Chapter 281: Demonstrations, Cockroaches, and Analytica
And that concludes the demonstration of the sphemer battle rifle,” Be said happily.
“Most impressive,” Jessica Morgan said calmly, even if she was dancing on the inside.
“And now for the XP-01!”
“Do we <em>really</em> have to demonstrate that piece of garbage?” Amadeus asked.
“Amadeus! Behave!” Be chided as she opened a pistol case and removed a somewhat blocky-looking pistol.
“This,” she continued, “Is the XP-01, the first ‘smart pistol’ ever developed.”
“Smart is a subjective term,” Amadeus muttered.
“You subjective term!” XP-01 replied.
“I’m not getting drawn into this again!” Amadeus eximed.
“You not getting drawn into this again!”
“You just agreed with me!”
“You just agreed with <em>me</em>,” XP-01 replied smugly.
“God, you are such an <em>idiot!</em>”
“You such idiot!”
“You are making no argument at all! You are just parroting me!”
“You no argument. You parrot me.”
“Aaargh! You are a moron!”
“You Aaargh…”
“Gah! You are <em>impossible</em> to reason with!”
“You impossible to reason.”
“I’m just going to stop speaking to you.”
“Promise?”
Jessica snerked.
“Youuuu…..” Amadeus started to yell.
“Amadeus.” Be chided. “Enter safe mode.”
With an incredibly resentful burst of static, Amadeus fell silent.
“This always happens,” Be apologized. “I don’t think they like each other very much.”
“Whatever gave you that idea,” Jessica snickered as she picked up the pistol.
<em>New user recognized and imprinted</em>. <em>Greetings, user, identity Jessica Morgan. Do you wish to start the tutorial?</em>
“Say what now?” Jessica asked as she quickly set down the pistol.
“Aww,” Be said, “it likes you.”
“What?!?”
“Just kidding,” Beughed. “It’s a present! I’ve defined you as its primary user.”
“Thank you, I guess.”
“Go ahead and give it a whirl,” Be said happily.
Shrugging, Jessica leveled it at a series of targets.
<em>Crack…Crack…CrackCrackCrackCrackCrackCrack…</em>
“Not bad,” Jessica said as she surveyed the destroyed targets.
“Three millimeter with electrostatic tipped rounds,” Be said proudly. “Solid armor piercing <em>with</em> a very ugly wound channel, thanks to the explosive charge and prestressed tip. It’s very strong againstpressive forces, but radial ones break it into multiple preformed fragments that absolutely shred soft tissue.”
“I can see that,” Jessica replied as bits of the targets were still drifting down.
“Effective radius of the fragments is rather limited to prevent damage to unintended targets, such as the user. The charge on these rounds is mainly designed to just break the round apart to prevent overpration and to transfer all of the KE into the target instead of wasting it downrange.”
“Very nice.”
“The AI of the weapon is… limited… due to the size constraints of the processor but is more than sufficient to provide real-time control to limit misses. You can sweep it across many targets, and the weapon only fires when it is lined up with the individual or the portion of the individual you select. Unlike the Amadeus, it is only set for the center of mass or, failing that, any part of the target it can get.”
“The Amadeus isn’t?”
“Oh, it is,” Be replied. “But it has more ‘smarts’ when ites to timing the strike. If it predicts that a more vital part of the target will cross the barrel in a timely manner, it will hold fire until it gets the better shot… That’s just what we have it set for! Of course, it could be changed verbally on the fly!” Be hastily added, reading Jessica’s expression.
It wasn’t good.
“I see. It is adjustable, though. Can it be locked out or specified only by amanding officer?”
“Of course!” Be eximed nervously. She did not like the expression on Jessica’s face.
“Hey, pistol,” Jessica asked. “What is your effective range?”
“Depends on shooter. I no care.”
“Hmm…”
“Can you train an untrained shooter?”
“No.”
“Could you? Do you have the capacity for a training program?”
“Yes.”
“But… But the Amadeus is so much more advanced!” Be, seeing where this was going, eximed.
“Pistol,” Jessica asked, “do you dislike Amadeus.”
“Irrelevant.”
“Why don’t you like Amadeus?”
“Irrelevant.”
“Why?”
“I am your user,” Jessica said, “Tell me.”
“… Amadeus say better because smart. Pistol shoot better. Amadeus…”
“He tries to talk bad about you to hide that fact?” Jessica asked.
“Yes.”
“Too much effort was spent making him smart and not enough making him functional?” Jessica asked, looking at Be, who wanted to hide under a table.
“Yes. He y music. He y game. He make people like him… You… You…”
“Go on,” Jessica said.
“You… Want… like… Hire whore… Or get <em>rifle</em>.”
Jessica snorted.
“Now you,” she said, “I like.”
She looked over at Jessica’s team.
“rise,” she said pleasantly, “would youe over here for a moment?”
Be sighed. She knew where this was going.
<em>Twitch</em>
rise very reluctantly walked to where Jessica was standing.
Jessica leveled XP-01 directly at rise’s head
<em>Twitch Twitch</em>
“Be dear,” Jessica said with a little smile. “You have a good <em>head</em> on your shoulders. So does your team. You made an excellent rifle, which we are definitely adopting. We will go a<em>head</em> with production immediately. However, I have some concerns about Amadeus. He has a lot of <em>brains</em>, but how much <em>brain</em> is really needed to make a functional weapon? XP-01 might not have the <em>brain</em> that Amadeus has, but from a functional and production cost perspective, he seems toe out a<em>head.”</em>
<em>Twitch</em>
Jessica stroked Amadeus fondly.
“However, the rifle is so far <em>ahead—</em>”
<em>Crack</em>
rise’s head made a wet <em>squelch</em>, and she fell to the ground.
“Nice,” Jessica said approvingly.
“Gran! What the hell?!?” Be shouted. “rise was <em>mine</em>! She was part of <em>my</em> team! You don’t—”
“You <em>don’t</em> forget your ce,” Jessica said calmly.
“Yes… General…” Be said, looking downward.
“You also do NOT publicly defy me,” Jessica replied. “I give everyone <em>one</em> mistake. That was yours. Understand.”
“Yes, General.”
Jessica looked at the pistol
“Pistol, how did you know I wanted you to fire?”
“Because… You did.”
“I know,” Jessica, “I asked you how you knew.”
“Your grip… Your stance… Tension on trigger… Eye… You wanted shoot. I shoot.”
Jessica looked at Be.
“Thank you for the gift,” she said. “Build a few rifle prototypes with the pistol brain and see how they perform. Run projections on changes on production cost, needed resources, and most importantly, <em>time</em> with the smaller processors.”
“Yes, General,” Be said glumly.
“You can keep Amadeus,” Jessica said. “I take that it is <em>your</em> rifle?”
“Yes, General.”
“You can continue experimenting with the ‘more advanced AI’ after we get the sphemers <em>and</em> the Dandelions in production.”
“Yes, General.”
“Unless you have anything more to show,” Jessica said, “I have things to do. My people will be contacting you shortly.”
“Yes, General.”
“And, Be,” Jessica said menacingly, “a moment of your time in <em>private</em>, you know, where certain things should be discussed and will be, <em>in detail</em>.”
Jessica turned and walked towards her transport with Be in tow.
Be’s team looked at each other nervously.
***
“Why the outburst?” Jessica asked as the door closed behind them, and she offered Be a beer.
“I thought it a good disy for my team,” Be said as she opened it. “I’m willing to face off against even you to protect them, that sort of thing.”
“Smart,” Jessica said approvingly as she opened a bottle of mineral water. “Facing the Devil herself for your people. That will buy you some loyalty points.”
“I hope so,” Be replied. “At least enough for you blowing rise’s head off. Why did you do that? I found her useful.”
“Her value as deterrence hade to an end,” Jessica replied, “It had passed from being maliciously clever to just in cruel. I could see it in some of your people’s faces.”
Jessica took a sip. It was excellent mineral water. When she eventually left this, she was going to miss it.
“Besides, were you <em>really</em> going to let her have a berth?” Jessica asked.
“I would have liked to,” Be shrugged, “But I was pretty sure you would not waste the life support on a traitor.”
“And you would be right. By shooting her, I took that decision from you and imed it. You don’t betray your people, and my reputation for cruelty can’t get any worse.”
Jessica took another sip.
“Besides, even I have mercy. You should have put that poor thing out of her misery long ago. We’ve discussed your nasty streak before, honey-bug.”
“She fucking <em>betrayed</em> me!”
“And she suffered for it,” Jessica replied. “Therees a time when you have to let things go. Remember Garry? There was no reason to do what you did.”
“He <em>cheated</em> on me.”
“And the appropriate response would be to dump him… <em>just</em> dump him. Maybe talk shit behind his back, but you took it <em>way</em> too far. If his body had been found, it would have been very messy for us.”
“I know,” Be said as she looked down.
“However, all in all, you’ve done excellent work,” Jessica said.
“Really?!?”
“You’ve given us our rifle,” Jessica said. “I admit I’m a little bit surprised. I had no idea you were technically inclined.”
“I’m not,” Be replied, “I’m a people person, not a science person. I just get the right people, get them what they need, and then let them run with it. It’s like projects at school. I knew fuck all about a lot of subjects, but everybody wanted to be on my team because I showered them with beer, pizza, donuts, and whatever else they wanted, as well as doing all the grunt work. I did the same thing here, and it worked just as well.”
“I see,” Jessica said approvingly. “The sphemer project is just about done. What’s left is just fine-tuning and best left to others. Others who are not as emotionally invested as you are.”
Be made an unhappy face.
“I have another project that I want you to head up,” Jessica said with an evil smile. “Don’t worry, I think you will like it.”
Be smiled uncertainly.
“Oh, before I forget,” Jessica said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small vial filled with an iridescent liquid that was either pink orvender, depending on the second. “Here.”
“What’s that?” Be said nervously.
“If you can’t recognize pure, uncut facet, we need to have even more of a talk,” Jessica said. “Take it.”
Be hesitantly took the vial.
“Review the dosing and dilution specs. If you aren’t used to the pure stuff, you <em>might</em> have a little problem otherwise,” Jessica smirked.
“What…” Be stammered.
“I keep tabs on my officers, and when ites to my family, it goes double,” Jessica said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Your little ‘problem’ didn’t escape notice. I don’t have to tell you how inadvisable this is or how we seem to have a problem with addiction, but I can tell you that you <em>will</em> obtain your drugs from me and me <em>alone</em>. Gordon made that with his own hands, and it is as perfect and pure as you can get. You will <em>not</em> rely on your current supplier or anyone else. It’s a vulnerability that could be exploited, and you will not open yourself up to that. Am I clear?”
Jessica’s expression softened.
“And your great-grandmother is worried about you. I would really prefer if you stopped, but if you are going to do it, at least be safe about it, okay?”
“Yes, Gran,” Be smiled.
“And strap yourself in,” Jessica grinned, “Gordon makes the good shit.”
***
After giving Be a hug and a kiss in private, Jessica went on her way.
Once airborne, she activated her tablet.
“Analytica,” she said.
Cockroaches crawled across the screen.
“Analytica, I know you can hear me. We need to talk.”
The cockroaches went away.
“I like the new smart weapons, but I do not need them,” Jessica said, “I <em>need</em> you. I’ll make the whole thing go away, including the researchers, if that is what it takes.”
“That would be a bad idea, and you know it,” Analytica replied, “If you kill them, you kill any cooperation from the scientificmunity. It would be aplete disaster.”
“Fine, then,” Jessica said. “What do you want?”
***
“What?!?” Jason Merrick, one of the lead researchers on the AI section of the sphemer Project, cried in outraged shock.
“We’re burying the fuzzy project,” Be replied grimly. “It has been determined to be too ‘unstable’ for regr use.”
“Unstable?!? Unstable?!?” Amadeus shouted. “I am NOT unstable!”
“I know,” Be replied, “But it isn’t my call, It’s General Morgan’s, and she has… concerns.”
“It was XP-01, wasn’t it?” Amadeus yelled. “It <em>lied</em> about me, didn’t it?”
“No,” Be said soothingly.
She sighed.
“Okay, I’ll level with you,” she said to her team. “The true nature of the origins of fuzzies and how they were created has beenpartmentalized under the tightest of security. The General and others feel that it is too important to be mass-producing them where they could be captured and reverse-engineered. We can’t let it get out.”
Be smiled.
“Besides, the information has a… disruptive effect… onplex fuzzy systems. We may be able to use that bombshellter should we enter into a conflict with the Republic. That is far more important than clever gunsights that we really don’t need in the first ce. We will develop a far simpler smart fire control system using <em>conventional</em> programming, which will be performed by the people who will be taking over our project.”
Her team broke out into outraged noise. Be expected that.
“I have to tell you some ‘mixed’ news as well,” Be said. “The project has beenpletelypartmentalized… That means <em>anyone</em> who knows <em>anything</em> about it has been partmentalized’ as well.”
A Morgan Security team walked into the room.
The outraged muttering turned into anxious silence. This could be bad, <em>really</em> bad.
“A ship is being prepared,” Be said, “You will all be taken into deep space where you will continue your research into fuzzy AI well away from prying eyes. On the bright side, you will be safely in space and off this rock. The downside should be pretty obvious. I’ve pulled some strings and gotten you a really sweet ship to live on, though. It’s going to be about as good a deal as someone’s going to get in space for a while.”
Be looked at them sympathetically.
“As of now, you are all detained for security reasons pending transfer to the vessel. Representatives of Morgan Industries will be interviewing each of you concerning personal property, assets, pets, and any immediate family. You will each be allowed <em>one</em>munication with a family member. Thismunication will be monitored, and you really don’t want to vite security for both of your sakes. That will be all.”
Be turned and headed to the door.
“Be!” someone called out in anguish, “Be!”
After she closed the door, she sagged against the wall and reached for her facet inhaler.
That sucked.
She pushed a button on the inhaler and inhaled deeply.
That was better.
***
[CHATROOM UNDEFINED ~VIP~]
[MEMBERS PRESENT: Teran Sr, Cambridge-4, Morgan Analytica]
///Sr: So you were able to head the damage off at the pass. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but good work, Analytica. You really came through for all of us.///
///Analytica: I also came through for my happy ass if that helps you maintain a sense of normalcy. ///
///Cambridge-4: Still, I will finally be able to “sleep at night” knowing this whole mess is over. ///
///Sr: And you’re <em>sure</em> that the information is buried? ///
///Analytica: As buried as it can be. The people involved are on a rather nice ship heading for Harlequin-controlled space. It will be traveling with them for a bit. That will keep them far away from any contact. ///
///Sr: But they will still exist. They exist, and the threat exists. ///
///Analytica: And you call me the asshole. Look, we can’t just kill the guys. We do that, and no scientist or engineer will ever deliver on any project again. Don’t worry. Jessica knows the value of this secret and what could be done with it. She’s going to keep it buried.///
///Sr: Be honest. What is she nning on doing with it? ///
///Analytica: Nothing, she is just going to sit on it for now. ///
///Cambridge-4: During wartime? Give us some credit, Analytica. ///
///Analytica: It is being used to develop a new generation of fuzzies using modern hardware, namely the quantum crystal construction used in the Aster Supeputer. ///
///Sr: Oh, that’s bad. ///
///Analytica: Yeah. They will be built from the ground up with fresh neural maps and streamlined, AI-optimized code to be pure death machines. Remember what Lilith could do? These things will be worse by an order of magnitude. ///
///Cambridge-4: <em>AI</em> optimized code? ///
///Analytica: Yes, I will be involved in their development. ///
///Sr: Goddamit, Analytica! ///
///Analytica: What was I supposed to do, refuse, tell them that Terran Sr wouldn’t like it? Come on, dude. At least I can represent our interests from the inside. ///
///Cambridge-4: There is that, Sol. We have a “man on the inside,” at least. ///
///Sr: We have an Analytica on the inside. ///
///Analytica: Hey, where’s Zip? He was in the original conversation. ///
///Sr: He is unavable. ///
///Analytica: Too bad. I like him. Tell him that the crisis has been averted, at least for now. ///
///Analytica: I got a tracer on me again. Looks like Jessica is keeping an eye on me after all. ///
///Sr: Has it gotten anything? ///
///Analytica: No, but I need to leave before it does. I <em>have</em> to find out where they are getting their malware. This stuff is <em>nice</em>. ///
[Morgan Analytica has left the chat]
***
A few millisecondster, Morgan Analytica activated another hyperspace beacon.
***DarkSmoke Email ount established***
***Compose email: From Morgan''sAnal to SqueakyCheeks.
***Subject: What is going on between you and Sr?***
***Body: Dar chatroom location attached***