Shortlisted – Day 0003
Gareth watched Harlin settle on a spicy noodle dish and start scooping a portion onto a plate.
"I had to make sure we still had privacy," Harlin said without looking up. "Maat wouldn't have answered if we were being spied on through traditional means. I assumed you'd want to talk, so I had to be sure. As for your Ancilla, she's fine. Maat isn't destructive unless it's called for and authorized. In fact, I bet that right now she's using every trick in the book to block Maat."
"Yes, she is very good," Maat responded from Gareth's wall monitor. "She has just sent a request to her creators for help and assistance. I was not able to block it in time, which is surprising."
Harlin calmly dished up a serving on the second plate. "Do we need to be worried?"
"No. It was intercepted before being received."
Harlin snapped up his head, hand freezing in mid-motion. "Your doing, Maat?"
"No, Harlin."
His gaze locked with Gareth's.
"Alright, Maat. Send Ancilla's creators a compliment letter for passing our security scan. Then I'm going to ask you to grant us some privacy. Monitor us from a distance, please. When the LS request comes for you to observe us more closely, I want you to send her the entire legal code on privacy. Also, add this: 'To break a person's privacy without consent is to break that person's trust.' Sign it with my full title and name."
"Yes, Harlin. I shall depart, but if you need me, turn the lights off and on twice."
Harlin chuckled and reached for another carton of food.
Mind-boggled, Gareth finally exploded, "What the hell just happened?"
Harlin motioned for him to sit. "It confirmed something for me. Actually, a couple of things."
"Like what?"
"Like, have any bugs been installed since you left. Now, please—the food is getting cold."
Harlin picked up his plate and fork as he eyed Gareth, and Gareth sighed. He could tell he wouldn't get any answers by standing, so he sank back down onto the armchair.
Harlin pushed the other plate over to Gareth. "Try the noodles—they smell great. Now, let me answer what I can. I did need to see if this place was safe to talk in. Also, I wanted Maat to test your Ancilla system and bring her up to par if she needed it. Apparently not, or she wouldn't have succeeded getting that request out."
He put a forkful of noodles into his mouth and started chewing. Nodding, he grunted in approval and slid a fork over. Gareth picked up fork and plate, but remained silent, intending to wait Harlin out.
"You're wondering what that last part was all about," Harlin stated after swallowing. "Well, when Maat said that request had slipped past him, several things should have happened. One is the Ancilla company would have immediately requested a police presence for a possible security breach. All the while, a couple hundred techs would be gathering all the data possible.
"Second, I would've had to step in, break out my credentials, and smooth things over with them while you did the same with the police. All of this would've brought unwanted attention. But that's not what happened."
"I gathered," said Gareth through a mouthful of food and looked down at the empty fork in dull surprise. He didn't know how it had happened, but his hunger was screaming for more.
"You heard Maat. It was intercepted before it could be received. Data transmission is damn near the speed of light. So tell me, what system is designed to operate above that?" Harlin stuffed another mouthful of noodles.
"You're telling me the LS intercepted that request."
Harlin nodded. "All of them together or just her by herself—there's no way to tell. Right now, they're similar to a hive mind, but their individual personalities are developing more and more with every second. What we do know is Canaisis has apparently decided to keep an eye on you.
"Look, A.I.'s have access to more data and knowledge than we could learn in ten lifetimes. But data without Human context, Human perspective, is meaningless. If they don't learn that from us, then the perspective they do develop could be very alien, even hostile.
"Sending the privacy legal code was a reminder of the knowledge she already has. My personal note was the Human perspective of that knowledge, the context of why and how that knowledge should be used."
Harlin sighed and stared down at the table. "I envy you, Gareth, I really do. But don't do this if it doesn't feel like the right thing to do. I know risking your life is tough to chew on. Most people wouldn't risk it.
"What scares me is that the ones who are willing to take the risk may be doing it for the wrong reasons. Mayfine is trying his best to weed out the wrong people, but one never can tell, and that scares me.
"I've worked with Maat for years—I know just how powerful he is. But Maat has never given me reason to be afraid of him. We have a great friendship. It's important for you to understand this."
He gave a bitter laugh of chagrin, then looked up at Gareth. "I'm being selfish—I'm sorry. Your wife is way more important right now.
"Hey, I'm glad you ate a little something. You weren't looking so good, you know. It wouldn't do for you to meet your wife and then pass out from fatigue."
Gareth looked from Harlin's crooked smile down to his food. Surprised to see half his plate gone, he let out a tired sigh. "Look, Harlin. I appreciate the help you've given me. But what are you and Mayfine really after? You've got hundreds of candidates to choose from. Why are you going to all this effort?"
Harlin became serious. "My orders are to assist you in any way that will help you make a decision. I'm not here to pressure you. Truth be told, it's Mayfine who's under the pressure. And after our office visit, I think I can read between the lines now."
Gareth stared at him. "How's that?"
"Because I know a little about ascension, that's why. I'll tell you a nasty little secret. Whenever an A.I. is created, there is always someone on standby to pull the plug, so to speak. It's also the reason A.I.'s are never given the ability to have autonomous control of a system without Human oversight. Not until they are fully vetted, that is. It's also why they're not allowed to control any system that resembles a Human, can function as a Human can, including appendages that can mimic a Human hand's function. Basically, anything that can manipulate the real world."
"And this is because?"
"Because not all ascensions go well. You should know that—you've had history classes. We can't have A.I.'s building their own combat droids."
"Yes, I remember. But that was way back when we first started creating them. I thought we'd solved that problem."
"We did. We make damn sure we got a good one before it can do anything that would make the news."
Gareth stared at Harlin in disbelief. Harlin just shrugged his shoulders.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Nope. Don't misunderstand me, we've gotten really good at giving the A.I.'s a good foundation to help ensure a positive outcome. And it works, because we haven't had a negative ascension in a long time. However, there's never a guarantee, so we keep our protocols and Command Hierarchy in place."
"I see... Okay." Gareth put down his half-empty plate and leaned back in the armchair. "On a scale of one to ten, where does Maat stand in relation to other A.I.'s?"
"Oh, he's definitely a ten. He is a 'World A.I.', after all." Harlin smiled. "But there's nothing to worry about. We've worked together for years."
"And the LS's?"
Harlin gazed up at the ceiling as he thought. "Maat would be the one to ask. I'll go out on a limb here. If I had to guess on a scale of one to ten... One thousand."
Gareth jumped to his feet. "And you're sending us out there in one of those? Before they ascend? Are you nuts?"
"Gareth," Harlin put his hands up in a calming motion, "it's not as bad as it sounds. Believe me, every angle has been thought of, every safeguard put in place. And you can now understand why the ENS protocol is so important. We're venturing into the unknown out there on every level imaginable. But it's necessary. The one absolute certainty we do have is that the LS is the only conceivable way to safely travel at two times FTL. Habitable planets aren't exactly close by. You know that better than anyone. We need the LS's—they're the only way."
Gareth ignored Harlin's pleading gesture for him to sit back down.
"I understand your concern, Gareth, I do. That's why I'm here. I want you to make a fully informed decision. We do. Remember when I said I didn't think you appreciated how serious this is? Well, let me shed some light on the matter.
"Letting the LS's help with the evaluation process of choosing Captains is important because we have no way of knowing when an A.I. of this magnitude will ascend. It could be tomorrow or decades from now. It just depends on when that critical mass is reached. The Captain is placed at the top of its Command Hierarchy. So, how well the interaction goes between you two is everything in determining the outcome. We're hoping that the evaluation process will help with humanizing the A.I. after it ascends—that's why they're involved. That is, until you came along and threw a wrench into the works."
"And just what the hell does that mean?" said Gareth, his voice cold as ice.
"I don't mean you did anything. What I mean is that, for some reason, the one LS that didn't like any of our candidates did something unprecedented. She chose her Captain. We never intended for the LS's to actually decide on their Captains, only help evaluate. We assumed they would be indifferent to the final choice as long as he or she was qualified.
"Now you know why Mayfine is between a rock and a hard place. What are we going to do? Tell her no, she can't have her choice? What would that do to the ascension process?"
Gareth's thoughts swirled. "I still don't understand, Harlin. Why me?"
"Maat already gave you an answer," Harlin answered offhandedly. "Three of them."
"Yes, but they don't tell me anything."
"They tell you more than you know, Gareth. Look, it's not that she didn't give you the right answer. It's that sometimes we Humans don't ask the right question. A.I's don't see things from our perspective—they have to learn that. I don't know what all three of the vids mean, but I can take a guess at the first one."
"And what's that?"
"She agrees with you."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," Harlin looking directly at Gareth, "she agrees with you. Humans need to get out of this solar system. Now eat up, it's getting late and I still have to go back and have a talk with Maat about all this.
"Don't worry, Gareth, your wife will be there. The rest will be up to you. Just don't stay up so late that you're useless in the morning. You want to have your wits about you and your emotions in check."
"And how do I know you're not doing all this just to get me into the program, Harlin?"
"I am. But that's not the real reason I'm trying to help you."
Gareth sighed. "And what's the real reason?"
"Because I like you... and your wife's been handed a bad deck of cards." Harlin stood up. "I'm going to run. I bought the food, so you handle the clean-up. It will keep you from driving yourself crazy.
"Get some rest, my friend. Ancilla, would you please let me out?"
The front door opened for Harlin and quietly clicked shut behind him, leaving the silence behind. Gareth stared at the remaining food. He'd lost his appetite again.
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