How It Ends: Part 1 - The Evaluation by Scott C Lyerly Read Free Book Online

the head came a quick flash of light.
The egg shaped head appeared to blink and shimmered to life. The
blank stainless steel faceplate was replaced by the image of an
older man with spectacles and a gray mustache in full dimensional
quality. A projected image.
    Anita’s mouth dropped open.
    Sidney was making mental notes.
    Amazing.
    “Dr. Hermann, I presume,” said the
robot.
    “Yes.” Sidney stepped out of the lift and
out of habit extended his hand. He paused halfway. The robot did
not appear to notice his hesitation. It extended a hand of its own.
Sidney noted the hand was gloved in latex. Above the end of the
glove shone a sliver of metal before the rest of the arm
disappeared up the French shirt cuffed with a pair of antique
cameos depicting Athena, the goddess of both war and wisdom.
    “Yes,” he repeated. “I’m Sidney Hermann.
This is Anita Lory.”
    “Good morning. I am Dr. Kilgore.”
    Sidney grasped the metal hand. It was warm
and soft through the latex glove. It surprised him. He knew from
his review of the schematics that Kilgore had an internally heated
silicon hand. Yet it still surprised him.
    “You have questions, perhaps?” said the
robot. “Many if not all of which are regarding?”
    “Yes. I do. How did you know? A guess, or
…?”
    “I have a significant amount of programming
designed for facial pattern recognition. I would be a poor doctor
indeed if I were unable to evaluate human expression. The
programming actually covers full body expression recognition. The
official artificial intelligence term that is used is cognitive
expression recognition, or CER, but that is probably more
information than you truly need.”
    “Not at all. I find this all utterly
fascinating.”
    Anita frantically rummaged through her bag
looking for a clean notepad and a pen to starting writing notes.
Kilgore appeared to take no notice of her actions.
    The robot had no physical imperfections,
though the mere state of robot was itself considered an
imperfection by some. Most of society felt this superiority. The
robot was physically stronger. The robot was more durable. The
robot was easily repaired. The robot had a faster processor. Some
could even be programmed with emotions. But the robot had no soul.
A soul required programming beyond the capacity of humanity. Ergo,
the robot was inferior.
    “Perhaps we should begin at the beginning,
as they say,” said the robot. “Let us walk as we talk so we do not
block the entrance to the elevator.”
    Drs. Hermann and Kilgore, and Anita, walked
slowly down the corridor of the geriatric ward of the hospital. The
walls were painted beige like most hallways in most hospitals. The
trim was light green. Soothing colors to those in this ward, most
of who were there for end of life care. Sidney marveled at the
robot as they moved forward. Anita looked up from her notebook and
gave it an artist’s eye. She sketched a hasty gesture drawing. She
scribbled a quick physical description. There was much to marvel
over. For her it was the lack of legs. Below the pant cuffs was
nothing. The robot had been fitted with antigravity generators that
allowed it to float. Effortless movement.
    “Dr. Kilgore, have you been informed of the
reason for my visit?” asked Sidney.
    “Yes. Your agenda was uploaded to me last
night during my power and data cycle.”
    “Do you, then, understand the premise of
this evaluation?”
    He had difficulty reading how the robot was
processing his questions. He saw no holographic facial responses.
He had to remind himself that Kilgore was not alive. Not he.
It.
    “As I interpret your agenda, you have come
to do a comprehensive study of the effectiveness of robotic
doctors. Further, the fact that I specialize in the care and
concern of the elderly and those at the end of their life, which in
general is defined as having a terminal illness with a prognosis of
six months or less left to live is an additional point of
evaluation, given my proximity to human