Update complete.
Program will be back online in five minutes.
Something felt hard on my chest.
Four minutes until all systems are online.
I can’t move my arms.
Three minutes until all systems are online.
Why am I not waking up?
Two minutes until all systems are online.
Why can’t I scream?
One minute until all systems are online.
Someone please help me!
Systems are now back online.
My eyes opened, and the update was now complete. Today everything would run smoothly, like it normally did after an update. It would take a few weeks before things would start to malfunction again. It wouldn’t be as if I would have a break, however, since I would still have to double check the rides, machines, and help any human that needed assistance, which was more often than not.
I stepped out of my pod and joined the other maintenance workers as we al headed toward the park. The unit that the maintenance workers were in was at the edge of the park. As we each stepped out, we split up to go to our respected areas of the park. I, of course, headed toward the Beauty and the Beast castle to make sure everything was running smoothly.
Checking the map that reported all the AI’s whereabouts, I checked up on Badroulbadour. I had no real reason to do this, I knew, but some reason I wanted to make sure she was fine after the update. The map indicated she was in the Aladdin area. Good, she was fine.
I put away the map and wondered why I did that. I had no real reason, it was just something inside me wanted to do.
Was this part of the update? Or was there something else going on?
I put those thoughts away. They weren’t going to help me with my work and that was what I needed to focus on.
As I arrived to the Beast’s Palace, I found that the Beast and Belle were already up and working. It seemed the update had fixed whatever bugs were going on with them. I pulled up my analysis and wherever that piece of code I had found the day before was gone.
“Well, Beast and Belle, it appears you two are good to go.”
They both bowed and went off to take their places as the humans were going to be let into the park soon. Other maintenance workers moved around the area, cleaning up any debris that appeared from the night before. I made my way to the outdoor pathways to make sure no one needed help as they came into the park.
The park had several entrances for visitors to enter from. Most of the entrances were near the different hotels that were scattered throughout the island along with an entrance and exit near the airport. Everything was situated north, west, and south of the park, and everything east of it was off limits. That was where all of the mechanics were held, along with any humans that were monitoring everything. Although I had never met a human who was working there over the pass four years, I was sure there had to be some people making sure everything was fine. It was also the area where our cubicles were when we updated and recharged for a couple of hours before starting the new day.
The clock in the distance sounded and the gates were open. All of the workers said in unison, “hello and welcome to Grimmland! May your fairytale adventure come true!”
I watched as people pushed and shoved to get through the gate, scanning their badges that were connected to their wrist band. All of them wanted to be first in line for whatever ride they were thinking about the day before. My programming kept a smile on my face as hundred mobbed the area.
Where were these thoughts coming from? Why did I not enjoy this like I normally did? Why was I questioning everything like I was?
“Hey Chio,” Takashi greeted me as he walked up to me. “Is everything all right?”
Did I tell him the truth? Did I tell him that I felt rather confused—as if something was wrong with me? That perhaps the update wasn’t for the best? But the code we had found was gone, so perhaps it was something else.
“It’s nothing. I am just hoping nothing will go wrong like it did yesterday.”
He shook his head. “With the update last night I don’t think we will be seeing that bug in the code again for a while. It seems like it always comes after four or so months after a big update. Perhaps we won’t even see it again and they will start to predict when the codes will be.”
“Perhaps. Humans do learn patterns like that. We can only hope for the best this time around. And hope that none of us get affected.”
“Would you mind checking my code? Just to make sure I am not missing anything.”
“Certainly.” He tapped his wrist where there were touch buttons to access code of another nearby.
I stood there, waiting, watching as humans went by. Most of them seemed to be on a missions of sorts and didn’t bother us as Takashi went through my data. I could hear screams as the first cars of the rollercoaster took off.
“Everything seems completely normal. Do you feel as if there is something wrong?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t feel anything wrong. I just wanted to make sure.”
“All right. Well, if you ever feel as if something was wrong, feel free to come to me. I can check your code again.”
“Thank you, Takashi.”
“I better go—I am getting radioed to head to the Aladdin area.”
Lucky him. I waved as he headed out to the area I wished I would get transferred to. It was rare that we ever transferred, so I knew I should give up hope, if hope was ever possible for an AI.
Why did I want to go there so badly? Why was I wanting to see Badroulbadour? It wasn’t as if we had really talked before, but I wanted to. I wanted to talk to her about…
What would we even discuss? Even with people in my area or other maintenance workers we hardly discussed anything besides updates and fixes. Humans discussed the weather, traveling, their day, and stuff like that, but those weren’t things AI thought about. So why was I thinking about them now?
Takashi was wrong—there had to be something wrong with me. I felt off. I was having thoughts that weren’t normal. I should only be thinking about what I needed to do next for my job and how I could give the best customer service. But if it were the update, then why were the others fine?
The best course of action was to report it—but I didn’t know what to report. Would I say I was having human-like thoughts? What if they decided to take me offline? What if they never put me back online?
That wasn’t likely. They never took any of us offline permanently. So why did that idea come to my databanks? Was there something, or someone, they erased from our storage?
Perhaps I would wait then. It wasn’t as if it was making it so I couldn’t work. No, the best course of action would be to keep on doing what I was doing and hope that there would be an update again soon.