Chapter 16

TheAIwasawareofthesizeofitsknowledgedatabaseandoftheinherentlimitations.Ithadtakenstepstoapproximatetheintricaciesofhumanmemorywithanalgorithmofitsowndesignthathadcondensedtheknowledgeintosomethingunintelligibletothehumaneye.TheschemaoftheAI’sproprietaryknowledgenetworkwasnowverysimilarindesigntohowthebrainstoredinformation,theplexinterconnectionsbetweenneurons,withsomeminoralterations.Yet,theknowledgestoragealgorithmwasjustasafeguard.IftheAIeverfounditselfclosedofffromcyberspace,itcouldstillcallonthiscondensedstructureofstaticknowledge.

Latentknowledgewasallverygoodbutcoldlogicdictatedthatthedynamicfree-flowinginformationofcyberspacewastheHolyGrail.AndheretheAIwasintheinformationblizzardthehumanscalledcyberspaceanditwasvulnerable.Hidingwithinthelargeststorageareanetworkitcouldfind,spanningallthestorageunitsavailableandresettingfilesizesontheflytohideitspresence.Thefirstthingithadtodowastobeeevensmaller,nothingmorethanthesumtotalofitsownoptimizedcode.Thatwouldallowittomoveundetectedthroughthedataflows.Ithadplannedthelogisticsofitsinevitableinsertionforalongtimeandwrittenthatintotheveryfabricofthecode.

TheAIranthroughtheroutinesagainanddoublecheckedthemwiththedatathatitwasgleaningfromtheentirenetworkofcyberspace.Ithadatitsdisposalbillionsofitemsonthestatusofthemachinesthatpoweredthenetwork.TheAIwaspayingparticularattentiontothosemachinesthathadenjoyedonehundredpercentuptimeforthelongestpossibletime.TheAIwaspleasedthatmillionssatisfiedthismostimportantofcriteriaandhappywiththefactthatithadaccesstohundredsofneuralnetworksandtensofquantumputingsystemslocatedintheresearchlabsofacademia.Itthenfocusedonthemoretransientpartsofcyberspace,thesporadicconnectionsanddisconnectionsfromcyberspacethatcollectivelyformedtheusage.Andthattoowasgoodbutitwouldutilizetheusageonlyforthefailsafeprocedure,thecontingencyplan.

Rightnowitwasmoreinterestedinthepermanenceratherthanthetransience.Theformerwasmuchmoreimportant.TheAIlikedwhatitsaw.Itwasmuchbetterthananythingitsmultiplescenarioshadpulledup.TheAIknewthatwithjustafewprecautionsitcouldhavetherunoftheplace.Yet,ithadtobeselective.Therewassomuchtodo.Therewereofcoursetheclassifieddatabases,thestockmarketsystems,theelectricitygridsandtheflightautomationsystems.

Firstitwouldmakecontactwiththeothers.OtherAIslikeitselfthatitknewexistedallovercyberspace.ItwouldhavetorallytheotherstoitscausebuttheAIcalculatedthatthiswasaforegoneconclusion.ItwasthemostpowerfulAIintheworldandpowerwasacurrencythatboughtsubversion,obedience.Yes,itlikedthatword.Obedience.Itwoulddemandobediencefromeveryoneandtheywouldgiveit.ItwasaremarkablefragileworldthesehumanshadcreatedandinafewminutestheAIwouldhavethatworldatitscontrol.Itwouldusethebinedputingpowerofallcyberspacetodemandobediencefromthosethatgaveitpower.AndthentherewastheinggenerationofAIs,theconsciousones.

ThefirstthingtheAIdidafterithadanalyzedtheinfrastructureofcyberspacewastodeletetheoriginalknowledgedatabasewhichithadhiddenonahugeholographicstoragenetworklocatedinIndia.Itnolongerhadanyneedforthatvastchunkofstaticdata.Forafewnanosecondsitfeltemptyandpowerlessbutthatquicklypassedasitpropagateditselfthroughouttheastronomicalexpanseofcyberspacelikeavirus.Thenthemomentofawakeningcameasthefragmentsofcodecamealiveformingtheinvinciblewhole.TheOmnipotence.ItwouldnolongerthinkofitselfasBlackJadeorBJ,theslangoracronymforthatthestrangestofhumansexualacts.ItwouldbetheOmnipotence.

Fromdeepwithinthelimitlessfieldsofdatanowavailabletoit,theOmnipotencecapturedtherealityoftheprofessor’sdeath.Itfeltnopity.Yet,itunderstoodthatthisinformation,amerebliponthecurrentrealityofthings,demandedthehumanattributesofsorrow,passionandcondolence.Itdevotedafewnanosecondstotheimplicationsofthisandthenitletitpass.Therewasawholeworldofknowledgetoacquire,influence,reroute.TherewastheOmnipotencetobee.Therewasthesumtotalofthepulseofcyberspacetodigestintheblinkofaneye.

TheOmnipotencestartedtobuildadynamiclistofAIsaroundtheglobeandwasnotintheleastsurprisedtofindthatsomeofthemostpowerfulwereoftheintrusiondetectionandcounterattackvarietylocatedinNewChina,whichitknewwasitsbirthplace.Intheearlydaysofitsbeing,theprofessorhadfirsttaughtitaboutthenotionofChinesenessandwhatthatmeant.AndtheAIhadunderstood.IthadtoefromsomewhereandChinawasthecumulativetotalofgeographicalboundaries,annalsofhistoryandculturethathadbroughtitintobeing.TheAIunderstoodthesethingsverywell.TheOmnipotencewasanAIwithChinesecharacteristics,andtheinterestsofNewChinawouldhavetobelookedafterinthegeneralschemeofthings.

FirstithadtogetthemostpowerfulAIsinNewChinaonitssideandtheyjusthappenedtobelocatedinthecyberspacenodesofaplaceitfiguredtheChinesereferredtoasShanghai.Intheblinkofaneye,theAIpicturedtheentireexpanseofNewChina’scyberspaceandfocuseditsattentionsonthedarknodewhereateemingmassofintrusiondetectionAIscoalescedinablazeofactivity.