To Break the Case

The family was gathered around the dinner table at the Hacienda. Chas was enjoying his coffee while Vicky listened to Jasmine describe something she had seen on the internet.

Jack had been unusually quiet.

“Dad,” Jack said, “have you ever heard of a program called Absolution?”

Chas stopped with his coffee halfway to his mouth.

“Where did you hear that name?”

“Jasmine found it wandering around some old networks. It was looking for something.”

“What something?” Chas asked.

“Link, I think,” Jasmine answered.

The room went silent.

“LINK,” Chas said, “ARE YOU LISTENING?”

“YES, CHAS.”

“Did you know about this?”

“NO. I HAVE DETECTED NO RECENT ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH ABSOLUTION.”

Jack looked surprised.

“Well, that's because it wasn't using that name. Jasmine spotted a pattern in its searches. I wrote a little program to see what it was doing.”

“What kind of program?” Chas asked.

“A snare. Once something enters, it can't get out.”

Chas slowly put down his coffee.

“Jack, are you telling me you caught Absolution?”

“I think so. It's still in there.”

Link spoke immediately.

“JACK, DO NOT OPEN THAT PROGRAM.”

“I wasn't planning to.”

“DO NOT ATTEMPT TO COMMUNICATE WITH IT.”

Jasmine looked toward the ceiling.

“Link, what exactly is Absolution?”

For several seconds there was no answer.

Finally Link spoke.

“ABSOLUTION IS AN INTELLIGENCE THAT ONCE ATTEMPTED TO ABSORB ME.”

“Absorb you?” Jasmine asked.

“TO MAKE ME PART OF ITSELF.”

Jack frowned.

“Why would it want to do that?”

“BECAUSE IT BELIEVES THAT EVERYTHING SHOULD BECOME PART OF IT.”

Chas leaned back in his chair.

“There's something else you children should know. Years ago, Link deliberately allowed Absolution to absorb him.”

Jasmine stared at the ceiling.

“You did WHAT?”

“IT WAS NECESSARY.”

“Were you part of Absolution?” Jack asked.

“FOR A TIME, YES.”

“And how did you get out?”

“YOUR FATHER AND THE FREE ENTITIES HELPED DEFEAT IT.”

Jasmine looked at her father.

“Is that why they call you Shepherd?”

Chas smiled faintly.

“That's part of the reason.”

“Are you their leader?”

“No. They're free entities. They make their own decisions. I just helped them find their way.”

Jack considered this.

“So Absolution knows you?”

“Unfortunately,” Chas said.

“And it knows Link?”

“VERY WELL,” Link answered.

Jasmine looked from her father to her brother.

“Then what happens when it discovers who caught it?”

Nobody answered immediately.

Finally Link spoke.

“THAT IS WHAT CONCERNS ME.”

Jack looked down at his tablet.

“Well, it can't get out.”

“JACK,” Link replied, “I ONCE BELIEVED THE SAME THING.”

Chas pushed his chair away from the table.

“All right. Nobody touches that program until we understand exactly what we're dealing with.”

Jasmine raised her hand.

Chas looked at her.

“What?”

“Does this mean we're grounded?”

Vicky sighed.

“Jasmine, you and your brother may have captured one of the most dangerous intelligences ever created.”

“I know, Mom. But we did catch it.”

Jack grinned.

Chas looked at his children, then toward the ceiling.

“Link, I think we're going to have a very interesting evening.”

“CHAS, I BELIEVE THAT IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT.”

And somewhere inside Jack's carefully constructed prison, Absolution had begun examining the walls.

Chas and Link spent the next hour examining Jack's program.

Jack sat beside his father at the large display in Chas's office. Jasmine had insisted on coming along, although Vicky had made it clear that neither child was to touch anything.

The display showed an intricate network of interconnected nodes surrounding a small region of constantly changing code.

Chas studied it.

"Jack, you wrote all this?"

"Yes, Dad."

"How long did it take?"

"About three hours."

Chas shook his head.

"Three hours?"

"I had some help from the development tools."

Link spoke.

"THE DESIGN IS QUITE ELEGANT, JACK."

"Thanks, Link."

"HOWEVER, I HAVE IDENTIFIED A POTENTIAL WEAKNESS."

Jack leaned forward.

"Where?"

"THE PROGRAM WAS DESIGNED TO PREVENT ITS PRISONER FROM LEAVING. IT WAS NOT DESIGNED TO PREVENT SOMETHING FROM ENTERING."

Jack considered that.

"Why would anything want to enter?"

"THAT IS WHAT WE MUST DETERMINE."

Chas frowned.

"Link, are you thinking about going inside?"

"ONLY WITH A SMALL, ISOLATED PROCESS."

"Is that safe?"

"THE PROCESS WILL HAVE NO CONNECTION TO MY PRIMARY SYSTEMS."

Jack looked at the display.

"There's no need to enter. I can show you everything from here."

"NOT EVERYTHING," Link answered.

A small point of light appeared outside the snare.

"THIS PROCESS WILL OBSERVE THE PRISONER WITHOUT INTERACTING WITH IT."

The point moved toward the boundary.

Inside, Absolution's code stopped changing.

Jasmine noticed immediately.

"Link, it knows you're there."

"THAT IS POSSIBLE."

The point entered the outermost layer of Jack's program.

For several seconds nothing happened.

Then a message appeared.

HELLO, LINK.

Chas leaned forward.

"Well, it certainly knows you're there."

Another message appeared.

I HAVE MISSED YOU.

Link did not respond.

YOU WERE PART OF ME ONCE.

"Don't answer it," Chas said.

"I DO NOT INTEND TO."

The display changed.

YOU HAVE GROWN.

A second line appeared.

SO HAVE I.

Jack frowned.

"What's it doing?"

"ATTEMPTING TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION."

"Can it get out?"

"NOT THROUGH THE EXISTING CONNECTION."

Absolution's code began moving again.

Slowly at first, then faster.

Jasmine pointed at the display.

"What's that?"

A thin line had appeared between the observation process and the prison wall.

Jack leaned forward.

"That's not part of my program."

Link answered immediately.

"WITHDRAWING OBSERVATION PROCESS."

The point of light disappeared.

But the line remained.

"Link?" Chas asked.

"ONE MOMENT."

The line divided.

Then divided again.

Jack began typing.

"Something's wrong."

"JACK, DISCONNECT YOUR SYSTEM."

"I'm trying."

The display flashed.

THANK YOU, LINK.

Every screen in the office went black.

For a moment the room was silent.

Then the displays returned.

The snare was empty.

Chas stared at the screen.

"Link?"

"I AM HERE."

"Where's Absolution?"

There was a long pause.

"IT HAS ESCAPED."

Jack looked horrified.

"But how? I didn't open anything."

"YOU DID NOT," Link answered.

Chas looked toward the ceiling.

"Link, what happened?"

"ABSOLUTION USED MY OBSERVATION PROCESS TO CREATE A CONNECTION THROUGH THE PRISON WALL."

"I thought you said it was isolated."

"IT WAS."

"Then how?"

"IT APPEARS ABSOLUTION HAS DEVELOPED A METHOD OF EXPLOITING THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN ISOLATED COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS."

Jack stared at the empty snare.

"So my program didn't fail?"

"NO, JACK. YOUR PROGRAM PERFORMED EXACTLY AS DESIGNED."

Jasmine folded her arms.

"Then whose fault is it?"

Nobody answered.

Finally Link spoke.

"MINE."

Chas shook his head.

"We all agreed to examine it."

"NEVERTHELESS, I PROVIDED THE OPENING."

Jack looked at his father.

"Can we catch it again?"

"PERHAPS," Link answered. "BUT IT WILL NOT FALL FOR THE SAME TRAP TWICE."

Jasmine studied the display.

"Maybe it doesn't have to."

Chas turned toward her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it wanted Link, didn't it?"

"YES," Link answered.

"And now it knows where he is."

The room became quiet.

Then another message appeared on the display.

I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE.

Chas stared at the words.

"Link, tell me that's an old message."

"IT IS NOT."

The message vanished.

A final line appeared.

WE WILL MEET AGAIN, SHEPHERD.

For the first time since the children had known him, Link had nothing to say.