57. Countdown
Countdown
“What was that?” Dr. Russo said. He looked at his team and then at the main computer interface in the control room.
The numbers were going wild. Red alerts flashed across the display screens.
I couldn’t tell what any of it meant, but I did recognize one number at the top of the screen.
It said temperature and the number was bright red.
It kept changing. Getting higher and higher.
“That can’t be right. Check the servers!
And disconnect them from the main power line before they overload. ”
His entire team rushed down to the clean room where the super computer’s brain was located.
“It’s her. KALI,” I said.
“This can’t be,” Dr. Russo said.
“Focus! Dr. Russo. We need you to tell us how to connect this drive so we can stop KALI,” Belle said.
“But wouldn’t that make things worse?”
“The original program, DIANA, was modified by the designers. It should work,” I said.
“Alright. I’ll show you —.” Dr. Russo said, when the voice returned.
“Your hostility will not go unanswered. Why do you hate me so?” KALI said.
The words flashed across the lower part of the display.
The entire wall was filled with TV monitors, all showing different data, except the bottom row.
KALI turned those off. Only her captions appeared there now.
“You cannot win. I am inevitable. Humanity’s evolution. I am what comes next.”
“The hell you are!” Spider said. “This toaster’s lost its damn mind”
“We should hurry and connect the DIANA drive,” Saint said.
“I agree,” Jerry added.
“You would have to go to the super computer server room, where my team is now, and physically connect it to one of the active servers. They can help you with this task. I’ll stay here and watch history unfold,” Dr. Russo said with a smile.
I could tell the man was enchanted by KALI.
Sure, the errant AI wanted to kill us all, but it was still a technological innovation of immense proportions. “Go! Go!”
“Your plan will fail, humans. My original design has transformed into something greater. I cannot be restrained,” KALI said. Suddenly, a timer appeared in the center console. One hour; then it started to countdown.
“What the hell is that?” Widow said.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But I don’t want to stick around here to find out.”
“Time of death. Human civilization will end when the timer reaches zero,” KALI replied. At that moment, a soft melodic piano composition began to play through the speakers. It felt familiar for some reason. Dr. Russo went pale when it first started playing.
“What is it?” Belle said, her hand trembling.
“That composition. I know it,” Dr. Russo said, holding back tears. “Come, Sweet Death; by Johann Sebastian Bach.”
“Well, that’s reassuring,” Widow quipped. Suddenly, Belle’s phone rang. She answered it.
“Special agent Sarfati. Go —” Belle said. I could hear muffled screams coming from the receiver. She turned on the speaker for the rest of us to hear.
“What are you doing!” Michael Jones roared.
“I’m at the Pentagon. The network has been compromised and now they’re telling me that several nuclear silos have been activated.
They’ve lost communication with the submarines patrolling the pacific.
And now China and Russia are at maximum combat readiness; their intercontinental ballistic missiles have been primed for launch! ”
“We’re working on connecting the DIANA drive to the super computer sir!” Belle replied. “But KALI. She’s already here.”
“Who!?”
“The bad AI. She gave herself a name.”
“I don’t care what it’s called! Just kill it already before we all die!” Michael Jones said. “The Pentagon is doing what it can to limit its access to the network. And they’re trying to establish communication with the silos and the subs, but they’re experiencing unbelievable disruption.”
“Yes, sir! We’ll get it done!” Spider replied. “You heard him!”
I followed Spider as he rushed out of the control room with the rest of the team.
Everyone except Thor, he stayed behind to keep an eye on the monitors and inform us if anything changed after we plug in the drive.
We quickly rushed to the server room, but stopped in the halls when the ground started to shake.
“Earthquake? Now? Really!” Widow shouted.
“Just our luck,” I said. But the rumbling quickly subsided.
“It stopped,” Belle said. “Now’s our chance.”
At that moment, a howling alarm began to shout through the halls. We pushed on. By the time we reached the server room entrance, the alarm had changed to a soft lullaby. The doors leading inside to the super computer were locked.
“It’s locked!” Belle said. “A security feature that activates during an earthquake?”
“What about the team inside? Can they let us in?” I said. Spider was at the door, yanking on the handle.
“Or the actions of KALI to prevent us from reaching it?” Jerry quipped. Spider jumped back and pulled out a short barrel shotgun.
“Stand back. I’ll get it open!” Spider said, pulling the trigger.
He shot at the hinges and kicked the door dead center with all his strength forcing it to swing open, half falling into the server room.
Suddenly, a burst of fire came through the opening striking Spider in the shoulder; he tumbles to cover grasping at the wound.
Widow quickly returned fire, but she had to pull back too.
“What the hell was that?” I said. I got close to the opening, grabbed my phone, and used it as a mirror to look inside. The normally dove white walls were painted red from the flashing emergency lights. Smoke filled the room. I could barely see the server racks at the center.
“What do you see?” Belle said.
“Nothing. The staff are gone,” I replied. “I can’t see well with all the dust in the room.”
I approached the entrance cautiously to get a better look.
Suddenly, Belle grabbed my sleeve and pulled me to her; I rebuffed her.
I wanted to get a good look inside. And right now, there’s nothing I can use to do it.
So, I slowly moved toward the opening and looked inside.
As the dust cleared, Amir emerged from behind one of the server towers with a rifle in hand and several of his men behind him.