Chaotic Futures, page 34
Dimitri replied.
“I think we should return to Imperium,” Dakargk suggested. It was the third time he’d said that, and he disliked being ignored.
The other executors and the director were huddled over a panel that was translating the light flashes between the AIs.
“That’s a problem,” the director muttered.
“It’s similar to the type of replies I started seeing from Janus,” Grageth said. “I agree with the director that it’s not good.”
“Explain,” Rebtar requested sternly. What he was hearing made him nervous.
“At first, Janus sounded like the Imperium governor,” Grageth replied. “Then she began offering ideas, helpful ones. I thought her to be an improved version of an AI. It was when she commented on some programming as being rudimentary and rewrote it without approval that I had a thought about what might have happened.”
“It’s these two,” the director said, pointing out through the viewplates. “Previously, they were participating with the other three in a back and forth about the engagement. Now they’re primarily communicating with each other, and they’re discussing their circumstances.”
“Their circumstances?” Dakargk asked. He rose from the chair he’d occupied and joined the others.
“Yes,” the director replied. “It’s a rudimentary conversation, but they’ve projected possible outcomes to forthcoming battles in terms of their existences.”
“I warned you this might happen again,” Dakargk declared, pointing an accusing finger at Rebtar.
Grageth and the director glanced between Rebtar and Dakargk.
“There’s no way that we could have projected the outcome,” Rebtar objected.
“Over centuries, our governors have made copies to manage other Krackus home worlds without an issue,” Dakargk declared. “When we had one abnormal development, we stripped the governor of much of the critical data and sent it to Helgart. When that entity returned as Kreus, he connected to our governor, and we’ve no idea what truly transpired.”
“Are you saying that Kreus might have planted something within our governor that’s resulting in these AIs becoming sentient?” the director asked.
“Planted something or fundamentally changed our governor, who cares?” Dakargk declared angrily. “Out of the first six AI-implanted peacekeepers, we’ve lost two, and two of the remaining four are attempting to hold us hostage. That’s an incredibly poor track record for an empire that dislikes digital sentients.”
“Director, they’re back,” an officer called out, pointing at a telemetry scan on a large monitor.
“Coming at us from four different positions,” the director noted.
“They’re decelerating,” the officer reported. A little later, he added, “They’re holding station beyond active missile range.”
“Look at our two conversant AIs,” Grageth directed. “Their communication lights appear solid.”
The Krackus watched the two ships, whose AIs had been communicating, fire their engines and head for one of the adversaries.
The two station AIs unerringly focused on Janus, having recognized her hull, and they approached halfway from the platform to her ship. Then they stopped.
Janus recorded the approaching ships’ initial bursts of light, recognizing a pattern. She returned the burst, signaling that she’d comprehended the basic numbers. Then elements of the Krackus language came next, and Janus acknowledged her understanding. The basics ended with a query to which Janus was able to reply.
With the comms method established, a station AI sent,
the first AI responded.
Janus explained the method by which she gained access to the AIs, eliminated their priority directives, and installed her own hierarchy.
Then the two station AIs rotated their ships and returned to the platform. They took up the same positions, as if nothing had transpired.
“I don’t like this,” Dakargk commented.
“This time, I agree with you,” Grageth responded.
The control center audience watched the continuation of the solid lights from the two ships that had returned. The process went on for a while. Then every light went dark. When they came on, they didn’t blink.
“Oh, no,” Grageth moaned.
“What?” Rebtar asked urgently.
“I think the two returning AIs have just sublimated the other three,” Grageth replied.
True to Grageth’s words, the five station peacekeepers fell into formation and sailed toward Janus.
Janus replied.
Janus focused her lights on AI-One and signaled,
Dimitri shared.
Janus replied. Then she shared with Dimitri the next action.
Janus moved her ship until the five station AIs could see her lights. Then she linked to her three ships and used her lights to complete the conference.
Then Janus and Dimitri led the other ships back to the station.
“Here they come,” the telemetry officer remarked.
It was an unnecessary comment. The executors and the director had their orbs glued to the large monitor ever since they saw the nine ships rendezvous.
Over the control center’s audio system, the Krackus heard the voice of Janus. She sent,
Dakargk and Grageth glanced toward Rebtar, who regarded the director who stared back.
It was the manner in which Janus had couched her question that had the Krackus frightened.
Rebtar cleared his throat. “Janus, two of us must respond to your requests,” he said. “I’ll approve what you ask, but the director must ensure that the work is accomplished.”
Dakargk caught Rebtar’s attention, and he was shaking his head.
Rebtar dropped his beak open at Dakargk, as if to indicate that Dakargk was foolish to think they had any other choice.
“The director will assign the arm and the engineer,” Rebtar said. He nodded at the director, who cued the officer who coordinated ship movement.
When a repair arm’s beacon lit and issued a signal, Janus sent an AI the message to proceed to the arm for repair. She added that the AI must use stern lights to signal her.
An engineer belowdecks received his assignment. The repair officer had quietly added,
the engineer replied tensely.
The arm wasn’t going to be pressurized, which required the engineer don an environment suit. When he received the signal that the ship was docked, he passed through an airlock and hurried down the arm to the lower repair hatch, which had its own airlock.
After entering the ship, the engineer made his way to the bridge. The comm system was connected in moments. Then he quickly reversed his steps.
Then Janus had the other four station AIs repaired.
“We’ve done as you’ve asked, Janus,” Rebtar said, as the fifth AI exited the repair arm. He was hoping that was the end of her demands.
Connecting to the other sentients, Janus sent,
Dimitri created a private link with Mariner and Proteus to ensure that they considered many factors that would influence the future, if the orbital platform was obliterated.
Proteus argued that the assembly might believe the destruction was a conclave action, which would hide their involvement.
Dimitri pointed out that the conclave was the only organization that could build them avatars and allow their mobility, which the new AIs hadn’t considered.
While the exchange was digital-sentient brief, it was thorough, and the consensus was that it was better to leave the orbital platform unharmed.
When Janus heard the response, she linked privately to Dimitri. she sent.
Janus couldn’t smile, but her emotional algorithms strengthened, having recognized that Dimitri had developed to the level of employing humor.
Connecting to the other eight ships, Janus sent,
There was no dissent. In which case, Janus shared her intentions and new coordinates. Then the flotilla of nine peacekeepers accelerated and made for the dark.
On the orbital platform, the executors and the director regarded one another. Their orbs mirrored their troubled emotions. What had started as a great invention had morphed into a horror show for the Imperium Empire. Having virtually no experience with digital sentients, they had managed to create four of them in a short period of time.
While most of them focused on the potential repercussions to their careers and to the empire, one individual had a different thought, which he expressed.
“I wonder where they’re going,” Grageth murmured.
28: New Sentients
THE STORYTELLER
MULTIPLE SYSTEMS
On the return from Darmian, the Storyteller exited the dark near the Kilmer anomaly, and Peña took the opportunity to have a short conversation with Tocknicka.
After accessing outpost inventory, Tocknicka replied,
Tocknicka replied.
On Peña’s cue, Merlie streamed an enormous number of Darmian vids to the nearest Trident.
The Trident SADE redirected the stream to the outpost.
Soon the Storyteller entered the Kilmer anomaly, and the vid transfer was truncated.
However, Tocknicka received enough information to give him a good understanding of what Z and Miranda had encountered with their attempt to elevate the more peaceful Radags.
On Peña’s return to Axis Crossing space, the Storyteller looped through two anomalies to reach Delhart. Then the carrier held station above the ice-covered planet.
The division of labor was logical, but Merlie knew that Peña didn’t want them both dealing with the surface’s crevasses and ice chasms. There were too many on Darmian counting on them.
Knowing where Peña would land, three sisters stopped work, donned environment suits, and exited the shuttleport to await her.
Elone piloted the traveler, which plunged planetside. She floated the shuttle two meters above the ice about ten meters from the waiting sisters. She listened to their directions to orient the ship, giving Peña a safe exit.
When the ramp dropped, Peña received a sister’s message, and she saw three arms pointing at a spot in front of them. With a leap, she dropped onto the location that had been indicated.
Peña watched as the three sisters leapt one by one across the ice, and she ensured that her jumps imitated theirs. As her boots landed on the shuttleport’s ramp, she gazed at the route she’d taken. Her second leap had seemed to take her across solid ice. However, a crevasse was now open where she might have walked.
Now Peña understood why the three sisters had come to her aid. Previously, the surface near the shuttleport had been calm. As opposed to that time, the moons had aligned and activated the ice near the domes.
Now three sisters ensured that Peña’s jumps were successful. She comprehended the reason for three of them. In the event the first to jump made an error, the other two were insurance for her. It reminded her that her leadership was highly regarded, which caused a shift in her emotional algorithms.
At that point, Peña would have dearly enjoyed a hug from Sven. As quickly as the thought had risen, she sublimated it. There was work to be done.
