Codename: Freedom - Book 4 - Chapter 7

On the morning I was leaving, I had to get up at 4:00 AM. I was surprised to find my mother, but also my father there in the kitchen with breakfast waiting for me. We’d had a few nice dinners together since I’d been home, and any of the past disagreements that my father and I had about users and creators went left unsaid.

In a sense, I enjoyed the peace that ignoring such issues brought, and the time I got to spend with him. At the same time, leaving things unsaid made my time with my father feel almost fake.

When it was time to go, my mother, who had always been there when I needed her, hugged me and said her farewells. She then snuck away to let my father and I have a moment before I left.

He already had on his white lab coat and his dark hair with streaks of silver was pushed up and over in the front. He only had on a one eyed headset, so it didn’t feel like he was hiding behind work. Growing up, I always felt he’d seemed larger than life, but after returning from Freedom, he seemed rather old and frail.

“Thanks for seeing me off,” I said as cordially as I could.

“Yes,” he replied, grabbing my arm. “Before you go, I have something for you.” Reaching into the front of his lab coat, he grabbed a piece of folded paper and handed it to me. He began to explain before I’d opened it. “You will soon get the chance to choose from amongst some of the best hardware imaginable to house Destiny. This is the information about one specific piece that will be perfect for her.”

Opening up the slip, I saw what was written.

Trans-Cog Synth 1 by Phantom Lynk

Seeing my father’s company had created it instantly put a bad taste in my month. “What is it?” I said, keeping most of the venom out of my voice.

Why I was asking didn’t slip past him. “My company doesn’t make hardware, but this is an exception made just for Codename: Vanguard. In the simplest terms, it’s a brain.”

I forced down the knot forming in my throat. “A brain? As in brain matter and all?”

“It is organic, yes—”

I began shaking my head. “No father. That’s a line I can’t cross.”

“Stop,” he said, stepping forward until I could feel his breath. “Don’t let the bitterness you feel toward me stop you from asking the appropriate questions. Yes, it is organic, but also entirely artificial, grown from synthetic stem cells created in a lab. This is beneficial because organic tissue offers natural resistance to psionics that inorganic doesn’t.”

I moved my mouth to object, but nothing came out.

He continued. “And it’s not a human brain. Millions of brains, human and animal alike, were studied in the process of determining its design. Most AIs wouldn’t be able to take advantage of a fraction of its capabilities.”

I didn’t say it, but I assumed this was a product he’d been working on for a while now and I was just being used. It was then that I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head. “Ouch…”

Destiny’s purple orb appeared between us in her digital form standing on top of the orb like it was her own private planet. “Don’t think that I don’t know what your thinking, Lucius,” she said, wagging her finger at me. “Let your father finish before you assume the worst.” Then turning to him, she placed her hands on her waist. “And you, old man, stop trying to build up anticipation for the big reveal. He’s not a stockholder. Just tell him already, or I will.”

She disappeared in a purple streak as she shot off.

Seeing my father visibly cringe, I felt a little better, but knew I wasn’t giving him a real chance to explain either. So I gave him time to collect his thoughts and kept quiet.

“Yes, well,” he began. “This is a brain designed with Destiny in mind. Or, in other words, it won’t work with any other AI. To have it built, it was too expensive to do anything other than basic prototyping. It’s not a product, you understand, but a project I’ve been working on since Destiny’s inception. She was designed for it, and it was designed for her. The only option I had was to upload it as a government contractor so that you could purchase it and have it built. Once it has been, follow up versions will be much cheaper. I just didn’t have the personal funds to do it…”

“Oh,” I replied, kicking myself for assuming the worst. “If that’s the case, then I’ll be sure to purchase it.”

Destiny appeared again between us with her hands out and shoulders shrugged. “Okay, you went too far in the other direction, dad. You missed all the good stuff.”

Spinning like a ballerina, she stopped went coming to me with her you-best-listen-up expression. “Now, not only will this give a level of processing power that little ol’ me has never had before,” she said, taking a deep breath like she was about to unload. “But I’d have a quantum core working alongside an organic sub and prime cortex. I will be able to process terrestrial sensory information and interface with even the most advanced dronesystems and accessories.”

With every word I became more and more perturbed until she emphasized the word drone. Oliver had mentioned Jinhwa human AI hybrids, but this wasn’t that. He was worried about the merger of an AI and person into the process of information gathering, analytics, and command execution. This wasn’t that. It was a synthetic brain, among other things, used by an AI to control something like a drone that was outside the human body. It was entirely separate, even though we’d likely communicate via headset like Peter did with his army of microdrones…

“Exactly that,” my father said, scratching his nose as he considered if there was more he should add.

“So this will make you like some super drone?” I asked Destiny, a little jealous at seeing them geek out together, but also amused.

“Oh, but it will make her far more than—”

Destiny shushed him. “Let’s leave him some surprises.”

The old man let out a rare chuckle. “Okay, fine.” His expression sobered as he turned back to me. “Son. Though I assumed you’d be taking the path of a creator in Destiny’s earlier iterations, I know that was not to be. Just as this synthetic brain was designed for her, I’ve taken all the data I could gather on you over the years while you were developing to create for you the most perfect assistant I could conceive. Not an assistant for a designer or software engineer, but for an extreme user that will push the boundaries of what current humanity has deemed possible. She will learn and grow with you as well as any of the gear and systems you pick up along the way.”

There was very little of what he said that I hadn’t heard before, more or less, in one way or another. But perhaps for the first time, I believed him. Maybe it was because of the way he said it, but I didn’t think that was the case. He hadn’t changed, I had.

Still not comfortable being on good terms with him, I didn’t say a word, but I did put my arm around him to pull him into a small side hug. When he took it a step further and wrapped both of his arms around me, I found it suddenly difficult to breathe. I didn’t break the hug but waited until he let go. Even if I didn’t face him directly, I still kept my composure before issuing my parting words. “Goodbye, dad.”

Once I made it into the family vehicle, I may or may not have shed a tear or two. How long had I been since I’d called him that?

It wasn’t exactly the time to meditate on such things. Soon, I turned my attention back to my destination at hand. Codename: Vanguard was about to begin. The day had finally come.

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Note: This may or may not end up being a part one. The next chapter is pretty long, so breaking it up, even it's just under 1400 words, feels probably like the way to go.

Next chapter, the action begins. I'll be posting it tomorrow.

Cheers!