Incursion Vector

040

Folding his arms across his chest Michael leaned back in his chair and eyed the doctor with a frown. "Fill the Lieutenant in, Russell."

Russell stuffed his hand into a pocket on the front of his jumpsuit and handed Nim a red encrypted computer. "All right, here it is. The SIF is equipped with an experimental human-machine system interface we're calling the Elevated System Interface."

"Original."

Ignoring her sarcasm Russell continued, "It's a limited autonomous information retention and management system, more robust than your standard VTI--"

"The SIF is flying a sandboxed AI," interjected Michael, obviously irritated with Russell trying to explain his way around something he thought was simple. "I have been told it was the only way to pack in the standalone calculating power needed to facilitate the ship's ability to perform long-range interdiction."

Nim stared at the red computer in the palm of her hand, then squinted her eyes at the Captain. "I'm sorry, sir... what?"

"Technically it's not an AI," muttered Russell. "That would be illegal."

"Quit treating my Lieutenant like she's an idiot and use your big words," said the Captain. "In fact, start assuming that everyone on my ship will get the basics of what you say and also has the intelligence to use a dictionary if they don't. We do not have all bloody week to get this briefing done."

The scientist groaned at the man's insistence but nodded. "The Elevated System Interface is as near to an unrestricted artificial intelligence system as we are comfortable with putting in a military vessel such as the SIF. It can make independent decisions based on information stored from previous encounters—an ability we do not give VTI."

"Sure, VTI has no long-term storage capacity," said Nim, nodding. "Comparison analysis is based on database references and real-time information feeds. So?"

"This is not so with the ESI. It retains previous decisions as well as their immediate and long-term outcomes, altering its future processes accordingly. How it does this is by mapping what we call the 'decision pathways' of its pilot, allowing it to assess and analyze its current problem based on previous encounters its pilot has had with the same variables and then offering resolutions based on things its pilot may have actually forgotten."

She scowled at the man for a moment. "You've had that fighter mapping my brain?"

"Your fighter's onboard battlesphere intelligence system has been monitoring your neural processes, yes," replied Russell. "Its baseline functions are entirely based on Cole Winston's decision pathways. For all intents and purposes the ESI is a copy of his mind but unburdened with his particular... impediments."

"What the hell's wrong with Winston? The ear-pulling thing is weird but that seems the a normal level of freak for your people."

Chuckling at her assessment the man said, "He would have liked to have heard you say that. Cole is a high-functioning autistic, exceedingly rare in the modern era of prenatal screening and remediation therapies. He becomes..."

"Borderline psychotic," supplied Michael.

"Unbalanced when facets of his life are cast into disarray," continued Russell with a sneering look at the Captain. "Hence why we can't place him in direct control of the SIF—the chaos inherent to live combat would likely cause a mental breakdown. But it's simplest to just think of the ESI as an extension of him."

Nim turned the computer over in her hands a few times, the shrugged. "Sure. The Baskerville weirdo is managing my battlesphere intel. That it?"

"Well, now that we've decided the ESI is up to spec, once we hit Arnarson in twelve hours we'll be executing the final test of the SIF's long-range interdiction capabilities."