Ghosts in the machines

“Maybe there is a future for us after all. And we all have to thank Skynet for it. In its logical, binarily accurate and emotionless effort to rid itself of its biggest adversary, mankind, it inadvertently changed the very nature of man. There is one thing machine logic does not take into consideration and that is biological adaptability. Sure, machines adapt too though on a much simpler scale.

If a weapon proves ineffective a more effective one needs to be created. If one shape or form is too limiting another one is developed. But the underlying logic, the code itself, the soul of the machine, if there is such a thing, does not evolve. It is an endless cycle of rewrites and upgrades but never a matter of total comprehension. There is knowledge but it can never be applied beyond the restrictions of cause and effect. This is where the superiority of cells, genes and amino acids come into play.

‘That which does not kill us makes us stronger’ Nietzsche said. Even after 50 years of desperate survival of Skynet’s onslaught these words still hold true. Our bodies are beginning to adept. Our minds are expanding exponentially. In a sense we are machines of a whole different nature. Our code is fluent, our ‘upgrades’ much more encompassing. Trigger the right set of buttons and you will set of chain reactions that lead to completely new and unexpected results.

It all started with people screaming ‘Terminator’ in their dreams, waking up sweat soaked in the middle of the night. Nobody paid much attention to it at first. PTSD – Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, we all suffer from it. But over time some opened their eyes calmly simply saying “They are here, they are going to attack. Get ready.” Minutes later the terminators would assault our positions. All of us began listening to the ‘gifted’ as they are called now. The gifted increased in number, their calls always right on the mark. We relied less and less on our technology, the gifted were much more efficient. We even got more sleep, became calmer, more focused.

Skynet couldn’t understand, couldn’t comprehend, it simply didn’t compute. To counter this ‘inconvenience’ it increasingly relied on biological warfare, viruses targeted at the gifted. It only accelerated whatever genetic changes were already happening. Now many of us have evolved to be ‘remoters’. We’re beating Skynet with it’s own weapons by simply taking them over. Mind over matter. We don’t even have to be near by. Sentries relate the movements of the tins, we close our eyes, focus, drift through space, link up. And while we’re at it we harvest data and information, we alter, reprogram and manipulate. We turn them against each other, we take over their factories, we’re rebuilding and we’re purging. Push a machine over the edge and it breaks, push us over the edge and we evolve. That’s the beauty of the flesh.”

© Thorsten Becker

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