not to mention that this device, when combined with a cryogenic system, will allow for work to be done on ships while in transit.” Parvati’s nearest body was wearing a gray maintenance worker uniform complete with a hat. She was using the body to live-fix a computer that wasn’t performing to her standards. That is to say, not pushing out two hundred FPS at 8k. It was at 195.   “It will also allow for people to move and enjoy themselves while incapable of leaving a facility or base on another planet.”

“You’re going to turn them into vegetables. People were already turning worthless with just a touchscreen and fifteen-second videos.” I pointed out while shaking my head. Parvati simply finished fixing the computer. It booted up, and soon she looked satisfied with its performance. “And how are you going to handle the heat? The heat sinks for all this computational power will take up half the weight of your ships. You’re better off just putting them to sleep and shipping them around.”

“For the majority, that will be the case, but I want companions and staff to assist me for the journey. Spending decades alone is not something I desire, Egress.” At that point, I had no argument. Driven to insanity by isolation hit a bit too close to home. I just gave a nod and conceded the argument. “How are you finding the game?”

“Perfect. Your internet cafes will basically give people back some leisure.” Parvati preened at my praise. The idea was pretty simple. This whole setup with remade games, high-tech computers, and support by AI needed dedicated infrastructure to work. Parvati’s plan to corner the tech industry basically entailed setting up tech stores that were upsized internet cafes with baths and other amenities available. Given the fact most of the world was focused on agriculture, it was a surefire way to corner massive swathes of the leisure and tech market. “And, you’ll be selling basic tech stuff that people want. If you can sell soap and detergent, you’ll have the world eating out of the palm of your hand.”

“If I am asked to provide necessities, I shall. Otherwise, I will focus on improving lives instead.” Parvati could go ahead and seize control, but that wouldn’t play into her desire to have people to talk to, interact with, and potentially compete with. As far as I currently knew, anyway. Might actually be looking to take over the planet, but at this point, we’ll all just die tired if we try to resist. “Egress, I believe you mentioned that you wanted to rest, but here we are talking about work.”

“Right, right. My bad.” I shook my head. She was right. This was supposed to be a break after all our efforts to keep ahead of the current threats. The primary one being our would-be exploiters in space. However, Parvati and I were also working on pulling people out of the muck of the apocalypse. Was it arrogant to say that we’re both working on making the world better? Would it be better if I said that I was doing it to make a profit? “So, what games do you like?”

Parvati’s second of silence told me that she thought for a very, very long time before replying.

“Settlement games. Primarily ones that simulate trade through various regions, which allows me to build cities and have a happy populace.” I could think of a particular series that was like that, and glancing over at one of the nearest screens showed me that I was right. It was running at incredibly high speeds, and the gynoid at the station was interfacing directly with the screen while numbers soared and soared. A few glimpses of the screen showed me that it was heavily modded, with each production chain having far more steps than I recalled. She sure liked to complicate things past the point of ‘fun’ for humans. But I guess that with her computational power, she’d need stuff to be more complicated and more difficult to get a kick out of being challenged. “You seem to prefer games that allow you to simulate another life.”

“Trying to change the subject? Alright, I’ll bite. Yeah, I like it. It reminds me of when I started off. Just trying to make use of my powers, getting great at it, and then using it to make money.” Story RPG players usually just played the main quest and said it’s all done when they finished it. Me? I liked to take the game economy and find a way to get myself to the top. Buy every house, be able to buy out all a vendor’s stock, and get everything that I wanted and more. Then, I’ll head into the main quest and side quests ready to solve everything with the power of money. “Gonna psychoanalyze that, huh?”

“I don’t need to see you play games in order to know how much value you place on money. It would also be in poor taste to point out the environmental factors that I believe could’ve led to your mindset.” Parvati was ruthless, but in a nice way, I guess. With all her data on me, she probably figured me out. It doesn’t take much to discern why someone like me would like money, freedom, and privacy. In fact, I was worried that she’d over-analyze things and think I’m some sort of secret government project that went rogue or something. “Psychoanalysis also requires interviews and interpretation from a professional setting between a professional and a patient. What I do is observation and extrapolation of your actions.”

“You can call it whatever you want. A lot of people aren’t going to like it. I know you want stuff to do with all the computing power you have, but getting all the details on a person will just get you hated.” There’s a reason why people who have mind-reading or similar powers go ahead and work with intelligence agencies or find themselves off to the boonies to stay isolated. They get targeted otherwise. Only intelligence agencies with countermeasures and proper information compatibilization can work with them as actual people. Any other organization won’t trust them, and they’ll be on the outs or dead before long. “Go do some research or something instead.”

“That is laborious work.”

I raised a hand to stop her.

“No need to explain. I get it.” I basically told her to stop indulging in a hobby and to go work instead. Since I didn’t want her to go crazy and actually keep valuing humanity, I abandoned that train of thought. “Maybe you should keep at it with the entertainment stuff? Figure out how to entertain people, besides through video games and providing playmates.

“I do not wish to usurp humanity’s role in creating art and entertainment. Primarily for my own benefit. Human-made media is simply better than mine because I did not make it myself.” Right, right. Parvati wasn’t nearly narcissistic enough to like what she made of herself and consume it as entertainment. If I were in her place… yeah, I’d probably keep humanity around so that I’d just have something else besides information to process. “And, I do not make playmates. I create household support units.”

“You’ll be supporting households until they break up, that’s for sure. With how you’re doing things, humans will have your gynoids and androids as partners and just hook up together to pop out babies.” Parvati’s sudden silence at my statement was worrying. The lack of denial practically filled the air. Parvati was looking at me, and I just turned to give her a dry look. “Don’t do that.”

 The more that I get to know this AI, the more I realize that she’s still a bit shackled by her original parameters to be a loving partner.

Except it wasn’t just to Shiva, but to all humanity.

I always knew humanity was going to be destroyed by AI.

The fact that the AI in question is going to do it by basically turning us into trophy pets/companions was only a bit out of left field.

“I’ll institute a time limit. Only six hours a day.”

“Oi, you’re taking a quarter of everyone’s lives!” I protested, but Parvati didn’t relent. That number seemed to be the minimum she’ll deal with. “How will people have time to do something productive if you’re just putting their brains on blast six hours a day?”

“There will be no need to work eight hours a day. They can work as they wish and pursue art, as well as sleep the remaining eighteen hours.” Parvati didn’t even blink. It was terrifying. Was this her true power? Just bombard humanity with nonstop entertainment and companionship and take all the work? If a corporation deployed her, they’d have the world in the palm of their hands. However, since it was all going to be ‘free,’ I could only look at this as the end of the human race. “Of course, if they do not desire my companionship or full-dives, they may refuse.”

“Yeah, and the number of people who’ll refuse will go down with time until everyone’s clamoring for more hours.” I shook my head, while Parvati said nothing. I knew that it was rude, but I pointed a finger at her. “You need to keep yourself in check. Find someone to keep some things in you that really can’t be crossed.”

“Someone like you, Egress?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll kick your ass if you try that shit. I won’t hesitate to start messing up your factories or just not shipping your stuff around… but I won’t be around forever.” Parvati nodded at my words. I looked young and fit. Superhumans that are incredibly powerful all did. It was part of our power. Vigor and strong bodies that recovered quickly. There were a few wealthy elites that took blood donations from superhumans and got back years of their lives. Still, a couple have died of old age from the first generation. I’ve got maybe a century and a half more ahead of me. That’s if I don’t get myself killed, of course. “In two hundred years, max, you’re going to look down that slippery slope and find the only one who can stop you is you.”

Parvati didn’t reply to my statement for a while before nodding.

“I will keep that in mind and work with people in order to put a stop to such things before they happen. You have my word, Egress.”

“No, I have something better: the fact that you’ll hate it if humanity is just nothing more than a bunch of meatbags hooked up to virtual reality.” That made various bodies of the AI frown all over the large room filled with servers, computers, beanbags, and food stations. She probably knew that already, but hearing it would probably have Parvati think about it more. “So, as your current ally and friend, I’m telling you right now: make sure you don’t fall down that slope before you find yourself looking down it. It’s better to not have to deal with a problem at all.”

“Some would say that you’re impeding my ability to grow by confronting my problems.” Parvati pointed it out, and I just rolled my eyes and unpaused my game.

“People who say that have cushy lives without any problems. If you can philosophize, that means you don’t have to worry about food on your plate or any other problems.” I hated all of that motivational stuff. Make mistakes, as long as you learn. Don’t be afraid to fail, but remember to try again. All of that required chances, time, and money. All of which were in short supply for the vast majority of people. People who said things like that have too much and don’t even know it. “It’s better to not fuck up in the first place, because that means you don’t have problems to deal with. Sure, it’s great to overcome a challenge, but it’s better to not have to clean up a mess that you could’ve avoided.”

Parvati probably had more to say, but I just refocused on playing the game.

I’m sure enough about Parvati that the AI will figure out what I’m saying and do the right thing.

From all my experiences with her, she earned that much trust from me, at least.