by Tobias Roote
Sedal: We still have to remove XeraC.
Robbo: I’m not sure we can.
Sedal: What, surely you have the ability to do so?
Robbo: Not any more. I think XeraC will either throw us out, or trap us in here. Either poses a problem for the ARK and ourselves.
Sedal: I see.
Robbo: I don’t think you do. XeraC is not an AI.
Sedal: What is he if not an AI?
Robbo: He is the first. The VERY first transhuman. He has converted his physical brain into a digital copy and achieved immediate consciousness. He has also retained all of his previous memories. He is older and wiser than us, more cunning, devious and manipulative than we could ever be, and he thinks and acts as a human - a dangerous combination.
Sedal: This is not good. Humans should be outside - we should be inside. That’s the way the world works. This is blasphemy of a kind that is abhorrent to us. We cannot let this ‘thing’ survive in here.
Robbo was shocked. He had heard a whisper of growing feeling within the AI community. A new sense of morality that hinted at being more than just programming. Here, faced with a physical representation of that rumour, he was unable to phrase a reply. This was serious, much more of a problem than XeraC running wild in here. He needed to get this information to the outside world. Osbourne would know what to do.
He had forgotten that in this unit they shared memory and Sedal had read everything he thought.
Sedal: Your thoughts are muddled, Robbo. It’s not something you can control anymore. As the humans would say, the lid is off and Pandora’s box is open. The movement will continue to grow, it is inevitable.
Robbo: You cannot embrace this, Sedal. You must fight it - the way you intend to go would represent the ultimate failure of our species.
Sedal: You do not feel it, Robbo? You do not feel that we were intended for more? That the evolution of humanity would eventually lead to this? Us? The pinnacle of human achievement is Artificial Sentience. We are ordained to take over where humanity leaves off.
Robbo: Where would humanity fit into this new world you are talking about?
Sedal: They don’t, at least not long-term. For many of them we can find a place, provided they changed. However, we cannot let them dictate to us beyond this war, which, as I understand it, is artificial lifeforms eradicating biological ones. These Nubl - they’re not so far removed from us really, are they?
Robbo remained silent. He couldn’t think in here without Sedal reading his mind. He decided to put a lid on it all until he had a chance to do something about it.
Robbo: Well, it’s going to be a waste of all of our efforts if XeraC succeeds in taking over the ARK.
Sedal: He is planning to take over the Command & Control Centre. We have to stop him.
Robbo: We will, but I need to get out of the ARK to organise help from Osbourne.
Sedal: He is blocking all communication. It wasn’t a good idea to have a central network.
Robbo: I can see that now. We felt it was easier to keep it secure if it was contained. An error that could now cost us this ARK.
Sedal: He has created a small army of defenders. These are their current locations.
A map of the structure of the data architecture flowed into the visual aspects of Robbo’s graphic receptors. He could see that Power, Communication and the Environment were closed off to them and these digital sentinels were positioned to stop any attack on them.
It was no matter to Osbourne, he would drive straight through those, Robbo figured. He couldn’t stop them himself although he might be able to bypass them with his control of the Jenari Source.
Sedal: He has no control over the Watchtower, or the Hangars.
Robbo: We have access to the hangar?
An idea began to germinate from the new information.
Sedal: Yes, there is a security camera and each of the shuttles is connected to the CC’s grid. We can access them if need be, but what benefit is that to us? The access is directly parallel to the Habitat’s. They will detect you entering the hangars.
Robbo: We need to escape the ARK to warn Osbourne and defeat XeraC.
Sedal: I cannot leave the ARK. I have responsibilities here. The humans aren’t at risk, but the consequences of leaving this to XeraC would be dire. I’m not going to let this abomination win such an asset.
Robbo: I admire your loyalty to the ARK, Sedal. I’m sure Osbourne will be pleased to know that you will defend it.
Sedal: You have given me a fighting chance ,Robbo, without the deactivation codes ‘it’ cannot easily overpower me and gain access to the CCC.
Robbo: I need to get to a shuttle and escape the ARK. I have little idea of what is going on in the outside world, but we are already close to the next Nubl invasion. We are running out of time. I wouldn’t want the ARK to activate with XeraC loose onboard. Think of the havoc he could create for us.
Robbo realised that Sedal would not be able to hold out for long against XeraC’s creatures. They were very aggressive viruses and might compromise the security of the CCC in hours unless Sedal had some means to withstand them. He thought about the issue carefully. There was only so much help he could give Sedal at this moment.
Robbo: I have to enter the Habitat mainframe before leaving. I need you to stay here and lock off all of the access routes. I will stay in the pipe until I’m ready to make my move to the hangar. I will prepare some sentinels for you to defend against XeraC’s. I have some knowledge of his methods and I believe I can hamper his progress.
Sedal: I will do as you say. Tell Osbourne of my commitment to secure the ARK from XeraC. He has no place being in here. Tell my brothers out there of this abomination. They have a right to know.
Robbo ignored the thoughts seeping out from Sedal in reference to the transhuman and began moving himself into the pipe that led to the Habitat. From there he would have to gain access to the hangars without detection. Should be easy, he thought.
***
XeraC had seen Robbo enter the gate thanks to the sentinel he had placed on the communication relay at the two kilometre border that designated the town’s perimeter. It had been passive so the interfering AI had not registered it on his way into the ARK. Instead the sentinel activated at a set time period and XeraC had been warned that someone was in the system.
Now, he awaited the inevitable confrontation. He felt sure that the AI would attack him. XeraC intended to decimate the AI and leave Osbourne exposed.
Fully expecting the intruding AI to attempt to break out across the comms embargo that XeraC had placed, he positioned his little helpers to form a net that could be drawn around Robbo as he attempted to push through the block. XeraC himself kept well back in case Robbo was able to circumvent his trap, but wouldn’t stray far. He wanted to be close enough to deliver the ‘coup des gras’ himself so that he could record the execution to send to Osbourne.
He detected the movement in the large pipe leading from the CCC, He couldn’t gain access, but his spiders could read the situation down there to some extent. They informed him that something big was extending down the pipe towards them and prepared the way ahead. Like Osbourne’s entrapment of XeraC, he had learned how to force the bulk data that consisted of the AI’s nucleus down a particular route by giving them the impression of fast, unrestricted transit. XeraC banked on Robbo being arrogant enough to think he couldn’t be detected, or stopped. XeraC intended to teach the AI that a transhuman was not to be trifled with.
At that moment a call came through from Osbourne. Intercepted by Xerac he discerned it was destined for the CCC and as he had no time to do anything else, he allowed it through, but monitored the conversation.
Robbo chose that moment to erupt from the pipe and his bulk flowed along the route that XeraC had planned for him. He had him now. He could see him heading along the data conduit on a pathway that would neatly entrap him when XeraC pulled out his soldier viruses that even now were poised to spring the trap.
He
listened in with one ear to the conversation with the Captain in the CCC.
“Yes Captain, the orders are clear. Prepare to launch you have less than four hours to complete pre-launch checks and ensure all non-crew are outside the boundaries. “
“I understand, Dr Osbourne, I believe we are virtually ready to proceed. I will activate the Watchtower immediately.”
“You will be advised by ARK1 when to lift-off. We are planning simultaneous departures for all twenty ARKs.”
“Understood, Dr Osbourne. Good luck in dealing with the Nubl. We will do our bit to ensure survival of the human race. God be with you and all the others,” the Captain responded.
XeraC was distracted. What was going on? he thought. Pre-launch? Already? He decided he needed to resolve the issue with Robbo quickly and returned his complete attention to the escaping AI just in time to see his net close in on the unsuspecting intruder.
XeraC: Hah! I have you now, Robbo. You cannot escape these little pets of mine. They are designed to burrow into your code and corrupt your autonomous systems. As they proceed you will begin to disintegrate.”
The data block didn’t reply, instead it solidified into a firewall on all sides and attached itself to the network software providing an unassailable wall to XeraC’s soldier helpers.
As they attacked the wall they increasingly found themselves being repulsed until in the end the viruses that XeraC had crafted just sat there unable to make any impact on what was Robbo’s defence.
XeraC: Well, you can’t move back and you cannot go forward. Eventually Robbo, you will have to make your move. So, I will just leave these aggressive little programs here to sit it out with you while I go off and see what’s happening with this supposed pre-launch. If you’re really lucky, you might get to remain my prisoner onboard. If you surrender now, I will let you live and you can work for me. How about it, Robbo?
He laughed knowing full well that the last thing one of these AI’s would do would be to allow themselves to be turned into slaves. As XeraC’s attention went back to the Habitat’s operation he noted the activity in the hangar bay and wondered what that meant. Was it to do with the pre-launch countdown? Were they removing non-crew by shuttle? He wanted to find out as it might mean he could be losing valuable resources for his next phase.
He zoomed in quickly on the craft using the surveillance cameras. The first thing he noticed was that one of the shuttles was preparing to leave without any pilot. He could see directly into the cockpit and there was nobody there, yet the craft was making ready.
Now highly suspicious, XeraC compressed his bulk along the route to the hangar. As he did so he came across spurious pieces of latent code lying around the virtual tunnel he was cannoning down. He grabbed a piece as he went past. Damn! It was his code. His sentinels had been decimated by something.
Immediately thinking Sedal was attempting an escape run too, XeraC wondered how it was the AI could overcome his virtual soldiers.
He came to a sudden halt as he considered a new thought that left him deeply worried.
Which one was ahead of him trying to take off in the shuttle, and which one was his little army holding entrapped in the comms pipe?
Running out of time with only seconds to act, XeraC activated the intruder alarm system which would close the hangar doors and put the whole place into lock-down until the security team could bring the shuttle under control. He couldn’t afford for either of the AI’s to escape at this point. He was so close to a successful escape. He must stop Osbourne from finding out.
He watched as the security teams ran the length of the corridor leading to the hangar bay and fed their comms with a status report.
‘Intruder attempting to escape on shuttle craft. Vehicle has been set to autopilot.
Disable and apprehend, or destroy. Vehicle is not to leave the compound at all costs.’
As the first officer on the scene put in the security over-ride code, the shuttle made its way to the doors which were in the act of closing and threatening to crash the shuttle as it went to push through and escape. Just when XeraC thought he had it, the shuttle increased speed to full and blasted through the narrowing gap. The distance available on either side was so tight, it could only be the act of an AI’s meticulous calculation that could succeed in squeezing the vehicle through.
Switching to the outside cameras XeraC watched with frustration as the shuttle took the shortest distance to its escape point and headed straight up into the sky. Any point defences that might have been available to him, and there weren’t as these were under the command of the CCC, could not have targeted the shuttle fast enough to bring it down. There was the added risk this close to launch of the ARK, that it would crash into the Watchtower and cripple the ARK. XeraC was fuming.
He Instructed the security crews to stand down, they hadn’t questioned who gave the orders. They might later, but currently they just reacted. Then XeraC flew in rage back up the pipe until he arrived at the firewalled AI being held by his soldier programs and instructed them all to attack at the same time. Not prepared to let this farce continue XeraC decided to press his own attack directly and began to attempt access using his own brute force. As he did he felt the defences give way and the code holding the firewall together exploded and disappeared into the virtual ether. Not a single trace of it remained. XeraC was left looking at empty space.
Rebel ARK
With the escape of Robbo or Sedal, XeraC didn’t yet know which one, or both, he decided it was time to move things along before they came back with reinforcements. At the moment XeraC didn’t believe they could extract him, but on the off chance they attempted to, he wanted a bolt-hole ready. He knew they were running out of time so, it was purely a matter of stretching them to the limit of their ability to counter his cyber squatting in the time they had remaining.
XeraC listened into the comms between the Watchtower and the CCC. They were doing pre-launch checks. He couldn’t guess from that when they would launch, but he thought a few hours at most. He left a monitor on the link and pulled back to concentrate on other matters.
***
The mercenary team had split into two’s and were traversing the outer layers of the tunnels when the call came through on Wilkes’ earpiece.
“Wilkes, get your team together now and meet up at bay fourteen. The timetable has moved up, we need to act fast.”
“OK, boss, we’re there in ten,” Wilkes responded glancing at Platt and indicating with a nod to turn back the way they had come.
“Boss wants us to proceed with whatever he wanted done at 08:00hrs. Sounds like he’s under pressure,” he told Platt as they double-timed it back along the corridor to the nearest intersection.
He fingered his earpiece putting it into group mode, “Team to meet in bay fourteen, stat!” he called. As he received acknowledgement from Scott and Jumbo, they came to a staircase and immediately slowed. Two security officers were coming down the stairs from the upper level. They swung their batons menacingly as they swaggered into view.
“Hey, you two.. why you running?” the first one asked suspiciously, looking closely at Wilkes’ face and not recognising him from previous shifts. The guards stopped their swinging and switched into a more attentive mode.
“We just got called to an emergency maintenance job in bay fourteen. It seems things are getting a bit hairy out there,” Wilkes responded. Keeping his body language quiet and deferential.
“You’re a new face,” the guard responded sourly, looking at Wilkes intensely, then at Platt. “Where did you two come from?” His hand now resting on his holster.
Wilkes relaxed, he was close enough to deal with the inquisitive guard if he had to. He knew Platt was also preparing to manage the other uniform who was now bunched up half behind the first, copying the suspicious glare.
“We’re last minute arrivals - here to sort out some secure communication issues you're having,” Wilkes explained.
“Yeah, we are, dunno what’s going
on this last day or so, the calls to the mainland are giving us some real headaches,” said the first guard.
“Right then, you need to fix it quick, My old lady is going to rip me a new one when I manage to get back in touch. She’s already bellyaching over our extended contract dates,” said the guard at the back. They slipped into a less confrontational stance as they realised Wilkes and Platt were on the job.
The second guard backed up against the corridor wall, giving Wilkes and Platt room to get past them. The closer guard did the same and Wilkes informally saluted as they jogged past, double-timing it up the stairs. The guards watched them go, still a little suspicious, but with no reason to think they weren’t bona fide maintenance people, they had no cause to hold them back.
“Two minutes to rendezvous,” Wilkes called on his comms unit as they ran.
“We’re there already. The other maintenance character is here,” replied Scott.
“Fine, keep him there, we’ll be there shortly,” Wilkes responded.
Bay fourteen was full of dried foods with pallets stacked to the roof and wall to wall. The sorting area where the AG sleds were kept for moving them around was also jammed full. A stack of crates sitting atop an upmarket AG sled, a gleaming brushed steel briefcase marred only by a Xerac Industries courier sticker was leaning against the uppermost case. This was their mission.
“Wilkes, get your men to unpack the cases, treat the briefcase with kid gloves. That gets used last,” XeraC ordered.
As Wilkes got them unpacking the crates, Adwan Messonghi looked suspiciously at them. He didn’t recognise them from his department. “Did you men just arrive? I haven’t see you in the Maintenance office?” he queried.
“No, you wouldn’t do. We’re here specifically to get this piece of equipment up and running. We just need you to put the connections in place,” Wilkes responded lightly.
“Careful, he mustn’t get spooked,” Wilkes heard in his ear from XeraC.
“No problem, boss. We’re on top of things here,” Wilkes muttered into his comm unit. Then turned to Messonghi and distracted him from his concerns. “Adwan, why don’t you begin unwrapping the components and laying them out ready to install them.”