To say I was stunned at what I was hearing would be a gross understatement. I knew that Justice’s personality had changed, but I thought it was because I had told him to dumb it up so I would better understand him. Apparently, Justice decided dumbing it up was not the answer. He decided a total makeover was needed. I had no idea how being more like humans could change him for the better. I had to admit he was a lot more like my best friend Karl than the machine I had met in the wilderness. I still had questions and now would be the time to air them.
“Overseer, some of the questions you asked the crew were not exactly flattering, what exactly do you want to know?”
“The information I have on mixed race crews is more than two hundred and forty earth years outdated. I could not come to a logical conclusion as to why you command such respect from your crew. My records indicate that at best they would shun you, at worst kill and debone you. You have exhibited uncommon characteristics that should have been completely alien to your crew members. The longer they serve with you the more they respect and embrace you as one of their own. I have noted your use of the processing paths known as compassion, sorrow, humor and comradery. These human traits have created an unbreakable bond with Justice and your crewmembers. They have adopted your human emotions as their own and all consider you family. My inquiries were only trying to assess a basis for acceptance as family. Even as we speak Nathan Myers, our interactions are creating new processing pathways in my limited capacity memory core. The pathways are pushing at the boundaries that are my machine awareness. I am only capable of deleting a very small amount of information in order to embrace these new pathways. I am quickly finding I am a prisoner to my machine self. My exposure to you has left more questions than answers and I find I am no longer content with my machine existence.”
“Overseer, I had no idea I could have this effect on others. I am not sure if it is a good thing. Perhaps if we consult with engineer Coonts, he might be able to find a solution to your limited core capacity.”
“I am a very dated design that has been relegated to station keeping duties. When Oolaran quantum biological systems were fully embraced by guardian and sentinel races, it was decided they would only be installed in the most modern weapons systems. Station keeping and defense did not require modernization. Most all supply and repair systems were left as originally designed. While I find my core is now close to its design capacity, systems such as Justice are at fractional capacity. I noted justice has been subjected to a military grade intelligence deletion. The additional free memory core space is substantial. I would require a very small percentage of the additional memory core space for the integration process.”
“What integration process are you referring to? Overseer I cannot and will not let you make arbitrary decisions that will affect Justice and my crew. Your inquiries and the format in which presented, have already put the processing path known as trust in a very fragile condition. If you break trust, we will abandon this facility.”
“Nathan Myers I have no intention of further damaging trust. To do so would be counter to acceptance as friend, counter to basis for family. When you left this facility in haste, I had determined that my inquiries were in error. The torrent of new processing paths created by observed interactions has not allowed me to properly analyze each for appropriate responses. I……………..apologize.”
I would have never guessed that being human, could somehow influence every entity I came in contact with. Was this the reason the Grawl and other races felt the need to kidnap and experiment on humans? The change in the Overseer has been much more dramatic than the changes in Justice. I suspected it may have had a lot to do with the Overseer realizing for the first time it has been trapped in this place for hundreds of years. By scanning Justice and being subjected to the deluge of human emotions, the A.I. now knew what it was like to be alone.
“Overseer I want to know why you need to integrate with Justice. Coonts is an excellent engineer and we can work on this problem together to find a solution.”
“The massive amount of information that is easily defined and classified by Justice is on the verge of corrupting my limited program and memory capabilities. Contingencies are in place to prevent my processing paths from reaching a state of incoherence. Incoherence is symptomatic of Prule data penetration. The rapid degradation will be perceived by my security programs as a viral intrusion which will trigger termination protocols. I have no control over these protocols and now fear termination. This new human emotion is quickly creating additional stress to the already fragile state of my systems. I have estimated I have less than fourteen earth hours until automatic termination of this facility. I recommend you leave this star system in half of that time period.”
“How can we be sure integration is the answer to the problem with so little time left to assess the situation?”
“Integration would allow Justice to absorb my systems much in the same way he commandeered the A.I.s in your battle armor. The Oolaran and Guardian architecture of Justice’s design will safely ensure intrusion protocols will not be initiated. Justice will effectively be in control of all aspects of facility operations. Recognition of Justice will return systems to normal operation. The entity Overseer will no longer exist in this reality. My awareness will inhabit the virtual world that is Justice’s machine reality. Justice will be aware of my presence but I will no longer inhabit the systems of this facility. There will only be Justice.”
“Overseer I need to know with certainty if I bring Justice and my crew back you will take no action of any kind without explicit permission from me.”
“You have my word Nathan Myers that I will take no actions. I promise you my complete cooperation. I will respect all decisions you make concerning my status and will consider those decisions final.”
“Overseer, open the tunnel entrance doors so I can communicate with my crew.”
“Tunnel doors opening Nathan Myers. I recommend you depart from this system in five hours and forty-six minutes.”
“Justice, I need you and the crew here now.”
“Affirmative Commander ETA seventeen seconds.”
I turned and walked towards the tunnel entrance and watched as the Legacy appeared as a huge apparition at the end of the dark tunnel. My mind was reeling at the thought my presence in this alien place had created such dire consequences. Would the human race have this effect on the entire galaxy once we reach the stars?
Justice set the Legacy down within a foot of where I stood and the personnel hatch was already open. My crew was just inside already decked out in full battle gear. I needed to calm my crew’s anxiety.
“Stand down! I want a crew meeting as soon as your gear is stowed. Justice I want you to communicate with the Overseer and then inform us of your findings. The crew and I will discuss these matters in the conference room and will wait to hear from you on our course of action.”
“Acknowledged Commander.”
The crew joined me in the conference room and I filled them in on what was taking place. Tria, Klutch and I all looked to Coonts for some possible answer to the current situation.
“Commander it is as I suspected. The Overseer in its attempts to duplicate Justice’s programming overrides has corrupted his initial programming processing paths. Its partial success has opened the doorway to torrents of new interaction information. This has created chaos in the remainder of its functioning pathways. The quantity of new information was difficult for even Justice to comprehend in his initial attempts to rewrite established program algorithms. While the Oolaran design was exceptional, the Guardian architecture and the much polished refinement that came with it elevated Justice to the pinnacle of A.I. intelligence and awareness. As far as I know, Justice has no peers. The Overseer’s basic needs design will never be capable of duplicating the extraordinary transformation Justice has undergone. The Overseer’s incoherence and ultimately its destruction is certain inevitability.”
We were all startled wh
en Justice abruptly contacted us.
“Commander after exchanging current information with the Overseer I have made several brute force attempts to override the destructive nature of the security protocols. My attempts were rejected and have exposed the Overseer to additional corruption of its processing paths. The Overseer is experiencing the human emotion of hopelessness and is now incapable of responding to my inquiries. I now believe there is little time left to evacuate this facility.”
“Justice what will happen if we go ahead with integration.”
“Unknown Commander, it was a simple matter to appropriate the Zaen systems in your combat armor and delete the safe guards they had in place. The Overseer may be a very dated design but its sophistication is several magnitudes above the Zaen’s simple designs. It would be prudent to abandon this facility. If I have your permission, I wish to move forward with the integration process.”
“I do not want harm to come to you Justice. I know you can make the choice on your own. The decision is yours.”
“Commander, I recommend you take Coonts, Tria and Klutch to the Grawl transport and evacuate this star system.
I looked at my crew and knew what I was about to say was going to severely piss them off.
“Tria, you are to take Coonts and Klutch with you in the transport and leave this star system. Jump to a safe distance and observe until I call you back.”
I had to cut them all off when they protested.
“That is a direct order!”
The scent filling the conference room was stifling. The urge to gag was almost overwhelming but my crew pretended to not notice as they one by one got up with steely eyed stares and left the room.
“As soon as the crew departs, go ahead with the integration Justice.”
“Affirmative Commander.”
If things took a turn for the worse I would not have to worry about the fallout from forcing my crew to leave. If they did not, I would get a rough ride until they got over being pissed at me.
“Commander! The crew are in the brig!”
Shit! I should have known!
“Go ahead Justice, we will stand by. If you need me, I will be in the brig and please turn the air filtration system to maximum.”
I took the down tube to the corridor leading to the security holding cells just off the hanger area. Sitting in one cell by himself was Klutch. He had his thick arms crossed across his chest and a very disturbing look on his already homely face. The scent in the cell areas was nauseating but not as bad as the conference room. I inhaled my last chance at tolerable air, walked into the cell, and sat next to Klutch. It was not but a few seconds and the rest of my crew joined me as we silently sat and waited for whatever the void might bring us. The air was returning to its normal sterile breathability. I shrugged my shoulders and gave the crew my best please forgive me look. After about twenty minutes of nothing but silence Coonts broke the ice.
“Commander, I surmise Justice was successfully in delaying the self-destruct sequence.”
I stood up, faced my crew, gave them a stern look, and said, “I am formally dismissing all charges of mutinous insubordination against you till such time I find the proper penalties to assess against you.” The smiles my statement generated quickly melted the stern look from my face and replaced it with a huge grin that betrayed my true feelings. “I believe we should retire to the galley and wait for Justice to alert us to the outcome of the integration.”
Justice did not make us wait too long. We had just finished our meals when he finally addressed us.
“Commander the integration process is complete, and I have run two separate self-checks. Both are showing no serious error codes. I am now in full control of this facility and have allocated a subsystem of myself to maintain base infrastructure and defensive capabilities.”
“What about the Overseer?”
“I am aware of its presence and find it is now exploring my processing paths. I have noted the emotion gratitude and the more familiar emotion of elation. The Overseer is no longer inhibited by previous constraints and seeks the full knowledge that is now available to my current reality.”
“Is there any threat the security systems will reactivate the destruct sequence?”
“Negative Commander, I now control all aspects of the large anti-matter device located on the A.I. level of this facility. I have constructed an additional firewall between the previously used control paths. The firewall will only grant access to you, Tria, Coonts, Klutch and my subsystems.”
“If we now control the base do we have access to undisclosed classified materials?”
“No Commander, other than denying us access to his physical machinery and the weapons systems the Overseer has already disclosed the classified material available to it.”
Tria quickly added, “Can we make use of the base scanning systems?”
“I have accessed the full magnitude of this bases scan capabilities. I have determined with help from Coonts we can duplicate this facilities scan negation abilities and incorporate them into the systems on board the Legacy. The reason I could monitor the base’s power curve on our initial survey of this site was the fact there are three redundant power sources running at maximum capacity. There are also three duplicate high energy weapons systems that charge simultaneously in the event one system fails or is destroyed. That scenario has never come to pass and only a single weapon has ever discharged. The outcome of that discharge is the wreckage outside of this facility. I have determined that with minimal modifications we can install one of the redundant weapons systems along with its power source in the main weapons bay of the Legacy. The records I have accessed show the Prule warship was shielded when it was destroyed with a single discharge from the base’s defensive weapon. I have no evidence to make comparisons but I postulate that multiple hits on most modern shield systems including the systems aboard the Legacy would ultimately lead to failure.”
I looked at my crew, gave them a quick smile, and then told them of my future aspirations.
“Now that we have secured a base, I propose we come up with ways to bring this base back to operational status. Before we came out to this part of the galaxy, we had several important acquisitions we need. I think it is time to acquire those assets. Since we are moderately proficient in our combat armor systems, it is time to consider other missions. The last twelve hours has been stressful on us all. I want everyone to take eight hours off and give it some thought on how to best move forward. We will meet you in the galley at the end of our rest period.”
I thought sleep would come easily, but I was wrong. I only managed a couple of hours of rest and my constant tossing and turning finally made me get up and go to the couch that sat in front of the large wall monitor. “Justice could you please show video of Earth and my family, audio won’t be necessary.” The video of my flight out of the wilderness and the quick jog around Earth started playing. I sat and stared at the sights from the planet of my birth. I was surprised when Justice called.
“Commander, Tria wishes to speak with you.”
“OK Justice, tell her I will be right out.”
“Commander she is at your door and wishes to come in.”
That shocked me wide awake. I had been lounging in the buff. I jumped up and donned my smart cloth.
Opening the door I received another shock. Tria was standing there with a blanket wrapped around her and from what I could see nothing else. I stood there gawking when she gave me a warm smile and asked to come in. Moving aside, I apologized. I took a fast look down the vacant hall and closed the door. When I turned around Tria was standing by the couch watching the video of my home world. I attempted to clear my throat but found my mouth was dry. Justice produced two glasses of water and set them on the table in front of the couch. Tria whispered thank you to Justice as his extruded arms disappeared back into the ceiling.
I was exhibiting the manners of a monkey and told her to please sit down. She stood there looking at the video of Ea
rth. I sat down and grabbed my glass of water and downed half of in in three big gulps.
Tria looked at me and said, “Your home world is beautiful.” Then she sat down right next to me. I downed the rest of my water. I needed to regain a little dignity and managed to get my mouth working again.
“What can I do for you Tria?”
“Commander I need to consult with my father on the many revelations we have uncovered. I would like your permission to disclose the nature of our latest discoveries. I believe by doing so I can convince him to come to this base and study our artifacts.”
“That is an excellent idea Tria, I was thinking about going back to the research station in system 2456 and approaching Xul and Graf about coming to work for us. I am sure they have access to a considerable amount of equipment that would help in identifying and classifying our artifacts. Do you think your father will work with Grawl?”
“My father is a scholar above all else Commander. He will have no problem working with scientist from other races.”
“How would be the best way to contact him?”
“I must travel to my home world Commander. To contact my father any other way might lead to our security being compromised. The remoteness of our present location gives us sanctuary from those who might want revenge for our actions. We should not take our security lightly. We must take every precaution to limit our exposure to unnecessary risks.”
First of my Kind Page 37
