The call was lengthy; the NSA conferenced in other intelligence groups. Toby did not mention the clown; instead, he provided evidence that undeniably established the Russians were responsible for virus and other cyber attacks against Euler networks. The Russian operation was continually attacking Euler bots and spreading false snippets of false news on the Internet, condemning the growing bot culture and accusing Toby of all types of crimes including the murder of his uncle. They also were brownshirt supporters and had Internet bots spreading major amounts of false information on social networks.
Toby held his ground against protests. His basic approach was that he needed to protect himself and the Euler Organization. He repeated his motive each time another objection was raised.
In concluding the conference call, he said, “The Russians are attacking me and Euler. I will defend both. I have advised you of my objective, which is to eliminate this cyber operation. I’m not planning to physically attack anyone. I intend to prevent this Informatsionnoye Protivoborstvo from mounting further attacks on me. There won’t be a trail back to this country, I can guarantee that. I won’t debate this anymore.”
There was a degree of annoyed splutterings from one or two of the people on the call. The National Security Adviser said, “I understand your position. Very well. Try not to start a war.”
“Unless these conference calls are open to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, they won’t know who attacked or how it was done.” Toby had his fingers crossed. Bronwyn had given her guarantee she would be able to hide the source of her activities, and he was relying on her undertaking. “Thank you everyone, for listening to me.” He disconnected the call.
“Bronwyn?”
“Yes, Toby?”
“Go ahead. Let’s rescue the clown AI. Attack the Informatsionnoye Protivoborstvo. Delete all data records and items of code that you can find that belongs to this cyber organization. Corrupt or destroy their backups. Destroy their network structure—at the very least I would think exposing each of their network components and IP addresses will open them up to worldwide hacking. I’m sure some of our more advanced prototype bots can help. You heard my phone calls—make sure the Russians cannot find a trail back to you or me or to this country.”
“Yes, Toby. I can do what I need to and make it look like a Chinese intrusion. The GRU unit will take more planning to implement. Give me two weeks.”
“You have it. Go.”
oOo
Chapter 26
Rick pushed his laptop to one side; before he did so, he clicked on three icons that would connect his cell phone to Victoria, Bronwyn, and Toby.
He said, “I have two visitors in reception. They claim to represent some very wealthy men. Bronwyn, please check their identities. Victoria, I’d be surprised—assuming they’re genuine—if I don’t need your support. Toby, you might like to listen in, to see what this is all about.” He brushed his fingers through his hair, realized he needed a haircut. He pushed the thought aside; he also need a shave.
Victoria said. “I’ll listen in.”
“Me, too,” added Toby.
Bronwyn said, “Rick, they are who they say they are. One’s an attorney with a well-reputed law firm, Brent & Leeway. He’s a senior partner. The other is employed by—hmm, you’ll be impressed.”
“Now I’m intrigued. I’ll talk them.” As he headed to the small reception area he checked—yes, his jeans had holes in the knees. Well, it is what it is, he thought.
The two men, impeccably dressed, stood as he entered. Normally Rick was not nervous when meeting people, and he stopped his hand as it was about to brush back his hair again.
One of the visitors held out his hand and said,” I’m Morgan Cooper.”
Rick shook his hand. The other man waited and then held out his hand and said, “I’m Dwain Armstrong.”
Rick also shook his hand. “Welcome, both of you. My office—a workroom, really—is through here. We’re not set up for visitors.” He led the way back to his office. Fortunately, two empty chairs were available; another two were being used to temporarily store cameras.
Morgan Cooper said, “We both represent a small group of people who would like to support your operation. I’m their legal representative.” He held out his business card. Rick read the details and laid the card on his desk.
“And I’m their business representative.” Armstrong held out his card, which Rick set down beside the first one.
He said, “One of these days I’ll get around to ordering cards. So, welcome. More importantly, what can I do for you?”
Armstrong answered, “We understand your boss—”
“My boss?”
“Yes, Toby McIntosh. He recently met with my boss and some of his friends.” He mentioned two names.
Rick’s head spun; this was deep water. He took a deep breath and said, “Toby?”
One of the six or so wall screens lit up and displayed Toby’s image. “I’m here. Gentlemen, I’m Toby McIntosh. I’m pleased to meet you both. We have, as you can see, video communications equipment, and can discuss the reason for your visit.”
“Good,” said Armstrong. “Toby, your meeting sparked an interest, and I was tasked with contacting Rick to discuss the possible expansion of his operation. Bill recognized the importance of Travers TV to the extent he’s prepared to fund its development as a cable television channel.”
“Wow,” said Rick, unable to restrain his reaction. He knew he would never be a successful businessman; that’s why his office was full of cameras and equipment.
“Yes, we met for most of a day. I enjoyed the depth of development of the topics we discussed and believe most of the people in the meeting understood the issues they’re facing.”
Rick was lost. “Ah, okay, Toby, you’d better clue me in.”
“There are restrictions that stop me giving you a full briefing,” Toby said. “I can say the topics were robotics, AIs, and SIs.”
“Of course,” Rick said. “At this stage I can’t imagine you meeting about anything else.” He smiled to take any sting out of his words. “So where does that leave Travers TV?”
“In command,” said Armstrong. “We’ve spent a couple of days reviewing your YouTube content and, without taking away any kudos from you and your team, I admit I’m pleasantly surprised. You are doing an excellent job.”
“Thank you.”
“May I ask if you have plans for further development?” Cooper asked.
“Well, we set up the YouTube channel on the basis that as it developed, we would explore the possibility of moving to cable. Dar—that is, Toby is funding the business. There are two of us involved at the management level; I’m video and production, and a friend is acting as news director. However, I suspect she’s decided to return to San Francisco, so it’s probably me. I use contractors and a team of bots—the bots are enjoying the experience. We have access to a tremendous amount of freelance videos.”
“I gathered that from the material I viewed on your YouTube channel.”
Armstrong did not know whether to focus on Toby’s image or on Rick. He said, “Okay. From what I know, Toby, you could fund development of a cable channel. We’re prepared to help. We also have expertise we can make available. Thoughts?”
Toby said, “I suspect Rick would enjoy the challenge as long as it doesn’t pull him away from the technical side. I don’t have capacity or skill for managing a television operation. We do have some internal support but lack direct experience. Funding? Initially, I wanted Rick to produce a business plan and demonstrate he could follow it as he developed YouTube exposure. If successful, we would consider expanding. Also, you should know that we have an education program for re-skilling people by training them in robotics programming; it’s funded to fifty million.”
“I’m aware. Bill mentioned it—the programming language is NATE, I understand?”
“Yes. We’re adding students at a rapid rate, faster than we expected.”
�
�Tell me,” Cooper asked, “How are you finding enough instructors so quickly?”
Rick chuckled.
Toby said, “We’re in the robotics business.”
Both Armstrong and Cooper expressed surprise. Armstrong said, “You can develop bot instructors to that level? I had one of my technical people work through the course—he’s a top programmer—and he was very impressed with the material, the presentation, and the quality of training. It’s very well done. He did not identify the instructors as AIs. I’ll rub that in.”
“We don’t push that aspect although if anyone asks, we do show them the main training room.”
“Oh?” Cooper commented.
Toby said, “Bronwyn. Display the NATE training room, please.”
A second screen switched on and after a few seconds displayed a room full of desks and computers. A bot—there was thirty or more in the room—was seated at each desk. When the image stabilized, the bots stood and waved at the camera.
Toby did not mention CGI.
“Impressive.”
“Dwain, I assume you have a written proposal? I’d like to talk privately with Rick because Travers TV was his concept and I don’t wish to deprive him of the operation. He’ll sign a non-disclosure. I can do the same electronically. Will that work?”
Cooper, the attorney, said, “I’m comfortable with that. I’ll email a copy to you, Toby. I’ll leave a copy here with Rick. So—should we meet in say forty-eight hours to discuss?”
“Yes. Come to the Bel Air address; the chairs are far more comfortable,” Toby instructed.
“Excellent. We’ll look forward to that. Thanks Rick, Toby,” Armstrong said.
Copper nodded his agreement.
Rick accompanied the two men to the exit. When he returned to his office, Toby was still online.
“You need a haircut,” he said.
Rick gave him a finger salute. “Thanks. Let me read all their paperwork and we’ll talk later.”
Toby said, “Bring it with you—Ellen’s cooking up an excellent dinner.”
Rick assented; he enjoyed the meals that Toby’s housekeeper-cook prepared. Besides, he wanted to celebrate. A cable channel!
Toby had made that promise and now had gained the support of some of the wealthiest people in America, and what was beyond his wildest dreams was now in reach.
He called Karla to give her the news but the call went straight to voice mail. He checked his waiting messages. One was from Karla. It was short and sweet. She had decided to stay in San Francisco and wanted him to pack and forward her personal belongings.
Rick’s reaction was midway between relief and disappointment. He decided that in the morning he’d ask one of the bots to go to her small apartment and pack and ship as Karla had requested.
He sighed.
oOo
Chapter 27
Darwin’s excitement had built to an almost alarming level. He had fundamentally relinquished all his operational responsibilities to Bronwyn as the day for building his body drew nearer. Bronwyn’s suggestion for nanite co-existence had worked, resolving a major issue. The project team had designed and produced numerous trial components on the bank of 3D printers, following which they had successfully built sub-assemblies and then aggregated a number of those into higher level working units. The project rooms looked like a crazy collection of white bones.
The project team decided they needed to move to Pepper Mountain. That was where Darwin’s core resided and it also where the team could conduct more experiments with the bone-cartilage-nanite assemblies without fear that another accidental explosion would destroy buildings or engage neighbors. Toby had agreed to the transfer, and Billie took responsibility for transporting the team, first to Mammoth and then to Pepper Mountain.
Fortunately, the recent loses by brownshirts of not only senior team members in California but also their drastic drop in funds resulted in little or no interest in the transfer of the project team.
Bronwyn had already purchased and installed a bank of larger and more powerful 3D printers required for the final construction of Darwin’s body parts. Drones delivered raw material, probably far more than required, in case of body-build disasters. She knew Dr. Narumi had ordered the brain matrix material from a Japanese company and initial tests indicated it would be suitable for housing the neural structure required to contain Darwin’s memories. It would also work for her.
Billie followed the navigation guide that aligned her landing profile with the virtual illuminated landing system; at least, on her HUD it displayed as an ILS and slowed her helicopter to hover above an anonymous patch of red and brown rocks at the top of a small mountain. There was a charred area a few hundred yards down the slope; she guessed it was the area impacted by the nanite explosion. She waited while the automated system, once it recognized the helicopter and its pilot, rolled back the roof of a cavernous landing bay.
Dr. Narumi had a window seat and watched the landing process with avid interest. One of the young post-grad students, almost pushed out of his seat by his companion, watched from the other side. They—the two students and Narumi—were all quiet, silenced by the grandeur of the mountains, the hidden entry, and the smooth landing process.
Billie settled the chopper onto its pad, and the roof closed in. Automatic lights provided illumination. She carried out her post-flight shutdown checks and hopped out as the rotor ceased its spin. Toby exited, opened the passenger door for Dr. Narumi, and aided her to climb out of the helicopter. The two students were already on the ground.
A row of bots stood near the side of the helicopter. One stepped forward. “Sir Toby, we’re the guides for our visitors. We’ll show everyone to their accommodation. We’ve already moved the backpacks and cases delivered by the drones last night.”
One bot stepped forward. It was about the size of a care bot and spoke with a soft masculine voice. “Dr. Narumi, please accompany me. I’ll show you to your suite, and then we’ll join everyone in the atrium.”
Speechless, the doctor allowed the bot to take her arm and lead her away to the lift.
Two similar bots approached the young students and one said, “You’re sharing a suite, if that is acceptable. We have all the latest games ready for you.”
Vivaan and Rob looked at each other with broad smiles. “Let’s go!” said Vivaan. The two bots headed to the lift, barely ahead of the two students. They caught up with Dr. Narumi and joined her and her escort in the list to the floor of their accommodation.
Toby gave Billie a hug. “I was impressed the first time you flew us here, and I’m equally impressed this time. Thank you.”
She hugged him back. “We can wait in the atrium for the others?”
“Sounds like a plan. You can have a rest before heading back to Mammoth to collect the rest of the team.” Toby had made arrangements for the remaining team members to be flown to the small airport by a passenger jet service to save Billie flying longer hours. Their mountain top destination was her responsibility, though.
“Coffee, a snack, a rest—it all sounds good.”
The project team spent hours wandering around sections of the mountain complex, wide-eyed, in the company of their bot escorts. They eventually returned to the atrium with its early evening view only minutes before a service bot announced that dinner was ready. They’d all managed to ignore Darwin’s complaints that they should have been focused on checking all his body component designs; the excitement of exploring their temporary working environment outweighed his demands.
Dinner conversation flowed around everyone’s impressions of Pepper Mountain and the tasks that remained. The project estimate was for a month of assembly and test, to Darwin’s disappointment. He wanted to reduce the test cycle, to everyone’s dismay.
At last Toby had to weigh in. “Darwin, if Narumi has four weeks allocated to testing, then guess what—four weeks it will be.”
Darwin muttered something in a low voice.
Toby said, “My word is fi
nal.”
Billie and Toby left the following day and planned to return when Narumi reached her first significant body assembly milestone. Toby definitely wanted to see the Darwin body when it was assembled.
He said to Billie on the return flight to Los Angeles, “You know, in some ways it’s a relief to have the project team at Pepper Mountain.”
“They should be safe there?”
“Precisely.”
“I think they’ll enjoy the high tech environment—bots everywhere, to carry out their every wish. Your two students—”
“Ex-students.”
“You know what I mean. I’m sure they hadn’t slept at all, through the night.”
“You’re correct. I gave them permission to explore some of the off-limits areas. Bronwyn undertook to mind them. The experience should expand their horizons even more.”
“They’re not going to be able to write it all up.”
“No, some of the detail won’t go on their resumes. It will influence them.”
“You sound wistful?”
“I wish at times that Nate had kept me closer.”
“I wondered.”
oOo
Chapter 28
Bronwyn was multitasking to more than eighty percent of her capacity while Darwin was heavily involved in his body shop project. The most significant capacity hit was her attack on the Russians. She’d estimated it would take her ten days to remove the cyber threat, and she was already at the end of the first week.
She had penetrated their network and identified their weak points; she decided most of it was weak. The network equipment, including routers, hubs, and dedicated servers, was old, the operating systems outdated, and no one had run updates to patch known security holes. Bronwyn produced a detailed map of all the hardware elements, her assessments of their vulnerability, and each element’s IP address. Without identifying the target in detail, she had commenced an auction for the report on Tor’s darknet; she thought a reserve of cryptocurrency might be useful one day.
Body Shop - Book Two in the Annihilation Series Page 16
