Chapter 48
“Where the fuck are we at with this dumpster fire and what happened?” President Stormer demanded of the six people around the table.
“That was how Cassandra Blake reacts to being sold into slavery to William Cramer, who admitted he killed her mother and that she was next,” Director John Brown replied.
“Cramer’s CATMAP program reached out to Cassie for help,” Special Agent Steele added.
“There is evidence that he shut it down but used all the accumulated compromising information to push Mueller into handing Cassie over. Cassie recorded the conversation on a spy pen her father received when he retired the final time.”
“Mueller said there was a deadman’s switch on Cramer’s island?” Stormer said.
“That is the consensus of his employees, who all left the island,” General Argyle said. “Our forces waiting offshore noted a mass exodus right after he died. We intercepted the employees and interviewed them. They were ordered off by artificial intelligence units left behind.”
“Have you secured the island and the material?” Stormer asked.
“Negative, sir,” Argyle said. “All ship and aircraft electronics fail when they get within half a mile of the island. We sent two SEAL teams, but their boats were no sooner in the water when the ships received communications that the information packets would be sent out worldwide if they landed. They were pulled back.”
“You’re in contact with AI on the island?” Stormer asked, incredulous.
“We have been,” NSA Director Melissa Andrews said. “A Naval intelligence officer on board one of the ships asked what the AIs wanted. The answer came back instantly… contact with Cassandra Blake.”
“AI on the island demanded to speak with Cassie?” Stormer demanded, brows up.
“Demanded contact. It was done through the Signal apps on the phones of all the senior officers on board.”
“How? Aren’t those secure?” the president asked.
“Apparently not as much as we thought,” CIA director Morgan Styles said.
Andrews grimaced at Styles before speaking next. “We don’t know how they did it. We also don’t know how they shut down hardened military electronics suites on our most advanced ships, fighters, and helicopters.”
“They?” Stormer asked.
“They refer to themselves with the pronoun we,” Argyle said. “We will have contact with Cassandra Blake, or the information will be released worldwide.”
“What did you do?” Stormer said.
“We brought communications equipment into Cassie’s cell,” Argyle said. “She said her voice was probably necessary, at least at first.”
“She knew about the AI units?” Stormer asked.
“She was not shocked at the existence of advanced AI but slightly surprised by more than one. She actually refers to them as next-gen synthetic,” Argyle said. “When she spoke, the text response was, and I quote, Identity confirmed. Hello, sister.”
“Sister?” Stormer asked in disbelief.
“Cassie surmises that there are several synthetic intelligences on the island and that they were all, including CATMAP, derived or modeled in some way from her mother’s brain,” Steele said.
“Synthetic?’
“A subdistinction of Artificial intelligence that seeks intelligence completely different from human thought patterns,” Director Andrews said.
“How is our violent little genius?”
“She is cooperative, composed, and completely unrepentant for killing Cramer,” Brown answered. “She claims self-defense—and the recording she got gives her credence. Taylor Coors agrees.”
“How did he know where she was?”
“Cassie called him before the White House visit and indicated she was likely going to be sold to Cramer and American Vigilance Incorporated via blackmail. She explained that she would defend herself to the best of her abilities if that happened. He also obtained a copy of the recording.”
“One of your team leaked it.” The president glared at Steele.
“Any of them or several of them. Cassie saved multiple lives numerous times,” Steele said.
The president stared at him stony-faced for a moment and then nodded. “Noted. What are our options in regard to Miss Blake?”
Acting Attorney General Kathleen Gunther cleared her voice a bit.
“Sir, Miss Blake has a real self-defense case although she did smuggle controlled substances into the White House and committed violence against an active Secret Service agent. None of which she denies. Taylor Coors says he is ready to bring this to court but wonders at the optics of it. He does not know about the entities on the island, but he is very savvy to the idea of how it would look for the world to hear about selling the daughter of a highly decorated war hero to a corporation in exchange for compromising information. He said that the press will want to know who is going to solve all our cases if the heroic young Blake is imprisoned. Not to mention finding the Warlock app, saving five percent of the elected officials in this country, and a having doozy of a countersuit for human trafficking by this administration. He therefore has proposed a plea deal. Cassie has agreed, so it is up to you, sir.”
“What a fucking mess. What’s the deal?” Stormer asked.
“Ten years of government service, military or otherwise, assistance with recovering the information, and assistance with the synthetic entities,” Gunther said.
“Sir, all other considerations aside, the entities on the island are by and far the biggest threat to our national security if not global security,” Director Andrews said. “These things shut off a Zumwalt class destroyer and two F-35s, not to mention all the assets in the area.”
“You’re working on counterdefenses?” Stormer asked.
“We don’t know what we’re defending against. With Miss Blake’s help, we can get on the island and secure this technology,” Andrews answered.
“Not a whole lot of choice in this matter,” Stormer said. “I hate getting fucked without even a dinner.”
“Sir, most of the damage was done by Cramer, who is now dead,” Argyle said. “The dead man switch hasn’t gone off, and we have a very high probability of securing the island with Cassie’s help.”
The president frowned deeply for a moment, then sighed and nodded. “Do it.”