Halo Lighting System First Strike Games - Manual (Page 132)

128 HALO: FIRST STRIKE
"These commands were invented, refined, and then discarded
and forgotten long before even the first functional dumb AI went
online," Dr. Halsey told him. "I learned them when I was fifteen,
working on my second doctoral thesis."
"An antiquated input methodology for an obsolete human."
"Antiquated? Obsolete? Really?" She smiled and said, "Let's
test your hypothesis, Araqiel. I supervised the creation of the
template for every third-generation smart AI on this planet. I
know everything there is to know about you, including your bor-
derline disregard for human life." She paused and tapped her
chin. "Maybe that's why you and Ackerson always got along so
well."
"Colonel Ackerson is a great man. He's—"
"To answer your original question," she said, ignoring him,
"this is the nexus of your being." She tapped the display. "Your
code directory, the center through which all impulses in your
mind flow. And this"—she quickly typed in another command—
"is the code that activates your personal fail-safe. It generates a
pulse beam of high-frequency UV light in your Riemann
cycling-thought matrix, clearing your high thought functions. It
will effectively erase you."
"No!" Araqiel said and reared back. Flames roared about his
crystalline skull. "Don't—"
Dr. Halsey punched the ENTER key.
Araqiel vanished.
Dr. Halsey sighed and closed the display. "A waste of memory
crystal."
She wondered if the AI had been bluffing. Maybe not; ONI
Section Three gave its AIs broad discretionary powers for deal-
ing with security breaches. Still... she was happy not to have
found out how far Araqiel would have gone.
"Kalmiya, please retrieve the data file and show me the con-
tents of Colonel Ackerson's directory."
"Working, Doctor. There's some minor encryption to unravel.
It should only take a moment." She paused and then asked,
"Doctor Halsey, the UV fail-safe in Araqiel's Riemann matrix...
are they planted in every smart AI? In me?"
"They are not implanted in every AI," Dr. Halsey said, care-
fully controlling her voice.