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Warwick and his engineer spent the rest of the day together. Boreskovich didn't bother them too much. He was fiddling with the agent matrix, as usual. Deciding which function subset to try that night. Weighing component parameters in order to design a matrix that would successfully build.
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| Warwick: |
Places everybody. We're going to crank her up. Start bringing the primaries on-line. Dr. Boreskovich, do you have a new matrix profile tonight or do you want to run last night's again?
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| Boreskovich: |
I have a new profile ready on my staging system.
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| Warwick: |
Very well, sir. Tony flush last night's matrix from the core.
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| Tony: |
Flushed, Pete.
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| Boreskovich: |
Petrov, I decided to use the full matrix tonight. I want a complete picture even though it won't hold. It will help me get organized again.
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| Warwick: |
The full matrix!? Tony?
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| Tony: |
Too late, boss. Last night's is flushed. Full matrix loading into core now. Size ratio to last night is 1.09 to 1. He's a big one.
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| Dunn: |
Nine percent bigger. Is that going to be a problem?
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| Warwick: |
The hit we take is more than a nine percent increase. It's probably a forty or fifty percent power demand increase over last night.
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| Dunn: |
How much do you think you have?
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| Warwick: |
I wish I knew, Dunn.
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| Dunn: |
This is exciting.
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| Warwick: |
Uhhh, Dr. Boreskovich, I'd like to run the full matrix in a second pass tonight. Let's go back and reload last night's first. Would that be all right with you?
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| Tony: |
Before you do that, Pete, can I talk to you for a second?
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Warwick trotted back to Tony's console and leaned over to talk quietly.
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| Warwick: |
I hope this is good news.
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| Tony: |
Wrong again, champ. My friend just called and told me we need to cut loose from their machine. Surprise drill of some kind over at their shop. It would mean his job if they caught him loaning out their biggest thumper to us. He needs us off by midnight.
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| Warwick: |
Midnight!? Goddamn it, when am I gonna get a break here? Twenty minutes! That means no time to reload the matrix. We have to use the full load. Do you think there's any chance of a forty percent pickup?
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| Tony: |
If that comm function we off-loaded is a real pig, we may have opened up room for the rest. It's worth a shot. It'll be fun anyway. Let's go.
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| Warwick: |
Easy for you to say. It's gonna be my butt in the sling for this.
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| Tony: |
I told you so.
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Warwick ran back to his console as he yelled to the room.
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| Warwick: |
All right, bring em all up everybody. We're going to try the full matrix. I want all primaries up to my console and an image on the screen ASAP! Let's go people!
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| Boreskovich: |
Why the hurry, Petrov?
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| Warwick: |
It's a good chance for a drill, sir. Keep everybody alert on a build that's just an exercise. I want you to push it too, sir. Let's try to get the matrix positioned for boost in about ten minutes tonight, okay?
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| Boreskovich: |
Drills Petrov? Very strange, but I will try to balance quickly for you.
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| Dunn: |
What happens at midnight, Warwick, your computer turn into a pumpkin?
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| Warwick: |
Let me guess, you're the perceptive type aren't you? Give me some room to work here will you!
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| Dunn: |
Now how does it feel to be counting on the good doctor? We'll see how he does when the chips are down. No pun intended.
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For two seconds longer than he could afford to think about it, Warwick wondered what pun the pencil pusher thought he made. Try to forget it. He had to concentrate now.
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| Warwick: |
I'm showing primaries up. Tony, would you please be so kind as to give Dr. Boreskovich a image please?
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| Tony: |
Glad to.
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| Warwick: |
Just watch Dunn, we're going to do it, no sweat.
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| Boreskovich: |
Petrov, my image. There is something wrong here. It seems to have a tiny distortion or maybe an echo in the communication function area. What could that be?
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Turning around Warwick looked at Tony as the engineer shrugged his shoulders and mouthed the word "Sorry." The mechanical noise from the basement below was starting to build as systems heat and power usage escalated. Warwick knew Dunn was enjoying the situation. Watching him squirm. He spoke into the headset microphone as he answered Boreskovich.
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| Warwick: |
Probably, just some projector artifact. I can have someone look at it tomorrow, but we can't waste the whole night. Let's continue.
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| Boreskovich: |
Maybe vacation for you, Petrov. You are too up tense my boy.
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| Warwick: |
Doctor, please balance the matrix for me sometime in the next ten minutes or I'll have to try it myself. We can discuss all of this right after the boost.
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Boreskovich dropped the discussion with a wave of his hands. He went straight into his fine tuning ritual, pacing back and forth from the image. Warwick made his adjustments, passed ideas to the technicians and monitored the primary computers as they prepared the matrix for boost. The clock read 23:55:48 PM. Just over four minutes remaining.
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| Warwick: |
Dr. Boreskovich, can you give me the boost series numbers while you complete the positioning?
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| Boreskovich: |
Five step series. Sixty percent, eighty percent, ninety percent, ninety-five percent, then one hundred percent.
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| Warwick: |
Thank you, sir. I have it loaded. I'm setting for two second burst and five second slack.
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| Boreskovich: |
Da, whatever you want. This is your run.
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| Warwick: |
Okay people, at 23:59:00 we're going to engage the boost. That's about thirty seconds. Tony, start the log. MEMOREX 333.
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| Tony: |
MEMOREX 333 is spooling Pete.
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| Warwick: |
Doctor, how does the matrix look to you?
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| Boreskovich: |
Just give me a second. I want .003 degrees off the transport vector. Then do as you will, Petrov.
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| Warwick: |
Got that, three one-thousandths off vector T. . . and. . . ready to ramp the boost. Three, two, one, initiators are coming up. We're go!
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Warwick hit the boost engage control and even Dunn could tell they had more juice than the night before. Boreskovich spun around as fast as a 75-year-old man can spin. The noise began to build even before the second step engaged. By the time the second step, eighty percent boost was finished, Boreskovich had moved to Warwick's console station. They both starred up at the screen image as step three hit. Ninety percent. The image was no longer flickering out of view entirely. For brief moments it faded and folded in on itself, but then pulled back toward a solid three-dimensional figure. At step four, Warwick and Boreskovich knew they had a chance to pull it through. The complete agent might hold with integrity.
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| Boreskovich: |
Petrov, how is this possible?
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| Warwick: |
Mr. Dunn here gave me some motivation last night. I guess we owe it all to him. Hold on for step five!
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At 23:59:28, step five pulled one hundred percent boost from the two supercomputers. Warwick knew he had only half a minute until the borrowed machine would shut itself down. He leaned on his control board as if pushing the electrical switch would cram more power through to the data stream.
The software agent looked even more ominous in the very dark room. It was no longer rotating in full spin movements. Now the hulk scanned several specific directions with what appeared to be intentional focus and control. Everyone was standing with their mouths hanging open. Some were beginning to wonder what would happen next, but no one thought of the answer in time to stop it.
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| Boreskovich: |
We've done it! It held.
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| Warwick: |
Yes sir, we've done it. Look at him he's amazing. Tony, are you still spooling the log from all this?
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| Tony: |
Process log shows it's still spooling.
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| Dunn: |
Very impressive graphics. Does it do anything or am I fully impressed by the way it looks?
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| Warwick: |
Oh it can do things all right Dunn. I'd show you if we had a demonstration target ready.
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| Tony: |
Pete, a demo target isn't the only thing we don't have ready. Right now I'm thinking about a containment area. We better shut that thing down before it hurts us.
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| Dunn: |
What does he mean, "hurts us?"
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| Warwick: |
It's a full matrix build. It has all the weapons and all the intelligence we designed and it's all on-line right now. Since we weren't expecting to have a live one yet, we don't have a containment area to hold him. We are safe, but our systems are wide open to him. He could take out any machine in this room.
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| Dunn: |
But he's not targeted to attack them is he?
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| Boreskovich: |
Petrov, he is not tested for control. We can't be sure. He may alter his objectives on his own. We must destroy this one. We can build another one when we're ready for him.
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| Warwick: |
Is that right Dunn? We can build another one whenever we're ready?
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| Dunn: |
I'm afraid not. I really haven't seen anything yet.
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| Warwick: |
How did I know you were going to say that?
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| Tony: |
Hate to interrupt, but I think the game just changed. Look at the screen.
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The three men turned to look up at the topic of their discussion, but the agent's image was no longer displayed.
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| Warwick: |
He went out didn't he?
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| Tony: |
Pete, I'm sorry. I didn't drop the circuit. With all the excitement I didn't think of it in time. He was just too fast.
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| Dunn: |
How could he get out? I've been over your network diagram. You don't have any connections to the outside. This building is officially an isolation ward.
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| Warwick: |
We had an outside circuit open tonight. That's how I got the extra machine power in here. I had Tony network in another computer.
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| Tony: |
Before you ask, I already checked the other end. 333 went out the other side on their Internet circuit. He could be anywhere by now.
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| Dunn: |
Okay people, you're not going to like this, but from now on the rule is, nobody leaves or telephones out of here without my permission. I want a briefing on that thing's specific capabilities. I'm going to make a report to Washington thirty minutes from now. Warwick, bring your man. Doctor, get your matrix definition. I want the three of you to meet me in the conference room in two minutes. That's how long it's going to take me to tell security to lock us down. Be on time!
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| Warwick: |
I guess you're taking charge, huh?
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| The question only earned Warwick a brief look of disgust from Dunn. The others were already on their way to the conference room. Warwick gave the team of technicians their assignments. Damage assessment on the burned-out generator, re-routing of power from the one that still worked, log reviews from the 333 build and in particular, memory dumps from after the build. Maybe they could get a snapshot of MEMOREX 333 to see what he really had on board and what condition it was in. There was plenty to do. As Dunn walked out to the security desk in the lobby, he already knew he was going to need help to stop that thing. What he could not have known was that it would come in the form of yet another computer program - Spike Webb, Net Detective.
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