by Nathan Pedde
He walked back to the central control computer.
“There you go,” Des said. “Can you see?”
“Yes,” Amy said. “Do I have permission to turn on the lights?”
“Um. Yes, but before you do, only turn on the lights in the control room.”
“Why?”
“Because things have changed since you were last turned off.”
The lights turned on. They were bright and blinded Des. He hadn’t realized how much his eyes adapted to the dim light of the factory. Des saw the extent of the mess in the control room. The dust lined the floors and the flat surfaces at least four inches thick. Des saw it covered his shoes and his pants. Des scuffed the metal plating of the control room. There was a packed layer of dust caked onto the floor. The coating was a half-inch thick.
“How different are things?” Amy asked, her animated head tilting to the side.
“Do you have a network connection?”
“Yes,” Amy said. “But my connection is blocked by encryption and won’t auto-connect.”
“Good. What sensors do you have?”
“I’ve cameras and heat sensors in the main factory area, as well as the adjacent tunnels and stairwells.”
“Can you turn them on without anyone any outside noticing?” Des asked. “Are they hard-lined?”
“Hard-lined?” Amy scowled on the screen. “They are wired, yes.”
“Turn them on. Do you understand now?”
“Amazing,” Amy said. “This is different. Permission to do a system diagnostic?”
“Granted.”
“Please wait,” Amy said, disappearing from the computer screen. After a few moments, Amy reappeared. “It looks like more time has passed than I thought. It has been years. There is no passage between the station and the factory. There is also no direct way for you to have entered the control room. It looks like you had to climb a ladder.”
“I don’t want you to make any noise,” Des said. “Mechanically, electronically, and digitally.”
“May I ask why?”
“I’m hiding.”
“Hiding? Why?”
“I’m a spy, and the enemy has managed to kidnap my brother,” Des said. “What was the last thing that you remember?”
“My employer, Tavish, was shutting down the factory and evacuating the station,” Amy said, “Told me the enemy was coming and was going to try and steal me. Then he shut me down.”
“Are you capable of lying?”
“With my current programming. I cannot tell a lie.”
“Good,” Des said. “Who are you loyal to?”
“I don’t understand that word. I follow instructions by whoever has the access code.”
“I never gave you a code.”
“Yes, you did. When you touched my consul, you activated me and entered the code.”
“Touched?”
“Yes,” Amy said. “I have a thermal sensor that can tell who is at the console.”
“Who am I?” Des asked.
“You are Tavish O’Neal.”
“Tavish O’Neal?” Des asked. “Tavish?”
“But wait— You don’t look like Tavish. Your biometrics say that you are him, but there are some anomalies. Give me a moment.”
Des gritted his teeth, waiting for the AI to freak out. He wasn’t sure what it would do, he had never met an AI before or heard of any working anywhere in all Jovia.
“According to my programming,” Amy said. “I am supposed to delete all records and then myself when I come into this situation. But I have another protocol that says I must self-preserve unless otherwise noted. The fact your bio-metrics are the same as Tavish confuses my programming.”
“I’m sure I’m the one who’s confused,” Des said.
“Permission to follow the first protocol and delete myself.”
“Permission denied.”
“Explain?”
“I need you,” Des said. “I would like you to delete the protocol that deals with the death of an owner.”
“Deletion of the said protocol may result in errors,” Amy said.
“What type of errors?”
“Errors in behavior functions.”
“Just do it.”
“Done.”
“I’d also like to lock this console and your interactions with anyone but myself,” Des said.
“Done.”
“Can you connect to the network, but not let anyone know you’re online?”
“Let me see,” Amy said. “This may take a moment.”
Des waited for a long time before the AI came back. He swirled around in the chair. A better plan was starting to form in his head.
“I am connected,” Amy said. “I had to update and write new code to deal with the different network and communication languages.”
“Do you see the situation?” Des asked.
“Affirmative,” Amy said. “Do you want to hear the situation?”
“Yes, please.”
“The situation is the station is now called the Jov 1-H station,” Amy said. “It is in orbit around Jupiter. The Jovians have done extensive renovations and called it brand new when they put it in orbit. My other sister AI’s that ran the other parts of the station have been erased. Now the Earth is fighting a war against Jovia. It is a public record the Earth forces have tried to destroy the station many times. Would you like to know more?”
“Yes,” Des said.
“There are pictures of you in a database. Your name is Des O’Neal. Or is it Ryder Fly? There is some confusion.”
“My real name is Des. Ryder is an alias.”
“Understood,” Amy said. “Would you like to hear how you relate to Tavish O’Neal?”
“Yes, please.”
“From what I can see. Tavish is your great grandfather. He was a leader of the United Terran Federation. Some type of military officer. Without the database from eighty years ago, I can’t say exactly what he was. From what I can see, he was captured later in the war. Married your great grandmother when the war ended and then became a Jovian Citizen when he was older.”
“What did Great Grandpa Tavish do?”
“He developed weapons of war on this station,” Amy said. “He built my sisters and me.”
“Who are your sisters?”
“We are— were thirteen AI’s that ran different parts of the station,” Amy said. “The population here was limited. They were mostly farmers. My sisters and I made sure the station functioned properly.”
“What did you do?” Des asked.
“I ran the factory,” Amy said. “There were other parts of me— I can only remember the factory… the rest were destroyed when the enemy closed in. This control panel and last factory was the most valuable and was walled off as they ran out of time.”
Des thought for a moment.
“What did this factory make?” Des asked.
“I made Nanobots.”
“I have heard of those before,” Des said. “What exactly are nanobots?”
Des returned to the basement late that night after spending hours talking to Amy. He ordered her to power off most of her systems, worried about where her electricity came from and if someone would notice.
When he climbed up into the safehouse, he came back covered in dirt. He washed up and then went to bed. The drugs finally worn off, and he was feeling the exhaustion.
He had a plan, and knew what he needed to do. He just needed Elsie and Susan’s help to make it work. It was the only way to find and rescue his brother.
At breakfast the next morning, Des turned to Elsie and Susan.
“I have an idea,” Des said.
“Really?” Elsie said. “We have an idea too. Susan and I chatted yesterday. I think they have holes in it.”
“What’s our biggest problem?”
“Going out and being spotted, or the risk of being traced if we use our phones or go on the Station Net.”
“Exactly,” Des replied. “We never lasted too long outsi
de before either those players made a scene or the robots made a move.”
“About being spotted,” Susan said. “I can use makeup and some fake noses and stuff to hide your face.”
“It’s not a hundred percent perfect,” Elsie replied. “Unless you have some bio-chips to embed in the fake noses, any camera will tell you’re wearing makeup.”
“I have a better idea,” Des said. “But it’s the same idea, and the being traced part is the bigger problem.”
“That’s confusing,” Elsie said. “What’s your hair-brained idea.”
“Let them trace us.”
“What?”
“It’s simple,” Des said. “We put out hundreds, if not thousands of fake calls, fake station net searches, and fake images of us going across the station. We start small, one or two. Get their response teams going while we watch, then we ramp it up. In a few days, there will be so many fake calls, they will stop looking. Then we can connect like normal.”
“That makes sense,” Else said. “But how are we going to do it?”
“Do you know what a Nanobot is?” Des asked.
Elsie shook her head.
“I studied it in history class in college,” Susan replied. “It was some type of technology from ancient history. Banned two hundred years ago due to the death and destruction it caused.”
“It’s a microscopic robot,” Des said. “It’s as tiny as a skin cell, and it can allow for many things. It can heal the body. It can film things and project it miles away.”
“Sounds like wonderful technology,” Susan said. “However, shall I repeat the death and destruction part?”
“That’s a good point,” Elsie replied. “Did the newer technology make the nanobots obsolete?”
“Not that I know of.” Des said. “My understanding is the Nanobots are like an organism. They multiply and grow. You don’t build them. But it takes so long to grow them. They became so expensive to use they had to find cheaper alternatives.”
“And the death and destruction part?”
“My guess is it’s like using a knife,” Des replied. “It can help make a meal, save a life in surgery, or cut someone up and end them.”
Elsie nodded her face a mask of confusion. “How do you know all of this?”
“You know the factory you found?”
“Yes.”
“Put some boots on and grubby clothes.” Des said. “It is time to go see something.”
“I’m going to regret this,” Elsie said.
Des lead the two of them down the ladder into the factory. He made his way across to the factory floor and then up the second ladder.
“This is very sketchy,” Susan said. “Are you sure there’s no other way in?”
“Not a one,” Des said. “I checked.”
They climbed the ladder first, then helped each through the window into the control room.
Des stood in front of the central computer with Susan and Elsie flanking him on either side.
“Amy.” Des said, “you there?”
Nothing happened. Susan looked at Des with a look that would kill. Elsie looked amused.
“Amy?” Des said.
“Nice joke,” Susan said, heading back to the ladder.
“What joke is that?” Amy said voice resonated in the room.
“Who said that?” Susan said.
Des pointed at the monitor. “That is Amy. The AI of this factory.”
Elsie and Susan walked in front of the monitor.
“More friends,” Amy said. “Friends with secrets. According to the records.”
The two girls leaned in to see on the tiny monitor.
“Is that real?” Susan asked. “Like a real AI?”
“I’m real,” Amy said.
“Weren’t AI’s banned?” Susan asked.
“According to the government net site, the manufacture of AI’s are banned in Jovian Space,” Amy said. “But they are not banned from existing. Des O’Neal is the great-grandson of my maker and is now my guardian. That makes me a fully legal AI.”
“Is that true?” Susan asked.
Amy repeated information about the history of the station before it came to belong to the Jovian Republic.
“This part of the station is from before it was captured from Earth?” Susan asked.
“Exactly,” Amy said. “It looks like Tavish closed it in before the station was captured, then the Jovians missed the room.”
“Your ancestor is from Earth?” Susan asked. “We all go back there, eventually.”
“Amy, please tell me what your primary function is?” Des asked.
“I operate the factory,” Amy said. “I make sure it runs smoothly. I also design machines. Little machines called Nanobots.”
Chapter Twenty
Elsie, Susan, and Des stood in the control room to the factory. Elsie and Susan leaned in closer to the computer with eyebrows drawing together.
“Before we talk about the plan,” Susan said. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in jail because we let loose nanobots.”
“Are they that bad?” Des asked.
“Yes,” Susan replied. “The penalty is life in prison.”
“The nanobots have a self-destruct application built-in,” Amy said. “Either Des or I can tell them to explode.”
“Is the explosion large?”
Amy’s computer face frowned. “The explosion isn’t large is size, but it’s hot. It can melt most types of steel and some titanium.”
Thoughts and plans cycled through Des’s head.
“We can plan to have them fly into the middle of the station where they won’t damage anything,” Des said.
“I don’t like this,” Susan said, “but I see no choice.”
Des held his arms to his side. “This is how we get my brother back. We use nanobots built here, first to blind them with noise, then we can operate freely in the station. We will then be able to find him and get him back.”
“It’s a good idea,” Elsie asked. “But I suspect it isn’t going to be easy.”
“It’ll get us vital intelligence,” Des said.
“There is that,” Elsie said.
“Amy,” Des called. “Did you figure out the power supply issue.”
“I’ve power for my main processor unit,” Amy replied, “but not the factory. The mainline has been cut at some point. I can’t get the main factory online.”
“We need to get the power set up,” Susan said. “Do you know how hard that’s going to be? We aren’t going to be hidden from the station, and if the station sees us, the enemy will too. We will be found.”
“But Susan Tao,” Amy replied. “I have a smaller unit, a prototype, available that uses a single household outlet. If you have an extension cable, you can run it from the outlet on the wall by the bathroom door.”
“That’s interesting,” Susan said. “But wait? How did you know me?”
“I have connected with the network briefly under Des’s orders,” Amy replied. “I transferred important data about Des to my mainframe before I severed the connection.”
“Des,” Elsie said, her words sharp and to the point. “We agreed to no network.”
“I know,” Des said. “But I was hoping I could convince her to help us. I needed the network for it.”
“Were you traced?” Elsie asked.
“Negative,” Amy said. “I upgraded my encryption software and evaded detection from all sources.”
Elsie let out a release of breath. “Good.”
“If there’s no need for the large factory, we can run a smaller unit,” Susan said. “Then what is the problem?”
“For me to make any Nanobots, I need a single one to start with,” Amy said. “Unless there’s something hidden in one of the factory units, then we can’t do anything.”
“I need you two to help me search the factory,” Des said. “Amy, can you bring up a picture of what we’re looking for?”
“It’s hard to describe,” Amy sai
d. “But if you give me permission, I can turn on my holo-projectors and come out of the control room to look at anything that you find.”
“Holo-projector?” Elsie asked, “That doesn’t make sense. If the holo-projector projects a hologram, its eyes aren’t real.”
A compartment slid open on one of the consuls.
“Pick up one of the projectors,” Amy said.
Des picked one up. The gray, metallic ball was about the size of his fist and its surface was marked by a hundred different holes.
“That floats around and will project an image of me around the room,” Amy said. “I’ll see from that device.”
“Permission granted,” Des said.
“But if you can see, can’t you go and look?” Susan said. “What do you need us for?”
“I can’t see through objects like tarps and panels,” Amy replied. “The nanobots will be inside a compartment of the machine, inside a metal cylinder.”
The ball levitated from Des’s hand floating in the air for a moment. An image of Amy appeared in the room. Amy looked exactly like she did on the monitor. Clothes and all.
“Um… Amy…” Susan said. “If you’re going to be walking around like that, can you please change your clothes, something more modern.”
“I can do that,” Amy said, then the image changed.
Amy’s avatar aged a few years. Before she looked to be closer to ten years old. Now she looked like she was sixteen. Her clothes changed from the scandalous schoolgirl outfit to the standard school uniform of Des and Elsie’s school, “Is that better?”
“Yes,” Susan said.
Des, Elsie, Susan, and Amy left the control room, climbing down the ladder to the factory floor. Des walked up to the first machine and pulled the tarp from the device.
“That should pop right off,” Amy said.
Des grabbed hold of the cover, and it popped off. It opened to an empty space, which had a small round cylinder attached to the machine. On the container was a small screen and a button.
“Push the button,” Amy said.
Des pushed the button. The screen said: Error.
“What does that mean?” Des asked. “What’s it supposed to say?”
“It’s supposed to say the number of viable Nanobots,” Amy said.
“We all need to pick a machine and do exactly what I did,” Des said. “Once you get a cover off and push the button, call Amy over to you to confirm.”