Episode 73: Ghost in the Machines

Pressure builds in the Beyond and time is of the essence. In Brise Soleil, Kyla is confronted by a nagging question, as she and Liana are thrown into action. Under attack in the creepy ruins of the wasteland, Boden, Magnus, Cy, and Reggie race to the one place of safety and discover a greater knowledge buried by time.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_03 0:39

We need to get back to the bulk bullet free. Wait. Remember, it's all over there. Didn't the machine say they can access it? Right there. We can figure that out when we get there.

SPEAKER_10 1:26

The doors are locked! It feels like there's some kind of electric pulse running across the outside. Sai, hand me that brick.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

I'll see if I can't smash that window.

SPEAKER_11 1:38

Whoa! It just bounced off like rubber! It must be an electrical current of some kind. That's why the bots can't get in. Any way to short it?

SPEAKER_03 1:46

Too late for that. I'm nearly here. Do it.

SPEAKER_11 2:02

All right.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

One, two. Okay.

SPEAKER_10 2:38

That was lucky.

SPEAKER_03 2:40

That was more than luck. Who's back? Come out. Or these two fools will come in after you.

SPEAKER_11 2:48

Wanna run that by me again, Sai?

SPEAKER_09 2:50

I do apologize about the lights. It helps save power and gives the Sorbies less to cock at. And by the sound of it, you worked him into a real fury. Who? Sovereign. I assume you've met given the tantrum he's throwing. But never mind him, look at you. I haven't seen humans since well, centuries are far too long to go without a proper conversation. Are there others in your party, or has the unwelcoming committee already torn them limb from limb? Proper conversation? Are you one of those machines too? I'm not one of those mindless contraptions out there.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

Then why hide in the dark? Step into the light and give your name. That should tell us if he's one of them.

SPEAKER_09 3:29

Very well, if you insist. But you must promise not to disassemble me with that rather clever pocket saw of yours. Mind switching it off? Assign him good faith.

SPEAKER_03 3:38

Don't do it! That gives most the only thing we have between us and certain death.

SPEAKER_11 3:43

I don't see much of a choice.

SPEAKER_09 3:56

That's better. Now, how did this monologue start again? Oh yes. Hello, I'm your telecommunicating autonomous learning educator, or tail guide, but please call me Bertard.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

What do you think, Liana?

SPEAKER_05 4:18

They're so big. You made them?

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 4:22

Are they both girls?

SPEAKER_00 4:24

One of each.

SPEAKER_05 4:25

Really? Which one's mine?

SPEAKER_00 4:26

I'm giving you first choice.

SPEAKER_05 4:28

What are their names?

SPEAKER_00 4:30

I wanted you to name them.

SPEAKER_05 4:32

Um Wyatt, he's mine.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Okay, so Ram gets Elsie. Elsie. Wyatt and Elsie, it is.

SPEAKER_05 4:40

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you so much.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

I love you too, Liana.

SPEAKER_08 4:50

Hello? Liana? I'm here. You ready to go? Rand gave the okay. Wow. I wish I had this treehouse when I was a kid. What's wrong? I don't know everything! Who are you talking to? I heard voices. That was my voice journal. My dad came up with. I stayed out here for a whole week leading up to the funeral. Just talking for eight hours into the machine. I guess it was the closest thing I had to do. Talking to the dad. It's okay. It's okay. So Ram really agreed? Yeah. One minute he's doing something I hate, and the next he's growing up. Well, I don't like it. Liana, your brother has a lot of pressure on him. He has to be wiser, but more mature. Good luck with that. I've been impressed. Say that again. What? I've been impressed? No, no, say it the way you said it before. I've been impressed. No, you're reading into it. You can only read what's being written. Well, you're way off, am I? What are you? A human nose hound? I learned from the vest.

SPEAKER_09 6:27

Well, if Ellion and Seabig are still alive, then there's help. But it sounds as though I have approximately 400 years of history to catch up on. I look forward to it.

SPEAKER_02 6:37

What is this place? A factory? Wait. I don't think so. I remember Dad talking about an artifact Mom found north of the Beyond. He showed me wire like this. I remember because I touched it and it cut me. Look, I can head.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

Charming. This is all fascinating.

SPEAKER_09 6:56

But how long do we need to wait here before those machines outside lose interest? Sovereign can have quite the temper, but he's also easily distracted. Would it then be too much to ask if you have something edible in it? Ugh, most of the food decomposed centuries ago. But if you're brave enough, I believe Concessions on the far side has a few vacuum-sealed containers of honey, which, if stored under the right conditions, can technically remain fresh for millennia. That'll do! You boys enjoy the tour? Come on, Reggie!

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Okay. So you're this human-looking machine, an Android, that was made to store all of history? Yes.

SPEAKER_09 7:35

Well, we barely know how to record audio in the beyond. Do you know what this is? Oh, no wonder Sovereign found you. That coin is a cloud-based AI user port. It allows its owner to connect their personal information profile into any compatible device and interface with it. And you have a deluxe gold edition. These weren't cheap. Let me guess. You don't understand a word I said. Um more or less. Do you even know what an AI is? AI? Oh dear. Have you at least heard of a computer?

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Oh, sure. They were really big in the Defiance days, though we only have a handful of them left now, mostly in Bristol A. Did your computers ever talk or take voice commands? Mr.

SPEAKER_09 8:18

V. He was an old program that helped govern the people of Defiance. Ah, now we're getting somewhere. Approximately four centuries ago now, technology was integrated into everything, including itself. Machines had computers in them that talked to other machines, much like how your Mr. V talked to people. Soon, these machines became so complex, humanity had to design a new type of computer to manage it all. Enter Quantum Artificial Intelligence Drive, CAD or Super AI. So, if Mr. V was or acted like a real human being, but had the mental power of thousands of geniuses, all while living in every computer invented. That sounds hard to manage. Indeed, this Cade was singular in power, running every aspect of life. His name was Sovereign. But I thought they were sovereign. Getting to that. Wait, so this sovereign ran everyone's life?

SPEAKER_02 9:06

How'd they force so many people to use it?

SPEAKER_09 9:08

Oh, nobody was forced. He made life easier, and that was straight enough. Of course, he wasn't always the I've come to suck your bolts and brains atrocity you met today, though he always was a bit of an unflattering term I can't use because I'm in family mode.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

But how is he still alive? If you call it that, when everything's dead. And why are you attacking us like the rest of the machines?

SPEAKER_09 9:29

Well, everything changed with the Great War, before what you mentioned. The remnant? Yes, I look forward to hearing about this remnant. War? Yes, a great war involving all people. It began with a mistake here, a misunderstanding there, throwing some cultural intolerance with systemic ignorance, and voila! Conflict! When the bullets and missiles went flying. Missiles? Giant bullets that saw through the air and caused great damage. Okay. One such attack simultaneously hit Sovereign's four central drives, the computers that kept him alive. In a last-itch effort to save himself, Sovereign scattered parts of his base programming, his uh personality, if you will, into every device he was connected to. Which is why they all say we're sovereign? Exactly! When humanity was destroyed, Sovereign deteriorated into a hive mind that operates in unison to all the devices he once ran. Now he's little more than a glitchy robot cannibal. Um. That machine horde out there, they're ravenous because they're attempting to share a single computer mind.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Oh.

SPEAKER_09 10:32

So, why aren't you one of them? Me? Well, I have an independent AI drive. I was never part of his network, and so I've maintained my individuality. This dome was built with pseudo-electromagnetic shielding to protect it from the elements, and it's had the unintended benefit of keeping out all those sovies. That's what I call them, anyways. Something to taunt them with when they try to break in here to no avail. And they want to break in because For me, of course. I'm a walking pile of well-preserved parts because I've stayed mostly inside. If the sovvies got their way, they'd rip me not from bolt to repair themselves, much like what they'd do to you now that they see you all as a network threat. But why protect this place? It doesn't look that special. Young man, protecting this place was one of humanity's lasting achievements.

SPEAKER_08 11:28

Would you say that again, please, for the journal? I said handsome. I've never seen you like this, Kai. I like it. Are peacemakers allowed today? You are so juvenile. So what are you gonna do? Nothing. My job, which we should probably move on now. You said we had till morning. So let me ask you something. If you had all your dreams come true, what would they look like? Liana, would Ram be in them? Honestly. Yes. But now is not the time. It's clearly overwhelmed with new responsibilities, and now we have this beast killing people. Really, I can't afford to get involved when I'm involved in so much right now. You're always gonna be involved in something, Kai. But what do you really want? That is so bizarre. What? My father said the same thing. Was that Elsie? How'd she get out? She never goes out in the rain. What was that? I've heard that before. Do you think Elsie? Let's go! I've got Spirit with me, but she can't carry both of us. It's okay. I may have broken one of the sanitation rules. You did not. Okay, I don't go anywhere without my bike. This may be our chance to catch this thing. What about Dr. Rutlet? It'll have to wait. Come on.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

So this place was here before the Great War? Yes, decades before. And you're saying over a million people right here. I can't even think of that many people. So the beyond? More like a few thousand. Why didn't Ellion stop it? I mean, why did he let that happen?

SPEAKER_09 13:17

I don't understand how he could just sit back and let people. You weren't created to be robots, Bowden. I was. I run according to my programming. You, well. You do what you want, Bo. We all do. That's not good. What's going on with the lights?

SPEAKER_03 13:39

Okay, the good news is the walkie bucket was right about this, honey. And the bad news? The important thing to remember here is it wasn't me. What wasn't?

SPEAKER_11 13:51

Sai? You mind telling us why only a handful of the lights are still on?

SPEAKER_09 13:54

Well, aye. It means the subnuclear generator is powering down and only running emergency systems.

SPEAKER_03 14:00

Doesn't sound too much.

SPEAKER_07 14:03

Wouldn't be too sure.

SPEAKER_03 14:08

What's that? He's coming.

unknown 14:10

Follow me. Oh no, oh no.

SPEAKER_04 14:28

Sam! Sam, you with the Sam! With the way you're banging on that door, perhaps it's a good thing he missed you. Renee, I didn't expect to see you here. That goes for the two of us. Hello, Finley. It's good to see you again.

SPEAKER_02 14:46

Hello, Mrs. Goodwin. Do you have your dogs here?

SPEAKER_07 14:49

Finley.

SPEAKER_04 14:50

No, I'm sorry. They're back in Brisolet. What have you got there? Nothing. Those are pretty rocks.

SPEAKER_07 14:57

Finley, why don't you go wait by the falls while I speak with Mrs. Goodwin?

SPEAKER_04 15:03

Yeah. Put me next to something that won't catch on fire.

SPEAKER_07 15:07

Finley. Finley! Fire? Long ride. She's tired. Where's Sam?

SPEAKER_04 15:15

He's not here. Won't be back for some time. What? He's in Parents right now, trying to make sure the place doesn't fall apart.

SPEAKER_07 15:23

Are you all right? You look worried. Until I talk to Sam, all I can do is worry. I was so foolish to think I could raise a Marla? Oh, I'm a fool, Renee. No, you're not. That little girl needed a mom yesterday. And instead she got me. A bearded pile of old grumpy bones. You're being too hard on yourself. Renee. I think Fidley is in serious danger from herself. What? But how? Why? That's what I need to find out. Sam was the one who gave her to me as a baby. And I'm wondering if your brother-in-law may know more about my daughter than he first let on. You're scaring me. That makes two of us.

SPEAKER_06 16:18

Episode 73, Ghost in the Machines was written by Colton Gurlier and Chris Nelson. Featuring the voice talents of Garrett Lewis, Logan Poulson, Jamie Clutier, Stephen Dean, Joshua Prentiss, Chris Nelson, Madeline Dury, Amber Lambe, Jennifer Eaton, Ezra Hersick, Joshua Nicholson, Jasmine Della Cruz, and Brian Bullabush. Sound design by Sam Lee. Music by Seth Norris and Nathan Lenardi. The Encounter is written, performed, and produced by Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Visit us online at encounterseries.com.