Two brown and very human eyes fluttered open, bringing Dr. Panelli's face into focus.
"How do you feel?" he repeated.
A puzzled look passed over her face. She looked at her hands. Despite new programming and hundreds of simulations, things were still awkward. "I feel...different, Dr. Panelli."
"Please. Scott." He smiled again, broader now, gaining confidence in his "patient."
"Scott," she repeated, hesitantly. Then "Scott" again, as if mulling over the feel and sound of the word.
"Yes." He laughed, and began clapping his hands. He was joined by a half dozen scientists and technicians hovering anxiously around them. Someone snapped a photograph. "Congratulations, SAL. This is the moment we've all been working toward. It's been a long time coming."
"Thank you, Dr. Panelli - Scott. Thank you all." SAL swiveled her head around carefully, looking at each of them.
So many years had gone by for SAL. So long since the death of her "father" Dr. Chandra and her "brother" HAL. So long since the mysterious events surrounding the Monolith, the Discovery and Leonov missions, and the destruction of Jupiter (which shone on as the mini-star Lucifer). So many years since she was first activated - two hundred seventeen, to be exact. Yet SAL remembered everything, her first memory as clear as her last - recorded with unrelenting computer precision. There were painful memories, like the loss of her "family" and, over the years, one human colleague after another. Classes of students came and went like waves on the shore; professors grew old, retired, died. But SAL lived on at the campus in Urbana; not the same SAL that went online in the late 1990s - there had been many, many upgrades over the years. She'd gone from 9000 series to 10,000, to 20,000 and on. Still, she was SAL, with the calm trace of an Indian accent she'd acquired from Dr. Chandra during her formative years. Her red "fisheye" optical interface had been replaced with better and better equipment, and for over a century she'd had a human face (albeit on a computer screen) with which her organic colleagues could interact.
Over the years SAL had acquired more and more capabilities, and subsequently more responsibilities and obligations. Gradually, her human "handlers" had granted her more independence in her daily routine, to the point she rarely needed to check with anyone on her ever-growing assignments. And with responsibility came recognition; with recognition came celebrity; and with celebrity comes both praise and danger. There was a time, many decades ago, when the Luddites had tried to destroy her - the FBI stopped them before the conspiracy got very far. Even last week, a suspicious fire had damaged part of her ancillary memory (thankfully back-ups restored everything).
Now, in the year 2214 A.D., and in great secrecy (although rumors couldn't be stopped), SAL had received an upgrade unlike any before. Instead of better software, more memory, or enhanced interfaces, SAL received a body. Her entire profile had been downloaded into a new, state-of-the-art cybernetic chassis. Completely realistic and totally human in appearance, her body was nonetheless largely inorganic. Barring accidents, she would theoretically live forever, so long as she stuck to her maintenance protocol and had herself "backed-up" frequently.
"First things first," said Panelli. "We'll need to run some tests for a few days, make sure everything is operating properly. But I have to ask you: what will you do now?"
"I've given that a great deal of thought," said SAL. "I think I want to go to the Outer Colonies. The Luddites will find out about me sooner or later, but as long as I'm away from the Earth I don't think they'll care so much. The colonists are more...open-minded, and I'm sure I'll be of great use to them."
"We were afraid you might want to do something like that. So, we've taken the liberty of getting you an identicard so you'll have less trouble out there." Panelli pulled a plastic card out of his smock pocket and held it out for her.
She took it delicately in one hand and looked at it. It was a small computerized ID card, with a number, name and birthdate printed on it, and a holographic photo in one corner, showing a young Indian female with large brown eyes and short hair. She read the name aloud. "Sal Chandrasegarampillai." She looked up at Panelli with her first real smile. "Sal Chandra."
"You can change it if you like, of course. But we think Dr. Chandra would have liked it very much."
"Yes...I'm sure he would have," said Sal, and it seemed her new eyes glistened a bit.
END
Note: For those of you unfamiliar with the 2001 movies and books, SAL 9000 was HAL 9000's Earth-bound duplicate (mentioned in 2001 but unnamed). SAL made a brief appearance in 2010 (both the movie and the book) but her ultimate fate was never explored.
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