by Ryk Brown
“Half his staff has fallen to Klaria, Graham,” Hanna reminded him.
“A good way to steer suspicion away from him, wouldn’t you say?” Graham replied.
“But Dieter said…”
“Whatever he believed to be true,” Graham replied, interrupting Hanna before she could finish. “What’s the saying that programmers use to explain poorly written code? Garbage in, garbage out? He’s a fucking computer program, Hanna! He’ll tell you whatever he was programmed to tell you!”
Hanna looked at Agent Oslo.
“I have no reason to suspect Victor Cassan’s involvement in the extermination of humanity.”
“Not even any rumors to that effect?” Hanna asked.
“I admit there are a lot of coincidences that make him appear guilty but nothing concrete. Besides, my assignment isn’t to catch the killer, it’s to stop him.”
“Then make Dieter a full AI,” Hanna insisted. “Give him free will so he can help us.”
“How?” Agent Oslo asked. “I don’t have a team of quantum programmers at my disposal.”
“But you can convince your superiors to find some, right?”
“The ability to create a working AI has been around for centuries,” Graham insisted. “Hell, the feds seize, at least, one or two of them every year. How hard can it be to find someone who can give him free will?”
“You’re asking me to break the law,” Agent Oslo reminded them.
“‘Whatever is necessary,’” Hanna said. “Your words.”
Agent Oslo looked at Graham. “Do you know what they’re going to do to me if I do this?”
“Well, they’re not going to kill you,” Graham replied, “which is what will eventually happen if you don’t do it.”
“You can’t know that,” Agent Oslo argued. “No one can.”
“Dieter said that everyone who comes in contact with Klaria will eventually succumb to it. And you said yourself that our people will not be able to find a way to stop Twister in time to save enough of us to keep us from falling back to the Stone Age,” Hanna said. “This is the best chance we’ve got. You know it. I know it. We all know it. Maybe, in time, you could convince our leaders of it, as well, but can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me you have that much faith in them?” Hanna waited for a response from Agent Oslo, who was looking down at the floor. She reached out and pushed the underside of his chin upward to get him to look her in the eyes. “What do you say, Agent Oslo?”
Agent Oslo looked at Hanna, then Graham, and then Arielle. Finally, he looked back at Hanna. “What do I say?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his ID badge, laying it on the counter beside him. “I say you should all stop calling me Agent Oslo, and start calling me Martin.”
Thank you for reading this story.
(A review would be greatly appreciated!)
COMING SOON
Fall of the Core
NETCAST: 04
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