“What have we got?!” Frank asked excitedly.
Alison didn’t reply. She simply smiled and watched their expressions as they reached the desk and saw for themselves.
“Right on!” Lee exclaimed thrusting a clenched fist in the air. “Three words!” He grabbed the mouse and clicked on a button labeled “vocabulary” which brought up a small window with the three words listed within it; Hello, Yes, No.
Everyone shouted in excitement and pressed into a clumsy group hug. Alison took a deep breath and covered her mouth with her hands, trying to keep calm.
Lee looked at the details of each word. “Look at the accuracy, seventy-seven, seventy-eight, eighty-one!” He smiled broadly. “Can you believe it, the damn things actually works!”
“We don’t know that yet,” Alison said. They tried to remain calm but couldn’t seem to wipe the excitement off their faces. “This may very well be an error.” They all turned toward the tank. Dirk and Sally were watching them from the other side of the glass, slowly moving themselves back and forth.
“They’re watching us,” Chris said.
Alison smiled and approached the tank, placing her palm gently on the glass. “They’ve probably never seen us this excited before.”
Lee looked at Alison. “So…what do we do now?”
Everyone turned back to Frank, and he knew why. Part of the project’s planning naturally covered what they would do in the event that the system actually translated something. The protocol they agreed upon called for a series of data checks and careful documentation. Of course those procedures left out one big factor, the sheer excitement and elation of the thing actually working.
Frank looked serious for a moment but was finally unable to suppress the smile. “Let’s at least try to maintain some protocol. Chris, grab a video camera and we’ll document later.”
Chris ran across the room and picked up a small camcorder while Lee slid into his chair. He powered the camcorder on and pointed it at Lee’s monitor.
Lee took a deep breath and typed out the word Hello. He looked at them over his shoulder and clicked the large button labeled “Translate”.
Nothing happened.
Chris began to speak when Lee held up a hand and stopped him. Finally, from the underwater speaker submerged within the dolphin’s tank, a high pitched sound emerged followed by two distinct clicks.
Dirk and Sally suddenly turned and looked at the speaker. They swam over and examined it closely. They looked from the speaker back to the team on the other side of the glass, then back to the speaker again, where Dirk bumped it gently with his nose. Sally swam closer to the side of the tank, briefly opening her mouth and returning the same sound with two clicks.
Suddenly the word Hello appeared again on the monitor just below the word Lee had typed.
11
Alison felt a lump in her throat. She was so overcome with emotion and excitement at the same time that she could barely move. Still grinning, she watched Chris and Lee trying to quickly verify the camera had recorded correctly. Frank was sitting on the edge of a desk behind Lee’s chair, staring at the screen in a daze. She knew what he was thinking. Beneath the initial excitement lay a blanket of doubt. After all they had only exchanged one word. This could still be a fluke, or a computer error, or sheer luck. But Sally had clearly spoken something back to them. Was it an actual exchange or were they simply repeating what they heard?
“No problems with the camera. We’re good.” Chris swung the camera back around to Lee’s monitor.
Lee looked over his shoulder. “What next?”
“Try it again. Let’s make sure we’re not hallucinating here.”
Lee nodded and for the second time typed Hello. This time clicking the translate button without hesitation. Again the sounds were repeated through the underwater speaker. Chris swung the camera to Dirk and Sally.
Sally swam in a tight circle excitedly and came back to the glass. She repeated the same sounds and the word Hello appeared again on the Lee’s screen. He repeated the exchange a third time and again Sally replied.
“There was no delay through the speaker this time,” Lee thought out loud. “Which means that when IMIS translates a word for the first time it becomes permanent. It is learning.”
Alison took a deep breath. Lee was right, this was not a fluke. But it didn’t mean that the word actually meant “hello” either. It could still be gibberish and Sally simply repeated it for them. Even some human languages were so complex that the slightest variations in tone or inflection could make the language nearly impossible to learn. The Navajo language was a perfect example. Their system was so complicated that unless you were born into the language, you would never be able to fully grasp it as an adult. This was the reason it was so successful when used in World War II against the Japanese. Could the dolphin’s language be the same way? Could IMIS think it was translating something that it actually wasn’t?
Chris pulled back from the camera’s eyepiece. “Now what?”
Alison leaned forward. “The question is whether we have enough words for actual context. Send another word.”
Lee typed the word Yes and slowly clicked the translate button.
After several long seconds the speaker finally emitted a slightly different sound. This time Dirk swam over and joined Sally at the glass. No longer interested in the speaker he spoke first this time repeating the pattern. The word Yes appeared on the screen as the second incoming word.
“Unbelievable,” said Frank, running his hand through his hair.
Alison walked over to the tank, and looked through the glass just a few feet from Dirk and Sally. Were they talking? She wasn’t so sure.
Suddenly Sally made several long screeches and clicks. She swam again in a circle and repeated it.
The four looked at each other then back at the screen as Chris swiveled the camera back over Lee’s shoulder. They all held their breath.
Finally after a long pause the computer beeped with large red letters appearing in the translated window. Unable to Translate.
“I figured as much,” said Lee. “Until IMIS has identified them, it won’t recognize new words.” He turned back to the others. “It appears we’re a little limited with three words.”
“Do we know for sure that it’s working?” asked Frank.
Lee forced himself to remain objective. “I think so, but it’s too early to tell.”
“Let’s at least try the last word,” he said.
Lee nodded and typed the word No. Clicking the translate button got the same response, again from Dirk.
After a long silence Alison frowned and folded her arms. “We need to wait for more words.”
Alison rubbed her eyes and looked up at Chris’ silhouette. “What time is it?” she asked, looking around her darkened office.
“Almost five. The sun will be up soon.”
She nodded. “What’s up? Did something happen?”
“We got another word.”
“Really?! What?” She rolled off the cot and jumped up.
“Come and see.”