The Ouroboros Wave by Jyouji Hayashi, Jim Hubbert Read Free Book Online

Maybe Shiva wanted to prevent the crew from getting off the station. What I don’t understand is why he didn’t just go after the habitats.”
    “I’m afraid our AI may be learning the difference between symbols and the real world faster than we could have predicted. If Shiva deduced that destroying the crew’s means of escape was the best course, it means he’s become aware of our existence.” Shiva’s conflict with humans seemed to be stimulating his acquisition of knowledge about the outside world. But that didn’t mean he would ever understand humans, not even the basics of human common sense.
    “I’m going to East Platform.”
    “Catherine, are you serious?” said SysInt.
    “I know more about Shiva than anyone here. If this were about erasing data from the system, I’d be amused. But he’s using the lasers. We don’t have a moment to lose.”
    “Do you have to physically go there?”
    “This is a system-level issue. I can’t do a thing from here. The only solution is to go and get my hands dirty. And that’s something only a sysadmin can do.”
    “Then I’ll go with you. I have the same clearance.”
    “No. I’m going alone. If I can’t handle it, reinforcements won’t help. Work on getting Sati activated. That’s our first priority. If things go beyond the point where humans can deal with them, Sati’s our last chance.”
    “All right. We’ll have her up as soon as we can.”
    “I pass command to you then. You know the activation sequence. I’ll leave the voice channel open in case anything comes up.”
    “I hope nothing does. Be careful, Catherine.”
    “What’s to be careful about? I’m just taking a little trip to the opposite platform.”
    She floated out of the control module and into a circular rest area just under four meters across. The control module she exited was a horizontal tube; this module was positioned vertically and functioned as a four-level docking node. Each level could be used to access four other modules connected at right angles, but only the first level of the node was in use now.
    There was a hatch at each point of the compass. The hatch behind her led back into the control module; the one to the right gave access to another module. The left hatch led to an air lock that connected to one of the trucks.
    Catherine headed directly for the air lock, then stopped. The trucks were pressurized. In theory she could go through the air lock, into a truck, and all the way to another platform without a space suit. Other than Graham Chapman, no one had ever had an accident.
    Catherine entered the air lock and suited up before stepping into the truck docked on the other side. Trusting systems that were under Shiva’s control was far too risky. A space suit—with life-support systems beyond Shiva’s reach—just might mean the difference between life and death. The hard-shell suit was like lightweight armor with servo-assist joints. This allowed it to be fully pressurized without any need to spend hours purging the body of nitrogen in preparation for EVA.
    Catherine stepped into the truck and closed the hatch. The power came on automatically, console glowing green. All systems go—and Shiva was in control. The AI had deployed laser cannons to attack Amphisbaena, yet now it provided Catherine with the usual support. The reasoning processes of an AI were so fundamentally different. A human might have seen these actions as contradictory. To Shiva, both were consistent with logic.
    Catherine raised her visor. “East Platform.” The vehicle accelerated gently.
6
     
    “ I HATE TO SAY THIS , but we can’t trust Shiva. We’ll have to plan our evac accordingly.”
    Tatsuya was addressing the crew. Everyone was suited up, though their visors were not closed. They would not draw on their oxygen supplies while there was still breathable air.
    “This is some kind of AI system failure. My guess is that it’s the same problem that caused Dr. Chapman’s death. Once the other