The room was silent except for the hum of machinery in the distance. Luminaria took a moment to survey her peers, who were all likewise studying her. Seated in this briefing room were James Crook, Michael Draft, Attila Hernandez, Mandar Hertz, and Jerome Jameson. It was a motley crew, consisting of people hailing from various backgrounds, whose causal chains fate had seen it necessary to converge. In spite of their diversity in backgrounds, they all had one common foe: the projected future. Humanity had made great strides in advancing technology, and it was all rather reckless. The chaotic forces at play would impel the species into designing its own end, absent intervention. It would be machine vs mankind, and not everyone had the foresight to see it all coming. Sure, humans would undoubtedly continue to utilize their new playthings to battle each other in a technologically enhanced lock of antlers, but one day those machines would seize control for themselves. While these intelligences were not programmed to feel in the same way humans could, what they did not lack was the logic necessary to carry out their directives. They could think so far ahead, that there would be no way to know what they were up to. This locking of antlers between the human elites would likely morph into something even more destructive, and everyone in the room knew this.
Luminaria took her seat at the end of the table. "Just in time," Jerome remarked, "but I'd probably not take a seat just yet, since you're up first." "Oh," Luminaria quipped,"I was told you would be presenting first. I know most of you would rather perform a sync, but I prefer to be traditional here." Jerome raised his eyebrow, "Which is why you get to go first." "Very well," she said and stood back up. "There are a couple of items of business that we need to address before we begin the infiltration. Michael, have you finalized your latest thought model? Are all the safeguards in place?" Draft leaned forward in his chair. "Yes of course. Once RNAI is unleashed, it will follow its directives. Its limbic subroutines were designed after my own, and I have finalized its bonding protocols. Loyalty is assured." Draft paused for a moment as memories flooded his synapses.
Draft was despondent and confused when Luminaria had first met him. He recalled the moment she first buzzed his flat when he caught a glance of her on his home cam system. She was a real person, and enough of a distraction to probe his curiosity far enough that he could not resists unplugging from the network; his virtual sanctuary. It was the only world he knew at the time, that is, until Luminaria had restored him whole. Her therapy had opened up a whole new world to Draft, and he was able to recall the day he was fired from LogosCorp. It was the day hee recieved the injection, the memory wipe he had consented to as terms of his employment. It was a wipe that was only supposed to target trade secrets, but scope creep seemed to have set in. Luminaria was very adept at learning and understanding the world, especially technology, and it was this proficiency that had rescued Draft from ignorance. Not only was she able to restore his episodic memory, but the semantic and technical memories of his career in intelligence research as well. It turns out that the injection, while largely successful, left residual traces of former neuronal connections behind. The wipe erased memories, but it did not overwrite them with anything, and this was its flaw. Luminaria had been aware of his existence for quite some time, and knew Draft was a marked man and valuable asset for what was being planned. Draft's betrayal by his company had made him much more receptive to her message, and a prime candidate to test her memory restoration technique on.
"Good," Luminaria replied, "that was the keystone to all of what is to come. James, do you still have access to the big 10?" (which referred to the 10 most powerful families on the planet, who had all enacted disaster contingency plans in the face of the future chaos their intelligence models had projected upon the future). "Yes, they all trust me implicitly," Crook replied. In the back of his mind, Crook knew that this trust was not implicit, but contingent. It was contingent upon his continued ability to serve their needs, but they were all rationals, and with few other options except to trust him. He had spent his years building up a reputation that would give them little doubt in his loyalties. Crook knew that those who really lacked that kind of trust in him were seated in the room around him. He also knew that this distrust was not misplaced. "Excellent," she said and nodded quickly.
"And you, Attila? Are your credentials up to the task that is before you? Have you refreshed your own subroutines?" Atilla, slow to respond, crossed his arms and then said, "If I wasn't ready I wouldn't be here." A half grin tugged on the side of Luminaria's face. Attila had been this way since she first was contacted by him after his settlement was raided by the Empire. He had known about her long before she was aware of him and his group. Attila was, first and foremost, an expert at recon. She recalls the strange air of confidence that he projected when he first contacted the renegades on approaching the entrance to their lair. The compound was supposed to be very well concealed, and not even Sentizens or Sentinels had been able to track it down, but Attila somehow knew they were out there. The fact was, one of his co-settlers had worked with Cadence, before the Great Inflation, and all Attila had needed was that breadcrumb to piece together a causal trajectory and deduce their location with the help of his assistant and augmentations, of course. Without that connection, a vital data point, it was highly unlikely that Attila would have ever stumbled upon her group, and they would have to proceed without his services.
"Mandar, your knowledge of the intricacies of Empire protocols will be essential here. While it is certain that things have changed since your departure from the force, humans are often creatures of habit and your knowledge of the inner workings of the Sentinels and Sentizens and their order-givers is vital to the success of our operation. You and Attila need to link. Your combined skillsets and knowledge bases are also crucial to our operation. Are you willing to do this?" Mandar stared coldly at Luminaria, and straightened his back as he nodded. Mandar was here reluctantly, of course, and would have much rather maintained his old position: one of strength. He would be subordinate against his better inclinations for now, but only until the time was right. Having also been tossed aside by those he had served, he swore to attain his vengeance, but he knew this truce with the renegade group he found himself a part of was merely temporary. Were they aware of his allegiant state of flux? He was uncertain. Had his fugitive state not propelled him into crossing paths with Attila the scout, he likely would have sought his own retribution on those who had slighted him, and it likely would have been incomplete. "Ok." Luminaria responded, while noting Mandar's standoffishness.
"That just leaves Jerome. Are your credentials still active? You are an important piece here, and if we cannot gain access to the military's interlink, this will all fail. If you have been compromised, then our whole plan will also fail. I trust you've been careful to cover your tracks." Jerome nodded, "Yes, everything is in order. Just today I confirmed that I still had access while I was wandering the Metro. My leave is up in 2 days, and my location spoofing is still active. They won't see it coming. I'm still set to be deployed to the fleet in a week's time." "Great," Luminaria responded. "Michael will provide you with the flash chip, and you will need to get in range of the mainframe for it to do its magic. Attila has the encryption keys. So long as you do not arouse the suspicion of the firewall, we should be successful." "I've got this," Jerome quipped. "It only takes one ship to sink a fleet." Luminaria cracked another slight smile. "Precisely," she said.
And with that, it seemed everything would fall into place. Thanks to meticulous planning, and numerous analyses and contingencies set into place, Luminaria was confident that what they had in store would succeed. If it didn't the future would be bleak. While she doubted the loyalty of some of her comrades in the long-term, she knew that in the short-term, these disparate individuals would all be fools to engage in betrayal. It was simply against their own self-preservation to do so. Still, there could be an unforeseen piece of the puzzle that could obstruct any one of their decision-making processes. She knew this, but she also had a backup. "We all know what needs to be done next," she said, "so let's get on with it." The group began to rise from their seats one by one: it was time to begin.
image created with help from LeonardoAI
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