Artificial Absolutes (Jane Colt Book 1) (37 page)

“I
was
a very disobedient robot,” Adam said dryly. “All those strange urges I ignored? I wasn’t drugged. That was Pandora sending me commands, trying to control me.” He looked down at his shoulder and felt the burnt synthetic skin of his wound. “What the hell am I?”

You’re the brave kid who saved both Jane’s life and mine. And I’m the bastard who treated you like shit.
Devin approached and sank to the floor beside Adam. “Tell me, has finding out what you are changed anything? Have you lost the ability to think or to care?”

Adam shook his head again. “I feel the same. I still… remember my childhood on Ibara, what it was like to admire the Counselors who raised me and to want to be like them. I
remember
, even though I know it never happened. I still look to the Absolute Being, even though I know…” He trailed off and looked at the ground.

“Then, nothing’s really different, is it? Jane said every one of us is a consciousness shoved into physical being, and what that being’s made of isn’t important. I think she’s right.” Devin paused. “I’m sorry if I’ve been… less than kind. It’s nothing personal.”

Adam turned the pendant in his hand. “She keeps acting like none of this matters.”

“She means it, Adam. You know she never hides how she feels. Not when it matters.”

Adam’s face brightened. “That’s true. It’s one of things I love about her. How is that possible? That I can… that an AI can… feel? Do I even have a soul?”

Devin shrugged. “You’re the religious one. You tell me: Would your Absolute Being abandon you because of something you can’t change?”

A humorless smile played on the corner of Adam’s mouth. “You’re right. Who am I to question the Absolute? We’re all the way we are for a reason. Maybe I was created to start a machine revolution and bring on the AI apocalypse.”

Is that supposed to be funny?
“Jane never doubted you, so stop doubting yourself.”

Adam leaned his head back. “Somehow that makes it worse, that she’s so… accepting. I always knew… But it doesn’t matter. I… I’d do anything for her, even though she could never…”

Devin didn’t know how to respond. He waited in uncomfortable silence for Adam to continue.

After a minute or so, Devin collected his thoughts. “She cares about you. I don’t think she realizes how much. She’s been this way since she was little: never knowing what she wants, always battling her feelings, guarding herself. She knows how vulnerable she can be. She’s been close to so few people that… she doesn’t know how to handle it.”

“She’s probably the only person in the galaxy who would give a damn about me now.” The frightened look crossed Adam’s face again. “What’s going to happen to me?”

“Same thing that would’ve happened if you hadn’t been shot. No one else has to know.”

Jane called from the cockpit, “Hey, Devin! What’s going on back there? Is the ship okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.” Devin got up and started to leave, then looked back. “Everything’s going to be all right. You don’t have to be afraid.”

“I wish I could believe you.” Adam closed his hand around the Via pendant and gazed into nothingness.

The counterfeit Blue Tang’s untraceable nature allowed Devin to cross the galaxy quietly. No one cared when he steered the ship into the Zim’ska Re system, whose two more populous planets, Mor’sei and Nem, were too engaged in a space battle to notice his little ship as it sailed past them toward Yim Radel, which was mostly uninhabited.

The moment he landed, Jane rushed out of the cockpit, opened the door, and ran down the ramp into the remote meadow the ship sat in. She regarded the lush, colorful forest and sweeping mountains with childlike wonder. Platinum clouds and the magnified form of the planet’s twin, C’tui, shone in the sky as the blue-hot Zim’ska Re sun sank in a shimmering blaze of light and color.

“See, Devin?” Jane said. “Wouldn’t you rather hide out here than on some rundown float?”

Devin smiled. “As nice as you expected?”

“Better. It’s one of the things you have to see for yourself, you know? Holograms, videos, pictures—they can’t capture the real thing.” She cupped her hands by her mouth. “Adam! Stop moping around the ship and come see this!”

Adam appeared at the door. “It’s beautiful, Jane. It’s like the Absolute is in that sunset.”

Jane ran up the ramp toward him. “Hey, he talks! You were starting to scare me with the whole still-and-silent thing.”

Adam gave her a sad smile. “I’m fine. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

The sun disappeared behind the mountains. It took with it the warm flush of daylight and left behind the haunting glow of the night. The only artificial light came from the ship’s door. The full form of blue-green C’tui illuminated the sky with an ethereal radiance that obscured the stars.

Devin’s slate beeped.

Corsair: Check out the Collective’s forums.

He followed the links. A firestorm brewed on the Net. Riley had recorded everything Jim X had said about the Pandora Project. In the two days it took to reach Yim Radel, half the Networld had seen the video. Pandora tried to block its dissemination, but Citizen Zero had become more resourceful at spreading information that others didn’t want seen.

Although many met the revelation with skepticism, the most influential members of the Collective had decided the notion of No Name being a sentient program made too much sense to ignore. They’d found the connection between artificial intelligence and the murdered programmers from ten years ago.

Corsair: As soon as I released the video, other demons shared their own evidence of Pandora’s existence. It’s not exactly proof, but it’s close enough for most. The Collective’s furious that Kron used them and that their friends died because of what he did. They’re teaming up with other Netcrews and brainstorming ways to wipe her out.

Archangel: Good.

Corsair: They’re also working with the Seer to track her activities. They may be able to prove she’s responsible for the attacks on Revelin Kron and Victor Colt.

Archangel: I hope so.

Corsair: Here’s the best bit: They’ve made so much noise about Pandora, the IC Tech Council ordered an investigation. It’d be awfully embarrassing if someone defied the regulations so completely without some sort of crackdown. I’ll let you know when I have more info.

Devin folded the slate and dropped it in his pocket.

Although he and Riley had considered exposing the presence of the AIs along with the truth about No Name, finding out about Adam had done away with that notion. After all the hell Pandora caused, the secret of her AIs would be kept, and she’d get what she’d wanted in the first place.

“But don’t people have a right to know?” Riley had asked Devin via video transmission the day before. “We could leave Uh-Dame out.”

“It’s a bad idea,” Devin had replied. “Telling the Networld anyone could be synthetic would cause mass paranoia.”

“But isn’t it kinda unfair? I mean… Uh… Other law students don’t stand a chance because of that Jonathan King dude. He was
built
to beat them.”

Jane gave Riley an artificially sweet smile. “Riley, keep this AI business to yourself or
I will kill you
.”

“It’s gonna come out eventually!” Riley protested. “You can’t keep something like this hidden
forever
.”

“Maybe, but ‘eventually’ had better not be because of you. And if I find out it is, I’ll hunt you down and kick your scrawny ass!”

“Okay! I’ll keep a lid on it! Man, you’re violent!”

Adam had watched the exchange in silence. Devin had noticed a flicker of a smile at Jane’s exaggerated threats.

In the meadow on Yim Radel, Devin looked over at his sister, who sat surrounded by luminous purple flowers, marveling at the sky. Beside her, Adam regarded the heavens with the same silent awe. Devin wondered if Pandora even understood the life she’d created.

Jane looked over at him. “Hey, Devin! Were you messaging Riley?”

“Yeah. The Collective and some other Netcrews are trying to figure out how to stop Pandora.”

“Excellent. I hope they destroy every shred of it.”

Adam’s hand drifted to his injured shoulder. “Maybe I can help? After all, I’m also… an artificial intelligence. They could… look at my… programming… if I could… get onto the Net—”

“Forget it,” Jane snapped. “That’s just… Forget it!”

“I’m probably the only one who knows what I am. I might as well try and use it. She’s killed so many people already, and I want to stop her.”

“Ugh, I still don’t get why you guys keep referring to that
programmed monstrosity
as if it’s a person.”

A pained look crossed Adam’s face.

“You’re different!” Jane said hurriedly. “Hell, you’re more human than most humans! I mean it, Adam. You’re the one good thing to come out of this mess, and I don’t want you doing anything that’ll put you in danger.”

“All I want is to interface with the Net,” Adam said. “It’s nothing, really. Riley does it all the time.”

Devin thought the kid’s idea courageous but unfeasible. “Virtual reality requires a lot of equipment that reads brainwaves and the like. We don’t have any of that, and even if we did, it wouldn’t be the same with you.”

Adam thought for a moment. “Maybe Riley will have some ideas?”

Archangel: I have a question.

Corsair: Careful. She could be watching. Keep things vague or hide them in codes.

Damn. Codes aren’t exactly my expertise.

Archangel: Is it possible for a gamer like Adam to enter the Kingdom?

Hope that worked.
Klash of Kingdoms was Riley’s favorite virtu-game. He probably understood the reference to the Networld.
Adam
was such a common name—it could refer to anyone.

Devin waited for a response. He could almost see Riley fidgeting, flipping through his brilliant little brain for ideas.

Corsair: She sent commands and updates through the Net, so it should be possible. I’ll contact the junk dealer. He seems to know a lot about all this.

The next two days were spent lying low, living off the ship’s well-stocked pantry of imperishable space food and watching as events unfolded on the Net. Riley told Devin, using an odd form of code, that Commander Vega bent some rules and re-investigated the cases against him. The best thing for him to do was remain disappeared.

Devin sat in the meadow, along with Jane and Adam, several yards from the ship. He watched a hologram of Sarah telling an interviewer why she loved her art, using the same words and tones as when she’d once told Devin. Even though he knew she was no more real than an animated character, he couldn’t help projecting a kind of humanity onto her. She
was
designed to be indistinguishable from humans. He wanted to forget she existed, but the version of her he knew had become a part of him. He wondered how he could find it in himself to accept that she was gone forever.

A message window appeared on the slate.

Corsair: I have more instructions from the Seer.

“Adam, it’s for you.” Devin tossed Adam the slate.

The Seer had responded to Riley’s attempts to contact him two days before and, using Riley as an intermediary, sent Adam several cryptic suggestions. To hide his intentions from Pandora, the Seer had encoded his instructions in a manner so abstract, the few times Devin had tried interpreting them resulted only in headaches.

Adam read the Seer’s message. “This doesn’t make any sense. I think he’s saying it’s like meditation, but I also have to… I don’t understand.”

Jane rested her chin on her knee. “I think he’s telling you to knock it off already. You’re not a freaking computer. You can’t data transfer your consciousness.”

“I must’ve been transferred to begin with. The AI workshop on Viate-5 was full of incomplete androids, so she must’ve developed the minds and bodies separately. I just need to figure out how to… get out of my head. Maybe once I do, they won’t need a virus to defeat her. I can engage her in an eternal cyber battle like the warring immortals in the Book of Via.”

Jane lifted her head. “Adam, c’mon. You should forget the whole thing.”

Something moved in the forest. Devin got up and went nearer for a better look. An open-air transport full of armed people flew toward him.

He ran back. “Jane! Adam! Get inside!”

Jane grabbed Adam by the wrist and ran toward the ship. Devin followed a few steps behind, keeping an eye on the transport. Its passengers raised their weapons and fired in the air.

A second transport swung around from the other side of the ship, blocking Jane as she approached the ramp.

A man with a thick beard jumped out and aimed a rifle at Devin. “Don’t move!”

Devin raised his hands. “Easy. We don’t want any trouble.”

A woman with a red tattoo across her face landed in front of Jane and aimed two handguns at her. “Who’re you?”

“Just another bunch of lost refugees.” Devin chose his words carefully to avoid anything that could be mistaken for a threat. “I thought this area was deserted.”

A large, muscular man with spiked hair and a square face pointed a massive gun at Adam. “The boss decided the whole continent belongs to him and sent us out looking for trespassers.”

“I didn’t know we were trespassing. We’ll leave.” Devin looked around. They were surrounded. Any attempt to run would be suicide.