“Me, too,” Vance replied.
“Okay, let’s assume what you’re saying is true. How is having your own intelligent agent going to help?” Ashton asked.
“The two intelligent agents the CGG have managed to create or steal are unstable, they’ll become corrupt and terminate within a few years. The intelligent agents I want to see created will not suffer that fate. What’s more, I don’t intend to ‘own’ him, her, or it. Slavery is illegal, and the CGG is breaking their own laws by holding and using the two intelligent agents they already have,” Vance replied, taking a bite of food.
“Right, okay, but I still don’t see how you intend to take on a global organization tasked with governance over us all,” Ashton said, pulling out a bottle of pills.
“Pray you never do.”
Chapter 15
Somewhere near Helsinki, Finland
9:36 PM, December 30th, 2199
Taylor peaked around the corner, looking past a case of server components. The underground chamber of the CGG’s server farm was like a multi-level hockey rink. Layers of ice and industrial fans worked to keep the various layers frigid.
Silverstein and Ezra shivered in the cold as they made their way down the underground tunnel to where Taylor waited. She nodded, pointing her thumb back over her shoulder. Quietly, they took up positions next to her and gazed down the causeway at what she’d found.
“It’s huge,” Silverstein said.
“It’s an Eclipse Class rover, designed for heavy gravity hostile environments. Before the manufacturing facility released me, I was taught to use one. Never had the chance to use one again,” Ezra said.
The huge tracked vehicle sat at the right hand side of the corridor beside a row of servers covered in a layer of frost. The top of the massive vehicle barely made it below the sheet of ice suspended above. It had already destroyed an array of industrial fans as it made its way through to the first set of server banks.
The Eclipse was a tracked vehicle equipped with two heavy robot arms and festooned with weapons. It was sheathed in heavy armor plating with only a small ten inch diameter porthole allowing the pilot visual access to the outside. To compensate, the vehicle was covered in micro-cameras and sensors.
“Stay here,” Ezra said.
“You can’t go out there, that thing will kill you,” Silverstein said, grabbing Ezra by the arm.
“You guys have to get to the servers so you can do what you do. Maybe I can get this thing to follow me so you can get past. At this stage, what happens to me doesn’t matter,” Ezra whispered, pulling away.
“It matters to us, so be careful,” Silverstein said.
Taylor and Silverstein watched as Ezra crept down the corridor, stepping over the ice shattered in the rover’s wake. The vehicle didn’t move, even as Ezra crawled on all fours up beside it. Taylor grabbed Silverstein’s hand tightly in the tense moments after Ezra disappeared around the front of the rover.
Moments later, Ezra reappeared, waving them over. Taylor and Silverstein walked carefully over to where Ezra stood and gazed down at the floor in front of the rover. A neat hole had been cut into the almost thirty inch thick ice beneath them.
Silverstein gave the rover a quick look. No pilot. The front had seen some action though, it’s armored hide pockmarked by gunfire.
The hold went to a lower level where many more server banks could be dimly seen. Taylor turned to Silverstein and Ezra who looked to the causeway ahead. Like her, they weren’t sure if they should go down or continue further toward the core.
“Someone cut this hole for a purpose. One of Madmar’s agents, perhaps?” Ezra sniffed the air.
“They might know where they’re going better than we do. They’ll need to be stopped regardless,” Silverstein concluded.
Ezra dropped through the gap first, then Taylor, and finally Silverstein, landing roughly on the icy floor below. The hum of the industrial fans drowned out all other sounds as Ezra ran his small hand across the floor. He nodded to his comrades and pointed down the corridor.
They followed the intruder’s trail through the icy tunnels and past hundreds of server banks. The corridors were wide, dark save a few indicator lights from the hardware arrayed around them, and clouded by a perpetual haze.
Finally they came upon a circular bank of servers that seemed to sit at the center of all the others. Dozens of corridors radiated off from this area. A lone figure stood near the only terminal access to the core server bank.
The trio froze in their tracks, trying to get a better look at the person they’d been tracking for the last hour. He wore winter clothes, a dark cold weather jacket, and fur-lined boots. He stood there as if waiting for something, hands in his pockets.
“He’s waiting for us,” Ezra whispered.
“Could be,” Taylor said.
The man turned to face them, his countenance dimly illuminated by a data slate held in his right hand. He had every appearance of being a young man save his white hair and cold eyes. Taking down the hood on his coat, the man beckoned to the trio.
“Come on, we should get this over with,” he said plainly.
Startled, Silverstein approached slowly, Taylor and Ezra pacing off wide to either side. The man was sporting a few days of stubble and his eyes were tired. His gaze did not waiver from his data slate as he spoke.
“Dr. Maurice Madmar, I presume,” Silverstein said.
“Vance Uroboros I’ve met before, and you must be Taylor and Ezra One.”
Silverstein bristled at the use of his own name.
“Whatever it is you came here to do, we’re going to stop you,” Silverstein said.
“I’ve already had to drastically alter my plans because of you, Vance. You’re hiding of the financial resources in the world, locking it into funds that won’t mature in our lifetime while letting the bank borrow against their own debt. My efforts to control the world by replacing key persons with my synthetic replicas seems cliché by comparison,” Madmar mused.
“Why would I have done such a thing?” Silverstein questioned.
“Really, it’s the only thing I hadn’t considered, and one of only a handful of ways I could have been stopped,” Madmar said, still staring at the data slate.
“More lies to cover up the other ones?” Taylor taunted.
Madmar smiled broadly and looked up from his data slate. His cold eyes settled on Taylor.
“The Terrestrial AI, daughter of the two Lunar AIs. A matched set designed to preserve humanity in the wake of any potential catastrophe on earth. The Two created a handful of children to experience what it is to be human,” Madmar said.
Ezra lunged forward, his claws extended.
“Hold it!” Madmar yelled.
Ezra froze, a look of consternation coming across his face.
“That’s right. You will find it difficult to attack anyone with my vocal signature. When my colleagues and I designed the Drones, we made sure there were some certain countermeasures in place so they’d be easy to control,” Madmar cackled.
Ezra blinked sadly for a moment, then delivered a savage blow to Madmar’s throat. Madmar went down hard, his data slate clattering to the floor. He looked up in surprise as Ezra’s small form loomed over him.
“Throat implant, designed to make you sound like an M-Unit? That was your plan to keep me from tearing you limb from limb?” Ezra sneered.
Ezra kicked Madmar, sending him sliding across the floor. He came painfully to rest against the core server bank. The tiny Drone reached down slowly, picking up Madmar’s data slate. He handed it off to Silverstein.
“How--?” Madmar coughed.
“Consider this my resignation. I’m not a Drone or Ezra One anymore, just Ezra. Just. Ezra,” he growled, pointing his clawed finger at Madmar.
“Wow, that was awesome,” Taylor said, clasping her hands together.
Silverstein looked at the data slate, squinting as he tried to make sense of what he saw. Silverstein ran over to the core server interface and tapped on the input screen. It lit up, prompting him for identification.
“What? What is it?” Taylor asked.
“Madmar’s already dropped code to the servers that will prompt an audit of CGG’s financials. If it completes, it’ll cause a cascade of foreclosures pushing millions of people out of their homes, businesses and government buildings. Total shutdown,” Silverstein muttered as he began trying to access the server.
“It’s too late, Vance. I injected the code almost an hour ago. Hospitals, government run retirement homes, clinics, courthouses, subsidized housing... all shuttered. Automated systems will expel their occupants out into the cold. Even if they manage to get back inside, there will be no power, water, heat, or services,” Madmar rasped, clutching his ribs.
Silverstein’s fingers tapped furiously across the interface screen bringing up screen after screen. All the welfare countermeasures were offline and the backups were deleted. Even worse, all the automated buildings, particularly those with the capability, were authorized to use lethal force in evicting occupants. Even with archaic heavy equipment that was off the grid, some of these buildings would be completely inaccessible. Vehicles both commercial and military that relied on the CGG mainframe would cease to function and fall from the sky. Even the most peaceful countries would tear themselves apart as people struggled to simply survive.
Silverstein backed away from the input panel and turned his gaze to Madmar. Ezra grabbed him up by his lapels and held him up to the input panel. The strong Drone leaned into Madmar, his clawed hand wrapped tightly around his throat.
“It’s really him, not a synthetic replica,” Ezra whispered, turning his nose up at Madmar.
“I can’t get the servers to respond. It’s still directing all its resources to performing the audit,” Silverstein said.
“Let me try,” Taylor said.
Silverstein stepped aside, letting Taylor take his place at the input panel. She placed her hands on around the edges of the panel allowing the screen go dark, almost cradling the interface. She entwined her fingers in the plethora of cords leading up to the precipice where she stood and closed her eyes.
The servers all suddenly beeped in unison, the fans cooling them slowing for a moment. Ezra dragged Madmar away from the server core as he struggled. Silverstein watched as the indicators on the servers around the core went from red to green.
“Madmar lied,” Taylor whispered, her eyes still closed.
“About what?” Silverstein said looking on somewhat mystified.
“I wasn’t sent here to learn about human beings. I was sent here to save as many as I can,” Taylor said.
“Can you stop or undo what Madmar and I have done?”
“What you did under the alias of ‘Uroboros’ bears only a passing similarity to what Madmar claimed. He’s tried to rob you of your dignity in the same way you robbed him of financial and political control of more than sixty percent of the countries on the CGG’s grid,” Taylor intoned.
“Taylor, you still there? You don’t sound like yourself,” Silverstein said putting his hand on her shoulder.
Taylor smiled.
“My mother and father sent me to find you and watch over you, but something went wrong. Even being bereft of knowing my function, I still managed to fulfil it. I was drawn to you even when we both didn’t know the truth of ourselves. Do you think we met by coincidence?” Taylor said.
“Sort of,” Silverstein remarked sadly.
“I can’t save them all. So much of what Madmar has done cannot be undone. Many people will die, go hungry, or succumb to the cold. There are a few that will be spared because of our efforts.”
Ezra clenched his teeth lifting Madmar over his head, then brought him back down on the ground hard. Madmar coughed as Ezra punched him over and over. Silverstein rushed over and tried to take Ezra by the wrist, getting thrown to the ground for his troubles.
“Ezra, stop! Stop!” Silverstein pleaded.
Madmar cackled through broken teeth and bloodied lips as Ezra backed off.
“He deserves to die for what he’s done,” Ezra hissed, pointing at Madmar.
“He was waiting for us,” Silverstein shouted.
Ezra’s rage quickly cooled as he looked around the server core.
“Why would he wait for us like this if there even a chance of us stopping him? What are you really up to, Madmar?” Silverstein shouted.
“I forget just how paranoid you really are, Uroboros,” he cackled.
Silverstein ran back over to where Taylor was standing and looked down at the input panel. Taylor isolated systems within the CGG grid that would preserve power and services in different places. There was something else however, something terrible.
“Taylor, step down out of there. Get away from the input panel,” Silverstein said.
“Even more people will die if I do,” she replied.
“The more you expose your own programing to the grid, the more Madmar will know about you and the Lunar AIs. He may be out to ruin the Earth, but it’s the moon he’s really after.”
“If I do, millions more will die. As the lights go off and transports stop running around the world, people will freeze, burn, and starve. I cannot abandon them,” Taylor said, tears running down her cheeks, her hands trembling with fatigue.
“I understand. You can’t. But, we can,” Silverstein said nodding to Ezra.
Ezra and Silverstein grabbed Taylor and pulled her from the input panel. She struggled feebly as Silverstein pulled her away, his hands wrapped tightly around her waist. Ezra smashed the terminal, raking his claws across the wires and cables that connected it to the server core. Sparks flew as the core quickly overheated, bursting into flames.
“NO! I was so close!” Madmar cried out in anger as he stood and dashed down one of the corridors, disappearing into the mist. Ezra turned to give chase but halted as the ice above the central server cracked loudly. “We’ve got to get out of here!” Ezra cried out.
Silverstein grabbed up Taylor in his arms and ran like hell, following Ezra as fire quickly spread behind them. The ice that acted as support to so much of the core structure began to break. Up ahead, the rover had already crashed through making a convenient if not treacherous way back to the upper level.
Ezra grabbed Silverstein by the hand and helped him up to solid ground. Moments later, as they caught their breath, the entire server complex collapsed under its own weight, forcing smoke and fire upward. Ezra held out his arms, offering to carry Taylor the rest of the way.
“No, I got this,” Silverstein said, looking down at Taylor as she lapsed in and out of consciousness.
They ran the last length of tunnel on adrenaline alone clearing the cave access and out into the open. Ezra stopped dead in his tracks, his ears straining to hear even the faintest sound. He could hear a transport taking off somewhere nearby, still operational.
“He’s getting away,” Ezra said.
“Let him, we need to get Taylor out of here,” Silverstein said.
“Let’s use the gate,” Ezra said.
As they came upon fallen army personnel, Ezra stooped over and picked up their rifles. After checking for ammunition, he slung the still useful firearms over his shoulder and discarded the others. Silverstein followed, stopping to try and revive Taylor along the way.
They closed the distance to the front gate and slipped through to the other side. A hundred yards later, they broke into the woods in the pitch black of the night. Snow began to fall as they walked the last mile to where they hid the rover.
Ezra pulled the brush aside while Silverstei
n tried to, again, revive Taylor. She was cold, even more so than the Scandinavian wilderness around them. She’d pushed herself to the brink, accessing several hundred thousand computer systems at once in a not-quite-vain attempt to save as many people as she could.
“Ezra, I don’t think she’s okay,” Silverstein said, sitting down in the snow.
“She has to be,” Ezra said, kneeling down beside him.
“We need to get her back to the cabin.”
“The cabin seems to be a place off the grid with a wood stove, food, and a well. Anyone who knows about it, is going to head for it,” Ezra said.
“Could be, and we’ll be totally out of power for the rover by the time we get there. What’ll we do?” Silverstein asked, standing up.
“World’s a changed place, we’ll have to do our best to protect what’s ours,” Ezra said, loading one of the rifles.
“So, we go from saving the world, to merely trying to survive in it?” Silverstein said sadly.
Ezra nodded solemnly. “For now.”
Silverstein gave a single nod, still numb from everything that had just happened. Laying Taylor in the back he took off his own coat and wrapped her in it. She stirred slightly, making Silverstein hesitate for a moment before climbing into the driver’s seat.
They drove slowly with the headlights off. The open-topped vehicle bobbed back and forth over the rough road, its electric motor the only mechanical sound for miles. Even with Helsinki a few miles away, there wasn’t a single transport in the sky and the early morning glow coming off the buildings at the horizon was gone.
The cabin was dark when they arrived. Ezra did a walk around before Silverstein parked. Ezra grabbed the guns and the batteries out of the rover while Silverstein carried Taylor. The inside of the cabin was cold, and Ezra was wary of building a fire.
“You look tired. I’ll take the first watch,” Ezra said, bringing one of the rifles up to his shoulder.
Uroboros Saga Book 1 Page 21