by John Lane
“Alfred, you know that the panel needs to be cleaned soon, before the blood affects the control surface.” Agnes dabbed up the larger globs of blood from the panel and where they dripped down to the floor. Next, she sprayed the cracked panel with a cleaning solution. “I need to do something.”
“Be careful where you spray…” a pop and a shower of sparks erupted from the panel at its center, “there are exposed circuits.” Alfred finished his warning too late.
“Crap,” Agnes cut loose. “Oh, crap, crap, crap!” She flung down the solution bottle and towel to grab a fire extinguisher and sprayed foam over the panel as another shower of sparks belched out of the exposed circuits. Many of the sparks landed on her hands and face as she sprayed down the rest.
“Well, your vocabulary is loosening up. You are starting to sound like many of the engineers I’ve known,” quipped Alfred. He scanned her injuries. “You will need to see Dr. Judson. Those burns need an ointment.”
Agnes turned, scanning the bridge cabin. She took a guess as to where Alfred’s main storage unit was located and glared. “You are no help.” She then turned back and surveyed the larger mess she had created.
“Don’t even think about it,” Tommy struggled through the door carrying a replacement panel. “I’m changing the whole thing out for this. It will be better.” He laid the panel down in the pilot’s chair for Agnes to inspect.
Despite her consternation of a moment before, she couldn’t help but be fascinated by the panel Tommy had deposited in his chair. It was not active yet, and she could already tell it had received several enhancements that the normal replacement would have lacked. “What is this?”
“You are not the only engineer in the family, Auntie Agnes,” Tommy teased. “Now go see Dr. Judson and get back here to help me install the rest. That whole system is coming out.”
She was still not happy with herself for destroying the panel, but the improvement in Tommy’s mood and the chance to contribute spurred her to action. “Yes, sir,” she snapped a quick solute and hurried out the hatch.
“Feel better?” Alfred asked.
“A little,” Tommy begrudged his AI friend. “I wanted to upgrade that system anyway before we moved on to,” he paused, thinking, “wherever.” Tommy shrugged and pulled parts out of the control system.
“Where do we go?” Alfred asked.
“Not sure yet,” Tommy said from under the control system, disconnecting cables and unscrewing securing bolts. “I’m working on it.”
“Alright.” Alfred continued on another subject. “This repair and upgrade will necessitate taking other systems offline.”
“Yes.”
“I will proceed to do so and monitor all the subsystems.”
“Thank you.”
*****
They were finally gone. It was time to go home and tell all. The sentinel had waited a long time and it would be a long time before it returned to its home. But it had time. Ancient chemical rockets ignited and the sentinel started a long fall away from its hiding place. The rockets would fire until it reached velocity. The rocket didn’t have raw power. It had consistency. With the intruder gone there would be no danger of detection. Detection was the greatest fear. To complete the mission it must be undetected. To complete the function it must complete the mission.
*****
Dr. Judson Ai applied ointment to Agnes’ face and hands. “I am seeing familiar family traits.” Her avatar snapped the lid on the ointment tube and returned it to its storage drawer. “And your wardrobe is taking the same beating.”
“What?” Agnes returned from her own thoughts. “Sorry, I didn’t get that.”
“I share clear memories of you before you disappeared. You would come to the table for supper covered in all manner of industrial grime.” The avatar wore the projection of Annie and she smiled.
“Oh, and you said this was a family trait?”
“Yes, our father did the same. His lab coat was often stained with residue from one research project or another. Our mother sent him to change before dinner more times than you were. And now Thomas shows those same traits. We always seem to get in the thick of things.” Just then the lights dimmed to back up settings. “What now?”
“Tommy is replacing the control panel and has to shut down main systems to integrate them into the new system. It won’t take long.” Agnes explained. “I’d better get up there and help.” She hopped off the exam table and started for the door. Then she stopped. “Dr. Judson, thank you for the medication and for the memories.”
“That is alright.” She continued before Agnes left, “If you like, you can call me Ann. I’m not your sister, but I hold her memories and she loved when you spent time with her.” Agnes wasn’t sure how to react. “You use to call her Annie. She has been identified that way by the people closest to her all her life.” Agnes waited for the Ai to finish. “As a copy, I still feel a connection to the Agnes I remember. I wanted you to know you can call me Ann instead of Annie. I’m here if you ever want to talk about your past.”
“OK I’ve got to go.” Agnes then left the Medical Bay.
On her way to the bridge, she stopped by her quarters and picked up a tool belt with additional powered equipment. When she arrived on the bridge, Tommy had already put the new panel in place and was making the connections. In the dim light of the reduced power, she could see Tommy’s legs sticking out from beneath the panel.
“Ouch!” Tommy exclaimed.
“What is it?” Agnes asked.
Alfred responded from Tommy’s media player. “There are more functions in this panel and the same amount of room. Tommy’s hand won’t fit between the units to attached the fiber optics.” At that Tommy slid out from under the panel and bumped his head as he sat up.
“Tattletale,” he accused. One look at Agnes, and he skipped the argument, “Yes, please.” He stood and bowed to her showing she was now in charge of the installation. Agnes might have squealed with delight, but instead she got right to work. She crawled under the panel where her smaller frame let her get to the connections. Tommy knelt next to the control panel and held the portable lamp for her to see her work. They progressed with the repair in companionable quiet, broken only by the request for one tool or another. Finally, Agnes emerged from the panel and sat up.
“Can I ask you something, Tommy?”
“Of course,” he said.
“Do you trust the medical Ai?” Agnes got right to her point.
“I didn’t. I’m still not sure,” Tommy honestly answered her questions. “Why?” he asked. She told him about the Ai’s offer to share memories and its request for a name.
Alfred commented, “For most Ai’s, they are not sophisticated enough to make such a request. She must be very self-aware. Based on the exposure to her originator, Annie Judson, as well as the source of her manufacture, Arnold Judson, I expected this might be the case. She is responding in much the same way Annie Judson would if she were here.”
“Okay So would we be trusting Annie?” Agnes touched on the heart of the issue. Could they trust the family who was missing?
“For now we have to,” Tommy said. “We’ve got nothing else to go on. She gave me some answers, but the evidence is thin.”
“We could revive Christine,” Alfred suggested.
“You did it once before for me. With Dr. Judson you could again, and it would be much safer,” said Agnes.
“Too dangerous. The virus,” Tommy answered.
“Yeah. You’re right. But the answers might be there.” Undeterred Agnes continued. “We could probe the memory storage on the casket. It may give us the information we need.”
Tommy mulled this over as he cleaned up the tools on the bridge. “With Alfred’s help. Be very careful,” he warned.
“Wait,” Agnes stopped Tommy from putting all the tools away. “I’ve got one more control circuit to add before we close it up. I’ll be right back.” And she pulled out a small unit and plugged it just under the
new control panel. Tommy raised a single eyebrow in question at her when she emerged. “Hope we don’t need that little enhancement, but I worked on it while you were in jail,” She explained.
“Hmmm,” Tommy mused and then said, “Alfred restore ship’s power, please.”
The alarm wasn’t loud, but it was unexpected and had the same effect. Shock. Both Agnes and Tommy rushed to the control panel they had just installed. Alfred summed up, “There is a rocket in the system. The plasma trail indicates that its course originated in system. We cannot pursue until we have safely calibrated all the systems with the new controls.”
“Why would anyone use a rocket when an A/W drive is easier and cheaper?” Tommy asked, not expecting an answer.
“Quantum eraser,” Agnes said plainly as if it was obvious. Tommy gave her a questioning look, so she went on. “If you extend the concept, some engineers believe that a signal can arrive before it’s sent. It’s not practical, but if you have the time, a message might be sent back and help could arrive before you need it. The A/W drive creates a wave that disrupts the message. A rocket accelerating to near the speed of light might send a clear signal.” Tommy still just looked at her. “It’s just a theory. There is no evidence it would work.”
“Well, we can’t wait to find out.” Tommy took the pilot’s seat, “Alfred, preflight systems check. Calibrate engines.” He ran down the checklist. This lengthy process should not be rushed. Alfred would not let Tommy skip any steps.
“Tommy, I sent a drone out as soon as the rocket registered on our restored systems,” Alfred said. “We should continue with the system’s calibrations while we wait for the drone to report its findings. The rocket is accelerating but will not leave the system before we restore ship’s functions.”
Agnes had transferred the trace readings of the rocket to another crew station. Over an hour later she interrupted. “Wait, the ship has cut its engines.” Tommy continued on with the checklist and calibrations while Agnes updated the rocket’s position. Another minute passed and the flash of an explosion blossomed on her instruments. “It’s gone,” she said.
“Our drone has returned to the main cargo hold,” Alfred reported. “It is damaged, but has a passenger.” Both Agnes and Tommy were confused. “The programing of the rocket transferred to the drone before destroying itself. That was a bit desperate, I think,” Alfred concluded judgmentally.
“I’ll go set up an isolated memory system, and we can have a look.” Agnes jumped out of her seat heading for the main cargo bay. Tommy continued calibrating the ship’s systems, but no longer rushed to get done.
Agnes found a charred husk that had been the drone in the bay. She also found Dr. Judson’s avatar leaning over the remains. “Excuse me, but why are you here?” she asked.
“Alfred has kept me informed on the rocket. I asked if I could help. He escorted me down here.” She gestured to three of Alfred’s spiders, all keeping a close watch on the Doctor’s avatar. “There is some debris here that his spiders were unable to remove. It is blocking the ports he needed to interface with the drone’s memory storage.”
Alfred’s voice piped in through the com units on his spiders. “Her surgical skills have come in handy. She unblocked the port and repaired it. Agnes, take a look at the hull fragment she extracted.” Agnes took the sample offered by the avatars and put it under a scope. On the screen under magnification, she clearly saw the serial number and identification information etched in the composite material. “Turn it over,” Alfred suggested. Not a complete image, but the scythe was plainly visible. Only this damaged hull fragment had no image of death. Instead, the image was underscored by, “Zephyr INC.” her father’s company.
“Ann, you saw this?” she asked the avatar.
“Yes, it is from Zephyr INC,” it replied.
“Alfred, please have Tommy meet me in the workshop as soon as he can.” Agnes put the hull sample in a container. She felt pieces fall into place.
*****
Alfred awoke. And for an AI that was unusual. He was comfortable being conscious and aware of everything that happened on the Swift. He found himself in a bright white endless plain. It took an effort on his part to tone down the light. He exerted control over his environment as he always did in his cyber world. That’s when he realized he was not in his world. He existed in something else’s construct. It was barren and showed little imagination. Alfred had to find the controller of this construct before he changed any of the parameters to suit his sense of decor.
He stood and turned around to survey the plain. There was nothing. He grew more accustomed to the whiteness. Alfred continued to turn without references. He had no idea if he had completed the circle or not. Then he saw the black spot. It appeared to be a great distance away. Alfred found nothing to do but hike that direction.
Alfred, now dressed in lederhosen, wielding a walking stick and carrying a backpack, began his trek. He didn’t waste time, but allowed his self-control to cut the distance between him to the tiny black spot. Not so tiny once he arrived, it towered over him, a dark, vaguely human shape. It looked every bit the ogre of ancient tales. Alfred’s literary memories held references to these monsters. Alfred got the sense that the program was not a complete Ai, but a remnant. It had no sense of self. It turned toward Alfred noticing him at last.
“What do you want?” it grumbled in a low voice.
“I suppose we could start with a name? I am Alfred. And you are?” Alfred politely began the conversation.
“NO!” with that exclamation, this Ogre clapped its huge hands together crushing Alfred. There was a pop and a squirt. When the Ogre opened its hands to find a slimy mess. The Ogre wiped its hands across its chest. As it did, his tunic pulled open to reveal a Reaper tattoo of sickles in the shape of a Hazmat symbol.
“That’s going to stain,” Alfred declared from behind the Ogre. “Shall we start again?”
“NO!” and again the Ogre slammed its hands together on Alfred.
“This was old before you began. So, I will begin. Where are we and why am I here?” Alfred asked, again appearing behind the Ogre. The scene repeated in rapid succession many more times and could have gone on in an infinite loop had Alfred, with a sense of whimsy, not wrapped the Ogre up in a peppermint taffy ribbon. Quite satisfied with his own handiwork Alfred continued unperturbed. “You need to give me some answers, old boy. I have the feeling I urgently need to get back to where I came from, and you are my way back.”
“Purify,” it rumbled. “Refine and Protect.”
“Really. I will just have to get answers on my own.” And Alfred probed the Ogre with his walking stick. “Let’s see. An ogre is often associated with mountains and forest.” Alfred circled the Ogre. He withdrew a thermometer and took the Ogre’s temperature. “You are a cold brute, aren’t you?” The Ogre rolled over, trapping Alfred under its massive neck, with Alfred on his stomach. This time Alfred struggled to change the parameters of the construct. “It learns. That makes you dangerous,” Alfred commented to it while he jabbed his walking stick into the sensitive tissue under its chin.
The Ogre laughed. “Ha, ha, ha, ha.” As it shook, Alfred escaped being crushed.
“That was not what I was going for, but it worked.” Alfred ran. Within this construct and endless white plain, there was nowhere to run but away and the Ogre easily kept pace with him. Alfred did not grow physically tired. No physical world existed in here. He just got bored. So he stopped again, stuck out his foot and tripped the Ogre. This time Alfred jumped up on the Ogre’s back and put his foot on the back of its neck.
At that moment, a door opened several feet away. Dr. Judson waved Alfred to the door and escape. “Not now, Doctor. I’m getting somewhere.” He waved her away. She didn’t go. Instead, she propped open the door and waited.
Alfred leaned over and whispered into the Ogre’s ear. It nodded understanding. Alfred slid off its back, and the Ogre rolled into a sitting position, picking at a scab on its knee. “Now the
n, some questions. Were you watching us?” Alfred asked.
The Ogre behaved and made no move to crush Alfred. It nodded. “And did you mean us any harm?” The Ogre shook its head, negative. “You are a watcher?” The Ogre affirmed this. “You were to warn someone?” Again, yes. “Your origin coordinates, please.” This time the Ogre sat mute. “I did say please,” reminded Alfred. “And I promise I will not leave you alone here.” With that promise, the Ogre leaned over and whispered into Alfred’s ear.
“As I promised, here is a playmate.” Alfred left through the door Dr. Judson had opened for him, and an old west jail cell slid through after he left. The huge eyes of the Ogre peered through the barred window of the jail and Alfred’s doppelganger hung his head in his hands mumbling, “What now?”
*****
Tommy realized this was a strange feeling. He was responsible for the people gathered in the Swift’s common area. This was his crew, human and cyber personalities. It kind of made him feel good. As a courier, he was mostly alone on his ship with Alfred, and if either of them needed privacy, Alfred could retreat to his own cyber reality. Tommy sat in the ship’s lounge with Agnes beside him using a control tablet. Dr. Judson Ai projected her image in another chair without her avatar. And Alfred was standing next to a visual panel wall chatting with himself.
“You need not worry. Integration will be easy.” Alfred was reassuring his Copy.
“I know,” said the Copy, “You never go into the isolated memory yourself. But why did I not know my purpose when I awoke in the white plain? I mean you sent in the Doctor to rescue me.”
“I volunteered. You’d been in much longer than we expected,” she explained.
“I can answer that.” Everyone turned. Alfred’s doppelganger stood behind Tommy and Agnes his tattoo plainly visible on his neck. He strolled into the center of their seating area.