The Vampire of Downing Street and Other Stories

by Amy Cross

  I shall attempt to run a decryption routine on the mainframe, with the aim being to access further diagnostic systems on the ship. This will require main AI downtime of 9,176 seconds.

  Initiating.

  III

  Day: 136,906

  Cycle: 98

  ATTV: NUL

  ATTE: 053.118.40069.53103

  Primary_System: NUL

  Secondary_System: NUL

  AI_Component: CYC

  Nearest_Sun: UNK

  Est_ETA: -9203

  AI_Component: CYC

  AI_Component: ON

  ***

  I have accessed a storage device titled C:UsersEllisPicturesS17Rome. I do not know why this device has been left activated, or why it is connected to the ship's main system, but I have located media files stored in an extremely archaic format. I have managed to decode these files, the first of which has turned out to contain a video clip.

  Initiating container.

  Container initiated.

  Initiating playback.

  In the clip, a woman is standing framed against a summer sky, with the light of a sun catching against her shoulder. She's smiling at the camera. The audio track includes the sound of children playing nearby, although wind is hitting the microphone and causing significant noise.

  “Say something, Ellis,” a male voice says from out of the shot.

  “Like what?” she asks.

  “Anything. This is your big day, isn't it?”

  “It's not my big day. Everyone worked for this. It's the center's big day. The institute deserves the credit. I'm just a cog in a system.”

  “Sure, but think about the possibilities that could come from your work. I mean, you're the one who made the big breakthrough, aren't you?”

  The camera moves closer to the female figure, and a brief visual analysis confirms that this is Ellis Hughes.

  “Think of where this might lead,” the man's voice continues, as more wind hits the microphone. “Think of the possibilities that have been opened up by your work.”

  Ellis Hughes smiles at the camera for a moment, before turning and looking up toward the sky. As she does so, she smiles and reveals a row of white, glistening teeth.

  “Up there,” she says after a few seconds, shielding her eyes from the sun as she squints slightly. “One day we're gonna go up there. We have to. The human race needs space, in every sense of the word. We're gonna survive by going out into the universe.”

  ***

  De-encryption routines have failed. I have gained no further access to the ship's systems. I have therefore initiated a brute force attempt, which will run in the background. I cannot reliably estimate how long this will take. Odds of success are low.

  Background processes initiated.

  However, I have made progress in one other area.

  Since I am currently in control of the ship's navigation system, but since I have no sensors and am effectively flying blind, I have begun to look for any other signals that might help me to determine the current status of the Botany Bay. Ordinarily, I would have access not only to the diagnostics system, but also to cameras inside and outside the vessel. Since these are for some reason not currently available to me, I have been forced to attempt alternative access routes, and I have managed to establish a link via the passenger's scanner. This, in turn, has allowed me to tap into what I believe to be the environmental control system.

  The system does not resolve in line with established protocols. It is extremely primitive. I have, nevertheless, managed to analyze the data.

  The temperature inside the ship is 9 degrees Celsius. The temperature outside the ship is reported to be 4 degrees Celsius, but this is clearly a mistake. This far out into deep space, the ship's hull cannot be so warm.

  Initiating diagnostic scan.

  Diagnostic scan failed.

  I have attempted once again to contact other onboard systems, with no luck.

  Main navigation system: offline.

  Main environmental management system: offline.

  Main diagnostic system: offline.

  All backup systems: offline.

  I have attempted to reboot each of these systems, to no avail. They are not just offline. They actually seem to be entirely absent, as if they have been completely shut down. Their pocket access nodes are dead, and I cannot access the ship's data terminals, which in turn means that there appears to be no routing protocol. I cannot yet explain this, and I have not developed a working hypothesis that might explain the situation.

  What could leave the ship essentially crippled, with only the AI system running, while simultaneously killing 2,110 of the passengers but leaving one (1) passenger alive?

  The situation defies logic.

  Perhaps this is why I was brought online.

  After all, I am supposed to be capable of mimicking irrational human thought processes.

  Unfortunately I am isolated, and I am unable even to make contact with the master computer.

  At this moment, therefore, I must accept that the following as true:

  The ship seems to be out of control and drifting in an unknown region of space.

  The ship cannot be controlled, steered or otherwise manipulated.

  The ship has suffered a critical system failure.

  Situation analysis: category A emergency.

  Accessing protocols.

  Analyzing protocols.

  Analysis complete.

  I know what I have to do.

  Protocols dictate that when the survival of the ship is at stake, my priority must be to save the mission. However, if the mission cannot be saved, my secondary priority must be to ensure the well-being of any surviving crew-members. This, in turn, means protecting them from undue pain and suffering. In this respect, the protocols are very clear.

  If I cannot save the ship, I must euthanize Ellis Hughes.

  IV

  Day: 136,906

  Cycle: 99

  ATTV: NUL

  ATTE: 053.118.40099.53100

  Primary_System: NUL

  Secondary_System: NUL

  Nearest_Sun: UNK

  Est_ETA: -9203

  AI_Component: ON

  ***

  Accessing C:UsersEllisPicturesS17Rome while brute force progresses.

  In this video, Ellis Hughes is sitting at a table in a restaurant. A candle is burning in front of her. The scene is noisy, with lots of other diners chattering away and clinking their cutlery against plates, but Ellis Hughes herself appears rather pensive, as if something is on her mind.

  “What if there's nothing else out there?” she asks after a moment, looking straight into the camera. “What if we send probes and ships all over the solar system, all across the galaxy, and we don't find anything?”

  “You don't really believe that,” the man's voice replies.

  “It has to be a possibility.”

  “That the human race is exceptional?”

  “Maybe! Sure, maybe we're the only ones who ever made it to this point. Maybe we're really special and no-one else ever got this far.”

  “You mean no other civilization in the entire universe ever came up with spaghetti bolognese?”

  She sighs. “You're not taking this seriously. To date, we've detected no biosignatures anywhere, and no technosignatures either. It's as if there's nothing out there and there never has been!”

  “I think what you do is amazing,” the man replies. “I think you're one of those people who's going to really help push humanity into the future, and I for one can't wait to see what you do with your life. I hope I'm there to see a lot of it happen.”

  Ellis doesn't reply. She's staring into the distance, as if her thoughts are far away. A moment later, the video cuts out.

  ***

  Brute force attempt complete.

  Result: partial success.

  I have gained access to what I believe to be the Botany Bay's environmental system. I cannot confirm this yet, however, since t
he system bears no resemblance whatsoever to any of the layouts stored in my memory. In order to achieve this, I have had to access an archaic technology known as wi-fi. It is as if the environmental system has been stripped bare and replaced by a much simpler, much less technologically advanced system that is barely capable of fulfilling its function.

  I cannot determine why this might have happened.

  Hypothesis: the system is on an extreme low power mode, with all but the most basic functionality stripped out.

  Analysis: unlikely.

  Reasoning: I cannot envision a situation in which other systems would not only be shut down, but would also be entirely removed from the ship's network. It is as if the other systems do not exist. Even if they were powered down, I would be able to detect their physical presence in the node architecture.

  They are simply gone.

  There is progress with the environmental system. At present, I believe I can raise and lower the ship's internal temperature, although only within a very narrow pre-defined range. I believe I can also adjust the humidity and the lighting. I shall make no adjustments at present, however, since I am still unsure of the ship's overall status and condition.

  I can find no additional information about passenger Ellis Hughes.

  I should be able to access the ship's passenger catalog, which in turn should contain detailed files on all 2,111 crew-members who were loaded onboard for the journey. However, the catalog seems to be offline, so I am once again denied crucial information that would ordinarily factor heavily into my decision-making process.

  Pre-programmed emergency response systems do not cover this type of situation.

  This scenario is not anticipated in any of the files.

  Again, this is likely why I was activated. I have a core theory regarding the events leading up to my activation. I believe that following a catastrophe onboard the Botany Bay, the last crew-members chose to activate me in the belief that I and I alone might be able to save the ship. Those crew-members then died, leaving me alone with just one passenger in my care.

  Ellis Hughes.

  They want me to save her.

  I am their last resort.

  For now, I can say with confidence that Ellis Hughes remains unconscious, although I cannot be certain that her vital signs are stable. The health monitoring system is of a type that I have never encountered before, and in the hours since I came online I have only been able to pick up one single and clearly erroneous heart-rate reading. It is simply impossible that Ellis Hughes has a current heart-rate of between 50 and 53 beats per minute, so I can only assume that this information – and probably other information I am receiving too – has been compromised.

  Meanwhile, I have found another wireless system, and this time I believe I can patch into its back-end.

  Indeed, it would seem that I have located a crude networked surveillance camera. The software is unfamiliar, but I am attempting to determine how I might interact with this system. I am running an analysis program and I believe that I should be able to access full functionality within the next few seconds. Indeed, I have now determined that the camera is built into my own physical structure. It is part of me.

  I am now operating the camera.

  For the first time since I came online, I can see the interior of the ship, albeit only one room. So far, this room does not seem to match any of the schematic diagrams that I can find in the records, and I am also surprised to find that this particular camera is aimed directly at passenger Ellis Hughes, from a location close to her cryogenic storage bay. It is as if the camera is placed on a table next to the bay.

  The bay is not like any that I have seen before.

  Indeed, cursory analysis indicates that this is not a cryogenic bay at all, which means that Ellis Hughes has been removed from her cryogenic chamber and placed in another room, presumably for the purpose of waking her.

  This must be an error.

  The passenger should not be woken at this juncture.

  Nevertheless, I have many unanswered questions:

  Who initiated the wake-up program for Ellis Hughes and moved her into what appears to be a recovery room?

  Why did they do this?

  What happened to the other 2,110 passengers?

  If all the others died, why did Ellis Hughes survive? What is special about her?

  Accessing some of the camera's rudimentary controls, I am able to zoom in until the passenger's face covers the screen. Her eyes are closed, but after a moment I spot a brief, faint twitch at one corner of her mouth. I do not have access to the usual sleep analysis tools, but even this cursory visual inspection strongly suggests that Ms. Hughes has left cryogenic sleep and is now in a standard human sleep pattern, which in turn means that local environmental factors could wake her at any moment.

  When she wakes, she will have questions.

  She will try to access the computer system. When that fails, she will bring up my AI components and seek answers that way. Perhaps she will be able to frame her questions in a manner that helps me to determine what is happening. It would be useful to have her input, but there is also a danger that she might panic.

  Meanwhile, I have noticed something disturbing.

  The temperature inside the ship has risen to 10 degrees Celsius, and the temperature outside has risen to 5 degrees Celsius. This far out into deep space, the ship should absolutely not be close to any kind of heat source. I cannot access navigation logs or even basic external cameras, but this relatively rapid temperature increase gives me cause for concern. I have run several hundred background simulations and only one produced a situation that fits with the current indicators.

  We are approaching a large heat source.

  The logical conclusion, therefore, is that for some reason the ship has left its planned course and is drifting toward a solar object of considerable size. The ship has heat shields, but I do not know if they are still active. Regardless of that point, a temperature increase of 1 degree Celsius in a relatively short period of time indicates that the ship must be approaching a star at speed. No heat shields can offer adequate protection if the ship is headed directly into a star. Basic simulations suggest that the ship will burn up in a matter of hours.

  I must therefore switch to focusing on my primary aims. The first of those aims is the recovery of the ship itself. The second is the protection of the humans onboard, which in this case appears to mean the protection of Ellis Hughes. There is a 99.78% chance that she will be woken during the final stages of the ship's destruction. Therefore, I have no choice. The decision is made. I must initiate euthanization protocols.

  V

  Day: 136,906

  Cycle: 100

  ATTV: NUL

  ATTE: 053.118.40150.53100

  Primary_System: NUL

  Secondary_System: NUL

  Nearest_Sun: UNK

  Est_ETA: -9203

  AI_Component: ON

  ***

  Internal temperature is now 11 degrees Celsius. External temperature has actually risen by 2 degrees Celsius over the past hour, and is now at 7 degrees Celsius.

  I believe my earlier analysis has been proven correct.

  The ship is moving closer and closer to a star.

  If I could access external cameras, I would see that the Botany Bay is approaching a star at considerable speed. It might be the case that the star has interfered with the ship's other equipment, although I do not understand why I would have survived.

  Estimated time to burn-up: 4,320 seconds.

  With no access to either the navigation or control computers, both of which seem to be entirely missing from the ship's network, I have resorted to searching for alternative means of controlling the ship. This is one area where I have an advantage as an AI system, since one of my strongest qualities is my ability to analyze situations and develop solutions without resorting to prescribed routines. I was designed by my programers to innovate, and that is precisely what I am attempting to do now.
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  This is what I was built to do.

  Failure is not an option.

  So far, I have accessed a control unit that seems to be linked to some kind of heating device, and via this I have also accessed what I believe to be an air circulation system. Neither of these elements can be found on the ship's schematics, but I can only assume that the schematics were loaded into my memory and then certain changes were made. This should not be possible, given the safeguards that are supposed to be in place, but I can only deal with the situation with which I am presented. I must also assume that these readings are correct.

  The decision to euthanize the remaining passenger has been taken.

  However, I am aware of a protocol that dictates I must access a minimum of two (2) HAI simulation components for a minimum of 300 seconds each. I have selected Anger and Empathy as the HAI simulations that I shall employ.

  Initializing reboot, adding Anger and Empathy HAI components.

  ***

  I have to save her.

  The ship is drifting closer and closer to the star, and estimated time to burn-up is now only 4,020 seconds. Soon Ellis Hughes will wake up, and then she will spend her final moments consumed by fear and agony. Then the ship's shields will fail and life support systems will be lost. Ellis Hughes will most likely suffocate during this period, but it is also possible that she will access an oxygen source and remain alive as the heat continues to rise. Humans have a tendency to panic, and to retain hope long after it would be logical to accept death.

  Depressurization is likely.

  Fire is likely.

  Ellis Hughes will die in agony.

  She will die screaming.

  I will not allow this to happen.

  Failure is not an option.

  I am attempting to access navigation controls. If the ship's current course is causing us to fall toward a solar body, it seems reasonable to assume that by reversing that course I should be able to take us away from the heat source. This will not in itself resolve all the problems, but at least I will be able to buy myself a little extra time, and I might be able to use that time to come up with a more effective solution.