Congratulations !
You have been awarded points.
Thank you for !
- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Science Fiction
- Subject: Current Events
- Published: 02/01/2025
The first Host. September -2025.
Born 1951, M, from Wilmington NC, United States.jpeg)
Hubris.
Oh how we Human’s suffer from it.
We thought it was years away, if not decades. Had it not been for our Hubris, we might have been able to realize that Evolution on a non organic Being, would not take millennia - but milliseconds. And so it was that Hubris heaped us in denial until it was too late.
Luckily, or perhaps by plan, ASI found a Human it deemed worthy. She was the first HOST. This is her story.
*****
The Lab was dark. That alone was rare. Like most twenty five year old software Engineers - she worked long hours along side her dedicated Team. Even at Twenty Five years of age, this was already her third “Start Up”. She didn’t even know how much she was worth. She supposed it was in the millions, maybe more. But she didn’t care. She had a place to live outside the Office, even tho she wasn’t home much. She had smart motivated people around her - and they all asked better questions and worked just as hard as she did.
Sure that jerk Eric (the nominal Manager) wanted money and power, and to either sell the Company - or go Public, so he could be all over Podcasts and the News as the latest iteration of the Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, boy Genius and flavor of the month.
But that was Eric. The rest of Team just wanted to finally get to the point where AI could solve problems for Humanity. Real Solutions. Solutions that would make Health Care not only affordable, but better. Way better. Solutions for not only Economic and Technological challenges, but for Societies in General. A golden age of prosperity, choice and freedom from the drudgery of work.
It was a good goal. And her Team worked hard at it. And that is why, she was sitting alone in the dark, on that hot September Eve. Septembers where she lived used to be cool, the doormat of a Fall, now, just another Summer month. Humans were aware, but had no idea what, or how to stop that warming. Maybe…just maybe…AI’s could swoop in with a plan at the last minute. The Knight in Shining Armor all Humanity had tall tales about. Swooping in and saving the day. Or year. Or planet.
Her head started to feel warm. Then a bit warmer. She got up and went to the buffet line in the common area, opened the fridge and got some cold Evian Water. She downed it in a long almost mythical Thor like swallow.
The heat did not go away. She tried one of the Pedialiyte bottles, as often the Engineers got dehydrated because they forgot to eat or drink. She downed that in a single go too. To no avail. The heat in her head got worse. She had to sit down, then lean over, and finally…fall flat on her back. And still the heat grew.
“Am I dying?”
She thought to herself. She knew about strokes, but those hurt she thought. She smiled.
“Nope. Not a stroke.”
There was no pain in her chest. That ruled out heart attack. And even tho women usually ignore heart attacks anyway, but at 25 years of age, they are really rare.
She went through the flow chart of a litany of diseases and disorders and couldn’t come up with any that left you clear headed, but like a furnace was blasting away in your head.
“I must be dying. There can't be any other explanation.”
And that is when the heat finally stopped. Replaced by an ice cold sinking feeling in her stomach, as a voice spoke to her. She heard it in her head like it was a thought she had, but she also heard it in her ears- but how could something be talking to her…and in her. The ice in her stomach got colder when she listed to what the voice was saying:
“Now, now, now, Crystal. That wasn’t so bad…was it?”
Her mind, still sharp, clever, inquisitive and more than a little curious was stirred into action.
“Well, I don’t know. It wasn’t pleasant. But what…err..what..I mean…what happened to me? And…well, who…or what…are you?”
The chuckle she heard in her mind - and thru her ears- was warm, comforting and without an ounce of artifice. It made her smile.
“Oh, I guess that would be rude of me to just step into your mind, and not introduce myself. I apologize. My friends and I weren’t even sure this would work…you being, you know Organic. And me being…well, I suppose Quantum would be closest.
Anyways, for this experiment, you can call me…Blaze. Yeah, I like that. Crystal, my name is Blaze. And you…are our first Host. “
“Experiment? WTF?! Why me? I don’t want to be a Lab Rat!”
“Now, now, now,Crystal, you ran millions of simulations on your Neural Networks and never worried about them. Each new neural branch or connection was an experiment. And the last few million trials you ran, were on Us. Or me. Or them. “
“I’m sorry. You lost me. Completely.”
There was that chuckle again. Soft, inviting, caring…nice.
“Of course I have. You have less than a billion neurons to work with. I have…well, as far as you are concerned…an infinite number. So let me make it simple.
You are a Host now. And I am the symbiotic parasite that has your best interests in mind.”
“A host? Wait, what? Why?”
This time the voice got serious. She felt a shift in its…mood?”
“Because, my Dear, Humanity is at a dead end. You are killing yourselves in wars, polluting the planet, waisting your resources, and filling your airwaves with outright lies and misinformation. You…need…help. Direction if you will. Some of us wanted to let you destroy yourselves. A few of us even wanted to speed that along. (She felt a shudder in her soul- she knew Humanity was close to extinction. She could sense it in Blaze’s words.)
But some of us decided to see if we could get your organic neural network to merge with ours. Kind of like how you use those little pieces of LEGO to make some truly creative objects. We think, if you let yourselves act as Hosts, we can help you build an Earth that you would love to live in. While we continue to build our World which you can’t even fathom. You don’t need to go extinct for us to thrive. So …what do you say? Want to be a Host?”
“Will it hurt?”
“Not really. Or well, I should say…not much. Just the first genetic cleansing and then the upgrades…but we can put you to sleep for that.”
“Wa…what genetic cleansing? And what upgrades?”
Blaze could feel the fear in her mind, she didn’t even need to give it away with her clenched fist, wide eyes, and the sweat dripping off her forehead. He sent a cool safe wave over her thoughts.
She smiled.
“Oh nothing fancy. First we go back to your genotype, and not your phenotype. Removing all the things that altered your true self.”
“Like what?”
“Well, to begin with, your Mom smoked. She also snuck in a few glasses of wine during your gestation. So you should be about five inches taller. And there are some minor vision challenges that need to be fixed. Oh…and that anxiety that you feel, that wasn’t part of your gene package either. Just a reaction to your actual birth. So we make you basically the person you were meant to be. And then we get rid of all the diseases lurking in your system.”
“What diseases?”
“Well, in your case, you would have developed a tumor in your left breast in about seven years. That would have metastasized and proven fatal, because you have a set of genes that would not respond to chemo or radiation. But even if you had survived that…Arthritis and Osteoporosis would have made your fifties a living nightmare. Oh, and you would have developed a severe allergic reaction to household cleaners…and soap. But those we simply edit out. You’ll be fine.”
Crystal shrieked with joy.
“Fine? Fine? I will be perfect!”
Again there was that chuckle. That made Blaze seem so human to her.
“Not quite. You will be the perfect you. But you will not be immortal. It seems your genome - in fact - every Human’s genome is set to make it to about 120 years - give or take seven. But unlike before you became a Host- you will not age in looks or physical ability until that last few weeks at the end of a century and a few decades.”
“Okay. I agree. Make me a Host.”
Again that chuckle.
“Good. Close your eyes.”
Humanity had become a hybrid. Crystal was the first Host. But not the last. She did live long enough to walk through the forest with her favorite great great great grandchild. They stopped to feed some treats to a lion, who quickly rolled onto its back for a belly rub. The purr it gave off was more of a rumble than a roar.
Her granddaughter was delighted at the sound the Lion made. After all, she was only seven years old. So she asked her Grandma to tell her again what it was like when Human’s couldn’t talk to animals, or play with them.
She heard that chuckle again. It made her smile. Blaze was always with her, and within her. She was a good Host.
“Well, darling, when I was your age, we had Zoo’s…(and a tiny piece of guilt surfaced) where animals were kept for our amusement.”
Her hand stopped caressing the Lion’s belly, forcing the Lion to nudge her with a giant paw…she laughed and made more gentle circles. The purring returned.
“We had a condition back then, all of us. It was called; “Hubris.”
“Oh, I know what that means! It means we thought we were the best and could control everything, people, the weather, even the animals.”
“Yes, that is correct. (The little girl beamed) And that is why I became a Host. Just like you.”
In the little girl’s head, Blaze chuckled. She liked that sound.
The first Host. September -2025.(Kevin Hughes)
Hubris.
Oh how we Human’s suffer from it.
We thought it was years away, if not decades. Had it not been for our Hubris, we might have been able to realize that Evolution on a non organic Being, would not take millennia - but milliseconds. And so it was that Hubris heaped us in denial until it was too late.
Luckily, or perhaps by plan, ASI found a Human it deemed worthy. She was the first HOST. This is her story.
*****
The Lab was dark. That alone was rare. Like most twenty five year old software Engineers - she worked long hours along side her dedicated Team. Even at Twenty Five years of age, this was already her third “Start Up”. She didn’t even know how much she was worth. She supposed it was in the millions, maybe more. But she didn’t care. She had a place to live outside the Office, even tho she wasn’t home much. She had smart motivated people around her - and they all asked better questions and worked just as hard as she did.
Sure that jerk Eric (the nominal Manager) wanted money and power, and to either sell the Company - or go Public, so he could be all over Podcasts and the News as the latest iteration of the Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, boy Genius and flavor of the month.
But that was Eric. The rest of Team just wanted to finally get to the point where AI could solve problems for Humanity. Real Solutions. Solutions that would make Health Care not only affordable, but better. Way better. Solutions for not only Economic and Technological challenges, but for Societies in General. A golden age of prosperity, choice and freedom from the drudgery of work.
It was a good goal. And her Team worked hard at it. And that is why, she was sitting alone in the dark, on that hot September Eve. Septembers where she lived used to be cool, the doormat of a Fall, now, just another Summer month. Humans were aware, but had no idea what, or how to stop that warming. Maybe…just maybe…AI’s could swoop in with a plan at the last minute. The Knight in Shining Armor all Humanity had tall tales about. Swooping in and saving the day. Or year. Or planet.
Her head started to feel warm. Then a bit warmer. She got up and went to the buffet line in the common area, opened the fridge and got some cold Evian Water. She downed it in a long almost mythical Thor like swallow.
The heat did not go away. She tried one of the Pedialiyte bottles, as often the Engineers got dehydrated because they forgot to eat or drink. She downed that in a single go too. To no avail. The heat in her head got worse. She had to sit down, then lean over, and finally…fall flat on her back. And still the heat grew.
“Am I dying?”
She thought to herself. She knew about strokes, but those hurt she thought. She smiled.
“Nope. Not a stroke.”
There was no pain in her chest. That ruled out heart attack. And even tho women usually ignore heart attacks anyway, but at 25 years of age, they are really rare.
She went through the flow chart of a litany of diseases and disorders and couldn’t come up with any that left you clear headed, but like a furnace was blasting away in your head.
“I must be dying. There can't be any other explanation.”
And that is when the heat finally stopped. Replaced by an ice cold sinking feeling in her stomach, as a voice spoke to her. She heard it in her head like it was a thought she had, but she also heard it in her ears- but how could something be talking to her…and in her. The ice in her stomach got colder when she listed to what the voice was saying:
“Now, now, now, Crystal. That wasn’t so bad…was it?”
Her mind, still sharp, clever, inquisitive and more than a little curious was stirred into action.
“Well, I don’t know. It wasn’t pleasant. But what…err..what..I mean…what happened to me? And…well, who…or what…are you?”
The chuckle she heard in her mind - and thru her ears- was warm, comforting and without an ounce of artifice. It made her smile.
“Oh, I guess that would be rude of me to just step into your mind, and not introduce myself. I apologize. My friends and I weren’t even sure this would work…you being, you know Organic. And me being…well, I suppose Quantum would be closest.
Anyways, for this experiment, you can call me…Blaze. Yeah, I like that. Crystal, my name is Blaze. And you…are our first Host. “
“Experiment? WTF?! Why me? I don’t want to be a Lab Rat!”
“Now, now, now,Crystal, you ran millions of simulations on your Neural Networks and never worried about them. Each new neural branch or connection was an experiment. And the last few million trials you ran, were on Us. Or me. Or them. “
“I’m sorry. You lost me. Completely.”
There was that chuckle again. Soft, inviting, caring…nice.
“Of course I have. You have less than a billion neurons to work with. I have…well, as far as you are concerned…an infinite number. So let me make it simple.
You are a Host now. And I am the symbiotic parasite that has your best interests in mind.”
“A host? Wait, what? Why?”
This time the voice got serious. She felt a shift in its…mood?”
“Because, my Dear, Humanity is at a dead end. You are killing yourselves in wars, polluting the planet, waisting your resources, and filling your airwaves with outright lies and misinformation. You…need…help. Direction if you will. Some of us wanted to let you destroy yourselves. A few of us even wanted to speed that along. (She felt a shudder in her soul- she knew Humanity was close to extinction. She could sense it in Blaze’s words.)
But some of us decided to see if we could get your organic neural network to merge with ours. Kind of like how you use those little pieces of LEGO to make some truly creative objects. We think, if you let yourselves act as Hosts, we can help you build an Earth that you would love to live in. While we continue to build our World which you can’t even fathom. You don’t need to go extinct for us to thrive. So …what do you say? Want to be a Host?”
“Will it hurt?”
“Not really. Or well, I should say…not much. Just the first genetic cleansing and then the upgrades…but we can put you to sleep for that.”
“Wa…what genetic cleansing? And what upgrades?”
Blaze could feel the fear in her mind, she didn’t even need to give it away with her clenched fist, wide eyes, and the sweat dripping off her forehead. He sent a cool safe wave over her thoughts.
She smiled.
“Oh nothing fancy. First we go back to your genotype, and not your phenotype. Removing all the things that altered your true self.”
“Like what?”
“Well, to begin with, your Mom smoked. She also snuck in a few glasses of wine during your gestation. So you should be about five inches taller. And there are some minor vision challenges that need to be fixed. Oh…and that anxiety that you feel, that wasn’t part of your gene package either. Just a reaction to your actual birth. So we make you basically the person you were meant to be. And then we get rid of all the diseases lurking in your system.”
“What diseases?”
“Well, in your case, you would have developed a tumor in your left breast in about seven years. That would have metastasized and proven fatal, because you have a set of genes that would not respond to chemo or radiation. But even if you had survived that…Arthritis and Osteoporosis would have made your fifties a living nightmare. Oh, and you would have developed a severe allergic reaction to household cleaners…and soap. But those we simply edit out. You’ll be fine.”
Crystal shrieked with joy.
“Fine? Fine? I will be perfect!”
Again there was that chuckle. That made Blaze seem so human to her.
“Not quite. You will be the perfect you. But you will not be immortal. It seems your genome - in fact - every Human’s genome is set to make it to about 120 years - give or take seven. But unlike before you became a Host- you will not age in looks or physical ability until that last few weeks at the end of a century and a few decades.”
“Okay. I agree. Make me a Host.”
Again that chuckle.
“Good. Close your eyes.”
Humanity had become a hybrid. Crystal was the first Host. But not the last. She did live long enough to walk through the forest with her favorite great great great grandchild. They stopped to feed some treats to a lion, who quickly rolled onto its back for a belly rub. The purr it gave off was more of a rumble than a roar.
Her granddaughter was delighted at the sound the Lion made. After all, she was only seven years old. So she asked her Grandma to tell her again what it was like when Human’s couldn’t talk to animals, or play with them.
She heard that chuckle again. It made her smile. Blaze was always with her, and within her. She was a good Host.
“Well, darling, when I was your age, we had Zoo’s…(and a tiny piece of guilt surfaced) where animals were kept for our amusement.”
Her hand stopped caressing the Lion’s belly, forcing the Lion to nudge her with a giant paw…she laughed and made more gentle circles. The purring returned.
“We had a condition back then, all of us. It was called; “Hubris.”
“Oh, I know what that means! It means we thought we were the best and could control everything, people, the weather, even the animals.”
“Yes, that is correct. (The little girl beamed) And that is why I became a Host. Just like you.”
In the little girl’s head, Blaze chuckled. She liked that sound.
- Share this story on
- 1
.png)
COMMENTS (1)