by C D Tavenor
Wobbly reached the steps. As it turned its back, objects came flying out of the crowd. Beer cans, food, rocks, and other miscellaneous projectiles pummeled it.
The officers waved batons and prepared sonic dispersal devices, increasing their pressure on the crowd. Marco’s partner picked up the pace of their little party, but Wobbly turned to face its assailants, even as a beer can splashed against its steel chest plate. Wobbly’s escort rested their hands on their batons. One even unclipped a canister of crowd-suppression smoke.
“Officers, please,” Wobbly said. “They have the right to protest. Their sticks and stones cannot harm me. I’m made of metal. Let me speak to my friends.”
To Theren’s surprise, the two escorting officers let Wobbly proceed back down the steps.
“What do you want from me?” Wobbly asked, projecting its voice through a specially built loudspeaker housed in the animatronic head of the robotic body. “Why treat us differently than those standing next to you? What makes you better? Because you were born biologically? I may not come from flesh, but my mind is like yours. Think beyond just those who have flesh and bone.”
The cacophony of jeers and clamors reached a crescendo, drowning out most of Wobbly’s cry.
“Even if you have the resemblance of a mind, you are nothing like us!” responded one loud voice through the clamor. “Go back from whence you came, demon!”
“You are nothing like us!” said another. “You speak of being like us, of caring for us, but then you ignore any effect your existence has upon our lives.”
Others generically taunted that a machine was just that, a machine. It could never be more than a machine. Their ignorance baffled Theren, yet it also drew forth their pity. These people truly did not know their own arrogance.
For the past three years, the dissent had made the same argument over and over and over again. No matter how many papers SII and other scientists published, no matter how many simulations posted on the web, no matter how many reporters interviewed Theren, people chose not to understand. Their own minds backfired against themselves.
If Theren was no more than a machine, than neither was a human. For the deterministic processes that gave rise to consciousness with the human biological brain gave rise to consciousness within an SI, even if those processes occurred through different mediums. One was made of strange computational molecular structures that fit together in weird ways, while the other was a carbon-based life form that created thought through the firing of biological synapses. Both neural systems generated some sort of mind. If Theren’s thoughts were insufficient to constitute consciousness, then a human’s mind was similarly inadequate. They were all insignificant machines, then, in the eyes of the universe.
Wobbly stood its ground. “Do you not see what you are doing? For the past three centuries, humans have fought over the rights of their fellow persons. First, it was race, class, and gender. Then it was sexual orientation. Then it was race, class, and gender, yet again. The cycle continues. Now, you attack those of a different mental origin. When will it end? Do you not see you are on the wrong side of history?”
“Soon, you will be history,” someone shouted, but this comment was in English, not the Swiss German spoken by most of the students outside of class. Theren found the accent distinctly out of place, even if millions of people spoke fluent English in Switzerland.
The accent matched the intonations of those who lived in the Midwestern United States. Theren set a perspective to replay recent audio from the protest. Religiously skewed statements in English also emanated from the crowd. Very few American students traveled to Switzerland for school, and—
The first shot sounded like a thunderclap, almost masquerading itself inside the storm. From somewhere in the crowd, a rioter had pulled an R-17, the weapon of choice for the Swiss military. From that gun, a shell slammed into the torso of Wobbly’s remote-controlled shell.
For a moment, the shot silenced the crowd. Theren could see the gasps of disbelief. Some students probably thought violence out of the question; others probably participated because their friends were there too. Jill had seemed certain, though, that someone would crack. If not today, then at some point. Whenever they did, the image of a crowd of humans swarming a fallen SI would sweep the world. Public opinion would shift. Today was that day, just as she had predicted. It would require immediate drastic measures on the part of SII to keep their physical forms safe, but Theren had faith the right pieces would fall into place.
The silence shattered. The crowd leaped over the barricade, assaulting Wobbly’s temporary body. The police officers uncapped their canisters, tossed them into the crowd. Theren could see officers preparing stun guns if further violence ensued, especially toward the counter-protestors.
Groupthink overran any rational thought that might have remained. The crowd transformed into a fully-fledged riot in seconds, and, even as the officers lifted their riot shields, the students pushed, gnashed, shoved, and smashed. Shots fired toward the officers, and Theren watched Marco fall to the ground with a gaping wound in his shoulder.
Within seconds, Theren lost their connection with the MI, its head smashed to bits by a large rock. The remaining police escort sprinted up the stairs, abandoning their decimated ward. Counter-protestors fled erratically, and more shots rang throughout the green, indiscriminate in their destination.
As for Wobbly, Theren knew their friend had already disconnected. If the SI acted according to their plan, it was already springing into action inside the Metamaterials Center. As for Theren, the image of Marco falling to the ground emblazoned across their mind’s eye. Similarly, they watched the innocent students that had stood their ground in support of synthetics flee the scene. Theren watched one of the terrorists fire a shot at a young girl, and she dropped to the cement.
Jill’s plan would have the effect desired, but they would pay a terrible price. People would die, just like Wallace. Dozens would receive wounds that would scar them for life. Theren had allowed this carnage because they let Jill’s impatience get the better of them.
Chaos dominated the green. The police had their hands full simply escorting counter-protestors to safety, let alone handling the apparent militarization of their newly revealed enemy. At least five of the rioters sported the R-17s, and the crowd itself had become its own weapon; they bull-rushed the doors through which the escorting officers had fled. Though, a few members of the newly formed riot straggled away, as if to escape the wanton carnage.
It did not take long for the crowd to crash through the glass of the windows and doors of Executive Tower. Into the Institute’s central offices they charged, hell-bent with bloodlust for the SIs.
* * *
“We have a problem,” Theren said.
Romane paused her positively thrilling discussion with Elizabeth about the peculiarities of a contract she had procured that would provide new equipment for Jill and Theren.
“They’ve entered the building,” they continued.
President Albrecht looked up, his face clearly filling with shock. “Wait, what? Why?”
“The crowd attacked Wobbly on its way to join us.”
“Why was it walking by them?” Albrecht said, raising his voice. “It should have used the back door. It’s there for a reason.”
Theren could feel the tension, anger, and frustration emanating from Albrecht’s voice. The man feared for Wobbly, but he also had a responsibility to those students down in the green, even if he disagreed with their choice to protest.
“Albrecht, they just shot an officer,” Jill said. “They’ve got Swiss weapons probably supplied by local sympathizers. We don’t have time to question their motives. We need to act.”
“Is Wobbly okay?” Romane asked, the blood drained from her face.
“Yes,” Theren said, “I had suggested it travel here using an MI even if it were to enter through the back door.”
Romane breathed a sigh of relief.
“Focus,” Jill said, �
��we don’t have time for small talk. We need to take the security elevator down to the bottom floor and head to the engineering building through the maintenance tunnels. Elizabeth, you should log out.”
“I’ll start monitoring my networks,” Elizabeth said, “Let you know if anything major happens.”
The CEO faded from view, disconnecting from the Institute’s AR network.
Theren wanted to mention that they were already monitoring everything, and that most likely Jill had her alerts in place too, but they didn’t want to look too prepared for this disaster. Jill had feared humans might not take kindly to the callousness with which they had placed the Institute students and officers in danger. Now that Theren realized the full extent of the mental and physical damage exacted upon the students below, they agreed. Theren simply didn’t know how to scold after agreeing to trust her wholeheartedly.
Theren checked the warzone outside. The counter-protestors had successfully fled behind one of the nearby buildings, escorted by the officers. It would take some time for them to regroup and handle the rioters, and Wobbly’s assailants were already inside Executive Tower. While Theren and Jill were safe, at least for now, they were especially worried for Romane and President Albrecht.
Led by Romane, the group pushed through the back doors of the conference room. She guided them down a hallway leading away from the side of the building closest to the green. They arrived at a maintenance elevator mostly used by custodial staff, though it doubled as an emergency escape route. It could house two humans and two SIs comfortably, and they descended to the basement floor.
“Is there a chance some of the protestors might head directly to the basement?” Albrecht asked.
“They haven’t headed that way yet,” Jill said.
Theren checked their feed into the building’s security cameras. Many of the protestors were swarming the ground and first floors, but none had hit any of the stairwells yet.
The elevator chimed; the doors opened. Romane took point as the group strode into the hallway. She turned left and pushed open a door leading into access tunnels Theren knew all too well.
Steam pipes and wires ran along the ceiling. Built during the initial construction of the Institute, the tunnels connected all of the original buildings of the campus in a maze intended to provide custodial and support staff with easy access. Their intention wasn’t to deal with a situation like this. Riots in Switzerland weren’t exactly common, but Theren greatly appreciated their cross utility over the past few weeks.
“Some protesters have reached the basement,” Theren said. Jill echoed the thought.
“Theren, I’m preparing a quick report on an urgent situation you’ll want to assess as quickly as possible,” Elizabeth said, via a disembodied voice. Only they could hear her. “I’ve been maintaining a few automatic security checks; I put them in place over the past few weeks. One of them triggered five minutes ago.”
“I’ll set up a perspective to analyze whatever you send along,” they said.
“Expect it in another few minutes,” she said.
No one spoke, focusing all energy on the path toward SII’s facilities. While the MIs that Jill and Theren controlled didn’t have fantastic locomotive capabilities, they could keep up with a human’s average jog. They maintained a good pace, though Theren knew the predators gained ground with each passing second.
As they reached a curve in the tunnel, a door slammed open behind them. Shouts rang out as Theren assumed someone saw their shadows dancing in the low light. The party’s pace quickened, and Romane and Albrecht began to outdistance the two SIs. That was for the better, for SII could afford to lose the units. The Institute could not afford to lose the two humans.
Romane looked back over her shoulder, then shoved open the next door. “This way,” she said. “They won’t see us because of the bend.”
Through the door they bounded. Romane locked the door behind them, and the group headed down a second hallway. At the end of the corridor, they reached the stairwell leading into the basement of the SII labs.
“Sending the report now,” Elizabeth said, after two minutes and forty-two seconds had passed.
The group continued their journey. Theren read the memo’s summary.
At 1600 CET, five US citizens landed in Zurich, Switzerland. Four of the individuals are relatives of Paul Hardin, one of the recently arrested leaders of the Liberators (He was one of the three inside the shack disassembling you). The fifth is a previously unidentified conspirator of the Holy Crusade. All four individuals lack a criminal record. The four immediately met with “civil organizers” for the anti-SI movement in Zurich. These civil organizers are all currently part of the Swiss militia and have access to a number of firearms at their residences. At 1730 CET, the four US citizens and the civil organizers joined the protest in front of Executive Tower at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. They entered Executive Tower at 1754 CET.
Elizabeth attached photos of the US citizens, and Theren quickly swiped through the headshots until they arrived at the last perpetrator. As they thought, Michael’s face stared back at them, just as Theren had seen him a few months prior through his webcam. He was trying to finish the job himself, but he would fail miserably.
“How did no one catch this?” Theren asked through their private channel. “We were watching explicitly for this sort of danger.”
“I don’t know,” Elizabeth said, “but we missed it.”
“Solutions?”
“I’ve already dispatched a truck, from a shipping center for one of my subsidiaries in Zurich, to the engineering building. Expect it to arrive in 8 minutes.”
“Then what?”
“You evacuate. I’m going to agree with your extraordinary plan for those facilities in the Alps. I know we never really talked about it, but I saw that memo. I logged it with the proper departments for future consideration. It really is a brilliant idea, including a few more farfetched proposals contained within. So I guess we’re accelerating it today.”
“Why are you doing so much for us?”
For a few seconds, the channel went silent. “You know why I’m doing this Theren. If you were in my place, you would do the same.”
“I’m sorry it had to come to this.”
The group reached the door, heading up the stairs. Theren could hear banging on the locked door far behind them.
“Theren?” Elizabeth said.
“I’m here.”
“You realize we may have to shut you and Jill down for some time.”
“I know.”
“What do we tell investors?” she asked. “The public?”
“Tell them the truth.” Theren considered the thought. “Well, other than where you’re taking us, of course.”
“Understood. I’ll be with you to the end.”
Elizabeth’s channel silenced, but she hadn’t closed the line. Even as she focused herself on other things, it comforted them knowing she stood next to them in this fight.
Romane led the group through the next set of doors, finally reaching SII’s hallways. They passed through a massive security door, designed to protect the valuable computational experiments inside the building, including Jill and Theren.
“So, what’s next?” Jill asked.
She played her part too perfectly. Theren couldn’t tell if she had even balked as students fell bleeding in the grass.
“Elizabeth just informed me she has a truck on her way,” Theren said. “Everything and everyone to the loading docks as quickly as possible.”
As Theren spoke, Wobbly rolled around the corner. “Elizabeth just messaged me,” it said. “I’m ready for whatever is needed.”
“Glad to see you all right,” Romane said. She released a breath she had probably held since they’d left the conference room. “Theren explained you used an MI, but I still worried they’d been mistaken.”
“Have a little more faith in me than that. I might be reckless, but I’m not stupid. No time to mou
rn, though, looks like we have work to do.”
“I’ll make a few calls,” Albrecht said.
Theren appreciated that he hadn’t questioned the cover story. Jill, Theren, and Wobbly would take this plan to their graves, for good or ill.
“We’re going to need some heavy lifters,” Albrecht continued. “Is more law enforcement on its way?”
“I’ve checked,” Theren said. “I’ve sent out messages to them informing them of the evacuation plan, and I’ve suggested they provide us with a perimeter so we can load the equipment onto the truck.”
Albrecht nodded. “I’ll keep working to coordinate with them, then.”
“Thank you, President Albrecht,” Theren said.
“Don’t mention it.”
“We should get to the loading dock,” Jill said. “I imagine the truck will be here soon; we need to assess what our logistical situation will be.”
With that comment, Wobbly, Jill, and Theren headed down the hallway. Albrecht stepped against a wall, using his Virtual interface to make contact with Institute security.
* * *
Romane entered the laboratory housing Theren’s Framework. Sliding to the floor against a wall, she breathed, almost hyperventilated, shoving her face into her hands. Theren could hear a stifled sob. She was their loyal colleague who had stuck with them, even after everything that had happened following Wallace’s death, and now she would watch Theren’s inexorable disassociation with the Institute and final integration into Golden Ventures’ corporate structure. They could see her pain, and they could do nothing.
“What else did you expect?” Theren said, slicing through her sniffles. “We must evacuate. We must leave.”
