The Children of New Earth Read Online Free PDF Page B

is only “pretty sure” there aren’t any Demons still lurking in the tunnels, waiting for the coming of darkness to attack.
    The daily events were similar to my own Sanctuary, except it was underground. Soldiers trained and scientists studied. It had never occurred to me, but I didn’t understand why the scientists didn’t take some time to train. Likewise, why didn’t the soldiers decide to learn about the various technology that aided their daily missions? I suppose in a world like this, you can’t be good at a lot of things; you have to be great at one thing. Specialties were important. They fostered teamwork, and built an overall stronger society. If this ideal wasn’t effective, humanity would not have survived the war, and I would not be here contemplating it.
    One one particular day I visited one of the laboratories and came across a desk with various electrical parts laid about. Different colored wires snaked around a set of sensors and circuitry. There seemed to be one central board, which connected to five smaller, substituent boards. Beside the parts was a monitor displaying lines and lines of computer code, with a keyboard set in front, like a paintbrush before a canvas. I wondered what the engineer behind this could have been designing. I didn't want to break anything so I restrained myself from tinkering with any of the machinery. I did notice that all the equipment was manufactured by Eltech.
    My parents explained that this corporation was the greatest and most powerful technology conglomerate in the world before the war. They made everything of value in the Digital Age: network infrastructures, computer hardware, communication devices, and even satellites. A lot of the tech we salvaged was made by that corporation.
    Two boards on opposite sides of the main motherboard each contained a touch sensor. The touch sensors made by Eltech could detect an incredible range of temperatures, as well as many other properties beyond the ability of any human. The lower two boards had no sensors, but seemed to be mounted on some kind of disc, which I recognized it as a hover disc, also made by Eltech. It was used commonly to carry various objects alongside its owner. Now it would carry this oddly humanoid-looking set of machinery. The final board at the top was smaller than the rest. It had a camera with the ability to detect objects using a laser for depth perception. I'd seen this used in our medical units before. It could scan down to the last atom, meaning it could theoretically measure someone's heart rate based on their chest movement.
    Based on my observations, this was clearly some kind of robot. But what made it different from any other machine? It had circuits, wires, and sensors, but without a brain it couldn't have any higher function; and no AI technology had been recovered since the end of the war.
    I heard footsteps behind me, and quickly turned around. There was an old man wearing a white coat and large circular glasses. He had a huge smile on his face.
    "How can the machine operate without an AI brain, you wonder?" he said, as if he read my mind.
    "Yeah…how did you - ?"
    "Oh, I can read minds," he turned to his right and pointed at a small, metal device attached to the side of his head.
    "That lets you read minds?!"
    "Why, yes." he answered. "I built it myself a few years ago. It allows me to detect certain, focused brain patterns, so naturally it only works in small groups of people, ideally one on one."
    “It’s funny, I know some people that were born with that ability.
    "Yes, you Neogens and your magic tricks,” he said jokingly. “Anyway, I'm Doctor Hovian."
    "Thran," I replied.
    "And yes, you are correct about my little robot behind you." He walked up to the table. "It won't be that useful without a complicated set of algorithms programmed into the main board here." He pointed at the central board.
    "Wait, are you actually working on new AI code from scratch?"
    "Yes, and I'm almost done