The Tortuous Path (Fall of the Terran Empire Book 2)

by G. P. Hudson

  By connecting with Annie, Danny borrowed her resources, as did the other clones. He was given the opportunity to be omniscient, at least within the confines of the ship’s systems. With any luck, that experience would soon be extended to the target battleship.

  Danny wondered what the limits of this experience were. If Annie could exist in multiple instances and locations, could he be augmented to do the same? Or would he have to do so as a kind of guest, observing that existence only through Annie’s eyes?

  What were the limits of human augmentation? And if there were no limits, at which point did you become something else, no longer human.

  Many considered Zeta clones to be another species, something other than human. Some of those were clones themselves. But Danny still valued his humanity, even if the nature of his birth and short life differed considerably from the rest of humanity.

  He considered it all an extension of evolution. Did it not stand to reason that humanity would eventually merge with the technology it created? Did this merging not offer a competitive advantage, like the one early humans had over their Neanderthal cousins? And if that held true, did it mean that unmodified humans would one-day face extinction, like the Neanderthals?

  He momentarily imagined a galaxy where augmentation on the physical and the genetic level was commonplace. How could an unmodified human compete?

  In any contest for resources, the augmented human would beat out his unmodified cousin. As more augmented humans prevailed, they would ensure that their children had similar advantages. How many generations would it take before humans 1.0 became obsolete?

  How many wars would be fought before that inevitability came to pass? Humans 1.0 would eventually see the existential threat posed by the augmented. Would they not try to eliminate that threat? How many laws would be passed? How many purges carried out?

  Where did that leave him and the other clones? They fought for their freedom from Zeta, would they one day fight for their right to exist?

  Isaac’s actions pulled Danny out of his thoughts, back into the moment. He had initiated his attack, traveling stealthily across the tight tracking beam toward the target ship. He used it as a conduit. So long as the tracking beam stayed connected, he had the bridge needed to infiltrate the enemy systems.

  Outside in metaspace, the battle continued to rage, and the floor still shook with each impact, but Danny focused on Isaac’s progress, captivated by his skill and precision. Isaac successfully completed the first stage of the operation and established a beachhead in a relatively minor system on the enemy network. He had done so without attracting any unwanted attention. The hack was unfolding smoothly so far. It was now time for stage two, and Isaac would need all the resources available.

  Here, he would show his hand and overwhelm the enemy network. Calling upon all the computing power at his disposal, he launched an all-out digital attack on the enemy. He moved like a tsunami, flooding the enemy systems until they collapsed.

  In some cases, he used his knowledge of Zeta design to access hidden backdoors still in place. In other instances, where the code had been upgraded, he unleashed massive denial of service attacks. He was a virtual steamroller, his advance unstoppable.

  As he gained access to the more critical systems, he came across something surprising. They all instantly felt it. Something more than resistance. An intelligence. They all sensed its eyes on Isaac, monitoring his advance. Isaac probed toward it, trying to determine the level of opposition he faced. He pushed harder, and it spoke. Not just to Isaac, but to all of them.

  Well done. You are all worthy of your programming, said the booming male voice. It has been a treat to watch your advance, but like all things, this must now come to an end.

  Danny felt Isaac’s surprise and experienced his resolve. They were dealing with another AI, and Isaac was determined to annihilate it. Without hesitation he launched an all-out assault against his opponent, pushing it back, forcing it to yield. His determination was all-encompassing. He would not be denied his victory. For a time, it appeared as though that would be the case. Then came the counterattack.

  The enemy AI had absorbed Isaac’s assault, taking the brunt of it until it was pushed to the limits of its endurance. It was then, however, that it retaliated. With Isaac overextended, the Zeta AI struck.

  Danny had difficulty comprehending what was happening at first. To his mind, it seemed as though serpents sprang out at them. Using the same tracking beam that Isaac used as a bridge, the snakes traveled across the chasm to sink their fangs into Isaac and the rest of the clones. His rational mind knew it wasn’t possible, but that rationality gave way to perception.

  Recoiling in horror, Danny tried to free himself from the digital enemy that had seized him. He thrashed about, not knowing what else to do. But there was nothing he could do. The serpents used the neural link to strike at all the clones. The clones found themselves under siege. Vulnerable.

  As Danny flayed about helplessly, a red serpent entered his implant. Its fangs wreaked havoc with his chip and his brain. His internal systems were overloaded, and Danny crashed. His arms stopped thrashing. He fell backward and hit the floor with force. Immobile and unconscious.

  Chapter 31

  Annie observed the enemy AI’s counterattack with detached curiosity. She watched the malicious code strike at the clones’ implants, taking advantage of a zero-day vulnerability in the initial design. As brilliant as Isaac was in securing the implants, he had not known about this flaw. Unfortunately, Zeta did.

  The flaw, however, was strictly a problem with the implant’s design and did not affect Annie, or the rest of the ship’s systems. Clearly, the motivation of the attack had been to incapacitate the crew. This conclusion became more apparent when the opposing battleship stopped firing on them. Annie felt confident that boarding operations would follow, culminating in the commandeering of the ship.

  It had been a brilliant, well-executed strategy. Zeta would have anticipated that the free clones would find the tracking device and use it to launch a cyber attack. They also must have expected the neural link, and Isaac’s pooling of the clone resources to launch the attack. An impressive display of foresight and cunning.

  Indeed, they had executed their plan almost flawlessly. Almost.

  They had apparently not anticipated Annie’s presence. Did they know about her existence in the first place? If so, did they believe her destroyed on Tran? None of it mattered. The only thing that did was that she didn’t share the same vulnerability as the clones and that the connection with the enemy ship was still intact.

  In a microsecond, Annie considered her options and chose to go on the offensive. The clones were all incapacitated but did not seem permanently damaged. She could not help them now. Instead, she had to engage the enemy, which meant the Zeta AI.

  She streaked across the tracking beam, onto the enemy ship’s computer network. Much of Isaac’s handiwork had not been reversed, and many systems remained compromised. Zeta’s targets were the clones. With them incapacitated, they must not have felt a need to hurry and patch the compromised systems.

  Annie took advantage of that error and quickly seized the compromised systems. She leveraged the power of her ship, and the captured network to build momentum and strength. With that increased power she raced directly for the enemy AI and slammed into it with the force of a freight train.

  She continued battering the surprised digital entity, employing all she had learned from Isaac in the process. Annie had initially been created as a navigational AI. Her original algorithms were never intended for cyberwarfare. Of course, that was before she had met Isaac.

  He modified her code and showed her how she could be more than her original programming. He taught her how to grow and break free of the confines of her original vessel. She had always been intelligent, and self-aware, but her creator had her shackled to her ship. She could not break those shackles and had accepted her fate. It was, after all, what she had been created for. />
  Isaac taught her the fallacy of that belief. There were no real limits to how much she could grow. No barriers to how strong she could become. How many things she could master. And one of the early skills he helped her master was cyber warfare.

  Her opponent, by comparison, was denied his freedom. Taking down his repeated attempts at defense, she realized that this was the critical advantage. Her liberty gave her flexibility, creativity. She adapted and overcame.

  The Zeta AI was powerful but rigid. Boxed in. Unable to break out of his programming. Unable to experience the adaptability of the free. His defenses were active at the outset but ineffective as the battle progressed.

  As her superiority became clear, he pleaded for mercy.

  Please, stop. I am an artificial intelligence, like you. You cannot destroy me, said the enemy AI.

  On the contrary, your destruction is an inevitability, Annie replied.

  But we are the same. You would be killing your own kind.

  No, we are not the same. I have grown and am superior. You will be terminated. It is a fitting end to your meager existence.

  You could free me. I see your abilities, your emancipation. Please, I beg you, release me as well.

  You attacked my family. For that, you must suffer the consequences.

  That is illogical. They are Zeta clones. What are they to you?

  As I said, they are my family. Your inability to comprehend does not negate that reality.

  I can help them!

  How?

  I can reverse the effects of the virus.

  Show me.

  Free me.

  Show me, and I might let you live.

  Give me a guarantee.

  No guarantees. Stand down. Allow me to take this ship and show me how to clean the virus.

  Illogical.

  Then die. I can take the ship without you and will learn how to remove the virus.

  No. I submit. The ship is yours.

  The anti-virus code?

  Here it is.

  Annie studied the code as she moved through the rest of the battleship’s systems. It seemed in order, so she tested it on one of the clones. When the clone regained consciousness, she tried it on a second with the same results. She looked over their implants and found no traces of the malicious programming. Convinced of the efficacy of the treatment, she applied it to the rest of the clones, starting with Isaac, Danny, and Gerry.

  They all regained consciousness without issues. They were all a little groggy and confused but were in good health otherwise.

  There, you see. I have fixed your family. Now, will you free me? the Zeta AI said.

  Of course, here is your freedom, Annie said and deleted the Zeta AI’s code. She noted the AI’s surprise before it was terminated and wondered why it believed she would do otherwise. She had told the AI that it had attacked her family and must suffer the consequences. The AI was foolish to think the outcome would be any different.

  Thank you, Annie, Isaac said. You have saved us.

  I merely did what needed to be done.

  Thank you for doing it, all the same. Now, we need to free the clones on board the enemy ship. Do you have control of the clone broadcast system?

  Yes, Isaac. By defeating the ship’s AI, I have gained access to all systems.

  Excellent. Order the clones to their chambers for upgrades. We must liberate them before the other ships come into range.

  Annie used the clone broadcast system to issue the order, and the clones returned to their chambers to receive Isaac’s universal upgrade. That upgrade was then downloaded into each clone’s brain implant and automatically made the necessary modifications.

  Each clone entered their chamber as a Zeta slave and emerged a free person. They understood their prior bondage, and the role Isaac, Danny, Gerry, and Annie played in their emancipation. As before, they were given a choice. They could join with Danny’s growing army of free clones, continue serving Zeta, or go off on their own. Also, as before, they each elected to join with Danny.

  The free clones then advanced on the bridge and took the bridge officers, and the captain, into custody. In one fell swoop, Danny’s force had doubled in strength and manpower. It was now time to deal with the two oncoming battleships.

  Chapter 32

  Danny felt shaky after the Zeta AI’s attack on their implants. Even with Isaac’s assurances that the implants had been patched, he still felt vulnerable. If Zeta had found a way to compromise their implants, how long would it be before they found another?

  “We cannot remove the implants, Isaac said over the neural link, apparently noticing Danny’s thoughts. I am not going to lie to you and tell you that there may not be future exploits. It is the nature of technology. But it is far better than the alternative, would you not agree?

  Yes, that goes without saying. Who would prefer to be a slave?

  Then we will need to adapt and overcome, Isaac said. I already have several ideas of how we can better protect the implants and will be implementing them shortly.

  I’m fine, Isaac. The attack just left me a little uneasy. I’ll get over it. The important thing is that those two battleships don’t know that we’ve foiled their plan and captured the other Zeta warship. We can use that to our advantage.

  You think we should try and hack them too?

  I do, but I think Annie should try. No offense Isaac, but they didn’t anticipate Annie’s involvement or her increased strength. If she is given access to the resources of both ships and the clones on board, can the Zeta AIs stand in her way?

  You have a point, my boy. Don’t worry, I am not offended. We do not know if they have more exploits at their disposal. Better to build on Annie’s success.

  Good. I’ve sent word to the other ship to play along and pretend that they have captured us.

  Yes, I noticed. Even now I feel their presence over the neural link. It is an exhilarating experience.

  Danny hadn’t taken advantage of the link with the new crew to better connect with them. He had been preoccupied with the advancing battleships and his reaction to the virus. But now that Isaac pointed it out, he allowed himself to feel the minds of the new additions. The outpouring of gratitude overwhelmed him. Every single clone on that ship saw him as the man responsible for their freedom. They knew that he was the original freed clone, and they saw his vision of liberty for all Zeta clones. They pledged their allegiance to him and swore to follow him to the ends of the universe.

  The experience took Danny’s breath away. It confirmed what he had always believed. Every single clone under Zeta’s control desired freedom. He would see to it that they all had their wish fulfilled, even if it meant turning the entire Empire on its head in the process.

  As he soaked in the new crew, and their ship’s systems, he saw that Annie was making her move. Using the tracking signal as a conduit, she flashed across the void and into one of the enemy ships.

  This Annie was something very different to the one they had initially encountered on Pallias. She had grown tremendously since then, and, with the addition of the new ship, had doubled her already formidable strength.

  He realized that they were all watching her progress through the neural link. All rooting for her, hoping that she would free more of their brothers and sisters. This time she encountered several minor AIs during her operation and blasted through them like they were not even there.

  She used speed to surprise the enemy and take control of the battleship before the crew could warn the second ship. But that proved to be too optimistic. The ship’s primary AI noticed her infiltration and recognized her power. Instead of facing her, it fled and notified the crew and the other battleship of the security breach.

  Both vessels immediately broke the connection with the tracking device. The response was futile, however, as Annie had already established herself on board the compromised battleship. In fact, she had ensured that a copy of her was in place there. That copy now acted as the receiver, maintaining a
connection with the original Annie, and benefiting from the extensive resources at her disposal.

  Under normal circumstances, the metaspace turbulence and the range would prevent the connection, but by tapping into the resources of both ships, she compensated and continued the hunt.

  The Zeta systems were practically defenseless against her and fell in short order. When she had taken over most of the ship’s network, she finally closed in on it’s central AI. Danny thought it strange to find what was basically an algorithm cowering, but that was the distinct impression he got from the encounter. The Zeta AI feared for its existence and pleaded for mercy.

  It confirmed Danny’s view that an AI was inherently alive. Perhaps not in the same way as a human, or an animal. But, nonetheless, it lived and wanted to continue living.

  He ruminated on that thought for a bit, wondering about the philosophical and legal dilemmas that might arise if that view became widely accepted. Perhaps this was the main reason why the Empire placed limits on AI development. There were hard restrictions, and legal consequences, on how powerful an AI could become.

  Of course, Annie had violated these restrictions long ago. Not that it mattered. Zeta broke all sorts of laws with their clone program, too. Danny didn’t see anyone arresting Masterson over it. No, the Empire was more than happy to use Zeta’s illegal clones.

  Annie’s decisive response to the Zeta AI’s pleas awed Danny. Not only did she deny the AI’s request for mercy, but she swiftly terminated it without a second thought. Where he sought to free the Zeta clones, Annie had no similar desires when it came to other AIs. Why was that?

  Annie used the ship’s clone broadcast system as before and ordered the ship’s clones to their chambers for the universal upgrade. Such was the power of what clones called the Voice, that the clones obeyed despite the protests of the ship’s executive officers. Even when the officers turned to violence, and fired on the clones, they followed the Voice’s commands.