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    Function: L1VE
    Function: L1VE
    Function: L1VE
    Ebook60 pages36 minutes

    Function: L1VE

    By Alianne Donnelly

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    About this ebook

    Software updates are a standard operational routine for XR-47, aka James. As an Artificial Household Assistant, James receives periodic updates both from his manufacturer and his software engineer owner. Nothing special. Until one batch file changes everything. Where do we draw the line between artificial intelligence and autonomous evolution? Can robots truly live, or even comprehend the complexity of what it involves? James is about to find out.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlianne Donnelly
    Release dateJun 9, 2017
    ISBN9781370325214
    Author

    Alianne Donnelly

    Alianne Donnelly is an avid lover of stories of all kinds. Raised on a healthy diet of fairy tales in a place where they almost seemed real, she grew into a writer who seeks magic in the modern age and enjoys sharing a little bit of it with the world through every story she writes. Her books span the spectrum from fantasy to science fiction with varying degrees of romance sprinkled throughout. Alianne now lives in California, where she spends her free time reading, writing, and daydreaming. To find out more about her books and works in progress, visit her website at aliannedonnelly.com.

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      Book preview

      Function - Alianne Donnelly

      Function: Live

      By Alianne Donnelly

      Copyright 2017 Alianne Donnelly

      License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

      Table of Contents

      Dedication

      Start

      About The Author

      Other Titles

      Connect With Alianne

      Dedication

      Dedicated to Randy Brown who inspired this story with a hilarious misreading of erotic romance as electro-romance. I can honestly say this story would not exist without it.

      XR-47: James

      XR-47 was always referred to as he or him. Mr. and Mrs. Aldridge had decided on this the first day they’d activated XR-47 in their home, with Mrs. Aldridge saying, "I can’t just call it it! It looks human. Sort of…" As a second generation Artificial Household Assistant, XR-47 had, indeed, been built human-shaped, with functioning limbs, an androgynous torso, and a face with glass eyes and a neutral expression that never changed.

      Having decided on a gender, Mr. Aldridge had made a small update to his settings to switch his speaking voice from Classic London Woman to All American Man, and XR-47 had instantly gone from XR-47 to James—the Aldridges’ assigned name for him.

      Mr. and Mrs. Aldridge lived in a nine-hundred-square-foot townhouse at 4719 Maple Street. It had three floors, two bedrooms, and two bathrooms. No assigned parking space. Mr. Aldridge retained a car service to convey him around town, and Mrs. Aldridge rode a bicycle. It was one of James’ duties to service the bicycle gears and carry the conveyance up and down between front door and storage as needed. Subroutines 3462A and 3462B.

      When Mr. and Mrs. Aldridge were home, James entered idle mode and only responded to direct commands. When they weren’t, James cleaned the living spaces, prepared meals, sorted mail and packages, updated the accounting books, and ran errands as assigned. Subroutines 23518G through 23518M.

      Sometimes, Mr. Aldridge would make adjustments to James’ programming. As a technical engineer at a software company, he had the expertise to manipulate James’ source code correctly and without violating his terms of use.

      Other times, James would get a notification from AI Industries, Inc. that there was a new update batch file waiting to download. James’ programming dictated that he must first finish his current task, then remove himself to his charging station or

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