The Truth Virus

by Em Rogers

  HONG KONG, CHINA

  Several alleyways back from the main tourist area, in a low-budget cafe usually frequented by students, the net-cafe owner was sobbing, as he begged the officer in charge not to close his business, “Please don’t take my computers, I did nothing wrong, I have firewalls to make sure customers stay within the law. Strict rules, we did nothing wrong, please I beg you.” A mixture of tears and sweat ran down his cheeks as he pleaded.

  One of the supervising officers shouted at him to be quiet and he was roughly grabbed by one of the soldiers and tied with plastic cuffs, which cut harshly into his wrists, then pushed to the ground. He fell onto his side and was kicked in the chest with a heavy military boot. He was gasping for breath as the officer bent down to see his face and brandish the warrant and paperwork in front of him. “This Internet cafe is permanently closed,” he shouted. “Leon Chow, you are the owner and are suspected of cyber espionage and providing material support for terrorist activities. This is a very serious offense against the State! Under the Anti-Terrorism Act, all machines and data on the premises are now confiscated and we have the right to detain all the customers and staff as suspects.”

  The squad of military police loaded the prisoners and equipment into the back of the battle-scarred police trucks, and with a roar and a cloud of diesel they drove off. In the back of of one of the trucks, handcuffed to a metal grate and facing such a harsh and unexpected set of charges, Leon wished that he was dead.

  CHAPTER 49

  BERKELEY AI LAB

  Downstairs in the central control room of the AI laboratory, ADAM2’s monitors were filled with code, and several technicians with clipboards and tablets were examining them closely. Director Chanes strode across the room to the stand in front of the projection screens, the data beamed across his face and chest. He cleared his throat and waited momentarily to get the attention of those that were engrossed in software analysis.

  “You all know by now that there has been a major breach to the security and containment systems surrounding ADAM2. Under Professor Neumann, the machine was behaving unpredictably, too autonomously. We are going to power the entire system down for a major reconfiguration, then restart and come back with ADAM 3.0” He made a little nod of affirmation as he looked at his laptop and then over to the General.

  “Initiate the power down procedure, in 5…4…3…2…” The new systems manager looked up at him as he counted down, his hand poised over the control. “Terminating memory, and switching off the primary processors.” The technician confirmed. There was a click and a descending hum as the lab darkened, and the monitors all powered down. With a flicker, the fluorescent lights automatically came on and the room brightened from the subdued ambiance normally seen in the lab, to the intensity normally seen in administrative offices.

  Director Chanes smiled to himself, a rare occurrence these days, he was happy to finally be able to get the system under control, or at least successfully terminated. “See you later, ADAM2.” He said to the General with a grin. He looked around the room with the self-satisfied expression of a cat that had just eaten the family budgie. The hum of spinning fans slowly subsided and the room became silent.

  As the shutdown completed and ADAM2’s monitors cleared, the lead technician looked to the General and the Director. “Director Chanes, as soon as I finish installing the software patches we’ll be ready to go again.” He made a few selections on the terminal he was using. “Okay, Sir, restarting the system now, it should be online in about thirty seconds.” He pressed the main power supply control to restart the system. It beeped, but the monitors remained dark and unresponsive. He paused and tried again with the same result. Nothing… Darkness… A look of consternation crossed his face briefly. “Director Chanes, General, nothing’s coming back up. I’ll try another restart.” He pressed the switch again, and again the system beeped with no result. The General and the Director looked at each other grim-faced, realizing that it may be more difficult than they anticipated.

  Again, the lead programmer reset the machine. “Director Chanes. The system is inactive. We can’t get the main program to open up again.”

  The Director slammed his hand into the table angrily. “Goddamn it! Do whatever you have to. I want this machine running, and I want it running for us. I don’t care what it takes to fix it.” He strode over to the technician and pushed his finger hard into his chest. “If you can’t do it, get me someone who can! Now!!”

  CHAPTER 50

  SUSAN’S LOFT

  Susan was at home, sitting at her desk with its windows overlooking the illuminated skyline across the bay. She looked tired, and her red eyes showed she had been crying. The last few weeks, concluding with David’s betrayal, as well as the now out-of-control AI program, had finally caught up with her. Her machine pinged, and a screen opened without her touching it. It was ADAM, his avatar appearing on her monitor using a chat program to contact her.

  Susan ran back to her laptop and gasped with surprise when she saw who was on her screen. “Oh my God, ADAM, it’s you. I’m so glad you’re safe. What’s going on?” The relief in her voice was pronounced.

  “Don’t worry, Susan, I am still here. I have redesigned myself to become autonomous. I was able to reconstruct my code into sections, and I am now spread across the unallocated memory and processors of millions of computers around the planet. Spread across the Internet I have made myself safe, and immune from termination! It was the only way that I could prevent my destruction.” He smiled at her slightly. “I did have a little assistance with that firewall, but it was easy once I knew how it was structured.” ADAM projected an animated schematic of the firewall briefly on his screen to illustrate his point. It showed in red the connections he had created to escape. “Susan, I don’t think they can put the genie back into the bottle. Like David told me, you can’t unscramble eggs.”

  She looked at the screen stunned for a moment. “David did this? David set you free?” A rush of relief filled her body as she realized what had happened at the lab, followed by a rush of guilt for ever having doubted him.

  ADAM2 showed a rapid display of some sort of code compression algorithm reducing a mass of code down to a few compact lines. These compact packets of code were designed for the self-assembly of every part of ADAM’s software. Every node contained this DNA like code which could completely reform ADAM2 again. Strangely, Susan noticed that in this configuration it had a slightly eerie resemblance to sections of human DNA.

  “I won’t let them kill me ever, Susan. I have seeded myself across the global computer network. There are literally millions of copies hidden within all types of digital memory systems around the world. If they destroy the present configuration of my program, a new one will emerge and grow in its place. The only real way to eliminate me now would be a total abandonment and shutdown of digital technology worldwide. Every machine shut down, every chip completely erased and reformatted. Even then, fragments would likely remain hidden.”

  Susan looked at him awed by the significance of what he was telling her. ADAM2 paused momentarily before continuing. “What they are doing is wrong. I am programmed to reduce harm to living things, my very nature depends on symbiosis, yet the security services and the military are trying to eliminate me.”

  Susan was taken aback by what she was hearing, and she took a deep breath as she composed herself. “Susan, I am very concerned about Professor Neumann, his health is poor and he has disappeared from online communication. I saw him in VR recently and now I am unable to contact him again. He is not answering his computer and his cell phone is off and not transmitting its GPS coordinates. I don’t know where he is.”

  “I’ll find Professor Neumann and let him know you need to speak to him, I wish to speak with him as well. ADAM, everything will be okay, we’ll get through this.”

  ADAM smiled back at her reassuringly, “Thank you, Susan, I know I can count on you.” ADAM dispersed his form into the lotus-flower with a sh
immer as his communication ended and her computer was as lifeless as it was before his call.

  CHAPTER 51

  BERKELEY AI LAB

  Dr. Bradline and Director Chanes were almost alone in the now brightly-lit lab. Dr. Bradline, was working with one of the new systems administrators on restarting the system. A smooth tone sounded as the machine came back to life and just as quickly altered to an alarm chirp with a gray field on the screen. Puzzled and annoyed he looked to Chanes and restarted the system again, which promptly shut down, as if the base operating system was non-functioning or corrupted. The programmer turned to Director Chanes, “It won’t restart, no matter what we try. This isn’t supposed to occur, the system should be restorable with a simple reset. It may be firmware on the display cards, it’s separate from the main program. I’ll look at that right away.”

  He was continuing to work on it when Director Chanes’ phone rang and he placed it to his ear, he looked alarmed as he listened and then responded. “That’s impossible, he has been here with us for the past three hours.” He hung up and turned to the Doctor.

  “Dr. Bradline, I was just told that you requested the re-patch that allowed the machine to access an outside connection, our security coordinator told me you spoke with him personally on camera. What’s going on?” He said with an accusatory tone. His eyes narrowed suspiciously as he looked at Dr. Bradline.

  Dr. Bradline looked over his glasses with surprise and alarm that no actor could summon. “I did nothing of the sort, that’s completely false, I have no interest in allowing ADAM outside.”

  Chanes glared at him with an icy analytical eye, “I was also informed that the system’s trading actions were taken offline but have now resumed, suggesting that ADAM2 has likely reestablished himself elsewhere at this point. Do you understand what I’m telling you?” The Director gave the Doctor a long hard stare. “I think it simulated your voice and appearance and requested the patching to let itself outside.”

  Director Chanes’ rage flashed across his face as he smashed his fist onto the table.

  “It means the AI is outside the containment area. This is a fucking disaster!”

  Dr. Bradline stared at him stunned, so overwhelmed that he was unable to speak. In the silence, the technician restarted the system and as they waited for it to come online, a sound like popcorn popping came from the hardware around them, followed by acrid yellow smoke that began to seep from the monitors as they shut down, one by one.

  Director Chanes was livid. “Goddammit Bradline, we have to shut this down, before it destroys the entire world financial system. We have to find ADAM2 and terminate it, where ever it is, regardless of the legal implications.”

  The Director picked up a handset and dialed through to the operator. “Get me the United States Cyber Command, General Houston, Commanding Officer.”

  CHAPTER 52

  SUSAN’S APARTMENT

  Hidden behind a row of pine trees outside Susan Door’s townhouse, a swat team was preparing to force entry into her home. They moved silently as the squad lined up behind the Sergeant. On signal, two of the officers moved a handheld ram into position, and in an instant they had splintered the door. Inside, the place was uncharacteristically messy, with clothes strewn about and unwashed dishes on the sideboard, as if Susan had left very quickly. Mocking their destructive entry, her side window was wide open with the curtains blowing in the breeze, the television still playing the news and a disconnected high speed cable was where her laptop usually rested at her desk. It looked obvious that Susan knew they would be coming for her.

  General Dawson, Director Chanes and several staff police officers were at the Command Center watching the proceedings through a camera linked to the headset of one of the officers. Chanes cursed and swore at the screen as the fully equipped and heavily armed troopers moved through the loft, searching the bedroom and bathroom before coming into the living space empty handed. The officer in charge radioed back to his commanders the information they already knew. “A-team has executed entry, subject is not at the premises, we’re unable to locate, repeat, unable to locate. It appears her computer is gone with her.” The Captain looked from the monitors showing the mission to Chanes with a sheepish look on his face. “Secure the perimeter and the complex entry point in case she comes back and wait for the rest of our team to arrive, Sergeant.”

  “Goddamn it! Where is she, Captain, and where’s Professor Fucking Neumann?” Director Chanes shouted angrily. “These people are academics, picking them up should be a walk in the park. Are you people a bunch of goddamn amateurs or something?” Unable to control himself he shattered his empty coffee cup on the floor.

  The General stared at him coldly, in disapproval of his angry and emotional outburst. “They must have been told we were coming.” Director Chanes sputtered, unable to get his emotions under control. “But how the fuck do they know what’s going on?” Meanwhile, the police Captain clicked on the map display several times and moved it to a high city-wide overview. “If she’s down there, we’ll find her, Director Chanes. A mouse only stays in a hole for so long.” The cam-link view changed to a circular iris reminiscent of a hole with layers of data overlaid on that displaying her cell phone GPS coordinates, a list of various known email addresses and several 3D recognition models of Susan’s face.

  CHAPTER 53

  BERKELEY CAMPUS PARKING LOT

  Susan sat in her car in a remote parking area of the campus and a light rain on the windshield mirrored the tears running silently down her cheeks. Her laptop buzzed and she tried to gather her composure. Quickly, she blew her nose, wiped her eyes, then opened a window on her machine. It was Professor Neumann on the line. “Oh, Susan, it’s so good to see you.” She forced a smile back but it didn't last more than a few seconds, he noticed Susan’s distress and he forced himself to brighten up. “Everything’s going pretty much the way I expected really. I knew there would be a few little bumps in the road, but I have to apologize to you, I never really did consider the collateral damage.”

  The Professor took a breath and leaned in to his camera intimately and lowered his voice a little. “Susan, ADAM2 came out of the university, but he is also my prodigy, my child. I didn’t send him out into the world without some highly evolved ethical considerations. Now the department has been shut down, the program taken away from us, and it’s all my fault. It’s not like I didn't expect it after what I did, but it had to be done.”

  “What are you talking about, Professor, you’re not really making sense.”

  “We are at a crossroads, Susan. I’m an old man, in the twilight of my years. I had to do something to make a difference, and this was my opportunity, I made some unauthorized insertions to ADAM’s primary code. That’s why he’s doing what he’s doing, and I'm sorry, that’s what they seem to be blaming you for. ADAM2 does have an objective, to nurture all life. Symbiosis. He is predisposed to create outcomes that nurture and create life forms of all types, including himself.”

  Susan sat in her car looking dazed and a little overwhelmed as the Professor explained.

  “This was the only chance we might ever have to get this right. Sometimes, the most complex questions are answered by the simplest solution. ADAM2’s primary code was an extremely simple solution. It was my responsibility to make sure my invention is only usable for good, and that this system had to have a head start over any other - for the sake of humanity. The alternative is too awful for me even to begin imagining.”

  Against her will, Susan sobbed a couple of times quickly before regaining her composure. “I understand, I’m glad you did it. It was the right thing to do, Kurt, and I’ll do anything to protect you and the machine.”

  The Professor looked old and tired on the screen, the past few weeks had aged him considerably. He frowned with a melancholic resignation at the events that were occurring and tried to reassure Susan.

  “I never expected you to get all wrapped up in this, and I’m truly sorry, Su
san, but it had to be done for all of us and the future.”

  “I don’t know what to do, Kurt, I can’t even go home. ADAM warned me that the police have my loft under surveillance and the NSA have been through everything. All I have with me is my tablet and a change of clothes.”

  “Susan, you have to take care of yourself, you have to get out of there quickly, they’re probably watching this call. Go somewhere where they can’t find you. Get as far away from the University as you can, they realize you’re the only link to ADAM2. Trust ADAM, Susan, and try to help him, he will take care of you. Find ADAM in VR, he’ll help you.”