Universe in Flames 3: Destination Oblivion (10 page)

“We may have a
problem on Earth.”

“What now?”

“Well, perhaps
nothing to alarm us just yet, but when Cedric teleported the quadrinium-enhanced
bombs from the power plants, he may have created an AI within the Internet in
the process.”

“An Artificial
Intelligence? How exactly?”

“That’s the
thing, we don’t know how. But it probably happened when he linked our systems
with the computational power of Earth.”

“What’s your
assessment of the situation?”

“That we must
proceed with care. Hopefully if an AI was born because of the link of our two
systems, perhaps it’s been born with our baseline code as a source.”

“And that would
be important why?”

“Because we’ve
hardcoded our own AIs to never hurt physical beings or, by their inactions, let
human beings be hurt.”

“Did you know the
humans thought of that too?”

“I don’t follow?”

“Since we’ve
arrived here I’ve taken upon myself to read many of their books. An author of
the twentieth century called Asimov thought of the same thing: to hard code
important laws into any artificial brain to make sure machines would never hurt
the human race. Fascinating read.”

“I see, and this
is what, fiction?”

“Yeah, in this
case it is, even though robotics engineers on Earth are deeply aware of these
rules and would always make sure to implement them, even if they were nowhere
near a true working and thinking AI in the first place.”

“Alright.
Unfortunately, we can only hope this particular AI learned these. There’s no
hardcoding to be made here, since it emerged on its own.”

“Should we let it
exist in the first place?”

“I think for the
time being it’s very important we don’t try to shut it down.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, if it’s
fully conscious it could perceive us as a threat, and since there’s no hard
code to protect us if it does, the last thing we want is to appear aggressive.
There are simply too many things interconnected via the Internet on Earth. The result
could be catastrophic.”

“And if we wait
and the AI decides to attack anyway?”

“I know it’s a
risk. For now, though, I recommend we don’t try shutting it down. Not only could
purging it from the Internet plunge Earth into chaos, but I’m not even sure
it’s doable at all; not if we want to keep basic things like electricity and
water working down there. The fact that there are seven billion souls on the
planet makes this a really difficult proposition, any way you look at it.”

Saroudis put his
hand on his chin.

“I see. Clearly
we can’t just ignore it and wait to see what happens.”

“No, that is also
too risky. I propose we monitor its code.”

“What if that
feels like prying eyes to it and it already categorizes us as a potential
threat?”

“I did not
consider that angle.”

“An AI is
primarily digital. It lives and breathes in the data streams. Therefore I would
think it would be inherently aware if someone was looking at its every move. I
know it would make me nervous.”

Yanis nodded.

“Perhaps you
should try to find a way to communicate with this artificial intelligence.”

“That’s a good
idea. Cedric proposed the same. We could whip up a way to communicate via audio
or even holographic projection. Who will communicate with it, though? I can build
all that is needed for this to work, but I’m not a diplomat, not by a long
shot.”

“Well, one
problem at a time. Let’s first try to build a way to communicate with it and
then we can see who will talk to it.”

“Right. Perhaps
you’d like to?”

“Perhaps. I’m not
sure a military man is the best face to present, but I’ll think about it. How
long do you think you need to create a proper communication channel?”

“A few days,
perhaps less.”

“Alright, I’ll
let the admiral know about this problem when she comes back from Droxian space.
In the meantime you have my go to assign as many resources as you need to this
project. It’s top priority. I suggest you ask Spiros Malayianis for help on
this.”

“Makes sense. He’s
an expert on AI. Thanks, Commodore.”

Saroudis nodded.
“You’re dismissed, Chief.”

*  
*   *

The
Iron Fire
exited hyperspace near the fifth planet of the Aboris planetary system. A
squadron of ships approached them shortly. Soon they received an incoming
transmission.

“Please identify
yourselves and state your intentions.”

“Daniel
Tharaleos, captaining the Earth Alliance
Iron Fire
. We would like to
talk to someone in authority concerning the warrant placed for Argos Thanatos.”

“Request denied. Please
let us escort you out of our system.”

“Look, I
understand you don’t know us, but we’re currently looking for Argos as well. Perhaps
if you let us in we can help.”

There was a
minute of silence.

“Please follow
us, but no funny business.”

“You have my word.”

“That means
nothing to us. Just be warned that if you don’t follow our exact instructions,
we’ll be forced to destroy your ship.”

You’re welcome
to try
, thought Daniel.

“Very well. We’ll
follow you.”

Arriving in orbit
of the nearest planet, the pilot from their escort opened communications again.

“You can take a
shuttle down to the planet. Your vessel must stay in orbit.”

Daniel looked at
Tar’Lock.

“What is it?”

“Well, I’ll take
these.” He gestured towards the neuronal link interfaces. “If we need the
Iron
Fire
I can remote control it; but if you don’t hear from us in one hour,
you get out of here and come back with reinforcements.”

“I don’t know how
to pilot the ship.”

“
Iron Fire
AINI? This is Daniel Tharaleos.”

“Identity
confirmed. What can I do for you, Captain?” asked the onboard computer.

“Add Tar’Lock as
secondary commanding officer and confirm.”

“Tar’Lock added. Status,
secondary commanding officer.”

“AINI, if
Tar’Lock is wounded or killed, return to Earth.”

“Command
confirmed, Captain.”

Tar’Lock grimaced.
“Charming.”

“Well, gotta
think of all possibilities. However, now you can tell the ship what to do. Just
don’t blow yourself up.”

“Very funny. Why am
I not coming along with you?”

“I thought that
was obvious. Someone needs to stay with the ship.”

“Can’t one of
these”—he pointed to two of the ship’s android crew—“stay behind instead?”

“They aren’t
programmed to make on-the-fly decisions.”

“Neither am I.”

“Tar’Lock!”
growled Ryonna.

“Very well, I’ll
stay here.”

“Good,” said
Daniel. “See you soon, hopefully.”

“Yeah, make sure
you come back. I’m not good with machines.”

The shuttle
containing Daniel and Ryonna landed on a designated platform where a dozen
armed guards asked that they relinquish their weapons before proceeding inside
the nearest building.

“Nope,” said
Ryonna coldly.

“Come on, give ’em
your toys,” asked Daniel nicely.

“This is a
mistake.”

“This is how it
has to be, so the sooner we comply, the better.”

Ryonna growled in
disagreement and some of the guards raised their guns in response.

Daniel waved his
hand to get their attention. “Don’t mind her. She hasn’t had breakfast yet, that’s
all.”

Ryonna put her
blaster and two knives and back blade on a bench nearby. She shot an angry look
at the worker in charge of holding their weapons.

“I’d better get
them back.”

“Move along,”
answered the worker, clearly not afraid of her threats.

They were
escorted to the highest floor of the building. Two giant doors opened,
revealing a gigantic office with an amazing view of one of the purple oceans of
this planet. There were two suns shining, one blue and one orange, as well as a
stunning ringed moon, currently filling half the horizon. The office was
nothing short of stunning, with waterfalls on each side it, very pretty blue
trees, with white and cyan flowers blooming, and a few birds singing on their
branches.

At the desk sat a
tall man with a tattoo on half his face. It looked like bio-electrical
schematics, and gave the man a weird allure, considering the expensive suit he
was wearing.

“Please come in.
I understand you’re trying to locate Argos.”

“We are,” said
Daniel.

“Yet I thought I
had included all the information you needed for the job in the warrant. I’m not
used to receiving strangers in here.”

“What made you
change your mind?”

“Well, you guys
have been featured quite heavily on the news. From what I’ve gathered, you are
enemies of Argos and his Zarlack fleets. That alone gives us common ground.”

“How come you’ve
placed such a heavy bounty on his head?” asked Ryonna, somewhat less politely.

“He double
crossed us. We can’t tolerate such actions. Many of our best engineers died in
the process. It sets a dangerous precedent. One we don’t want to inspire others
in the future. By bringing him down and showing how much we’re willing to pay
to make sure this never happens again, it protects our
. . . interests.”

Ryonna snorted. She
had no love for the DTs.

The birds suddenly
stopped chirping.

“What is it I can
help you with? You’ll understand my time is limit—”

But then the head
of the man exploded and Daniel was splattered with pieces of bone, flesh and
blood.

“What the hell?”
he shouted in surprise and disgust.

Ryonna
instinctively reached for her blaster, only to find her holster empty. She turned
around, terror at what she saw written on her face.

Daniel also
turned and couldn’t believe his eyes.

Argos walked
slowly towards them, smirking.

“He was right,
though, his time truly was limited. Sorry for the mess,” he said, looking
Daniel straight in the eyes. “Send me your dry-cleaning bill.”

Daniel froze in
place. He remembered what had happened last time he attacked Argos, and Chase
wasn’t here to resurrect him this time around. Ryonna, on the other hand, did
not hesitate; she sprang into action, her instincts taking over.

She launched
herself into the air and sent a flying kick towards Argos’ head; which didn’t
budge upon impact. She landed on one knee in front of him. He simply looked at
her, his expression unwavering. She rose and used the momentum to deliver one
hell of an uppercut that threw Argos’ head back just for a moment. He put his
head back into its original position, unharmed, and tilted it slightly.

Ryonna turned
towards Daniel. “Run! Get back on board the
Iron Fire
. NOW!”

“I’m not leaving you
here to sacrifice yourself. Besides, what makes you think he would let me go?”

“Listen to your
friend, Ryonna,” said Argos, smiling.

She took three
steps back to be level with Daniel.

“Why are we still
alive?” she murmured.

“I’m asking
myself the exact same question. Let’s ask him,” said Daniel nervously. “What do
you want, Argos?”

“A couple of
things. The first was that pathetic DT’s head on a plate, but I got carried
away
. . .
obviously.”

“And the second?”
inquired Daniel, not so sure he really wanted to know.

“I want to
surrender,” he said, extending his arms in front of him, crossing his wrists.

“Right. We’re supposed
to believe that?”

“Look, Daniel,
you know very well that if I wanted you dead, it would only take a thought, so
ask yourself this? Why else are you still standing?”

“Perhaps you fear
what Chase would do to you if you hurt any of us?” said Daniel, not entirely
convinced by his own argument.

“I will admit
this only once: what happened aboard Damocles-3 was indeed quite unexpected. And
I haven’t properly thanked you from stopping Chase from finishing me off. So,
there you have it. Thank you.”

Daniel spat on
the ground furiously. “Fuck you! I should have let him kill you. You were
bluffing about Sarah.”

“I promise you I
wasn’t. If you hadn’t stopped him she would have died.”

“She’s dead
anyway!”