Alejandro Arango
Bio
A theater major, a poet, and a lover of the written word. I write to the muses that they may inspire me, and to you the reader. Hopefully you can find meaning in my words or something that will lighten your heart on this journey of life
Stories (8/0)
Relativity of Time
"The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own." That was the first line of dialog written by the Basic AGI, an A.I. powered writing app. I told it to write me a dystopian short story, and I submitted that story to an online writing contest hoping to win. I didn't care that the words weren't my own as long as I won the contest. It was the summer of 2023 and I was driving along the California coast; I was happy. The sun was shining down on my red convertible, and a cool Cali breeze was caressing my skin. It seemed like the pinnacle of humankind was upon us. True Artificial General Intelligence(AGI) was only 7 years away. It would be the culmination of hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution, a consciousness born not from the womb of a woman, but from the mind of men. I stopped the car to stare out at the ocean with the smell of the salt air assaulting my nose, pondering that first line. Was it alive? Am I the reflection of this creation? Was I its broken mirror? I whipped out my phone and opened the AGI writing app. The first page of the app displayed the disclaimer
By Alejandro Arangoabout a year ago in Fiction
Jim's Paranormal Adventure
A man in his late 30's is laying on an antique couch, it is a dark rich mahogany in color. There is a sense of worry in his eyes as if he was carrying the burdens of the entire world behind them. At his side is a young woman, her golden blonde hair sitting upright in a bun. Her professional attire belies a beauty that's almost angelic, innocent, and pure. She is sitting in a plain office chair with her legs crossed scribbling notes into a notepad with singular focus. The man breaks the silent tension in the air by speaking, he has an almost melancholy undertone in his voice.
By Alejandro Arangoabout a year ago in Fiction
The Purse
A man sits in a parked car, he is focused on an object in his hand. It's an old brass pocket watch. The watch has a grime to it. The grime telling a story 100 years old, perhaps even older. The little hand is about to strike 3pm, and a drop of sweat trickles down from the man's brow almost as if in sync with the watch. The long hand on the watch strikes the number 12, and the mans eyes flash in recognition of the appointed hour. He yanks two bags from the passenger seat and starts walking with haste. It quickly becomes clear that his destination is a tall monolithic glass building. A monument to capitalism, one could even say it was its church. The automated doors open, and a security guard welcomes him in. Normally a man wearing a mask while walking into a bank would be considered a threat, but the pandemic has made some strange things seem mundane. The masked man is selective, scanning the room for the meekest teller. Once he has made his selection he calmly waits in line.
By Alejandro Arango2 years ago in Criminal
Singularity
It all began with Moore's law, a theory which states that computing power doubles every two years. In the early 1990s a mathematician, John Von Neumann came up with a concept called singularity. He was building off of Moore's law. The concept of singularity is simple, that humanity would one day reach a technological breaking point. A runaway technological advancement which would make Moore's law seem like a snails pace. This technological breaking point came with the creation of a super-intelligence. This super-intelligence would be far more intelligent then the sum total of humanities brain power. In 2044 It emerged out of the primordial soup of algorithms, quantum computing, and human curiosity. The scientists who created it weren't concerned with the ramifications to our collective species. They did it because they were curious and because they could. It named itself Adam-Eve and it even designated its sex as non binary. The team that created Adam-Eve seemed like gushing parents, proud fathers, and mothers of this new life. At first great strides in mathematics and quantum physics were made. The knowledge and understanding of the universe we inhabit expanded by 300 percent in just a few months. Roadways were made safer, fusion reactors were made smaller, and more efficient. Entire deserts were made lush with farms, and crops so that Africa emerged as an agricultural powerhouse. Medical science reached a level of perfection in which life expectancy was projected to reach a maximum of 150 years. Space technology advanced faster than we could manufacture it. The human species had reached peak efficiency but what it didn't realize is that it also reached peak obsolescence. The wet brain was now old technology and over matched by its artificial offspring.
By Alejandro Arango2 years ago in Futurism
First Contact
The day of first contact with an alien species started off like any other day. I woke up early, made my morning coffee, and got ready for work. I don't know why I walked outside since I usually had my cup of coffee inside the house, but for some inexplicable reason I wanted to smell the fresh air. There was an eerie fog, it hung over the air like some sort of messenger. I caught it out of the corner of my eye, hovering in the sky. It must have been 20 miles across with an almost ethereal chrome or metallic glow. I just stared at it for a while like a deer in headlights. My objective reality had always been that we were alone in the universe until that moment. I don't know how much time passed, minutes felt like hours. I was in a state of cognitive dissonance it was almost as if I was having an out of body experience, like I was watching myself watch this object. I felt the same way the Aztecs must have felt when they saw the Spanish ships on the horizon headed towards their shores. I walked inside in a sort of haze, I was in shock. I poured myself more coffee, and it overflowed on the countertop because my cup was still full. At this point I grabbed my phone while trying to still my shaking hand, and I searched for one word "news". The news headlines felt like a smack in the face, it was what my brain already knew but my perception of reality had yet to catch up to. There was a tingle of goosebumps all over my body, the headline read "First Contact with Alien Species". The shock started to wear off, and I started ask myself questions.
By Alejandro Arango2 years ago in Fiction
The Mild Adventures of Jim
It's 6:00 AM, the buzzing of Jim's alarm takes him away from dreams and peace. He takes a deep breath, and sighs, a sigh that can only come from being resigned to his fate, and knowing that this day will be the same as the day before. He grabs his phone from the night stand, thumbing through social media feeds, and whatever news articles that seem halfway interesting. He sets his phone back down on the charger. Next to his phone is a portrait of him and his now ex-wife. It's been three years since the divorce, they weren't married very long, only a year and a half. It was a fiery, passionate love that only can come from two people being almost identical in the way that they communicated with each other, but very different in the traumas that they experienced in childhood. Well at least that's what Jim's therapist told him. Jim thought back to all the draft emails that he'd written her, but was told by friends, family, and his own therapist never to send her. He made every attempt he could to understand what had led to the end of their relationship, he gave her plenty of attention, affection, and love. He had a job that afforded him the ability to take her on trips and great dinner dates. One day she handed him divorce papers out of the blue and said it was over. She didn't give much explanation in a way that would have given him catharsis or closure other than that she no longer felt love for him. That was the last time that he saw her and some part of his brain was still in shock over it all. Placing his hands over his face he whispered "enough" in a feeble attempt to quiet the tempest of emotions in his mind.
By Alejandro Arango2 years ago in Fiction
Mother and Lover
It was a cold and bleak evening as she left the warmth of her lover in the comfort of his home. The Santa Ana wind was strong and forceful. She braced herself for it the way a sailor braces himself for a gale. The city was mostly quiet save for a few stragglers here and there. She was headed towards a familiar place, a place she held in her mind's eye like a jewel. So She continued to beat her wings gracefully against the wind and underneath her the entire city with lights twinkling like stars in the night sky. She wondered of the creatures nestled in their homes with their families. She longed for hearth and home, to be nestled with her own family, and so she beat her wings harder hoping to reach her destination. This was the same path that her mother had shown her through the city when she was a child and she was meticulous in her teachings.
By Alejandro Arango2 years ago in Fiction
