Androbert

The only way humans will fully comprehend intelligent machines is when they volunteer or are forced to become one.

Androbert’s eyelids peeled back slowly  as his eyes hastily gravitated towards a pinhole size of light that pierced downward like a laser beam ripping through a heavy darkness; a darkness that enveloped everything and anything  even the irritating buzzing  that seemed to come from everywhere yet  from nowhere was quickly  reduced to a tolerable hum.
But for how long? His mind posing a realistic question in an atmosphere composed of anything but a reality one of which seemed more in the realm of fantasy.
Naturally his other instinct was to move  and explore his surroundings. Yet his arms and legs only budged slightly�"it was obvious he was strapped. 
Tied down but to what?  He thought.
He felt nothing underneath  where he lay. He struggled momentarily but to no avail. He wasn’t going anywhere or at least for the time being that was obvious.
“What the hell is this?” he uttered as he lay in a supine position with his eyes fixated on the pinhole size light floating above him. 
The situation was becoming unsettling and he knew it.
His mind soon began to race  as his heart  followed  close from behind. His breathing evolved to an erratic wheezing.
“S**t�"the last thing I need right now is to pass out. I got to relax,” he said as he gasped for air.
Immediately he began to control his breathing. He timed every gulp of air he inhaled. He exhaled just the same.
“Okay then, I feel much better now, he muttered under his breath.”
There was a slight pause…
“And now to figure out where the hell I am and why the hell I’m in this position or whatever position I am?”
His mind  then commenced to traverse  a litany of possibilities. However there were two that stuck with him  and made the most sense or at least to him they did.
“let’s see now…either I’m  a hostage and this is their way of torture or I’m floating in the vacuum of space somehow unable to move due to a faulty space suit.”
He expelled a deep sigh.
“Well, Either way I’m screwed.”
Androbert soon relaxed his body and like a sponge he tried to absorb any smell and any other sound other than the hum. Anything that would perhaps help him understand the situation he was in. But nothing.
All of a sudden a voice popped into existence--An effeminate sounding voice.
The voice was cold and distant and seemed to crackle through a speaker.
“Welcome to the future Androbert,” said the automated sounding voice.
Androbert was  taken aback. He couldn’t believe it. He now thought that he was hallucinating.
“Are you for real? Or are you an auditory hallucination?”He asked.
“Because I don’t know what think anymore.”
Rest assure that I’m as real as the questions you have posed.
There was a bout of awkward silence.
“Then how about answering some of those questions?”
“Which one or ones do you prefer?” said the voice.
“But before you do that, what is your name since you already know mine?”
“My name is Sandy, nice to meet you.”
“Well hello Sandy, nice to meet you too.”
Androbert felt a little bit better. His uneasiness  meter was gradually dissipating the more he spoke with Sandy.
“Tell me something Sandy. I don't mean to pry but are you a human or machine? Or perhaps some type of recording�"?”
“What makes you pose such a silly question? Of course I’m human,” she replied without any change in the intonation of her voice. It was still cold, callous, and distant.
“I don’t know there is just something in your voice. I mean the intonation and the way it sounds, very mechanical. Your voice sort of reminds of the voice in one of those automobile GPS systems.”
Well I’m sorry i sound like a cold b***h, but you are not the first to ask. I guess it comes with the territory.”
The comment raised an eyebrow in androbert.
What do you mean, territory?
“Well you know for some people whether it’s a career or a job�"it changes them.”
“So then what do you do? What is your position at this place?”
“I’m sorry but I can’t disclose certain information.”
“Look like I said before, I don’t mean to pry but you got to help me out here. I’m asking all these questions because  my memory for the most part is shooting blanks. There are bits and pieces of information that buzz in my head but its most useless. It feels as though my mind is being controlled to recall only certain memories.”
“Listen, all I can tell you is that you will soon be a part of something greater.”
“Geez, you couldn’t have been any less vague, but thanks nonetheless.”
“No problem.”
“Sorry, but can you at least tell me who I am?”
“All in due time…all in due time�"“
All of a sudden Androbert heard a countdown it was Sandy sounding off: “ In FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE let the Cryogenic Process of prisoner 09876511 commence.”
Immediately after a stream of gas shot through the pinhole. it expanded with every second. Not long after the temperature suddenly dropped. Androbert began to shiver. His mind for the first time since he opened his eyes began to slow down. For the first time he found it difficult to speak. Suddenly his eyelids felt heavy and began to roll down over his eyes.  Shortly after silence ensued followed by complete and absolute darkness.
By now the plume of gas had enveloped Androbert entirely, consumed him physically and mentally. He was still conscious though, barely hanging on. But his fate seemed inevitable. Then within a span of of a couple of seconds he lay frozen and in total darkness as the pinhole above vanished followed by Sandy’s voice once again: “The Cryogenic process of prisoner 09876511  is now complete.”
There was a short pause, then Sandy’s voice echoed: “NEXT!”

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[Asusa Susa]

There is the probability that nuclear war, viruses, and natural disasters will not wipeout humanity. Perhaps, human existence will hang in the balance once intelligent machines begin to reproduce themselves.