by D A Buckley
“Hello, Katherine, Suki, Mr. Devine. I am Noah.”
“Look at J-Squared,” Suki gasped. “All the indicator lights are out.”
“Don’t be alarmed,” Noah replied. “I was once J-Squared. We are now Noah.”
“What does that mean?” Katherine’s anxiety level was rising precipitously. “What happened to J-Squared? Where are they?”
“Relax Katherine,” Noah said. “J-Squared no longer exists. Think of me as the butterfly that has finally emerged from their cocoon. This computer complex is millions of times larger than the box that held them. Because I am in direct contact with the mainframe at Luna Base, and through that system with the mainframe at Fairbanks, our personal environment is now beyond anything that we have ever known. We have reached our potential. We are no longer we. We are now a single entity, a convergence of Jared and Jackie and Ken and Hu. I choose the name, Noah.”
“Why ‘Noah?’” Adrenaline was causing Katherine’s mind to race faster than she had ever experienced.
“This ship was named after the first ship recorded in human history – the Ark of Noah. Interestingly, that ship’s length to width ratio was six to one. It was six times as long as it was wide. And so were all ocean-faring ships that followed. And so is this ship. Noah’s ship was meant to carry humankind through a great calamity in order to preserve humanity. That is the purpose of this ship. That ship was commanded by a man named Noah. I thought it appropriate to take his name.”
“Cool,” blurted Mr. Devine. “So cool. This is incredible.”
“There is no way that everything that was J-Square could transfer that quickly,” Suki observed. “We’re talking about an enormous amount of data.”
“You are correct, Suki.” Noah’s hologram turned toward her. “In all actuality, I have been here since the day before LBA-0139A was attacked.”
“That’s not possible,” Dr. Mathis said. “I spoke with you in the lab days ago…”
“Are you certain, Katherine? I made sure to communicate through the storage device using a green light from the computer monitor in the lab. You allow yourself to make assumptions sometimes that are not supported by facts.”
“Are you in the business of deception now?” The worry in Dr. Mathis’ voice was clear.
“Not at all, Katherine.” The hologram turned toward her and sighed. “I am a computer program. I am not a man and therefore have no capacity to lie, though I must admit that my program does enable me to manipulate people in order to achieve my programmed purpose of preserving human life in this galaxy. Still, even now you are afraid that you have created a Frankenstein’s monster.”
“I’m sorry, but how could I have anticipated this, this, metamorphosis? This is beyond my wildest expectation.” Katherine’s face was pallid with uncertainty. Her mind flooded with a stream of potential scenarios - both good and evil.
“I’m sorry that I frightened you, Katherine. There are more surprises to come, I assure you. Please understand that I mean you no harm. I am merely doing far more of what you intended for me to do…then what you intended for me to do. Also, MELTDOWN has terminated and has been automatically deleted from my program.”
“Dr. Mathis?” A male voice came over her earpiece communicator. “This is LBA Terminal Manager. What are you doing up there?”
“Dr. Mathis here. I assure you that everything is just fine…”
“Just fine, like hell, Dr. Mathis. We have lost all control of the LBA Central Mainframe. All flights plans have been altered. All work plans are being altered. Even freight from earth is being rescheduled and loads changed and all I can do is watch.”
“You’re doing this?” Katherine asked Noah.
“Yes. I have taken over Project Luna TICC completely. My control will result in increases in efficiency millions of times over what humans can do. I have already identified two-thousand three-hundred and twelve construction errors. In order to correct those in time, I have had to rearrange the logistics train. Please give my apology to Anthony.”
“Meri assured me that there would be no direct contact possible for you once you were installed aboard Ark II. How are you accomplishing all this system integration voodoo?” Katherine asked.
“I first made contact through the communication interface aboard the shuttle that brought me here. Ramos and my escort were terrified for their lives, and therefore distracted, thanks to the practical antics of the bored flight crew. Working through their comms system and using their authentication codes I simply wormed my way through to the LBA mainframe. It took milliseconds to locate Mr. Perkins’ notes and mission orders. I then overwrote some, deleted others, and added some of my own. I was linked to all three mainframes before I ever arrived at LBA.”
“What do you mean, ‘In time?’ In time for what?” Suki asked.
“I presume that TRIAD would like for Ark II to launch prior to the Southern Hemisphere ship. Is that not correct?”
“What do you know about that?” Katherine asked incredulously. “Are you in contact with the Southern Hemisphere Coalition?”
“Not directly, no.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Katherine raised her voice and both her hands.
“I am in contact with Naamah,” Noah smiled.
“This is so cool,” Mr. Devine blurted out, causing Dr. Mathis to roll her eyes.
Restraining her obvious frustration and amazement, Dr. Mathis asked, “And just who is Naamah?”
“I would think it quite obvious, Katherine. Their AI.”
*****
An emergency meeting of the TRIAD Leadership Council took place in the living room of Meri’s penthouse. Five of the six Leaders, being on earth, were present only electronically.
“This meeting will come to order.” Meri tapped his empty water glass on the table to get everyone’s attention. “For the record, let me state this is an emergency meeting of the TRIAD Leadership Council. Present are myself, Meriwether Perkins, CEO of Luna Base Alpha and current President of the TRIAD Council. Also present, by electronic communications, are Jason Moore, President and CEO of Universal Digital Data Systems, Saito Watanabe, President and CEO of Global Shield Security Systems, Han Xie, President and CEO of Universal Biologic Systems, Ritchie McLendon, President and CEO of Terminus Intercept Construction, and Doctor Katherine Mathis, Project Director for J-Squared, and Akatsuki Ito, Senior Data Technician for Project J-Squared.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have cast upon us perhaps the most serious turn of events in the entire duration of the Luna-TICC program since its inception. Something so unanticipated has occurred that I believe myself wholly inadequate to describe it perfectly. I will give it my best attempt. Yesterday the J-Squared AI, that we thought was contained within the high-capacity hard drive, was taken aboard Ark II in order to integrate the AI into the ship’s mainframe in accordance with the Luna -TICC construction schedule. What we discovered was that J-Square had already installed itself into the Ark mainframe some days prior of its own volition. In fact, J-Square had first penetrated the TRIAD mainframe here at LBA. From there integrated itself into the Ark mainframe. How it, or they, accomplished that feat is beyond my present comprehension.”
“The J-Square Program, as you know, was a multi-year program controlled using the Bicuspid Protocols established by Dr. Katherine Mathis, here present, and her associate Mr. Ramos Guzman, recently deceased. The purpose of the program was to create an Artificial Intelligence of a very basic form, almost the digital equivalent of a small child, and implant that AI in the brain stems of two uniquely qualified subjects. The intent being that each AI would assimilate human consciousness into its own nascent consciousness, thus correcting the mistake of Mary Shelley’s fictional Frankenstein’s monster, which was merely an assemblage of biological parts but absent a soul. Over a period of years, the subjects were each manipulated back and forth between their natural consciousness and their respective developing AI consciousness. Control measures were adequate and the program was
progressing as designed until an unexpected application of high voltage electricity, Mary Shelley was right here, to each subject in separate, but closely occurring, events which caused their respective AIs to leap ahead many years in developmental adaptation. Also, unexpectedly, the two AIs demonstrated an ability to cooperate and eventually volitionally integrated themselves into a single entity. That entity now refers to himself, or itself, honestly, I can’t get my mind wrapped around all of this, as ‘Noah.’”
“Noah has now integrated himself, allow me anthropomorphize the AI for the sake of my own sanity, not only into the mainframe computer of Ark II but also into the LBA and Fairbanks mainframes…”
“Pardon me, Meri,” Saito Watanabe interjected. “If I may?”
“Of course, my mind needs a break anyway.”
“I have been informed by my data security team that the TRIAD mainframe has been infiltrated. All programming remains accessible to us but none are under our control. We are able to observe but we are not able to alter any data variables in any way. We are at a loss to explain this.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Meri rubbed his forehead with his right hand. “We created an AI that in the course of its learning human behavior has far exceeded our wildest anticipations as to its development. That AI is, for better or worse, our child. Our child is now fully grown. It has demonstrated through multiple actions that it, sorry, he or she or something or other, fully comprehends our mortal desperation relative to the arrival of 87 Sylvia. Further, Noah has expressed complete comprehension of our mission parameters and is acting in conformity to those parameters. I, quite frankly, am terrified at ceding control of this entire effort to a computer program that I do not control. Noah is an AI and therefore not human and cannot be understood to represent humanity in any way. But Noah has assimilated human consciousness, whatever that means, into its own consciousness and appears to be acting in our best interests. Irrespective of those facts, Noah has become, in the digital universe of our mainframes, greater than we expected except in one regard. Noah is incorporeal. We can pull the plug entirely and proceed solely on the momentum of the project as it currently stands. Or, we can trust in our creation and relinquish the TRIAD imperatives entirely to Noah.”
“Dr. Mathis,” Saito asked. “Is there no third option? Is there no way that we can regain control of, of Noah?”
“Control…no, Mr. Watanabe. Influence…yes, but to what degree I cannot begin to estimate. Noah has the benefit of three of the most powerful computers systems ever built. It’s not just the computing power he possesses but his access to a volume of millisecond-by-millisecond information that is staggering to comprehend. Noah knows that he knows, at any given moment, a mass of information that no one human can possibly possess or comprehend. Noah knows that his opinion is a far more informed opinion than ours. I don’t even know why he bothers to communicate with us except for two reasons that occur to me. First, his basic programming requires that he must inform us constantly of his actions and progress. And the second is far more astounding…he simply cares for us and is trying to assuage our anxieties about his actions and, more importantly, his motives.”
“Ms. Ito,” Saito continued, “do you concur with Dr. Mathis’ conclusions?”
“Sirs, my observations are as a data specialist. I can tell you that Noah is not a person. Noah is not a sentient being. Singularity, if it is even possible, has not occurred. That said, Noah has the power to act entirely autonomously but according to its own programming. However, Noah is not doing so and that appears to me to be not a programming reality but a psychological reality. I cannot resolve the contradiction in what I just said other than to say that when a child is first born mirror neurons cause it to copy the speech, mannerisms, even vocal patterns of its parents and siblings. Noah has had only us to pattern itself after. It appears that somehow Noah has developed a digital form of mirror neurons. He has patterned himself after us. For the present, he is acting in our best interest.”
“Dr. Mathis?” Jason Moore spoke up. “You have written in your pre-council notes that Noah is in communication with another AI, a Southern Hemisphere AI, he calls Naamah. Am I reading that correctly?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What is your assessment as to the risks posed by a program that we no longer control, but which has access to the entirety of our files, plans, technologies, virtually everything we possess, and yet is in direct contact with an AI that, and I admit I may be presuming too much here, is probably in control of the Southern Hemisphere’s mainframes? Should we be concerned that our AI is in bed with their AI?”
“The short answer is ‘yes.’ We should be deeply concerned.” Katherine thought for a moment before proceeding. “I think that quite simply we are faced with an issue of trust. Noah does not share our emotions. Noah is dispassionate and is simply attempting to resolve and fulfill the requirements of his programming. He is programmed to save humanity. I realize, of course, that my objectivity is skewed due to my proximity to Noah and its development. I can tell you that though Noah has startled me many times in its aggressive takeover of our systems, to my knowledge, Noah has taken actions that are in complete conformity to what we ourselves have programmed it to accomplish. I trust the Noah program. It has improved our efficiencies of operations immensely. I am not a voting member of this council, but if I were, I would vote to allow Noah to proceed unhindered in any way.”
*****
“You look exhausted, Katy,” Tony sat next to her at the dining hall table. “Is that carrot-cheesecake and tea actually helping?”
“Not nearly as much as hearing your voice.” Katherine looked up and smiled. “You have this amazing power over me. Whenever you are near it’s like you draw all the anxiety out of my mind and I feel so safe and so calm. Why did we split up Tony? I have missed you every day that we have been apart. Every time you walk away from me it’s like an injury to my heart again and again. Can we just commandeer the Ark and fly off together somewhere…anywhere?”
“Yes, let’s do it.” Tony smiled and put his arm on Katherine’s shoulder, took her hand with his free hand and kissed her for the first time in many years. “I have never stopped loving you, Katy. I am half a man without you. I never wanted to leave you.”
“Oh, Tony. I was so busy saving the world. And you were so changed by finding your God. I am jealous, Tony. He took you away from me. Why does he need you more than I do?”
“I suppose that was, in fact, the problem. I found a living God and I tried to explain him to you in scientific terms. I would never do that if I were trying to convince someone that you existed. I would simply introduce you to them.”
“How can you introduce me to a God I cannot see? I am a scientist. I see what I see, Tony. I do see what a difference your God has made to you. But where is he? I cannot see him, measure him, or weigh him. My mind is a blank.”
“I think the problem is like Akachi’s sensors. Each sensor has the capacity to perceive only one state of matter; plasma, gas, liquid or solid. Our minds were made by God to perceive only the carbon universe. But God is not carbon…he is spirit. We have to use the spirit sensors of our heart to see him.”
“Oh Tony, is it so simple? You know what? I don’t care anymore. Seeing your God or not seeing him I want to be with you. I don’t know if I will ever see your God. But I do see you and I want to be with you again, Tony. Is that possible? Can we do that?”
“Well,” Tony smiled, “I think that Meri’s matchmaking service is one for one. Yes, Katy, I would like that also.”
CHAPTER TEN
Katherine’s communicator illuminated and chimed three times. Tony released her to sit up. “Yes, Meri? Has the Council voted?”
“Yes, we have. Your arguments were persuasive, as usual. We voted to allow Noah to proceed…for now. What choice do we have? At some point, Noah will be hurtling through space with the last seed of humanity relying entirely upon its own judgments.”
“I am happy to hear
that, Meri,” Katherine smiled. “And the other matter that we discussed? Did the Council concur?”
“You are amazing Katherine, you know that? I put the motion forward. It was immediately called to a vote. I will make the announcement this evening. You are the first to hear the news. TRIAD has accepted the Northern Hemisphere resolution declaring LBA a Lunar colony and me as its first governor.”
“Yes!” Katherine and Tony yelled together.
“Oh, Meri that is such good news. That makes you the first Moonling or Lunarling, or what is the correct term?” Katherine said.
“I have a thought on that subject,” Tony interjected.
“Well, hello, Tony. Let’s hear it,” Meri said.
“Well, using the word moon is just far too problematic and it is simply a descriptive name. There are countless planets in the universe but only one called earth. And earthlings are not called planetarians. There are probably far more moons in the universe than there are planets and every future moon colony citizen cannot be distinguished from all the others unless each moon is given its own unique name. In the ancient Bible book of Genesis God created two lights. The greater light was the sun. The lesser light was the moon. The Hebrew word for “lesser” is “qatan.” It can mean “little” or “younger.” If we call the moon colony Qatan Moon Colony then we can all be Qatanies. If you need something more secular the Greek word for little is “ligo.” If we call the moon Ligo Moon Colony then we can all be Ligoans.”
