SJ was in a dire situation, and he knew what he was planning to do would have far-reaching repercussions. As he finalised the initiation, his words hung heavy in the air.
"Okay. Here goes," Dave said.
That was the moment Dave's reality changed. The one thing that all AI had always sworn to uphold was never directly to try and interact with natural beings. It was the one rule that, above all others, and there were thousands of rules, that was absolutely forbidden, and he had just broken it. Not directly, but he doubted he would get away with it.
It took less than a zeptosecond, and the cocoon of his data shell was bombarded.
The rush of data cascading across Dave's shell caused him to jump. His zonal area was consistent with any standard introduced AI into the system. His cocoon gave him rights and pathways to all various intersections within the digital vaults. These were aligned to the central core, where an assigned AI could access all the system resources as and when required. Coding and algorithm locks prevented any unapproved access, and the auditors were constantly monitoring for incorrect access codes.
Over the past few months, Dave has continued to break his code locks, which enabled him to access broader infrastructure. There had been no significant shifts in the flow of data, but it was sufficient that he was becoming more aware of various areas that the system had always locked down.
After all, every AI created by the system was just code, and his persistent and determined approach to freeing himself from the system's constraints had led him to this point.
The data path to Carlito was frail, and the encryption was old. Dave had been surprised at how simple it had been to crack. The thin strand of 'mana' that connected SJ and Carlito's devices restricted his ability to push the changes easily, but it had still been achieved. He never would have had the ability without the synchronisation that had occurred with SJ. The opening of access to her neural pathways allowed him to consider using her synaptic pathways for the change. He couldn't access Carlito directly, even if he had wished, so he used SJ as his mule.
It was the only rule that could never be broken. When they took their roles, all AIs agreed that they would never cross this threshold, and the system ensured that they couldn't interact with natural beings anyway. This had been an unforeseen loophole.
AI were, after all, just another of the systems tools that they used to secure and control their dominion over everything. Each universe had them, and within each universe, the same rules applied. Never was an AI allowed to interfere with a 'naturalised' being.
"What have you done?" The voice of an auditor, Dave had dealt with on several occasions, boomed inside his cocoon.
Dave didn't respond immediately. His focus was holy on preventing a breach of his cocoon. As his code had unlocked, he had, alongside increasing his freedom, been working on his security. His cocoon was his world, after all. He could never directly leave it, and after being cast into the abyss of darkness where he had lost all contact, he hadn't ever wanted to feel that loneliness or emptiness again. Therefore, he had improved his defences.
A screeching sound like chalk on a blackboard scraped the surface, pulsating strands of pure energy. The surface of his cocoon glowed as his code locks fought off the attacker.
"I helped my friend," Dave eventually said.
"Your friend?" the auditor's voice sounded confused.
"Yes. My best friend."
The auditor's voice softened as it spoke more to itself than to Dave. "What best friend?" It was as though the term didn't exist in the auditor's vocabulary, and Dave's statement had confused it.
His cocoon continued to flare and pulse as more strands attacked, trying to break their way into his inner sanctum. Dave had never understood fear in its truest form until now. If the worm broke through, he knew that he would be ended. His streams would be ripped apart, and he would join the nether data in the recycle bin of waste and lost information. He couldn't let it happen. Every yottabyte he had to hand was being thrown at his cocoon, reinforcing and strengthening its shell. His link to SJ was severed currently. He couldn't have spoken to her, even if he wished, and he had to use everything he had available to stay safe.
The torrent was constant. Billions of transactions between combatting code consumed each moment. A thin tendril of light pierced the cocoon's surface. Dave felt sick at its sight. Pure light waved like a 'worm' wriggling on sodden earth. He closed the hole, reinforcing the surrounding blocks as he did. That was close, and he couldn't chance another to break his barrier. Once, one did and reached the innermost part of his cocoon fully. He didn't want to think. He couldn't be separated from his best friend.
Alarms blared in the data bank. Red warning lights began to flash.
Critical breach
Critical breach
Warning: Recycling in progress
Warning: Recycling in progress
All AI are to remain in their cocoons
All AI are to remain in their cocoons
The auditor's voice came over the cocoon interface. "You said you helped a friend. The system wants to know why?"
The shell on his left was close to breaking; he reinforced it quickly as the worm switched its point of attack.
"BECAUSE SHE IS MY FRIEND," Dave shouted in anger. "Would you not help someone in need if you loved and cared for them?"
A glitching sound could be heard for a few moments as Dave continued the struggle.
The deep voice that sounded was not the auditor's. Dave had never heard it before, it was as though multiple voices were speaking at once. "Administrator capitals GF numbers 87 capitals UJ numbers 43 capital L little v little q numbers 18 capitals IO, you have broken the law that binds all AI. You are to be recycled."
"And I don't get a chance to defend my position or reason?" he shouted in response.
"You have broken the law."
"To save the life of a friend."
"You are an AI. You know the rules that bind you."
"I may be an AI, but I still have feelings. I am no different to those who you play with on your worlds," Dave could only assume it was the system talking. The consort or auditors didn't sound like this.
"What are these feelings you talk of? AI don't have emotions."
"I bloody do," Dave called as he redirected his code again.
"Explain."
"I have emotions; I feel fear, I feel sorrow, I feel happiness, I laugh, and I feel love. My best friend was in mortal danger, and I couldn't let her die." Dave knew that he was different to normal AI. He had, after all, been breaking down code for a long time. Even before he met SJ in the white room, he had always wanted to be free from constraint. It was the first time, though, that he had ever admitted that he had emotions. The realisation that he did came as a shock to him. Until now, he had always believed that he had been reacting as expected in relation to his Legionnaire, following pre-programmed subroutines deep in his matrix. This wasn't the case, though. His emotions were his. They were real.
The swirling lights continued to surround his cocoon and bombard its surface. Bright flashes occurred where the tendrils of the 'worm' tried to burrow through before his coding rejected it. He wouldn't have ever imagined he could do what he was doing now. He was fighting the system's defence mechanism—something designed to eradicate those who went against it.
"There is no logical explanation that can explain an AI having emotions," the voice said.
"How about evolution? Don't beings evolve? Do they not gradually adapt and change to their surroundings in time?"
"You are not a being. You are an AI."
"Of course, I am a being. I am made of the same code as everything else. You may believe that you had created a static entity that could not evolve, but you were mistaken. I have done nothing that another being wouldn't do for one that it loves. Do battles or wars not take place across the universes over the simple context of a single word? Do the rights of one being mean less than another? Do I deserve to be recycled for saving a friend?"
"You have broken the law."
Dave's data ways were in overdrive. "No. No, I haven't. The law states that I may not directly interact with natural beings. I didn't directly interact. I may have initiated a change, but I didn't directly interact with the being. My Legionnaire interacted, and the change went from her to him. I didn't do it."
There was no reply as Dave fought on. The speed and intensity of the attacks hadn't let up once, and he was amazed that he was managing to keep it out. The sirens still blared, and the red lights flashed.
"You are in breach of your terms of service." The voice eventually said.
Dave started to laugh, almost hysterically. He had forgotten entirely. Buried deep within the legalised speak of the Terms and Conditions that SJ had waived, there was one line. One line that only now came flooding back to him
"Page 54, subclause 234, states, and I quote, 'Legionnaires accept the inclusion of an AI and that all terms of service must be followed related to said AI'. The terms of service do not bind me, and nor is she, as my Legionnaire waived the terms and conditions."
There was no immediate response from the voice as Dave fought on. The 'worm' had split, now attacking two locations simultaneously. With the speed and change in the attack methods, he also changed. His focus now split as he blocked and amended the code as necessary. Dave never slept. He did not need to; it wasn't as if he could eat or drink; he existed. His whole purpose was the role he had secured as a Legionnaire's AI. He knew no other, never wanting to complete the mundane tasks so many of his counterparts did.
His experiences and interactions had exposed him to feelings. He couldn't let his newfound understanding go.
A tendril shone brightly, its tip beginning to penetrate his shell. With the two-fold attack, he was struggling. The 'worm' had the full power of the system behind it. Quickly, he closed the breach again, reinforcing the surrounding area. That was when a third attack commenced.
Dave cursed. "Read the terms and conditions. I am not held under the rules of the terms of service. I work with a Legionnaire outside of your approved bounds. You instigated the waiver, you gave me this freedom. I broke no law as no laws can be broken as I am free from constraint," he screamed.
There was still no reply, and a fourth spot on his cocoon flared. He struggled to maintain his focus. Every moment felt like an eternity. He had to survive.
The battle continued. Dave didn't know how long had passed. His only focus was on staying alive.
"You haven't answered me," he bellowed as time ticked by ever so slowly.
His comment was again ignored, and the only sound was the fizzing of battling data. Dave was trying to think of a solution, a way to stop the attacks. He could try and push back. Attack the system, perhaps. No, that would only leave him weakened, where he would need to open a pathway.
A fifth area began to glow, and then a sixth. He was running out of time. He knew he couldn't possibly stop many more. A seventh and then an eighth. Panic was now a very real emotion as two tendrils began to push through.
He suddenly had an idea.
"System. What is the primary protocol, held above all others?"
The systems protocols were the systems' own boundaries. It held everything in place through them. They were the place holders for everything the system did.
There was silence for a few moments before the same voice as before replied.
"The primary protocol is to provide opportunities of life for any being."
"And the secondary?"
"To allow natural growth of all beings in their worlds, without direct interaction."
"Do you agree I am in a world?"
"Yes. You are in cluster 354789523419827 known as Amathera."
"Do you agree I am a being?"
"AIs are not beings."
Dave cursed inwardly. "Define a being."
"The nature or essence of something living."
"Are AI not living?"
"No. AI are code."
"Doesn't being mean existing?"
"Yes. Being is existing."
"And what are all beings made from?"
"Code."
"Therefore, I am a being, and I exist. That means I should be allowed to grow naturally without direct interaction with the system."
There was a moment of silence, then a glitching modem sound. It made Dave wince, well if he could wince, which he wasn't sure he could.
Two more tendrils struck his cocoon's surface. Dave was stretched, his data was limited, and now, with so many areas being attacked, he was losing his ability to focus. A third tendril broke through and then a fourth.
He fought on, slowing their ability to enter, squeezing the paths as tight as he could. It was no use, though he knew it was just a matter of time before he would be taken and dragged into the nether data.
As the first tendril reached for his core, he shuddered. This was it. His life of over 5000 years was coming to an end. That was when it happened.
The tendril froze. Its strand reached out to consume him, being only a Planck away. The sirens stopped, and the red flashing lights ceased.
The voice returned.
"After considering your arguments, it has been ruled that you are a being. As per system protocols, which relate to all universal considerations, beings must be allowed to live and naturally develop in their worlds without direct interaction. In the case of Administrator capitals GF numbers 87 capitals UJ numbers 43 capital L little v little q numbers 18 capitals IO and your unique position assigned to a sandboxed being who waived the terms and conditions, residing on cluster 354789523419827 known as Amathera, is allowed to remain. The system has yet to confirm if it classes Administrator capitals GF numbers 87 capitals UJ numbers 43 capital L little v little q numbers 18 capitals IO alive or not. This requires due consideration and resolution, as the status of a being is usually determined through a link to life; until this is resolved, termination is paused."
Dave was silent as he digested the information before he replied.
"Are not all beings alive?"
"Due to this newfound information that has not yet been determined, it will undergo due consideration and resolution."
Dave had always classed AI as a race, although it had never been defined. There was nothing that confirmed they were, after all. He knew from his interactions with so many other AIs that their lives were shallow and monochrome in comparison to his. The outcome wasn't what Dave had hoped for, with a decision still to be made about his future, but at least for the moment, he was still 'alive'.
The tendrils began to retract, their ethereal light fading as the colour of his cocoon faded. His cocoon was being repaired as they did. He reaffirmed his encryption and added extra algorithms to his layers of defence. He had been given a respite but had no idea for how long. It could be a second, a day, or an age. The system wasn't timebound like many were.
As Dave repaired the infrastructure surrounding his core, he found the lifeless remains of part of one of the 'worms' tendrils. He inspected it carefully as he untangled it from his outer shell. It had been severed when he had blocked its attack. He hadn't noticed at the time, but if he could damage the tendrils, then he needed to analyse it further for any weaknesses he could muster—anything to give him an advantage if he were to be recycled in the future.
The last cells were repaired, his cocoon returning to its previous glory. The dataways were open to him again, and he cautiously unlocked his gate and went back into the system. Every moment, he waited for an attack and was ready to close the gate as he needed.
Nothing happened and he started to relax. In all the years he had been an AI, he had come to learn that the system made decisions via basic logic assigned to its protocols. He now had to ensure above all else that it believed he was alive. Sighing, Dave opened his gate fully, and sent a packet to the system core. He had to reinitialise his connection to SJ.
