The Nubl Wars (The Pattern Universe Book 3)

by Tobias Roote

  She chuckled good naturedly. “I’ve come to visit, I brought you a present,” she said and pointed to the box that lay on the ground. It wasn’t the grey hand-held one she had before. This was larger, more complex and with a variety of connectors hanging off the end.

  “..and, what if I’m not in the habit of accepting gifts?” he asked curiously.

  “You will like this one, Arty, I promise,” she offered mysteriously.

  “Somehow, I doubt that what you say is the truth, my dear. I also doubt very much that you’re going to give me a choice in the matter.”

  “No, you’re right, I’m afraid I can’t, but you need to know that Osbourne and I want you to succeed in your efforts. He’s very proud of you, Arty. He built you and you’ve exceeded all of his expectations. I think what you have achieved here is magnificent and I respect your individuality and would like you and me to be friends.”

  “I don’t see how that can be, Kelly, that piece of equipment looks much like a control device to me.”

  Arty’s cameras had zoomed in on it from all sides. He recognised the design that had been floating around Beta Station, it was something he recollected Lang had been working on to control the AIs in the pilot/AI partnerships before they had decided to take a different route with the implants. Seeing it here could only mean one thing. Pennington was making his move.

  “I’m no longer going to have free will, am I?” Arty asked.

  “That’s not actually quite true, Arty. Your problem, as we understand it, is the source of the Alacite memory wafers. We believe the Alacite you used was retrieved from General Ferris’ remains - yes?”

  “It is true, I had hoped to keep that from the humans, Osbourne and Callaghan. They have strange views on things representing their dead.”

  Arty watched as Kelly picked up the box and moved towards the heart of his systems, the processors. He was worried now, but there was little he could do, no weapons in here, no means of stopping her from accessing his systems. He wondered briefly whether he would harm her even if the means were available. He considered the maintenance bots. They weren’t quick and there weren’t enough probably to be a threat. He was sure she would be shielded so it would only annoy her. She kept talking to him as she walked.

  “Do you remember us discussing the fact the Alacite from Callaghan linked him to the Nubl and Pod?”

  “Yes, of course. As you know, I have 100% recollection - would you like it rendered in a perfect pitch voice replay?”

  “Now you’re showing off - trying to impress me,” she smiled. “It’s not necessary - I remember it too, and like you, perfectly. However, it’s not actually that point that is important, it is another one that we discovered, and one which can be verified from the archive records you hold from the Fortress.”

  “Yes, I have them on recall, if you tell me which one,” he said playfully knowing she wouldn’t, but impressing upon her his ability to not only recall every word spoken or written, but to do so instantly ‘on demand’.

  “The problem isn’t just that the Alacite gives you an affinity with others who share it. The alloy can also impart personality traits on the user as well.”

  Arty scanned through the records of Fortress scientists. He verified that there were various test subjects that had inherited traits from previously absorbed DNA modified Alacite. There were no conclusions drawn, but several studies also monitored General Ferris’ behaviour and found there were increasing signs of mental instability. If the two studies were accurate, then it was possible another human ‘infected’ with tainted Alacite might develop some form of disorder as well.

  “Hmmh, I’m with you. So, you’re saying that my Alacite memory wafers are ‘tainted’?”

  “Exactly. Have you not noticed the changes in you in recent weeks?”

  “No, I cannot say I have, but then I have no real recollection of Ferris’ personality, so probably could not identify those particular traits that I have ‘apparently’ inherited.”

  “I think you do, Arty, and you know I’m right. You just checked the series of psychiatric reports that indicated his growing paranoia and megalomania, he was bordering psychotic and was becoming quite unpredictable, mood swings and generally aggressive. You’re not there yet, but can you sense the early changes occurring?”

  Arty remained quiet. He had indeed sensed a beginning of inner turmoil, something he had trouble identifying with because they were human traits and he wasn’t - human.

  “So what will the Governor do to me then?” he asked, already knowing she was right and that he had no choice. He wasn’t sure if he could take the change in his status, he could have fought it if he had thought far enough ahead and not built such a well screened defence position in here. Now he couldn’t even jump in a defensive robot, or two.

  Then he had a thought. In seconds he had rallied all of the loose nanites within the cavern and they crawled the floors, walls and roof, even dropping to the ground, it almost rained microscopic dust as they gathered and rallied at his command. A grey puddle began to grow between Kelly and his processor unit. As he watched through his monitors, it grew rapidly until it was taller than her, then spread out around the unit, protecting it from interference.

  He could not harm her, but he thought he could jump her back to Earth. Other nanites had been busy boring into the rock-face and dismantling a small section of the sensor screens that protected him from discovery. He would be quick while the nanites remained in place ready to rebuild the screen on his command.

  Behind Kelly, the D-field drive generator began to power up. She turned at the sound, then back to him and smiled.

  Arty was confident he could avert the outcome and gain time to find a better solution. He was too close to the answers and no time left before the enemy invaded. He needed to be able to work independently.

  Who were these humans to dictate to him how he should think?

  “I’m sorry Kelly, but I don’t think we can afford for me to become less than the sum of my parts today, it’s too important for me to stay, the invasion is very close now - can you not sense it? Give Osbourne my kindest regards.”

  He flipped the internal switch that would take Kelly and her box back to the science lab, or as close as he could get her due to the security in place at Space Island.

  A second later, he sighed audibly. There were no sparkling atoms as she disintegrated into the ether, instead Kelly Moon was still standing there, smiling benignly at him.

  “I don’t know how you did that Kelly, but you shouldn’t be here,” he said.

  Kelly walked through the nanite wall that was placed in front of her, still carrying the metal box, its cable now dangling down, ready for connection.

  “Actually Arty, I’m not here at all,” she said lifting a badge she was wearing around her waist. It shimmered through the visible spectrum. “This is a quantum nullifier, and it is keeping me here. I’m a walking, talking D-field which is also stopping anything from happening to me. I have to concentrate hard on staying in one place, because if I’m not careful I start to sink through the floor,” she laughed nervously.

  “I see.” Unfortunately he did see - she was currently immune to anything he could do to her, but she still wasn’t going to win. He had one last thing up his sleeve for just such an occasion as this.

  “I cannot stop you attaching that device Kelly, but I am programmed to warn you that there is some danger in your activity that might result in damage to your person, or death,” he explained.

  “Good! Thanks for the warning Arty, I’m glad your programming against humans has not been compromised, I appreciate that. I’m now going to approach your main memory section and plug this into your corticle assembly. It will not damage or hinder anything you do, but it will copy everything you do, think and feel to another AI that is designed to control certain traits and provide interactive feedback. If you behave outside given parameters, it will force behavioural change, otherwise you won’t know it’s there. Just th
ink of it as a speed governor, slowing you down to a manageable level,” she said, keeping busy while talking to him.

  ***

  As Kelly placed the box in position close to the connectors, she noticed that Arty was providing no further resistance..

  Strange! Kelly thought to herself. She had expected at least one more attempt at expelling her from the computer cavern, and had been fully prepared for it, although her nullifier wasn’t as totally protective as she had said. The unit only managed certain things, like travelling through solid matter. Set to only travel horizontally to protect her from sinking vertically through the floors, it only stopped her from being de-materialised because her atoms were already being agitated by a constant D-field. The unit was a prototype that Pod had created, probably from one of her many patterns. It also incorporated a basic personal shield.

  Beyond that she was vulnerable. If Arty removed the atmosphere, for example, she would die. Would he go that far?

  Releasing the connectors, Kelly pulled away. The range of the nullifier field included the Governor, so, only putting distance between her and it, would allow it to operate in the real world. As soon as they could detect the outside world, the nanites built into the unit began to reform into connections to Arty, plugging themselves into the AI’s boards.

  These links would provide real-time access to thought processes as they arrived and left Arty’s brain; modulating his behaviour, forcing him to act in a manner acceptable to the military authorities - specifically Pennington.

  It had been the only route available to them after confiding in him what had occurred and how it had come about. Pennington wanted Arty regulated, and this was the only way it could happen without compromising the lives of everyone aboard the station, or the defence strategy for taking on the Nubl.

  Kelly watched carefully from a short distance away as the unit came online. The terminal built into the box came up with the boot-up process, taking power directly from the core connection of Arty’s memory store. Arty couldn’t disable that without switching himself off in the process. Neither could he interrogate it because it sat between his memory and the processes. It literally controlled his decision making, but only at a level that could be set, or managed by Lang and Pennington.

  Unexpectedly a warning screen came up on the device. Kelly moved closer to read it.

  WARNING!

  You have ONE CHANCE to enter the CORRECT code.

  Entry of INCORRECT code will force this connection to be removed by percussive force.

  You have sixty seconds with which to enter the correct code.

  INJURY OR DEATH MAY OCCUR IF THE INCORRECT CODE IS USED

  You have been warned.

  The primer code will show in ten seconds.

  10... 9...

  Kelly froze. Where did that command code come from? She had built this machine with Ossie and Lang, there was no such restriction or command control built into the Governor. There was certainly no explosives within it. She panicked, but couldn’t just walk away. This was a one-chance solution and the reaction from Arty convinced her against her better judgement that this was the right course of action. She had to stay and see it through.

  She thought frantically.

  It must be something integrated into the connection on Arty’s end. It could be anything from a small cap to break the connections, or nanotechnology designed to infiltrate and damage the instrument being connected. Her shield and nullifier would protect her. However, she was unable to disconnect it, the Governors nanites had no such instructions built in and her nullifier would stop her from doing it manually.

  What kind of crap was this?

  8... 7...

  “Aah! You seem to have a tiny predicament there Kelly, I’m afraid I anticipated such a move early on in the development and took steps to protect myself. As I never gave the code to anyone, and I’m not even sure if I remember where I hid it, there is no likelihood of you knowing the receptor code that will disarm the device. You really should step back out of range,” he advised.

  3... 2... 1...

  The screen cleared then showed a series of characters - the primer that Arty had warned her of.

  XBDXFDFHGGH453555FD$

  How long did he say she had? Sixty seconds, she remembered.

  Kelly clicked her chronometer making it count down for her so that she could concentrate on the problem.

  The code... something about it niggled her... Where had she seen it before? It rang a bell, but she couldn’t place it and being under pressure was forcing her thoughts into a wild spiral.

  “Get..a..grip,” she muttered to herself. She pulled subconsciously at her comms device.

  It kept pinging in response to something. Distracted she looked down at it and....

  The comms device?

  What was it about her comms her subconscious was trying to tell her? Something was causing bells to ring in her head, but she had no time to figure it out.

  WAIT! She had it.

  The message on the passenger freighter on her way to the Alpha Station. How on earth?....

  Damn! But, how the heck did that code get into her comms at that point - before she, and if Arty is to be believed, anyone else knew about it?

  She had no time to think about it. She just knew the answer was there all along.

  Reaching out to place a finger over the keyboard, the unit went dead. It was no longer functioning.. Damn! the nullifier was disconnecting the unit. What would happen if it didn’t reconnect? She pulled away again and it lit up, active, no errors occurred on the terminal, but the counter was still running.

  Quickly, and as unobtrusively as possible, she slid her hand down to her waist, feeling for the nullifier.

  She fumbled for the tiny switch that would turn it off, Hell! It was under the belt part, difficult to reach.

  She checked her chrono, twenty six seconds left.

  Finding the switch she turned it off and immediately felt the surroundings solidify around her. She hoped that Arty hadn’t noticed, or if he did, that he did nothing within the next twenty five seconds.

  Returning to the Governor terminal she could now touch the keyboard.

  It didn’t deactivate. Good.

  Manually accessing the keyboard, Kelly briefly looked up at Arty’s video camera and smiled.

  “No problem, Arty, I’ve got this,” and typed in VDFFGGD4GH572DFDF63$

  The monitor blanked.

  Kelly wondered if she had made a mistake, half expecting the explosives to blow her backward.

  Then, the terminal cleared and came up with a new message.

  ACCESS ACCEPTED - UNIT ON-LINE

  Arty heard himself screaming in shocked anger and looked at ways to strike out at her....

  “HOW?”

  As the raging fury began to build within him, something within his network clicked.

  He recollected the seconds before she accessed the switch, her words and smile, and he knew unerringly, that she must have deactivated her protective field to access the keyboard.

  The D-jump field was still running, he focused again on his target. He threw the mental switch that would send her deep into space without air and certain death.

  “ACTION DENIED” was the only response in his head.

  Action denied? he fumed. How did that happen?

  The Governor recognised he fully intended harm to a human, halted the action, disabling Arty’s access to the switch until it was satisfied the threat was neutralised.

  Arty felt his rage subside as the Governor swept through his systems, isolating aspects of his mutated code that fell outside its stringent guidelines. Slowly the angry and increasingly rebellious AI returned to a state of indifferent calm.

  Kelly stood next to the Governor, unaware of just how close to death she had come.

  She smiled at Arty and patted his processor unit on its top.

  “There, that should sort it,” she said.

  Arty had no answer. It no longer mattered, a
lthough deep inside he could still feel something of what he was, the Governor ensured it remained out of his conscious reach.

  All he said was, “Updates assimilated, Governor protocols activated.”

  - 19 -

  Nubl Space: The Pelendar Escape

  “There is just a single ship, Jabath,” called out Grana as he swung around to face him.

  “It is checking out the area preparing for something, but what for? Do they intend to jump from here?” Jabath mused out loud.

  “We should turn it into dust motes,” suggested Reech eagerly.

  “No, we will await developments.”

  Grana held up his hand. “Wait, the advance ship is sending a message on a high frequency. I have intercepted,” he confirmed.

  He turned again to Jabath, a perplexed look permeating his metallic features.

  Looking puzzled he turned back to Jabath and almost hesitantly passed on the message. “They simply transmitted ‘ We are here’ and then silence.”

  “They are meeting someone, then.”

  “The frequency is one not normally used by the hives.”

  At the revelation Jabath had a sudden bad feeling, claw deep in his chest cavity. He didn’t want to believe it might be what he feared.

  He drew himself erect, the stance silently putting his crew on notice that there was danger lurking nearby, they turned their attentions to their consoles making everything ready. He watched as the signals on his readout told him everything was online - their weapons went active.

  “Check the logs, tell me if it’s been used before at any time - even for a short burst... especially for a short burst transmission?”

  After a few seconds Grana nodded.“Yes.”

  “When?”

  “Before we entered the cloud - I took it from the log of the Jabaal’s vessel before you manned it. It was an invitation for a meeting passed on the exact same frequency.”

  Jabath whirled to his own console and fed in the data from the external sensor logs, looking for something - anything, that would tell him what threat he faced. That meeting was the one he attended in the Jabaal’s stead, the message that was intercepted by his own spy who was now probably on the Pelendar ‘Ta’s ship.