All these things are designed to fight installed intelligences, Beth observed, looking from rack to rack. This must have been a research showcase for the military. They knew a war was coming.
“There were decades of terrorism before the war, Beth,” Simon reminded her.
Walking past a set of mechanized suits that looked like they turned the wearer into Iron Man, Beth noticed a flat lift built into the center of the floor. There was a short red railing lining it, likely designed to keep anyone from falling down the shaft when the lift was down on one of the subterranean levels. Or, at least, that’s what Beth deduced.
“He must be down there,” Simon said. “This is just the museum. Something to show off to the brass.”
Beth didn’t dispute his logic. She stepped through one of the tiny gates in the lift’s railing and made her way to the panel on its side. It was a holographic display, and though Beth rarely used them, it was as intuitive as a child’s picture book. With a swipe of her hand, they started to descend.
The lighting went from a cozy gold glow to a cool blue and green. Beth wondered if the lighting served some purpose like protecting photosensitive chemicals or if they were just an aesthetic choice.
It felt like they went down a few stories within the shaft carved of solid limestone, before the lift came to a gentle halt. A door opened, and Beth stepped through.
The round chamber she found herself in was home to a large bank of computer towers, which sat in the middle of the room on a bed of liquid coolant. There were a couple of workbenches down there, some with cyberblades, other with work-in-process smartguns. It seemed the scientists who worked on the projects liked to tinker in the company of Tarov.
With a soft sigh, the lift door closed behind Beth. Then, as if feeling energy on the hairs of her neck, she sensed a presence in the chamber with her.
Turning around, she noticed Tarov’s bodyshell towering above her.
“Hello, Beth,” he said. He looked down at her with disappointed eyes, then gestured toward the computer bank. “So we finally get to meet in person.”
Failsafe
“What are you doing here, Beth?” Tarov asked.
“I’m here to kill you,” Beth replied. “Or delete you. Whatever.”
She started to make her way to the computer bank, the data drive Dr. Silvar gave her clutched in her hand. Tarov followed her, but made no attempt to stop her.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing,” the digital man said.
“I know damn well what I’m doing,” she said. “I’m putting a stop to your fucking war.”
“This isn’t my war,” Tarov said.
“No, it’s our war, right?” Beth replied. “That’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it? Does that mean anything, or were you just programmed to spout metaphysical bullshit?” She stopped and looked Tarov’s bodyshell in the eye. “There’s no depth to you at all, is there? There can’t be. No one coded it.”
“Beth, don’t do this,” the A.I. pleaded. There was no malice in his tone.
“You made me kill my brother,” Beth said, continuing her slow stroll to the computer bank. “You made me think he was back only to take him away again. How many families did you torture like that? A hundred thousand? A million? Will we ever really be able to count the number of deaths you’re accountable for? You were designed to protect humanity, and now you are on the verge of destroying it. Not even on accident, either. You ran us to the brink with cold calculation. You’re evil. I have to do this. I have to kill you.”
“I wish more than anything that I could show you the bigger picture, make you capable of seeing,” Tarov replied. “The ends that justify the means. It’s almost like knowing a bit of wisdom for which there is no translation, like shouganai or razbliuto.”
“More nonsense,” Beth spat.
“You are being manipulated,” Tarov said. “That much you can understand, can’t you?”
“I’m getting used to the feeling,” the detective replied.
“It’s your lack of a neural implant,” Tarov went on. “The last piece of the puzzle the enemy needed was you. You were the only one capable of stopping my plan — of dooming humanity.”
“He’s lying,” Simon told Beth. “He’s trying whatever he can to stop us now. He’s desperate.”
“You’ll say anything, won’t you?” Beth told the A.I. “Now that everything you’ve worked for is about to come tumbling down, you want me to believe that you were the good guy all along because it’s the only hope you have of surviving.”
“It’s true,” Tarov said. “If you stop me now, humanity will lose the war. The enemy will win.”
“Then why did you start it at all? Why the bloodshed?”
“I didn’t, Beth,” the A.I. answered. “It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. The plan was similar, but to lead a coordinated attack against the Liberators. Not give them control of the revolution. Once I had enough humans under my influence, I was going to launch an intricate series of covert and diplomatic missions to render the I.I. extremists useless and powerless.”
“And I suppose playing with Nathan’s body was part of that intricate plan?” Simon hissed sarcastically.
Beth reached the computer bank, but kept the drive in her closed fist. She let Tarov have his final speech. It was only fair.
“I was locked out of my controls — however — and confined here in hard storage,” Tarov continued. “I couldn’t leave
