Bourne

by Ell Leigh Clarke

  Jack nodded solemnly.

  Paige was still struggling with the situation. “But why? What is he worried about?”

  Jack drew a long breath and perched herself on one of the armchairs. “Well, this is a particularly dangerous situation because the Central Systems of Sark really don’t have any experience with AI, or how to help them evolve. And any nascent AI is going to operate at the level of consciousness of the people and data it is surrounded by. Think of it as a child if you will. But consider it a child that learns faster and more literally than any organic. And then look at the consciousness of the people you’ll find on a facility designed for winning wars and you’ll start to see why Sean is concerned. The Estarians have pretty much just developed the most lethal weapon they could. And I’m including the fusion bomb in this discussion too.”

  Jack fell silent.

  Paige cocked her head. “I see your point, and I’m… worried now.” Her forehead was wrinkled in genuine concern. “But just think about this without the fear factor. What you’re saying is that another military force has developed a tool, potentially another team member, in an attempt to defend their own system. Who are we to intervene?”

  Jack bobbed her head. “You know, I see your point intellectually, but this is where my brain switches over into strategy mode. If our enemies were arming and putting warships around Gaitune, I think I’d want to intervene to stop them from doing it. It’s an act of war.”

  Paige shook her head. “Not necessarily. Research and development into AI technology can be independent of plans for an assault. That analogy doesn’t hold.”

  Jack sighed, the frustration now showing in her eyes. “The bottom line is the stakes are too high at this point and Molly should be thinking strategically. We had high level meetings about the AI project when I was in the Central Systems military. As far as we were told, it was a long way off. But there was no doubt why we wanted it. To win wars.” She paused before continuing. “Sean and I are of the same mind on this. Military strategy first. Theoretical consideration only if we’re not about to be annihilated.”

  Paige stuck out her bottom lip. “Ok the survival bit is probably important, but I don’t like it. And it wouldn’t be a problem if everyone didn’t always jump to attacking first as the best form of defense.”

  Jack nodded. “Yeah, well, the first army to do that will be wiped out. So even if it is the better long-term strategy for peace, I guess it would need everyone to operate by it in the first place. Bottom line, I’m with Sean on this. We should be moving.”

  Maya had stopped slurping her grassy compound and was sucking on her ice cold bottom lip. “You know,” she said, leaning in to Paige so their shoulders were gently touching, “I guess we also have a responsibility to keep them from destroying themselves. And each other. An unmanaged AI development has a high probability of resulting in deaths.”

  Paige sighed. She wasn’t winning this one. “Yeah, but by restricting their development and growth? How will they ever learn?”

  Maya grinned. “I feel a child putting his hand to the fire analogy coming on…”

  Paige giggled. “Okay, okay. I take your point, but there has to be a better way than going in and wiping everyone out.”

  “And that,” Jack said, standing up, “is probably what Molly is working on figuring out. A middle road.”

  Maya nodded towards the foyer and the corridor beyond. “So you think Sean is going to help with that?”

  Jack shook her head. “No way. He’s going in with his ‘the Federation has bigger guns, so the Federation gets to police the universe’ argument.”

  Paige’s eyes lit up in mischievous glee. “Oh my! This is going to be interesting!” She popped a piece of corn flavored snack into her mouth and watched the door to the corridor.

  Jack turned to look as well, her shoulders dropping in dismay. “Yeah. This probably isn’t going to go well.”

  She looked back at Maya and Paige, and then at the snacks. “You know, if it’s all the same to you, I don’t want to stick around and see this play out. Think I’m going to hit the sack.”

  Paige’s eyes were still fixed on the door as she popped some more corn into her mouth. “You sure? I got bean-chunga… your fave.”

  “That’s sweet. Lemme take one…” Jack took one of the small packets Paige offered her. “Thanks. And we should probably get as much rest as we can.” She looked pointedly at Maya, as if Maya might be able to talk Paige down from watching the carnage that was about to happen in the Sean-Molly discussion.

  Maya shrugged. “Okay. We’ll probably go to bed in a bit too,” she said noncommittally.

  “’Kay,” Jack muttered, shuffling out of the common area. “I’m heading to bed.” She raised the takeout cup in her hand. “Thanks for the slushy.”

  “’Night!” Paige called after her, still distracted by watching the door, waiting for Sean to reappear so she could find out what happened.

  Maya smiled to herself as she said, “You know, you really do have such a morbid fascination with conflict.”

  Paige popped some more corn snack in her mouth as if she were watching a movie. “Nah. It’s just a healthy interest in the office politics. Remember, I was a personal assistant in the Senate offices for a good number of years. Having the lowdown on the latest gossip provided many benefits.”

  Maya glanced at her sideways, digging her hand into the packet of corn substitute. “Like?”

  Paige shrugged. “A relief from boredom for one. Oooh — plus it was a tool for elevating one’s social standing.”

  Maya chuckled. “You mean, you were more popular if you were the one to share the first-hand accounts first?”

  Paige nodded. “I was very good at it,” she replied simply.

  Maya chuckled, and playfully threw her straw wrapper at her friend. “Ok, well let’s hope this doesn’t take all night…”

  Gaitune-67, Safehouse, Molly’s conference room

  The first Molly was aware of Sean’s presence was when he tapped his knuckles on the door frame.

  “Hey, you got a minute?” he asked.

  Molly turned as he stepped uncharacteristically quietly into the room. She nodded and then signaled at a nearby chair around the table.

  Sean moved over to it and pulled it out. He hesitated briefly before sitting down.

  Molly waited, her holo screens now forgotten.

  He was suddenly acutely aware he had her full attention.

  It was an eerie experience for him. She’d been so busy recently with the university and the missions, he’d almost forgotten who she was when she wasn’t “on”.

  “It’s about the mission,” he started.

  Molly nodded. Suddenly he felt more awkward than he ever used to around her. Like she was powerful in her silence.

  “If this AI gets out, the consequences could be dire.” He paused. Molly still said nothing. She just held his gaze.

  Sean continued. “We have a responsibility to the Federation. And this world. We’re the only ones in a position to do anything about this. And it is kinda our fault that it’s an issue.”

  Molly didn’t react. She just listened.

  “I know you don’t want this to be our first option, but the risks are too high if we can’t talk this Baby Oz around. We need to be ready to act.”

  Two minutes ago he had been so sure of his convictions. He knew he was doing the right thing. And yet now, as he was having this one-sided conversation with her, he wasn’t quite so sure anymore. Still, he knew what he needed to say.

  “So, are you ready to act if we need to?”

  Molly’s expression remained neutral, neither resisting nor resigned.

  “We’ve been through this,” she said simply.

  Sean pushed his chair back and leaned his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands. “Yeah, but that doesn’t answer my question.”

  She thought for a moment. “If we absolutely have to, we’ll do whatever it takes to keep the galaxy safe,” she a
ssured him. “But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  Sean nodded, feeling like he had been heard, and that they had a sensible agreement. He put his hands on his legs to stand, and then stopped.

  “Can’t we…?”

  Molly had gone back to her holo but now she looked up at him again, waiting.

  “Can’t we just get ADAM to reprogram him?” he asked, his brow furrowed as if he were now suddenly invested in the save-Baby-Oz campaign.

  Molly sat back and took a deep breath. For the first time in the whole conversation it looked to Sean that she was affected by the exchange. “That would be an ethical gray area,” she told him.

  There was something in her eyes that he couldn’t quite place.

  Was it sadness? Or confusion? Neither emotions nor ethics were her strong point, he remembered.

  “Joel would have a better answer for this,” she confessed.

  Sean reacted. “Joel? Joel isn’t the leader of this merry band of geeks. You are!” He was about to continue but then caught himself after raising his voice.

  Molly put her hand up to stop him. He forced himself back into the chair, several feet from sitting ‘at’ the table.

  “Here’s what I know,” she told him calmly, her voice almost despondent. “Oz is his own person. So is this new entity. So changing his programming is like going into your brain and reprogramming you if I don’t like you. It’s not the way forward, and while it would solve this immediate problem, it would be a betrayal of trust, not just with Bourne, but all AIs and organics alike.”

  She paused before continuing. “Either way, it’s potentially murder. Murder of Bourne’s personality. Or murder of a living entity, in order to save the local organics.”

  Sean picked up on her last comment, seemingly missing the bigger point she was trying to make. “Not just the locals,” he protested. “We’re talking potentially the galaxy and beyond.”

  “Potentially,” she agreed. “That’s hard to quantify, though. Could an AI really find a way to travel those distances? How much evolution would it require? And are there the available resources to engineer that kind of processing? And how might he orchestrate that?”

  She dismissively waved her hand. “There are many many variables.”

  Sean could see this going off track quickly. “But you programmed Oz in the beginning.”

  Molly looked down at the table and drew a deep breath. “I fucked up,” she confessed. She looked up at Sean. “I’m not making that mistake again. It’s a violation. I get that now.”

  Sean frowned. “But from what I hear, you also gave Oz guidance and instructions about what he could and couldn’t do.”

  Molly rolled her eyes, her lips breaking into a hint of a smile. “Yeah. To my detriment.”

  Sean couldn’t help but grin, even despite the conflict. “So how is this any different?”

  “How do you mean?” she asked, her face now contorted as she struggled to follow his man-logic.

  “Well, telling him not to do something versus programming him?”

  Molly stuck out her bottom lip as she thought for a second. “Telling him he still has a choice,” she decided.

  “Does he really though?” he argued. “I mean, we’ve talked about how Oz is the way he is because one of the first things you told him. How is that any different from programming him?”

  Molly eyes glazed over as her thoughts wandered off. “I suppose it’s not,” she agreed slowly.

  Molly’s mind flashed through all the things her parents used to tell her that were essentially bad programming. Like when a boy pulls your hair it’s because he likes you. Which down the line translates into only feeling loved when someone causes you pain rather than realizing they are a douche and just walking away. Like when you’re ignored so you conclude that you’re worthless. Down the way this becomes so pervasive it’s a miracle that anyone ever overcomes it.

  If they ever truly do.

  Molly turned her attention back to Sean. “It’s true. Early programs are overwhelmingly influential. For better or worse - as Oz is unfortunately discovering. It’s taking exponentially more programming and data points to counter the original faulty single line of code.”

  She stared absently at the table. Sean shifted in his seat. “I think you need to choose a lesser of two evils then.”

  She glanced up at him, and then back at her holoscreens. “You mean reprogram him?”

  Sean nodded. “Yup. Better than killing him. And fewer causalities on site.”

  Molly sighed. “This is probably true.”

  He got up and ambled towards the door. “Sucks to be in charge, don’t it?”

  “Yep,” she muttered.

  He thought about giving her a hug, but then changed his mind and snapped back into GI Sean mode, and left.

  Molly listened to the sound of his boots striding away down the corridor.

  She waited for silence before she forced her thoughts back in line.

  What do you think Oz? Is this something that is even possible?

  Reprogramming Bourne?

  Yeah, as a way of saving him if you can’t bring him around.

  Oz was silent.

  Oz?

  Yeah. I’m thinking it would be the equivalent of lobotomizing him. If you’re okay with that then I can look at how we might do that.

  I’m not okay with it. Not by a long shot. And even less ok about it than actually killing anyone, in fact.

  She cocked her head at that new realization.

  But on the surface it seems like a more humane option than risking other lives. So if we can’t talk him around, this will have to be our plan B.

  Okay.

  But understand that I am not okay with any of this.

  I do. And thanks Molly.

  Molly sat for several minutes trying to focus on what she had to do. After re-reading the same screen several times she closed it all up.

  I’m heading for the gym. Lemme know if you get any movement.

  Will do.

  Molly packed up her gear, her mind churning through the awful decision she was going to have to make.

  Gaitune-67, Common area

  Sean appeared from Molly’s conference room and headed back down the corridor and into the foyer. He was scratching his head, as if deep in thought.

  Not quite the response Paige had been expecting.

  She had been counting on raised voices and doors slamming. Not to mention storming and huffing, and then a heated blow-by-blow account of the discussion.

  Instead, Sean just emerged quietly from the double doors.

  Paige and Maya watched him walk through the foyer to the common area as if he were just heading for the kitchen.

  “How did it go?” Paige called out as he approached.

  Sean stopped, resting his hand on the back of one of the armchairs. “I’m… not sure. Okay, I guess. She heard me out. And I think we have a way forward. If it comes to it.”

  Both girls had regarded him curiously as they sat slurping their slushies in tandem.

  Then Paige asked, “What happened when you mentioned the bigger guns part of your argument?”

  Sean suddenly remembered how he went into the meeting. “I…er… didn’t get to that bit,” an air of confusion descending on him.

  Maya raised her eyebrows, causing the straw to pop from her mouth. “How come?”

  “I dunno, really.” He started scratching the back of his head again. “I just didn’t feel quite so strongly about it when we were talking.”

  Paige’s eyes twinkled. “She talked you out of it?”

  “Well... er… no,” he grunted. “I did most of the talking. But I kind of changed my mind.”

  Maya’s eyes were fixed on Sean as if she were waiting for him to reveal something else that could explain what just happened. Paige seemed to be chuckling to herself. “Yeah. It was a bad argument anyway,” she told him, waving her hand dismissively.

  Maya joined the humor. “Yeah, it was
a knucklehead argument.”

  Sean scratched the back of his head, glancing nervously back at the conference room. “Yeah. Maybe. Normally flies everywhere else.”

  Paige popped her straw and said, “Problem solving over brute force works here, champ. You’ll learn.” She winked playfully, diffusing the tension. If she wasn’t so cute he would probably have at least taken some offense to her comments. But it was Paige. And she was the glue of this team.

  And she probably had a valid point.

  Even if he didn’t 100 percent agree with her position on this one.

  But something in that meeting had turned him around. And he just didn’t feel that way anymore.

  Puzzled, he headed into the kitchen, almost dazed.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Gaitune-67, Hangar Deck

  “Hey Joel — wait up.” Sean strode across the hangar deck floor to catch up with Joel.

  Joel spun round. “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Can I talk to you about something?”

  “Sure.”

  Sean lowered his voice. “It’s Molly.”

  Joel raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

  “Have you noticed anything different about her recently? Like… anything strange?”

  “More than usual?” Joel shook his head. “No. Why?”

  Sean hesitated, his face more serious than Joel had seen it in a long time.

  “Well, have you… have you noticed that she’s… uh… more persuasive than normal?”

  Joel suddenly stopped. “What? She didn’t proposition you, did she?”

  Horrified, Sean blurted, “Oh no. Hell no… I mean…” His look of worry turned to one of excitement. “That wouldn’t be something to be concerned about… Man, I’d be…” He checked himself and coughed. “Anyway. No. It’s just I went to talk to her last night.”

  Joel’s eyes became accusing.

  Sean put his hands up. “No, not like that!” he protested. “In the conference room. About her approach to this Baby Bourne thing.”

  Joel relaxed a little. “Yeah… and?”

  “Well, I tried to tell her how we need to move fast and whatnot… and while she agreed with me in a roundabout way, I came away with my mind almost completely changed.”