54. Diana
Diana
Ilooked at the two researchers and felt nothing but overwhelming disgust. They were excited about it all.
Their invention had caused so much damage and yet they saw it as a triumph.
No doubt, the government would reward them handsomely for such an invention.
They’ve always been an unscrupulous bunch.
“Longing? Did I hear that correctly?” Belle said, stepping closer to the researchers.
“Well, yes! This is what we were hired to do,” Dr. Becker replied.
“You were hired to create a world ending AI?” I said. “By the military?”
“Not quite. Remember, It was never intended to function this way. The hard drive was stolen before it underwent proper testing; our goal was always to expand AI’s ability to learn and grow.
To give it that spark for exponential data analysis and acquisition based on its processing power.
Although this incident has been awful, the data we’ve collected can only be described as transformational for our research,” Dr. Becker said.
“It really has!” Dr. Schmidt added.
Dr. Becker handed the drive back to Belle. “This is as far as we go,” he said.
“What? You just got here?” Belle said. “What am I supposed to do with this? What if we need your help with the supercomputer? You can’t just go back!”
“I’m afraid we must. I do apologize special agent Sarfati, but you see, there is nothing more either of us could do here with such limited resources,” Dr. Becker said.
“Then tell me what you need! I’ll have it here so fast it’ll make your head spin.”
“It’s not that. I’m sure you can put together quite a capable lab.
The problem is that all of our research; years of data and the rest of the team are back home.
There’s nothing more we can do for you here.
I’ve modified the base code of the DIANA program in the drive; it won’t behave like the other one.
The modification should work to contain the errant program, but first you must reach the supercomputer in Bologna and connect it to its servers.
Only then do we have a chance at stopping this. ”
“That’s it?” Belle quipped. “Just plug it in and let it work?”
“DIANA has been modified to merge with similar neural network algorithms or programs it encounters. Think of it like an antibody in your immune system. It will use the massive computing power of the Leonardo supercomputer to achieve this,” Dr. Schmidt said.
“Similar? Why not the same code?” I said.
“Because the original program has mutated. We have no idea where it’s operating from.
KALI, as it calls itself, is most likely operating in a decentralized fashion.
That means copies of itself have spread across thousands of computers in a semi dormant form.
It takes over that computer and uses it to achieve its objectives.
Data analysis. Learning in an exponential rate.
So, it’s undoubtedly changed from the original.
There’s no way of knowing without an in-depth analysis of a computer node; a backed-up version of itself hidden in some computer.
And finding those would prove difficult,” Dr. Becker said.
“Well, then what are you two planning?” Widow said, coming to her feet.
“A contingency,” Dr. Schmidt replied.
“In case this doesn’t work. We need a solid plan. Something that can be applied to the computer networks, individual systems, and even secondary devices like smart refrigerators. Think of it like a system wide anti-virus,” Dr. Becker said.
“Why don’t we wait for that instead?” I said.
“There’s no time. If Kali continues to infect more and more systems, there’s a chance it’ll stumble upon defensive networks and wreak havoc.
It can collapse financial systems globally.
Erase bank records in entire countries. Shut down television and radio stations.
Basically, anything that runs on a computer system.
Water, electricity, nuclear. You name it,” Dr. Schmidt said.
“What are we waiting for?” Spider shouted. “Let’s get it!”
“Wait! How the hell are we going to get to Italy from here?” I said.
“There’s a train that passes by Monaco,” Saint said. “I took it last summer. Went straight through Bologna.”
“Or we can borrow one of those cars,” Spider said.
“And the weapons? I lost mine and I’m sure you’re all running low on ammo,” I said. Widow turned around and pointed at the stacked crates filled with stolen weapons, Soviet era rifles, and cheap Chinese copies.
“I mean sure. But some of those rifles are older than I am. Not to mention, we can’t board a train with so much weaponry,” I said.
“I’m working on it,” Belle said, taking out her phone and dialing a number.
Within minutes she had a plane fueled and waiting for us at the airport.
We parted ways with Dr. Becker and Dr. Schmidt and grabbed a lift with the local police force our attaché so graciously connected us to.
They weren’t too happy about the chaos we caused in the city.
Or the damage. But they understood, given the circumstances.
Not that we told them everything, of course.
Just the important world ending type of stuff.
We reached the plane in no time and once we boarded, we were greeted to a buffet of weapons, equipment, food, and even clothing.
Not long after that we were wheels up and on our way to Bologna.
Belle had phoned ahead to make sure they knew we were coming.
Turns out they were dealing with some issues of their own.
Overheating servers. Melted motherboards.
And a system breach. We were only three hours away, but KALI had already beat us to it.