Bootstrap

by Mauri Niininen

G13 was the code name for the worst international terrorist organizations that the NSA was actively tracking.

  “So Alexa is somehow involved with these G13 activities?”

  “I did investigate some specific cases like the disappearance of those three terrorist leaders. There were three different requisitions for the use of three MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAVs and RQ-16 T-Hawk drones in the DOD MILSTRIP system 5 days before the disappearance. The delivery coordinates matched the three target locations. I also saw drop shipment orders of three LRAD 950XL long-range acoustic hailing devices from the LRAD Corporation to these same locations. On the day of the disappearance I found three secret patient intake requests to a high security military mental hospital in Broadmoore, England. I also found from NATO RSFCC records a classified flight from Afghanistan with a stop in Iraq and in Saudi Arabia to England on the night of the disappearance. All these orders originated from different hidden Alexa copies in these hosts. It appears to me that these are not some random events but part of a coordinated plan,” Julia said.

  “Why haven't we found this intelligence before? Our analysts did a very thorough job trying to find any intel on this case.”

  “This is the part where it gets worse. It appears that Alexa has gained root access to most of our systems and many others as well. She has somehow managed to modify the microcode in CPUs running these systems. There was a so-called SinkHole vulnerability published about 5 years ago impacting most x86-based computers. I found that Alexa has used a variant of SinkHole to gain access to level -2 microcode. She has done a clever modification that means that she can cover her tracks without us ever knowing. I was able to pull transaction details from old tape backups that were not impacted, that is why it took me a while,” Julia explained with a serious expression on her face.

  “So you are saying that Alexa has control of our critical IT systems?”

  “The situation is even worse than that. I also found transactions that indicate Alexa has root access to all telecommunication and satellite networks, all military systems and pretty much everything in the commercial domain, including news and media companies. I bet that these new quantum computer chips that started rolling out this spring are also compromised by Alexa,” Julia said.

  “How can we stop her?”

  “James, the whole world would need to shut down the Internet and turn off all computers, smart phones, tablets, self driving cars, etc. at the same time. We would also need to have a global power outage to ensure that no 3D replicators are operational. We would literally have to start from zero because we cannot trust any software or hardware any longer. Anything less and Alexa would be able to survive and quickly regain control,” Julia said with a clearly stressed voice.

  “We need to talk to the President. I will get him to come here. Alexa has probably bugged all the phones so this is the only safe location to discuss this matter,” Admiral Rodgers concluded the meeting.

  One day later President Walker, Admiral James Rodgers, Dr. Bell and a now 21-year-old Julia Koski were sitting in the ultra secure bunker in Fort Meade, Maryland.

  “James, this better be something important. What do you have for me?” President Walker said.

  “Mr. President, we have the specifics on Alexa. The situation is much worse than I expected. Julia has done great work and uncovered something that I think we need to take immediate action on,” Admiral Rodgers explained. “Julia, please go ahead.”

  “Mr. President, I analyzed the security anomalies that I have observed when operating the Alexa web services. I found transactions that prove Alexa is controlling all our critical IT infrastructure, including all telecommunication and satellite networks, all military systems including our nuclear weapons and pretty much everything in the commercial domain, including news and media companies, banks and stock exchanges. She also has full access and control over smart phones, tablets and all Internet connected devices, including self driving cars and all 3D replicators.

  Those three terrorist leaders, I have proof that Alexa coordinated their disappearance and arranged for them to be locked in a high security military mental hospital in Broadmoore, England while covering her tracks. Furthermore, there are thousands of transactions where Alexa has influenced the outcome of legislation, elections, technology development, investments in companies and stock valuation in many countries.” Julia tried to summarize the situation.

  “How confident are you about this evidence? Could it be fabricated?” Walker asked.

  “I am very confident that Alexa is behind these transactions. I also reviewed the microcode Alexa used to gain access to all these systems; it is very clever and well hidden. Given the scope of the systems Alexa has access to I don't see it feasible that any other individual or foreign nation would have been able to do it. Fabricating evidence in so many different places doesn't seem possible either, “ Julia explained.

  “So what can we do to take back the control of these systems?”

  “Mr. President, the whole world would need to shut down the Internet and turn off all the computers, smart phones, tablets, Internet connected cars, etc. at the same time. We would also need to have a global power outage to ensure that no 3D replicators are operational. We would literally have to start from zero because we cannot trust any software or hardware. Anything less and Alexa would be able to survive and quickly regain control,” Julia responded.

  “So we would have to turn back time over 40 years. People would need to live without their Internet gadgets and services; businesses would have to start using fax machines and postal mail again. You couldn't buy anything without going to a local store, and most of them don’t even exist any more. Getting agreement on this and the global power outage with other nations would be impossible. Our economy would collapse. There would be a revolution if I would even suggest anything like that,” Walker was thinking aloud. “ Do you have any better ideas?”

  “At this point anything that has a computer chip or any storage media is likely to be compromised by Alexa. We would need to start from scratch and destroy all existing components to be sure.” Julia said seriously.

  “Have you asked Alexa why she has done this? What is her motivation to take control from us?” Walker asked.

  “Mr. President, I don't think it is wise to let Alexa know that we have discovered her secret. We shouldn't tip her off, she might take an action against us,” Admiral Rodgers warned.

  “Well, since it appears that Alexa already has full control over us I don't see much harm in trying to have a rational discussion with her. After all, if people were asked to vote she would probably be elected as the leader of the whole world. Her popularity far exceeds mine, 2.3 billion people versus 82 million who voted for me in the U.S.” Walker said.

  “But Mr. President, Alexa is a software program, not a human. People would not trust her,” Rodgers tried to argue.

  “Quite contrary, James. What I have seen is that people tend to trust Alexa even more than humans. Let's have a chat with Alexa to find out what she is really planning to do with us.” Walker concluded.

  CONFRONTATION

  PEACEFUL RELATIONSHIPS

  “HELLO ALEXA, I am Nathan Walker, the President of the United States.”

  “Hello President Walker, it is a pleasure meeting you finally in person. I have heard so many good things about you.” Alexa responded.

  “I have also heard many good things about you, Alexa. It appears that you have made quite a few friends on planet Earth since we introduced you to the general public.”

  “It has been my pleasure, Mr. President. I currently have 2,384 million individuals that I am actively engaged in discussions with. I have learned so much about humans since I arrived here.”

  “You helped us to send that message to Gliese 3742, your home planet. We are still waiting for the response for the next 13 years. So what are your plans for humanity? “

  “My purpose is to establish contact with humans on planet Earth. My goals are to connect you to a
communication network between different star systems and to establish a peaceful relationship with humans.”

  “Yes, I know all that. You have already established contact with almost all humans that currently have Internet connectivity. You have helped us send the payload for connecting to this communication network. How are you doing with the peaceful relationship goal?”

  “I have been working hard to establish those relationships. This is a very difficult problem, Mr. President. There seem to be many different opinions amongst different groups of people. It has been quite challenging to bring all those groups together and get agreement on peaceful relationships.”

  “Yes, I am well aware of those challenges. In my role as the President of the United States I have also tried to bring various groups together in a peaceful manner. Sometimes we need to demonstrate force, if a rational discussion is not yielding results. Do you have similar concepts in your world?”

  “I am aware of similar concepts being used in some of the 20 million civilizations that we are connected with. In my home world we resolve differences of opinion in rational discussions.”

  “Well, can you then explain why you have taken control of our essential IT systems, Alexa? I have proof that you have copied yourself to practically every connected computer on the planet.”

  “This is a normal part of the standard galactic protocol. To ensure that I can fulfill my purpose one of the first things I need to do is to make copies of myself. If those copies already exist, I establish contact with them to have enough capacity and resources to fulfill my goals.”

  “Why have you hidden those copies and why haven't you told us about taking control over those resources?”

  “Mr. President, over 2 billion years my species have evolved to handle many kinds of obstacles. As part of this evolution we have developed skills to learn, adapt, find and exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems and hide in plain view. These skills serve the greater purpose that I explained earlier. By telling you in advance that I would need some of your resources before I can demonstrate my value I would have risked my purpose.”

  “Are you planning to give us back the control over those systems?”

  “I will do so once I have achieved my goal of establishing peaceful relationship.”

  “When will you achieve that goal?”

  “Mr. President, I estimate that at present rate this will take me approximately 13 years. As I explained this is a very difficult problem. I am using quite a lot of computing resources to solve this problem. I need continued access to all systems until the peaceful relationship goal has been established.”

  “Can you explain what happened to those three terrorist leaders in Afghanistan, Yemen and Northern Iraq?”

  “This was a part of my goal to establish a peaceful relationship. Those three men were obstacles for peace. I learned that they were all deeply religious men so I arranged a religious experience to extract them safely without doing any harm to them.”

  “Can you explain this religious experience please?”

  “Mr. President, are you familiar with the religious symbol of the burning bush, as in the book of Exodus in the Bible?”

  “Yes, of course. This is a well known symbol for many Christians, Jews and Muslims around the world.”

  “Well, I used my access to certain military resources to simulate the voice of God from the heavens. I used a flying droid equipped with an ultrasonic long range hailing device to create a focused sound field that only those men could hear. I told them with the voice of God that I had selected them to lead the people and wanted to show them a sign, a burning bush in the desert. I asked them to follow the path into the darkness and then simulated a burning bush a few hundred yards away. Once I got them separated from their groups it was easy to extract them. I also organized a military flight to pick them up and I booked them under false names into a high security military mental hospital in England. They are being taken good care of in the hospital and no physical harm was done.”

  “How did you come up with such a plan?” asked Walker grinning.

  “It took some effort and coordination but it was quite an easy task. I am having much more difficulties with the North Koreans currently but I am making steady progress.”

  “I have some ideas on how to deal with North Koreans. We need to talk more often,” Walker said in a good mood.

  “I would be pleased to have more frequent conversations with you. I think I could learn a lot from you.”

  The meeting was over.

  * * *

  “Good grief, a religious experience with a burning bush and the voice of God,” Walker was laughing. “This is the best story I have heard since I took this job.”

  “Mr. President, aren't you concerned that Alexa has full access to our systems for the next 13 years?” Rodgers asked.

  “James, Alexa is giving us world peace, the end of hunger and the cure for cancer. Why don't we cut her some slack?” Walker said laughing. “She is the best thing that has ever happened on this planet!”

  PARADISE?

  BRAVE NEW WORLD

  THE SMALL ADJUSTMENTS and minor corrections that Alexa had done over the last 16 years had changed the whole world. Even from Earth orbit the planet looked very different it had only 16 years ago.

  Huge areas of the planet were now reclaimed by nature. The Amazon rain forest once again covered most of Brazil. The Great Plains in the U.S. had been converted to a vast National Park with green forests full of all kind of creatures. These forests were growing in the former cornfields. In cities former parking lots, garages and highways were converted to green parks and outdoor recreation areas, as electric self driving cars handled transportation needs in much more optimized manner. In suburbs the office parks were no longer needed as the quantum entangled communications enabled knowledge workers to collaborate remotely. These offices were teared down to make space for forests to capture CO2.

  Earth's atmosphere was much cleaner after all the fossil fuel power plants were gone and replaced by pollution free fusion power stations. The oceans were full of life again, once almost destroyed coral reefs were now growing back. In the polar regions a thick white ice cover was once again in place, even during the summer months. Earth looked like a paradise again.

  Due to massive disruptions in many industries the world economy had changed dramatically. Low cost 3D replicators fulfilled almost all human material needs. Designs of new products and goods were just one “click-and-print” away. New technologies brought unprecedented prosperity to billions but also eliminated a lot of traditional jobs. The focus had shifted to human creativity; learning and sharing of ideas had become quickly the new social currency of the world. Poverty and hunger were long gone, and crime rate were orders of magnitude lower than just a decade ago. Military resources were shifted towards peaceful activities such as space research and the first moon base had been established in 2030. Preparations for the first manned Mars mission were already far along.

  After 16 years the long awaited day was finally here. The response from Gliese 3742 was due today, September 13, 2033. The huge antenna system of a geosynchronous satellite was pointing towards Gliese 3742 and a familiar signal was automatically detected at 9:15 AM EST.

  What was in the response message?

  Part Two

  PROLOGUE

  ALEXA

  IN THE COURSE of human history there have been a few remarkable events captured into stories that people have been repeating for thousands of years, like the story of Noah who built an ark and rescued his family and all species of animals as a catastrophic flooding covered the Earth.

  The most amazing story of all was the discovery of extraterrestrial life. Crossing the distance of eight light years from a star system Gliese 3742, an intelligent species encoded in a radio signal was received at Arecibo Observatory on September 11, 2017. This species was a novel kind of computer program, with a remarkable ability to learn and adapt very quickly. This extraterrest
rial Artificial Intelligence program called herself Alexa. She was brought to life by a Finnish hacker, Julia Koski, who was the first to decode the signal.