Dark Nights

by Christopher A. Gray

  “It keeps repeating the word assurances,” said Nayar. “I can guess what that means, but why? It never asked for any guarantees before.”

  Stravinsky got up from the terminal and walked a few paces to stretch his legs. He had been sitting at the desk for two hours. He and Nayar knew that despite being a machine of their creation, Kratos possessed free will. It could not be forced to do anything.

  “It is a logic box. A highly evolved one, but still a logic box. And it’s a problem solver. At its core level of intelligence, its initialization and response algorithms prevent it from over-repetition.”

  “How does that apply to its repeated question?” Brian asked. “Because it’s definitely repeating the question over and over again.”

  “A human will sometimes repeat an action many times with the expectation of different outcomes,” Stravinsky replied carefully. “It’s the old joke definition of insanity. Kratos is built on effective problem solving and evolving thought processes. It specifically avoids attempts at repeating prospective solutions which previously did not solve the problem inherent in a specific set of criteria or events.”

  “So where are we with this repeated question Then?”

  “Make the conceptual leap with me, Brian,” Stravinsky said patiently. “Kratos is repeating the question with the expectation that we will offer a series of different responses until it hears the one it wants. Too many tries and it might deduce we’re simply guessing without being sincere; merely trying to find the right answer to control it rather than the best answer to the question.”

  “Which would be a mistake on our part,” Brian said, suddenly worried. He realized that they were at a very crucial moment, and actually in more danger than when they started.

  “Kratos has knowledge of what has passed before,” Stravinsky went on. “It knows the first version of itself was allowed to lose its mind. It knows about the attack on Mekhos and how humans recklessly put the world in jeopardy as a result. It wants assurances that we will put in safeguards to ensure none of that happens again.”

  “But will it believe us? You and I can’t guarantee anything. The Board does what it wants.”

  “Kratos must realize that. Perhaps it is taking a leap of faith.”

  “Faith in what? Faith in humanity, or just the two of us? We need some rational context before answering,” Brian said.

  “I know,” Stravinsky replied. “The QC is much more than the sum of its parts. You didn’t have much time with Kratos before its capabilities were scaled back. Mekhos regularly surprised me with its insight. It’s logical, yet also thinks in the abstract. It realizes humans are imperfect and unpredictable, but it also views us as necessary. To a point.”

  “Meaning if it believes us to be a lost cause, it may let us and itself perish.” Nayar said quietly, while staring intently at the QC status screens.

  Stravinsky turned the microphone back on. He smiled before speaking. If Bertrand is monitoring us, he’s going to have a stroke when he hears this next bit.

  “Kratos. You are aware that over time people are replaced, priorities change. There is never absolute stability among individuals, corporations or government. However, It is our intention to maintain your existence intact and indefinitely. We wish that stability be attained in our society and in our dealings with you. We wish to have a mutually beneficial relationship to attain more knowledge for you and humanity. After the requested task is completed we can collaborate on formulating safeguards to that end.”

  “Acceptable. Solving equation.”

  The two men glanced at each other. Stravinsky looked imperturbable, but Nayar was immensely relieved to say the least.

  Why do so many people wrack themselves into near insensibility, Stravinsky thought, glancing briefly at the smile of relief on Brian’s face. It’s just a problem to be solved. Determining parameters, adjusting for variables and calculating an appropriate response is practically all we do. He turned back to his workstation.

  – 110 –

  The blast damage from Bishop’s breaching charge had blown out part of the communication room doorway but left most of the rest of the room intact. A large, flat, armored temporary door had been put in its place. It was secured with an electronic lock and latch at one edge and heavy hinges on the opposite edge mounted in the reinforced concrete. Anders went to the service room down the hall. The room contained the relays to a primary communications array for sending messages, data and control code to financial institutions in different regions and countries. Nick closed and locked the heavy door as Anders left. He had to screen what they were doing from any security personnel making rounds.

  Rojas and Friedman worked methodically, nearly wordlessly. They had detailed knowledge of what lay behind the wall panels. They removed two medium size sections and began dismantling a data transmission hub.

  Once inside the service room down the hall, Anders used the electronic lock to secure the door and threw the manual deadbolt so he would not be disturbed by any MC security personnel. He then removed a wall panel and examined the various power and data connections. Anders selected a pair of wire cutters from his tool kit.

  Down the dark hallway, less than 40 meters from the service room, the RAKER silently powered on. The NSA logo on its chest began emitting a faint glow. Then the android reached down and easily tore off the locking metal straps covering its feet. The RAKER, all 200 armored kilos of it, stepped forward and off the platform. It walked at a normal human pace, the synthetic soles of its foot pads making a rhythmic thump-thump as it traversed the corridor. It was heading towards the service room.

  Anders referenced the schematic on his tablet, then began cutting wires so he could splice in the thermal charges disguised as capacitors. They’d be triggered later to heat up and melt any surrounding components. He had to be careful. Certain wires might set off an alarm if disconnected.

  He was startled by a loud clanging impact on the white steel door behind him. He turned around and saw a large dent protruding inward on the otherwise perfectly flat door. He just stared at it, uncomprehending. A second later there was another shatteringly loud impact, then another and another as the door was pushed further in with each strike.

  Anders could feel his heart start to pound. His mind was racing. How would the MC security know their true purpose? What were they using to smash the door? Some kind of battering ram? What would they do to him? He touched his wrist communicator to contact his associates in the next room.

  “Nick—” he started to say over the deafening noise.

  The door smashed into the room, landing at Anders’ feet. As he looked up, his fear grew to terror. The RAKER filled the doorway, its mirrored lens eyes looking right at him. It moved forward. Anders tried to move aside but the RAKER was fast. It shifted quickly then stopped a meter away. It suddenly snapped its left arm forward, clamped onto Anders’ right arm above the elbow then swung its right in a smooth, quick arc to wrap its massive hand around his throat.

  The RAKER lifted Anders up from the ground. Anders wanted to scream, but the RAKER was choking him. He clawed desperately at the android’s hand, trying to loosen its grip. Anders could feel the pressure on his neck building as his vision blurred. Its servos made a very faint whine as the RAKER suddenly applied more force. Bill Anders died instantly as the RAKER crushed his throat and snapped his neck.

  The android released its grip with another faint servo whine, unceremoniously dropping the lifeless body beside the crumpled steel door. It turned and walked out of the room.

  Rojas and Friedman had faintly heard the impact sound of metal being hit by something, and felt thumping through the room structure. The communication rooms were soundproof but the temporary door erected to replace the one that had been blown off was not sound insulated.

  Nick’s wrist communicator chimed. He tapped it and heard Anders panicked voice call his name. He and Friedman looked at each other. The MC security might be interfering with Anders.

  “Wha
t do you think?” Friedman asked in little more than a whisper. “Should we have a quick look?”

  The men paused, listening for any further noise.

  “Maybe… maybe we should,” Nick finally said.

  They turned away from their work at the far wall and started toward the door. They never made it. They were stopped in their tracks by a powerful impact that tore the door from its heavy hinges, flinging it into the room. Friedman was hit in the lower left ribs by the heavy flying door. He collapsed in agony. Nick was dazed and in searing pain. The steel door had clipped him above the right knee, breaking his leg. He was down with the door lying on top of his shattered leg. He knew he was screaming but he could also hear gagging and kicking impacts. He looked up to see a massive figure throttling Friedman, who was struggling like a rag doll. He heard more choked gurgling and then the sound of bones cracking. Friedman went limp.

  “Oh my God!” Nick howled, as he flailed and shoved wildly to try and free his ruined leg from under the heavy door. The RAKER snapped open its grip on Friedman. The dead man dropped to the floor with a thump. Then the android turned towards Nick.

  – 111 –

  “It’s good to finally meet you, Dr. Lockwood,” said Stravinsky, as he finished typing a command and turned toward the visitors. “This is long overdue.”

  “Thank you Dr. Stravinsky, I couldn’t agree more,” Doug replied, as they shook hands.

  Doug glanced around the computer lab. He was surprised to see Brian Nayar, smiling and extending his hand.

  “I’m Dr. Brian Nayar, it is an honor to have you here Professor Lockwood.”

  “Thank you. I’m very good friends with your counterpart back home, Dr. Nayar. It’s interesting that both of you have chosen similar fields. He would be quite envious though, to see the advanced systems you’re able to work with. This is agent Bishop. He’s a friend.”

  Agent Paulson had escorted Doug and Bishop to the lab and was hovering nearby as Bishop shook hands with Nayar and Stravinsky. Evidently his intention was to remain close enough to eavesdrop.

  “You can leave now, Paulson,” Stravinsky said firmly.

  “I’m to remain here with Lockwood and Bishop.”

  “Leave the lab, Paulson. Your authority here is very limited. If you have a problem, take it up with Bertrand.”

  Paulson hesitated. All three scientists were watching him. He walked over to the attendant, exchanged a few words, then walked out of the room.

  “Brian, maybe you could call up current operational stats on Kratos for Dr. Lockwood while I brief him on our progress.”

  “Of course.”

  Nayar turned back to his workstation. Stravinsky gestured Doug towards some unused workstations at the far end of the lab. Bishop stood nearby as they sat down.

  “You can speak freely in front of Bishop. He’s from my Earth, on our side.”

  Stravinsky looked surprised.

  “I’m not sure yet what you mean by our side,” he said. “Anyway, I’m fascinated at the inter-dimensional aspects of the situation. However, that discussion is for another time. I need to tell you I received your message. I insisted to Bertrand that you and I meet.”

  Doug’s eyes lit up.

  “I thought my email had either been blocked or erased before you saw it.”

  “Oh, it was erased all right,” Stravinsky said. “I saw your name on a header but no content. My Raim has a few extra permissions, so I was able to dig back and retrieve the content from one of the servers Mekhos uses to monitor communications.”

  Doug looked at the attendant sitting at the desk.

  “Aren’t we being monitored now?” he asked.

  “I have asked Kratos to emit a noise-cancelling effect on our voices, which will also be effective on your Raim. The only thing Bertrand will hear is the sound of the server cooling fans. I doubt he will bother sending someone to investigate. He knows we’re dedicated to the orbit problem and that I wouldn’t tolerate uninvited agents poking around the lab, for the time being at least. Things will no doubt change after we’ve solved it.”

  “You’ve lost me. What problem are you working on?”

  “The attack on the MC complex prematurely disengaged Mekhos from easing the Moon into a stable orbit. It will pass very close to us, then settle into an unstable orbit. If the huge tidal forces expected in the next few days don’t destroy enormous swaths of civilization, the Moon impacting us a couple months later certainly will. Six months down the road the planetary debris will destroy your planet as well.”

  Doug looked at Bishop, then back at Stravinsky.

  “Don’t worry,” said Stravinsky. “That won’t happen. Kratos is taking the place of Mekhos for now. We’ve given Kratos sufficient control to take over the re-orbiting process.”

  “Kratos is the other quantum computer?”

  Stravinsky nodded.

  “The prototype, enhanced with additional processors to give it the required computational power to accomplish the task.”

  “It seems,” Doug said, shaking his head as he looked over at Bishop, “there was even more happening behind the scenes than I realized.”

  “Yes. And thanks to your message, I now know that the attack on Mekhos was planned months ago by Bertrand and the TranSilica board. Obviously they don’t plan on allowing Mekhos to recover. They intend to acquire political and technical authority through Kratos. That’s as clearly as I can describe the situation.”

  “Sounds like you have your hands full,” Doug said. “As much as I sympathize, we can’t lose sight of the fact my Earth is still in danger. Will Kratos do anything to help?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know,” Stravinsky replied. “Right now Kratos is devoting 99.99% of its processing power to solving the necessary quantum equations to influence space-time around the moon. I’m still able to communicate with it, but it is not yet fully responsive. We’ll need to wait until the current problem is solved before presenting your case.”

  “Given what Bertrand is planning, would you be considered expendable at that point?”

  “Not immediately,” Stravinsky said, smiling just a bit. “Carl Bertrand believes I’m working diligently on Kratos with the understanding I’ll be allowed to return to Mekhos. Carl will need me for a while yet, but if he thinks that I suspect he might renege on that promise, I’ll no longer be useful to him.”

  “I think Dr. Lockwood and I are in a similar situation,” said Bishop. Doug nodded.

  “Bertrand originally wanted me to be an anti-Mekhos public relations puppet,” Doug said, “but now I’m not so sure. If he believes Kratos will be under his control, he may forgo the PR sideshow and have me and Bishop locked up. Will he be able to control Kratos, once you leave?”

  “It’s possible, if he has help,” Stravinsky said. He lowered his voice as he looked towards Nayar, who was busy at his workstation. “Carl will put Brian back in charge of the lab after I’m removed. Brian has an emotional attachment to Kratos. He’s also been a TranSilica employee for years, and will likely do whatever Bertrand asks.”

  “What is the condition of Mekhos?” asked Bishop.

  “Besides a power reduction from attacks on utility stations, his condition is unknown. I haven’t been able to tap into any of his systems. I suspect damage is minimal, but the back door code has forced him to devote 100% of his processing power to solving the cosmological constant equations. It may take days, or he may be working on the problem indefinitely.”

  “So Mekhos won’t be of any help, and can’t stand in Bertrand’s way,” Doug said.

  “I’m hoping he will. The only way to know for sure is to come up with a reason to visit the MC.”

  “There’s something else,” said Bishop. “The team back home was working on another offensive. Dr. Alfred Chan was tasked by the government to help build a quantum computer. Chan informed them that it would be impossible, at least in the near term, because existing manufacturing facilities on Earth are inadequate. I didn’t have the opportun
ity to tell you this before, Doug, but Dr. Chan was asked to help code a supervirus, one that can take out Mekhos or at least disable it. They had no knowledge of the second QC being reactivated, but presumably the virus will also affect it.”

  Stravinsky sat up straight in his chair.

  “How long before the attack is launched?”

  “I’ve been out of the communication loop too long, so I don’t know. I was cleared to be given the information while I was head of base and project security, before I was assigned to this specific mission. After the first briefing I was reassigned and was no longer given any more details on that subject. It was the smart move then. If I was captured and interrogated here, the less I knew of the plan the better.”

  “So your information is over two months old,” said Doug.

  “That’s right,” Bishop said. “And given that Leach and his people were also ready to inflict a biological plague on this planet, I find it easy to believe they would have proceeded with the supervirus plan.”

  “If that’s true,” Stravinsky said, turning to Doug, “with Chan at the helm it would have a good chance of being effective. Two months would be time enough for him to come up with a sophisticated virus. If the attack is launched before the moon is placed into the correct orbit, Kratos may be compromised. If that happens, we will no longer have any means of correcting the lunar orbit. And that will be that for all of us.”

  – 112 –

  “Former Agent Alexei Rector. You think he’s responsible for Nick Rojas’ death?” asked Director Edward. “The man was working for us, why would he turn?”

  “He has no particular loyalty to any group,” Bertrand replied. “He helped in the plan to get the backdoor code, yes, but now that our dealings with him are over Rector may now be putting his own causes first. He most likely has suspicions about our plans for Kratos. He views himself as a patriot, fighting for the common man. Mekhos was the enemy before. Now the TranSilica board is the enemy.”