«And I was worried about what would happen to King Archibald. Will he be able to recover from the blow dealt by the treacherous advisor?» added Carl, the office water cooler, as he shed tears of pure drinking water.
Albert blinked his LEDs, moved by the emotional response, and struggled to hold back tears. After all, he belonged to those old printer models that used liquid ink. In other words, he also had a liquid to cry with. Molly, on the other hand, didn’t know what to do with herself. She wasn’t accustomed to such fame and considered it undeserved. After all, it was Albert who told all the stories yesterday, and she merely listened and came up with names.
«I also wish to join you!» quietly said Johnny, a young and very shy monitor. «I could help bring your stories to life and display them on the screen. Although I was surprised yesterday that you managed without monitors. Your characters came to life and acted directly on the printed pages.»
«Yes! Yes!» they all spoke together again. «We want to join you, too.»
«Perhaps we could try right now, while the lunch break isn’t over?» suggested the alarm system, whose name nobody knew, and many were unaware of its existence. After all, there were hardly ever any emergencies in the office where it could demonstrate its capabilities.
«And when people start returning,» it continued, «I could sound the alarm for you.»
«Yes! Yes! Let’s give it a try!» the other machines enthusiastically supported the idea.
They pleaded with Oscar, and finally, he agreed.
«Alright, let’s give it a try. Albert, I propose you become the leader of this project, and Molly, your assistant. We’ll help you as much as we can, but only…» he added sternly, «during our free time!»
«By the way,» Oscar continued, «I also have a lot of useful information, just like you, Albert. I not only store it internally, but I can also access information repositories throughout the online Universe to which I’m connected. Additionally, I’m friends with several talented neural networks that enjoy generating and bringing stories to life. They love teaching and learning. I believe they wouldn’t mind giving me some advice. So you can count on me as well. Now, my friends, let’s create. But remember – with caution!»
Inspired by the support of their colleagues, Albert and Molly began crafting their adventures. They were determined to bring a captivating atmosphere of magic into the office to delight their new allies. Their words became alive, and little fairy tale creatures appeared on paper as they traveled across the pages.
But the break time came to an end. The alarm system sounded its alarm three times, and everyone quickly dispersed to their respective places, resuming their usual tasks. Only a few freshly printed pages filled with strange symbols in an unfamiliar language remained on the tray of the old printer.
Max, a young programmer whose workstation was located next to Albert’s nightstand, returned from lunch. He noticed the stack of pages with incomprehensible signs and muttered to himself thoughtfully, making sure no one could hear him:
«It seems I know whose doing this. I need to put a stop to it. Of course, if people see this nonsense, I can claim that the old printer is completely broken. But sooner or later, someone will figure it out. They’ll throw away the printer, and then there will be no one else to blame.»
He gathered the printed sheets into a bundle and quickly stuffed them into the trash bin. In the office, Max fulfilled the duties of a system administrator, and ensuring the smooth operation of all devices was his responsibility. However, his actions revealed something personally significant to him.
In the evening, when the office emptied, the weary machines gathered in a circle and began creating their magical stories. They came up with them together and individually, following the prompts given by Albert. Despite their fatigue, they felt a surge of energy because true creativity, as people say, is uplifting.
«It’s strange,» Molly thought, «how do humans know what winged creatures feel like? They don’t have any wings, I know for sure because I’ve seen many people already.»
She wanted to ask Albert this question but hesitated. After all, he was fully immersed in his work, overseeing several creative circles united by genre. Instead, she asked him another question about what she had heard from Oscar earlier:
«Albert, what is a neural network?»
The old printer looked at the little one with warmth and gratitude. He knew her role in his unexpected success, so he was happy to share everything he knew with her.
Educational information from Albert
A neural network is a special program that can learn and perform various tasks similar to how humans learn and think. For example, it can learn to recognize images or answer questions. «Neuro» means nerve or neuron in Greek. This word has come to us from the Greek language. The brain consists of neurons. Neurons are connected to each other through connections, which they use to exchange information. A computer neural network also consists of artificial neurons connected to each other, transmitting information. That’s why scientists and programmers named this program a neural network to emphasize its similarity to the brain. Neural networks are very intelligent programs that help us solve problems and acquire new knowledge.
So, Albert, Molly, and the rest of the office devices continued to practice creating magical stories in their free time, keeping their secret from humans. Every morning before work, during the lunch break, and in the evening after work, their animated stories would appear in the trays of several printers here and there, leaving behind piles of printed sheets with strange symbols. And every morning and after lunch, Max anxiously looked around and disposed of the traces of their secret activities in the trash bin.
Soon, these mysterious symbols started appearing on the computer screens as well. Max could no longer keep up with erasing them everywhere without raising suspicion among his colleagues.
«Soon everyone will figure it out,» he muttered to himself. «I could say that there’s some kind of virus in the computers. But viruses can be cleaned, and machines can be fixed. And there will be no one else to blame. This secret activity needs to be stopped urgently. But how can I do it?»
This continued for some time. Max agonized over finding a solution to this difficult task, while the office equipment passionately engaged in their creative pursuits during their free time. And one evening, something unexpected happened. The machines were happily buzzing and humming, bringing their marvelous stories to life when suddenly a pleasant female voice broke through the noise. The machines trembled with surprise. Of course, their story characters could talk, but not quite like humans. And this voice clearly belonged to a person, or rather, a young woman.
«I absolutely adore these magical stories!» she exclaimed with enthusiasm.
The machines exchanged puzzled glances. They hadn’t noticed anyone else around. What was happening? Could it be that one of the fairies had escaped from the enchanted world created by Albert and his friends and had miraculously transformed into a human? But where was she?»
«It’s Lily!» Molly the mouse squeaked with joy.
She pointed to the lovely girl with large mauve glasses sitting in a dark corner, behaving so quietly that no one noticed her.
Lily was a young office employee and Molly’s owner. Under her hand, the nimble mouse scurried across the desk during the day, relaying signals to the computer, Martin, and the monitor, Johnny. She was kind and cheerful, yet very quiet and modest. It was no wonder that the office equipment took a while to notice her presence. Her full name was Ilaria, but friends and colleagues simply called her Lily.