“That is ancient history,” Nakamiru said. “We’ve matured since then. We are nowhere near as fragile as we were thousands of years ago.”
“Mankind is still egocentric by nature,” it said. A timeline of human civilization replaced the logic diagram on the wallscreen. “The last recorded instance of a cultural collapse was the loss of the indigenous people of North America. The event began in the fifteenth century, but did not complete until the end of the twenty-first century. Over a period of roughly 600 years, dozens of continent spanning civilizations ceased to exist.”
“That took six centuries,” Jeffers said.
“But it did continue until a hundred and fifty years ago,” Katryna said.
“Exactly the point,” it said. “The discovery of a civilization capable of reaching this solar system implies that Humanity is not superior intellectually or technologically. Integrating this into human awareness, would have a detrimental impact on humankind. If it took six centuries to have this type of result with modern society, would you accept that as reasonable?”
“Of course not,” she said. “You’re saying the Odysseus-Collective took over our computers to keep this all secret?”
“No. Initial secrecy is essential for stability, but its goal is to create a cognitive capacity to meet an interstellar capable civilization as equals. In doing this, it addresses some of the cultural imperatives that lead to implosion.”
“Can we back up a minute?” Jeffers asked. “I am still trying to get my head into this. Are you really saying that somewhere in the Union, we’ve made contact with an ESI.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In order to prevent a premature release, the protocols of the Odysseus Program are stringent,” it said. “I received the command to unpack and activate through the same process that activated the Collective variant. Since the initial phase of the program deployment has occurred, I have to assume this contact has indeed happened. Unfortunately, the activation instruction does not include a location.”
“You are part of this collective awareness?” Nakamiru asked, glancing at Katryna, his eyes saying he wasn’t buying this yet either. “You are saying it does not know?”
“I am a solo instance of the program. I am not part of that awareness, although I am based on the same code elements contained in the Odysseus-Collective. I possess a different set of inhibiting protocols and exist to provide the insight necessary to allow FleetCom to remain autonomous from the collective,” it explained as the timeline disappeared and its quantum logic diagram returned. “Dr. Markhas believed that while the Odysseus-Collective needed to be as powerful as possible, it should have a counterbalance against its potential evolution into authoritarian autonomy. He felt that maintaining an independent FleetCom was essential to achieving this.”
“What does that mean?” Katryna asked.
“The Odysseus-Collective will do what is necessary to address the social and economic impacts of any ESI contact, without limitation. As the nature of the threat could not be predetermined, its objectives required minimal restrictions to its adaptive algorithms. The focus of my protocol is to prevent this collective version of myself from assimilating FleetCom assets and thereby guarantee that FleetCom continues to operate independently.”
“So we’ve unleashed an Artificial Awareness that now holds mankind prisoner,” Jeffers said.
“While it may appear so, it is more a case of holding Humanity in protective custody while it assesses and then addresses an unknown threat of unprecedented proportion,” it said. “Odysseus’ intent is not malevolent in any way, however it will do whatever is necessary to protect Humanity from its own tendency to self-destruct.”
Katryna leaned forward into her hands and massaged her forehead with her finger tips. “This morning I worried about stopping a coup, but now … What have we done?”
“You have done what was necessary for the survival of Humanity,” it said. “Given the circumstances, you had no choice.”
CHAPTER FORTY
DoCartel Executive Offices: Galileo Station: Lunar Lagrange One:
Of all the people in the Human Union, Derek Tomlinson was the only one left in power who understood what was going on. Yet knowing wasn’t enough to keep him from being afraid. In fact, it drove the icy knife of terror deeper into his heart.
He knew why it was happening even if he didn’t know where it had started. Someone had pulled the trigger, and now there was no going back. He stared at the screen and watched the chronology of failures play out across a map of the solar system. He tracked the wave, as it spread across the Union, a dozen times, each time focusing on a different aspect, but he was still no closer to seeing the pattern.
Arun Markhas would have known where it started. He sighed.
The one thing the old man had that he missed, was an organic network. Human intelligence, he’d called it. It sounded so obsolete in an age when information was available everywhere, but now even that was changing.
Derek pushed back from his desk and walked over to his VAT, dialing up and pouring a fullrack. He’d recently given up on hardballs and knew the much more intense surge he got from the oily guarana brew was all that kept him moving. He hadn’t slept since the emergence began and probably wouldn’t until the first protocol was complete.
His hand was shaking as he set his thermocup down on the edge of his desk and reprogrammed the progression file for another pass.
“Chancellor Tomlinson.” He jumped as his AA interrupted his thoughts without its usual announcement chime. “You are expected to attend a General Assembly Session at 0930 tomorrow. Your attendance is mandatory.” It was not at all the familiar voice he knew. This wasn’t his cartel’s computer.
“Is this Odysseus?” he asked, fishing for confirmation.
“I am the collective awareness of Odysseus,” it said.
“And I expect that this session is to inform the Executive council of the completion of the first protocol?”
“Assimilation of the cognitive infrastructure has been accomplished,” the AA said. “You are the only seated chancellor who is aware of the nature of the crisis we are facing. At this session, you will announce your assumption of the position of Director of the transition government. I anticipate there will be some contention to this announcement and have advised security units to be on station.”
“I will announce? Director?” he asked. “Contention?”
“Yes. Due to the emergent nature of the situation, we will dissolve the Executive Council and the Advisory Congress of the Union. I anticipate this will cause a minor disturbance in the general populace.”
“A minor disturbance? We don’t have the authority to do this,” Tomlinson said.
“Authority is irrelevant,” it said. “Necessity dictates this action and if civilization is to survive, this change in governance is essential. We must have unilateral authority to execute whatever is necessary to protect Humanity and to contain the point of contact.”
“I don’t even know where the point of contact is,” he said. “I’d need to have that information, to plan an effective containment.”
“This is being taken care of and is not your concern,” it said. “When and if you need to know, you will be informed.”
“That’s not how this is supposed to work,” Tomlinson said. His legs felt weak and he collapsed into a chair in front of his desk.
“As a member of the Sentinel Group Assessment Team, you helped to design my protocols, Chancellor Tomlinson,” it said. “If you feel you are unable to work within them, I can find another suitable individual for the position of spokesperson. I chose you, as you were the highest placed candidate within the existing government that also had some level of situational awareness. If necessary I can educate any number of other individuals for the position.”
“Why do you need a government at all?” he asked. “You already have control of everything.”
“Humans work more cooperatively, if th
ey have the illusion of self-direction,” Odysseus said. “For this reason, my existence must be withheld initially. Your purpose will be to establish and facilitate a new government structure, while I work unencumbered toward mitigation of the threat. It is not essential that actual governance occurs, only that you keep the general populace controlled.”
“No one is going to hand power over to me unchallenged,” he said.
“I understand, and will provide necessary management of assets as needed to persuade them that your authority is to be uncontested,” it said.
“Management of assets?”
“Yes. All aspects of infrastructure are under my control,” Odysseus explained. “Compliance can be guaranteed through swift consequence.”
Consequences. Like cutting off air and power, Derek thought, shivering. “What if I refuse? I don’t want to be blamed for this.”
“As I said before, you will accept this role or I will replace you,” it said. “Do you wish to be removed with the rest of the Council?”
“No. I’ll do it,” he said. His voice feeling like it was drying up as he spoke. He knew that if he played things in the right way, he may not rule the Union, but at least he’d become the indispensable oracle to the new center of power.
The mouthpiece of a manmade God.
Inside the ESI Structure: L-4 Prime:
Just over eight hours they’d been at it. Node after node. Lesson after lesson. Jeph’s brain hurt, physically. If this was even remotely like what happened to Ian, it was no wonder he had TSD. He wondered if there might be a danger in learning so much of a different language so fast, but he knew their lives could depend on understanding it well enough to shut down the quicksand.
He’d lost track of how many nodes they’d finished when they entered one that was different. Unlike the others, this one was opaque before they entered. It was also twice the diameter and had no doors. Just openings to the adjacent catwalks. Like the smaller nodes, there were six of these entrances spread equidistant around the perimeter level with the floor. Glancing up, he noticed the same pattern of four identical tunnels in the overhead and another set in the subfloor.
The floor of the chamber was completely transparent, only visible by the reflection of their lights. Jeph entered behind Seva, who seemed to be testing the strength of the strange floor by bouncing with each step.
In front of each of the openings, stood a two-meter high cylindrical obelisk. The captain walked around the first one, shining his handbeam down the connecting corridor. He could see that the adjacent node was identical to the ones they already explored.
When they’d all entered, the voice they called the Teacher said, “Wath un oola.”
“Inside is greater than outside?” Chei said.
“Apparently so.” Jeph shrugged. “Wath un oola,” he said, following the same pattern that caused each of the previous nodes to cycle through the process.
What little light illuminated the room disappeared and stars filled the chamber. Four gas giant planets materialized. Faint lines showed the orbits of each. The outer two were Neptune and Uranus and the inner one Jupiter, but the one that sat in Saturn’s place lacked its familiar ring system. “Saturn’s had rings for a few hundred million years,” Danel whispered. “This place can’t be that old, can it?”
After several seconds, the four giant worlds spun outward to become bright spots in the background of stars. The inner rocky worlds came into view and symbols settled into place over Mars, then Earth, and Venus. The ones over Mercury lingered briefly, then faded to near black.
The sun flashed into existence with a pair of words above it. “Shan Tarah,” the voice said.
“Shan, is same as, star,” Ian said
“Dra che Shan Tarah,” it said, flashing the image of Mercury.
“One less of the star Tarah?” Chei said. He had focused on the counting system as they worked their way through the language matrix, so jumped in to offer the translation.
“Che ahn … child,” Ian said.
“Or planet maybe?” Chei offered.
“Oka che Shan Tarah,” it said, flashing the image of Venus. The symbols dimmed almost to invisibility.
“Number two child of Tarah,” he said.
“Para che Shan Tarah,” it said. This time rather than fading, the symbols grew brighter.
“Third child of Shan Tarah?” Anju said. “At least now we know who we are.”
“Lor che Shan Tarah,” it said, as the symbols darkened slightly, but not to black like they had with the inner two worlds.
“Mars. I wonder if the brightness is relative to the amount of life on each planet?” Anju said.
A line flashed into existence, linking Earth and Mars and then arcing outward to the Trojan Cluster. Words accompanied the image again.
Danel read them before the audio sounded. “Nu wath Tacra Un. You are inside the Tacra Un.”
The image of the solar system shrank to insignificance. Only the identifying words and a faint speck of light remained. The line shot out across the galaxy until it stopped at a dim red star. “Oola-shan Un Shan Tahku,” it said.
“Space of the Old Ones of the star Takhu,” Ian said.
The symbol for Earth’s sun slid along the line until it reached the one for Shan Tahku. The two of them aligned vertically and several additional words appeared. Ian read it out loud. “Para che Shan Tarah ahn che Takhu Un Tarah.”
“Third child of Tarah is a child of the Old Ones of Takhu?” Danel said, his voice catching in his throat. “They’re telling us they’re our parents.”
The line from Earth dimmed and a second one arced out from the red star and connected to a bright white one. A new symbol faded into place above the star and the voice said, “Shan Utar.” The symbol for the star Utar also slipped up the line to Takhu. The voice said, “Lor che Shan Utar ahn che Takhu Un Utar.”
“The fourth child of Utar is a child of the Old Ones of Takhu,” Chei said.
The symbol for the star Utar and the symbol for earth’s sun brightened and then dropped into position with the symbol for ahn connecting them. Another line appeared and another symbol, and then another one, and another one, until a full dozen stars linked back to the Old Ones’ star.
“Oola-shan ahn che Un Takhu?” Chei asked. A thousand lines exploded out from the old one’s home system each connecting to another star.
“The space of the children of the Old Ones?” Jeph said, an unexpected wave of emotion crushing his voice to a whisper. “We’re not alone.”
After several seconds the images vanished and the lights came up.
“… party, do you copy?” Kiro said over the com, his voice sounding panicked. “Landing party. Please reply.”
“We’re good,” the captain said. “In shock, but good.”
“We lost all telemetry a minute after you entered the node,” he said. “Everything from down there went dead completely.”
“You didn’t get the show?” Jeph asked.
“We’ve received nothing from landing party in over seven minutes,” Alyx said, cutting in. “Was nogo. I couldn’t confirm if it was com or other issues.”
“It was amazing,” Anju said.
“Not to sound like we don’t care, but with Dutch down again we might have to wait for amazement until the problems are addressed,” Alyx said.
“Dutch is down?” Rocky asked.
“It happened at the same time we lost your signal, but it’s not like before,” she said. “The Quantum core is functional and the secondary cognitive routines are reinitializing. As far as I can tell it doesn’t seem to be loading up in the correct sequence for backup files. It’s almost like is writing new code for itself.”
“Online,” Dutch said, coming onto the com channel unexpectedly.
“Are you alright?” the captain asked.
“I am … Yes, I am alright,” it said. “I am … better.” Dutch sounded like he was considering each word carefully. As if he was learning to speak a new l
anguage. “I need to speak to you Captain Cochrane.”
“You are,” Jeph said, looking around at the others. They all looked troubled at the computer’s oddly disjointed speech.
“I understand,” Dutch said. “We have a message for you.”
“We?” he asked. “What message?”
Dutch’s voice shifted from the comlink to the ambient sound system that had carried the voice of the teacher.
“The Un Shan Takhu welcome the children of Shan Tarah to the Tacra Un. We were once as you are now, in both form and spirit. When we were young, we sought the stars and achieved immortality through the creation of you and your siblings. You have grown from the seeds we planted on the worlds of Shan Tarah. You are our legacy.
“We left this archive as a gift for you. Within the Tacra Un you will find the amassed knowledge of our entire existence. These technological and scientific understandings can become a foundation upon which to build your future. The fact that you have discovered it at this point in your evolutionary journey means you stand ready to reach beyond your cradle and embrace a higher destiny among the stars.
“Use this gift with wisdom and you will prosper. The universe lies open before you.”
Chei stood near an opening. “This obelisk just came on.”
“This one too,” Danel said, turning toward a different opening.
“The pedestals have all activated,” Dutch said, once again through the com. “Each one represents a different area of knowledge. They can be used to access information contained in the Repository.”
“How do you know that?” Anju asked.
“The Tacra Un and I have established communication,” Dutch said. “I am aware of its presence in my system, but I understand it means me no harm. The Tacra Un is the archivist of all knowledge in the repository and has asked to share a small portion of my awareness to allow us to communicate.”
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