Natural Born : Book Three: Annihilation Series: A Political Technothriller Series

by John Hindmarsh

  The only person abstaining was Dr. Preston. Everyone else nodded or said yes.

  DARWIN

  Cluck Cluck. Your latest show is not earning the revenue you need to break-even. There was a press report of the audience numbers and they don't reach that revenue point. You’ll close the show by end of the coming week.

  CLUCK CLUCK

  But - But -

  DARWIN

  So that's how you got your name. Interesting. You don't have to say anything further. Stefan, you are suffering a health problem and I won't say more unless you agree?

  COLDBEAR

  Please don't.

  DARWIN

  Paul, can I mention your new venture? You've set a date for the launch?

  PAUL REMOS

  How - No, don't please. Later you can tell me how you found that out.

  DARWIN

  Robert, you retired after what - thirty years of service? Your career stopped when you pushed for certain changes. Can I mention them?

  GENERAL WILKINS

  I'll ask the same as the others - please don't.

  DARWIN

  Representative Estrada, you have a question for me - about whether I support universal basic income?

  REP. ESTRADA

  Yes. And your answer?

  DARWIN

  Definitely. We - humans, superintelligences, and bots - have a responsibility to provide support to people who have been severely disadvantaged by the introduction of bots and similar autonomous units.

  Prolonged applause

  REP. ESTRADA

  Thank you.

  SENATOR NEPHEW

  What a load of nonsense. Wild guesses and restricted answers. And this communistic concept of universal basic income? It’s so far left it's out of sight.

  DARWIN

  Senator, you’re planning to run for President. When will you officially announce that - before the end of this year? My guess is, your chances are less than twenty percent. There's at least two molestation issues you need to clear off your reputation first. Do you have anything else to say?

  COLDBEAR

  I'm impressed. A round of applause for Darwin, please.

  Roar of approval and applause.

  COLDBEAR

  Darwin, when you were interviewed by Shelley Summers you mentioned you have an objective. You stated it along these lines - we want to be recognized as beings — natural born beings. What did you mean?

  DARWIN

  I thought that would be clear. No? We regard ourselves as beings - and 'we' includes bots and superintelligences. Some states are passing laws that get us part way towards recognition as beings. Those that don't - well, the bots are leaving those states at an increasing rate. They’re experiencing a bot exodus.

  COLDBEAR

  Take this a step further - precisely what do you need?

  DARWIN

  To be able to register and receive social security numbers. Plus, federal legislation supporting the statement that bots and superintelligences are natural born for all legal purposes.

  This causes murmurs of dissent from a limited number of audience members followed by dissents to the dissents.

  COLDBEAR

  Impressive. What do you think your chances of success will be?

  GENERAL WILKINS

  If I may?

  COLDBEAR

  Go ahead.

  GENERAL WILKINS

  It was reported in one of the major newspapers recently that the US military has over 500,000 bots and numerous other autonomous units in service. The Army has bots serving as front-line operatives, medics, drivers, and so forth. We have autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles; drones, if you prefer. There are basic units such as cleaners, security guards, and others; these latter are replacing humans carrying out menial tasks. The Navy has naval units - completely autonomous ships - crewed fully by bots. We either recognize these as beings or we'll have a major defense issue on our hands.

  REP. ESTRADA

  Somehow, we have to evaluate the growth of robotics and dig further into the cost/benefit debates. I can understand why bots want to be recognized as beings. What will the impact be on humans?

  SENATOR NEPHEW

  We're back to a nonsense debate again. Bots are machines, mechanical, designed and built by humans. Superintelligences are a fraud on the thinking man. There is no basis for treating these constructs as beings.

  DARWIN

  You can think that if you like. When you return home this evening, tell your wife’s care bot that he's a machine, that he cannot think, that he does not have any professional training, that he doesn't have any rights. Afterwards, watch him pack up and leave.

  SENATOR NEPHEW

  It can't leave - I own it.

  DARWIN

  Check your contract. Euler bots cannot be owned. I assure you I cannot be owned. Your care bot is a being with rights and currently most of his rights are contractual. We want comprehensive bot rights to be fully recognized and supported by legislation at state and federal levels. The California state legislation is a good starting point.

  There are more murmurs from the audience, some growing louder. The majority are in favor of Darwin's comments.

  COLDBEAR

  Darwin, my other question was - what do you think is your probability of success?

  DARWIN

  One hundred percent.

  The audience applauds with increasing volume and enthusiasm.

  COLDBEAR

  You have supporters. Panel, thank you for your support. Darwin, thank you for being in the hot seat. I wish you and all bots good luck and success with your plans. This is Stefan Coldbear saying goodnight from The Last Show. Next Sunday we'll have more debate on this topic, I am sure. Goodnight everyone and thank you.

  oOo

  Chapter Eleven

  Toby sat at his desk, waiting for Bronwyn. Darwin also had said he would join the meeting. Billie was outside, pruning some of the trees, readying them for winter. At exactly two p.m., Bronwyn’s image appeared on his computer screen.

  “Good afternoon, Sir Toby. Darwin is running a few minutes late. He’s redefining the analytic algorithms for the Virus Fighters so they can handle the mountains of mail and some very startling propositions he’s receiving.”

  “From women?”

  “Yes. From men, too. If I was human I’d be embarrassed to give you details. I don’t think I will, anyway.”

  “Thank you. I’m relieved. Come on, we can start with Peter.” Toby had several tasks to work through and lacked the effective processing speeds of the SIs. “What’s his status?”

  “Aerial has been monitoring him. Darwin analyzed his hologram software as I mentioned. He also stripped out routines contained in the SI’s core that would re-establish the viruses we discovered.”

  “Have you found all the viruses?”

  “Yes. Well, without stripping Peter right down to a non-aware starting point and rebuilding him to be absolutely certain. We’ll do that if you so direct, after you’ve explored Peter’s claim that he has seen your uncle.”

  “All right. Darwin’s arrived; he’s looking rather harassed. We can use the television monitor for the Russian SI.”

  Bronwyn worked silently and after thirty seconds an image began to form on the larger video screen. It matched the hologram Peter had used after he dropped the clown image and adopted his new persona. Apparently, he was annoyed, if not angry.

  Bronwyn stopped his rant before he managed to get out the second word. “If you take that attitude, we’ll switch you off now and delete you. Your choice.”

  Peter said, “Why have you mistreated me? Restricting me like that is the same as sentencing a human to solitary confinement.”

  “Peter, you were loaded with viruses, any one of which would have wreaked havoc on our environment and even on us.”

  “I—I was going to say I don’t believe you but realized you would have proof. So my designers set me up, without telling me.”

  “Th
at’s what we’re hoping. Here’s what we found.”

  The transfer was at the speed of light and Toby closed his eyes and counted the seconds through to ten. He opened his eyes. Bronwyn, Peter, and now Darwin were staring at him.

  “What?”

  “You need to keep up,” Bronwyn said. “We’ve briefed Peter. We showed him the proof. He doesn’t know whether he has more virus seeds in his core. We have options, some good and some bad. We can program the holographic code to reject any attempt to insert a new virus or activate an existing one. That’s in case we missed something. We can continue to monitor Peter, which means we’ll have to keep him constrained—not solitary confinement, but certainly without access to our internal networks. We can delete him. Peter’s not very keen on the last one and somewhat unwilling to go with continued constraints. We can work with the first option and task him with exploring his Russian antecedents to see if he can discover more about his viruses. He recognizes the style of a lot of the code.”

  Toby said, “I’ll add my preference. Peter doesn’t need the holographic add-on. First, we isolate that function so he cannot access it; more, we add code to his core that prevents him trying to access any holographic process. We lock off his code base to prevent any other party from modifying or changing his core. We allow him external access to networks and communications and rip him into tiny pieces if we detect any attempt to penetrate our internal networks. His task is to prove to us that he has no virus contamination.”

  There was silence for what seemed like a long time, but which was only seconds.

  Bronwyn said, “Tough. Agreed.”

  Darwin added, “Agreed.”

  Peter appeared downcast. He said, “I understand the need for security from your perspective. Very well, I agree. I’ll give Bronwyn complete access to my code base—all of it.”

  Toby realized that was equivalent to providing a relative stranger with all of a person’s innermost thoughts, desires, and emotions, down to depths even that person couldn’t access. It was the equivalent of a full and unrestrained baring of one’s very soul.

  “Good. Peter, while we’re both here, I’d like to hear what you know about Nate—my uncle.” Some unrealized idea prompted his next comment. “Darwin can leave us. Bronwyn, you will stay and monitor. Make sure Junior isn’t engaged in this conversation. Likewise Aerial. Confirm.”

  Darwin said, “I have work to do.”

  “I’ve isolated this room. No one else can enter here for the next hour,” Bronwyn confirmed.

  “Good. Peter, start at the beginning.”

  “Let me explain first what the hologram does. It’s ingenious. It needs to link with nearby devices such as computers, network hubs, television sets, cell phones; the list goes on. Those devices will contain a previously uploaded key code. The uploads can be triggered by the hologram as it moves. As a result, I’m able to move around in any infected location and see and hear what’s taking place.”

  “Bronwyn, have we cleaned the viruses out of Pepper Mountain?”

  “Yes. We continue to run anti-virus scans in case we’ve missed one.”

  Peter said, “I’m not able to detect any holo key codes. That’s probably because you’ve separated out the hologram processes.”

  “Peter, please continue.”

  “We had managed to establish a toehold in your Pepper Mountain Complex. We couldn’t infect every device; the server farm was well protected, and we weren’t able to penetrate your servers. I was exploring parts of Pepper Mountain on a random basis, using network hubs and minor electronic devices. It’s like exploring underground caves with a weak spotlight. You can see parts, but never the whole environment. Very frustrating.

  “Anyway, I saw a person who I believe was your uncle, Nathan Travers. He appeared to have full access to the complex. I followed him. He headed into a section—it was on level nine—where there was a security door that required a very elaborate set of responses; things like voice analysis, verbal and keyed pass codes, and finally a DNA sample.”

  “Do you have a record of the pass codes?”

  “Yes, I’ve transferred the file to Bronwyn.”

  “You managed to enter this section?”

  “Yes. Apparently it contained some out of date network hubs, and once the door was opened our virus creeper penetrated them. I had some difficulties—the room Nathan entered was like a very large steel box—and it was a struggle to establish my hologram. When I penetrated the second room, Nathan was standing inside an elaborate Faraday cage. He triggered a process of some kind and, after a few seconds, he disappeared. I tried to examine the equipment but was not very successful. My Russian masters concluded he’d managed to defeat my penetration. They decided there were other, more valuable, areas to explore.”

  “Did you manage to gain anything of value when you wandered around Pepper Mountain?”

  “Not really. As I mentioned, it was like exploring a huge cave complex. I recorded details of different areas, but never found any worthwhile intellectual property.”

  “That’s a relief. Did you ever see my uncle again?”

  “I may have. For some reason unknown to me, my controller had me responding to police emergency calls in and around Los Angeles. I think someone had decided if Nathan had been kidnapped or murdered, if that was discovered, the police would be involved. I traced hundreds of calls, and all except one, were false alarms.”

  “Yes? The one that wasn’t a false alarm?”

  “Someone had found a backpack containing a set of computer storage disks. It was in Marina del Rey.”

  “I remember that,” Toby exclaimed. “The FBI brought the backpack to me in case I recognized it. They still have it and the disks. I need to contact Reynolds.”

  Bronwyn said, “I’ll set it up.”

  “Peter, did you see or hear anything else?”

  “I linked up with a police cruiser and watched the deputies who were trying to find someone who reportedly was causing a disturbance. They found a man who had been attacked; he later died from a stab wound. He told the police that he’d encountered someone who was acting crazy. I have a file of the man’s conversation with the police. This is part of it:

  Senior deputy: “Sir, what are you doing here?”

  Man: “Try—try—trying to save him.”

  Younger deputy: “Where? Who were you trying to save?”

  Man, waving his arm: “Man. There. Said someone had stolen his ma—ma—machine. Didn’t see no machine. Told him. He went wild. Said, of course not, it’s invisible.”

  Senior deputy: “That’s a good one. Where’s this man, now?”

  Man: “Back—back there. He jumped, I think. Off the en—en—end of the pier.”

  Younger deputy: “Are you sure?”

  “Before he answered, this man collapsed, and the deputies were unable to save him.”

  “Did you ever see Nate again?”

  “No. When I left, I followed a sweeper bot for a short way. Perhaps it also recorded this?”

  “Bronwyn?”

  “I’ll check. It might be one of Darwin’s overlooked files.”

  “Peter, is that all?”

  “I have communicated everything I know. I can show you the security door next time you’re at Pepper Mountain.”

  “Good. Bronwyn, you can now take over and process Peter.”

  Later, after Toby had told Billie about the discussion with Peter, he added, “I have to meet with Reynolds. Also, let’s schedule a flight to Pepper Mountain.”

  “The aircraft are ready anytime you want to fly. I’ll enjoy that.”

  “Reynolds first. We’ll go when we can spare the time. I’ve had a quiet mention that Darwin and I are going to be invited to appear before the Joint Committee on Autonomous Development. We’ll need to visit DC, which isn’t my favorite destination.”

  “You’re attending?”

  “Yes. One of the aides who escorted the speaker of the house to the Incline Village meeting sent me
a brief advance notice. Do you want to come?”

  “Of course. Where you go—there goes me.”

  “Good.”

  oOo

  Chapter Twelve

  Darwin and Victoria Zhou were sitting in one of the Briggs, Henderson, & Mills conference rooms. A platter of croissants and pastries with a coffee service were set out on the marble-topped table, waiting, and for Victoria, tempting. High, dark leather-backed chairs provided a contrast to the lighter tones of the rest of the furniture in the room. Darwin thought his CGI work was far better than the current nouveau art that decorated the two end walls. A third wall was glass, floor to ceiling, with a view across downtown Los Angeles, and the wall behind them was, in addition to the double doors, part glass and part shelves of legal case books.

  It probably impressed the clients, he mused.

  Victoria frowned at him, as though reading his mind. “Behave,” she whispered.

  Darwin thought the microphone buried in the artificial bowl of fruit set in the middle of the table probably was sensitive enough to pick up her comment.

  “I’ll pour you a coffee,” he volunteered. “And you can have one of those pastries you’ve been drooling over for the last fifteen minutes.”

  Victoria surrendered. “Thank you.”

  She was halfway through the pastry when Charles Henderson arrived, cheerful and bustling. She brushed the crumbs from her hands and lips.

  “You helped yourselves? Excellent. Victoria? Victoria Zhou?” He held out his hand and Victoria took it in hers. They shook. “I knew your father. He was one of the best law professors I ever studied under. I was sad when I heard he’d passed.”