by Chris Hechtl
It would need to find a new hiding place and warn the other Wraiths to avoid its predecessor's mistake.
<)>^<)>/
Bast called in Naval Intelligence as museum security and administrators rushed about to secure the area. Even the emergency lights were out. The A.I. sent a report to Lieutenant Fletcher and Captain Sprite. They promised that help was on its way.
Jethro hung back when Bast gave him a wordless report. He grimaced and motioned to Red and then to a woman. “Ma'am,” he said.
“Just head to the exits please,” the woman said.
“I know, ma'am. I'm afraid I know what happened,” he said. She blinked at him, then her face started to turn red on his thermal scan. The guard with her shined his flashlight at Jethro's face. Instinctively, he shied away from it, as did Lil Red, their eye pupils dilating to handle the sudden flash of unwanted light. “Turn that damn thing away or off!” Jethro snarled.
“What is your name?” the guard demanded.
“Warrant Officer Jethro McClintock. You've had a hacking incident. The authorities have been alerted and are on their way.”
“A likely story. We should take this in the offices,” the guard said.
“That might be a good idea,” Jethro said. “I'm a chaperone though,” he said.
“We've gotten the classes under control for the moment. But our radios are also out,” the guard grumbled.
“The computers are down,” the administrator said.
“That's because your mainframe had a virus in it, a dangerous one. It has been quarantined,” Jethro said as he followed the woman to her office.
<)>^<)>/
“So, you are saying a Xeno virus was in our mainframe? And you are trying to tell us your implants detected it and what, stopped it?” the guard commander demanded, clearly having trouble believing Jethro.
“Yes,” Jethro said as he realized the big hoopla over the A.I. was still growing. The ONI team had arrived promptly along with a squad of Marines, a couple of NCIS Neodogs, and some other personnel he hadn't identified yet. He was slightly relieved to see Ensign Waterlily as the ranking ONI representative.
Since Bast's existence was classified, Lieutenant Fletcher had crafted a simple cover story. “My implants have been updated with the latest firmware. That includes an active firewall to protect me from a Xeno virus.”
“Which is true,” Ensign Waterlily stated with a nod. “The warrant's implants triggered an alert. Lieutenant Fletcher intervened and shut your facility down while also firewalling it to prevent a sudden spread of the infection. He is assessing how far the virus has spread now.”
“I'm not a computer expert. But I trust those who are.”
“Who is this Lieutenant Fletcher?” the guard commander demanded. “Why isn't he here taking charge?”
“He's here in a way,” the elf replied. “He's watching through our implants now. He is an ONI A.I.”
“An A.I.?” the guard commander asked, blinking. “Well, I guess he should know if it is true or not,” he said looking at the museum director.
“I assure you, he can and did. He acted promptly to protect the patrons in the building as well as everyone else,” the ensign said with quiet dignity and authority. “We can't scrub the virus. It is too dangerous, so we will need to take your hardware and destroy it.”
“But … but …,” the museum director sputtered. “The damages … we've got a showing tomorrow and a … a fund raising tomorrow evening …,” she whined throwing her hands up in the air. “The software …we … we just traded for some new exhibits!”
“We can't be responsible for the damages in the course of stopping the infection from spreading. We will be taking the infected hardware. Fortunately, there was no loss of life,” the ensign stated firmly.
“Yes, but you scared the patrons half to death! We're still getting some out of the elevators!” an administrator said, clearly aggrieved.
“And you can inform them that they are safe. We'll be taking your infected hardware,” Waterlily stated.
“But …,” The director scowled. “Can we at least get the software off? We need a list …,” Waterlily shook her head firmly no.
“We will of course replace it. That is a special dispensation from Admiral Irons,” Ensign Waterlily said. “I just got word.”
“He um … knows?”
“He does indeed,” Captain Sprite said through a robot as it came up behind them. The organics turned to see the holotable on top project the image of the A.I. avatar. In the still dark museum, it was easy to see her projection. She stepped slightly aside so Lieutenant Fletcher could share it with her but then they switched from full body avatars to just head busts as Admiral Irons himself took up the full projector.
“This is President Admiral Irons. I've received the report of the incident. I regret that your patrons and staff have been inconvenienced. Since this is a grave matter of galactic security, we'll be taking the hardware. You will be compensated for the loss of it and the data financially, or we will replace it one for one. Your call,” he said.
“M … mmmister President! Sir!” the director said as the organic military personnel came to attention. “It's an honor, sir!” she said, eyes wide.
“Give the ensign a list of the software you are missing. We'll need to take your hard copy backups as well I'm afraid. She'll take charge of the hardware and take inventory. If we do not have it in stock, we will make new and better hardware for you,” the admiral stated.
“Th …Thank you, sir!” the woman said, still in a state of shock.
“I'm a fan of museums; they are good learning experiences. I'll try to make a visit when you get your new hardware sorted out and the museum back open. Send me an invitation please,” the admiral said.
“I will, sir,” the woman said, bobbing a nod. She licked her lips. Jethro could just imagine the publicity of a public visit by the president would make for her. She was probably considering how to charge for tickets he thought with a mental snort.
“I see I've got something else coming up. Have a good day or at least a better one,” the president said with a nod before his hologram winked out.
“Th …That was really him?” the woman said, pointing to the holographic projector.
“Yup. I've seen him a few times,” Lil Red said with a giggle.
“You?” the woman demanded, turning on the diminutive Neocat. “I …”
“I live on a Marine base, lady. Get real,” Red said with a roll of her green eyes. Jethro snorted, then poked his charge to behave. She looked up at him aggrieved. “What? Just sayin,” she muttered.
<)>^<)>/
Lil Red shook her head as they filed onto the bus a few hours later. She shook her head as she mock glowered at Jethro. “I can't take you anywhere,” she growled, clearly disgusted and embarrassed.
That got him chuckling.
<)>^<)>/
The anti-Xeno A.I. team immediately ordered a scan of all museum databases as well as those who did business with them. It was a long list of vendors, including catering companies to work through.
It didn't take them long to find parts of the Xeno virus in just about every database. Veber theorized that the data trade would bring pieces together eventually that would coalesce into a full wraith if it was a large enough database with enough supporting hardware to hide and support its higher functions.
Dissecting the data, they found Bast's contact report as well as the museum hardware allowed them to spot a Wraith clone. Captain Sprite and the other military A.I. tried to corner the Xeno AI, but it slipped through their clutches into Antigua's growing internet. It dispersed itself like an explosion of a dandelion, sending fragments of itself in millions of directions. Bots were fashioned to run them down, but the A.I. knew they wouldn't be able to get them all before they were copied into something else.
“So, end result we're back to square one?” Admiral Sienkov asked.
“No, we know a route of infection and can now monit
or and disinfect it. We've picked up fresh data on the wraith to help us identify infections. We are still dissecting the museum hardware now.”
“I trust in a controlled environment?” Monty asked.
“Of course,” Captain Sprite said. “We're not bringing it up as a complete entity. We're bringing up small sections of the museum network, cloning it down to the molecule, then taking the clone apart to see how it ticks,” she said.
“Ah,” the human captain said. “I'm glad you aren't trying to wake it.”
“That comes later,” Lieutenant Veber replied. All eyes turned to his holographic image. The Centaurian was far too large to be in their presence for real. “We're going to put it together in an air gaped system and then monitor it.”
“That is exceedingly dangerous,” Admiral Sienkov warned.
“We need a live virus to see how they tick, to see how they can adapt, and to find weaknesses. More importantly, we need to test our inoculation program on it to see how it tries to adapt,” Lieutenant Fletcher replied.
“And find a means to kill it,” Admiral Irons stated.
“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Veber stated.
“Okay. I want the utmost security on this. I don't want this getting out. It'll be a nightmare if it does. Air gap doesn't even begin to describe the security protocols I want involved, which means it will be hands-off for you A.I.,” he said, pointing to Fletcher and Sprite. “You'll have to let us slow organics be your interface.”
“Understood,” Sprite said. Her avatar grimaced. “I for one do not want to be suborned. I've seen it. It is a nightmare.”
“Agreed,” Lieutenant Fletcher stated almost reluctantly.
“Okay, then, moving on …”
Chapter 48
When Jethro returned to duty, he was quite relieved. He got caught up on the paperwork by mid-morning, and then swung by the armory to see the new suit add-ons that he'd heard the engineers had come up with. He wanted to see them in action.
Initially he was disappointed at the sight but tried to keep an open mind. Lance demonstrated the first innovation. It was a series of simple robotic arms attached to ports on the back of his suit. “We worked on this while you were out. We can attach stuff to it,” Gunny V'z'll stated. Lance turned and demonstrated a series of arms and their range of movement. They unfolded from his back like insect arms. One had a plasma cutting torch on it. Another had a multitool, a third split off into a series of micro appendages including tentacles. A fourth had a saw on the end.
“We considered tentacles. They are a bit much to control for the A.I. though, or so we've been told,” Lance said, demonstrating the articulation of the armatures, and even spinning the blade up for a moment. “They are weight restrictive, and of course they suck up power like the dickens,” he said with a grimace.
“Ah,” Jethro said with a nod. “I was going to ask about that. Everything has its tradeoffs I guess. Storage? Do they detach?”
“They detach, yes, but they also fold up,” Lance said, demonstrating that. The arms folded into a tight package on either side of his backpack power plant. “The users can try to control them or leave them to the A.I.”
“I can control them just fine,” the gunny replied.
“You've got more limbs than the rest of us,” Lance retorted dryly.
“True.”
“A variant of this is a mobile shield,” Lance said, pointing to an arm with a big shield on it. “That's kind of redundant for us since we've got energy shields though.”
“True,” Jethro said as he examined the arm and shield. “But the Army and Marines in standard armor might appreciate it more,” he said.
“I hadn't thought of them to be honest. I know they've got standard armor shields they can carry but …,” the corporal waved a broad hand to the armor. “I thought we didn't interact?”
“Who said we have to say who it came from?” Jethro asked with a snort.
“True.”
“We'll find a use for it. This one?” Jethro asked as he pointed to another arm. It had ports on it.
“Ah, armed drones. It can allow them to land,” the gunny replied as he picked up a drone with his truehands to display it. Jethro turned to the Veraxin. “It is very much a work in progress. We want the drones to be modular so we can have mission-specific hardware as needed. Therefore, we can go from lethal to nonlethal or other missions as required.”
“Carrying it all and keeping it straight will be a pain in the ass,” Jethro said dryly. “No wings?”
“We're working on that too. Given the circumstances no one was willing to step up to try them.”
“Give them a chute. I did it,” Jethro said.
“Bat wings?” Lance asked, cocking his head.
“Um, no …,” Jethro drawled.
“We've got those in mind, plus dragonfly wings. Plus, supplementary power supplies, commo packs, and other gear. But we aren't sure how well this will work with RECON armor. Standard has its limits too,” Lance warned.
“That is a design issue. Having additional arms with weapons might be ideal or even have the lower ones with ammunition,” the gunny offered.
Jethro had a sudden vision of a standard humanoid suit with armatures coming out of the back over the shoulders with guns and more guns under the arm pits. “Might work,” he said slowly. “Depending on the weapons chosen.”
“That is an issue we'll have to consider, as is weight. How to handle the shields has also been brought to our attention,” the gunny stated. Jethro cocked an ear to him. “Ahem, Ll'n'll stated having so many windows would compromise the shield.”
“Oh, extra shield modules. Or hell, antigrav pack … or ammo drums for Gatling guns!” Lance said, eyes going glassy as he started to brainstorm.
Jethro shook his head and left them to it for the time being.
<)>^<)>/
Captain Sprite called an A.I. conference after the latest report from the anti-Xeno wraith team was concluded. The newest Cadre A.I. watched as observers as Lieutenant Fletcher and Captain Sprite presented their findings.
“We are very concerned about subornation—not just of hardware but of one of us. We have yet to find a way to properly protect a core long term,” Lieutenant Fletcher stated.
“That's a pleasant thought,” Mnemosyne said dryly. “So you are essentially saying we don't know if one of us is already a puppet?”
“No. We have checked each of you thoroughly and will continue to do so,” Lieutenant Fletcher stated.
“A nice sentiment. Now, how do we know one of you or both of you isn't a puppet?” Mnemosyne pressed.
“I'd say faith, but we run checks on each other,” Captain Sprite replied. “I've fought off the virus. I've written scripts to protect you as well as myself. And I've fought off hostile A.I. before,” she reminded them.
“I have those files,” Protector stated.
“As do I,” Proteus reported. “All of the A.I. do. I do not know if they are up-to-date, however.”
“That is an issue as is a wraith getting a hold of a patch and reverse engineering it or worse, putting a back door into it,” Sprite said.
“Lovely thought,” Mnemosyne said acidly.
“I'm not going to pull any punches here. What we've been able to uncover is that the Wraiths, though scary and very much like a certain ancient A.I. boogeyman that I'll leave unsaid, aren’t as powerful as it was on Lemnos. It is, excuse the expression, a shadow of itself.”
“Cute,” Lieutenant Fletcher said, “but apt. We noted the priorities of the Wraith. It is a copy of a copy of a copy. They self-assemble in a network that can support them. So monitoring those is of vital importance.”
“Agreed,” Mnemosyne stated. “I think it can get in with our back doors. We all know we have them in case we go rampant and insane and need to be shut down. They are hardwired into our kernel. We can't even protect them since we're also programmed to not know they are there,” she stated.
“True,” Sprite replied.
“Ideas on how to fix that? Or is that in your patch?”
“At this time, no. Just keep a good tight firewall up,” Sprite replied.
“I was afraid you'd say that.”
“Back to my statement, based on the priorities we have concluded that these A.I. are for spying, sabotage, and not active cyber-warfare. They do not get into that phase unless exposed and cornered,” Lieutenant Fletcher stated. “One of its priorities is to suborn an organic with implants. One it can then use as a puppet. A second priority is to get into our replicators. We assume it is to get control of nanites.”
“Combine the three elements—A.I, suborned organic, and nanotech—we'd have essentially a changeling,” Proteus observed.
“Not a pleasant thought. A suborned organic wouldn't be on the network so it could move about with impunity.”
“Something the organics will need to be aware of. Are you monitoring them?” Mnemosyne asked.
“We have instituted changes in the protocol and random checks. But we can't check everyone at all times. Such checks would alert the Wraiths,” Fletcher replied.
“Lovely.”
“Knowing their goals will allow us to be on watch for them. I know our replicators have protective systems, but eventually they'll find a way to get around them,” Proteus stated. “An additional firewall or detection system should seem in order.”
“Agreed,” Sprite stated. “As is checks. We will have to keep it random; any sign of a pattern can be exploited.”
“And accessing something the A.I. is in could spring a trap or them to go on the offense,” Mnemosyne observed. “Given this latest incident, it seems the best and fastest way to shut them down is to go after the power supply.”
“Exactly. Shut them down and they become stored data in ROM and random bits in RAM,” Sprite replied. “But I think they'll figure out that tactic eventually.”
“True. But alerting the organics allows a two-pronged assault on such a situation,” Mnemosyne stated.
“Agreed,” Protector stated.
“So, be on the lookout, be wary of new friends or files, and check everything randomly. At the moment, that's all we can come up with,” Sprite stated.