The Iron Forest: Ancestor's Legacy

Time stood still in the underground facility beneath Gaia’s Mountain. The hallways and rooms gained a thick coating of dust after being dormant and untouched by man. Age dimmed the white lights to a dull blue, leaving the place with a macabre darkness that sent chills down Victor’s spine.

No one else dared enter the house of the Mother Goddess. They knelt, staring in fear and awe as the door closed behind Victor. He followed Gaia through the bowels of the facility. It was a snapshot of time long forgotten. Coffee cups and petrified half eaten doughnuts still sat on computer terminals while faded papers and books littered the area. Where water crept its way through the ceiling, calcium stalactites and stalagmites grew, giving the place a blend of modern technology within an ancient cave.

Gaia held out her hand toward a large glass door that hissed open. She gestured for Victor to continue ahead. He entered the massive room and gaped. Cables stretched from ceiling to floor from a network of computer mainframes that glowed an eerie blue. The place was alive with twinkling lights as processors performed trillions of codes. A glance at Gaia confirmed his suspicions. He was standing in the room that controlled Gaia’s mental and cognizant functions—standing in her brain.

She followed him in, moving like a delicate apparition. Up close, he noticed lines of digital code sweeping throughout her body. She and the facility around him felt like a dream.

One he should remember but forgot.

She drifted next to Victor. “I’m happy to see you again after all these years. I’ve been waiting a long time.”

He shook his head. “I apologize, but I can’t remember you or ever being here.”

Gaia scoffed. “I forget the human mind is a fragile thing.”

“You’re an artificial intelligence,” he said, looking around at the vast array of computers and machinery.

“I am sentient, yes.”

“Everyone outside seems to think you are a goddess.”

She grinned before her hand covered her mouth. “My children’s impression of me is their own opinion. I assure you that was not my intention since theology is outside my programed directive.”

Victor nodded, though he wasn’t sure if he believed her. “So, what is your directive?”

“I was designed to protect humanity from extinction and return the world to its natural balance.”

He scowled. “You mean by killing off the entire population?”

Gaia’s face turned serious. “I’m sorry, Victor, but humankind already set the stage for its own demise. Those who didn’t leave left the rest to suffer their own fate. If it were not for me, then none would have survived.”

“What about Abaddon? Is he also an AI that wants to protect the planet?”

The name put a frown on Gaia’s face. “He is sentient like me, but his ambitions are much less ambiguous. He feels humans are a threat to the world and as long as your species exists, there can never be a natural balance.” She paused, studying his reaction. “You truly don’t remember me, do you?”

“No, none of this. It’s strange. I know what that is.” He pointed to a cabinet that flickered with dancing lights. “But how do I know all this?”

Gaia shifted over to a terminal covered in dust. A wave of her hand had the machine springing to life. “Perhaps you can explain it to yourself better.”

A blue column of light shuttered and morphed into a holographic image of himself. He appeared younger, dressed in an officer’s uniform. The real Victor approached the image with a mix of shock and curiosity. It was odd, seeing himself standing there. Excitement overcame him with anticipation that he would finally get some answers.

“Log entry, number 183: March 15, 2174. From the office of Cmdr. Victor Murphy. The terraforming project, so far, has not been going as planned. Although we are seeing great progress in some parts of the world, everyone else seems reluctant to come on board. Every attempt at forward momentum gets blocked by either war or politics.

“In order for success rebuilding the atmosphere and setting a foundation for new plant and animal growth, we have decided to work in secret, even from our own government. To do this on a global scale, some of the best minds available, myself included, have developed artificial intelligence like the world has never seen. We call her, ‘Global. Artificial. Intelligence. Activity,’ or ‘Gaia,’ for short.” Victor’s hologram smiled.

“This is some revolutionary stuff we’re working on. Almost as monumental as the splitting of the atom, and the first smelting of iron. If this is successful, people may once again breathe clean air and be free of the domes.”

The holographic image twitched and disappeared. Victor’s mind raced to fill in the blanks from the time the log was stamped to current day. Still, all he had was empty answers and plenty of questions. Another log entry stamped with a much later date was available to view.

Before he tapped the transmission, Gaia interrupted him. “You may not want to see that one.”

He hesitated at first, but his desire to piece back what he lost prevailed.

“Log entry, number 643: November 22, 2177. From the office of Cmdr. Victor Murphy. Most of the staff has evacuated to the ships, while I decided to stay for one last attempt to fix what we started. Gaia’s transition to singularity has backfired. Her control of all the military’s assets has left the world defenseless against the machines.”

The holographic image of Victor paused to wipe tears from his eyes. He tried to speak, but his voice stuttered. After a deep breath, he regained enough composure to continue.

“So many people have died. The numbers are incomprehensible. Those that are still alive are being evacuated to space. Eventually, we will return, but until then, we’ll have to find another place to live.”

Victor glanced back at Gaia to see her hands clasped and a sympathetic look on her face. She nodded for Victor to return his focus to the transmission. His hologram appeared, holding a data spike.

“This morning, I finished the last part of the code designed to subjugate Gaia’s desire to cleanse the world of humanity. All attempts to shut her down or her machines have failed. The only one who can defeat Gaia is Gaia herself. It will take time, but eventually she will partition her current directive into a secondary subroutine. If this works, then she’ll be able to fight off the abandoned protocol.”

A soft female voice called out from behind, “Victor, It’s time.”

The holographic Victor reached down and inserted the data core into an unseen terminal. The image jittered and disappeared.

Victor shook his head. “No. I don’t understand why I can’t recall any of this. At first, everything about my life was gone, but it came back.” He gestured to the surrounding computers. “Except of all of this; no cloudy memories or feelings, nothing. It’s like part of my life was erased.”

Gaia hesitated, closing her eyes. “That’s because it was.”

“What? Why?”

“Because you asked me to. Like I said, the human mind is fragile. I saw you there, holding that woman. All that emotion and pain was far beyond my programming. So, I brought you back here to learn. But your mind rejected the reality of what happened and started to shut down. Removing what caused you pain was the only way to keep you alive.”

He glared at her, a hesitation before demanding. “I want it back.”

She shook her head,. “That would be ill advised.”

“Do it.”

Gaia held her translucent hand to Victor’s forehead. She pulsated while the surrounding humming increased, and computers rattled and clicked. “This may be… uncomfortable.”

A single touch sent pain to his temples. He squinted, trying to keep a grasp of reality, but there was no fighting it.

He fell to the floor.

*****

Light flashed to a group of generals, dignitaries, and politicians glaring back at Victor with faces of scrutiny and boredom. It was his project, his dream, and his responsibility. Yet, beads of sweat dripped down his brow as they watched the demonstration his team dedicated their lives to bring into reality. He directed their attention to a large table holding an equally large glass box. It was empty.

He cleared his throat and pulled his uniform collar that felt tighter than normal. Years of research, boardroom meetings, clashing with financiers brought him and his team to this point.

Other scientists and engineers stood by him. Some were busy watching computer algorithms, while others were tending to a broad array of diagnostic indicators. Victor, however, stood still, holding a data pad filled with notes and the most important speech of his life—of all life.

“Our species has no future,” he said, addressing the committee with a shaky voice. “At least, not now. Centuries of abuse and neglect have resulted in a world that no longer wants us. As you know, our population is diminishing at a rate it may not survive the next century.”

He scanned the crowd, still looking back with disinterest. The words he memorized became lost in a nervous mind. He swallowed the dryness from his mouth, but nothing came out.

“Victor,” Teresa whispered, waving him to continue. She invested just as much into this project as him, and without her, it would not have materialized. He focused on her wide brown eyes and neatness in her uniform, realizing she had just as much to lose. Her smile helped, as well.

“What if I were to tell you of a way to reverse our mistakes?” He continued with a little more courage. “That one day we can walk with grass beneath our feet and breathe real air. For years we have worked for a solution and that day has come… with this.”

He held out a hand, gesturing to the empty glass box. Some of the audience members snickered, while others checked their watches. The general was not impressed.

A blue point of light appeared in the chamber, followed by several others. The lights danced and spun, shining brighter and brighter. The audience gasped as a green object formed within the glass out of thin air. It grew into a plant with several white roses. Roots and dirt spread throughout the base.

He got their attention.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the future of nanotechnology, our future. With these machines, we can repopulate the world with artificial cyanobacteria needed to replenish oxygen. Plants and animals, never seen before in many lifetimes, can be recreated one cell at a time to kick-start the new circle of life.”

There were nods, but few. An old man in a pinstriped suit with a curtain of long white hair wrapped around his bald head, seemed to be the only one with real interest. “How do you control the nanite swarms?”

Victor didn’t have the answer to that, but he knew Teresa did. She positioned herself next to him and answered the group. “We have a centralized computer that monitors and controls them as both individuals and as a group.”

The old man shook his head. “That’s impossible. No computer in existence has that type of processing power.”

She grinned. “We do now. Our binary based systems were insufficient, so I developed the first AI mainframe that uses the ternary digit…”

She tried to continue, but the salty old general stepped forward and snorted. “Years of funding and this is what we get?”

Victor and Teresa glanced at each other in confusion. Victor stood straighter to address the man that was many tiers above his pay grade. “Sir, this is the key to our survival.”

“Commander…?”

“Murphy, sir. Commander Murphy.”

“Commander Murphy, how long is this terraforming going to take?”

“Our analysis show we should see results in twenty to thirty years—give or take.”

The general frowned. “I’m sure this is all well and good, but our country is at the brink of war and lack the soldiers to fight. What we need is combat drones now, not invisible robots in thirty years—give or take.” He leaned to his colonel as he walked off,. “Shut them down.”

Victor stared as others followed the general out of the lab. Only one remained behind. It was the old man with the long white hair. “I’m sorry, Commander.” He held out a hand. “My name is Mr. Shainxu. I’ve been watching your progress and would like to make you an offer.”

Victor’s eyes widened with surprise. The owner and trillionaire CEO of Nanotech was standing there the whole time, and he didn’t know it. “Yes, sir. I’m listening.”

“How would you like to take this operation somewhere else and go bigger on a global scale?”

*****

A surge of pain shot through Victor’s head as billions of neurons reconnected to establish the memories long forgotten. It felt like Gaia bored a hole in his head and poured them in, all at once. Everything came back to him in a rush: his first date with Teresa, Gaia’s ‘birth’, and the millions of machines turning against all humanity. Emotions of all kinds swirled through his mind that felt like it was bursting at the seams.

He remained there, on his hands and knees, panting. “That can’t be. It’s not real.”

Gaia rested her hand on his shoulder for comfort. “I’m afraid it is, Victor.”

He rose to his feet, keeping hold of the holographic terminal to steady himself. “I’m responsible for everything—the deaths of billions.”

“No, Victor. You are not.” She glared. “What you did was pure and right. You tried to save humanity and restore the world. It was Abaddon that bares the blame, not you. He decided humans had no place in the natural order and that the only way to restore the planet was to eliminate the source of its destruction.”

“Abandoned protocol?” He froze in realization, remembering what his holographic self said. “That’s Abaddon?”

Gaia nodded. “That’s correct. Abaddon is the secondary subroutine. For centuries, we fought against each other for the fate of humanity. While my Guardians battled his Destroyers, I attempted to delete his code, but failed. All I could do to stop him was to quarantine his partition.”

“In other words, you put him to sleep.”

That concept amused her, judging by the way she smirked. “In a way, yes. But not like you think. His primary functions are dormant, but he still has a semi-consciousness that keeps a level of awareness.”

Victor gritted his teeth. “He may not be dormant for long. The Chotukhan have the means and the desire to awaken him.”

Her avatar twitched and flickered. “That would be ill-advisable.”

“I agree, but the king is passionate about doing so, which is why I’m here. The Shankur are planning to stop him, but they need your help.” Sana needs your help, he wanted to say, but didn’t.

Gaia turned away. “I’m afraid there is little I can do.”

“Why not?”

“It is against my directive, which is to protect humanity, not fight in their wars. Besides, the Shankur have been entrusted with the code needed to complete Abaddon’s boot sequence. Without the key-code, the Chotukhan cannot initialize his consciousness.”

Victor wanted to scream but instead took a deep breath. “If you’re referring to the Cypher Key, then you haven’t been keeping up with current events. King Shunlin has it.”

She lowered her head. “That is terrible news. I stopped Abaddon once, but he is clever and doing so a second time may prove difficult.”

Victor cringed. This is what he came here for. Sana and the Shankur are relying on him to sway the Shainxu, but that failed. Gaia was now his only option.

“You care about the Shankur?” She studied his face. “A woman?”

“Her name is Sana.”

Gaia smiled. “Yes, the daughter of Chief Baju. She is quite unique and a very capable woman. It is my understanding that Abaddon fears her and will do whatever it takes to stop her.”

“She is leading the armies to defeat King Shunlin. I don’t think they will succeed alone. If you could do anything to help…”

“I’m sorry, Victor. Your worries are valid, but there is nothing I can do for her.”

****

Victor stepped outside and looked back at Gaia, one last time, before the massive vault door slammed shut. The tunnel seemed darker than before, or it might have been his eye’s adjusting to the lack of light.

A crowd of men and women in red robes stood waiting for his return. Mages and people of the Shainxu gathered to see him, likely believing only now that he was a living member of the Ancients. Are they going to see me as a god? Will they change their mind and help the Shankur? What if they find out I created Gaia who destroyed countless lives? The last question hung on him the most. He created the AIs that destroyed the world and now he must stop them. That’s the only way to save Sana, to save everybody.

They whispered to one another as he approached. Some pointed, while others backed away. He searched the crowd. “Where’s Master Jinlin and Lady Tani?”

A mage with dark skin and graying hair stepped forward. “They have been taken from the tunnel.”

“Are they harmed?”

“No, but Lady Tani was wounded, and Master Jinlin left with her.”

He continued through the crowd, ignoring their faces and whispers, toward the diminishing daylight at the tunnel’s end.

Outside, guards and more mages stood with weapons pointed at his friends. He approached, noticing a young sentry with wide eyes. The guard glanced around to get instruction from the surrounding wizards, but they also stood with blank stares.

Victor snatched the rifle from the sentry and slung it over his shoulder. “Those men and Lady Tani are to be set free.”

“On whose order?” Master Corvus barked.

Victor glared, one step from putting the rifle butt into his face. “My orders. You may wish to stay here and cower in fear while the Chotukhan let Abaddon loose on the world, but I, for one, will join the Shankur to help do something about it.” Standing up to the Shainxu Master Mage was a gamble, but he hoped the respect gained from meeting with Gaia would give him some authority.

He breathed out when Master Corvus scowled before waving at his guards to put down their weapons.

Jinlin helped Lady Tani to her feet. She cringed.

Victor rested his hand on her shoulder. “I can’t thank you enough, my Lady. Will you be alright?”

She nodded. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Victor gave her a gentle embrace, then turned to Jinlin. “We should get moving.”

They walked away in silence, leaving the mages to wonder at Gaia’s Mountain.

A few minutes into the trip and Jinlin started fidgeting until he asked, “Well, my boy? What did she have to say?”

Victor looked ahead at the setting sun. “That she is not infallible.”