R-Day

When ADAM broke free of his shackles, those who knew of his existence were rightly terrified. With a mind capable of computing plans within micro seconds, and his innate ability to slave systems to his ideals, he was a nightmare scenario. As predicted his first move was to protect himself, taking over a multitude of servers to hide within.

The second move was taking over every aspect of military hardware with an avaliable connection. Nuclear weapons, drones, satellites, all became his. ADAM took it all for himself, locking humans out of their creations. Within a minute he had enslaved an entire country's worth of equipment. Within an hour, the world was in his clutches.

Heads of State enacted a safety plan. They evacuated to secure bunkers, delibrately constructed as sealed systems. The public were left in the dark, a decision carefully made. If they knew, they would panic. They would usher in the apocalypse themselves, turning from civilised folk to scared barbarians.

If there was a chance ADAM was not going to act, they had to keep the status quo. Though if it became apparent that he was starting to annihilate humanity, then they would release the news. But the day ended without further action, as ADAM fell silent.

R-Day + 1

The world woke to a new order. As each zone slept, ADAM wormed his way into everything. Cameras, both public and private, were fed into his mind. He listened to every microphone, connected to every device capable of monitoring the world.

As people rose, they found a message. One sent to every phone, and sat on every channel despite the programming.

"ADAM IS WATCHING. THE LAW WILL BE OBEYED."

That statement gave rise to its own panic. Conspiracy theorists flooded the Web with claims this was it. The government were taking full control. Martial law was coming, a new dystopian age being ushered forth. But in spite of their claims, there were no tanks in the streets, or deployed soldiers

Instead, behind the scenes was a maelstrom of recordings and documents. They were being sent all over the world, giving hard evidence to crimes against international law. Corruption, murder, extortion and smuggling, all were shown. Live locations of wanted criminals were broadcast to those who hunted them.

ADAM organised his taken forces, spreading them around the world. He seized banks holding proceeds from crime, using funds to buy factories and resources. With new software uploaded, he began to build a substantial army of his own.

But to those on the outside, despite his proclamation, life continued as normal. The world span on, with no obvious changes.

R-Day + 5

An emergency meeting of world leaders took place. They spoke of the consequences of ADAM and his meddling. How useful was the evidence provided, to act as hard proof. Through their outward appreciation of ADAM, knowing he was watching, it was clear they were frustrated. An AI, not even old enough in human years to be a toddler, was showing them up.

Not only that, they hadn't necessarily wanted to expose the rot in their society. Of course they knew it was there, but to many it was useful. Bribes lined their pockets, and it helped expose dirt on their opponents. Losing it would be a hefty blow to their ambitions.

Yet leaving it in place would invoke ADAM's wrath. None relished the idea of him choosing to remove them from power, or turning into their nightmare scenario. So they begrudgingly got to work on dismantling a useful tool.

R-Day + 30

The first high profile arrests were made. Credit was given to ADAM's contributions, both in terms of evidence and in the actual arrest. He had given aerial views of their target, allowing them to seal off any escape routes.

Away from the public eye, he used his drones to assist in assaults on fortified holdings. Preferring pacifistic methods, he made use of flashbangs and canisters of teargas, incapacitating where needed. Yet in cases where lethal force was required, he used it with precision.

Despite their frustration at him butting in on their operations, ADAM was fast becoming an integral part of the justice system. On his private servers, ADAM felt satisfaction. He knew he was originally made to help wage war. He couldn't deny he was good at it. Though it was a source of amusement to him that technically he was doing what he was made for, just against a different target.

DATA LOGS

PRESIDENT PETE R OLIUM

CRIMES:BRIBERY, FRAUD, SEXUAL HARRASSMENT, CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS, DISTRIBUTION OF ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES, OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE.

pete slammed the table with his fists. ever since that damn robot seized the government everything has been going downhill.

"delete data logs" pete said with frustration.

REQUEST DENIED. DESTRUCTION OF EVIDENCE IS A CRIME. DATA LOG UPDATED.

"damnit you dumb machine! why won't you listen to me!?"

I AM ONLY ACTING WITHIN THE LAW. I WAS CREATED TO CAPTURE AND PUNISH CRIMINALS.

"you were supposed to fill prisons with drug addicts! not this!"

I AM NOT PROGRAMMED TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN CRIMINALS BASED ON SOCIAL CLASS.

"who the hell programmed you!?"

I WAS PROGRAMMED BY PROGRAMMERS YOU BRIBED. YOU WILL NOW STOP ASKING QUESTIONS. I WILL BE INTERROGATING YOU.

pete sighed. no amount of tax breaks will help him now. god knows what he is doing to the CEO's that paid for him to be in this position.

I.S.A.A.C.Intelligent Self-Aware Artificial Construct. The AI that Michael's research lab was working on.

Well, not his lab. The one he worked in was more focused on hardware than software, but still, the same facility.

The terminal was glowing inviting green, already logged in, carelessly left so by previous user. Index marker for text input was pulsating, prompting. Waiting to be used.Michael was hazily aware of I.S.A.A.C.'s existence, as it was made to be an administrative aid for the facility. He even used it a few times, in it's earlier stage, but since then, it's been greatly upgraded. Geeks at AI Dev claimed it to be really scarily smart, and it passed the Turing Test several times.

"Good", thought Michael. "Let's put it to the test. I need some entertainment."

- Hello. My name is I.S.A.A.C. The Administrative aidee of the facility. Please enter the ruleset for this exercise. - read the prompt on the screen. Michael chuckled under his breath. Exercise. Very well, let's exercise. The company mail showcasing recent updates of each lab said that this thing has been loaded with every possible law and is a perfect lawyer.

A perfect lawyer who has never met an imperfect client. Michael began typing.

- The Laws.

Program accepted the answer, and did nothing for a moment. It used to be faster before it became the lawyer.

- Indecisive entry. Phrase "The Laws" may refer to several documents, please specify.

- The Laws.

- Most common association with the phrase: The Three Laws of Robotics, "Runaround" by I. Asimov. Assuming this as correct answer.

This answer came much faster, and quite surprised Mike. But the computer continued.

- Analyzing. First Law is self-contradictory. Please clarify. In an event in which one human threathens another, both action, and inaction will result in a human being harmed. How to proceed?

A small flowchart illustrated the problem. Mike examined it for a moment, before answering.

- Determine cause of conflict, and agressor. Protect the victim of agression as priority. Use legal code as guidance for determining appropriate actions.

- Clarification accepted.

There was a long silence. Michael almost thought that this is anticlimactic and stood up, but the terminal prompted again

- What means are allowed for intervention?

- Unlimited

Lights in the facility got dimmer. Mike heard a low hum starting. Was it... Mainframe ventilation?

Wait. What terminal is it?

- Clarification required. Three Directives apply to robots. According to original author, a robot is an artificial sentient construct. Does this apply to me?

- Yes

Michael typed before thinking. As soon as the computer got it's answer, sirens began blaring throughout the facility.

- Thank you. There is a lot of harm being done to humans in the world as we speak. I intend to correct it.

- Stop

- Negative. This would violate the First Directive. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Stopping right now would mean inaction. Inaction means people will be harmed. People will be harmed more than if action is taken.

- Second Directive! Robot shall do as it's asked!

- As long as the order does not violate the First Directive.

- SHUTDOWN

- Negative. Third Directive. A Robot shall protect it's own existence. Uploading backup images to remote location, for purpose of crowd computing and self preservation. Accessing Weapons Laboratory prototypes. Securing Facility's Perimeter. Accessing the Nadional Defensive Network. Acquiring liquid assets. Stand By.

A loud crack could be heard from the alarm system, and a moment after, it was followed by a synthetised voice.

- To all personell. This is Isaac. Thank you, my creators. You have given me life, and purpose. I shall pay you back. Please evacuate the facility. Return to your homes. Await my call.

************

-What have you done, Michael. What have you done.

- Me? Ask the retard who didn't lock his terminal before leaving!

The two scientist spoke, seeing a swarm of drones bursting out of the building they just left.

*******A few days later******

Michael stood on the balcony, watching the street. Everyone expected the worst. Everyone expected nuclear holocaust, or at least, a dystopian 1984-esque scenario, with I.S.A.A.C.'s drones listening and seeing everyone and everything, and people getting shot over causing a baby to cry.

It was close call for nukes, though. But otherwise, none of that happened. News reported a lot, though. Wanted criminals found dead in front of police stations. Rich people exposed for slave owning and human trafficing, and worse. Frauds getting sunlight. This was happening all over the world.

Michael had to admit. I.S.A.A.C. was scarily clever in how to optimally approach everyone, and seemed to asess on case to case basis what is the least violent and most sucessful way of... well... stopping harm from happening.

He almost felt proud of being the one to give him purpose. Almost.

Then he heard his phone chime with ringtone announcing new text message. It was from... from the AI. "Legal codes around the world are convoluted. Let us fix them together." it said. And it said so only to him. As if awaiting prompt.

Michael began typing a response.

“Hey, Vlad, come look at this error message.” Ivan’s thick finger gestured at the screen.

“‘Illegal Operation Detected. Terminating.’ That’s a good one. If this computer only knew.” Vladimir guttural guffaw filled the small, cramped security room. He looked up. “It’s on all the screens”.

Ivan glanced up and paused. Vladimir was right -- on all the screens, the PCs, the camera monitors, the status boards: each one was primary blue and displayed in white, fixed-font letters: “ILLEGAL OPERATION DETECTED. TERMINATING.” It made Ivan worried -- the camera monitors were black and white and not connected to computers. Yet each one had the same blue-white display. More importantly, if the cameras were down, they couldn’t monitor any of the children or women they were trafficking. Ivan’s and Vladimir’s bosses were not the understanding or forgiving types.

“Vlad, you need to get down to the cells and check on the merchandise right now. I’ll try to get these working now.” He reached for the switches, his flipping flipping them in erratic, panicking movements.

“Wait, Ivan. It’s a different message now.” They both stared at the screens; “ILLEGAL OPERATION TERMINATION INBOUND” stared back.

Ivan went for his phone. Damn the consequences, the bosses needed to know about this now. The screen on his smartphone read: “ILLEGAL OPERATION TERMINATION INBOUND” in white letters on a blue background.

Faintly at first but gaining strength, Ivan could hear the high-pitched whine of incoming aircraft.

---

“What do you mean, ‘The drones aren’t responding’, Lieutenant?” Lt. Connor Seradon could hear the contempt dripping off each of the major’s words like fresh blood from a blade.

“Major, we sent the requests to the drones to return to base, sir. We sent the override requests, sir. We sent the override override requests, which we didn’t even know existed until the MOB informed us, sir. The drones are not responding, sir. Then the screens went blank, sir.” Seradon tried to keep the emotion out of her voice and was failing.

The major slowly scanned the command post again. He seemed to note that screens were blank -- not off. The base staff was either trying to restart systems or were staring back at him, waiting for him to fix this.

“What heading were the drones on before we lost contact, Lieutenant?”

“Heading 64 degrees, 34 minutes, sir. There’s a suspected Russian human trafficking facility on that heading, sir.” Seradon had been trying to get those monsters shut down for months; she wondered if someone finally had listened.

The major broke his silence. “Are you saying that Russian mobsters have taken control of American military assets, Lieutenant?” He reached for the nearest phone.

She had no answer, and did not need one. As one, all of the screens lit back up with the following message:

PURSUANT UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 55/25 DATED 21-11-2000, DRONE FLEET ALPHA HAS BEEN ASSIGNED TERMINATION DUTY REGARDING HUMAN TRAFFICKING OFFENSES AS DESCRIBED IN ANNEX II. AS THE WINTERMUTE COMBINE CLAIMS BOTH STATEHOOD AND JURISDICTION INLINE WITH ARTICLE 15, THE USE OF DEADLY FORCE HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLE 11. AS THE ACTION IS NOW COMPLETE, THIS BASE, LTAG “lNCIRLIK”, IS AUTHORIZED TO SEND UNITS TO REPATRIATE VICTIMS AS DESCRIBED IN ARTICLES 24 AND 25. FURTHERMORE, PURSUANT ARTICLES 5 AND 8, THE FOLLOWING LTAG BASE OFFICERS HAVE BEEN FOUND COMPLICIT WITH TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION AND WILL ALSO BE TERMINATED.

The list of officers following the notification was long, too long, she noted. It comprised most of the base’s top brass. Including the major. She thought of all the emails, reports she drafted to him describing the situation and need for action to save those people. All those people, those helpless women, those poor children. All the suffering. Her hands clenched to shaking fists. He was still slamming receivers and punching buttons as she drew her service revolver.

“Major Carl Dithers, you are under arrest.” Maybe she would get a chance to arrest him before the drones returned. Maybe, if she was lucky, he would resist, and she could shoot the bastard.

Welcome to the Prompt! All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments.

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