SWNOVELS Chapter The Meeting
The Meeting
Block 7,932,436
Arman walks briskly down the same corridor he walked down on the first day he became director. Darian no longer needed to show him the way. Instead, he approaches the door to the meeting room, opens it, and enters.
“Sit!”
“Yes, Eleven.”
An eleven begins, “Arman, we’ve been monitoring the activity at Han Tech, and your responses have been appropriately guarded. However, we are growing increasingly concerned about where this is leading. First, the energy usage that Han Tech is using is on an unacceptable trajectory. Second, we are concerned about the contents of the update. As you know, Han Tech has a special status within SO-Lands but can’t operate outside our mandates. Their AI is an integral part of SO-Land AI but has a degree of autonomy. We’ve noticed that the update they are doing in Ben Jianao has been taking a while, and the Han Tech AI is analyzing it internally, but there has been no sharing of data with SO-Land AI. So we have two vectors of attack against the integrity of SO-Land AI. One is energy consumption, and the other is private data. We allow Han Tech a lot of latitude in testing and development, but this activity is unusual. The EMC and SO-Land AI has reached a consensus about this.”
“Understood. What do you propose as a solution.” Arman responded.
“You have the authority to use social conditioning, Circle conditioning, remove Han Tan from his position and any others collaborating, and finally, you may exterminate with extreme prejudice. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I completely understand.”
“Proceed.”
Arman stands and leaves the room.
“AI, hail AAPD.”
Arman takes the elevator to the top of EMC and enters the AAPD.
“Han Tech, Wuhan.”
+++
“Mr. Tan?”
“Yes?”
“You have a visitor.”
“Who?”
“Mr. Heydari.”
“Who?”
“Mr. Arman Heydari, SO-Land EMC.”
“Shit, what does he want?” Han thinks to himself.
“Show him in.”
Han swirls around in his chair and looks out the windows of his office. He’s beginning to see early signs of spring. He loves this time of year here in Wuhan. But he wonders what it will be like on the other side. The sun is casting long shadows.
“Hello?” Arman announces, “Hello?” Arman continues as he enters from the stairs.
“Over here,” Han says without turning around.
He can hear Arman walking towards him.
“Please have a seat.”
He waits to hear that Arman has sat and then turns around.
“Such a beautiful time of year here in Wuhan. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Yes, Yes, I would. It’s my first time to this part of SO-Land.”
“Well, what brings you here, and what brings you to Han Tech? AI, off!”
“Wow, very interesting. You can disarm your AI?”
“To some degree. Ok, how may I help you?”
“As you know, I have had concerns about the energy usage of this last update Han Tech is installing.”
“Yes, I know. And I’ve told you that we have to do further testing to validate the update and ensure it is stable.”
“Well, you see. That’s just the thing. SO-Land and EMC AI have agreed that energy usage and data analysis could be a threat.”
Han begins to feel a little uncomfortable. He swiftly turns back around to the windows. He takes a deep breath and swallows.
“Why would something we do here at Han Tech be considered a threat? We are an integral part of SO-Land integrity.”
“Indeed, but you have not shared any data from the update with SO-Land. And as I just learned, you have a little autonomy with your AI. Maybe you are using that to your advantage in some way?”
Han turns back around.
“Advantage? What kind of advantage do I have, you, imbecile?”
“Look here, Mr. Tan, you should not be addressing the director of EMC in that manner...”
“You are one arrogant son of a bitch! What have you done to achieve such a prestigious position? I’ve worked to build this company from scratch to become a vital part of SO-Land. And now you have the nerve to come in here and say that I’m a threat and I’ve created some advantage.”
“AI picked me for this position, 你这个篡位者! Arman growls. His face is getting visibly red. “And AI has informed me that what you are doing is not permissible.”
“Fuck AI!”
Arman abruptly stands. “What did you say?”
“You heard me. Fuck you, and fuck AI. You think you are so smart. You wouldn’t even have AI if it wasn’t for people like me and a company like this which I built from scratch.”
Arman leans forward, puts his hands on the desk, and leans into Han’s face. Han is in shape, but Arman’s chiseled jawline, massive pectoralis muscles, and broad shoulders are visually intimidating, “You will stop this activity immediately. You will be punished. And anyone else I can find that is collaborating will be punished. You can be sure of that! So turn your fucking AI back on, you prick!”
Han is beginning to shake in rage. He feigns, turning in the chair while reaching into his satchel next to him, and fumbles for the capsule and, in one smooth motion, takes the blunt end of the capsule and slams it into Arman’s right temple. Arman staggers to his left and then collapses to the ground.
Han stands up immediately and looks over the desk, and then walks around the desk. He crouches down to feel for a pulse and check for breathing. “Fuck you!” He says to the unconscious Arman. He knows he needs AI to summon Min up here, but even Han Tech AI would understand that there is a problem. Han stands up and starts looking around and thinking.
He bends down, grabs Arman’s legs, and begins dragging him to his couch. He lays him beside the couch, puts his arms under Arman’s shoulders, manages to get Arman’s upper body onto the sofa, and then lifts his legs. He positions Arman in as natural a sleeping position as he can conjure. He’s pouring in sweat at this point.
“AI, summon Min!”
He knows it will take 5-10 minutes for her to get to the office, so he decides to jump in the shower to clean off and freshen up. It will allow him time to think and get his nerves under control as well.
He exits the bathroom and sees Min at the top of the stairs. She can see that Arman is lying on the couch. She has a curious look on her face.
“Min, thank you for coming.”
“Yes, of course.”
Han sees that she is looking at Arman on the couch. “He had a long flight from Tehran and needed to rest before he left.”
“He couldn’t sleep in the drone on the way back?”
“Yes, he could have, but he insisted he wanted to rest here before he left.” Han shrugged his shoulders. “Please, come with me to the AAPD; we need to discuss the latest update at Ben Jianao.” Han walks over to get his satchel and places the capsule back in. He double-checks to ensure he has an undershirt and underwear in the satchel, a pair of glasses, and his console.
They walk into the elevator to go to the roof. Han says nothing. Min looks at him, wondering why he’s not talking. The elevator door opens, they walk out, and then the door closes. It’s a short walk to the drone, but before they start walking toward it, Han grabs Min’s wrist and says, “Min, I hit Arman in the head.” She gasps. “He was here to demand we shut our node update down. He mentioned that SO-Land and EMC AI have concluded that what we do is a threat. He was leaning over me and threatening to harm me. So in a rage, I hit him with the capsule.”
“Is he... Is he dead?”
“No, no, he’s unconscious, and I couldn’t leave him in front of the desk, so I got him up onto the couch. I couldn’t have AI determine there was a problem. It may already be picking up on some issues with his breathing pattern or how he sleeps. I just needed time to talk to you and think about what to do. I have to make a break for Mehran.”
You don’t even know there’s anything on the other side. So you could die in the desert on the frontier.
“Yes, I know, but I’m as good as dead here. I have no family. I have nothing to live for. I’ve got to try!”
“Ok, what do you want me to do?”
“First, push this data block to all the nodes within Spider Works. If it goes to all of them, it will cause some confusion about what is going on and make it more difficult for them to shut it down. Please find a way to disable AI within the nodes and set up a biometric entry for me in every node. That way, I can enter with my physical credentials, and I won’t depend on AI. Maybe I can use the node network as a sanctuary for hiding this way.
Next, you need to be the one that finds Arman and gets assistance. You need to act as if you know nothing about what is happening. You can even show him the blocks of data. They don’t need to see how those messages are encoded. I can protect you, and you will still have something here. If they find out you are helping, they will kill you.”
“Oh, my SO! Kill me? Why would anyone do that?”
“That’s exactly what he threatened me with. I didn’t think that was possible, but he assured me he could. Any threats to SO-Land will be eliminated.”
“We need to communicate some sort of urgency to the FreeLands.”
“We could rapidly turn the synchronization on and off until they acknowledge they understand what is going on.”
“Ok, good idea. And then, somehow, they need to know where I’m going. I don’t know how to do that right now. Think about that.”
“Well, how will you and I communicate?”
“I think I can use my Han Tech console. It will allow us to communicate for some time before they can disrupt it.”
“Ok, but as soon as you turn it on, they will know exactly where you are.”
“Yeah, I know, so our communications need to be short but detailed enough for me to have the information I need.”
“And what about travel? You can only travel for a limited time before they shut the drone down.”
“Yes, I know. I haven’t thought that far ahead. All I know is I need to get to Mehran.”
He let go of her wrist. He hugs her and kisses her on the cheek.
“You are a wonderful lady Min. I’m honored to have had you work for Han Tech and me. I know that I’m leaving it in good hands.”
Han quickly walks to the AAPD and enters the hatch.
“AI, Hong Kong.”
The AAPD silently lifts Han and flies to Hong Kong.