Chapter 75: Ava
"Who are you?" Nathan withdrew his hands, looking at the man before him with extreme caution.
This entire estate was his domain—no one could enter without his permission. So, who was this guy?
"Me?" Jake pointed to himself, somewhat taken aback. "Have you forgotten, boss? I won the contest and was coming to your place for the weekend. I'm Caleb."
"Caleb?" Nathan looked confused.
"Yeah," Jake raised his hands, indicating he wasn't making any sudden moves. When they were about two feet apart, he gently patted Nathan's shoulder. "Caleb. I'm Caleb."
"Right!" Nathan's eyes looked blank for a moment, then quickly lit up, as if he'd suddenly remembered. "Welcome, man!" He pulled him into a big hug. "I didn't realize you were white. I always thought you were maxican."
"Thanks, boss," Jake returned the hug warmly. "Maybe my name threw you off."
Under Nathan's guidance, Jake toured the facility and learned about the itinerary for the next few days. Nothing particularly special—just hanging out for a few days with his eccentric tech billionaire boss.
If this were an ordinary employee, getting such an opportunity would be career-changing, guaranteeing a raise and promotion when they returned to the company. But for Jake, it was nothing special.
The movie Ex Machina tells the story of a mysterious tech billionaire, Nathan, who invites Caleb, a programmer who won a company lottery, to spend a week at his boss's secluded mountain estate.
Hidden deep in the wilderness, this estate is actually a high-tech research facility.
Here, Caleb is introduced to an artificial intelligence android named "Ava." His true purpose in being invited is to conduct a "Turing Test" on Ava.
This was one of the few science fiction films that Jake genuinely appreciated. It lacked flashy action sequences, resembling more of a psychological thriller that presented the clash between humans and artificial intelligence gradually. However, it was precisely because of the incredibly successful portrayal of emotions and characters—such as the female android "Ava" and the servant android "Kyoko"—that Jake came to this world when he needed staff for his estate.
In the story, Nathan wants to create true artificial intelligence. He's already created many iterations before, and those AIs were very successful, even capable of displaying anger and emotional breakdowns.
However, he destroys android after android because their intelligence is insufficient and imperfect.
Finally, he creates "Ava," who is designed based on data from Nathan's search engine, knowing the collection of images and preferences Caleb has searched and browsed since his teenage years. This makes it easier for Ava to gain Caleb's trust and affection.
Moreover, this isn't a simple story of androids and humans coexisting peacefully—it's a story about a manipulative android, programmed with survival instincts, exploiting a naive programmer.
The story begins deceptively: the programmer encounters a female android trapped behind glass. She's just gained the ability to think independently, appearing confused and desperately curious about the outside world, like a vulnerable young woman.
The protagonist is gradually drawn to this android and decides to help her escape.
For instance, right now, Nathan pulled out a thick stack of legal documents and said to Jake, "If you want to participate in the 'Turing Test,' you have to sign this NDA. I can't let you leak any of this information."
"Sure thing," Jake readily agreed, signing Caleb's name directly on the forms. "How could I refuse to be part of something so groundbreaking?"
"Welcome aboard, my friend," Nathan clinked his beer bottle with Jake's. "Do you know how painful it is to have just one secret in your heart, one you can't tell anyone?"
"I understand," Jake nodded. Perhaps that was why he'd brought Matilda along on some missions—that way, he'd have someone to share things with, instead of slowly going crazy from keeping it all bottled up.
Under Nathan's arrangement, Jake quickly began his first session with the artificial intelligence.
To be honest, Jake had never encountered any type of humanoid android before. Having traveled through so many movie worlds, his technological exposure had gradually increased, but to encounter artificial intelligence that was completely lifelike—this was a first.
This female android was named Ava.
The two sat across from each other, separated by reinforced glass, communicating.
After their initial interaction, Jake discovered this was a highly sophisticated android. Perhaps knowing her true nature beforehand, he didn't pay attention to her emotional manipulation tactics.
Just as magic tricks never reveal their secrets, Jake, as someone who knew the plot, already understood the answers to many things, regardless of appearances, so he wouldn't be deceived by what he observed.
The Turing Test involves humans asking questions, which the AI answers.
This doesn't mean humans pose mathematical problems for the android to solve, but rather asking questions about emotions and human behavior.
For example, regarding a gun, the android might only know its specifications, model, and ballistic range, but cannot understand why humans use them.
Is it because of domestic violence? Or is it because of financial desperation leading to robbery? Or is it simply someone unstable wanting to harm others?
If the android passes the Turing Test, it means it has genuine understanding of these aspects and is thinking in a human way; otherwise, it fails.
The attractive-looking female android in front of Jake had clearly passed the test—her responses were indistinguishable from those of an actual woman.
"So, how was it?" Nathan grabbed two beers from the fridge, handing one to Jake.
They clinked bottles and took a swig.
"It's...very impressive," Jake said, deliberately not using a personal pronoun.
"I thought you'd use the word 'she'."
"I've seen more advanced AI," Jake abruptly changed the subject. "One even attempted to exterminate humanity."
This "one" included not only the Red Queen from Resident Evil, but also VIKI from I, Robot.
"What?" Nathan jumped up from his seat, seemingly extracting some incredible information from Jake's casual statement!
Jake, however, had already stood up and patted him on the shoulder.
They stared at each other for two or three seconds, when an woman walked in. She appeared to be Japanese, wearing simple modern clothing with minimalist design.
"Kyoko?" Jake said to the female android, who obediently stopped.
"Help your boss get some rest—he's looking tired."
The android didn't respond verbally, but obediently assisted Nathan. Nathan, meanwhile, kept staring with wide eyes, but unfortunately, the android didn't understand his unspoken objections at all.
For movie worlds with compelling plots, aside from a few that Jake would deliberately experience fully, most of the time he'd just enter, acquire what he needed, and leave. After all, these worlds weren't like The Princess Diaries or The Hunger Games—there weren't any characters he particularly cared about. Although he appreciated the portrayal of the android character, it was only because he admired Alicia Vikander's performance, not because he liked the android itself.
The reason he didn't just immediately take what he wanted, but instead spent almost a full day with Nathan, was to use subtle hypnotic suggestion to gain deeper control over him!
Then, he'd wait for the right moment to activate the programming.
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