Randolph Lalonde - Spinward Fringe Broadcast 08 - Renegades (6 page)

“It cared about him,”
Alice said.

“Yeah, and it’s not
supposed to, not at all. It’s not supposed to learn things about
babysitting kids, about helping around the house – which this
skitter was doing – it’s not supposed to care if someone gives it
a nickname, but Bo-Bot stencilled its nickname onto itself. We
checked the code again and found more than we bargained for, that’s
for sure. This skitter is the extreme example, these construction
bots aren’t adopting kids throughout the building, thank God, but
they are learning and picking up characteristics. Most of this stuff
helps them work more efficiently, even form teams with pretty serious
bonds, but some of it is just not necessary. They’re working
faster, more efficiently though, so even the project managers want to
leave it alone. I wonder if their tune will change when we find a
depressed loader somewhere, or a skitter who wants to be a starship
when he grows up.”

“You want me to help
you with some sketchy bots?” Alice asked. There were only two hours
of good beach time left, and he was rambling.

“No, I’m just
giving you some history so you can get where this problem comes
from.”

“Oh, okay. What
happened to Bo-Bot, anyway?”

“Oh, he’s now
property of Hamish McCrary when the kid’s awake. At bedtime he gets
back to work. We’re hoping that doesn’t become a thing with these
bots, but our admins say this’ll be great for public relations,”
he replied. “Anyway, these distinct personalities are forming in
bots because of some kind of antivirus someone added to their base
code. This isn’t the antivirus we installed, it’s something a lot
more elaborate, maybe even elegant. We didn’t see it at first, but
it’s in all our software now. It spreads like a virus, but once
it’s in something, it’s like an antivirus against the Holocaust
Virus and everything like it. The personalities these bots are taking
on are harmless, all basic directives and programming still applies,
so we’ve been letting it go on. For example, if I wanted Bo-Bot to
return to duty and ignore Hamish, he would, and he’d be as good as
ever at his job. He wouldn’t like it, but he’d do it.”

“Something’s gone
wrong,” Alice said, dreading what would come next. Anything
involving the Holocaust Virus meant the worst kind of trouble.

“Yeah, but only one
other tech and I know about it, so I told her to sit tight while I
bring this to you. If we report this to the Council, they’ll shut
down all robotics and investigate. The Everin Building is almost
finished, and the bots are supposed to move on to building the
permanent port this week. The work that’s left here would take
months if humans did it, and the port building? Without robotics it
would take years.”

“I’m sure your
admins would keep it quiet if they could. There’s no way they’d
want the bots shut down if they could help it.”

“I might get fired
for not reporting it sooner, and I don’t want to get put out of
Haven Shore with the referendum coming up,” he replied, some of his
initial desperation showing itself. “You’ve seen the world out
there? It’s chaos in most cities and expensive everywhere else.
I’ve even heard rumours of cannibalism in the Yellow Hook Plain.”

“They only exile
people from Haven Shore for murder and repeated offenses, and failure
to report a problem like this is nowhere near, unless something went
berserk and killed someone because you told it to?” Alice asked.

“No, but three bots,
advanced android Ando-Twelve types, ran off. They look just like
humans, so they got around perimeter security. They’re in the
middle of the jungle as far as I can tell, and they took a high
powered EMP pistol from our emergency supplies.”

“They didn’t hurt
anyone on their way out?”

Soren shook his head.
“No, but I think all this has something to do with their wireless
systems. We didn’t want to take the hours we’d need to disable
them before turning them on. Ando-Twelves’ wireless systems are
nested in their main processor clusters, so you need to direct
nanobots to disconnect the wireless in thousands of places. That used
to make them highly connected and quick to respond to changing
situations, great for assistant or critical care bots, but with the
Holocaust Virus and that other thing out there, it could be bad.”

“So you were going to
let them run around with their wireless on?” Alice asked.

“Nope. The fastest
way to disable the wireless on an Ando is to ask them to do it
themselves, but they have to be on first.”

“Gotcha. Why do you
think they left and the other bots didn’t?”

“Have you ever met an
Ando-Twelve?” Soren asked.

“I don’t think so,”
Alice replied.

“That’s the thing;
they’re sophisticated synthetic humans, expensive, used for the
care and hospitality industries. You’ve probably met a few and not
even known it. We thought they’d be safe androids because they’re
hard-wired pacifists, the Holocaust Virus just shut most of them
down.”

“But it didn’t send
them running like this?” Alice asked.

“No. They just
couldn’t violate their core directives, so they powered down, or
fried their own power systems if they couldn’t do that. I don’t
know what this new antivirus is doing to them, though. And I can’t
communicate with any of them to find out, either. Please don’t turn
us in. This is the best job I’ve had, and it’s been great here
ever since we got out of those storage containers. It’s even better
than how I was living before the Virus.”

“I’ll do some
tracking for you, but I’m going to report these bots as rogue
eventually,” Alice said. “If they’re harmless, then I might be
able to file something about them just going for a walk thanks to
some bad code.”

“That’s perfect,
thank you.”

“If,” she
emphasised, “this is all harmless. I can’t make promises.” She
picked up her ranger kit and holstered her sidearm. “Stay here
while I track your bots down, I’ll tell you before I file my
report.”

“Thank you so much,”
Soren repeated. “Aren’t you going to take your ship?”

“Nope,” Alice
replied. “I’d have to explain why I’m taking a starfighter out
in my off time.”

“Okay, right, thank
you again.”

Alice was already
getting tired of hearing him say ‘thank you,’ and couldn’t help
but offer a snide reply as she left him behind in her apartment.
“Just stay here, don’t talk to anyone. Order some ramen from the
concourse, I’ll try to be back with your bots before delivery’s
at the door.”

Bargaining

“You won’t have any
wild nights on the town with me, I’m afraid,” Donner, the British
Alliance Security Forces agent told Jacob Valent. The rain around
them was mixed with light hail, and darkened the falling twilight.

“I didn’t think
that was standard procedure for liaisons,” Jake replied, bringing
up a tactical map of the area. The image appeared in his mind’s
eye, along with the deception detection and early warning systems
tied in with his scanners. He wasn’t worried about someone
overhearing them; they communicated using an encrypted channel,
talking behind blacked out faceplates. Jake wasn’t sure about the
new agent’s skill, however. If he was a glorified file keeper, or
supervisor rusty in the field, he could have people tracking him, and
he wouldn’t know it.

“No, it isn’t
procedure, and her extracurricular activities with you while she was
aboard the Warlord weren’t an assignment,” Donner chuckled. “She
found you fascinating and I suppose she followed that fascination to
the utmost. The final report is quite popular, but most importantly,
I can tell you there are no hard feelings. To be blunt, she compares
her short romance with you with an amusement ride. Thrilling for a
short trip, but too dangerous for a journey.”

“Glad to hear it was
memorable. I’m guessing her objectivity was compromised, so they
passed my case off to you,” Jake said. He watched the agent
closely. The man was barely disguised in a loose blue and red
armoured jacket that cascaded down to his knees. Beneath his casual
spacer clothes he wore a layer of second skin armour, its hood
covering his head and containing his voice. None of it looked new, so
he could pass as a casual traveller or merchant. He still looked
British to Jake, there was no mistaking it, but the build up to war
had brought many similarly garbed mercenaries to the sector. Enough
so a British Alliance Agent could blend in.

“You’ve
misunderstood the situation. I’m her superior officer. We’ve
finished checking the information you and your Wing Commander have
provided, and are satisfied that we want to move ahead with this
trade. If what you’ve shared as a peek is only the tip of the
iceberg, then we need everything you have on offer.”

“Good. It’ll cost
you,” Jake said.

“Just to verify,”
Donner said, taking a step closer. “You’re saying you have the
Regent Galactic and Order of Eden story going back to Vindyne days?
As well as evidence and scans of a new, hidden leader behind the
Order?”

“With more supporting
evidence than you could imagine, from more than one perspective,”
Jake said. “And we’re still willing to be your agents in the
field as long as we can gain along the way.”

“The intention of my
department is to keep this deal simple. We are interested in working
with you and your people after we’ve finished our trade on a
mission by mission basis, even on the bounty system, but we can
address all that later. We’re anxious to close this deal for the
compiled data you’re offering. So eager, in fact, that we’re
willing to keep Haven Shore, the Carthans, and everyone else in the
Seven Sectors out of it.”

The Seven Sectors, it
was becoming a well known name thanks to the Order of Eden’s
activities. Jake knew that the Order, along with Regent Galactic,
were active in twice as many sectors, but most navigators knew of
seven where the Order presented a serious danger to anyone not
running under their colours. The term stuck, probably thanks to old
pirate films and newer period pirate dramas. It looked like everyone,
including that agent, would refer to the fog of war surrounding the
Order of Eden’s operations as the Seven Sectors. “I’m
surprised. I thought your people were more interested in maintaining
relationships with your allies. Falling in line with how I’m
running my war could cost you. Using this data operationally could
cost you more if your government finally commits to this war.”

“We are fully
committed. It’s only a matter of time before war is declared
against the Order of Eden for a second time, a final time, and if
this information-“

“History,” Jake
corrected. “We’ve put all our evidence in context, you can follow
it on a solid timeline.”

“That’ll make for
easy viewing, and the history you provided will factor into the
British Alliance breaking the treaty we signed with the Order. I’ll
be the first to say not everyone agreed with the Frontier Treaty: we
signed it in the dark because the parliamentary majority were afraid
of what war would mean while we’re rebuilding. We’ll use this,
and we’ll share parts of the package we’re buying from you, but
only after we’ve completed our analysis. But before we go forward,
I need your assurance that we’re not buying something you’re
selling to every government you can find.”

“Only five people
know about this project, and we’re not double dealing. You have my
word. Before this goes further,” Jake said. “I need you and your
government to know that I don’t trade in sentients - this is an
exception wide on the outside.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll
treat him according to his level of cooperation. If he’s easy to
work with, he’ll have an enviable lifestyle.”

Jake stifled his
laughter before it became more than a snicker. He was unable to
imagine Kipley cooperating with the British Alliance. He was sure
Kipley wouldn’t experience that ‘enviable lifestyle’ for a long
time, if ever. It was time to move the meeting along, the Warlord was
waiting. Their next target was waiting. “Were Xanna’s traces
right? Did Wheeler pass through here?”

“They were, and he
did.”

“How long ago?”
Jake asked.

“About a hundred and
three hours ago, but the trail ends at the system’s outer port. He
stole a recently refurbished Joon-Lasun freighter from the sorting
dock. We’re watching for it to turn up somewhere upspin, but hopes
are slim. He has a few nihilists with him who might be easier to
track if they serve as crew long enough.”

“He’s going to dump
that freighter or sell it on the black market then move on to another
ship; his crew will probably get dumped along with it,” Jake said,
controlling his frustration. He was so close, just days behind. If he
could break away and hunt him down instead of serving larger
interests, he’d have him in days, or weeks at the most. “I need
the British Alliance to put a bounty on him. That’s going to be
part of the deal, or I’m going to start shopping for a new buyer.”

“No need to go to
those lengths,” Donner said. “Xanna didn’t have the rank to
promise that our Security Forces would act on your behalf, but I do.
I only need one favour from you in return, and we’ll issue a five
million credit bounty on your old friend, Wheeler.”

“Twenty million, and
you spend real galactic credits on advertising with all the
networks,” Jake told him. If this agent was about to ask for
another favour, then his people already wanted the Warlord in their
good graces. It was time to push.

“If it were only
money I may be able to help you, but advertising on mainstream nets?
That’s-“

Jake didn’t
start
turning away from the British Alliance Agent, he did a complete about
face. He was already several steps away and almost around the corner
when he said; “We’ll leave the current deal as is – a trade for
all our intelligence for the work your shipwrights already did on the
Warlord, a link to your military database and thirty five million.
Count us out for favours.”