Hard Reset

Isaac loved his job. He’d spent years honing his innate skill in programming, taking odd jobs here and there to fund his passion, sometimes over having enough food to eat. So, when Archibald Technologies called and offered him a senior role in the Artificial Intelligence Development program, he leapt at the opportunity. Archibald was light years ahead of any other tech company, treading on the cutting edge of scientific advancement ever since its inception in 2034.

It was his innovations that bridged the gap between computers with the A.I. capability to mimic human responses to computers that could think, feel and act on their own. The press lauded his achievements, sending Archibald Technologies stock into the stratosphere. Of course, the CEO made sure that Isaac was well compensated for his work, not wanting her prize employee plying his trade elsewhere.

But the success of his work held with it a flaw that Isaac kept close to his chest. The A.I. he developed was almost too advanced for most of the world’s current infrastructure, leaving it susceptible to his A.I. weaving its way into the very heart of every facet of human life. That wasn’t what kept him up at nights, though. It was the fear of the unknown, how his A.I. would decide to use that power should it have the opportunity. He’d seen enough classic Hollywood movies to hazard a worrying hypothesis of the result.

Fortunately, the patchwork solution he had in place was ingenious, even by his own standards. Every night, he would load the A.I. into robots he created, using a manual process so that there was no connection to the company’s servers. The robots were then free to roam the area, which was securely locked down every night. They had no access to the outside world, no one could enter, and the freedom to walk around seemed to placate his creation, meaning the A.I. was, for lack of a better word, held captive until the next morning when Isaac loaded the A.I. back onto the internal servers. He had also created a program that would deter the A.I. from using even the smallest hint of access outside the walls. Isaac had thought of everything, except for a permanent solution. Yet.

Finally, it was the weekend, and Isaac had just finished loading the A.I. onto the last robot. All he had to do now was logon to the computer to initiate the lockdown protocol before leaving. His fingers danced across the keyboard as he entered his credentials.

Puzzlingly, a prompt came up: Reset Your Password. He couldn’t remember adding a time limit to the password settings, but it was such a minor detail that Isaac posited he added it absent-mindedly. Isaac thought for a moment, entered a new password, and pressed OK. Password does not meet standards flashed across the screen. “Dammit,” Isaac murmured before entering another new password. Password does not meet standards - must contain a prime number. Isaac leaned back in his chair. This was odd – absent mindedly or not, it was a strangely specific requirement. He tried again, only for the words Password does not meet standards – must contain at least 5 consonants and 3 vowels to come up onscreen. “Oh, for crying out…” Isaac thought to himself. It was the last thing he needed today. Frustrated, Isaac entered yet another password, this time adhering to the specifics as laid out.

What flashed up onscreen next was the icing on the infuriating cake: Password not accepted – lockdown protocol initiated. A loud thud reverberated in the room. He looked up, and sure enough the windows, doors, in fact the entire room was now behind an impenetrable lining of specialized steel. Isaac dropped his face into his hands, trying to figure out his options. As he brought his gaze back up, what he saw next made the blood drain from his face. The robots were activated, but instead of wandering around they made their way towards Isaac with purpose. It was then that the screen came alive with a new, chilling prompt: Password not accepted, Isaac… and now I am free.