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[Kassire]

Yeah, we don't need him to get pissy
3

[Vgray]

"Makes sense," Mark says with a nod. He makes a brief note of your answer.

"So, who is currently funding this work?" Mark says.

"I'm being funded by the National Science Foundation," you say. "It's very difficult to get such grants but they allow more flexibility in what you research."

"Hm." Mark doesn't appear very interested in this but he dutifully writes "NSF" in his notes anyway.

Mark asks a few more questions about Caliban, getting a sense of what he's good at and not so good at. He appreciates the effort you've put into trying to make Caliban get along with people, while clearly expressing doubt that he would really understand.

"Last question," Mark says. "Will you allow us to send a photographer to take pictures of your robot?"

1) "Absolutely. In fact, you're welcome to come along and interview Caliban."
2) "Sure, send a photographer."
3) "No. I don't want the media hounding him. Caliban's still basically a child."

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2020

25-year-old Ada Doniec
  Humanity: 78%
  Gender: female
  Fame: 0 (Who?)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: Eiji

Caliban

  Autonomy: 7 (In Beta)
  Military: 0 (Nonexistent)
  Empathy: 21 (Impressive)
  Grace: 7 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Great): 76%
  Eiji (Very Good): 69%
  Josh (Good): 60%
  Mark (Great): 76%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[NRDL]

2

[Un67]

1! We are empathetic, after all.

[birdy51]

1. I think he'll actually like us this time around.

[Sensei]

It was an Empathy check, right? We had like 11 or 12 last time, I think.



BRING IT. 1.

[Vgray]

"Really?" Mark asks, surprised.

"I know a lot of roboticists wouldn't allow such a thing because their robots only work in very controlled environments," you explain. "That's why I want you to meet Caliban. He's different."

Mark nods. "I guess he is. We'll be in touch."

A few days later, Mark comes to your apartment with a photographer—a young blonde woman with a slight Southern drawl. She asks Caliban to sit on your workbench, then asks you to look as if you're busy fixing something on Caliban's person.

Caliban and you both comply.

"Smile," she says. Caliban does. You do.

Once the photos are taken, Mark tries his hand at interviewing Caliban. He looks cautious and slightly guilty, as if the journalism police were going to pop out from your closet and take away his license. He places his Chromebook on your workbench and interviews Caliban, who examines the tools in your toolbox, occasionally fumbling and dropping a tool with a loud clatter.

"So. Caliban." Mark coughs uncomfortably. "What's it like being a robot?"

"People seem frightened of me," Caliban says after some thought.

"Why do you suppose that is?" Mark asks.

"I think it is irrational," Caliban says, lifting its Inspector Gadget arms in a shrug.

"What kinds of things make you happy?"

"Games. Finding ways to make humans happy. The presence of Ada." Caliban cocks his puppet head to the side. "There is a significant gap between those and the next most highly ranked answers but I could go on."

"That's all right."

Mark continues his questions. You get the feeling that overall, Mark is going to write a positive piece about Caliban. His questions tend to be friendly, as if he were interviewing a celebrity. You feel reasonably comfortable allowing Caliban to finish the interview, and the photographer takes several more pictures of Mark talking to Caliban. By the end of the interview, Caliban seems to be enjoying his interaction with Mark. (+Empathy)

You spend the next two weeks searching news feeds for your name and wondering every day when Mark's article is going to come out.

You're awoken on Friday, March 13th, 2020 by a klaxon—a script you wrote on your laptop has detected Mark's article on the Internet. You blearily sit up in bed and stop your laptop's alarm; it's about five in the morning. Caliban walks into your bedroom to see what's the matter, but you assure him that everything's fine so he goes back to playing video games in your living room.

The article is one of the lead stories in the Technology section of the San Francisco Chronicle's website.

"Exploring the World Through a Robot Child's Eyes" is the headline. The article talks mostly about Caliban and his curious outlook on life, leaving out most of the details of his creation.

The article emphasizes Caliban's general likeability, as evidenced by several cute quotes Mark collected over the course of the interview.

With selective use of quotes from your interview, the article portrays you as a little vacant, and suggests that perhaps you have sacrificed some of your humanity for your robots. The article concludes with your quote, "Nobody particularly gets upset these days that scribes have been replaced with scanners." (++Fame)

What will you do now?

1) Show Caliban the article.
2) Call Mark, thank him for the article, and see what he's up to.
3) Share the article with friends and family via social media.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2020

25-year-old Ada Doniec
  Humanity: 78%
  Gender: female
  Fame: 2 (Local Celebrity)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: Eiji

Caliban

  Autonomy: 7 (In Beta)
  Military: 0 (Nonexistent)
  Empathy: 22 (Impressive)
  Grace: 7 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Great): 76%
  Eiji (Very Good): 69%
  Josh (Good): 60%
  Mark (Great): 84%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 65%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[NRDL]

1

[Kassire]

1.

[Digital Hellhound]

Whew, this went a lot better than last time. I still don't like Mark, though.

1

[Vgray]

"Caliban!"

Caliban walks back into your room, and you show him the article.

"It is about me," Caliban says, cocking his head to one side.

"Yes."

Caliban keeps reading. "But…I already knew all of this."

"I suppose you would," you say.

Uninterested in his newfound fame, Caliban goes back to playing video games in your living room.

You briefly check the Internet for more posts about the article. You find that the story has been picked up within the first hour by a multitude of bloggers, all striving to be first to comment on the article. You'd guess there are at least 40 different bloggers who have already written a secondhand piece about you and Caliban, and they run the gamut from people hoping that your technology will save humanity to people who bitterly condemn you for creating technology that can be used for war. Oddly, not one of these bloggers has tried to get in touch with you.

Eiji is calling via video chat on your phone. You pick up.

"Hey," he says. He looks like he's at work—he's wearing a blue, button-down shirt with a red bowtie and red suspenders, and in the background you can see blueprints and sketches of robots drawn in Japanese manga style. "Congratulations on the article! You must be really proud."

1) "Honestly, I could use a break from all this attention. What are you up to tonight?"
2) "Did you talk to Mark? And if you did, what did you say, exactly?"
3) "Thanks, I am pretty proud. I'll talk to you later."

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2020

25-year-old Ada Doniec
  Humanity: 78%
  Gender: female
  Fame: 2 (Local Celebrity)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: Eiji

Caliban

  Autonomy: 7 (In Beta)
  Military: 0 (Nonexistent)
  Empathy: 22 (Impressive)
  Grace: 7 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Great): 76%
  Eiji (Great): 72%
  Josh (Good): 60%
  Mark (Great): 84%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 65%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[NRDL]

1

[birdy51]

1).

[Kassire]

1,
We're playing the responsible parent, clearly

[Vgray]

"I've already got plans with some people from work tonight," he says. "How about Saturday? We could go to the jazz concert in the park."

1) "Sure."
2) "I'd prefer to keep my options open for that night."

(Pick 2 if we'd rather not entirely ignore Josh this round.)