by Gary Naiman
Tabulek shook his head. “Our sole chance is an immediate clandestine strike by our Forty-three series killer robots. One of our stealth subs is currently on patrol in the Celebes Sea. It is equipped with our latest technology, including two Forty-three’s. If the sub can reach the platform’s umbilical tube undetected, its robots will follow the tube upward to the platform’s cargo hold. From there, they will proceed to the solar conversion chamber to disarm the device.”
The Leader frowned. “Without resistance?”
“Yes, Great One. Once aboard, nothing can stop them. They are the planet’s deadliest warriors.”
Velasquez jumped to his feet. “Are you mad? The Mariana umbilical tube extends seven vertical miles from the seabed. The platform is armed with the best detection devices and weaponry available. Your plan will not work. The robots will be detected and the nuclear device set off.”
Tabulek folded his arms defiantly. “It is our best chance.”
Velasquez was incensed. He threw up his arms while fighting his anger. “What about the drone? If it is powerful enough to detect the nuclear device, why can’t it disarm the blasted thing remotely?”
Tabulek shook his head. “We must assume we are dealing with one or more Anarchist insurgents possessing sufficient technical skill to neutralize any attempt at remote deactivation.” He looked at his mentor. “I am convinced any attempt to disarm the device remotely will set it off.”
“A booby trap?”
Tabulek nodded.
“Then vaporize the blasted thing!”
Tabulek ignored his CEO’s tirade. He stepped back from the hologram and eyed the twelve faces. “If there were another way, I would have employed it.” He paused to let his words sink in. “The only effective disarmament is a ruby laser set to stun. The resulting energy burst will disable the device’s triggering mechanism.”
He extended his opened palms. “The Anarchists are extremely intelligent. There will be a backup trigger, which must also be disarmed. This can only be done with a Forty-three in the same room as the device. The Forty-three’s ruby laser will disarm the bomb’s trigger and its robot sensors will fry the device’s booby trap before it can unleash a nuclear reaction.”
The hologram fell silent. The only sound was the warbling coming from Olafang’s control room console.
The Leader scanned the eleven sullen faces. “Any further questions?”
Silence.
“Your votes then.”
Tabulek stared at the green lights materializing beneath the eleven faces.
The Leader scanned the green lights before activating her own. She frowned and looked at Tabulek. “Overlord, you may give the word to the sub. I suggest you notify your eastern hemisphere counterpart. Your action is near her territory. We will await the outcome of your strike.”
Tabulek nodded and backed away.
CHAPTER 16
Confrontation
The Leader watched Tabulek fade from the hologram. She eyed the eleven shaken faces seated at the triangular table. “Armando?”
“Yes, Great One?”
“If the damn thing goes off, what can we expect?”
Velasquez stared at her.”
“Well?”
He took a deep breath and forced out the words. “The starvation will spread quickly. Within one month, we will experience food riots resembling the 2053 debacle in America and Europe, only these riots will be far worse.”
The Leader’s emerald eyes flickered. “Can you suppress them?”
Velasquez shook his head. “If the masses riot, they will be crazed animals. It will be necessary to unleash our armed troopers across the globe.”
“If I may interject.”
All eyes turned to the red-haired woman seated beside Velasquez. The angelic symbol on her emblem identified her as Gretta Reinhart, CEO of Nirvana, the Consortium member responsible for planetary life management.
Reinhart looked at the Leader with desperate eyes. “Nirvana is not equipped to deal with the resulting body count. We will be confronted with billions of decaying corpses across the planet.” She shrugged. “That was not foreseen in our master plan. Gradual yes... but not at once.”
Raymond Stevens arose from his chair. As Mediglobe’s CEO, he was responsible for planetary health management including the suppression of global infection and disease.
The Leader eyed him. “Yes, Raymond?”
“I second Gretta’s concern. The resulting decay will overwhelm the planet with disease.”
The Leader eased back in her chair. “Yes... that would be tragic, but we may not have a choice.”
Stevens remained standing, his eyes locked on her.
“Something else?”
“I’m afraid so.” Stevens eased down and clasped his hands. “Our clandestine food stores might become contaminated.” He listened to the rush of shocked whispers. “The Consortium’s produce and liquids are well-secured in hermetic offshore vaults, but a bacteria or virus of massive proportion might break through, and that would contaminate everything.”
The Leader stared at him before turning to DuBois. “Is he correct, Pierre?”
Neptune’s CEO gave a painful nod. “Our Consortium vaults are equipped with the latest sterilization technology, but we never anticipated a massive global epidemic.”
The Leader leaned toward him. “You have always assured me that our foodstuffs are secured in the most sanitary concealments.”
DuBois sighed. “We never anticipated a global massacre and epidemic.” He opened his hands in an imploring gesture. “It’s not in the master plan. There are cost concerns. Like all of us, Neptune is required to stay within its budget.”
The Leader glared at DuBois. “Are you telling me we could starve to death?”
DuBois nodded. “If the contaminated food doesn’t kill us first.”
The Leader fell back in her chair. The conference room was dead silent.
Stevens extended his opened hands. “We are talking about five billion decaying bodies. We never considered that scenario.”
The Leader forced a nod. “Well ... it seems we must make a difficult decision.” She eyed her colleagues. “Nothing new. After all, that is why the Shareholders elected us.”
She listened to the whispered slurs.
“Shareholders? A hundred elitists sexing and cavorting in the Caribbean while we try to produce a miracle?”
“Got that right. The wealthy scum are so full of Paradisio, they don’t even know their names.”
“Yes ... but they have the power.”
“Power? Blast, we’re the power. We do the dirty work while they live like gods. Who needs them? Who needs those degenerates?”
The Leader rose to her feet, her face crimson. “I’ll hear none of that!” She glared at their stunned faces and leaned forward, her hands pressing the table. “Hear me well. For twenty-seven years, our master plan has worked and we have been rewarded. This is no time for doubt.”
Silence.
She eased down and looked at Velasquez. “It seems the concern is decaying bodies. Your assumption is that we must splatter the revolting masses with ruby red bursts from your troopers’ ’92s.”
Velasquez gave a confirming nod.
“Why not vaporize them?”
Velasquez shook his head. “Vaporization will not work. The lasers will leave airborne contaminants resulting in possible airborne viruses and bacterial strains.”
The Leader shrugged. “Then take it to the next level.”
“Next?”
“Deploy your killer robots?”
Velasquez stared at her. “The Forty-threes?”
She nodded. “With their Sigma-twenty lasers set to full blast.”
Velasquez blinked a trickle of sweat from his eye. “Eradication?”
The Leader leaned back in her chair. “Hopefully, none of this will be necessary, but we must be prepared.”
“I’m afraid a robotic assault is impossible.”
The startled Leader l
ooked at the bald Russian peering at her from across the table. The Russian’s gold emblem displayed a red beam pulsing from a robot’s visor.
“Anatole?”
Anatole Karpolov arose from his chair and eyed his colleagues. “Does anyone remember the day we conceived the Human Edict?” He cracked a crooked smile. “So many blank faces. I surmise the answer is no.”
Karl Friedrikson, CEO of Apollo (Global Construction and Development) leaned forward. “This is no time for levity, Anatole. We are dealing with billions of human lives.”
Karpolov nodded. “And perhaps our own, Herr Friedrikson.”
Friedrikson’s face reddened.
“Enough!” The Leader glared at Karpolov. “Be quick, Anatole.”
Karpolov nodded. “The Edict has been in force for twenty-seven years. In that time, Robotron has presented it for review at each annual conference and you have all rubber stamped it despite our concerns.
Hanna Ripken rose to her feet. “Observation?”
Karpolov squinted at Discount’s Planetary Attire CEO. “Yes?”
Ripken smiled sheepishly. “Please don’t be offended, Anatole, but your annual presentations are so boring, I have always tuned them out.”
Karpolov listened to the rush of subdued laughter. He smiled at Discount’s youthful CEO. “I am sorry, Hanna. Had I known, I would have amped them a bit.”
“Proceed.”
Karpolov glanced at the Leader’s stern face. He nodded and continued. “For twenty-seven years, Robotron has honored your wishes. The Human Edict permeates our twelve million metallic creations. It is embedded in their plasma and has become a part of them.”
The Leader shrugged. “Change it.”
“It cannot be changed, Great One.”
The Leader thrust toward him. “Change it, Karpolov.”
Karpolov looked at the most powerful human on earth. “I am sorry, Great One. I mean no disrespect. I only ask that you hear my words.”
The Leader snapped an angry nod.
“For a hundred years, my predecessors and I have watched our robots evolve from primitive fragments of steel, plastic, glass, and transistors to increasingly miniaturized nano-circuits, alloys, and self-sustained logic. Today, we celebrate our Guardian’s and Forty-three’s quantum plasma memory, impregnable exoskeletons, near-human reasoning, lethal weaponry, and God knows what.”
“That word is forbidden.”
Karpolov forced an apologetic smile. “Let me put it this way. After a hundred years of accelerated progress, we have created the ultimate warriors, our Forty-threes and Guardian robots ... and soon the new Meta Series.”
The Leader’s eyes flickered. “Yes?”
“Our twelve million robots comfort us with their presence. They attend our needs. They protect us from the Anarchists. They intercept and diffuse uprisings among the masses.” He shrugged. “They even replace our inefficient human armies.”
Velasquez rose to his feet, his trembling finger pointed at the Russian. “How dare you! Our troops are sacred! The last thing we need is the ranting of an eccentric who cobbles together tin men!”
The Leader raised her hand for silence. She glared at the Russian. “Are you finished?”
Karpolov looked down. “I have served the Consortium since its inception. If you had instructed me to implant a human killer code in the robots, I would have done so, but you did not.”
The Leader’s glare softened. “What are you saying?”
Karpolov raised his head. “For a hundred years, my predecessors have dreamt of this moment.” He ignored the whispers. “Yes my colleagues, our tin men have evolved to something more.”
Anita Parsecs, Abacus’s Global Financial CEO, rose to her feet, her face charged with excitement. “The promised breakthrough?”
Karpolov smiled.
Parsecs was exuberant. Abacus controlled all planetary finances including the monthly credit disbursements to the masses. She rested her hands on the black table and stared at Karpolov. “If you are saying what I think, this is the Consortium’s greatest moment.”
The Leader eyed her. “Anita?”
Parsecs looked at the Great One with widened eyes. “This is what we have waited for. If I interpret my colleague’s intent, the new Meta’s will soon match us in intellect.”
She eyed the shocked faces. “Don’t you see? We can implant the Meta’s in the failed nation-state governments. Our Meta’s will accelerate their demise through superior intelligence. The half-wits won’t have a chance. I wager we extinguish every one of the scoundrels within five years.”
She opened her hands in an imploring gesture. “Don’t you see? We will no longer be required to supplant the nation-states with unnecessary credits. Our profits will quadruple!”
The Leader locked her emerald eyes on Parsecs. “Five years?”
“Yes, Great One. Doesn’t it make sense?”
“Except for one small detail.”
Parsecs looked at her with puzzled eyes.
The Leader leaned toward her. “If Tabulek fails, we may all be dead by then along with the nation-state governments and their five billion humans.” She turned away from Parsecs and glared at Karpolov. “The Consortium requests that you reprogram your tin men to vaporize the masses. It is essential for our survival.”
Karpolov folded his arms. “It is critical we infiltrate the Neptune Mariana complex to avert its destruction. If the complex is destroyed, billions will starve to death, revolutions will ravage the planet, and any attempt to extinguish the masses through our robots will be rejected because of the Human Edict.”
For the first time since her appointment seven years ago, the incensed Leader couldn’t control herself. She rose to her feet, her trembling finger pointed at the Russian. “Don’t toy with me, Karpolov. The Mariana operation is not your concern. Your job is to purge the Human Edict from your tin men. I will not tolerate our attack robots refusing to carry out their mission.”
“Karpolov lowered his head. “Some of the earlier models can be reprogrammed, but the Forty-threes and Guardians cannot. They have reached a stage of evolution that prevents it.”
“You’re telling me they can think?”
Karpolov nodded. “I am advising you that the Forty-threes and Guardians have reached a point of intellect enabling them to reject any form of human killer codes.” He opened his hands. “To do otherwise will violate their embedded Human Edict.”
The Leader’s face twisted in a scowl. “I don’t think you understand. The Consortium has its own Human Edict, an edict which doesn’t tolerate incompetence.” She eyed her colleagues. “I ask an immediate vote for the removal of members Velasquez, DuBois, and Karpolov from the Consortium, and that their successors replace them within twenty-four hours.”
The three shocked CEOs’ stared at the flashing green lights.
The Leader eased down in her chair. “Unanimous. Remove the incompetents and deity rest their souls.”
She watched the three men dragged from their seats by Guardian robots. They would be conveyed to the nearest Nirvana facility for immediate termination. The conference room echoed with Karpolov’s fading pleas.
“This is insanity! I have done no wrong! I will find a way to fix it! I will correct it!”
The room fell silent.
The Leader leaned forward and clasped her hands. “To belong to the Consortium is the highest honor. There is no tolerance for failure.” She listened to the silence. “We will await the result of the Mariana attack.”
CHAPTER 17
Gog
“Perhaps you should rest.”
Lucinda ignored Romanoff, her tired eyes gazing at the octagon.
Romanoff rested her hand on Lucinda’s shoulder. “A brilliant attempt. We never considered using irrational equations. I’ve never felt so close to a solution.”
Lucinda frowned. “The blasted thing outsmarted me. I had the solution in my grasp and it altered the equations.” She shook her head. “This Gordian i
s more than a collection of interlocked equations. The damn thing is organic.”
“You make it sound human.”
Lucinda frowned. “We created the Gordians using the same plasma employed in our robots. The newer models contain plasma rich with human chromosomes.” She nodded at the octagon. “This must be one of them.”
“I don’t understand, 0021.”
“This Gordian has developed enough human emotion to be unpredictable.”
Romanoff eyed the throbbing octagon while listening to Lucinda’s words.
“Everything evolves in its own way. Me, you ... even a plasma octagon.” Lucinda shrugged. “I’m afraid this one has surpassed its creators.”
Romanoff smiled. “You need sleep. We’ll hit it again in a few hours. Nothing like a clear head to fight the battle.”
Lucinda leaned forward and pressed her head against the octagon. She could feel the magnetic static rushing across her face. “I was so close. For an instant, I could see the equations coupling.”
“Come, 0021. You’re no good to us in this state.” Romanoff gripped her arm and escorted her from the control room. A soft chime sounded in the background. It was 04:00 hours on the Philippine Sea.
* * *
Lucinda collapsed on the sleep bubble, but her eyes wouldn’t close. She stared at the darkness while stroking her forefinger across the small lump on her wrist. Forty hours had passed since her arrival. In that time, she had learned the shocking truth about Manna’s demise while deflecting the Project Director’s probing questions, and still no incoming transmission from Tabulek.
“0021?”
She was startled by the amber eye. She sat up and stared at the Meta. “Don’t you ever sleep?”
“If it makes you uncomfortable, I could shut down for a bit.”
Lucinda leaned toward the Meta. “How much do you know?”
“Know?”
Her face reddened. “Answer me, Gog.”
The amber eye flickered. “Neptune’s analysis predicts the human sustenance known as Manna will cease within one year because its algae source is exhausted. You are working with the two onboard scientists to complete a Gordian algorithm that will extend the Manna process for three years.”
