Thrilled to Death

by James Byron Huggins

  Response: GEO DOES NOT PERCEIVE TRACKING DEVICE AS NONFUNCTIONAL.

  Frank lifted the headset, unable to keep his communication with GEO on a terminal level. “GEO, this is Dr. Frank.”

  “Voice control identified.”

  “It is imperative that you allow me to access Logic Core. Do you understand?”

  “I understand. It is not possible for Dr. Frank to access Logic Core. All program paths to Logic Core have been closed with the implementation of fail-safe procedures. Logic Core cannot be reached by terminal control or voice control until—”

  “Terminate answer.”

  Exhausted, Frank leaned forward, face in his hands. There had to be a way. There had to be a way. Nothing was impossible. Not with this computer. It was the embodiment of Rachel’s living neural network, the height of artificial science. Almost a living, breathing intelligence. In its deepest essence it was almost … human.

  Opening his eyes, Frank stared at the screen. “GEO,” he asked quietly, watching the screen although the answer would come from the speaker system. “Is Cyberspace Mode accessible? Is the Cyberspace Mode accessible in a Fail-safe Mode?”

  A pause: “Yes.”

  Frank noticed that Chesterton was staring. He met the colonel’s questioning gaze with an air of horrific fate. Hesitantly he continued: “GEO, is the Viral Defense Program activated for Cyberspace interface with Logic Core?”

  “All viral defenses are activated against Cyberspace interface with Logic Core. Any entity entering Cyberspace to interface with Logic Core will be neutralized by Viral Defense Program.”

  That was it. Frank saw it in a breath, understood their only chance to defeat the fail-safe, if it was truly any chance at all. He asked, “GEO, what is the status of Brubaker Passage and Omega Passage? What is the structural integrity?”

  “Omega Passage is unstable. Brubaker Passage to the Computer Cavern is intact and functioning on emergency lighting.”

  Frank knew the corridors weren’t functioning on emergency lighting because Connor had bypassed the main breaker, routing power to the entire facility. But he also knew that GEO couldn’t realize that.

  “GEO,” he asked again, “do you have sufficient battery backup to initiate a Cyberspace contact with Dr. Frank? Can you access sufficient electrical power for a Cyberspace connection?”

  “Yes.”

  Frank stood, turning to face Chesterton.

  “What are you thinking about doing, Doctor?”

  “I’m going into Cyberspace to reach GEO’s Logic Core,” Frank responded. “But I have to get to the cavern where GEO’s mainframe is located. If I can get into Cyberspace, then I might stand a chance of reaching the neural net and interfacing with the Logic Core. There’s a chance I can disarm the fail-safe.”

  “Doesn’t sound like much of a chance, Frank. I heard that thing say that it would kill anyone entering Cyberspace.”

  “It’s better than no chance at all, Chesterton.”

  Chesterton stared. “Can you really do it?”

  “I can’t do it alone. I’m going to need someone to work a secondary terminal. They’re going to have to disarm the viral defenses that will be attacking me while I’m in Cyberspace.”

  Chesterton shook his head. “You’re out of luck, son. I don’t know diddly about computers.”

  “I do,” Beth said from the doorway of the complex. “I know about computers, Frank. In fact, I know a lot about computers.” She paused, turning to Chesterton. “I’ve broken the encryption that Blake and Adler set on the satellite system, Colonel. I set the Clays to work on it while we were gone and I’ve just checked it. It’s finished. I’ve got an image and I think it’ll work. I think I can get through to the satellite with it.”

  Chesterton staggered, stepping forward. “Thank ... Thank you, Beth! I never really thought that anybody could do it! Really!”

  “Well it’s done, Colonel.” She paused. “Do you want me to access the satellite?”

  A long, hard hesitation, and Chesterton leaned over, hands on his knees. He finally straightened, frowning. “No, Beth. Not now. We’re too close to the detonation of this fail-safe. And I’m not sure that we can get out of here in time.” Hesitation. “I don’t want the North Atlantic Sea Patrol on top of this island when that bomb goes off. We’re going to have to kill that thing first. Or be close to killing it.”

  Beth said nothing, turned to Frank. “So what kind of help do you need, Doctor?”

  Frank stared at her. “I’ll need for you to go into something like Virtual Reality IO or Virtual-X and destroy the Viral Defense Program before GEO can hit me in the Cyberspace Mode.”

  “How much time do we have for that?”

  “About four hours. But I don’t know how much time it’ll take me to get to the Logic Core through Cyberspace. Right now we need all the time we can get. Why?”

  “Because I’ve got to let Jordan rest,” Beth responded, without emotion. Emotion had been burned from her. “He’s dehydrated. And he’s got to have at least two hours of rest. His heart is too weak to take this.”

  Chesterton turned to her. “I can watch the boy for you, Beth. The best thing for him is sleep anyway. We don’t need to go waking him up. And if you can deactivate this bomb, it might even buy enough time to get some help.”

  Beth hesitated a moment, staring. Her face was unrevealing until she spoke. “No,” she said finally. “I’m not going to leave my child. Not for anything. We’ve got a couple of hours, don’t we, Frank?”

  Face tight, Frank nodded.

  Meeting the morose aspect of the scientist, Beth seemed to have reached her own fatal sadness. She turned her head to gaze at Chesterton. “Do you think they’re alive, Colonel?”

  Chesterton stepped forward. “Connor’s a good man, Beth. He’s resourceful and determined.” He paused. “Yeah, I think they’re alive. Connor’s already beaten it twice. And he’s got Thor and Barley with him. Together they’ve got a chance.”

  His speech didn’t appear to move her. Beth blinked, turned to look with steady grimness at Frank. “All right, Doctor. Two hours, and then we’ll go. And while we’ve got the time, you can tell me exactly what kind of machine we’re dealing with here.”

  ***

  Reverberating roars thundered through the section of tunnels beyond Bridgestone as Connor fell against a wall, sweating profusely. He wiped his face, sweat sliding on sweat. He blinked, eyes burning, and felt his clothes heavy and cold with perspiration.

  Thor came to him out of the gloom, gasping. He fell against a wall, lifting a hand to his chest, head bowed. Connor thought that he was about to have a heart attack.

  “Are you all right?” he whispered.

  Thor nodded his head. “I have left a trail the beast will not easily follow.”

  “Where’s Barley?”

  “I don’t know ...”

  A panic rose in Connor’s soul, but he couldn’t think about it. He couldn’t think about anything at all. It was all numbness, darkness and cold. “Well, which way did he go?” he managed.

  Thor lifted an arm, pointing. “He was running . . . toward the southern tunnels. Leaving a trail. He said that he was going to open up several vaults. Make it expend its strength. And then he was going to destroy the freezer. Destroy the food supply.”

  Connor shook his head. “We said that we’d separate for thirty minutes! Then we’d meet back here. But it’s been more than that.” A fear struck him. “We’ll have to go find him before we can—”

  A shadow came out of the gloom, moving silently.

  “Hah!” Thor whirled, the M-79 instantly level.

  Barley didn’t even slow until he reached the wall, shaking. He was glistening with sweat, breathless. Then he moaned and fell to one knee, kneeling. His breath was ragged.

  “Where is it?” Connor whispered. “Did you
get a visual?”

  Barley gazed up. “Are you crazy? I didn’t want to get a visual! It’s tracking us! That’s all I know ! But we’ve laid a truckload of tracks. It’s got plenty to do.”

  “Did you blow the freezer?”

  “Yeah.” Barley nodded. “I blew it with a phosphorous grenade. The only thing left to eat now is us.”

  A vengeful grimace and Connor took another deep breath. “Good. Now we’ll see how tough this thing really is.” He took a deep breath, standing. “All right. Let’s go. We’ve got to reach the Housing Complex.”

  Barley spoke, gasping, “Is Frank defusing the fail-safe? We’re almost out of time.”

  “I don’t know,” Connor replied, shaking sweat from his brow. “I hope so ...”

  ***

  “All right, Doctor, explain GEO to me.”

  Beth rested a forearm on a raised knee, staring. She was sitting on the steps of the complex, and Frank was before her, thin and almost unbelievably young for what he had accomplished. She tried to remember that it was his genius that had created Leviathan. She hoped the same genius would be enough to destroy it.

  “All right,” Frank began, turning to pace slowly, hands folded before his face as if in prayer. “GEO is a genetically copied neural net microprocessor.”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning that it is the first large-scale, self-reliant neural net computer. And you have to understand it in that perspective.’’

  “Define what you’re saying.”

  Frank paused, turning to her. “Okay. It’s like this. In the present day, computers are constantly being upgraded so that they’re faster and faster. The fastest 486 that was used ago doesn’t even come close to the Clays we use today. So in the normal world the rule is ‘later is better’ because it’s faster.”

  Beth pursed her lips. “But not with GEO.”

  “No. Not with GEO. The first GEO will always be more powerful and faster than any that follow it.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because of the aging process of the neural net. The first GEO has experienced, or learned, rather, more than any that follow it. Thus, it is more intelligent. The ratio of artificial-neural to synthetic processors is approximately one to two at the creation of GEO. Toward maturity, however, GEO’s ratio of artificial-neural to synthetic processors will be approximately five billion to one because the neural network will be expanding much like a human brain. The effects of this transition are an increase in what can only be termed humanness in the machine. Synthetic or artificial emotion, or artificial humanity all meld with programming and a specific math-logic to form a totally new intelligence capable of virtually infinite thinking ability.”

  Beth felt a new respect. “Did you come up with this, Frank?”

  He stood in place. “Rachel did.”

  “Your wife?”

  “Yes.”

  “She must have been an extraordinary woman.”

  Frank paused. “Yes. She was.”

  Suddenly Beth regretted bringing it up.

  “Go ahead,” she said.

  “Let me just describe it to you,” Frank said, raising his hands once more. He began pacing again. “GEO is cylindrical, about twenty stories high and twenty-five feet wide. In the center of that is the light cylinder that houses the artificial synoptic neural mapping.”

  Beth blinked. “What’s that?”

  “It’s the fiber-optic light tube where Rachel’s neural cerebral synapse network is artificially copied on a niobium-titanium chip,” he replied quickly. “The network is used for memory storage, calculations, data transport and thinking in general. Now, the next level of GEO is a cybernetic link shell implanted between the network and the technical connections outside. That’s where I’ll have to go in through Cyberspace.”

  “Why?”

  “Because all signals are sent to the Logic Core via superconductive subzero fiber-optic lines. The only means of reaching the synthetic network is from the machine itself and down through the fiber-optic tube.”

  Beth nodded. “All right. I’m with you.”

  “Okay,” Frank continued. “All network-linked terminals, including the Cyberspace Module, are set to operate by specialized nine-digit codes that GEO has changed so that I can’t reprogram. That allows GEO to delay, alter, or stop any intrusion or command regardless of the source. So it’s absolutely impossible to pirate, steal, or molest data. That’s another reason they brought me here to do this experiment. Nothing else but GEO would have been sufficient for their security measures. Nothing else was absolutely impenetrable.”

  “Okay, I’ve got it,” Beth said. “We’re not going to be able to connect with the Logic Core because you don’t have the altered nine-digit access codes for the matrix. That’s why you’re going to be attacked by the viruses.”

  “Right,” Frank responded, pacing. “Or, at least, we won’t be able to connect on authorized lines. We’ll still have to go down through the matrix, and GEO controls the flow of all data through the matrix.”

  “Can we piggyback you on other data that’s authorized to pass through the matrix?” Beth asked. “Can we use something for cover to get you to the Logic Core?”

  “No. The matrix can run several data streams down the same fiber-optic line simultaneously as well as coactively. But it runs an electromagnetic echo wave at .002 nanometers ahead of the data stream that carries the prefix code and tells the device which data frequency to read at each occurrence. That prevents any device from piggybacking or tapping an alternate line. No device can travel toward a foreign target.”

  “Can we put the matrix off-line? Can we overheat it?”

  “No.” Frank shook his head. “The matrix is encased in a liquid nitrogen cooling gel maintained in a variable heat displacer. That layer is surrounded by an electromagnetically sealed niobium-titanium alloy for coating and protection. The power system runs through a low-level section of the matrix grid giving GEO control over everything, including temperature and overload.”

  Beth stared. She had never heard of anything like this.

  “Just what kind of machine is this, Frank?”

  “It’s not simply a machine,” he said, standing in place. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. GEO is not just a machine, and it’s not a living organism. It’s a totally new breed of entity with an entirely different way of reasoning and perspective. GEO’s synoptic neural network is an electromagnetic copy of Rachel’s cerebellum. And Rachel had an IQ of 197, a doctorate in computer science with a master’s in psychology. After we copied her neural network, the image was implanted on the chip. So as GEO learns to use the artificial network of synapse connections for thought processes, it becomes more and more expansive in its thinking skills. The dangerous part is that there’s an icon guarding the Logic Core and I might have to confront it in order to change the math-logic.”

  Beth stared. “What kind of icon?”

  The scientist stood very still.

  “Rachel is the icon,” he said.

  And suddenly Beth understood. “It’s the icon’s responsibility to safeguard the Logic Core? To prevent anyone from entering the Logic Core without the authorized code?”

  “Yes.”

  Beth waited, considering the implications. “Well, how much can Rachel’s icon do to stop you? I mean, the icon is just part of the machine. Can it hurt you?”

  Solemn, Frank replied, “Rachel can do whatever she wants. The Cyberspace Module has a body suit and helmet that are worn during connection. The helmet has very sensitive linkups which roughly interpret nerve impulses. It allows GEO to read my mind, in a sense. Hearing is digital, and the Cyberspace image is directly fired in my retina with a one centimeter overlap to provide absolute continuity in vision. I won’t know the difference between Cyberspace and reality.”

  “Meaning what?”
<
br />   Frank stared.

  “Meaning Rachel is queen of that universe, Beth. If Rachel disapproves of my presence and gets to me before I can put the logic off-line, she’ll fry my nervous system.”

  Beth’s voice was a whisper.

  “Can Rachel kill you in Cyberspace, Frank?”

  Silence.

  “Yeah.” He finally nodded. “She can kill me.”

  ***

  It was an hour before Connor, Thor, and Barley staggered into the Housing Cavern, all but dead from thirst. Connor didn’t even mumble a word before snatching up a clear plastic liter of bottled water. He drank half of it, then poured the rest over his head, back, and face. After a few minutes he almost felt refreshed.

  Barley duplicated the procedure with another bottle, shedding his burnt flak jacket and hurling it angrily to the side as if it had betrayed him. He drank almost a full liter of water before finally stopping to gaze around, blinking like he hadn’t slept in days.

  Chesterton stared at them as they continued drinking water, pouring it over their heads. “Well?” he growled impatiently. “Do you think I’m standing here ‘cause I like looking at you?”

  Thor laid the M-79 on the table, leaning forward. His eyes were ice.

  “It lives,” he said. “We wounded it, but it lives. We laid tracks through the cave to confuse it. But it is not so confused. We have heard it behind us, breaking what few vaults still stand. It is coming. And we have destroyed its food supply.”

  Frank understood instantly, stepping forward. “That was a good idea! Leviathan is going to be weakening fast! And when it’s in combat it’s going to need even more food than normal to assimilate proteins for muscular and armor reconstitution.”

  “Frank,” Connor looked up sharply, “if Leviathan is starving, will it go for the lake? Or will it push a confrontation? Will it try and finish this fight?”

  “It won’t go for the lake yet, Connor.” The scientist shook his head. “Leviathan is... is proud. I know that that’s a weird term but I don’t know how else to say it. Leviathan will never leave a conflict unless its own death is imminent. And I think Leviathan believes it can kill us. Even in a weakened condition.”