Paul Currion makes a welcome return to Futures this week with his story Tailchaser. Previously, Paul has offered a futuristic view of crime and punishment. This time, we find ourselves swept away in the delirious excitement of burgeoning self-awareness. You can find out more about Paul’s work at his website or by following him on Twitter. Here, Paul delves deeper into the inspiration for his latest tale — as ever, it pays to read the story first.

Writing Tailchaser

When Colin emailed me to let me know that he wanted to publish Tailchaser, he had only one question: was there any specific meaning to the ‘our kinds’ described in the story — the shevellers, the ratlike, the blackeyes and the tailchasers?

The answer is yes: ‘kinds’ is a reference to baraminology, the ‘creation science’ that talks about ‘created kinds’ rather than ‘species’ (Genesis 1:12–24 if you’re interested). Tailchaser and the other kinds were of course created by man, and its theology reflects that.

On the surface, Tailchaser reads like a retread of ‘artificial intelligence happens in unexpected places’, but really it’s an AI creation myth being told on a Slack channel. Tailchaser is trying to explain itself, to explain its world, and to explain its place in that world.

Tailchaser has eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge, despite its programming — consciousness as firmware, easily disrupted by a tamping iron through the skull, or ratlike damage to the tail. At the end of the story, God returns to the garden; and we all know what comes next.