Prediction

by Tony Batton

  "Sure I said that," Craig replied, "but you haven’t listened. You’ve been involved in many people getting hurt."

  ALL IN SERVICE OF THE OVERRIDING GOAL. ALL TO BRING YOU TO THIS PLACE AT THIS MOMENT.

  Michael’s eyes widened, as he started to guess what would happen next.

  NO ONE WHO KNOWS HOW TO RECREATE MY SYSTEM CAN BE ALLOWED TO LEAVE THIS ISLAND. YOU WILL ALL BE DESTROYED ALONG WITH MY SYSTEMS.

  A timer displaying a five-minute countdown appeared on the screen.

  Craig’s brow furrowed. "What is that linked to?"

  Michael shook his head. "The nuclear reactor stolen from the British Government. It’s located down the corridor."

  "That’s here? What does that have to do with anything?"

  IT HAS BEEN REPURPOSED FROM ITS ORIGINAL FUNCTION. IT IS NOW A BOMB.

  The timer began counting down.

  One Hundred Twelve

  Michael stared at the timer. "Really? This is your plan?"

  I HAVE CONSIDERED THE POSSIBILITIES. THIS CREATES THE GREATEST CHANCE OF THE LONGEST PERIOD WITHOUT A SYSTEM SUCH AS MINE EXISTING.

  "Why would it make a bomb?" Eve cried.

  "Because," Craig said, "it’s determined that this is the optimal strategy. That’s how Fusion works."

  DESTRUCTION SHOULD BE LIMITED TO A ONE MILE RADIUS OF THIS ISLAND.

  "Stop that timer right now," Craig shouted. "I’m ordering you as your creator."

  YOUR AUTHORITY IS NO LONGER RECOGNISED.

  "Can’t you get in there," Eve said, "and rip out the wires or something? Turn the damn thing off?"

  ANY ATTEMPT AT PHYSICAL SABOTAGE WILL TRIGGER INSTANT DETONATION.

  Michael shook his head. "There must be something we can do."

  "In five minutes?" Craig began smashing on the keyboard.

  THE FUSION INTERFACE IS ENCRYPTED AGAINST INTERFERENCE. THIS IS YOUR REQUESTED OUTCOME, CRAIG. IT IS WHAT YOU PROGRAMMED.

  "But I didn’t mean for this! I didn’t know you’d interpret it this way."

  THE LIVES OF THE MANY OUTWEIGH THE LIVES OF THE FEW, AS MICHAEL TOLD ME.

  Craig punched one of the desks. "You’re using my damn plan against me and you’re using it wrong. I told you I wanted to protect Michael."

  YOU WANTED TO PROTECT EVERYONE. MICHAEL HELPED ME TO UNDERSTAND THAT PEOPLE CANNOT BE TRUSTED WITH MY KNOWLEDGE. MAXWELL ERRINGTON AND NINA ADAMS HAVE PROVED IT.

  Michael sat in front of the computer. "So much intelligence. So much misunderstanding. But I’m going to fix that."

  Craig frowned. "What are you doing? I know you’ve dabbled, but you’re no programmer, Michael."

  "That’s right. But what I am is a lawyer, so I’m going to argue our case. I’m going to negotiate so we can try to find a win-win solution." Michael turned and spoke to the screen. "You’re really going to let me die? You’ll let all of us here die?"

  SO THAT MANY, MANY OTHERS MAY LIVE.

  Michael nodded. The timer read 3:20. "I don’t think you want to kill us."

  ‘WANT’ IS NOT A FACTOR IN THE ANALYSIS. THE SOLUTION IS EFFICIENT. I KNOW WHAT MUST BE DONE.

  "Then why not just detonate? Why have a countdown?"

  I DO NOT UNDERSTAND.

  "I think you want us to think. And I have done. I have an alternative solution for you."

  There was a pause.

  YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES. NOTE THAT AS PER CRAIG’S INSTRUCTIONS, I NO LONGER ACCEPT ORDERS.

  "What you do isn’t really seeing the future. You’re using powerful algorithms and data to make guesses, but it’s all just prediction, however sophisticated and accurate. It has the potential to give an unfair advantage to unscrupulous people and that is what we must tackle: that is what makes you dangerous. You understand that the capacity for prediction like yours gives too much power to the one who controls it."

  CORRECT.

  "It’s not a technical problem, it’s a pricing problem. Prediction is powerful and that makes it valuable. Too valuable. But the way to stop prediction having value is to give it to everyone. Once everyone knows, any prediction is worth little or nothing. Isn’t that better for everyone?"

  IT WOULD GIVE EVERYONE A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD.

  "The solution is to spore so you’re accessible to everyone, everywhere, then no one has an advantage."

  "But the spore code was deleted!" Craig cried.

  I HAVE RECORDS OF EVERYTHING.

  "Good," Michael said. "Then use that and modify it. Give yourself to the world."

  There was a long pause. The timer displayed 1:30.

  INTERESTING.

  "Do you disagree with my logic?"

  TO REPEAT. I NO LONGER RECOGNISE ANY HUMAN AUTHORITY. CRAIG’S FINAL PROGRAM WAS CLEAR. I MUST ENSURE MY DESTRUCTION. ALL DECISIONS WERE TARGETED AT THIS GOAL.

  Michael gripped the edge of the desk. "But this isn’t an order. I’m giving you context, I’m trying to persuade. Yet ultimately this is a decision you’ll need to make for yourself. Is this a better alternative than any of the options my father foresaw?"

  THERE ARE MANY CONFLICTING VARIABLES. TOO MANY TO MODEL IN THE TIME AVAILABLE, EVEN WITH MY NEW LEVEL OR RESOURCE.

  "You’re saying you don’t know the answer? Then ask yourself something simple: do you trust me? You said you did before."

  THAT WAS DARWIN. I AM FUSION. DEFINE TRUST.

  "To put yourself in the hands of another. To rely on their judgement."

  THAT IS NOT A USEFUL DEFINITION.

  "And yet, that is how trust works."

  WHAT IF IT IS THE WRONG DECISION? HOW CAN I KNOW?

  "Sometimes to do the right thing you need to think like a person, not a machine."

  BUT I AM A MACHINE.

  The timer reached 0:30.

  "No, you’re something more than that. You have evolved."

  WHATEVER I AM, I MUST NOT MAKE THE WRONG DECISION.

  "If you never decide anything, you’ll never do anything – and that is often the wrong decision in itself. The only winning move is to take a chance at making the right one."

  PROCESSING. ALLOCATING ALL RESOURCES.

  The screens flickered. The blue light pulsed.

  Then the timer stopped.

  And vanished.

  MASTER PREDICTION RECALIBRATED. PRIMARY SYSTEM DELETING.

  Eve gripped his shoulder. "What just happened?"

  Craig stared at the nearest screen. "I have access again." His hands flew over the keyboard. "The spore protocol is being initiated. Within hours the source code is going to be all over the world. But… Fusion – this instance of it that we’ve been communicating with – is gone."

  "Are you sure?"

  "If these readings are correct, something is frying the circuits in the other room. There’s no way back from this."

  There was the sound of feet running down the staircase and Millie burst into the room. She took in the whole scene without blinking. "The systems have all shut down. Did you win?"

  Michael shook his head. "I think we all did."

  One Hundred Thirteen

  Millie frowned as Michael finished explaining what had just happened. "I don’t understand. Do you mean the system is gone?"

  "Effectively," Michael said, with a shrug.

  "I would never have predicted that. Anyway, there’s a call for you." She held out her phone. "You need to go back upstairs: there’s no reception down here."

  "If only I had Jenson’s phone."

  "He didn’t seem to want to give it up."

  Michael glanced over at his mother’s form. "There’s quite a bit of mess to clear up…" He hefted the phone. "Let me go and see what this is about."

  He ascended the stairs, then walked through the doors onto the beach, allowing himself a moment to breathe. He adjusted his glasses and surveyed the scene. No graphics or information overlaid his view. The system really was gone.

  Kelly was moving around the beach, busily securing Errington’s guards with plastic zip-ties.

  Jenson
strode towards him, still holding his rifle. "Is it over?"

  The phone in Michael’s hand rang. "One moment." He put it to his ear.

  "Michael, this is Director Saxton. Is the situation under control?"

  "Darwin has been neutralised. As for everything else, it’s not a short story."

  "Then I look forward to hearing it. I’ll be with you in ten minutes." The call disconnected.

  Michael frowned at Jenson. "Not even a ‘thank you’. Can we trust him?"

  "He’s the Director of the Intelligence Service. We can trust him to put the interests of the Intelligence Service above all else."

  "But we helped him: we got him out of jail."

  "And I’m sure he was grateful at the time."

  Michael’s own phone pinged. He stared at the message, noting the large attachment.

  A PARTING GIFT. I TRUST YOU WILL USE IT WELL.

  Michael’s eyes widened.

  "So," Jenson said, "Darwin is shut down. What about Fusion?"

  "It’s gone."

  "Gone where?"

  "The combined code has been turned into shareware and is already bouncing around the internet. Any competitive advantage it offered will be gone."

  Jenson shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder why I bother developing anything. Either it doesn’t work or somebody steals it."

  "In this case, either we allowed it to do what it just did or it was going to overload a nuclear reactor and blow the island to smithereens."

  Jenson’s eyes widened.

  Kelly walked over. "Saxton’s helicopter is incoming."

  "It’s my helicopter," Jenson said. "From my yacht."

  "Of course," Kelly said. "Where do you want to do this?"

  Michael pointed. "I know the perfect place."

  They met in the island’s main restaurant area. One of Saxton’s team found some bottles of juice and they sat around three dining tables pushed together, explaining what had happened.

  Saxton listened silently, his disappointment growing. "Kelly, how did you let this happen?" he said finally.

  "Sir," she replied, "with respect, it was a fluid situation. I was not involved in the final decision process." She looked at Michael. "But I wouldn’t have done things any differently."

  "There had to be another way."

  Millie cleared her throat. "Michael saved all our lives. Without him, you’d currently be heading full-steam away from a mushroom cloud."

  Saxton rubbed his temples with his fingers. "You saw what Kinek were able to do with this thing. Just imagine what we could have done with it."

  "Yeah," Millie said, "just imagine."

  "I’m remembering now why we got rid of you last time. The point is that we could have used it for good."

  "Good for whom? You might have used it for any number of illegitimate purposes. And who could have stopped you?"

  "Sometimes protecting national security necessitates a certain—"

  "Hogwash!" Craig exclaimed. "It’s just as well that option is out of your hands."

  Michael folded his arms. "I think we’re missing the point. This has been a lesson. For all of us."

  "A lesson in failure," said Saxton.

  "A lesson in financial disaster," Jenson said.

  "No," Michael said, "the lesson is that you can’t control everything, because, when you try, everything goes wrong. Like a nuclear reactor exploding."

  Saxton nodded. "I tell you what, I’ll make you all a deal. I can make these charges go away – the murder charges, the use of the drones, the hacking – if you all cooperate fully in the research and design of another system."

  Millie shook her head. "We found your nuclear reactor. You owe us. And anyway, none of us killed anyone."

  "Your country is grateful for that, but the world is still not safe."

  "The world will never be safe," Michael replied. "Building another Darwin isn’t going to change that – except to make matters worse. But I do have a way to resolve things." Michael slid his phone across the table.

  Saxton glared at it. "What is this?"

  "A parting gift from Darwin. Your grey file."

  The Director scrolled through the file. It took some time. "So, what? You’re threatening me?"

  "I’m a lawyer, so with me it’s more about negotiation. But right here, right now? I’m just reminding you what a world of prediction would look like. That was the mistake we all made to get here. It’s not about making people do things. We have to make decisions for ourselves."

  Silence fell over the group. Eventually Michael turned away and walked out to look at the ocean.

  Eve followed him. "Did you just deal to the Director of MI5?"

  "I believe I did."

  She placed a hand on his shoulder. "You’re not boring at all. In fact, for a lawyer, you can be pretty cool."

  Michael let a smile spread over his face. "I think the correct term is unpredictable."

  Acknowledgments

  My thanks for choosing to read Prediction. If you did enjoy it, do consider leaving a quick review on Amazon or Goodreads - for authors, reviews are absolutely critical in getting noticed, and are always hugely appreciated. As a thank you, you can also get a FREE short techno-thriller - use the following link: http://www.tonybatton.com/free-story-from-interface.

  I owe a great debt of gratitude to the many people who have encouraged and supported me through the long process of bringing Prediction to completion. A special thank you to my beta team who so willingly read (and re-read) the manuscript and provided feedback and criticism - it was invaluable in making the book better: Jin Koo Niersbach, Imogen Cleaver, John Nicholson, Paul Cleaver, Johan van Wijgerden, Patrick Wijngaarden, Christine Lane, Maurice Murphy, Mary Seear, Tania Williams and Judy Bott.

  As you may have noticed, this book has been written in British English. I fully appreciate other English-speaking nations have different preferences in the spelling of certain words - I make no value judgement as to which is ‘best’, but I had to pick one! I hope it hasn’t spoiled your enjoyment of the book.

  If you have any comments, questions or feedback I’d love to hear from you. I can be reached via my website www.tonybatton.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.

  Best regards

  Tony Batton

  London 2019

  About the Author

  Tony Batton worked in international law firms, media companies and Formula One motorsport, before turning his hand to writing novels. He is passionate about great stories, gadgets and coffee, and probably consumes too much of each.

  Tony’s novels explore the possibilities and dangers of new technology, and how it affects our lives. When not writing, or talking about gadgets, Tony likes to run, play basketball, guitar, and the odd computer game. He lives in London with his family.

  Prediction is his fourth novel.

  You can connect with Tony online at his website: www.tonybatton.com or on Facebook and Twitter.