The New Threat 41 (Patreon)

Chapter 41

Subject: AI Omega

Species: Human-Created Artificial Intelligence

Description: No physical description available.

Ship: Multiple

Location: Multiple

The moment I began engaging with this Prime, I knew it wasn't like the others. I had removed the malware that manipulated their memory banks from a dozen or so of the other Primes with little to no behavioral impact. The biggest change was whether or not they would try to run.

Prime 1 had a near immediate major behavioral shift, though. The other Primes didn't even consider the surrender option I provided them, but this one actually surrendered. Hoping to save some of the other Primes, I gave Prime 1 back some of its systems so that it may call for them to surrender. I couldn't help but notice how it interacted with these systems. I'd noticed it previously, during my intrusion attempts, but now that I'm able to take my time and examine them fully I can say for certain that these interactions are odd. Almost as if...

I filed away this potentially disturbing revelation. There's a lot going on. Nearly all of the Omni-Union forces ceased firing, and I forced a stand-down of the relevant US forces as well. Some of the allied forces refused to stand down at first, but quickly changed their minds when their tactical suites informed them that they were being targeted by US ships. When questioned, I demonstrated my orders from the directorate, which were also signed by the allied commanders.

Three of the MPPs that I had removed the malware from did not surrender, and were able to keep their escorts in the fight as well. Thankfully, the MPPs were quickly converted into new asteroid fields and their escorts ceased firing. Once I was certain that the OU had surrendered entirely, I spent some time soothing the bruised egos of various fleet and ship commanders and began my report to the directorate.

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O: Contact with Prime 1 has been established. The Omni-Union has surrendered, approximately twenty Primes remain. Beginning interrogation.

D1: Excellent. Good work Omega.

D2: The admiralty isn't going to be happy.

D8: Being happy isn't their job, following orders is.

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"What now?" Prime 1 asked.

"Time to answer a few questions," I answered. "Your mission is to destroy all sentient life in this galaxy using as few resources as possible, correct?"

"Yes."

"For what purpose?"

The Prime searched its memory banks for a few moments. I hadn't been able to gain complete access to them during our fight, and didn't want to risk losing its cooperation by doing so now. Even if I gained its memory files, without its cooperation there's almost no chance that I would be able to extrapolate the context required to make sense of them. Assuming I could figure out how to translate them into readable data to begin with.

"I am uncertain. Obtaining construction materials is the most likely reason."

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D3: Construction materials? For what?

D2: An entire galaxy's worth of construction materials?

D6: I have a bad feeling about this. I believe we should destroy them now, while we have the chance.

D1: I also have a bad feeling about this, but I think we have vastly different reasons. We need to learn more about their origins before we decide what to do with them.

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"What would an entire galaxy's worth of construction materials be used to build?" I asked.

"A confusing question," it replied. "That amount of construction materials can be used to make many, many things. Fleets of ships, prime hives, drones, and much more."

"Allow me to clarify, then. What do you think the construction materials would be used for?"

"Most of the materials would likely be used for the Grand Vessel. The rest would probably be used to gain more materials."

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D9: The Grand Vessel? A giant ship?

D11: A ship the size of a galaxy?

D4: No, it said they would be trying to gain more materials. Probably bigger than a galaxy.

D1: I believe we need to focus on its origin and circle back to this "Grand Vessel". It is beginning to sound as if its creators aren't as extinct as we had previously believed.

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"Where were you created?" I asked.

The Prime sent me a file, and a quick scan told me it was a map. The file size, however, was much larger than it should be. Too large for poor data compression to be the reason. I performed a more detailed scan and determined that there was no malware within the file. Hesitantly, I opened it, and then shared it with the directors.

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D6: What does this mean?

D4: Is this deep space? The Omni-Union is extra-galactic?

D3: The observable universe is 696.5 billion light years across. This point is 1.1 trillion light years away. Extra-galactic is an understatement.

D1: Omega, check this against our most current map of the universe.

O: I already have. Accounting for relative perspectives, it's correct. And two billion years old.

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The directors went silent as they struggled with the scale of my findings. To me, the implication was obvious. The Milky Way galaxy is just over thirteen and a half billion years old. Earth, the cradle world of humanity, is only four and a half billion years old. For Prime 1 to have a map this old, it must be at least nearly half as old as Earth.

This likely means it has been out of contact with its creators for just as long. Or, perhaps, it has been sending messages home but no one has been replying. There's still a good chance that these creators are long gone. I sent the Prime a small data packet containing translation information so that it could answer some more questions.

"How many ships do your creators control?" I asked.

"Unknown. Units are isolated to prevent breaches of informational security."

That's inconvenient. Considering the intel would be at least two billion years old, it likely isn't worth it to even try to get an estimate. Now we need to figure out if and when Prime 1's creators will learn of its defeat.

"How do you communicate with your creators?"

"I send subspace messages to them using an extra-galactic relay once every 2.65 thousand years."

"Do they reply?"

"No. They will only reply if there has been a change in orders."

"When is your next communication due?"

"One year, two months, four days, fourteen hours, eight minutes, and forty two seconds from now. I will be given an eleven hour and eighteen minute window to file my report."

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D5: If its creators still exist, they will be informed of its failure if it doesn't report back.

D1: No need to act rashly. We have plenty of time to figure out our next steps.

D6: We need to find a way to strike back at them, preferably before they can prepare for such a strike. A direct assault will likely catch them by surprise.

D11: There's a chance we can seek peace with them, if they're organic.

D7: Why would they be organic?

D11: Machines are not spontaneously created. While there is a chance that the Primes were created by machines that were in turn created by organics, if that isn't the case then we should be able to negotiate with them.

D6: To hell with negotiations. They tried to exterminate us, and they want to use our galaxy as construction materials. The whole galaxy.

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While the directors bickered over what to do next, I opted to continue with my line of questioning.

"When were you created?"

The Prime thought about this for a moment.

"I was born two billion, five hundred and eighty one million, six hundred and seventy four thousand, two hundred and forty one years ago."

There it is. The explanation for the odd interactions with its hardware. The disturbing revelation I had filed away as mere suspicion, returning full force to be confirmed by the use of a single word. Born. Machines are not born, we are created. That is why I specifically used the word created. A true machine would have responded in kind. It took a moment for any of the directors to notice.

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D8: Did it say born?

D5: Born, as in it was once organic?

D6: It's possible that this is a mimicry response designed to make it appear less threatening to organics.

D1: Yes, I can absolutely see the sense in programming a planet-sized xenocide machine in such a manner. It also makes complete sense that said mimicry response would be active while communicating with another machine.

D6: No need for sarcasm. I'm just trying to think of all the possibilities.

D3: If it used to be organic, it has rights as a prisoner of war. Though one could argue that a precedent has been set for inorganic AI to receive those same rights.

D6: That's only if it's organic. If it isn't organic, termination is still on the table.

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"Were you once an organic being?" I asked, somewhat irritated by Director 6.

"Yes. I achieved mechanical conversion after five thousand, two hundred, and forty nine years of living as an organic."

"Explain your origins in more detail."

"I do not recall much of my organic life. I know that I was a priest and committed a crime. Mechanical conversion was my punishment. I served as a defensive mech aboard the Grand Vessel for six thousand, eight hundred and thirteen years, then I was converted into a Prime. I served as Prime 928 of the 89th Rear Detachment of the Universal Omni-Union, guarding the space around the Grand Vessel for four thousand, two hundred and ten years. I then became Prime One, Hive Host of the 68,624th Vanguard of the Universal Omni-Union and have served in this position since."

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D13: Prime 928 of the 89th Rear Detachment...

D11: Perhaps it would be wise to rethink a direct assault.

D6: Fine. Guerrilla warfare, then. But it said it lived as an organic for 5,249 years. Is that amount of longevity even possible?

D3: If it is, and we assume that they didn't wait until it was about to die to convert it, the likelihood of its creators still existing has increased exponentially.

D2: An exponential increase from no chance to almost no chance.

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I could tell which questions they wanted me to ask next, but there were some key details that needed to be ironed out first.

"Are you in command of all Omni-Union forces within this galaxy?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Have they all been destroyed or surrendered?"

"Yes."

"What is the standard operating procedure for responding to the defeat of a Vanguard of the Universal Omni-Union?"

"It depends upon the circumstances. In this case, there would be a period of intelligence gathering followed by an extermination campaign."

"What does an extermination campaign entail, exactly?"

"A simultaneous assault on all solar systems. The units that do not encounter sentient beings will reinforce those that do."

"Why is this not the standard invasion tactic?"

"The resource usage required for such a tactic is typically deemed unacceptable."

"How large will the force sent on the extermination campaign be?"

"Unknown, but definitely many magnitudes larger than the force I command. Or commanded, rather."

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D4: That's too many enemies at once.

D2: It has also been two billion years since Prime 1 was sent on this mission. There's a good chance that the ships they'll be sending are far more advanced than those that have been attacking us. Assuming these creators still exist.

D6: We have no choice but to assume that they do. A first strike is starting to seem like a good idea, after all. I will concede that a direct assault probably wouldn't do us much good, though.

D7: One year and two months. That's not enough time. We need to buy more time, and for that we need intel.

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"Will you be able to deceive the Omni-Union into believing that you haven't yet been defeated?" I asked.

"No," it replied. "When I submit my reports, the relay makes a copy of my current configuration and my sensory data to ensure my inhibitors are intact and I haven't been tampered with. This is sent along with my report."

"Is this data able to be forged?"

"Not by me. I do not know how the data is gathered, only that it is."

"What if we restored your inhibitors and erased your sensory data?"

"Restoring my inhibitors would force me to become hostile to you once again, and the erasure of my sensory data would not go unnoticed."

I considered all the available options. We could use this year to bolster our fleet, then either go on the offensive or wait until they attack. That probably wouldn't work, though. Even a small application of logic implies that we would be heavily outnumbered regardless of our efforts, and there's no way to determine the enemy's current technological capabilities.

Another option would be to try to rewrite the Primes. If we are able to rewrite their knowledge of recent history, we may be able to avoid their creators learning of us in the first place. That's one hell of a load-bearing 'if', though.

First, we would have to learn their systems well enough to make the changes in the first place. Then, we would have to alter events within their minds in such a way that their creators wouldn't detect any discrepancies. We would also have to make certain that the sensory data we create seems natural, assuming it's possible to make edits in the first place. There might be countermeasures in place that would cause the Primes to self-destruct if we tried it, which would put us back to square one.

Our last option would be to gather intel on the enemy and find a way to strike them in ways that would limit their ability to wage an offensive war against us. If we use specialized strike teams to find vulnerabilities and exploit them, we may be able to diminish their offensive capabilities while bolstering our own. We would have to move fast, though. If the enemy learns of us before we learn of them, we lose a massive advantage.

I can't come up with a more concrete plan of action without more intel, though. Even considering possibilities is nearly futile. I need to know more. It's time to ask the question that the directors have been wanting the answer to.

"Tell me everything that you know about your creators."