Jim was worried. He appreciated seeing Susanne under any circumstances -- but what had just happened?
Luckily, Susanne obeyed, he finished his VR work, and his work day soon ended. Instead of heading home, he retraced his way back to the VR carnival, which was in its final night before moving along.
It was a long dull evening, of tracking down technicians and interviewing them, but Jim slowly realized that someone had managed to create not just an image of Susanne, but a Turing-construct. While the construct was highly flexible as to her physical appearance, it held to basic profile information about her.
Driving back home, Jim pondered that. Susanne, Susanne. Legend had it that she had left the world of men's magazines and the occasional video for a career in banking. Some dumb bastard in Copenhagen was having his major finances handled by the one and only Susanne Brecht and not even appreciating it!
Wait a minute --
Banking?
Banks were major clients -- and in fact, financial smarts would have to matter to Trixie Addington, owner of Addcademy, for while Addcademy itself was neutral, Addington was also behind Addstronaut Investments.
The trick lay in how well would Susanne behave herself. There were so many unknowns. Why was the Turing-construct acting freely? Had it -- she -- achieved self-awareness? How and why had she singled him out for repeated affections? And would she go along with whatever he asked?
Still, the idea was too intriguing. He could just imagine Susanne saying "Care to make a deposit, sir?" in a manner packed with double entendre. She could help him, and he in turn could reintroduce her to an appreciative world. It looked win-win all the way.
Go back - Go to the parent episode.
Wed Apr 23 07:12:32 2003