Solaria - S1 Read Free

what could evoke the unusual response. To her surprise, she saw the centerfold picture of a nude woman. Carley never understood how her fellow workers could be so intelligent and yet indulge in such sleazy crap.
     
    "Is something wrong?"
     
    "Is this a real woman?" Solaria asked, running her fingertips gently over the photograph.
     
    "Yes, why do you ask?"
     
    "Do all human females display themselves in such a manner?"
     
    It was the first time Solaria had shown an interest in the female body. Curious about Solaria's fascination at seeing a naked woman, Carley decided to pursue the subject a little more.
     
    "No, most don't. She gets paid to pose for this particular magazine."
     
    Solaria continued to frown.
     
    "Does the sight of a naked woman bother you, Solaria?"
     
    When the Hubot didn't answer, Carley grew more curious at her odd behavior. "Solaria? What are you thinking?"
     
    "She's very beautiful," Solaria replied softly.
     
    Surprised at the unexpected comment, the scientist glanced again at the photo. It was the first time Solaria had expressed a concept instead of a fact.
     
    "Why do you think that?" Carley asked. "What makes her beautiful?"
     
    "I don't know. I've been trying to analyze her symmetry and coloring to see if there was a logical reason for my conclusion, but I haven't come up with anything."
     
    "That's because you're talking about perceptions," Carley said. "Beauty isn't about logic or thinking. Some scientists have a theory that symmetry has a lot to do with it, though."
     
    "I'm confused. As a machine it isn't logical for me to arrive at conclusions based on things such as perceptions or feelings," Solaria replied, making eye contact with her teacher and mentor, "but my processors cannot compute an alternative hypothesis."
     
    "You're not a machine, Solaria. Machines don't become confused. You're a Hubot. We've managed to generate human tissue over a carbon based alloy for your body. It's taken almost seventy years to perfect the technique. That was the easy part. Creating the laser quadro-core nano chip was the real break-through. Without it, we wouldn't be able to perform complex brain functions, let alone have chips small enough to fit inside a human skull."
     
    "I'm still a machine," Solaria reasoned "Although technically I am neither human nor machine."
     
    Carley sighed. She had long dreaded the moment the Hubot would question her own identity.
     
    "That's true; however, I would argue that you are both human and machine. What's the difference? Nowadays, we have a lot of people who are a blend of human and technology. We have replaced damaged hearts with mechanical ones. Severed limbs are no longer so debilitating since the development of bio-mechanical arms and legs. Nano chips are implanted in the brains of blind people giving them the ability to move around fairly normally using something akin to sonar. Our lifespan is now close to a hundred and twenty years, thanks to advanced technologies."
     
    From the expression on Solaria's face, Carley knew she was making progress.
     
    "And as for you being built, well, consider this. Many couples now have their offspring created in test tubes. They pick hair, eye and skin color and even sex. Is there really that much difference between what they are doing and what we did?"
     
    "It's a complicated question. I think I'll need time to analyze this before I can come to a valid conclusion," Solaria said, unable to think of a logical reason to disagree.
     
    "You do that and in the meantime, think about why this picture bothers you so much. I'd like to know the answer."
     
    Nodding her head, another human gesture, Solaria continued staring at the photo. Deciding it might be a good idea to distract her for awhile, Carley tapped Solaria's shoulder.
     
    "How about we run a few tests on the new chip that was sent over from the Computer Science Dept? You should find it very interesting. It's the next generation in CPUs. Besides, you can