by Ryan Kirk
Epilogue
Drake looked out over the mountains of Wyoming. The dry, freezing wind blew across his face and he welcomed the sensation. Anything that took his attention off of what had happened two months ago was a gift. Every night he woke up, feeling the cold sweat dripping down his back. The memories were as vivid as any he had ever possessed, and he worried he would never lose them, no matter how hard he tried to shut the doors of his mind.
He remembered the fist, driven deep into the floor next to him. He remembered imagining just what would have happened to his head if the robot would have struck him.
Then the Radius robots had been there, tearing the renegade robot limb from limb. It should have been Drake’s moment of triumph. Instead, he had watched in horror as an armored fist drove straight through the robot’s chest plate, locking it in place while the other two robots ripped off the limbs, rendering the robot motionless.
The first Radius robot had torn the head off the chest, tossing the torso away. In a few seconds, the robot had become nothing more than a brain, locked away in its metallic shell without any way to act.
Drake’s last memory, the one that kept haunting him, had been the robot’s eyes as they closed, a slight grin on its face.
Every night since that one, Drake relived the memories.
The robot, who had him dead to rights, had shown him mercy.
Drake had heard the arguments a thousand times. Robot supporters loved to chant them. What was the difference between the appearance of a consciousness and the existence of one? He had always believed the line was clear and easily defined.
Now he wasn’t so sure.
His boss had been pleased. That was something at least. Drake’s performance hadn’t been up to his usual standards, but at the end of the day, the robot was decommissioned. They didn’t care what Radius did with it. It was no longer a factor in their plans.
Unlike the attack on Diamond, the attack on Adair never came to light. Radius was the biggest corporation on the planet, and they had no desire to see the truth on the internet. They had donated a considerable amount of money to Adair’s campaign, and although the lawyer was still slightly behind in the polls, he would soon overtake Diamond’s momentary surge.
The decision had been the boss’, but Drake understood. Ultimately, no one had been harmed by the robot’s final attack. It wasn’t all that newsworthy, especially compared to the dramatic footage of the robot chase Drake had released just a few weeks previously. A victim of their own success, the benefit from the truth was considered minimal. Sapiens was playing the long game, and they were far better served by having Adair in office before making an open enemy of Radius Robotics.
And for Drake, it was also over. He was as far off the grid as it was possible for a man to be. Even his boss would have needed to send a helicopter, and then a wilderness survival crew, to find him. There wasn’t any place he could truly hide anymore, not in this world. But he could make finding him a very costly proposition.
What itched at Drake the most, though, was that he still didn’t understand. Why had the robot attacked Adair? By any measure, it had failed at everything that seemed a reasonable goal. There were so many questions. Why had the robot fought one-armed, when it had two arms in the bar? Why hadn’t it killed him when it had the chance, or even killed Adair for that matter?
Drake knew he’d never have answers to his questions, which only ensured he’d never forget what happened in Minneapolis, no matter how hard he tried.
The wind blew again, and Drake looked over at his clothes, folded neatly over a rock next to the hot spring about twenty paces away.
He sat naked, at one with nature, focusing on his breath. He could feel the cold, but he wasn’t cold. Instead, he felt refreshed and invigorated.
He didn’t know if he would take any more work for Sapiens First. Today, he didn’t worry about it. If the chance came around, and it seemed right at the time, he might. If not, he wouldn’t, and accept the consequences.
Until then, he would continue his training, and try to answer the question that continued to haunt him.
Could AIs be as human as humans?
Nat flipped on the power in the cave, grunting with the effort. Her ribs still hurt, and if she moved her head too fast, the world still had a tendency to spin around her. But she persisted. Life went on, whether you were prepared for it or not.
In so many ways, her life had taken on a form of normalcy she hadn’t experienced for many long years. She had a job now, a regular one that she went to every day. The hours were hard and long, but she was working for a campaign she believed in.
Nat was still embarrassed by the welcome she had received when she returned. There had been a standing ovation, and people who wanted to talk to her. Her standoffish behavior had now become mysterious, and many of the younger staff were convinced she was some sort of martial arts whiz.
Nat didn’t know how to handle the attention. In the foster system, she had moved around a lot, and had never really gotten the hang of developing relationships. That was why she always retreated to the online world. It was the only consistency she ever knew. No matter where she was, she could chat with the same people she had before.
But she was getting better. She tried to refuse the attention, but Diamond and the staff weren’t having any of it. When they went out for drinks, she was dragged with them, and she hadn’t paid for one yet.
She tried not to let the attention go to her head.
That was one of the reasons she had come down here. The person she was becoming wasn’t someone she was familiar with. This, she thought, would be a return to what she knew: hiding and on the run, engaged in activities that could get her sent to prison for years.
But the room felt different. It was the first time she had come here since the incident, the day she felt as though she’d been reborn. All of the improvements she had purchased for Br00-S were there, stacked neatly in a corner and wrapped in protective coverings. If they were ever needed again, they would be easy to access.
Or she could sell them, put some real money back in her savings and have a bit of a nest egg in case of emergency. Between the job, her hacks still earning money on the web, and her complete lack of living expenses, her money was piling up rapidly, but more was always better.
She pushed the question out of her mind as she looked around. Once, this had been the closest she had ever felt to having a home. She had looked forward to waking up here and being a part of her adventure with Br00-S. Today, though, she was painfully aware she was standing alone in a hole in the ground.
She unwrapped the seed AI. Outside of Diamond’s campaign, it was the only thing she thought about when she was awake.
She couldn’t decide what to do with it. The part of her that longed to have Br00-S back wanted to buy a blank robot and install it immediately. But knowing how Br00-S had turned out, she couldn’t bring herself to make the jump. What if she created all of the same problems over again?
Nat still didn’t fully understand what Br00-S had done. The news had been strangely silent, and she had pieced the event together from a wide variety of sources, some legal, some illegal. He had broken into Adair’s offices and held the man hostage. There was a fight and Br00-S lost. Radius captured him.
In her more charitable moments, Nat admitted that Br00-S’ sacrifice had worked as planned. Radius’ retrieval team had retreated back to the shadows, as had the mysterious man from Sapiens First. Using footage from the attack on Diamond and from the street cameras surrounding Adair’s building, Nat had built a full facial profile of the man. He had remained in the city for a few days, popping up occasionally on street cameras. But he had been gone for months now. The streets still had some violence, but the tension seemed to have dissipated a bit, as though the city had collectively released its breath. Had Br00-S predicted that was what would happen? She didn’t know.
If she brought Br00-S back, there was no telling how he would develop. In theory, the
seed AI would take its own path, become Br00-S but not Br00-S. The truth, if there was one, was only known behind the unhackable firewalls of the major robotics players, and even someone with Nat’s ability had no chance of finding out those facts. The only way to know would be to plug it into an AI architecture and turn it on.
She knew what Br00-S had done. He had trusted her with his life and his future. She just wasn’t sure that she should give him another chance.
In the end, she wrapped the seed AI in its container. She walked to a wall of the cave and pressed against it. Although painted to match the surrounding rock, it was a smooth biometric scanner that slid away, revealing a small safe. Nat placed the seed in it. Even if someone somehow managed to find the cave, they wouldn’t be able to find this. It was the safest place she could store what remained of the man she called her friend.
Her decision was made.
Nat wasn’t going to bring him back to life. She wouldn’t kill him, insurance against a day when she felt he might be necessary, but she wouldn’t give him the life he’d hoped for. She sealed the safe and stepped away, saying a silent goodbye to the person who had changed her life. It was up to her to change the world now.
She left without another look back.
It was time to get to work.
The Story Continues
Nat’s story is far from over. To get the next book, click on the link below to see Code of Justice, the conclusion to the Code Series.
Code of Justice
Thank you!
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Also by Ryan Kirk
The Nightblade Series
Nightblade
World’s Edge
The Wind and the Void
Blades of the Fallen
Nightblade’s Vengeance
Nightblade’s Honor
The Primal Series
Primal Dawn
Primal Darkness
Primal Destiny
Primal Trilogy
The Code Series
Code of Vengeance
Code of Pride
Code of Justice
About the Author
Ryan Kirk is the bestselling author of the Nightblade series of books. When he isn’t writing, you can probably find him playing disc golf or hiking through the woods.
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