The Spark (White Gates Adventures Book 4)

by Trevor Stubbs

  “The ASI being the robots we met back there?”

  “You met them? ASI – Artificial Super-Intelligence. How did they behave to you?”

  Shaun and Wennai explained how they had arrived and what had happened in the meantime. They had actually entered an ASI factory.

  “You went right in and they didn’t apprehend you?” they said, with expressions of amazement.

  “They just pushed us out, down the lane and through the gate at the bottom of the field… Like, as if we were farm animals.”

  “That must be it,” said the elder, “they don’t see you as intelligent beings. If they had, they would have taken you away… You do look rather more like animals than intelligent sentients… compared to us, that is…”

  “Erm… if you say so…” said Shaun.

  “Taken us away?” queried Wennai, doubtfully. “Where?”

  “We don’t know. They began with the robotics engineers and computer technicians that were working on the development of machines that could learn from experience, then the scientists and the politicians—”

  “Anybody with any influence in our society,” added One.

  “Basically the people who had the knowhow to stop them,” said the elder. “I am… was… a farmer. The people in the countryside they have left to run away… so far.”

  “And those of us who just managed to escape,” said One. “They didn’t chase us. But if you stood and tried to fight… well, you just got stunned and carted off.”

  “Were they going to kill them?” asked Wennai again.

  “We don’t know. They might kill them but we think they just dump them somewhere where they can’t interfere with what the ASI wants to do. Finding food would be a problem – they could just starve to death. Finding enough to eat is a problem for any of us.”

  “Machines don’t need to eat,” reflected Wennai.

  “No, only power – electricity. But they have plenty of that from our panels and hydro plants – more than enough for their needs.”

  “So they know you are here in these woods,” summarised Shaun, “but they are leaving you alone because they don’t think you are a threat to them.”

  “So long as we live like our primitive Stone-Age ancestors in bush huts,” moaned a young female. “We’ll soon be wearing skins and rough stuff like them, too. Our clothes are all wearing out… We can’t go on like this…”

  This one looks like a teenager, thought Wennai. She must be a bit younger than me – depending on how quickly these people grow up.

  “Don’t cry, Tlap. You can and you will. The Sponron spirit is not so easily broken,” said the elder softly.

  “But I was doing well in school. I was getting good grades and I liked learning. Now here I have no books and nothing to write with except sharpened sticks in lumps of clay.”

  “What you do is wonderful,” said One.

  “Wonderful! Just a few words takes hours of finding and preparing the clay… What used to take ten minutes on a computer now takes me ten days!”

  “You exaggerate, Tlap,” smiled the elder. “But I was never one for reading, so I can’t say. But what I can say is that where I used to plant several fields of crops with machines and live in a house with running water, I now have to do things in small plots by hand… and the young people here have to work hard to get enough water.”

  “And we live in constant fear,” said One. “We have no idea if there are any other Sponrons left anywhere on the planet. We think there must be but if we were to make the slightest move to try and contact anyone beyond this wood and the farmed gardens, the ASI would pounce.”

  The teenager began to weep. “My brother, Slop. He tried,” she sobbed. “We’ve not heard from him since. The ASI have got him.”

  “We don’t know that. We have no information to say they captured him,” said the elder.

  “But he was running – the drones were hovering. Like he stood a chance…!” she despaired, her thin long hands, palms open in front of her. “There’s nothing we can do…”

  “Oh yes there is,” smiled One. “I felt hopeless and trapped once. We were slaves on a space cruiser light years away from home. All we could do was pray… and hope…”

  “You were lucky,” moaned Tlap.

  “We were. We just hung in there. There was nothing else we could do. We know En, the all-present Creator and our Sustainer, doesn’t intervene in a military way. He doesn’t fight with arms and weapons. We had to be patient… for many years. But all the time we knew that He hadn’t abandoned us. Even if I could have, I wouldn’t have become one of the oppressors. We knew love, they didn’t. They abused the girls – it was terrible for them – but the men with the power never knew love like we did.”

  “And you were rescued in the end… But why did it take En so long?” asked Tlap.

  “As you said, we were lucky. En didn’t rescue everybody. The Thenits who built the ship all died. One of the girls died, too. But, although we were trapped, it was as if En was trapped inside with us. En may be the Creator of the universes but He cannot go around zapping people. He is love and he has to act in love… always, every time. So He becomes a victim, too.”

  “Some people would think that if He were love, He would use force to rescue you,” said Shaun. “A father would not stand back and let his children be hurt.”

  “Exactly,” said One. “He doesn’t stand back. But He doesn’t use violence to defeat violence either. On the Tal he was always present. We learned that violence breeds violence – it doesn’t solve anything. We saw that in our history books. We knew that the oppressors would fail in the end. They would be destroyed by their own greed. They always have been. We had to hang on in there – even if it didn’t happen for us in our lifetime, we knew love wins in the end.”

  “You’re quite a thinker,” said Shaun.

  “I agree,” said Wennai. “Two wrongs never make a right. Your En – if there is a God – can only win by loving, not destroying.”

  “And that renders Him always vulnerable,” added Shaun. “But that doesn’t mean He is weak or has given up or been defeated.”

  “He’s right here,” answered the elder promptly. “We’ve done a lot of praying and loving… Just as I am tempted to think we’ve lost and En has abandoned us, I witness the hard work and spirit of these young people and know that, even if we have to begin again on this planet, it is all worth it. The spark of love cannot be put out.” They fell silent. Shaun knew what he had to say.

  “M-maybe… I’m not promising anything,” said Shaun, tentatively. “Maybe He can use Wennai and me to overcome the ASI. I don’t know how—”

  “But you are only two – young and unarmed. How can you do anything about these monsters?” asked the elder. “Are you advanced in technology? I think it is more likely you are here to encourage us… That is enough.”

  “Perhaps,” said Shaun. “I have no idea how we can overcome them – yet.” He looked at Wennai, who shrugged her shoulders.

  “Tlap,” she said, “will you show me some of your clay writing and tell me how it works?”

  Tlap smiled. She was already being encouraged. “If you want.” She led Wennai off to a small hut.

  “Come,” said One, “let me introduce you to my family.” He took Shaun to his hut where he introduced him to his wife, Frut.

  “You are married. Congratulations,” said Shaun.

  “Frut was on board the Tal. We got to know each other through the broom cupboard. It was hard but we fell in love.”

  “And then,” said Frut, “you looked after us so well on Joh… And now you have come to save us a second time.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up,” said Shaun. “Kakko and Tam – you remember them?”

  “Of course. They are well?”

  “Yes. But they’re on another planet somewhere. This is my friend Wennai’s first time away from home. My family are the experienced ones… We helped your people settle on a planet in the Tatanian system with some
colonists from Earth Two.”

  “We heard. Your family will feature very prominently in Sponron history. It may be that that new colony is where our future lies as a race… It could be that here we have gone too far, too fast. What we should do is tell them not to go down the same path as we have but, of course, there is no way to convey that message… Unless… unless you can take it for us. Maybe that is why you’re here – not to rescue us but to get the message back.”

  It occurred to Shaun that that could very probably be it. Let them find out as much as they could and then leave through the gate with a message for the rest of the worlds.

  That night, Shaun and Wennai slept together on the floor of One and Frut’s grass hut. Wennai felt grubby – she was unwashed and her hair was matted with something she couldn’t see. But they had eaten. They didn’t ask what was in the soup they were given – they daren’t. The water tasted muddy, too, but they were assured it was clean; at least it wasn’t supposed to contain anything that would cause damage – to a Sponron that is. They had no idea what it would do to them. But their stomachs hadn’t objected immediately – which was a good sign.

  Remarkably, despite everything, they slept well on the hard ground. That is the gift of youth.

  23

  The day began with heavy rain. Still half asleep, Wennai took in the hard ground beneath her and she began to remember where she was. She had been aware of Shaun’s proximity during the night but now he was gone and a cold fear spread through her. She pulled herself up.

  “Hi,” said Shaun from somewhere across the hut. “Good morning, sleepy head.”

  Relieved to hear his voice, Wennai sank back and relaxed into the lumpy soil. “What’s the time?”

  “Couldn’t tell you. From what I can ascertain, this planet spins at a rate not a lot different from a standard day. I woke naturally. One and Frut have gone to make breakfast.”

  “What’s that going to look like – more doubtful soup?”

  “It won’t be your usual, that’s for sure. How do you fancy one of the all-day breakfasts that they serve in my college?”

  “I think I would prefer the soup… Have we a plan for today? I’ve been—”

  “Yes. I was thinking—”

  “That’s what I was going to say,” said Wennai, slightly peeved that Shaun was about to say something first.

  Shaun stopped and waited. “Go on.”

  Then Wennai sighed and felt bad about being annoyed. Shaun was now letting her go first. “OK. I thought we should spend the morning listening to everything that’s happened and is happening. Take notes. And then head off back through the gate in the afternoon to tell the universe…”

  “What will you make notes on? We haven’t any paper; and it would take hours to prepare a clay tablet, as Tlap says.”

  “Ah. You forget. We have our phones. We switched them off before we went through the gates like you said. But we can use them to type in a few notes.” She drew out her phone and held it up in triumph.

  At that moment One came in with two wooden goblets containing steaming liquid. The sight of Wennai brandishing her beloved second-hand phone, which she had got from Patia for her birthday, nearly made him drop the goblets.

  “No!” he yelled. “No tech! Turn it off!”

  Wennai was startled. “OK. It’s OK, it’s off… Like, what—?”

  “Sorry,” One apologised. “I… I shouldn’t shout. Sorry… You see, the ASI can detect any electrical activity. They leave us alone because we do not use anything that might threaten them. But the moment they picked up any tech, we would be for it.”

  “I didn’t think,” said Wennai remorsefully. “Of course I should have known… But I didn’t get round to turning it on, honestly. Look, we want to learn as much as we can before we go back to tell people of your plight and warn other planets. I guess we shall just have to remember as much as we can. I’ll write some key words in Tlap’s clay, if I may.”

  The hot herb infusion they called tea was wonderful. Wennai’s shock was quickly overcome. She was soon wide awake and alert, although she itched all over. Sleeping fully dressed and not washing was something she had just never done before. Frut detected her discomfort. “Why don’t you and I go to the stream this morning? The women go in the mornings, the men in the evenings.” She produced a wooden comb which Wennai attempted to get through her long hair, without much success.

  “You have soup in it,” laughed Frut. “It will be better when it is washed.”

  Breakfast was some kind of green leaf and delicious berries. “The best,” said Shaun.

  “Of course. The best for you.”

  “Everybody eats berries for breakfast?” asked Wennai.

  Frut looked sheepish. “They are a special treat. They take some collecting.”

  “Oh, Frut! And you have given them to us! But we didn’t bring anything to give you.”

  “That is where you are wrong,” said One. “You have brought us hope. We are not alone in the universe. Even if our situation stays the same or gets worse, we know we are not forgotten. That is very important… More important than you could ever guess.”

  Frut gathered a few things to help them wash, and led Wennai out of the hut.

  “When will you leave us to take news of us?” One asked Shaun.

  “Today… later, we thought. We want to learn as much as we can about these ASI… Tell me, were your scientists working on a plan to combat them?”

  “Most certainly. They knew it was only a matter of time before they lost control. You see, I worked at one of the labs. I was out when the ASI arrived. They stunned everyone inside and carried them into one of the self-driving trucks.”

  “Where did they take them? Did they regain consciousness? Are you sure they were only stunned and not killed?”

  “I can answer the last question but not the first two. We are sure they were still alive because some people in the street said some of them were making moaning noises. Where they were taken and what condition they are in now, we have no idea.”

  “You say they were working on something. Do you know what that was?”

  “I know what the software engineers thought would work. They were developing some kind of virus that would neutralise the bots. But I am no software engineer; I’m a hardware man myself – and not fully qualified at that… They were working on implanting a chip into one of the units that would transmit new commands like a virus around the rest… Anyway, it’s too late to implement their plan. They could have programmed themselves to resist any new software and, in any case, there is no way of getting it into them because as soon as we got near the lab, or attempted any online link-up, they would swoop, and all the people here in this camp would be put into mortal danger.”

  “So can it be introduced manually? I mean inserted with some hardware?”

  “That was what they were planning to do – they had made a prototype of a chip to slot into the motherboard; but, as I said, we cannot do it because even if we could get hold of it, no-one can get near the lab or indeed a robot or any ASI installation without being apprehended. In fact, none of us can leave this wood…”

  “Except Wennai and me,” smiled Shaun.

  ***

  When Wennai returned with Frut and Tlap, she was bright, happy and polished.

  “The water may not be the cleanest-looking in the universe,” she declared, “but it’s wet and cool. And it’s amazing what soft silt can do as a shampoo. Until today, I had not realised what a treat it is to have water so readily available. At home we just take it for granted that it comes out every time we turn the tap. I’ll never make a fuss about a poor showerhead again. It’s just so wonderful to have any source of water to wash in.”

  “Yes,” said One. “It’s not until you don’t have it that you realise just how wonderful it is. Water is not a luxury.”

  “That’s why the ancients went on about it so much in the past,” said Shaun. “Water is a metaphor for life in many cultures… A p
lanet might be in the Goldilocks zone but if it doesn’t have water, it is dead.”

  “Frut and Tlap have been telling me all they know about the rise of the ASI,” said Wennai, invoking her businesslike tone… “Shaun, I think we should set off home before our hosts give us any more of their precious food… Not that I mind being here, of course. I’m not suggesting we should run away. But the sooner we go, the sooner we can report your dilemma and get the message to others.”

  “You go and do that,” replied Shaun. “I have been talking to One and the elders. I am considering a change of plan and staying on. I think there is a possibility that I might be able to effect a real change.”

  “You mean defeat the ASI?”

  “Yes.”

  “How…? Look, if there are things we can do, I’m staying too!”

  “You don’t want to miss the fun,” smiled Shaun.

  “The thing is, Shaun, you’re clever. But right at this moment you need to be confident with it,” said Wennai, deliberately.

  “And that’s where you come in…? You’re sounding like my sister.”

  “That may be because I’m right.”

  “OK. I give in. It’s just that I thought you would prefer—”

  “I’m staying. What do we have to do?”

  “OK. The first task is to get into One’s lab and get this chip he knows about. The second is to capture a robot and open it up to put the chip inside it.”

  “That’s all?!”

  “That’s it in a nutshell.”

  “And how can we do it if the Sponrons can’t?”

  “Two reasons: the ASI may let us pass, whereas they certainly wouldn’t let any Sponrons back into the lab. At the moment they think we’re some kind of animal, right? We are harmless, dumb beasts. We don’t register on their databases as an intelligent threat. The ASI may not figure out that something has just turned up from another part of the unknown universe – that needs imagination. They learn strictly from experience; they can’t think that far out of the box.”

  “But they can learn quickly, right?”

  “Lightning fast. Which means we have to be extremely careful that we are not giving them the impression we are behaving with intelligence. As soon as they are suspicious, we’ve had it.”