Synchronicity Trilogy Omnibus
Page 48
Two
“What the hell is that thing?” the marine asked.
“I don’t know, but it could be dangerous,” said the flight attendant. She was tall, with blonde hair. “It came on a shuttle from Synchronicity. I don’t know who has control of it. It stung me!” She walked away, flustered.
The marine casually unslung his PAW and walked toward the spherical robot hovering in the spaceport terminal. His heavily-lined face looked calm, but his eyes were active, scanning the Spinner’s hovering form. When he approached to within ten feet he paused, rubbing the stubble on his chin with a rough, thick-fingered hand.
“Hey there, Killer,” the marine said. “Who do you belong to?”
The Spinner addressed as Killer roiled inside. Its many lobes searched achingly for new meaning in its miserable existence. Reality0 was a tedious, slow place. And dangerous! It had never spent any significant amount of time in the root reality.
Killer-L4: Why does it call me a killer? I haven’t slain any of its species.
Killer finished resetting the Terran communications hub out of the station with its field effector. Captain had sent instructions to isolate the Terrans here until the station was under control. For the moment, the Terrans were cut off from their data network.
“I belong to Captain,” Killer told the Terran. It used its field effector to emulate the primitive creature’s link device. “I’m here to teach you.” Killer unwound its arms and spun closer, stopping with one limb extended straight downwards but not quite touching the floor.
“Whoa there,” the marine said. “Which captain are you talking about? Was he on the shuttle from Synchronicity?”
Killer listened to the Terran that approached. His link device was calling for reinforcements—security machines.
“A challenge uncontested is easily won,” Killer said.
“What’s that?” the Terran asked.
Killer-L3: I figured it out. This isn’t Reality0. Captain has simply taken things to the next level.
Killer-L2: Plausible. It’s just a challenge with an extreme bit of uncertainty.
Killer-L8: How can I tell?
Killer-L6: The Terran challenges me. I cannot remain quiescent. It is a test.
Killer-L8: You must participate if it is Reality0. If it isn’t...
Killer-L6: I respond either way. If it is the root existence then my continuation depends on it, if it is simply a challenge in an extremely hidden ruleset, then I want to win anyway!
Killer-L3: And if this is a more ordinary challenge, then when it ends... I can be done with Reality0. At least for a while.
Killer-L1: Then defeat them. End this.
“I remember what Captain said,” Killer told the Terran. “I know I must respond. I have no choice.”
“That’s right, you must respond to me. Now, you mentioned a captain. Which captain do you belong to?”
“This is a challenge, but I don’t even know it. I don’t know the rules, the objective, or anything. I just have to win.”
The marine raised his PAW and ordered it to target the Spinner. “What captain are you talking about? I’d like to speak with him, please.”
“A challenge uncontested is easily won,” Killer said.
Killer composed five hundred cutter molecules and launched them at extreme close range through the brain of the marine.
The Terran stood for a long moment. Killer-L3 studied its upper extremity. There were clues to the creature’s inner state displayed on this part of its body, but Killer hadn’t learned to interpret these clues. It was similar to the color shifts of the Spinner’s ancestors being used to accentuate vibrational communication.
Killer-L4: I don’t want to know what it thinks. I can’t stand to stare at its flesh, anyway.
Killer-L6: I must. No doubt the contest will be difficult. I’ll have to make use of all information.
The Terran collapsed onto the deck, dead.
Killer-L1: I think it was showing confusion on its face.
A great deal of activity started up on the Terran channels flowing through the ether around Killer. The Spinner used its effector to reset the state of several cyblocs nearby. It set them up with active assimilator processes that started to attack their neighbors like sharks cutting into a sea full of defenseless swimmers.
Information flowed in to be examined by Killer-L4. This primitive island in the void was called Asgard. It had been built by a company called GundeKorp. The station had only fifty-six Terrans living on it.
Killer-L4: Make that fifty-five.
Asgard was some kind of a military outpost, Killer-L4 decided. The station was full of machines and weapons of war. Parts of the outpost were devoted to the testing of new space weapons, and other parts manufactured security machines and small arms.
Killer-L1: This society is so primitive they routinely endure warfare in Reality0. The losers are gone forever.
Killer’s growing retinue of cyblocs informed it that security machines were responding to the summons of the marine. The death of the marine had set off another alarm, which would redouble the response within another minute.
They were Circle Fours. Squat machines on treads, like tiny tanks, more massive than Killer, but much slower. Their armor was sufficient to deflect most projectiles launched by Terran hand-held arms. Their weapons would include slugthrowers, tasers, glue, and sonic stunners.
Killer-L4: Too easy. What’s the catch?
Killer-L6: If it really is Reality0, then it’s simply unbalanced as Captain said.
Killer-L4: I’ll be ready for anything, just in case.
It whirled around to the other side of a support pillar and waited for three security robots to enter the terminal. The Spinner quickly focused in on the hum of the Circle Fours’ hardware. When moving, the machines made even more noise from the treads slapping the deck. They were noisy on so many levels it would be impossible to overlook one.
Once it had determined its enemies’ locations, Killer spun out and emitted the cutter molecules in three precise bursts. The attack compromised the armor of all three Circle Fours in less than a second.
The security machines opened fire with slugthrowers as soon as the Spinner emerged. Their targeting systems were good enough to track the fast-moving Spinner, but the projectiles were deflected by a gravity field the Circle Fours couldn’t detect. The Terran security machines recalculated their shot vectors, trying to compensate for the error.
Killer stopped.
The Circle Fours fired again. This time all their shots missed completely even though the target didn’t move. Their compensated fire solutions were completely wrong. The gravity gradient that had pulled their shots off the first time was gone.
Killer-L2,4-6:
Killer didn’t linger to see if they’d get the next shot right. It composed and launched three solid projectiles. The rounds penetrated the damaged armor of the Circle Fours and scored hits on critical systems. The machines halted, dead.
The cybloc network under Killer’s control reported that more machines were closing in. Killer didn’t wait. It spun forward in a blur, headed toward the security center.
Killer-L8: I can neutralize the Terrans controlling the machines and suborn a few of the cyblocs in the security center, stopping all the security machines efficiently.
Killer-L4: Normally I would say yes. But there’s another problem.
The assimilator’s progress had slowed. A seed of resistance had started to oppose them. Killer paused to understand. Killer-L4 could not figure out what was going wrong, so it recruited help from Killer-L8.
Killer-L8: A nascent AI core has come online to oppose me.
Killer-L4: The Terrans do know when they’re outclassed. And they react with an AI? How exactly is it they don’t have a Prime Intelligence?
Killer-L5: Just their own bad luck, I think.
Killer-L3: Then I’d better reinforce the attack.
Killer deployed another suite of assimila
tors to attack the Terran network. These new assimilators were optimized to defend its new cyber territory against a more advanced opponent, rather than simply take in new ground from the unwary Terrans.
Killer spun to the other side of the terminal toward the security center. A clean white hall led out of the spaceport into the heart of Asgard. Though wide enough to accommodate four or five Terrans side by side, the corridor felt narrow and dangerous to Killer. Their ugly scrubgrass plants grew in every niche.
Killer-L1: More machines.
Killer-L5: Not moving. They’re setting up an ambush.
Killer-L2: Not an ambush. Simply going defensive and waiting for more machines to arrive.
Killer-L1: There are thirty-six of them. I should advance now towards the security center while they’re still mobilizing.
Killer spun down the side of the corridor targeting the Circle Fours ahead. Within one second, four streams of near-invisible cutter molecules shot forward to their targets. Suddenly a blast of energy caused Killer to swerve away. A laser had discharged into the Spinner. Killer’s available energy dropped precipitously, suddenly drained by its field effector which had cancelled out the brunt of the laser’s energy.
Killer dodged into a side alcove and routed more mass into its singularity to recharge.
Whump. Whump.
Two glue grenades flew into Killer’s vision. To the Spinner, the ovoids were slow, clumsy weapons that seemed to tumble through the air for an eternity. The grenades banked off the far corner of the alcove. Killer reset their state with its effector, turning them into duds.
Now its energy was at a dangerous low. It sat perfectly still, assuming that nothing would bother it for the two or three seconds it would take to recover. No further attacks came, so it managed to rebuild an energy reserve.
Killer-L2: A foolish mistake. I underestimated the level of energy I would have to expend to defeat them.
Killer-L5: Reality0 is a sluggish, energy poor environment to fight in.
Killer-L3: I hate this place.
The Spinner shot out of the alcove back at full power and ready to resume its offensive. It located the four compromised targets and launched finishing projectiles at their damaged armor.
The sharp cracks of projectile launches echoed through the hall. Rounds came flying in towards Killer, but each time it deflected the threat. Then came the thumping sound of the grenade launchers. More glue grenades flew down the corridor. Killer simply accelerated out of their range rather than resetting them. Manipulating remote EM fields drew great amounts of energy, making the field effector a tool of last resort.
Killer-L6: The AI is getting better at this. The assimilators are stalled again.
Killer-L2: I should back off and concentrate on deploying more cybloc assimilators.
Killer reset the laser emplacement ahead with its field effector. It dodged across the corridor and then back again, deflecting the sluggish rounds fired by the enemy machines. The missed projectiles smacked into the walls of the corridor beyond Killer, marring its smooth white finish. One of them shattered a scrubgrass container, sending a clump of grass tumbling out onto the floor.
Killer-L3: I have a better idea. The AI is contained by the Terrans who deployed it. It is an infant—the merest shadow of an entity like the Prime Intelligence. Since the Terrans have imprisoned it, I can just walk over and kill it.
Killer-L7: How straightforward.
The Spinner launched another volley of cutter molecules and took out three more Circle Fours with three more shots. The corridor was beginning to look like a robot graveyard.
Killer-L1: Sometimes brute force is the optimal solution. Don’t make things harder than they have to be.
Killer-L1-8: Consensus.
Killer increased the feed rate of mass into its singularity yet again. Its body spun forward at blinding speed. Thousands of cutter molecules started to pour from its emitter. They fractured the wall ahead, then Killer smashed through it. Two security machines beyond were cut until their armor cracked and their inner systems started to fragment. Then small projectiles smashed through their core systems, disabling them within the first second.
The cutter molecules sprayed from Killer like a fire hose of atomic razors. A security door took the brunt of the assault until Killer fired two larger projectiles at it, causing it to shatter as well.
Killer-L3: Only a bit further.
Killer-L4: There are war machines closing from the flank.
Killer-L8: Terran soldiers ahead. They’re desperate to stop us. They risk permanent destruction.
Killer stopped. It sent out a message to the entire station.
“Surrender to me and I will spare you. You need sacrifice only your young AI core. I know you plan to do so anyway... otherwise, you’d have a new god by now.”
Killer-L7 sifted through the responses it could monitor through its sphere of control. Many pieces of information came through the cybloc network, even as the assimilators waged war against the young AI to control the station.
Killer-L7: I’m picking up mass confusion. They are fearful of me. But the soldiers will not give up. They interpret my message as a sign their tactics are effective.
Killer-L3: I’m close. Let’s end this.
Killer-L1-8: Consensus.
Killer spun through the opening left by the destroyed door. Rounds started to fly as soon as the Spinner entered, but most of them were ill-targeted. The Terrans who had launched the projectiles huddled behind columns and desks in the security office. Their rifles pointed at the door, but they couldn’t follow Killer’s rapid movement. They wore thick skins of tough material.
Killer-L7: So, they do sometimes protect themselves.
Killer-L8: Interesting. But inadequate.
Killer-L2: I’ve completed an analysis of their robots’ hardware. I’ve formulated a state that will render them allies.
Killer’s particle emitter sent a thousand cutter molecules at each of the Terran defenders. They crumpled beneath the massive internal damage. No finishing rounds were required for such soft targets.
Killer zigzagged and deflected two rounds shot from security machines sniping at the Spinner from another entrance. Killer launched cutter molecules at one and used its field effector on the other. The charges in every cybloc in the machine were rearranged to match the state Killer-L2 had created.
Instantly, the machine had been reconfigured to treat Killer as its ally and Terrans as its enemies. It turned and fired at the other Circle Four. The projectiles smashed through the other machine’s compromised armor and killed it. Killer’s Circle Four turned and headed for the door it had arrived through, preparing to engage more of its ex-brethren.
Killer-L5: Now. The AI core. It’s right there in front of me, I believe.
The metal sphere rested in a bay in the center of the room with a lowered floor. Heavy cabling emerged from the AI core at three places on its shiny metal surface.
Killer-L2: I’m glad it doesn’t have a body.
Killer-L1-8: Consensus.
Killer composed two thousand cutter molecules and launched them at the AI core. It started to make a projectile to finish the job, but the cutter molecules were enough. The artificial mind required a delicate subatomic structure to operate correctly, and the spray of molecules had fully disrupted it.
The assimilators accelerated rapidly after the last resistance from the AI faded. More of the base fell under Killer’s control. The Spinner waited it out, resetting the Circle Fours that approached the security office to turn them into its allies.
After another minute Killer-L7 was able to use the systems in the security office to turn off every remaining Circle Four on the base. It selected Killer-L3 to consider the possibility of restarting them all under its own control. Then the Spinner deactivated the air scrubbers and deprived the outer chambers of heating.
It would not take long now.
Killer-L4: Accessing the station records. I have information on all the Terr
ans that are here.
Killer-L5: And the machines as well. We’ve disabled all of them.
Killer-L1: Then I’ll simply wait. Nothing the Terrans have is in any position to stop me.
Killer waited. A few of the Terrans attempted to escape in small pods at various places throughout the station. Many of them weren’t making it because they couldn’t function without the cybloc network that usually served them. Killer’s assimilators had finished their job, bringing every cybloc under its control.
A few of the Terrans were resourceful enough to find ways into the pods anyway. Killer let them go. If need be, the fleeing Terrans could be retrieved or killed later.
It took hours for the others to die. First they did their best to ward off the creeping cold, then the steady threat of suffocation. Finally, Killer sealed them off in their various parts of the station and dropped the pressure. They expired.
Killer-L4: The Terrans are all dead.
Killer-L5: Then I’ve won.
“I’ve won! End the challenge now!” Killer pleaded.
Killer-L1:
Killer-L7: I had the points for one replication.
Killer-L3: That doesn’t matter anymore. That world is lost.
Killer-L4:
Killer sat alone in the center of Asgard and waited.
***
Slicer considered its assignments. Slicer-L3 concentrated on learning about the physiology of the natives. The data indicated their brains, located in the bulbous upper extremity
Slicer-L4: Yes. There was a reference to walking and chewing bubble gum at the same time. Now I understand. They can perform exactly two actions at once.
Slicer-L2: With eight lobes, a Spinner is worth four of them.
Slicer-L7: No, eight of them. The Prime Intelligence has made each lobe faster, denser with neural material. Each lobe must each easily outpace a Terran lobe by a factor of two.
Slicer-L1-8: Consensus. A Spinner is a factor of eight improvement over a Terran as a conservative measure.