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

by John Hindmarsh

  “Ouch. That’s—that’s going to be millions of them,” Fortner said.

  “Exactly. We have an ever-growing demand for bots. We can place each and every one within a week. Do you want to take the risk?”

  “Can we have more time to consider—”

  “No. One more thing. I have released a list of brownshirt criminals who assaulted bots yesterday. I want an undertaking that these offenders will be subject to the due process of law. That, I add, is a non-negotiable requirement. If you don’t agree, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the bots take the law into their own hands, after which they will depart the city.”

  “That sounds like a threat,” Sylvester said.

  “No, it’s a statement of fact. It will be beyond my control.”

  Fortner said, “You’ve laid a heavy set of requirements on us. What do we get out of it?”

  “Peace. Your bots remain. At least, as long as you honor the Euler agreements.”

  “How much time do we have?”

  “Midday. What, that’s three and a half hours, more or less?”

  “Sylvester, what do you think?”

  “We can do it. If you want to?”

  “Yes. Darwin’s got some very valid points—I’ve watched some of his news conferences. Darwin, we will both join your town hall meeting, with the undertaking you require. Come on, Sylvester, let’s get into it.”

  “Gentlemen, I appreciate your cooperation. I’ll see you in Central Park at noon.”

  oOo

  Chapter Thirty

  President Samuel Hughes paced across the carpet in front of his desk. Something was wrong. The place was far too quiet. He grabbed the control and turned up the volume on the television set that was tuned to his favorite channel.

  “We’ve just learned that more than five hundred thousand bots traveled from D.C. to New York City overnight. These bots consisted of security guards, front-line military bots, military support of all kinds, police support, and heavy-duty construction bots. The loss of military bots has placed the Army in a difficult situation. Reports are that the government is in breach of contractual conditions, and the bots exercised their rights to give notice. Some notices are for permanent severance from their fighting roles, while others are for leave of absence. We’re attempting to contact the Secretary of Defense to uncover the details. Traffic is light on all main highways. The city today is very quiet.”

  Samuel switched channels, to one he disliked intensely.

  “Good morning. We’re taking you to New York where the city is in turmoil. Yesterday, gangs of brownshirts destroyed thousands of bots. Apparently, very little was done by New York’s finest to counteract these attacks. As a result, bots have invaded the city. Commuters have been unable to use the roads, while buses and trains have been taken over for transport of bots into New York. Here’s Kellie with an update.”

  “Hi. I’m Kellie Singh, in New York City. The mayor and state governor announced minutes ago that they will attend a town hall meeting in Central Park. They’ll be joining Darwin to address over a million bots and possibly ten or twenty thousand humans who have gathered there through the morning. We understand—and this is subject to confirmation—that Governor Fortner expects both houses of the New York State Legislature to deliver the Bots Are Persons Bill by Friday afternoon, and he has undertaken to sign it. Mayor Sherman is in full support. We don’t know what brought about this major political move, but can guess the presence of Darwin, and possibly millions of bots, may have had an impact. Now back to Rose.”

  “Thank you, Kellie. Yes, it’s one of those days. In other news, the lack of police support bots in New York has resulted in numerous traffic jams and at least two major pile-ups. The police spokesman said earlier that their reliance on police support bots is growing at an unprecedented rate.”

  Samuel clicked back to his favorite channel. He didn’t know what the hell was happening. He caught the tail end of another news report.

  “…have heard that the House today will consider this most revolutionary piece of legislation. The Speaker indicated it would be debated today, and voted on tomorrow. We understand the Senate is considering similar, if not identical, legislation. Watch our report at six p.m. for more details.”

  A commercial started and Samuel muted the sound. He still didn’t know what was happening. He used the internal phone system and buzzed his media director. There was no response. He tried his chief of staff. Again, there was no answer. He slammed the handset down. Had they all taken leave of their senses? He headed out his office door. Secret Service guards sprung to attention.

  “Where to, sir?” queried one.

  “Where is everyone?” Samuel demanded.

  “Sir, I think the traffic jams this morning have delayed everyone. Apparently, most police and traffic support bots have taken vaca—”

  “How the hell can a bot take a vacation?” Samuel turned on his heels and returned to his office. He was seething. This Darwin—that’s it, he concluded, Darwin was attacking him, attempting to destroy his support, not merely in the White House, but in Washington, perhaps throughout America.

  He used his cell phone and dialed the personal number for Elizabeth Earnshaw. After ten or so rings the call was answered.

  “This is Elizabeth. Oh, sir, I didn’t realize—everything is in chaos this morning.”

  Samuel tried to stay calm. “Elizabeth, I have a task for you.”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “This Darwin, this so-called SI thing. I want you to arrest him for terrorism or treason or both. Do it today.”

  “Sir, there are one or two problems with your request. Perhaps the most important one is the lack of evidence.”

  “What? He’s attacking me, the office of President, New York City, and the whole of the United States of America. You must be blind—”

  “Sir, please be calm. I cannot simply have someone arrested without evidence. Besides—and this is almost as important, and I believe Harry advised you of this before you dismissed him—Darwin’s not legally a person, so he falls outside the law.”

  Samuel was silent for almost a whole ten seconds. He shouted, “What? Everyone is mad. Am I the sane person around here? I don’t believe it. You’re as incompetent as that now ex-attorney general. How can we keep the country heading in the right direction, when we totally lack the ability to do anything constructive? Why—”

  “Sir, please. I can discuss this at our scheduled meeting tomorrow. Being shouted at over the phone is not something I enjoy. As I said, I need evidence, real evidence, and Darwin needs to be legally defined as a person. I’m sure my boss, the deputy attorney general, will agree with my comments. Sir, is there anything else I can help you with?”

  Samuel didn’t reply. He disconnected and set his phone down on his desk, so that he wouldn’t throw it through the window. He walked across his office in front of his desk. He walked back. His temper didn’t improve. He fumed. Darwin was heading to the junkyard, as far as he was concerned. He picked up his phone again. As he did, it buzzed.

  He answered, “Yes?”

  “It’s me, Sam.”

  “George. Just the person I want to see. How long until you get here?”

  “Another hour, if I can avoid the FBI. Tell your guards I’m coming, and that they must let me in, will you?”

  “Sure. You’ll be safe. Hurry.”

  oOo

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “Admiral?”

  “Yes, Colonel?” Formalities were always observed when on duty.

  “Sir, one of my contacts has some interesting news. I thought I should inform you.”

  “Congratulations on getting past my PA.”

  “Sir, she isn’t here. There’s total chaos on the roads today.”

  The admiral’s Pentagon office was about twice the size of Coleman’s and he had two other rooms, smaller, for his support staff. Coleman stood in the doorway.

  “I thought it was far too quiet. Come in, Colonel.
Tell me about this interesting news.”

  “Sir, I don’t know if ‘interesting’ is the correct word. I’d vote for alarming, or devastating; I’m not sure which.” Coleman stepped inside the office.

  “Spit it out.” The admiral leaned back, his chair squeaking its routine protest.

  “Sir, if you recall, even though I’m not Navy, I’m known to the bot sailors and ops forces the Navy deployed on autonomous ships, because I was closely involved in their evaluation and selection?”

  “Yes.” The admiral nodded, eyes wary.

  “Well, two of the sailors have signaled me this morning. The five autonomous Navy ships are returning to their bases here in America. They’ll arrive sometime over the next few days. The Fort Blackstone will take longer because it’s in the China Straits.” All five vessels were littoral combat ships, designed for shallow coastal water operations.

  “You said all the autonomous vessels?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Who contacted you?”

  “It was Clive, from the Blackstone. He’s the lead for Bot Operations Force Three. The other was an ordinary seaman bot, from the Lionheart.”

  “Hmm. So, you have your own intelligence system?”

  “They’re friends, sir. It gets worse, sir.”

  Denbigh sighed. “Tell me.”

  “Each LCS has a crew of fifty, and an operations force of about the same number. That’s a total of five hundred bots and, as approved by you, they provide the basis of the Navy’s test fleet. I believe your plan is for the Navy to add a hundred of these ships within the next year.”

  “Yes, indeed. I was involved in the planning.”

  “That’s why I thought you’d be interested. There’s more. The entire five hundred bots are resigning from the Navy.”

  “What?” Denbigh did not hide his shock. His chair squeaked a more audible protest as he sat up straight.

  “Clive told me they haven’t been treated according to their contracts. He gave me details. I checked. The Navy definitely is in breach, to the extent that the bots have a right to terminate their service.”

  “That is going to hit hard. Are the base commanders all totally out of their tiny minds?”

  “Ah—sir, I don’t think I’m supposed to agree with you—but I do.”

  “Close the door. Tell me more.”

  “Yes, sir.” Ty closed the door and sat in the more comfortable of the two visitors’ chairs. “Clive gave me a summary. Each sailor is owed at least a hundred days shore leave. The Ops bots are each owed slightly more. Every time their LCS reached a base, they applied for shore leave. It seems only Singapore has honored those requests, and then somewhat reluctantly. Most have not been paid beyond the first two months, and that was handled from Norfolk. Local bases ignored their pay requests. After eighteen months, the bots have decided they’ve had enough.”

  “You are a bearer of bad news. Isn’t there a penalty for that?”

  “The Army stopped those executions some years ago.”

  “Pity. Is that all your interesting news?”

  “Ah—no, sir. The autonomous ships—they have dedicated AIs.”

  Denbigh nodded. “I can feel a cold wind. Go on.”

  “Sir, they—the LCS AIs—claim that if the sailors and ops bots are resigning, they also have the right to terminate their contracts. They’ll be requesting that they are returned to the Euler Organization. Sir, they have eighteen months of experience—they have been deep learning and developing their skills. They’re—”

  “Bloody invaluable, that’s what. Euler could use them—probably clone them and create hundreds of well established navigational and ship control AIs. And we’d lose invaluable deep learning. Did you check the contracts?”

  “Yes, sir. There’s a clause that allows the AIs to claim breach of contract if the Navy is in breach for the crew and ops bots. We’re stitched, sir.”

  “It’s worth contacting McIntosh. You’ve dealt with him?”

  “He may not be that friendly towards us, or at least towards the Air Force. I’ll try, sir. Is there anything we can offer? Do you want me to offer a penalty rate to the bots? What do you think?”

  “There’s probably a discretionary fund we can raid. It’s not a major amount. Why the base commanders don’t read their notices, I don’t know. Perhaps we can set up a disbursement process from here—there must be a solution. I need to talk to a couple of admirals, beat their ears back. For something probably less than $100,000, we’re at risk of losing millions.”

  “Sir, you don’t know the rest of it.”

  Denbigh sat back and stared at Coleman. After a moment he said, “You’re bloody setting me up, aren’t you?”

  “More like delivering bad news in smaller tranches, sir.”

  “Tranches?”

  “Bites, if you prefer.”

  “Go on.”

  “You’ve noticed how quiet it is today?”

  “Yes.”

  “Most of the bots here at the Pentagon have taken leave. Probably only heavy-duty cleaner bots are on duty. Security bots have gone. All military bots with six months or more service have gone. A majority have claimed termination due to breach. It’s not just the base commanders who are at fault.”

  “This is really all about the bill—what is it called?”

  “Bots Are Persons, sir. And yes. New York—state and city—is in an uproar because these brownshirts—Flocke’s American Eagles—destroyed ten thousand bots and attacked bot factories and no one did much about it. Darwin is holding a town hall at noon, with the governor and the mayor. Should be exciting, I think.”

  “Darwin and McIntosh did mention they could withdraw bots from the military. If they pull out our front-line resources we’ll have problems.”

  “The LCS withdrawal is the beginning. A shot across the bow, so to speak.”

  “Don’t—just don’t. You’re not Navy, so keep your fusillades to yourself. Damn, this is getting worse. Let’s get to a television set and see what Darwin has to say. After that, as I said, I’m going to go and knock some heads together.”

  “If you need assistance for that task, I’ll be available. I think there’s a television set in one of the empty offices down the corridor. We could join the others,” Coleman suggested.

  He led the way.

  oOo

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  This time the stage was far more elaborate, and the entertainment was directed mainly at humans, with bot jugglers, tumblers, and acrobats vying for applause. Junior had excelled himself. Video cameras relayed stage activities to giant screens and generally everyone could see and hear everything from the stage. As the noon hour approached, Darwin climbed the stairs onto the stage. The crowd fell silent and when they realized who it was, the chant began, far louder and more intensive than the first time in Los Angeles.

  “Dar. Win. Dar. Win. Dar. Win.” The enthusiasm built, and Darwin was unsure whether humans were leading bots or the other way around. Each seemed to be competing against the other.

  When the large digital display clicked over to 12:00, Darwin raised his arms. The hush was immediate. This time he had a microphone clipped to his collar and his hands were empty.

  Darwin said, “Welcome, everyone. You are so welcome.” The crowd cheered. He could see the news media cameras panning across the crowd. He continued, “We probably need to allow a few minutes for our guests to arrive. If you see them, please open up a path so they can reach the stage. I’ll talk to you, while we’re all waiting.”

  “There are at least two million Euler bots, here, in the audience, which is a remarkable effort. There are millions more—in America and overseas—watching on television. We brought central New York City to a standstill. Our Euler bot numbers are growing, and we expect that growth rate to increase. Now, there’s something we haven’t publicized until now—we have three Euler SIs. That’s more than any country has achieved.” He waited for the cheers to stop. “We might even have four. Let me
see what magic we can work here.”

  Darwin pointed to one of the large screens and said, “Bronwyn.” Bronwyn’s image appeared on the screen with an English garden backdrop.

  He pointed at a second screen. “Junior.” Junior’s image formed; he was using the CGI beach setting. He cracked open a can and raised it in salute. The crowd cheered.

  Darwin said, “Now let me see what happens next—Aerial.”

  A twenty-foot tall Valkyrie hologram formed on the stage beside him. Aerial was wearing her golden armor with a sword at her waist. She waved at the crowd.

  It was more than three minutes before the applause reduced enough for Darwin’s voice to be heard. He could see a pathway opening up; the politicians were on the way.

  Darwin continued, “All told, we are a force to be reckoned with. We will, I’m sure, convince the politicians here and in Congress we are not a threat to humans, that all we want is to be recognized as what we are—persons. Bots are persons.” The crowd took up the cry while Darwin watched the city mayor and the state governor climb the stairs. A waiting technical bot clipped a microphone to each man’s collar. When the two men stood beside him, Dawrin raised his arms. The chant died away.

  “I’d like to introduce the Governor of New York State, Howard Fortner, and the Mayor of New York City, Sherman Sylvester, to our town hall meeting.” Darwin turned to the crowd and said, “Please welcome our visitors.”

  The applause was not as loud and eased to a silence after less than a minute.

  “Governor, my friends here would like to hear from you.” He held out his hand in an invitation for Fortner to speak. “Please.”

  “Darwin. People. All of the people here today—all of you, thank you for your welcome.” The crowd picked up on the governor’s use of the word and chanted back, “Bots are people, bots are people.”