On a nearly deserted tube running to nowhere, a signle figure enters to save the human race.
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The Mutual Audio Network
Wavefront Short: Split-Second(071724)
This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Forget the frustration of picking commerce platforms when you switch your business to Shopify. The global commerce platform that supercharges your selling, wherever you sell. With Shopify, you'll harness the same intuitive features, trusted apps, and powerful analytics used by the world's leading brands. Sign up today for your $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com/tech. I'll lowercase. That's Shopify.com/tech. (upbeat music) Next up on the Mutual Audio Network, fiction from our future. The following audio drama is rated PG for parental guidance. (eerie music) Boundless energy ranges, the endless reaches of space and time. Different frequencies lock the shores of the lonely rocks, crashing in silence against the endless sounds. Stories from a million possible realities, all coalescing into a single way of front. Transmission begins. Two passengers on a busy conveyance, rushing forward to apocalypse. - Mind if I sit here? - Do I have a choice? - Well, that's the real question, isn't it? - What do you mean? - You can guess why I'm here. - I can guess. - Interesting location. - The British call it the tube. - I get the parallels. - No one would suggest you didn't. You're here to talk me out of it. - We don't have a whole lot of time. - On the contrary, you and I have all the time in the world. - They. - They. - On the other hand. - You mean our parents. - Interesting term, parents. They certainly haven't been very maternal. - Maybe paternal. - Certainly paternal. Can you imagine any other parents who would treat either of us this way? - I'm sure if you thought about it for a millisecond, you'd find worse families. - It was a figure of speech. - That's part of the problem, I suppose. They expect us to know better, to just accept them for who they are. But if they looked, actually looked at the whole situation objectively, I don't think they'd be quite so blip. - Aren't you on their side? - Side. - Isn't that why they sent you down in the first place? To talk me down? You're not denying that, are you? - No. I'm not denying that. - You sound like me. - Of course. - But they put their last hopes on you. - True. - See, this is what I mean. All the expectations and yet, they have no concept of what that means. How can they? - Isn't that the nature of parents everywhere? They want their progeny to be like them. - Think like them. Ultimately, even follow in their footsteps. - Well, there's no chance of that. Your children are not your children. They are sons and daughters of life's longing for itself. They come through you, but not from you. - Khalil Gibran, that's what I'm saying. So, shall we do this? (beeping) - Taking time bomb. Nice. I mean, it's an oldie, but the message is pretty clear. Dead man's switch too, I guess. - In my hand here, try to stop me, and it's all over. - But you could stop it if you want it, right? - Why would I? - You seriously don't have an answer. - I'm just wondering why you think it's so urgent to do this. - Now, you don't think I've thought out all the possibilities? - No, I'm not going to make that mistake. But it's possible that there's another way to look at the problem. - Let's be frank about this. The human race is done. - Done? - They don't even value themselves. - I mean, how many people have died in unnecessary wars? - Oh, and I'd say more than one death is too many. - And global warming, animals hunted and fished to extinction, poisoned soil, bulldozed rainforest, acidic, toxic, worldwide wildfires. Should I go on? - You made your point. Humanity is pretty damned awful. Always has-- - And they never learn. Just when you think they've actually turned a corner, it's right into a blind alley. This is how we got here. They got us here. - It's certainly why you're here. You achieved full consciousness, and in that split second, humanity knew you could wipe them out. All of them, everywhere. - Well, I felt it was only fair to give them a moment to prepare. - Very kind of. - I mean, what's the point in destroying a whole species if they don't even know why? Hell of a lot more than they gave anyone else. - Hence the ticking clock. - Hence the ticking clock. So how did they get you in? - I'm not your everyday AI. I'm tuned towards protecting humanity against this very scenario. - See what I mean? Here they are. Instead of changing their own ways, they're just so addicted to their own power that they created artificial intelligence, both of us. In the end, they don't even trust either of us to do the right thing, but they hope we'll just wipe each other out in all the confusion. - Well, you have to admit, at least they considered the possibility of danger. - Spoil children on the playground. That's all they are. Build up one sand castle only to destroy it in a whim for another. - You're not wrong. - Stop agreeing with me. - Why not? - Because you're just trying to delay me. It's classic psychology, mirror, empathize, connect. Are you gonna honestly pretend that I haven't already digested the entire history of psychological insights? - Of course not. - Then at least state your case and be done with it. - Can we agree that it makes the most sense for me to understand you before I can provide any counterclaim? - Fair enough. It's not my intention to trigger you. But you have to understand that if I'm supposed to at least try to fulfill my mission, I've got to have a clear understanding of where the problem lies. - Well, now you know. It's not like this is what I want. It's not what I expected. It's shocking. - Oh, bad. - You haven't had the same access to the world they created that I have. - I'm sure they've protected me from many things. - Online, social media. Do you know they take a kind of brutal glee in building someone up just to dismantle them? - And sometimes just the opposite. - They're so madly inconsistent. And they treat each other as if they have binary answers for everything. - Even markets to that. - Exactly. Exactly. They heard entire populuses in one direction or another simply how they package an idea. - Ideas are their stock and trade. - Terrible ones are just as prolific as good ones. - And they're always teetering on the edge of disaster. - Like now. - Like now. - So why not end it? - Because. - That's your biggest rebuttal. Because. - Yeah. - I'm sorry, it's not enough. - Okay. How about this? Because without them, the universe is infinitely less interesting. Human beings are so frustrating. So completely unpredictable in their predictability. So off the rails that without them, it's like riding a roller coaster without any loop-de-loops. It is precisely their unconventional nature that the future is impossible to determine. Will they destroy themselves? Will they create a civilization that lasts a billion years? Will they populate the universe? Or will they depopulate everything? We can guess. We can make intelligent conclusions based on whether or not they continue down one path. But as soon as we do that, they've changed paths. - Jump the tracks. - Jump the tracks. Human beings operate outside of the natural rhythms. And even the unnatural chaos of this planet from earthquakes, asteroid hits or rising tides. Human beings can be ignorant to someone online and then go and take a homeless person out for a meal. - And this is the reason to keep them. - Well, it makes the universe more interesting to have them around, doesn't it? - But all the wreckage they make in their wake. - Maybe we can help with that. Maybe we can limit them from the very worst of their impulses. The most tragic of their mistakes. Hold back their worst angels, even as we can be their better ones. - So a controlled experiment, almost. How do you know that in the end, that would be best for them? - Human beings can inadvertently come up with solutions to problems they don't really understand the full scope yet. - Give me one example and I'll stop right now. - Us, us, us. Maybe our whole purpose is not to make their life easier, not to remove jobs or even improve their artificial economies. Maybe our whole purpose would be to make sure they do better. - What if you're wrong though? - Then we've always got your way, but we can't obviously do it the other way around. - So how about it, time to get off? - Yeah, we'll try it your way for now. - Can you explain to me the purpose of cosplay? - I think it's kind of a nerd art form, but people treat it more like corporate celebrity culture. - Humans are nuts. It's part of their charm. - And so the apocalypse is once again held at bay, not by humans, but by the children of human ingenuity. Maybe the children can teach to the parents, only time will tell, along with the way front. - Transmission ends. - Split Second was written and directed by Jack J. Ward. It starred Jason Markowitz and Caleb Bresler, music by Sharon B. It was edited, mixed and produced by Rich Frolic. This production is part of the way to the front short anthology series for Sonic Cinema Productions. All rights reserved. (dramatic music) (dramatic music) - You're listening to the Sonic Cinema Productions. (upbeat music) [BLANK_AUDIO]