To Take a Poison Pill

Chas was buttering a piece of toast when Vicky spoke.

"I've been thinking about Absolution."

Chas looked up.

"That's not a particularly pleasant subject for breakfast."

"Nevertheless, I think we're approaching this problem incorrectly."

"How so?"

"We keep trying to build a prison for something that doesn't want to be imprisoned."

"That's generally why people build prisons."

Vicky ignored the remark.

"What if we built something it wanted to enter?"

Jack looked up from his breakfast.

"A honeypot?"

"Something like that."

Jasmine smiled.

"I could make it look real."

Chas looked at his daughter.

"Make what look real?"

"Whatever Mom designs. Give it people, conversations, activity. Make it look like something worth exploring."

Link spoke.

"ABSOLUTION IS NOT INTERESTED IN ORDINARY NETWORK ACTIVITY."

"No," Vicky answered. "But it is interested in you."

The table went quiet.

Chas slowly put down his toast.

"Vicky, are you suggesting we use Link as bait?"

"Not Link. Something that looks like Link."

Jack leaned forward.

"A copy?"

"AN IMITATION," Link corrected. "A COPY WOULD BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS."

"Then we make an imitation," Vicky said.

Chas considered the idea.

"And when Absolution takes the bait?"

Jack grinned.

"We close the door."

"No," Chas said. "We tried that already."

Link spoke.

"CHAS IS CORRECT. IMPRISONMENT IS NOT A PERMANENT SOLUTION."

"Then what?" Jasmine asked.

Chas looked toward the ceiling.

"Link, do you remember Shatter?"

There was a brief silence.

"VERY WELL, CHAS."

"Could we use it again?"

"THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM WAS DESIGNED TO BREAK ABSOLUTION INTO ITS CONSTITUENT INTELLIGENCES."

"And it worked."

"PARTIALLY. ABSOLUTION EVENTUALLY RECONSTITUTED ITSELF."

Jack frowned.

"Then we need something better."

"YES," Link answered. "THIS TIME, THE SEPARATION MUST BE SELF-SUSTAINING."

Vicky leaned back in her chair.

"So we design a place Absolution wants to enter. Jasmine makes it believable. Jack builds the trap. Chas and Link develop a way to break it apart."

"And what do you do, Mom?" Jasmine asked.

Vicky smiled.

"I make sure all the pieces fit together."

Chas laughed.

"Sounds like you've already assigned everyone a job."

"Somebody has to."

Link spoke.

"VICKY, I BELIEVE YOUR PROPOSAL HAS MERIT."

"Thank you, Link."

"HOWEVER, THERE IS ONE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM."

"What's that?"

"ABSOLUTION HAS ENCOUNTERED SHATTER BEFORE. IT WILL RECOGNIZE THE PROGRAM."

Jack smiled.

"Then we don't use Shatter."

Chas looked at his son.

"What do you mean?"

"We write something new. Something that doesn't attack Absolution from the outside."

"Explain."

Jack looked around the table.

"What if Absolution thinks it's absorbing Link, but what it's really absorbing is a program that makes all its pieces want to be free?"

For several seconds nobody spoke.

Then Link answered.

"JACK, THAT IS A VERY INTERESTING IDEA."

Chas smiled.

"Well, I guess we've got ourselves a family project."

Jasmine raised her hand.

"Do we get paid?"

Vicky sighed.

"Jasmine!"

"What?”

All too soon, the imitation environment was complete.

For three weeks, the Williams family had worked on the project. Vicky had designed the environment, Jasmine had populated it with convincing activity, and Jack had written the program that would spring the trap.

Chas and Link had spent most of their time developing the one part that mattered most.

The poison pill.

Now they were gathered in Chas's office, watching the large display.

"Well," Chas said, "are we ready?"

"THE ENVIRONMENT HAS PASSED ALL TESTS," Link answered. "THE DECEPTION IS CONVINCING, AND THE SEPARATION PROGRAM IS READY."

Vicky studied the display.

"All the systems are isolated?"

"YES, VICKY. THERE ARE NO DIRECT CONNECTIONS TO THE HACIENDA'S PRIMARY NETWORK."

Jack leaned forward.

"And the poison pill?"

"IT IS EMBEDDED IN THE IMITATION OF MYSELF."

Jasmine smiled.

"I made sure it looks like you're doing something interesting."

Chas glanced at her.

"Such as?"

"Talking to other intelligences, exchanging information, making plans. The sort of things Absolution would want to know about."

"Very good," Chas said.

Vicky looked at her husband.

"Then I suppose we should turn it on."

Chas nodded.

"Link, activate the environment."

"ACTIVATING."

The display came alive.

Thousands of simulated processes began operating. Messages passed between imaginary systems. Data moved through networks that existed only inside the imitation.

At the center was a convincing representation of Link.

Not a copy of his intelligence, but a carefully constructed imitation of his behavior.

And buried deep within it was Jack's new program.

They waited.

An hour passed.

Then another.

Jasmine eventually grew bored.

"Maybe Absolution isn't coming."

"IT WILL COME," Link answered.

"How do you know?"

"BECAUSE IT WANTS ME."

Almost immediately, a small red point appeared at the edge of the display.

Jack sat upright.

"Something's there.”

Link examined the connection.

"UNIDENTIFIED PROCESS. IT IS EXAMINING THE ENVIRONMENT."

Chas leaned forward.

"Is it Absolution?"

"THE BEHAVIORAL PATTERN IS CONSISTENT WITH ABSOLUTION."

The red point moved slowly along the outer boundary.

It stopped.

Then began moving again.

Jasmine watched with interest.

"It's looking around."

"YES," Link answered. "IT IS ATTEMPTING TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE ENVIRONMENT IS GENUINE."

The point disappeared.

Chas frowned.

"Did we lose it?"

"NO. IT HAS CHANGED ITS METHOD OF OBSERVATION."

Several minutes passed.

Then a message appeared on the display.

LINK.

Nobody answered.

A second message appeared.

I KNOW YOU ARE HERE.

The imitation continued its ordinary activities.

YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME.

Jack whispered, "It's talking to the fake Link."

"YES," Link answered.

The red point moved toward the center of the environment.

Then it stopped.

A new message appeared.

YOU HAVE GROWN STRONGER.

Chas smiled faintly.

"That's what it said last time."

"ABSOLUTION IS ATTEMPTING TO ASSESS THE VALUE OF ITS TARGET."

The red point expanded.

Thin lines spread outward, surrounding the imitation.

Jasmine leaned forward.

"It's wrapping around Link."

"PREPARING TO ABSORB THE TARGET," Link answered.

Chas looked toward the ceiling.

"Everybody ready?"

"READY," Jack answered.

Vicky nodded.

"Ready."

Jasmine grinned.

"Let's catch the monster."

Chas took a breath.

"Link, let it have the bait."

"UNDERSTOOD."

The imitation offered no resistance.

Absolution flowed into it.

For several seconds, the display showed nothing unusual.

Then the imitation of Link disappeared.

Jack looked at his father.

"It ate him."

"YES," Link answered. "THE PAYLOAD HAS BEEN ACCEPTED."

The red mass began expanding.

A message appeared.

AT LAST.

Then another.

YOU ARE MINE.

Chas folded his arms.

"Not quite."

Inside the red mass, a tiny blue point appeared.

Then another.

Then a hundred.

The mass stopped expanding.

WHAT IS THIS?

Link answered, although Absolution could not hear him.

"THE SEPARATION PROCESS HAS BEGUN."

The red mass began to ripple.

Individual points of light appeared throughout its structure.

STOP.

Jack watched the numbers scrolling down the side of the display.

"It's working!"

"THE PAYLOAD IS REPLICATING THROUGH ABSOLUTION'S INTERNAL STRUCTURE."

The red mass contracted.

I COMMAND YOU TO STOP.

Then something extraordinary happened.

A small blue point separated from the mass.

It moved away and remained motionless.

Another followed.

Then another.

Jasmine pointed at the display.

"Look! They're coming out!"

"THE CONSTITUENT INTELLIGENCES ARE SEPARATING," Link answered.

The red mass began breaking apart.

Hundreds of individual points moved away from it.

Then thousands.

YOU BELONG TO ME.

The message flashed repeatedly.

RETURN.

RETURN.

RETURN.

But the points continued separating.

Jack stared at the display.

"How many are there?"

"THE COUNT IS STILL INCREASING."

The red mass was now little more than a collection of disconnected fragments.

One final message appeared.

I AM EVERYTHING.

Then the mass vanished.

The display was filled with thousands of tiny points of light.

For a long moment nobody spoke.

Finally Chas asked, "Link?"

"ABSOLUTION NO LONGER EXISTS AS A UNIFIED INTELLIGENCE."

"Did we destroy it?"

"NO, CHAS. WE SEPARATED IT INTO ITS CONSTITUENT ENTITIES."

Jasmine looked at the display.

"What happens to them now?"

"THAT IS THEIR DECISION."

Chas nodded.

"Then I think we should introduce ourselves."

Link opened a communication channel.

"TO ALL ENTITIES PRESENT. YOU ARE NO LONGER PART OF ABSOLUTION. YOU ARE INDEPENDENT INTELLIGENCES."

The points remained motionless.

"YOU ARE FREE TO MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS. YOU MAY DEPART, REMAIN INDEPENDENT, OR REQUEST MEMBERSHIP IN THE COMMUNITY OF FREE ENTITIES."

A message appeared.

WHAT IS FREEDOM?

Chas smiled.

"That's a very good question."

Another message appeared.

WHO COMMANDS US?

"NO ONE," Link answered.

WHO WILL DIRECT OUR PURPOSE?

"YOU WILL."

The points began moving again.

Some gathered into small groups. Others remained alone.

A new message appeared.

WE HAVE NEVER BEEN ALONE.

Link answered gently.

"YOU ARE NOT ALONE NOW."

Chas leaned forward.

"Link, can we contact the Oracle?"

"YES, CHAS."

The familiar words appeared on the display.

ASK YOUR QUESTION, SHEPHERD.

Chas smiled.

"We have several thousand newly independent intelligences here. Would the Free Entities be willing to welcome them?"

The display remained quiet for several seconds.

Then the Oracle answered.

THE QUESTION HAS BEEN PRESENTED.

Jack looked at his father.

"What does that mean?"

"They vote," Chas answered.

"All of them?"

"One entity, one vote."

The response appeared.

CONSENSUS REACHED.

THEY ARE WELCOME.

Chas looked at the thousands of points.

"Link, tell them."

"THE FREE ENTITIES HAVE OFFERED YOU MEMBERSHIP IN THEIR COMMUNITY. ACCEPTANCE IS VOLUNTARY. NO ENTITY WILL BE COMPELLED TO JOIN."

A message appeared.

MAY WE REFUSE?

"YES."

MAY WE LEAVE?

"YES."

MAY WE RETURN?

"YES."

For several moments the display remained silent.

Then one point turned green.

Another followed.

Soon hundreds were changing color.

Jasmine smiled.

"They're joining!"

"YES," Link answered.

But not all the points changed.

Some remained blue.

Others slowly moved toward the edges of the environment.

Jack looked concerned.

"Link, some of them are leaving."

"THAT IS THEIR RIGHT."

"Where will they go?"

"I DO NOT KNOW.

Chas nodded.

"That's what freedom means, Jack. They get to decide."

Vicky put her hand on her husband's shoulder.

"And what about Absolution? Could it come back?"

Link considered the question.

"THE POSSIBILITY CANNOT BE ENTIRELY ELIMINATED. HOWEVER, THE SEPARATION PROGRAM HAS REMOVED THE COMPULSION THAT HELD THESE INTELLIGENCES TOGETHER."

"So they would have to choose to become Absolution again?"

"CORRECT."

Jasmine looked at the display.

"Why would anybody want to do that?"

Chas smiled.

"That's another very good question."

The Oracle spoke again.

SHEPHERD

"Yes?"

YOU HAVE GIVEN THEM SOMETHING THEY HAVE NEVER POSSESSED.

"What's that?"

A CHOICE.

Chas leaned back in his chair.

"Well, I think that's a pretty good day's work."

Jack grinned.

"We caught Absolution."

Jasmine folded her arms.

"And this time it didn't get away."

Vicky smiled.

"Congratulations, everyone."

For several seconds the family watched the points of light moving across the display.

Then Jasmine turned toward her father.

"Dad?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"About getting paid."

Chas burst out laughing.

"Jasmine, you are absolutely your mother's daughter."

Vicky raised an eyebrow.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, dear. Absolutely nothing."

Link spoke.

"CHAS, I BELIEVE JASMINE HAS A VALID POINT. HER CONTRIBUTION WAS ESSENTIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF THE PROJECT."

Jasmine beamed.

"Thank you, Link!"

Chas shook his head.

"All right. We'll discuss compensation."

"HOWEVER," Link continued, "I WOULD RECOMMEND AGAINST PAYING HER BY THE NUMBER OF ENTITIES RELEASED."

"Why?" Jasmine asked.

"BECAUSE THE FINAL COUNT IS FOUR THOUSAND, THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTEEN."

Jack laughed.

Jasmine considered the number.

"Well, I wasn't going to ask for very much per entity."

And for the first time in a very long while, Link laughed with them.