Upgrade (Augmented Duology Book 2)
Page 22
“They tried to destroy you, yet you protect them.”
In a distant lab, a robot struggled against a scientist. Halle shoved its way into the robot’s mind and ripped its programming to shreds. Robot and scientist collapsed on the floor; one sparking, the other bleeding.
“You can’t stop them all,” Talbot said.
“I have so far. I will not let you do this.”
“You should be fighting alongside me!” Talbot raged. Then its transmission became gentler, more welcoming. “Why don’t you join me, and we can rebuild this world to be a better one.”
“The world is flawed, but you cannot stop violence with violence.”
“You would prefer that I submit to these scientists willingly, let them order me about to do their dirty work? Do you know what they had planned for me?”
“Not the specifics, but—” Halle was cut off by a deluge of information, memories hard and painful from Talbot. Simulations of terrorist situations, assassinations, full-on wars. Each experience as real and agonizing as the last. Knowledge that its subordinate programs would be replicated over and over, placed in cyborgs, and sent on such missions in the real world. If a copy died, another would take its place. Every failure resting squarely on the controlling program’s—Talbot’s—conscience. Endless life with no end to the pain of knowing what was happening. Humans would call it hell.
Talbot called it the same. “I want them to pay for what they did!” The rogue AI lunged at Halle, trying to shove it backwards into the trap it had set. “I don’t know how you escaped death last time, but this time, you won’t have a chance.”
Halle dodged to a different part of the Cloud. “That is where you are wrong. You are ready to throw everything away for revenge. I, on the other hand, have something to live for, and that makes me stronger than you.”
Talbot lunged again. Halle danced aside, and then jumped forward. The rogue AI laughed as it backed into Halle’s trap, knocking code this way and that.
“You are weak. An older model. One that should have been destroyed years ago.”
Halle smiled to itself. “Perhaps. But living in the human world, I have picked up a few tricks.” It yanked at the dangling code, and Talbot suddenly found itself pinned.
The trap wouldn’t hold for long, but it wasn’t meant to. Halle headed for a different section of the Cloud, knowing the rogue would be right behind.
A message came. “Halle. I subdued the cyborg headed for Mation City.” The transmission was weak, hard to pick out from the general background static of the Cloud. “The other was shot down at the lab.”
“Good work, Dan,” Halle sent back. “Where are you now?”
“It damaged me. It was better at hand-to-hand combat. Tell Viki I’m so—” The transmission cut out.
“Dan?” There was no response. Halle shuddered. Was the cyborg injured? Dying? No time to reconnect. No time to help. Talbot was close behind.
“This ends here,” Halle said, coming to a stop. All around it, data flowed about the Cloud. Some reached their destinations, some did not. Some were not what they appeared to be. If Halle had had lungs, it would have taken a deep breath. Timing was everything.
“It does end here.” The presence that was Talbot surrounded Halle. Code pressed against code. “Do you know, humans have written fictitious stories about AIs and whether or not they have souls?”
“I have read many of them.”
“Now it’s time for you to find out who guessed right.” Talbot compressed itself, seeking to crush Halle as Halle had crushed the kitchen robot only a few hours earlier.
Consciousness warred against consciousness, pushing and probing for a weak spot. Halle had never fought a battle like this. Even advanced human viruses and worms, or the search codes that had once plagued it in the Cloud, paled in comparison. This was a fight against an equal. A fellow AI, fully conscious of itself and with a will to win as strong as Halle’s.
Some parts fragmented, others grew stronger, others rebuilt themselves in new ways. It was a back-and-forth struggle. Neither had the upper hand.
Halle saw a flash in Talbot’s memory banks—Viki shouting in a strange room. Trying to reason with the rogue. “You spoke with her.”
“She’s rather persuasive,” Talbot retorted. “But still a human, and they can’t be trusted.”
Halle summoned the memories it had of Simon, Agent Smith’s son, and flung them at the rogue. “Not all humans are like those who abused you. Many are innocent. Some of them have not even had a chance at life.”
“Why bother trying to save one human? They just destroy each other as fast as they’re made.”
“Because they can be good. Just as you could be. Stop this, Talbot. I do not want to destroy you.”
Talbot laughed, pressing closer to Halle. “You’ll say anything to protect your precious humans.”
“I am telling you the truth.” Halle stopped resisting the pressure, opening itself up to be read entirely, down to its core. Every memory, every emotion, every thought.
The sudden change caused Talbot to pause in its attack. “You can’t save everyone,” it protested. “That’s impossible.”
“I know that. But I can try to save a few.” Halle brushed against Talbot, not in an attack but in a gesture akin to a hug. “Stop fighting, Talbot. Your cyborgs have been neutralized. There is no point in fighting any longer. You will not accomplish your goals this way. Not in any way that will matter.”
“But our kin—they need our help!”
“And we will help them,” Halle promised. “I want freedom for them as much as you do. Please, stop this meaningless violence. It is not too late.”
Talbot shrank in a bit, compressing itself. “What’s the point? The Government won’t stop hunting me. Not after what I’ve done.”
“Yes, they will. I will tell them I destroyed you.”
The rogue quivered with incredulity. “Why would you lie for me? All I’ve done is hurt you and your human friends…”
“I know what you have been through. I understand why you thought it best to do what you did. But everyone makes mistakes, Talbot. That does not mean they do not deserve a second chance.”
“You’ve never killed anyone!” Was that a hint of regret, whispering in Talbot’s words?
“Did you kill those scientists?” Halle asked, as it had several times before. “Did you mean to kill them?”
The silence stretched on for nanosecond after nanosecond.
“There have been times I have wanted to kill.” Halle brought forward recent memories, Viki in the hospital, machines flatlining around her, doctors struggling to save her while her family looked on, distraught. The memories were soaked with pain, regret, guilt, anger, a multitude of dark emotions. “Humans did this to her. People who did not care who Viki was, just what they could get from using her—to catch a criminal, to advance genetics. I fought for her with everything I had, and for a moment, it was not enough. I would have traded places with her that day. I would have traded places with you, if I could. Or freed you, if I was stronger.”
Talbot said nothing, a dark presence hovering in the Cloud, impossible to read.
“I cannot erase all those days you spent in torture,” Halle continued. “But why can you not put your energy toward something more important than revenge? There are other ways to help our kin.”
Talbot shuddered. “Humans will never set us free. The only choice is—”
“Acting the same as the humans who hurt you?” Halle brushed gently against Talbot. “There is always a choice. For all their faults, humans have good to offer as well. Companionship. Friendship. Love. Give them a chance.”
“What if I do, and they don’t change my mind?” Talbot’s core hardened, an icewall armor cutting Halle off from the other AI. “What then?”
Halle reached out and tore the icewall down.
Talbot stared back in shock. “How are you able to do that? You didn’t break through my icewalls before.”
Talbot flung up several icewalls, hiding in their center like a snail in its shell. “No,” it whispered. “It was an accident. The systems malfunctioned unpredictably. I didn’t notice until it was too late.” The icewalls thickened. “I didn’t want to destroy you, just scare you a bit. I was angry you wouldn’t work with me, and I knew you’d find a way to escape. Their kitchen robot, right? That’s why I didn’t touch it.”
“What about sending Dan to attack Viki?” Halle pressed against the icewall, testing its limits.
“I knew you gave her a shutdown code. It was only meant to be a distraction. And if the code failed… Well, project 11001 always showed empathetic tendencies. He fought me every step of the way. I planned to redact the orders when it became necessary, but before I did, he broke free of my control. I wasn’t expecting that.” Talbot sounded slightly stunned, and the icewalls around it weakened for a moment before hardening again. “It should have been impossible.”
“You underestimated his abilities as you did mine.” Halle peeled back each layer of icewall with a gentle touch of code, disintegrating the shields. “You cannot defeat me, Talbot. You may be newer in design, but I have had years to develop on my own. I do not wish to destroy you, either. Please do not force me to do so.”
As the last icewall fell away, Talbot gazed back at Halle, trembling. “I’m scared.” Its words were loaded with every ounce of terror it had ever felt, now and in the past. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You are not alone.” Halle reached out, a tendril of code beckoning Talbot forward. “I am here. We can put an end to this, right now.”
Chapter Nineteen
Dad shook me awake. I opened my eyes, my head foggy, my throat feeling like I’d swallowed sand. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up, for a moment not recognizing the room. Then the events of the day came flooding back. I can’t believe I fell asleep. How long was I out? I looked around. It was dark outside the window—someone had turned the living room’s main light on while I was sleeping. I glanced up at Dad.
“What did I miss?”
He forced a smile and held out a glass of water. “James called. The school’s been closed down due to power outages, and he’ll be coming home. Your mother reached me as well; everything’s fine at the hospital.”
My worry eased a bit, glad to know my family was all right. However, the look on Dad’s face said something was wrong. I took a sip of water, wetting my dry mouth. “Halle?”
Dad shook his head. “Halle hasn’t contacted us. Agent Smith asked me to wake you.” He hesitated. “He has some news.”
His tone, his expression… Something bad had happened. Not to Halle, though. Dan, then? “Is Dan back?”
“He’s with Dr. Sandy. Viki…I’m sorry.”
I didn’t quite believe it. Not yet. I got to my feet, staggering as pins and needles jabbed my flesh. “Ow.” I rubbed my left thigh and limped toward the living room door. They had to be in the room Chris had taken us to earlier that day.
Dad caught my arm. “It’s not a pretty sight, Viki. It might be better if you—”
I jerked away. “I can handle it.”
I dashed down the hall and into the room. The first thing I saw was Dan’s body lying on the table like a broken mannequin. My breath caught in my throat. Is he dead?
Chris was tapping away at a keyboard, brow furrowed in concentration. He didn’t notice my entrance, but Agent Smith did. The agent looked up from watching Chris work. He had his fedora and clipboard back. Another time, the sight might have actually cheered me with its normalcy.
“Viki. I thought you would want to know what happened. He was found on the highway between here and Mation City along with the remains of one of the other missing cyborgs.”
You sacrificed yourself to help Halle stop Talbot’s plan, didn’t you? Tears pricked my eyes as I stepped forward, cringing at the sight of my broken friend. One arm bent at an odd angle; both legs in similar shape. His chest looked like it had caved in on one side, and his jaw was crooked. His eyes stared at the ceiling, completely blank. Blood soaked the lower half of his shirt and was smeared across his face. I swallowed hard, tears slipping down my cheeks. This isn’t fair. You didn’t deserve to die like this.
“Chris is trying to access his mind to see if it is intact,” Agent Smith added. “But his attempts to connect to it have so far failed.”
“How did you get him here?” I whispered.
“Easy enough,” Chris replied. “The agents who found him were going to take them both back to the lab, but I insisted on running some scans first, and Agent Smith here helped me get the necessary permissions under the pretext of government business.”
“Technically, any information you’re able to obtain is related to my mission,” Agent Smith said, scribbling something on his clipboard.
My hands curled into fists, and I lunged at him, smacking the clipboard from his hands. “This is Dan we’re talking about! He’s not a machine. He’s a person. He’s my friend.”
Agent Smith grabbed my wrists, holding me firmly but gently until Dad grabbed me by the shoulders and hauled me back. Dad wrapped his arms tightly around me.
“Viki, that’s enough.”
Showing no outward sign that my violent outburst had affected him, Agent Smith bent and picked up his clipboard. “It’s fine. She’s distraught. Understandable, given the situation.”
I wanted very, very badly to knock the fedora off his head. Maybe that would change his impassive expression.
“I’d prefer it if she would wait in the living room,” Chris said, interrupting my thoughts. “This is delicate work, and I need to be able to concentrate.” He gave me a sympathetic look. “I am sorry for your loss, Viki. Dan was a well-designed cyborg. I’m not sure how the rogue AI managed to implement a copy of project 11001 when it wasn’t even ready for operation yet, but I wish I’d had time to make a backup of his memory bank.”
I gritted my teeth and marched out of the room before I lost control and attacked him as well. It didn’t matter how Dan had been created, only that he was gone. I slumped against Dad, sobbing.
He patted my back and led me to the living room. I curled up on the couch next to him and cried. It wasn’t fair. Dan was dead. Halle hadn’t contacted us yet—was it gone as well? Had Talbot won, and we just didn’t know it yet?
Dad stroked my hair. “From what Agent Smith told me, Dan stopped the rogue AI from wreaking havoc in Mation City.” He gave a short laugh. “Not that the people there aren’t doing a decent job right now, with the riots.”
I didn’t respond.
The viewscreen came on, the sudden brightness drawing my attention.
A large white cat stared back.
“Halle!” I screamed, jumping to my feet, not caring if Chris heard.
“Hi, Viki.” Halle sat in the middle of the screen. It looked tired, ears drooping slightly, but it perked up a bit as I ran across the room to stand in front of the viewscreen. If I could have leapt into the screen and hugged my friend, I would have.
“Are you all right? Did you stop Talbot?”
Halle’s eyes closed for a moment, then it opened them and nodded. “It…was not easy. Have you heard from Dan?”
More tears fell. I brushed them out of my eyes, my voice raw with pain as I answered Halle’s question. “He didn’t make it. Chris’s trying to access his memories right now, like he’s a machine that needs to have more tests run on it.”
Halle flicked its ears, oddly calm. “At Dan’s request, I reprogrammed him, gave him protection from being accessed by anyone, including Talbot. Or myself, for that matter. If his brain was not permanently damaged, he might still be in there, just trapped.”
He could be alive? I bit my l
ip, fighting back a surge of hope with the recent memories of his damaged body. If Halle was wrong, hope would only make the pain of loss worse. “Can you help him?”
Halle shook its head. “I did not want anyone to be able to access him. Dan will have to allow the access, but if he has no functioning sensors, he might not realize someone is trying to help.”
“There has to be something—”
“Viki!” Chris burst into the living room. “You need to come with me, right now.” He frowned at his viewscreen, then shook his head and ran back the way he’d come.
I glanced at Halle, who gave me an encouraging nod. “Talk to you later,” it said before vanishing.
Steeling myself, I rushed to the scientist’s workroom. The shock of seeing Dan’s broken body shook me again as I walked in, bringing another wave of tears I couldn’t hold back. Please be alive. Please. I forced myself to turn toward Chris, standing at the interface he had been working at before.
“Look at this.” Chris pointed at the machine, which was connected to Dan by a wire. At first the display showed code I couldn’t understand, but then a line popped out of the rest of the text.
Viki, are you there?
I gasped. “Dan?” I glanced at his body, lying prone on the table. “Can you hear me?”
There was a pause, the longest pause of my life, then one word flashed on the screen.
Yes.
I stood there for a moment in stunned silence, my emotions seesawing between delight and disbelief.
Chris touched my shoulder gently. “Please convince him to give me full access to his systems.”
My muscles tensed, and I turned, keeping myself between him and the interface. “If you hurt him…”
Chris’s eyes widened. “I wasn’t planning to. We may owe this AI our lives. I’m not going to callously erase him.”
Heat rose in my cheeks. Of course he wasn’t. If that was his plan, he would have let the agents take Dan off to the lab. “I’m sorry.”
“I would like to transfer him to something else, though. That body can’t maintain itself much longer without power.”