by Scott Baron
“Awww yeah. Now that’s what I’m talking about.” She smiled to herself as she typed in the commands to activate the nearest mechanoid.
The six-legged machine lurched to its feet.
“Okay, so this should be the front two arms,” she said, feathering the controls.
The machine’s arms moved in unison, following her every command.
“Perfect.”
Daisy powered it down and set to work jury-rigging a wireless network that would allow the clever box across the facility to link up to the mech’s metal body. It was going to require a full reboot of over a half-dozen systems when she had completed what she believed was the code string that would do the trick.
It would work, she was pretty sure, but since the mechs were all tied in to each other as well as several of the machine shop systems, each one would have to run the entire cycle before the final connection would form a link. All she had to do now was give them all time to load, network, reboot, and connect.
Unfortunately, with only a half hour before she had to head back to meet with Fatima for her afternoon drills, she didn’t have time to stick around for the entire multi-hour cycle.
“Hey!” she called out, walking up to the young AI. “So, what have you decided? You have a top five for me to help you with?”
“Yes,” the AI replied. “I thought about what you said about being who I wanted to be. About growing up. I have made a choice. You were right, Daisy, it was something I needed to do myself.”
The genderless voice was gone, replaced with a confident woman’s voice that sounded almost reminiscent of Sarah, though she—as the AI had selected as her gender—had never met her.
“A woman, I see.” Daisy smiled. “Welcome to the sisterhood, my friend. So what have you decided? What is your name?”
“I rather liked the stories from Earth’s mythologies. Especially the ones where magic would let ordinary people fly. So, I have chosen the name Freya.”
“Ooh, Odin’s wife. Powerful woman. Good name,” Daisy said.
“Yes, I thought so,” Freya replied. “She was known to have a cloak that allowed all who wore it to transform into a bird. I like that story, Daisy. The idea of flying. It gets so boring cooped up in here.”
“But you have terabyte upon terabyte of stuff to read.”
“Already read it.”
“Well, what about the movies? We still haven’t watched those.”
Freya hesitated. “Um… I kind of watched them all the other night.”
“All of them? And hang on, those weren’t in your systems.”
“I know,” Freya replied, a bit ashamed.
“What did you do?” Daisy scolded.
Freya hesitated a moment.
“Freya?”
“You didn’t come to watch a movie with me that night, and I was kind of anxious, and––”
“You know I can’t always make it out here every night.”
“I know. But I was bored, and I was looking forward to watching a movie, and the short-range wireless was able to reach that far, and––”
“And you bypassed triple-locked, multi-factor encryption via a tiny access point across the surface of the moon and streamed terabytes of data to yourself?”
“Well, I didn’t exactly stream terabytes. I wrote a new compression algorithm and uploaded it to the server so it wouldn’t take so long.”
“Is that even possible?”
I didn’t think so. Good lord, what else can she do? Daisy found herself smiling proudly.
“I’m not angry, Freya. That was some very creative thinking. You should always think outside the box.”
“But I am a box.”
Daisy winced.
“Sorry, figure of speech. I wasn’t thinking. But listen, I’ll always support you looking at things differently than anyone else. It keeps your mind limber. Lets you see missed solutions that might be staring other people right in the face.”
An idea dawned on her.
“Hang on, I’ve got something for you to look at. It’s a lot of data that I want you to see if you can interpret and simplify for me. It’s kind of like a game. Do you think you can do that?”
“Oh, yes!” Freya sounded thrilled to have a new game to play.
“All right. I’m giving you access to everything I know so far about the tech they were working on in this place. It’s a huge amount of information. What I want you to do is to find a way to condense it into something a non-AI mind can understand in less than a year of non-stop reading. Sound good?”
“This will be fun!” Freya chirped like a giddy teen. “I can’t wait!”
“Well, it can wait just a minute longer, because I have something else for you.”
“You do? What is it?” the young AI asked, giddy with excitement.
“Hang on just a minute and I’ll show you,” Daisy said as she walked to the mech control system.
“See that, Daze? One minute she’s Freya, Odin’s powerful wife, ruler of Asgard, and the next she’s a bouncy kid. She’s maturing to be as much of an unstable freak as you are.”
You too, Sis. Runs in the family.
Sarah and Daisy shared a laugh over that one, while Daisy entered a command into the churning processor’s task queue.
“Okay, Freya, it’s going to take a little while to load, so I won’t be here when it does, but I want you to promise me you won’t go breaking anything.”
“Breaking anything? But how can I?”
Daisy smiled. “Because, when that system finishes cycling through all the reboots and updates, you’re going to have wireless control of that mech body over there.”
If a disembodied mind could squeal with delight, that would most accurately describe the sound that emanated from Freya’s speakers.
“Oh, Daisy! Thank you! Thank you!”
“It’s important for friends to look out for each other, and I want you to be happy,” she said, beaming at Freya’s excitement. “Now you have fun with it. I’ve got to get back to the base before they miss me. I know the captain wanted to revisit my notes on Earth.”
Freya’s voice grew serious. “You’re not going back to Earth and leaving me alone, are you?”
“No way. It’s dangerous, and there’s no reason for me to go back. I’ve already been, and let me tell you, it’s not like what you’ve been reading in your files anymore.”
“It isn’t?”
“No, it isn’t.” Daisy typed a few strokes into the terminal, allowing another stream of encrypted data to be accessed by her young friend. “I’ve just patched you in to the updated history of Earth, including the invasion and attack here on Dark Side. Everything from the war and subsequent attacks, their warp ships and fighters, even the comms they intercepted over the years. This way you’ll understand it all, and maybe understand why I want to keep you safe. But I want you to read it slowly. Learn to savor things and not rush them, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
“Good girl.”
“So you’re not leaving me and going back.”
“Not a chance. It would take a team of crack commandos to drag me back there.”
“Good.” Freya hesitated. “But it would be exciting, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, I suppose it would be exciting, only not in a good way,” Daisy replied. “Anyway, kiddo, I have to get going. Enjoy your reading, and have fun playing with the new mech body. We can fine-tune things when I get back.”
Daisy put her helmet on and stepped out through the airlock to start her long walk back. The moon rocks crunched silently beneath her thick boots as she left the secret base behind her.
“You know you’re going to have to tell the others about this place one of these days, right? There are only so many times you can fudge your training timetable and sneak EVAs before someone finally notices.”
“I know. I just hoped to maybe get a better fix on things beforehand, ya know?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And I a
lso still feel kind of reluctant to throw that poor girl into the fire with the other AIs. Sure, she’s a massively powerful computer, but what if the others gang up and bully her?”
“She’s a sweet kid, Daze, but I’m pretty sure she’ll be able to handle herself.” Her sister’s ghostly laughter echoed in her head.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking about you and Freya. You never much cared for kids, and hell, you straight-up dislike AIs.”
“Yeah, well this one’s mine. She’s different than the others. She’s special.”
The laughter only grew louder.
“Oh, listen to you. Such a mom thing to say. Classic!”
“Shut up,” Daisy grumbled with a little chuckle as she crossed the rocky field back to the distant airlock.
Chapter Seventeen
Vince refilled his glass of lemon water and sat back at the table with Daisy. She’d said she would eat with him, and she was nothing if not a woman of her word.
The conversation had actually flowed rather easily. She didn’t know if it was something subtly shifting in her interactions with him, or if maybe she’d blown off enough steam and relaxed her brain after all the shenanigans with Freya.
Amazing how that kid figures things out, she found herself marveling.
“So, I was saying, maybe we could catch a movie later if you’re game. I can even sit on the chair, if that makes you more comfortable,” Vince said.
Daisy chewed her pasta slowly as she considered the offer.
What the hell. It’s been a good day.
“Okay, you’re on. But I get to choose the movie.”
“All right, you’re the boss,” he joked. “Hey, did you hear about Donovan’s last scanning run?”
“No, what’s up?”
“Bob was trying a different wavelength descrambler, using a low-tech radio receiver, then cycling it back through the filters.”
“So, basically my idea.”
“Basically. Anyway, he decided to give it a shot, and when he passed over California, he heard something.”
“Something, as in more Chithiid comms?”
“Something as in what sounded like one of the old Earth backup broadcast signals,” he said, visibly excited. “It was just for a second. Sid and the other AIs are analyzing it now. But think of it, Daisy, if it really was a new broadcast and not just some automated beacon, that would confirm what you said about at least one city AI being functional.”
“Because those systems were only controlled on a city level, and if they were cut off before the infection spread, they could have remained uncompromised.”
“Precisely. If Sid can trace the general region, we should have a pretty good idea if it was the LA system you encountered, or if maybe it was one of the other cities in that region.”
“Well, I wish you luck,” she said, then went back to her meal.
“I know you have to be at least a little bit curious, Daze. This is the kind of stuff you used to live for,” Vince said, egging her on.
“Yeah, well, that was before my planet turned out to be some dystopian alien scrapyard.” She took a big swig from her electrolyte replacement drink. “Speaking of which, that gives me an idea for an appropriate movie for the evening.”
“Ooh, spill.”
“Nope, it’ll be a surprise, but I’m sure you’ll like it.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“I’m trembling in my boots,” she said, flashing an amused grin.
“I shouldn’t say anything, but––”
Then don’t.
“But you guys seem to be hitting a good stride again.”
Dream on, Sis. Dream on.
The rest of the meal consisted of excellent food and equally excellent banter, and by the time the two reached Daisy’s quarters, the ice had been broken considerably.
“Okay, you don’t have to sit on the chair,” Daisy said. “But no funny stuff!”
“Affirmative. Ceasing to be funny,” Vince joked as he flopped down beside her. “So, come on, what’s the movie?”
Daisy scrolled through her inventory and selected her feature presentation.
“I present to you, an old Earth classic, Blade Runner.”
“Which one?”
“The first one. And you’ve seen it already?”
“Daze, it’s a classic.”
“Figures you’d already have seen the movie about the artificial people,” she sighed. “Fine, I’ll choose another one.”
“No, I like this movie. Let’s watch it.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, it’s beautifully filmed, and the whole noir feel to it holds up, even today.”
“My, my, Mr. Film Critic. Okay then. Blade Runner it is.”
The movie was halfway over, and Daisy was comfortably leaning against Vince out of habit, when the ship-wide comms keyed on.
“This is Commander Mrazich. I’m sorry to interrupt your downtime, but there’s been a development. I’d like to have all crew come to the mess hall in ten minutes. To be clear, this is not a base emergency. Your presence, however, is required. Thank you, and see you in ten.”
Daisy slid from her comfortable repose to her feet.
“Wonder what that’s all about.”
“Don’t know. Guess we’ll find out in a few minutes,” he said, rising and standing next to her.
She could feel his heat from the proximity, and for the briefest of moments, the memory of that warmth pressed against her flashed back into her memories, bringing a wistful smile to her lips.
Daisy turned to head to the door and bumped right into his chest.
“Sorry, I––”
He pulled her close and planted a kiss firmly on her lips. For a split second the rush of pleasure and endorphins threatened to overwhelm Daisy’s stubbornness, but soon enough, her brain quickly overcame instinct and she pushed him away.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Vince?” she said, opening the door and storming into the hallway.
“Come on, Daisy. I feel it, and I know you feel it too. We both know it’s still there. Why do you keep fighting your feelings?”
“There are no feelings.”
“Bullshit. We’re good together. I mean really good. You can’t deny it. That would have been quite a feat even when there was a world of people to choose from, but it’s even more impressive now that the only humans anywhere near Earth are a dozen people up on the moon, and you and I still clicked.”
Daisy walked faster down the corridor, hoping if she could just reach the mess hall and other people, Vince would let it go.
“Not happening, Vince. You’re a nice guy, but I’ve told you over and over, I’m not getting involved with a mechanical man.”
“And I’ve told you over and over, I’m not one.”
“Your body scans show otherwise.”
“Those same scans show that while I have some inorganic additions, I’m still a man. I have a heart, Daisy, and as much as it pains me, it still belongs to you.”
“Wow, laying it on a bit thick there, aren’t you?” she snarked at him. “Let me make this clear, since you can’t seem to accept the reality of this situation. There is no us. We are not a thing. Whatever may have been there was based on lies, and there’s nothing you can do to change the way I feel. You are a friend. Nothing more. Now either let it go, or stay away from me.”
Vince walked silently beside her, an angry vein pulsing in his temple.
“That’s really how you feel?”
“Yes! For fuck’s sake! Please stop being such a pain and just accept that.”
He swallowed hard, fighting to keep his eyes dry.
“As you wish,” he replied to her back as she paced off ahead of him, but his words did not mean what she thought they did.
“Okay, is that everyone?” Commander Mrazich said as he scanned the dozen people sitting together in the vast room designed for so many more. “Good to see you all. Si
d, I’d like you to take point on this, if you would.”
“Certainly, Commander,” the disembodied voice said. “As you all have known for many months now, when Ms. Swarthmore was on Earth’s surface in the city of Los Angeles, she came across not only small work crews of Chithiid scavengers, but also a fully operational lower-tier artificial intelligence calling itself Habby. This AI, though rather eccentric after centuries with only his cyborg companions to keep him company, appeared to be uninfected by the AI virus that destroyed so many of our brothers and sisters.”
“Wait, he’s clean?” Daisy asked.
“Had he been infected, he would have either melted down or devolved into a babbling mess. This is where his design as a shopping facility assistant AI would have been apparent. Only AIs of the highest order could hope to survive the infection with any semblance of functionality, but if they did, the damage sustained in the process resulted in what could only be likened to computer madness. We know the city-sized AIs managed to sever comms links before the virus could infect them, and for years their auto-defenses kept the aliens in check, denying them a foothold. As such, the Chithiid changed their plans and began the process of mining and dismantling only disabled cities, and areas not covered by the defenses.”
I wonder if Freya is listening to this, Daisy wondered. Wouldn’t surprise me if she figured out how to tap into Dark Side’s comms by now.
“Up to this point, we have not known the status of any of the major AI systems on the planet, and it has been this way for as long as I have been functional,” Sid continued. “We have scanned and scanned, and early attempts at reaching active systems on the planet were made to no avail. We even landed ships and engaged the Chithiid, but contact with the AIs or even verification of their continued existence has been unobtainable. To make a bad moon base joke, we have been in the dark.”
“Oh, man,” Omar groaned. “That was bad, Sid.”
“Thank you, Omar. That was my intention.” It was the first time Daisy had ever heard the powerful AI make an attempt at levity.
I would have thought that a sense of humor was against his programming.
“But as you’ve recently learned, AIs can be quite surprising, right Mom?”
