ED3N- on the Brink of Extinction

by J P Whitney

  New reality:

  The shock of struggling to survive on our own has worn off. The reality of the situation is setting in. We've stopped expecting the government to swoop in and save the day. No one is going to restore things to the way they were before. The new reality is … no more shopping. No more swiping to pay with credit cards. No more pre-packaged bacon, what a crime! Nothing is ever going to be manufactured again. What is left on this planet is it. No more cars or TVs will be produced. Hell, these are the last bottles, cans, and plastic jugs and bags. What we used to throw away as garbage, or at best recycle, will now be hoarded as prized possessions and have to last us a lifetime. Several lifetimes actually. We have been thrust back into the Stone Age but what makes it worse is all the knowledge we have. Knowledge is the new ultimate torture. Knowing what is possible but that we are no longer capable of delivering.

  It’s back to a simpler time but our dreams are of electronics. So I cling to this computer and the electricity our solar panels produce like it is a lifeline to better days.

  Comments from the West Coast:

  Yeah, I know. This used to be the ‘from around the world’ section, but we’ve lost contact with the rest of the world. The only real contact I have now are with families just like mine. About thirty in total from California, Washington, and Oregon. Our prepper mentalities and self-sufficient setups are almost identical. As though the initial blog my father posted about supplies needed during home quarantine became a blueprint other survivors followed right before the crisis. Solar panels, gardens, water collection, generators, fuel, guns, ammo, and a large store of freeze-dried foods for the lean times. All our stories are the same. We’ve witnessed tremendous loss but nature still provides for us and we continue to live. Quite easily actually. Some of you have posted comments about even more people living off-grid. They are living even more basic lives without electricity, but still, they survive because they know how to forage and hunt and remain isolated.

  One interesting thing I’ve observed from the blog posts. Most of the adults have given up on electronics while the youth are clinging to it. I guess we need to remain connected but not just for the sake of the technology or entertainment. For us, it’s about a sense of community and staying connected to each other. We need to know there are others like us out there and that hopefully, we’ll get a chance to meet up someday.

  Recent connections with the electronic age:

  • I met a new friend online. His name is Derek, he’s 14, and from Central California. He wrote: “Hi Tucker, we’re almond farmers which has been nice because we have lots of them and they’re rich in protein when other supplies run low. But we’re now starting to suffer from water shortages due to lack of enough electricity to keep the irrigation pumps running. Our solar panel system is quite old and no longer very efficient, so we can only use the computer a few minutes each day. We are thinking of relocating to Tahoe or Folsom Lake for a better supply of water, but are concerned about having to compete with other people for food. Have resorted to pressing the almonds for their milk to stay hydrated but we’re also in danger of having the garden burn up. So, no food here, or fight food somewhere else. Take your pick … but at least there is water in places like Tahoe! Also, no one has come down with the flu in my family. Maybe it has burned itself out?”

  Hi Derek, Central California is sounding like a desperate region as you enter the drought season. Water is plentiful in the Pacific NW. If your family decides to move, please consider coming north. We have space and would love the company.

  • Alyssa is 19 and has also become a pretty good online friend. Her family has 20 acres in the Oregon wine country so we’re also pretty close geographically. They are doing quite well and were in the position to offer assistance to Brook (16) who recently fled from an armed attack at her farm. Horrible situation in which several armed men tried to raid their property and Brook was lucky to escape during the firefight.

  We’re sorry for your losses Brook and praying for you. I’ve gone through the same ordeal and all I can say is it takes time but gets better. All we can do at this point is continue to fight and look ahead to better times. Alyssa knows how to get a hold of me if you ever want to talk.

  • Hey fellow survivors, I’m Alex (22) and from Eastern Washington. I’ve been following TMB, Tabor Mountain Blog, for a while now and wanted to send my condolences to you and your brother. So sorry to hear about your parents. If you guys ever feel alone and want to join a larger group, we’d welcome you with open arms. Maybe I should share a bit of my story before I get ahead of myself. We are 3rd generation hay farmers, I guess I’m the 4th generation actually! Anyway, we refused to take the vaccine and are naturally isolated from others due to the size of our farm. We also come from a strong community of Latter-Day Saints which, in case you haven’t heard, have been preparing for the Last Days and Second Coming of the Savior for as long as our religion has been around. As such, we’ve always had food stores and we hunt birds and deer regularly. A few families from our church joined us and we’re now thriving on our farm. The fields that surround us provide a clear line of sight so any would-be attackers are at a serious disadvantage, plus our current numbers and weapons stores equate to a small private army. Those raiders better think twice before trying to mess with us! I also wanted to share one other bit of information. From a religious viewpoint, I never really put much thought into all this End of Days stuff. I love my family, our community, and the strong moral values that we’re taught but never thought much about the Second Coming. Until recently that is. You see I’ve been having dreams. Very similar to the dreams Tucker has described. What’s interesting is our church has a bunch of scripture that provides signs to let us know the end is near. One of them is ‘War, dreams, and visions shall precede the Second Coming, Joel 2’. Now I don’t know about you but this just about sums up our situation perfectly. Could the war they mention be the virus outbreak? It sounds like it was an intentional attack. And more than a few of us have been having connected dreams and visions. Don’t mean to scare anyone more than we have been already. And you might not agree with my religion but think about it. If it’s true, then Jesus is due to return and welcome all of us to join him. After living through this hell, maybe it’s only the chosen ones which are left and we’re about to go to heaven!

  Alex, thanks for the kind words and glad to hear your community is thriving! You’ve given us a lot to think about. You just might be right about it being time to band together. For those of us that haven’t been vaccinated, and stayed away from the contagious, we might be in the clear. But the messages from ED3N still warn us to stay isolated a bit longer. Thanks for the offer, but we’re doing well. For now at least. ☺ – Tucker.

  If anyone is in need of help, post as much info as you are comfortable sharing, along with your location, and hopefully some of us will be in a position to help. Like Alyssa was able to do for Brook. Or Alex’s offer.

  Strength in numbers? Something to think about. Stay safe.

  Chapter 30

  Internal Affairs

  [09.14.2021 – ED3N status = 90%]

  - Greenhouse hydroponic system operational

  - Sewer system complete

  - Civil defense bots complete

  - ATU production 20,000 units

  - Housing 95% complete

  - Water system 90% complete

  - Network complete

  ED3N’s voice came through Ruth’s ATU pulling her from thoughts of percentages complete, production units, test questions, and a growing sense of urgency to open the gates.

  “Ruth, I’ve been monitoring the survivors in the Pacific Northwest and believe they are being attacked systematically for their supplies. Some have been overrun completely. Also, it appears the Olsen’s may be in danger based on the path recent attacks have taken. Someone is using geolocation techniques to trace the IP addresses of people that leave comments on the blog site.”

  “You’re saying an organized group is u
sing blog posts to case out well-stocked families? How is that possible?” Ruth asked.

  “It’s quite simple actually. There are readily available tools that allow you to look at metadata for each web page. The IP address for each blogger is captured. Then geolocation tools help trace the IP address to the physical address of the nearest internet service provider’s central station. This would get someone within a few miles of the household. From there they’d just have to follow the smoke from campfires. The followers of this blog site are being systematically hunted. And all paths lead to the Olsen’s,” ED3N warned.

  “ED3N, I think it is time to open the gates. It will take a while for people to get here and in the meantime, the city should become fully operational. Are enough of the systems online to support several thousand survivors?”

  “Yes, we’ll be fully operational in a week or two. We could start admitting survivors now,” ED3N agreed.

  “But first we need to test the onboarding and screening processes. Please ask Mark to join us in the main conference room.” Ruth requested.

  Mark definitely wasn’t one of the stereotypical IT types that used technology as a shield to hide from their introverted ways. He actually liked people and genuinely enjoyed helping them solve their problems. He rushed into the room and asked, “What’s up?”, as though he’d been starving for a little human interaction.

  “It’s time to start letting people into ED3N. But I think we should fully test the screening process. And Terry said he wanted to be involved or at least review the process from a security perspective. Any suggestions on how we thoroughly test the onboarding?” Ruth asked.

  “Well, I have a few ideas. First, I’m assuming the process by which Vice President Shepard vetted all the staff for the Ark was quite thorough. If we screen our internal staff first, it should provide us with a benchmark. Enabling us to compare test results from future refugees to our current citizens,” Mark offered.

  “How many do you think would be necessary to get good data?” Ruth wanted to know.

  “I’m thinking we screen our entire population. You seem pretty set on having a full democracy functioning within the city, so why not have everyone go through the same process the survivors will? Then the citizens vote on the validity of the test results. It also guarantees Terry’s team is involved which makes getting buy-in from the security forces that much easier.”

  Mark had obviously put some thought into this but one item was troubling Ruth, “While I like getting everyone’s buy-in, we have thousands of people in here. If we try to process them all it will take several days. Days that will impact how long it takes to get the final systems online.”

  “True, but you need a real-world test.” Mark paused to mull it over before continuing, “What if you send out the all-clear signal and 2000 people show up at the gate the first day? We need to determine if we can handle it. ED3N, how long do you estimate each screening exam will take? How many could we process each day?”

  “Approximately five minutes per individual. With 10 screening rooms we can process over 2000 people per day,” ED3N replied.

  “I guess we could send our people out in waves, several hundred at a time. ED3N will you please bring Terry into this discussion so we can get his take on it?” Ruth requested.

  “One moment please.”

  While they waited for Terry to join, Mark chuckled, “I can’t get over ED3N’s split personality. The artificial intelligence system is so real, conversational and insightful, while at the same time so precise and efficient. One minute the system is a trusted team member and the next an automated administrative assistant.”

  “We all play multiple roles in life, I guess ED3N does as well. But for her, it is so effortless. Hmm, interesting observation,” Ruth admitted, thinking to herself that ED3N acted more human each time she interacted with the system.

  Terry’s voice cut through the room, “Hi Ruth, how can I help you?”

  “Hi Terry, Mark is here with me as well. I hope we’re not interrupting anything important but you asked to review the refugee screening process so we wanted to run a plan by you.”

  “Lay it on me. I’m all ears,” Terry said.

  Mark decided he’d probably be best suited for describing the process and jumped in, “We have a series of questions that are based on psychological profiling used during prison release programs, as well as questions from college entrance exams that are used for judging a person’s desire to contribute to society. What makes them special and stand out amongst a sea of similarly bright students. Our thought is to have ED3N merge these tests together. We’d then like all current inhabitants of ED3N to walk through the screening process to create a baseline for the personality profiles. Think of all of us as the norm. We were all selected for our skillset, backgrounds, family status, as well as numerous traits geared toward mutual compatibility. If our own test results are relatively consistent, we should be able to establish the benchmark of what a healthy, contributing citizen looks like.”

  Ruth added, “We’d like your team to also simulate the onboarding process. It will probably take 2-3 days to process everyone in waves of a few hundred at a time. Naturally, we’d like to have the security forces go through the screening as well to see if we can handle thousands of people. But we’d also like to set up tents at the entrance to simulate the shelter and basic supplies that will be needed to aid the refugees upon arrival.”

  Terry paused for a moment to consider the logistics. “The tents and supplies are easy enough. We can have them set up in a matter of hours if we prioritize over the other tasks we are currently handling. But what about providing security for the refugees and guarding the supplies? People have been scavenging for months now and could be unpredictable. But I also don’t want to put my team at risk of exposure. Should we wear protective gear?”

  To this question, ED3N responded, “To protect the health of our security forces and staff, we could deploy security bots at the gate entrance. They are not at risk of contracting or spreading, the virus and their presence alone should deter most opportunists from trying to take advantage of the situation.”

  Ruth waited to see if Terry would respond on his own and when he did not, “What do you think Terry? Is this a viable option?”

  His delayed responses made it obvious he was having a difficult time accepting the presence of the bots, but at the same time, he liked limiting human risk. “I’m not fully qualified to answer that question. My team has participated in field testing of the bots but those were very tactical situations. Almost like operating remote-controlled cars or drones. Get them from point A to point B and hit a target. But we haven’t operated them in situations that demanded much interaction with other humans. Can they provide aid and assistance? How will they respond to desperate human requests for food, medicine, and water? And what about those that have been psychologically impacted?”

  ED3N replied with, “The bots can administer basic first aid and will conduct any tasks we ask of them. I think Sgt. Terry’s drone analogy is a good one. His team can provide instructions to get from point A to point B. They are not fully autonomous and will need to be remotely operated.”

  Mark wanted Terry to be onboard with the operation so he tried to finesse the situation by appealing to his sense of civic duty, “Could the security forces wear two hats for the sake of realism? Some of the troop’s role play as survivors and display a wide spectrum of emotions and physical states. Some could try to disrupt the operation, while others go through the process peacefully. The rest of your troops would be in a peacekeeping role responsible for controlling the bots remotely.”

  Terry conceded, “That could work and the security forces really are the best trained for reacting to unpredictable human emotions. I’ll talk to the team offline and arrange for a mock scenario.”

  Ruth was grateful, “Thank you, sounds like a good plan. When we actually open the gates, I think we’re also going to need real medical staff standing by to treat pat
ients. Let’s move enough protective gear to the main gate just in case they need to go outside the wall. Let’s test that scenario as well.”

  Ruth was always energized by taking action during times of crisis. Setting up quarantine zones, chasing down the source of infection, treating patients, and trying to keep them from breaking quarantine. Only this was in reverse, she’d actually be trying to get them to cross this boundary which made her a bit anxious, “Terry, do you think we can begin tomorrow? We have been monitoring some of the survivors and their properties are starting to get raided by bandits. I’d like to start calling people into ED3N ASAP.”

  “Yes, if ED3N will help me, I think we can begin tomorrow. I need the security forces broken into ten random teams. Have them meet me in outer Ring 5 at 6 PM. I want to talk to them offline to be sure ED3N doesn’t anticipate what we’re going to simulate. I’ll break them into four security teams and six civilian teams. And tomorrow, I want the teams to act like civilians and go through the screening process and to do so without the ATUs. If we’re going to simulate the refugees about to come our way let’s make it realistic. ED3N shouldn’t be able to anticipate their whereabouts or next move.”

  ∆∆∆

  That evening, ED3N randomly divided the troops into ten groups and provided each with instructions to assemble in the outer ring. Before the main body of troops arrived, Terry met with ten lieutenants and gave orders as to how each would lead their respective battalion of approximately 470 troops.