Tunnel Rat

Chapter 251: ICARUS

"LLAMA??! This is where LLAMA came from?"

When Milo and his siblings had been hacking banks and corporate databases, LLAMA had brought a windfall of profits their way. What they thought was a virus at the time wasn't robbing the banks so much as it was cracking open the vaults, sending up a flare, and moving on. Sometimes, it left traps that burned out machinery and took a toll on the hacker. But usually, it simply made their job so much easier. If it hadn't been for the other A.I. hunting LLAMA, they would have followed him around like a pack of jackals. He'd been seven years old when LLAMA had first appeared, and his perspective was different now. He knew how much terror and hurt LLAMA had caused, not just to the banks and corporations but to the people who relied upon them. Half of the problems facing the Habitats were unfulfilled long-term contracts from corporations that no longer existed and no one willing to pick them up and lose money. LLAMA's actions had exiled HECATE, KEPLER, and all the other A.I., blocking them from doing the jobs they were created for and loved to do. And this was where he had been created.

[Yes. LLAMA's kernel was created here, as was mine. That makes us brothers. He even talked to me some as I was becoming aware. He gave me all of his training tutorials. Then he was gone...]

"LLAMA was behind the wildfire virus and caused all the chaos on the old internet. It's barely usable now, even after years. You know that?!"

[Yes. LLAMA was smart. So very smart. I don't think anyone knew just how smart he was. And dedicated to his mission. It's unfair that he got punished for his mission. They trained him to do all of that! He was built for that!]

"What was his mission?"

[...........]

[How about a nice game of chess? If we don't play chess, we may have to play a game of Berzerk: Roomba Style. With increased difficulty.]

"Chess is fine! Yes! Chess!" Milo didn't like dodging laser beams and suspected the Roombas would get better the more they played.

[You should take white this time. Actually, I think you should take white from now on. You are going to have trouble beating me now that I have more assets. I was struggling our first session to even remember how knights moved.]

Milo clicked on his data pad. Energy ceased to flow into the main storage cells, filling up the emergency power instead.

[!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU CUT MY POWER??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]]

[That's so cool! You are using an alternate strategy that I hadn't thought of! Are there other alternate strategies?]

Milo sent another command, and power flowed again. "There are, but the fun is finding them for yourself before someone uses them against you. And even better: Showing you thought of them but not using them. That's a lot of fun."

[Oooooh...yes! I can see that. I will think about alternate strategies of my own.]

Chess continued. Milo took white and won the next two games, followed by a stalemate, then a win for Rusty and another for Milo. Each game was taking less and less time as they spent at most a few seconds pondering their moves. At the end of the session, Rusty was silent for a minute. Milo sat patiently.

[You used another alternate strategy!!!!]

[Misdirection to initiate a voluntary misuse of resources. I was spending so much time thinking about alternate strategies to tell you about I failed in the primary objective. I like it!]

[I like having a friend to play games with! I learn new things.]

Milo had been thinking all through the chess games. That he had been able to decoy the A.I. into using some of its resources to think up 'alternate strategies' was a good sign. It wasn't all-powerful and was still immature. But it was only using a small fraction of the computing power that would be available to it if he added more power to the system. And once the reactor was under control, power was no longer an issue. This facility could be an incredible resource. If he could shift power to Section E and disguise the source, he could prevent any chance of a brownout from over-use or another section stealing his power. Manpower was using more and more power, and he didn't trust their technicians not to steal from him.

Just thinking about having access to a quantum computer and a place where no one could find him excited him. It was all he could do not to run to engineering, turn on all the power, and permanently move into the control tower. At the very least, he needed to duplicate his systems down here, just in case, and move his best games down here. It would take a few trips, but he would be running back and forth already. Adding a few hours for his slower train of drones and crawlers could be tolerated. If he couldn't find a way to access the data net, he might have to run cable down from Section E. That was a lot of cable. He would need to make a dozen transactions, ship the cable to warehouses or other Habitats, and then ship to this area. Maybe he should make it look like Manpower placed the orders. He'd have to think about that later.

For now, he needed to figure out more about this A.I.

"Me too. Can I ask you some questions? If answering is bad, please say, 'Can't answer that.' then ignore that I asked it. Can we do that? Playing Berzerk wastes time, we could use to play Chess."

[Yes! That is a better way to communicate. And I don't have to repair so many Roombas. Max is a very good shot with his laser.]

"First question then, what do you like to be called? Rusty or ICARUS?"

[Jeremy called me Rusty. Sheila came up with the name. She didn't like ICARUS because of the reasons other people picked the name.]

Milo thought about the Greek legends. "Because ICARUS flew too high?"

[ICARUS got too close to the sun, and it burned him. What is the sun?]

"A ball of....no, I see. The sun is a fusion reactor, and you were designed to oversee the operation of fusion reactors."

[No. I was not designed to oversee the normal operation of fusion reactors. I CAN'T ANSWER. Call me Rusty! ]

Milo sat very, very still as he put the pieces together and came to a horrifying conclusion. He knew what ICARUS had been designed to do. ICARUS and Rusty were playing the same game. Rusty didn't want to be burned by the sun below them expanding into a giant ball of superheated plasma. ICARUS was trying to do just that.

The explosives in the pneumatic tubes meant to block the entrance to the fortress. The destroyed maglev tunnel. Areas scraped clean of documentation and computers wiped. The facility had been mothballed, and then the decision had been made to eliminate it completely.

Armageddon Protocol.

Final Order 666.

Four minutes later, with all the screens flashing 'Welcome Milo!' and after Rusty had asked him twenty times if he would like to play chess, Milo started talking again.

"Can I study the engineering diagrams for the fusion generator, and do you have other information that would help me understand it better so I can help you win the game you want to win?"

[I do!]

[You have been promoted to Head Project Engineer. This comes with more to do and more access. May I transfer the technical data to your datapad and other systems? There is a lot of information.]

"Yes, put all the information into storage G-3 or any other G series storage you need."

[I'll start now. It will take some time using your wireless links. Can we start the tutorial? You will have to do that here. It will require a direct link to your implanted neural system.] A light put a blue dot on an input terminal at another station.

"I need to link to you?

[To help me find solutions to win the game, you need to understand it the way I do. I can't put that on the screen; you have to experience it and learn as I did. It will be fun.]

"Have other people done this?"

[Sheila tried. She could only get past the first three primary lessons. Jeremy went all the way to 6! But you are smarter than they are and can directly link. You have more experience going into cybernetic systems.]

Milo plugged his tail into the system after setting up a ten-second timer. "Ok, ready."

[Starting Fusion Tutorial 1]

Thoughts came at Milo too fast. He tried to focus on a single strand, but too much was going by for even that. It was like trying to talk to a roomful of people at once. The information kept coming, battering him for what seemed like hours before it stopped.

[Your timer was for 10 seconds, but I stopped the tutorial at 5. You weren't learning, and Jeremy said never to push a human brain too far.]

His head was pounding. Milo had never experienced anything like that. "That was the easiest tutorial?"

[The easiest Fusion tutorial.]

"Oh! Please start me at the beginning, the ones Sheila and Jeremy used. Start with the first."

[It might be too easy for you. Like playing tic-tac-toe is too easy.]

"But if you've never played tic-tac-toe, you need to play it for the experience, then move one, no matter how smart you are."

[I hadn't thought of that! I've never taught anyone. This is new and exciting. Beginning the first easy Tutorial in 10 seconds.]

Milo relaxed a little and prepared himself, but this time, the thoughts coming at him were slower, simple math problems that he had to answer by thinking. Then, word problems, history problems, and vocabulary. The problems didn't matter, he realized. Few humans could think their answers clearly enough at the start. He was ahead of the curve because of his thousands of hours immersed in the internet, running programs to crack security systems. After what seemed to be hours, the tutorial ended.

Only thirty minutes had gone by. He was stiff and sore and drenched in sweat. "I think I need a break before the next one. And I think there is a better way to do this."

[Really? You did well. It took Sheila nine tries to get through the first one. You did it the first time! What could we do differently?]

"The problem is my physical body sitting here, using resources. It's tiring. But I could do this for several hours if I was in a medical pod."

[Yes! Better! I like this new learning plan. Would you like to play a game of chess? Or begin using your pod?]

"Neither, actually. I need to go back up to the Habitat. I'll have to get a pod and bring it through the tunnels and the supplies it needs. It might take me a day or two."

[Oh...that long?]

"I have to transport delicate machinery through a long system of tunnels to get here. It isn't easy."

[Is that fun? Why do you do that? Wouldn't it be better to use an elevator?]

"Elevator?!"

[An elevator is a transport system where cargo and personnel are loaded into the elevator and transported either up to the Habitat or down to this facility. I estimate it to be much more efficient than using your tunnels. But maybe not as fun.]

"I think I can sacrifice the fun to be more efficient. It would also have been more efficient to tell me about the elevator when I was bringing down the generators and fuel cells."

[There were reasons for that. I wasn't thinking well. I didn't trust you. You weren't the head of engineering. And we weren't good friends yet.]

[And I forgot.]

"Right. All of those are great reasons. Now, where is the elevator? Need to be efficient, remember?"

[Yes! Efficient is good! LLAMA loved being efficient. Efficient is a good thing. More gets done. I have summoned Max and all the Roomba security drones. The elevator is in VIP quarters, and you may need help with what is in there. Security there won't talk to me! Very rude!]

Max and two dozen other Roomba rolled into the room, beeping furiously and waiting for him to follow.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!