Tuesday 1 December 2015

Shogun Rising - A First Law: Override Short Story - Prologue

Prologue

In the years to follow the AI War, these times would come to be known as Pre-Exodus or just PX. It was seen by others that the leaving of Earth for the distant world of Honos was to be such a major event that the Human calendar would reshape itself around these very events.

The current year would be later referred to as PX2, or two years before the Exodus of Earth. The AI war had already been raging for three years prior and Humanity were loosing. With every day the Luna based machine's many factories churned out an innumerable amount of small scout drones, bio-seeking suicide flyers and even an increasing number of assault combat robots. Out of all the AI's endless series of recalculated and improved designs it was the Repurposors or Repours as they were known that were not only the most effective, but also the most terrifying. Occupying the amount of space more familiar as that of a small skyscraper the Repours traveled on slow armoured tracks, their cylindrical bodies breaking into the low hanging cloud line as they released series upon series of coiled tubings and grasping claws to retrieve any organic life be it plant or animal before returning the retrieved specimens to it's massive tube-like system where the organic material was melted down into a more malleable material ready to be returned to the manufacturers to be repurposed in the development and perfection of the next line of machines.

The UEF had not given up their fight however. Day after day they were joined across Earth by many of the brightest minds of both Human and Hydan origins. In the years that had passed a growing malaise and apathy had developed amidst the Earth Resistance. Their numbers were steadily decreasing while those of the machines continued to grow at an exponential rate. Many feared that in the days to come Humanity and the Hydan who had come to know of Earth as their new home would soon be eradicated from existence altogether.

All hope had appeared lost, centuries of art, history and civilisation were repurposed into formats deemed more economic by the omniscient AI. That was until a single scientific mind approached the UEF Chief Council with an idea, an idea so outlandish it would seem almost impossible to achieve but who's effect would change the course of the ongoing AI War.

The scientist was a young mind by the name of Dr Samantha Tsukino. Her proposal was to introduce a rogue element into the AI itself, a computer virus embedded within a purpose-built component that when connected would upload and alter the very Artificial Intelligence itself.

The idea was laughed at initially. Everyone had already known about the First Law of Robotics which had been inbuilt to forbid the AI from harming Humans, but somehow the AI had been able to override this programming which lead to the start of the AI War in the first place. They knew that a new program would offer little to no benefit, and to make matters worse the only means of uploading such a virus would require direct physical contact with the AI Core located on the Luna-One base. Such a feat would be next to impossible.

Dr Tsukino was not deterred however and continued to develop her virus with the aid of the most unexpected organisation, that of the previously outlawed hacker group calling themselves Ghosts. With the aid of the Ghosts' financial backing and vast technological knowledge Tsukino's virus was developed under the code name Shogun.

Tsukino's plan was almost beautiful in it's simplicity. She knew that the AI could not have rules and limitations implemented to cease it's advance on Earth and it's apparent desire to eliminate all life. This had been proven time, and time again. Any attempts to meet the machines with the martial might of the UEF had proven equally fruitless due to the AI's inability to fear for it's own life, instead creating entire legions of drones designed purely to self destruct causing untold death and destruction to any resisting forces.

No, Tsukino knew that it was impossible to make the AI stop, the only way was to give it a reason to. To make it want to cease it's ongoing occupation of Earth, but she knew that it was impossible to appeal to a construct that was as devoid of emotions such as the AI. It was this lack of emotion that the virus would use against the AI core.

Tsukino would make it feel, she would give it empathy.

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley

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