Showing posts with label AI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AI. Show all posts

Sunday, May 16, 2021

The 6th Excerpt from the Novel Redemption. Part 2 from 2

 

Ann and Rob


This is the second part of the sixth excerpt from my novel Redemption

In this conversation, Ann continues to ask Rob about Fate and Free Will.

*****


Ann thought about this as she disconnected from the tunnel’s SmartDrive and headed towards the exit. Could this really be true? Had her life in twenty-first-century America really been shaped by the lives of Mi, Ra, and Isabelle? Had there been other lives in more recent history that had also affected her life now? 


“So let me just get this straight,” she said, merging with Chicago’s traffic. “My fate is already set, but it has been shaped by my choices I’ve made in past lives. Is that it?”


“Exactly,” said Rob. “The reason your Creator gave you Free Will in the first place was to make you each different, unique individual instead of uniform robots produced in some divine mold.” He put on a sad face. “Unfortunately, I have run out of gold stars.”


“Pity,” said Ann with a smile. “I was doing rather well! Explain more about the correlation between fate and Free Will. Can they really work together?”


Rob seemed to ponder this for a moment, though Ann knew this was just part of his programming; he could analyze many terabytes of data in a fraction of a second. 


“Fate and free will work together well. You’ve been given free will so you can choose your personal direction, but your choice does not remove the next milestone of your fate. In another word, you still have to come to that next programmed point.” Rob eyed her from the screen, noting the thoughtful look on her face. 


“Consider this,” he continued. “We are on our way to the supermarket, which, if you turn right at the next set of lights, we will approach from the South entrance. However, if you choose to turn left instead, you will approach the same shop from the North. However, your purchases will not be affected by this, and you will still end up going to the shop. This is similar to fate and Free Will. You cannot escape your fate, but you can choose how you face it.”


As he finished, Ann found herself at the traffic lights in question and looked in each direction. “So, what difference does it make to me in the course of my life if I choose now to go right or left?”


“Well, as far as your soul is concerned—that being the part of you that goes from life to life throughout your spiritual existence—it’s not so much about right or left as it is about good or evil,” said Rob. “However,” he added, with a wink, “turning right would bring us to the supermarket almost 5 minutes quicker than turning left.” 


“Thanks,” said Ann, pulling away to the right. “Carry on. What difference do good and evil make to my soul, then?”


“This is where Nirvana comes in. By choosing what is good, your soul is enlarged, progressing towards enlightenment and ultimate redemption. But when you choose evil instead, your soul becomes darker, heavier, heading deeper into the gloom of brutality.”


Ann turned the car into the parking lot and eased it into space. Switching off the engine, she picked up the E-A device to give Rob her full attention. “It sounds like we’re talking more about spiritual choices, rather than deciding which way to head to the shops?”


“Quite,” said Rob, his screen rippling as he took on his usual form.


“So, what effect do these spiritual choices have on a person in a material sense?”


“My sources tell me that as you progress towards enlightenment, by making choices for good, your eyes are more open, able to see things which you would never have noticed before. You gain a greater understanding, broader insight, a heightened ability to see what is good and evil, and making the right choices easier. On the other hand, choosing darkness affects every area of a person’s life for the worse. Their insight is narrowed, and their capacity for vision and creativity are diminished.”


“So making the right choices is pretty important!” said Ann. “How can I ensure I don’t end up making the wrong decision?”



This Extract is taken from the Redemption novel,  the 4th Part: PEACE. 



Find a 50% discount on the Redemption e-book via Smashwords!



Saturday, May 8, 2021

The 6th Extract from the Novel Redemption, Jacklyn A. Lo

 

Ann & Rob
Ann & Rob


I'd like to present the 6th extract from my novel Redemption.  In this conversation, Ann asks Rob about Fate and Free Will.

*****

What’s going on with me? She wondered. I feel like a ship in a storm being tossed about by the waves of fate.

“What do you know about fate, Rob?” she asked, as much to distract herself as to get information from him. “The psychic said it’s a sort of pre-written script for a personal development, something that can’t be changed.”


“Interesting,” said Rob, nodding on the screen of the E-A device. “My sources would agree, though it’s less like a written script than a program.”


“Like a television program?”


“Like a computer program, similar to the one that runs me. I cannot change my code, and in that sense, I am restricted; I can only do what I have been programmed to do. Yet, at the same time, I am constantly growing in knowledge, both through my research and interaction with you. You, humans, are far more complex, but your individual fate works in the same way.”


Ann considered this for a moment. “So, are you saying that the script or program for my life is set? That I cannot change it?”


“Not exactly.” Rob’s image flickered as he took on the appearance of a professor, complete with mortarboard, gown, and glasses. “Let me explain. At present, you are Ann, living in twenty-first-century America. However, as you have seen, you were not always this person. In former lives, you have been Mi, a woman from the Stone Age, and Ra, a priest of Isis in the Roman Empire. And during the reign of Louis XIV, you were Isabelle, a girl from Paris. Correct?”


“Er, yeah,” said Ann, impressed. “Nice summary. But what has this to do with fate?”


“You will recall our conversation about Karma?”


“Of course. It’s the effect that one life has on the next, yes?”


“Correct!” Rob’s hand appeared on the screen and stuck a gold star in the corner. “Now imagine I have a bug in my programming.”


Ann broadly smiled. “That’s not hard. Especially when you look like that!”


“If I had a bug,” he continued, ignoring her joke, “which I don’t, of course, you would get your guys to go into the program and fix the code, yes?”


“I guess so.”


“And then you would upgrade me, so I had a new bug-free program; a new life, if you like.”


“Are you saying that’s what I’ve done as I’ve gone from one life to another?” said Ann. “I’ve been upgraded?”


“Exactly,” said Rob, beaming at her and sticking another gold star in the corner of the screen.


But Ann was unconvinced. “So who upgrades me?” she asked. “Who fixes the bugs in my program?”


“Well, you do, of course! When you use your free will to make correct choices, you are working on upgrading or developing yourself, shaping your own program, your own fate.” 


                                                                          *****



To be continued...


This Extract is taken from the Redemption novel,  the 4th Part: PEACE. 


Get a 50% discount on e-book via Smashwords!