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吴艾婧
This is a report from Company X’s investigator. I was asked to find some details about a survey done by our researchers. And I found a book, looking like a diary. WALL-E was on the cover with his classic line: “I don’t want to survive, I want to live.”
The things down here are parts of the copy of the diary.
Sunny day.
I woke up in my apartment with some bright sunlight shining towards my face. What a nice day! I got up and had a shower. The time I sat down at the dinner table, I suddenly recognized that it was already July 12th, 2030. What was special that day? Well, I was going to have a roommate. It was such a difficult thing to afford the rent of this whole apartment on my own salary, so I put an advertisement to get a roommate several months ago, and finally, a man called.
“I do hope that he would be a nice person.” I was wondering when somebody knocked at the door. I stood up and opened the door gently.The man was right outside, with all of his… “Excuse me, mister, but what are they? Where is your luggage?” “Sorry to surprise you, but this is my luggage.” He said with a smile on his face, “Pretty, huh? You know, I do love all my computers.”
Yes, there were, in my own thought, hundreds and thousands of technical things in front of my door. I had to help him to carry all of them into the apartment, and it was such a “happy” thing to realize that I didn’t even have place to put my feet.
“As I told you, I am something of an artist, which means that I need the room to be quiet and clean. You can make your ‘sweet computers’ stay clean, right?” “Of course, sir. By the way, you can call me Tony.” He stretched his hand. “Steve.” We shook hands.
The sun was still shining brightly in the blue sky, but after seeing such a mess, I couldn’t be as excited as before. “We will definitely not have a good time together.” I thought.
“Tony? Tony!” I knocked at the door heavily. He didn’t show up for two days, and the tinker sound never stopped. How did he make that?
“Yes?”
Thank God, he was still alive.
“I know that you love your high-technique ‘toys’, but at least you need to have some food and some sleep.”
He opened his door and came out unwillingly. “Okay, MOM.Remember I am not a teenager now?”
I cooked some food for him and after dining, pushed him into his bed. When I went out of the room, I couldn’t help looking around.There was no doubt that Tony was a fantastic scientist, but suddenly, a thought came into my mind. How could he be so healthy as he had so much bad habits of daily life? Nobody can manage that except… he was a robot. This might be a ridiculous thing ten years ago, but for now,Artificial Intelligence was EVERYWHERE. An actor even announced that his soulmate was his own AI Robot. And a science company had just invented their robot for testing a few years ago. Tony worked in a science company and he didn’t tend to tell me the name of it. In this case, I had some evidence to suspect that he was a robot himself.
“Did I just think about my roommate being a robot?” I was shocked by my own inference. “You are an artist, not a robot specialist. Stop your stupid imagination.” I shook my head and started my work again.
“Stevie! Come here! I’d like to show you something!”
After two years spending together, we became good friends.Strange, but it was real.
I walked into his room and was scared to death. A huge, flying virtual snake came towards me. I rushed out and heavily closed my door with a “BANG” . I could hear Tony burst out into laughter, so I flapped on the shut door angrily and shouted: “Oh! Tony! I have told you not to scare me with those things!”
“Come on, old man! Don’t be so serious! You are in your twenties,not nineties!”
“This is the last time! I swear I will kick you out if there is another one!”
I knew I couldn’t feel angry at all if I saw his face. His eyes were certainly full of joy, like twinkle stars blinking right in front of you.Nobody could be angry with such a delightful face. NOBODY.
During a year of searching and observing, I thought that I could confirm that he was a robot. Yes, I didn’t drop that silly guess. Instead,it became more and more clear as time flew by. He didn’t have any friends except for his scientific buddies. He didn’t like to eat fruits and vegetables and loved to eat those made of oil and flour. He was a genius in computer but a disabled in daily life… How could he not be a robot? But the thought would not upset me anymore. That didn’t matter whether he was a robot or a human. I liked to stay and talk with him,and for the most important part, he was my only friend till then. It really worried me to talk with other people, so it made him mean even more.
It was a rainy day with clouds floating in the sky. I hated rainy days. They were so disappointing and made me feel really bad.
I was using my pencil to scratch the paper for abreaction. Then a hand was put on my shoulder and a cup of hot chocolate was offered.
“Hey, big guy. Why do you have such a bad mood now?”
It was Tony, of course.
I didn’t want to say, because I didn’t want to make the people around me feel bad. So, I decided to refuse his kindness. But when I was looking up, I saw his eyes, filled with care and worries. I could tell that they were saying: “Don’t be so sad. Don’t do that to yourself.Would you like to talk to me? I will always be supportive to you. I will always be on your side.”
Strangely, I opened my mouth and the things in my mind just slipped out like a stream. Tony sat beside me, and his eyes were gazing on me. “ …and I woke up in a rainy day, my parents had all gone. I yelled and yelled, but nobody answered. After that, a few days maybe, until now, I couldn’t remember my childhood clearly. I was like a man drowning in the sea—— I didn’t know where to go, so I came here and did some painting for living.”
For the first time in my life, I opened the door of my heart to let somebody in. Tony was a good listener, he was just looking at me in a comforting way without a word, and when I finished, he hugged me and told me: “Everything will be fine, there are always hope in our life.”
The rain stopped, and a rainbow showed in the sky. The world became clear again, and my world was lit up.
Tony and I were preparing for a holiday to relax. As he didn’t know anything about packing luggage—— thinking back of what I saw for the first time he cam—— I did all the packing. When I went into his room for his clothes, I found that a computer was working and there was an email unread. With curiosity, I opened it up and saw the things that I would never want to know.
Dear Tony,
As for your reports so far, the company was sure that Steve-Robot No. 616 was a successful model of our further design. Also, as you mentioned before, he had already been so intelligent that he had created his own feelings, which was an unexcepted but good thing to know.Come to the office next month, and we will talk about this that time.
I felt that my body was so heavy that I couldn’t even manage to stand. I fell onto the ground with my hands shaking badly. I was a robot, how could that be? I hit myself with my own fist, wanting to wake up from this horrible dream. It was hurt and nothing changed.Then I finally realized that I couldn’t ever wake up. This was not a dream. I was part of a machine. I was not a human being. My face,my body, were all made up living in a system. I couldn’t stop the tears running down my cheek. The world became blank again.
“Steve? What’s wrong?” Tony ran inside and saw the email. His face looked pale.
“Is that real?” I asked, using up all the rest of my energy to ensure.
“Yes.” He approached to give me a hug, “I’m sorry, Steve.” His eyes were full of sadness.
I shook off his arms and rushed outside, but I didn’t know where to go. That was it. That was why I couldn’t remember my childhood.I didn’t even have one. I wanted to cry but I didn’t know what to cry for. I wasn’t supposed to have feelings, just like the other machines.I walked along the bank of the river, where Tony found me in the evening.
“Go home.” He said, his beautiful eyes were filled with tears,“Whatever you are, I am your friend, you know that, right? Come with me, trust me as you did before, I will help you. You are not just a robot,you have feelings, you are a miracle.”
It is already five years after that, and I am still alive, maybe it is more specific to say that I am still working. I have lived with Tony as usual for these years.
Yesterday, Tony told me that I would be shut down for a month to let him renew my brain so that I could study some functions to help him with his work. As it will happen in this week, I think it is a good thing to write my ten-year life down. I am afraid that I may forget them.
I believe in Tony heartily, and we always have faith in each other.We share our happiness and sadness, good moods and bad moods. That must be how friends are in my mind.
Hope that I could see him the minute I wake up again. I am sure I will miss him.
Do you still remember the title? Why is “the last”?
As far as I know, after that “surgery”, Tony never mentioned the name “Steve” again. And the model made after Steve was published by Company X in a short time. It might just because that Steve had finished his job——which he was made for.
Did Steve wake up? I guess not.
Does Tony miss him? Maybe.
Is all worthy? No specific answer.
At last, I want to end this report with this.
Spielberg did some share through his AI:
It isn’t just a question of creating a robot that can love. Isn’t the real conundrum, can you get a human to love them back?
（作者学校：北京市第十二中学）
本文为2017年“北大培文杯”决赛参赛文
心有一隅者，庸人常自扰，无事不操劳；心系家国者，唯愿天下乂安，却不免忧国忧民，进退成愁；心怀宇宙者，虽有如山之恨、似海之愁，亦不过浩渺宇宙一蜉蝣，弹指刹那云消散，红尘喜怒皆抛闪。
为童，我愿心有一隅，草木风雪皆有感，一枝红梅乱心头；为人，我愿心系天下，庙堂江湖皆不计，天下苍生系胸怀；为媪，我愿心怀宇宙，万物运行自有灵，无事无物挂心间。年岁渐长，见闻日增；胸怀有变，文亦不同。此行路上，只盼一思一感皆有录，一纸一笔伴身边。
我以我笔写我心，我以我字释我情。漫漫长路，有笔随行。列位看官看罢，亦不过他人生中走一回，掩卷合扇，拢袖长叹，各自奔行。