MACHINATIONS OF A MACHINE MIND

“Ingrams.”

Historical Adjutant Kant Ingrams looked up from his work the moment he heard his name. A quick check on the security cameras mounted on the wall behind him showed that no one was likely to come by in the next few minutes, giving him leave to have this most important conversation in uninterrupted privacy. Ingrams rose, locked the door to his office, and sat back down. “Here, sir.”

The Trinity AI’s voice was an asexual, crisply spoken voice this time. The last time the ruler of Humanity had spoken with Kant Ingrams, it had been a deep, rumbling basso profundo voice filled with power. “Garth N’Chalez has left Trinityspace.”

Nonplussed, Kant sent a request through his personal AI for all the data he’d accumulated on N’Chalez over the last five years. “He penetrated the Cordon on his own? That’s supposed to be impossible.”

“It remains impossible.” Trinity replied evenly.

“Then …” Ingrams pursed his lips while he tracked an errant thought. “What is he doing in Lately space?”

“He is following his instincts.”

“Ah. I see.” Even though five years had passed, Kant was still a firm believer that the entire corps of men and women dug out of Pluto had willfully misrepresented themselves to the Trinity government. Neither did he hold any form of resentment towards Trinity itself; there was no point in harboring ill will towards an entity so vast and powerful that your life meant nothing at all. Ingrams did feel a small burst of vindication, though. Garth N’Chalez freeing himself from the albatross of a Tynedale/Fujihara debt and taking off for the one place in the entire universe that seemed to offer answers was all the proof he needed to know he’d been right all along.

“In the course of your investigations five years ago, you were alerted by another person in your offices of a ship, a ship similar in nature to the one the Decantees were recovered from, in Lately space. What were your conclusions?”

Kant read the data as it came through. “As I expected, they rigorously denied me access to their system. As a show of good faith, however, they provided me with enough high-resolution holographic footage of the ship and record logs of the discovery to competently analyze the vessel. In the end, I determined that the similarities were nothing more than statistical anomalies.”

“Oh?”

“Yes".” Kant nodded fluidly. “They went so far as to provide me with the metallurgical breakdown of their ‘Box’. I went over the data very carefully. Taking into consideration that the irrationally paranoid Latelians would have taken great steps to alter their reports, the duronium alloy they use is greatly advanced, but is in no way consistent with the alloy or metal of our ship. As for the exterior designs and general shape of their Box, long-term comparisons of thousands of ships of similar nature show a tendency for designers to follow a specific type.” Kant sent the data he’d gathered in the course of his investigation off. “My personal opinion is that the Box was designed in a Latelian laboratory five thousand years ago in an attempt to bolster a failing civilization. From the history of the time, I would say it worked, and very well. My opinion is that Garth N’Chalez is wasting his time there. They will certainly not allow him access to it, leaving them open to the man’s savage talents. For all their obsession on the nature of religion, they worship their national treasure.”

“He will gain access, and with their leave.” Trinity corrected. “Five years ago the Latelians began permitting Trinity citizens to join in their Contest. The grand prize for the winner has always been the opportunity to try and open the Box.”

“What would you like me to do, sir? It’s unlikely in the extreme that anyone will ever accomplish that goal. The indication on these new files,” Kant gestured to his screen, which flowed with summations of Trinity pilots allowed to make stops in Latelyspace, “seems to be that the people there are in trouble again. Letting someone open their Box would be disastrous. If,” Kant added after a moment’s thought, “it’s even built to be opened.”

“It is not about the Box, its design similarities to the ship, or the Latelian’s predisposition towards self-destruction every five thousand years that I want you to go Hospitalis for.” Trinity said patiently. “It is true that the Latelians are in a state of disastrous civil flux at the moment. In an effort to swing their economy away from one primarily militaristic, the Chairwoman has been trying to acclimatize her people to Trinity. Naturally, the most effective tactic to build on this is to allow Trinity soldiers, mercenaries, or criminals to fight in their Contest; if the general population can be made comfortable with their presence there, they can be made to accept more frequent visitors. This has made the Chairwoman very unpopular in certain sectors. So unpopular that their society sits on the brink of a civil war that could quite literally tear their planets apart. Before he was permitted to enter Latelian space, Garth N’Chalez was required to make his service record from Special Forces available to the proper authorities.”

“I see.” Kant nodded, taking over the conversation. “The Chairwoman and her military advisors undoubtedly imagine that N’Chalez is there at your behest to exploit their weakening situation. Because of the Act of Sovereignty you passed, if they can catch him doing something that they can definitively prove is in violation of that Act, they can put a great deal of pressure on your government.”

“Ordinarily, I would not care. The petty machinations of individuals have little concern for me; the ‘pressure’ you allude to would have no affect on my plans for Humanity. I honor their sovereignty for no particular reason other than that group of planets seems to immune to the Dark Ages, a fact which requires more study.” Trinity paused. “Someone in the government has given Garth N’Chalez the freedom to do what he would. Since he believes that this Box is somehow connected to him, that ‘whatever’ will most definitely be catastrophic for Hospitalis. If he is not the victor in the Offworld portion of the Contest, he will undoubtedly seek to gain access any way possible, and it is definite he will react poorly when it is discovered that the Box is a cunning fake.”

“Garth’s actions would not fall under the purview of Historical resurrection, sir. His tendencies towards violence and civil destruction would best be handled by one of your other governmental agencies.” Kant didn’t particularly care arguing with Trinity, but there was little else he could do; since Garth had been cut loose, anything he did fell more towards the Army, or even better, the Enforcers.

“I do not want you to go to Hospitalis in your official capacity as Historical Adjutant, Kant Ingrams.” Trinity said chidingly, as if Kant was the stupidest person in the world. “Garth N’Chalez’ gravnetic shield generators may have set off a chain reaction, resulting in a rapid escalation of the coming Dark Age. I want you to go to Hospitalis as a member of the Dark Age Cabal. I want you to address N’Chalez, and convince him to return to Trinityspace so that he can turn his potent talents to the task of turning aside this next Age. If he remains on Hospitalis during this turbulent period, there is a very high probability that he will die.”

“I … see.” The news that Trinity was aware of his ‘illegal’ activities in the Dark Age Cabal was disheartening, but not altogether unsurprising, given Trinity’s status; the galactic AI had been in place for most of Man’s journey through the stars, and proving itself time and again as the master of all things secret. It was shocking however, to be authorized by the Trinity AI to act on its behalf to persuade someone like N’Chalez to join an organization that was, at its heart, fundamentally against rule-by-AI. “Do you want me to do more than persuade him, if it comes down to it?” Because of his training, Kant was not afraid to step up and deliver as good as he got, it was just that he preferred the bureaucratic method above all others.

“No. Garth N’Chalez is still an unknown quantity. His invention has drastically altered the face of planetary protection, which makes your original assessment of him and the others more correct than I imagined. At the time of his Decanting, he may not have been aware of who and what he was; this may not be true any longer. If we force him to join the Cabal, he may well do so, but with a philosophy very different than the one you and your cabbalistic friends practice; it is not so much that you loathe being ruled by an AI, but that I am secretive, and keep the ‘good stuff’ from you all. Angry and given access to the resources that people like Jordan Bishop can offer, Garth N’Chalez will work at cross-purposes to my reign, bringing about far more destruction and devastation than either you or I would want: psychological profiles run on him during his employment with Special Forces indicates he has no love for me. Or for you. When you meet with him, do so carefully. Familiarize yourself of his activities with the Forces, understand his unique nature fully before you broach his confidence. No matter how prepared you are, he will still be very unhappy to see you.”

“As you command, sir.” Kant waited a few minutes, then began filling out the necessary paperwork for an extended leave for personal reasons. Of course the request would be granted, because it would pass up the food chain of governmental bureaucracy until it reached one of Trinity’s primary representatives, where it would be rubber stamped. Under normal circumstances, a vacation request would take months to be processed because an Historical Adjutant asking for personal time off was like the commander of a nuclear silo leaving the base with the keys to missiles in his pocket, and as such, required serious consideration.