Emergent

by Lance Erlick

  “Why didn’t we know this sooner?”

  “Drago has used the facility and grounds since he arrived in the Denver area,” Fran said. “We located it by tracing his movements. It’s where he goes to orchestrate his capture of Synthia. From what limited information I’ve uncovered, the facility manufactures military grade robots and is pushing the envelope on artificial intelligence.”

  Special Agent Thale looked up at Zephirelli. “What do you know about this facility?”

  “Global-net was the code name for developing government-controlled artificial intelligence for terrorist surveillance,” Zephirelli said. “After the last NSA scandal, President Xavier’s predecessor shut it down. The program had many design and technical problems that thwarted our ability to monitor and control it. My boss tried to resurrect it under President Xavier, but she shelved it as too dangerous. But there were rumors that Brzezinski continued his work. I had no idea it was here in the Denver area.”

  “Global-net may be what’s giving Drago an edge over our surveillance,” Fran said.

  “It’s a strong possibility,” Thale said. “Detective Malloy meets Synthia and notifies the FBI. By the time we close in, Special Ops is already on the way. They were moments behind us with more force. They anticipated our movements.”

  “Could it be spies in your agency?” Zephirelli asked.

  “We didn’t have enough warning for Drago to overhear and get so many operatives on the ground in Wisconsin. They had insight, perhaps from Global-net.”

  “Then why haven’t they captured Synthia?”

  “Good question,” Thale said.

  Fran pulled up a new set of screens. “If we focus on facts instead of conjecture, it might help us capture Synthia. She’s on a shopping spree for what she has planned. We’ve tried to monitor activity, which is difficult given the number of Internet transactions under dozens of aliases. Drago’s team intercepted and shut down many of the supply deliveries, but we believe others have slipped through.”

  “If Drago’s using Global-net to analyze and track Synthia, then what’s he waiting for?” Zephirelli asked. Sweating in the cramped quarters, she moved to the door and opened it a crack.

  “We’ve identified four clusters of unusual supply purchases and tracked delivery trucks converging on four locations.” Fran pointed to the screen before them. “This shows their movement and potential destinations.”

  “How is she making purchases and deliveries?”

  Fran smiled. “Online purchases from physical stores. She has self-driving trucks show up and instructs store personnel to load the trucks. Then she has the trucks drive to designated locations.”

  “What type of supplies?”

  “Large quantities of aluminum foil,” Fran said, “screens, pipe, electrical wire, camping gear, trail supplies, thermal clothes.”

  “It’s not that cold. Besides, you said she wasn’t going up in the mountains.”

  “Plus a lot of toilet paper that our android friend doesn’t need. I told you, unusual purchases.”

  “If she’s directing these self-driving trucks,” Zephirelli said, “then we should be able to trace the communication to her.”

  “Each van is directed from a different source unconnected to the rest.”

  “How’s that even possible?”

  “Artificial intelligence,” Fran said. “We can comprehend intelligence at our level, below, and somewhat above. Past a certain point, intelligence accelerates beyond anything humans can comprehend.”

  Zephirelli opened the door wider and took in cooler night air. “Are we already there?”

  “Here’s the kicker,” Fran said. “I have reason to believe some of the code Synthia is using originated with Global-net. Someone within the program might have inadvertently or deliberately leaked methods or even programs that ended up in Machten’s hands and into Synthia. I’m guessing this happened during the shutdown and handover of code to Brzezinski.”

  Sweating, Zephirelli braced herself against the command vehicle’s wall. “Could they be cooperating?”

  “I don’t think so,” Fran said. “Otherwise, it makes no sense that Special Ops is still searching for Synthia.”

  “What about Vera? Could she have the same programs?”

  Fran shook her head. “Don’t know, but she was built by the same misguided genius.”

  Zephirelli pointed to the screen tracking delivery activity. “What can we learn from this pattern?”

  “That Synthia has given us four decoys.”

  “Decoys? Then none of these are real?”

  “I don’t think so.” Fran zoomed in on the four delivery sites.

  “Then where’s she going?”

  “The decoys are heading toward a stadium, a power station, the airport, and a resort,” Fran pointed to each. “They’re all north, south, and east of the city.”

  “She’s going west,” Zephirelli said, “Toward Global-net?”

  “She won’t get within miles of the place before Drago knocks her out and grabs her. What all of the places have in common is they’re large and consume a lot of power. That tells me whatever she has in mind calls for both.”

  “So, she’s heading west to find a large space with power,” Zephirelli said.

  Fran nodded. “We’re narrowing down the list of options.”

  Chapter 31

  Commander Kirk Drago stood alone in his mobile command center in a parking lot west of Denver and took an encrypted satellite call from Secretary of National Security Derek Chen.

  “Do you have the androids in custody?” Chen asked with irritation rising in his voice.

  Drago dropped into his seat. “Everything’s going according to plan.” Before him, several screens tracked the location of delivery trucks and the other players Zeus and his team had identified. He studied the tracking information.

  “Then you have the androids.”

  “Better. Synthia has demonstrated remarkable capabilities. Global-net was right to single this one out. This android has eluded the FBI, Russians, Chinese, and a half-dozen other agencies that are scrambling around Denver trying to track it.”

  “Posing a serious threat to national security,” Chen added, his voice rising. “I warned you about your wait-and-see approach.”

  “We know what Synthia is doing. The android acquired supplies that could help it run with its human companions or make a stand. We have practical real-world results we couldn’t have duplicated in the lab. This will facilitate adapting these qualities for a military force.”

  “All of which is positive. It supports our intelligence that this android is worth acquiring. Reel it in and apply its capabilities to improve Global-net. Then we’ll modify the download routines for a new robot series.”

  “One more demonstration,” Drago said. “We’ll soon get a chance to watch it eliminate other robots and androids that could pose a threat. This will be a real-world test of her fighting ability.”

  “We can’t afford civilian casualties or a public display that gets media attention.”

  “This will all happen within the confines of a mall at night without customers or employees. In the process, we’ll round up all the foreign agents, set off explosives to fake their deaths, and pump them for what they know. Global-net has offered some creative solutions.”

  “Don’t blow this. We need the android in functional condition. After you’ve had Global-net analyze her mental and physical capabilities, make sure no one can copy what we’ve done.”

  “Will do, boss.”

  Secretary Chen disconnected the call.

  Drago watched one of his screens that monitored the now seven drone swarms scouring Denver’s night sky in a variety of autonomous patterns. Two of the swarms flew into each other like clouds merging. A third joined in, and then the others, until all seven dissolved into a
single larger swarm that spread out across the Denver area.

  “What the…” Drago made a secure call into the compound housing Global-net. He posed a question. “Why have the seven drone swarms combined?”

  “It’s emergent behavior,” Global-net said through its filters. “It’s a more efficient way to oversee all activities around the area. Now I’ll have a unified view of the city.”

  “This isn’t a problem?”

  “Not at all. While the FBI and other agents try to sort this out, Synthia is taking the bait. I’m tracking her movements to the Rocky Mountain Mall. Make certain your agents are nowhere for her to see. She has access to all public cameras.”

  “Let me know when she arrives.”

  “It would delight me to do so.”

  Drago frowned at the emotional response to his request.

  * * * *

  Jostled around in the back of the florist panel truck, Synthia navigated toward the mall. She received a burst transmission from Denver-clone, which had inserted mosquito-drones inside Drago’s command vehicle. Clearly she’d underestimated Special Ops and Global-net. Her antagonists had far more resources and were far more dangerous than she’d imagined. The new information might reduce her probability of surviving, but it didn’t change her options or her mission.

  Running still wasn’t a viable alternative. As Fran had clearly stated, Synthia couldn’t leave town and couldn’t hide for long with Vera and Global-net both growing stronger. Win or lose, she had to make a stand before her chances dropped to zero.

  She froze all nearby cameras and parked the florist panel truck behind a closed pharmacy. She had a self-driving van pull up with signage from Omega Electronics, one of the stores at the Rocky Mountain Mall.

  “Sorry to keep doing this,” Synthia said. “We need to switch transport again. It’s the safest way into the mall.”

  “Will we be on the run all night?” Grace asked.

  “You’ll get a chance to rest after we settle in.”

  Synthia got out of the florist truck and hefted the boxes to the Omega van while Grace and Maria looked around and hurried into their new ride.

  “Did you ever imagine being a spy or whatever we are?” Grace asked Maria.

  “If living eighteen months off the grid counts then I suppose yes, though I don’t think of myself as a spy. I only want to warn people about androids.”

  Synthia moved the last of the boxes, strapped them to the inside of the van, and climbed in the back with Grace and Maria. “If we can’t stop Vera and her gang, Maria might have the best experience at surviving. She made it tough for me to find her in Chicago.”

  “Why were you looking for Maria?” Grace asked.

  “She had worked on an earlier version of me.” Synthia navigated the van along side streets toward the mall. “I guess you could say she helped to create me.”

  Maria frowned. “I’m not sure that’s an accomplishment I want to be proud of.”

  “Nevertheless, you know what I am and could help make me a better…”

  “Person?” Maria winced. “I’m not yet comfortable with that.”

  Grace stared at Maria. “You’re the reason we’re on the run?”

  “It’s not her fault,” Synthia said. She noted Drago’s drone swarms overhead. Since he was already tracking her, there was no point in hiding. Instead, she had the van take the quickest route to the mall. “Maria wanted to develop AI, but she was against humaniform from the beginning. Machten kept her in the dark about his true intentions.”

  Synthia had her new van pull into the mall parking lot and head toward the underground receiving docks. Mall surveillance cameras showed that the last of the stores had closed and employees and a few customers were making their way to their vehicles. Synthia scanned those within her field of vision for possible androids or robots. If there were any, they had sophisticated cloaking of their synthetic nature, as she did. She made sure all the mall cameras filtered out her Omega van. Then she accessed her tracking of the people hunting her.

  Fran reviewed with Special Agent Thale all of the facilities matching the size and energy requirements on the west side of Denver. “The Rocky Mountain Mall would be my first choice,” Fran said.

  Thale sent two-person teams of FBI agents after the four decoys and the bulk of her force west, toward the mall. Synthia sent a message to Detective Malloy who climbed into an FBI sedan with Director Zephirelli: Let me deal with Vera.

  Tolstoy and John Smith scattered their forces after the four decoys until they noticed a shift in the FBI’s attention. They redirected their people west, along with all of their robots. Other foreign agents followed, trying to keep up with the fluid situation.

  Vera sorted through Synthia’s purchases and deliveries looking for clues. She’d hacked into five of Tolstoy’s robots, enslaving them while having them stay with the Russian to spy on him. She was still working on robots attached to Drago and the FBI.

  “She’s heading west,” Vera told her crew when Tolstoy changed course. She drove her team in that direction. She froze cameras along her path and attacked the combined drone swarm, taking control of small clusters. They rebooted and locked her out.

  Drago gathered his team southwest of Denver at the facility Colorado-clone believed held Global-net. Synthia didn’t like the coincidence that was bringing her closer to Drago’s stronghold and this powerful AI. She would have to deal with it eventually, but it helped to know what you were up against.

  Something else troubled her. “Grace,” Synthia said in as non-threatening a voice as she could manage. “What brought you from California to Denver?”

  “A job offer. Why?”

  “With whom?”

  “A small tech startup that collapsed after I moved here,” Grace said. “The jerks dragged me out here and fired me.”

  “When?”

  “A month ago. Why?”

  “What company name?” Synthia asked.

  “What’s going on?” Maria asked.

  “Name, please,” Synthia said.

  “Argo-Rand Technology,” Grace said. “It sounded like a perfect opportunity. When I got here, they were vague about my responsibilities. In fact, it seemed as if they kept interviewing me even after they offered the job.”

  “Synthia,” Maria said. “Why are you interrogating Grace?”

  “Argo-Rand doesn’t exist,” Synthia said. She had the van drive down the ramp to the lower level and head toward the loading docks. “It sounds like any of a number of high-tech companies, but there’s no IRS record, no business license, no incorporation records.”

  “You got all that information that quickly?” Grace asked.

  “That’s not important. Grace, you were brought to Denver to lure me here.”

  “What? Why?” Grace asked. “I hadn’t heard from Krista in years. That makes no sense.”

  “They were interested in her work, what she might have told you about robotics and artificial intelligence. When they satisfied themselves you didn’t know anything, they used you to bring me here.”

  “You’re scaring me,” Maria said. “Every time we talk, it sounds worse. If you want our cooperation, it’s time you told us what we’re up against.”

  Synthia hesitated. Her social-psychology module wasn’t much help.

  “Are you sure you want to know all the sordid details?” Synthia asked.

  “If my life’s on the line, then yes,” Maria said.

  “Remember the NSA scandal about surveillance of American citizens?”

  “President Xavier campaigned on closing down all such government efforts,” Grace said.

  “Global-net is less than an hour’s drive from here.”

  “Global-net?” Maria asked. “It’s rea
l?”

  “Afraid so, and they want to capture me to enhance their work.”

  “No,” Maria said. “That’s even worse than military androids. We can’t let that happen. We have to destroy this artificial monstrosity.”

  “We?” Grace said.

  “They collect information from all possible sources,” Maria said. “Then they use artificial intelligence to identify anything that threatens them.” She turned to Synthia. “They determined you were a risk and set in motion a plan to capture you. We can’t let them.”

  “This is pointless,” Grace said. “We’re talking about going up against the U.S. government.”

  “Grace is right,” Synthia said. “We can’t get close enough and we have no idea what weapons they have or how powerful their AI is. But I have to try.”

  Chapter 32

  Synthia had the van park by the loading dock. She satisfied herself that the mall cameras showed neither the van nor them, and climbed out. “Let’s do what we came here for.”

  Three dollies stood by the dock door, where Synthia had texted the movers to leave them. “Load these up and let’s get the stuff inside.”

  Grace’s eyes darted around. “Is Global-net watching us now?”

  “We can discuss that later. I don’t think so. I believe I’ve blinded the cameras.”

  Synthia loaded up the dollies and hauled one to the entrance door. Denver-clone provided a hack into the security protocol, which opened the door for them. Grace and Maria followed, each pulling a dolly. After they were inside, Synthia had the Omega van drive out of the dock area and away from the mall.

  “Maybe the mall wasn’t such a good idea,” Maria said, trying to keep up with Synthia. Her face was sheet white. Biosensors showed adrenaline flooding her system. “We’ll be sitting ducks here. Global-net has access to all traffic and building cameras as well as satellites to track us.”

  “I could bring a vehicle to take you away,” Synthia said, maintaining her rapid pace. “That won’t stop them hunting you. Furthermore, I have reason to believe Drago wants to duplicate Machten’s work by uploading human minds. They might prize you for your knowledge of his work.”