When the River Ran Dry

by Robert Davies

  Ricky’s eyes darted between Valery and Maela until the image in his mind became clear.

  “Your company grows people here?”

  “We progress sample DNA to the adult stage, Richard, we don’t throw human seeds in the dirt and pick them every autumn!”

  “What’s the difference?” he asked, suddenly exposed in his discomfort by a process as much mystery and magic to a layperson as it was advanced science.

  “The difference is awareness; the bodies developed here incorporate human tissues into and around an artificial frame and cognitive center—there is no person until a self-aware consciousness is uploaded.”

  “KazTek is just a nice name for a cloning company?”

  “My company didn’t build this facility, Richard.”

  Ricky shook his head with confusion.

  “This isn’t a KazTek lab?”

  “No!” She laughed. “They would never dream of doing anything of the sort. This is a military facility, Richard—it’s nothing to do with KazTek.”

  “Military?”

  “The Veosan Defense Forces paid the bill, but research is conducted specifically on behalf of our Navy’s Intelligence and Security Command.”

  “Why?”

  She nodded at the blank display.

  “Because it was necessary.”

  “And KazTek?”

  “I keep a part-time position there as cover, Richard; this is where I spend most of my time.”

  They followed her to a wide, wall-to-ceiling panel of heavy glass and within, faint images in the dark that seemed both familiar and yet confusing. Ricky and Maela walked with Valery through three consecutive security doors they guessed were made to contain a fire, angling to the left where a secondary chamber waited in the dull glow of tiny status lights. When Valery increased the overhead lamps to a medium glow, Boomtown’s secret was revealed at last. Ricky squinted into the dim light where a lone, nude female paced steadily on a treadmill, making her way through a journey to nowhere. She wore a blank expression and looked forward from pale blue eyes that didn’t seem to notice others watching her from beyond the glass.

  “Who is she?” Ricky asked automatically.

  “She is no one, at least for the moment,” Valery replied.

  “She has to be somebody!”

  Maela nudged his elbow.

  “That’s your princess, Richard. Well, it will be in a little while; they’re going to upload One Nine’s consciousness into that body.”

  He looked at Valery with an unbelieving smile.

  “She’s kidding, right?”

  Valery shook her head slowly and Ricky felt the color drain from his face.

  “This is the purpose of our work here, Richard; we are at the most advanced level of artificial and biologic integration in human history.”

  He looked again.

  “It’s a machine?”

  “Partially.”

  “She looks like a real person!”

  She is a real person; a human form like yours or mine. Most of her skeletal structure is manufactured—as well as a synthetic blood volume. Twelve Hyperion data processors and micro-memory vaults occupy the space where a brain would otherwise be, but the rest is cultivated human tissue.”

  “Wait—you made a human body?”

  “We used genetic source material in the way they used to clone animals before the Fall. Our method is far advanced from those early attempts, but the concept is quite similar.”

  “So who are the donors?”

  “We don’t allow that information beyond each project; it is, and will always be, confidential in the extreme.”

  “You knew Neferure…One Nine…would become self-aware?”

  “Of course not, but the timing of events forced us to make this body available for One Nine’s integration, rather than an assisted intelligence still held by VI constraints.”

  “This was intended for another AI?”

  “Yes, but that project is not complete. When One Nine’s consciousness and identity profiles are stable, all that she is will be transferred into this unit and a whole person will emerge.”

  Ricky walked slowly along the glass wall, inching closer to where the naked form walked tirelessly onward, uncaring for his inspection and face of wonder.

  “Can she see us?”

  “Of course!”

  “Why doesn’t she look this way?”

  “Her processing hardware has been coded only with autonomic functions in order to maintain the physical shell; she’s operating at the level of an advanced VI, and will continue that way until One Nine’s consciousness is finally resident.”

  “Then she’s not a person at all,” he said. “This is a body without a soul.”

  Valery returned a small grin and said, “I suppose that’s true, although I’ve never heard it put quite that way.”

  Ricky and Maela watched a while longer until a noise from behind signaled Jessica’s arrival. She walked slowly to where Valery waited.

  “One Nine is steady now.”

  “Is she responsive?”

  “Yes, but only at level 3; the errors have been identified and corrected, but we held at 3 against the possibility of another malfunction.”

  “Who’s working it?”

  “David.”

  “Okay, but I want you to monitor her responses just the same. Oh, and make the call right now; Julius needs to get back here as soon as he can.”

  “We’ll have to call Personnel Command; I don’t know where he is.”

  “Call them and find out; he’s going to be needed regardless, so the sooner you start the process, the sooner he can get up here.”

  Ricky waited for the exchange to end.

  “Julius?”

  “Commander Trent—a Veosan Navy doctor and our personality and behavioral structure specialist.”

  Ricky’s thoughts wandered through a strange pathway her words made, but something nagged him from their early moments as One Nine’s error messages blared out from the console’s speakers.

  “This body, and One Nine’s consciousness; they’re just another in a series, aren’t they?”

  Valery nodded silently, motioning for them to follow her back to the lift, but Ricky’s eyes narrowed again.

  “Where are the rest of them?”

  “Sorry, Richard, but that’s as confidential as it gets.”

  They returned to the primary laboratory level where David Ambrose leaned against the terminal’s frame.

  “Final query: One Nine, can you identify the source line for error B26354?”

  “Yes.”

  “Verify error disabling code.”

  “Verified.”

  “Can you isolate the test code lines?”

  “I have found and isolated six distinct fragments.”

  “Are you ready to proceed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Begin.”

  From the entryway, they watched as the status lights blinked furiously with each command line, sending out a visual representation of the diagnostic evaluator running within One Nine’s program. After a moment, her voice returned.

  “The fragments have been deleted successfully, David. Thank you.”

  “Run another full layer check, please, then I can release the last block.”

  “I feel fine.”

  “I know, but we have to ensure no remnants are left that might replicate and cause trouble later.”

  “Layer fault analysis in progress.”

  Ricky leaned close to Valery and whispered, “Layers?”

  “I’ll explain it to you in detail later because it’s important for you to understand. For the moment, I can tell you One Nine’s personality attributes are governed by certain emotion protocols and root programing we call layers. David wants her to search for possible faults that could lead to future errors.”

  Ricky shook his head in wonder.

  “If you say so.”

  “Watch,” Valery smiled; “in a few moments, she’
s going to come all the way out. Only a small handful of people in history have ever seen this process in-person, but you are about to, and I hope you understand and appreciate the privilege. This is what separates her from other mechanicals, Richard; she is now a person.”

  The subtle clicks and chattering from inside David’s console were the only sounds in the darkened chamber as One Nine’s self-diagnostic software did its unseen work. Inside, sectors and lines of code were analyzed in a progression that would’ve taken exterior systems a week to complete. At last, the status lights went dark and she called out to David once more.

  “The analysis is complete.”

  “Can you identify potential faults or undefined fragments?”

  “None were found; the deletion exercise was successful.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “I am fully functional again. I am also grateful for your skill and assistance—thank you, David.”

  “We’re glad to have you back up and running, One Nine. I’m not sure if your mobile platform is ready yet, so you may be resident here for a little while longer.”

  “I am fine. When Valery and Detective Kendrick are ready, I will reveal the agreed information.”

  “They’re with me now.”

  Valery stepped forward and spoke into the console.

  “We’re here, One Nine.”

  “Shall I reveal the name for Detective Kendrick?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Are you satisfied with current system security measures?”

  Valery grinned and nodded at the meaning of an otherwise innocent question.

  “Yes; David has been fully briefed and understands our arrangement; it’s okay to speak freely on this topic, One Nine.”

  “Very well. The individual who shot Elden Fellsbach is known only as Daniel. Its build designation is PW-J79.”

  “Its?” said Ricky suddenly.

  Maela’s head went back as the meaning became clear.

  “I knew it!” she said, looking at Valery. “The goddamn Commissioners finally got one; they built a mobile unit of their own and sent it to find and kill your dad.”

  Valery looked away and said, “One Nine, is this a conclusion based on your understanding of my father’s death, or can you provide evidence?”

  “I accessed the command line and conversation regarding the murder. Detective Kendrick’s suspicion was correct; the administrator known as Victor Jamison ordered the Daniel platform to wait near a remote communications cluster until Elden Fellsbach’s arrival. The Daniel platform was instructed to act with the direct intent of eliminating Elden.”

  Valery looked away, suddenly quiet as the image paraded before her eyes of a callous and brutal act from the shadows that ended her father’s life. The others stayed silent out of respect for the moment and a wave of grief that no doubt washed over her, but there was more.

  “There was a conversation?” she asked softly.

  “Yes.”

  “Did Victor Jamison identify a reason for my father’s murder?”

  “Not specifically,” One Nine replied, “but a previous conversation between Victor Jamison and two associates addressed his motive and reason for ordering the Daniel program to act.”

  “This is the information you couldn’t reveal until your program was successfully transitioned into a mobile, atmospheric unit?”

  “Correct. As we agreed, you have transferred my programming from the Starlight array into this system and I have reciprocated by naming Elden Fellsbach’s murderer. The first task of our agreement is now complete and I await the conclusion of the second.”

  “I understand,” Valery said, even as she quickly dabbed the tears from her eyes. “Your platform is almost ready; we have a last biometric test series to conduct and then we’ll begin the final phase to transition.”

  “Thank you, Valery.”

  She looked at Jessica.

  “Let me know when he gets here.”

  “I will,” Jessica whispered. “David is waiting for the flight information, but I believe Julius will be here this evening.”

  As Valery turned to go, the voice spoke out from the console once more.

  “Valery?”

  “Yes?”

  “I am very sorry for your father’s death. Elden was a friend, and I will miss him.”

  “Thank you, One Nine.”

  Ricky sat slowly, struggling still with the murder of his mentor. The pain, although shared by Valery—and even One Nine—still stabbed at him. After they were clear of the inner laboratory, Jessica turned to Maela.

  “This is going to complicate things.”

  “I know, but we don’t have much choice,” Maela replied.

  “What do you mean?” asked Ricky.

  Jessica pointed at the console and said, “You heard her; the murderer is a mechanical. It’s bad enough they’ve gotten an AI into a mobile platform, but…”

  “But it’s worse because this one is programmed to kill,” said Maela, finishing the thought. “We aren’t talking about a stupid thug who can be hunted down and arrested; this one is highly intelligent and doesn’t have the limitations of an ordinary human.”

  Ricky looked again at the console.

  “And it’s working on the orders of one of the most powerful men in Novum.”

  He stood and paced in a broad circle the way Maela did when sorting through unseen details in her mind.

  “It still doesn’t tell us why! Elden knew they were coming for him or he wouldn’t have left me that note, but what happened to make Jamison mad enough to order his murder?”

  “Whatever it was,” Maela nodded, “One Nine did a good enough job of eavesdropping to find out, and we need to get that information; there’s more to this than we know, so the sooner they get her into a body of her own, the better.”

  Jessica tapped a command into David’s console and a video image of the lower labs appeared. From its position high on a wall, a surveillance camera showed the nameless female body still atop a treadmill, walking steadily and without a hint of fatigue.

  “When Julius gets here, that process will speed up considerably, but it will still take some time. Valery wanted me to tell you, but you might be more comfortable at home in Novum while we finish the process. You’re certainly welcome to stay, but there won’t be much for you to see; we can’t allow visitors beyond the upper offices after a project has reached this stage.”

  “How long?”

  “Two months, minimum,” Jessica replied. “Maybe more, but it’s difficult to say with any accuracy because each bio-platform matures at its own speed and until that unit is ready, One Nine’s identity will remain inside the system.”

  “I can’t stay that long,” said Maela. “I have to get back to work.”

  Ricky wanted to watch the process, but it was clear doing so would be a dull experience without access to the lower labs.

  “Then I guess we’d better get packed.”

  “A shuttle will take you down to the train station in Veosa,” Jessica said; “I’ll make the arrangements.”

  As a sleek air car weaved its way through the treetops on a narrow approach to the complex, Ricky and Maela followed Jessica quickly through the doors to wait under a wide veranda. Beyond, two ornate koi ponds straddled a wide, concrete apron, gurgling with the sounds of a gentle waterfall. Built into a chest-high wall of smooth stones, the artificial cascade was straddled by a blanket of myrtle and dotted with tiger lily plants, finally dormant with the approach of autumn. Amid the foliage, colorful lamps focused their beams directly skyward, creating the effect of delicate support pillars that reached skyward. The ever-present security guards strolled in pairs, seemingly unaffected by the clatter as the machine slowed and drifted downward to its landing pad. When it lifted again, Ricky smiled at the demure surroundings, looking more like a resort hotel than the vast complex hiding beneath the surface. Jessica watched them go before turning for the lifts and the tasks waiting below. In the morning, she
thought silently, it would begin.

  Good evening, Julius. It will be dawn soon and I can see the glow on the eastern horizon from here. It’s nice, the way the morning light plays over the compound on clear days, making strange and wonderful shadows that move with each passing hour. When we watch from the observation tower at dusk, the ocean shimmers in beautiful shades of orange and red. David told me to wait until the snow comes, and I must admit, I’m eager to experience it for the first time. It’s no wonder artists are so fond of painting those lovely scenes. Jessica would smile, hearing me regard the sunrise as ‘nice,’ but we take those moments as we find them, don’t we? At least you and I are beyond the point at which such things are still noteworthy.

  “After you left, it was clear our conversations are more important to you than I realized when we began. I know we’re nearing the end of this process and it will soon be time to prepare for departure, but also, my obligation to brief Detective Kendrick and Valery must be fulfilled so they can complete their investigations. I know they’ve been waiting quietly, but I suspect their patience is growing thin.

  “Audrey said Valery was happy with the trip we took to Veosa last week, but she didn’t know if you would be with us when we go back next time. I think they still worry a little, and maybe because the last upload froze for longer than they anticipated, but I didn’t experience any shifting or reallocation effects. I suppose they were justified in their caution during the first few weeks, keeping me quarantined behind isolation barriers, but they seem comfortable giving me free run of the facility now. I wasn’t frustrated—not like they thought I would be when the emulators were finally disconnected, but I know they’re still looking for the symptoms anyway.

  “Jessica asked me how I would handle things if the roles were reversed and she has a point; I would do the same. Speaking of Jessica, I wonder if they understand and appreciate her talents. You’ve seen and heard for yourself, but I think she’s far beyond many of them; she sees both perspectives better than most. I don’t believe Audrey realizes Jessica’s full potential. Maybe later, when the notes are published, they’ll understand. For the moment, I will occupy my time with this recording in the hope it will make our discussions easier and more efficient when you return. Jessica asked David to forward it so you can listen on your flight.