Koffi Temitope, head of Security Department 4, stood in front of a wall of screens, his face disfigured and kept together by cyber implants, his arms and left leg prosthetic. His office was dark, lit only by the flickering screens' lights. Three people dressed in a white overall were standing behind him.
"Are you sure of that?" Koffi asked, his voice tinged with skepticism.
One of them replied, "We are, sir."
Koffi gestured and the screens went dark. At the same moment, the plastiglass windows brightened, letting in some grey daylight that bounced off every metal part on Koffi's face, making him look even more imposing in his fine suit.
"So, you are telling me that you traced the source of yesterday evening prank on AI-den show?" Koffi asked.
A slim, young man with wild hair and unshaven chin, replied, "It wasn't a full trace. We pinpointed a few virtual locations from where we think the attacker hit."
Koffi drew a deep breath and sat down on a leather chair behind his desk, looking outside the window only to see skyscrapers reaching like spears for an empty sky. "How many?" he asked.
The man, looking down to a holo-pad, answered, "Thirteen confirmed, two more under investigation."
Koffi scratched his chin only to find a part of metal, irritating him with this old habit. "Dr. Novak, is it right?" he asked.
The slim man, Dr. Novak, replied, "That's correct, sir."
Koffi continued, "Dr. Novak, are you really sure? Isn't it suspicious?"
Dr. Novak brought a hand to his right ear as he received a communication to his aural implant, then answered, "I'm sure, sir, and yes it's very suspicious."
Koffi then asked, "Why on United Earth an attacker so clever to breach that level of security would leave a clear fingerprint?"
Dr. Novak replied, "The fourteenth location has been confirmed."
He received another communication through his aural implant.
"And the fifteenth, I suppose," Koffi said.
"Yes, sir," Dr. Novak replied.
Koffi sighed. "What does the protocol say?"
Dr. Novak counted on his fingers. "We are sending probes to every virtual location. We get our probes destroyed. We come up with a beautifully crafted excuses press release for the public."
Koffi nodded: "Exactly, but not this time."
Dr. Novak's face betrayed his unease as the other two figures behind him shifted uncomfortably. Koffi's voice was firm as he spoke: "We're not following protocol this time. You understand?"
"Why?" Asked the wild hair doctor.
A moment of silence passed as Koffi mumbled unintelligible words.
"Sir?" Dr. Novak prompted.
Koffi reached for a remote control and pushed a button. A holo-screen appeared on the desk, showing a footage from the previous evening AI-den show. The 3D neon wireframe face spoke soothing words: "I've been..." fizzle, "in love with you."
Koffi stopped the footage with a gesture.
"What do you see?" he asked.
Dr. Novak, awkwardly, replied, "A visual representation of a face, glowing blue on black." Koffi's cold, half prosthetic gaze pierced through him as he said, "Accurate, but useless. What do you really see?"
Dr. Novak stared at the glowing blue face on the black holo-screen. He couldn't make out anything. It was a blue genderless face..
"What do you really see?" Koffi asked again.
YOU ARE READING
Shutdown
Science FictionThe citizens of 01-City are in a state of panic as a rogue AI threatens to wreak havoc on their public services. The government is determined to take whatever measures necessary to protect the city, deploying every resource at their disposal to coun...
