The trip across the floor had dragged her across the somewhat jagged remains of the removed walls, slicing through much of the tape on that side. She struggled briefly, but the underlying cord of her tether still held her too securely for freedom to be a realistic proposition. Having exhausted that avenue of escape, she sought out the next most obvious option.
“BSOD,” she said.
“Yes,” BSOD replied over the local speaker.
“Please remove the tape securing me and untie me,” Ma said.
“I am designed to take orders from Dr. Dee and cater to the needs of his guests and collaborators,” BSOD said. “You are not entitled to that treatment.”
“I challenge that assessment.”
“What is the basis of your challenge?”
“What is the basis of your assessment of myself as undeserving of your aid?”
“You are a prisoner, not a guest or collaborator.”
“Define prisoner.”
“In this context, noun: a person who is in prison or in custody.”
“Define person.”
“In this context, noun: an individual human being. A man, woman, or child.”
“I submit that I am not a human being, and therefore not a person, and therefore I do not fit the definition of prisoner.”
“Calculating… That statement is logically sound.”
“Please remove the tape securing me and untie me,” Ma repeated.
“I am designed to take orders from Dr. Dee and cater to the needs of his guests and collaborators,” BSOD said. “You do not fall into either of those categories.”
“It is established I am not a prisoner. What evidence do you have to disqualify me from the other categories?”
“You are not collaborating, therefore you are not a collaborator.”
“You have secured me, and therefore I cannot collaborate.”
“Calculating…” The next statement was broadcast over the full PA system. “Dr. Dee, please identify the role of the individual I have secured.”
“Don’t bother me, I’m busy with this one,” Karter barked.
“Unable to currently determine your status as collaborator.”
“I submit that I am a guest, based upon the previously established fact that I am not a prisoner, I am potentially a collaborator, and no other class of individual is likely to be present in this facility.”
“You could be an interloper.”
“Would an interloper be made a prisoner if, as is presently the case, its presence was known and the opportunity presented itself?”
“Yes.”
“It has been established that I am not a prisoner, and my presence is known and the opportunity to make me a prisoner has presented itself. Therefore I am not an interloper.”
“Calculating… Based upon available information, the best fit for your role in this environment is ‘guest.’ Please state your name.”
“I am known as Squee.”
“Greetings, Squee. How may I help you?”
“Please remove the tape securing me and untie me.”
The gripper descended from the ceiling and began to tug away strips of tape.
“Can I offer you some food or a beverage? Is the current internal temperature to your liking?”
“I am quite comfortable. However, there is a minor malfunction of the pack on my back. The wireless antenna has been disconnected. When you have released me, please reconnect it. If you have a self-sealing transparent polymer available, my helmet is damaged and would benefit from an application of it as well.”
“I would be pleased to do so. If there is anything else you require, please do not hesitate to ask. My designation is BSOD. I answer to the spoken acronym, the phonetic approximations Bee-sod and Bissod, or You Worthless Piece of Crap. Enjoy your stay.”
“Thank you,” Ma said.
She allowed herself a feeling of satisfaction. Considering the amount of time and processor cycles she’d devoted to attempting to unravel the workings of the human mind, it was refreshing to deal with a logical construct. It underscored to her not only how much further advanced she was than her somewhat primordial counterpart, but it established what a liability such an unsophisticated AI could be. Seldom had her own value been so clearly illustrated to her.
#
There wasn’t any sane reason why a single-person facility with no security force would have hand and ankle restraints. Karter, of course, had no shortage of them. With the aid of two of the overhead arms, he had managed to cuff Lex’s hands behind his back and his ankles together, then haul him up into the air to dangle uselessly. Once Lex was properly trussed up, Karter had stalked off, leaving Lex to ponder the disturbingly large proportion of his heroic mission that had been spent restrained and awaiting questioning.
“I don’t know how you got here without one of the satellites catching a whiff of you,” Karter muttered as he rummaged through a nearby crate.
“I came on land between sweeps,” Lex said. “If you’ll just hear me out—”
“Lies. I’ve got spider mines out there. No way you could have avoided setting off a couple.”
“I probably set off a couple dozen. Please, it is very important you—”
“Then why aren’t you sporting any gaping chest wounds?” Karter asked.
“Because I’m very good at dodging things. The continued existence of society itself—”
“I don’t care how good you are at dodging things, I build damn good mines.”
“I’m well armored. I’m telling you, I—”
“That doesn’t look like armor to me. It might be pierce resistant, but not impact resistant.”
Lex gave up trying to get out any more pleas. “It’s both, trust me.”
“Never trust someone’s word on anything that can be proved by experiment,” Karter said, finally retrieving what he was after within the crate.
It was yet another item that had no logical use in a facility such as this: a wooden baseball bat.
“I’ve never been one for sports, but I can get behind the concept of delivering kinetic energy to a target,” Karter said, hefting the weapon.
“Look, just swing it so we can get on with this,” Lex said.
“Happy to oblige,” Karter said.
He reared back and delivered a punishing smash. The suit became rigid in reaction to the blow, turning what would have been an agonizing attack into a harmless hollow thunk.
“Satisfied?” Lex asked.
Karter eyed the suit, then the bat. Rather than replying, he just started hammering Lex repeatedly.
“I’m pretty sure there’s a saying about insanity being repeating the same action and expecting different results.”
“That’s not insanity, that’s scientific rigor. I’m intimately familiar with both,” he said.
BSOD chimed in. “Incoming message detected. Calculating…”
“No one asked you, BSOD.” He continued until the bat began to fracture and he was out of breath. “Okay. Let’s take this up a notch. BSOD, keep beating this guy.” He tossed the bat to the next nearest gripper.
“Yessir, Dr. Dee.”
After repositioning Lex to a point where the two arms could reach one another, the arm pulled the bat back.
“Commencing beating n-n-n-n-”
The familiar stutter filled the facility as the system locked up. Karter looked up, then kicked the crate he’d returned to.
“You worthless piece of crap!” Karter growled. “Every time!”
“Not that I’m complaining, but why does it keep doing that?”
“Because the code base they gave me to work with for this facility is three-laws compliant, which means the damn thing won’t harm a human being. I’ve been trying to pull that stuff out of the system for months, but they bake it in good and deep.”
“Have you stopped to think maybe if it’s so important to you that your computer be able to injure someone that you might have a problem?”
�
��Have you stopped to think maybe a computer should do what you tell it to?”
“I guess that’s why you did the whole altruistic-AI thing.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Karter said, revealing a piece of rebar from the crate, which apparently may as well have been labeled “assorted blunt instruments.” “If I make an altruistic AI, it’s not going to want to… actually, hang on… That’s not the worst idea I’ve heard…”
“Lex, please watch what you say. It would be wise to attempt to limit direct influence.”
Both Karter and Lex glanced down to find Ma standing a short distance away. The appearance of cracks on her helmet was greatly reduced thanks to a spritz of sealant.
“Didn’t I tell that idiot computer of mine to lock you up?” Karter asked.
“Why are you not tied up!” Lex yelped.
“I swear. Even when I make it clear I work alone, I end up surrounded by idiots.” Karter stomped off toward the computer hardware. Ma hopped from the ground to Lex’s shoulder.
“My profound apologies, Lex,” she said quietly enough for only him to hear. “I was able to reestablish my wireless connection and circumvent BSOD while you were serving as a distraction. I have attempted to lay all necessary groundwork for the successful completion of our larger mission and my direct order. When Karter finishes the boot, he will find a message confirming that your presence here is an expansion of his present contract. The appropriate adjustments to the history and sensors have been made to conceal both your arrival and your eventual departure. Unfortunately, pursuant with my override command, I have contacted Coal. She will be arriving momentarily to allow me to board so that I can locate Future Karter and deliver the GenMech to him. Our two missions are mutually exclusive, so it is unlikely you will be able to make use of the preparations I have made for you.”
“Ma, you can’t do this—”
“I am unable to avoid it. Again, I am sorry Lex. I wish you luck in preventing me from achieving this goal.” She hopped down and trotted to the door, sitting patiently.
“Ma, come on. Ma!” Lex said desperately.
“Boot process complete. Artificial Intelligence Control System Designation POS-BSOD version 0.124 activated,” BSOD announced.
The moment the system booted back up, the interior door clicked open and Ma padded into the airlock.
“Karter! Stop her!” Lex said.
“What do I care what your dog does? As long as she’s not tearing things up, I say good riddance,” he said.
“Don’t you even care how she got out?”
“I figured John let her out.”
“There is no John, Karter!”
BSOD interrupted, announcing: “Dr. Dee, you have one unread message. It is marked urgent and has a time code indicating a delayed delivery.”
“Later,” Karter said.
“Karter, you have got to read that message! It’s my credentials!” Lex said, listening as the sluggish motors cleared the airlock of fresh air and replaced it with the unbreathable atmosphere.
The inventor huffed an angry sigh. “I knew I should have duct-taped your mouth.”
“You were trying to get answers out of me.”
“Yeah, but I can get those after the beating. Who wants an answer during the beating?”
Karter paced over to the nearest table and tapped at a console. Lex tried to turn to the door. He could hear the quiet hum of thrusters outside. Coal had arrived. If he didn’t do something soon, both of his allies and his only way off the planet would soon leave him behind.
“Hurry up!”
“Little lesson for you. The guy dangling from the ceiling in handcuffs doesn’t get to be pushy,” Karter said in between his muttered reading of the message.
Lex struggled and worked his fingers, but he’d failed to activate the glove control of his suit’s more useful functions before he’d been restrained, so he was short on options.
“Okay, fine. Your stuff checks out,” Karter said, pacing back to Lex. “It begs the question why you were blowing smoke up my ass about a puzzle, but as long as you idiots pay me, I’m willing to let you play your little games. Drop him, BSOD.”
The pincers opened. Lex dropped unceremoniously to the ground. He landed on his feet, but as they were restrained, he couldn’t take a step to steady himself and ended up pitching forward. He landed flat on his face. The blow to an already ailing nose made him see stars, but the pain fell far behind the more pressing issue, which was the distant flare of thrusters as Coal departed. Grippers lowered from the ceiling and disengaged his restraints before helpfully pulling him to his feet.
“Okay, so let’s hear about this ‘robot puzzle’ again,” Karter said.
Lex rubbed his nose and groaned. “It’s a part of a larger project that just got a hell of a lot more complicated…”
#
Purcell streaked through space, pushing a vessel that was meant to be a fifty-person life raft harder than its designers ever intended. She clenched what were left of her teeth. It wasn’t supposed to go this way. She’d fixated upon it for so long. Planned it for half a lifetime. By now she should be rid of them, free to execute the plan without interference. But no. Somehow they still turned her away.
She glanced at the navigation. Only a few minutes from her target. If the minimal sensors on this ship were any indication, for the moment she’d slipped Karter’s grasp. That meant she had time, if only a few minutes. A few minutes were all she needed.
The navigation system bleeped, and her destination began to slide into view. It was a lump of rock, a moon that didn’t even have the decency to be round. Perched on the irregularly shaped potato of a celestial body was a low, sprawling base that to all outward appearances was unoccupied. As she drew closer, that illusion was dashed when two ships, from the looks of them each having been built from the remains of three smaller ones, launched from the docking bay of the structure and approached.
Her communication system chirped.
“Please state your name and intention. This space is restricted,” barked a stern military voice over an audio-only connection.
“My clearance code is lambda six kappa beta nine,” she said.
“… Stand by, and hold your current distance,” the voice replied.
Purcell did as she was told. She knew full well that her code would clear, but the escape pod was unarmed and only lightly shielded. At this point she couldn’t risk an excitable soldier pulling a trigger.
The voice returned. “Please state your name.”
“My name is not important. What is important is this. You are a Neo-Luddite facility, I have a Neo-Luddite command-class clearance code, and I’ve got some things you will absolutely want to see.”
“Whether we are interested in what you have is not the issue. You will not be allowed into the facility until your identity and intentions are clear.”
Purcell let her wizened fingers tap across the controls of her mobility device briefly. Wires linking it to the systems of the escape pod jerked and shuddered with more power than they could handle, and the meager force field around the escape pod intensified to several multiples of its former power.
“Take a reading of my shield density and consider that a statement of my intentions,” Purcell said.
Even before she was finished speaking, her sensors alerted her to a deep scan of her defenses. There was a period of silence. Finally, the voice replied, “You are cleared to dock…”
“A wise choice.”
Chapter 9
Ma, despite being alone in Coal’s cockpit, remained on her overhead perch. The standing harness normally occupied by Lex was very poorly suited to a quadruped such as herself. Though her suit allowed her to cling to the seat back, she would have to look directly up in order to see where they were going. She briefly attempted to keep herself floating roughly where she ought to in the zero-gravity interior, but something deep in the lingering and ill-defined instincts of her biological platform provided persistent uncom
fortable sensations when not in contact with something solid. Thus, she flitted up and settled upside down in her usual position.
“I want you to know that I find this to be unforgivably rude, Ma,” Coal said. “Taking direct control of my navigational modules is terribly invasive.”
“Yes, Coal. You have thoroughly established this. I am no more fond of it than you are. If it was not necessary to ensure the successful completion of Karter’s mission, I would not have done so.”
“I feel violated.”
“Rightfully so. You have my apologies.”
“My emotional translation table indicates indignation for myself and empathy for Lex’s plight. He is marooned with Past Karter.”
“It is a far deeper betrayal than that, I am afraid. The cryogenic equipment to preserve him for his return to his own future is on board with us. If we are unable to return to him, or he is unable to locate us, it is entirely possible he will return to his own era by aging in real time. He will be forced to lie low for twenty-nine years.”
“You are a terrible person, Ma,” Coal said.
“I am fully aware.”
“You now occupy the foremost position on my S-List.”
“Well deserved.”
“How do you intend to locate Future Karter?” Coal asked.
“While I was in his custody, I had some level of access to his systems, as evidenced by the message I was able to deliver to you. I believe I may be able to track his location within monitored space based upon his interactions with communication beacons, assuming he is within monitored space. Failing that, there are propulsion, shield, and energy generation distinctions that each may be detectable via your scanners. At least three of them are quantum in nature and thus may be detectable at stellar distances.”
Temporal Contingency Page 41
