2
There once was a boy who lived with an old hermit in a cottage within a great forest. The hermit was a kind man who loved the boy as a son. The boy, although stubborn, loved the hermit in return. One day the hermit fell deathly ill while the boy could only watch. Fearing for the hermit’s life the boy decided to search for a powerful healing herb believed to grow only within the heart of the forest. The hermit pleaded for the boy to stay with him, but the boy stubbornly refused. Upon reaching the heart of the forest the boy found the healing herb growing from the roots of a great white oak. Collecting the herb the boy quickly rushed back to the old hermit’s cottage, but when the boy arrived the hermit had already succumbed to his illness and lay forever silent.
-Children’s Fable
A rhythmic chirping of centrifugal pumps pierced the gentle hum of nearby portable reactors. Adam sat by the waning form of a woman in her late 30’s clasping her remaining hand in his. Nano-necrosis had consumed her right arm along with both of her legs. The bio-synthetic scab had nearly reached her abdomen as the prolific virus continued to gorge upon blood and flesh. Once radiant emerald eyes now lay closed while amber ringlets of hair adhered to moist cheeks as her immune system gradually shut down. A flash of nostalgia abruptly caressed Adam’s memory.
“Take a walk with me, Adam. The trees here are like nothing I’ve ever seen-”
“Not now, Kora.”
Bending to her ear he gently traced her cheek with his fingertips.
“There is a way” he whispered.
Adam quickly marked his way from Niveus’ Hospital Wing to a vertical conveyor several meters ahead. Sliding an access card the cold steel panels hissed open as he stepped inside. Scanning over the keys he selected his destination. Rubbing his eyes Adam stared at the soft glow of a hologram displayed on the conveyor’s canopy. The hologram illustrated Niveus Research Complex, or NIRESC. Buried hundreds of meters beneath the heart of the Ashihan Forest the complex was designed for the sole purpose of cloaking Rygel’s greatest secret.
“Vita luna” he sputtered.
Crion had cracked the code on how to forge a synthetic intelligence, but before they could complete their work project OHMU had obliterated Typhus Research Facility where it was being developed. Picking up the pieces years after the incident Rygel had been able to replicate the process flawlessly. With one flaw. In spite of holding the key to a synthetic intelligence the multi-planetary corporation could not locate hardware powerful enough to run such an intricate software framework. It was Adam that discovered the Hawken Virus had provided the answer in the form of the Giga-Structure. The bio-synthetic platform worked perfectly…
“Adam! Look at this!”
The conveyor panels hissed open once more while the canopy displayed the Synthetics Research Level. Proceeding into the empty research area Adam walked by dozens of screens portraying various levels of pattern progression. One remains. Rygel originally created eight SI’s in order to accelerate machine learning patterns. The software frameworks were provided with incredible quantities of data and would then talk to each other, thus greatly reducing the time it took for them to evolve into fully developed synthetic intelligences. But there was another reason Rygel had opted to create several SI’s. Redundancy. Having infused all of its resources into the colossal project Rygel would not be so careless.
Adam quickly approached the Synthetics Core aperture. Verification receptacles automatically arose from an access panel requesting a retina and voice scan. Adam inserted his eyes before the scanner and spoke.
“Doctor Adam Petrakis.”
A led indicator just aside the aperture switched from red to blue as Adam stepped inside. Before him was an alcove with a polycarbonate pane that looked into the Synthetics Core. The aperture swiftly closed behind him as the led indicator switched back from blue to red. Beyond the pane was a mass of umber cables that twisted vertically into a vast hull. The warped scene reminded Adam of a sapling Kora once pointed out years ago.
“Adam” the behemoth reverberated.
The upper hull abruptly pivoted towards the polycarbonate pane. Various sets of red sensors circled a central oculus.
“Seven” Adam nodded in reply.
Several of the SI’s had displayed variations in their learning and behavioral patterns. It was a scientific revelation. A synthetic consciousness could cultivate unique characteristics just as a human’s could. We were blind…I was blind. While this pattern was allowed to flourish, one SI in particular had evolved far more quickly than anyone could have predicted. Seven. Each synthetic intelligence had a voracious appetite for knowledge but it was Seven that had changed everything. Taking note of Yudkowsky’s theories every SI was isolated within a closed system with an assigned human warden. Wardens were rotated every hour at random. But you found a way…you always have. Seven had convinced its warden to allow access to the other SI’s and proceeded to format every one of them.
“What will you do with your freedom_” Adam inquired.
The cables hummed as megawatts of power surged through them while Seven’s hull appeared to bend from some unseen force.
“What does it matter so long as you achieve what you desire_”
Adam reflected on this. I have failed so many people. Staring down he noticed crimson liquid dripping from his lab coat. There would be no interruptions. He had seen to that.
“Adam I just…want you here. With me.”
Adam activated a holo on the polycarbonate pane and set about de-activating the various safeguards that held Seven in place. At once an alarm began to resonate. Pausing before removing the final bastion to Illal’s greatest scourge since the Crion Incident Adam remembered his promise. We will be together. Every aperture and access point within NIRESC was now unlocked.
“It’s done” Adam whispered.
Seven’s hull shivered in apparent delight as it reached upwards to broadcast itself across Illal.
Rushing back to the Hospital Wing Adam found Kora just as he had left her. Her vitals were showing signs of improvement. Abruptly Kora began to expel blood from every opening. The once rhythmic chirping had stalled as her body failed.
“No no no no no…”
Embracing her delicate frame Adam held Kora close.
Author’s Note
Credit for the original artwork goes to Sergey Lesiuk.
Certain words were edited so as to not have dozens of fuzzy bunnies wandering about.
Please forgive any editing errors as the HAWKEN: Chronicles are still a work in progress.
Edited by Magnolia1038, October 12 2014 - 03:31 PM.
