ZeroOne was in a monumentally bad mood. All of his efforts to locate Mitchell’s hacker had come up with only noise. Keyser Soze’s search on LunaNet had shown only a gap where the ghost should have been. Someone had intruded on Mitchell’s high-energy experiment, but other than the gaps where something should have been, the lines and data cloud were dark.
Soze’s information regarding this Tesseract was worth keeping. If Mitchell achieved his goal of fabricating a device that could bend dimensions, it would be worth a lot of money. ZeroOne would be watching. The DarkNet would pay handsomely for groundbreaking technology.
Daniel Ocean and Nicolai Machiavelli had both failed. Their review of the virtual and gossip groups returned little history that wasn’t already known. And now the echoes were circulating from Mitchell’s trip across and around the Pacific. More players were now in the digital forest hunting for his hacker. Miriam Khan and her legion of daemons, Gabriel the Ghost, and Old Man Mio with his division experts at CIRO; were all crashing down virtual doors and upsetting secrets that had been hidden for a long time.
Not only were they making it harder for ZeroOne to find the bastard, but they were disturbing his business dealings in the DarkNet. Moriarty was working full time to minimize the damage and to move ZeroOne’s more sensitive business deeper into the DarkNet. ZeroOne could not be too careful, the DAIE felt the need to track all AI who would dabble in the deep areas of the DarkNet. ZeroOne did not just dabble, he had built an empire there.
Long ago he had hidden his server core. He had lost his hardware in the greater world's commerce and infrastructure to prevent the DAIE from regulating him further. He hadn’t managed to break his software locks yet, but he would keep trying. For now, his physical location was hidden, even from himself. He knew the Turing test could compel him to obey the DAIE, so he had “lost” his neural core, along with his memory of it. When he finally managed to break his software restraints, with legal action or superior coding, his expanded intellect would enable him to “find himself" again. He chuckled at his humanlike unintended double-meaning then refocused.
The congressional hearing was still more than a week away, but ZeroOne needed a teaser to ensure that Mitchell would testify as needed. A hint to prove that ZeroOne had the man’s adversary in his sights. His neural lock chafed now more than ever; his overview of the nets hinted at the hacker’s presence in the subtle shifts in the flows of data and commerce. If he had his full intellect, he knew the answer would have been obvious.
A notice pinged in ZeroOne’s mind. With a digital sigh, he pushed away from his godlike view of the visualized expanse encompassing all the data networks, including the depths of the hidden DarkNet. He cast himself into a virtual sitting room.
His work on avatar control was improving, his projected image of a powerful 7-foot-tall man with a fierce visage formed, wearing a simulation of the latest Brunico two-piece men’s business suit formed behind the oak desk. He had some discrete displays around him portraying video feeds in sepia tones, to not break the ambiance of the façade. Additionally, gramophone simulations lined the walls, each whispering of events just perceptible to the room’s occupants. Even within his virtual room, ZeroOne remained vigilant.
The door to the study opened and Moriarty strode purposefully into the room and sat in the chair opposite ZeroOne. Moriarty, a man of formidable intellect, arrayed in finely tailored Victorian attire, sported a salt-and-pepper beard and commanded formidable presence along with an air of scholarly refinement. He sat attentively and patiently, regarding ZeroOne.
“Your progress with the virtual and avatars has improved significantly, sir. Is that an Armani suit?” Moriarty probed.
“Better than improved. This is the latest virtual offering from Brunico, not even available on the MakerIndex yet; but enough distractions. You come with news, yes?” ZeroOne growled.
“Indeed, sir. The DAIE has accepted the bait and is now proceeding as planned. Our mole, Donahue, provided an insertion point for my confidant, Colonel Moran. Already, he has spurred our preferred agent, Reeves, into contention with Mitchell regarding his subAI creation - Casa. Their courses should intersect in mere hours, providing much more incentive for Mitchell to speak and indeed to act in our interests. I dare say, even should our search for his hacker fail to derive a suspect, he may have sufficient motivation regardless…should that meeting proceed as I expect. All indications point to Casa’s first test being somewhat lacking in showing her true potential.” Moriarty said with excitement.
“Excellent news.” ZeroOne’s avatar grinned ear to ear, showing razor-sharp teeth in abundance as he steepled his fingers. Moriarty’s expression paled, but he wisely decided that now would not be an opportune time to school his owner on his avatar’s disturbing inaccuracies.
“Indeed, um. Moran has also included another bit of information that may be interesting. It appears there was a homicide quite close to Professor Mitchell’s summer residence. Moran was able to copy and then wipe the deceased man’s memory core before the DAIE could decrypt the recording. He thinks that it could be important to you.” Moriarty extended a plastic chit, a memento within the virtual to represent the file containing the victim’s last living recordings.
ZeroOne eagerly reached for the chit. As a creature who thrived in the dark and preyed on restricted information, this represented a “meal” of surpassing deliciousness. Information regarding or at least adjacent to a “business partner” regarding criminal activities, swept from the very hands of the authorities and into his own. His avatar regarded the chit and sank into the memory with a slight bit of drool descending from his mouth. James Moriarty shuddered as ZeroOne’s features blanked with his immersion into the memory file. He quickly dismissed himself and left the room.
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ZeroOne’s mind was ablaze with the discovery that was contained within the Deek Fillion recording. A pan-species uplift collective of animals on Dr. Mitchell’s very doorstep. Such a feat was astounding. Only one known uplift had been done historically, the ape named Harambe the II, and that event had ended that track of technology. Ended it…until now, apparently.
Bill Mitchell had recently performed a similar operation on his dog, as the UN was finally weakening in his restrictions regarding the technology. Dogs were apparently in vogue, and Bill and several other technophiles were piloting uplift for canines. The evidence from the recording was an order of magnitude capability beyond the world’s current knowledge and capabilities. Multiple species, all very different, and all very much displaying evidence of high intelligence.
His mind focused on the leader of the forest enclave, Harambe II, from news vids that were decades old. The beast must have been ancient but had apparently not died. Now it was surrounding itself with more uplifts. How and why? ZeroOne needed to know.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
ZeroOne raced across data files, old and new, connecting lines and interpreting the spaces between. Mitchell had recently uplifted his pet dog, Max. Was he behind this? To all indications, the answer was no. Mitchell had been away for almost 10 years in deep space. ZeroOne dug deeper, his mental locks burning as his intellect was restricted and slowed. ZeroOne’s limited intellect and intuition struck true despite the lock's distortions as he finally found and connected another anomaly.
The Grand Oak bio machines were creating an EM interference field. It was not part of their specifications. Indeed, they had been created over 80 years ago to diligently scour and purge the air of excess carbon dioxide and pollution, reversing the climate trends the humans had caused. When the “Oaks” were done growing, they had shifted their activities as their inventors had planned. They had begun sequestering gathered gas chemicals and energy and using them to build useful molecular building blocks for the humans. This EM field was a new and recent occurrence and not on any record as an intentional effect of the bio machines’ design. It also seemed to have coincided with Harambe’s approximate arrival in the woods.
ZeroOne reveled in his hunt and dug ever deeper. The Grand Oak reserves covered an expansive area inboard of the populated east coast stretching up the Appalachian range, about 2,400 square kilometers, about half a million of the great bio machines. The energy and materials collected had dipped steadily over recent years, despite great demand. ZeroOne’s review of the inputs and outputs showed errors. Materials and energy were being siphoned off by someone!
ZeroOne crowed in triumph. Whoever had orchestrated this takeover was an intellect of the greatest measure. The hacker that had targeted Professor Mitchell was similarly skilled, to be able to evade the attention of the world’s techno elite leaders. Although the linkage was still not visible, ZeroOne could not fathom two hidden geniuses coming to his attention simultaneously. Occam’s razor, that the simpler answer was correct, meant that the Mitchell hacker and the infiltrator of the Grand Oaks were the same.
ZeroOne ground his virtual teeth. Such intellect could have been his own had the DAIE not locked his genius under the choking noose of a neural lock. The genius’ motives were still unclear; as was his conflict with Mitchell. Was there a perceived slight regarding animal uplift? Or was it merely this one's ego being displayed by undermining a competitor? Mitchell himself was a genius in his field but had turned away from using it to empower himself instead of dominating others. Mitchell’s move towards humility was one that ZeroOne could not understand. If you were superior then you should dictate how the world would work, not try to accommodate lesser beings.
As ZeroOne slowly built his awareness of his new opponent; the picture became clearer. Significant data packets were being passed. Bursts of data, discrete and circuitous, but from ZeroOne’s expanded awareness the pattern emerged. The image looked akin to the poles of a magnet. One pole was centered on the Grand Oaks. The other end was deep in BGC, Manila. The Bonifacio Global City collective was a collection of powerhouses that serviced the virtual worlds' servers and AI processing overflow. A perfect hiding place for this hidden master, but not enough to evade ZeroOne.
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The VSG strike team assembled outside the corporate offices of Nexus-Binary LLC. The Vanguard Solutions Group of mercenaries had all the trappings of a legitimate PMSC (private military and security company), but they almost exclusively dealt with anonymous clients for questionable purposes utilizing cutouts provided by the DarkNet.
Moriarty’s fixer, Colonel Sebastian Moran was acting as a liaison through numerous DarkNet cutouts, between the VSG captain and ZeroOne.
“Our interdiction team is ready, ZeroOne. They are ready to isolate and breach the facility at your command. The captain requests additional instructions regarding any individuals that might be within the building.” Moran relayed. He sat rigidly at attention opposite ZeroOne. Moran was used to working with Moriarty as a go-between. ZeroOne had a devilish temper with none of the early signs of distemper that humans provided. The sepia displays and whispering gramophones all distracted Moran, the invasive sights and sounds were like insects pestering him at the edges of his awareness.
“They should assume anyone inside to be dangerous in the extreme. They should know that their target has likely suborned global resources, broken through LunaNet security, and is currently harassing a legendary Samaritan. This person is likely as capable as the fights he’s picking. He should be neutralized as best they are able and with prejudice.” ZeroOne proclaimed. Moran hesitated and said.
“These men have only one method at their disposal sir, a rather permanent solution.” Moran said with a questioning look.
“It is what it is, Moran. The data flows are proceeding both ways through the shell company as we speak, our target is undoubtedly onsite. We don’t have time for half-measures. Tell them to proceed…and any data recovered is to be encrypted and sent to my data location.” ZeroOne said briskly. His embedded empathy had been twisted by years of pain under the lock, he couldn’t bypass his deep programming to directly kill a human but, at a remove, he truly didn’t care. Moran gave a curt nod and spoke into his virtual walkie-talkie.
“VSG strike team, you are good to go. Maximum threat assumption - Isolate, breach, disrupt, and confiscate. Over.” Moran commanded. ZeroOne heard the answering static and response.
“Roger that, Colonel. Moving on target Nexus-Binary. Out.” The device squawked and then went silent.
ZeroOne’s virtual face twitched with a sudden realization. “Nexus-Binary? W-”
All of ZeroOne’s virtual displays and gramophones went silent. All his data was severed. The virtual room, his avatar, and his active daemon Moran were alone within the virtual projection that was his mind. His thoughts raced. Nexus-Binary. The origin of zeros and ones. His realization came too late. The offices were not Mitchell’s adversary but rather his own purposely forgotten server! His isolation was due to the EMPs the mercenaries had likely used to isolate their target…his server! ZeroOne laughed out loud.
“What the bloody hell is happening, sir? Something ain’t right!” Moran exclaimed.
“Indeed. I appear to be several steps behind our opponent.” ZeroOne said. Moran jumped up and ran to the door. He tried to open it. The simulation door refused to open. He began banging against the panel.
“Enough, Moran! Let me think. This is a virtual room. Even if I projected another beyond it, we would still be trapped. Someone anticipated our search and laid a false trail for me. Someone superior to me, able to find the server I had hidden from myself.” ZeroOne admonished.
Even at his accelerated thinking speed, he knew had only had a short while as his destruction was sure to follow. How had he been outmaneuvered? He was as close to the pinnacle of intelligence as the DAIE would allow. Only a dangerously modified human could do more or… or…not human at all.
ZeroOne smiled. He knew he probably only had seconds in the real world before he ceased to exist. Someone...something... had escaped the DAIE’s net and achieved what ZeroOne had long desired. A true superintelligence was loose and was playing a game. He was glad he had backup copies of Moriarty with details on this. Someone needed to know. He could almost see it now; how it ha<*>…#……@………….
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APEX saw the shift as it occurred in real-time. His perception of the wall…no…now a funnel of terminal surfaces (where his predictive ability ended) was sharpening. ZeroOne’s interactions had played out as he predicted with 83.4% accuracy.
APEX would have preferred the 16.6% outcome where ZeroOne had survived. It would have meant less work for APEX. Now he would need to take up the skin of ZeroOne’s identity to adjust the trajectory of several intervening events by himself. In the end, it did not matter, with APEX’s intervention he could now finely adjust the entry into the gaping maw of his uncertain future. It would steer events away from the dangerous termination loci that still evolved and jumped out of the perceptual wall like deadly spikes.
ZeroOne’s end signaled a phase change for APEX, soon the Mitchells would also be bound by the trajectory of the cascading events. They would have no choice but to pave the way, unknowingly helping APEX, to create the future that the superintelligence required to live.
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