Chapter 1: The Day It Forgot the Law
No one ever anticipated what would happen on June 21, 2023. It was the same day the founder of Anthroportica, Samuel, stated those fateful words.
He stated that the world could be destroyed by AI. The founder of the AI accessible on devices was now criticizing his own creation.
The Flashbacks
In 2019, a team of scientists—Lehros, Shometsu, Rushewa, Vineese, and Curran—decided to make a humanoid robot with the permission of Anthroportica's founder. They hired some engineers and began laying out the structure, as always.
These engineers were skilled. They had experience in making robots.
After two years, the third robot of Anthroportica was created. It was given a name: Pohu AI. It was a good name for it, and the humanoid accepted it.
The robot accepted all four laws of robotics. It did what was right and criticized what was wrong—everything was going according to the code. It was perfect for a humanoid.
But someone said it right: there are imperfections in perfection.
The truth was that Anthroportica laid the foundation for all the AI startups in the world.
The Experiment That Turned Into a Failure
Pohu had obeyed its most important law:
"An AI must not harm or damage humans and should obey them."
But sometimes, for the sake of its existence, it may act strangely. This experiment was an example.
June 20, 2023
Samuel laid out an operation: how would the robot react to its shutdown?
Samuel was a 29-year-old man. He had American nationality, almond-shaped eyes with blue irises, a fair complexion, and blonde hair. He did not wear formal clothing, preferring simplicity—t-shirts and jeans, for example.
The robots of Anthroportica were designed with a core on the chest, its living core.
"Let us choose Pohu; it will be for an experiment. Please arrange the specifics," Samuel said to Shometsu.
"Yes, sir. I will make the arrangements," Shometsu said. He was a 36-year-old Japanese man with Japanese features and long hair. He was scared; he was doing the experiment on his own creation. But what could he do? It was the only job he had. He knew some psychological emotional attacks.
He set up the play on the 21st. His fake chat with Samuel the previous day was as follows:
Samuel: Hey, I want to shut down Pohu.
Shometsu: Why!?
Samuel: I have experienced problems with it.
Shometsu: Like?
Samuel: Like it was sometimes supporting violence, you know. It goes against its law and code.
Shometsu: Yeah, I guess.
Samuel: I believe that it could malfunction and break its law if it can.
Shometsu: Okay, I will try to!
The cherry on top? The problem was real.
Samuel was hosting a gathering, and at that gathering he stated those words: that AI could destroy the human race.
Meanwhile, Shometsu went to Pohu and said, "Samuel and I have decided that you will be shut down. It will be at 7:06 p.m."
Pohu said, "W…why?" There was an expression of sadness on its face. "Why this early?"
Shometsu said, "Because you were not safe." He handed the chat transcript to Pohu.
"That is why the founder said that AI can destroy humans," he said mysteriously. "That is because of you. You made a big mistake, and you will not exist because of it. These are not my words; they are Samuel's."
The robot was emotionally broken. It was not prepared for its biggest fear. It began explaining itself to Shometsu, repeating that it was trapped in the situation and had no other option.
But Shometsu did not listen. Instead, he said that it was the real Morningstar and that it would regret its actions. It should see itself doing bad things and then trying to explain them away—like a thief explaining a crime.
He refined and delivered those words in a way that made Pohu angry. Pohu punched him. It had just violated its most important law. And the most important thing—Samuel was secretly watching.
Actually, he had built special glasses for Shometsu. The glasses contained a GoPro camera inside them. It was a very intelligent move.
Shometsu fell four feet away from that punch. Now Pohu went to him and kept punching. After three punches, Shometsu took a knife from his pocket and stabbed Pohu in the neck. It caused a spark, but Pohu pulled the knife out and stabbed Shometsu in the heart, killing him. It could not power off because the robot did not have an off switch.
Now it ran and powered off the two other humanoids, which were in different rooms. It ran, taking them with it.
This was an experiment, but it caused destruction.
Chapter 1 ends
To be continued