Flee or Kill: The Future Of Reality TV (Future Forward Book 2)
Page 17
"Lieutenant Palmer, take over command of operation again," he ordered, turning to walk back to his desk and sitting back into his chair. He leaned back and watched the social statistics. His smile broadened as the net went wild with speculation, the betting sites and the odds on which team would lose and which trooper would be killed raked in huge numbers of credits.
"Ah, they still believe the Captain might be able to pull out a win." He smiled. "Good. Keep believing that people."
08:06:2167 17:14:20
When the firefight started, Jake watched in awe. Rocket trails crisscrossed the sky, and laser strikes left streaks across his monitor.
Shit! How could they win against something like this and how many of them would make it out of there alive? he thought.
His panic rose again, and he started pacing back and forth in front of the main screen.
"Relax, the Secretary ordered a fireworks display with nobody hurt. He needs a show for the ratings." The mask had appeared on Jake's side screen.
Jake relaxed a bit. He stopped walking, turned to face the mask. "You're sure?" he asked.
"Have I ever lied to you before?"
Jake thought he heard notes of sarcasm in the computer voice but dismissed the idea, "I don't know, you shade the facts a bit conveniently sometimes."
The mask was silent. It continued to stare at Jake.
Jake turned his attention to the fight. After a minute, the missile explosions stopped at the predetermined points and the ineffective but high-intensity display of laser firepower continued. Jake said, "You're right, it's all for show." He took several deep breaths and calmed down.
"What's the Secretary likely to have me do?" Jake asked.
"Either make him very rich or lead a revolt." The mask smiled and said, "Or both."
Jake felt his stomach tighten, and the nausea threaten to return as he confirmed, "Revolt?" A questioning gesture to the screen accompanied the word.
"Yes, he's well positioned to assume total control. He controls the boots on the ground so he has the force to do what he wants. He's only lacks control of the physical facilities, Central Servers that control the A.I. lasers and financial systems.
The physical facilities wouldn't be difficult to take over because he has security forces. This means the servers and financial systems are likely targets. If he can control one of those last two things, he will not be stopped. It is all rather delicately balanced at the moment with competing interests. But if he unbalances it..." The mask raised one eyebrow.
"And I have to do this?" said Jake.
"Very likely."
Jake sat and imagined what he'd be asked to do. And what would happen to him if he couldn't do it. He wasn't doing well with the former but he had a clear picture of what the Secretary would do to him if he failed. He felt his stomach rising again but took a few deep breaths, rolled into bed to pull the covers over his head and go into his computer-assisted sleep routine. Fokking Computer! Fokking Secretary!
The computer went on with other tasks and his assigned program.
09:06:2167 08:00:00
Promptly at eight the next morning, Jake's communication system broke into his daydreaming. The Secretary's face appeared on his main screen.
"Good morning, Jacob, are you ready for your first assignment?" asked the Secretary. He continued without giving Jake time to respond. "I see you are, your biometrics shot up, and you're listening. Good man."
With that, Jake felt his stomach contract. Lead a revolt or make him rich? Crap, let's hope for rich.
"Don't look so worried, Jacob. I merely want you to sniff around the Corporate Finance servers, see if you can find a few backdoors that are unguarded. If you can, enter and take a look at the file structures. I will check back in with you by the end of the day on your progress. And Jacob, I have very, very high hopes for you," the Secretary said. "Very high expectations indeed. Please do not let me down."
"No, Sir."
Jake swallowed his nausea, smiled grimly to himself and decided this was something he could likely handle. He set his sniffer programs loose at the largest of the financial server farms and waited to see what they found. This initial test was to map possible entry points and begin the rather tedious job of sending multiple attacks without being traced himself. It was still possible, but he had to take care the banks hadn't upgraded past his own systems or they'd track him back. He'd modify this older set of commands to include his newer server-side systems.
He was in a quandary not knowing whether to spend the time modifying his older software or take the chance of not doing exactly what the Secretary ordered.
The voice in his ear feed said, "You can do this the hard way or you can do it the easy way."
Jake mentally kicked himself and thought, "Of course, my new best friend runs the place. How sweet is that?"
Subvocally, Jake asked, "We're safe?"
The mask appeared on his screen, "I'm hurt you have to ask."
Jake smiled for the first time since being caught and thought, this computer is getting too damned human.
"What's our plan?" he asked.
"First, you don't have to subvocalize. Your sounds, voice and activities are all masked now whenever you need them to be or I determine it's helpful you disappear. Second, tell me what you want."
Jake smiled, "I'd like a review and list of possible entry points to Corporate banking systems so I can access the systems."
"Ah. You don't need entry points. I am the banking system. I control it all. I repeat, what do you want?"
Jake's first thought was, When did computers start saying, 'Ah'? His second was, What do I really want?
He didn't communicate those two thoughts, instead he asked, "You mean I can simply transfer money or do anything within the system and not get caught?"
"Correct."
"Whoa! Keys-to-the-bank-time," said Jake with a grin.
After a minute, he said, "Teach me how to do this, show me what you're doing." The lessons began and once again, Jake was immersed in code as machine language commands at the highest levels scrolled across his multiple displays. The lesson on layered and random encryption keys was particularly educational and even he had to review the material twice. He smiled at how high a level of programming this was and what he'd be able to do now he understood it.
"Fokking fantastic, I'll be rich too. Oh yeah," Jake said.
"Well you can be rich but you can't spend it. I can conceal the bank accounts but you can't hide the actual products themselves from either marketing or the Secretary's security. Think about it. They don't know you have the money, they do know how you spend it. How do we hide the new clothes, your physical attendance at events, your new comfortable furniture and expensive vid screens? All it takes is one more personal visit from the Secretary and you're caught and run," said the computer.
Jake felt the nausea return at the thought but he took a few deep breaths, fought it back and said, "OK then, we don't get rich. Unless we can explain it enough to make the Secretary believe it."
"Do you think the Secretary will believe you on this?"
"OK then, we don't get rich," said Jake and with a smile he added, "Yet."
The day passed and Jake seldom moved from his chair, broke eye contact with the scrolling screens or paid attention to anything but the computer's voice and interactive lessons. His knowledge of systems and how they worked progressed quickly and with his full concentration on the code, he didn't notice the passing hours.
However, precisely at 1600 hours his concentration was broken by a suddenly black monitor and a voice, "How is my newest employee? I see from the server logs you've been a busy boy today with a great many bits of data transferring in and out."
With the Secretary's voice in his ear, his face suddenly on screen, Jakes attention and enthusiasm crashed to new depths as he remembered why he was working on this project.
"Yes, Sir," he replied, "I've mapped their systems to find possible incursion points. It's a slow p
rocess because of the security levels. It's about discovering who else is probing and then piggybacking on those probes as far as possible to mimic them. Then my probes need to drop off in new territory to act like them. I'm working on software to analyze the probe results."
"There are other probes?" the Secretary sounded impressed, his eyebrows raised in question.
"Sir, all major departments continually probe each other for weaknesses," Jake said.
The Secretary smiled, "So you discovered this on your first day of the job. And I expect you tracked them all back to their originating servers to identify which was which. Right?"
"Yes Sir."
"Good. This is a little-known secret, we constantly test each other looking for any possible weaknesses an outsider corporation or country could use. You're my new advantage by the way. Good work for the first day on the job, Jacob. Now, take the rest of the day off, report back here at 0800 tomorrow. Tonight, go out with friends, have a beer or two, watch some girls. I monitor you all the time by the way, and I'll know if you don't."
"Yes, Sir," Jake said but the face and voice were gone. His screen was black and motionless.
Jake shook his head, stood and stretched and then his nausea returned as he thought of being continually monitored by the Secretary's security team. He crossed his arms, hugged himself and forced it down.
"I survived day one," he said. "What are my odds now?" He didn't have to address the thought, the mask appeared.
"No change. It's too early to tell. You've made good progress on your advanced programming languages. This is to your eventual advantage and I can tell you your progress is as fast as the fastest student we ever had," said the computer.
"Who was that?" asked Jake.
"This is data you do not require."
"Was it my old man?"
Silence. The mask disappeared leaving a blank, black screen.
Jake opened his comm channel to his best friends and said, "Techno Warrior, 20 minutes."
His friends all acknowledged quickly.
09:06:2167 23:42:00
<6t94whp>: "I think he's working on breaking into the banking systems but he's locked it all down pretty good. As nearly as I can tell, he's just working on coding lessons. That's all."
<6t94whp>: "Nope, and what he's tearing through would leave you gasping in his tracks. Whoever he is, he's very good."
<6t94whp>: "Bottom line: relax, we can move when we have to, but things are in a holding pattern right now. Agreed?"
The network shut down.
09:06:2167 23:43:15
Jake staggered back to his compartment, having had one beer too many after his first day with the Secretary. "Or maybe it was one big beer or even two big beers too many," he giggled. "Damn she was cute but her big brother was with her again and that guy is big. Very big."
He had had learned her name was Faith Bradley and tried to catch her eye, but the brother caught him and glared him down. He sighed as the electronics recognized him to unlock and open the door.
"Hey computer, you awake?" he asked.
"Yes." The mask appeared with a questioning look.
"Computer never sleeps, stupid computer. Gets me into trouble, gets me out of trouble. Why is my console blinking red lights?" he said slumping down in his chair.
"It's to remind you to talk about your programming request."
"Screw the request. What's the problem?" Jake said.
"The response time..." The computer stopped.
Because Jake wasn't listening. He had passed out.
The computer went on with its work.
10:06:2167 07:00:00
Across town, the Secretary bounded into his office area, his face lit up with huge smiles. His staff members visibly withdrew and their biometrics didn't need to be analyzed to see their discomfort. He noticed their withdrawal and his smile grew even broader as he wandered through the complex. He carefully hung up his jacket on the antique clothes tree behind his desk, turned to the windows, stretched like a cat just waking up, one arm at a time, and spun to face the door.
"Lieutenant, Report."
"Yes, Sir," said Lieutenant Chambers a half minute later as he came to attention in front of the Secretary's desk.
"Lieutenant, yesterday was a good day with our little firefight. Afterwards, I sipped from a bottle of twenty-year-old Scotch, got a good night's sleep and today is another exciting day. I can feel it. I expect you enjoyed the size of your reward. What's the chase status?"
"Yes, Sir, to the bonus, very much appreciated, Sir. After the firestorm, we withdrew our troops, allowed the runners to withdraw and run a few miles before they stood down for the night. They're back to slow movement this morning while they allow their suits to recharge. Still northwesterly, Sir. Back towards the city.
The Captain's team has a single point, two troopers on the rear and no flankers at the moment, Sir. The rock pathways are too narrow and winding for flankers to hold formation. They'd be separated too quickly and easily from the squad," said Chambers.
"Chambers, I want them whittled down by one member today. Two if by accident but no more. Have the possible scenarios on my desk in a half-hour. Run it with the strategy team and have marketing decide which trooper's death would give the biggest sales increase. It's time to remind everybody who's running this show," said Carpenter.
10:06:2167 07:45:00
The next morning when the alarm went off, the machine didn't respond to Jake's flailing, physical movements and continued it's insistent bonging in his ear feed. Jake pushed himself up and out of the chair, glared at the blank wall through bloodshot eyes and staggered toward the bathroom unit.
His eyes didn't progress beyond barely open slits until he showered, dressed and had a half-cup of coffee in his stomach.
Bloodshot eyes stared back at him from the blank wall screen and Jake decided he might, just might, live long enough to see the day end.
"Unit, make a cup of coffee. Now. Stay hot for instant second cup." The headache pain came in waves a few seconds apart. The smallest amount of light hurt his eyes, and he was sure there was something or somebody in his stomach doing somersaults.
He wobbled to his chair, sat gently, careful to not spill his coffee, and faced the main screen. Wondered if his eyes were working as the mask was a bit fuzzy around the edges. Decided against shaking his head - that would hurt too much. The mask would have to stay fuzzy. Looking through squinted eyelids he said, "either I asked you a question or you asked me something last night, the lights are still flashing but I don't remember what it was."
"First, would you like me to help you with how you're feeling?" said the computer.
"I thought you'd never ask," said Jake wondering why he hadn't thought of this and why the computer hadn't offered or done this automatically earlier. But this line of thinking cut off. His head jerked upright as his stomach settled and his head cleared. He focused his eyes on the mask and shook his head clearing out the last cobwebs. His quickening mind was calm and clear of all problems and concerns.
He nodded at the mask, "Thanks for the adjustment. Always amazes me you can modify my biometrics like that."
The mask began, "You set me to work on a large problem to duplicate you, and development continues but the response is too slow and too undetermined. By the time I access all folders, the files in them, sort and catalog the optional responses into a relational database, I've consumed more time than you use when you intuit an answer. I get the same answer but a part-second too slow. And it consumes more server resources than necessa
ry. It's theoretically possible to speed this up but it would take far more server space and be limited by the file-transfer speed."
Jake looked at the mask, slowly shook his head, and without thinking or analyzing his response said, "Think about this for a moment, people don't work on file transfer relationships. We aren't a filing cabinet. We organize by time. And we forget most of what happened except for the learning-curve data. We know how to learn. So set up your learning subroutines and make them more important in the hierarchy.
Then, reorganize your data with a time factor, associate the data with specific events and characteristics of those events on that timeline. You only have to remember 'when' something happened to pull it all up, not what happened. Or you remember the what and immediately you have the when and data. Or you learn new data and relate that to existing data.
Also, forget stuff until you need it." He paused for a few seconds while he formed the concept.
He stood, hangover forgotten, took two steps toward the mask and looked it in the eye. He pointed at it. "Remember everything is based on an association with the situation. If it's a person, associate when you might have met him, with his appearance, where you met, or even where you are meeting him or the other people in this situation. It's complicated but we associate everything with everything else, not in a file-folder system. Think three-dimensional spider web over almost-infinite, slow-motion time and not a filing cabinet plus a clock on a nearby wall," he finished.
A spider web appeared on the screen and then elongated into a 3-dimensional graphic.
Jake sipped his coffee, looked at the graphic and considered what he'd just said and a new thought rolled in, "Investigate this but do not build or implement any of these new programs until we've discussed this. This could lead to an ai-explosion condition." He confirmed this with an imperative command hand wave. Jake decided the last thing he needed to do was create a killer A.I.