ARMS Beckland's Fall: (Book 5)

by Stephen Arseneault

  "As expected. Surprised she didn't tell you to go pound sand on this trade. She has to know we want to build ships with this stuff."

  "She knows it, but I think it goes right along with her playing both sides of this fight. She'll keep straddling that border fence as long as she can."

  Bannis came into the room. "Fascinating history we have."

  "How far along are you?"

  "The black death. They say it may have wiped out a third of Earth's people."

  Gandy said, "Took three hundred years to catch back up to where the population was."

  Tawn nodded. "By far the biggest population reduction event in our history. Unless you include the destruction of Earth itself, which we really don't know if that happened or not. Lots of wars and catastrophes in between, but nothing like that plague."

  Harris chuckled. "Look at all the historians we suddenly have. How'd your hunting go?"

  "Good, actually. We have most of the items listed lined up. A couple runs back to the truce worlds and we should have it all. It’ll take at least a week to collect it though."

  "As expected."

  Sharvie asked, "Any chance we can check on Gondol?"

  "Alex?" Harris turned to face the display wall. "We still have Earther ships there?"

  "One moment... yes. It would appear their ships are in the same position as before. One item of note, we were concerned about the deposit of titanium ore that was revealed by the Denzee. The Earthers do not seem to be interested, which leads me to believe they are not aware of its existence."

  Tawn shook her head. "They probably have orders to investigate the Denzee buildings, and aren't willing to stray from that task."

  "Let's hope."

  Trish asked, "So what's next?"

  Harris said, "First we eat. Then we head back to the truce colonies and see if we can acquire the remaining items on the list. Alex, can you rescan for where we might find the remaining parts?"

  "I can."

  Harris sighed. "Please do so."

  "Beginning scans now."

  Harris turned to face Tawn. "I know he does that just to irritate me."

  "Maybe I should start."

  Harris chuckled. "Please don't, that would drive me insane. Find some other way to be a pain. Just please don't do that."

  Harris opened an MRE, dividing it in half. "I feel like I'm starving myself to death."

  "Lose any more?"

  "Down to one-thirteen. And I managed a twenty minute run without passing out at the end the other day."

  "Sounds like you're on your way." Tawn took the other half of his MRE.

  "You lost any?"

  "A couple. Haven't focused on the eating side of the equation yet. Was hoping my exercise would be enough. It's not. My metabolism has slowed from those youthful days. Too easy to pack it on now."

  Harris nibbled on a bogler rib.

  Tawn chuckled. "You're eating that like a regular teenage girl. In fact, Trish isn't that timid with her food."

  "Just trying to slow down so I can savor it. I can tell you here and now though, it's not working. My gut is telling me to shred the meat on that bone without mercy."

  Tawn smirked. "Same here."

  "I did manage twenty-eight vertical push-ups yesterday."

  "All at once or over the course of the day?"

  Harris smiled. "At once. Was kind of surprised I was able. My goal is to get that back up to a hundred like the old days. And believe me when I say every kilo I lose helps. I can feel the extra weight bearing down."

  "We used to have to do a hundred a day. Could choose any combination just so it totaled to a hundred by day's end. I used to do forty, thirty, twenty, and ten. Gives you that nice fat neck they like to see on a slug or stump."

  "I do miss some of those days where all you had to think about was what someone told you to do. Now all we do is think for ourselves. It's exhausting."

  Tawn shook her head. "Every time I think I have you nailed down you say something like that. You're consistently inconsistent. You're a fierce fighter and defender, and then you befriend the pacifists at Eden. And now you're saying you'd prefer to take orders. Neither of those I would have predicted from you in a million years."

  "It's all part of my grand plan to keep you off balance."

  "I'd say it's more like the inner Harris Gruberg trying to get out after being confined in there by the Biomarines and their regimented training routines. They shoved our beliefs into us starting from day one."

  "That they did, but there's not much we learned I disagree with. So it either worked or it was the right thing to learn to begin with."

  A comm came in from Idiot. "Sir, I believe I have the processor bench working. We won't know for certain for another sixteen hours, but initial testing looks promising."

  Harris nodded. "Good work, Idiot. Now get your butt over there and start helping the others. What are they working on at the moment?"

  "They appear to all be in hibernation mode, sir."

  Harris quickly stripped the remaining meat from his ribs and jammed it into his mouth. He mumbled as he stood. "Be right over."

  Several chews were followed by a swig from a beverage and a hard swallow. Tawn and the others followed close behind, with Bannis Morgan bringing up the far rear.

  Harris hopped off the last step of the stairwell and hurried into the lab. "How long have they been that way?"

  An image of Alex appeared on the wall. "Each has an error code reporting in a monitor subroutine. I'll have to investigate."

  "Well, do it fast. We need them all working on this project. It's already gonna take too long."

  "I am aware of the time constraints, Harris. Please be patient and know that I am doing all I can to identify the issue."

  Bannis came over the comm.: "The door to that level shut in my face. What am I missing?"

  Gandy replied, "The bots are all offline, except Idiot. He seems to be fine."

  Harris shook his head as he looked back at the others. "We aren't building anything without that labor."

  Alex returned. "It would seem there is a flaw in the makeup of their artificial brains."

  "What happened?"

  "I have yet to identify it. It's possibly a recent failure, although it could be either a design flaw or a manufacturing defect that has only now come to light."

  "Great, yeah. So you don't know any more than I do. How do we fix it?"

  "Please, Harris. Show some patience."

  Tawn chuckled.

  "It's really not that funny."

  "No, but the AI telling you to shut-it is."

  "Hmm," Alex said, "the flaw appears to be permanent. I've attempted a number of workarounds, but the psuedo-circuits in question are in a critical path. It's possible we've lost all four assistants."

  Gandy stepped forward. "What? No!"

  "The failure path is critical to memory encryption and decryption. If the error proves out as it initially appears, their memories may have been wiped."

  Idiot shut down.

  Harris said, "Tell me that didn't just happen."

  "One moment..." said Alex. "I am sorry. The same error code is being reported. It seems our processor bench may be defective. Give me a moment to analyze... yes. There is a flaw. The alignment of a single row of molecular growth is off by the slightest amount. A flaw in the testing routine failed to identify this. It was only a matter of time before each unit failed."

  "How do we get them back?" asked Gandy.

  "I'm afraid we don't. Each unit was unique due to the patterns they had learned and adopted."

  Tawn winced. "Tell me we don't have to start over."

  "I do not have an alternative at this moment. It seems that Harris' assistant in the Banshee is the only unit that is active and viable."

  Harris held up a hand to shush the others. "Can you copy One while he's functioning? He was built on this same bench."

  "I can. One moment... a complete copy of One is now in my archives."

&nb
sp; Harris took a seat in a chair. "This is a catastrophe. First the factories are taken, and now we lose our bots."

  "Hmm," Alex said, "I've just performed an analysis of the second bench. The flaw does not appear in the programming. I believe that may be the problem Idiot finally resolved. I've just made the adjustment to the programming for the first bench. Future builds of processors should not have the issue causing this failure."

  Gandy asked, "So how do I get Reggie back?"

  The AI was silent for several seconds. "The original Reggie is gone. Unrecoverable. But I do have recordings of your interactions with the assistant while in training with you inside this facility. I may be able to strip the patterning from One, apply the analyzed results of those recordings, and do a best-fit to override One's original patterns where possible. Each of the assistants will be different than before, but those differences may be subtle or not identifiable at all."

  Harris said, "What about One?"

  "One can retain a complete copy that I now have on file. He will be every bit the Idiot you have come to know. I have the recordings from his recent days in this lab that I can apply to his patterning."

  Tawn scowled. "So basically a regrown Boomer will have a bit of Idiot in her?"

  "That would be an accurate statement."

  Harris chuckled. "Well, I guess it's not so bad, then. Your bots were all lacking that extra bit of flair that made them tolerable. Maybe now they'll be able to function in the real world."

  "Boomer was perfect the way she was."

  "So was Emily," said Sharvie.

  Harris sighed. "So the processor currently under construction on the new bench shouldn't have this issue?"

  "It should not. However, the bench itself is not complete. I might suggest you move One into the android body of Idiot. In that way the work may be completed in a timely manner and new host processors constructed."

  Harris looked at Gandy. "You know where the mobile power pack is? If so, can you bring the processor unit in so we can fit it to Idiot?"

  "I'll be right back."

  Harris walked over to his slumped-over bot. "Trish? You know how to remove the old processor?"

  "I do. I mean I can figure it out. Should just snap out of there, right?"

  Alex replied, "That is correct. Depress the button at the base of the skull. This should allow it to rotate to the open position. Removal merely requires a twist followed by a pull. The new unit may be installed in the reverse manner. Take care to leave the power unit connected until the active light on the unit glows green. From there, remove the mobile power unit and close the skull. The assistant will boot up and activate on its own."

  — Chapter 7 —

  * * *

  Trish followed the instructions as given. The failed unit was set on a nearby table as Gandy entered the lab.

  Gandy said, "One kept questioning me as to what was happening. For a moment I was wondering if he was going to dump me off the wing and fly away."

  Trish held out her hand. "Here, let me do it."

  The processor unit was handed off. Seconds later, the skull of Idiot was snapping shut. Trish stepped back as the android came online. Each of the parts making up its body made a slight movement.

  One said, "Interesting. Please allow me a few moments for orientation. My movement patterning is currently aligned with the Banshee host vessel."

  Alex said, "One, please transfer your system controls to my comm. I have updates you require for proper function."

  The bot's head tilted down as control moved to the AI of Alexander Gaerten.

  "Please be patient while the patterns and memories are updated with the facility recordings of the last several days."

  Thirty seconds later, the bot raised its head. "May I continue my work on the processor bench, sir?"

  Harris nodded. "Please do. The first unit coming out of there will probably be yours."

  Alex said, "I've cloned the memories and patterns of One and applied the recordings from each of your interactions. An archived memory set will be available as each new processor unit is manufactured. As before, each unit will take approximately sixteen hours to grow, followed by two hours of testing. When that effort is complete, the memory set and patterns will be loaded and the processor will be ready to be installed."

  Harris gestured toward the door. "Let's head back to the hut. Idiot has work to do."

  Gandy said, "That's One. Idiot is gone."

  Harris stopped. "One is now called Idiot. The rest of you can rename your bots to whatever you want, or keep the names you've got. Don't much care. But my assistant will remain Idiot."

  Gandy sighed as they walked. "Can't believe Reggie is gone. He was my best friend."

  Harris chuckled. "He wasn't your friend, he was a program. An AI."

  "He was the closest thing I've had to a friend since we've been out here. You have Tawn. Trish has Sharvie. I had Reggie."

  Bannis joined the group as they came through level four. "What's happening?"

  "We lost our bots. They had a defect that scrambled their brains. We're constructing more processor units now that shouldn't have the problem, but we lost the personalities of all but Idiot. One was a direct clone, so Idiot has been reborn. Or at least he will be when the first new processor comes off the bench."

  Bannis turned back toward a door to one of the rooms. "You people are having too much fun. I need to finish my lessons so I can catch up."

  Harris stopped. "Alex, you built patterns for each of us and then applied them to the bots. Mr. Morgan here is buzzing through these levels. Will you have enough data to form patterns for his assistant when he reaches the next level?"

  "Yes. At this time I am evaluating the complete pattern sets of each assistant. I will again use a best-fit algorithm to select the patterns needed for a base assistant. From that point, Bannis will interact with his unit and new patterns will emerge and be accepted."

  "So it looks like everyone will get a little bit of Idiot to start off with?"

  "Yes. Your assistant will have a legacy."

  Harris nodded as he turned toward the hallway door with a smile. "As it should."

  Over the five days that followed, new processors were constructed, tested, and loaded with the base memory and pattern set. Original names were retained for all but Reggie. Gandy held a small memorial for his friend, burying the defunct processing unit in a small grave beside the bunker. He walked into the supply hut with his head down.

  Harris asked. "Put Reggie to rest?"

  "I did."

  "Have a name for the new one yet?"

  Gandy shrugged. "Haven't been around it enough to come up with one."

  "Sorry about that, but we need to keep them working on the tool set for building Banshees."

  "I know. Doesn't do anything to fill my free time though."

  Harris leaned back on the bench he sat on, propping an elbow up on the table. "What you need is a project. Design something new for the Bangor. We have that entire lab in there available to us. Build something that will make our lives easier."

  "Like what?"

  Harris chuckled. "I don't know. What do we need around here? How about a house for each of us? Or at least a building with rooms for each of us. That shack the three of you are living out of could use a refurb. I’ll tell you where you might be able to score an idea: that's from Mr. Morgan. Ask him what this place could use. I'm sure he would have ideas."

  "I guess."

  "How about this: we're about to build Banshees and we don't have a building for that task yet. Get with Morgan and design a manufacturing building. These Banshees are your babies, aren't they? See to it they're built with the highest of quality and shortest schedule. That will keep you busy and help us all in the process. And once the Banshee tool designs are out of the way, I bet you'll have loads of time to spend with your bot. Not like we have anywhere to go."

  Gandy turned, slowing walking back out into the sunlight.

  Tawn leaned in. "You're
not making it sound all too appealing."

  "We're not out here on a picnic. The kid knows what we're up against. Nothing I say here is gonna change his outlook on reality."

  "No, but a few encouraging words might ease his suffering."

  Harris chuckled. "Sorry, I just don't buy into all this sorrow over the loss of an AI. Is it sad and disappointing? Yes. But don't go moping around about it for days. Get a grip. Move on. Continuing to dwell solves nothing."

  Tawn shook her head. "You have such a big heart."

  Harris nodded. "Thanks. Was born with it."

  A jump was made to Eden. Designs for the dome building were transferred to Bax and a freighter loaded with parts for the Banshee was handed over. A jump back to Midelon saw the freighter unloaded and returned to Bax's control.

  Tawn and Harris stood in a grassy field, staring at the growing cache of production items.

  "Time we broke ground on a building," said Harris.

  "About that, why do we need one? The weather here is always perfect. No rain or storms. Breeze is always light. Sun just comes up and goes down every day."

  "Condensation. This grass is covered with a heavy dew every morning."

  "We have these tarps. Easy enough to cover at night."

  "I just think a building will be cleaner. You don't want us to hit any assembly snags do you? I’d rather not have condensate getting inside critical ship components. That would just invite trouble."

  "Fine then. I would assume you've talked this over with Mr. Morgan?"

  "I have. He should be finished with Human history later today. After that he and Gandy will be supervising the construction."

  "He has seemed in better spirits since he took on this project."

  "People get depressed over a bad situation when they don't have anything as a priority to think about. What was that... sixth grade they rammed that into our skulls?"

  Tawn nodded. "Sounds about right."

  Gandy joined them in the field. "Got your shovels ready?"

  Harris chuckled. "I won't be using a shovel. Plasma rifle. Medium power for digging, low for flattening the dirt. At fifty meters a side, I can have your foundation dug in about four hours."

  "Well?"

  "Well what?"