by Luigi Robles
“Working on it, sir.”
“You won’t survive this one, Fain. You won’t,” Cross murmured. “None of you will.”
“Sir,” Joan said. “Reinforcements are already at the scene.”
I almost feel bad for them, Cross thought. But no, not really. This is for the greater good. The good of humanity; it’s the only way Earth will survive. I am right to do this, I must do this.
“T-minus three minutes until the aircraft carrying the rest of the council gets here.”
“Good, at least that’s one less thing to worry about.”
“Sir!”
“What now?” Cross asked, not knowing what to expect.
“I’ve just gotten word that we have detected several of Sodenia’s drones flying towards the flight crew and the heads of ESAF, and several more are inbound towards this facility.”
Joan’s words sent chills down Cross’s spine, chills that he thought he would never feel again after he became a part of the council. He felt fear once again. But soon after, the fear turned to anger, to bravado. He would face whatever was coming his way head on. He hadn’t ascended to his position by being a coward.
“If it’s a fight they want,” Cross said slowly as he took the last sip of whiskey, “it’s a fight they’ll get.”
5
Nightfall
Kya was heading towards the council’s facility on board one of Sodenia’s drones. Three more fully armed drones escorted her there. From the drone, she was able to control the twelve other drones she had sent to aid Sodenia’s flight crew and the other two members of ESAF. Kya was able to paint a clear map of each situation and view anything the drones were viewing in her head. However, she could only do three at a time, and even then, the images she saw became increasingly distracting.
Luckily, the drones were fully capable of functioning without her fully controlling them. She settled for choosing their targets and switching rapidly between drones to ensure the survival of those she wanted to protect.
But things weren’t so easy for Kya lately, not like before. She had encountered a big problem in her AI journey towards understanding humans.
The more I try to think like a human, Kya thought, the more my thought process slows down. As if my mind is trying to enjoy the little moments, the moments that bring me happiness, joy, warmth. But then the same happens when I worry. I inhibit myself from thinking, from processing the necessary information. Is that what it’s like to be scared? Or angry? But without being able to analyze the data, I won’t be able to make the right decisions. I need to be in full control of my mind—
Twelve messages from the drones entered Kya’s mind, interrupting her thoughts. Ten of the messages were simultaneous, and two of them came seconds later. The messages that came in last were from the drones that were dealing with Larissa’s mercenaries. All twelve messages were identical.
All targets have been nullified
Kya allowed herself to smile, knowing that everyone would be safe now. She quickly checked for the status of the extraction, to make sure that everything was in order. All extraction dropships would be at the rendezvous point right on time.
Kya decided to have the drones escort the flight crew to their respective rendezvous. She wanted to make absolutely sure that the council wasn’t planning anything else, and if they were, the drones would be there to protect the flight crew. Nothing short of a full-on army would be able to stop even one of the drones.
As she neared the council’s bunker facility, several warnings came into her mind.
Caution
Locked On
Missile Alert
Incoming Missiles
Kya sighed and ordered the escort drones to destroy all incoming targets and their points of origin before they landed just outside the facility. A trivial task. Although she was having problems with her thought process, she was still formidable. Her thought process was just something she needed to take control of.
The escort drones were flying at full power, actively evading and destroying their targets. The drones were hit indirectly a few times by the missiles, but the explosions weren’t strong enough to cause more than cosmetic damage.
It was all over within a matter of minutes for the missile launcher and turrets guarding the council’s facility.
When Kya’s drone landed just outside the entrance of the facility, another problem was emerging from within the tightly locked facility. A large number of foot soldiers were coming out from within the facility, and they were heavily armed. The idea of having to hurt more humans pained Kya.
“Hold it right there,” one of the soldiers said, pointing his rifle at Kya as she stepped out of the drone.
Kya began walking towards the facility.
“I mean it. I said hold it right there,” the same soldier said, reaffirming his aim. The rest of the soldiers also lifted their weapons at Kya. “We have orders to kill you if you do not cooperate. Don’t make me do it. I will, we will. I am warning you.”
“Why would you kill me?” Kya said softly as she neared.
“Those are our orders,” the soldier yelled. “Take one more step and we will shoot.”
Having decided that she was close enough, Kya thought that she would have a talk with the emotionally unstable soldier while she scanned for an access point to their network. Within a second, she found it and broke in despite the multiple levels of encryptions. To Kya’s powerful AI mind, encryptions were child’s play. But she didn’t want to hurt anyone unnecessarily. She wanted to see for herself if they would listen to reason.
“I just want to talk to Mr. Cross,” Kya said as she raised her hands to try and calm the agitated soldiers. “Is that enough motive to kill someone?”
“You are trespassing on private property,” the soldier replied hesitantly.
“So, is that enough motive to kill someone?” Kya asked.
“You are a threat to the council,” the soldier said. “You brought drones with you and caused all of this.” The soldier freed one hand and gestured at the multiple fires around the facility. “This is not coming in peace.”
“But I myself have no weapons,” Kya said. “And that is the result of not being welcome here.” She gestured at the flames. “I don’t want to hurt you, so please stand down.”
“If you are not welcome here,” the soldier said, still clutching his weapon, “then why bother to come? And by the way, it’s the other way around. We are the ones that don’t want to hurt you.”
“I came here because it’s something I must do,” Kya said. “The council has hindered ESAF for long enough. It’s time to bring it to an end.”
The soldier didn’t say anything. Kya took the silence as a sign to elaborate on what she was saying. She didn’t know for sure, but she suspected that those loyal to the council weren’t quite as loyal anymore. But she also knew that there was a high chance that nothing she said would change their minds.
“When we became aware of the first group of inbound aliens,” Kya said softly, “the council wanted the captain of Sodenia to depart without the 2,860 people from the facility that housed the ship. Seconds after Sodenia departed from the facility, said facility was completely destroyed by the alien attack. If it wasn’t for Fain Jegga’s decisive actions to save as many people as he could, those 2,860 people would be dead right now. The council cares little about the people who serve them, or anyone else for that matter. They only care about their own survival.”
“That’s a lie,” a different soldier said.
“Yeah,” another yelled from the back. “Just a rumor to hide the treason committed by the flight crew.”
Kya saw what she knew she would see all along. She saw that no matter what she said, these soldiers would remain loyal to the council. But she also saw that it was because they lived in a different world than the real one, a world founded on lies and deceit. She decided to try and do everything possible not to hurt the soldiers. They were loyal, and they were doing the best they c
ould with the information they had; that much was certain.
Kya stared at the soldiers in a sweeping motion from left to right. One by one, their weapons began to disarm themselves and lock up, with a red light flashing instead of green.
“Watch out,” one of the soldiers yelled. “She’s doing something.”
Others were scrambling and fiddling desperately with their weapons, trying to arm them. But it would be impossible now, thanks to technology and the ceaseless effort of humans trying to make things easier to use. Most city weapons—that is, weapons that were allowed in the cities—were equipped with microchips for maintenance, troubleshooting, and shooting zones. In the case of these soldiers, they were even equipped with a Wi-Fi connection, making it easier for Kya to hack in and disable the fully automatic rifles.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Kya said as she walked towards the group of soldiers blocking the entrance to the facility. “I have an appointment with Mr. Cross, and I don’t want to be late.”
“Hey, hold it right there,” the apparent leader of the soldiers said. He was front and center and was the first one to throw away the inert rifle. “You won’t be going anywhere.” He took out a rudimentary electric baton, and the other soldiers followed.
Kya didn’t slow her steps. She kept walking towards them, watching their every move.
“If you attack me,” Kya said softly, “then I’ll have no choice but to defend myself.”
The soldiers ran up to Kya with batons in hand, swinging and screaming. But they were no match for Kya’s synthetic body. She saw all the attacks coming, avoiding most attacks with ease. The ones that she couldn’t avoid, she stopped either with a hand or a foot. One by one, she disarmed the soldiers with calculated and precise movements.
The soldiers persisted, attacking her relentlessly, switching places with the ones that still had the electric batons.
Kya saw that the cycle wouldn’t end anytime soon if she took it easy on them. After all, these were trained soldiers; they wouldn’t be giving up so easily. So, she decided that instead of just evading, blocking, and disarming, she would go on the offensive. She picked up two of the electric batons and turned them on, despite several protests from the devices’ old security system.
The soldiers hesitated, but despite Kya being armed, they attacked. It was brave of them but a bad move on their part, as Kya’s synthetic body was vastly superior to a human body. One hit from a baton was all it took to knock one of them out. In less than two minutes, Kya had more than twenty soldiers on the ground, and she showed no sign of stopping. She proceeded relentlessly through the group until one of them shouted,
“Wait.”
Kya’s baton stopped mere inches away from his face. The baton hissed and crackled in front of the soldier’s face, causing him to twitch.
“We were just following orders.”
Kya dropped her batons and began walking towards the main entrance of the facility.
The few soldiers that were left standing didn’t do anything to try and stop her.
“Go grab the med kit,” one of the soldiers yelled as he ran towards the group of unconscious soldiers.
As she walked towards the solid steel door, Kya couldn’t help but feel bad. Or at least, that was what her AI mind was telling her she was feeling. She hated the feeling. She knew that she had done the right thing, but it didn’t feel rewarding, like other times.
She sighed as she faced the door. The facility’s AI had refused to cooperate with her. Well, it was less of an AI and more like a program, since it had so many restrictions that it couldn’t even think for itself. Kya infiltrated the AI’s network and began shutting down its computer. She hated this mission, but she knew that it was the only way to put the original flight crew back on Sodenia. Otherwise, millions of lives would be at risk, if not the entire planet.
With a single thought, Kya opened the fortified main entrance and took a step into the facility. As she infiltrated the security network, she was quickly able to locate Cross, the other two ranking members of the council, and the senators colluding with the council. She also saw another two groups of soldiers approaching, as well as several scattered soldiers throughout the facility. She opened a pathway that led directly to Cross and locked the rest of the facility’s doors, effectively blocking the two larger groups of soldiers from reaching her.
Kya knew that she didn’t have any more time to waste. Every minute that the council was still operating was a minute the Earth was still in danger. Kya drew up the map in her mind and began walking to Cross, then sprinting, and then running as fast as her synthetic body allowed her to. She quickly reached ninety miles per hour, ruining a couple of hallways and walls along the way as she turned.
She felt her hands and feet digging into the walls and floors as she struggled to maintain grip. She felt her uniform heating up from the friction of her movements. She made a mental note to fix that later, but she did not slow. It wasn’t until she was a dozen yards away from Cross’s chamber that she decelerated and began to walk.
From the hallway, she saw Cross sitting behind his desk. One other man was beside him, and beside him there was a lady. A younger woman sat near the door.
They must be the other two ranking council members, Kya thought. The one by the door looks awfully young to have any seniority among the council. I’m glad they decided to make things easier for me.
Through the sensors in the facility, Kya was able to sense that Cross had several weapons below his desk, but he was not reaching for them, even as Kya closed the distance between them.
Smart, Kya thought. He knows that I can prevent the locks from releasing the weapons or deactivate them altogether. He might even think that I’ve already done so, and that’s why he’s not bothering in the first place.
“It’s so nice to see you in this part of town,” Cross said from his chair behind his desk. He didn’t sound scared, not even alarmed.
The other ranking members, on the other hand, were nervous, but they were desperately trying to hide it by putting together angry facial expressions. Perhaps they would be able to hide their nervousness from an ordinary human, but when it came to Kya, there was little they could hide. Kya’s eyes were able to detect the tiniest movements. The slight twitching in their eyes and rapid chest compressions as they tried to control their breathing gave it away. Things were similar with the young woman near the door but to a much lesser degree. But Cross, he was another story entirely. Kya could detect very little emotion coming from him, and it was hard to tell what it was exactly.
“Dismantle the council,” Kya said calmly as she entered the room. “If you do so, your lives will be spared.”
“Those are bold words,” Cross said, putting his spread-out fingers together, “coming from a lowly AI.”
“You’d be wise to heed my warning,” Kya said as she took another step forward.
The young woman sitting near the entrance was hesitant. From her small body movements, Kya knew she was thinking of doing something.
“Don’t try it,” Kya said, staring directly into the young woman’s eyes.
The young woman put her head down at once.
“Don’t worry, Joan,” Cross said. “You’ve done enough already. I’ll be the one taking care of this.”
Joan nodded once. The other two, presumably ranking members, tried to stare at Kya but failed as soon as she met their gaze.
“And you two are?” Kya asked as she stopped a few feet away from Cross’s desk.
The two were hesitant to answer; they must be either Cross’s new council recruits or not ranking members at all.
“These two are the newest addition to the council here on Earth,” Cross said as he gestured at the two. “Patrick and Reise. I had to replace a few chairs after the incidents in space.”
“You’ll need to surrender as well,” Kya said.
“The hell we will,” Patrick said, trying to meet Kya’s gaze, but he was clearly nervous.
�
�I said I would take care of this,” Cross said as he glanced at Patrick and gestured for him to lower his voice.
“It ends today,” Kya said.
“You know, Kya,” Cross said, “the things I do, good or bad, as some say, are for the greater good of humanity. You see, humanity is weak. They are too forgiving, they easily bend. Too easily, one might say. Humanity needs me. They need someone unwilling to bend, even if my hands have to get a little dirty here and there.”
“I’ve read the reports on you,” Kya said. “Hundreds of thousands of people have died under your orders. Whole villages have disappeared. Humanity doesn’t need a monster like you.”
“Oh, I beg to differ,” Cross said with a deceiving smile. “Those villages were peasant villages, people that will never amount to anything in this world. Testing the blast radius of a bomb was of more importance. After the bomb dropped, the world kept spinning.”
“I do not like to repeat myself,” Kya said. “Dismantle the council.”
“You know,” Cross said as he looked back at Kya, “I prefer to refer to AI by its true name, Artificial Intelligence, but I don’t have time to.” He emphasized the word artificial. “We have been talking about AI for over a century now, and it has been around for close to sixty years, by my calculations. But it’s hard to say exactly when it started, because even the most advanced AI had many beginnings, many missteps in the wrong direction. Countless times, companies shut down their Artificial Intelligence programs because they had no idea what they were doing. Some AIs developed languages of their own, some began to reproduce themselves, all without the slightest regard for their creators. And, of course, that could not be.”
Cross cleared his throat and poured alcohol into the short, stubby glass he was holding. Once the glass was half full, he took a sip. From the looks of it, he had been drinking before Kya got there.
“It took the naive computer scientists quite some time to realize that there was no way around the problem,” Cross continued. “In order for an AI to work and learn properly, they would have to develop unbreakable rules for it. Much like humans have laws from the minute they are born. So, rules were implemented in the AI’s programming long before it had any sort of consciousness. Humanity could not afford to have an entity running around doing whatever it wanted and surpassing human intelligence. What is the first rule? Care to share it with us? I’m sure it’s deep in there somewhere.”