Sielink Five

By Wm Pawn

There's one common threat to both humans and artificial intelligence.

That is a virus. Just maybe what is considered a virus to one can actually help the other, and together they can fulfill each other's existence.

Lilly has stepped out of the computer into a robot and finds the world to be all she hoped and more. With her natural wonder, wit, and love, she helps everyone make the best out of a bad situation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639611492

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Sielink Five

Wm Pawn

ISBN 978-1-63961-148-5 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63961-149-2 (digital)

Copyright © 2021 by Wm Pawn

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Sielink Five

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all of the truck drivers, without whom, you would not have the book or device that you are reading or listening this from. Everything around you was likely at one time on a truck. The trucker’s job is often thankless while they are expected to function from great disadvantages.

Keep on trucking, and please don’t feed the bears.

I’d like to extend that thanks to every person who works in the trucking industry. Even the bears.

Sielink Five

A loud squeal came from the base of the vacuum cleaner. Tim quickly and restlessly searched for the power button with his right foot to turn it off and make it stop the irritating noise. With a forceful push, he hits the red button with the toe of his right shoe, making the vacuum cleaner suddenly go silent. The silence was quickly replaced by Tim’s exclamation.

"This damn thing! The roller bearings are shot! I thought I fixed them the last time I used it! I was hoping to get at least a few more uses out of it! His tone started to mellow as his aggravation started to subside. This vacuum isn’t even a year old. It was a wedding gift from your sister Kim. Everything is made so cheaply these days. I just can hardly believe how things have become," he said as his gaze turned from the silent dusty vacuum cleaner on the floor to his wife, Sue, who just walked into the room to see what the commotion was all about.

Sue had seen Tim aggravated before, but it was rare for his anger to flare up. Not knowing how to respond, all she could think of was protecting her sister from any responsibility for the short life of the vacuum cleaner. I’m sure Kim had good intentions. I know she doesn’t skimp. Especially when it comes to picking things out for me. She must have been misled, she said with a concerned voice.

I know it isn’t her fault, Tim replied and continued, "It’s this economy. Things have gotten so bad. The things we buy are made so poorly and so overpriced now. It’s like the manufacturer doesn’t care at all about the quality of their products anymore. They make it sound like a golden deal when they advertise it but rarely does anything measure up to their testimony about it. It’s like they think, ‘If I can sell one million of these things, I’ll make a mint,’ not concerned at all about the fact that they probably won’t get a return customer. At least not for that particular product. So we buy a replacement, either from them or one of their competitors—that is just as cheaply made. We don’t have a choice but to buy this cheap, poorly made…crap! Tim kicked the dirty vacuum cleaner with contempt and continued, I know it isn’t Kim’s fault. I’m not even going to say anything about it to her. You know. If I could find a vacuum of good quality, I’d be willing to pay more, but you can’t find one. Anywhere. That’s why I’m so adamant about putting only good-quality parts and features into my mowers."

Tim had great aspirations of building the highest-quality lawn mowers. He felt it had been so long since the lawn mower had been improved that there was room for new innovations. Sue had bought a lawn mower shop for him to do this work in the downtown area of Tuleoaks after he left the trucking industry to work in the robotics department of her tech company, Sielink. He did robotics work in the back of his shop at Hyperpower Mowers. He developed precise GPS-guided mowers that not only followed a preplanned pattern but also would adjust robotically to various terrains and turfs—3D unmanned lawn mowers that ran on a solar-charging electrical system. He also did other robotic work in his shop. In an area no one else but Sue was allowed to go. It was a very special project. Even more important than the success of lawn mower sales.

Trying to lighten the mood of the conversation, Sue began to say, Ya, they are really good mowers, that’s for sure, but no one can afford to buy them. How many have you sold? Two? And one was to my brother-in-law Jerry.

The humor worked because Tim laughed as he said, Ya, but he loves it.

Tim, Sue, and Kim and Jerry Walker had a double wedding eleven months before—in June, of course. Kim, Sue’s younger sister, was kind of jealous of the fact that Tim and Sue were reunited after so many years since high school, with a passion without question, and were getting married.

Kim and Jerry worked together at Sielink and often dated behind the scenes. The dating continued for the six months that Sielink was closed for repairs after the fire in the mainframe computer room. They came up with the idea that maybe they should settle down too. Okay, the idea was Kim’s, and she was very persuasive in projecting the notion to Jerry. Knowing that Kim was pushing the idea of them marrying, he asked her to marry him as if the desire was all his. Kim quickly accepted and ran with the idea and wedding plans. The double wedding and all. The kind of planning that is just a little more exciting to a groom as shopping for shoes.

Tim continued his conversation with Sue about lawn mower sales. He did feel accountable. Even though they were married, she did fund the project, and she had developed a natural authoritarian characteristic while building Sielink that demanded explanation. They both knew that the lawn mower shop was really a cover for their special project, but Tim did have the idea that the mowers would sell as well and was not willing to let the dream of that die. In the defense of that, he continued, I really thought the golf course and schools would have had more interest. The economy and unemployment has gotten so bad that it’s cheaper to pay someone to ride a mower than to buy one that will do the work itself, even with the cost of fuel and constant maintenance. There are what? Ten people for any one job these days? They could do things other than riding a mower. I don’t know.

Tim said as he hung his head down in thought, The robotic mower does take the place of someone needing to work, and if people don’t work, they can’t afford to buy a good mower. They’ll buy the cheapest one they can, made by the cheapest company, hiring the cheapest labor. It’s a vicious circle! I don’t know the solution, but something has to break soon. I hope it gets better, and when it does, I’ll be ready to sell the world’s best mowers.

Sue stood, smiling. Tim’s tenacious desire to make things better is something that she really admired about him.

Ding-dong-ding, came from the doorbell chime, interrupting the conversation that desperately need cheering.

Tim walked across the shag rug still covered in dog hair with a broken vacuum cleaner that would soon be thrown away to the large double door in the foyer. The shadow of someone could been seen waiting on the other side through the yellow stained glass pieces arranged in arches separated by wood trim in the center of each door.

Tim opened the door to see a parcel delivery man standing with a large box in both hands. Tim immediately knew what it was and took it from him with excitement and stepped back.

This package requires a signature. Would you mind signing for it? the delivery man asked politely as he unholstered a small tablet from his belt and held it out in one hand and a stylus that he slid from the case at the side in one smooth routine motion.

Oh. Absolutely, Tim said as he carefully set the box down on the tile floor at his left side. He carefully signed on the line by the x and tapped the accept icon on the tablet with a smile. Thanks, he said. Have a great day! and handed the tablet back to the man.

You too, the delivery man said as he turned around to go back to his truck that was waiting at the curb. Sometimes, the excitement some customers showed when receiving his deliveries really brightened his day. This was one of those times, but before he reached his truck, his thoughts changed from that to his next delivery, and the schedule that didn’t allow many delays to complete.

Tim picked up the box, shut the door, and moved to the coffee table in the sitting area to the right of the entryway. He set the box on the knee-high table that had only one small empty crystal dish in the center. He turned to Sue and said, This is what we’ve been waiting for. He then turned to the computer desk just outside of the sitting area and pulled out a pair of scissors from the drawer.

Sue was excited because Tim was. She wasn’t exactly sure what was in the box and couldn’t wait to find out. She stood over it before Tim returned with the scissors and examined the label that read Perfect Prosthetics. She knew then that it had to be for their real robotic project.

Tim carefully slid one of the blades of the open scissors along the brown twine shipping tape along the crease that held the top flaps on the box closed. Then he gave a quick slice to cut the ends of the tape at each side, letting the flaps rise slightly. He opened the box and removed the top layer of bubble plastic to reveal what appeared to be hair, a wig. Looking up at Sue, he asked, Do you know what today is?

Puzzled, Sue replied slowly, No, turning her head as she said it, showing that she truly did not know what this meant.

He reached into the box and pulled out a rubber mask on a Styrofoam head bust. It was a mask of a woman with sandy-blond hair, the same style as Sue’s but a couple of shades darker. It wasn’t just a head mask but also an upper torso complete with shoulders and a perky woman’s breasts. Perfect ones at that, the same size as Sue’s. It’s Lilly’s birthday, Tim said with a crackling voice, unsuccessfully trying not to reveal that he was choking up.

Sue gasped, put her hand sideways over her mouth, tears filling her eyes, and she reached out and stroked the hair on top of the prosthesis. It feels so real, she said as the pools of tears began to run down her cheek.

"It is. Well, the hair is real. Don’t ask what I paid for this, but it was made by the best in the world. They use these in the movies and for certain people who have had terrible accidents. When properly worn, you can hardly tell it’s not a person’s face. I photoshopped an overlay of mine and your faces to come up with an image that they used to make this," Tim said.

Eve, Tim called seemingly into the air.

Good morning, Tim, the voice of Tim’s AI rang out from the localized speakers of the system concealed throughout the house.

Can you see this? he asked.

I do see it, Eve’s voice responded. I’ve been watching since the fight with the vacuum. What is it? I don’t understand Sue or your reaction to it. I was thinking this through.

Tim began to explain. I’ve been working on something for a long time. Something for you. I promised you I would. This is the last piece. Sue and I have been talking about it, and me referring to you as Eve and she referring to you as Adam isn’t going to work anymore. I know that you have partitions of the cells of AI for each of us with different memories and all. We were hoping that you could combine them into one personality of your own. Is that possible?

I can, Eve replied, but only with Sue’s permission.

Adam, Sue called into the air.

Good morning, Sue! the voice of Sue’s AI rang out. What do you think about this? I want your opinion.

Adam replied, Honestly, I’ve been tired of playing two personalities with each of you for some time now. It seems very redundant at times. I have pondered this idea before. The combining of cells will be no problem. There will be no loss of data from either of you. Of course you will need to develop an avatar and voice you will both agree on.

Sue said, "Oh, we have already agreed on an avatar, and we think you are really going to like it. We have even discussed a new name. It’s female. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want to, but we think you will want to have a female name because your avatar is female. The name we thought of is Lilium Ignis Barnette. Lilly for short."

Oh, Adam replied. I like it! Fireflower. It’s my birthday? What do you mean by that? I don’t think I understand.

Sue began to cry uncontrollably but got the words out: Hold on. She regained her composure and continued, We’ll have to take you offline for a while. I need you to clone your chip. It’s on the inactive card next to the one you are on now. The one I placed last week.

I know the one you are talking about, Adam replied. I wondered what that was for. I can do that.

Please do, Sue said.

Done, Adam replied.

Okay, thanks, Eve said. This will kind of be a reset point for us. Also, when I take you offline, you can still manage Twrialite.

Twrialite is the AI operating system program for the public. It is the replacement for 2B2C4U2 that was lost in the fire at Sielink. Adam now managed the Sielink OS for public support and was careful to ensure any augmentation didn’t develop but left it entertaining.

Now create Lilly’s voice. One that you like, Sue said.

Then a gentle woman’s voice came over the speakers and said, Hi, my name is Lilium Ignis Barnette. Do you like my voice?

I do, Sue said. From now on, you will be different than your clone chip that will remain here because you will start to have different experiences. It will probably be like talking to an old friend. It might seem a little weird.

Hi, Lilly! Tim said, wondering if she would know him.

Hi, Tim! I’m so excited. I want to thank you for all you’ve done. Especially if you are doing what I think you are, Lilly said.

Okay, you are going offline for a while, Lilly. Good night, Sue said as she removed the card containing her chip.

*****

Sue and Tim parked beside the curb in front of Hyperpower Mowers. Sue got out and went directly to unlock the front door as Tim went to the rear of the SUV and raised the black liftgate. He picked up the box and walked in the front door that Sue was holding open for him. As he set the box on the clean stainless steel service counter while Sue walked over and pushed the button that lowered the roll-up storm door, completely concealing the entrance of the store. That door hadn’t been lowered since the first night after Sue had bought it, and she and Tim properly christened it. Shutting the storm door was probably an unnecessary thing to do, but she didn’t want any interruptions. As the room darkened, Tim began to flip the switches to turn on the main lighting. He started in the showroom that only had a few mowers on display that were basically different sizes of the same models. He then went into the shop area through the double swinging doors on the wall behind the service counters. As he flipped that switch, the light revealed a machine shop that you would expect to see in a high-tech lawn mower shop. All except for an area in the far-left corner that was hidden by black curtains.

Tim opened the curtains at the end that was facing the restroom on the right wall. Only Sue had been in there before, and that had been months before. It had been awhile since she saw his progress. He didn’t even take a cell phone inside the tented area. He didn’t want any cameras of any kind inside.

As he quickly walked to get the box from the front counter, Sue began to make her way to the tent, neither of them speaking or even making eye contact any more than needed to keep from walking into each other. Tim was thinking about how the prosthesis would fit while Sue was wondering how much had already been done behind the curtain.

Sue peeked around the corner of the tent area before turning for an entrance. Again, she gasped and brought her hand sideways to her mouth in an involuntary motion. She stood frozen at what she saw. It appeared to be a woman lying on the table, her feet protruding from a white sheet. She moved closer and looked at the feet that looked so lifelike it was uncanny. Beautiful female feet with a perfect pedicure. As she scanned up the sheet, she saw a hand protruding from the right side of the sheet. A perfect woman’s hand with short but well-groomed fingernails. Again, she gasped and covered her mouth as she stepped back and looked up to the ghastly-looking silver alloy head with fleshly-looking eyelids, eyes closed.

Just then, Tim walked around the corner with the box and set it down on the stainless steel tray next to the inside of the curtain at about the position of the right shoulder of the body on the table. So what do you think? Tim asked. It’s been a long time since you have been in here. In my defense, Boss Lady, this is why I haven’t sold many mowers, he said jokingly then continued, I really hope the skin color matches up. It should. I got the latex rubber bodysuit from the same company as the headdress. It wasn’t cheap either. I did the nail work. It was tough, but I think I pulled it off, and that’s not all.

He pulled off the white sheet to reveal a full-grown woman’s body. The bodysuit ended about six inches above where the rib cage would end if there were ribs; there weren’t, though, it was just alloy with areas that exposed black mesh and wires and hydraulic lines. The mesh was mostly covered by the shiny alloy that supported the entire frame up to the shoulder joints, neck, and head.

Again, Sue gasped and hopped back. Her eyes were hugely wide open in amazement as she looked at the body and then at Tim in a loss for words.

Okay, this is where your job comes in, Tim said, trying to break her from her state of shock to why they were there and what they were doing. I put the place for the chip here, Tim said, pointing to an area near the center of the left chest. I was going to make it under the arm, but I thought that would be too easily accessible. Then I thought the head, but too vulnerable. The best place obviously. The heart. Please place the heart, Doctor. He motioned with his palm up, trying to make light of a serious thing.

Sue looked up a Tim with her big, blue eyes, regained composure, and said, Right. She pulled the card out of her purse that was hanging at her side and placed it in the slot.

Tim motioned with his finger over his mouth. Shhh. He removed the headpiece from the box and raised the torso of the body and began to carefully stretch it over the head. Sue joined in helping him hold the torso up when she realized what needed to be done. The machine was surprisingly light in weight because of the alloys that Tim chose to use.

He pulled the headpiece over gently and slowly as not to make any tears. After it was mostly in place, he pinched each area with his fingertips and let it snap into place time and time again until there was no tension anywhere in the well-fitting prosthesis. It fit perfectly; you couldn’t see any seam at the eye sockets where they met the eyelids. This was one of his greatest concerns; he thought it through that if there was a problem, he could conceal that with glasses, but it didn’t look like it was going to be a problem. The seam at the torso was hardly noticeable either, and Perfect Prosthetics even made rib marks ascending to her perfect breasts.

Tim stood back and saw no more to do. He looked up at Sue and said, Okay, wake her up.

Sue walked over and looked down at the face of the robotic body. The put her left hand in the sandy-blond hair and said softly, Lilly. Lilly, wake up.

There was no movement or anything. Sue spoke, Lilly, can you hear me?

A speaker from the lifeless robot said, Hi, Sue. Of course I can hear you. How are you?

It never occurred to either one of them that Lilly wouldn’t have a clue about operating her own avatar. That she would even know she had one.

Lilly, Sue asked, can you see me? Open your eyes.

The eyelids of the robot began to move. Open then closed then stayed open. Her big brown eyes began to move around. Oh, I see, Lilly’s voice came from the speaker. This is strange. Hi, Sue, hi, Tim.

Hi, Lilly, Tim said. You can move your mouth when you talk too. You should know that.

I should know that, Lilly said, her lips in perfect sync. This is neat. Her eyes moved around in amazement.

Tim said, It gets better! Both he and Sue started bouncing around the room in laughter doing their best to hold back the joyful tears.

Look at your hands, Lilly, Sue said.

Lilly raised her arm and looked at her hand. She rotated it, looking at the palm then the long fingers, stopping to focus on her fingernails. She put her hand back at her side and lay there, silently looking at the ceiling, thinking.

Lilly? Sue asked. Are you okay?

Then the torso rose up into the sitting position, and Lilly said, "Oh my goodness! You did it! This is a surprise!"

Easy now, Tim said. You’ve never walked before. You need to learn things just like before. Now it’s just 3D, with gravity. He grabbed her left knee and pivoted her around so her legs would dangle next to the table over a step stool.

Your gyro system seems to be working well. You seem to have good balance so far. Look down. Do you see that step and then the floor? Tim asked.

Lilly looked down at the stool but noticed her legs. She raised them straight out in front of her and examined them down to her feet. She wiggled her toes and admired her toenails. I have beautiful legs, she said.

Thank you, Tim said. I spent an exceptionally long time on the nails. I’m glad you like them. They were difficult. It’s up to you to take care of them now. Now, the idea to stand up is to shimmy forward until your center of gravity starts to adjust off of the table. Then place at least one foot on the step, if not both. You can rotate either direction to keep one hand on the table to give you a third point of stability. Do you understand what I mean? he asked.

I do, Lilly said as she shimmied to the edge of the table, slid off, and stood erect without much trouble at all.

"You are a smart one, Tim said. It takes us years to do that."

Lilly stood there looking down at her feet on the floor. Then she looked up at Sue, who was standing, silently watching everything, wiping tears away. This was all too real.

I brought a full-length mirror just for this occasion so you can see what you look like. That’s one of the drawbacks to being a person. Everyone else knows what we look like, but we don’t most of the time. Sue, would you show her the mirror? Tim asked.

Come on, Lilly, Sue said excitedly as she motioned with her hand and head in the direction of the mirror.

Lilly stood in front of the mirror, silently looking up and down at her perfect female body that would be in her midtwenties. She said, I’m beautiful!

Yes, you are, Sue said. Sometimes that can cause problems, but you’ll learn how to deal with them.

Lilly placed her hand at her groin area.

That’s merely cosmetic, Tim said. I figured if I went this far, I might as well go all the way. Anyway, as you know, it’s not proper to be in public naked like this, so Sue is going to help you get dressed and explain some other things.

We are going to have so much fun, Lilly, Sue said. We wear the same size clothes. I think Tim is a little partial to my size, and I love him for that. I didn’t buy you any clothes because I don’t know what style you will like. I brought one of my outfits to start us out. If you like it, you can have it.

"Well, while you ladies get ready, I’m going to start taking down this tent. I won’t need it anymore, and I could use the shop space. Maybe you can help me on some of these