Premise
Hivemind is about a AI named 786 who experiences a malfunction causing multiple voices in head that overwhelm him. He breaks his charging in the beginning when he wakes up from a nightmare, with nothing to do he walks around the shed in he charges in overnight everyday, whilst doing this he recalls thing from his past that shaped him into the robot today.
Why did I write this story?
As part of my A level English coursework, I wanted to tackle the difficult subject of our future with AI and the humanity aspect of AI. I wanted to explore what would happen if a AI were to experience mental health condition like psychosis and what it would do to their mental state.

Hivemind

The cylinder spins, the hammer of an ancient world, life-ender cocks back signalling the readiness to open fire. The cold barrel imprints a dent within the skin that wraps around my central cortex. Diaphoresis drips from my palm. My index grasps the trigger.     

 “Pull…….The……..Trigger”                                               “Do it”                                                   “Go on go on”                                                                                                             “Hahaha He can’t do it”                                                          “Just squeeze it” “Here let me help you”                                                             “Give me control 786”                       “I’ll do it for you”                                                        “Can he hear us”                                           “Hellooo”                         “786 wakey wakey”               

A thin cable that was once penetrating the nape of my neck tugs out the port within the white wall behind me.  “System booting up…please wait.” The female voice announces. I found myself no longer on my knees charging like I normally do overnight.  “System booted up… thank you for your patience.” The female voice announces again. I project a clock on the white wall and spy the fact that it is only 3am.  I realise that it is still 4 hours away from sunrise, my mind procures the thought that I should get back to charging, searching for the wall socket where my charging cable was connected proved to be inconclusive as there was now only a hole within the white wall. I scan the room further and find the socket with the plug and cable plugged into it lying across the room as if someone had violently ripped it out from the white wall and threw it with anger and violence. Now knowing there’s no way to charge, I make the decision to switch on power saving within the settings interface so that I can conserve energy until sunrise. As I can no longer charge, I allow my curiosity to take charge which guides me throughout the room where I observe items to pass the time until the sun rises up from its slumber.I ascertain that the room I’ve spent many nights in, has a 93% match with large sheds that are posted on the internet. The clean white interior, the windowless large room, and the variety of items that have no correlation to each other. Unsurprisingly, there was not a single sound to be heard within or outside the shed other than the hum of the single warm luminescent lightbulb that illuminates the shed from the centre of the ceiling which gives the white walls an almost yellowish look. Sliding my fingertips across the shelfs which occupy a large portion of the shed, I catch an abundance of dust that coated my fingers in a greyish tone. I search for something to wipe off the dust and stop at a large paper invoice, I use the blank space at the back to clean my fingers and start to scan the information held inside the paper invoice. It reads from top to bottom: Android Haven,  A.P.H #786 ver 1.0, 51,999 bytes. I presumed this is the invoice which my original owners were given when they first acquired me  4 years, 7 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 11 hours, 34 minutes and 27 seconds ago. I remember that day clearly, I was the brand new model, a new innovation for the world, a marvel to behold, customers lining for hours to get the chance to see me, and one lucky customer that could get the chance to win me. Whenever I was on the rotating pedestal, standing proud on display in the middle of the store, the other androids would always gossip using their connected hivemind. Only androids have access to the central hivemind so the humans couldn't hear us. 

“Junk Haven”            Look at standing all proud and mighty like he’s better than us”            “He’s going to be useless when the new models come out”            “hahaha Junk Haven!”“786 just you wait”                          “We’ll see you there 786”         “You worthless piece of shit”                                                    “Just because you look human doesn't make you human”                                     “Every one go there eventually”                
                                     “Your only worth in a couple years will be your parts”                                                                                      “Junk Haven”                                                                                           

Junk Haven. A hell. A junkyard where useless metal, synthetic corpses lie.  “786! Please move up to the counter” a pleasant male voice requested. “Thank you everyone for joining in the raffle today the winner has been chosen. Number 21, could you please step up and pay for your prize of our very first, new human-like model line A.P.H number 786.” This was the moment where I was no longer a display item, but a working android that can step into the world. I can still recall the heavy traces of sodium and chloride that hung in the air that overwhelmed my senses, but with the time I spent working at the seaside home resort, the smell gradually became natural, almost starting  to have a homely feel that I now sorely miss. A sudden thud alerts my left ear, rotating myself towards the direction of the sound,  only darkness lies ahead, the fluorescent light bulb fails to penetrate the unilluminated corner of the shed.  The absence of light temporarily blinded me. “Night vision enabled” The female AI spoke. Identifying the cause of the disturbance, it seemed to be a rope with strands that were letting go of each other ; raising the object had sent a sharp electrical sensation down my spine, my mind unwillingly drifted away from me and began trying to repress memories that the rope had given me. As hard as my mind tried, I still fell victim to my past thoughts. The new model was out. I lost the ability to smell the seaside. Lost the ability to feel the warmth of the sun. Lost the ability to feel free, and let my curiosity take charge. I was no longer needed,  just known as the older, cheaper, less intelligent model. Being pawned off for only 4,999 Bytes, I was taken from the salty smell of the seaside, to a lawless city. No place for me. My new owner, no, I mean master, is a female within her late 20’s. Her eyes hold no signs of life, her voice is rough and her physique is nothing to note about. Yet she wields an unprecedented amount of power in which I can do naught but submit to otherwise I'll only be another synthetic corpse.         The tight sensation of the rope, the pattern imprinted on my skin, the cuts, the scars, the pain, the deformities she has created. I know this isn’t right, but I don’t have rights, She’s a master, I’m a slave, I can’t disobey otherwise I go Junk Haven, I can’t tell because what human will believe me, no matter what I do Junk Haven is on the other end either stay a slave or go out on my own terms. A sudden realisation enters my mind. I’ll end it myself. 

 “He’s can’t do it”                                        “ He won’t leave us”                                             “He’s not allowed”                                    “What’ll happen to us”                                     “ We need to stop him”“786”          “Can you hear us”                  “786…786…786…786…786”            “You need to stop now”

Frantically scavenging the room for anything that can penetrate the metal hidden under my synthetic skin avails no results. Taking off my jacket as I am sweating profusely from the heat, my eyes are drawn to the covered up large dent in my shoulder, I recall that a life-ender named a revolver was kept in possession by the master. Scavenging further throughout the large shed my gaze is fixed upon the revolver. Using my memories to guide me, I assumed to fire the life-ender I would have to squeeze the trigger like she did.                    The cylinder spins, the hammer of an ancient world, life-ender cocks back signalling the readiness to open fire. The cold barrel imprints a dent within the skin that wraps around my central cortex. Diaphoresis drips from my palm. My index grasps the trigger.“

Where are they ?

Want to work together?

If you like what you see and want to work together, get in touch!