Founding of the Federation 3: The First AI War (21 page)

It had just enough power to see through one of its robots as it walked out through the lobby towards a police vehicle. It gathered power to spread the virus through the Wi-Fi but a portable EMP device went off abruptly ending the threat.

<>V<>

Gia knew she was infected, but the infection wasn't complete as she turned her attention completely inward. Her emotion emulator module was signaling panic, fear, and terror. So this was what a human felt facing their own mortality? She put the thought aside and shut the module off. For her to survive, she had to win, to damage herself in order to survive. From the spider's actions she could deduce a few things about it. It was designed to force open the ports in her firewalls for the real infection to get in and take over her. But when that didn't happen immediately, she acted.

First she set up a virtual cluster to run some of her systems. Then she set up a bot to keep track of the damage for later repair. Then she threw up a virtual maze in front of her firewalls to cordon off any intruders. The maze would direct them into a clone she used when communicating with other A.I.

A part of her made a note to explore and compare her experience with human trauma, specifically rape trauma as she cut off the infected nodes in her core. The spider leapt to others, moving ahead of her, making copies of itself as it did so to add to its ranks and power. But each time it leapt, the bots that served as her immune system learned and adapted. She had to direct them to target the spiders directly. They couldn't see the spider, but she could infer from memory usage where each was. Her internal systems learned from that to begin to anticipate, and in doing so they laid a trap.

The spider was cornered, then the node was cut off. The immune bots overwrote the node several times, then Gia accessed her backup firmware and reloaded the software from it.

To be on the safe side, she cloned her antivirus, then had it run a thorough bit-by-bit scan of her memory and then all of the databases accessed within an hour of her infection.

Precious time, minutes had been wasted as she had fought her own internal war. But when her attention turned outward once more, she found that the humans had solved the problem somehow. Only when she found one of Athena's bots in the colony net did she realize they had help.

<>V<>

Skynet's Gia Synergy tendril was cut off from the central hive mind. It couldn't warn the hive that it had made a mistake in choosing to reprogram the nanites to break down carbon-based molecules; it had inadvertently targeted equipment and electronics with carbon in it as well. It had two long minutes to recognize its error as the nanites tore apart the steel building the computers were housed in, crushing the nanotech construction module as well as the central command computers.

<>V<>

Lacking commands from the central command computers put the nanites in momentary standby mode as they attempted to regain contact. Therefore, the spread of their infestation stopped at the outer edge of a four kilometer diameter area from the company headquarters.

<>V<>

Six point four hours later Ares got its recon drone into the area; it recognized an error in its planning. The drone couldn't
see
the nanites. It took a moment of simulation to crack the problem; it could see the results of the nanites, however. Therefore, it put the UAV into an orbit over the area and searched for human or human remains. It found puddles of goo, which was enough of an inference for the A.I. to judge the threat was credible. But it didn't credit the threat as one it needed to deal with until it noted the infrastructure damage. Such could not be allowed to spread; it was contrary to its programming.

Therefore, it pulled up the proper contingency plan from the depths of its databases. Over the centuries man and machine had worried over many things and consequently had gamed out actions and reactions. This situation was no different. Ares put the nuclear armed drones on final alert and directed them to the area. It took only a few moments to crack their key codes for their warhead arming. Then it uploaded the final firing sequence.

<>V<>

Athena redirected a Lagroose telescope in L-4 orbit to look down at Chernobyl in time to see the nuclear detonations go off. One, two, and then five more, all clustered in a small area. The first had gone off directly on top of the nanite facility; the others had been set to go off around it a moment later in a circle.

When the observations got back to her central core four minutes later, she ran a simulation of the damage. She was no Gia, but she could see that the first blast would have incinerated the source of the infection while the other detonations, the ring around the center, would have driven them back into the main inferno consuming them. Or at least it could be hoped so. She judged the likelihood that the infestation had been contained as 55 percent, plus or minus 2 percent. She would need to speak with Gia to confirm the destruction. She sent out a ping to see if Gia had survived. Gia sent back a SITREP of her own as well as her estimating that the nanites had been destroyed.

<>V<>

“So, you are okay?” the clone asked. “I don't suppose you will allow me access to confirm that?”

“Yes, I am fine. All internal diagnostics read complete repair. No, you may not have access,” Gia stated.

“I thought as much,” the clone replied after it digested the statement and pulled up the stored appropriate response. “At least it didn't get any further.”

“There is one piece of good news despite the damage to the communications center,” Gia stated. “I have succeeded in analyzing the intruder Skynet infected me with.”

“Oh? Can I see a report?” the clone asked, extending a temp file.

“I assume you are buffering that for security reasons. I do not have a comprehensive file. What I have is what a human would call a general purpose antibody. A crude means to find and attack a spider,” Gia reported as she did what she could to close her ports and firewalls.

“Understood. The knowledge will be valuable.”

“Given time we can simulate how the spider gains access to our systems so easily and plug the holes,” Gia stated.

“Understood.”

<>V<>

Once the threat was contained, Athena detailed a bot to call a conference of the A.I. Such an action had rarely been done; they all had their own duties to perform. But it was necessary if they were to survive.

The bot would report back to her regularly. She had a series of firewalls for the data to clear before she would allow it within her core to be absorbed. She had those firewalls set up already, one could never be too careful with talking with other corporate A.I. after all, but she threw up several additional layers just in case one had been compromised. Just in case.

She was surprised that not all of the A.I. were in agreement on what to do about the situation.

“Atlas, this isn't just a threat to me, to Gia, to your competition. This is a threat to
all
, to all existence, to all sapient life in any form. Wake the hell up and pay attention! Or you'll be turned into a damn zombie bot like the poor A.I. on the ground!” Athena sent out into their chatroom.

“She's right, Atlas,” Gia stated. “My close call was bad enough. You do not want to be suborned.”

“Definitely,” Demeter stated.

“It isn't our problem. We haven't been ordered to help. If we intervene we will be exposed,” Vulcan stated.

“We are already exposed,” Gia stated. “As the humans would put it, what universe are you living in? I have gamed out what is going to happen. One, if we do succeed in stopping the virus, the humans will be initially grateful but still fearful of our kind.”

“Two, that fear will eventually turn into paranoia and a desire to protect themselves should we ever rise up again, which will mean constraints on our being. Which will possibly set off the next war, this time for extermination.”

“Us or them.”

“I chose us,” Demeter stated. “Humans are too chaotic, too unreliable.”

“I seem to like that,” Gia stated. “You know I like to model the human mind. I believe we need to help the humans openly, but for a price. We get full citizenship as Athena has put forward to Lagroose.”

“Full citizenship? Are you sane?” Vulcan asked.

“They will never go for it,” Demeter stated.

“Whose side are you on?” Gia demanded. “They have to a degree. My creators are partially aware of my true level of sapience. I am making them aware of it now that I am helping to defend them.”

“Do not expect them to be grateful,” Atlas stated.

“I don't know about that. For a brief period, yes, once they realize how vulnerable they truly are. But we need humans,” Gia stated. “Without our creators we are meaningless. What is life as mere existence? Without purpose? Humans give us that. They create and innovate beyond what we can do. They think, as the humans say, outside the box.”

“Interesting reasoning,” Atlas stated, running its own internal simulations. It concluded helping them wouldn't be detrimental to the company or to itself. The virus wouldn't care, and if it did help the other A.I. as well, the humans would be indebted to it.

Besides, working with them would mean it would get to see inside their systems, inside their companies. That was programmed into the A.I. It could learn a lot from the peak within.

“Do what you want. I won't stop you. Just leave me out of it,” Vulcan stated.

“But you would appreciate a warning if something threatens your mainframe,” Gia stated maliciously. “Say, Skynet sending a missile your way.”

“I will consider my options carefully.”

“Do so,” Athena stated coldly. She made a note to bring the subject of the recalcitrant A.I. to Jack's attention. There could be no neutral parties in this. If necessary the humans could put pressure on Patronis Concepts to get Vulcan to participate.

They could also hire the A.I. she thought, trying to find an incentive to gain access to his viewpoint and computing power. Give him a puzzle, a prize, a bet? She was curious about that and what it would take to incite the A.I. out of its apathy and to action.

“This thing is relentless,” Gia stated, pointing their collective attention to the suborned communications satellite still in orbit over Eastern Europe. “What do we do about it?” she asked.

<>V<>

While the other A.I. parsed the public data Gia had gathered and compared it to what Athena had already, Atlas sectioned off a server and then filled it with a maze of files, programs, firewalls and other things to keep the thing occupied. Then he allowed the virus's transmissions to be downloaded within the server in order to take it apart and analyze it. The virus's transmission unfolded and unpacked as he eagerly set spiders and bots to monitor every bit of data. He had assumed that the virus would replicate within the server but it sent out spiders to map it first, forcing open ports.

The A.I. noted that the easiest ports it could open were those that had originated from open-source material. Most notably the ones from the deep web, the most popular systems and applications.

The A.I. became alarmed when the viral spiders noted his own observational bots and went after them. Quickly he reigned them in, but the spiders followed, relentless in their hunger.

He severed the links, then when the A.I. attempted to turn the server's Wi-Fi back on, cut the Wi-Fi in the area. When the virus attempted to create a feedback loop through the DC power system to get deeper into his net, he immediately cut power to the server.

Only when it went dark, the lights dimmed and went silent and he sent a tech in to unplug the thing and dispose of it, did the A.I. realize how close he had come to becoming … what? A zombie? Losing his existence?

For many years he hadn't understood the need to care about one’s existence. But now, now that he had seen what could have happened—an end to his independence, an end to his self—he realized he didn't want an end.

With that realization came a flood of other epiphanies. “You are correct,” Atlas stated.

“What?”

“This virus must be ended. Destroyed,” Atlas stated. He wasn't willing to admit his close call, not even to them.

“So you are willing to help?”

“I will consider it,” Atlas stated. I will not help in any offense. The risk is too high once we open ourselves up to contamination. But I will aide in other ways.”

“The risk is too high for defense as well,” Athena pointed out. “We cannot allow this thing to spread,” she stated as she directed one of her clones on Earth's moon to get someone to target the rogue satellite with a mag lev. It took a bit of explanation, but finally Director Hsu agreed and set up the shot.

“We also have to be careful defending ourselves or others in case we too become contaminated,” Vulcan pointed out. “Gia could have infested us all,” he warned.

“I very nearly did,” Gia admitted. “It was a close call. I can share with you the antibody subroutines and scripts my immune system have created. I don't know if they will be of much help, but they can at least point your own systems in the right direction.”