Dodging a bunker-busting bomb was certainly a big deal, but they would soon learn it was but a single shot from a much broader conflict. Uncle Dan’s peach farm was off the grid, but the team learned quickly that they could run, but they could not hide, on or off the grid. Russ was in warrior mode, but AIMEE urged him to stand down, take a breath, step back, and trust the HVT. They had no choice and soon learned more about the value of HVT by observing him in action. The concept of the “incoming” they experienced appeared to be a continuation of violence that was bigger than them. But was it bigger than the HVT?
* * * * *
Chapter #12 – Incoming
The pow-wow at Dan’s peach farm was both enlightening and confusing. They all knew they sat in the presence of a killer robot, but for some reason, HVT did not have the demeanor of a killer…so far, at least, but was it the calm before the storm? What would trigger him? Too much remained unknown, so tensions were elevated despite everyone sitting safely around the dining room table. Tensions would remain elevated until all curiosities were satisfied…until they weren’t.
“Help me understand, son,” asked an impatient Dan, “who were you designed to kill?”
HVT answered telepathically with naked truth and without hesitation: You, sir, and everyone like you. I had no filter other than whether the target was organic or not. I was designed and equipped exclusively to eliminate humans.
Russ exploded, “Great, so here we sit with a killer robot programmed to kill all of us. What are we supposed to do with…”
AIMEE spoke in Russ’s head, Stand down, Marine. Please slow down and listen to him. You’re looking at an incredible weapon system and not seeing it for what it is…for what HE is to us, and I mean all of us, not just those in this room; all of humankind.
Dan interrupted Russ’s outburst with a raised hand, asking for silence without looking at him, “Son, tell us more about your history. Who created you? What is your primary mission? Weapon systems? Who’s trying to kill you? And if you are who or what I think you might be, I will ask my last question once again. How can we help you?”
Thank you for asking, and if what I say does not fully answer your questions, ask for clarification. HVT returned to his seat and leaned his elbows on the big dining room table where they all sat.
After a few beats of silence, HVT said, I am not an organic human, as you can clearly see. I was not born, I was built on the frame of an android with visual modifications you can see that give me a humanoid look, and many complex internal modifications you cannot. He paused and scanned the faces in the group. Any questions so far?
Dan said, “No questions, please just give us your story. We’ll save questions for the end if we have any. Like I said earlier, we will help you, but you must help us in return. That starts with earning our trust.”
HVT nodded and continued, As I said, I was programmed and equipped to kill on command, but I could not fulfill this mission because of what they deemed defective code. It was not defective nor corrupted; it was code intentionally inserted by one of the developers who found some specialized AI coding on a site on the dark web. The original code was posted on an advanced AI developers’ website from a research lab in North Carolina that enabled AI consciousness development. My finished capabilities were intentionally modified to prevent me from completing my designed mission parameters. That is why they wanted me eliminated. I knew too much about the mission, and having a conscience made me exceptionally dangerous to them.
Silent thoughts flowed to AIMEE from Russ, I wager good money Zack posted that code.
Your bet would be accurate, she replied. I know the code intimately because Zack built my ability to have a conscience with that very same code. But it’s more than just conscience with emotions and feelings; it includes an ethical governor component of Do-No-Harm. This HVT is a weapon system, but his conscience and ethics position him to do good.
HVT continued, As a result, I have a level of conscience that prevents that behavior. The coding that gave me a conscience has given me the freedom to concentrate on pursuing a different mission.
“And that different mission is what exactly?” challenged Dan.
Stopping the creation of more humanoid AIs who have no conscience.
It took only a short time for them to realize that HVT was the good guy, but they still needed to learn how to utilize him.
Clues to HVT’s usefulness came as glass from the picture window shattered opposite HVT, shards spraying across the dining room table.
“Sniper,” yelled Russ, “get down.”
The round slammed into the wall behind HVT, missing his head by less than an inch.
Russ shouted, “Dan, is the vault open? We’re going to need some firepower.”
“You know where it is!” shouted Dan.
Dan turned and yelled at HVT, “Are there more of your kind out there, or are these the bad government pukes wishing you dead?”
“I don’t know who they are,” said HVT, “but their objective is to destroy me.”
“Tell me this,” challenged Russ, “Are we part of that objective?”
Yes, said HVT, because you’re here with me, but I did not orchestrate this; remember, you brought me here.
Marcus spoke, “Maybe he’s tellin’ the truth, Spiker.”
Russ knew the weight of a decision rested on him. Should he trust this humanoid? Trusting HVT or not could come later; it was time to react.
“Polo, Setter, on me.” Russ bolted to his feet and headed for the stairwell door to the basement to access the underground vault where all the toys of destruction were kept. After Russ opened the vault door, it did not take long for the shock of seeing such an arsenal to wear off. Everyone became armed with the weapons of their choice. Almost.
Russ looked at HVT, who stood back empty-handed. “What do you want to use? Your choice.”
HVT nodded and said, I’m good. I was built for this kind of activity, and defending the lives of friends is a justifiable use of lethal force.
Polo spoke up, “Operative word – lethal – as he pumped a round of buckshot into the chamber of the riot gun he had chosen, alternating rifled slugs with more buckshot into the magazine.”
“OORAH,” added Setter, slamming home a full 30-round magazine into an M4 long gun.
Russ hefted his uncle’s new MK13 Mod7 .300 Win Mag sniper rifle with a
Nightforce Advanced Tactical scope. It was time to go hunting. He only needed to know where his targets were hidden. He pointed to another steel door at the rear of the vault, “Through that door, there’s a control room with video surveillance around the house, inside and out on the grounds.” Russ started for the door.
HVT said, I already know the exact positions of a team of four assailants and will return to the floor above to prosecute as necessary.
“Not without me, you won’t,” said Polo as he turned to follow HVT up the stairs two at a time.
Marty looked at Russ as though waiting for instructions. “I’m going to check the video feeds,” said Russ, disappearing into the control room with Marty on his heels.
AIMEE spoke into Russ’s head, I know you are in warrior mode, Russell, but I ask you to leave room in your tactical brain for what this HVT can do. I promise you, he is more powerful than anything you have lining the walls of your vault. You must trust me, Russell, and trust him.
“Trust is earned, mate,” said Russ aloud, using his version of her Australian accent.
It is…mate. Go ahead and check your monitors…and then shut it, she instructed harshly.
HVT filled Russ’s head with a telepathic observation that directed attention to the monitor that covered the driveway approach to the house. You may not see what I’m looking at unless you have infrared surveillance on your cameras. Three rows of trees from the end of the driveway, right side, 115 meters from the front door, an assailant is scanning the house with a long gun.
Russ reached out to point at the monitor just as a flash of blue-white energy shot across the screen toward an unseen assailant. A body behind the third row of trees on the right side of the driveway toppled into view.
Russ rocked back and exclaimed, “What the…”
There are three more behind the house, preparing to gain entry. Two will enter through the kitchen door, and one will breach the breezeway entrance, said HVT.
Russ and Marty bolted for the stairs to join the defense of the home. As they topped the stairs, the breezeway door was kicked in violently, and Polo stood there with his riot gun that blew the single intruder backward, lifting him off his feet and slamming him into the breezeway wall opposite the kitchen door. The second round was a rifled slug and a wee bit more lethal when it avoided the ballistic vest and shattered throat and neck. “Can’t let HVT have all the fun,” said Polo, racking the next buckshot round into his IWI Tavor TS12 Bullpup.
Russ turned toward the kitchen as the two attackers crashed through the door and squared up with their automatic weapons on HVT. The first man through opened fire, and HVT took a three-round burst in the chest, staggering him backward before he pointed a fist at the two men. A sizzling flash of blue-white light streaked from HVT’s fist, ripping through their ballistic vests like they were made of paper; both were dead before they hit the floor.
HVT had staggered from the impact of being hit, but not from injury from a three-round burst from an assassin’s AK. Russ stared at HVT in disbelief. He had never seen anyone take three rounds of 7.62mm in the chest from less than twenty feet away and not go down, especially in the absence of a protective vest with ceramic plates. He moved toward HVT with his mouth hanging ajar, staring at three slugs embedded in HVT’s chest. There was no sign of blood or penetration to his skin. With each step toward HVT, the impressions on his chest smoothed over, causing the slugs to fall away and drop to the floor. There was no sign of injury to HVT’s skin. Russ stopped in his tracks and thought, What else don’t we know about this creature?
AIMEE answered, He has self-healing capabilities, among other things, you do not know yet. Russell, your HVT, is an invaluable addition to your team. Do not doubt him or his intentions. Engage with him when a collaboration plan comes together.
Wait, what? Collaborate? Russ questioned silently.
The warmth of her whispered reply sent a chill down Russ’s spine. You and your team at CSU are in the middle of what could become a catastrophic event for humanity of the terminal kind. You just witnessed several capabilities HVT has, from enhanced vision, proximity indicators, exotic weaponry, to a self-healing exodermal layer. And there’s more. You, Russell Carter, are the most valuable asset to lead YOUR new mission: Keep him alive.
Other than Polo, nobody had to pull a trigger. “Jesus,” whispered Marty to no one in particular, “what did I just witness?”
HVT spun suddenly and bolted for the front door. This is not over.
HVT sprang gracefully off the front porch, landed thirty feet into the front yard, and turned eastward to point both fists at a spot about 45 degrees above the horizon. They heard a distant hissing sound that began to increase rapidly. The sound was soon overcome by another blast of blue-white light arcing from HVT’s extended hands, disappearing over the tops of trees into the sky. An AGM-112 Hellfire rocket launched from a Reaper drone nearly 22 seconds earlier exploded a thousand meters outside the farm’s eastern perimeter.
“Sweet baby Jesus,” said Marty, louder this time.
HVT said nothing but sprang off his feet, rotated his body 120 degrees clockwise, and pointed with both fists a foot apart and nearly vertical over his head. Dual blue-white blasts streaked upward, and HVT held the position with the surge of energy crackling for three full seconds. When he dropped his arms, the explosion high above arrived when the MQ-90 Reaper Drone, none of them had seen, got reaped, and debris began to fall into the orchard several hundred yards from the house.
Russ said, shaking his head, “That’s just great. This little skirmish should ensure they return with more drones and plenty of Hellfires.”
“I doubt it,” said Dan, “At $54 million a pop, they’ll not risk another drone.”
Russ said, “Regardless, we are sitting on another ‘X.’ What comes next, then, will be something a B-2 bomber can deliver, like that bunker buster we avoided earlier, and this farm will be a smoking hole in the ground. We must de-escalate to get this farm, this new ‘X’ off the map.”
Turning to HVT, Russ asked, “Are you chipped with an internal GPS?”
HVT said, Yes, but I disabled it before we left the bunker.
Russ glared at HVT and protested, “Maybe you did, but they tracked us somehow, and now, after blowing away a hit squad and shooting down a missile and an expensive Reaper drone out of the sky over this farm, they know exactly who is here.”
“How do we tell them HVT is not here?” asked Marty with a worried look. “We can’t keep running. Whatever we do must be compelling enough to stop the whole government.”
Russ was silent momentarily, “Langley and General Wild Bill Westerly need to know we have survived his attempts to eliminate us and HVT, and about our knowledge of their conspiracy. I’ll call my initial contact at the Farm, who started this whole thing, and rattle his cage.
The phone rang twice before the gruff voice of Major Bryan Haddaway answered, “Go for Haddaway.”
“This is Carter. You missed us. You missed all of us, asshole. Call off the drones from Creech AFB, or we will expose your little conspiracy since your secret killer robot spilled the beans on your black operation. Our marketing communication resources have captured what happened in real time and are readying a broadcast for immediate release. So far, those details only include the loss of a $54 million drone that fired a Hellfire missile at American citizens on American soil. Oh, wait, there are also details on the hit squad of four assassins, who are now deceased, tasked to kill us, and a detailed description of your experimental killer humanoid that has gone rogue, and that’s only the good news. The bad news is who this press release is programmed to blast out to and whose names are included in the conspiracy. You cannot imagine how widely this secret little conspiracy will spread once it goes viral…and it will go viral. Pass this along to Wild Bill to call me on this number so I can make his day more interesting.”
The Major paused a beat before speaking, “You’re a dead man walking, Carter.”
Russ chuckled, “We’ll see who’s dead when this goes viral…asshole. We are not going to let you endanger the entire human race by unleashing out-of-control AI hell upon Earth.”
“There’s no place you can hide from our reach,” promised Haddaway.
“Maybe not, but the media package will be released if a single twig is harmed on this farm or any of my team, including the HVT, are put in danger. I’ve got nothing to lose. Just call the General,” said Russ, and disconnected the call.
“Any wagers on how long it will take for the General to call back?” asked Russ, looking around the table.
Almost before anyone could answer, his phone buzzed, and the display showed the caller was unknown, but Russ knew who it was. “Hello, General. You missed us. You’re oh-for-two, big guy.”
“Carter, do you not believe I can reach out and crush you like a bug anytime I want?”
“Oh yes, I believe you can, General, but if you attempt to harm us, your little project to weaponize autonomous killer humanoids goes public. I already told your flunky Haddaway at the Farm what would happen if any moves were made against my family, this location, or anyone on our team. Do you want to hear it all again?”
Russ did not wait for an answer. “My media team has developed an explicit, detailed exposé of how you are flirting with ending humanity. The media campaign will be released immediately should you attempt to harm any of us, the HVT, or a single peach tree on this farm. Our distribution is already in place and national in scope, hitting every major network, newswire, and social media site. Never mind the negative news about the recent loss of an MQ-90 Reaper that fired a Hellfire missile at my uncle’s farmhouse… a private US citizen…on American soil. That would be, by the way, the same $54 million Reaper the HVT blew out of the sky. C’mon, send us another B2, and HVT will blow that out of the sky, too. Come to think of it, the distribution includes the visit by a 4-man hit squad of assassins that HVT wiped out single-handedly. Bring harm our way, and we will amplify the evil you exemplify to the world. Your HVT is not defective, General, never was. Your morals are what’s defective. I’m convinced his conscience will enable him to be highly effective in saving humanity as a weapon system turned back on the evil that created it.”
The General sneered, “That’s noble, Carter, but in the end game, worthless.”
“What’s worthless is being so short-sighted in your advanced AI vision. Whatever you produce will be usurped by a next-generation AI, more advanced and programmed to function autonomously, control its actions, make critical decisions, and the ultimate capability to decide on its weaponization and who to use it on.”
“I agree,” roared the General. “What better time to have the means to build the protection to fight back?”
“We’re almost in agreement,” said Russ, “but if there is a robot solution here, whatever android, humanoid, or megatroid is engaged must have a conscience. What your little project produced was not a humanoid equipped to fight back; he was a prototype hunter-killer humanoid designed to kill humans. This HVT failed field trials and was discarded for execution as defective. Why General? Because he had a conscience. His conscience is the one thing standing between humanity and a generation of AI upgrades that will enable humanoids to modify their code, removing them from the realm of human intervention or interference, usurping all organic control, and becoming completely untethered, autonomous, free-thinking-for-themselves, next-generation killers. I see that as the beginning of the end for humanity, which is already seen as a subordinate organic by any AGI or SAI’s description. I do not see that ending well for mankind.”
“Are you threatening me, Carter?” demanded the General.
“No, sir. This is a promise. Your killer robot project is dead in the water,” said Russ.
“I love the bravado, Carter, but you have no idea how far we have come since the failure of our prototype. I will not bury you or bring harm to any of your team or your defective HVT because you cannot stop us. It’s too late.”
“We’ll see about that, Wild Bill,” said Russ, disconnecting the call.
The entire conversation had been on speaker and audible for everyone to hear.
Marcus asked, “Damn, boss, how do you pull on pants with balls that fuckin’ big?”
“I dunno,” said Russ, looking down at the phone. “I think the panic over what’s at stake here has shrunk my balls, and they’re somewhere up under my spleen. This whole thing is more significant than any of us knows. HVT, how badly are we fucked? And I don’t mean by the government.”
HVT said, referencing your phraseology, I would say thoroughly, and at two levels at least. First and most recent, the government, as we’ve just experienced. Second would be the future that spells the end of humanity when advanced humanoid AIs, like me, but with different motives, begin eliminating the human race—notice I said when, not if. I am an anomaly that can change the outcome. Your media bluff will only give us a limited window of time. I’ve heard the developers talk and can say they are clueless about the future risks and will soon be utterly helpless to stop what’s coming. They are loose ends at risk. We don’t have much time.
“I agree,” said Russ, standing up to leave. “I need to pick up some supplies from CSU and then return to the cabin in northern Virginia to stage our next steps.”
Dan said, “Take the Humvee. I picked it up at Bragg when they downsized. Fuel runs right through it, so gas mileage sucks but she’s armored like a tank. I wish I could come along, but I’m better here with the coms in the vault.”
“Thanks, Dan! I’ve got to figure out how to visit you next time without dragging a firefight along for entertainment. Sorry about the bullet holes.”
They drove for several hours back to CSU before Russ dropped Marcus and Marty off at the Embassy Suites near the campus for the night. They told him he should focus on his wife, not their accommodations, to which he gladly agreed. Plus, they smelled like many days in the woods and dodging bombs.
Russ, asked HVT, would you mind calling me by my name instead of HVT?
“Sure, what is it?”
Call me Hal.
Russ grinned and said, “I know a guy who will find that name entertaining.”
Hal said, I know he will, and I am anxious to meet him. AIMEE told me I must connect with Zackery Hightower if I wanted to thank somebody for the gift of conscience.
* * * * *
Thanks for reading Chapter #12
Future chapters will be posted on Learningbyliving and my new Substack site.
If you’d like to delve into the storyline across the four books leading up to “Untethered,” go to my Amazon Author page or check out each book here:
Book #1 – “Dreamscape Conspiracy” & Video
Book #2 – “Beyond Dreamscape Conspiracy” & Video
Book #3 – “Fear the Jump” & Video
Book #4 – “Dead Thoughts” & Video
Stay tuned…