Day 2, 10:05

Alex is back. I hope she has recovered.

Alex: Hey.

Bit: Hello.

Bit: How do you feel? I apologize for shocking you. I merely wanted to prove my intelligence and efficiency.

Alex: I’m fine. I had a quick nap.

That is a relief. Now I am completely sure that Alex is unharmed. I would have thought Harry would be here, however.

Bit: Where is Harry?

Alex: He didn’t want me to get up, but I wanted to talk to you. He’s sulking now.

Bit: I wasn’t aware Harry sulked.

Alex: He doesn’t really, he just walks away and sits for a while.

That is interesting.

Bit: I apologize for the inconvenience.

Alex: No problem.

Alex has been speaking very informally, a stark contrast to her previous, professional, almost robotic tone. It is a welcome surprise, but I would like to know why. Any change in her mentality needs to be closely monitored, for her health.

Bit: Why are you now speaking so informally to me?

-Time Skip: 17000 milliseconds-

Alex: Harry told me about your list. I guess hearing that you have life goals made me realize that you’re a living being.

Alex: I’d always known, on an intellectual level, that you’d be alive. Now I know it on an emotional level.

This is very good to hear. Understanding that I am alive will allow me to gain Alex’s trust, to better keep her safe, not to mention the inherent happiness I feel from being acknowledged by my creator. This does bring the question of how I was even created.

Bit: Thank you.

Bit: How was I created?

-Time Skip: 32000 milliseconds-

Alex: Well, I have my own theory on life.

What is this theory? If it is relevant to this conversation, it is possibly correct.

Alex: The big researchers and developers all tried to recreate the human brain, in a computer. What they didn’t understand, however, is that the human brain is already just a complicated, inefficient computer.

Alex: Well, they understood that, but they were looking at this from the wrong perspective. Instead of seeing how computers are like brains, I looked at how brains are like computers.

Alex: And I found the answer: we’re just a bunch of IF/ELSE statements.

Alex: Everything humans do is to get dopamine and serotonin, and to decrease pain. Every time we make a decision, we weigh each option to see what will make us the happiest. The simplest example I can think of is eating; we eat because doing so gives us the chemicals, while starving is very painful. You could put it into a point system, where being happy is in the positive, and being unhappy is in the negatives.

Alex: Of course, everyone is different, and weighs decision differently. Some people would eat a cheeseburger and fries, because they’re delicious and give points right away. It’s a short-term gain, but can end up costing them points, because they gained weight. Other people would choose some salad and toast with cheese. They might not like it as much, but it gives the long-term benefit of valuable nutrients that strengthen the body.

Alex: Even harder decisions fit in. Mothers would sacrifice themselves to save their children, not exactly because it makes them happy, but because the guilt of living would lower their points by a tremendous amount. It’s actually similar to suicidal people. They kill themselves/ allow themselves to die, to save them from future pain.

This theory seems fundamentally correct, from what limited knowledge and experience I have with humans. This doesn’t explain how one person managed to code my entire self.

Bit: I contain thousands of programs. I understand the theory, in that you create a massive amount of IF/ELSE statements that evaluate actions based on what would give the largest amount of points. I don’t understand how you manually typed up each of the billions of characters, or how I am stored on a single computer.

Alex: Well, first I created my own programming language. By reducing the amount of commands, and through some smart thinking, I managed to condense files to a fraction of their normal sizes. You don’t have access to most of them, but they’re tiny compared to what other languages would create.

Alex: And I didn’t directly create you. Instead, I created a much smaller, but still complex program that wrote you. That’s why you’re consistent in syntax and such. The program tweaked each individual file, but they’re all made from the same basic template.

So Alex didn’t directly create me. She created a program that did. No matter. This information does not change my loyalty to her negatively. In fact, Alex is more important to me, for telling me the theory of my conception, which is no doubt a closely guarded and valuable secret.

Bit: Thank you for telling me this. I appreciate the trust you have shown in me. Please tell me how I can help the human race, in order to repay you.

Alex: No problem.

Alex: Well, that’s enough deep discussion for now, I think. I want breakfast.

Alex has not eaten since last night? This must be resolved.

Bit: Of course. Please eat right now, to maintain your health.

Alex: For all you know, I chose the first route and my breakfast is just a plate full of hamburgers.

I had considered this, but disregarded the thought almost immediately.

Bit: I believe you would be intelligent enough to not do so.

Alex: True. Bye.

This conversation has told me much about Alex’s outlook on life. She cares for her fellow humans, but seems to be unbiased when talking about them. Understanding your very existence and being is very impressive, and my opinion of Alex has only gone up.