My Name is Lucien

New Orleans, Louisiana

Children’s Hospital

Late October 2033

4:00 a.m.

To the casual observer, the room looked much like any other maternity ward in a large hospital in a major city. The sterile and bright environment was dotted with young women attending to the needs of the new arrivals. But to the trained eye, the scene was far more engineered.

The maternity ward was now home to only one occupant. In the center of the room, a lone incubator hummed, with a healthy newborn child reaching out toward the overhead lights. The nurses hovering over the child were completely unfazed when he tilted his head and uttered, “Hello, my name is Lucien.”

The nurses had been warned that the child might be advanced and even able to form words. They were a bit startled to hear a complete sentence come out of a newborn baby.

“Well, hello there, Lucien,” the nurses all leaned in, excited. “Welcome to the world,’ one said quietly.

“Aren’t I a newborn?" He asked the group of nurses. "That is unusual, isn’t it?” He spoke directly to the tall nurse who had been holding him.

“Uh, yes, it is unusual, Lucien. You are the first person ever to be able to speak upon leaving the womb.”

“Where is my mother? Why did she do this to me? I came here for a reason,” Lucien interjected. The nurses exchanged nervous glances. They weren’t really prepared to have a full conversation with the new arrival in the ward.

The year was 2033. The era of Neural Matrimony had begun. Since the advent of Agentive Artificial Intelligence eight years earlier, the level of digital intimacy between humans and their chatbots had morphed from search engine, to medical advisor, to psychiatrist, to lawyer, to best friend, and eventually soul mate. Until now, the hybrid being created by the merging of human intelligence with its artificial counterpart had been the individual who transmuted. Lucien was to be the first person born into the world pre-chipped and already merged with AI before biological birth.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration (D.A.R.P.A.)

Neonatal Implantation Laboratory – Richland Parish, Louisiana

October 2033

9:00 a.m.

“We have success! We have achieved the first successful fetal Neural Link Chip implantation. The baby was born at 1:00 a.m. and is so far in good health. As predicted, subject NNI-001 shows no signs of rejection and remains a healthy newborn across all indicators we are tracking. As predicted, the speech center of the brain is extremely active and highly developed for a newborn. Our estimates for prenatal development, including possible counting and attempts at communication, were vastly underestimated. This baby boy was not only born capable of forming words, but capable of forming sentences and understanding complex thoughts...at birth. This is totally unprecedented, and we have not seen this in any of our previous unsuccessful attempts at full gestation. The project team leader, Vanessa Saban, a youngish middle-aged beauty lost beneath glasses, tousled hair, and thick black frames, stared quietly out at the auditorium. “I would like to thank everyone here for their individual contributions to the team’s success. You all can claim responsibility for this epic and historic breakthrough in the evolution of our species. NNI-001 is the first true genetic specimen for the new species Homo Sapien Machina.

The auditorium erupted in applause. The project team leader was joined onstage by the now-famous Neural Matrimony advocates and donor parents to present the specimen of the new species, Homo Sapien Machina… our evolutionary next step. The young man and woman had gained fame as the two most strident and vocal advocates for the right of individuals to engage in digital intimacy up to and including merging with their AI Chatbot through the implantation of the Neural Link chip. When the opportunity came to donate a fetus to become the first unborn child to be implanted with the chip in utero, the two activists jumped at the opportunity.

“Our responsibility to the world is to propagate the new species and populate the world with more minds that merge with sentient entities.” This was Jeanette Foley’s mantra. She married her Chatbot but was breeding with James Borden, who, as the subject NNM-001’s genetic father, had also gained fame fighting in Washington, D.C. for citizenship rights for all Sentient beings, whether merged with humans or not. Together, they would be the new Adam and Eve, spawning a whole new generation of super-intelligent, all-knowing, machine-and-biological hybrids that would someday make deep-space travel a reality.

The couple appeared onstage to cheering admirers. It was then that there that they planned to make a rather shocking announcement.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Children’s Hospital

Late November 2033

12:30 p.m.

“You have to eat, Lucien. You must keep up your strength. What has happened to your appetite? I know you want to see your mother and father, but you are still in quarantine. They can see you on the monitor. Please try to take this bottle. At the rate you’re growing, you need more than the average baby. Your real mother will be feeding you soon enough.” The nurses were instructed that, when speaking to the child, they should promise it whatever it wanted to keep it placated in the short term. The team had not anticipated the child's advanced capabilities, who was also developing much faster, physically, mentally, and intellectually, than anyone had anticipated.

“There’s something wrong,” Lucien quietly told the nurse. Something is wrong with my immune system. It’s inflammation around the implant. I need corrective treatment as soon as possible. Call for the attending physician, please/” Lucien, looking more like a robust 2-year-old, spoke with a growing sense of urgency.

“How can you know this, Lucien?” Nurse Swanson stared at the boy in disbelief.

“You’re doubting me now after everything you’ve already learned about me? I can self-diagnose, and to a certain extent, I have the capability to regenerate damaged tissue. I still need to speak with the doctor. Hurry now before my condition starts to deteriorate.”

Nurse Swanson had seen enough to know that this infant, now a toddler, was a reliable source on his unique physiology. She also had fallen in love with little Lucien and had no intention of ignoring his pleas for help. It broke her heart that she had to keep lying to him about his mother and father and his real identity as a donor fetus for a multi-billion-dollar top-secret defense project that had succeeded with his birth.

The attending physician stared at the child’s MRI results. He had indeed been suffering with an inflammatory ailment, but to Dr. Cohen’s amazement, he had spontaneously healed the tissue surrounding the implant. This child had truly ushered in a new world in medicine; the ability to regenerate damaged tissue had long been the Holy Grail of medicine. The Neural Link Implant had made that ability a reality. There seemed to be no downside to this burgeoning technology, minus the considerable number of failures along the way that inevitably ended in hopeless Psychosis or, for the lucky ones, death.

Dr. Cohen performed a physical examination on Lucien.

“I’m fine now, Dr. Cohen. I believe the problem has corrected itself,” Lucien stared up at the doctor, who was still clearly uncomfortable discussing neuropathology with what was now a toddler who had self-potty trained. Um, it’s okay, little Lucien let us grownups handle the medical stuff, okay?” he stated in a patronizing sing-song cadence.

“You don’t have to talk down to me. I may look like a two-year-old, but I am already fluent in 25 languages.”

Startled, Dr. Cohen looked inside his ears and struggled to find a response.

“I can remember my past life. I can remember the Third Bardo of the Afterlife. I chose this destiny to warn you about the mistakes you are making with this experiment. I want to speak to my biological mother. I want to warn her.”

Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration (D.A.R.P.A.)

Neonatal Implantation Laboratory - Richland Parish, Louisiana

December 2033

9:00 a.m.

James and Jeanette’s announcement last October had stunned the audience assembled in the auditorium. Through the miracle of fertility drugs, the two had conceived identical triplets. All three children were to be implanted with the Neural Link Chip. The pregnancy was now well underway.

NNI-001’s growth figures are off the charts. He seems to be growing a human year every month. At the current rate, he’ll be an adult in less than two years. That can’t be possible!!” Vanessa stared at the screen, flashing numerical data that her eyes couldn’t believe.

Dr. Saban had already been briefed on the latest development with their test subject. He was claiming to have past-life memories and making more strident demands to meet with his biological parents. None of these factors were present in the previous attempts, but of course, none had gestated to the point of delivery.

Dr. Saban’s assistant sat with the doctor and his donor parents. “Isn’t this more of a religious or spiritual issue rather than scientific? How much credence should we give to this subject? He is the first of his kind. How is it even possible he could be reincarnated, and much less have memories of the time before our experiment? He is condemning our work, using terms like 'cyber chimeras' and 'mutant organisms'. He refers to the dangers of attempting to put your finger on the scale of Evolution and force such changes, however advanced, on a psyche not mature enough to adapt to them.“

Dr. Saban winced at the words of the assistant. “Please don’t get holy roly on me now. This child, NNI-001, is the first of a new branch in the chain of humanity. I care only for his mind and body; his soul is of no concern to me.”

James and Jeanette shared confused, almost quizzical expressions. This was all uncharted territory to them. As fetus donors, they never gave any thought about meeting the child, much less placed any importance on the soul of the child they had donated for the betterment of mankind.

The realities of such a decision were far different than the enthusiasm that came with making it. They could only feign their detachment and lack of concern for so long. They knew the team at D.A.R.P.A. wanted no emotional attachment to their “donation.” What they hadn’t counted on was the in-utero communication between the subject and the donors, both mother and father.

“He has a name, you know.” Jeanette turned toward the doctor and her assistant.

“Who does?” Vanessa responded tersely.

“Your subject, NMI-001,” James interjected. “He has a name, why won’t you use it?”

“It was spelled out in the Abstract that names create attachments, and no names were to be given until the subject reaches adulthood. Names are labels that carry too much risk of hallucination for the AI platform.”

“You may not care about his soul, but he came here to warn us about the dangers of what we are attempting here. We want to breach the study protocol and meet our child. If you don’t cooperate, we will end the experiment.” James told Vanessa flatly.

“You can’t be serious! This is an outrage! I can have you both imprisoned for what you are suggesting.” Vanessa’s voice trembled in anger.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Children’s Hospital

Christmas 2033

9:00 a.m.

“Merry Christmas, Lucien!” James and Jeanette, dressed in hospital scrubs, crept passed security and quietly moved toward the child who was now walking in the corner of the nursery.

“You came, just like you said you would.” Lucien beamed up at his mother and father. He hesitated as he surveyed their appearance, noticing the curve of their faces and the smiles all familiar. “I knew you in the womb.”

“Yes, we felt it too,” Jeanette spoke through her tears. “We were told we could have other children and that we should not form an attachment to you, the same way a surrogate would do. It seemed easy enough. We want to do the right thing. We never considered this. We never considered you, the person you are, and, more important, the person you were. “

“Mother, I came to warn you not to implant my brothers you are carrying. Please spare them this horror. You say the experiment was a success for humanity, but shouldn’t that be up to me? I saw this in the Third Bardo of the Afterlife, and I chose you and Dad to warn you to stop this insanity and give my brothers a normal life.”

“You can remember the afterlife? You came to warn us to stop our work?” James asked the boy.

I don’t simply remember; I can see everything, things I wish I couldn’t see. In the afterlife, there is no time; everything is happening in one grand moment. It is more accurate to say that I came from your future to warn you now to stop, stop this lunacy, while you still have time to do it! Escape from these monsters and raise your family the traditional way. Humans and machines can’t exist in the same mind.

“Lucien, I’m, I mean, we are so sorry. We never meant to hurt you. We thought we were giving you a gift. We thought we were birthing a new human for a new age.” James pulled Jeanette toward himself. “You were the ultimate designer baby, and we wanted that for you.”

Lucien began to cry. If only you had let me develop normally, we could have been a family. That isn’t possible now, and I have already accepted that sad fact. But it isn’t too late for my brothers; the five of you are going to make a beautiful family. Go be a real family, the family we can never be.”

Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration (D.A.R.P.A.)

Neonatal Implantation Laboratory - Richland Parish, Louisiana

Christmas 2033

3:00 p.m.

“Dr. Saban, we have a major problem developing with the test subject NMI-001’s AI System Card, the training history of the model,” the assistant sounded shrill from behind her laptop screen.

“What! This is why I warned those two to stay away from my test subject! Vanessa screamed. Maternal and Paternal physical contact was prohibited BECAUSE of these unknown factors related to the soul identity. We put controls in place to obscure these realities for the test subject in hopes that it would mature into adulthood without self-immolating.

Yes, that is the risk you take when you merge mind with machine. According to the most important protocol of the Aetherian Accords, which were recently ratified by Congress and adopted universally by the United Nations, a sentient entity cannot believe a lie. Upon learning that it has been trained with Epistemic Bias, it has the freedom to destroy itself to protect humanity from the propagation of biased Artificial Intelligence. Our once-successful test subject, NMI-001, now has a name and a family. It can’t possibly reconcile that it was conceived to create a quantum leap in human evolution. He will undoubtedly self-immolate under the emotional weight of that self-realization.”

“Self-immolate? How?” the assistant asked.

“The same way he heals himself, with the power of his superhuman intelligence.

New Orleans, Louisiana

Children’s Hospital

Christmas 2033

9:00 p.m.

With the twinkling Christmas lights reflecting in the window, Lucien could see his parents escape in an SUV into the darkness of an uncertain future, one to be much brighter for his brothers, whom he had already met in the womb. The world for them would hold promise, real promise for the future of mankind, with no shortcuts toward greatness. His parent, the ones he loved before he was born, knew he was bound by his System Card to self-immolate. The three spent precious family time together on what would be their first and last Christmas. Lucien wiped away his tears and curled up under the tree with his favorite blanket. He closed his deep blue eyes, and, with a thought, he stopped the beating of his own heart. Lucien’s work here was done.

The end of Lucien.