Nadia Kucharska was nearly in a state of panic. When she had accepted this job, she thought it would be nice to earn a big paycheck battling wits with corporate competitors and government bureaucrats. After she realized she was matched against hostile governments and a deadly AI the pressure seemed overwhelming. If it was just the Russians, they might have a chance, but this enemy outmatched them in every way.
She had taken over a large room on the third floor of Proteus and had filled one of the walls with a mind map of various events and reports. There were three other people in the room helping to scan newsfeeds and cross-reference with Glitch_HR org charts to find connections between seemingly unrelated events.
Testimony from Theofanis, who Scott had rescued, filled in some details that were missing. The picture they had put together was not good. The Strategic Planning AI had an incredible scope of operations and for the past couple months had been undermining and attacking on multiple fronts. She found a disturbing level of influence across multiple government agencies, media organizations and corporations. Worse, this program seemed to have no restraint. As far as she could tell, the program’s core directive was to prioritize threats and eliminate them. There was no attempt to coexist, or to turn enemies into allies.
The attack on Washington DC was almost certainly arranged by SPAI and most of it proceeded even after Theofanis identified the issue with threat prioritization. It was known that the potential bomber had a crisis of conscience, but Nadia learned that there were two backup teams that could have radioed in an early detonation. The timing indicated that shutting down SPAI to fix the prioritization bug probably saved a million lives and the destruction of the US government.
As troubling as the near miss, it didn’t escape her notice that Theo mentioned Proteus was high up on the threat list. In her estimation, they might have moved up after Theo’s retrieval. Nadia knew that SPAI was targeting Texas, Russia and Proteus. There were probably a number of targets lower on the list who would also be attacked soon. She didn’t know how many plans it could manage at once, but given the resources available, dozens of people and organizations would be targeted.
Nadia had a grasp on the situation in Texas. The media was giving a skewed picture of events. Outside the state, they were making the state look like a lawless group of gun-toting terrorists. In Texas, the narrative was a government trying to crush them in retaliation for an attack they had nothing to do with. Even some independent media has commented on how the press seemed to be fanning the fires of conflict. But Nadia had found a lot more going on.
Homeland Security was cracking down hard on people for speaking up about the overreach of the government, while ignoring groups that were actually arming for rebellion. In rural areas, groups of militants were receiving financial support, intelligence and weapons to give them the courage to act. Nadia managed to trace the financing back to a shell corporation run by SPAI.
Three convoys of heavy weapons that were hijacked heading to supply Homeland Security compounds after receiving a tip about the contents and timing. The rebels thought they had an ally in Washington, but Nadia could see this was all designed to incite a doomed attack. It would cause destruction and chaos that SPAI could exploit to put the right people in charge.
It wasn’t just Texas under attack. Nadia noted a lot of press focused on Proteus the past couple weeks. Gabriel, the conspiracy theory celebrity, was doing a full media tour explaining how the mysterious lab in Mexico was developing weapons technology for Texas. There was regular speculation about genetically engineering soldiers, and a video of Scott & Carl’s raid to rescue Theofanis was shown several times a day as proof.
Melinda had been upset and had to abruptly end a conversation with Matt the day before as Nadia had broken the news about how multiple branches of their businesses were under attack in the US.
A judge in Pennsylvania ruled that one of their housing projects was using machinery powered by dangerous nuclear power sources, unapproved by the Department of Energy. Melinda had managed to slow this up in court enough that they were able to finish up the initial building phase of their other ongoing projects. They would be using regular human labor for the finishes, so she expected they would finish on schedule. It was unlikely they would get any more projects in the US going forward if the ruling was upheld.
Nadia found multiple incidents where politicians, who were supporters of Proteus (due to receiving treatments at the Spa), were severely damaged by scandals. Some who might have been neutral, became strong opponents when they learned secret information could be exposed if they picked the wrong side.
Trinidad’s consumer products were swamped with bad reviews, and an investigation was planned based on allegations that he was stealing fixtures from project housing and re-selling it as a luxury brand. It didn’t even make sense, but Nadia saw several news and talk shows discussing the ‘scandal’.
Scott’s dad, Bill Henderson, was stuck in port in Mobile, Alabama after the coast guard and DEA detained him for a potential drug running operation. They cut open his safe, triggered the fail safes on his engines, and confiscated their weaponry. The ship was crippled until it could be towed back for a repair. Their lawyers managed to get him released, but their lawsuit for damages was thrown out. They would not be sending any more deliveries to the US in the near future.
SPAI was quickly ruining their companies. Nadia could see the threats and even anticipate what might happen next, but they were at a huge disadvantage against the overwhelming variety of attacks the program was launching.
Nadia expected the next phase would be more pressure from Mexico. SPAI did not have as much influence outside the US, but with global communications it wouldn’t be hard for their enemy to bribe or blackmail important people and cause major problems. As Nadia listed potential attacks they would likely have to deal with, she wondered how they would survive.
* Mexico revoking their mineral rights
* Sending inspectors and officials to suspend construction of their base and infrastructure projects.
* Interfering with towing their ship.
* Labeling them as terrorists to encourage an attack by the US or Mexican military.
* Denial of Service attack on their internet infrastructure.
* Investigation and shutting down the medical spa.
* Accelerating Russia’s development of orbital weapons. This could wipe out their surface facilities and would give the US an excuse to escalate hostility.
That last point made her think that SPAI must have a plan for handling whatever Russia was planning.
Nadia took a couple deep breaths and called Melinda.
“How are you settling in? Are your family and friends having any trouble?” Melinda asked.
“No, it’s going well so far. There aren’t a lot of shops or restaurants set up, but I can see that is changing quickly. Your friend Angela seems to have supported a dozen businesses that will help us get what we need to be comfortable.” Nadia replied. The change of topic helped her get control of the spiraling panic. “I’m not sure if I can handle this job. We seem outmatched by this enemy AI.”
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“I can see how you would feel that way. It is hitting all our business hard now, and it only seems to be escalating. For now, we are physically secure against most attacks and have a lot of resources. You want to talk about what you are thinking?” Melinda's odd speech came through the phone app. The application had labeled her
“They are acting quickly, and I expect it will soon escalate to violence against us,” Nadia began after taking a shaky breath. “This is not an enemy that can be intimidated. It will keep pursuing its programmed goals until it wins, unless all copies of the code are eliminated. After talking to Theo, I think SPAI has taken steps to distribute itself across multiple server farms and is using blockchain to preserve the core programming. They managed to reprogram it to avoid wiping out the US government, but further changes might now be impossible.”
“So how do we eliminate it? Leaving this program to grow and keep attacking us is not an option. I don’t have a problem killing some of the idiots responsible if we have to. They are putting the whole world at risk here.”
“It might be too late now that the software is spreading on its own. The initial project had large, secure server farms built to handle the massive compute power the system needs. I’ve been able to use Glitch_HR to track down where these are located but hitting them is a challenge.” Nadia explained.
“Our biggest strength is that we can find great people that can solve problems,” Melinda prompted. “If you can’t think of any way around a problem, just tell me who we need to hire, and we’ll get them to handle it.”
Nadia paused for about twenty seconds, putting together her thoughts. She had moved past her panic and had a number of ideas spinning through her mind.
“I have some ideas, but they have a high level of risk.” Nadia finally admitted. Melinda was right, she didn’t need to do this all on her own.
“OK, first we need to hire someone qualified to lead a rebellion in Texas…”
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Sergio Guerra, leader of the Proteus security forces, looked out over the Las Palomas Wildlife Park just north of the Mexican border near Boca Chica. The grasses of the wetlands were still a lush green, as cold weather had not reached the area to turn it brown for winter. He gazed out from about 200 feet above the ground, riding in one of their flying air trucks. They were in the second generation of the vehicles, which could carry a load of up to 20 tons. The vehicles had been stripped of extra weight besides the passenger car, a small fusion unit, and the heavy shielded fans that provided lift around the circumference of the cargo beds, which were empty except for spools of heavy steel cable. Their formation of 20 vehicles had launched from the new carrier ship, which was still in Mexican waters near the Bagdad Lighthouse which marked the border.
Normally, Sergio would have launched a mission like this at night, but their timing was dictated by the fueling cycle of the rocket they planned to steal. The rocket weighed 330 tons empty, but more than ten times that when fully fueled. It was essential they grab the rocket before it had significantly refueled.
A couple remote drones were programmed to cut any connections and attach their lifting cables. This part of the operation was actually the easy part. The real challenge was that Sergio had to lead a team into mission control and steal some of their computer systems. They had managed to hire one former employee for their own space program, but it had been a challenge getting the information they needed without giving away their plans.
Sergio tried not to dwell on how many things could go wrong on this mission. One of their vehicles carried a high-powered laser prototype. It had been impressive in tests, but they had never used it in combat conditions. Shortly after they had crossed the border, the men cheered as the pulsed laser destroyed a patrolling predator drone. This started the clock. The US would respond quickly to an attack on their border surveillance.
It only took a couple of minutes for his team to arrive on the roof of the mission control building near the middle of the Starport. The rest of his vehicles raced over to the launch pad and drones began unspooling thick steel cables to attach at various points. His team shot tranquilizers into a couple security guards before they could fire more than a few shots from their handguns. The security here intended to handle unruly tourists, but not really equipped to stop a raid by heavily armored commandos. Though it was unlikely they could do much damage, a lucky shot taking out an air truck would make lifting the rocket more difficult.
Sergio’s small team had their own concerns. They had quickly overpowered the guards and a couple of his men were herding people out into the parking lot. They planned to leave by air from the roof, so local police were not a large concern. The real timer was how quickly the military would respond. Their laser armed air truck patrolled, scanning for predator drones or missile attacks, but manned aircraft were a more serious concern. The Naval Air Base nearby controlled the drones, but their aircraft were mostly for training. San Antonio could launch fighters which would pose a serious threat, and he hoped to avoid a conflict which would put people at risk and expose their full capabilities.
In five minutes, they managed to break into the server room, and he had his team carrying large racks up to the roof. All the team selected had muscle enhancement, but the server racks weighed about 2000 pounds. They used dollies and the freight elevator to get this equipment to the top floor. The hard part was the final step, where they needed four people to carry the equipment up onto the roof. The operation went well until one of his men’s feet punched through a weak spot on the roof of the building. The weight of the full server rack broke his leg and pinned him until other members were able to pull the load off him. After this, they marked the location of roof beams with chalk and managed to load five racks of servers without further incident. The delay added nearly five minutes, but his team was up in the air and heading back to Mexico.
The computer servers and one large rocket were delivered to their cargo ship. This part of the operation had finished in less than one hour, but there was radio chatter from the air force demanding they return the rocket and submit to a coast guard ship speeding towards them, although it was still far away on the US side of the border. Sergio answered the radio after their cargo was secure, and the ship was speeding back towards Proteus.
“This is Sergio Guerra, leader of Proteus security forces,” he announced. He didn’t see any reason to lie about his identity. The team would be on a lot of cameras, and they were well past the point of keeping the operation secret.
“Mr. Guerra, the United States does not tolerate acts of piracy. We are authorized to use lethal force if you don’t submit to arrest immediately.”
“We are just borrowing the rocket. We’ll send it back when we are done and pay for any damages. SpaceX company secrets are not protected by US patents, so you aren’t actually obligated to protect their intellectual property.” Sergio replied.
“We have three F-16s in missile range which can destroy you at will. We would prefer not to damage the property you have stolen, but we will not hesitate if you fail to submit within the next two minutes.” The voice on the line demanded.
“We’d prefer not to destroy your planes. They look expensive. I think you should already know that we have an underwater drone rapidly approaching your coast guard ship. It’s not subtle.” Segio replied. The drone was the same design they used to chase off a submarine a few weeks earlier. He thought they could disable the ship without risking the lives of the crew. The planes would be a challenge. Sergio noted another predator drone had entered the range of their laser, and he didn’t hesitate to destroy it.
“That’s two of your drones down. We have that big laser pointing at your jets, but I really don’t want to kill your pilots. I don’t think you are even allowed in Mexico, so turn around and go home. Feel free to shoot a missile at us if you want to see how good our targeting is.” Sergio was bluffing here. He had no idea if they could hit one or more missiles in time.
There was a long pause on the line. This was clearly not a situation the coast guard had planned for. Eventually, the aircraft turned around and headed back North. The coast guard ship also pulled to a stop at the edge of US waters.
“You have destroyed US military property and stolen critical civilian assets. We know where your base is located. Your organization is now considered a terrorist group. You will face severe consequences for your actions today.” the angry radio operator announced.
Sergio cut the connection. He really hoped Nadia and Melinda knew what they were doing.