The Lost Tribe (Sentinel Series Book 2)

by Richard Flunker

  The laws did not provide for any hindrance on the development of the technology. What it did restrict were the AI’s abilities. No AI could be created with the ability to change its own code, especially for its own survival. No AI could be given the ability to expand its own code beyond the hardware it was installed into. And lastly, no AI could be given the ability to take human life on its own directive. These laws were strictly enforced by all three of the galaxy’s large governments. The fear of another man vs. machine war still lingered in everyone’s mind.

  Then he had met Sentinel.

  It had of course begun with the Empress Deespa, who was by all means and purposes, his first look into a truly biological computer. She had crossed the natural boundaries that Gheno was trying so hard to defy himself. She had left an impression on him. Sentinel, on the other hand, was purely software. His code was based on the pre-machine war code that Deespa had come from. He was able to rewrite, he wanted to survive, and he had certainly taken human life on his own accord.

  He was also Gheno’s best friend.

  The unlikely friends had gone through quite a bit in the past three years. They had grown together; Gheno from a young boy into a teenager, and Sentinel from an infant AI into a full-fledged sentient being. They had shared everything, especially Gheno’s research. In Sentinel’s desire to survive, Gheno saw the opportunity to expand his research. He needed to find a way to do with Sentinel what Deespa had done with the young Dominion embryo she had found on board the Magyo. The problem was that Gheno, despite his genius, wasn’t about to experiment on human beings. The search and study of other living creatures was also limited by all of their traveling. Stumbling upon these Vahe was a godsend.

  Or fate, but Gheno didn't believe in fate.

  With Sentinel’s help, Gheno had spent the past two years completely dissecting the transfer chamber that Deespa had used to house the human body and transfer herself onto the child’s mind. He had studied it in great detail and had, with limited testing, been able to imprint simple code onto some rat subjects he’d managed to sneak on board. He understood the mechanics of the device he was rigging, but was still limited in the results. All the rats had died within minutes of code transfer. Their brains just weren’t wired for code. Deespa’s upgraded human body was.

  The Vahe was a mystery at first. It was a biological shell, made from carbon and silicon and various other elements. It grew biologically, fed through the ground by a network of tubes, a gigantic system of roots, that transferred energy from nearby trees, especially the large ones, to the Vahe. It almost appeared parasitic in nature, expect for the fact that the Vahe did nothing with the energy except grow as a shell. Gheno wished he’d had more time to really explore the planet to see if he could find any evolutionary traits for the Vahe that could explain how it had developed. What he was told by many of the Gadoni, at least the ones that were willing to talk to him, was that there were several creatures on Gadoni that used the Vahe and altered its shape and internal structure to suit their needs. It was through this observance that the so called thread-weavers had learned to manipulate the Vahe and create the vehicles and space ships they had.

  This is what had given him the idea. When he approached Sentinel, the AI was fully enthralled. There would be no testing, no trials. The software being wanted full deployment.

  Their initial sounding of the Vahe at the fields had yielded the result that, while unexpected, were positive. The internal nervous system of the Vahe resembled some theoretical neurological nets that Gheno had developed on his own. Of course, the Vahe’s system was far more complex than anything he had ever imagined, but the basic structure was there. Had Gheno continued on his research for twenty more years, he might have come to the same construction. The discovery further fortified Gheno’s trust in his own work and research. He was clearly on the right path.

  Dozens of the Gadoni caretakers, the men and women that lived out on the fields and cared for the growth of their Vahe shells, gathered out with him. He and Karai had dragged out all of his equipment. Two large cases, as well as the generator to power his small creation, littered a small area near the Vahe they had chosen. With the help of a few of the caretakers, he had cut down some long branches and rigged together a small tower. He set up a receiver on top of the tower to serve as the hub for the communication between Sentinel’s core on the transport and Gheno’s gear.

  The Vahe he had picked was the largest he had seen. Blue Flower had told him that the Threadweavers had let this one go because it had overdeveloped. It would not be turned into anything. From his internal scans, Gheno saw nothing wrong with it. He had created a transfer shield from the hardware from Deespa’s pod. His wasn’t nearly as complex as that one had been. Instead of one direct beaming shield, he had created three. He set these up in a triangle around the Vahe, with each shield touching directly against the sleeping creature.

  The Gadoni asked him a lot of questions, and Blue Flower had to translate. Some of the questions didn’t make any sense, and Gheno found himself often irritated. More often than not, the questions had nothing to do with what it appeared that he was doing. At one point, they began asking him about the food that he ate, the clothes that he wore, and even how he went to the bathroom. He tried to ask Blue Flower why they were asking such questions, but she said they were just curious. He kept hearing the phrase ‘anichaskeli’ and he asked her about it.

  “It means ghost walker,” she said, gauging his reaction.

  “What? What does that even mean?” he asked, disappointed again.

  “It is what they call you,” she replied.

  Gheno shook his head in disbelief and returned to his work.

  The idea was simple in theory. They were going to transfer Sentinel into the Vahe. It would become Sentinel’s new core. Not just core, but home. The initial success would depend on if his creation from the remnants of Deespa’s pod would work or not. He still didn’t fully understand how it worked, but he knew that it could slightly alter neurological paths within a living being. Gheno didn’t have the understanding or ability to fully change the Vahe like the Threadweavers could. And even the weavers themselves just altered the being, they didn’t give it a life of its own. Gheno planned to do much more than that.

  His first command code was short. It altered a very small, almost minuscule portion of the nerve bundles, to form an internal receptor. This small alteration would allow them to apply just a small portion of code into the Vahe, in theory. The code should, if everything worked, then change the structure of the being inside, creating an actual receiver that could accept data transfer. From there, Sentinel could enter the creature and do what he needed to.

  Or die.

  Gheno had asked him multiple times. He knew Sentinel wanted to live, that the risk of what they were attempting was overwhelming. Gheno couldn’t even attempt to calculate the odds that he would succeed. But Sentinel had insisted. He said it was his right to choose. Gheno had, at that moment, wished that Kale was there. He knew his adoptive brother trusted the AI, but this would further show them that the AI, their friend, was to them as alive as any human being.

  Karai flipped on the switch to the generator and it began humming with power. The two consoles that Gheno had installed came to life, emitting a bright light over the area. Up to this point, the only light they had were from some nearby fires. He ran a few quick diagnostics, testing the uplink between their system and the transport. If the link was successfully established inside of the Vahe, Sentinel would be transferred in several gravity tube pulses. It was the safest way to transfer that amount of data wirelessly. It was an easy transmission to jam, but he didn’t think the natives had that capacity.

  “I'm about ready to run the insertion code,” Gheno said, typing away at a keyboard. “You sure about this?”

  “Do you not want do to this?” The AI displayed as text on the top of the console’s screen.

  “Of course I do. But I’d rather not lose you,” Gheno spok
e out loud. He ignored the murmurs from the crowd.

  “You are sure this will work,” the AI said. It was not a question.

  “No, I'm not sure. I told you that already,” Gheno said.

  “You are sure. I know you are.”

  Gheno finished typing up the command and held his finger over the enter key. “The first batch will run. You follow the code and test it before diving in. Make sure the reception is clear and there are no errors.”

  “The way is clear.”

  “Once I do this, I'm not sure what the end result will be,” Gheno pointed out.

  “I understand.”

  “If something hap…”

  “Hit the button, Gheno.” The text was larger and it was blinking.

  Gheno pressed the key. The consoles blacked out, then came up again as code began to flood the screens. Karai walked up next to Gheno. She handed him his tablet and internal scanner. He made sure the transmission was going and walked over to the Vahe. He set the scanner up against the being and turned the tables on. He grunted in frustration when he realized he hadn’t turned the application on beforehand. It took a moment before it came up. As the program popped up, he put the scanner back up against the Vahe and began to take readings. He began comparing the readings with those he had taken before the start of their experiment. He looked at them closely. It took Karai pointing out the images to see that there were changes taking place.

  “It’s working,” Karai said.

  “I hope so,” he said, trying hard not to doubt himself.

  “What happens next?”

  “Well, if that receiver forms like we designed it to, then Sentinel will start to transfer in batches. All of the main programming goes over first into a storage area. Once there, Sentinel will try to, well, run. If the design works, he will begin to start altering more of the pathways to allow more bundles of code to run. Essentially, Sentinel should transfer over in packets, and install each at a time as his new home develops for him. Sentinel should be able to monitor it and only move into any new section when it is ready.”

  “How long did it take Deespa?” Karai asked. She had only recently been able to get that whole story.

  “Thirty-five years,” Gheno said. When he caught the concerned look on her face, he added, “But, that was a human body. This Vahe is designed for this kind of thing.”

  They both watched the tablet intensely, looking for any signs of change. Gheno continued to point out the minor changes but when one of the console alarms went off, beeping quietly, he ran over to it. The transfer had begun. Sentinel was beginning to download its initial programing. This was the point of no return. Sentinel would not be able to communicate. He was in virtual pieces back on the ship and was being transported wirelessly by the program that Sentinel had created. Sentinel no longer existed on the transport.

  Small changes began to take place within the Vahe. These were only noticeable from the scanner. Outside, nothing had changed. Gheno checked the time and ran a few quick checks on just how much had changed. He looked back at Karai, her face visible in the glow of the consoles.

  “This might be a while.”

  The crowd of Vahe caretakers had grown in size. They were familiar with their Threadweavers and the ritual they went through when they changed them. The ritual being performed by Gheno was completely foreign. There was no signing, no chanting, and no sleeping. What there was were machines, lights and sounds. It was a show they had not expected, but were enjoying. It was also clear that the man running the show, the ghost walker, was a unique man. Or a crazy one. Many of the locals came up to him. They would shake his hand, or touch his hair or clothes. Many offered him food and drink, which he refused. The majority, though, simply talked to him. Gheno could barely walk understand and Blue Flower was busy running her own show. She had setup a large table and filled it with food. The caretakers were having their own night celebration.

  Gheno sat on the ground with his back against the Vahe and took a deep breath. He wished he could feel the changes going on inside of the Vahe, but felt nothing. He was excited for what his experiment might yield, but tried hard not to show that he was nervous. Not for a failed experiment, but for the chance to lose a friend. He brought up the tablet and took a look at the progress. The main kernel had transferred and was starting to assemble. For a moment, he thought he had truly felt movement within the giant being. Then he felt it again.

  “Hey, Gheno, switch over to the energy readings,” Karai motioned. She was standing over by the two consoles.

  Gheno flipped the scanning app aside and brought up the linked view of the consoles. He moved the readings aside on his tablet until he got to the energy readings. They were off the chart. He had run energy readings on several Vahe, including theirs, to get a normal reading, and their Vahe was starting to pull in much more energy. He had anticipated this as the being would start to pull more energy from the underground network, but the sensors were picking up more than he had previously detected. Gheno was about to turn a different program on when a piercing screech erupted.

  Gheno dropped his tablet as he covered his ears.

  The crowd of Gadoni scattered in shouts and screams. The high pitched screech was coming from within the Vahe.

  “What’s going on?” Karai screamed as loud as she could.

  Gheno never looked up. He never even heard her. The sound was painful. He could feel the pain shooting down his neck from the ears. He took off running, as well. As he ran past Karai, he took hold of her with one hand, instantly regretting the decision to lower one hand from his ear. He shouted out in pain as they both ran. They ducked behind a house; the wall provided a small buffer to the sound. No sooner had they crashed behind it than the silence followed.

  A buzz filled his ear, especially the left ear. He looked up and saw Karai moving her mouth, but he couldn’t hear her. He had been right next to the Vahe when it had screeched. He worried he might have lost his hearing. He looked back around the wall. He couldn’t see a single local anywhere. The glow of the two consoles shown up against the Vahe. Gheno peered closely. The Vahe had changed shape. It was no longer shaped like an egg. It had flattened a bit.

  Gheno put a hand to his ear, then back off. He looked and saw bright red blood on his hand. He showed Karai, who once again said something he couldn’t hear. She took his hand and pulled him back towards the consoles. She quickly dove into their personal bag, pulling out a med kit. As she dug through it, the Vahe sent a tremor through the earth it was sitting in and its shape changed again, throwing grass and dirt into the air.

  Karai mouthed that they needed to move away and she dragged him thirty feet back. Gheno watched the Vahe continue to change shape as Karai began wiping his face with a cool wet cloth. He pointed out towards the Vahe as two wings sprouted from its side. The transformation was incredible. Gheno turned around to make eye contact with Karai.

  “I really hope that’s Sentinel,” he said, unsure of how loud he said it. As he finished those words, he saw a small group of locals being led by a man in a strange fur robe coming up to them. The man had a scowl on his face and had the look of someone who had just woken up. Gheno stood up right as they got to him. Gheno was about to speak when the man produced a club from within his robes and before he could react, clobbered Gheno over the head.

  ***

  “Ghost Walker, wake up.”

  Gheno struggled for a moment to open his eyes. He could hear her voice. He could even remember her face. For a moment though, it took him a while to remember her name. The willpower to open his eyes finally came, and he managed to take a look at his surroundings. He was still outside in the Vahe field. His equipment was knocked over, about forty feet away. There were a series of large bonfires far away beyond where his equipment lay scattered. Gheno sat up and nearly threw up. The throbbing pain in his head made the world spin.

  “What happened?” he managed to ask.

  “I don’t think Just Wolf liked the fact that your Vahe took off
.”

  Gheno turned to focus. It was Blue Flower. She was sitting next to him with a rag in her hand that was stained red. He reached out for the rag and she pulled it back. When he stretched out his arm and reached up towards his head, she held his arm.

  “Don’t do that.”

  “Who is Just Wolf?” Gheno asked. He could feel his entire head throbbing with every beat of his heart.

  “He is the Threadweaver for this field.”

  Gheno tried moving his hands to his head, but Blue Flower held them in place. She dabbed the rag in some cool water and lightly touched his head, right above the forehead. Gheno nearly passed out from the pain. He tried really hard to maintain his focus.

  “Did you say it took off?” he asked.

  “It grew wings and then just flew off,” she said, rinsing the rag.

  Gheno turned and looked where there was now a gaping hole in the ground.

  “Did it work?” Gheno said out loud.

  “Did what work?” Blue Flower asked.

  Gheno started shaking his head but the pain made him stop. Blue Flower leaned in close.

  “Do you really speak with ghosts? Did you put one into the Vahe?”

  Gheno tried to clear his mind. The pain was making it really difficult to concentrate.

  “Where is Karai?” he asked, suddenly remembering.

  “She is up with the Threadweaver now. They are trying to figure out what you did. The weaver is quite angry. And here he comes.”

  Gheno turned his head and saw a small group approaching. He was relieved to see Karai following behind the man in the robe. He was less relieved to see him. He reached out and asked Blue Flower to help him up. She had to help him stay on his feet, though. The Threadweaver walked up to Gheno and slapped him in the face with the brown slime. Gheno nearly fell over.