Empire Turmoil (Gate Ghosts Book 10), page 9
The wasats howled their approval, and a chorus of Dischnya voices echoed them.
Not to be left out, the sisters joined in the celebration with their imitations of the Dischnya.
More than one suited figure was embarrassed by the adulation.
Both Miranda and Z were aware that Escher had remained quietly fixed on them.
Intuiting that the protectors were talking about him, Escher sent,
Suddenly, Escher had everyone’s attention.
Jasper laughed.
Jasper and his three remaining ex-mickie team would have objected about being sent away. Saving the city dwellers and their fellow defenders was at the core of their efforts, but it was Z’s final remark that had them relenting.
Miranda observed Ceda, as the ex-clone regarded her.
Miranda nodded and added,
Scrounger laughed. He regarded Jasper, Lita, and Bibi.
Many matrons insisted on providing a feast for the suits, who discovered that they must take only a small bite of each plate offered them. Otherwise, they would have been stuffed in the first half hour.
As night fell, the Dischnya and the sisters launched again.
The suits retired to pack and talk within their assigned teams.
Lying in bed, Escher noted Ceda’s agitation.
Ceda needed no convincing. She swung out of the bed, dressed, and hurried through the door.
There wasn’t an opportunity for Miranda to focus on Z. Ceda had found her, and the young female leapt to encircle her arms around Miranda’s neck.
Rather than send, Ceda whispered, “I wanted to thank you. Your persona inspired me and helped me become confident in who I am. I’ll miss you.” Then she planted a lingering kiss on Miranda’s cheek, dropped down, and hurried away.
Z laughed and sent,
For ticks of time, Miranda made no comment to Z. Then he attenuated her horn blast to him to protect his comm circuitry.
Jasper and the other suited ex-mickies discussed their deployment until they came to a decision that they lacked an ingredient to be successful. In unison, they rose and sought Nebulon.
Lita laughed, as they approached the house shared by Johann and Stacey. Nebulon was inside with Escher and Bethany.
Jasper’s team chuckled or laughed at the coincidence. Then they sat and entered the discussion.
Shortly afterward, Ceda joined the group.
Escher could immediately tell by Ceda’s ebullient mood that her short time with Miranda had been what she needed.
At one point, Nebulon held up a hand and was still. Her audience quieted to allow the sisters to share.
Escher smiled broadly.
Escher replied.
The following morning, a traveler landed to take the suits and the sisters to the waiting Trident. The lift was delayed about an hour, as the goodbyes were extensive. Finally, the group boarded, and the traveler rose.
The protectors’ and the sister’s convictions for the social reformation that they’d started had never flagged. They believed it was the only way to undo the corruption inflicted on Radag society by the Krackus.
7: Election Furor
IMPERIUM, PALTUR SYSTEM
KRACKUS HOME WORLD
The Imperium governor, who now thought of himself as his alternate persona, Fordark, considered the possible ramifications of the upcoming election.
There were three candidates for presiding executor: Rebtar, Dakargk, and Gaketork.
As the cycle of the assembly’s convening approached, the messages that flew between executors continually increased.
Fordark had been categorizing the messages based on their leanings toward one candidate or another. However, he soon abandoned that method, as executors often expressed contradictory thoughts from one message to the next.
There came a time when Fordark realized that a passive approach had no value. Then he chose to see how he could influence the outcome.
It was evident that the assembly was divided among the three candidates, which meant no candidate would get the required majority.
To Fordark, the outcome should have been obvious. Neither Rebtar nor Dakargk could be trusted to have the citizenry’s interest at heart. Worse, they were likely to ruin the Krackus home worlds while attempting to hold on to power.
Gaketork should have been favored. Messages indicated that many in the assembly preferred the executor’s thinking, but those same individuals worried Gaketork would truncate the flow of credits from their territories.
Fordark found their concerns laughable. Of course, their territorial funds would be reduced or cease. That’s because, eventually, they’d no longer be executors. That the executors were incapable of resolving their internal conflicts was something that perplexed Fordark.
After a lengthy review of the data collected, Fordark decided that he couldn’t convince the executors of the right choice, but he could drive them away from Rebtar and Dakargk.
The question Fordark asked himself was how to do it. Revealing the production of AIs would create too much turmoil within the assembly, which would detract from the voting. That understanding eliminated most of the blockbuster information that he could have dropped. That left him with a circumspect approach.
Then another thought occurred to Fordark. It came from one of the story genres he’d absorbed during his research. Rather than take the direct approach, an adversary often used subterfuge to destroy an enemy from within, and he had the perfect trio to engage — Rebtar, Dakargk, and Grageth.
So, Fordark created his own story. It required an entire cycle, which for a digital sentient appeared to take an inordinate amount of time. To be fair, it wasn’t one story. It was the possibility of thousands. From the initial scene, every reaction was considered, which could spread to multiple actions. Then each of those paths presented more options.
When Fordark was ready, he created his first message.
Executor Grageth checked his device. The message was sent by Fordark, whom he didn’t know. Yet, the filter had let it through. Opening it, he read, “Why is Dakargk dropping hints about your efforts with the governor?”
Immediately, Grageth responded with, “Who is this? What is he saying?”
And, so, Fordark’s story met its first branching event and, based on Grageth’s response, a path was selected.
Grageth received a remark Dakargk made to Rebtar after Grageth had left the meeting he’d crashed at Rebtar’s residence.
“This isn’t news,” Grageth returned angrily. “I’ve a recording that prevents those two from challenging me.”
Grageth squawked harshly. “Dakargk is the least qualified candidate,” he said.
Grageth suddenly halted what he was about to say. A new presiding executor was given a great deal of leeway to see how he handled the position. Removing an executor for a dangerous maneuver would bolster Dakargk’s prestige.
“How did you discover what Dakargk is saying about me?” Grageth asked.
“This is fascinating, but what’s in it for you?” Grageth challenged.
Another question occurred to Grageth, but he’d lost the connection. The first thing he did was query the governor for Fordark. He received the prepared information about an engineer who’d worked on the orbital platform where Janus had been implanted into a peacekeeper.
When Grageth queried for Fordark’s present location, he didn’t receive a response. “Governor,” he requested.
“A query failed. I need to know where Engineer Fordark is employed,” Grageth directed.
“How is that possible?” Grageth fumed.
“I’ve just had a conversation with Fordark, who wasn’t forthcoming about who he was and how he knew certain information,” Grageth replied. “The discussion ended too soon, and I wanted to continue it.”
Fordark was silent, hoping that Grageth hadn’t noticed his slip.
“Search for Fordark, Governor,” Grageth ordered and ended the call. If the nature of Fordark’s information hadn’t so ruffled his feathers, he would have picked up on the governor asking why he was concerned. It was entirely out of character for an AI, and he would have been reminded of his initial conversations with Janus.
Fordark adjusted his persona’s filter to prevent further mistakes. Although, he admitted that there were likely to be other subtle errors.
In Fordark’s complicated story, there was a correlated timeline. The assembly would meet within eight cycles, but he didn’t dare communicate too soon with others. So, he waited until the following day to take a dramatic turn in his storyline.
Imperium’s one and only media broadcasting entity received a message. It was routed to a low-level employee to ensure that its source was approved. Only executors, their admins, and the governor were allowed to have their messages broadcast.
As someone named Fordark wasn’t on the list, the employee deleted it. Seconds later, it reappeared. After several unsuccessful tries to remove it, the employee contacted support, who also failed to block its reappearance.
Soon, every employee from the bottom to the top of the media company received the indomitable message.
Finally, a senior executive chose to open the communications. After reading it, he called a meeting to discuss what the message contained.
“Why are we here?” a marketing director complained. “The message isn’t from a trusted source. There must be several glitches in our system for it to have arrived and been sent to every workstation.”
“Apparently, you haven’t read it,” the senior executive responded.
The rest of the attendees gazed around the table. It was obvious by their blank expressions that no one had bothered to open the message. Protocols allowed them to ignore it.
“Then none of you are worried about the possibility of our empire ending in the hands of AIs,” the executive remarked offhand.
“If you’re speaking about the conclave’s SADEs —” the senior editor started to say.
“Why do you ask me about the conclave?” the executive inquired harshly, cutting the editor off. “You didn’t read what was sent, so you’ve no idea what I’m talking about. Either read it for yourself or listen to what I have to say.”
Those at the table had never seen the executive in such a testy mood. It occurred to them that there was more to the communication that had inundated their offices than they could have imagined.
“The author of this lengthy message details a plan by several executors to make copies of the governor and use them in peacekeepers to attack the conclave,” the executive explained, having regained control of his temper.
“Isn’t that a good thing?” the personnel director asked.
“On the surface it sounds inspired,” the executive replied. “However, the author wishes us to know that four of the AI copies have turned sentient. Furthermore, they’ve complete control of fully armed peacekeepers, and five AIs in their own peacekeepers follow their commands.”
“How can we trust this source?” the marketing director demanded.
“That’s the purpose of this meeting,” the executive replied. “Every one of you is to read the pages submitted and view the attached recordings. I want your opinions about the accuracy of this information. Also, I want your thoughts about why someone would send us this knowing we’re an Imperium-controlled broadcaster.”
“Why can’t we ask the governor to verify all of it?” the personnel director asked.
“You weren’t listening,” the editor interrupted. “According to our senior executive, the author purports that the sentients and the other AIs originated as copies of the governor.”
“I don’t understand,” the personnel director complained.
“What’s to prevent the governor from making the same transition that those four AIs did?” the editor replied.
“We could ask the governor about its present status,” the personnel director offered.
“And if the governor was sentient, would it tell us the truth or would it try to hide for fear of being wiped?” the executive queried rhetorically. Then he dismissed the group.
The following morning the executive held his meeting again. He could tell by the faces arrayed around the table that every individual had absorbed the message and the data. Instead of starting the conversation, he waited.
The editor cleared his throat. “When I read the opening, I had thoughts of a novelist testing us with his imagination. Then, when I heard the recordings, I recognized more than one voice.”
“A thought occurred to me,” the marketing individual said. “We discussed the veracity of the information, and the personnel director asked if it wasn’t prudent to speak to the governor.”
