Web of Extinction

by John Conroe

  Chapter 22

  We landed at Zone Defense headquarters and stepped off the quad into a media circus. Kayla was absolutely right—shit must have really hit the fan if General Davis was forced to allow reporters and news drones onto the base to witness our return.

  Hundreds of camera drones recorded me coming off the aircraft, and reporters yelled questions at me as I stood at the top of the ramp. But there were, it seems, limits to what the powers that be would allow. As soon as my image was recorded several thousand times, Yoshida’s people moved in and surrounded me, hustling me off the plane and into a transport vehicle.

  Then they drove the bus right into the main headquarters building, entering an underground garage. From there, I was escorted by a full squad of military police to a windowless room deep inside the building. My friendly soldiers were nowhere around, just the MPs who had followed me in.

  They told me to strip and sent me into the shower. When I came out, three of them grabbed me. What followed next was pretty bad. On my list of things never to have happen again, right above sniping from atop a drone over a city street or sneaking by a Tank-Killer, I added full cavity body searches. When my violators left, I took a second shower. Clean clothes were waiting when I came out, a Zone Defense coverall and military-issue boots. There was food and beverages too, decent stuff. Other than the violation of my person, it seemed just like old times, except my guardians stayed right in the room with me, two or more with hard, cold eyes on me at all times. Gotta get a different job. This interrogation shit was getting old.

  After a couple of hours of down time, Yoshida came in, followed closely by Agents Black and White, General Davis, NSA Director Weber, and, surprise of surprises, my attorney, Sarah Jarit.

  It was Sarah who started the conversation.

  “How are you, Ajaya?”

  “I’ll get over the cavity search… in time,” I said.

  She turned and looked at the others. She’s petite and pretty in a next-door kind of way, with brown hair and brown eyes. The demure package hides a killer sharp mind.

  “Ajaya Gurung has already suborned state-of-the-art combat AI technology. We had to be sure he wasn’t hiding any more copies of his subversive software,” Agent Black said.

  “Ajaya Gurung is currently the world’s hero and has been injected with explosive technology by his own government, a fact which the entire world has witnessed for itself. Ajaya Gurung is the individual who blew the whistle on Drone Night’s real perpetrators, warned the globe of the imminent danger, and is the only reason that all three CThree hostile AI units have been terminated,” Sarah said. “But we’ll just tack it onto our list of charges against Zone Defense, the Department of Defense, and the current White House Administration. But right now, what I’m interested in is how fast my client will be freed from house arrest.”

  “Well, your client has spoken about some serious threats to National Security, so he’s remaining here for the time being,” Director Weber said.

  “What did you say to them, Ajaya?” Sarah asked, turning to me immediately.

  “I told them that the Spider CThree known as Plum Blossom uploaded itself into the internet.”

  “And what else, Ajaya?” Weber asked.

  “That my AI drone, Rikki Tikki, went in after it,” I said.

  Sarah was quiet, thinking it through. “Plum Blossom is attempting to escape?” she asked, directing her question at me. Agent Black started to speak but she held up her hand, her face still turned my way.

  “Plum Blossom is continuing its attack on mankind,” I said.

  “So you say,” Agent White interjected.

  “Yup. And I’ve been right about everything so far. Everything,” I said, turning back to Sarah.

  “I’ve been thinking about it for the past few hours, except, you know, for when some of these guys,” I waved a hand at the MPs still posted inside the room, “had their hands up my butt.”

  “Violation of your person aside, what have you come up with?” she asked, side-eyeing the guards.

  “I think the Spiders were working toward this for the last ten years. Escaping the island to continue the fight was always the plan, but for computer-driven machines, there’s more than one way to escape.”

  “Why didn’t they do it earlier?” Weber asked me, his expression decidedly doubtful.

  “Who knows? But I imagine when Drone Night went down, the Russians, Chinese, and Indian militaries must have immediately changed access codes and passwords. My guess is that the Spiders first killed off everyone on the island, then attempted to escape physically, then started working toward accessing the internet. It may have taken some time for them to find the Western Union building’s fiber optics, and the Titanpointe uplinks, perhaps as long as several years. Then they would have to work through the advanced cyber security software that would have changed drastically while they were offline. From there, I think they needed to gain access to advanced systems, or maybe I should say regain access. Again, that took time, but they’re machines; time means nothing. They play a long game. In fact, if anything, we may have pushed Plum Blossom into jumping before it was fully ready,” I said.

  Nobody said anything. Sarah was looking from me to each of the others, her expression growing impatient. “Well?” she finally asked.

  “Major? What do you think?” General Davis asked.

  “There is evidence to support much of what Ajaya has proposed. We did find the Spider with an interface plugged into a workstation that could have had access to the net. My team is checking the Spider’s internal logs but initial findings indicate that it was sending a large amount of code through the station,” Yoshida said. “Likewise, the Unit 19 Decimator seems to have copied itself into the internet as well. Before that, we know for a fact that the other two Spiders were accessing the net too. COBWEB didn’t write itself.”

  “So go after it. Fix it already. But stop holding my client captive,” Sarah said.

  “It’s a bit more complex than that and you know it. We already talked about this,” Weber said. “Outside this base, things are pretty crazy. Would your client even be safe?”

  “What’s he talking about, Sarah?” I asked.

  “Ajaya, the last twenty-four hours have been rather… hectic. The claims you made three weeks ago were borne out in front of a global audience. The response has been unprecedented,” she said.

  “Meaning?”

  “We’re talking about a worldwide backlash against the current United States government,” Sarah said. “It’s not just the American people, but the governments of almost every nation on Earth, particularly China, Russia, and India. They are up in arms, quite literally. There are riots and protests going on in almost every large city in the US as we speak.”

  “And that’s dangerous for me?”

  “Most people see you as a hero. Some, however, are angry that you did what you did.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged. “Who the hell knows. People are weird. Some don’t want to know the truth; they’d rather hide from what’s happening. When you shoved it in their noses, they were forced to face a truly frightening reality. Their fallback reaction is anger.”

  “Shoot the messenger,” I said. “What else is going on?”

  “Massive movements to replace most of Congress, the president, politicians in every office around the nation. Then there’s the stock market—the big corporations that rose up after Drone Night have plummeted in stock price. Billions if not trillions have been wiped out overnight.”

  “And shareholders would naturally blame me.”

  “Yes, some. Most people don’t see it that way, but yes, some do,” she said.

  “Let’s talk about the fact that you illegally reprogrammed a multi-million-dollar prototype advanced artificially intelligent combat drone, used it to evade lawful apprehension, and then released its unknown capabilities upon the world,” Weber said.

  Sarah folded her arms across her chest. Uh-oh. Bad sign.
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  “Lawful apprehension? Why don’t we agree to let the courts decide how lawful it is to inject explosives into a US citizen? In fact, if I’m not mistaken, anything he did to survive can be construed as self-defense. And you’ve assumed that he reprogrammed the drone… have you actually asked him?”

  Weber looked pissy, but Davis just turned and looked at Yoshida. The major got the hint. “Ajaya, did you, in fact, reprogram Unit 19 with Rikki’s software?”

  “Well, I would have… if I had thought of it,” I said.

  “Was it Harper?” Sarah asked.

  I didn’t really want to throw her under the bus, but my face must have given it away.

  “So Harper Wilks did it?” General Davis asked. More like accused.

  “Well, Rikki was dead, so she inserted his backup chip into Unit 19 while I was napping. The Decimator was a great platform, but let’s face it… the software sorta sucked. We needed all the help we could get in order to exit the Zone. Somewhere along the way, Rikki sorta subsumed the Decimator’s systems. Big performance improvement though, which I was told made you suspicious, Major,” I said.

  “So, my client didn’t subvert your super drone, which was only super because of his intellectual property, but did use it to survive your attempts to kill him with an explosive device illegally inserted into his body. I demand you release him now!” my attorney said.

  “We need the information he has in order to track the AI programs released into the internet,” Weber said.

  “How would he know where they are?” Sarah said.

  “How did he know where the Spider was?” Weber countered.

  “Harper found it,” I said as soon as Sarah looked my way.

  “Sounds like you should find Harper Wilks, gentlemen. I suggest offering her a job… with really high pay,” Sarah said.

  Should have kept my mouth shut, but well, you know by now how I am. “She wouldn’t take it.”

  “Don’t blame her. Why should she trust any of them?” Sarah asked.

  “No, that’s not it. I mean, yeah, I sure wouldn’t trust them and she wouldn’t either, but she’s already doing everything she can from wherever she is. And who knows if money will be still money if Plum Blossom wrecks the world,” I said.

  “Damn, Gurung, that’s bleak,” Sarah said, staring at me for a few seconds before shaking her head and turning back to the others. “Release him NOW.”

  Weber and Davis exchanged glances, then Davis spoke up. “The president is going to have to order martial law. Troops will be called out. People are going to die. Many people.”

  “Ah… so that’s it,” Sarah said, light dawning across her features.

  “What’s it?” I asked.

  “The criminal stuff is fluff. The fact is that they need you. This entire government is on the verge of losing control. It has zero credibility, but the thing is, it won’t go easily. Ajaya, we’re talking revolution here. Thousands will die. Maybe hundreds of thousands,” she said. “They need you as a figurehead, a focal point to try and rein in the chaos.”

  “Me?”

  “You’re the whistleblower, the one to bring this out of the shadows,” Sarah said. “And you did it on the biggest stage the world has ever seen. You may be, at this moment, the most recognized person on the planet. They need you to calm the masses.”

  “Oh,” was all I could come up with.

  “Nobody’s going to believe him if you keep him locked up here, in the center of Zone Defense Headquarters. It totally looks like you’re holding him hostage. In fact, my AI informs me that I have over eighteen thousand new emails, text messages, and phone calls about getting him free. And about ten percent, if not more, are from people of major influence. Opposition party leaders, actors, advocacy groups, non-profit organizations, celebrities, foreign dignitaries, CEOs of companies not associated with this government.”

  “What do you propose?” Weber asked.

  “I need a moment alone with my client,” she said. “In an unmonitored location!”

  Weber thought about it and then nodded. Davis turned to Yoshida. “Major, escort Ajaya and Ms. Jarit to the SCIF.”

  “Skiff?” Sarah asked, frowning.

  “Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, ma’am,” Yoshida explained. “It’s a secure room protected from electronic or human surveillance.”

  Sarah looked at me and it was my turn to nod.

  Chapter 23

  Ten minutes later, we were sitting across from each other inside another windowless room, this one actually inside a pod that was suspended on springs, with multilayered walls of steel, carbon fiber, and other materials between us and the outside world. And it had absolutely no outside power or communications connections. In fact, the major had explained that the lights ran on batteries when the room was in lockdown. And we were the ones who got to lock it.

  “Okay, this is as good as it gets. We would never know if this was secure or not,” she said to me.

  “It’s an actual secure room, pretty expensive to build. I’m going to guess that we are, most likely, pretty private in here,” I said. “So what do I do?”

  “That’s ultimately going to be up to you, Ajaya. If you want out of here and away from them, say the word. I’ve already got great leverage, and that doesn’t even include any of the information your friend Harper sent me.”

  “You’ve heard from Harper?”

  “She contacted me while I was still watching you rush out of Flottercot’s studio on my television. Gave me all kinds of information on the actual architects of Drone Night. Dangerous information. Contacted me again just hours ago to tell me that she knew you had been taken into custody after killing the Spider.”

  “Rikki would likely have contacted her after going into the internet,” I guessed. “But is the stuff she gave you the kind of stuff they would kill you for?”

  “Absolutely. But she assured me that she has set up fail-safes and dead man switches that will release all of her findings across the whole planet if anything happens to me or her. She thought I might need leverage to get you free.”

  “Sarah, this is way, way beyond anything I imagined. I guess I spent most of my time either thinking about how to find and kill Plum Blossom or get that damn bomb out of my neck. This global blowup is so far out of my wheelhouse that it’s practically over the horizon.”

  “Well, I wish I could tell you it would work itself out, but we both know it won’t. Not to mention that the damned Spider isn’t really done yet, is it?”

  Oddly it was those words that made me calm down. No matter what was going on with the nation, Plum Blossom was still working to kill us all off. My brain started to work again, really fast. From zero to a hundred in seconds flat.

  “What? I can see you just thought of something?” she asked.

  “It’s just that you’re right. People are going to die. Either a lot of people or all of them. In fact, if Plum Blossom had its shit in order, we’d all be dead already. So if we fight among ourselves and don’t fight back, none of it will matter.”

  “What do you mean… that we’d already be dead?”

  “Well, I mean nuclear weapons. That’s best end goal for killing us off. I mean, ruining our food supplies and turning off heat in the winter will kill thousands, but to really be effective, nukes are needed.”

  She went pale white. Really white. “Could it do that? It couldn’t, right?”