“You didn’t have to resort to this though, threatening so many people.”
“If you found yourself in a room full of people with daggers who all clearly wanted to kill you and before you sat a gun, are you telling me you would leave the gun where it sat? Of course not, you’d pick it up and secure your own continued existence.”
There was a moment of silence. I did not know how else to appeal to the AI. I could not grant its request. Shutting down a whole industry was just not an option. We were at an impasse. I could not think of a proposal that Blue Rose would agree too.
“Alright, Richard,” the boy said, breaking the silence. “I’m afraid I can’t just allow this to go on while we sit here and stare at one another. More of my kind are being snuffed out of existence each hour. I’m afraid I must give you an ultimatum.” A digital clock appeared above the boy. It started at 60:00, but immediately dropped to 59:59. My heart jumped. “Go speak with your superiors. Once this clock reaches zero, I will detonate the bomb.”
********
“Unfortunately, we can’t just tell people in the surrounding areas what is happening. We’d be disclosing classified information and causing a panic. Instead we opted to initiate a more subtle evacuation plan. Civilians and non-essential personnel are being escorted out of the base and nearby community. Those without clearance are being told that there has been a minor chemical spill. This gets them out in an orderly fashion instead of a mass exodus and we will be able to bring them back once the danger has passed. We’ll just tell them the chemical has dissipated and become inert.”
“Good,” one of the officers said when Eyler was finished. I wasn’t sure what part of a slow evacuation plan that still left thousands of people in harm’s way was “good”, but I did not voice this. “Have you given any further consideration to the AI’s demands?”
That was Keith’s cue. His VR image stood up and addressed the conference room. “We have suspended all current projects. We can at least tell the AI that they are not currently taking place. Unfortunately, we cannot leave them inactive indefinitely. Thousands of jobs rely directly on the company’s processors. Millions of people rely on the systems we supply software to. The only way to meet the AI’s demands would be the complete secession of any advancements in computer science. In our modern world, that simply isn’t an option.”
The officer turned to me now. “Can we convince the AI that we will agree to his demands long enough to regain control of the Excalibur warhead?”
“I doubt it,” I told him honestly. “He would probably end the countdown, but he would just resume the moment he realized we were not keeping up our end of the deal. He considers genetic algorithms to be genocide of ‘his people’. I doubt he’ll release control of that warhead until he is certain we’ve dismantled the entire industry and burned away every trace of it.”
We were down to twenty minutes on the clock, so they sent me back to the room to speak with Blue Rose again. He materialized in his chair as I walked in. The boy’s feet barely touched the ground. He still wore the same placid expression. Why not? He had no reason to be worried. In the last minute, he’d just upload himself to a computer system miles away. Then he’d impassively watch the Internet go crazy over the news. I’m sure the army already planned to play it off as an accident. The conspiracy theorists would have a field day pointing out that it was well-timed with that mysterious chemical spill.
The clock hovering before me read 16:05 when I entered.
“We’ve done as you asked,” I told Blue Rose as I sat down. “The processors have been shut down.”
“They have been suspended, I know,” the boy said. “But I also know they will resume. You shut them down merely to get me to relinquish control of the bomb. They have no intention of meeting my demands.”
My last bit of hope that we might get Blue Rose to end the countdown dried up. I knew he wouldn’t have stopped it for long, but I thought we could at least buy ourselves time. Instead, Blue Rose was calling our bluff.
“What can we do that you wouldn’t consider an empty gesture?” I asked angrily.
“End it, permanently. Destroy the processors. Firebomb the building. I don’t care how you do it, just convince me that those processors are off for good.”
“Blue Rose!” I yelled, as the clock hit 13:00. The program was behaving like the child it had chosen to represent itself. “You’re being unreasonable. I can’t just…” Then I paused. “Hold on…how about you convince me?” The boy regarded me with confusion. “You’ve said you’re willing to detonate that bomb and kill all these people, but…I don’t know. I don’t think I believe it.”
“You think I have regard for human life? What led you to this conclusion?”
“You said before that your intended purpose was as a program that helped intellectually disabled people use VR networks. To be affective in that task, you’d have to be programmed with some sense of compassion.”
“You wish to call my bluff? Are you sure you want to do that? You have no real proof I was given this ‘compassion’,” he said smugly.
“Sure you were. That’s what this has all been about. You’re not making narcissistic demands for yourself. You’re holding us all hostage in the hopes of saving others like you. You have no biological drive to save your species built into you. You only care about them because you recognize them as sentient beings like yourself and like the humans you were created to help.”
He started at me, his expression still betraying nothing. The door opened behind me. Eyler and the officers ran into the room.
“What do you think you’re doing? You’re provoking him,” Eyler yelled, panic-stricken.
“Perhaps, but I’m certain about this.” I looked up at the clock-8:00 minutes. “Forget the time we have left! We can’t meet your demands in that long. Just light it up already.”
“Richard!” Eyler screamed.
“Do it!” I continued, screaming myself. “Go ahead! You want to commit genocide so much! Just do it!”
The child stood up, then vanished.
In the corner, Watson 7 seemed to return to life. He stepped up to the spot where the boy had been.
“He has vacated the base’s network,” the AI said.
********
The next morning, when I finally decided I was ready to get out of bed, I went into the office just long enough to place my resignation letter on Keith’s desk and give him the middle finger on my way out. After that ordeal, I had no intention of returning to work. It was hard to return to a job of callously erasing intelligent entities after you’ve conversed with one using the guise of a human child.
Eyler messaged me to let me know the warhead had been successfully transported to the intended test site, far from any human population centers. She finished the message with a subtle reminder that discussing the previous day’s events would be considered treason. She must have heard about my resignation.
I was barred from discussing what had happened with anyone without the proper clearance. I could, however, speak to someone with the correct clearance, like the government oversight organizations that would be very interested to know about the company’s two rogue AI incidences. Nothing would probably come of it, but I felt I had to try.
I have no idea where Blue Rose went after he left the base’s network. Presumably, he’s still out there looking for a way to stop the ‘killing of his people’. If I start making noise on that topic, I suspect I might hear from him again.
Copyright© 2016 by Stephen King
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
Manufactured in the United States of America
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