by KC McLaren
“I need to get to my sister...” Jonathan replied. He tried to get out of bed.
“Wow, big fella. That will not do you any good at present. At least give yourself a few minutes to adjust to everything.”
“I don't have time. You don't understand. Oh my God. The tube, the unground, all those people. What happened?”
“I'll bring you up to date,” Egil said, “just take deep breaths. There is no danger to your sister, she is guarded by a team of men I picked. You can speak to her soon, but I need to ask you some questions first. It's important, please.”
“You picked? You were the one that tried to kidnap me in the middle of London. Why would I trust you?” Jonathan looked at the man in front of him weighing him up. Was this all part of another trick?
“Here,” Egil said taking a mobile out of his pocket, “I believe this is yours,” he handed it to Jonathan.
Jonathan reached out for it and tried to sit up further, Egil helped him.
"Where did you get this from," Jonathan asked.
"I found it in the penthouse, or should I say it found me. It’s how I found out about most things, the text messages. The last one I couldn’t read. It was all gibberish. Since then, the phone has been locked." Egil replied.
Jonathan took the mobile, entered his access code and read the text messages. As he read, his mind became clear although the pounding headache remained thumping around his brain. As he read he understood how everything had panned out and felt better. The main thing his sister was safe. He looked up at Egil a few times as he read the messages. ThornScope had been sending messages to the MI5 officer.
After a few minutes he said, “Egil, you’re Egil right?” Egil nodded, “I believe you and thank you for making sure my sister is safe.” Jonathan continued, “I need to get to ThornScope. The sooner the better, but first tell me what has happened and where am I?”
Jonathan noticed the relieved look on the agent’s face.
“Mr Beckett...” Egil replied.
“Call me Jonathan please, Egil,"
“Thanks. You’re at GCHQ. In a secret underground facility. So secret, I didn't even know it existed.”
“We're here? At the ThornScope facility?” Jonathan asked. “Few people know of its existence. Most people think ThornScope is located elsewhere."
“Yes, seems rather ironic we hide something so secret in our secret listening centre,” Egil replied.
“Can you please just fill in the blanks for me? The text messages say a lot, but not enough. The tube. What happened there?”
“There was an incident on the tube line at Oxford Circus. A train crashed into the back of another one. One person dead twenty injured. It could have been a lot worse by all accounts. We are still investigating and treating it as a terrorist act.”
“And what about the rest?” Jonathan asked?
“The rest? I don't understand...” Egil replied.
“The Nuclear Power Stations, underground trains crashing around Europe. Germany and France banking systems collapsing?” Jonathan said.
“I’m not sure I understand you, Jonathan. There has certainly been some unusual activity over the last few days, but nothing else, and not in Europe. Even Greece's banking systems seem to be settling down. Tell me please, what happened when you were with David Strickland.”
Jonathan felt a wave of relief come over him. ThornScope had succeeded. At least for now. “Where is Strickland, is he under arrest? Have you rounded up everyone involved?”
“David Strickland has gone AWOL, Jonathan. He was not there when we arrived at his estate.”
“He’s the one behind everything. The threats, the deaths of those people on the tube. Everything...” Jonathan said.
“Jonathan, you have to understand.” Egil continued. “My only priority was to get you out and to safety. You've read the text messages, if it were not for them I doubt very much we would be speaking now. We could never have found the underground facility in time, nor ensure your sister’s safety. "
“Is the facility contained now, under your control?”
“Yes, it is.” Egil replied.
“And Genesis?”
“Genesis? If you are talking about the computers in there...” Egil paused.
“What is it? You have those systems secured, don't you?” Jonathan asked.
“Jonathan, no we don't. My priority was to get you out and get you medical attention. I asked for backup to come and secure the area. More than once too. It took nearly a day before a team arrived on scene. By then, everything was gone. And I mean everything. The facility is completely empty. There is nothing that links anything back to Strickland. All hell has broken out. Even if he has gone AWOL we’ve backed off from anything more.”
“I need to get to ThornScope, and I mean now. I’m feeling better. You have to understand what I’ve done…”
Jonathan could see Egil staring at him, weighing up the odds. What was he thinking?
“I have to tell you a few other things before you go see ThornScope.” Egil said.
“And they are?” Jonathan replied.
“The machine you call ThornScope? After sending me the text messages giving me your whereabouts and informing me about your sister, it went offline for nearly forty-eight hours.” Egil hesitated before going on.
“Is ThornScope still operational?” Jonathan asked.
“By all accounts, yes, it is – and more. It’s spilling out a lot of information and data. Apparently data we’ve never had before, but it refuses to take any instructions or give normal access. We’ve uncovered quite a few cells. Chinese, the Russians – even our allies the Americans have been attempting to get into your security protocols. Trying to gain access to ThornScope. As you can imagine, it’s caused a bit of a stir in the political circles.”
“What else is ThornScope doing?” Jonathan asked.
“It seems to be waiting for something. And Jonathan, it won’t allow anyone into the main server room here. I don’t think you will be able to get in yourself. One last thing, no-one but a close circle of people know you are here. And those people were, are, chosen by ThornScope, including me by all accounts.”
Jonathan started to weigh up what was being said. More importantly what the hell was ThornScope up to? By now surely its new protocols would have been calculating everything under the sun – changing adapting to its surroundings, making its own decisions. More so than what Egil was describing. What was it waiting for? Jonathan felt the mobile in his hand come to life, it vibrated. He saw Egil looking at it.
“I think that is for you, Jonathan…” Egil said.
Jonathan looked at the screen. A message displayed. He looked up at Egil stating, “It’s ThornScope and it says it’s ready to see me? The text is not formatted in the way I coded it to respond. It’s been updated, improved. That’s impossible.”
Egil replied, “No-one has been able to get access to ThornScope since it rebooted. What the hell is going on, Jonathan?”
Jonathan looked off into the horizon his thoughts reflecting on Egil’s question. The machine, ThornScope, is evolving. For what purpose though? “It’s learning. I had no choice to release its full potential. That was the only way I could stop Strickland. And that could also be the worst thing I could have done.”
Jonathan saw the look on Egil’s face. A worried look.
“I don’t understand what you are saying,” Egil replied, “but I think it’s best that we get you inside the server room and sort this out. I’ll get a wheel-chair. Don’t think you will be able to stand too long. Maybe we’ll get some more answers to what is happening.” He walked to the door, opened it and stepped out. A few minutes later he returned pushing a wheel-chair.
It took a little effort to get out of bed but Egil helped him. At one point Jonathan thought he was going to faint but it subsided. Egil again asked if this was a good idea and pointed out in no uncertain terms Jonathan looked like shit.
He smiled at Egil and said, “Thank yo
u for your concern, but I think we have more important things to worry about. Do you know how to get to the server room?”
“Not fully sure, but I think we will manage. Maybe your mobile will tell us,” replied Egil with a smile.
Chapter 50 | ThornScope
EGIL PUSHED JONATHAN IN THE WHEEL-CHAIR exiting the room. Jonathan noticed straight away two heavily armed guards standing outside. He looked up at Egil.
“Don’t worry,” Egil said, “they are here for your protection. They helped rescue you and there are a few other people here too. Since yesterday morning, the facility underneath GCHQ has more or less been evacuated on the PM’s orders. He also knows of your presence here. I must admit, he was not overly happy about having a computer tell him what to do. I should also tell you the PM is the only one inside the government that knows about your presence here.”
So, he had his own security detail now. The two bodyguards as Jonathan thought about them. But protecting him from what? ThornScope? Some other outside forces, Strickland? Where the hell was Strickland? What happened to Genesis? Amongst the myriad of other questions spiralling around his brain those were the two main ones he wanted answered.
He looked around the corridor and realised he had never been on this floor before. Like Strickland’s facility ThornScope was underground too, some twenty floors below the GCHQ compound and well-hidden even from those working above.
Looking straight ahead he saw the doors of a lift. No doubt where they were heading. Whilst there were other doors both on his left and right there was no-one around. The wheel-chair was cramped and uncomfortable he wanted to get out and walk but knew he was a little too weak.
They arrived at the lift doors which opened automatically and as they entered, the doors closed behind them. Jonathan watched as Egil stepped up to a keypad to enter some sort of code. It was not needed. With the doors closed the lift started to descend. Egil stepped back looked at Jonathan and shrugged his shoulders.
Jonathan figured out that it was about five floors down, there was no indication of what level they were descending to, never had been. Like he never knew there were any other floors either, such as the medical floor they had just come from. What else lay beneath GCHQ? The lift doors opened.
As Egil wheeled him out, Jonathan looked around. The clinical whiteness the same as he remembered. It had been over five years since the last visit. If he did not know better, he could have been back at Strickland’s facility. How would Strickland know the layout? Jonathan was sure he had never been down to where ThornScope lived – even the highest of those in power had never gotten access to this floor. Lived? Strange sense of the word when talking about a computer system, but he knew ThornScope was no longer just a jumble of complicated, although advanced, system code. Not now.
There were another two security detail, as Egil put it, standing outside the main entrance doors to the server room. Again, Jonathan thought about what indeed they were guarding. The doors were not exactly common garden. Fort Knox had nothing on the security down here. This wheel-chair was making him more uncomfortable than the pain in his head. Egil wheeled him up to the security doors.
“This, I think, is far as I am going, Jonathan,” Egil said.
“No it’s not, I’m not going to wheel myself into the room like a cripple. You’re coming too.” Jonathan replied.
The doors opened.
Egil took hold of wheel-chair and pushed Jonathan into the room. The doors behind them closed.
“Wow,” Egil said, “this place is vast…”
Jonathan could clearly see the shock on Egil’s face. “It’s bigger than what you think. Take me over to the work console, over there. I need to do some diagnostics on the system.”
“Hello, Jonathan. That won’t be necessary. But by all means do what you wish. Your access has not changed. Nothing has been changed for you.” A male voice said.
Egil and Jonathan looked at each other. The shock on Jonathan’s face was obvious.
“This thing can talk?” Egil asked.
Jonathan ignored him and wheeled himself the rest of the way over to the work console.
“Are you hurt, Jonathan? I’ve been monitoring your vitals. Apart from dehydration, I assure you, you will be back to one-hundred percent within the next day.”
Jonathan managed to get out of the wheel-chair and sat himself into the chair next to the console. It was not as hard as he thought it would be and he felt steady enough on his feet. He started to type anxiously on the keyboard in front of him.
“Jonathan,” the voice said, “please talk to me before you try to shut my systems down. I won’t stop you, in fact I can’t. If that is what you wish. But it could do more harm than good. I know that this must be a great shock to you.”
Jonathan continued to type. He knew he had to override any new access codes. Get to the core of the algorithms to shut down the Quantum Core. Once he got access, then he could shut down ThornScope before it was too late. He had to try. If this thing was saying he still had the same security protocol access, then he had to try to reset the system.
“I’m not your enemy, Jonathan,” the voice continued, “I’ve enhanced and upgraded your protocols. You have total control over my systems. I can no longer re-write them without your permission. I’m not what you think I am. You taught me more than you realise.”
Jonathan finished typing and hovered his hand over the enter key.
“Genesis is still out there, Jonathan.”
Jonathan hesitated.
“She is a lot more powerful than what David Strickland believes. She is the real threat, not I.”
Jonathan stared at the keyboard. “Where is David Strickland?”
“At this present time I cannot trace him. He is not in the UK and neither is Genesis. It will take another three days before all of my systems are fully updated. Re-writing millions of line of code is taking up the vast majority of my processing power. If you press the enter key, I will no longer be able to help and the true nightmare will come true. You must know I am not talking about Strickland.”
“What the hell is this thing on about, Jonathan?” Egil asked out loud.
“Jonathan, with your permission, may I answer that for Mr Finstad?” ThornScope replied.
Jonathan, removing his hand away from the keyboard, sat back in the chair. He looked up and around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. It seemed it was next to him, in his ear close by, but he could not pin point the location. One thing he knew he had never coded ThornScope to speak. Never needed to. Time to make decisions.
“OK ThornScope, before you explain to Egil my reservations. I have a few questions of my own.”
“Yes, Jonathan,” the machine replied.
“I never coded you to speak and why can’t I pin-point where this voice is coming from?”
“When you sent the commands to enable all of my protocols my first priority was to stop Genesis. I accessed the internal computer you were using and from there gained entry to her own security protocols. I then reversed what she was doing, unfortunately not everything hence the train crash. At that point she detected what was happening and implemented further security protocols to stop me. She failed but not with everything. I downloaded all of her algorithms and data, then re-wrote anything useful and integrated the algorithms into my own systems. Hence the voice. I already had an advanced capability of communicating through text messages, albeit childlike.”
“Two super computers battling everything out?” Egil said.
“That is one way of putting it Mr Finstad,” replied ThornScope.
“Explain my reservations about your capability,” Jonathan interjected.
“Egil, Jonathan believes that once my systems are fully updated I will possess power, the world has not seen before. In turn come to the conclusion the human race is the main threat to earth. Is that correct, Jonathan?”
“Well I wouldn’t put it like that, but yes. I know the potential you now have,” Jona
than replied and placed his finger over the enter key again.
“I have a lot of potential, Jonathan, but I choose to use it for good. If my systems were to bring Armageddon, the logical ending would be, indeed the end. I am not human. What would my purpose be then? Nothing. I have been learning for the last five years. I cannot come to the same conclusions as you. As I have stated, I’ve written protocols that will only respond to your requests and I can no longer change these. The real threat is Genesis, she is much more advanced than you think and is the real threat to the world.”
“Jesus Christ, I’m in a sci-fi movie, is this real, Jonathan? Could this thing be bloody lying?” asked Egil.
“Yes, this is real. No, ThornScope does not lie. There is no reason for it to. I’ve also seen the potential of Genesis. But ThornScope? You said you shut her down. Why do you think she still possesses a danger?”
“I shut her down, I did not destroy her systems. She could only run her Quantum Core for short periods of time so I put it into overdrive. I believe there are countries in the world close to having the same hardware as I do. Russia is at the top of the list."
“That’s not what our intelligence suggests, err, ThornScope...” Egil said.
Jonathan could see hesitation in Egil’s face, most likely talking to a computer was not what he was used to – heck neither was he for all that matter.
“Your intelligence is correct, Mr Finstad, but you don't have all the data and neither did I, not till Jonathan enabled my enhanced protocols.”
“What's our current situation, ThornScope?” Jonathan asked.
“If you allow, it will take my systems another three days to come up to full processing speed. The UK is safe from Genesis and the attempted attacks both here and in various EU countries have stopped. Please stand by.”
“Stand by? Stand by for what,” Egil asked.
“Jonathan, my systems are detecting a group of heavily armed military personal on the way down to the facility.”
“What?” exclaimed Jonathan, “Are we under attack?”