AI Awakening

by Robert Boren

  “Not that I remember,” Nolan said.

  “Yeah, it didn’t come up after he came in here with the news,” Sondra said. “Might want to let him know. That changes our situation significantly.”

  “It does. I’m going to the Chairman’s office. Sondra, you have the captain’s chair.”

  “Aye, Captain,” she said as I left the bridge. I was at Vermillion’s office in a couple of minutes, and sent him a text from my PA. His door slid open.

  “How are they taking this?” Vermillion asked, motioning for me to sit at the table in his office. He joined me.

  “With resolve,” I said. “We learned something right before you came in. I neglected to mention it to you.”

  His expression showed worry. “Don’t know if I can take any more bad news.”

  “This is good news, Mr. Chairman. Very good news.”

  “Let’s have it.”

  “Butch found the frequency of the Razor ship’s drive system. We can track them in a jump.”

  “Really? There’s no doubt about that?”

  “We watched the twenty Razors take off from the detention area and jump to Devonia Axxiom.”

  “I just figured he saw them with the sensors after they got out of the jump.”

  “Nope, he tracked them during the jump. They can’t hide from us. That means we’ve taken their main advantage away.”

  “Other than numbers,” Vermillion said. “Yes, that is good news. He’s watching for more ships, then?”

  “He’s scanning the entire zone for the frequency. If there are more, we’ll know soon.”

  Vermillion leaned back in his chair for a moment, closing his eyes. “They aren’t going to win.”

  “No, they aren’t,” I said. “Simone’s days are numbered. We’ll see to that.”

  “I need to think more about all of this,” Vermillion said.

  “I know, me too, so I’ll leave you for now. Oh, one other thing. Butch thinks he can locate the Overlord’s Razor manufacturing facility. If he’s successful, I’ll let you know.”

  Vermillion chuckled. “I’m skeptical that the plant or plants will be easy to find, but if it’s possible, we could cook up a nice party for them. We’ve got those new fighters that can jump, remember?”

  I smiled. “Yeah, I remember. Might be a good mission to run while we’re at Boroclize. We’d have to send the attack squadron to an alternate location and pick them up later, of course. We can’t let them lead the Overlords to Boroclize.”

  “One step at a time,” Vermillion said. “Work the Nanos. If they’re as capable as we think, we’ll spread that capability throughout our ranks.”

  “I’ll go get started. Do I get to the developer through you?”

  “For now, yes,” Vermillion said. “Send me a message when you’re ready to begin.”

  “Yes sir,” I said, turning to leave. I was back on the bridge in a few minutes.

  “How’d he like that development?” Sondra asked.

  “I think it gave him hope he didn’t have before,” I said. “I’m going to work the Nano testing.”

  The materials you’ll need are in the barracks sector, off the main mustering room.

  “Okay, guide me there, but we’re going stealth.” I turned off the loudspeaker on my PA. “See you all later. Let me know if anything happens.”

  “Aye, Captain,” Sondra said.

  The barracks were in the rear of the ship, several kilometers from the bridge. I grabbed a tin can and rode there, my mind still raging through possibilities both dire and hopeful.

  Your stop is coming up.

  Got it. Do we have to do anything with the Nanos to prepare?

  Probably not, but we’ll be able to ask questions of the person who developed the system. I have many questions, even beyond the Nanos.

  Well stick to the Nanos at first, and anything that impacts us testing and using the Nanos. Hopefully we’ll have a line to this guy after the testing.

  We don’t even know his name at this point.

  The tin can slowed to a stop, the door opening. I got out, leaving the industrial-looking station and heading into a wide corridor. The mustering room was a couple hundred meters down, on the right side. I walked quickly.

  Here it is.

  I stood before the door, hearing it click, the door cracking open. I pushed through, into a huge room that reminded me of a large gymnasium, complete with wooden floor, parts of it marked for basketball.

  See the bank of lockers on the rear wall, and the door after them? The equipment is beyond the door.

  Good. Hope they’re well marked.

  They’re virtually marked. I’m reading the instructions now. They’ve got the basic descriptions included. You’ll be wearing a shielded garment. The Nanos reside in the suit, which also includes the launching and control mechanism that is tied into your Neural Net via the PA system and suit to skin contact.

  I went into the equipment room. There were banks of cabinets on all four walls, with no handles or hinges visible, only the lines between each door. They extended to the top of the ten-meter walls.

  Wow, are those full?

  According to my data, yes, but it’s just a static table in the New Jersey’s database.

  One of the doors opened, within easy reach on a close wall.

  Was that you?

  Yes. There should be fifty garments loaded with the initial portion of Nanos in that locker. The bottom drawers have extra Nanos.

  I went to the open cabinet and looked inside. There were short black garments hanging on one side of the cabinet, and longer black garments with arms and legs hanging on the other side.

  Which should I use?

  For testing, I’d use the short ones. In real combat I’d use the long ones for more protection, but some of the earlier testers said they were difficult to run in.

  Short it is.

  I pulled a short garment off the hanger. “Strange material. It’s flexible like silk.”

  When you put it on it will form fit to your body and the molecules will stitch the material together, making a suit that is two hundred times more projectile-resistant than Kevlar.

  “Wow. I’ll have to get undressed to put this on, won’t I?”

  Yes, it needs to be in contact with your bare skin. It passes data back and forth using skin contact.

  It’s not wireless communication?

  Nope, it’s skin to device, which is un-hackable.

  I stripped out of my clothes and slipped into the garment. “This thing is like a leotard.”

  I’m sure your manhood will survive. When you zip it shut all the way up the neckpiece, the suit will tighten up quickly. It might feel a little restrictive at first, but it learns how you move in seconds.

  I pulled the zipper up, the suit startling me as it began the form-fit. “Whoa.”

  Told you.

  Where are the Nanos on this thing?

  Between the layer against your skin and the outer layer.

  It doesn’t feel like two layers.

  Trust me, it is. Should I call the Chairman for you?

  Yes, thanks.

  The PA called Vermillion, who answered after a moment. “Ah, there you are. Ready for me to connect you with the designer?”

  “Please,” I said. “What’s his name, anyway?”

  “He goes by an alias. That’s all you’ll get right now. Sorry.”

  “No problem. What is it?”

  “Drake.”

  “That’s not very dramatic,” I said.

  Vermillion chuckled. “Don’t ask me where he came up with it. He can be a little quirky. Not unusual for a genius, of course. I heard all kinds of interesting stories about Alexander Carlson.”

  Shall we conference him in? I can facilitate that.

  “I’ll get him on the
line,” Vermillion said. “Gave him a heads-up earlier so he should be available now. Hold on.”

  It was silent for a moment. I stretched in the suit, feeling it begin to learn the precise location of my muscles and how I moved them.

  “We’re on,” Vermillion said. “Meet Drake.”

  “Hello,” said the man with a somewhat timid sounding voice.

  “Great to meet you, Drake. I’m Captain Clarke. My AI is Butch.”

  Hello.

  There was silence for a moment.

  “Still there?” I asked.

  “I just took a quick look at your AI. Very well put together. You understand the Central AI settings well too. Kudos.”

  You looked at all of that just now?

  “Yes,” Drake said. “I designed the system. I know what’s important, and I’ve got personal shortcuts set up, which I’ll share eventually.”

  “Do you have the equipment ready?” Vermillion asked.

  “He’s already wearing the short version,” Drake said. “It’s molded to him perfectly, and picking up his bio and brainwave data without any errors.”

  “Okay, I’ll let you get to it, then. Drake, feel free to contact Captain Clarke any time you need to.”

  “How about me?” I asked.

  “Go through me for now,” Vermillion said. “Sorry, giving you his contact info will give away more than I’m willing to reveal right now.”

  “No problem, Mr. Chairman,” I said.

  “Talk to you soon.” Vermillion left the call.

  There was silence on the line for a moment.

  “How’s he doing?” Drake asked. “I’m picking up a lot of stress.”

  “He’s stressed, but small wonder with what’s going on. You know about the coup, right?”

  Drake chuckled. “I know Simone is trying, but she might have bitten off more than she can chew. You guys aren’t the only forces opposing her. In fact, as far as numbers go, you’re one of the smaller factions.”

  “Our technology makes a pretty big difference.”

  “That is correct, but keep in mind that those Razor Class ships haven’t been optimized yet. They have similar potential to your New Jersey class ships.”

  “Then we should be worried.”

  “Always be worried, but they have a big problem. Their designer and his team defected. The Overlords don’t have anyone on their team who knows how to do the tuning required to optimize their shield and weapons systems. That will slow them way down, but the systems will slowly learn on their own.”

  “Wonderful,” I said.

  “Heard you guys figured out how to track them in a jump.”

  “My AI figured that out,” I said.

  “The AI functionality is what will win this war,” Drake said.

  “Says the person who designed the AI functionality,” I said, wishing I could take it back.

  Drake let out a hearty laugh. “Vermillion told me you spoke your mind. Good. We’ll get along great. Now, think Nano Menu and your choices will come up.”

  I did that, and the display appeared at the bottom of my vision. “Holy crap.”

  “You like that? It’s shooting into your brain via the optic nerve, but your eyes have nothing to do with it. The choices are there for each of the five Nano functions. Do you understand the icons?”

  “My AI filled me in on the basics a few days ago. Given what I know, they make sense.”

  “Tell me what they are,” Drake asked.

  “Variant one is surveillance, similar to what we have today, with enhanced broadcast capability.”

  “They also have ten times the range and five times the lifespan. These aren’t your father’s surveillance Nanos.”

  “Marketing background?” I asked.

  “We all had to get our initial offerings sold, didn’t we?”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right, we’re gonna get along fine.”

  Joy joy, now I get to listen to more corny jokes.

  Behave.

  “Your AI has a sense of humor. Good. He’s gonna need it.”

  “You can hear him? Sorry, didn’t know you could, being outside of our cell.”

  “I can hear it over the call,” Drake said. “I’m not in your cell, and can’t penetrate it.”

  “Really? I’m surprised.”

  “If I can get into individual cells, somebody else will eventually figure it out. They’re a world unto themselves, not able to connect outside unless it’s initiated from inside the cell. Once the call is broken, I have no further visibility.”

  “So that’s why Vermillion wants the calls going through him.”

  “It’s part of the reason,” Drake said. “Shall we proceed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Think deploy variant one.”

  I did that, and the display said released.

  “When they’re out there, think display nanos and you’ll see a coordinated image. You can focus in different directions by thinking what you want to see, but it takes some practice. You can use mental dictation commands at first to learn how they act. Dictate front, back, left, right, up, or down to focus on any of those directions. Or dictate me to see yourself and everything around you.”

  You can ask me to keep you informed of threats, too.

  “Yes, that’s what he’ll normally do after he’s used to the system, but I want Captain Clarke to practice with it manually for now.”

  Where’s the fun in that?

  “As you can see, he’s a little snarky,” I said.

  “I think he’s splendid. Now, Butch, make yourself useful. Search for training tools in that room. You’ll find the controls on the room schematic. Turn on the practice adversaries. Select type one.”

  Got it. Wow, nice interface. Ready or not, here they come, Trey.

  I saw a door slide open on the far side of the room, a robotic fighter rolling out, it’s weapons already pointed at me as it rolled forward on big wheels.

  “Think deploy variant three,” Drake said.

  I did that, and the display showed a stream of Nanos shooting to the robot in a fraction of a second, the robot shutting down immediately.

  “Whoa, what did that do?”

  “Shorted out the robot. Don’t worry, we’ve got a reset button. Butch, reset the robot, but place it on standby for a moment.”

  Done.

  “Excellent,” Drake said. “Now deploy practice adversary type two.”

  “What’s that one?” I asked.

  “Simulated flesh and blood.”

  Here it comes.

  A plastic humanoid figure rushed out, looking around until it saw me, then running in my direction.

  “Think deploy variant two,” Drake said.

  I did that, the nano stream showing on my display, the humanoid figure stumbling to the ground, unconscious.

  “That doesn’t kill, does it?” I asked.

  “No, it just stuns. The effect lasts for about fifteen minutes, but it varies depending on the size of the adversaries. If you’re being rushed by a grizzly bear, you’ve only got about five minutes before it wakes up again. It’ll be groggy, though, and will just stumble around for the first five minutes after that.”

  “So we’ve got an effective ten minutes,” I said.

  “Basically, yes,” Drake said. “Humans would be the fifteen minutes plus about five minutes to shake it off—so about twenty minutes. I’d say plus or minus about three minutes for people unusually big or small. Butch, please reset the humanoid.”

  Done.

  I watched as the humanoid stood, looking around the room, still a little groggy. Within less than a minute he was running at me again.

  “What happened to my five minutes?”

  Drake chuckled. “This isn’t a real human. Think deploy variant four.”

  I did that, the display showing a flow of nanos again, freezing the humanoid, it’s body starting to expand, exploding in less
than a second. Then something I didn’t expect happened. The Nanos left the dead humanoid and attacked the other robot, exploding it in about thirty seconds. The nanos then gathered above the second dead robot, my display showing three choices. Stand by, designate new target, and expire.

  “These are re-usable?” I asked.

  “Not exactly,” Drake said. “These Nanos will expire fifteen minutes past the initial deployment, no matter what. They were designed that way.”

  “Why?”

  “Because of the reproduction rate. Let’s say you’re in a battle. You get rushed by fifty enemy soldiers. You release variant four, and designate the entire enemy force as targets. Twenty thousand nanos are required for the initial target. Reproduction takes their numbers to millions in micro-seconds. When they’ve exploded the first enemy fighter, the nanos are released, and twenty thousand will be sent into each and every enemy fighter you’ve designated. They all reproduce in the same way, the cycle starting over with the rest of the fighters. It’s a rapid snowball effect that could keep going indefinitely had we not put the lifespan limitation into the design.”

  “Wow. Not something we’d want to get out of control. So the fifteen minutes doesn’t start over again with each group of twenty thousand?”

  “No, the timer runs off the initial attack, not the attacks of the children,” Drake said. “If these suits fell into the wrong hands, a bad actor could turn them loose with the entire population of a city as designated targets.”

  “I think I’m beginning to understand why it’s important for me to have claimed the Central AI.”

  “Yes, the Central AI can shut down all variant four nanos from any and all cell members in a split-second. Good failsafe. It will also warn you if very big numbers of enemy fighters are being killed too quickly by anyone in the cell.”

  “What’s the protection against variant four nanos?” I asked.

  “A rigid airtight suit with no weak spots,” Drake said. “These won’t work in the vacuum of space, so space suits aren’t considered a huge limitation.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Variant five nano shields,” Drake said. “We’ll practice with those another time. For the rest of the training today, let’s run scenarios with more practice adversaries. I’ll send the scenarios to Butch and observe as he runs them.”

  { 10 }