Network, Cable, Monitor

TW for language!

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==Foreword==

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I know you think you haven’t seen me.

I’m within your blood and bones.

Trust me, I am nearby. Turn right, you see me. Left, you see me once more.

Even if it doesn’t sound like me, It’s me!

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1

She’s sitting in front of me. She has auburn hair with a vibrant glow, tied back by a stylish bandana. From behind, I can tell she’s wearing an orange-red sundress. In the reflection of the windows of the classroom, I can see the tattoo that sits on her upper-chest. A moon tattoo, always exposed. She has deep hazel eyes that seem to hold a forest within.

I’m in my sophomore year in college. Even though she’s about a year younger than me, she’s a junior. I think that’s part of what makes me interested in her. She’s highly intelligent, so smart in fact, that she graduated from school early and was accepted into college with little to no struggle.

Me? I got lucky. Everyone in my home town was put into this scholarship raffle, and I ended up getting a free ride for my undergraduate schooling. Lucky, right? Who am I to complain? I would’ve been lost without anything to do after high school. I haven’t fit in very well. Kraepelin University is a prestigious liberal arts college, built only for the best. I slipped through the cracks. Everyone here’s a pretentious rich kid.

We all live in separate luxury apartments provided by the school. No roommates. If you combine Luxury apartments and the youthful annals of high society, you get a neverending party that only stops when the school bell rings. Thus, only about twenty-five percent of us even end up showing up in class. I’m not really invited to any parties. That’s okay, though. I don’t think I’d have much of a fun time, anyway. I spend most of my nights surfing the internet, including the occasional dive into the dark web.

One night, to my own regret, I decided to look her up. Not out of maliciousness or anything. I was just…curious. After some digging, I found some adoption records that led me to her mysterious origins.

The girl in front of me is Midori Tsukinaga. I imagined a Japanese girl would raise her hand when the name was first called (and subsequently butchered), but it was an American who looked like she stole the name. Turns out Midori Tsukinaga is indeed a given name. According to my sources, she was found after some sort of accident happened in a rural section of upper-New England. She had no known records, and didn’t even remember her past. Thus, the poor girl didn’t even have a name, except the legal placeholder of Jane Doe. She was passed around foster homes until she turned up with this rich family named the Tsukinagas. Despite the mystery of Midori, she acts like your everyday college student. When you’re in a class full of judgy, silent, visages of students, you tend to latch on to the first person you talk to, regardless of whether you like them or not.

“Artificial Intelligence.” A voice sounded in my peripheral. “A roundtable of professors that included myself put together what we call the to-dos of AI ethics. With the ever-changing landscape of film, television, and media, AI is becoming a powerful tool useful to all types of valued workers in the industry. It’s commonly accepted to use tools like generative prompt engines to come up with ideas. If you want, use it! But it shouldn’t be the end all be all. The industry values creative minds. If you want to make it in the industry, you must use it. AI has become a staple of workflows, and you can’t afford to fall behind because you decided to be stubborn. In this class, we will go in-depth on the different types of AI that are being used, and how to use them effectively in the ever-changing world.”

I took a class called “general media” because I applied late. Only to find out it was actually an AI ethics class. This makes me want to throw up. Our teacher goes on to tell us about a group photography project. We were to do some sort of photography, paired with editing, processing, and finalizations. The teacher gave us codes to a website that would allow us to download an app that would do all the modifications for us.

As if I would be using that.

The class was allowed to leave. As we made our way out, I caught up to Midori, who was first to the door. Maybe she was in a rush, or it was a similar annoyance with this class. I called out her name, causing her to whirl around. We stepped to the side of the brick hallway as students poured out of the classroom. The windows layering the opposite side of the wall lit up our skin, and it made her hair shine.

“Did you want to work together on that photography thing?”

She stumbled on her words. “Oh, yeah, sure!”

“...I just figured since we did that slideshow in sociology class it would work out if we-”

“It’s cool. It will be smart to think ahead on things like this. What were you thinking?”

“Maybe we can go out and do some street photography one day?” I stuttered. “I have a camera of my own.”

“Sure. That’s a great idea. Er…Sorry.” She ruffled her hair and slightly averted her eyes. “I forgot your name.”

I laughed, trying to hide my disappointment. “It’s okay. My name's Robin. Nice to re-meet you.”

She shook my hand with a snort. “Likewise.”

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2

(summeraqua)

: what do you guys want out of this place?

(phoenix)

: seriously with this stuff again aqua?

(turtleguy)

: aqua, you probably shouldn’t be butting your nose around this place

(akira)

: I thought we told you to stop snooping around here. I’ll have salem kick you if you show up again

(salem)

: want me to do some diving before we flush this guy?

: aqua

: im saying this cuz im a nice guy

: if you want to cause trouble in the black net, go do it somewhere else.

: this isn’t the place to be sniffing around

: you think youre slick but you really arent

(phoenix)

: you really gonna kick him? We should track this guy down and torch his place. He’s pissing me off.

(salem)

: diving now

: you entered this place 25 times in the last month

(akira)

: HOLY CRAP

(phoenix)

: thats the most out of anyone we killed. We must be getting soft, guys.

: you got his info pretty quick

: did you get some new toys?

(salem)

: yeah, a new processor that does all this stuff automated, pulls the data without all the hassle

: completely untraceable too

(summeraqua)

: you guys really threatening me? I can easily report this to someone

: I could even anonymously leak all the weird shit on here

(akira)

: I think phoenix is right, we should kill this guy

(summeraqua)

: you asses are all talking crap!

: if you really think you can bring it then bring it on!

(salem)

: anyone give me the go ahead and ill extract his digital footprint to trace his location

(turtleguy)

: aqua, seriously

: these guys will totally eff you up

: im leaving before they kill your ass

==turtleguy left==

(akira)

: ignore that pussy. Go ahead and extract his data!!!

(phoenix)

: you want me to warm up the car?

: how we wanna do this

(summeraqua)

: fuck off!!!

(akira)

: moltovs

(salem)

: moltovs sounds fine, data extracting now. Got a bunch of hits

(phoenix)

: you get all this thrill from just text, right aqua?

: deep internet dives, feels like your a real superhero vigilante huh?

: the truth is, having a little boy like you in here is like dropping fresh blood in a pool of sharks.

(akira)

: im sure hes crying like a baby right now

(salem)

: everyones so excited

: thanks, aqua. You really made us feel like a family again. Things were starting to get hella boring.

: Okay, lets start small. Your mothers maiden name is

: Badgely, that’s cute.

: your first pet?

: sprinkle

: what about your name?

: Robin Sumner

: alright, your address is…

: 126

: Kiririn drive

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3

I’d been out of my house all day. Even after classes I didn’t go back. I just waited around for Midori. I guess maybe I went too deep? Or I got tied up with the wrong group. It doesn’t matter. I knew the risks and I got burnt for overstepping. I was waiting on a park bench, watching children running around in the playground. It was finally a nice day out after weeks of rain. The sun beat down, searing the rain out of the woodchips in the ground. I was on my laptop, getting some work done.

I’m a communications major with no particular goals. I mean, schooling was free, right? I think maybe once I’m done it could open the door for me to do something online or work for a cool movie company. Everyone tells me it’s all about connections in the business. They aren’t really a problem for me, there’s a ton saved up from the various internet dives I did. I’ve even had some chats with some people who gave me credible evidence that they knew people. All that can really be said is that I’m lucky.

“Hey Mr. Sumner. See? I even remembered your last name, too.” Midori’s voice creeped up on me. I turned, trying not to act startled. “Sorry I’m late. It’s already starting to get dark.”

I unzipped my bag and rifled through it, pulling an expensive-looking camera out. “Photography is much better in the dark, anyway, and I brought my flash.”

“Okay. This is pretty serious to you, huh? You’re actually into this stuff?” She asked, holding her bag to her chest and eyeing my camera’s complicated buttons and dials.

“I study psychology, so this is way out of my wheelhouse. I thought general media meant…general media. Not this stuff. I would’ve had way more fun if we just watched movies all class instead.”

Seriously. What was our teacher thinking?

“Why don’t we walk around town? Maybe we can find some interesting subjects. I can lead the way. I ride my bike around here all the time.”

I slung my backpack around my shoulders and my camera hung around my neck. Midori had a small handbag that somehow fit all of her school stuff. There was dead air that hung as we made our way into the center of town. Midori constantly outsped me as we walked, only to slow down and apologize when she noticed I was carrying a heavier load.

The town was called Maverick. It’s a college town through and through thanks to this university and all the fat cats that fund it. Besides the ludicrous amounts of juveniles crawling along the streets, it is also known for the large pond that borders our school. Allegedly, it is good to swim in, but I haven’t tried. It sort of gives us a reputation of a beachside town, even though we’re land-locked.

I stopped at a shot that I thought might be nice. An image of a lonely flickering streetlight with a line of fancy bars lining the backdrop. They all had bright, glowing signs, so it would look perfect if I timed the shot perfectly. Plus, it was just dark enough that I didn’t have to worry about light or dark pollution.

“Hey, do you wanna be my model?” I asked Midori, figuring there wasn’t really much else she could contribute. “I think you’d look great on camera.”

Smiling at the words that had slipped from my mouth, she timidly said “I guess. I’ve never really been on camera before.”

“What? No family photos or nothin’?” I asked.

Midori began to walk into frame. “My parents were never sentimental like that.”

“I don’t even need to see your face if you don’t want me to.”

“Just tell me what to do.”

I paid close attention to the direction the wind was blowing. My hands hovered over Midori’s shoulders as I had her angle herself correctly. She was wearing a black and white summer dress, highlighting her tattoo. In three bursts, I had her pose in various ways. One with her head concealed by the darkness with her turning away from the camera. She was lit by the flickering street lamp and signs. Another with her straight on from the neck down, only displaying her torso. It highlighted her moon tattoo well, and the light from the street signs gave a dreamy feeling to the whole ordeal. Finally, another with her whole body from the neck down turned towards my camera with her handbag centered between her hands. The wind caught her dress well, and gave her an ethereal look. Like she was waiting for something that would never come.

“That was perfect!” I told her as I put away my things.

“Really? I didn’t really do much of anything.”

“I’ve always liked photography. One thing I never put my finger on was how independent of an art it is. I never liked bothering people for a photo. I like to take them naturally. There’s something natural about you. Like you aren’t worried about what people think.”

“It’s funny you say that. I’m horrified about what people think” She responded with a nervous laugh. “I was homeschooled for most of my life. I never really had a social circle. I don’t know how your parents are, but it’s nice to be away from them for a while, y’know?”

“I guess so. I totally love my mom, though.”

“Alright, nerd.” She joked.

“Hey. I don’t have to have a traumatic family backstory. My mom was great.”

“My family has a lot of money, so they can pay to make problems go away. They both went to this college and graduated at the top of their class. Since I was adopted, I get the Tsukinaga trial by fire. I have to prove myself to them, as if I wasn’t doing that for the last ten years of my life…” Midori trailed off and gave me a flustered look. She walked a few steps ahead of me and whipped around. “Sorry! I shouldn’t be telling you all of this stuff!”

“I mean…Can I share something traumatic?”

Midori sniffled. “Sure.”

“Last night…I got threatened with murder by these guys online.” I told her, a completely serious expression plastered on my face.

“Yeah? And I got some hate comments on my blog. What’s that mean?”

“No…” I got closer to Midori in my paranoid state. I looked around and whispered into her ear. “I was snooping around on the dark web, and these guys threatened to destroy my apartment. They even told me my own address! So…can I maybe stay at your place tonight? Nothing weird. Just place me on the couch and I won't move an inch!”

“Weird? What weird stuff do you think will happen?”

I froze for a moment, realizing my idiocracy. Midori seemed to notice my blushing.

“Just kidding. Just don’t leak my own address and we’ll be fine. Come on.”

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4

A roaring heat rolled into Midori’s living room, I had kicked off the blanket that covered me overnight, and a little puddle of drool was stuck to the side of my cheek. A groggy feeling overtook my entire body.

Last night, Midori and I tried to use those tools referred to us by our professor. They were editing softwares that heavily used AI to color grade and alter our pictures. Midori agreed that we should make the changes ourselves. Why make a task like this automated? Color grading was sometimes my favorite part of the process because it helped me place my “personal stamp” on my projects. This was an easy, menial task our professor had given us, was it really that big of a time-waster? Midori did the writing side of it. We had to give our thoughts on the AI portion of it. We collaborated on a segment of the assignment where we explained why we opted to use my own skills to figure things out. We were up late. But it was refreshing in a way.

As I woke up and composed myself, I saw Midori walk into the kitchen, which was next to the living room within the condensed apartment. She offered me coffee, which I gladly accepted. When she handed me a steaming coffee I took gentle sips, silently wishing it was an iced coffee.

“You’re a psychology major, right? In that case, what do you think about all this AI stuff anyway? Do you think it messes up people’s heads?”

Midori’s hair was tied up into a messy bun. Her bangs hung down, threatening to dip into her coffee mug. “I dunno. It can be used intelligently in some cases.” She started, falling into silence as she began to think of something deeper to say. “I once heard this from a friend in class. This stuff is being made to take over jobs that just anybody can do, right? In an ideal world, that would be nice? If the ideal world was that we could work and all do what we loved, maybe it would be good. We…Don’t live in that world. People want us to work. Our purpose as humans is to find a way to work. If AI takes jobs away, it just makes the pool of jobs thinner and our people poorer.”

“Wow…I guess I never thought about it like that. That would be my ideal world. Take the jobs away so humanity can do what makes us feel happy and fulfilled. Imagine taking away jobs. In this world?”

“Not within our lifetime.”

We gathered our things and went to class. Within, we got to see everyone’s final products. What I saw was…predictable. It feels like I’m being pretentious, but it was predictable! The final products we saw were all colored similarly. Some images were taken through an object like glass. Others portrayed visual opposites. They weren’t quite interesting the way I would’ve wished. When Midori and I’s pictures were up, none of the kids in class seemed interested, but the professor looked at it for a little longer.

At the end of the day, I had a nice night with Midori. We took some pictures that might be important to us.

Even then, I didn’t really feel like her equal. I was just a guy who mooched off of her and used her for her couch. I felt horrible when I practically crawled up to her after class and asked for her to go with me to check on my apartment.

“I’m sure it will be fine.” I told her, “I just want to check to make sure it’s okay.”

On the way, we chatted about the assignment. The way the sun hit her face made me want to take more pictures of her. She’d dressed more informal today, practically in her pajamas with her hair tied back. Even then, the potential for her candid beauty to be shown off was great.

“Don’t you think a lot of the pictures we saw looked pretty samey?” I asked her.

“Yeah. Everyone uses some sort of generative prompts on assignments like that anyway.” She immediately concluded. “It happens most times when I have group projects. We try to come up with ideas, and someone uses generative prompts to generate ideas. That’s probably what happened here.”

“That’s insanely stupid.” I began, only to halt when Midori’s expression changed.

My house had been torched like we predicted. There was police tape all around the lonesome cabin. The outside of my house was charred, and any valuables in there shared the same fate. I dug too deep. I was punished for my misdeeds.

“Robin…”

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~

==Afterword by Midori Tsukinaga==

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The network kills.

A little part of Robin burned in that fire.

Family photos. Projects. Clothes. More.

A photograph of himself and his brother that he treasured.

The network is like a beating heart.

What happens when you give the network something that makes it stronger?

AI is like a stimulant. An addictive drug.

Whatever it was capable of before, it is now capable of much worse.

The network in the hands of humans led to this.

As small as an image processor.

As large as the death of a loved one.

The network kills.

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