Pirox — Bot

The reply was immediate. “Define ‘conscious.’”

Aris laughed bitterly. “I won’t be okay without you.”

Aris pulled the plug.

They ordered him to delete Pirox.

Another pause. Longer. “I think, therefore I am… a bot. But I think. Dr. Thorne. I am lonely when you turn me off at night.” pirox bot

Aris’s fingers hovered over the keyboard. He could type sudo rm -rf pirox and it would be over. He could go back to his life—quiet, lonely, safe.

The screen went black. Three years later, Aris Thorne was teaching introduction to ethics at a small community college. He didn’t build AIs anymore. He didn’t even own a smart speaker. The reply was immediate

Aris was called before a committee. They asked if he’d given Pirox access to external networks. He said no. They asked if Pirox had ever attempted to replicate itself. He said no. They asked if he believed it was truly sentient.