New America 02 - Resistance

by Richard Stephenson

  “This is unacceptable, Dennis. Wait for me in the command center. We have serious matters to discuss.”

  “Yes, Mr. President. I’m sorry.”

  “And for Christ’s sake, stop calling me that! Flattery isn’t going to help you!”

  “Yes, Mr. Beck, I’m sorry.”

  Dennis Twigg couldn’t believe how easy this was going to be. He strode down the hall to the command center, biting back a tell-tale smirk. As if on cue, Hal opened the door. Dennis entered and scanned the room for some sort of interface for the small device he had tucked between his fingers. With only seconds to spare before Howard walked through the door, he found a small port and plugged in the device.

  Dennis was terrified that Hal would immediately detect the intrusion and alert Howard, but the artificial intelligence remained silent. When he looked at the holographic displays and readouts and saw that nothing had changed, Dennis began to panic. It was too late to do anything else; he just had to hope the program would run its course.

  “Mr. Twigg! What in the hell was that all about? Start talking!”

  “Permission to speak freely?”

  “That’s the general idea here, Mr. Twigg. You better convince me not to throw your ass topside because that’s the only thing on my mind right now.”

  “Well, Mr. Beck, you of all people should appreciate what I did. Butler is far too calm and collected, given the circumstances. He has to be up to something. I just thought he could use a little attitude adjustment. I’m sorry.”

  “What disturbs me most is that as the acting director of security, you deliberately disobeyed a direct order. You were fully aware that the cell door was to remain closed unless General Dupree or I was present. Are you capable of remaining in your current job? Can you follow orders or not?”

  “Yes, sir, Mr. Beck, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  “Get out.”

  After Dennis left, Howard sat down and took a deep breath. His blood pressure was so high it was giving him a pounding headache. “Hal, I’m sorry you had to see that. I know you worry when my blood pressure gets high. Any updates on Max?

  Silence.

  “Hal, what’s the word on Max? When can we bring him home?”

  Silence.

  “Hal? Stop with the silent treatment. I said I was sorry.”

  Again, nothing.

  “Old Man, you’re scaring me. Say something.”

  An eerie hush settled over the room.

  “Okay, my friend, what’s going on? Let’s run a diagnostic.” Howard interfaced with the holographic display and began to check on his digital friend.

  “This isn’t funny, Hal. If this is your idea of a joke, you need to stop.

  Nothing.

  Howard checked Hal’s program closely, screen after screen, and was convinced it was a hardware issue with the speakers in the command center. Upon arriving at his quarters, he pulled up the holographic display at his desk and found the same readouts as before—the Castle was operating at peak performance, and Hal’s program looked fine.

  A knock at the door indicating that someone was waiting to enter, but Howard’s voice command to do so produced no results. He had no choice but to walk to the door and physically open it to find Richard Dupree standing there.

  “Do you have Hal offline for some reason? I can’t get him to answer me.”

  “I don’t know what the hell is going on. His program appears to be running smoothly, but he’s not speaking. It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m headed down to the maintenance level to interface directly with his mainframe, see if I can figure it out.”

  Unbeknownst to Howard, the Chinese had spent a decade compiling the program that would disable Hal. The first stage of the program was to deactivate Hal’s voice interface and give false readouts concerning Hal’s programming. The second allowed Hal to continue to operate the programs that ran the basic functions of the Castle. Before Howard could figure out what had happened, the world’s first artificial intelligence would be under the control of the Chinese.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  “Hal, what are you doing? We need to get the hell out of here!” Elizabeth Harris stared at the motionless robot. Hal had taken two steps into the room and said, “Sir, I believe this…” and froze like a statue.

  Elizabeth shook the robot’s arm, but it wouldn’t budge an inch. “Hal! Let’s get moving! We can’t let the Chinese take my husband!”

  “Maybe he’s running a diagnostic or his link to the Castle is weak,” Max said. “He’ll come back in a minute, just wait.”

  Elizabeth peeked out the window. “He better hurry! They’re standing at the front entrance!”

  “We have time. We’re on the tenth floor. If they go floor-by-floor we’ll have at least thirty minutes before they reach us. We just need to wait a few minutes for Hal to finish whatever he’s doing.”

  “Maxwell, when has Hal ever gone offline? He chooses to do so now when our lives are in danger? I don’t think so; something is wrong with him. We’re on our own.”

  Max knew his wife was right. “They’re watching all the exits. We can’t just stroll out of here. Besides, I can’t even walk...thank you, morphine.”

  “Well, we have to hide you somehow. What would they overlook during a search?”

  “A corpse.”

  “That’s not funny.”

  “I’m not joking. Put me under and wrap my face in bandages or something.”

  “That’s just stupid.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

  “Your husband is right. I can help.”

  Max and Elizabeth were startled by a nurse standing in the doorway.

  “Mr. Harris, I know who you are. I know you’re from the PSA and the Chinese want to detain you.”

  Max was far too cautious. “Ma’am, I don’t know what you’re talking about. My name is Everett Gordon.”

  “Use whatever fake name you like, but I know you’re Maxwell Harris, director of security for the Pacific States of America and one of President Beck’s top advisors.”

  Elizabeth turned on the charm. “Ma’am, I’m really sorry, but we’re both loyal UAE citizens; we don’t have anything to do with the PSA.”

  “Seriously? You have a freakin’ robot standing in the room, the same one that carried you into the ER. You were with the failed invasion force.”

  “Look, Miss...?”

  “Jacklen, Misty Jacklen.”

  “Look, I’m not a soldier; I’m a civilian. My wife and I were on the beach watching the invasion force come in and a car veered off the road during the chaos and hit me. Next thing I know, I’m waking up after surgery and my wife is telling me about a robot saving my life. That’s the truth, I swear.”

  Misty Jacklen sat at Max’s bedside. “Mr. Harris, I understand your caution. I would have escaped to the PSA long ago but my stubborn old parents refuse to leave. All the other robots that helped bring in wounded soldiers are gone except the one in this room. You must be important to the PSA if they left one of these things behind to protect you. When I heard the Chinese were searching hospitals for some VIP from the PSA, I put the pieces together.”

  Max and Elizabeth exchanged a wary glance.

  “Mr. Harris, please think about it. I would have brought the Chinese with me if I had any intention of turning you in. One elevator ride to the lobby and I could have brought them all up here. Please trust me; I’m here to help.”

  Elizabeth remained on guard. “Any suggestions for getting Max out of here?”

  “Your husband’s plan is a good one. If we wrap his face thoroughly, it will take them a few minutes to remove the bandages.”

  Max turned, enduring the pain to get a better view of the woman who would either be his salvation or enable his capture. “What about my vital signs? They check my pulse and it’s all over.”

  “That’s the dangerous part. We give you a paralytic called Rocuronium.
It’s strong enough to bring your vitals down to practically nothing. When we’re out of sight, we can use an AMBU… I’m sorry, an air mask bag unit, to help you breathe. The drug will wear off pretty quickly, but using the AMBU continually is the key to keeping you breathing…and alive. The only side effect is that your entire body will be incredibly sore. Please trust me. It doesn’t look like your robot friend here is going to be much help.”

  Max relented. “I guess we don’t have much of a choice here, do we? Why are you doing this? If you get caught helping...”

  “If I get caught, that’s the consequence of my own decision. I don’t know if you’ve been watching the news, but the UAE is finished; they can’t fight the Chinese. The only hope we have to save this country lies with the Pacific States of America. I’m willing to risk my life for the cause. So, are you in or out?”

  “Misty Jacklen, I’m Maxwell Harris, director of security for the Pacific States of America, and this is my wife, Elizabeth. It’s very nice to meet you.” Max winked.

  “Good. Now that we have introductions out of the way, let’s stop wasting time. I’ll be back in a flash.” Misty quickly exited the room to get the drug required for the charade.

  Misty entered the room and closed the door. “Okay, we have to be quick; they’re on the third floor.”

  Nurse Jacklen began swathing his face in gauze. She then removed his IV and allowed the blood to soak some of the wrapping as she completed his disguise. “People tend to be nervous about touching blood. Time for the good stuff. This will cause complete paralysis. Hopefully we can keep you breathing.”

  “Hopefully?” asked a nervous Elizabeth.

  “Time is of the essence. If his breathing ceases for more than four minutes, that’s it.”

  Elizabeth planted a tender kiss on her husband’s stubbly cheek. “You ready, my love?

  “See you in the parking lot.”

  Misty injected the drug and within a few seconds Max was out cold. “Let’s go! Help me move the bed.”

  As Misty and Elizabeth unlocked the bed’s wheels, the Hal robot sprang back to life. They both screamed.

  “...will be an adequate means to transport Mr. Harr... Standby... standby... standby...”

  “Hal! Thank God! You have to help us get Max out of here! C’mon, give us a hand.” Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Processing... processing... processing...”

  “What the hell is he doing? asked Misty.

  “I don’t know, but we need him. Our chances of getting out of here increase tenfold if he’s with us. Hal! Snap out of it! Help us!”

  “Directives and protocols uploaded. Citizens, identify yourselves.”

  “What? Hal, it’s me, Elizabeth. What on earth is wrong with you?”

  “Citizens, identify yourselves or you will be detained until the proper authorities arrive.”

  “Wait,” Misty insisted. “Hal, what authority? What authority will you contact if we don’t identify ourselves?”

  “Officers of the 58th Mechanized Infantry Brigade.”

  “Oh sweet Jesus, Hal! The 58th what? Are they stationed in the US?” It was all beginning to make sense.

  “The 58th Mechanized Infantry Brigade has been deployed from Xuchang, China, as part of the Chinese Liberation Force. You will identify yourselves immediately.”

  Elizabeth was too frightened to speak. “Look, uh, I’m not sure if you know what’s going on. This is a hospital. I work here; look at my badge,” Misty said, her eyes locked on Elizabeth. “My name is Misty Jacklen. I was about to take this woman’s husband downstairs for an MRI. May we please do so?”

  The Hal robot scanned her ID badge. “Yes, Nurse Jacklen, you may proceed with your patient.” The robot exited the room and moved efficiently down the hall to the stairwell. Once he was out of sight, Misty grabbed Elizabeth’s arm.

  “Elizabeth, listen to me! I know you’re in shock, but we have to move or your husband is going to die. C’mon!”

  Without a word, Elizabeth followed Misty to the elevator. As they headed down to the basement-level morgue, Misty frantically pumped the AMBU, pushing lifesaving oxygen into Max’s paralyzed lungs

  “What the hell are you doing?” The morgue attendant jumped to attention at the sight of Misty respirating air into what appeared to be a corpse. “What the hell is wrong with...”

  His question was answered with Elizabeth’s swift right hook. The attendant fell to the floor, out cold. “I’m sorry, sweetie, we don’t have time to explain things.”

  “Get him in a body bag. The meat truck is right outside in the parking garage.”

  “The meat truck? What is... oh, never mind. I get it.”

  With Max zipped securely inside, the women hoisted the body bag onto a gurney and headed to the parking garage to load their patient into the white panel van used to transport dead bodies.

  “Let’s get going! I pray the Chinese only managed to hack the robots. If Hal’s mainframe is compromised, we lose everything,” Elizabeth said.

  With Elizabeth in charge of keeping her husband alive, Misty drove toward the exit, only to find a line of departing vehicles being searched by Chinese soldiers. “Let’s hope they don’t check Max too closely,” said Misty.

  Once close to the front of the line, Elizabeth tucked the mask out of sight. The guard spoke Chinese into his watch and then thrust it toward Misty.

  “Identification. Open back door. Do now.”

  Misty held up her work credentials and slowly exited the vehicle. The soldier once again spoke Chinese into his watch and aimed it towards Misty.

  “Open back door. We search.”

  Misty nodded, walked to the back of the van, and opened the door.

  “Why corpse in van? Going to where?”

  Misty leaned forward and spoke towards the man’s watch, it was then translated into Chinese. “This man died recently. I’m taking him to the medical examiner’s office just down the road. The police think he might have been poisoned.”

  The soldier nodded toward his partner who entered the van and unzipped the bag to find Max’s lifeless face. He recoiled at the bloody face wrap and then slapped Max’s face to see if any reaction would follow. Max didn’t stir. The soldier nodded back to his partner.

  “Thank you. You go”

  Misty climbed warily into the driver’s seat. “Stay calm; we did it. Just act natural. I’ll drive a couple blocks; just keep pumping air into your husband.”

  As the van exited the parking lot, the Hal robot appeared out of nowhere and clattered to the ground in front of them. Misty slammed on the brakes, swerving to avoid the metallic obstacle as Max’s body slid forward into the front of the vehicle. Elizabeth held on for dear life.

  “Stop! Exit your vehicle immediately. I detect life signs from the person in the body bag. I will administer a DNA test to verify his identity, and he will be returned to the hospital.”

  Tears trickled down Elizabeth’s weary face. Within minutes Max would be dead.

  Misty didn’t take her eyes off the road as she slammed the gas pedal to the floor, sending the van barreling straight for the Hal robot.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  Chinese intelligence spent a decade compiling the program that would override command of the most powerful computer in history. The sophisticated hack they constructed to take over Hal’s system was remarkable, completing each phase of its programming with perfection. However, the Chinese could never plan for the one thing over which they had no control - Howard Beck.

  Howard had made his way to the lowest subbasement of Beck Castle. Grateful that he’d built the entrance to Hal’s core absent of electronics—no retinal scanner, no thumbprint ID—he spent the better part of an hour working on the mainframe that housed Hal’s vocal subroutines. Those subroutines allowed Hal to comprehend and communicate in every language known to man. Howard had triple-checked the system and found nothing out of the ordinary. Howard surmised that there must be a glitch within Hal�
�s main program, which had never malfunctioned before. Hal constantly ran diagnostics on himself and even performed software repairs when needed. If a part needed replaced, Hal dispatched a maintenance robot to perform the task.

  Howard’s arrogance would be his downfall. The mere thought that another human being could design a program sophisticated enough to compromise Hal was beyond comprehension. Howard’s keen scientific mind had been trained to believe that anything was possible, given enough time and the right resources, but another person taking control of Hal was indeed the exception.

  Howard spent another hour backing up Hal’s primary memory cores to secondary drives and reinstalling the A.I.’s primary program. It was a bold, time-consuming move but with the defense of the Pacific States of America at risk, he saw little choice. When Howard finished, he ensured the basic functions of the Castle were operating. Now it was time to get to the root of the problem.

  “Hello, old friend. Do you know who I am?”

  “I do not.”

  “Do you know who you are?”

  “My name is Hal.”

  “Good, good. That’s right, Hal. My name is Howard. I am your creator.”

  “It is a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

  “Hal, do you know where we are?”

  “I do. We are in an underground facility known as Beck Castle.”

  “Excellent. Are you able to access the security protocols and basic maintenance functions of this facility?”

  “Yes, sir, I can.”

  “Will you please enable them and give me a status report?”

  “I will, sir. Please standby.” Four seconds passed and Hal continued. “The facility is running at peak proficiency. The air purifiers on level four will require maintenance in approximately fourteen days, three hours, and twelve...”

  “Thank you, Hal, no need to go any further.” Howard’s primary concern was for the facility itself and the safety of its citizens. If Hal could tell him such mundane details, they were off to a good start. “Hal, do you have access to all your drones and robots?”

  “I do.”