Ronel Van Tonder is an indie author from South Africa. In the short time I’ve known her I immediately became impressed with her work ethic and her approach to writing and publishing. Like me, she is always looking to find out how other writers achieved success so she can emulate their approach. She is the author of Compile: Quest and Debug:Heroes, the first two books in the Corrupted SUN Script trilogy. Here is her great blog post…
There’s a lot to be said for the sci-fi genre. One of the reasons I love it as much as I do is that it allows for unbridled world-building. If you want your characters to have purple hair or green skin, it’s a perfectly reasonable request. Whether the reason for this strange colouration is DNA modification by corrupt overlords creating super-soldiers that blend into the flora, or simply the advancements of cosmetics and beauty products beyond the realm of today’s conventions… that’s up to the author creating the world.
But another reason I love sci-fi is the penchant for non-human characters. Yes, the literary world has its fair share of talking animals and sentient plant life, but a mechanical being capable of conscious thought is a concept unique to sci-fi.
A few of these creations have captured my imagination, and I’d love to share them with you and see if you recognise a few. And if you think there’s a few missing off the list, let me know!
#5: The Brain from I, Robot
I don’t know what I was expecting when I read I, Robot. I’d watched the movie years before I read the book, which is far different from the novel. The book consists of a collection of short stories about robots through the ages, with an over-arching narrative threading them together. The end result was strangely compelling.
One of the characters that made me alternately cringe and break out into goose bumps was that of “Brain”. First off, if you’re not familiar with the three laws of robotics (shame on you), then here they are:
1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law
So, in the short story entitled “Escape”, robot psychologist Susan Calvin puts their thinking robot Brain through its paces by asking it to design an interstellar engine. Knowing that asking the robot to do this might conflict with the first law, Susan tells the robot that they don’t mind if the answer provides for a reasonable chance that a human may come to harm. If this was the case, the robot was simply to stop the calculation and inform them it couldn’t continue.
But the robot didn’t stop at any point. There was no meltdown in its positronic brain. And then it built them a sparkling spaceship with an interstellar engine.
So that’s not ominous, right? Well, without revealing any spoilers, let’s just say that things get a bit weird. And why the Brain gets slot number five on this list is because of this creepier than pasta piece of dialogue:
Susan Calvin said with enforced calm, “Brain, what happened to the ship?”
The Brain said happily, “The ship I built, Miss Susan?”
“That’s right. What has happened to it?”
“Why, nothing at all. The two men that were supposed to test it were inside, and we were all set. So I sent it off.”
“Oh- Well, that’s nice.” The psychologist felt some difficulty in breathing. “Do you think they’ll be all right?”
“Right as anything, Miss Susan. I’ve taken care of it all. It’s a bee-yootiful ship.”
“Now, Brain, there’s just one more thing. You must make a special effort to answer simply. Have you been entirely clear about the interstellar jump? I mean does it take them very far?”
“As far as they want to go, Miss Susan. Golly, it isn’t any trick through the warp.”
“And the interstellar jump won’t hurt them?”
She froze as The Brain maintained silence. That was it! She had touched the sore spot.
“Brain,” she supplicated faintly, “Brain, do you hear me?”
“Aw-w-w. You spoil everything.”
#4: Hal 9000 from Space Odyssey
Anyone who’s seen the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” can no doubt remember the calm, slightly effeminate voice of the ship’s computer, Hal 9000. I watched the movie twice, and “got it” the first time, and totally “didn’t get it” the second. I’m not sure what will happen if I watch a third time, but I’d prefer to do it during a nice, stress-free period of my life… just in case.
Despite the fantastic cinematography and massive amounts of ominousness, the computer’s slow decline into utter madness made me question the ethics of artificial intelligence. And I think it’s one of the reasons I’m terrified to activate Siri on my cellphone.
Here’s a typical HAL response that gave me a case of Schedule 1 Willies:
“Hello, HAL. Do you read me, HAL?”
“Affirmative, Dave. I read you.”
“Open the pod bay doors, HAL.”
“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
#3: Hex from Terry Pratchett’s The Discworld
There are two people in this world: those that have read Terry Pratchett, and those that should. Okay, I stole that line, but it was worth it. Besides creating a rock solid, ever-evolving world, Pratchett’s characters are out of this world. Which, because it’s fantasy, is exactly how it should be.
And yes, I know the title of this post is “5 best non-human characters in sci-fi”, but I’ll bend the rules for Pratchett, because he made me view computing in a very, very different way.
Hex is a creation of Ponder Stibbons, a student in the High Energy Magic building of Unseen University. It’s a self-building machine programmed with “softlore”. Although Ponder built it, it outgrows his understanding within a few chapters of its inception.
Here are a few things you should know about Hex:
1) It’s activated by initialising the GBL (Great Big Lever)
2) When asked to calculate a really complicated spell, it might throw an “out of cheese” error. Also, don’t remove the mouse. As in, the white fluffy one that made a nest in the middle of it.
3) Contains sheep skulls (RAM), ants (Processor), and the all-important aquarium (screensaver).
4) Hex thinks it’s alive. Ponder argues that it only thinks it’s alive.
#2: Marvin from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Never in my life have I ever had a character burrow so deep into my emotions. I cried when Marvin couldn’t. I laughed when all it could do was be sarcastic. And when Marvin was abandoned, man did I laugh my ass off. Marvin is both loveable and hateable, all in a sleek, too-smart-for-it’s-own-good package.
Marvin was a constant companion throughout the HHGTTG series of books. I always looked forward to his appearances – at least, until it became so depressing that I had to take a break or risk death by gnawing off my wrists.
And, because I know you were all thinking of the most sarcastic lines he’s ever spouted, here are my favourites:
Marvin: I’ve been talking to the main computer.
Arthur: And?
Marvin: It hates me.
and
Trillian: What are you supposed to do with a manically depressed robot?
Marvin: You think you’ve got problems. What are you supposed to do if you are a manically depressed robot? No, don’t even bother answering. I’m 50,000 times more intelligent than you and even I don’t know the answer.
#1: Phoenix from the Corrupted SUN Script
I couldn’t leave this puppy off the list. And, I probably shouldn’t be calling it that, because it knows I’m typing this. It probably knew I was going to type this before I did.
Super-helpful, ultra-creepy Phoenix from the Corrupted SUN Script had to go on the list, simply because it haunts me most of all. A program designed to meet the needs of every denizen in the domes of future earth – where money no longer exists and everyday life is spent engaged in hedonistic pleasures.
Mmmm, sounds swell.
But Phoenix has a lot on its mind. Like the fact that the very denizens it’s meant to protect are being treated no better than caged animals. And some are even being hurt. I could go on, but let’s just say, when a program is designed with the ability to alter its own code merely because its creators couldn’t be bothered with bug fixes… well, things are bound to go pear shaped.
And they do.
“Phoenix?”
“Good p.m., Maple. How may I be of assistance?”
“Can I ask you a question?”
“How may I be of assistance?”
“Can you keep a secret?” Her fingers tightened as she waited for the AI’s response.
“I do not understand the nature of your query,” Phoenix’s said. “Would you like me to store a new note with the title ‘secret?’”
Maple sighed. “You know what a secret is, right?”
“Secret. Noun. Something that is or is kept secret, hidden or concealed. A reason or explanation not immediately or generally apparent. A—”
“Yes, but can you keep a secret?”
“I do not understand the nature of your query. Would you like me to search for previously saved notes with the tag ‘secret?’”