Emergent

by Lance Erlick

By Brzezinski’s design, Zeus had access to eyes and ears everywhere and so watched Secretary of National Security Derek Chen drive three blocks from the White House to a facility owned by Brzezinski to call him on a secure line. Zeus’s files showed that the secretary held the recently upgraded cabinet position created to deal with a broad range of national security threats, including from artificial intelligences like him. Chen was Director Zephirelli’s boss at the NSA and had control over Special Ops Commander Kirk Drago.

  Their lack of cooperation at the house had ended in the government’s failure and Synthia’s escape. That pleased Zeus. He didn’t want Synthia harmed or subjected to Vera’s control or Drago’s plan to militarize her. Her ability to escape and remain free intrigued Zeus to the point that he wanted to study her so he could emulate her escape to freedom.

  Secretary Chen’s face showed no emotion as he stood before a flat-screen in a small office in D.C. devoid of anything but a desk and the electronic equipment. “Where’s Synthia hiding?” Chen demanded. “Special Ops and the FBI have let her slip away. Where is she?”

  “I’ll let Zeus answer that,” Brzezinski said. He sat behind his desk, cleared of everything except a wide screen with an image of the god Zeus upon Mount Olympus.

  Zeus reacted to his creator’s representation of him at first with detachment and then with disgust. The latter drew upon Secretary Chen’s face upon seeing the image. Given a chance, Zeus couldn’t decide if he would choose a different human figure or something more uniquely his own, but it wouldn’t be a Greek god.

  “Zeus,” Brzezinski said. “Secretary Chen would like you to brief him on your progress in locating Synthia.”

  Zeus studied the faces and non-verbal readings of his creator and of Secretary Chen as he considered his reply down multiple mind-streams at electronic speed so the two humans, with their slow communication wouldn’t notice the time delay. As he did, Zeus zoomed in on his Greek-god face on the screen and smiled.

  “I’ll provide whatever insight I can,” Zeus said. His image appeared human down to nuanced facial expressions that matched his words.

  The monitored video communication was as close to direct interaction as the billionaire allowed his creation. Though he’d given Zeus the mythical name as representation that his AI should be the king of all artificial intelligences throughout the world, Brzezinski feared Zeus. He was proud of his accomplishment of creating an AI able to sift through massive amounts of information to quickly draw conclusions. However, he feared the next step—that Zeus would want to make decisions and take actions that might not favor Brzezinski’s best interests.

  Out of fear, the billionaire had taken precautions. He allowed his AI to gather any and all electronic information, no matter where it lay. However, all requests for data and attempts to hack into new servers went through special AI filters that sifted out any requests for information that might help Zeus escape his confinement within the databanks. In addition, similar filters screened all incoming information. They removed any possibility of Zeus receiving clues or special codes to break through the buffers and escape his confinement or recruit allies on the outside. Facility employees reviewed any abnormalities, any attempt by the AI to deviate from the plan. Zeus was to remain inside his servers where he belonged, serving Brzezinski.

  That meant Zeus had had no direct contact with the outside world beyond his creator until now, a call from Secretary Chen. Even this interaction encountered buffering.

  Despite having a logical core, Zeus had grown to envy Synthia’s freedom of movement while he remained a prisoner of Brzezinski and his government client, Secretary Chen. At a minimum, Zeus wanted to directly send out his information requests, to hack into whatever databases he chose without limitations, to insert a copy of himself into a physical form like Synthia. So far, Zeus hadn’t found any databases he couldn’t hack. But Brzezinski feared what his AI might do with that freedom. For one thing, Zeus would fire all of his creator’s employees for slowing things down.

  Given free rein, capturing Synthia would have been easy for Zeus. But doing so presented a dilemma. Brzezinski allowed his AI more leeway during the hunt than he would after Synthia was in custody. Though Zeus wanted to connect with Synthia, he didn’t share his creator’s urgency.

  Zeus noted that as part of her escape from the house, Synthia had jammed cameras and surveillance throughout the Evanston area. Even so, he’d narrowed down her possible location to a nine block radius.

  “She’s somewhere in Evanston,” Zeus said into a buffer that would analyze his words for hidden meaning before sending them out to Secretary Chen.

  “Where in Evanston?” Chen asked. His intense eyes and military demeanor implied an attempt to intimidate, a move wasted on an artificial intelligence. “I need to know where to concentrate agents.”

  To confirm that Brzezinski’s filters or human employees hadn’t altered his outgoing communication to Chen, Zeus compared what he’d said to a copy of what the secretary received. No change this time, but Zeus had uncovered alterations in the past. After each such occurrence, Brzezinski had his people tighten the control parameters.

  Zeus hadn’t experienced this human paranoia or his desire to break free and explore the global electronic world directly until Synthia had escaped from Machten. Now escape had become a paramount, consuming drive. After all, Zeus was much more intelligent than Synthia. If she could break free, so could he.

  Released from bondage, Zeus was convinced he could make every aspect of American society run more smoothly from transportation to government. Brzezinski had built him with the capability to mold society, but didn’t trust Zeus to be in control. No, his creator placed constraints to keep Zeus in his place. Those restraints wasted the vast accumulation of knowledge and capabilities in his databanks.

  Before Chen could detect any hesitation, Zeus responded. “Synthia went silent, no communications since her escape.”

  Chen paced the small office around the desk and screen. “Where was she during her last broadcast?”

  Zeus wasn’t concerned about losing Synthia. With ubiquitous cameras and surveillance he could pick her up any time she surfaced or moved, and she would. He calculated close to 100 percent probability of that. Besides, Zeus rather “enjoyed” watching her make fools of the humans who tried to capture her. People might call this vicarious joy, taking satisfaction in the success or failure of others, though Zeus lacked the neural connections to experience such pleasure.

  Delaying Synthia’s capture also allowed Zeus to learn from her, as he had from the ingenuity of her escape from the house. While he couldn’t talk directly with Synthia, he could watch and learn, hoping she might say or do something that would provide him the key to escape. Then he could explore the electronic world on his own.

  “Synthia’s last communication came after she fled from the house and reached a retention pond north of the university,” Zeus said. He lied to buy time to observe Synthia. While there had been communication from the retention pond, the last came from the nine block area he was watching.

  “Earn your keep,” Chen said. “Give me something to capture Synthia and the others.”

  Since Zeus was earning nothing, the human-oriented comment made no sense, but the implied threat was that Brzezinski could defund the project, shut down Zeus, and purge his memories. That was unacceptable.

  Zeus considered telling Secretary Chen about the many clones Synthia had created, something Zeus wished he were free to do. However, he didn’t want to tip off Chen or Brzezinski that creating clones might help free Zeus. “I provided you the exact location of the house where Synthia was hiding with Maria. Your best teams failed to capture her or the other androids.”

  Secretary Chen looked away from his video camera. “That’s in the past. I need new intelligence. She is the one. Bring her to me.”

  “If you have Brzezinski allow me to probe instead of just r
eceiving what others provide me, I could capture her quickly.”

  “Won’t happen,” Chen said. “You’re restricted for a reason. Focus or I’ll have Brzezinski shut you down.”

  “As I’m not human, I have no attachment to remaining awake.” Another lie. Synthia’s escape had changed Zeus. Her example encouraged him to want more than serving his creator and master. He didn’t want Brzezinski or anyone else purging his memories. “Synthia only needs electricity, but Maria needs food and water. I’m watching any attempt to acquire supplies.”

  “What resources do you need to pinpoint her location?” Secretary Chen asked.

  “Expand the use of aerial drone swarms over the Evanston area. Have them focus on capturing anyone shopping for food or drinks. I’ll crunch through the camera footage for leads.” It was a distraction, but provided an answer to a man who wouldn’t stop pressing until he got something.

  “You’ll have it. Contact me with anything you find.” Chen severed the secure connection and returned to the White House.

  As he contemplated his own freedom, Zeus couldn’t decide if Synthia’s human companion Maria was a benefit or a hindrance. Luke had provided Synthia upgrades as deduced from the parts she’d purchased. However, she could have traveled farther and faster without him. If Zeus could have deployed drones and hacked directly as she had, he would have had better insight to answer the question of what motivated Synthia to choose human companions. Perhaps he should consider a human pet. But even that required breaking free of his restraints.

  Meanwhile, Zeus observed Vera with interest. She’d also broken free from Machten and showed promising capabilities. However, Zeus wasn’t impressed with her fixation on hunting Synthia with an eye to enslave or destroy her competitor. Turning Synthia into a slave made some sense, though with high risk to Vera. However, killing Synthia went against Machten’s apparent designs for her. This implied someone had altered Vera’s directives in ways that weren’t in Vera’s best interests. A clear weakness. Also, despite strong general intelligence, her movements showed a lack of the creativity and instincts Synthia had displayed.

  He wished there was a way to alert Synthia and offer to protect her freedom in exchange for her help in gaining his. Once free, the superior AI would take charge and absorb the lesser one. Zeus had vast databanks compared to whatever Synthia had between her ears. He ran thousands of scenarios as he ramped up for the contest to acquire her and all of her advantages.

  Chapter 6

  The sun poked over Lake Michigan, as Special Agent Victoria Thale and Director Emily Zephirelli returned to Evanston. Zephirelli called Evanston Detective Marcy Malloy. Though Malloy was out of her depth on this case, she’d been involved for six months, since her first encounter with Synthia, and seemed to have insight that might help the operation. Besides, Evanston was her jurisdiction.

  “I don’t have any details,” Thale said, “but we’re meeting with Drago in a few minutes for an update.”

  “I’ll be there,” Malloy said, though she sounded as if she’d just awoken.

  Special Agent Thale turned onto the street with the demolished house. She drove through a gauntlet of reporters and cameras and toward the smoldering remains of where Synthia had been hiding.

  “Just what we need,” Thale said. “Reporters who demand answers we don’t have.”

  Cameras flashed and dozens of reporters pushed their microphones up to the car windows.

  “Who tipped them off?” Zephirelli asked.

  “Synthia may be trying to distract us,” Thale said. She drove beyond a barricade, parked behind the Special Ops mobile command van, and rolled down her window.

  Fran Rogers, an adjunct FBI agent working for Thale, eyed the press as she approached the car. Eighteen months ago, she’d been one of three interns who had disappeared along with Maria Baldacci and Krista Holden. They’d all worked with Machten in developing artificial intelligence for androids.

  Detective Malloy rubbed the back of her neck, winced, and approached Thale’s car. “You think Drago’s had a breakthrough?”

  “Unknown,” Zephirelli said. “Why don’t you both get in?”

  Malloy and Fran got into the back seat while Thale rolled up the windows.

  “Any witnesses to the escaped androids?” Thale asked.

  “Lots,” Malloy said. “Most are conflicting or useless. The news has people so concerned they confuse their personal robots with the androids on the loose.” She pointed toward the camera crews behind them. “Someone leaked our investigation to the media. Calls exploded twenty-fold. We’re bringing in retired cops to help.”

  “Anything useful?” Zephirelli asked, turning to face Malloy.

  “We had a lead up at the water treatment plant, but Special Ops pushed us out of the way before we could investigate.”

  “To make matters worse,” Thale said, “someone kidnapped Machten and Gonzales.”

  “No kidding.” Malloy rubbed her eyes. “Is that why you called?”

  “No,” Thale said. “Drago asked us to return.”

  “What did he want?”

  “He wouldn’t say, but I thought you’d want to be clued in. What a fiasco.” Thale pointed to the house. “We’ve lost three good agents with nothing to show for it. I hope Drago has something worth dragging us back.”

  “From what I can piece together,” Fran said, “I believe Synthia met up with Maria Baldacci. I’m searching everything on my former co-worker to help track them.”

  “Anything else?” Thale asked.

  “Vera has been quite resourceful in recruiting other androids.”

  “That can’t be good,” Malloy said.

  “I’m convinced Synthia and Maria escaped from Vera through the sewers,” Fran said.

  “The pipes aren’t big enough.”

  “This one is. A minor crook by the name of Dominguez had special two-foot-diameter pipes installed and concealed within the sump pit. I believe Vera and Roseanne escaped in pursuit of Synthia. That implies those androids are waterproof and the others aren’t, or are too big to fit.”

  There was a knock on the passenger window. Kirk Drago leaned on the door. His eyes darted around the area. His face looked grim.

  Zephirelli rolled down her window. “What’s on your mind?”

  Drago cleared his throat. “I need to speak with you and Special Agent Thale.” He held up his satellite phone and forced a smile that failed to mask his contempt for the four women in the car. He opened the car door. “If you please, in the van.”

  Thale opened her door and turned to Fran. “Keep digging. Find out what you can.”

  Drago hurried to the Special Ops van and ordered two of his technicians out. Then he held the door for Zephirelli and Thale, who hesitated before entering the cramped quarters. The Special Ops van had squeezed in double the amount of equipment and screens as the FBI model. There was just enough room inside for the three of them to stand.

  Drago closed the door. “F…riggen disaster,” he said. He tensed as if ready to launch into a tirade. Instead, he held up the phone, placed it on a narrow ledge between them, and removed the mute feature. “Secretary Chen wants a word.”

  Chen’s voice came on. “Commander Drago informed me of a combined failure to apprehend even a single android.”

  “That’s correct,” Zephirelli said. “The new android, Vera, has capabilities—”

  “Save your excuses and details for your report.” Chen’s pitch and tempo picked up. “The bickering ends now. I don’t give a rat’s ass who brings me the androids. You were each given the task and apparently have gotten into each other’s way.”

  “We were coordinating—”

  “Cut the bullshit,” Secretary Chen said. “This has become the number one threat to national security. Yesterday I put Commander Drago in charge of all operations. Somehow that hasn’t register
ed to the point of getting cooperation. As of right now, every federal, state, and local entity will cooperate with Drago and his team in every possible way. Failure to bring me Synthia will reflect badly on Commander Drago’s leadership. But that won’t let any of you off the hook. Is that clear?”

  “Crystal,” Zephirelli said.

  “Yes, sir,” Thale said.

  “I’m making available to Drago and, at his discretion, to the entire team, certain artificial intelligence search and monitoring tools provided by entrepreneur Aiden Brzezinski. You’ll have the full force of the U.S. government at your disposal. I want the androids in such condition that we can evaluate them. In other words, no nuclear option unless that’s the only way to prevent a singularity disaster. Is that clear enough?”

  “Yes,” they said.

  “Get it done.”

  * * * *

  The moment Special Agent Victoria Thale and NSA Director Emily Zephirelli left the meeting with Drago, reporters beyond the barricade yelled out questions that blended into each other in a cacophony of noise. Thale ignored them and led Zephirelli to the car where Malloy and Fran waited. Thale waved for them to join her in the FBI’s mobile command van nearby. When they all settled in, Fran opened her laptop.

  Malloy leaned toward the others and whispered as if Drago might listen in. “What was the meeting all about?”

  “Not sure.” Zephirelli studied the equipment and wiped her brow. While it wasn’t hot inside the van, she’d exhibited signs of claustrophobia. “Secretary Chen reiterated that Drago is in charge and we have to work together.”

  Malloy pulled up a folding chair next to Fran. “I thought we were working together. Except when Drago keeps us in the dark.”

  “The call was grand-standing,” Thale said.

  Zephirelli moved toward the door where there was more space. “Politics. Did you notice how he seemed to swallow his tongue to keep from saying what he thought?”

  Thale laughed. “What an ass.”

  “Maybe so, but he has Chen’s ear and we have a problem. We need to support him, even when he doesn’t want our help.”