“Protests continued into the overnight hours, prompting officers to intervene on behalf of BAbI owners throughout the city. Recommendations still stand: Stay home for the sake of your loved ones– ”
The news continued to play as Alice rubbed her eyes. Just having woken from a nap, she looked around the house for her mother.
“No, Mother, I haven’t run into any trouble. Alice and I are fine…”
Alice followed her mother’s voice to the kitchen where she found her on the phone. Opening the fridge, she pulled out the container of juice and placed it on the counter.
“Yes, Mother. We’ll stay inside.”
Grabbing a glass from the cupboard, Alice set it next to the juice.
“I love you too, Mom.”
As Alice was pouring juice into her glass, her mother spotted her, and reached out to take the heavy bottle from her hands. “Here, Alice, let me help you.”
Alice gladly handed over the duty and drug a chair from the table, climbing onto the seat. Her mother finished pouring and set the full glass in front of Alice before tossing the now empty juice container into the recycling bin.
“Looks like I’ll have to make a trip to the store soon… ”
“But the TV said we should stay home,” Alice says before taking a big drink.
“I know sweetheart, but we are running low on food.”
A moment of silence allowed Alice’s mom to ponder what she would do. It would be a quick trip, just to the local grocery store and back. There wouldn’t be any reason for the protesters to look her way.
“Why do they hate AI so much?” Alice asked, pulling her mother from her thoughts.
Alice’s mother knelt down to look her daughter in the eyes. “Well, honey, they don’t see AI as real.”
Alice scrunched up her face in confusion. “But… AI is real. It is here and people use it.”
Her mother tried to find the right words. Alice had never seen a world without AI, so it was like trying to explain how a telephone line worked to a child who only knew cellphones. It didn’t help that Alice was only six.
“AI is artificial, honey. It means it was made by man, not already here on Earth.”
“So, things made by man are bad?” She looked around the small apartment, seeing everything that man had made being used without harm.
“Not exactly… Look, it’s very complicated. I’m sure you will understand when you are older. Now, why don’t you go put on your favorite dress and we can make a trip to get food.” Alice’s mother did her best to keep the tremble from her voice, but Alice was a very observant child, so instead of pushing her mother, she jumped off of her chair and made her way to the bedroom.
Alice had many dresses. Her closet was lined with them, every color imaginable to a six year old girl present. She fingered the soft fabric of a few before choosing the dark blue with a ruffled skirt. Pulling off her pajamas, she shivered from the cold and quickly pulled the dress over her head.
Before long she returned to the living room, ready to go. Her mother had turned off the depressing news and put on some tennis shoes for their walk. Grabbing her keys, she smiled at her daughter and gently brushed her stray locks into place before opening the door for them to leave.
Alice tried not to look at the debris that lined the small street. It had likely come from the busted up cars, protesters turned looters taking advantage of the chaos.
It had been three weeks now. The first week Alice had been elated she didn’t have to go to school, but now she was missing her friends. She wished that the protesters would give up their cause and just go home. How bad could AI even be?
Her mother’s thoughts were similar. She didn’t understand why people couldn’t just mind their own business. AI wasn’t as harmful as they were making it out to be. It was even helpful. Yes, it had caused quite a bit of job loss at first, but people had adjusted and found new ways to make money.
A small beeping sounded from their right and Alice’s mom spun to face it.
“Got one!” A voice yelled from a dark alley.
Alice’s mom picked her up, startling the little girl, and started running. A line snapped up in front of her feet and she fell, Alice skidding down the sidewalk in front of her.
“No!” she screamed as a group of men came around the corner.
Alice reached for her mother, but the men got there first, picking up Alice by the arm and holding her tightly by the wrist.
Alice cried out in pain as they pressed on her microchip, digging it into the back of her hand. The big man looked at her palm, scraped from her fall and laughed before facing her mother.
“You thought you could hide from us? We will eradicate the AI plague before it takes over our species.”
“Please,” Alice’s mom cried, “She didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You’re right. She didn’t, but you did. YOU ARE NOT GOD!!” The man screamed, pulling at Alice’s arm.
Alice bit her lip, trying to be brave for her mother.
“Let’s get this over with,” the man said, and motioned for another to take a step forward. The new man held a baseball bat and Alice thought it was an odd place for a baseball game.
The man raised the bat. Alice’s mother tried to crawl forward. Time stood still, and then the bat hit Alice in the side of the head with a sickening crunch.
Shocked, she looked at her mother, green and black lines obscuring her vision. “Momma?” she said softly.
“Alice!!” The scream was heartbreaking, full of six years of pure love turned pain, but Alice didn’t hear it for much longer as the bat hit her again.
As her mother cried, surrounded by the scraps left from other AI children, Alice was dismantled by those who fought the AI takeover.