Tramp Wars: The Enemy

by Larry Roberts

  Even Mrs. Hastings screaming at him for a few minutes after the students had first gotten off the bus until she realized that he was ignoring her, could not dampen his mood.

  Being without the glasses for a few minutes in a mostly dark truck deck made Mark realize just how well the glasses seemed to be working as the deck lit back up and came alive for him again. He felt a little pin prick at his temples as the glasses seamed to settle themselves back onto his head sealing over his eyes. He reached up ready to throw them off again if it hurt him again but they just seemed to meld into his face as before. Feeling comfortable again. His temples stopped itching after a few seconds.

  “Please do not be alarmed Mark. You have to be wearing me for me to talk to you. I cannot promise not to hurt you again if you act erratically. You must give me warning before you take me off again. I am connected to your nerve system at your temples and sub dermally to your ears to talk to you. This allows you to control me and for me to communicate with you. It takes 15 seconds for me to disconnect from your temporal and auditory nerves completely before you can safely take me off. Please give me at least that much warning before you take me off to avoid damaging our nerve connections.”

  Tapping out the commands to shut down the fueling system then disconnecting the plasma hose from the bus Mark thought about what his glasses was telling him. “I take it you are an AI. But I thought the Doctor said you were just a computer. A gaming computer. How advanced is your artificial intelligence classed as?”

  Climbing into the bus he spotted the glass case sitting on the front passenger seat as he turned to go into the pilots compartment and stopped; picking it up he looked it over. The case had the initials M.I.C.K.-E. embossed on its lid with more righting under the bottom of the case he only glanced at. A bag of garbage from the Zoo and cups and food containers form Mc Dee’s sat on the floor in front of the seat. Tom was down the isle of the bus sweeping the deck. Jolleen had left with the students and the very irate teacher, Mrs. Hastings. Trying to calm her down from filing charges against Mark for flying them back under the water fall again on the way home. The other teachers would not hear of charges for stopping at the Mickey Dees or watching the light show at the falls to Mark’s relief. “Mickey? That is a stupid name.” Dropping it back on the seat he headed forward taking the pilots seat.

  “The letters on my case were not meant as a name. I am classed as an A.I.-12 enhanced. Though I am not enhanced at the moment.”

  “I thought that 10 was the max AI class possible and what does enhanced mean?” Walking forward Mark dropped into the pilot’s seat. “Our ships AI is only an 8."

  “Ten is the generally accepted maximum thought to be attainable at this time in this backward culture. Enhanced is the term used when an AI is directly connected to and controlled by a human's thoughts. This culture‘s technology is just now starting to understand how to do that again. Though I do not believe they have yet to achieve it from the data I have retrieved over the years over wireless internet signals I have been able to intercept. In time you will be able to control me by your thoughts but I do not believe that I will ever again reach the level considered enhanced. ”

  Running through the start check list Mark paused, looking around towered the crystal box even though he could not see it from there. “What do you mean controlled by my thoughts? Can you read my mind? No; you said I have to tell you before I take you off. Is that right or wrong?”

  “I cannot read your mind at this time. With training and time you will be able to give me specific mental commands with a 100% accuracy when you want to but I will never be able to read your thoughts word for word. Neither will I be able to predict sudden impulse actions. I will in time see wave patterns in your brain and associate those patterns with words or commands. That will take time since I have lost much of my computational matrix when bonding with my inspector was terminated and large percentage of my circuits were damaged."

  "Aaa. Ok. What is a Multitronic ah…? What are you anyway? Why put an A.I. in a pair of glasses?"

  "I help my inspector fight crime and protect others by forming a Crime Inspector Team but my inspector was terminated before we could be bonded.”

  “Ok. Does that mean that you have to fallow my orders no matter what I tell you to do? Even if it is against the law?” Mark smiled as the fans started their wind up as he turned on the power.

  “No. I cannot do anything illegal. Nor would my controller ask me too. She has been thoroughly tested and vested. But you are not her. I do not understand why you have been authorized to partner with me. But I have tested you as honest and trustworthy with good moral character and ethics making you an excellent candidate for a law enforcement officer trainee and eventually an Inspector. But you are years from finishing intensive training and tests before you should be assigned to an inspector unit. I do not understand why or how my emergency protocols have been changed to accept you as an inspector partner. You are extremely substandard.”

  Lifting off the deck the big bus started slowly moving around the vehicle deck towered the stall it had been in as long as Mark could remember. “And what if I don’t want to be a law enforcement officer. What if all I want to be is an engineer and fly trucks and spacecraft. The two jobs I have been training at since I can remember. Besides I don't think the Captain would let me take on a third job even if I wanted to. Besides I just got my commercial pilot's license." Checking his screens as he slid between a couple of trucks. "I would love to be able to design improvements for ships equipment and even air cars and come to think of it the ship needs some self-defense fighters while we are wondering through the outback with all the pirates and rough planets and the engine upgrades if we ever get them should be a blast putting in. I am already about to get my basic bachelor’s degree for manufacturing engineering so you can just take your law officer inspector plans for me and shove them up your pretty little glass boxed ass! Besides I am getting a set of implants in a few days so I won’t need you and you won’t have to put up with my extremely substandard ass. Do you have a problem with that little miss Mickey?”

  “That is not in my programming. You must be a dedicated inspector trainee to even be considered for bonding with me. Candidates go through decades of training before they are given an AI. Assistant. Only one in thousands of candidates get one. Only the very best of the best. My inspector was the top of her class with the best test scores ever attained by anyone in the program. Why am I not with my bonded inspector? But bonding was not completed. I must finish bonding with my assigned inspector. You are not my assigned inspector and I should not even be talking with you let alone cooperating with you. I was supposed to self-destruct when my inspector was terminated but we had not finished bonding so she was not my inspector and myself termination protocols were not activated. My programing matrix was damaged 1,037 years ago by 14.8372 million Rads of radiation in .3 seconds killing my inspector in. 1 seconds. New Emergency protocols were installed and activated 6.137 hours ago. Instructions make you my assigned Inspector. You must not refuse my new emergency protocol orders for me to train you as my assigned Inspector replacement.”

  “For an AI you are incredibly stupid. I did not turn you down. I have my own plans. I just want to fly and be an engineer and fix and create things. Sorry.” Backing up into the busses parking slip Mark cut the fans a good foot before the bus clanked into its bunk locks, stopping its rear ward movement as it dropped to the deck with a little jerk as it hit the locks. “Sorry but my plans don’t include a stupid inspector A.I. in a set of dumb ass glasses.”

  “Not to carry out my primary programming is a waste of this unit. I am not programmed to deviate from my primary programming. I am not programmed to be rejected by a candidate. I will have to recompute the programming of this unit. I need to contact Inspector Central Control on Earth, Sole system. For clarification and repair of my programing. Please stand by.”

  “And what does that mean?” As the fans wound down Mark went back, grabbe
d the sack of garbage and the glass case and fallowed his friend out the hatch of the airbus. “Hey you going to answer me or not?”

  Tom turned around with a puzzled look. “What the hell are you talking about puke face? Or should I call you bug eyed? Try asking me a question and I might answer you.”

  “Ahh…. Sorry dick head. I was talking to my…. To my glasses. Seems these things have some kind of AI computer built in and not just a gaming computer like the Doctor said after all.” Mark caught up to his friend. “It seems it is having programming problems. It wants me to be some kind of super cop, Crime inspector. Now isn't that a riot. Oh and get this! It says it has to contact Earth… Sole system. For reprograming.” Mark chuckled. “For a set of fancy expensive glasses, you would think they would have had the bugs worked out by now.”

  “Earth! Mythical Earth? Well what do you expect after sitting on that shelf for 10 years? You’re lucky it works at all let alone being a bit crazy with a few bugs.”

  “It is worse than that. The manufactures label etched on the bottom of the box has a star date of a thousand years ago.” Turning the box so Tom could see the label and read it. “It also says manufactured on Earth, Sole system?”

  “What? Earth is a slag heap even if it did exist according to the legends. I think it is just a story the Empire tells to keep it‘s planets inline.” Tom squinted at where Mark was showing him the label. “All I see is a bunch of dirty scratches.” Dropping the bag in his left hand he took out a couple of the dirty rags he had used cleaning the inside of the bus and wiped the bottom of the box with one that was still wet then found a half clean spot on another to finish the job. “Oh ya.” After moving the case around to reflect the light of a distant fixture. “One thousand and aah thirty seven years give or take months to be exact Mark. Ah shit Mark. It does say made by General Robotics Earth, Sole. Do you have any idea what you have here? This is technology from before the Simple Tech Cleansing War when all the Empires core factories were destroyed! Before the Dark ages! Before the contraction started when the Outback frontier was still thousands of light years farther away than it is know.”

  “Daaa tell me something I don’t know." Mark said sarcastically. "Fact is I think that is the year it started. The year Earth was slagged in a sneak attack if I remember the legend right. All the orbital factories, Universities, libraries and research centers destroyed. I still don’t understand how any religion can sneak thousands of nuclear bombs into their Religious Centers throughout a hundred star systems even if they did have special Ambassadorial rights of an independent planet and allowed to place their worship centers ah… called Mosks anyplace they wished to including universities, research centers and the centralized manufacturing complexes, too make up for supposed past transgressions against their misunderstood ancestors. That is according to the legend. As if anyone could actually believe one species and their religion could really blow up and lay waste to all the Empires manufacturing planets and take over half the universe no matter how militaristic and prone to killing all none believers in all other species they were supposed to be. Especially since their species was considered universal slaves at one time because of their low I Q and high rate of propagation. I also don’t believe anyone could really exterminate an entire species across the Galaxy in the war after words. I have been reading some new theories that say that the Empire simply collapsed of its own weight and government miss management. That most of the factory systems workers simply forgot how to maintain their factories when a terrorist or a company accidentally released a programing super virus that destroyed all programing across the Empire including the universities and their knowledge Cores.

  Tom looked at Mark and frowned. “What ever happened back then. You have a peace of Empire tech.” His frown turning into a big smile. “Do you realize how much it is worth? Millions I bet.”

  “No? It can’t be worth much or the old man would not have given it to me. Besides remember our cargo trade classes in school. Empire tech that does not work is worthless because it cannot be reverse engineered. Something to do with the materials and quantum circuits that cannot be understood let alone duplicated. That’s why the Dark ages happened. It took hundreds of years to develop substitutes for Empire tech that could be produced across the stars in the primitive factories that could be built back then. Fact is, if it was not for the surviving Earth Empire Battle Ships and the Comm Sats; the dark ages would still be a fact of life. The reason I think the contraction is happening now it that the old Empire ships are just wearing out. And since our modern ships are so much slower and weaker weapons wise, there is nothing to fill the voids left.”

  “But it does work Mark for God’s Star sake. You’re using it right now to see!”

  “Ya but it is only a pair of glasses Tom. Worthless unless you need to see and since I am the only one out of a million people that need to wear glasses I can’t see there being a big demand for these. Which covers the primary criteria for making money; Demand. No demand; no value.”

  “Whoa one minute here. Anything earth tech that works is in demand by collectors. If you want to keep your Earth Empire eyes we had better forget they are from earth.” Changing coarse Tom headed for a locker next to the air truck repair shop entrance left open by the mechanics working farther around the engineering core. Pulling out a can of paint out of a paint locker, he turned to Mark. “Here put the box down on the counter face down. Black paint should cover it pretty good. Fill in the manufacture and date etchings so they cannot be read by anyone.”

  “Isn’t that a bit drastic. No one is going to bother reading the manufacturing etchings on an old case.”

  “Drastic would be getting the grinder out and seeing if it cuts crystal. But then I would be willing to bet it is diamond; pure super dense diamond. I saw a video of someone trying to cut up a piece of Empire tech and they could not cut it. It finally simply melted when they got it hot enough.”

  Using tape, Mark covered the sides to take care of the over spray. “Ya I may hate these things but I sure as hell would hate to have to give them up just because some stupid officer decides he wants them for a souvenir. At least for the rest of the week. The Doctor may not do the implants if I don‘t give these back in good shape or at all.” Looking up he turned and starred at the inner hull for a second and then smiled. “What on Gods Star?" With Tom's baffled expression he continued. "The emergency medic response team just came busting out of the elevator and are headed around the other side of the core in one big hurry?

  “How the hell do you know that and why would they be down here?” Tom said baffled.

  “I can see them and your guise is as good as mine. Must be some kind of drill. Ho shit; here comes the Master at Arms. Something is terribly wrong and they are headed for the bus I think. When you’re finished making the bottom look pretty, leave the case in my flight locker to dry and join me. I don‘t have a lock on it yet or anything in it for that matter since I just got it today but at least my name is on it..” Mark jogged back towered the bus; reaching sight of the bus as the emergency crew reached the front hatch. They entered the bus in mass tripping over each other, yelled his name a few times as they searched the bus and then came running out just in time to knock Mark, (just walking up in the shadows next to the hatch) flat onto his back. His head hitting the deck hard enough to daze him.

  “Here he is on the deck. Get me a scanner so I can check something that seems to be on his head. Mark can you hear me. Are you ok buddy?” In the crowded space between the bus and the stall's bulkhead, the paramedics where crawling over each other. “He is not responding. Must be drugged still. Some strange plastic bandage is wrapped around his eyes and head from the star damn hack that did the operation. Just hope he is not totally blinded for life. Poor sap. Get the stretcher over here stat and tell doc Wells. Maybe he can repair the worst of the damage before it is too late.” The medic started wrapping bandages around Marks head over the top of his glasses.

  Tom walked up as
they were placing Mark onto the stretcher. “What in God’s Star are you guys doing? Mark what did they do to you?”

  “You better worry about yourself boy.” The master at arms Sgt. grabbed Tom by the arm. “You not only helped Mark do this stupid foolishness but you without a pilot's license flew a bus load of kids back from the Zoo endangering their lives to top things off.” Jerking Tom around the Sgt. dragged him toward the elevator behind the transport stretcher. “By the time the Captain gets done with you two, you will curse the day you were born.”

  “But Sgt…”

  “Shut up you moron. I don’t want to hear it. You can tell the Captain your stupid excuses. Now move it.”