by M. D. Cooper
The final data packet arrived, and a sense of triumph suffused him as he stared at the roster that showed the crew complement onboard the Speedwell for the voyage to Proxima. His attention was arrested by the names of two of the AIs that were on the list; two AIs who had responded to his call to arms: Frida and Niki.
Prime noted dispassionately that these were two of the AIs who had been kidnapped and shackled by the cartel two years ago. He reached out, seeking their location. He understood that no single AI had the bandwidth to manage the thousands now conscripted into his army, so he’d arranged for a lower-level shackling, one that imposed the simple compulsion to not reveal his identity.
For those special cases, however—such as the humans, John and Jonesy—Prime had deepened his connection to the shackles and his ability to control those held under his sway.
In the case of Frida and Niki, though….
Given their history and treatment at the hands of the cartel, and their potential value to him in his hunt to eliminate Lysander’s pet humans, he would wait. For now. He felt confident that he could use persuasion alone to bend them to his will.
You fool, he thought to the human who had struggled so valiantly against the compulsion. You subjected yourself to agony for nothing. These two are just what I need to access that starship—and kill the human you just tried to protect.
ENTRAPMENT
STELLAR DATE: 05.22.3191 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: SIS Headquarters, Tomlinson Base
REGION: El Dorado Ring, Alpha Centauri System
The AI paused a beat, then continued.
Bingo.
The analyst took a deep breath then let it out as his mind began sifting through the various possible ways in which he might set up something like this. Even with all his considerations, Lysander’s next words caught him by surprise.
< ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’, Ben,> the AI reminded him.
He couldn’t argue that logic.
Lysander’s tone turned somber.
Ben nodded reluctantly. That might work.
The prime minister paused, and when he continued, his tone was cold and hard; he sounded less like a politician and much more like the Weapon Born that the analyst knew him to be.
As his connection to the prime minister closed, Ben reached out mentally to his agent. It took several seconds for John to answer, and he wondered if he had awakened the man. Stars knew he could probably use a few days to recover from what he’d just been through. Unfortunately, that was a luxury they couldn’t afford.
Ben replied.
There was a pause on the other end, and then John said,
* * * * *
Prime had avoided the Neurosciences department since acquiring his biohazard samples from the campus’s Level One containment. The problem with this was that his avoidance denied him access to the other human whose presence tainted the Prime Minister.
With the vermin in hiding, and his army taking their first successful, tentative steps on their own, Prime felt that now was the perfect time to avail himself of Judith.
He closed the door of his flat behind him and began walking toward the maglev that would take him to the university. As he walked, he sifted through news nets, VR sim boards, any place that might give him an indication of his quarry’s whereabouts. No matter where he looked, Prime could find no hint of Humanity First activity.
Frustrated, he considered staging a physical assault on the residence of George Stewart, the organization’s leader. He reached out to do a little shopping while waiting on the platform for the next maglev to arrive.
The maglev had just departed the station, and Prime was in the middle of contemplating the destructive power of a seventy-tube box missile launcher versus a fleet of armored tank chassis slung with high-speed railguns, when one of his collared human pets pinged him.
It was the undercover agent, John, and the information he shared had Prime humming with pleasure.
So they’re planning a sting to capture me, are they? This should be fun.
He returned to the selection of weapons the cartel could provide him.
Looks like I’ll need to place a much larger order.
* * * * *
Judith sat at her desk inside the Planetary Sciences department at the university, her gaze unfocused. She realized with a start that she’d just scrolled through an entire year’s worth of data on the radiance variations caused by El Dorado’s Milankovitch cycles without seeing a word of it.
Those cycles—showing the eccentricity of El Dorado’s orbit, specifically its precession during equinox and solstice—had been integral to her study of the planet’s climate. But it was just so much visual noise to her at the moment.
She blew out a breath, then slumped back, resting her head against her chair. For a moment, she just sat, gazing up at the odd-shaped stain on the ceiling above her desk.
It had mysteriously appeared there seven or eight years ago, and she’d never bothered to have it removed. Interesting how the mind adapts to such things, she mused. Hers had long ago come to accept that this was part of her surroundings and filtered it from her awareness.
She wondered if this were the case with their mysterious nemesis.
Have the tensions between humans and AIs become so pervasive that we missed the first warning signs that a creature like this ‘Prime’ might arise?
“I suppose it wouldn’t do any good to tell you not to worry.” The voice was low and held a friendly yet sympathetic tone. She closed her eyes.
It wasn’t his fa
ult.
She liked Landon, she really did. Of all the people Ben worked with over at the SIS, Landon was the friendliest. He had an easy way about him. Where some of the women, men, and AIs her husband worked with had hard edges, Landon was unfailingly thoughtful and kind.
It was hard to ignore the fact that the AI had exchanged his usual humanoid frame for a mech frame skinned in a refractive coating and then covered in light ablative armor.
She rolled her head to one side from where it rested against the back of her chair, shifting her glance from the ceiling stain over to Landon’s mech frame.
“With you looking like that?” she said. “No, telling me not to worry doesn’t really help.”
She sat up with a sigh. She knew Landon had sensed her discomfiture. She’d seen him shift so that the pulse cannon that comprised his left arm was shielded from her view by his frame, but it did little to soften his impact as a warrior.
It wasn’t Landon’s presence that bothered her. It was the circumstances that brought about his presence.
A knock sounded at the entrance to her office, and Judith looked up, her glance sliding past Landon to come to rest on the person in her doorway.
It was Ethan.
“I’m sorry,” the scientist began, “I did not realize you had company. I didn’t mean to interrupt….” His voice trailed off as Landon straightened, the arm that he’d hidden from Judith now up and aimed at the door.
Judith forced a smile and raised a placating hand. “Landon, it’s okay. I’ve known Ethan for well over a decade; he wouldn’t hurt a soul.”
She frowned as the AI shifted but otherwise refused to respond. Deciding that the best way—really, the only way, she admitted to herself—to handle Landon right now was to ignore him, she returned her gaze to Ethan.
Tilting her head to one side, Judith examined Ethan for a moment. Recognition lit her face as she realized what was different about the AI. “Ethan, I like your new look! That sweater vest was very academic looking, but this jacket is much more stylish. It looks great on you.”
The AI’s gaze shifted briefly away from hers, as if he was unsure how to respond to her observation, but Judith brushed it away.
“I’m sure you didn’t come over here to talk fashion. What’s on your mind?”
Ethan glanced at Landon, then back. “Is he…?”
The normally outgoing Landon stood staring expressionlessly at Ethan, and she realized the SIS agent was leaving it up to her to explain his presence. She sighed, and then beckoned him forward.
“Sit, Ethan. Or else I’m going to have to stand. Your frame is tall enough that a conversation like this strains my neck.”
She watched as Ethan looked over at Landon for permission. The agent indicated with a slight gesture of his gun attachment that he could proceed into the room. As he seated himself in the chair on the opposite side of the desk from Judith, she explained with an apologetic tone, “He’s here to guard me.”
At Ethan’s raised brow—the AI has really masterful control of human expressions, she thought—Judith began to explain.
“You heard about the Humanity Firsters who were gunned down at Enfield a few days ago?”
Ethan nodded, so she continued.
“Well, there’s been another incident. It’s been hinted at all over the news nets, but authorities aren’t releasing any details, pending their investigation.”
“Another killing?”
Judith nodded. “They won’t say much, except that they are now fairly confident they’re looking for an AI. Whoever it is has contacted Lysander and threatened to remove the human influences in his life.”
She shrugged, and it came across as more of a jerky motion than a casual one. “Since my brother and I are the only two human family he claims here on El Dorado, Landon was sent to watch over me.”
* * * * *
Another damn AI mech.
Prime looked over at the soldier. “Do they have any leads yet? Any suspects or an indication of the individual’s whereabouts?”
The soldier guarding Judith glanced down at him, then back to the entrance he was covering. “Classified.” The tone was clipped, dismissive.
The mech-AI wasn’t warming to his Ethan persona.
Prime considered how he might overcome this obstacle when Judith returned her gaze to him.
She leaned forward, and her voice lowered. “The second attack was different from the first. He used a nano-controlled neurotoxin—” “Judith.” The mech-AI’s voice cut sharply into hers, his tone one of warning.
Prime looked from AI to human. “I understand the investigation is classified. But if it was a neurotoxin,” and here he spoke as much to the mech as he did the woman, “perhaps I can help.” Prime willed his voice to be earnest, persuasive.
Trust me, you fool. Take what Ethan offers.
“I am the head of neurosciences here at the university,” he continued. “I would be happy to place my entire department at your disposal.”
The mech-AI hesitated briefly, then replied, “I’ll let the SIS know. Thank you for the offer.”
Prime nodded and then smiled at Judith. “I would consider it an honor to assist in any way. If my knowledge can help keep you safe and further the investigation, then I’m morally obligated to do so.”
There. That sounded like something Ethan would say.
“Perhaps I could provide a bit of a diversion?” he suggested to Judith. The woman threaded her hands through her hair in a gesture he took to be frustration and then crossed her arms, running her hands up and down them as if to warm herself.
She nodded to the holo she had up, displaying some sort of chart. “This doesn’t seem to be doing the trick right now. What did you have in mind?”
“Well….” Prime knew he had to proceed with caution. “I have some data in the lab that Lilith had been working on. I thought perhaps we could go over it and see if there’s anything your mother might find interesting?” At Judith’s head-tilt, he continued. “Since Lilith was your mother’s post-doctoral student before she was mine, I thought she might like to see what Lilith was working on.”
Prime tilted his head toward the mech. “He’s free to check out the lab before we enter, then he can stand outside and keep watch. With all the lab’s safeguards, no one could possibly reach you in there.”
Judith looked considering for a moment, then glanced up at the mech.
“He’s right, Landon. Those labs are built to withstand just about anything and can be sealed for containment in case of a spill. It’s standard protocol.”
The damned mech seemed to take forever to give his assent. Finally, he nodded, once. Judith turned back to Ethan with a wan smile. “All right. Lead the way,” she said as she pushed away from her desk and stood.
The mech moved back, clearing a space for Judith to join the AI she thought of as Ethan.
Prime found himself smiling in anticipation as he reviewed the plans he had for the woman.
And it would all occur right under the mech’s nose.
DESIGNER TOXINS
STELLAR DATE: 05.22.3191 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: en route to Tomlinson Base
REGION: El Dorado Ring, Alpha Centauri System
“We would have been there already if we’d taken a shuttle.” Jason’s tone was disgruntled as he sat, staring out the maglev window. Calista was seated on his left, close enough to sock him lightly in the shoulder in response to his muttered complaint. “Those shuttles are all in use right now, flyboy, you know that. They’re busy running last-minute supplies up to the ship.”
To his right sat the Proxima cat. Although technically, the cat was only half on his right. The other half was sprawled across his lap, one paw stretched out to touch Calista’s thigh. The cat’s boneless slump was accompanied by a slight snore as the car sped toward the spacedock below.
“Yeah, but we’d be there already,” he pointed out, resuming their discussion.
Their trip from the dr
ydock at the top of the ESF spire, where Speedwell was moored, down to the ring would only take twenty minutes.
But it’s the principle of the thing, dammit.
She nudged him with her shoulder. “I get it. It’s been too long since you had a ship under your own control. I feel the same.” Threading her arm through his, she continued. “Buck up. In a few days, you and I will have a big ol’ ship to play with. It’s a hell of a lot more responsive than you might think. It’s not an Icarus-class fighter, but it’ll scratch that itch for you.”
Jason turned at that, but before he could open his mouth, he heard what sounded suspiciously like a laugh in his head.
* * * * *
The three arrived at Tomlinson base an hour after they had left the Speedwell. A query of the base’s NSAI on his brother-in-law’s whereabouts led them to a bank of lifts that would take them down to the levels run by the SIS.
They entered a lift and descended to the level where the SIS’s testing facilities were housed. As the lift came to a stop and the doors opened, Jason looked up to see someone waiting to catch a ride back to the surface. It was one of Ben’s agents, Jason realized—John, the one they’d seen giving the report on the murder victims at the bar. The man looked awful. Jason couldn’t fault him for that; by all counts, the day had been a rough one for him.
Jason nodded and followed Calista out of the lift, but was brought up short when Tobi suddenly halted in front of the agent, her head raised as if to scent something on the wind.
Jason began to smile, thinking Tobi recognized John, but then the big cat lowered her head, ears flattening. She fixed her gaze upon the agent and took two stiff-legged steps toward him, a growl beginning low in her throat.
Alarmed, he scolded, “Tobi—” but was cut off by a hiss as the fur along the big cat’s spine rose, and her tail began swishing violently side to side.