FB: Chapter 20 – Interlude 1

Anthony

I watched the girl who was my newest and most interesting business partner leave in her car with her hired driver. I looked at my wife. “What do you think?” I asked.

“She clearly has confidence and isn’t afraid to answer questions. But it is a big gamble, and you want to double down?” Isabella asked me. That was the question. She had been surprisingly cooperative about most things but had clear red lines in regards to things she would not accept. Specifically in game actions with NPCs and control of the guild in game with her position as guild leader.

“Yes. She has gone from success to success. And she clearly has insider knowledge. I still can’t work out the connection to Exponential,” I said. That was the one thing that was really bothering me. Who was pulling the strings behind April. I had to really dig to find out information about the medical nanites. And even then, it was only tentative confirmation through some research papers.

“Her family?” Isabella asked. I shook my head at that question while we turned back to go inside.

“I checked them all out. Nothing. When Exponential launched, she just unenrolled from college and bet everything on it. I would have taken her for a gambler, but she knows what she is doing,” I repeated what I had told her already. The entire situation regarding where April was getting her knowledge was bothering me. Also, the fact that I didn’t really understand her motivations. Even with all the investigation that had been done regarding her background.

“And you still invested almost everything we have and then some into her scheme to bring in more people. We are getting some of that construction money back?” It pained me to have to work in New York, one of the worst states for any business besides financial transactions, but she was insistent that building near a future QAI Node was a big deal, and the property values would only go up once it was announced.

“Most of it. So, the investment is not a total loss. She is also a bit paranoid as well. Having someone drive her about.” I wasn’t going to do anything to such a golden goose who was laying golden eggs, but it was good she was taking precautions. If anything happened to her, I would lose a lot of money.

She thought I missed out on the part of how everything was set up in relation to her first right of refusal for the shares, but my lawyers had included the same clause for me as well as one of the two original founders of the corporation slash guild. She was clearly planning to buy future investors out to get back a majority with stuff she got from in game. Or could it be a bluff, it was hard to say for sure.

“Hmm, it shows she has some sense at least. You trust her to manage everything in the game?” Isabella asked. That was a very good question. I didn’t like how much I didn’t know. Superhuman combat ability due to neuro divergency was something I hadn’t heard about, and I had already done quite a bit of research into Exponential.

The speed and weight behind blows were set by the physics engine in game. You couldn’t just add stats to get faster. Even if there was a level gap, a lower leveled person could still fight a higher leveled person and in the same manner. There would be a difference due to the absolute level difference between fighters that created percentage bonuses or penalties. Also, equipment would matter more at higher levels. But the speed and weight behind attacks would not change unless specific skills were used.

“There is no other option. She is clearly an expert. It will be interesting to see what kind of moves she makes half a year from now.” That was going to be the make or break point for our little venture. While I had put up fifty million so far, the remaining investment would be spread out. I could pull out and we would split already committed assets, but I would lose my share in the company.

I was willing to risk quite a lot, but I was no idiot to throw it all at a young girl right away. This Tournament of Champions would be a major deciding factor in seeing if her bark matched her bite. From what I had learned about the requirements to enter, it wasn’t simple.

“I think, I should look into the game side of Exponential, since we are throwing so much money that way.” I looked at my wife with a bit of surprise.

“You want to take a more active role?” I asked her.

“Mark is doing his own thing, and gossiping with the ladies can get a bit old,” she said and leaned into me for a kiss which I returned.

“You are annoyed she said everything tasted like shit,” I joked back, and my wife fake pouted.

“I will have to ask some doctors if she made up that stuff about residual capsule sensory overload. That sounds made up,” she said with a fake pout.

“I wouldn’t bet against April my dear. Everything I have been able to confirm has proven true. My guess is you will find something in some obscure medical journal, hmmm,” I had just realized something.

“What is it? What did you just realize?” Isabella asked me.

“There is one thing that could be backing her, but it would make no sense. QAI,” I said.

“The artificial intelligence computer program? She mentioned it was adaptable but why would a multi-trillion-dollar artificial intelligence pick her out of all people. And that is if it is some kind of true intelligence and not some scheme by the corporation,” my wife asked.

“She might have been easily persuaded, and no one would expect it. A joke by a programmer to see what some random person does with insider knowledge. I will have to look for other people making moves like she is doing,” I replied with a frown. If QAI had gone rouge, then hooking up our brains to it could easily turn bad.

“There is no evidence. I know you have poked around with AI in the past,” Isabella replied, and I shook my head.

“Just very large programs working off databases. I will have to look into QAI some more and what exactly the quantum means as part of its name. Entering the game could be risk,” I said to my wife.

“I can handle a little bit of risk, and we need to understand what is happening in Exponential. The best way to work out what April is doing is by getting our own information, you know this.” I kissed my wife again, which meant I agreed with her. That was the main reason I had invited April over so my wife could get a better read on her personality.

“Whatever you want dear. Do you want me to set aside some capsules for anyone else to go with you?” I asked.

“For now, no. I will be doing some exploration on my own.”

Gasten Mulfex

I looked out over the rows of monitors and the large screens of the central operations bunker. Exponential was doing quite well. With the profits rolling in, the investors would be quite happy. Even with the manufacturing delays, which was only a minor issue.

Many people thought Exponential was a big company, and we technically were. But most of that was in hardware and maintenance. My small band of merry geniuses consisted of only seven people including myself. The architects and brain trust behind QAI.

“QAI, report on rank 4 errors or anomalies and above,” I ordered out loud. This was the standard procedure every hour, having a human keep an eye on QAI’s higher level operations. While I could open a computer screen, I always preferred the verbal commands, since it felt more futuristic. The primary screen of the operations center quickly switched to a picture of QAI’s avatar. Several red orbs connected by bars spinning about in a complex pattern over a darker red background. The image of the avatar then minimized to the corner of the main screen while a list of all errors and anomalies were brought up, color coded by severity.

“Chief Architect Gasten Mulfex, there is currently one rank 4 anomaly currently being monitored for suspected hacking of the primary knowledge database. Monitoring resources have been deployed. Error checking programs are currently being utilized. No discrepancies found.”

“What is the nature of the anomaly?” I asked out of curiosity. Anomalies were things that concerned QAI, but weren’t at the level of an error. Just some weird actions that were happening with any of the processes and programs that QAI managed. Basically, something was happening with the subordinate code that couldn’t be properly explained but wasn’t detrimental, emerging from all the interactions that were occurring.

“A singular player has engaged in statistically unlikely activities suggesting a comprised database. Displaying tracking log,” QAI said and switched the main monitor over to the view of this player’s actions. This information pulled from the real world as well. While not strictly legal, QAI was quite competent once it had access to a database.

“Stock trading, and shorting,” I muttered as I looked through the list of actions this player had taken. “Unusual, but there are a lot of people like that. Could be within statistical probability. What are the odds?” I asked.

“This specific set of actions has the probability of happening, is just above zero percent. This is why the player has been classified as a rank 4 anomaly.” If it did reach zero percent, then it would be elevated to a rank 5 anomaly. Interesting, they were in the Murk Swamp. No one else went to that location. They also had an advanced title. I frowned since they were still level 1, grinding up a lot of skill shards, with a focus on Luck. Their name was Foxy Blight, cute. At least it wasn’t some trash name like Giga Shlong or something like that. Every day I was more and more disappointed with people’s naming sense.

“Recommended actions?” I asked.

“Continued observation and evaluation. Active monitoring to ascertain breach in database,” QAI said over the speakers.

“I think you are overthinking things. While it is unlikely for one person to do all of this, it isn’t impossible. There are always outliers in any dataset. While this one is much further than others, it is clear that this person likes to bet big and has a string of luck. That is what her character is specializing in as well. How many data chunks are you using to evaluate this anomaly?” I asked.

“Currently 5 data chunks have been devoted to primary monitoring and another 187 are devoted to secondary monitoring processes and data evaluation,” QAI said. That meant this one player was using up resources that would normally be used for 192 players. A data chunk, or DC, was the computational load needed to support one player in Exponential.

“Let’s put a cap in the monitoring. If the player takes another statistically unlikely action or two, would this develop to a rank 5 anomaly? Estimated DC usage?” I asked.

“Three more highly unlikely actions are required to elevate the anomaly to rank 5. Estimated data chunk usage at that time will exceed 1,000 data chunks,” QAI responded. This was why human intervention was still needed with QAI. If something didn’t make sense, it could spiral more and more resources to trying to address and understand the issue.

That was what made QAI so formidable. The bottlenecks in the development of medical nanites were quickly being cleared away. In time QAI would solve a host of problems for humanity. Exponential would fund QAI’s growth and computational capacity going forward. Already locations for nodes and fusion plants were being planned on a massive scale.

Since it was an anomaly and not an error, it could be said that QAI was getting carried away with its curiosity. Normally once enough data chunks were devoted to a problem, a solution would be found or there was a major hardware issue somewhere.

“We are going to cap resource use at 500 DC for this anomaly, since more analysis is unlikely to help. Focus on streamlining your monitoring and other processes, quality, not quantity. Bring this anomaly up immediately if the situation updates. Hmm, also include it on the monthly review, since it is an interesting issue.” Better to let the brain trust look it over. While highly unlikely, there could be something I was missing. Better to err on the side of caution.