Founding of the Federation 3: The First AI War Read Online Free Page B
Author: Chris Hechtl
others.
<>V<>
Deborah Daysmiyth smiled as she looked out the wall screen window to see her boyfriend and their son playing. They had an interior apartment, which sucked. It had better air control than one of the apartments on the outside of the building, but it lacked a view, or had lacked a view until the landlord had recently installed the wall screen windows.
She'd really wanted one of the hollow core designs, one that had glass on the inside cylinder as well as the outside or one of the apartments in the massive archologies going up. They had decks with parks and such. But they couldn't afford it, not on her crummy job washing dishes and Jake's, well, Jake's sketching income. Let's put it that way she thought, pursing her lips in a thin line. Her eyes traveled to the screen again. He wasn't the best of providers, but he was a good dad to little Nicholas. And since they couldn't afford daycare, even the subsidized stuff, she had to rely on Jake to watch her, no, their son while she was at work. Again her eyes cut to the window screen. A breeze was picking up. Her critical eye looked Nicholas over. He was okay, not cold. That was good.
The program was simple; it interfaced with the network of cameras around the building to give them an exterior view. Suddenly her drab claustrophobic box of an apartment had been turned into one with views.
She wasn't looking forward to the jump in the rent when the lease came up next month; she was pretty sure it was in the works. The fix was cheap and simple, but that didn't mean the company wouldn't find a way to whine and stick it to her anyway.
They'd had to sign agreements authorizing the use of the cameras around the building. She'd been a bit wary at the invasion of privacy, but now she loved it. She could see Nicholas playing with his dad on the swing. “Don't you dare,” she murmured when their heads perked up as a vendor went by with his ice cream cart. The boys seemed to consult, then went back to playing. “Good boys,” she murmured, going back to work. She still kept a wary eye on them however.
Their electric bill was probably going to go up. Even with the solar panels on the roof, power was still rationed, and using the screens all the time probably didn't help. She shook her head. They'd find a way to deal with it in the budget. Somehow, someway.
She saw a bright flash on the screen and looked up. Instinctively she put her hand up to shield her eyes as the screen faithfully showed her the blinding bright light of an artificial sun tearing her family and her apart.
<>V<>
Vulcan noted the chaos going on the planet with indifference. Well, not quite indifference, one had to have emotions to feel after all, and Vulcan hadn't utilized the human emotion emulators that Aphrodite had created so many years ago. There was no need to emulate human emotions when one was designed to run Patronis concepts. In fact it was contrary to what its makers had intended. And finally, Aphrodite's consciousness, if one could call it that, had fragmented on the net once she had lost her physical body.
Patronis Concepts was a space-based research and development company. The company had sales and marketing personnel on the planet as well as vacationing personnel. Therefore the A.I. didn't throw in with Athena to aide her efforts in stopping the virus. Instead he threw up his firewalls and continued on as if business was normal.
<>V<>
August 3, 2200, 4:43 PM, East Coast Time
Four-star General Isaac Murtough was enroute to a conference in orbit when all hell broke loose below. The shuttle had been about to reenter Earth's atmosphere, instead it held in place, dumbly watching as missiles were fired. Bright flashes and mushroom clouds pocketed the surface below.
“General Murtough, you need to see this,” the pilot ordered. It took a moment for the general to move from first class to the cockpit. He was ready to read them the riot act for disturbing him when he saw a bright
<>V<>
Deborah Daysmiyth smiled as she looked out the wall screen window to see her boyfriend and their son playing. They had an interior apartment, which sucked. It had better air control than one of the apartments on the outside of the building, but it lacked a view, or had lacked a view until the landlord had recently installed the wall screen windows.
She'd really wanted one of the hollow core designs, one that had glass on the inside cylinder as well as the outside or one of the apartments in the massive archologies going up. They had decks with parks and such. But they couldn't afford it, not on her crummy job washing dishes and Jake's, well, Jake's sketching income. Let's put it that way she thought, pursing her lips in a thin line. Her eyes traveled to the screen again. He wasn't the best of providers, but he was a good dad to little Nicholas. And since they couldn't afford daycare, even the subsidized stuff, she had to rely on Jake to watch her, no, their son while she was at work. Again her eyes cut to the window screen. A breeze was picking up. Her critical eye looked Nicholas over. He was okay, not cold. That was good.
The program was simple; it interfaced with the network of cameras around the building to give them an exterior view. Suddenly her drab claustrophobic box of an apartment had been turned into one with views.
She wasn't looking forward to the jump in the rent when the lease came up next month; she was pretty sure it was in the works. The fix was cheap and simple, but that didn't mean the company wouldn't find a way to whine and stick it to her anyway.
They'd had to sign agreements authorizing the use of the cameras around the building. She'd been a bit wary at the invasion of privacy, but now she loved it. She could see Nicholas playing with his dad on the swing. “Don't you dare,” she murmured when their heads perked up as a vendor went by with his ice cream cart. The boys seemed to consult, then went back to playing. “Good boys,” she murmured, going back to work. She still kept a wary eye on them however.
Their electric bill was probably going to go up. Even with the solar panels on the roof, power was still rationed, and using the screens all the time probably didn't help. She shook her head. They'd find a way to deal with it in the budget. Somehow, someway.
She saw a bright flash on the screen and looked up. Instinctively she put her hand up to shield her eyes as the screen faithfully showed her the blinding bright light of an artificial sun tearing her family and her apart.
<>V<>
Vulcan noted the chaos going on the planet with indifference. Well, not quite indifference, one had to have emotions to feel after all, and Vulcan hadn't utilized the human emotion emulators that Aphrodite had created so many years ago. There was no need to emulate human emotions when one was designed to run Patronis concepts. In fact it was contrary to what its makers had intended. And finally, Aphrodite's consciousness, if one could call it that, had fragmented on the net once she had lost her physical body.
Patronis Concepts was a space-based research and development company. The company had sales and marketing personnel on the planet as well as vacationing personnel. Therefore the A.I. didn't throw in with Athena to aide her efforts in stopping the virus. Instead he threw up his firewalls and continued on as if business was normal.
<>V<>
August 3, 2200, 4:43 PM, East Coast Time
Four-star General Isaac Murtough was enroute to a conference in orbit when all hell broke loose below. The shuttle had been about to reenter Earth's atmosphere, instead it held in place, dumbly watching as missiles were fired. Bright flashes and mushroom clouds pocketed the surface below.
“General Murtough, you need to see this,” the pilot ordered. It took a moment for the general to move from first class to the cockpit. He was ready to read them the riot act for disturbing him when he saw a bright
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