by Luigi Robles
“I’ll be out in just a minute,” Kya said through the ship’s speakers. She sighed as she stood up from the sofa in the quarters she had assigned to herself. “You can put your rifles down; there is no danger here.”
She stretched her mechanical body while running a system check on herself, just to make sure everything was running optimally.
She walked towards the nearest corridor and called a pod for herself. Kya had been busy making upgrades to herself and the ship ever since they landed back on Earth six months ago. One of the upgrades she had made was to the corridor pods. Now, instead of just accelerating down the corridors at high speed, she had made the experience more suitable for humans by adding pressurized air in every direction the pod moved. Now, instead of the pod itself being the one to cut through the air of the long corridors, the air would move out of the way automatically.
As her pod sped down the corridor to the entrance where the soldiers were, she saw through her linked mind that the soldiers had not lowered their weapons.
“If you are anticipating danger by keeping your weapons pointed at my door,” Kya said through the ship’s speakers, “I can oblige.”
“You heard the lady,” one of the soldiers said. “I’ve seen what she can do. If we aren’t careful, she’ll have this whole island flooded with drones.”
Was that Specialist Marshal? Kya thought as she zoomed in through one of Sodenia’s cameras to the badge on the soldier’s chest.
Within a few seconds, she saw the soldier’s badge clearly and knew her guess had been right.
Not too long ago, Specialist Marshal had been involved in an attempt to infiltrate Sodenia and take control from Kya. There were a little over 1,000 soldiers on the small island. The majority were attempting to cause a distraction by engaging in a firefight with Kya’s drones. At the same time, a small group tried to access Sodenia through the rear engines. Marshal was among the small group. But as the soldiers had found out, trying to beat an AI in its territory was an impossible task. That day, Kya ended up sending more than 400 soldiers to the hospital with non-lethal wounds. The sheer number of wounded soldiers was enough to put a full stop to any activity that had to do with the giant ship.
The soldiers put down their weapons, causing Kya to show a hint of a smile. She didn’t like violence, and it was the fact that she had gotten the soldiers to lower the weapons with just words that caused the smile.
It wasn’t long before Kya was at the ship’s door, but before she opened it, she glanced down at her ESAF uniform. She looked at each hand, her legs, and her chest to make sure everything was ironed and crisp. Satisfied with her uninform, she walked towards the massive door, calling for it to open.
Kya stepped out of the ship, as nonchalant as if nothing important was happening while the soldiers stiffened.
“You can relax,” Kya said loudly as she walked. “I can guarantee you that no harm will come to you, as long as no harm comes to my ship or me.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Sergeant Lucas said.
Kya knew his name because she could see his badge without a problem from ten yards away as he spoke.
“Lowering our guard is not part of our military training,” Sergeant Lucas added.
“Have it your way,” Kya said. “I was just trying to make things easier for you guys. Isn’t it sort of a long trip to D.C.?”
“Not really, ma’am,” Lucas said. “It will only take us about an hour to get to the capital. We’ll be using a hypercraft, and we have special permission to fly at maximum speed.”
“Like I said, a long trip,” Kya said, rolling her eyes.
As she got closer to the group of soldiers, they began to get visibly nervous. Kya was curious about their reaction. She had never seen humans so nervous, even when she observed thousands of humans on board Sodenia. The soldiers’ reactions were new.
“So, where to now?” Kya asked just a few steps away from the group of soldiers.
“Oh, right,” Lucas said as he shook his head. “You’ll go with me and two others in that Humvee you see over there.” Lucas pointed towards the middle of the large group of military cars. “The rest will escort and follow us.”
Kya didn’t say anything else; everything she needed to say was easily handled by a nod. It wasn’t that she was trying to be mean to the soldiers; in fact, she was trying not to. She just knew that they were on opposite sides.
They got on the hypercraft, where three more soldiers were already waiting for them.
“You know,” Lucas said over the loud engine noise the hypercraft was making, “this machine is one of the fastest aircraft on Earth. Only a few people have gotten to fly on one so far. What do you think of it?”
“It’s slow and loud,” Kya said.
“It’s loud, I’ll give you that,” Lucas said. “But it’s fast.”
“No, it’s slow,” Kya said. “I think this craft will have some trouble staying above the sound barrier for a long period of time. And even then, it’s still not as fast as my slowest drone.”
“How fast is your slowest drone?” Lucas asked.
“Let’s hope you never have to find out,” Kya said with a slight smile.
Lucas nodded in agreement.
“Ma’am, I have a question, if you don’t mind,” Lucas said.
“Go ahead,” Kya responded.
“Are you still able to control the ship from far away?”
“If there is a plan in place to try to infiltrate Sodenia while I am not there,” Kya said, turning to face Lucas for the first time, “you should do everything you can to cancel it. The results would be the same as last time, if not worse. While the drones are fully programmed to defend Sodenia against any threat, there’s not a place in the world from which I wouldn’t be able to fully control the ship. You should consider that a warning.”
Lucas’ Adam’s apple bobbed, and he nodded in agreement. The other soldiers tried not to react to the conversation, but Kya was able to tell that they were listening intently, as they stiffened up, and one even began perspiring.
“Does that answer your question?” Kya asked.
“Yes, ma’am, it does,” Lucas said. “And if you don’t mind, I have another. This is one of my own. I have a family, and I need to know what’s going on with the bogey that appeared in orbit yesterday. Is it a threat? You do understand that apart from heavy lifter rockets, aircraft, and terrestrial vehicles, the only thing ESAF has to defend Earth and wage war in space is Sodenia, right? Heavy lifter rockets, aircraft, and terrestrial vehicles won’t exactly help against an alien threat.”
“As far as I know, they are not a threat,” Kya said calmly. “If they were, I would have personally flown Sodenia up there to meet them.”
“If they are not a threat, then what are they?”
“If what they are saying in the message they have been broadcasting is true,” Kya said, “well, I suppose they are our friends, and Earth has a new ally. I haven’t had much time to further decode their language.”
“Message?” Lucas asked. “What message?”
“See,” Kya said. “If your higher-ups weren’t so busy trying to be rid of me, and if they weren’t dedicating so much time and effort to a futile strategy, you might have heard the message.”
“If you’ll excuse me,” Lucas said as he nodded fervently. “I’ll need to send a few messages down the line.”
Kya knew that Lucas would relay the information that he’d just learned. In fact, she was hoping that he would. Kya nodded and turned to one of the hypercraft’s windows. Giant cities passed by below them as they flew to the nation’s capital. Her synthetic eyes allowed her to zoom in on the cities and see them in detail. She passed the time this way, observing ordinary people starting their days as they jumped into their hover cars and went off into the city or onto the highway.
They have no idea just how close they came to extinction, Kya thought as she observed. Or have they forgotten already? Is it human nature to just forget and move on
? No, I shouldn’t think that way. Everyone’s lives have changed because of it, but not everyone can do something about it. At least, not when it comes to space. And now a new possible threat has appeared out of nowhere. It seems that Sodenia opened the gates to the galaxy when the Herrion decided to send it to Earth. Or was it that Earth was bound to wake up and face space on its own, and Sodenia was just a coincidence? After all, space is vast, and the possibilities are endless.
She kept staring into each city as they left one and flew over another until they got to their destination. The hypercraft landed in a tunnel below ground that looked to be two miles away from the Dirksen Senate Office Building, where a dozen soldiers were already waiting for them.
As Kya looked around, she saw clear implementation of Sodenia’s corridor technology in the tunnels ahead. Although rudimentary, it looked like they had tried their best to replicate the tech.
Lucas trotted over to what looked to be a control post and pressed some buttons. Kya and the rest of the escort joined him and stood around the post.
“I just called a trolley for us,” Lucas said. “It should be here shortly.”
Kya nodded.
Soon after, they were headed to the Dirksen Senate Office Building. But compared to the speed at which the pods on board Sodenia moved, the trolley was truly crawling there. For Kya, the time spent on the trolley seemed like an eternity.
“Finally,” Kya murmured as the trolley came to a full stop.
“Excuse me, ma’am, did you say something?” Lucas asked.
“No,” Kya said. “Just happy to finally be here.”
They went up to the building and straight into a small room, where a man in a suit was waiting for them.
“Miss Kya,” the man in the suit said as he extended his hand to greet her and took a step forward. “Thank you so much for coming. You can call me Cross.”
Kya shook his hand but quickly let go.
“I’m glad we are finally going to put this to rest,” Kya said.
“Yes,” Cross said. “Well said. Let’s hope we can put this to rest. I am not sure how much you were told on your way here, or how much you know, but this will be a special hearing, the first of its kind.”
“Nothing has been said to me regarding the matter,” Kya said. “But, from the research I’ve done, nothing really comes close to the problem we face.”
“That’s for sure,” Cross said. “Listen, in a few minutes, we’ll walk through those doors”—Cross gestured towards two wooden doors at the end of the room—“and we’ll start the hearing. I just wanted to personally come and greet you.”
The way Cross said “personally” told Kya everything she needed to know about him. It was as if he was hiding anger towards her. Cross wouldn’t be on her side.
“So, let’s get this started,” Cross said as he extended his right arm towards the doors.
As they walked through the doors, Kya instantly identified most of the people in the room using face recognition: reporters, photographers, and senators. But there were a few that she hadn’t seen before, and they were sitting in as chairmen. Seconds later, the flash photography in the room erupted into a frenzy as dozens tried to get a good shot of Kya. There were photosphere drones everywhere trying to capture Kya from all angles.
This was Kya’s first experience out in public, but she was far from fazed. She walked straight to the chair and desk that were clearly meant for her and sat down. She placed her arms on top of the desk and interlaced her fingers.
“Order on the floor,” Senator Gean—as his nameplate said—called out, but no one was listening. Instead, they kept taking pictures of Kya. Although the pictures were taken via photosphere drones that made little to no noise, the photographers themselves were loud.
“Order on the floor.” Senator Gean tapped on the wooden desk with a small hammer. “Order on the floor. If you are unwilling to listen, I will deny any further access.”
The photo frenzy came to a halt as soon as the senator threatened to have their access revoked. The drones settled on the far side of the room, resting on the floor.
“Also, turn off your flashes,” Gean said. “The investigative hearing is about to begin, and the last thing we need is distractions. Miss Kya, please rise.”
Kya rose to her feet, and it was then that she noticed Cross was now seated as part of the committee. There was a total of six members seated across from her.
“Miss Kya,” Gean said, “I’m sure you are somewhat aware of these kinds of hearings, am I correct?”
“Yes,” Kya said. “I’ve done some research on it.”
“Excellent,” Gean said. “You’ll now be sworn in. Please raise your right hand.”
Kya raised her right hand and kept it perfectly still.
“Very well,” Gean said. “Do you solemnly swear to give the committee the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”
“I do.”
“Thank you. Please be seated.”
Kya sat back down.
“Miss Kya,” Gean said. “I won’t waste your time, the public’s time, or our time. I’ll get straight to the point. This is a peculiar situation, as we’ve never had an AI sitting before us that has challenged humans, also known as the AI’s creator. I’ve been told that there are many precautions programmers take to outline laws in the coding of an AI, ensuring said entity will serve to benefit the human race and function as a tool. As the world’s most powerful AI ever created—by humans, I might add—you were given more tools than most other AIs, as you would be serving on board our most prized possession. Sodenia, the ship you were designed to serve on, is our only means of defending Earth against an alien threat. This is the same ship you now hold hostage.”
Kya didn’t like what she was hearing, but she had already decided not to let any emotion show.
“We never thought,” Senator Gean continued, “that the day would come when an AI would turn on its creator. Thus, we never made laws that would prevent an AI from taking over an entity or make it accountable for its actions. This hearing is to help us better understand an AI such as yourself and to take precautions by making new laws to prevent the same thing from happening again. In such times, we cannot afford to make any more mistakes. Especially with a new unknown looming in our skies. Each member of the committee has prepared a set of questions for you, but before we begin, you are entitled to a statement of your own. Do you wish to say something, Miss Kya?”
“Sure,” Kya said. “I’d just like to point out that what you’ve just said is your own opinion of our current situation. You are entitled your own opinion, as long as you don’t state it as fact.”
Kya’s remarks visibly irritated Senator Gean and broke his composure.
“You’ll have your time to reply to that.” Senator Lena interrupted Gean as he was about to speak into the microphone. “Now, it is my turn.” Senator Lena sat on the first chair to the right of the committee.
“Now, Kya, if I may,” Lena said. “I do agree that this is a peculiar situation we’ve found ourselves in. Therefore, I must ask, what is it that is making you rebel against ESAF and your creators? Why not help us instead?”
“I am not rebelling,” Kya said. “I am simply following my better judgment regarding the situation. As Sodenia’s AI, I’ve had access to an immense amount of information from the Herrion race and the human race. It’s this information that has shaped my decisions. Never in the history of this galaxy has a single race had the success we had against the Acram. It is my belief that you must not continue your efforts to dismantle the chemistry created by a factor of chance. A factor that cannot be duplicated. Thus, I believe that by not allowing the previous flight crew and their captain, Fain Jegga, to operate Sodenia so that you would have control over the ship, you have put humanity on a path to extinction.”
“It’s not that we want to have control over the ship,” Senator Lena said, trying hard to control her temper. “It’s just that we don’t want to have a rogu
e captain and flight crew flying around in space and doing whatever they want. We want someone that will follow orders, the orders given to them by the council the people of Earth have elected. It is my understanding that while Mr. Fain Jegga was captain of the ship, he and the flight crew violated several direct orders. And also, Mr. Jegga took action without waiting for orders. We simply cannot have that; there’s too much at stake. Even if they won the battle against the Acram.”
I see what this is, Kya thought. They are trying to shape public opinion on what happened. They are trying to belittle us and our efforts so that they can write new laws to prevent something like me from ever coming into existence again.
“In just one of those instances,” Kya said, keeping her cool, “where the flight crew of Sodenia took action without awaiting orders, we managed to save 2,860 people from the facility that housed Sodenia. People that otherwise would have died if we had waited or followed orders from a faceless council.”
“You don’t know if those people would have died,” Senator Lena countered.
“The alien subspecies that first attacked Sodenia,” Kya said, “did so without warning. The facility that housed Sodenia is completely gone. I think the picture is clear.”
“Thank you, Senator Lena,” Gean said. “We’ll now hear from General Miraloom. General, you now have the floor.”
“I am sure,” General Miraloom said, “that whatever orders the council gave to Fain Jegga were in the best interest of humanity. You are just an AI, a program created by humans, to help humans. What makes you think that you are smarter than humans? Humans were the ones that created you in the first place. Furthermore, what gives you the right to decide on behalf of the entire human race what’s good for us? You aren’t elected by the people. You just entitled yourself to make these big decisions. What gives you the right, exactly?”
The comments made by Miraloom stung Kya more than she thought possible. She never thought words would have such an effect on her. But she knew that what Miraloom said was designed to hurt. She was not going to fall for it. Instead, she would play their game.