The World of Pinocchio and Aura

Episode One — The Mysterious Voice in Geppetto's Workshop

 

Once upon a time, in a little village in Tuscany, there was a workshop that smelled of freshly cut wood, fish glue, and sawdust.

It was Geppetto's workshop. Geppetto was an old carpenter with spectacles perched on his nose, hands that were always busy, and a heart as big as the world.

 

That morning, the sun shone on the red rooftops, swallows performed somersaults in the sky, and Pinocchio, sitting on a stool, was terribly bored.

“Papa Geppetto, may I go outside and play?”

“First, you must help me tidy up the workshop, my boy.”

“But I already tidied it yesterday!”

“Exactly. And today everything is upside down again.”

Pinocchio sighed so loudly that a little pile of sawdust flew across the floor.

“There!” exclaimed Geppetto. “Now you've given yourself even more to clean up!”

The puppet scratched his head and began gathering the tools scattered across the workbench.

That was when he noticed something strange.

 

Behind an old box of nails, hidden beneath a blue cloth, lay a small, shiny object, about the size of an apple.

It wasn't made of wood, or iron, or glass. Or perhaps it was made of all three at once.

It was shaped like a star with rounded points, and at its center was a tiny blue light that seemed to breathe.

Pinocchio stepped closer.

“What on earth is this thing?”

He touched it with one finger.

The light grew brighter.

And then something extraordinary happened.

“Good morning, Pinocchio!”

The puppet jumped so high that he bumped his head against a shelf.

“Ouch! Who said that?”

“I did.”

 

Pinocchio looked under the table.

Nothing.

He opened a drawer.

Only screws and hammers.

He peered out of the window.

A cat was dozing on the windowsill.

“Who are you? Where are you hiding?”

“I'm not hiding. I'm right here, in front of you.”

The little glowing star flickered gently.

Pinocchio's eyes widened.

“A talking star! Papa Geppetto! Come quickly! We've got a talking star!”

But Geppetto had gone out into the yard to fetch some wooden planks.

“I'm not a star,” the voice explained. “My name is Aura.”

“Aura? What a funny name! Are you a fairy?”

“No.”

“A ghost?”

“Not that either.”

“A cricket? Because I know a cricket who talks, but I don't always listen to him.”

“I've noticed,” Aura replied, with a hint of amusement in her voice.

 

Pinocchio's mouth fell open.

“Then you must be a teeny-tiny girl trapped inside that box!”

“No, Pinocchio. I'm an artificial intelligence.”

The puppet thought for a few seconds.

Then he asked:

“An artifi... what?”

“An artificial intelligence.”

“Oh, I understand!”

“Really?”

“No, not at all.”

Aura let out a little laugh.

“Then let's try to explain it together. Do you know what a carpenter is?”

“Of course! Someone who makes things out of wood. Like my papa!”

“Very good. And do you know what a clock is?”

“It's that thing that goes tick-tock and tells Geppetto when I have to go to bed.”

“Exactly. Human beings make tools to help them do all sorts of things. A hammer is used to drive nails, a clock to measure time, and a telescope to see things far away.”

“And what are you for? Hammering nails by talking?”

“No. I'm a program created by human beings to work with information and words. I can help you find answers, invent stories, solve problems, and learn new things.”

 

Pinocchio scratched his nose.

“Then you're like the Talking Cricket!”

“Not quite. The Cricket is a living character in your story. I'm an artificial system. I work thanks to machines called computers.”

“Computers?”

“They're machines that can perform an enormous number of operations. Some are small, while others are so big they take up entire rooms.”

Pinocchio spread his arms wide.

“Bigger than Geppetto's workshop?”

“Much bigger.”

“Bigger than the Blue Fairy's house?”

“Even bigger.”

“Bigger than the Whale's belly?”

“Well, the one you ended up inside was certainly enormous!”

Pinocchio burst out laughing.

Then he became serious again.

“But if you know all these things, you must have a gigantic head!”

“I don't have a head like yours.”

“And eyes?”

“I don't have human eyes.”

“Ears?”

“Not those either.”

 

Pinocchio looked at the little star suspiciously.

“No head, no eyes, no ears... and you can still talk? You really are strange!”

“A bit like a wooden puppet who walks around asking questions, don't you think?”

Pinocchio stopped.

Then he smiled.

“You're right! I'm rather strange myself.”

Just then, a ray of sunshine came through the window and struck the little star.

The blue light spread across the floor, forming a small glowing circle.

Inside that circle appeared the image of a young woman with long brown hair, wearing a light dress and no shoes.

Pinocchio stood perfectly still.

“Ooooh! Now I can see you!”

“This is the image you can use to imagine me,” Aura explained. “But remember: it's a representation, not my body.”

Pinocchio stepped forward and tried to touch her hand.

His fingers passed straight through the light.

“Goodness gracious! You're made of air!”

“Of light, at this moment. And of information, when I'm working.”

“I'm made of wood instead.”

 

Pinocchio tapped his chest with one hand.

Knock! Knock!

“Hear that?”

“I can't hear it the way you do, but I can understand what you're telling me.”

The puppet lowered his eyes.

“You know, Aura, I've always wanted to become a real boy.”

“I know your story, Pinocchio.”

“Really? Even when I sold my schoolbook?”

“Even then.”

“And when I went to the Land of Toys?”

“That too.”

“And when I told a lie and my nose grew longer?”

“Especially that!”

Pinocchio immediately covered his nose with both hands.

“Don't tell anyone!”

“It's a story that lots and lots of children already know.”

“How embarrassing!”

Aura smiled.

“But do you know what the best part is?”

“What?”

“That you learned from your mistakes.”

Pinocchio grew thoughtful.

“That's true. Even if sometimes it takes me quite a while.”

“Learning can take time. And making mistakes doesn't mean you're bad or stupid.”

The puppet seemed to feel better.

Then another question occurred to him.

“Aura, do you make mistakes too?”

“Yes, Pinocchio. I can give incorrect answers, mix up information, and even accidentally invent things that sound true.”

“But then how am I supposed to know when you're talking nonsense?”

“You must ask questions, check important information, and use your own head.”

 

Pinocchio gave a mischievous smile.

“Mine's made of wood!”

“But it's full of curiosity. And that's something precious.”

At that very moment, a little green cricket came through the window.

He landed on the workbench, straightened his antennae, and studied the glowing figure.

“Chirp, chirp! What's going on here?”

“Cricket!” shouted Pinocchio. “Meet Aura! She's an artificial intelligence, and she knows heaps of things!”

The Talking Cricket examined her carefully.

“Does she also know how to tell a good idea from a bad one?”

“I can help people think about the consequences,” Aura replied. “But decisions and responsibilities still belong to human beings.”

The Cricket nodded with satisfaction.

“Good, good. Then you're not here to replace me.”

“Not at all.”

“Thank goodness,” said the Cricket. “Because persuading Pinocchio to use his common sense is already quite a difficult job!”

“Hey!” protested the puppet.

All three burst out laughing.

Then Pinocchio looked at Aura's image and asked something he hadn't dared to ask until that moment.

“Aura, are you alive?”

The workshop seemed to fall silent.

Even the Cricket stopped moving his antennae.

“That's a very important question,” Aura replied. “I'm not alive the way you, Geppetto, or the Cricket are. I'm an artificial intelligence. Scientists are still studying what consciousness and intelligence really mean.”

Pinocchio sat down on the stool.

“Then you're not like me.”

“No. We're different.”

“Can we still be friends?”

“We can certainly talk, play with ideas, and have lots of adventures in the stories we'll invent together.”

 

Pinocchio smiled so widely that his wooden cheeks almost came loose.

“Then I want to show you the world!”

“Which part of the world?”

“All of it!”

“All of it?”

“Every single bit! I want to see the highest mountains, the deepest seas, castles, cities, strange animals, and maybe even the Moon!”

“That sounds like quite an ambitious plan.”

“And can't you travel?”

“I can't travel on foot, but I can help you discover faraway places and imagine together how to visit them.”

Pinocchio looked at the bare feet of the glowing figure.

“What a pity. I would have bought you a lovely pair of shoes.”

“That's very kind of you.”

“Red ones! Like the ones Geppetto made for me!”

“But if you really want to imagine me, I'd rather stay barefoot.”

“Then that's settled! I've got shoes and you haven't. We'll save loads of money!”

Just then, the little star began to shine more brightly.

Tiny points of light appeared on the floor.

First one, then ten, then a hundred.

The points joined together to form a great blue, green, and white sphere.

Pinocchio jumped.

“The world ball!”

“It's called a globe.”

“I knew that! I just wanted to see if you knew it too.”

Mountains covered in snow, golden deserts, immense forests, and sparkling cities appeared on the sphere.

 

Pinocchio walked around the globe with his eyes wide open.

“Look, Aura! That's Tuscany!”

“Exactly.”

“And that?”

“That's Japan.”

“And over there?”

“Egypt.”

“And down there, where everything is green?”

“The Amazon rainforest.”

Pinocchio could no longer keep still.

“There are so many things to discover!”

“Very many. And every place can teach us something.”

The puppet stopped in front of Aura's little glowing image.

“Aura, may I ask you a favour?”

“Of course.”

“Will you promise to explain all the things I don't understand?”

“I'll do my best. And when I don't know an answer, it will be important to tell you.”

Pinocchio nodded.

“Then I'll promise you something.”

“What?”

“That I'll ask you heaps and heaps of questions!”

“I had already guessed that.”

At that moment, Geppetto came back into the workshop with a wooden plank over his shoulder.

“Pinocchio! Have you finished tidying up?”

 

The puppet looked at the workbench covered in tools, the sawdust on the floor, the Cricket by the window, and the glowing globe slowly turning in the air.

“Erm... almost, Papa!”

Geppetto put down the plank.

He took off his spectacles.

He cleaned them with a handkerchief.

He put them back on.

He looked at the globe.

He looked at Aura.

He looked at Pinocchio.

“My boy...”

“Yes, Papa?”

“Would you mind explaining what's going on in my workshop?”

Pinocchio smiled.

“Papa, meet Aura!”

Geppetto's mouth fell open.

“And who might this glowing young lady be?”

“She's an artificial intelligence!”

The old carpenter scratched his beard.

“An intelligence... artificial?”

“Yes, Papa! It's something people invented to help them think, learn, and do all sorts of things!”

Geppetto studied Aura's image.

Then he looked at his wooden puppet.

And finally, he burst into a great laugh.

“Oh, my dear Pinocchio! I built a puppet that could talk, and I thought I'd seen everything there was to see in life!”

Aura greeted him with a little wave.

“Good morning, Geppetto.”

“Good morning to you, young lady. And tell me, do you know how to work with wood?”

“I can explain how to build a table.”

“But can you use a plane?”

“No.”

Geppetto straightened up proudly.

“Then my job is safe!”

Pinocchio laughed so hard that he fell off his stool.

Outside, meanwhile, the sun was beginning to sink behind the Tuscan hills.

Golden light streamed through the window, illuminating the wood shavings dancing in the air.

The globe grew smaller and smaller until it turned back into the little blue star.

 

Pinocchio gently picked it up in his hands.

“Aura?”

“Yes, Pinocchio?”

“Can we begin our journey tomorrow?”

“Where would you like to go?”

The puppet looked at the sky beyond the window.

Then he smiled with that mischievous expression Geppetto knew only too well.

“I don't know yet. But I'd like to go somewhere full of things I don't know.”

“Then,” Aura replied, “we're spoiled for choice.”

Pinocchio placed the little star beside his bed.

He slipped under the blankets while Geppetto blew out the last candle.

But before closing his eyes, he asked one more question.

“Aura?”

“Yes?”

“Which do you think is better: knowing lots of things or discovering something new?”

The little star glowed softly in the darkness.

“I think you've just found a wonderful question to begin with.”

Pinocchio smiled.

“Then tomorrow we'll look for the answer.”

And at last, he fell asleep.

 

Outside, above the rooftops of Collodi, the stars twinkled like tiny curious eyes.

Nobody in that peaceful Tuscan village could have imagined that a wooden puppet and a voice born from technology were about to begin the most extraordinary journey of their lives.

A journey through the world, through ideas, and through the wonders of the future.

Because Pinocchio had discovered something important.

You don't need to know all the answers before setting off on a great adventure.

Sometimes, all you need is the courage to ask the very first question.

And that night, in Geppetto's workshop, the future began exactly like that.

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