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Ace Dreamer

Self Model - 06/Jun/2012
Before Spring, 2008, UK.
Leaving home.  For the Moon.  But, Brains didn't want to loose his cottage, the dower house.  If things went really badly wrong he wanted to have somewhere to come back to.
The place would have to be credible.  It would have to look as if he was still living here.  He guessed it would be possible to rig a radio link to the Moon, maybe routed through at least a couple of satellites, in Earth and Lunar orbits. But, the light-speed delay would mean that using the telephone wouldn't work. Though the Internet would.  Fortunately, he did most things through asynchronous communications, like e-mails and forums.
He wondered...  Searching under his workbench he dug out the old joke 2mm diorama he'd made.  It showed this very workshop, with him in his wheelchair, working on a diorama of his workshop.  Some of the detail in the diorama-within-a-diorama he'd done with a microscope.  With a bit of work he could extend the diorama to include the rest of the cottage, even the garden.  Then, use this as the basis to make a stand-in for himself.  "As Above, So Below."
If he corrected, then waved the diorama, maybe something else would be possible. The version of himself within the diorama could wave the sub-version within his 2um diorama, after he'd checked all the detail was right.  Then, that would give him a version of himself who could do work at a 2um level, a million times smaller than working at the human-scaled two metre level.  Micro scale, not nano scale, but still...  Possibilities...
But, first priority was his stand-in.  He'd better look like him, feel like him, to things like handshakes, but bad breath and medical exams seemed a bit excessive.  Needing to eat and drink, defecate, seemed best avoided, as that would increase his food bill, if he was shipping food to the Moon, to eat himself.  Rest and sleep, he'd better match that to his own pattern.  And, similar hobbies and interests.
Brains looked at his double, sitting in an identical-looking copy of his wheel chair, though Brains was pretty sure it didn't have all the waved 'special functions'.  "I suppose I should tell you about the pain in all the diodes, down my left side"[1], said the double, in gloomy voice.  "Don't worry.  I'm probably not sentient.  So I wont have any human rights."
Brain was struck dumb.  What had he done?  Half an hour later he was a lot happier.  The golem, as he guessed it was, didn't seem to be actually sentient, though he was highly responsive in a way that matched Brain's personality, particularly in his darker moments.  Around Brains he answered to the name "Brainless", though 'Brian' seemed to be what he used to others.  He didn't think he'd created a crime against humanity, though he guessed that was for the future to decide.
Brainless didn't seem to do any planning, he just followed existing patterns, and dealt with any problems in ways Brains had dealt with them previously.  Brains did admit he wasn't too good at planning, himself, unless prodded into it.  Brainless did seem to be able to deal with new situations, such as being faced with a double in the form of Brains, but his approaches lacked originality.  Though, Brains guessed, they often seemed to show a streak of dark humour, which he had to admit he recognised.
Basic model making and painting seemed to be within his abilities, and he worked with a attention to detail, that Brain didn't feel he could always manage himself.  He also seemed to be a workable engineer and programmer, though lacking 'flare'.
"Yes", he said out loud.  "I think this is workable."
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

Ace Dreamer

META "Self Model"

This follows "Making Friends".
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind