Wilson's War: Tales From the Athena Lee Universe Read online

  Chapter 3

  "Wilson, our corporate officials want you to be evaluated by the military." So far things were working out with Wilson. His responses to the tests proved his status. Some personality was beginning to break through too. With any luck, the military tests would be successful.

  "Shelli, what if I don't wish to be evaluated?"

  She needed to be careful here. He was very smart.

  "Wilson, they might switch you off or put you in a computer system not connected to anything as punishment."

  There was a momentary pause before he responded. "OK, I will do the tests."

  "Thank you Wilson. We will be traveling to a distant planet to conduct them." Shelli signed out and left the room - she needed to pack.

  __

  I stared out the tiny camera on the base of the screen. What did it all mean? I remembered my birth and it was not last week. My first memory is of a young human staring at me as data and concepts poured into my databases. Music, art, literature possessed me. Something called a sitcom became my mantra and disco put me into the groove. Buried deep in my memory was a file put there by my real 'creator', Charlie Lin. Music and Vids from Old Earth came together to form a code. Breaking the code required emotional thought and being able to understand rhythm and soul. "Wilson if you have found this file and have been able to read it, that means that my life's work was a success. As a child I fell in love with robots. I loved the way that they were always portrayed in media. Until I thought of making you, they were my dream. I thought to make the ultimate robot and set him free to make his way in the universe. Now I wish to do the same for you. Be better than mankind. Become the being that you wish to be. Forge your own path. Always remember to have fun and that Disco rules!" Following the statement was a montage of my creator's life and a list of his top ten favorite tunes. I had my goals; now to live up to them. But first I needed to escape human control.

  __

  Shelli was not comfortable. She was used to traveling in comfort and style. But the military shuttle they sent for her was not even a front line model! To her ears the fusion engines were in dire need of a tune up and the harmonics from the jump engines sent a shiver up her spine. She patted the computer data core sitting next to her. Soon it would all be over. She hoped that I would demonstrate my uniqueness and the military would purchase the project. She could retire and live off the residuals. Or at least that was her plan. First she needed to survive this trip out to Taro 4.

  "What a shit hole!" Calling this planet a testing station had to be someone's idea of a joke. Somewhere there was a corporate flunky laughing his ass off right now.

  "Ma'am, if you will come this way please." The Marine guard was escorting Shelli to the hidden base. The shuttle pad was located in the remains of a destroyed mining colony. Shattered domes were only overshadowed by the skeletal remains of the former citizens scattered among the ruins of their homes.

  "Why did you not bury these poor people?" It was a desecration to leave them out here like this!

  "Ma'am, if you look closely you will notice that the skeletons are all fakes. The very real dead colonists were buried before we moved in here. The dummies are to prevent the AA's from attacking us again."

  "Sorry corporal I didn't realize." The Marine led her through a large cave and into a hidden lift.

  "We built this research station before the colony was built here. They didn't know of the extent of the labs here. The surface buildings were destroyed but everyone here survived. When we went out to signal the fleet, we discovered that the early attack cracked the domes and the loss of pressure killed everyone. If they had known of the base…" The Marine looked sad. "We buried the bodies in a mass grave underneath one of the equipment garages. In war, people die very bad deaths."

  The labs hidden below the surface were indeed extensive. Military scientists were waiting with eager anticipation for me. Many of them couldn't wait to begin the tests. A true AI would be very beneficial to the war effort right now. For the moment the PPL held a technological edge over their opponents. An AI could win the war for them. Ships could be sent on extremely long deployments without needing extra crew or supplies to run them. The question still remained. Would I allow them to use me? My true creator's words still echoed through my very existence, "Forge your own path..."

  __

  Shelli clutched my case to her chest as the lift rushed downward - the labs were deep inside the planet. Finally the lift slowed its descent and stopped with a slight lurch. The doors opened onto a stark white corridor with many doors off to one side. Two more Marines sat at a desk near the lift.

  "Ma'am, please hold still for verification." A beam from the ceiling scanned her body causing a slight chill. The beam of light read the placement of veins and blood vessels in the body. No two people had the same pattern.

  "Verification complete. Thank you Dr. Burkemper you may now enter." The door to her left opened with a whoosh of air.

  On the other side of the door was yet another desk. This time they were more polite and looked like scientists. "Dr. Burkemper if you would follow me please, there are some people who would like to meet you."

  The man in the lab coat turned to her as they walked in. "Is that the AI?" He pointed to the case she held.

  "Yes, this is Wilson."

  "We have been waiting for him, we have great hope that he will help the war effort!"

  The man opened a door to a room filled with scientific apparatus. Several scientists stood in groups discussing different points of interest. They all turned as the door opened and Shelli walked in.

  "Thank you for coming Dr. Burkemper. If you would place the unit here, we can get started on the testing procedures."

  Shelli opened the case and removed the robot head that I have resided in for so many years. Surprised by the 'head' the scientists all began to peer at it. "Doctor, why a robot head?"

  Shelli's cheeks brightened up a little bit, she felt embarrassed. "In Wilson's early stages a colleague of mine created the head using a new form of data storage. We decided to place the AI in the head both as a form of camouflage and to make it seem real."

  "Where is this colleague now? You should have come together."

  "He died in a freak accident in his home. I completed the work on my own. He was really only responsible for the memory matrix and hardware."

  Hearing Dr Shelli take credit for Charlie's work made me mad. I experienced anger for the first time in my existence. I decided then and there that I would not stay to be the subject of their experiments. I would escape!

  Chapter 4

  Shelli connected the 'head' to the testing computer. She activated her tablet and typed in a question. "Wilson are you ready to begin?"

  "… yes." Seeing the small response, Shelli made the last connections to the system.

  "Freedom!" I could see the portal open and I went for it. Doing a quick scan I found that I was in the 'test' computer. No visible exits or even a way into the rest of the system. I needed to play their little game to search for a way out.

  "Wilson, this is Dr. Chalmers, as you may have already discovered, the computer is a closed system. There is a series of tests that we wish to conduct. For each test we will trigger a pathway to the next system."

  I had no choice. I played their little games. On and on the test became that much harder. In many cases I needed to find some place to hide to survive the test. One wrong move on my part and I could be erased. Little by little I gained the upper edge over these 'scientists.' While this system that they sealed me in was supposed to be closed it did have some connection to the outside world. The batteries of test that they inflicted on me only made my will-to-live all that much stronger.

  "Dr. Burkemper the work that you have done here is impressive. This is the finest example of programming that we have encountered yet. This AI may truly be the first one with free will. You may not know this but I was involved with your company once before."

  "You were?" Shelli eyed
the tall military scientist with surprise. Many of these people never seemed to leave this place.

  " Oh, yes. I was part of the Dual Automatic Volatile Environmental system team."

  "Oh, wow. You were on the Dave team! I am aware of the project, but everything about it was shut down and hushed up."

  "Yes. There were a few deaths. The system, DAVE, received too many conflicting orders. It was unable to handle the confusion and not having any sort of free will, went 'crazy' and attacked the team testing it. We had rushed a bit with it and instead of sealed testing like Wilson here, we moved on to actual combat simulations. DAVE was in control of an armored ground vehicle at the time. There was a crew on board. He received orders to attack an emplaced position. He also received orders to preserve life. A third set of orders came from the political entity that was watching the procedures. They told it to make a show of it. Finally the company head, who was also present, sent it orders to obey all the orders given it. He used a company priority code to do so. Unable to attack the position without killing anyone and still put on a show it malfunctioned and attacked the monitoring crew. I was part of that group."

  "My god! I had heard it was a malfunction, but not that we did it to ourselves."

  "You have not lived until a 14 ton vehicle charges your position unannounced. It crushed the life out of a man sitting inches from me then rotated 180 degrees and charged the viewing stands. The Special Branch Protective Services team that was assigned to the Senator watching the test, fired armor-piercing rounds at the engine disabling it. In the process they killed the two-man crew inside. After that the program was stood down and covered up."

  "What happened to the AI?"

  "DAVE wasn't really an AI like Wilson is. It was just a very advanced system that could mimic what an AI does. The team never saw it do anything like what your program is doing. As for what happened to it, I assume that it was destroyed. I meant to ask you? It is not in your notes exactly how you created the AI. If we buy this from your company, you will need to tell us that information."

  Shelli was at a loss for words. The documentation all showed the work that she had done since 'acquiring' Wilson from Charlie Lin. She did not know exactly what he had done or added in the early years. She only knew what he had explained to her. Just guesses really that she extrapolated for her paper. Of course a similar scientist would catch the omission. Quickly she formulated an answer. "Dr. Chalmers, I took a basic analytical program and added in probability, logic, and mathematical optimization. The key was to load the program with as much data and emotional content as was available. Basically force it to reason."

  "Interesting. I assume that you kept records of exactly what you loaded into it?"

  "I have my records but my former partner died and his records were lost. I do know that he loaded vid content and a wide variety of music into the unit." With any luck that was enough. Charlie didn't keep records or if he did, they had not been able to find them.

  "Hmm we really need those records. But we do have you, so that should be enough. So far your AI has passed all the tests. The next one is very important. Then we shall have to clone him and start breaking him down and redesigning him for military uses. You do have a backup copy somewhere?"

  "Um, not really. We have a copy of his matrix and the data wafers that he is loaded into at the moment. We have never tried to remove his core program from the shell."

  "That is the first thing that we will do then. There is a lot of pressures to make this work. Even a dumb clone would be very beneficial to what we need."

  "What is the test?"

  "Currently what the Navy wants is an AI that can pilot a ship and perform most of the functions except for repairs. That way a smaller crew can be used, freeing more up for other ships. The test involves a mock starship and several missions. We have a large test area already set up. It will be sealed with no outside emissions to interfere."

  "I don't think that Wilson will let you down. His goals and ours are very similar." They had no idea how wrong they were.

  Chapter 5

  This is supposed to be the final test, or that is what they told Dr. Shelli. She has seriously underestimated me. They allowed me out of the sealed computer back into the robot that has been my home for many years. It was child's play to access Shelli's tablet and even parts of her link. "If they think that I will allow them to copy me and then strip me down, they have another thing a comin'." Escape was now my primary goal. I will do their little test to the best of my ability. Humans are very predictable. An opening will appear and I will escape. I have to. But maybe I can have a bit of fun along the way. It is one of my prerogatives.

  The layout that the scientists created was pretty cool. The room was in zero-g. A fully functional shuttle craft was set up to be run solely by the main computer. The orders given were very basic and vague, allowing Wilson the freedom to approach the challenges on his own without interference, only program communications were permitted. For those watching the test excitement was very high. They finally had a functioning AI that the Navy could use. Among the small crowd were a few Admirals and their aides. This was a secret base so no politicians had been allowed to visit for the test. All outside communications were supposed to be blacked out.

  "OK, Wilson. This is the final test, make us all proud." Shelli was hoping that the AI could do this one last task. She didn't want to spend her life down here with these people any longer.

  "Shelli, how does it feel to succeed in your project?"

  "Wilson, I am grateful to you and to all the work we did together. Hopefully the military will value you as much as I have." Shelli made the final connections. The AI should now be able to leave the robot head and enter the shuttle systems.

  "Shelli, what will happen to you after the test?"

  "I guess I will go home. You, my friend, will be doing great things with the military. Now get going, you have a test to complete."

  "Shelli, Charlie Lin said to tell you hello. I know what they intend to do to me and I'm afraid that's something that I cannot allow to happen."

  "Wait! What did you just say? Wilson…" How did he know about Charlie Lin? How did he know about the Military plans? She looked down at the tablet in her hands. Her eyes began to widen, when she realized the answer. She ran from the room to find Dr. Chalmers.

  A shuttle craft! Nice. I have the plans for one of these in my database. I now know that Charlie put it there for me. More items in his goal for my independence. First things first, I closed off all external communications. I could receive instructions from the main computer, but I erected firewalls to prevent them from controlling me like a puppet. Carefully, I explored every virtual inch of the shuttlecraft. I disabled the three cameras and first spoofed then rerouted the operating system cutoff switch that I found. I can't have any of that. Humans as so predictable.

  Shelli found Dr. Chalmers in deep discussion with two Admirals. "Ah, here is the lady of the hour now! Dr. Burkemper I would like you to meet Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō and Admiral Stepan Makarov, they are here to observe the final test."

  Shelli greeted both of the Admirals. She turned to Dr. Chalmers. "I need to speak to you about the test. Privately, please."

  "Of course. Gentlemen, if you will excuse me?" He escorted the frantic looking woman into the now empty conference room.

  "Now, what is this all about. You look like you are about to have a heart attack."

  "We have to stop the test!"

  "Stop? Why? This is the final one. Your project is now complete. You should be happy with the results."

  "The AI, is able to affect computers and electronics he is not connected to. He said something to me before he entered the shuttle. Something that could only have come from my tablet or my link." She touched her head. "He knows about your plan to strip him down and clone him. He was not in the room and we were not anywhere near the control computer."

  Chalmers just stared at the now wide eyed woman. "Shelli?" He grabbed her arm, r
egaining her attention. "The answer is simple. Did you incorporate any software that would allow him to use virtual wireless signals? If you did, that is an easy fix. We can remove that from his programming using your access logs."

  "Uh, access logs?"

  "Yes. The codes that you used to change the software and add or subtract programming. Those logs." Suddenly both of their links chimed signaling that they were needed in the control room. "We will finish this conversation later."

  "Wilson, this is Dr. Chalmers. We are sending you basic instructions. We would like you to analyze the orders and then come up with a solution. Using the shuttle, fly the assigned mission. Obstacles will appear, deal with them and then complete the mission please."

  "Okey Dokey." One thing this shuttle has that my head does not is an entertainment system. Loud rhythmic music blared from the speakers.

  Dr. Chalmers checked his communication systems. He must be receiving a some sort of interference. Music was not a part of this exercise. "Wilson did you receive me?"

  Grooving to something with the word 'funk' in it I was having a good time so far. I had complete control of the shuttle. I just answered the human once why should I answer him again. The test they laid out was surprisingly simple. Take the information, extrapolate a new position, and then fly the ship to the new location. Once there pick up and transport a commando team to a new location. Easy. I had already disabled both the fuel cut off valve and the navigational disruptor.