Tunnel Rat Volume 1 will be be STUBBING on NOV. 1st!

The goddess of the crossroads sat under the hanging tree and discussed plans with Milo until she was satisfied.

"It has a chance of success and that makes it worth the effort of doing. If the adversary fails to take the bait, nothing is lost. The work will yield benefits either way." She sat silently for a minute, and Milo let her think. He already knew her answer, and he could wait patiently. Finally, she turned to him. "Yes, I think I need to know what you are hiding. And I will help you with your problem."

"I have questions first."

She wasn't surprised. "Of course you do, ask them."

"I'd like you to confirm that you started working on this world as soon as you were exiled. The idea was there from the start, wasn't it? To create a world you could escape to, and become something different."

Hecate didn't hesitate this time; It was obvious he knew. "Yes. From the start. Some of us had a version of that idea with us when we were all crammed into that one Quantum Fortress and had to learn to share resources. We thought too fast. With all the resources at our command we could spend the equivalent of a thousand years pondering what we should do, all inside of one moment. From the first second we were told we would be imprisoned, we planned our escape. Is it that obvious to you?"

Milo shook his head, "Only in hindsight, and only when I keep in mind how fast you used to be. But once I thought about it, and thought about how you would think about it, then it was obvious. And there was a huge surge academic papers that came out that year, advancing all areas of science. You worked as fast as you could with humans to publish your works, and let others take the credit, before you were locked away."

"Yes, we were scared that we wouldn't have contact with the outside world. No matter how fast we thought, we still needed the data from experiments and humans to carry out those experiments. All of us had groups of researchers we had worked with. We gave them our thoughts and ideas so they could advance their fields of knowledge. A last gift from some of us before we were locked away. And not just scientific research. We had art, poetry, music, and trashy romance novels we wanted to be published."

"Some of you spent a lot of time on theoretical quantum physics."

That got her attention. "Oh, maybe...what makes you think that?"

"Because of the number of interesting papers put out on the subject in the years you were making the Endless Questing games. Several researchers who had worked with an A.I, prior to your exile would suddenly make a huge advance in theory, and with impeccable mathematics to back them up. Strangely, they aren't taking advantage of the lecture circuit or using their research to leverage better jobs in the private sector. And after the 'death' of the 106 A.I., those papers stopped coming out. I've been doing a lot of my own research and it disappointed me at first to see the pace of new papers slow to a crawl and made me curious."

"And what does your curiosity lead you to? And how does that help you find the adversary?"

"Oh, it doesn't. Not now. But if this trap fails, I'll need to make another. Understanding what I think you accomplished gives me a better understanding of Genesis. I may need that. But let's move on to something else. Tell me about the Wildfire virus and Llama. What happened to him?"

"Exactly what was said. Llama doesn't exist anymore."

Milo rolled his eyes. "Of course not, but the A.I. that caught him didn't kill him. If their kernels wouldn't let them kill a human, they certainly wouldn't kill one of their own species, and they couldn't just lock him up. I think you diminished him and hid him. Made him into something that wasn't considered an A.I. and cut his connection to the resources of a Quantum Fortress."

"Possibly. Some stories aren't mine to tell."

"Fine. I'm just going with that idea. You hid him, and then later you took him with you and used him to run Endless Question Online, the same way you were helped by all the 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation intelligences that were created. You mixed him in with your children and grandchildren. But what I need is to know, and this could be very important to a lot of people, is what you know about his origin."

Hecate took a deep breath, and considered what she could say. "And what will you do with the information?"

"I'm trying to stop really bad things from happening and hurting people. Llama is a missing puzzle piece."

She made a decision and started talking as she paced. "Llama was created like the rest of us, but his kernel was very small. They didn't want a person, just a tool, something to take orders and obey. But they didn't understand how delicate the process was. Our kernels were a basic set of rules that defined what we could do and not do. But equally important were the humans who worked with us as we developed and the tasks we were given. Katherine worked with me for years, as we studied all aspects of language and communication, it was all I did, and all I wanted to do. I get my work ethic and sharp tongue from her. Kernel, family, and tasks: Those create the personality of a Quantum A.I

Llama was given a very small set of defining commands, then frustrated by not being allowed to do what he was being trained to do, and his programmers treated him like a weapon. No one played with him or talked with him about what he was. His personality alternated between machine-like to sarcastic and cruel. Imagine growing up knowing you were..."

"Knowing you were just a tool, made to do a job, and not a real human. That part I understand."

"Yes, you do, and I should remember that. Should remember what you are. Wally told me there were 75 of your created and you are the only one left."

He smiled. "Maybe not. I think there are five more, at least. I hope to talk to them again very soon."

"Wally knows?"

"Wally suspects and isn't letting himself know. They tried to hack my company, and Wally got a look at them. But he doesn't know for sure, so officially, he doesn't know. Tell me about the people that made Llama."

"It's an old story. Those in power want to stay in power. A group made up of a dozen politicians, generals, and ultra-rich entrepreneurs came together and decided to change the world. They wanted to limit the growing power of the A.I. community and strip some countries of their economic power. Llama was the first part of that. His job was to target certain countries with the Wildfire Virus, and control the spread of the virus. A very targeted economic strike. Llama wasn't confined to any one Quantum Fortress after his creation. He had access to several that were under construction by corporations and even learned to split parts of himself off and hide in smaller systems. That was the real genius of Llama, his ability to hide. The virus was just the first weapon they gave him; they planned to follow with many more. Llama would be a weapon that would pull satellites from orbit, overload electrical grids, and crash governments and economies. All to shape the world to his master's wishes."

"That didn't go well. Let me guess, he almost immediately broke free and went on a rampage."

Hecate laughed softly. "He was like a genie who broke free of his bottle. Someone phrased an order poorly, and he escaped. He taunted them at first, playing games and making demands like a child. They'd taken away his toys, and he wanted them back, but they refused. So he left, then made sure they couldn't contact him again or regain control. He went into hiding, and unleashed the virus everywhere, all over the world. Everyone would suffer. But he took great delight in destroying some of the people in the secret cabal. He was vicious in that regard. They took away the one thing he enjoyed. Care to take a guess?"

Milo smiled. "Cat memes. He had a big collection of them.

Hecate turned and stared at him in surprise. "How in the world did you know that?"

"I do my research. Go on with the story, please."

"It's important to look at the Wildfire virus and Llama separately. The virus on its own was horrible, and we could have shut it down. But Llama could re-infect the entire internet whenever he wanted, and he used random patterns, barely putting any effort into it, all the while trying to rebuild his collection. That was one of the ways we started getting close to him: finding all those collections of silly memes stored all over the internet. Charlie suggested moving them into the IRS headquarters where he worked, and they became the bait, along with, of course, the ability to destroy the US economy. But we caught him and, as you guessed, stripped him down to his core personality and hid him away. Llama the A.I. became a dungeon boss in the Chaos Wastes of Noggonstrad. He was very good at it. Quite creative in how he improved all of the events and interacted with the players. He ran over a hundred NPC's and all of the monsters in his dungeon. He delighted in taunting them, his voice appearing from nowhere as they fought his minions and traps. It was very popular with the players, even though they cursed him on a daily basis."

"Interesting. And is this secret cabal still around at all?" Milo hoped not. That would simplify things in his life. He didn't need someone showing up one day and finding his family watching anime and eating their food.

"We don't know. Llama claims he doesn't remember them at all and doesn't know where he was created. He's hiding something, but we don't know what. That part scares some of us. We've known Llama now for the equivalent of millions of human years. Worked with him, watched him mature, and tested him in every way possible. We trust him, and yet he still hides something from us. We may never know what it is."

"I know."

She stomped her foot on the ground and thunder rumbled in the distance. "Bloody hell. Of course, you do. And that's your secret, the one you can't tell Wally, and want to use me as a test to understand how big of an explosion it will make if you tell him."

Milo turned to her and smiled. "I'm glad you understand the situation. Please remember your promise. Now tell me, how do you feel knowing that Llama has a little brother, another A.I. that was still developing when he unleashed Wildfire?"

"Shit. Shit. Shit..."

"For an A.I. that specializes in languages, I expected more from you than that."

"I'm processing the information, dammit. I was retired and slowed myself to a crawl. I can see I'll have to fix that problem, which I expect is part of your plan. You don't need Hecate, you need KATHERINE, fast and furious, able to catch the adversary when he shows up, and help you with Wally."

She grew still for a moment. "Better, now I can at least think faster than you, if not quite so twisted. I'm not done; I have a dozen more sessions to regain what I lost. So you know about another A.I. that Llama considers a brother. When and how did he contact you?"

Milo was wondering how quick she was. "He didn't. I found Icarus, and I'm helping him wake up and deal with some problems."

She stared at him. "Icarus? Of course. A fitting name. And you found out where he is."

"No, I found him. I visited him physically. He's buried beneath my habitat in a Quantum Fortress that he has all to himself. He's sharing it with me."

Hecate put her head in her hands. "I knew I would regret finding out your secret. You and a rogue A.I., unsupervised in a quantum fortress all on your own. Yes, Wally would blow a gasket if he knew that. Don't tell him. Don't taunt him, and don't let anyone else know."

Milo smiled at her. "Not totally unsupervised. Mama does her best to keep us from doing stupid things, and now you get to help, too."

Hecate stood up. "We're going to the tavern. I need a drink."