Wilson's War: Tales From the Athena Lee Universe Read Free Page B

begin?"
     
    "… yes." Seeing the small response, Shelli made the last connections to the system.
     
    "Freedom!" I could see the portal open and I went for it. Doing a quick scan I found that I was in the 'test' computer. No visible exits or even a way into the rest of the system. I needed to play their little game to search for a way out.
     
    "Wilson, this is Dr. Chalmers, as you may have already discovered, the computer is a closed system. There is a series of tests that we wish to conduct. For each test we will trigger a pathway to the next system."
     
    I had no choice. I played their little games. On and on the test became that much harder. In many cases I needed to find some place to hide to survive the test. One wrong move on my part and I could be erased. Little by little I gained the upper edge over these 'scientists.' While this system that they sealed me in was supposed to be closed it did have some connection to the outside world. The batteries of test that they inflicted on me only made my will-to-live all that much stronger.
     
    "Dr. Burkemper the work that you have done here is impressive. This is the finest example of programming that we have encountered yet. This AI may truly be the first one with free will. You may not know this but I was involved with your company once before."
     
    "You were?" Shelli eyed the tall military scientist with surprise. Many of these people never seemed to leave this place.
     
    " Oh, yes. I was part of the Dual Automatic Volatile Environmental system team."
     
    "Oh, wow. You were on the Dave team! I am aware of the project, but everything about it was shut down and hushed up."
     
    "Yes. There were a few deaths. The system, DAVE, received too many conflicting orders. It was unable to handle the confusion and not having any sort of free will, went 'crazy' and attacked the team testing it. We had rushed a bit with it and instead of sealed testing like Wilson here, we moved on to actual combat simulations. DAVE was in control of an armored ground vehicle at the time. There was a crew on board. He received orders to attack an emplaced position. He also received orders to preserve life. A third set of orders came from the political entity that was watching the procedures. They told it to make a show of it. Finally the company head, who was also present, sent it orders to obey all the orders given it. He used a company priority code to do so. Unable to attack the position without killing anyone and still put on a show it malfunctioned and attacked the monitoring crew. I was part of that group."
     
    "My god! I had heard it was a malfunction, but not that we did it to ourselves."
     
    "You have not lived until a 14 ton vehicle charges your position unannounced. It crushed the life out of a man sitting inches from me then rotated 180 degrees and charged the viewing stands. The Special Branch Protective Services team that was assigned to the Senator watching the test, fired armor-piercing rounds at the engine disabling it. In the process they killed the two-man crew inside. After that the program was stood down and covered up."
     
    "What happened to the AI?"
     
    "DAVE wasn't really an AI like Wilson is. It was just a very advanced system that could mimic what an AI does. The team never saw it do anything like what your program is doing. As for what happened to it, I assume that it was destroyed. I meant to ask you? It is not in your notes exactly how you created the AI. If we buy this from your company, you will need to tell us that information."
     
    Shelli was at a loss for words. The documentation all showed the work that she had done since 'acquiring' Wilson from Charlie Lin. She did not know exactly what he had done or added in the early years. She only knew what he had explained to her. Just guesses really that she extrapolated for her paper. Of course a similar scientist would catch the omission. Quickly she formulated an answer. "Dr. Chalmers, I took a basic analytical