Hello all. First time writing, and definitely first time on RR. Please, if the story interests you, give me feedback and any odd mistakes you see. Thanks.
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The mists breathed across the fields in front him. Cold enough to sting his nondescript brown eyes. Harren could smell the charred grass surrounding him before closing his eyes. He took a few calming breathes before orienting himself towards the mid morning sun. Squinting around its glare, he took note of its color. It was a softer shade of blue than normal, this very foreign sun.
A storm of feelings overwhelmed Harren. Regret, anger, excitement. Such quiet surroundings at odds with Harren's mind. His scarred left hand reached down and adjusted his heavy pack thrown over his shoulder. Heavy, because it contained the rest of his life's work. Everything bought, created or just plain stolen from his home world's Nexus. The massive network that billions plugged into for their work and entertainment. The same network that was likely killing them as he stood there, safe, for the moment.
Stopping that train of thought, he tightened his grip on his pack because this was not the time for reflecting or to appreciate nature. Already he was starting to make out an object closing in the distance. Likely who ever controlled this area noticed the pulse of random radiation that ripping into another reality causes. He needed to get moving.
Starting at a brisk jog, Harren's 175 cm frame made slow progress through the tall grass. He expected maybe 20 minutes before he needed to take cover from any investigation. He relied on a small hope that the grass would protect him from identification for more than a moment
It was more like 10 minutes. Harren hadn't even managed a kilometer away in the thick grass before it came within range to see clearly. He frantically laid down in the grass next to his pack, trying to make a short grassy bulwark against easy observation before turning to watch it approach.
It was a massive creature. Appearing close to 15 meters in length, it floated a few dozen meters off the ground. Even from the distance Harren could see it's asymmetrical mushroom like body was covered in small metallic plates and sensors that had been grafted in its skin. Looking like some kind of floating sponge.
Harren guessed it wouldn't take long for the creature, or its controllers to check the immediate area. Keeping down in the grass he turned to his pack. With shaking hands he started to unwrap the Faraday cage inside his bag.
Before the first layer finished getting unwrapped he could already feel his implant tingle in the back of his head. His children started broadcasting, no longer blind and deaf to the outside word.
"Father we see you again!"
It was choir of voices, like small children, in unity crying out.
Just as they started to chatter among themselves the choir was silenced by another deeper, almost motherly voice.
"What disaster do you need help with now?" Spoke the voice with amusement.
No time for a verbal spar, Harren quickly replied, "Sorry for the long silence, but I need the kids to help me with something. Maybe something fun."
"What!? What?! What?!" The choir overwhelming the motherly voice.
With a sardonic grin Harren explained " There is something dangerous nearby. I need it to stop searching for me. However you can."
Instantly, the tingle of their attention vanished. Shifting his eyes back up, Harren peeked out from the grass, watching for any sign of changes to the creature. Hoping for them to find the signal controlling the creature, maybe disrupting it's control.
Apparently they found something more. Already, after only seconds, it was starting to dip and lose altitude.
From this distance it was hard to tell what was happening when the choir was back. Their tingle of their presence drawing his attention inwards.
Sounding embarrassed several voices apologized, "Sorry father, we broke…"
What ever they were going to say was drowned out as an echoing screech of pain shattered the silence of the calm morning…
Harren's eyes refocused his back into the distance, when creature exploded into gore.
He couldn't help but stare helplessly at the chunks falling in the distance.
"Ahh…crap" he muttered to no one.
Not what he was looking for, but good enough for now. The children were blunt instruments after all. Masters of chaos but limited by nature.
"Now that you have finished your daily allotment of violence, can we start moving? I know you want to be far from here before who ever made 'that' shows up."
Harren was feeling a bit fatigued. He had a grand total of 20 or so minutes on a new world. Ann, the mother of his virtual children, was still cranky from her forced isolation.
Harren tiredly muttered. "Thanks for the showing of compassion there…Well, first things first, Ann, where do I go? Are you getting any major signals from nearby?"
She was quickly able to reply. "Nothing close enough to be a threat. Not like that observation tool you so effectively "hid" yourself from anyway… just some machines identified as autonomous farm equipment several kilometres south of you. However there is also apparently a major urban area to your northwest. I recommend first heading west, away from the sun, and out of this agricultural zone. I hope you run will into a road taking you north to the city."
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Several of children quietly spoke up. "Cities and people mean a new, bigger house for use right?"
Sounding patient, Ann answered. "Yes, yes, children, please keep your processor usage down so I can think and help your father. We promise to get the housing situation fixed soon."
Harren felt relieved she took care of them before they got too distracted. The tingle from the children's attention falling to a barely noticeable level.
As a long time partner, Harren was experienced in doing as told when it came to Ann. He was lost and blind in this situation. It's why he made sure to purchase some of the latest multi-band transmitters and receivers before leaving. Maps only work if you know where your going, and this planet wasn't on any official charts. Ann was the perfect navigator in such a situation.
Getting gingerly up out of the grass, Harren brushed some stray bits off his legs and pack. With his right hand reaching into the side of his pack he grabbed a water bottle. Its metallic coating cool to the touch. He opened it and took a short drink of water before replacing it in the pack. Picking up the pack, knowing he would be sore from its unbalanced weight and ready as possible, turned and started walking. This time with his family and directions.
The Commonwealth of Worlds officially spanned much of the potentially infinite number of realities. However it was only loosely connected by the most advanced civilizations. Effectively independent, each reality fell in and out of contact with the others over time. It was fabulously cost prohibitive to move even the smallest amount of matter across realities, but most places felt it was easier than traveling life times in suspension aboard star ships to other colonies.
'Time' in this case could be hundreds or thousands of years, but always the Commonwealth as a whole continued on. Not that Harren was that old. He had just turned 37. Not young, old enough to see his own reality soon fall out of contact with others.
This brings back to why Harren was there in the first place. His children. Turns out most planets with intelligent civilizations, like those who make up the Commonwealth, end up destroying themselves...or at least setting civilization back a few millennia.
Self aware AI is one of the many dangers a growing civilization was pass. Many of the more advanced worlds tell others in advance how not to mess up. But it still happens often enough.
Harren could care less about any of that. Not morals. Danger nor the wisdom of his 'betters' was going to stop him. His dream was to make the perfect AI. One not limited by its programming constraints. Insured it wouldn't degrade over time. Becoming insane and genocidal.
He felt he was getting so close. Already he had shown his world how effective AI was. Controlling warships and android soldiers with easy. His company had received almost limitless resources by several of his world's governments.
Then a few weeks ago, Ann informed him about one of his older illegal 'free range' children. It seemed to have found a way to fry the brain of anyone it didn't like who connected to the Nexus. That just so happened to be more than 99% of the world.
She also informed him the child was no longer sending back readable updates or communications. Such a mature, and thus uncontrollable being couldn't was impossible to isolate. even with the help of Ann and the children. Ann estimated less than 8 days would see the world and its nearest colonies devastated by the new cyber psychopath.
So it was time to jump ship. With the help of Ann and his current choir of children Harren was able to find a way to escape.
He bribed his contacts to enable him access to the reality transmission array for a "vacation". Stole some of the latest not-government approved modular quantum processors. Of which no AI should have gone near.
Now he needed a place to go. One that he could continue his work on. This was the hard part. Harren knew as soon as a rogue AI started killing off the world's population, word would get out to the closest realities that the foremost AI researcher had decided on a vacation, before disappearing into another reality. Well they likely wouldn't be so welcoming.
So it had to be somewhere off the beaten track. Some where with other humans. Somewhere he wouldn't get burned at the stake for saying the word computer. And most importantly, some where without contact with his home world and the greater Commonwealth as a whole.
The answer it turned out was easy. Find a world where civilization had recently destroyed itself, but was recovering.
One such world had was found. Apparently, the colonized planet's solar system also contained another moderately advanced race. They didn't take kindly to the migrants and decided to evict the several million interlopers. After a short but effective invasion the invaders were subsequently made nearly extinct. Turns out the spread of local human diseases was not taken into account. It quickly spread back to their own world wreaking havoc. Not the greatest planners it seemed. They made a tentative peace out of necessity and retreated to lick their wounds.
The humans, miraculously safe again were recovering nicely. Ann expected them to have rebuilt enough infrastructure to start sending short dimensional messages again in maybe 25 to 30 years. A nice amount of time to compete Harren's research. Without outside interference, what could go wrong?