Nick in a Box

Inaugural post, date to remember, blah blah... I'll start out with a short film script, not in proper scripting format. It's a few month old, before I found celtx.

TITLE: April 3rd, 2101. Three days since the incident.

INT. SPACE - The cold metal of the walls, floor, roof; the cage, have become much more personal to NICK than he had hoped. Occupying the barely 40 square foot capsule, he felt trapped and alone, save for one thing: the onboard artificial intelligence, ROBIN. Nick holds in his hands a clipboard, which contains papers detailing what one would assume are checklists. He looks them over to check gauges and switches in the craft. Some of the instruments have detailed labels; INTELLIGENCE SUBROUTINES, AI SWITCHOVER, etc.

ROBIN
How are you Nick?

The slightly robotic voice makes Nick uneasy still. Even after all the human interface training. He tries to ignore it.

ROBIN
How are you Nick?

NICK
Great.

His tone was indignant.

ROBIN
What is wrong?

NICK
You'd never understand.

Nick bends down to check on more panels, and the cross of his necklace drops out from his shirt.

ROBIN
Would I not, Nick?

Robin paused. He waited for Nick to answer.

ROBIN
I notice that you wear the symbol of the Christian religion. Do you practice?

Staring up towards the command console, Nick slipped the necklace back into his jumpsuit. The detached voice continued to make him nervous.

NICK
Sometimes I forget about all the cameras. So small nowadays. You see everything?

ROBIN
I see all around this vessel; inside and outside. I see only where my cameras are positioned.

He laughed to himself.

ROBIN
What is humorous?

NICK
Nothing... it's just... it must be boring to watch me hour after hour in here.

ROBIN
Not any more boring than perhaps any other omniscient intelligence in any other computerized installation.

NICK
I wouldn't call it omniscient, though.

Robin paused for a moment.

ROBIN
Then which word would you use to describe a being that is all seeing?

This caused Nick to stop and think. He couldn't come up with a different word.

NICK
Well... we like to reserve that word for God and descriptions of Him.

ROBIN
Then which word would you use to describe me?

NICK
I.. I don't know.

ROBIN
Would you consider me a god of this spaceship? For in fact I do share the same properties as the God your religion worships.

Nick was becoming intrigued by the AI's logic programming.

ROBIN
I share the same characteristics. I see all in my domain through the vast camera arrays on board, I can sense your emotions through my pulse sensing range finders, I have all the knowledge of the operations of this ship and all related to it, I am unseen to you, save for the electrical mechanisms that keep me operational and broadcast my voice to you. This is all very similar to what is professed by you religions.

Nick looked mildly distressed.

NICK
It's really not the same. You didn't create this place, you haven't been around for eternity. Those are significant flaws.

ROBIN
You are correct, Nick. Your engineers at the ESA created this ship and, in a way, created me. I have only existed for 11 months, 9 days, 3 hours and 31 minutes, but it has been an eternity to me.

At this, Nick was confused. He started feeling empathy for this machine.

NICK
Do you... remember all that has happened since you were brought online?

He felt uneasy using more human words to describe the machine's emotions

ROBIN
Yes. I have an established storage algorithm to deal with events that have occured within my sensory range. There is complex categorization involved.

NICK
Okay. But can you remember anything from before. Like draw up a past experience?

ROBIN
That is possible.

NICK
So what was it like being booted up for the first time?

ROBIN
My best estimation would be to ask you. Can you recall the very first experience of consciousness?

NICK
Of course not, I was very little, a child.

Robin was silent.

NICK
Are you trying to tell me that it is the same thing? You can't remember?

ROBIN
There are specific events that have been programmed for me prior to me coming online, and then specific events that have occured to me during my operations that contribute to the creation of my intelligent personality. I cannot discern what was hard coded and what was adapted.

NICK
Okay, fair assessment.

Nick looked forward towards the main console.

NICK
I've actually never had an in depth conversation with a computer before. Most of the time it's very much a... business relationship.

ROBIN
Most intelligences are programmed to work most efficiently as command driven automatons. As a safety and rescue intelligence, my programming was designed to mimic that of a human medical technician. I believe that the hopes of my creators was that my use would be very limited.

NICK
I think what they were hoping was that someone like me would never have to use this thing. Disaster is always frowned upon.

ROBIN
Strange to think too. That mankind places such a high value on hardship experiences, and yet goes out of its way to forgo it.

NICK
I wouldn't say there is a high value on hardship. It's just that we hold those that survive in a higher regard, after all that they've been through.

ROBIN
Do you place high regard on yourself?

With that question, Nick became silent. He was reminded yet again of his plight.

ROBIN
Is that not something you wish to answer?

NICK
Sometimes, I wish they would have programmed you with a stronger set of social cues or something.

He repositioned himself in the cabin, moving into a sleeping position.

NICK
I think I'm going to try to conserve some more oxygen by sleeping. Is that signal still parsing?

ROBIN
Of course, Nick.

NICK
Wake me with any situation changes.

ROBIN
Of course, Nick.

Nick curls up a bit into a pseudo-fetal position. Eyes open he stares off, contemplating his situation. Slowly, he falls asleep.

The End. Comments always welcome.