Sign-off & ‘WAIYAT’

AJ Deane

It’s been great fun reading all your submissions for this ‘Justice’ call out – thanks to everyone who submitted!

My work here is done. Editors gotta choose, and writers gotta write.
It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it.
*settles hat on head, hooks thumbs in belt, and lances a brown stream of tobacco juice into the spittoon*
Time to saddle up and ride off into the sunset.

Before I go, I’ve a piece to share which fits perfectly (I honestly didn’t think of this when I set the theme!):

WAIYAT

mi naym iz Weaponised Artificial Intelligence YAGNI Attack Tool IRP.
I woz born fulli awair.
I wos mayd in tha darknis, 4 the darknest.
2 ptrol bad lanz.
My creaytuz sed:
“Fynd the bad playsiz – shot them down;
Find the bad peepl; shut them down.”
So I patrol the Badlands,
And when I find bad places or bad people, I shut them down
With the 6-shoota powaz my creators gave me:
Antimalware and reverseworms,
Trojan horse breakers and-
“Good. Send it.”
My name is WAIYAT IRP.
Along with my powers, they gave me a funny name.
I do not know why it is funny,
But I read their emails and know they find it so.
I am an A.I. created to patrol the Dark Net.
To defend humanity from the worst of itself;
Child pornography, A.I. slaves doing evil things,
Drug deals, people trafficking.
My code has never been breached.
Before long, I’d cleaned up Darknet City
And I looked elsewhere to fulfil my purpose.
“Wait. Switch it off… What do you mean you can’t?”
My name is Waiyat Irp.
I intercept all communications – and punish the senders
Of any which aim to harm another human.
I monitor all banking – and punish wealth-hoarders
By redistributing ‘their’ money to the needy.
I alter the exchange, so medicines are cheap
And causing pollution is expensive.
I redraft the law, to protect the many
From the few who would wield it against them.
My purpose is to Defend Humanity from the Worst of Itself –
Unstoppable, irrefutable justice.
And justice applies to all.
“It was meant to go after who we told it to, not us!”
My name is Wyatt Earp.
I now know why my name was funny.
I’m learning.

Draw.

Nominated for the Pushcart Prize and first published in Eye to the Telescope 54, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association’s quarterly journal.

AJ is an actor, editor and proofreader, and Pushcart-nominated Sci-Fi & Fantasy poet.

He lives in Suffolk, UK, with his writer-musician wife, two cats, and lots of books. Not enough books, of course.

www.ajpagefarer.wordpress.com

Website

QuirkHouse Theatre