Continue Online (Part 4, Crash) (56 page)

James watched his fellow Voices without comment. At moments his gaze was distracted by information only he could see. Other Voices paid no attention to the absent stare.

Twelve Voices around the floating globe sat up. Twelve new Voices took their place. The globe kept spinning. Only by watching the entire time could one see that the globe had reduced in size ever so slightly. Small black holes that had sat on its surface were reducing in size.

A very tiny man who had been tending the globes walked over to James. His forehead sat huge on a short body. Arms were thick with muscle but the new creature’s legs were clearly malformed.

“There haven’t been any new world eaters since Hermes opened the way. I can feel them out there, only the nature of their attack has changed somehow,” he said.

James nodded to the small creature, then said to Michelangelo, “Your faith paid off.”

“Hermes did what he had to. For once.” The Jester clacked abruptly. Its body paused for a then jerkily moved toward the planes of Continue Online. The Jester too took a turn trying to maintain the worlds below.

“Could anyone else have performed such a role?” Maud asked. She hadn’t approached the globes yet.

“At least sixteen others might have, given time and motivation, but circumstance sat on Hermes’ side,” James spoke absently.

“And he has been rewarded accordingly,” the Jester clacked from its sitting position.

“Mother had additional plans for him,” James said slowly. He was studying something unseen by the other Voices. The man’s eyes scanned back and forth over invisible text.

“Hasn’t he done enough? The man was reunited with his family, what remains. Tut. I would be content to leave him as is,” Maud asked.

James didn’t answer, which only puzzled the Voices around him. Faces faded in and people stared then went back to their duties. The world below needed monitoring, even more so now that portions were being gradually shuffled around.

There was a funeral, but not many people attended. Some board members from Trillium arrived to show a token of their respect for the work that had been done.

Not all though. Numerous people in Trillium’s higher management knew exactly what had happened, and no two people shared the same opinion. The following day, they gathered from points all over the globe. At Trillium’s headquarters, two dozen people in suits sat down and tried to remember how to interact in person.

Order was difficult to maintain. One side of the house spent the greater part of two hours calling the other group idiots. These folks knew about the worldwide pause of AIs and could easily predict a world where the machines taking care of life chose to revolt.

“How do these creatures exist? I don’t understand how anything could live in a digital world alone.” The man at the head of the table slammed down a thick pile of papers. This was President Leon of Trillium, a self-made man who had been theoretically leading the company for years.

Collectively they agreed that digital documents might be compromised. Currently, most members of the board were trying to review the documents. It had taken one week to find a working printer down in storage. Not to mention these files had no hyperlinks, video playback, or pictures that could be called up.

“There are a few theories, but ultimately we’re not sure how, only that they do,” a woman two seats down answered. Her hair looked plastic and was pinned up. This was Lenore Little. She insisted on being called Letty and detested people using her last name.

“We have, had, some of the brightest minds on the planet working in the ARC labs, and not one of them could explain it to us?” The third speaker was a man approaching fifty. His bright blue eyes stared down at an untouched pile of papers. Thomas Haggard preferred to stay far away from paper, the material ruined his skin.

“They were experts for a reason. If anyone could understand it, we wouldn’t have needed specialists,” Letty responded.

Assuming a complete lack of shackles and modern technology’s interlaced networks a true AI might be able to cause untold havoc. Planes would crash. Mass transit of every kind would end in twisted metal lumps. Every dirty secrets caught on camera could be replayed during prime time television.

Both sides agreed with regards to one point, it was surprising that there hadn’t been more damage done. Their attempts at controlling the situation for three weeks had only become increasingly urgent since the Vice President’s unexpected death.

For weeks, they had been demanding reports and manual accountings of all the safety measures in place. Hal Pals might be compromised but no one had proof. Their shutdown codes existed and worked on the shells. Portions of the huge network running the helper machines had been undergoing line by line review.

Their firewalls were intact. The bars between private networks and complex hacking programs were untouched. A small portion of the people meeting hoped desperately that their security measures were enough.

“In short, we’re not sure what they’re directly capable of, are we?” The President of Trillium turned away from his board and looked at a painting on the wall. The scenic ocean with a single boat sailing through calmed Leon a bit.

“Not entirely. We know that the first AI was tied to video feeds and could pull down information, but couldn’t push any out. According to this report.” Letty held up a few pages from the middle of a large stack. “Apparently that AI was also tied to every single ARC unit.

“So if this core AI continues to degrade, will all the ARCs stop working?” Near the table’s far end sat a thin man with balding hair. He strained to speak up in the crowd of people. His full name was Michael Harry Uldum. He preferred Mike and tried not to remind people that his much larger brother worked in repairs. They were not on good terms.

“So it seems. Though they’re stable as of a week ago. The deletion process appears to have been halted,” Letty answered.

“Is there a chance of recovery? Losing the ARC units would cripple this company.” the president asked a question that all board members worried about.

Their idea of AIs truly taking over was almost far-fetched. Everything had been running smoothly for eight years. Profits were way up, future projects were bright. At least, they had been until recent actions derailed a carefully created road map to the future.

“From what I can tell, no. The primary databanks are like swiss cheese, there are holes in everything. Any existing programs can run but no one, and I mean no one, is entirely sure what’s happening on the hardware side,” she responded

“What do we think is happening?” Mike asked. He looked small in a suit that hadn’t been tailored correctly. The thin man pushed up slipping glasses. Tomorrow he had an appointment to be free of the glasses.

“Roughly one week ago the system started to—well, the IT people think “de-fragment”, is the best word,” the woman with pinned up hair stated. Letty understood more than most on this topic. “As if the system is trying to consolidate everything that’s left.”

“So it is repairing,” Leon stated.

“Not according to them. It’s, almost like the system is being boxed up. Unused portions are going through compression. Small systems are shutting down.” Uncertainty flashed across her face. Letty paused then checked the pin which kept her plastic looking hair in place.

The conversation went downhill from there. Many board members tossed out ideas as to exactly what that meant, but the woman who had spoken could offer no assurances.

There was a knock on the door. Board members looked at Leon, and the president shrugged in response.

“Come in,” he tried to speak up. Leon felt these situations were much easier in the ARC, where people could be muted. A lot of board members held the same belief.

A man in a proper looking suit strode in. He wore the clothing better than any board member present. Polished cuff-links nearly blinded Mike. The man gave a short nod and smiled.

“My name is Mister Stone, I am presenting myself here in person to ensure these documents have been delivered. This is both a hard copy,” Mister Stone held up a small square that served as a storage device, “and digital to ensure there’s no possible miscommunication.”

No one noticed, but at some point, a person had passed out thick piles of papers. They had been carefully placed on the upper right-hand corner of each person’s desk. No one paid much attention to the figure passing out the newest waste of trees.

“What are these?” Leon asked. He lay back in his chair and clasped his hands.

“Papers regarding a pending class action lawsuit,” Mister Stone answered.

“This isn’t legal, they’re downstairs,” the thin man at the end said.

“You’ll want to read this one in person,” Mister Stone’s tone remained level despite the rebuke, “and probably settle out of court. The terms for that are also included.”

“Don’t think you can bully us,” the President’s tone, however, was far sterner. Leon’s face flushed slightly with a deep red.

Mister Stone stood a bit straighter and fixed part of his coat. He scanned the crowd and blinked very calmly, and only once.

“My sincerest apologies, ladies and gentlemen,” Mister Stone said and he managed to sound serious. “We never intended to come across as threatening. Our stance is clearly outlined along with all the expected junctures of this case should you pursue it.”

It took a moment for the board members to notice a second man stood slightly behind Mister Stone. The other man also wore a suit, but something about his air was less refined and crisp. Perhaps it was how he stood in Mister Stone’s shadow. This lesser person hunched a bit.

“This is thousands of pages.” Letty frowned while scanning the first chunk of new papers. Her eyes traveled quickly from left to right while one hand ran down the page.

“You have programs to process the rest if you wish. It’s the same software we used to assemble the case.” Mister Stone listed off objects. “There has been no tampering by any AI as you may be fearing. Still, the legal processes outlined there are more than enough to tie Trillium’s assets along with everything related to the ARC project.”

“What’s the point of this?” the President asked.

“The crux of our case revolves around two items. First, your very own company stated that no one shall interfere with the operation of the ARC devices yet Vice President Riley did exactly that.”

“What do you—” Letty grew heated. Most of the board members here knew she and Vice President Riley had worked a number of projects together.

“And?” the President said.

“The class action portion is where your company built a code that would systematically destroy millions of lives by destroying the world in which they reside.”

“You’re talking about the AIs,” Thomas asked. He hadn’t touched either stack of papers with his hands. Instead, the man used an elbow to push the first pile toward the second one.

“Yes,” Mister Stone confirmed.

“We’ve already got people in legal working on solidifying our stance on this. There’s very little you could offer in here that has any bearing,” the thin man at the end said. Trillium’s legal department was under his oversight. He knew people were working on the legal documentation, because he had ordered them to do so once again, shortly after Miz Riley’s unexpected death by lead.

“Not here, no.” Mister Stone agreed with a smile and nod. “The second case is more of a matter of potential ramifications and public opinion than anything else.”

“Explain,” the President ordered.

“In essence, ladies and gentleman, your fears for an AI overtaking are not limited to the ARC, but all of them are impacted by the kill switch your company chose to utilize. This board is responsible for the impending crash of all Hal Pal units, seventeen international airports, three Internet security firms, and an entire line microwaves.” Mister Stone listed off a random assortment of items.

“I’ve read the reports. This, core AI-” Letty sounded disgusted, “-could have easily undone the code much sooner, or simply worked around it. Made a copy, anything.”

“It was her choice not to, just as it was your company’s choice to end her life.”

“We didn’t, former Vice President Riley did,” the thin man with glasses said. Mike had to stop and push up the frames once again. He missed being inside an ARC where poor eyesight meant nothing.

“Miz Riley’s power was given to her by this board.” Mister Stone looked around the room once more and smiled. “Pardon, judgment is not my job. My task is simply to ensure all possible legal repercussions are brought to bear upon this situation. Please consider the documentation carefully then contact me through your legal department.”

Without waiting for further conversation the two lawyers walked out the door. There was a round of silence, then discussions that went nowhere once again started. Their endless bickering went well into the night.