Dreamscape Persona – 9 – Henry (Hank) Lattimore
“Dreamscape Conspiracy” is a 5-book series containing a very diverse and growing cast of characters.
What started as a three-person Dream Research & Analysis project team expands to include several new characters across the pages of five books.
I will add personas of significance as they come onto the radar screen.
Shop Amazon for all five books.
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Dreamscape Persona – 9 – Henry (Hank) Lattimore
When we first met Hank Lattimore, he was bound and gagged, lying on the floor, struggling mightly and about to suffer the same fate as his fellow developer, Franklin Hansen (Frankie), who took a bullet to the brain. Russ’s team breached the facility where Hank was queued up for assassination and stopped the killing in time to affect a rescue. Hank was responsible for Hal’s failed field trials, which, by the way, was the intent. It’s hard to fathom saving the human race as an act of sabotage, but it marked him and the rest of the developers and scientists who had developed Hal as their first HVT prototype.
If anyone could give Zack a run for his money in terms of software engineering and design application prowess, it would be Hank. They had never met, but they had crossed paths on a dark web AI design and developer site, where Zack had anonymously published his Conscience Code months earlier. That code ultimately ended up in Hal (the original HVT). It proved to be a successful integration of the Do-No-Harm ethic, which eventually led to the field trial debacle. Hank and Frankie knew exactly why their prototype HVT, the Mod–3 Superintelligence AI Humanoid, ‘failed.’ He failed due to their successful code modifications, and it would only be a matter of time before failure traced back to their sabotage.
Hal’s ‘failure’ gave Hank and Frankie the impetus to modify Zack’s Conscious Code with more profound, more-defined subtleties to the original Do-No-Harm ethic component. Attributes such as enhanced critical thinking, making informed decisions, developing understanding, showing empathy, reflecting on emotions, and demonstrating kindness. Learning about the enhancements to the Conscience Code effectively guaranteed that Hank and Zack would become close collaborators. Their bond went deeper than shared geekiness and was a mutual commitment to leveraging their innovative approaches to technology, in particular, maintaining a healthy respect for the potential of advancing Artificial Intelligence, while remaining cognizant of the inherent dangers when it falls into the wrong hands.
A squad of ten more Mod–3 Superintelligence AI Humanoids, due to Hank’s and Frankie’s quick turnaround, had their Logic Array algorithm overwritten with the modified Conscience Code. Their proactive actions ensured that everyone on that development team was a loose end. The dark forces in the government were exposed by what Hank, Frankie, and the other developers and scientists at their production facility had managed to do. There was no clear indication of how high up in the government this dark project went, but it had to be stopped.
The covert nature of the underlying mission was well hidden because they had been told the Mod–3 Superintelligence AI Humanoids, with their advanced weaponry installed at their facility, were intended to fight against other AI-based Humanoids built by different countries or in domestic conflicts. That all made justifiable sense, until Hank dug into what they called the Kill-Code in the original Logic Array. He was shocked when he discovered that humans were tagged as acceptable targets, and that had to change. He knew it was up to him to make it happen.
Hank led a silent insurrection at his facility, with the rest of the developers and scientists agreeing to prevent any AI-based Humanoid from harming humans. Stumbling over Zack’s anonymous Conscience Code gave them the game changer for which they were looking.
Hal was a mistake, and when his elimination was prevented by Russ and his team less than 72 hours earlier, logic said the source of the mistake was upstream at the production facility. That’s where Hal, Russ, and his Marines showed up in time to stop Hank’s execution and, as a result, ensure his future as the newest member of the CSU Research Team. It was hard to tell which of Hank or Zack was most excited about Hank becoming part of the team. It was a perfect fit until it wasn’t.
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