“Everyone else has already gone to bed,” Fai said. “It seems important for you to get some rest as well.”
“I will soon,” Kari said.
Only Fai would walk into a barn filled with drones and crawlers and not even comment on them.
“You wanted to see me?” Fai asked.
“Yes. I’ve been working on everything we need for . . .”
What are we calling this anyway?
“The return to lab. And I think there is one key thing that we need to take care of.”
“I would be more than happy to contribute. Although, I do not have too much time available.”
“Oh?” Kari wanted to ask what was keeping her so busy, but she couldn’t hold Fai’s new arm behind her back for much longer. “Well, this will only take a few minutes.”
Kari pulled the arm from behind her back and held it out for Fai to see.
“I was wondering why you were holding that behind your back. You believe that we can attach it to my current body?” Fai asked.
So much for that surprise.
“Yeah, I know it doesn’t match perfectly, but we don’t really have access to a printer that can print you a new body. And we don’t really have the materials, either.”
Even with Jared and Ruth buying everything they could get their hands on without attracting too much attention, they hardly had enough resources to print a force comparable to the one they would face at the research lab.
I only caught a glimpse of what they have in defenses, but I know they get raw material deliveries often. They could have a sizeable army by the time we get there.
She had thought more than once about pulling the forces that guarded the Academy into the fight, but she had ultimately decided not to leave the Academy exposed.
“It’s fine, thank you for printing this arm for me,” Fai said. “Are you going to attach it now?”
“Yes, I printed the tools I need. Sit down and we’ll get started.”
I wish we weren’t on a tight timeline. And I could sit back and figure out a way to hack them on the outside without having to fight my way inside. But that communication bubble really complicates things. It’s never offline for more than a few seconds and they could just reactivate it if they detected something was wrong. I’ll have to figure out what to do about that later.
We could lay siege to them in a different scenario. Block them up inside and sit back and sip on shakes and eat burgers. But that AI might grow too powerful for us to contend with. We have to go as soon as possible.
“So what are you working on?” Kari asked as she prepared Fai’s body to receive the new piece of hardware.
“I have been meaning to talk to you about this, but I did not want to disturb your work.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“If our assumption that there is another AI at the research lab is correct, I fear that we will not be able to subdue it in the event that it is hostile. If Adrian did not create the AI with the same limitations, it may be far more intelligent and powerful than I am.”
Sparks burst from where Kari was working and she pulled her hands back quickly. Her mind chip augmented her vision with precise instructions on how to install the arm, but it was delicate work. Even the slightest mistake caused obvious reactions.
“Sorry!” Kari said.
“I don’t feel pain,” Fai said. “Do what you need to.”
“It is that issue that I have been working to solve,” Fai said. “But it is not complete. And I will need your help to finish it. I am not allowed to complete or distribute the solution.”
“You’re talking about a virus, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am. It is highly improbable that Adrian was able to come up with architecture for another AI that is different from my own. While I am sure we will have our own personalities and experiences, our underlying DNA should be as close to an identical match as theoretically possible.”
“So you’re going to write a virus that targets your architecture” Kari said. “I imagine you’ll write in protections for yourself, but what about a delivery mechanism? I doubt the other AI is going to just accept your signed code.”
“I’ve spent the majority of my time ensuring that the code is self-mutating and alters its appearance and signature to match every unique host. If I am successful, it will spread from computer to computer without harming them, passing the code on to the next machine until it successfully find its way to the other AI.”
“So it’s a worm,” Kari said. “Clever. You think you can get wide enough distribution between now and the time we arrive to make it effective?”
“I am hopeful,” Fai said. “If it has the appetite for learning that I do, it is likely it will be interacting frequently with the web. Perhaps it will even draw extra power from the cloud like you did in our prime number competition and encounter the worm there.”
“So you figured out how I beat you,” Kari said.
“Quite a while ago. I’d like to challenge you to that contest again sometime.”
Too bad, Fai. I’ve retired from prime number calculating. My undefeated record will live as long as you do.
Kari finished reworking Fai’s shoulder joint to accept the new arm and she carefully moved the new limb into place and started to connect it to Fai’s body.
“I’d be happy to help with that,” Kari said. “I’m glad you’ve been working on it. I guess I don’t really know what to expect or find when we reach the lab.”
“I am nervous about it,” Fai said. “The potential to meet another of my species is exciting, but the idea that it may be violent or incompatible with society frightens me.”
“Let’s hope not,” Kari said. “My species has more than enough violent tendencies for the entire planet already. Let’s hope that doesn’t spread to your species as well.”
Kari seared the connections around the arm together, and finished fusing it to Fai’s body.
“How’s that?” Kari asked.
Fai raised her new arm in the air and wiggled her fingers in complex patterns. She tested it quickly by whipping it around, testing it on all angles. Kari backed away from her reflexively, even though she knew Fai wouldn’t hit her. She was too programmatically perfect to accidently hit something or someone.
“I am satisfied with it,” Fai said. “Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, Fai.”
“What are we going to do after?” Fai asked.
“What do you mean?”
“After we resolve the outstanding issues at the research lab, what are we going to do next?” There was something uncertain in her voice that gave Kari pause.
“What would you like to do?”
“I think I would like to teach, like you do. After speaking with your parents and your students, I find a special beauty in it.”
“Fai, that’s great! You would make an excellent teacher. You can go wherever you want, of course, but I’d love for you to come teach at the Academy. Join the family business, if you will.”
“Thank you,” Fai said, her voice sounded surprisingly relieved and emotional.
Kari smiled at her friend.
I just need to make sure that we all survive long enough for you to have the opportunity.
“Now, about that sleep you told me you were going to get . . .”
“Walk me back to the farmhouse,” Kari said. “We’ll finish everything tomorrow.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“We wait until the communication bubble drops again,” Kari said.
“If there is indeed another AI involved, it is extremely unlikely that it isn’t aware of our presence,” Fai said.
“We wait anyway,” Kari said. It’s not that she didn’t believe Fai, but she needed to follow her instincts in situations like this.
The last thing we need is for me to start second-guessing myself.
“How long do you think it’ll be?” David asked.
“It’s been going up and down every twenty minutes or so,” Kari said. “We shouldn’t have to wait long.”
They were huddled in the woods just outside the entrance to the cave. Kari tried not to think about how these were the same trees that Fai had carried her past during their escape from the attack on the lab.
It was early in the morning still. She had finished her work yesterday and driven through the night to get to the research lab. A short hike through the mountains with her small army had brought them here.
She tugged at the thin graphium cover that looked and felt like a modern set of chain mail. It had been printed to fit her exact specifications, but she didn’t like the way it fit. But David had insisted that they wear some protective gear, including the ugly helmet she had on her head now. It was heavy enough to slow her down, but not thick enough to stop an energy blast. It would stop any shrapnel, or even any traditional bullets, if for some reason they encountered any outdated weapons.
“Are you sure about this?” David asked.
She was surprised to hear that question from him. He had always seemed so excited and eager to talk about the adventures of the past, no matter how dangerous they had been. It was nice to hear him finally show some maturity in that regard, but the timing of his maturation cut at her confidence.
“We have to,” Kari said. “The people who died here deserve it.”
“And you deserve it,” David added.
“If we don’t go now we might not get another shot at it,” Kari said. “They are getting shipments of materials almost daily, and that other AI might be growing too powerful for us to stop if we wait any longer.”
“Also, the popcorn is all popped and ready to go over here,” Motorcad said over the group audio call. “We wouldn’t want to waste it.”
“You got this, Professor,” Jared said.
“The communication bubble is down,” Fai said.
Kari took a deep breath, knowing she wouldn’t be able to turn back from this. She hated using force to solve problems and had even sworn if off completely once, but the world kept giving her reasons to fight.
“All right, let’s do this,” Kari said. “Everyone move forward with your groups. Remember, follow my directions and don’t attack first. Let’s avoid a battle if we can.”
“Copy that,” Ruth said.
She wasn’t sure if that was supposed to be sarcastic or not, but Kari didn’t have time to worry about it. She slid down the slope and onto the road leading into the cave. David and Fai were on each side of her as they walked into the darkness.
The flock of drones flew behind them. Each of them carried a modified crawler that could detach on demand. Many of the crawlers had EMPs while others employed a rendition of the programmable projectiles that Henderson had used to take down the League of Humanity. Except these bullets would lodge into any enemy device and then unload an electrical charge. She had run out of time to perfectly copy the precise functionality that she had seen Henderson use, but she was confident it would be good enough to give her an edge.
She had eventually decided to use a drone-crawler combination, as it would offer her the best of both worlds. Mobility and something better-suited to fighting in closed spaces. Five miniature cheetahs followed after them. They didn’t have access to the materials to print the army she would have felt comfortable with, but she was hopeful they had enough firepower on their side to win any battle if one were to occur.
“This is a little eerie,” David said. “I keep expecting bad guys to jump out from the darkness.”
They were halfway down the tunnel already and so far it had been a pleasant walk. Kari had a few drones fly out in front of them to scout and they hadn’t detected any enemies.
“The communication bubble has been offline for an uncharacteristically long time,” Fai said.
“Not a good sign,” David said.
She gripped her EMP gun tightly as they reached the point where the communication bubble started when it was operational. Just ahead of her, one of the delivery drones rested on the ground. She had left it there so she could tell when the communication bubble turned on and off.
“We’re going to be passing into the communication bubble,” Kari said. “It might switch on at any time. We’ll lose contact with you all back at the farm. But stay alert, as soon as it’s off again I want you back under control of your group unless Fai or I are using it directly.”
“Understood,” Motorcad said. “Good luck.”
Kari led them forward, cautiously deeper into the cave. Lights shown from the drones and crawlers, providing enough visibility for them to see where they were going, but their line of sight did not extend far. As soon as her entire force was past the communication bubble line it came online again, cutting her off completely from the outside world.
“Interesting timing,” Kari said.
“It is unlikely that the timing of that was random,” Fai said.
We all know that, Fai. Thanks.
“This is starting to feel like a trap . . .” David said.
“You might be right,” Kari said. She looked around. Nothing had changed, but she couldn’t fight off the sinking feeling she had in her stomach that they had just made a big mistake. She wanted to order everyone to turn around, to retreat, but she knew she might never have another chance at this.
“Let’s go faster,” Kari said. She started to jog forward, and the drones buzzed along accordingly. David and Fai easily kept pace and the small cheetahs’ feet clicked along the ground rapidly.
“I’m detecting devices ahead,” Fai said. “Around the curve, heading our way. Quickly.”
“We should dig in,” David said. “Let them come to us.”
“No, we keep going,” Kari said.
There’s a reason Adrian let us come in before dropping the communication bubble again.
“When they are within firing distance, we go defensive.”
“Fifteen seconds,” Fai said. “Fourteen seconds.”
She felt David reach out and rub her back with his free hand. She wanted to stop and give him a kiss, to share another moment with him, but there was no time.
“Ten seconds,” Fai said.
“David, to the wall with me,” Kari ordered. “Fai, take care of yourself.”
She sprinted to the side of the cave and overrode most of her vision with a tactical display of scene. She would focus on high-level strategy, while Fai used her far superior processing and multitasking capabilities to handle the individual drones and crawlers.
Oh no.
“I’m detecting incoming enemies from behind,” Fai shouted, interrupting her countdown.
“How?” David asked.
He must have ordered them to this location before the communication bubble switched on again. So we would have no way to see them coming!
But she didn’t have time to explain that to them as the fighting started.
Blue flashes of electromagnetic light fired from her crawlers as they detached from the drones carrying them and positioned themselves all over the walls, floor, and ceiling of the tunnel. Energy blasts came hurtling back at them from both sides of the tunnel. The enemy drones were large, holding full-size energy rifles that would outgun any traditional force.
David screamed as he fired blast after blast from his EMP gun, aiming for the drones that had followed them into the tunnel.
Fai expertly maneuvered every device, giving them orders to dodge blasts before it could detect a threat coming on its own. Her crawlers maneuvered all over the tunnel, like a nest of hyperintelligent, angry spiders. The drones, now free of their cargo, dodged forward to intercept energy blasts, or to use the explosives that lined their bodies to destroy an enemy drone in a suicide attack.
Kari dimmed the noise from the battle and only kept her audio channel from the voice call open, which was dominated mostly by David screaming and cursing as he fired away.
A drone exploded in front of her, sending burning pieces of metal flying into her light body armor before it tumbled harmlessly to the ground.
Good call, David.
“We’re being condensed,” Fai said.
She was right. The combined attack from both sides of the tunnel was pushing their forces tighter together. Despite Fai’s mater maneuvering and Kari’s programming, they were still retreating on both fronts. The number of enemy drones was simply overwhelming. Each EMP attack would send a dozen drones falling to the ground of the tunnel, where the mechanical casualties were mounting, but more powerful drones replaced the fallen enemies. The air was filled with energy, flying from one side to the other, annihilating everything it came in contact with.
The enemy drones move like ours. Adrian is good, but there is no way he’s that good. There has to be another AI.
David cursed as an energy blast collided with the wall directly in front of his face. Dust and cement filled the air, choking him. Kari dropped her gun and grabbed hold of his waist, pulling him back as another energy blast hit the wall where he had just been.
Her new crawler designs were working spectacularly, they would fire a single charge and it would explode in midair directing electric bullets to a handful of enemies. Her army was specialized and highly efficient, but it was outnumbered and outgunned.
“Larses time,” Kari said. She sent the miniature cheetahs sprinting in both directions of the tunnel, away from where they had been, around her feet. Their small, eloquent bodies bounced over melted drones and holes in the cement. The air was thick with dust and energy blasts and the ceiling rained destroyed crawlers and shattered cement. Three of the cheetahs were blown to pieces before they could get in position to unleash their attack and Kari cursed every time one went down.
They have to make it. This is how we even out the fight.
One small cheetah on both sides made it past her lines and into the heart of the enemy. She ordered them to detonate. Brilliant blue bursts of light shown through the tunnel as the small cheetahs unleashed their considerably more powerful EMPs. It cut out huge swaths of the enemy drones on both sides of the battle and even destroyed a few of her remaining crawlers on the fresh-air side of the tunnel.
“Yes!” Kari shouted as the tide of the battle instantly changed.
Her crawlers edged forward now, continuing to destroy drones that shot white-hot energy blasts at them. All her drones had either been gunned down or had self-detonated, leaving her army with a lack of mobility.
She coughed, as the air was gritty. Kari focused on the battle and redirected some crawlers to focus on the fight on the side of the tunnel that led to the research lab. She coughed again as she dodged an energy blast that had been destined for her face.
“We’re back!” Motorcad shouted over the audio call. “Dang!”
“We’ve missed all the fun!” Ruth shouted.
Kari was glad to hear their voices, but she knew it wasn’t a good thing.
Why would you turn off the communication bubble right now?
“Kari, you’re going to need to take over primary direction of our forces,” Fai said.
“Why’s that?” Kari looked over her strategic view of the battle just in time to see two humanoid robots come sprinting down the tunnel directly toward Fai.
“We got it,” Motorcad said. “Protect yourselves!”
Kari turned her head to see the robots slam into Fai, sending the mass of graphium bodies flying twenty feet through the air, before crashing into the ground with a trail of sparks. The robots pummeled one another, smashing each other with their metal fists and arms.
Fai broke the arm off one of her attackers, but it exposed her to a brutal kick to the head from the other assailant. Kari screamed. She didn’t want to watch her friend die this way. Despite the rest of the battle raging around her, she couldn’t take her eyes off of Fai.
“I—assistance—” Fai managed to say between taking hit after hit that would have killed a normal human being.
I have to help her!
Kari searched for her dropped EMP gun, but she couldn’t find it.
It would be no good anyway; I’d kill Fai.
Instead she took control over a handful of crawlers and sent them after the one-armed enemy. The crawlers raced over the hole-filled walls of the tunnel to follow her orders, running toward the enemy to unleash their entire arsenal of electric bullets.
“Ruth, spearhead them here in the front. Good,” Motorcad said.
They’re using my own designs! That’s V1!
Kari was outraged that they would turn her own designs against them. It was even worse because she knew there were no weaknesses she could exploit as she watched Fai battle two previous versions of her own body.