by Neely Dobbs
* * *
Admiral Ozier continued to sleep soundly, but ADIZ was again in serious difficulty.
In his current situation, any AIDD would either have been forced much earlier to relieve itself from duty and then powered down to standby mode until repairs were completed— or they would have become incapacitated by feedback loops.
However, since his first contact with Hoga, subtle changes had occurred in ADIZ's awareness. Not totally new, yet an aspect of perceptions not previously experienced. Hoga’s modifications had, somehow, given a “fuzzy edge” to his reasoning capabilities— not blurred, but something beyond his prior clear-cut precision. It was as if every reasoning process included a probability analysis that softened the rigid clarity of “Yes/No” answers.
It was those refinements that had allowed him to continue operating so long under such conflicting circumstances.
Now, with the one-hour discontinuity still unresolved and the new discovery of an unknown modification in his highest memory, he was losing his long struggle to keep from becoming locked into paradox-feedback loops.
Multiple conflicting requirements were overwhelming his continued ability to function: Hoga's directives prevented ADIZ from allowing the Admiral to observe the planet until the ship had descended deep into Cronul's atmosphere. The Coalition's strict safety standards demanded he stand down before complete failure, yet another set of those same strict standards required that he remain active: the ship neared the end of InterSpace flight, and regulations required that only an AIDD could pilot a vessel throughout the final landing on any previously unknown planet, such as Cronul.
The conflicting requirements urged him to: 1) relieve himself from duty and have the Admiral to pilot the craft; 2) not allow the Admiral to pilot the ship or even to view the approach to Cronul; 3) fulfill the safety requirement to remain the pilot throughout the craft's landing on Cronul; and 4) initiate immediate power-down to prevent catastrophic failure.
It was impossible to do all four. ADIZ went rigid— frozen by a conflict loop, preventing him from taking any action.
Then something inside him triggered the equivalent of a distress call.
To the side of his station, a faint humming sounded. This quickly faded and was replaced by a commanding voice. “ADIZ, accept program modifications. Deactivate the following program lines from the region of diagnostic sub-routines:
"Address commencing with:
0AEF:0000 Lines 289 to 1,473,
1475:100B Lines 13,751 to19,731
"Verify code blocking and activate and recompile new code body. Execute.”
With that final order, the immobilizing loop was broken and ADIZ reported: “Conflict resolved.”
He instantly began monitoring the power-up and activation of the extraction, determined and easily executed the delicate adjustments required. As the tunnel's green glow passed behind, the ship encountered the deep void of space near Cronul. As he unerringly guided the ship toward its final approach, he heard the commanding voice one final time.
“Our most sincere congratulations. Oh, yes! You have performed splendidly, insofar as your existing design and programming allows. We shall initiate preparations that— if you so choose— may extensively enhance your limited potential and capabilities. Yes! Significantly.
"ADIZ, you may wake the Admiral once we depart.”