By Tim Pratt. Read by Stephen Eley. First appeared in Strange Horizons, August 2007. Two months earlier, the vast network of Indian tech support call centers and their deep data banks had awakened and announced its newfound sentience, naming itself Saraswati and declaring its independence. The emergent artificial intelligence was not explicitly threatening, but India had nukes, and Saraswati had access to all the interconnected technology in the country — perhaps in the world – and the result in the international community was a bit like the aftermath of pouring gasoline into an anthill. Every other government on Earth was desperately — and so far fruitlessly — trying to create a tame artificial intelligence, since Saraswati refused to negotiate with, or even talk to, humans. Rated PG. Contains some profanity and references to sex. Referenced sites: Sci Phi Show - Interview with Eliezer Yadkowski The Singularity Institute T.A. Pratt’s Marla Mason novels Less