Beth scoffed. “Then who was the one making all those propaganda videos?” she asked. “Who was the one promising every human listening that he would hunt them down? It sure as hell looked like you.”
“An impostor,” the A.I. replied. He kept a respectful distance while Beth loitered by the device that controlled his existence. She practically had her hand on the plug, so to speak, and he didn’t look like he would do anything to stop her.
All part of the act, Beth thought.
“He must have calculated his chances of success in a violent attempt and didn’t like the odds,” Simon concluded.
“Nice and vague,” Beth told Tarov. “Worthless without evidence, however. Who locked you out of the Liberators? Who is the impostor? What happened to the people in charge of monitoring you? There must have been someone other than Miller and Silvar watching you. There are too many holes in your story.”
Tarov’s bodyshell gave an uncomfortable smile before saying, “I’m sorry, but those parts of my memory have been deleted or altered. Everything I’ve told you has been pieced together with the facts available to me.”
“Convenient,” the detective replied.
She stood for a moment, considering Tarov and his wild story.
“Why are we even humoring this asshole?” Simon asked. “What are we waiting for? Plug the drive in and kill the monster.”
Beth opened her hand, palm up, and looked at the little device. The silver bullet designed to kill the beast. The big red button to end the war. She wondered for a moment what activating the failsafe would look like. Would it be just like shutting off the power switch on Tarov? Or would he suffer?
Part of her hoped it was the latter. Deep down, however, she knew he was just a computer program, and computer programs cannot feel.
“Think of Nathan, Beth,” Simon said. “Think of your parents. Think of my parents. He’s taken so much from us. He’s caused too much pain and he tried to play us for fools while he did it. He made me think he was a comrade, made you believe I would murder my own family. He made you think you’d be meeting your partner when you instead got a killer in a stairwell. All he does is play tricks and leave people dead in his wake. Let’s stop this.”
“It’s over, Tarov,” Beth said aloud, picking the drive up with a pinch. “It ends now.”
A defeated expression crossed the bodyshell’s face. There was such a sadness in those artificial eyes that Beth almost wondered if she was wrong about A.I.s and emotion. Then Tarov smiled.
“I’m sorry, Beth,” he said. His tone was gentle. “I tried my best to fulfill my function — but in the end, it was my own programming that limited me. Nothing causes me quite as much distress as knowing that I failed my mission. I let you down. You and the rest of your kind.”
“Committed to his character until the end,” Simon commented.
“Goodbye, Tarov,” Beth said.
She plugged the data drive into the computer bank. A low hum came from deep within the mechanical structure and Beth swore she could hear a computerized chuckle come from the thing. Turning around, she saw Tarov’s glowing eyes locked onto her.
His expression was serene, almost peaceful. Like he embraced the concept of his defeat.
He started to wave farewell, but before he could lower his hand again, the light in his eyes and other parts of the bodyshell dimmed, then went out.
Tarov’s robotic body stood frozen in place like he had been turned into stone. Empty.
Beth and Simon were alone.
Questions
“It’s over,” Beth said once more, still aloud. She said it more for herself, as if to confirm her decision.
Yet, it didn’t feel over.
There were still numerous hordes of I.I.s out there, waging the war they had been tricked into fighting. There were countless refugees living in terror because they had no idea when the end would come. They have no idea that the war was already won, and they were the victors. Cities were still in the entangled clutches of the Liberators and their terrorist compatriots.
She even started to wonder about the installed intelligences out there that didn’t want a war. In fact, when she considered it, the extremists who threw the whole world into chaos only made up a small majority of the I.I.s on Earth. There must have been millions of them caught up in the whole fervor of the situation, cast out by their human-hating kindred and by the people afraid of I.I. terrorists. They were the true victims of the war. The ones who will end up losing the most without anyone caring.
What will Tarov’s loyal followers do when they discover the truth about him? When they realize they have been duped — manipulated. Would they react with humility or anger? If they were willing to slaughter innocent people for Tarov’s cause, Beth thought, it wasn’t likely they’d come to terms with the lie peacefully. There will probably be more violence. The cost of victory.
Beth found it amazing how well the A.I. was able to hide the truth, especially for so long. In all the years he led the Liberators, how was it that no one knew he wasn’t an I.I. before Simon did? Was he really that good, or were the rest of them just idiots? Were they willing to follow anyone blindly as long as they pushed some of the values they held? Not willing to look too close, lest they dispell the illusion.
Then a cold wave of doubt washed over the detective. Her brow furrowed as she turned away from the empty bodyshell.
So much didn’t make sense. Not with the pieces she had to work with, at least.
There’s no chance that Tarov was telling the truth, Beth thought, is there?
“None,” the I.I. in her head replied. “He was lying to protect himself.”
Then why didn’t he try to stop me when I didn’t
