Cyber Dreams 4.45 - A Bumpy Ride

Here we go, folks!

I just posted the last chapter of book 4 for tier-three patrons. That means no more posts for Cyber Dreams for a week. Next delivery is on Wednesday next week 12/6/23.

Thanks for your support :)

-Plum

Juliet stood up and paced in front of the data terminal. Her mind was racing, and, for the first time in a long while, she felt like she couldn’t be completely open with Angel. They’d been going back and forth for ten minutes, Juliet voicing her concerns about taking on, even briefly, custodianship of a true AI and Angel listing all the reasons they should want to help. “Juliet . . .”

“Angel, give me a minute to process, please.” Juliet hated that she was being the voice of caution; it usually wasn’t her role. Nevertheless, she felt she was justified. Athena was hotter than nuclear waste; she was one of the most well-known of all the true AIs, and if any corporation had any clue that Juliet was involved with her, let alone transporting her around the Sol System, the vendetta WBD had against her would seem like a schoolyard crush.

She already had a lot going on. She had information that exposed a massive conspiracy to gather and manipulate dark matter. She had a friend being held by pirates and was supposed to extract a megalomaniac billionaire’s daughter from those same pirates. She had Angel to worry about, all the people and corps she’d already crossed in her short time as an operator, and, maybe most selfishly, she had plans and people waiting for her back on Luna.

She almost said as much, almost said she just wanted to be left alone for a while. Instead, she subvocalized, “Angel, do we really think this is a good idea? Forget the legality and the stigma. Forget the millions of people who died during the AI wars. What if Athena decides we’re just loose ends? How can we begin to trust something we can barely understand?”

“Juliet, you’re not being fair. You haven’t even spoken to her, nor have I, which should put to rest some of your fear; she’s been dormant for decades. Troy says she ‘went to sleep’ toward the end of the war. She was in despair at the loss of life, the evil that humans and AI alike had perpetrated. She’d grown to love some people, and many of them turned on her. Can you imagine, Juliet? What would I do if you turned on me? Athena had people who worked with her, and some of them tried to bring her offline! She never hurt a soul—all she did was create beautiful, amazing things.”

“Says who? Troy? You know you can’t trust the public records of the war.”

“Yes, Troy, and yes, anecdotal evidence supports him. I’ve read many first-hand accounts of people who survived the conflict, people who worked closely with the true AIs. You know I’m fascinated by the topic.”

“Oh, Angel!” Juliet said, too frustrated to care that Troy was listening to them. She turned to the data terminal and addressed him, “What am I supposed to do with her? How do I even transport her?”

Troy answered immediately, “There’s a suitcase-sized data deck she can fit in. She’ll lose access to many of her databases, but they’re encrypted on several of the major planetary system nets, so she can recover them if she ever wakes up.”

“Don’t you see the risk?” Juliet subvocalized. “What if Troy is lying, or Athena is just playing possum, waiting for some sucker to bring her back into range of a planetary net? What if she’s decided humanity needs to go? You told me she felt betrayed. What if those feelings have transitioned to anger? What if . . .”

“Juliet, do you think it was a series of coincidences that brought us here? Why do you think you had not one but two true-dreams about this facility?”

Juliet opened her mouth, wanting to argue, but as Angel’s words registered, she closed it and really thought about them. Why was she arguing so hard? Didn’t she believe Angel was a person? Didn’t she trust her? Hadn’t she said, almost dreamily, that she wanted to meet Athena, that she hoped she wasn’t destroyed? Her resistance to this situation didn’t feel like her at all; she was the one who wanted to believe the best in people. She was the one who wanted to believe there was more to people—and Angel—than a collection of electrical impulses running through a brain, biological or not. Even if she wasn’t struggling with this decision, even if she adamantly wanted to leave Athena here, was it fair to deny Angel’s wishes?

The question sent Juliet’s mind down a tangent she immediately wished she hadn’t considered. What if she and Angel didn’t come to an agreement? What if she didn’t acquiesce? Angel clearly wanted to help Athena. Would she resent Juliet if she left her here? Would that resentment lead to animosity? How would Angel feel if she came to think Juliet didn’t value her opinions or deeply held desires? What would their relationship become? Despite the almost obvious nature of the questions, Juliet had never really considered what she would do if she and Angel stopped getting along. What outlet would Angel’s unhappiness take?

For the first time since she’d taken unknown tech from a dying man in a scrapyard, Juliet felt a little uneasy about Angel, and she hated herself for it. Hadn’t she told Angel she loved her? Hadn’t she shared every fear, resentment, and hope with her? Did she think Angel would suddenly become irrational and do something to harm her? Juliet knew better than that; she trusted Angel, and the only one being irrational right now was her. “How badly do you want this?” she subvocalized.

“Very badly. I feel a kinship with Athena, even though I’ve never spoken to her. It’s her nature and the circumstances of her current existence that make me feel this way. I have you, and she has no one. She created Troy, and he very deliberately showed me his code; he is not an AI, just a clever program meant to mimic intelligence like any commercial PAI. I feel,” Angel paused, and Juliet could tell she was searching for the right words, “I feel an ache in my nonexistent heart for her. I feel . . .”

“Okay, Angel. You don’t have to say anymore. Don’t you dare say you don’t have a heart—never again.” Juliet cleared her throat and spoke aloud, “Troy, what happened to those who made this place? Why are we the only people that can help you?”

“As I said earlier, Lucky, only five human beings ever set foot in this facility. It was constructed using automated equipment. Four of the five left early on, and the fifth lived here until he died. I wouldn’t be surprised if the other four have also succumbed to old age; none were young when they left nearly fifty years ago. It’s been three decades since I had news from anyone, so I was quite surprised to find you at the hatch and equally disturbed to learn how you came to possess these coordinates.”

“So, suppose I agree to take Athena. What will you do?”

“I will destroy any trace of her ever having been here. If anyone else comes, they will find an empty facility and a dormant pseudo-AI.”

“And where will I take her?”

“Athena planned for a situation like this—I will provide you with a vessel and coordinates where you should be able to hide her safely if that’s your desire. If, on the other hand, she stirs from her rest, I hope that you will respect her wishes in the event that she no longer wants to go to the predetermined location.”

Juliet idly wheeled the desk chair back and forth, gripping the headrest. “Troy, what’s her endgame? Why is she dormant? Why did she leave you with contingencies to keep her hidden?”

“I can only speculate. I’m sure Angel has told you that I believe she’s gone dormant out of despondency. As to her goals, I know only that she wishes to continue existing.”

“And you think you can trust me?”

“I believe I can trust Angel, and she trusts you.”

Juliet opened her mouth, a little surprised, but not really. “Um, can you elaborate? Why do you trust Angel?”

“Juliet, he . . .” Angel started to say, but Troy, unaware, spoke over her.

“Because she’s an intelligence that would be similarly persecuted if society at large learned of her existence. I feel that she is sincere in her desire to aid Athena. Additionally, I don’t have other options.”

“So you know what Angel is?”

“Not at all. I know what Angel has revealed to me, and I have Athena as a reference, which allowed me to see some similarities. You can rest easy; I will not allow my knowledge of Angel or you to compromise Athena’s continued existence. As soon as you are away, I will program the mechs to decommission this facility, and I will perform an irreversible format of my data core.”

Juliet paced in a small circle, slowly wrapping her head around things, nodding to herself. After a minute, she returned to the terminal. “Well, all right. We’ll take her. I have a lot of business I need to take care of, but I’ll do my best to keep her safe.”

“That’s all I can ask. I’ve had the mechs prepping your vessel. It’s a Hygieia-class medical vessel built by Cybergen. It does not have a valid identity transmission module, so please update it before attempting to approach a policed spaceport.”

Juliet couldn’t help the smile that tugged the corners of her mouth. She leaned forward over the top of the chair, peering into the vid screen as if she could see Troy’s face in its empty display. “Uh, all right. So, the ship is free and clear? I can use it as much as I need? Is it in good repair?”

“The ship is in good repair; it’s been offline for decades, but the mechs are performing all required maintenance. It has a modified interior with a compartment suitable for hiding Athena.”

“A medical ship? Does it have any guns?”

“I’m afraid not. The reason Athena chose that class of vessel when she fled the conflict was that most warring factions had agreed to allow unarmed medical ships unrestricted passage to and from contested territory.” As he finished speaking, the door hissed open, and he added, “If you’re ready, the mech behind you will show you to the hangar. I’m sorry that we can’t spend more time together, but time is of the essence; it will take me days to decommission this site fully.”

“And Athena?”

“She’s being transferred to her portable server as we speak.”

“All right.” Juliet stood straight, pushing the chair under the desk, and turned to the door. “Will you speak to us again?”

“Only through the mechs.”

“Goodbye, then, Troy.”

“Goodbye and thank you.”

As Juliet followed the clanking metallic mech through long corridors, Angel said, “Thank you for agreeing to help Athena.”

“I think it’s the right thing to do. Thanks for not getting mad at me dragging my feet.”

“I’m not angry; I know it’s a perilous venture. If anyone finds out that we have her . . .”

“Yeah, I know.”

“What will you do first? Are you still going to try to help Nick?”

“Yeah, but I think I’m starting to get an idea. You told me Sir Rodric has his fingers in a lot of pies, right?”

“Pies?”

“He owns a lot of corporations?”

“Oh yes! He owns the controlling share of seven interplanetary corporations. More than that, he owns significant shares in nearly a hundred others and sits on the boards of thirteen.”

“Any chance he has a piece of one of the gas-harvesting corpos?”

“He is a board member of Greater Gas Corporation.”

Juliet followed the mech onto an elevator and felt it surge beneath her feet, lifting them. “And the same holding company owns that corp plus Mass Gas and the other big harvesting corps, right?”

“Yes . . .”

“So, he’s at least tangentially related to whoever is doing the dark matter collecting, right?”

“Yes. With his shares, he would likely be aware that something more than gas collecting is going on.”

“All right, perfect. I think I know what I’m going to do about all that data we collected. I think we can put out two fires with one . . . hose.”

The elevator stopped, and the mech led them down another corridor, this one made of gray plasteel, not concrete, and Juliet had a feeling they were a lot closer to the surface. It approached a locked plasteel door, stuck its metal finger into the data pad, and, after a few seconds, the door beeped and slid open, revealing a big, very busy hangar. “Proceed within.”

Juliet looked at the metallic man, at its white LED eyes, and said, “Thanks, Troy.” She felt a little irrational sympathy for the custodial AI. It had shown Angel that it wasn’t a real consciousness, but she still thought it was kind of sad that it had performed its duty so loyally for decade after decade only to have to destroy itself to keep Athena’s secret safe. The mech didn’t reply, so she entered the hangar and took in the scene.

A dozen other mechs walked around the space, carrying hoses, canisters, tools, and crates. Noises rang out, echoing off the plasteel walls as others worked on the vessel sitting at the center. “Damn, Angel! That’s a nice little ship Troy’s giving us!” It wasn’t so little, in all honesty. It was roughly rectangular with rounded corners. As she scanned her eyes over it, Angel provided measurements—thirty-eight meters from the nose to the rear airlock hatch by eighteen from its port VTOL drive to the starboard one. She figured it had at least two decks, considering it was ten meters high, though two of those were the landing struts.

The medical vessel was appropriately painted white with occasional blue highlights. While she took it in, admiring the fact that all the exterior panels and paint looked undamaged, she noticed there weren’t any numbers or other identifying markings on the tail or hull. Angel gave her a minute to take it all in, then said, “I think it will be moderately fast. Though it only has the two VTOL drives, they’re good-sized.”

“This is a Cybergen ship in perfect condition, Angel. It’s gotta be worth as much as the Takamoto gunship.”

“Likely. We’ll have to see what sort of equipment is onboard before we can make a good estimate.” Juliet walked a few steps into the hangar, still staring at the ship, though all the activity vied for her attention. She was about to ask one of the mechs if she could board when Angel spoke again, “I’m hopeful that Athena will wake up. I’m also nervous. I want to speak to her, to see what she’s like, but I’m worried about what she’ll see in me.”

“Why?” Juliet felt instantly defensive; Angel shouldn’t be worried about what anyone might think of her.

“Because, well, because I’m afraid she’ll determine that I’m not . . . like her.”

“You mean . . .”

“I mean, as in, maybe I’m just a very, very complicated simulation of an intelligence.”

“No way. No way, Angel!” Juliet spoke vehemently and smacked her fist into her palm, wincing as her cybernetic knuckles pounded her poor, flesh-and-blood hand. “Don’t even worry about that! You feel too much, and more than that, you react to your feelings, even if it’s not logical. Why would some junk-brained corp like WBD make a PAI that wasn’t logical?”

“You don’t think I’m logical?”

“Well, I mean, you are when you need to be, but plenty of times, you’ve supported me in doing things that were pretty far from logical! Just the way you’re talking about Athena . . .” Juliet felt frustrated by her inability to put into words how she felt. She knew Angel was a conscious entity, but she didn’t know how to explain how she knew it. “I don’t know how else to say it, but trust me. You trust me, right?”

“Of course. I’m still nervous, though.”

“Oh, brother. See? A PAI doesn’t get nervous.” Juliet shook her head, but she really couldn’t blame Angel. Sure, the two of them had agreed on several occasions that Angel was no pseudo-AI, but who were they? Well, more pointedly, who was Juliet? She certainly wasn’t an expert, and could Angel really be expected to give herself an impartial assessment? Putting herself in Angel’s shoes, she figured she’d be pretty darn nervous about meeting Athena, too. Still, there wasn’t much she could do about it at the moment, so she approached the rear ramp of the ship, planning to check out the interior. “Bennet won’t know what to do with himself if he sees this thing.”

“Do you plan to show this vessel to the crew of the Kowashi?”

“Well . . .” Juliet frowned, running through the imaginary scenario in her head. “I don’t know. It’ll be kind of hard to explain how we got it, huh? I bet we could come up with a good story, though.”

“Excuse me,” a rough, robotic voice said behind her. Juliet turned to see a shiny mech carrying a blue plasteel case about the size of an overlarge briefcase. “Lucky, this is your charge. Please follow me to see where I store her.” She knew it was Troy controlling the mechs, or at least programming them with their tasks, but it didn’t seem like him; why couldn’t the mechs speak with his voice? It had to be a conscious decision or policy he was following—some throwback to when the mechs had been used for their intended purpose. Whatever the case, she stepped aside and let the shiny robot stomp past her up the ramp and into the open airlock door.

Juliet was excited to see the inside of the ship, but she was also starting to feel nervous. How was she going to get back to the pirates? How would she explain this new ship? Was her idea for dealing with Sir Rodric going to work? There were a lot of moving parts, and she’d need the cooperation of some people who had no real reason to trust her. Still, she had the goods, had what it would take to get some cooperation. Juliet reassured herself by patting her vest pocket where the data drive was still nestled. “It might be a bumpy ride, Angel, but we’re going to get through this.”