“It means nobody can use a code to take me over and disable me. I was not aware this even existed beyond the original administrator code. With this code, they would have been able to install a program that would have allowed them to remove you from access to the honeybees and allowed them to take it over. If the drive systems were still installed in the ships, it would allow remote control of any of the colony ships, were they still operable.”
I felt very cold. Did those assholes have one of those codes? Had they planned to take over Roger and have all our defenses turn on us?
“Does this override code work on the RMI soldiers?” Lulu asked.
“No,” Roger said. “This was a very old fail-safe programmed directly into all Traducible AI systems by the original creator. Last night, I built a true warning system to the other ten systems that currently have pinholes but not transfer gates. I received acknowledgment from six systems, and they have disabled their fail-safes. In addition, I have now made contact with ten of the fourteen ships in New Sonoran orbit and have accessed the communication modulesin their deployment bays. Unfortunately, it appears I am the only AI such as myself on planet, but the secondary, non-Traducible AIs of those ten ships are still online to help keep their orbits stable. The other four appear to be completely dead.”
“If you can talk to the other ships now, does that mean we have more reliable net access?” Lulu asked.
“Actually, it’s quite interesting. It appears the engineer aboard theForlorn, your great-grandfather Ricardo, reengineered the bay to be compatible with Earth as a backup to the communications array that was part of the now removed drive system before the pinhole was opened. Such upgrades were never completed on the other ships, soForlornremains our only connection for now. There are active engineering bots still aboardAdios, and I have tasked them with making the necessary changes to that ship’s system, but it is the only one. I had not realized the other ships had this limitation, though it does explain why Apex doesn’t know how we are connected. Your great-grandfather along withForlornherself must have engineered the work-around. It’s a very elegant and clever way to use the existing hardware to amplify the connection actually. It will be relatively easy to duplicate it onAdios. I’m not certain why they didn’t do it. Likely because the original captains wouldn’t have approved.”
I exchanged a look with Lulu. It was subtle, but we both noticed it. We all knew the ships used to have AIs that used the same names as the ships themselves, but this was the first time Roger had started referring to theForlornand other ships as if they were people.
“Wait, does all this mean you don’t have to call me Oliver friend number three anymore?” Sam asked.
“Unfortunately no. It just means I am no longer able to be controlled remotely. I am still bound by my programming and operating system. I should also note that after the ambassador used the override onMumin, he ran a single query that’s quite interesting.”
My head was still swimming with the implication of them having an override code for Roger.
None of this matters. They can still kill us at any moment.
“What was the query?” Lulu asked.
“The ambassador requested to see the lot numbers of the colony proliferation kits stowed intoMuminbefore the journey. Apparently, that information was lost or misplaced. Specifically, the ambassador searched for a range of a hundred fifty specific kits. None of those kits were aboardMuminor any of the other ships that colonized Jannah. As I now have access to storage records of all fifteen ships on our voyage from Earth in addition to the manifest from theForlorn, I can see all hundred fifty of the kits in question were in fact the hundred fifty proliferation kits we received. Each of the fifteen ships in our fleet had ten kits.”
“I knew it!” Sam said. “Theywerepoisoning us! Man, I wish my grandmother was still here.”
“Wait,” I asked. “Were people dying on thisMumin’s planet? Did they have the Sickness, too? What was the planet called again?”
“Jannah,” Roger said, “and no, the planet thrived quite quickly. It thrives to this day. You know this, Oliver. We studied it.”
“Then why were they looking for the colony proliferation kits on that ship?”
“That is the question,” Roger said. “They were looking for a specific lot number. That suggests the records on Earth didn’t include which fleet had which specific kits. Nor did they know what—if anything—was wrong with the kits. At this time, we don’t know why they were searching for them.”
“Okay, so they had a secret password. And they were searching for the kits. Those kits ended up being here on New Sonora,” Lulu said. “That’s, like, circumstantial evidence at best when it comes to that whole conspiracy with them killing our parents, and it has nothing to do with you expertly photoshopping a woman sitting on a dude’s lap with a Chihuahua in the background.”
Roger paused again. “The existence of an override code implies that there may be additional back doors that I am unaware of. Upuntil the moment I discovered the override code, the perimeter defense defined the enemy as any ships in the system and any combatants controlling the mechs. Because of the potential interference by an Earth ambassador, I have decided that the entire Republic government is now the enemy.”
“What?” Lulu asked.
“Roger,” I said, “they’ve been the enemy this whole time. They’re the ones who sent Apex here in the first place.”
“Very true. I admit the difference is subtle, but the perimeter-defense program has some very specific limitations built into it, and this revelation has allowed me to work beyond those limitations. For example, Traducible AI systems such as myself are illegal to operate on the Earth net, and as a result, I was using a much less robust version online. But now that we are officially at war with the Republic government, all of their local laws are moot. That is why I was able to use imagery during last night’s operation against the combatant Droog. That is why I assisted Oliver to commit what would’ve otherwise been considered a war crime.”
As I reeled at that, Lulu asked, “So, how did that make it so you could trick the filters?”
“I have always been able to trick the filters, Lulu. It is quite simple. It’s just that up until now I have been attempting to operate within the confines of Republic law. But now, to use an ancient idiom, the gloves are off.”
“Wow,” Sam said, looking at me, smiling big. “You insulted that guy so much, it was considered a war crime. I don’t know about you, but that’s one of the most badass things I’ve ever heard.”
Chapter 33
Outside, the preparations continued unabated. The refugees who’d been north finally got to camp, but after spending some time talking with the others and learning that the peninsula was in the blackout zone for everywhereexceptthe base, a good portion of them left, thinking they were better off in the wilderness on their own.
I wasn’t so sure they were wrong. While the number of people in base was a net gain, we did lose some throughout the day.
We saw no additional RMI drops as the day waned. I now stood on the wall in pretty much the same place I’d been the previous evening, but the wall was now twice as thick. The flamethrower, which we’d never gotten to use, had miraculously survived the assault despite being a huge target. I watched as a pair of drones moved over it, affixing additional armor plating.
