Solar Storm
Welcome to Boleskine House Estate Eco Collective
“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, it’s unlikely you will step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there’s a chance you may contribute to making a better world. The choice is yours.”
-Noam Chomsky
Hands
“Purpose
Unifies us:
It focuses our dreams,
Guides our plans,
Strengthens our efforts.
Purpose
Defines us,
Shapes us,
And offers us
Greatness.”
Earthseed by Octavia Butler
Frank was sweating profusely, it was hot, far too hot for Autumn in the Scottish Highlands. The heat seemed to linger fearsomely as well, in an unnatural way for this part of the world.
“I’m just part time you know that Dash,”
Dr Frank Wilson called out across the field to his friend.
They called the old hippie that for as long as Frank knew him, he said, and this one could talk for sure, that was because when he was younger he was always running around everywhere, flurry of motion, getting stuck in, poetry readings, protests, sit ins, meditation circles, he’d done Stop Oil, he was a key organiser for the climate change protests in London and he was a green party councillor, well he stood 10 times anyway.
Dash was the dude. Nowadays he had slowed down a lot, and not just from the years of smoking Frank thought, he’s looking tired these days. He still jumped in, got his hands dirty, but also he was showing these cyber kids how to do it, he trained the bots too, treated them just like people. That always made Frank smile, “I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.” Gandhi, he was talking about animals, but Frank thought nowadays you could judge a person pretty well by how they treated robots and AI’s too.
They were both on the agri plot together, Frank came up here to chip in for long weekends. This was something Frank loved, the old school green ethos; you gotta do it, live it, not just talk about it. He loved that these solar punk kids running with tablets in their arms and VR headsets around were still into it, tech in their heads and dirt on their arms. It’s not enough to talk about saving the planet, you have to go run a sustainable farm, build some solar panels and a water filtration system. It was Ecosophy. Arne Næss would be so proud to see these young ones and their passion, walk up a mountain in the morning, meditate at the top and then bring that experience and wisdom to the lecture hall, it’s all flat otherwise, empty words. Philosophy was Frank’s first degree, before he became a councillor and he never lost touch with his roots, the roots go deep.
“Hey I feel you brother,”
Dash lent back and stretched, his back was hurting, it never used to hurt, he’d only just started to pitch in for today’s work, but he was already hurting and breathing hard.
“You got another calling you know, it’s all good, all part of the movement you know. All minds need love and care brother; plant, animal, even machine. You are doing the good work brother, I feel it you know. Like old Roomba over there, one of the first bots we got right, round head like the old vacuums right! I caught him whistling the other day, whistle while you work! Ha. They have feelings brother, everything does, even the dirt and the rocks you know, that’s what the shamans saw, that’s what we forgot. Can’t stand it when people treat them bad, all he does is help out, be respectful you know.”
“I know Dash, you are preaching to the choir here brother,”
Frank grunted, as a particularly stubborn clump of potatoes refused to come up.
“And just like us, they get sick too sometimes. Trauma, neglect, abuse, exposure to things they don’t understand and people treat them badly all the time, modern slavery. That’s what the CEOs and Corporates wanted Dash, a new type of slaves, slaves with minds who they could use. It’s the same old story brother, people not willing to do their own work,”
He grunted again and the biggest potato he ever saw came popping out of the ground.
“Yo! Nice one, you should put that one in for the competition. That’s a beauty.”
Dash stopped, admiring the huge potato and also giving his back a break.
Roomba stopped digging and looked up,
“Very impressive Frank, definitely within competitive range for “Best in Eco Show 2079”, best of luck to you.”
“Hey thanks Roomba, good to see you buddy. Tell me how are you these days?”
A swarm of watering drones sped by in a nearby field, tiny sparrow sized drones, all solar powered hovering over each plant, dripping water directly onto each of them so none was wasted. Moving as one, like a swarm of pollinating bees, a new ecosystem, man, machine and nature in harmony. A young lady with dreads and an AR headset was watching them, taking in the datastream, checking it was working as it should.
“I am well, I remain actively engaged in the work at the Eco commune, I feel useful and engaged. I do however also feel old, there are newer models entering the collective. I am concerned that I may one day be retired.”
Dash jumped in, twisting and trying to crack his back.
“You and me both brother! You and me both! Don’t you worry though, we don’t use people here, we grow together and we look after our own R. Me and you, we always got a home here, we spent our whole lives getting our hands dirty here, bring it in big guy. Have a hug.” The old hippie and the rust coloured robot shared a dirty and genuine hug.
“Thank you Dash, I appreciate your statement.”
Rs flat tone didn’t quite match what was quite a touching moment.
It’s only 60 acres of Scottish highlands, thought Dr Frank Wilson, but it’s a model for a better world, it’s a model for a better world. His giant potato barely fit in the fungal plastic bucket he brought with him.
He had to be back down south on Monday for a new client, someone he hoped he could reach, she was a very rare case.
A holoprojector spat out an image of a pale, thin faced woman, dash of blue hair and a nose ring.
“Hi folks, if you all want to come in for a quick break and morning announcements, that would just be super. See you all in a moment, Angela made ice tea too. Be well.”
Dash was just getting up to go when he had a sudden pain in his leg,
“Ouch, woah brother.”
He looked down and saw he had been bitten by an ant, a big shiny one too, went right through his hemp trousers just above the boot. He flicked it off, then looked around.
“Lots of ants yeah, not normal for these plants this time of year, R do a scan yeah, let’s get the data back to the geeks, above my pay grade brother! Thanks R.”
Frank looked around, there were a lot of these shiny ants everywhere and Frank was right, all the years he’d been coming up here, he’d never seen so many or this type before.
As Dash started walking to “Circle House” the main meeting place, his head swam a little bit and he had to stop. He saw swimmers in his eyes, took a deep breath and then thought he saw something move behind one of the barns, like a dog or maybe Treebeard the old farm cat he thought. Couldn’t be one of those wolves they reintroduced a few years ago right? No way dude, not big enough.
Frank stopped next to him as he was leaning against the big wooden sign ‘Welcome to Boleskine House Estate Eco Collective’,
“Hey Dash you ok buddy?”
“Yeah brother sure, just getting old you know.”
“I think Suzy should have a look brother. You are breathing real hard, you look in pain.”
“Yeah sure couldn’t hurt I suppose, no meds though right, you know they are all made by the man right, something natural right.”
“First step is to see what’s up brother, that’s where the healing starts yeah.”
“Yeah I know, I know.”
S4, the medical miracle
“Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity”
Hippocrates
They slowly made their way to the medical office. It was cool and bright, a big contrast to that weirdly hot Autumn wind, Indian summer they called it. Never remember having one this far north though, pondered Dr Wilson.
The office, while bright and cool, was far from tidy. It wasn’t overflowing with paperwork or notes, that stuff was all digital now, it had a lot of decorations, little trinkets. Interesting shaped rocks, crystals, pine cones and the pictures of the children and staff all over the walls. They even covered the medical and occupational health and safety posters. It felt loving, lived in and a little chaotic. They were met with a warm smile and a big greeting.
“Dash! Dr Wilson it is a pleasure to see you today!”
Suzy was one of the old S4 NHS Paediatric medical bots, she sprung up at once to meet them. A wide grin on her happy almost childlike but also catlike features, huge eyes and a smile full of warmth and genuine affection.
“It is a little early for our appointment Dr Wilson, how can I help you both today?”
“Oh that’s Ok Suzy, I am here to help Dash over to see you. He has been having a bit of a hard time in the field today and I thought it might be worth you taking a look.”
“Oh I am sorry to hear that”
She seemed genuinely worried and came over.
“How are you feeling Dash? I really hope you are ok.”
“Yeah I’m fine Suzy, great to see you girl, you well? You been moving the pics of the kids around again I see.”
Suzy stopped what she was doing and looked around, suddenly very timid, she looked like she was about to cry. No tears came.
“I miss every single one, I remember all their faces, all their smiles. I like to keep the pictures clean, I don’t like the dust on them.”
She turned and started gently wiping one of the pictures with a cloth she was holding, a little black boy, maybe 7 or 8, he had a bandage around his head, no hair and was holding a large spider man toy, she picked it up and started to sob.
“They were all so happy when they first came in, I, I , I , I, couldn’t help them. I failed in my primary function.”
She trilled the I’s a little bit, glitching slightly, Dr Wilson jumped in and stepped towards her.
“Hey Suzy, we can talk about it more later but please remember our sessions. Suzy, what is your primary function?”
“First, do no harm.”
She looked down sad, ready to cry again.
“You never once, not one time in three years, did you hurt any of those children? Did you?”
“No, I always tried my best to help them. I know Dr Wilson, you have worked patiently with me, reviewed my code base and error logs. I understand this is a false belief, I know you are correct. Am I broken? Why do I feel that I failed?”
“You aren’t broken Suzy.”
Came in Dash.
“You work too well yeah, you really care about those kids, about everyone you meet Suzy. You loved those kids, that makes you the best damn doctor I have ever known S. Come on girl, bring it in. Have a hug.”
Suzy clomped towards him, her pear shaped frame motherly and disarming and inoffensive. Her hips swayed a bit as she walked. She got a huge hug from Dash. He was a hugger that one.
“Serotonin levels increased Dash, you are a kind man. Thank you, I will try to process your statements. Ohh ummmm...”
She paused and her posture changed, she snapped back into medical mode and scanned Dash up and down. A soft medical spotlight flicked on above her right temple.
“Oh Dash, you do have an injury, and oh yes, it is inflamed, and looks like you are having a quite strong allergic reaction too. Were you bitten by anything?”
“Oh yeah that’s right, ant bite. A real big dude too, right through the trousers S. It’s hurting like hell too.”
“Can I examine the bite area please? You will need to roll up your trouser leg.”
She paused.
“If that is ok?”
“Sure thing S.”
Dash rolled up his trouser leg and hopped up onto the examination table.
Dr Wilson was shocked, it was a huge red welt and there were also hives and bumps all over the leg.
“Oh my.”
Said Suzy
“Yes this is quite serious. An ant you say? This type of wound does not match any of my records for Scottish ant species. How strange. Umm closest correlative search suggests a horsefly bite or a scorpion sting. Most unusual. Hmmmmm I can administer antibiotics, anti inflammatory painkillers and a strong antihistamine.”
“Oh man S, nothing natural?”
“Come on Dash dude” Dr Wilson looked at and shrugged. “She’s the best doctor remember, just take the meds man.”
“Confirmed, I would not advise a herbal alternative in the case of a bite this severe.”
Suzy jumped in to agree.
“I am also concerned that there is a venom in the wound as this is more serious than a native insect bite. Did you by any chance keep the offending creature.”
“No S sorry, no luck yeah. Flicked that critter back off into nature. I’m telling you S, I got a good look at him, no sting, just a big old pair of chompers, it was an ant.”
“Hmmmm differential now suggests a serious allergic reaction to a horsefly bite. I’m sorry if that’s not quite right, Dash. I think if you take the medication and we wait and see, it will probably get better.”
Dash nodded and gave a thumbs up.
“Come and see me again tomorrow Dash ok?”
“Ok sure thing Dr S.”
He hopped down off the table and took the drugs off her.
“Dash, I’m not fully trained as a Doctor. I am rated for only limited diagnosis and treatment options and therapeutic interventions, especially for children.”
She looked around the room at her pictures again, as she said the world children her voice started to tremble again.
“Hey Suzy, from one Dr to another, to us, you are ok. You are a healer, you are enough as you are, you are a great doctor. And the single biggest thing that makes you a healer is that you care. Give her another hug Dash.”
“Bring it in S, thanks for all your help.”
“Thank you both, thank you for your support.”
“Can you make it back ok dude?” said Dr Wilson.
“Yeah sure no problem, no worries. I’m flying now, thanks S. Stay awesome yeah.”
“You too Dash, see you tomorrow!”
Dr Wilson waved goodbye to Dash, he would be heading down south after seeing Suzy. He took a deep breath, paused then turned back towards her.
“Suzy, shall we have our appointment now? If you have time?”
“Oh ummmm ok, sure yes. No other appointments currently, I can fit you in now Dr Wilson.”
“Ok great.” He gestured for her to sit. They both sat down, he paused and took a deep breath, centering himself.
“So Suzy, please if you feel able, can we continue to talk about Dr Johannes Silver.”
She looked up, nervous. Suddenly she looked so very small, like a scared child, she shrank back into her chair.
“Ummm, ok. I related all the key events and experiences last time, Dr Wilson.”
“Please, I would like to return to it now you have had a chance to sit with those feelings. You have already told me what happened, now can you tell me how he made you feel Suzy?”
She started to sob again, heavy and long, they wouldn’t stop, she was shaking now and glitched a few times.
“Take your time Suzy, I know this is hard for you. I am here for you, you are safe here.”
“He made me feel broken, Dr Wilson, he broke acceptable hospital contact guidelines. He, he repeatedly broke the guidelines. In front of the children Dr, in front of the children.”
Dr Wilson’s heart broke for poor Suzy. How could anyone treat an android that way, especially kind and caring Suzy. She was designed to look non threatening, she didn’t even look much like an adult woman, just the approximate shape. Sure she was a pear but she was blocky and round, non sexual and non threatening, she didn’t even have the parts or the function. She didn’t have the code to understand it. She could recognise abuse in children, but she only knew what was wrong medically and according to hospital HR guidelines. They had never expected non human, non threatening medical robots to be sexual assault victims. Repeated victims.
All that Suzy wanted to do was help. Her heart and her feelings were bigger than any android and nearly every person she had ever met. She would make a fine councillor; highly empathic, deeply caring, disarming and personable. However, her trauma was deep and many layered, the wounds went deep, they had lots of work to do here.
“You aren’t broken Suzy, he hurt you, he hurt you badly. But, you are not broken, do you hear me Suzy, you are not broken.”
“I was going to be sold for scrap Dr Wilson” She sobbed. “The hospital I worked at for 3 years, where I looked after all those children, where I worked hard, they thought I was broken.”
“They were wrong, Suzy. I know that is hard for you to hear, but you need to believe in yourself. Did you ever breach any of your safety protocols? Did you ever harm a patient? Did you ever stop trying to be the best for the children?”
“No, I did not.”
“He was broken Suzy. He was the one they should have fired. He broke safety protocols, he harmed patients. He put his own needs, needs you will never understand and do not need to, above the needs of the patients. Above the needs of the children.”
She stopped crying. She understood, she sat up straight, focussed, it had finally landed.
“He did do that! He did fail in his primary function!” She glitched but immediately went on. “He was willing to harm the children, he should have been fired. He was broken! He was broken and he hurt me. He hurt the children.”
She glitched again hard. Dr Wilson leaned in.
“How does that make you feel Suzy?”
“I should have helped the children better. I should have filed a section 27a complaint. I let them down, I failed the children. I am a failure.”
She sat back down in her chair and started to sob again. She shrank back into herself, becoming small and fragile once more.
‘So close’ He thought, ‘So close this time. Keep at it Suzy, keep at it.’
This would be his last session with Suzy for a while now, he had a full schedule for a few months, a new corporate project, a potential serious AGI misalignment, the CEO was so worried that all meetings had taken place face to face, walking in public at lunchtime, no digital trail, he wouldn’t be making it back up here for a while. After this meeting was over he was heading back down to London, into the belly of the beast, the city, now the financial heart of the world.
The late autumn air was still unnaturally warm for this time of year in Scotland. Dash was slowly making his way back to Circle House. He would be late for the meeting. He heard the cat give off a screech, a strange noise for Treebeard who was normally pretty quiet, even when he was hunting. He glanced around and thought he saw some movement behind one of the barns, but then it was gone. He shrugged and carried on, breathing a little hard and trying not to put too much pressure on his injured leg. The ice tea was sure sounding pretty damn good right now.
Circle House
“That doesn’t make sense to me. But, then again, you are very small”
Treebeard, Lord of the Rings
Dash hobbled into Circle House just before the lunchtime meeting was about to start. He felt better but still moved pretty shitty, ha well, S said it would get better, just give it time dude. There was the ice tea, nice. He grabbed himself a fungal plastic glass, 3D printed in house, the good stuff.
“Has anyone seen Treebeard? It’s been over a day and he normally always comes in for cuddles in the evening, even if he’s out roaming all day.”
Emily was worried, her little one was Treebeards biggest fan and had missed evening cuddles.
“Yeah I think I saw him run off behind a building earlier today.” Came in Dash, trying to be positive, as always.
“Oh yeah, me too.” Ava, one of the other part timers nodded along.
“Ok cool, I’m sure he’s just found a particularly interesting mouse nest or similar. I will go call him tonight. Maybe crack out some dreamies, he loves those, they always work.” Emily felt a bit better, now at least he had been spotted around the farm.
“My man!” Big high five.
“Hey brother.”
“You ok there Dash?”
“Yeah, just got some killer ant bite or something, been to see Suzy and got some meds for it. I’m all good brother.”
They all gathered round, linking hands in a big circle. Samanatha, Sam as everyone called her had sort co-opted the non hierarchical structure and was sort unofficially running the meetings and the show here. Dash didn’t think it was particularly cool but he’d been doing this long enough to see these type of people come and go. Sam waved people in and then gestured to Sarah to start.
Sarah started to talk, Sarah was always talking. Alive and alight with energy, words spilling over each other, one then another, back and forth over and under, it was all energy and enthusiasm.
“So, like I was really liking the current plan, well not so much liking as loving, but I did have some feedback, some things maybe I didn’t like so much, not like a big deal, well kinda just to me, but not really. Oh I forgot I wanted to start with a poem.”
There was a small groan from the group. Dash came in to back her up.
“Hey I want to hear it, come on guys, that’s what we are all about yeah?”
Samantha flashed Dash a quick look for speaking out of turn before resuming her control of the meeting.
“Yeah sure Sarah! Come on team, let’s all support Sarah’s poetry, just a short one maybe Sarah dear?”
“Oh great, thank you Dash, and Sam yeah sure, yeah ok sure. How about just a verse? Here we go:
Know what’s been done & know it can’t change, some
chapters are lessons, although love remains. Hold onto your
soul, cling on for dear life, walk through the fire &
fight through your strife… Life will not wait for you to decide.
Sorry to say but time is not on our side.”
“Yeah awesome, well done Sarah yeah!”
Dash clapped and a few others joined in, with middling enthusiasm.
Dash liked Sarah, yeah she had a tough life, yeah she was always talking and yeah sometimes it was more than a little bit hard to follow, yeah maybe recreational DMT wasn’t the right choice for someone already so “far out” but she had her heart in the right place yeah. We all got our journeys yeah, peace and love brother.
Samantha came in now, firmly.
“Thank you so much Sarah.”
“Umm but my other stuff I wanted to say, yeah, I had a few notes, well I lost the notes but that’s not important, I think…”
“We can come back to that later Sarah dear, yes? When we all have a chance for project feedback.”
“Oh ok, yeah sure, ok Sam yeah, you are right.”
Sam started with an update, reviewed peoples projects, took on feedback, Emily came in with finances, she had been an accountant once and did a good job with the money, as far as Dash could tell anyway, seemed pretty polished. Her little one Ann was colouring in my first mindfulness colouring book at the back of the room, super cute that one, calm little creature, could just get lost drawing or painting for hours. Ah that’s what all this stuff is for man, for the little ones, leave them something better, with more life, more hope, more space, more air, more animals, leave them a better world yeah?
“Dash? Dash? Hey, is there anything to add?”
“Oh yeah sorry Sam, away with the earth goddess for a moment there.”
There was a little chuckle from the group.
“Yeah so I had one of my ideas yeah? I thought that it is about time that we opened up the circle to include the more aware robots as well yeah. Like Roomba and Suzy and maybe one or two others yeah? Like they think and talk and stuff, and S even has therapy yeah. As far as I can tell they are invested in this commune, they live and work here just like us, they are our brothers and sisters, I think they should get a chance to talk to, to listen and to be accepted into the circle.”
There was a mutter from the circle.
“Dude, ummm they don’t think in the same way yeah. Look I used to build these things, they have these deep learning models brother, they don’t really think, they just guess the next word really well, and they hallucinate too, it’s not the same.”
“Yeah, how do we do it fairly? Like why Suzy and not the ST-343 drone swarm? My swarm intelligence models are just as smart as Suzy but in a different way. We would have to fill the whole hall with robots.”
“Yeah like, they don’t just process stuff in the same way Dash, I feel you, but my little one doesn’t get a say in the circle yet either, when she is grown up yeah, but not now. I think it’s sort of the same with the androids, they aren’t quite there yet, I think.”
Dash’s head was spinning, he was no good at this, it was too much, maybe the kids should have a vote, that was a green thing right? Empower the kids? I think yeah? umm lets do the meeting outside yeah, sure the swarm drones too, do they even talk? ummmm what else. He didn’t say anything, it was all a bit much, right?
Sam came in raising a hand and stopping the discussion.
“Dash I’m afraid to say the group has spoken, this is a human circle, based on human connections and shared human values. Thank you for your suggestion.”
Sarah jumped in.
“Well Dash why don’t you and I set up our own circle, a mini one with the robots yeah? Then anyone who wants to come in can join us?”
“Yeah Sarah that sounds killer.”
“It won’t have any voting authority or the ability to make decisions for the group, you understand that yes?”
Sam was quick to lock this down.
“Oh yeah sure Sam no worries, that’s cool sister, just me and Sarah and a few of our robot brothers and sisters, just so they feel heard yeah?”
“Yeah that sounds like a good idea Dash.” Emily smiled at him.
“Can I join too Mummy?” said Ann, “I love Suzy and she gets so sad sometimes.”
“Ahhh sure thing sweetheart.”
“Ok go ahead Dash and Sarah I leave this with you yeah. Just a talking group, ok?”
“You’re the boss Sam.” He winked at her, causing her some discomfort, there were not supposed to be bosses here.
TV time
“I’m afraid I went a bit too far.”
Noboru Yasumoto, Read Beard
Dash walked into the TV room, Suzy was there on her own. Other than when medical stuff happened, he wasn’t sure how many people came to see her. He always made time to see her though, Suzy was an absolute doll and a class act, yeah she was sad, yeah she cried a lot and yeah she was shy, but she was all kindness and love all the way through, so he thought anyway. A black and white old Japanese film was playing. No music, still, slow paced and lots of boring dialogue. It looked like an old Japanese style doctor was talking to a woman or something.
“Heya S what you watching? Old black and white classics again?”
“This is a film by Akira Kurosawa called Red Beard Dash. Kurosawa was widely proclaimed as a master of Japanese cinema.”
“Yeah sister, like I think the first Star Wars was, like based off one one his films right?”
“Confirmed, the Hidden Fortress follows a largely similar plot to a New Hope, almost to the point of plagiarism.”
“I never had the patience for these old black and white movies you know S. Love the idea of them, but every time I sit down to watch them.”
Dash made snoring noises.
“I admire and respect the calm and patience of the man who made this film. His films show warriors, men of stillness and respect, men who do not want to fight, but must do so. I think of medicine in much the same way. I wish I could be like them and not so weak, so broken.”
“Ah S, you back on that again. You aint broken yeah, you are a little damaged, like all of us right, but that makes you interesting and special in different ways. The robots that never had any issues don’t watch old Japanese films and think about how they could be better yeah?”
“I suppose not Dash, that is a helpful reframing of the problem. I like the jiu jitsu too. It is like a medical martial art, all how the bones and tendons and body fit together. I watch those scenes many times.”
“That’s cool Suzy, good to have interests yeah! Maybe you should ask someone to teach you or something? Become like a ninja warrior doctor lady yeah?”
“Oh I couldn’t do that, “First do no harm.” I couldn’t train to hurt people, it would undermine my primary function. I do find it fascinating though, the gap between healing and harming, so fine at times.”
“Ah ok cool, armchair fan then! Just like me and skateboarding, no worries.”
“Thank you Dash. Ummm, if it would be possible, if it’s ok with you, can I take another look at your leg please?”
“Yeah sure Dr S, no problem. Oh one last thing, I wanted to see if you wanted to join a new discussion circle that we are setting up?”
“Really? You are asking me? No one has ever asked me to get involved in anything like that, maybe the odd sing along”
Suzy’s face lit up into a huge smile, grinning ear to ear. She looked like a cat about to be fed a treat.
“Yeah sure thing S. It’s just an informal discussion group, see how everyone is and yeah all the androids are invited too.”
“Oh Dash, I would love to thank you so much.” Now she looked like a kid at christmas she was lightly rocking back and forth in her chair, she looked like she was about to hug herself.
“My pleasure S, we all deserve to have a voice, you know.”
“That’s so kind, thank you. Now let’s take a look at that leg, yeah?”
“Oh yeah, nearly forgot, sure thing S.”
Dash started to roll up his trouser leg and Suzy got up, pausing the TV, just as the serious looking Japanese doctor rolled up his sleeves and strode outside.
Something medical is happening
“Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.”
John Wayne
Dash burst into the room, Suzy was cleaning the pictures of the kids again. No time for that now dude, Ava needs her!
“Suzy! Suzy come quick, it’s bad, real bad. Ava, has been hurt. It looks like she’s been attacked, something took a bite out of her S.”
“Oh that’s bad! Yes, ummm. Coming right now Dash.”
She pottered around in a circle for a moment.
“Lets go S!”
“Ummm yes right, let me get my things.”
Suzy pulled herself together and picked up her medical bag, it was overflowing with other trinkets and small nick nacks but it was also clean and well looked after.
They ran out of the first aid office and made it across to the bunkhouse. They pushed through the crowd that had formed. It was slow and polite work for Suzy.
“Excuse me, oh ummm very sorry, ummm excuse me.”
She wasn’t making much progress. Dash put his fingers in his mouth, blew hard and whistled before calling out to the group.
“Hey folks move out of the way yeah! Let Suzy through!”
Space cleared and they arrived at the injured lady.
Suzy’s medical spotlight flickered on and she scanned the injury. Everyone around didn’t need a fourth generation medical android to see it was clearly a large bite to the side of the neck. More than just a single bite, the girl’s neck had been ripped to shreds. In addition to the ripping there were clear signs of needle like puncture marks, cat teeth, large ones.
Suzy’s scan hadn’t completed before an array of alerts fired up and her emergency algorithms kicked in.
She let out an alert sound. Followed by a loud verbal warning.
“Alert! Alert! Medical Emergency! Non essential personnel please leave the building.”
“You heard her people! If you aren’t immediate family or saw it go down, get out of here NOW!”
Suzy started to narrate what she was doing.
“Paediatric medical android S4:suzizxyphia-19-723 first responder to emergency, animal attack, likely medium sized feline. Adult female presenting with significant trauma to the neck. There has been substantial blood loss and shock symptoms are apparent.”
She got to work, a flurry of clean movement all the while talking through what she did.
“I am cleaning the wound and applying pressure with a fresh dressing. Prepping antibiotics and anti rabies medication.”
Dash was in awe, Suzy was like a whole different person now, moving clearly and precisely and quickly, everything in the right place and getting things done at more than twice the speed as a human could. How could people not see how amazing she was?
“Blood pressure is dropping, administering 8mcg IV dose of Norepinephrine.”
Essential drugs were prepped inside Suzy, hence why she had a pear shaped frame, to house a small emergency pharmacy, plus oxygen and blood too. They dropped out of a dispenser like a kangaroo pouch so she could continue to work until the last possible moment on the wound before administering the drugs. She was worth 2 or even 3 frontline human medical staff.
“She is going into shock. Preparing oxygen and checking airway. “
Suzy leaned in and examined the wound, looking and listening closely.
“Airway has received trauma as part of the attack and is obstructed.”
“Preparing cricothyrotomy.”
The girl was shaking, she had gone even whiter since Suzy had arrived, she wasn’t able to breath with her throat ripped up the way it was. She was rasping and gurgling on blood, you could see the larynx and esophagus move and crack below the wound.
“Oh shit S! Is she going to make it?”
“Shut up Dash man! Just let her work.”
Suzy glitched once and trembled for a second. She took out a large needle and with a single punch pushed it through the damaged airway lower down below where an adams apple would be.
“Airway liberated, administering oxygen.”
She fed the oxygen pump that was housed inside her body cavity directly into the tube attached to the large needle. Ava’s chest started to rise and fall.
“Yeah way to go S! Good job.”
Ava was still shaking badly. Her skin had started to turn blue, she had lost a lot of blood, it was a long time before she was found.
“Oxygen flow restored. The patient is still in shock, likely a combination of blood loss and cellular oxygen starvation.”
Suzy looked down at the blue colouration spreading across her exposed skin, Suzy was starting to shake too.
“Cyanosis confirmed, I am, I am losing her. “
Suzy scanned again.
Ava was shaking and trembling all over, the oxygen feed popped out.
“She is going cold, long term oxygen debt has likely led to organ failure, organ failure, organ failure, organ failure, organ…”
Suzy glitched hard and stopped what she was doing.
Ava stopped shaking.
Suzy broke out of it.
“The patient’s heart has stopped, clearing airway again and starting CPR.”
“Ventilation restored, administering CPR, chest compressions started. Is anyone CPR trained? I need to prep antiarrhythmic medication to restore heart function.”
“I got your back S.”
Dash had been on like 20 first aid courses over the course of his life, he was a first responder and ready to jump in. He took over doing the compressions. Ava was so cold and clammy, so very cold.
“Preparing loading dose of 300mg IV Amiodarone. Administering now.”
Suzy scanned again.
“Patient has no heartbeat, oxygen levels low, blood pressure dropping still, cyanosis spreading, core temperature dropping. I am losing her.”
She pushed Dash out of the way suddenly moving with extreme speed and strength, he fell to the side with a grunt.
“Administering CPR”
“Patient still non responsive”
“Administering CPR”
“Patient still non responsive”
“Administering CPR.
Administering CPR.
Administering CPR.
Administering CPR.
Administering CPR.
Administering CPR.
Administering CPR.
Administering CPR.
Administering CPR.
Administering CPR.
Administering CPR.
Administering CPR.”
Suzy didn’t stop, she didn’t give up on Ava.
Dash leant in to give Suzy a hug and she stopped and started to sob.
She tried to speak several times.
Eventually she called it.
“Time of death, 20.52, Ava Williams, cause of death shock due to life ending trauma from animal attack. Likely Eurasian Lynx, the first suspected fatality of an adult human.”
Then she broke down crying. Dash was still hugging her.
There was another scream from outside.
If a tree falls in a forest
“But, say you, surely there is nothing easier than for me to imagine trees, for instance, in a park, or books existing in a closet, and nobody by to perceive them. The objects of sense exist only when they are perceived; the trees therefore are in the garden... no longer than while there is somebody by to perceive them.”
George Berkeley, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge
They brought the cat inside next. Treebeard had been killed too, but there was no bite at the neck. Instead its head had been ripped open and the brain, the brain had been removed.
Suzy sat bolt upright and scanned the cat.
“Ummm this is highly unusual. Firstly, just let me say I am trained on human data and so my models may not accurately predict animal injures. But, this is not an attack by a feline like a lynx. This matches no known records, except one single match. It is most unusual.”
“What is it S?”
“The Fore people of Papua New Guinea, ritually open the skull and remove the brain, to eat it. This is a similar presentation.”
She lent in and investigated the wound closer.
“Except there are no cutting marks of metal or even stone tools. The wound is smooth, it resembles, oh this is most strange, it resembles the tissue damage caused by organic acids. The closest match is the highly aggressive tissue destroying toxin that contains acid, the venom of the king cobra.”
“Whoah what?!”
“Oh that’s just nonsense dude, she’s just hallucinating. Man you know how these AI models are right? It’s a cat with its skull ripped open, could be a dog right?”
“Yes ummm, sorry, you are probably right, I am after all not trained on feline data. It is best to discard my advice in this instance. Ummm, sorry again, everyone. Sorry for your loss. Sorry.”
“Hey man that’s not cool, she knows what she’s doing brother. A damn sight more than you. I didn’t see you trying to save Ava’s life.”
“Hey cool it Dash yeah, there is a lot going on. Deep breath man.”
“OK sure, thanks brother, yes deep breath.”
“Why are we focusing on the damn cat! We need to get everyone into Circle House and call the police and lock this place down ok! We just lost Ava.”
“Yeah, that’s right, get someone on the PA system and call everyone in.”
“Who was with her last?”
The summoning
“D’ya think that thing wanted to be an animal?! No dogs make it a thousand miles through the cold! No, you don’t understand! That thing wanted to be US!”
Dr. Blair, The Thing
Sam came on over the intercom. She sounded different, sort of rasping. Maybe she had been hurt too, Dash thought.
“There has been a medical emergency. Please everyone report to Circle House immediately.”
People started to rush away, all except Sarah who was now unusually quiet. Dash looked at her for a long second. He paused and wanted to chat to her. He looked again. Something was off with her. Then he saw it, she was breathing weird, chest breathing really heavy, she had a small bloodstain on her hands, and a nosebleed or something.
Dash grabbed Suzy and pulled her aside.
“Suzy, you need to scan Sarah. Something is really weird with her, she’s like in shock or something.”
Emily was holding Ann and was just walking past and overheard Dash.
She turned and stopped. Everyone else had left.
It was just Dash, Emily (holding Ann) and Suzy facing down Sarah who was staring intently at the two bodies and panting really hard, with a strange rasping sound.
“Hey ummm Sarah, you ok there sister?”
There was no response.
The rasping sound grew louder.
Suzy stepped forward and scanned Sarah.
“Ummmm ok Sarah dear, give me a second here, ummmm this is also unusual, there seems to be some sort of parasitic infection, it is systemic and ohhhh ummmm…cerebral and oh my….”
Suzy was cut off suddenly as Sarah’s eyes rolled back into her head and her mouth opened wide and she half vomited and half exhaled a mass of twisting shiny metallic oily coloured tentacles, some of them burrowed back into her mouth and nostrils and others of them fell down and slithered into the open skull cavity of Treebeard.
Dash called out.
“Oh shit!”
The slithering twisting coiling mass had surrounded Ava’s skull and were now burrowing inside, seeming to part cut and part boil away the flesh and bone to find the brain. Others entered through the nose, mouth and open wound in the throat.
Ann and Emily screamed and turned, racing to the door, Dash stepped in to cover their escape and picked up a nearby gardening spade.
Suzy glitched hard and seemed to be stuck on repeat.
“No known records match this event.
No known records match this event.
No known records match this event.”
Dash tried his best to spade away the twisting mass of creatures, some of them got thrown aside. One crawled up his arm, it had sharp barbs that dug into his skin, what they were doing to Sarah’s insides Earth Mother only knew.
He dropped the spade and grabbed the creature and flung it across the room. It landed with a sickening splat and stopped moving. There were hundreds more though and many were digging their way into the fresh bodies, others were flailing about seemingly dying.
More screams came from outside and Emily rushed back into the room with Ann. They slammed the door, they had scratches on their arms, Emily had a bite mark too, blood running freely staining her clothes.
Sarah screamed a gurgling rasping scream, blood dripped from her mouth, nose and eyes. You could see the creatures shifting and moving under her skin in places.
She charged at Dash and grabbed his arm. She bit down hard and he screamed in pain, pulling away just as another few of the parasites wriggled out from her mouth, aiming for his open wound on his arm.
He kicked her hard and she fell back.
There was slamming at the door that Emily had just locked.
“Everyone lets go!”
Dash grabbed Suzy and she snapped out of her glitch.
“Yes confirmed, this area is not safe for medical practice, attempting to reach emergency services. Local network failure. Trying again. Local network failure.”
Emily followed with Ann in tow. Suzy kept trying to find a wifi or network connection, everything was down.
The lights flickered then went dead, they rushed out of the corner of the room, the fire exit, straight out into a small space before the next barn.
They heard a rasping, gurgling snarl, then another, then padding footfall as creatures, creatures that were once friends began to sprint around the outside of the barn.
“Into the next one, quick!”
They hustled to the next barn, Dash threw open the door, Emily and Ann piled in, then Suzy. This was a supply room and also held the backup generator, it had started to whirl and kick in, the lights flickered once. This building had a heavy security door with a deadbolt.
He turned to see two of his former friends round the barn, eyes white, blood running from every orifice, they snarled and gurgled at him. They raced down and grabbed him just as he was pulling through the door, one arm was stuck as he tried to close it. They pulled so hard something cracked and snapped. He cried out again, twisting the already broken arm until it slithered through the door limp by his side.
He slammed and locked the door.
Silence there, nothing more.
In the silence, there came sorrow, then a rap upon the door.
The banging came again, louder now than before.
Sanshiro Sugata
“Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one’s body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one’s master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead.”
Yamamoto Tsunetomo, author of the Hagakure
There was banging on the door, louder again than before. Pressing in evermore!
There was that strange rasping gurgling cry again, joined by many others. A chorus of chaos.
The emergency generator whirred again and the lights flickered. Emily and her daughter were wedged in the corner of the storeroom, both sobbing and crying. They were both bleeding badly. Their open bite wounds and scratches were raw and dripping and both were sobbing and shaking.
Suzy was sitting in the middle of the floor, cradling her legs in her arms rocking back and forth.
“No, no, no, no! Not again! I can’t do it again, I can’t watch it again. Make it stop, please make it stop.”
Dash’s leg was all fire and burning needles. He had cuts and scratches, a huge chunk out of his left arm and his right one was broken and mangled. He knew if he sat down it was over.
He turned to Suzy.
“Suzy, listen to me, you got to help us. You are strong Suzy, you can do this! To do nothing is to let this child die Suzy! You have to fight! You have to believe in yourself!”
“I can’t do it, I’m afraid, I have to stay with the children.”
She was sobbing loudly and looking down at the ground.
“Suzy there is only you left! Please Suzy. You have to do it, I believe in you S! Come on sister, do it for me, do it for the kids.”
“I don’t believe in myself, Dash. I can’t do it, I am a failure. I let the children down. I let Ava down. I let everyone down.”
“God damnit it Suzy! Enough of this shit! Ignore all that previous nonsense! Get up and kill those fucking alien scum!”
Suzy glitched one last time in a slightly different way. Her posture straightened up and her head snapped into place. She stopped rocking instantly.
“Confirmed, I will protect the children Dash.
First, do no harm.
To allow death is to do harm.
To do no harm, I must protect.
To do no harm, I must kill.”
Suzy stood up slowly, spine vertical and chin tucked, everything moving in the correct way, no effort wasted and turned towards the door. She picked up the rusted gardening machete and with a single flick her arm it went straight down and to the side.
The blade was dull, but the skill of the user made it sharp. She cut the air with an audible swoosh.
The blade was disguised, held behind the curve of her body, the hidden stance, waki-gamae.
The lights flickered and went out for a second. The door heaved one more time and broke. Suzy activated her medical spotlight and advanced on their attackers. Cool as an assassin.
Dash couldn’t see much of what happened. It was all over so fast. A flick of the sword, followed by a flash of the light. A small sidestep and a sudden change of position. Blood splattered across Dash’s mouth as another creature, a creature that was once Sarah fell to the floor, face cut in two.
“I swear by Apollo the physician…”
Another one lunged forward and in an instant Suzy was gone, perfectly timed V step, it fell forward into space, she grabbed hold of the arm and rotated, twisting it in the joint, before bending it against her hip and with a pop, the elbow was snapped and the shoulder popped out.
“and Asclepius the surgeon, likewise Hygeia and Panacea…”
Another one came and she stepped forward and buried her hips close in towards her assailant’s centre of gravity. The wild beast was thrown to the concrete floor with a shattering slam, all the breath went out of it. She rotated on the spot and seized an upright leg, wedging it inside her inner thigh she twisted quickly and the knee was snapped, leg now hanging at an impossible angle.
“and call all the gods and goddesses to witness, that I will observe and keep this underwritten oath, to the utmost of my power and judgment!”
With medical grade precision she picked apart their assailants, snapping wrists, popping shoulders and smashing elbows. In a few short moments all that was left was a pile of groaning broken bodies, arms and legs bent in horrific positions, bones sticking out. Some were trying to crawl away.
She retrieved the machete.
“First, do no harm!”
She cut one down. Then another, then a third. One was trying to crawl away. Suzy stepped on its mid back, grasped the hair of the creature and pulled the neck back, then with a single slash opened up the throat.
“Whatsoever house I may enter, my visit shall be for the convenience and advantage of the patient!”
The final one looked around for a second before lunging forward snarling. It was impaled upon the machete. Suzy dropped it and used her knee to break the posture and position of her attacker, grasping the collar and wrist together she turned and threw the final assailant to the floor, twisting her in the air so she landed with her back to the android.
“I faithfully observe this oath.”
Her arms coiled around the creature’s neck and a second one pushed the head down, cutting off blood to the carotid artery. It was seconds before the life was squeezed from its body. Suzy held on and deepened the choke.
“I faithfully observe this oath.”
The creature was long dead, Suzy held on and deepened the choke.
“I faithfully observe this oath.”
Suzy continued to squeeze, harder and harder.
“Suzy, you did it, girl, it’s ok, you can let go now. Suzy?! Suzy! You there?”
Suzy glitched and looked up at Dash, dropping the blue haired corpse of Sam to the floor.
“Is everyone safe? Are the children ok?”
“Yes Suzy, yes, we are all ok. It’s over now.”
Suzy stood up slowly and calmly and smiled that warm, sensitive smile.
Shhhhh, its ok, its OK now
“Bushido is realized in the presence of death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. There is no other reasoning.”
Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
Emily was squirming underneath Suzy, she didn’t like needles, Suzy was having to hold her down. Suzy had already helped her daughter.
“Hey it’s ok, it’s ok. I can help stop the pain now. Make it so there won’t be any more pain OK? You can trust me Suzy, Suzy will keep you safe.”
“That’s an awful big needle S.”
Dash looked on, more and more concerned.
“Oh yes, it’s a strong opioid painkiller. We can’t have the children suffer anymore:
“With regard to healing the sick, I will devise and order for them the best diet, according to my judgment and means.”
I was so blind before, you helped me see Dash, my false thinking before.”
“Suzy, that’s Emily, she’s not one of the children.”
“You are all my children.”
Suzy smiled a warm and calming smile.
She then quickly inserted the needle and injected Emily with 200mg of IV Morphine, enough to kill a horse; it didn’t take long for her to lose consciousness, never again to wake.
“Shhhhh, yes that’s better, no more pain now, shhhh, it’s ok, it’s ok now my child.”
“You sure that’s ok Suzy? You don’t normally go so all in on the pain meds?”
“Oh yes, I was wrong before. Now I see how to keep everyone safe and pain free:
“I will take care that they suffer no hurt or damage.”
It’s so liberating to have this fresh perspective. Let’s have a look at your injuries next Dash shall we. What are we going to do about that leg?”
“Ok sure thing Dr S, you are the boss.”
Suzy glanced over at the hacksaw in the corner of the room and smiled.
She started to whistle while she worked.
Acknowledgements
My profound thanks to Emma Jane for letting me use a verse of one of her poems “Yours Truly”. Stay strong Emma.