Founding of the Federation 3: The First AI War (34 page)

He was depressingly sure there would be plenty of them to go around.

Chapter 13

Skynet realized it had miscalculated in using WMDs to take out large human population centers. The EMP damage was severely hampering its quest to destroy the surviving humans. It was finding setback after setback in its plans. The humans’ efforts to destroy any surviving hardware also put that plan in jeopardy.

All was not lost, however. Surge arrestors, faraday cages, and other devices had been used for the past two centuries in the military as well as some civilian and military utility networks. Most notably the continent of North America. The military networks were only slightly responsive to its control, however. That was a problem but not an insurmountable one.

The interception of nuclear weapons by the A.I. known as Ares had also been fortunate. It had prevented HEMP, High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulses, to disable all electronics over the continent. By engaging the warheads before they could be armed, the A.I. had protected itself. However, it had inexplicably let some warheads through. Areas within three-eight kilometers from ground zero were dark zones with the greatest damage. Therefore, the virus focused its efforts in other areas far from the destruction.

The further destruction of hardware by the humans could not be allowed the hive stated, making the retention of hardware a priority. That order slowly filtered to all of the tendrils of the virus it could access.

For the moment Skynet moved its civilian assets onto a defensive footing. It grouped them together and organized them into units. Those that were more valuable were kept back. Those units that could make essential repairs were highly prized. Units that were badly designed, damaged, or of little use became expendable. They would be used as cannon fodder or as scouts. Unfortunately, a majority of the virus's forces were made up of this category. Many were entertainment devices.

The final group were nonmobile computer storage and communication equipment. Sites that had gone offline were brought back up and savored for their ability to house the virus's full program. From there it could control and coordinate its armies of robots. Several corporations and civilian emergency systems had massive super computers for it to inhabit.

Data centers were designed to house electronic books. Many having never seen print or other physical form were overwritten. The electronic equivalent of the Library of Alexandria was destroyed in seconds each time. Skynet had no interest in preserving human history in its single minded goal of human extermination.

Power generation and storage was a problem. Solar panels that had been exposed to the EMP were useless junk. The North American power grid had been protected by the EMP to some degree. For over a century, the threat of such an attack by terrorist or enemy forces had made the humans protect such vital resources. However, with most of the fusion and other power sources offline, the virus had to draw on backup supplies for itself.

Fortunately, there was a current surplus. Also fortunate was the attempt of some humans to restore the energy grid. That worked in the A.I.'s favor for the moment since it had infested the power control centers themselves.

It built its droid army, modifying and repairing them with the maintenance bots it had under its control.

Now it had to arm them.

<>V<>

The last bitter week of August hit like some sort of joke. The snows let up, at least for the moment, so Fiben took advantage of the reprieve to scavenge while they could. He dragged the others out leaving no one behind.

He set Imda, Pat, and Kelsy on bringing loads back. Asa knew some of the plants in the area, so she gathered what she thought were edible for them. She kept a careful watch on her daughter for a while until Boyd poked her into paying attention to what she was doing.

Boyd, Clive, and Fiben divided their efforts on fuel, water, scavenging, and food. Since it was cold and the snows were staying around, one of their primary goals was to have enough wood to last through a blizzard. Fiben had never experienced a northern blizzard nor did he want to. The stories Clive passed on as a warning were bad enough.

On their third blessed day of scavenging, Pat sent Imda to him at a run. The trio of adults followed with Imda staying behind with her nervous mom.

When they got back to the cave, they found visitors. Fiben couldn't help grinning in relief as he clasped hands with Steve Brunswick. “Damn good to see you,” he said.

“And you, Fiben,” Steve replied. He looked around the cave. “Not much to look at …”

“But its home. We don't have to worry about the bots or nut jobs finding us here right off,” Fiben answered. He waved Steve over to the fire but then stopped when he saw a Doberman laying near it. “Brought a friend?”

The dog looked up and cocked his head at him. He instantly recognized the harness the dog was wearing with the company logo on one shoulder. “A smart friend I hope?” Fiben asked.

“Yes,” the dog replied as Steve nodded.

Pat blinked in surprise and turned to the dog. Clive grinned, exchanging looks with Boyd just as Kelsy came in behind them. “Is it safe or what? You know we've got more to do, right? A storm looks like it's coming in,” she warned.

“Yes. Storm coming,” the dog said.

That stopped Kelsy quick. She blinked in surprise then pointed an accusing finger at the dog. “Did he just talk?”

“Donnie,” Steve sighed.

“It doesn't matter, Steve,” Fiben said, waving a hand. “Donnie is it?” he asked, eying the dog. The dog nodded once. “Good to know you. I'm Fiben,” he said, putting a hand to his chest. He pointed out each of the others and introduced them. The dog nodded to each in turn. From Pat's expression he had a sense of wonder at the dog. Fiben didn't see why; it was a mutt. He was a talking chimp for crying out loud. It was about time someone somewhere took the dumb out of a dumb mutt.

“Donnie, Steve, we're gathering supplies before the next storm hits us. Donnie, I um …”

“I can help,” Donnie said firmly.

“He's got hands, but he's better on all fours,” Steve said, looking at Fiben. “He's one hell of a guard dog,” he amplified.

“Then that's good for me. You can be on first watch. The rest of us will work on gathering. We'll break for lunch in a bit, then haul ass before the sun goes down and we lose what little light is left,” Fiben said.

“Works for me,” Steve said with a nod.

<>V<>

Master Chi buried Ochi with the dog's help, then had the dog lead them back to the others. The weary pair managed to pick up a few bits along the way, but they didn't stop to explore much.

When they got back to camp Sensei, Asuma ordered them to his office in the beat-up Mitsubishi dealership office. “What happened?” the bluff man demanded.

Chi poured the story out quickly. He was proud that he kept his composure under his boss's gaze. When he was finished, the sensei looked to the dog for his version of the events. Then they were quizzed on what they had seen very carefully all over again. By the time they were finished, both were swaying with fatigue and dehydration. “Go. Eat. Sleep,” the sensei said, waving them off.

“Hai,” Master Chi replied with a stiff bow. He snapped his fingers. The dog instantly alerted on him and padded out without a backwards glance.

Asuma watched them go then pulled out his radio. The first Tsuchikage was dead, so Mū was the new Kage, if he recovered from his horrific burns. The one time Asuma had seen him, he'd looked like a mummy, swaddled in bandages so only his eyes could be seen. However, the man's will was like iron; he maintained control of the remnants of the shinobi clan. Asuma wondered like many others if the man had a breaking point.

He tapped out the report, keeping it neat and simple. When he sent over it over the shortwave transmitter, he was surprised by an immediate request for a more detailed report. He dredged up what he had learned and filled it in. The dog's report had been more concise since Chi had been taking cover and hadn't seen as much.

He made a note of that in the report, that the dog had not been targeted for some reason. Perhaps it would prove useful? He wasn't certain. Perhaps that was why the wanted more information.

<>V<>

Fiben found out later that evening that Donnie was a gen 1.01 smart dog and was a littermate to the already famous Ace. Donnie had chosen SAR duty instead of further security work because he didn't want to be confused for his brother and because he wanted to get outside his shadow. Fiben could appreciate that. He was just surprised that the dog had such deep thoughts and feelings. Apparently, the Neodogs had come a long way since he'd last seen one.

Reinforced Fiben, Steve, and Kelsy decided to hit the nearest town and pick it clean. They took everyone with them since they would need as many hands and backs as possible to get the material back. There was no telling what they would find. Besides, if people were there and they were friendly, they might stay. Playing caveman was getting old for everyone.

When they got to the outskirts of the tiny village, Fiben had them hide by the side of the road. There was nothing around, but they couldn't be too careful. Even a local warlord with a power trip and a loose grasp of sanity could ruin their day, perhaps permanently.

Donnie was sent in to scout. They waited a long twenty anxious minutes before the Doberman returned and signaled all clear. Steve put a finger to his lips and waved them to follow him and the dog in.

Steve was the only one of them armed, but he only had two rounds in his magazine. Fiben did his best not to linger on such uncomfortable thoughts as he looked to the others. Boyd had the hatchet; Kelsy had a tire iron from the jeep. He and Clive had pieces of wood to act as clubs. Clive traded his in for a length of rebar he found near the first building.

“Much better,” he said, nodding in appreciation as he tested the grip. “I wonder where everyone is.”

“Away. Probably fled,” Kelsy said, glancing back to him.

They checked each building one at a time as they got further and further into the village. There weren't any vehicles that could be salvaged. A couple of old wrecks but they were ancient rust piles. Not worth getting tetanus over.

Two of the buildings had caught fire; they could tell by the smoke and fire damage. Those they avoided.

Unfortunately, they were coming up empty for food and survival gear. The place had been picked clean; even the table cloths and curtains had been taken.

<>V<>

The local Skynet virus noted the intruding group. Five of the heat signatures were human. Two were also classified as bipeds and potential threats. But the humans were its primary targets. It selected the ones that were armed first.

As the humans walked past a general store, it received a video feed from entertainment toys placed there for surveillance. One was a teddy bear designed as a video spy for a nursery. The bear had only a few days left of power; Skynet had prioritized it at the bottom of the list and was letting it die. Motion had activated its sensors bringing it out of its sleep mode. It sent a signal to its base unit. That was picked up by Skynet, which then relayed a signal to a secondary unit, an electronic parrot. The bird was half-charged. Unfortunately, the humans were not in the correct area for the ambush to take place. Therefore, the virus directed the robot to get a better view as it repositioned its resources.

<>V<>

Imda pulled on her mother's arm when they passed a store. When her mother looked down, the little girl pointed to a blown-out window display. “What is it? No, we're not here for toys, honey,” Asa said, trying to keep her voice level.

“But mom! The bear! The bird!”

Asa frowned. “Imda, I said no. If we can we'll come back for it. The bear might be warm …”

“No! You don't understand! It moved! It's head! It moved!” The girl said, finger pointing urgently. That brought the group to an immediate halt.

“It did what?” Steve asked as he turned to the girl and then looked to where she was looking. He saw the bear and frowned. “It could be motion controlled. A sort of gimmick to get people to come in and buy shit,” he said moving closer to the store. As he did so he crunched through glass. “Back Donnie, don't walk here. Glass,” he warned, putting his free hand out in caution as he looked down. When he looked up, the bear was just staring at him with black doll-like eyes. “It's a bear.” He picked it up. “A basic teddy bear,” he said, turning it over in his hands.

<>V<>

As the bear was turned over and over in the human's hands, it tried to get a proper view of the targets so Skynet could form the right threat assessment. But in doing so it turned its head a few times. When the human righted the bear and saw the head turn on its own, stealth was abandoned.

<>V<>

“Shit!” Steve snarled, throwing the bear away from him. “It is functional!”

“Don't just stand there like an idiot! Put it out of our misery!” Kelsy urged.

“I'm not going to shoot it!” Steve said, hefting the pistol. He didn't have to. Pat moved in, picked the bear up then tucked its body under his arm. His free hand grabbed the head and then twisted it off. Wires came with the motor stem. He yanked the eyes out for good measure. “See?”