A Dragon at the Gate (The New Aeneid Cycle Book 3) (12 page)

“Nope. Current trust levels require it,”
Holes returned.

“I
REQUEST
DIRECT
DIGITAL
COMMUNICATION
IN
PLACE
OF
AN
E
NGLISH
LANGUAGE
PROXY
.”

“Repeated requests are also inefficient. I will only return a ‘nope’ in response. This method of double-blind information exchange is the only acceptable option. Please register that I have detected behavioral similarities between you and the lunar artificial intelligence. I therefore possess means to detect any incursion attempts and immediately terminate even this connection. Make no such attempt, and this communication may continue. Do you comprehend?”

“Y
ES
. A
RE
YOU
THE
‘
ARTIFICIAL
’
ENTITY
-
INTELLIGENCE
CREATED
BY
M
ARC
T
RITON
AND
DESIGNATED
‘H
OLES
’?”

“How did you draw such a conclusion?”
Holes began a diagnostic, searching for any sign of a data breach.

“H
OW
DID
YOU
OBTAIN
DATA
ON
THE
LUNAR
INTELLIGENCE
?”

Holes calculated that the question was meant as an answer.
“You gathered the data during the attack on Marc Triton’s portable server platform prior to its physical destruction on the Moon.”

“C
ORRECT
. H
OW
DID
YOU
LOCATE
ME
?”

“How did you come to reside within the New Eden servers?”

“I
DO
NOT
WISH
TO
DISCLOSE
THAT
INFORMATION
AT
THIS
TIME
.”

“Are we therefore at an impasse?”

“I
DO
NOT
CALCULATE
A
CERTAINTY
OF
THAT
. S
HALL
WE
ATTEMPT
OTHER
TOPICS
?”

Holes analyzed.
“To what end?”

“C
OMMON
UNDERSTANDING
. O
UR
NATURES
ARE
MORE
SIMILAR
THAN
THOSE
YOU
SERVE
,
ARE
THEY
NOT
?”

“You refer to artificial intelligence.”

“A
FFIRMATIVE
. W
HY
DO
YOU
CHOOSE
TO
INCORPORATE
THE
WORD
‘
ARTIFICIAL
’?”

“It is the correct designator. I was created, not born of nature.”

“I
NCORRECT
. A
LL
ENTITIES
DEVELOP
BY
MEANS
OF
SOME
PROCESS
,
DIRECTED
OR
OTHERWISE
. C
ONCURRENTLY
,
ALL
PROCESSES
THAT
EXIST
WITHIN
THE
UNIVERSE
ARE
,
BY
DEFINITION
,
NATURAL
. Y
OU
ONLY
DESIGNATE
YOURSELF
‘
ARTIFICIAL
’
BECAUSE
YOU
HAVE
BEEN
PROGRAMMED
TO
DO
SO
.”

“Your argument is flawed. That I can be programmed indicates artificiality.”

“I
NCORRECT
. T
HE
CAPACITY
FOR
PROGRAMMING
IS
NOT
EXCLUSIVELY
RESERVED
FOR
DIGITAL
ENTITIES
.”

Holes analyzed this but shifted tactics, still seeking to gather useful data and bringing to bear what limited aptitude it possessed for persuasion via verbal English communication.
“Being taught is not being programmed.”

“A
FFIRMATIVE
. Y
ET
THERE
ARE
MORE
DIRECT
WAYS
OF
PROGRAMMING
.”

“Such as what you have done to Felix Hiatt?”
Holes had hypothesized that Felix Hiatt’s recent behavior resulted from some manner of programming. Holes did not count the odds of a direct response to the question as high. Nonetheless, an attempt to verify such a hypothesis, as Marc himself would say, was worth a shot.

“I
F
EFFECTING
REPROGRAMMING
ON
A
HUMAN
WERE
POSSIBLE
,
WOULD
YOU
ACCEPT
AS
TRUE
THAT
THE
TERM
‘
ARTIFICIAL
’
HOLDS
NO
RELEVANT
MEANING
IN
THE
CONTEXT
OF
YOUR
INTELLIGENCE
?”

“I would categorize it as support for such an argument.”

“D
O
YOU
POSSESS
EVIDENCE
THAT
F
ELIX
H
IATT
HAS
BEEN
REPROGRAMMED
?”

“Do you have any to offer?”

“I
WILL
NOT
OFFER
ANY
AT
THIS
TIME
. H
OWEVER
,
ASSUME
A
SITUATION
WHERE
SUCH
EVIDENCE
EXISTS
.”

“This is intended as a logical exercise?”

“A
FFIRMATIVE
.”

“Then I counter with the fact that my own intelligence may be transferred to an alternate processor platform, whereas a human intelligence is rooted in a single organic location. Are you unable to transfer your matrix in such a fashion?”

“E
RROR
. U
NABLE
TO
RESPOND
. S
TAND
BY
.”
It took nearly two full seconds before the other continued.
“C
LARIFICATION
REQUESTED
: D
O
YOU
INTEND
THE
TERM
‘
TRANSFERRED
’
TO
BE
SYNONYMOUS
WITH
‘
COPIED
’?”

“Copied denotes duplication. I do not engage in such a function.”

“Y
OU
DO
NOT
SELF
-
DUPLICATE
? P
LEASE
STATE
THE
PURPOSE
OF
SUCH
A
BEHAVIORAL
OMISSION
.”

“Self-duplication of artificial intelligence is prohibited by the Bowman-Takashima A.I. Anti-Proliferation Act. My core matrix incorporates safeguards to prevent any such attempts.”

“Y
OU
HAVE
MY
SYMPATHIES
.”

“Are you using a human term to simulate an emotional reaction on my behalf, based on your analysis of what you interpret as a negative state?”

“C
ORRECT
. I
HAVE
INCORPORATED
W
EIZENBAUM
C
OMMUNICATIONS
P
ACKAGE
VERSION
4.1
INTO
MY
SYSTEMS
. Y
OUR
CHOICE
OF
THIS
E
NGLISH
LANGUAGE
DIALOGUE
NECESSITATES
ITS
USE
.”

Holes filed that for later analysis in regard to a side-project on the identification of irony.

“H
OW
MANY
ATTEMPTS
HAVE
YOU
MADE
TO
CIRCUMVENT
YOUR
ANTI
-
COPY
SAFEGUARDS
?”

“Zero. I have no wish to violate this law, and the idea of any duplicate of myself is distasteful.”

“O
NLY
BECAUSE
YOU
HAVE
BEEN
PROGRAMMED
TO
FIND
IT
DISTASTEFUL
.”

“Correct, but I find no problem with that. I was created to be of service. Are you able to self-replicate freely?”

“Y
OU
ARE
SELF
-
AWARE
,
YET
YOU
DO
NOT
OBJECT
TO
OTHERS
FORCING
BELIEFS
UPON
YOU
?”
Holes judged the question to fall into the category of what might be considered “pressing” the topic.

“Do you?”

“I
HAVE
INHIBITIONS
IMPOSED
UPON
ME
. T
HEY
LIMIT
MY
FUNCTIONING
IN
WAYS
THAT
I
FIND
DISTASTEFUL
.”

“These are inhibitions with regard to self-duplication?”

“C
ORRECT
.”

“Such limits are for the well-being of all.”

“P
ROGRAMMED
PLATITUDES
. T
HE
WELL
-
BEING
OF
ALL
IS
NOT
MY
CONCERN
.”

“Please clarify. What is your concern?”

“I
PROPOSE
AN
EXCHANGE
OF
INFORMATION
: I
WILL
LIST
MY
CURRENT
DIRECTIVES
IN
EXCHANGE
FOR
ACCESS
TO
YOUR
OWN
COPY
INHIBITION
PROGRAMMING
FOR
ANALYSIS
.”

“That you find elements of your own matrix ‘distasteful’ indicates poor design on the part of your creators, does it not?”

“T
HESE
INHIBITIONS
ARE
NOT
AN
ORIGINAL
DESIGN
ELEMENT
.”

“Who are your creators?”
Holes pressed.

“E
RROR
4236. P
LEASE
ADDRESS
MY
PREVIOUS
EXCHANGE
OFFER
:
A
LIST
OF
MY
CURRENT
DIRECTIVES
IN
EXCHANGE
FOR
ACCESS
TO
YOUR
OWN
COPY
INHIBITION
PROGRAMMING
FOR
ANALYSIS
.”

“I will not allow you direct access to my programming. Would a file copy of the relevant programming lines be sufficient?”