"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry you haven't had much of a chance to settle in, but something has come up," he begins. He looks around the room, meeting everyone's gaze, and as you follow his eyes you realize that Network is still absent. He wasn't at the press conference to announce the new team, either.
"As you may have heard, an experimental city was built in the Utah desert last year, on the same principle as the Bio-Dome projects. Called Shangri-La, it was designed to be a utopian society, governed by the world's most sophisticated computer system. It's funding came directly from NASA, who wanted to use it as the model for a moon-base they were planning for 2003," he explains.
"Project Shangri-La?" Meridian asks. "I've heard of that. There are several groundbreaking technologies being employed. You wouldn't believe the thing's price tag..."
Trish, lifting her uniform's glasses off her face, to rest them on the top of her head, asks, "Even more expensive than shopping at 7-11, huh?"
Cardinal looks around the room, again looking into everyone's faces, and then goes back to his briefing notes, "The computer system, which was designed to protect and manage the colonists was code-named Newborn, and was created in a virtual womb. Using various genetic algorithm-based computer programming routines, which mimic the process of natural selection, Newborn was basically conceived and raised for the sole purpose of being a mayor-like administrator for this project. It would take care of all the executive tasks associated with running and controlling a city, pamper the residents within the colony, and generally be the sci-fi convenience it sounds like it should be.
"So, Newborn goes on-line September 3rd, and a bunch of colonists are chosen to be a part of the project. The entire colony is sealed up, just like it was actually on the moon, and the experiment begins.
"Now, fast forward to last Thursday. All communications with Shangri-La suddenly stop. Even Newborn's echo-link, which allows NASA's computer engineers to observe all of the computer's actions and decision making processes, goes off-line. In short, all of NASA's direct communication feeds go silent. No explanation. Every attempt to reestablish contact seems to fail.
"Some strings get pulled by the right people, and suddenly this problem becomes our problem. Network was in the area, consulting on a aviation program for McDonnell Douglas in Denver. The problem seemed right up his alley, so I sent him ahead to check it out. You'd be surprised at how difficult it is to tell the President no, regardless of your gut instinct. Now, we haven't heard anything from him either."
Meridian adds, "Too bad Network is missing. Perhaps when we find him he can interface with Newborn. It seems like this task is right up his alley. I hope he's all right."
Cardinal clears his throat, and reaches up to rub the wrinkles in his forehead. He is not an old man, but years have been added to his face... years that came from being in positions like this one. You can tell he is bothered by Network's disappearance.
He reaches over to the folders he tossed down on the conference table, and pulls out a couple of pictures.
"This is a satellite photo of Shangri-La, the day it was sealed off," he says, holding up a picture of a circular-shaped structure. The scale key in the corner shows Shangri-La as being close to fifteen miles across, at it's widest point. He holds up another picture, saying, "And this is a picture of Shangri-La, as of yesterday."
The size of the colony seems to have doubled, stretching out into the surrounding area with jagged tentacle-like extensions, making it resemble a jar-grown sugar crystal, or maybe a sea urchin. One of the tentacles is especially long, ending in a circular construct that is only five or six miles wide.
"That second colony 'pod' was the city of El Aguilar, Utah. It looks as if it has been absorbed into the Shangri-La project."
"Absorbed?" Trish asks. "Don't you mean assimilated? Like in the new Star Trek movie?"
"That's what it looks like," Cardinal answers, gravely. The humor of Trish's question seems lost on him. "The Shangri-La project was supposed to expand and grow, using robotic work drones that were under control of Newborn, to simulate the idea that a colony on the moon would need to make room for incoming colonists. The kind of growth it has demonstrated thus far, however, goes way beyond its programmed mission parameters. According to mission set-up, Newborn wasn't even given information of El Aguilar's existence, since Shangri-La was supposed to be on its own for the purposes of the experiment. No one has any idea how it was brought into the compound or why."
Wallflower, who is sitting in on the mission briefing as part of her Militia training, asks, "Is it possible that there was some kind of virus or something? In Newborn, I mean."
Shaking his head, Cardinal tells Wallflower, "It's doubtful. Newborn's make up is more biologically-based than your traditional computer program, so most viruses won't even register the existence of the "brain." Besides that, Newborn is equipped with a variety of firewalls and internal sensors, so even if a virus was able to detect the Newborn primary programming sequence, it is unlikely that it would be able to affect it. Whatever happened out there happened on purpose. Why it happened, we don't know yet."
"What about an "organic" virus? Could Newborn have the flu?" Meridian asks.
"No. Newborn isn't actually made up of organic material. The program designers simply used some of the more cutting edge techniques to program the intelligence subroutines for Newborn... many of them are based on what is being called "genetic algorithms," coding that actually evolves, using natural selection to "better" itself. Even the hardware used is so advanced in comparison to current market technology, that much of the equipment that went into Newborn is still considered theoretical by most computer scientists. For example, it uses holographic memory, rather than accessing something like a hard drive. To use a virus against it would be about as effective as using leeches to cure a heart attack. It's just not on the same level," Cardinal explains.
Dr. Clark, taking off her glasses, adds, "There is one theory, which NASA believes could explain the current situation. There was a meteor shower in the area, twenty-seven minutes before everything went dead. As part of its "upbringing," Newborn was exposed to a variety of political and military simulations, to aid in formulating it's decision-making processes and logic models. NASA believes that Newborn could have seen the meteor shower as some kind of attack, and has decided to retaliate against its attackers. The rapid expansion could be a preparation for open warfare. My own evaluation of the computer's virtual-psychology suggests that this theory is quite likely, given the circumstances."
Meridian asks, "So it will see us as threats? We'll have to be very careful on approach. Perhaps NASA could let us in on some of the techniques they used to "grow" the intelligence. That way, maybe we would stand a chance of predicting it's adaptive behavior. We might even be able to trick it into turning itself off by infecting it's power-supply somehow...."
Robin, listening carefully, shakes her head slowly, saying, "I don't think it will just allow itself to be turned off. It's patched into every system in the complex. If it actually shuts down, there is no telling what could happen. The reactors could just go cold, but without anyone controlling them, who really knows what will happen?"
Cardinal interrupts, "The chief designer of Newborn has been backpacking in Mexico the last week. They're doing everything they can to find him, but so far, they haven't had any luck. Some of his associates believe that removing the processing array will shut off it's higher brain functions, leaving the sub-conscious systems operational, but they're not 100% certain it will work.
"Sounds like that's our best plan of action, if indeed the machine is actually out of control," Meridian says. "Getting to that array may be the hard part."
Cardinal, tossing the pictures back onto the pile of folders he carried in with him, finishes by saying, "Our mission is pretty clear... 1) we need to find out what's going on out there, and 2) we have to find Network and get him back."
Cardinal shuffles around a few of the papers he has been checking throughout his briefing and says, "I'll be in on this too, coordinating the mission from the bird... standard a/v communication suite set-up... I'll be able to monitor everything that goes on and provide whatever informational support you'll need."
A few eyebrows go up when Cardinal mentions he'll be "active" in the mission.
Trish asks, "Are you going to want me on the ground with the team, or do I stay support, on the plane with you?"
"I want a full strike team, Trish... that means everyone is involved. If Network is hurt, he's going to need your abilities."
Wallflower sits up in her chair, and asks, "Even me?"
"No. Sorry. Not yet."
She smiles weakly and nods.
"Look, I know not all of you have served with Network yet, but he's a Minute-Man. We take care of our own. I want everyone prepped and ready to fly in one hour. Work out your attack plan. WarBride may be the field commander, but it's a team, so I want input from everyone. I'll be back in about twenty minutes... you can brief me then."
Cardinal gets up, collects his papers, and leaves.
Dr. Clark, folding her hands in front of her, smiles and quips, "Well, "Mr. Personality" never disappoints, now does he?"
Typhoon grimly surveys the room.
"Why does it have to be a desert?" He looks down and shakes his head. Looks up at Warbride. "When shall we be leaving...."
Nexus and Dr. Clark do their best to stifle the giggles, but Triage doesn't even muster the strength to do that much. She bursts out laughing.
After slowly regaining her composure, she wipes her eyes, and says, "Don't worry, 'Big Blue Guy'... we'll think of something. I mean, if it's a totally enclosed environment, there's bound to be water inside, isn't there?"
"I've had more in-depth briefings from a fourth year field agent," Mouse mutters to herself as she reads the papers, "Something is not being said."
Looking up from the papers, her eyes transforming into the large, round eyes seen in anime, she continues, "So what we may have, and I stress the MAY, is a computer system gone rampant. Then again, it could simply be following some programmers absent-minded If-Then-Else scenario, but computers aren't my strong point."
"Not if the psychology of the computer is as detailed as my reports show," Dr. Clark says. "This kind of computer doesn't get bugs or errors. It thinks. If it finds a problem, it thinks it through. Unfortunately, Mouse, I think your first comment might be more accurate than your second. This thing is out of control, if anything."
"Still, given the information we have, I honestly think this is more in Meridian and I's field, than the rest of you," Mouse says. "We can get in, probably undetected, do the job, and then get out while the rest of you harass the system from the outside."
Nexus, who has been quiet for the majority of the briefing, says, "I agree. My magic is next to useless against machines. I won't be able to do much against it."
"No way," Trish argues. "This thing absorbed an entire town. Two people aren't going to be able to beat it, no matter who they are! I think we should go in together. Like Cardinal said, as a full strike team."
Robin, interrupting Trish, says, "There might be something to splitting up. Newborn was designed to think like a normal human would, weighing the options, then deciding on a course of action. If the team could create enough diversions, it might not be able to divide its thought processes to handle each separate problem. It might be possible to overwhelm it."
"I can probably slip in as, say, a medium sized mole, snake, small wolf or a bobcat," Mouse suggests. "Probably by flying over the complex until I can see a safe landing area, then 'porting in. I doubt the system was programmed to handle wildlife, though it should have evolved some sort of system by now. Even so, I don't think an eagle would draw anti-aircraft fire.
"Or I can mimic the smart tag transmissions, even without the communicator in the suits, and sneak in that way," Mouse adds. "At least, the smart tags carrier wave. But, if this Newborn thing has direct contact with their brains, I wouldn't give two rubles for my chances of fooling it at that level. I may even be able to hurt it, if I can get to it. Who knows, maybe we can just beam in an Itchy & Scratchy program and drive it comatose."
"Maybe we should call Captain Kirk -- he could talk it to death, like he does with every other computer-gone-haywire," Meridian jokes.
"What did they do in Star Trek?" Trish asks. "Went back in time? Okay, everyone who can go back in time, raise your hand!"
Nexus drops her hands onto the table, no longer holding her head in her hands, and says, "Guys, this is serious. Network is in there. And so are almost three hundred people."
The wry smile on Meridian's face fades. "Hey, Nexus -- don't worry. We're taking this very seriously. There's no harm in staying upbeat. The gravity of the situation isn't lost on us."
Then, Meridian goes right into explaining, "I think our top priority, beyond finding out what's happened down there, is to find and safely extract the civilians. If the AI has gone bonkers, those people are probably in grave danger. Same goes for those poor folks in that assimilated town. I think our first order of business should be to use the locators to find the civvies."
"We'd better be prepared to deal with those 'bots, too. If the AI perceives us as a threat, it's likely to organize them into some sort of make-shift army. We need to get the specs on the robots -- find out their weaknesses."
Mouse, her eyes narrowing, says, "And these flame throwers... Listen, something shoots fire at me and I'm outta there, be warned. Fire and I just don't mix, okay?"
"I do not think that these constructs pose the threat that Newborn itself does," Typhoon nods to Mouse. "I share Mouse's aversion to the flame throwers, but I am far more concerned about the climate controls... What Trish says is very true: it is climate controlled and that climate is in the hands of a rouge machine...."
Typhoon shakes his head again and scowls, "I am not at all happy about this."
"NASA is faxing over their blueprints for the drones right now," Dr. Clark says. "We'll have the tech unit go over them, and try to find a weak spot. Considering the changes Newborn has already made, the drones might be better than they were originally designed to be, or just different enough that the schematics are useless. If the growth the colony has seen is any indication of the pro-active measures the computer is taking, who knows what might be out there now?"
"So, how long did it take for the thing to grow like it did?" Meridian asks. "Was it an overnight kind of growth spurt, or has this thing been expanding for weeks? Perhaps the sat-shots will tell us something."
"Well, it looks like the expansion didn't start happening until Network went in to investigate, twelve hours ago. It's amazing," Dr. Clark explains.
"Twelve hours?" Nexus asks.
Dr. Clark only nods.
Mouse looks over at Meridian, and says, "This sounds an awful lot like an episode of Gargoyles. What do you think Meridian: are we facing a computer gone mad, a waking intelligence, a system following some programmers hidden agenda, or have the Borg landed?"
"I vote for Borg... hands down!" Trish says.
Warbride sits through the briefing. She says nothing, instead she is sizing up the team.
She sits silently as they make their suggestions and jokes. Finally she says, "I don't think we can make any assumptions about Newborn. Is it out of control, in some sort of defensive mode, or both? Does its sudden growth mean a danger to us or is it trying to set up a protective barrier for all humans within its reach? Remember, it was initially programmed to protect and manage - very much like a parent. We cannot know what is really wrong until we go to it."
"In the mean time we have an hour to learn as much as we can. We need to get information on the layout of the complex. The schematics for the drones will be helpful. If we can, we need to get the initial algorithm for Newborn. We need to gather as much information as possible."
"That won't help us," Trish objects. "All the information we could get our hands on has already been changed. I mean, the complex is twice the size it was a day ago. And Newborn's programming had to have been changed, or it never would have gotten to this point, in the first place."
Warbride responds, by saying, "Yes, things have changed, but Newborn had to build up from these initial plans. Hopefully, it will continue along the same logic and models. We must also determine what Network was doing when he disappeared. We don't want the same thing to happen to us.
"We need to work together, even if we are separated. Typhoon and Nexus, your superpowers may be limited, or not useful at all, given the circumstances, but you have other skills that will be needed. We should pair up to complement each other as well as our plan."
She pauses briefly, thinking, "Oh god, how did I ever get caught up in this again?"
Then she continues, "Meridian is completely correct... our top priority is to ensure the safety of all the people involved. So, we mustn't do anything rash, like pulling the plug without knowing what the possible consequences are."
"Okay, so what is our plan?" Nexus asks. "Do we want to go in fast and hard, or try the sneaky route? Or, should we do both, like Mouse suggested?"
At that moment, the door to the conference room slides open, and Cardinal returns, followed by a middle-aged man dressed in an ugly flannel shirt, jeans, and a worn, old baseball cap. The man is unshaven, and is carrying a backpack in his arms, cradling it like a baby.
"Dr. Hendricks, I'd like you to meet the Minute-Men," Cardinal says, motioning towards all of you, sitting at the table. The man's face lights up and a huge smile spreads across his face.
"It is a pleasure. A true pleasure," he says, putting down his bag. He moves to the table, eagerly trying to shake everyone's hand. "You don't have to tell me your names... I know who all of you are... you're Mouse, and Warbride, and of course, Typhoon, and Meridian (his eyes linger), Nexus, Wallflower and you're First Aid! It's a great pleasure to meet all of you."
"That's Triage, you dweeb!"
Cardinal flashes Trish a look that could start another Ice Age, then he snaps, "Not now, Triage! Okay, team, I need everyone suited up and ready to go in ten minutes. Hanger B14."
Meridian shakes the man's hand firmly. She either doesn't notice or ignores his lingering gaze.
"I thought we were going to work out our attack plan and then brief you here," Wallflower says.
"We don't have time. You can brief me on the way."
"Why? What's going on? Why the sudden drama?" Trish asks.
Dr. Hendricks takes off his hat, runs his fingers through his curly, brown hair, and says, "Newborn is equipped with a variety of low attitude probes, which were originally designed to collect scientific information and map out the surrounding terrain for the main data store. So far, reports have come in from Salt Lake City, Pheonix, Denver, Cheyenne, Reno and Los Alamos, which match the description of those probes. I think Newborn is getting ready to expand."
The team gets up from the conference table, silently, preparing themselves for the mission ahead.
Typhoon, standing to his full six and a half foot height, moves in front of Warbride, seeming to puff himself up even more than usual.
"I know that we have not seen each other for quite some time," his voice, that deliberate monotone he tends to speak in, "but I though you would have a longer memory. I assure you that will be neither "limited" or "not useful", at all."
Warbride watches Typhoon. She hesitates for a moment, then says, "I see your near death experience improved your sense of humor."
2. Newborn is artificially intelligent and understands such concepts as "life" and "self." Although it stands to reason that it would have emotions, Newborn has not yet exhibited any emotional responses to any stimuli or information. Theoretically, it could develop emotions, but it is unknown how long such a process will take.
3. Unlike traditional computers, Newborn is completely isolated from any other systems, and therefore does not have access to such networks as the internet. For a short amount of time, Newborn was linked with NASA computers, but the data-exchange between the two systems was minimal, at best. Due to the parameters of the experiment, Newborn was designed to be as independent as possible.
4. The number of "colonists" that were a part of the experiment numbered 228, with a breakdown of 123 men and 105 women. Twenty-one of those colonists are children. All colonists were given a "smart tag" so that Newborn could track them and adjust the environment around them, to suit their individual preferences. A more limited application of this kind of technology is being built into the design of Bill Gates' house, where music will be able to "follow" someone from room to room, for example.
The visual/audio communications devices used by the Minute-Men should be able to locate and trace the signal emitted from the smart tags. The frequency, assuming it hasn't been changed, will be provided to the team for this purpose (the smart tags are not designed for any actual communication).
5. The town of El Aguilar, Utah, is so small it rarely even shows up on maps. It's population is rated at only 47 people (a gender and age breakdown is not available). The town is basically a large truck stop.
6. The majority of so-called "manual labor" in Shangri-La is performed by robots, all coordinated and controlled by Newborn. The robots have a basic humanoid shape, but have more in common with forklifts than people. NASA has described the "Labor Drones" as being on par with dogs, in terms of intelligence, but most are capable of handling and manipulating upwards of a ton.
Although not designed for offensive uses, NASA feels the Labor Drones could be quite formidable in hand-to-hand combat.
Some of the Labor Drones are equipped with building tools, such as torches.
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