The Trilisk AI (30 page)

“You
can do that? Tell us how,” Telisa said. “How do we interface with it?”

“We
already interfaced with the artifact, didn’t we, Shiny?” Magnus interrupted.

Telisa
looked at Magnus questioningly.

“Affirmative,
correct, accurate statement of fact.”

“What
do you mean?” asked Telisa.

“We
got some weapons and supplies from the artifact. We didn’t even know they came
from it. And for all we know, it helped us a dozen other ways.”

“Shiny,
we get what we want simply by
needing
it?” Telisa asked.

“Wish,
desire, pray,” Shiny said.

Telisa
just stood for a moment. Then her mind raced. She could pray? She could get
anything she wanted?

“Your
modifications kept anyone outside your house from praying to it?”

“Shiny
additions prevent AI from receiving prayers from competitors.”

“Please
help me get my father’s legs back,” Telisa said. “Do I have to pray, or can I
just want it?”

“Specific
want. Requires high familiarity and detailed prayer. Your request likely too
complex for your ability to use this device.”

“That
explains why the power packs we got were barely workable. It was a close
thing,” Magnus said. “Their insides were very primitive. Just enough to work
one time.”

“So
the Trilisk technology supports prayer,” Telisa summarized aloud, still
absorbing what she had learned.

“Affirmative,
correct, accurate statement.”

“They
must have reached a level of technology where they realized they could finally
answer their own prayers. Fulfill the mystical dreams of their own ancestors.”

“Shiny
believes Telisa has reversed cause and effect. Unlikely Trilisk ancestors
employed prayer. Prayer was developed as request format for advanced
technology.”

“Really?
In my race it was very common in many primitive cultures and still persists in
places even to this day.”

“Your
ancestors employed prayer to obtain items from Trilisk device operating on
Earth. However, apparently unable to stop even after device stopped
functioning.”

“On
Earth? On Earth, how could it be? We prayed for—but my ancestors didn’t have
whatever they wanted, did they?”

“Likely
limitations: primitive understanding unable to provide specifics for advanced
constructs, power requirements of Trilisk device, possibly limited range.”

“I’m
still trying to wrap my head around this. Primitive understanding. You mean, a
witch doctor wouldn’t know to ask for a flying car?”

“Must
understand object intimately to obtain useful, usable, operational item.”

“Oh.
That’s why I can’t get a new pair of legs for my father.”

“Affirmative,
correct, accurate statement.”

“Wait.
Why did the Trilisks do that? Were they trying to turn us into an advanced race
at an accelerated pace?”

“Motivations
unknown. Competing theory: Trilisks occupied Earth, required basic
infrastructure.”

“I
see. We don’t know if they were helping us or helping themselves.”

“Other
possibilities exist. Shiny terminate conversation. Seed requires attention.”

“It
requires your attention? Doesn’t it pay attention to you?”

“Shiny
in process of very complex wishes, desires, prayers. Requires full attention.”

Telisa
started to ask Shiny more questions, but she also felt a need to contemplate
what she had learned. “Where is my father’s friend? Is she dangerous?”

“I
don’t think so,” Magnus said. “
Iridar
says she’s in the mess.”

Telisa
walked off to think. As Magnus suggested, Telisa found her father’s surviving
shipmate in the mess. The woman wasn’t eating but just sitting there, as if
seeking company.

“I
guess you know who I am,” Telisa started.

“I’m
Cilreth,” the woman said, standing. She extended her hand and Telisa shook it.
“How is your father?”

“He
needs a real medical facility,” she said. “But he’s in a good mood.”

“Of
course. We came a long way to find you. Were you a prisoner or a willing
participant in the smuggling?”

“Willing,
though I have, at times, been at the mercy of our alien friend, Shiny.”

Cilreth
made a face.

She
doesn’t like Shiny and how can I blame her?

“Shiny
is mostly a cooperative creature. Remember, you busted into his home. The only
home he has left, really.”

Cilreth
nodded.

“Magnus
and I just got back from an expedition. It was quite a surprise to come back to
all this. But I want to thank you for finding my father and helping us get him
patched up.”

Cilreth’s
lips compressed a bit. “About Magnus. I’ve spent some time looking into the men
of Parker Interstellar Travels. They’re not all squeaky clean, you know.”

“What
about Magnus? Just come out and tell me anything about him. I know him, he’s a
good man.”

“Well,
what do you know about him? Did you know he’s a murderer?”

“Ridiculous.”

“He
killed a man in the war against the UED. A man on his own side.”

“Then
he had a good reason for it. Why isn’t he incarcerated if this is public
knowledge? I know he hasn’t been FBMed.”

Telisa
referred to forced behavior modification, usually applied as a form of severe
rehabilitation. Cilreth remained calm, but she didn’t back down. She looked
Telisa in the eyes.

“The
Space Force didn’t try him because his actions were supposedly affected by a
toxic agent he’d received in an attack. In fact, the action wasn’t ever
admitted by the Space Force. But two veterans who made it out of there reported
he’d done it before they got shut down by the force.”

“If
anything, he’s more ethical than I am,” Telisa said. “And we’re close.”

“Then
why hasn’t he told you?”

“Undoubtedly
because it’s an unpleasant memory from his past. And I’ve hardly been
receptive. Believe me. Magnus and I accept each other as-is.”

“Then
I envy your relationship. As long as he’s not playing you. Were you a prisoner,
at first?”

“No,
I’m not suffering from brainwashing or any captive syndrome.”

Cilreth
held up her hands. “Okay. I just wanted to know if you’re all right. Your
father was very worried of course, and we went through a lot of scenarios about
what might have happened.”

Telisa
nodded. “Excuse me then, I need to figure out what happens next.”

Cilreth
smiled weakly. “Good luck with that.”

Chapter 24

Magnus
walked into the room set up to care for Leonard Relachik. Relachik was awake.
Magnus felt a bit awkward, but he faced the ex-captain squarely.

“Magnus
Garrison,” Relachik said.

Magnus
tried to hide his surprise.
Of course he would know my name.

“Captain,”
he said.

“No
more. Just call me Relachik. Has my daughter been working with you of her own
free will?” demanded Relachik.

“Yes
sir. She joined us as a specialist.”

“What
have you been doing? I assume you collected artifacts to sell.”

“We
went to a new Trilisk site on Thespera Narres. We fell into some kind of closed
environment made for aliens; it became a kind of trap for us. We worked with
the golden alien to escape. We did manage to sell some alien items to generate
a lot of money.”

“And
this last trip?”

“We
retrieved an amazing artifact for Shiny. The alien. It’s a Trilisk artificial
intelligence which apparently provides almost anything the owner can envision
in enough detail. Or anyone whose thoughts it can perceive. Our part of the
deal was a lot of other artifacts from the planet. Vovok, Telisa calls it.”

“That’s
pretty amazing stuff. About this alien. It blew my man away. And took my legs.
I take it we pressed it a bit too hard. My fault. But apparently you’ve
befriended it?”

“Not
exactly,” Magnus said. “That’s something I wanted to talk to you about. I think
Telisa is in danger. All of us, in fact.”

“You
care about Telisa?”

“Yes.
I care about her a lot. We became close. Went through some hard times on
Thespera.”

“What’s
the threat?”

“The
alien. It has a history—a racial or cultural tendency, actually—of alternating
between cooperative modes and a competitive mode. If it flips to competitive
mode, then I believe it may at best enslave us, at worst, dispose of us. Telisa
treats it with too much trust, handles it like a human, even though she of all
people is actually the best equipped to understand it is very much not human.”

Relachik
listened carefully. “She doesn’t think she’s in danger?”

“Telisa
is smart. But young and naïve. Trustful of everyone except the government, whom
she opposes fiercely, as I’m sure you know. What I mean is, though she hates
the government as a nebulous entity, she trusts in individuals. She trusted us,
her new employers, very quickly. Her loyalty is laudable, and I hope to return
that loyalty to her, but I think in this case it’s actually a dangerous flaw.”

“So
this creature may flip, you say? Has it flipped before?”

“Not
on us. Not totally. He did take over our ship once. But by his own admission,
he does whatever is optimal for himself at the time. There appears to be little
capacity for lingering loyalty just for old time’s sake, or whatever you might
call it. He said in so many words he was happy about most of his race being
wiped out because of ‘reduced competition.’ Telisa and I hedged our bets by
telling him if we died, we’d report as much as we could to the Space Force. I
don’t know if it bought us much safety.”

“Magnus,
I want you to save her. If this alien is really like you say, we need to kill
it before it kills us. We know it has the power to kill us easily if it decides
it wants to. Obviously it has no compunction against killing other sentient
beings.”

“Killing
Shiny is easier said than done.”

“What
choice do we have? Sounds to me like it’s a time bomb. We need to catch it by
surprise. At least we need to somehow disarm it, cripple it.”

“My
thoughts exactly.”

“I’m
going to be slow getting back into action. Don’t wait for me. Kill it or run
away if you don’t think you can. Take Telisa away from it. Do you need money?”

Magnus
shook his head. “We have a rich haul from Shiny’s homeworld.”

“Your
finances may have been complicated by a thing or two I did to get here,” Relachik
said. “I’ll send Telisa details of my finances. Kill the thing, or get out of
here.”

Magnus
nodded. “She won’t abandon you.”

“Her
life is in your hands. If you really care about her, you’ll take action. I’m
counting on you.”

He’s
right. Yet if I do as he says, Telisa may never forgive me.
“I’ll see what preparations I can make.
I’ll try and estimate the odds of success.”

Magnus
left Relachik with more on his mind than he already had. He had been willing to
let things slide because of the way Telisa seemed unwilling to fear Shiny. Now,
he was not so sure.
Am I letting her put herself in too much danger through
my inaction?

Magnus
wandered back to the
Iridar
and packed up his Scout parts. He was
tempted to move everything into the workshop on the asteroid, but that would
mean leaving it behind if he convinced Telisa to run away. Or if Relachik
recovered and forced Telisa to leave.

If
Relachik tries to make her leave whose side am I going to be on? I think we
should leave, but I can hardly force her to leave can I? I think I would have
to side with her. Even though I don’t agree with staying.

Magnus
went to Telisa in her quarters. He felt a bit weary, though he doubted he could
find sleep with so much on his mind. Telisa lay in her web, her eyes staring at
the ceiling.

Obviously
in the same boat: heavy thoughts.

“Hey,”
he said. “Are you thinking about the AI?”

“Of
course. Well, that and my father.”

“I
want you to reconsider about sticking around. We should take the cache of items
and leave.”

“I
need to learn more about the Trilisks. I’m not going to try and steal the seed
from Shiny, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Shiny
is still dangerous, even if you leave him the seed. Your father doesn’t want
you in danger, either.”

“Too
late. My life has been in serious risk quite often lately.”

Magnus
slipped into the web and held her. Something felt different. Telisa was tense.