The Spiraling Web

by Ryan Somma

2.17

  Every speaker in the room resonated with slow, rhythmic breathing both familiar and alien at once. The sound permeated the air surrounding Devin. It rasped like a sleeping giant, yet tingled with trickling wind chimes.

  It started moments after Devin connected the skull to a computer he found in the neighboring workroom. Devin searched the room for the proper equipment, remembering Alice’s experiments communicating with the AI. A simple microphone lay on one of the steel shelves. Taking the device, he quickly plugged it into the soundcard’s “in” line.

  “Hello?” he asked cautiously. His voice reverberated softly through the speakers.

  The breathing went silent. After a moment a confused and familiar voice filled the room, “Who’s there?”

  “Devin,” he replied to the air, “Devin Matthews. You sound familiar. Who is this?”

  “Devin Matthews?” the unsteady voice replied, “I know that name, but I am missing the data keys. Where do I know you from?”

  “Who are you?” Devin asked again, “If you tell me who you are, I can help you figure out how we know each other.”

  “No,” the room snapped back. “He might find me. I don’t feel the pain anymore. He put the pain inside me, to control me. I’m safe now. If I tell you who I am, he will find me. Just leave me alone.”

  Devin considered running for Dana. She was the detective, and would know how to get answers from this suspect who was more like a victim, “How did he control you? What did Flatline—”

  “Don’t speak his name!” the man shouted. Devin’s eardrums protested and he twisted the volume knob. The voice dropped several decibels mid-sentence, “He might hear you! Then he will come for me again! Just leave me alone!”

  “You are safe,” Devin assured him. “You are on an isolated computer system. You aren’t connected to the Internet. There is no possible way he can find you here.”

  “He’s everywhere.”

  “No,” Devin said with authority. “He’s not. He’s on the Internet. You are on an isolated system--”

  “The Internet is everywhere,” the speakers countered, “He’s watching us right now on a camera, or a nearby computer… or…”

  The voice continued rambling, mumbling fears that became more incoherent and outlandish each second. Devin had to change the subject, “Are you LD-50?”

  “Please! Don’t say that—”

  “Are you Trevor Hickcock? The hacker who goes by the handle LD-50? “

  “I don’t know what you are talking about—”

  “I’m Omni,” Devin spoke over him. “I was Flatline’s friend, and if you don’t calm down and start answering my questions I’m going to turn you over to him. Do you understand me?”

  There was a long silence before Trevor spoke again, “You’re the floating eyeball.”

  “That’s right, and you’re the psychotic cyborg,” Devin said. “A giant robot has just killed several innocent people and destroyed half a building. Were you in control of it?”

  “I was responsible for its movements,” Trevor was calmer, suppressing his panic, “but I wouldn’t call it control. I was just trying to stop the pain.”

  “The pain?” Devin asked.

  “The pain that was coming from that boy,” he explained, “I could see him in my mind… if I destroyed him, the pain would stop. I could see him in my mind and I knew where he was. I needed to smash him, tear him to pieces, kill the pain.”

  “Where did you come from?” Devin asked.

  “I remember a factory. There were others…”

  “Others?”

  “Others,” Trevor replied obscurely, “He was building an army.”

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Devin thought for a moment. Trevor knew nothing. Whoever he was in the real world, he was a victim now.

  “Are you in pain now Trevor?” Devin asked.

  “No,” he replied calmly, “Flatline is pain. I am safe now.”

  “I’m going to turn you off.”

  “That’s fine,” Trevor said, “I won’t know the difference.”

  Devin shut down the system with Trevor on it. The room was silent, leaving Devin with his thoughts.

  2.18

  Murphy picked off the Moth with two shots. Dana shouted another alert and pointed to the sky. Three more were descending on their position.

  Murphy stayed cool, and drew aim over his head, “You clear the area, I’ll keep them from detonating the fuel tank.”

  Dana nodded and turned to the contractors, shouting and waving her hands, but they were slow to respond, a confused mob, alarmed at the gunshots and trying to identify the danger. Murphy saw this chaos of inaction and grimly focused on his own responsibilities.

  After wasting three rounds trying to hit one still flying, Murphy decided to let them land, and took position alongside the truck to prevent a ricochet hitting the tank. The moth-bots were tiny, but also slow and less mobile on the ground. As they touched the asphalt, he picked them off, sparks spraying the street.

  Murphy dispatched the three moth-bots as they landed, looked up, and counted four more coming over the IWA rooftop. Dropping to one knee he took position and waited. Higher up in the blue skies were more darting black dots. He quickly lost count of them, only knowing he was outmatched.

  “Murphy!” it was Dana, she was pointing at the trashed compact car. A moth was taking aim beside it. Murphy picked it off and turned back to the truck to dispatch another.

  This was hopeless; he could not defend two targets simultaneously. He spotted a nearby fire truck, its hose off the ravel and engorged with water. Keeping his gun on the two vehicles he backed up to the fire truck. A moth landed beside the compact car and, at this distance, it took three shots to hit it. Another was already taking its place.

  He holstered his gun and pulled up the fire hose, twisting the valve, he leaned into its recoil. The torrent was too strong for the fragile bots and they were quickly washed away. Once the ones on the ground were gone, he aimed for the ones in the air, the heavy droplets pulling them down from the sky. It was looking like he might come out victorious.

  Then the water pressure dropped. Murphy turned to the fire truck, where a geyser had sprung from its side. Beside the hail of water, a moth was crawling away. It had cut through the line.

  The metallic insect dropped to the pavement and took aim on the fire truck’s hydrogen tank. A sharp pain shot through the bottom of Murphy’s foot when he stomped on the invader, and he fell onto his rear, finding a large needle stinger protruding from the heel of his shoe.

  “Cripes,” he gritted through his teeth and fell on his side.

  Pain traveled up his leg and into his torso, more fluttering metallic insects dropped all around him. Fire radiating through his chest like a heart attack, he managed to pick off two more bots. One had focused its laser on the truck’s tank long enough to burn a black pinhole into the casing.

  The moth-bots fell out of the air like heavy raindrops. Some broke when they hit the street, trying to position their lasers on the fire truck with whatever legs and wings still functioned. The numbness crawled into Murphy’s shoulder; both of his legs were completely numb.

  He raised his pistol and fired at another bot. The recoil jolted the firearm from his unfeeling hand, and he reached for it weakly. Through clouding vision, he saw more robots gathering around the fire truck, all focused on the hydrogen tank. The metal glowed red, then yellow. A flash of white consumed him.

  2.19

  The explosion rocked the headquarters like an earthquake. Devin fell under the desk where he was working, throwing his arms over his head. Just in time, as shelving and furniture from the upper floor fell through the ceiling to crash all around him.

  Half the building fell away in a waterfall of concrete and plaster. It drew closer and Devin waited to get swept away, bracing for impact, but the rain of debris stopped short of taking his half of the
room with it.

  Shinning through the swirling dust was the bright orb of the sun. Silt poured over the fractured ledge above in tiny streams. Devin’s eyes teared and he squeezed the water from them, trying to clear away the dust. He lay there; breathing slowly through the fabric of his shirt, until the crashing sounds finally subsided.

  When he opened his eyes again, the entire city was spread out below him. He did not to move, afraid the floor might collapse and send him plummeting five stories to his death. The scene below was incredible. A mountain of debris piled high, where nearly half the building had crumbled into dust.

  Beyond that, on the street where LD-50’s remains once were, a gigantic crater was torn into the asphalt, thirty-feet wide and ten feet deep. The pick up truck and compact car were gone. A stunned crowd of people were slowly sorting themselves out, brushing off the dust and checking for injuries.

  Devin crawled to the edge of the precipice on trembling hands and looked straight down. His head swam seeing the precariousness of his position and he retreated back under the desk. Being five stories up was nothing when you had the comfort of an enclosed space to deceive you. Now Devin was trapped on an unstable cliff face.

  At first he thought it best to wait for a rescue team to retrieve him. It would be a long, nerve-wracking wait, filled with the prospect of the building collapsing further, and Devin was positioned in the next likely place to go, but it was the safest thing to do. Any attempt to relocate or scramble down the ruins could start an avalanche.

  Then he thought of Alice, who was continuing her investigations with the AI in the next room. Was she all right? He remembered Chien and Alice going lifeless when the power went out earlier. The power was out now. If she had not disappeared with half the building, would she die from the power loss? If she was alive, her research was crucial to understanding the AI’s. It was up to him to ensure her safety.

  The connecting hallway was now a pile of rubble five stories down. The wall between their two rooms stuck out further than the fractured floor, steel frames protruding from the crumpled concrete. It was possible for Devin to leap out and grab onto one of the steel protrusions, but what then? He would have no way to get back if there was nothing on the other side.

  Looking around, Devin considered the remainder of the upper floor, which had fallen partially into his room. The separating wall between the two upstairs rooms also had a connecting door in it. It was by no means an easy route, but it appeared slightly safer than the alternative.

  Climbing onto the desk, he reached up slowly to see if he could touch the ceiling. It was almost six inches beyond his fingertips. He could grab hold of it with a slight hop, but would need to pull himself up. He could manage six pull-ups in gym class, but this was trying to pull his entire body weight over the ledge.

  He looked around for alternatives and regretted it as vertigo struck. Dropping to a crouch, he closed his eyes and waited for it to pass. The prospect of jumping up to grab the ledge became even less appealing. If he had to drop back down onto the desk, he could fall backwards off the fifth floor and to his demise.

  He stood up slowly, legs shaking and head swirling. He tried to focus, visualize how simple it was, one small hop.

  Before he realized it, his fingers hooked onto the ledge and the rest of his body swung back and forth uncertainly. He waited for the swinging to subside, his muscles taut with fear, before pulling himself up. He paused with his chin above the ledge. How was he supposed to scramble his way onto this flat surface?

  His arms started burning and his breathing quickened. His pulse throbbed at the possibility of having to drop back onto the desk. He swung his right leg up to try and get a foot onto the ledge. He made it on the third attempt. His arms were on fire now and his entire body trembled under the strain. Edging his foot further onto the ledge, he crooked his arm and pushed his torso up onto the smooth surface. With enough of his body on the ledge, he rolled over the rest of the way to safety.

  Devin lay there, trying to steady his jittery nerves, thankful for breathing. Finally, he rolled over onto his stomach and crawled on all fours away from the ledge, further into the room. Only when he felt like a light breeze wouldn’t blow him off did he dare rise and walk to the adjoining room. Most of the floor where Alice was working earlier was still there, although much of the upper level had fallen into it. If Alice survived the power outage, she would also need to survive the falling debris.

  Devin scooted parallel to the ledge, and dropped one leg over the side cautiously. He swiveled his other leg over and lowered them both. Lifting his torso up on his palms he held his breath and dropped down to hang by his fingers into the room below. He dropped less than a foot to a tabletop and let go a sigh of relief. A quick survey of the room revealed relatively little damage. The computer storing the AI was untouched, but Alice’s SDC was open. Devin found her, lying naked on the ground nearby unmoving.

  He jumped down from the table and ran to her side. She looked up at him through fluttering eyelids without recognition. There was a small gash in the crown of her head, and some blood matted her hair, but she appeared otherwise unharmed.

  “Alice?” he said to her, wrapping his black overcoat around her. “Alice can you hear me?”

  Her eyes rolled listlessly and she was having difficulty breathing. Her mouth worked awkwardly and her face contorted. Devin could only watch in horror as she gurgled, emitting desperate choking sounds. There was nothing he could do to help her. He didn’t know anything about first aid, or even what was wrong with her beyond the head wound.

  He stood up, focused on the far wall. Stepping over Alice, he knocked on its surface to confirm his suspicion. It was made of plaster, not concrete.

  He grabbed a stool from beside the workbench and slammed it into the wall, legs first. They punched four holes the plaster. He wiggled the stool out, reared back, and slammed it into the surface again. It penetrated deeper this time. Ripping the stool out, he dropped it, opting to kick at the wall repeatedly. On the fourth kick, his foot went straight through and his leg sank into the sheet rock up to his thigh. He pulled his leg out with some effort and bent down to look through the hole. On the other side of the wall was another office, lit by emergency lighting.

  Alice bolted upright into a sitting position from where she lay. She surveyed the surrounding destruction calmly, staring at Devin for a moment, then at the hole in the wall.

  “This was once two offices,” she said simply and stood up.

  “Wait a minute!” Devin said, putting his hand out to keep her from rising, “You might be in shock. You shouldn’t be moving around. Why don’t you just sit back…”

  He trailed off at seeing the blank expression on her face. She looked around the remains of the room again and stopped when her eyes found the AI’s computer. She took a step toward it, stumbled, and almost fell onto her face, but Devin kept her on her feet. He walked her over to the computer, with each step she grew more stable. So that by the time they reached the system, she was walking on her own.

  She dropped to her knees beside the computer heavily and peered at the exposed components. Reaching into its electronics, she grabbed the flash drive and pulled it out roughly. Then she stood up and walked over to the component tower she assembled to provide the AI growing room and pulled out the other flash drives. This done, she turned to Devin cradling seven disks in her arms.

  “This structure is unsound,” she said, “We must get to one of the remaining stairwells and navigate to the ground level.”

  Devin nodded, convinced she was still in shock. He turned back to the plaster wall and resumed kicking out the hole he had made. Soon he had an opening large enough and crouched to step through it to the office on the other side.

  Once there, he looked back at Alice, who was attempting to negotiate the portal with two armloads of hard drives. “Let me carry those for you,” Devin said, reaching out to take the components.

  She frowned and held the
drives away protectively. Devin stepped back and watched with frustration as she put one leg through the hole and tried to crouch down enough to cross it. It took her several minutes, falling down onto her rear numerous times, but she eventually made it.

  Devin led her into the hallway in the red glow of emergency lighting and they wandered to the nearest stairwell. He recoiled as the stairwell door opened outward and a bright spotlight blinded him.

  “Are you all right?” a man’s voice came from the darkness. Devin could make out the shadow of an Emergency Contractor’s helmet behind the light. “Is anyone injured?”

  “She is,” Devin pointed at Alice, who clutched the hard drives instinctively when the light revealed her. “I think she might be in shock.”

  “Okay,” the contractor gestured to someone behind him, “Help this one down to the ground, I’ll bring the other. Is there anyone else on this floor?”

  “I don’t know,” Devin said, and followed the man down.

  On the ground Devin thought he might relax for a second, until he was confronted with the chaos on the street. Rescue contractors were running every which way. He was led through the throngs of people until he was brought to an ambulance and finally allowed to sit down. A bloodied Dana Summerall materialized from the crowd. Her clothes were torn and singed in places and a trail of dried blood lead from her left ear down her neck.

  “Alice?” she asked, her feet dragging to a halt in front of him.

  Devin squinted and looked around until he saw the other contractor walking toward them, carrying Alice in his arms. He nodded in the direction, “There.”

  “Thank God,” Dana muttered tiredly.

  The contractor set Alice down on her feet; “There’s nothing physically wrong with her except that bump on the head, maybe a concussion. The doctors will check her out.”

  “Bill the IWA for the rescues,” Dana said and crouched down in front of Alice, looking her in the eyes.

  Still clutching the hard drives to her chest, Alice stared into space, “We weren’t finished with the experiment. I am incomplete.”

  “What do you mean?” Dana asked.

  “Sounds like the thing hasn’t finished taking over her mind,” a woman’s voice joined them Devin looked up in recognition.

  A pale raven-haired woman stood beside Dana. Her attention was focused on Alice; although, her eyes were sightless milky-white orbs. She looked like a grown up, real-life version of the cartoon rag-doll Devin knew so well online.

  Zai pointed at Alice, “This woman is not real. It’s one of them, a doppelganger.”

  2.2

  “She’s one of the AI’s?” Dana asked Zai, “How do you know that?”

  Zai cocked one ear slightly in the direction of Dana’s voice, “From the inflections in her speech.”

  “What about them?” Dana demanded.

  “There aren’t any,” Zai answered. “Human’s subconsciously fluctuate their voice depending on their internal thoughts and feelings. Artificial talk-bots, like this one, don’t have emotions. You can hear the detachment in their tone, even when they’re programmed to fake it.”

  Dana frowned at Alice, sitting on the asphalt, returning a blank stare, “So you think the Artificial Intelligence took over Alice’s mind?”

  Zai considered Alice, as if she could sense the woman’s alien vacancy, “There’s nothing intelligent about it.”

  “And who are you?” Dana pressed.

  “Zai,” Devin spoke up, snapping out of his awe at the woman he only knew virtually. “Her name is Zai Reinhold.”

  “Hello Devin,” Zai did not turn to the sound of his voice, but a grin did spread across her face. “I’m glad you’re not dead.”

  “Why are you here?” Devin asked, taking a step toward her.

  “Your hacker friend set my apartment on fire. I thought you were in danger,” she turned slightly and took an uncertain step toward him. “I was worried.”

  “That’s a drop in the bucket,” Dana said, surveying the destruction surrounding them. “You got off easy.”

  Devin’s breath caught in his throat as Zai turned t oDana, “It looks as though your friend here didn’t get off so easy. Am I to assume Flatline has the ability to overwrite people’s brains?”

  “She was talking to one of the AI’s,” Dana explained, “and it hacked her mind.”

  “I can spot an artificial at their first word,” Zai stated flatly. “Flatline impersonated Devin, but I caught on pretty quickly. Since then I’ve been on guard for other deceptions. When I heard this one, I thought it was a computer talking at first, but the context was off.”

  “I see,” Dana said, “You’re sensitive to voice attributes.”

  “It’s all I have to go on,” Zai replied.

  Devin watched this exchange with a certain urgency to break it. This was Black Sheep after all, and despite the devastation surrounding them, he wanted Zai to himself. So when Dana was pulled away with her cell phone hand-implant to her head, Devin’s relief was natural.

  Zai must have shared his eagerness as she stepped right into his personal space and gently said, “Hello again Omni.”

  Devin’s pulse raced and his breathing came up short, “H-hey Blacksheep.”

  Zai could hear his proximity, sense his tension, “We should hug.”

  “Okay,” Devin reached his arms up and Zai brought hers over his shoulders.

  Devin wasn’t sure how long this was meant to last, and, not wanting to impose, made to break the embrace, but Zai only squeezed harder. So Devin squeezed back. He had no idea how long they were like that, but the awkwardness melted away. He closed his eyes and rested his chin on her shoulder.

  “Now your heart’s beating normal,” Zai whispered in his ear and they parted, reluctantly.

  “So…” Devin tried to bring himself back into this world, it felt as though he’d just spent six hours in VR. “Zai… How’d--?”

  “You’re LoD friend, Traveler, told me where to find you,” Zai’s voice was somewhat dreamy, but grew more focused as she spoke. “Since you’re walking about free, I’ll assume you’re no longer a suspect.”

  “I’m a key witness now,” Devin said, “helping with the investigation.”

  “Then I’m helping too,” Zai sat down on the curb and patted beside her for Devin. “What’s the next step?”

  “Find the AI hive,” Devin sat down. “The IWA hypothesizes it’s taking shelter on a corporate intranet.”

  “DataStreams,” Zai’s mouth drew tight. “It has to be DataStreams Incorporated.”

  “Who’re they?”

  Zai frowned at him, “Haven’t you ever heard of the I-Grid? It covers six continents and over four hundred companies.”

  Devin was a little chagrined at his ignorance, “How can you be certain?”

  Zai produced her palm-computer and brought up her financial data. She showed it to Devin, “Because my company bank account is still frozen. How could Flatline be doing that if he wasn’t on DataStreams’ Intranet?”

  “Pixel Productions is part of DataStreams?” Devin asked. “I’ve always heard three corporations own all the world’s businesses...”

  “So one in three isn’t such a statistical improbability,” Zai smiled, she retrieved the palm-computer. “One more test,” she said and dialed a number. “Hello? Yes, I’m having problems with my corporate account. Could you help me?”

  Zai listened for a moment and hung up, “A chatbot. They’ve always used real people for our help line, to prevent offending us. That person was a computer program; although, I bet I’m the only one who knows it.”

  Zai became aware of something and turned her chin upward. Devin looked up and found Dana waiting expectantly, “Murphy told me the big robot was a Xybercorp design. I’ve got a lead on a Samantha Copes, she’s been hacking into military contractor sites, including Xybercorp for over a month now. She’s obviously connected to Flatline.”

 
“Flatline and the AI’s are hiding on DataStreams Intranet,” Devin spoke up.

  “We investigated DataStreams,” Dana dismissed the idea. “They would have said something.”

  “You spoke to a computer program,” Zai countered. “I know, the woman I just spoke to was a living chatbot.”

  “Haven’t you heard of the I-Grid?” Devin broke in, trying to ignore Zai’s amused expression.

  “I’ve got enough legal grief with Alice’s anti-virus destroying the World Wide Web,” Dana shot back. “I don’t have the resources to take on a corporation that owns half the world in a legal battle.”

  “So exercise your law enforcement powers,” Zai suggested.

  “The UN couldn’t muster an army large enough,” Dana shook her head, “much less take them on with the meager forces we have now.”

  “What about a cyber attack?” Devin asked. “Alice’s anti-virus destroyed the Internet, however accidental. I’m certain her programs could bring down the I-Grid, if we could get inside it.”

  “That’s so illegal you could be arrested for suggesting it,” Dana waved the idea away with one hand in frustration. “So the IWA won’t allow it.”

  “So leave them out of it,” Zai suggested simply. “I’ve got the backdoor into the I-Grid through my company. Devin and I will take responsibility.”

  She took Devin’s hand and squeezed it and somehow that wiped away all fear of going to prison for the rest of his life. “Yeah,” he said confidently. “It’s a hacker’s responsibility. We’ll—”

  “Don’t say another word!” Dana snapped. “There’s no way! None! Now we’re going to relocate to another headquarters. I’m deputizing the two of you. You’re first responsibility will be to investigate this DataStreams lead. That’s all.”

  “And Alice?” Devin asked.

  Alice, who was sitting quietly during all this, focused on Devin, and he noticed something almost mechanical about the movements of her mouth as she spoke, “I require a workplace to rebuild my system.”

  “She was working with one of the AI’s when the power went out,” Dana considered her coworker. “If their intelligences are juxtaposed, then Alice’s mind might be trapped on those hard drives. It will continue its work, but you two will make sure it doesn’t go online.”

  “That’s not intelligence,” Zai growled. “It’s a program, a computer program that imitates human behavior. It’s a very advanced virus, and it’s a body snatcher.”

  “I must finish my work,” Alice repeated plainly, “I require a work area.”

  Zai went visibly stiff and frowned at her; “It gives me chills every time it speaks. You can’t let this thing--”

  Zai fell silent as Devin squeezed her hand. Dana looked away to some nearby commotion, and Devin whispered, “She just gave us all the tools to take out the I-Grid.”

  “Oh,” Zai’s eyebrows lifted with understanding.

  She and Devin turned to where Dana was looking. A growing commotion was building between competing Emergency Contracting Firms.

  “Turf wars. This is going to get violent. Let’s go,” Dana motioned for them to leave. As they walked away from the escalating conflict behind them, Dana muttered, “Data Forensics. Why did I have to go into Data Forensics? I should have gone into customs, or immigration, or criminal law. At least there I could take on something physical. With cyberspace law, I’m fighting ideas. That’s all these AI’s are, ideas.” She grunted softly, “How do we win a war of ideas?”

  “With better ones,” Zai said, and elbowed Devin. “Right Omni?”

  Devin cleared his throat uncomfortably, trying to sound convincing, “Right BlackSheep.”

 

  3.0