[CHAPTER 1]

"Uh, Houston, we've had a problem."

James Lovell

E.A.R.T.H

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The door slammed shut on the small office. Vibrations reverberated across the floor, bouncing between the walls faintly. A small clouds of dust lifted from the dull carpet and hung there for a few moments. Marie Lovell had made of show of storming out.

Harry Eisenhower tugged at the beige tie constricting his wide neck.

'Shit'

He'd hoped saying the words out loud would have helped somewhat. Instead, it only made things worse. Scratching at his balding head, he wrung his rounded fingers in frustration.

'Shit.' He tried again. 'Shittity shitty shit shit.'

The woman who had just left had once been James's mother. At least, before the young adult passed away over three years ago. She had returned demanding more answers, updates, and threatening to sue them all yet again. The only answers he and his team at GOKIA had were rapidly becoming lame excuses. How many times could you rephrase the same blunt facts that they were limited to? How many times could you tell a mother that her child was never coming back?

They were doing everything they could - but funding was funding. The plug had already been pulled and the GOKIA Jersey branch had two more days to clean up operation. Next week GOKIA would be experimenting once more within the realms of emulation. At the end of the day Harry was a businessman, no matter what he had naively promised over four years prior.

The air temperature was peaking in the midday sunlight, humidity causing sweat to bead on Eisenhower's forehead. Rubbing at the moisture with some frustration, the middle-aged man fumbled in an attempt to tug up his sleeves. Puffing out his bulbous cheeks, he slouched back in a leather chair with a groan.

A lone window behind did little to ventilate any oxygen throughout the room. In the corner, a old steel fan nodded back and forth as it blew gusts air around the room. A faded brown carpet did little to hide a few spilt coffee stains. Although, the floorspace was mostly eliminated by two chairs and Eisenhower's own desk. A mediascreen had been hung on the lime whitewalls, showing the Japan Exchange Group exchanges falling steadily.

Sighing loudly, Harry turned his eyes towards photograph sat proudly on his desk. It was the only personal item he had in the narrow office; An image of his ex-wife smiling happily with an arm slung around a fairly athletic guy. As the years went by, it was becoming progressively harder to identify himself in the fading image.

For a few sweet moments a feeling of calm settled on the small office.

It was whilst Harry was skimming through his email that his personal softscreen flared to life. The audio of a call was sent via bluetooth directly to his earpiece before Harry could deny the request.

'Sir? You got a minute?'

Picking up the slim tablet, Eisenhower swiped a blue phone icon away angrily.

The icon and the ringing noise popped back almost immediately.

'Sir. There is an urgent call from the senator. Should I put her through?'

Eisenhower didn't know who was speaking to him through his tight earpiece. Either it was a programmed artificial assistant, or the new secretary Susan who was taking calls from the floor downstairs. It didn't really matter as he placed his screen down on the desk with a thump.

'Yeah.' The businessman adjusted his webcam, 'Just patch her through and project her up.'

Fiddling with the device, he made sure the camera didn't pick out his multiple chins. This failed miserably, leaving him with only a slim-fit tie to hide the rolls. A second later, and with a loud chime, the wall-mounted TV flashed up the livestream.

'Harry? Ahh...there you are. I got some news for you from the summit. You got a mo?'

The woman who spoke was a rather plain-faced senator from the UK by the name of Kelly Osman. Her frizzy black hair took up a lot of the image as she adjusted her red cardigan. Rusty-brown eyes stared directly into the camera rather than at her own softscreen, seeming to span the hundred miles from Amazonia. It was a look that left politicians quaking in their tan leather shoes. Eisenhower only hoped it was working as well as the money he was paying her with.

'Go for it.' Harry said, rubbing at a patch of stubble on his neck.

'Right.' Kelly forced on a rough smile that struggled to be seen in the livestream. The lighting was pretty poor, although Eisenhower could see the skyscrapers of Rio behind her. The man knew straight away that her feigned joyfulness meant bad news.

Kelly only helped to solidified this insight, speaking quickly.

'OK. The appeal was successfully but they didn't want to buy it. The UN have their minds set and there's nothing I nor the G7 can do to change it. I did my best. Tough luck big guy, the odds weren't in your favour.'

'Shit.' The businessman repeated yet again. 'They're still fixed on a biological workforce? You said everything…'

'Yes of course I made every argument logically possible!' Kelly's anger was controlled, although she had to move away from the camera slightly. There was a few moments of lag portrayed on the TV screen but it wasn't enough to hide her irritation. 'I sold them it from every possible angle. Machinery makes sense and saves a whole lot of taxpayers money. They're just being dicks about it.'

It was clear Kelly was angry at the politicians more so than Harry at the other end of the stream.

The TV screen was small enough that Eisenhower could ignore it completely. His eyes did a circuit of the dusty old chairs, a pile of reports that needed sifting through, and an ancient computer server system which whirled in the background. Leaning back in his chair, he set his hands on his lap and stared at his webcam. Hopefully it would make the senator take him a little more seriously.

'So this joke about spectre-class stimulants are going ahead?' Eisenhower clarified.

'They only need to pass it through the high council but those jockey's are so corrupt they'd lick the pol's balls for another million. These guys are going to get what they want. So if you still want to take GOKIA to space...it's going to have to be in a market involving gene editing and creating a slave race. The timescales are pretty long…but they want cheap biological labour in the next two decades.'

'Tell them I can give them sentient machines in…'

'You have nothing but empty promises!' Kelly interrupted, apparently miffed at being talked over in the first place. 'Having human consciousness controlling machines makes perfect sense - but GOKIA have yet to prove they can do it. And nobody trusts machines anymore after what happened with exDEV. Anyways...How's that case with the kid going?'

Kelly stared directly in the camera again. Eisenhower thought she was staring into his soul.

'It's not going great. He keeps rejecting the simulation every time we wake him.'

'And you want me to sell that to the UN? Look Harry. It's been great working with you guys but you've got no ace up your sleeve anymore. I've got interests with other partners I need to protect...and I can't keep ballsing up like this.'

'I understand.'

She seemed to relax a little now that Eisenhower admitted defeat. Her copper eyes softened,

'I'm sorry it's not working out bud. I get where you want to take this but you're fighting the system. You can't stop humans being humans right?' Kelly looked downcast for a moment upon truly studying harry for the first time on her side of the stream. 'I'll pop by the office when I'm back on the continent. Look after yourself.'

'See you then.' Eisenhower grumbled, shutting down the livestream. The TV blinked before returned back to the stock exchange.

Only a moment later and the door opened , a tall skinny woman poked her head around the door. Her eyes shifted around the room as if expected something to jump out at any moment. Sliding in, she pushed her ginger hair away from her eyes and skipped across the carpet before collapsing into a chair. Eisenhower could only watch as his lifelong friend sat bolt upright. She had her legs crossed on the seat under her.

Harry couldn't help but smile.

'Hi Yana.'

'I'm guessing that was Kelly again?' The half-Czech woman cut straight to the chase, her accent catching oddly on certain syllables. 'So they're fully supportive of building a big base in space! But no machine? The UN are getting involved. Something fishy right?'

It was clear Yana had overhead the few minutes of conversation with the senator. Knowing her as well as he did, Eisenhower guessed the computer programmer had been watching through the keyhole again.

Harry nodded slowly, closing down a few tabs of his softscreen.

'Right. Because as long as the UN are running the show, they're in control. The Chinese are practically living on the moon and private industry have the means to do whatever the fuck they want. The UN don't care if they're bending the rules on gene-editing as longs as they're the ones doing it. If they legalise and tax it…'

The balding man sighed, pushing his soft screen out of the way so he could lean on his desk.

'In all seriousness Yana, how well is it going?'

She sniffed loudly, sucking in her breath before holding onto the silence for a moment. Yana studied her purple Dr Martens for a brief moment.

It was with a swift and sudden movement that she whipped out a can of soda. With the agility of a cat she slammed the drink down on the desk between them. Eisenhower flinched back, eyes flicking between the ginger woman and the unbranded can of pop now fizzing on the table. Grey metal glistened with moisture.

For a moment neither spoke.

Then, bit by bit, understanding started to force its way through Harry's overworked brain. Now he remembered! This had been a game they used to play decades ago. Well, less of a game and more a strange thing that Yana did. By now Harry had simply learnt to put up with her quirks.

At that very moment, Yana was fixing Eisenhower with a deadpan stare as if daring the beefy man to respond. He did - though only after a long moment of consideration. Most of it was spent scratching his head and second guessing the woman's expectations.

'Equal exchange right?' Harry clarified. Judging Yana's reaction, that was indeed correct. 'Alright then. What's the deal?'

Eisenhower was surprised that Yana still remembered what his favourite soda was during all these years. That last time he'd had one was...well maybe back when they used to be coworkers. Things were easier then. There was no GOKIA, no AI, and a beautiful wife to go home to. It felt like a lifetime ago.

Yana narrowed her eyes, rocking back into the faded padding of the chair.

'Deal?' She prompted, wanting a more definitive response.

'Equal exchange. You give me Soda and I give you….?'

Harry trailed off, leaning forward but with the knowledge that actually acknowledging the drink would only upset the woman. She was temperamental even at the best of times. Most people working in GOKIA shrugged her off as weird computer coder but Harry knew better. He saw her as the genius she was. Although Eisenhower was the metaphorical brawn behind the operations in GOKIA, Yana was the brains. It just took a little time to acquaintance yourself with her many quirks. A lifetime in fact.

Yana was running nimble fingers through her auburn hair, 'Simple.' she responded sharply, 'You congratulate me at the end of what I say.'

Eisenhower nodded, but the woman frowned, making it clear she hadn't finished.

'And speak to Baba. She misses you.'

The last was said as a whisper, almost hidden under the whirl of the standing fan. Sweat was sticking the Eisenhower's back as he paused for a moment. Of course Yana had to bring Baba into this.

Slowly and deliberately, he picked the drink up off the desk. Cracking the seal loudly, the pressure of the container sparked loudly. Wafts of spicy ginger forced its way into the humid office. Holding the drink out in the air before him, Harry made a big deal of sipping at the beverage. Smacking his lips might have been overdoing it, but he drank heavily. Acid stung at the back of his throat. Weren't these drinks supposed to be banned now? What with the sugar tax.

Slowly, a smile started to form over Yana's face. Like a hawk, she'd been studying her lifelong and perhaps only friend like some snippety piece of coding. Swaying slightly, as if to music only she could hear, the woman unfolded herself. Stretching her long legs out across the floor, denim dungarees lifting above her ankles. It was surprising to find just how tall she was.

'So?' Harry pushed, leaning on her elbows. His eyes watched on tiredly. At this point he doubted there was even any sugar hiding under the sweaters of the beer.

Yana's eyes sparkled.

'I've done it. Well...I didn't do anything. In fact, I might have done something I shouldn't have. It turns out all that paperwork you had about the...never mind. I had a chat with Baba and we ended up...well….yeah... And straight away! Sploosh! Into the deep end.' As she talked, all the motions were also portrayed on her hands and body. Yana's brain worked too fast for her mouth to follow, meaning she let most unnecessary words slip by. Any error was negligible, given how she mimed her vocabulary in a dance-like way, wiggling in her chair.

'He's in! It worked!' She beamed, eyes flicking to all four corners of the room

The silence that met her seemed to stun the woman. Turning her head around quickly, she found her companion staring at her with wide eyes. All the blood had drained from his face.

'What level restrictions did you lift?' He asked slowly, hand batting at his tie in an attempt to catch a breath. 'Yana. You sure…you sure you didn't…?'

Yana's face was stoney.

'This is the part where you congratulate me.' She said flatly. 'We've just…'

'We've lost all of our fuckin' funding weeks ago! That's what!' Eisenhower didn't mean to shout but all at once everything seemed to bubble to the surface. His emotions were set on fire. 'In two days time we're officially moving markets. I had to re-assign company policy which went through over six months back! Following what happened with the economic regulator 'exDEV' awakening and...aww shit Yana. You don't get it! You never do!'

The woman had shrunk. Something at the back of the man's mind told him to stop. But once open, his raging frustration couldn't be put away again. Suddenly all the struggles of the past few years were lumped back onto his shoulders. The words came out without thought.

'This isn't about what we can do! It's making sure we can undo all the mistakes we make along the way. We're playing with fire here and real fuckin' machine intellegence. We can't just…We can't get cocky.'

Eisenhower didn't have to explain what he meant. Since the singularity in 2044, artificial intelligence was real. Not only real but dangerous and capable of shaping human society itself. That alone had created more bloodshed then anyone had thought possible.

A computer had 'awakened' from within the complex economic modelling tool it was supposed to be. Nobody is really sure where the nickname exDEV came from, but the machine mind quickly outgrew it's restraints. The world welcomed the intelligence, only learning later that free information on the 'old' internet was a really stupid idea. A machine that was capable of modelling billions and billions of fast-as-light microtransactions in the global economy learnt everything there was to know overnight. Within twenty four hours the technological world was in ruin. If it wasn't for the independent Chinese trading union, exDEV would have ruined the global economy overnight.

The computer didn't really understand that it was destroying humanity - only streamlining it.

History books claim that it was GOKIA that created Babbage, the world's second true AI. At the time of her birth however, GOKIA didn't exist. Babbage was born from the programming genius of a certain woman called Yana Carrick.

The very same Yana who now crossed her arms and pouted.

'Congratulate me.'

Harry grimaced, dragged a hand across his face. With his lungs crying for air, he pushed himself to his feet. Moving around his desk with some difficulty, the businessman was surprised to find Yana blocking his path.

'You're scared? After all of this and you're….'

Harry was almost tempted to barge past her. There was enough doubt and anger coursing through his veins that it was hard to maintain control. With his teeth clenched as tightly as he could, the man tried to stop himself breakdown there and then.

'You don't understand…' He managed to mouth.

'I…' There were tears in Yana's eyes.

For a moment she seemed frozen to the spot. Then, without warning, she turned and fled. Harry could hear her sobbing as she sprinted for the stairs down to her office. It was rare to find the woman anywhere else.

Harry leant on his desk heavily. He ran a hand through his thinning hair.

'Shit.'

END

EOrRRoR (which is simply pronounced "error") is a fiction I dreamed up after reading a few bad short sci-fi stories about AI and the impact of uploading human consciousness to a computer - both for the individuals and on society as a whole. This story joins together a few common themes, as well as introducing my own spin on things (i.e. making it convoluted and unnecessarily difficult to decipher!). Jokes aside, I hope EOrRRoR makes an interesting and quirky read. There are a few nods to BLACKOUT, but this remains a completely independent story.