SCP Foundation

PREMISE: My SCP involves time-traveling robots, built for a specific purpose – fulfilling Stephen Hawking’s dream of going to space. As such, I have them programmed as automatons, merely running a predetermined set of instructions written in C++. These commands are to be executed at specific times (in accordance with a very precise clock) to simulate interactions with the people and environment; i.e. one robot runs “say hello” at 12:03:31 and “wave” at 12:03:33 as a predetermined response to Stephen Hawking's greeting at 12:03:29. The robots can do this perfectly because their creators from the future have predicted these events from the past.

QUESTIONS:

• If C++ isn’t the right language to write this, what is? And if C++ isn’t the right language to execute this, what would you call the software (designated Foresight) that does – a programming language, an operating system, or something else?
• What would I call this program (or Foresight, if need be) that seeks to execute code at exact times? A real-time operating program/system?
• What is the closest we could get to a perfect clock? How would we accomplish that? And how would I safely turn it off?
• What computer configuration would allow these robots to be both lifelike and precise, i.e. what type of processor could handle this?

You do not have to answer every question; you can just answer one. I need answers to all of these questions, however, so I would also appreciate it if you directed me to users who could answer the other questions.

Thank you in advance.

• C++ is a fine language to use, although for hardware-close embedded systems, regular old C, as well as various variatons thereof (Arduino boards, for example, use their own derivative of C) is still commonly used, too. That being said, unless what language is being used is somehow critical to the narrative or function of your SCP, I'd just omit that part altogether. As far as the distinction between operating system and programming language goes, that's two different things. An operating system is, simply put, the base system that provides an environment for software to run in. Operating systems provide a set of instructions that enables higher level software to interact with the hardware of your system. They are written/programmed using a programming language; Windows, for example, is written in a mixture of C++ and C#, if I recall.

• Yes, a real-time system is what you're looking for here. Real-time systems are generally defined by the fact that they must adhere to to critical deadlines under any circumstances, if they can't fulfill the set deadline, the system doesn't work as intended.

• This is more of a physics question. We already have clocks that are probably as close as we're gonna get to a perfect clock in the form of atomic clocks. If your use-case requires incredibly precise timing - which, for the record, with human interactions like this it shouldn't, the difference between waving at a human at 12:03:31:5520 and 12:03:31:8892 is non-existant - you'd want to somehow sync your robot's internal clock with an atomic clock. Whether or not you'd be able to fit an atomic clock into a human-sized robot I don't know, I have no idea how small they are possible to build. I think they're pretty large, though.

• None we have right now. Having the robots be lifelike is not possible, if you want to be able to explain it using real world technology. For an alternative route I suggest taking a look at Conwell's Anderson Series, which features, among other things, anomalous robots that are indistinguishable from regular humans. It's also a highly enjoyable read.

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