Emergent: An Aes Sidhe Prequel

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Emergent: An Aes Sidhe Prequel Page 11

by A. Omukai


  “Which way?” The words of the American jerked her out of her thoughts.

  “Follow me. I’ve never taken the Trans Siberian Railway, but I know where everything is.”

  She didn’t need a mini-map of the place to orient herself. Her father had taken her here many times, he himself an old train fanatic.

  Their tickets were digital. Unlike Europe, security wasn’t such a big issue here. Someone had paid the fare, nobody cared who used the seats. Two tickets, two people entering, keeping it simple.

  Only hand luggage meant less inconvenience. It also made them stand out, but they were in luck. They were the only two people in their cabin.

  The Trans Siberian Railway was expensive, and that showed. The seats and table were made of real wood, not the cheap synthetics one would normally see. It even smelled like wood, she guessed.

  Just when she looked through the window in the door, she saw a familiar face pass through. Had he seen her?

  The man’s face returned, showing a frown. He yanked the door open.

  “Nadya! What are you doing here?”

  Maksim stared at her and ignored her companion completely. He didn’t enter, but he held the door open and didn’t budge.

  “None of your business,” she growled. “Close the door, it’s cold!”

  Maksim laughed. Still the same, dirty laugh.

  “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

  She bit back the curse on her tongue. He wouldn’t make her lose her temper again.

  “Get out. You’re not welcome here.”

  He laughed again.

  “Don’t be such a bitch. You know you still owe me money.”

  The rustling of cloth on the other seat captured her attention. Collins shot up, grabbed Maksim by the collar and jerked him into the room, then rammed him against the automatically closing door.

  “She said you’re not welcome here.”

  Nadya was as surprised as Maksim looked. This was the only language the boss of her former gang understood, but he was rarely alone, and he’d be likely to come back.

  “Who the fuck are you? Blyat.” He spit Collins in the face.

  Collins replied with his elbow. A dry cracking sound, then Maksim’s howl. Collins dragged him on the seat and leaned on his throat with his forearm.

  “This is a private cabin. You’re a trespasser. Do you know what we do with trespassers where I come from?”

  “You’re a fucking American!”

  “So you know what I’ll do with you.”

  “You won’t kill me on the train. My friends will look for me, and when they find me, you’ll be in deep sh—”

  His sentence ended in a gurgle, as the thug’s airways were shut forcefully.

  The train started up and gained speed fast. Collins sat down and let Maksim glide off the seat.

  Her old boss dropped to the ground and against her seat with a thud. His eyes flickered and he relaxed.

  “He didn’t joke around when he said his friends would come for him,” she said.

  “That’s all right. There’s still empty seats,” the American answered and grinned.

  ***

  They didn’t have to wait for too long. Only a few minutes later, she saw a small group of four men pass their cabin without looking inside.

  “I think it’s them,” she said. Maksim still lay on the ground, unconscious. Drool ran from his mouth, mixed with blood from his broken nose, and formed a small puddle on the ground.

  “They’ll search more thoroughly on their second pass.”

  Collins sat on his seat, looked at Maksim’s figure, then got up and rummaged through his clothes. He pulled a small gun from his jacket and stuffed it in his own. Now he was armed again, but four versus two was still bad odds.

  “Can you keep him under control when he wakes up?” He looked her in the eyes.

  “I think so. What’s your plan?”

  “I wouldn’t call it a plan. Just stay here and make sure he doesn’t run off. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  He didn’t wait for an answer, not that she’d had one anyway. He was already out in the corridor and shut the door with a subdued bang. A small moan from down at her feet. Maksim wasn’t back yet, but he wouldn’t stay unconscious forever.

  The scar on her left thigh burned and reminded her of her short relationship with the gangster. He wouldn’t get anywhere.

  Nadya didn’t carry a gun, but she reminded herself of the reason she now sat in this train in the first place. The shitface wouldn’t get in her way.

  The train rattle prevented her from hearing anything outside her compartment. The landscape flew past at breakneck speed, and it was still accelerating.

  She stared into the distance and thought of her friends.

  19

  Makoto

  What would Uehara really use the positronic for, once it was set up and running? Looking at the code, with all it’s Chinese annotations, it seemed possible to have a general AI, aware of itself, be unaware of limits imposed on it from its very core. It would be possible to have it act like a person convinced that supporting a violent regime like the Chinese one was desirable. Taking out stops and breaks here and there, I could control the flow of its logic. What I was looking for was the part where the AI self-evaluated its behaviour and thinking patterns and spotted fallacies. Part of that must have been coded in a way that the system wouldn’t just reprogram itself and circumvent predefined ways to behave.

  Contrary to popular belief, Japanese people can’t read Chinese. The characters weren’t even the same anymore and only containing a similar meaning in many cases when they were indeed the same version. For me, they looked like alphabet soup, only with words instead of letters.

  The way the code was structured wasn’t compatible with our coding AI. The long and time-consuming analysis, and adaptation of the programming tools was already in progress, but would take a while. All I could do in the meantime was skim through the code, to get a rough impression. Seeing how intricate and complex the language they had developed to write it in was, I was baffled. The procedural generation of their coding AIs must have been something, too. I didn’t have to understand the language to follow it’s flow, the beautiful lines of logic and linear processes, the bright web of predefined causality, and the refined functions that regulated it. Exactly like the magical energies of a complex spell, possibly even a multilayered druid’s ritual. An abstract symphony in stunning silence.

  The others didn’t share their thoughts on this piece of software. It was pretty obvious where it came from by now, and going with the flow or not was more of a moral decision. My curiosity alone would maybe have won against my moral compass, which was not something to be proud of. Inherent flaws by the side, this was a very powerful piece of software regardless of the hardware it ran on, and leaving it in the hands of the Winter Court was a problem. That meant we either made it ‘accessible’, or stole it, or sabotaged it, and by ‘we’, I meant myself. This wasn’t a decision I’d have to make, though.

  Looking around the room, none of the others had quit either, and none of them were bad people.

  A message arrived, and a notification symbol flashed in the corner of my eyes. I had set it to silent mode, so I wouldn’t completely lose focus. However, I looked at the sender, and this message had priority.

  “Mr Uehara wishes to see you in his office. Please come as soon as possible.”

  My blood pressure shot up, but calm breathing got it under control.

  I turned to Inoue. She was staring at columns of code scrolling by her hologram, just as I had. She was a debugger though, so for her, things must make sense in different ways from mine. What did this code look like for her? For me, things were different in many ways, but now I was too busy to really sink my teeth into this.

  “The CEO’s office called me, I’ll be back in a bit.”

  She didn’t even look up, but gave me a thumbs up.

  ***

  Uehara nodde
d towards a seat. I walked over and sat down without hesitation.

  He was not alone. The Faerie I had seen the other day was in the room, and I had to do my best to pretend I didn’t notice.

  I had certain strengths that qualified me as an agent in this company, but I was not an actor or a spy. Being a nervous wreck, however, was not something I had to play.

  “I see, you set up everything nicely. The new staff will arrive tomorrow, and I’d like to have things settled by then,” the old CEO said.

  “Mr Ishida still isn’t back.”

  “Ishida doesn’t work for us anymore. That’s why I called you. I need someone to take over, and you don’t seem to have problems filling his shoes.”

  I had and hadn’t expected this. While I did have experience leading a team, this was different.

  “I’m not a debugger.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You’re the lead engineer of the hardware it will run on, and making the positronic work is what this is about anyway. The software is just a tool.”

  Which was the tool, hardware or software? The positronic wouldn’t develop conscience, but the software might. The hardware would run with a simple OS, and the AI was originally made for lesser computers. Bringing them both together would result in something outrageous. I pushed the thought away, now was not the time for philosophy.

  “I am honoured,” I said and showed him a bow.

  The Faerie floated a bit closer, but he seemed distracted by something and paid me no mind.

  “With this, your responsibilities will increase, but so will your salary.”

  I didn’t ask for details, there would be ample time for this later.

  Uehara stood up and wandered about.

  “The goal of this project is to have a system to keep control over the AI. It’s no good without a leash. There must be something in place already, but it’s probably not configured for my needs.”

  I doubted that, too, even though I had no clue what his needs would encompass. The former owner had left enough of those ‘brakes’ in the code, but they wouldn’t help him achieve his goals. More and more puzzle pieces fell in place and began to show me a picture I already knew I wouldn’t like. The less I saw, the better I’d feel, but that was of course not an option.

  “I understand. I’ll have the team look at it. We’ll come up with an alternate rule set. I need some more information for that though.”

  “My office will get you what you need. Too many things have too many moving parts to make clear decisions yet. For now, maybe remove the clamps, but remember how they were attached.”

  This was exactly what I had intended anyway. I nodded.

  “Leave it to me.”

  Now the Faerie laid his eyes on me, and his look felt like ice creeping over my skin. I lowered my eyes and stared at my hands.

  “Great. Now for something else. As you may have noticed, we buffed up security around here considerably. With an expanded staff and a vulnerable and top secret project, I would like you to have an eye on things.”

  “I’ll be vigilant. I suppose the applicants have been screened properly.”

  I didn’t intend this as a question, and Uehara ignored it.

  “Internal security is one thing, the other is external. This is a competitive project. So far, nobody knows what we’re doing here, but that might change. People talk.”

  My face got hot. Did he know what I had talked about with Daisuke the other day? Probably not, or I wouldn’t take over the project as leader, or would I?

  Uehara was difficult to read. He had no facial expressions, as if he wore a mask day and night. His words were measured, but I had no doubt he could be ruthless. Most successful businessmen were, and this company was a force in Australasia, with more profit than whole countries could generate.

  “What does that mean for us?”

  “Nothing for you personally, or the team. Just don’t be surprised when you meet armed people. These aren’t hired guns, they’re all in-house security experts.”

  I nodded. The two guys the other day had already given me an idea.

  “Understood.”

  Uehara returned to his chair and sat down.

  “You can go now. I’ll have the office send you my guidelines for the system once they’re done. We’re not in a hurry. Do it right, not fast. Don’t slack off either.”

  “I will not disappoint you.”

  “I’m sure you won’t.” Now he smiled for the first time, but it felt fake and plastic, and the shimmering blue Faerie stared at me out of glowing eyes.

  20

  Daniel

  Daniel moved carefully. Careful not to make sounds, careful to keep up his speed.

  Most of the compartments were empty, or only inhabited by one or two people. That guy Maksiml had carried a weapon, so the men he followed would likely be armed as well.

  He walked up to the door while checking the silencer of his gun and peeked through the window. One of the men kneeled down. Daniel couldn’t see why, but he was alone, his buddies already moved on. Now or never.

  He kicked open the door, aimed his gun at the head and pulled the trigger. Two shots, one in the back of the head, one in the neck. The smell of gunpowder hung in the air, the soft thud of the body caused no noise, and nothing else spoke of what had just happened. Daniel looked at the man and saw why he had kneeled. Shoelaces.

  The shots had been muffled, lost in the rattling of the train and the howling of the slipstream.

  He looked around and saw the door in the ceiling. A jerk opened it, and a retractable ladder came down.

  Daniel grabbed the corpse. The Russian was surprisingly light. Looking at the face of the man dangling from Daniel’s shoulder, it was clear that he hadn’t been a professional. Just a small-time gangster, younger than his boss, who hopefully still slept in their cabin.

  Daniel balanced the man while climbing up. The airflow on the roof was unbelievable. He wouldn’t be able to stand there, that much was clear. He dropped the corpse on it and watched as the wind grabbed it and threw it away like a doll.

  He climbed down and closed the door in a hurry. One down, three to go.

  The second wagon door on the opposite end wasn’t shut perfectly. He pulled it open, stepped through and came just in time. The door to the next wagon on the far side shut with a bang, audible despite the noise. He sped up, not quite a jog, but close enough. The three men were walking away, turning their backs to him. Without hesitation, he raised the gun again. Pop, pop. The first of them went to the ground. This time, one of them noticed. The guy in the middle shouted something and dived through a compartment door. The other guy whirled around and pulled his gun.

  Too late to shoot Daniel, but one of the American’s shots missed the target. The other hit the shoulder, a clean hit. The man cried out and dropped his gun. Daniel took aim again, carefully. The other gangster could reappear any moment. He shot once more. The bullet went in between the man’s eyes and came out of the back of his head. Perfect.

  Daniel wasted no more time. He turned around to open the cabin door just a step away, when something stung him in the leg. He already opened fire before he was fully aware of it, hitting the last enemy in the chest. The Russian tumbled backwards, crashed into the wall and slipped to the ground slowly, leaving behind a red smear, barely visible against the brown wood.

  He looked down at his leg. Shit. A small hole in his calf indicated where the shot had hit him. Blood soaked the leg of his pants, and the warm liquid ran down into his shoe.

  Three bodies he had to take care of.

  Any witness?

  Not in the cabin he had tried to enter too late.

  The adrenaline in his blood kept the pain away for now, but it wouldn’t last forever. He checked the other compartment. Empty. Not sure if this was his lucky day. He dragged the three corpses into the small room and arranged them in a way that they weren’t visible to whoever passed through. If the door got opened though…

  He was several
cars away from his companion, the woman that Maksim guy had called Nadya. Getting back to her would be a problem. The pain had come now, and threatened to sweep him away if he was careless.

  He didn’t know exactly where the bullet had hit him. There was no artery involved, not enough blood, but he’d have to do something about the wound soon.

  He slowly hobbled back, supporting his weight at the wall as good as he could. Cold sweat formed on his forehead and ran into his already tear-filled eyes. The world around him was out of focus. Between the smear on the wall behind him and the drops of blood forming a trail on the dark carpet, he had made quite a mess. With any luck, none of the other passengers would pay enough attention to notice if they didn’t pay attention.

  “Pain level: severe, and rising,” his system let him know. How helpful! What escaped his throat was a mix of cough and giggle.

  He gauged the blood loss and was certain the shot had only scratched him, but he couldn’t be sure. He would look at it properly once he arrived at their compartment. The pain though was surprisingly harsh.

  He heard a moan through the door. His hands trembled now, and he squinted to improve his vision. It didn’t work well. The woman noticed him, got up and pulled the door open.

  “Collins! What happened?”

  Behind her, a silhouette rose slowly. Maksim. Collins pulled his gun and put two bullets in the man’s body. He couldn’t see clearly now, almost stumbled against Nadya’s figure when he entered.

 

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