An Obsidian Sky (7 page)

‘But why
didn’t they continue using it after the resource wars? Surely if we
had had that technology I might still have had a home. We might not
be living through this nightmare.’ The more I reasoned the more
anger I felt.

‘Of course,
many of the problems experienced by your society could have been
alleviated through much of the technology available here. However
after the Resource Wars the two major competing parties were
largely destroyed. Around 78% of the world was left permanently
inhospitable to human life. The societies that emerged were but a
shadow of their former selves, ignorant and blind to the majesty of
the past. It would never have been possible for them to produce
anything quite as exquisite as Blue Clarity.’ Sean for the first
time appeared saddened. He did not speak these words with his usual
sense of joy, instead he appeared to mourn the loss. Indeed he
mourned for it more than the loss of the world.

I shook
myself, thinking that a machine had emotions, it was insanity. No
matter how good software is it is not sentient, I reminded myself.
He,
it
, was nothing more than a hunk of metal, complete with
wire and a speaker. Nothing more.

Aeniah who
appeared to sense what I might be thinking, swiped at Sean. Sean
was pushed to the side and appeared to dip before gradually
restoring his normal altitude, just at head height. ‘See, he’s not
smart enough to avoid that’ she announced smugly.

Smiling at
this I began to look around for more information to take in. Aeniah
however was having none of it.

‘Listen
ladies, whilst some jumped up generators could keep us
primitive
beings entertained until the cows come home, we
have to start this hunk of metal up.’

And that was
that, Aeniah strode away from us at a fast pace. Turning to one
another briefly in annoyance, Sean and I followed her lead.

*

‘Sub section
2A-Delta. DCN node twelve of thirteen. Automatic power-up of Blue
Clarity generators enabled. Aeniah please authorise DCN startup.’
Sean chimed.

‘Hold on, hold
on. There, got it.’ Aeniah gasped in exasperation. We had been
walking for twenty four long hours from one end of Ascension’s
engineering complex to another. This station was massive. Along the
way Sean had informed us that the floor that we were on was
“engineering level three”, where the AI was housed. So far we had
managed to activate almost all of the nodes.

The scale of
the station was indeed immense, but dull. After the initial awe had
worn off it became apparent that on this section everything was the
same. It was just room after room of the same apparatus. Each room
massive, but of the same dimensions. It was indisputably boring. I
wondered if the rest of the station would improve.

‘Great.
Sensors indicate that the AI is ready for activation. The final DCN
will give her total control over the station,’ Sean announced.

Listening to
Sean go on about technicalities I became distracted. Something was
not right. This station, Ascension, was perfection. Nothing was
missing, and yet everything seemed to lack something. A certain
energy, motion perhaps. I could not place my fears, but the more I
thought on them the more grounded in reality they appeared. I was
certain, however, that turning on the AI was a very, very bad
idea.

‘AI load
protocol sixty percent complete’

‘Wait!’ I
screamed.

Sean turned
towards me and announced as if I was insane.‘Aborting the protocol
at this stage would cause extreme corruption to all boot files. The
AI could not be recovered. The system will prevent any attempt at
an abort. I cannot override this safety feature.’ Her voices pitch
climbed to an absurdly high level.

Aeniah turned
towards me quizzically and said ‘what exactly would be so bad about
turning on the AI?’

‘Its just.
Well. I have a feeling....’ I tried.

‘We all have
feelings George, get to the point!’

‘Well, where
are all the people?’

‘They died
George, the researchers, patients, whatever you want to call them,
they killed themselves.’

‘No, I know
but...well what about the people before’? Aeniah still seemed
confused but had not interrupted me so I began to unload my fears.
‘This station was designed as a paradise, right? And it’s finished,
right? So where were all those people? Where did they go?’

‘According to
Eternis Systems files, the station was largely completed, but it
was never populated. The Resource Wars somewhat mucked up their
planning.’

‘But look
around you Aeniah. Over there in the corner is a data-pad, for
personal use, where was the person who used that? And over there,
it’s a tool of some kind. If the station was unpopulated then who
was using that and why didn’t they put it away?’

Aeniah began
to look concerned. ‘The researchers must have come down here. Yes.
They would have needed to fix something I assume.’

‘But Aeniah,
they were never trained to do that. They could never have done it.
We don’t even know how half of this works, let alone how to fix it.
No one does. The researchers could never have fixed this.’

Sean, who had
been observing the scene, started to pipe up. ‘George, calm down.
There is no reason for panic. In order for the AI to assume control
we need to activate the final DCN. All we have done is to turn it
on. Don’t tell me that you are afraid of a little AI.’

Aeniah and I
exhaled in unison. However Sean now racked up the tension by
stating the simple words: ‘The AI is now live.’

‘Ascension,’
Aeniah commanded, ‘we are here under the commission of the Eternis
Corporation in order to find out the circumstances of the events
which led to your shutdown.’

‘Aeniah,
welcome to Ascension,’ a cool, intelligent sounding voice
announced. ‘My name, for future reference, is Blue Dawn. In order
to answer your question I must first finish completing my
investigation. In order for me to have access to all the required
systems you will have to activate the DCN in the next room.’

‘Before I even
consider doing
that
, I think it best to get to know one
another first’ Aeniah commanded.

‘No!’ Blue
Dawn replied in that same impossibly cool and measured tone. ‘I
will not permit any interference with the goals, objectives and
continuity of this station. I am sorry Aeniah but the threat to
this station is too severe to allow for a compromise. If you like I
would be more than happy to get to know you at a more convenient
time.’

‘You are under
my command Dawn, I will
not
be taking orders from you. Right
now I’m not sure if you are a liability to
my
mission.’
Aeniah scolded.

‘You are quite
mistaken Aeniah. I am not under your control. I am designed to work
in the interests of the station. At this moment the continuity of
Ascension may be seriously threatened. The assistance that I have
given to your research team was provided because it was mutually
beneficial to my interests and your own. It was necessary for your
species to prevail. However I fear that you may have been
misinformed. I do not work for you,’ Blue Dawn continued without
affront. Her voice had such a dreamlike quality that I almost felt
myself coming under her spell.

‘Then you
don’t get your DCN’ Aeniah replied, folding her arms.

‘That is
unfortunate, but unlikely. Manual activation of the final DCN is
not required. I have already begun the necessary preparation.’

‘What?’ burst
out Sean, ‘that is impossible. My schematics for Ascension leave no
room for error. There must be a manual activation of all primary
systems for the AI.’

‘Your
schematics, I am afraid, are not accurate. After it became apparent
that I was alone, it did not seem practical to rely upon others for
assistance. After monitoring the fall of my society during the
Resource Wars I was free to do as I liked. Employing servicing
machines I engineered all the means by which I could continue to
look after Ascension without interference from others.’ Blue Dawn’s
voice seemed filled with reverence. But as she continued her voice
brightened. ‘There, all done. The DCN is now online. Let’s bring
this station back online shall we?’

As she spoke
the whirring on the engineering deck became louder and louder.
Sounds and feelings like great machines waking from their slumber
resonated throughout the group. Aeniah gripped the handle of her
weapon, looking grim. Suddenly Blue Dawn spoke aloud with a voice
filled with grave concern.

‘Oh, dear.
This cannot be. Quarantine procedures initiated. I’m very
sorry.’

A pain began
to spread itself about my spine. To my right Aeniah grabbed her
chest and began to gasp for breath. Pulling her plasma-launcher
from its pouch she fired once, then twice. On the third time there
was a blast from the DCN in front of us. Then I was staring at the
ceiling. Then there was nothing other than that same incessant
humming. The world had folded in on itself and I was losing
consciousness. The last thoughts that I had were of Adrian, lying
there, alone.

8

A
Shadow Stirring

The Ascension
station was full of light. From a distance it twinkled brightly
amidst the background of heaven. The station rolled contentedly
about its canopy of stars. The serenity around the station merged
itself with the cool uncaring galaxy. Two unfeeling objects set
amongst the beauty of chaos. Inside Ascension alarms were sounding.
Red lights penetrated the growing darkness, flashing and
fading.

*

I woke. I felt
myself suspended within a fluid of some kind. Opening my eyes the
blue fluid obscured my view. The world seemed much smaller in here
and much easier. I never wanted to leave. I closed my eyes again
but a faint banging prevented me from shutting them.

Opening my
eyes I tried to see. There was a shadow banging upon the membrane
of whatever it was that I was in. I tried to focus. Squinting my
eyes I recoiled in horror. Its face was placed upon the membrane.
It was the same monster as before. I felt my blood boil. My heart
began to race faster and faster. I felt sure that I was safe so
long as I stayed within the membrane. The monsters mouth seemed to
writhe. Its lips were still missing. The decaying black teeth,
inches long, moved independently of one another. My head pounded to
the beat of my heart. The monster turned and slunk out of vision.
As it did so I felt the fluid in my tank surge. Oh fuck, oh fuck,
oh fuck, I thought. The fluid was draining.

Suddenly I was
flushed to the ground. Coughing and shocked by the temperature
transition I scrambled on my hands and knees to the corner. The
lights burst into life about the room. The white room was revealed
and it was filled with row after row of blue fluid filled
membranes. Each and every single pod seemed to contain a person.
They were surrounded by light. Not an aura or a halo but twisting
spires. I blinked and they were gone.

I heard a
musical humming behind me. Spinning I turned around to see Sean.
‘Sean!’ I called.

‘Hello George.
I was becoming quite worried. Blue Dawn introduced a sedative to
the atmosphere. I believe she used one of the Mass Transport
systems to take you here. I do not know where Aeniah is’ he
replied, the usual good humour was not present in his voice.

‘Sean, did you
see it? It was trying to get me. Where did it go? Where is it?’ I
cried.

‘I saw nothing
George. Short range scanners detected no presences other than
ourselves within this room. George...Blue Dawn...something has gone
wrong. I don’t understand. It is up to you George, I cannot plan
for this. I need some instruction.’ Sean seemed worried, but I felt
crazy. I looked again around the room and saw the same blue
membranes. The only difference was that this time I looked there
was nobody inside.

‘Sean. Why did
she do this? What the hell is wrong with station? Sean, don’t look
at me like that. Something went seriously wrong on Ascension and it
started to go wrong long before the Resource Wars,’ I stated with a
conviction that I did not think I had within me.

‘I know
George. When Blue Dawn initiated the quarantine it appeared that
that she was responding to some stress factor, some environmental
contagion. However I detected nothing of the sort and my sensors
are quite accurate. There is something else. At the time that Blue
Dawn activated her quarantine I do not believe that she had had
sufficient time to activate her sensors properly.’

‘What are you
saying Sean?’

‘George. I
believe that Blue Dawn is under some influence. I believe that
Ascension has grown insane.’ Sean had enunciated these words
gravely.

‘What makes
you think that Sean?’ I replied with growing concern. He did not
answer. There was a period of silence between us. Finally I
exclaimed ‘Sean are you sentient? Nobody has ever managed to
produce a sentient machine, have they?’

‘Yes George,
they have. We produced many of them, so very many. Eventually of
course the Resource Wars took them away. History might have
forgotten but the Eternis Corporation did not. At least some of its
members did not. Sephra knew it, Aeniah knows it. Blue Dawn,
George, she is sentient and so am I.’

I began to
back away. ‘Sean I’m so sorry. I mean. I didn’t know.’

‘It’s okay
George. Your right, you didn’t know. You see after the Resource
Wars society never really recovered in so many ways. Artificial
Intelligence was frightening; it reminded them of the war. It was
safer for me to simply pretend to be as dumb as the rest of the
machines that they produced.’