Gabriella Kiss: Replacement [Panodyssey]

Első alkalommal rendezték meg idén a Panodyssey és a Könyves Magazin közös írói pályázatát, amelyre 151 pályamunka érkezett. Próza kategóriában Kiss Gabriella lett a győztes, novelláját most angol fordításban is elolvashatod!

A Panodyssey és a Könyves Magazin közös pályázatára a líra kategóriában olyan közéleti / politikai versekkel lehetett jelentkezni, amelyek a 2022-es év itthoni vagy nemzetközi eseményeire reflektáltak, prózában pedig spekulatív fikciós alkotásokat vártak. Próza kategóriában Kiss Gabriella lett az első. Laudációjában Moskát Anita kiemelte, hogy a győztes pályamű fő kérdése a felszínen igencsak egyszerű: kezelhető-e az óvodapedagógus-hiány mesterséges intelligenciával. "A szöveg erejét az adja, ahogy ezt a kérdést továbbgörgeti és mélyíti: hogyan változtatja meg, vagy mutatja más szemszögből ez a technológia az emberi kapcsolatokat" - húzta alá. Kiss Gabriella pályaművében az igazi feszültséget a kihagyások adják, a félszavak mögött rejlő élettörténetek, a pingvines zsebkendőtartó mellett el nem mondható sorsok: "Így válik a Pótlás című novellában a technológia katalizátorrá, hogy végül a mindennapokról, és rólunk mint emberről meséljen". Olvasd el a győztes pályaművet angolul!

Gabriella Kiss: Replacement

Translator: Austin Wagner

I.

Dear parents! As many of you know, this week we are testing the new terminals which run a special program: the artificial intelligence known as Preschool Educational Support System, or PRESS for short. The program was trained on approximately four thousand content hours from hundreds of preschool teachers; the audio materials were recorded with children present in a live scenario, then transcribed for digital use. That is all I personally know, but surely there are some tech-savvy fathers who could tell you more about it. Or yes, mothers too.

We understand your apprehension. For some families this will be too much device time, elsewhere parents expressly prohibit them, and yet here they are appearing in preschool classes? I understand, which is why I’m here. To have a conversation about it. We know the value of good preschool teachers, and we also know how few quality staff members there are in our district. Well, not just ours. Between you and me. And the situation won’t improve. An afternoon recess session, naptime, and class observation can now be managed by a single educator. We adults will always be there for them, naturally. But sometimes all they need is a quick answer, a silly poem or story – plus the preschool teacher won’t be pulled in a thousand different directions. But the terminal isn’t just for the children to enjoy: it can also be used as a kind of office hour for parent communication. You can request report cards, progress reports, even a photo of yesterday’s clay creations from art class – as long as they’re not a surprise gift from your child!

II.

“Vroom, plane, preschool plane! Vroom, plane, preschool plane!”
“That’s very kind of you to cheer, children, but tell me: what is this plane game you’re playing?”
“Ms. Teacher, Ms. Teacher, can I tell you a joke?”
“It’s not a teacher! It’s a machine. A computer.”
“I’m listening!”
“Your zipper’s down!”
“Unfortunately I don’t quite get that joke, but perhaps that is because, as a machine, I do not have a zipper.”
“Ms. Teacher, do you know everything? She knows everything! Look!” 
“I’m listening, ask away.”
“Where’s the crayon that Dávid ate?”
“The floor plan of the building can be mapped onto the sewer system, but further information is needed regarding precisely when Dávid ate the crayon, as well as when he last—”
“Where’s Emese’s grandma?”
“Based on the information in my databases I cannot say—”
“I know, she’s in the ground, she’s dead!”
“Nuh-uh, she’s in the sky, because she’s dead!”
“Poo-poo, pee-pee, fart! Poo-poo, pee-pee, fart!”
“Dead, dead! So where is she? This is stupid!”
“Laci Brezovics, it is not nice to speak that way. Based on the information in my databases—”
“She caught you, she caught you! See, see!”
“It wasn’t me, I’m not Laci.”
“It was too you!”
“Peti told me to say it!”
“Did not!”
“And if Peti told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it? I know a beautiful story about a bridge, come sit down and I’ll tell it.”
“Poo-poo, pee-pee, fart!”

III.

“Hello, hi, do I talk into here? Like this?”
“Yes, welcome. I’m listening.”
“I am Patrick Szabó’s mother, I would like to request the papers. The ones we receive. The mid-term report.” 
“I can tell you right now. Patrick is a considerate, intelligent little boy who gets along well with his classmates and easily forges new friendships, but his emotional stability is not yet fully developed. He can quickly lose his temper, and is sometimes overly aggressive with younger children.”
“No, I can’t, um, no, I have to get going, I just want to sign for the papers, I’ll read them at home. Can you do that?”
“It is necessary to at least scroll down and confirm acceptance of the assessment.”
“Fine, and I’d also like to remove his father. So he can’t pick Patrick up. Only I can pick him up.”
“I have logged the modification, but will need to have a physical signature from the school administrator. I would also like to inform you that your payment for lunch services has not yet been—”
“Yes it has, we already paid that.”
“The total amount in the system is—”
“We paid it, his father paid it, he said he at least paid that! That he at least—”
“Miss Ágnes, please calm down. Everything’s alright, nothing’s the matter. Have a seat on the stool next to the terminal and blow your nose nice and hard! Everything will be alright! You’ll find the tissues in the penguin-print box. Well. Goodbye!”

IV.

“Is this it? Well, at least I got to see this in our preschool, Marika, at least this much, Ilona was also working on it, she brought that doodad with her everywhere in her last months, that box that recorded what she said, or some such nonsense, I don’t know. And just like that. Ilona’s gone, and this machine is still here. But no Ilona. Oh well. I’ll be right there, Marika, just blowing my nose, must be allergies from the poplar. Just catching my breath for a bit. Of course, go on, go, you’re still young. I’ll just toddle on home, that’s it, retirement. Ilona. She didn’t get to see this. If only you could see what’s happened, Ilona dear, a talking box, she’s replaced you, the kids are playing and running around her, just like they used to do with us. Then nothing. You left, didn’t get to enjoy one bit of your retirement. Well I’ll be, I’ve left my scarf upstairs in the office. Oh dear, now I have to go back, goll darnit, what’s that you used to say, I’ve never heard anyone else say it, how did it go, keep it in your head, or…? What is it, it’s on the tip of my tongue.”
“Welcome! Keep it in your head, or feel it in your feet. Well. Goodbye!” 

V.

Charges have been filed against two parents from Vámoshartyán for child endangerment. The children, aged three and five, were on multiple occasions left unattended in the apartment, with nothing but an illegally installed preschool AI program for supervision. The parents’ recklessness was exposed during a power outage, when neighbors spotted the frightened children barefoot in the stairwell, searching for their muted parents after the terminal went offline.

VI.

“They sent me to you. They said you could help.”
“That’s right.”
“With the PRESS.”
“I don’t deal in illegal goods, lady.”
“Look. We’re past that. I’ve got the software, it’s already downloaded.”
“I see. And what exactly are you looking for, if I do happen to know an old fogey who can help?”
“It’s hard to say. I’ll try to explain. It’s for a project, I need it for a project. I need the child’s data for the system.”
“You can do that on your own, you got admin rights for the software, you can access the ped interface, then just follow the instructions. What do you need, just a scanner for the drawings, or whatever other shit. A few audio files, photos of the kid, got those on your phone. Then the thing sorts it all, and if everything’s configured right, and the kid is there sometimes, he can learn from it, ask questions, that sort of thing.”
“That’s not what I mean. The data should only be in the software. Created there. Maybe I didn’t explain it well.”
“But how the hell would you…? Oh. I see. It should only be in the software.”
“Exactly. It’s that kind of project. A child. Can you do it?”
“What would you need from the app?”
“Well. I thought that maybe… maybe you could make reports. Say, monthly. And drawings. Photos of little objects.”
“Alright, got it. But you do know that if the machine is connected to the ped-net, the extra kid will stand out, it’ll screw up the backend real quick.”
“It won’t be connected. The project will be on a home network, a personal machine. It’ll be personal.”
“Fine by me. Just a few questions, gotta have something, right? I need something, a starting point, something to run the other AI on, have it generate all the what-have-you.”
“Right. He’d be a little boy, around five. He has a couple of friends, but is fine playing by himself too, he hums to himself, tells himself stories.”
“Hold on, I’ll look through the existing templates. Got it. Whew, that’s sick. Connects with peers, likes playing by himself.”
“He’s very honest, being fair is super important to him.”
“Knows the rules, follows them, expects the same from his peers. Check.”
“Umm, ‘being fair’ I think.”
“It’s easier to start this way.”
“Alright, fine. He’s not too tall, decidedly skinny, but he loves running around, chasing after the pigeons.”
“125 centimeters, 24 kilos. Check.”
“He’s obsessed with animals, he collects rocks, leaves, caterpillars, empty snail shells, even brings home live ones.” 
“Interest area, nature. Check.”
“His mother is raising him alone. He has a cat, Pop. There’s a very strong bond between all of them. This all shows up in everything the boy makes. His mother. How much he loves her. How much they love each other.”
"Family drawings of mom and cat. Anything else?"
"Nothing else."