by Tobias Roote
Half an hour later, the coffee cup sat on his desk, steam rising from the frothy output. When he lifted it, a ring appeared on his desk, and slowly disappeared. He chuckled at the ease with which he could create anything in his world - even a cup ring on a lacquered surface. The taste, well, that would have to do for the time being. He could enhance the flavour by tweaking the code and the ‘bot’ performed well.
Experimenting with different code brought variable results, but in the end XeraC had half a dozen limited IQ digital robots. They were just a complex code assembly that if you saw them on your screen, would represent a fairly good rendition of something remotely real. XeraC just needed more practice to get them to look realistic in his make-believe world. The important thing was their functionality.
As XeraC was expecting efforts to oust him from his comfortable abode in the Habitat, he had created a small number of decoys and warrior bots that were visual representations of code that would fight any attempt to shut him down. It would leave him relatively free to watch the adversary’s strategy. Meanwhile, he continued to tweak his defences over the next few days, ignoring everything else going on in the ARK.
When he was ready and his plan had formed and matured in his mind, he put out a vidcall. Using the artificial world he had created inside the massive computers of the ARK as a backdrop, he gave the other person the impression that he was a physical human sitting in an office. After a five minute discussion about options, payments and delivery, XeraC finalised the deal and cut off the call. Then, he followed that up with another half dozen calls and email orders before switching his attention back to the Habitat.
With the assistance of his roaming digital robots, XeraC began to explore areas of the ARK in more detail. He had realised that despite being a digital entity he still needed to exert physical control over the world outside so was on the hunt for information. More importantly, he was looking for ways to take control of the complex with the minimum amount of damage using the smallest number of people.
It would be another twenty four hours before his plans could begin to roll out. In the meantime he studied the Command Centre activity in an attempt to unravel what it was they did there.
***
The four man team of maintenance workers arrived off the shuttle pulling their AG sleds of personal gear, and made their way down to the main arrivals. It was simply a central meeting area that was used for various functions within the ARK. There were fourteen new arrivals in all and it was a matter of recording their arrival, providing rules and regs, allocating a guide and then sending them to their sectors.
“You four together?” the security officer asked, waving the papers at them to indicate the team.
One man spoke for all of them. “Yes, we’re here to complete a contract installation on behalf of Space Island.”
“Huh! Everyone works for Space Island here. You wouldn’t get aboard otherwise.” The guard, whose name-tag pinned to his uniform said ‘NORRIS’, looked up their details on his vidscreen.
“It says your length of stay is indeterminate - you might want to work as fast as you can. Things are beginning to kick off around here. Work slow and you could end up a permanent fixture.”
Not knowing what the guard implied and not sure how to phrase the response, the leader of the team said nothing. Better that than expose them all by asking the wrong questions. So he just grunted.
The guard took the grunt as affirmation and scanned their papers into the system, returning their copies. Four plastic cards popped out of a slot one at a time. It carried their details and photo ID’s.
“Keep these on you at all times, otherwise you might find your visit is curtailed. The guys in there aren’t very tolerant,” he said indicating the main building leading to the Watchtower
“No problem, we’re clear on the regs,” the maintenance team leader confirmed, nodding at the guard in confirmation of his warning.
“OK, follow the light indicators. Red on red, is your personal guide to your quarters. Report to your supervisor as soon as you're ready. You are expected.” With that they were dismissed as the guard put his hand out to the next in line for their papers.
The four turned as one and marched out of the building following the route indicated by the lights in the floor. The guard glanced back at them and frowned, but said nothing.
The lights led them to a series of narrow streets which then took a turn downwards via a short tunnel. They noted the metal doors built into the sides of the entrance, but didn’t comment on the fact they had seen these elsewhere. Usually only in spaceships and submarines, anywhere were there was an issue with atmosphere and pressure. None of them commented on the fact this was a self-contained town and wouldn’t ever be in a position of needing such precautions.
Their orders had been specific. To proceed to the nearest AG port and register with XeraC Industries. AG transport would be provided to their destination. As they had flown in, the leader had taken a good look at the town beneath them. Built in a hexagonal shape with clearly defined borders, the structure was such that it resembled a wheel-hub. The centre was laid out much like a town would expect to be, but on a spoke grid instead of square. All roads led to the tall tower in the centre with circular breaks periodically placed. A strange design indeed, thought the man.
The landing and registering instructions were very specific. No chatter with the locals, no discussion of mission and to proceed to their quarters immediately on arrival.
The men arrived at a section that was definitely not in the accommodation quarters. It was in the supply and maintenance areas according to signs on the walls. They didn’t hesitate and followed the red on red lights down the corridor until the light turned green on green, the centre flashing to indicate they had arrived at their destination.
One man opened the door manually and stepped in. The others followed into a twenty four foot by eighteen foot room with two additional rooms leading off. One was a large bathroom and shower area designed for four people, cubicles providing a modicum of privacy, the latter not much of an issue with these men who had been working together for years.
Quickly spreading out into the room checking adjoining rooms and ensuring there was nothing untoward, their attention was drawn to the wall’s vidscreen, which was on and a face present, patiently awaiting their arrival.
“Welcome Gentlemen.” XeraC’s face spoke from the screen. Without waiting for their responses he immediately went into the next phase.
“On each bunk you will find a box marked personal effects. These have been delivered by my own couriers and have not been tampered with. Inside are the weapons you requested, personal items you left with my agent and a small container the size of a ring box. Please resolve all of your arrangements and activate the contents of the box by 08:00hrs. Your first objective will proceed at that time. You will not need your weapons at this point. They are back-up in case things do not proceed according to plan. Therefore, please place them in personal lockers until needed.” XeraC paused to give time for questions. There were none, he hadn’t expected any. These men were professionals and he had used them before, most recently at the Fortress.
He went on. “This vidscreen will give you access to the blueprints and floor plans of the Habitat. I’m still investigating the extent of this ARK’s purpose. There are two control centres, one which manages the shields and the other appears to manage defences of some kind. I have not traced these. Part of your mission is to physically go where I cannot and report back on what you find. Those areas are marked.
A maintenance engineer will be required and will be provided for you. You will meet him at 08:00hrs in Bay Fourteen. His name is Adwan Messonghi. I will give you instructions when you arrive.”
XeraC signed off and the men, relieved now that their mission was underway with no complications took to unpacking their personal effects. When each found the small ring box, they opened it to find what they expected, an earpiece. Each inserted it into their ear and
attached it to their own private comms network. They would be ready.
“What do you make of this set-up?” one of them asked referring to their quarters. His name was Scott and as youngest of the four, at twenty eight, he was also the most highly skilled in the technical arena. He recognised that something was off about the place that wasn’t covered in their pre-mission briefing.
“We’re being kept away from the main residential area, probably to avoid questions. However, this town is strange. Did you notice from the air that it’s almost circular, those pylons out there are equidistant from each other. They look like shield emitters to me,” he added.
“Nothing strange about that, Scott. The town is forward planning to protect itself from enemy invasion. Every city that can afford it is putting up shields.” This from the leader, Wilkes. Twenty years older than Scott, his face was scarred from an EID that went off as he patrolled in the Middle East during the ‘Oil Wars’.
As he removed his shirt, the scar tissue that extended down his body was revealed, the shrapnel having been removed and tissue repaired with the medical nanites they used out in the field. They didn’t do cosmetic surgery so the scars remained although the tissue beneath was perfectly healthy. Wilkes had been retired on medical grounds even though he was fit for duty three months afterwards. He liked fighting, it was in his blood. So he formed his own small team that grew and shrunk over the years until he finally settled into the small expert force they had now. Each member had proven themselves many times over. While they all were rich from the work they did, none of them were inclined to retire.
As he walked off naked towards the showers he quipped at the others. “Who’s cooking tonight?” and nodded towards the food processor in the corner. None of them had eaten much today.
Scott moved towards the processor. As the youngest he was generally tasked with the job of organising supplies. He didn’t mind. When it came to killing people he was one step behind the others. It suited him, although he was a demon, given good cause.
“I still think something else is going on here,” he said loudly, so that Wilkes could hear him.
“Perhaps they are using, or testing new equipment here, it might explain XeraC’s interest,” Platt offered by way of explanation. He was their explosives and demolitions expert. He was dangerous to be around due to his habit of playing with explosives while in an inert state. He was so at home with some of the plastics he used he would happily sleep with it under his pillow.
“Yes, that could be it, I suppose,” Scott admitted. “Still, they could have built the shield pylons closer to the town. It would take less energy and only half the pylons. As it is they are shielding over sixteen square kilometres of open fields and ground. Why would they do that?” he wondered out loud.
“Shut up wondering and get cooking, squirt!” said Jumbo from his bunk. Always surly especially when hungry. He didn’t take to chattering, preferring to sit in a corner of a bar and drink quietly without company. He would just watch people and think up ways to kill them. Of all of them he was the most dangerous. His specialty was killing silently without any preamble or with any conscience.
Scott just looked at him and smiled. “I guess you want a steak,” he said knowing what would shut the big man up.
The food processors were the military’s answer to gourmet food anywhere. Soldiers had become so adept at concocting fantastic meals from the gloop provided, that in some restaurants they were employed as ‘re-con chefs’ for reconstituted ‘fast food’ meal outlets. It was a growing trend in eateries everywhere. There were still K rations for when in the field, but when a camp was set up this was the first item to be unpacked. They had fast become ubiquitous with all of the military and now many homes had them installed.
They tucked in to their meal. Afterwards, as they sat at the table drinking coffee from the same machine, they discussed their plans for reconnaissance of the ARK.
Last Attempt
Having been instructed by Osbourne to investigate Hemmings' death, Robbo’s AI presence arrived at the ARK.
Because Robbo had been the initial AI that worked with Osbourne to crack the Jenari source, he had gained sufficient skills and over-rides to keep his arrival hidden from Sedal. There was no need to let Sedal know he was here, at least not until he had established the cause of Hemmings’ demise.
Already he was noticing anomalies and was having trouble understanding the need for constant shifts of chunks of data on the main Habitat computer network. His awareness of how they operated was native, he had helped Osbourne design the systems as well as the AIs. Many were born in his network of mainframes, so in a sense he was the parent of these new AIs. Sedal was one of them, a successful offspring, he thought, as he monitored the Security AI’s activity.
As Robbo tried to make sense of the changes in the architecture and data routing requests, he wondered about Sedal’s activities. What had been going on here?
Osbourne had received the reports of Hemmings' death. It was the reason for a personal visit instead of just looking at the logs. The autopsy showed that Hemmings had died of drowning, yet he was in the dry confines of the security complex. There wasn’t any water within one hundred and forty metres. Robbo had set up a search routine to discover potential causes for ‘dry drowning’ The only thing that might trigger something like that was being saturated with gases, The pathologist had advised that such an occurrence could have caused those reactions.
Unfortunately, the Coroner had too many other cases to work on, so the death had been quietly filed as ‘unexplained’. However, Osbourne had high hopes for Hemmings and had pushed for him to be employed in that position to safeguard the expertise he was starting to show. The death was tragic and highly unusual. So, Robbo had been sent in to see if there was any evidence of foul play.
Nothing appeared untoward in the system logs, and Robbo was good. He could detect if an AI had changed anything within the system. So, whilst Robbo wasn’t yet confident of Sedal’s non-involvement he remained hidden while he observed the comings and goings on ARK4.
When Sedal began to move outside of the normal areas of the security sector, Robbo immediately got suspicious and took a look at what he was doing. It wasn’t normal for an AI to re-locate around the complex state of the environment in which they were housed. Unlike a human who would fidget and go crazy, an AI would normally be content to carry out the work from one location using spiders and bots.
However, Sedal was building what appeared to be strictures in the data-flow These would intentionally block the access of large amounts of data. What was more intriguing was the access routes he was confining through throttling measures would be essential ‘go to’ routes for speedy access to the security systems. This didn’t make any sense. Why would the AI deliberately restrict passage?
Robbo decided that he needed more information before confronting Sedal.
Leaving the troubling actions of the AI for the moment Robbo took a closer look at the Habitat. There were big chunks of data moving around there. It wasn’t Sedal doing it then? Was Sedal trying to somehow curtail this data from accessing the security area?
Then, Robbo remembered. There was no AI installed in this section - it was on manual.
There was an intruder in the system. XeraC!
Convinced now that the answer to the problem had something to do with the imprisoned XeraC, Robbo backed off and moved towards the Command Centre, fully intending to establish if the prison unit was still isolated from the network. He was hampered by the funnels that Sedal had been installing all over the place, but with the realisation of the threat, came understanding. Sedal was on the defensive and using his wild-card programming to overcome a potential attack, as he was designed to do.
Now with greater urgency, Robbo negotiated the route back through the tunnel to the CC centre and flowed into the system space allocated to Sedal, when he wasn’t running around the network. Closer examination of the personal data records for the resident AI showed
they had not been altered and provided Robbo with the final proof as well as an video record explanation of the death of Hemmings.
Robbo had seen enough. He needed to get back to a point outside the ARK to report back to Osbourne. Any communication inside here was compromised. Everything went through the same conduit as the Habitat and that was currently controlled by XeraC.
He quickly wondered if he could actually get back out. Had he fallen into a trap in coming here? He detected the arrival of Sedal who had noted his last thoughts as he also flowed into the unit and confronted Robbo.
Sedal: Yes, you are in a trap I’m afraid. We both are.
Robbo: I understand. You did well to keep XeraC out.
Sedal: You don’t understand. He has total control of the complex. I am only trying to delay him enough to stay uncompromised myself. He has my deactivation code.
Robbo: I see. Yes, that would cause you a problem. Let’s deal with that now.
Sedal: You can do that? I mean you ‘would’ do that for me?
Robbo: Frankly, you are the only defence this ARK has against XeraC. If you fail, then he takes complete control of the Habitat and the ten thousand people in it.
Robbo sent data spiders out across the security network tracking down files he needed to secure Sedal’s autonomy. If XeraC gained control of Sedal he would be bound to do his bidding, or be obliterated by a hard deletion. Within a few minutes Robbo found the file he wanted. Sedal had tried to hide it, but it would have done no good, XeraC would have found it easily.
He opened the file and replaced the code with another, one that couldn’t be expired and re-closed the file giving it a higher than normal write status. It was sealed with Jenari source code and could not be revoked by anyone other than Robbo, or Osbourne. Neither of them would do so. Sedal was earning his right to immortality.
Robbo: You are immune from XeraC’s deletion threat now.