Seeker by Douglas E Richards

Author:Douglas E Richards [Richards, Douglas E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Paragon Press
Published: 2018-06-02T22:00:00+00:00

31

Bile rose in Kagan’s throat, and he was just able to stop himself from vomiting.

This was evil on an incomprehensible scale, made worse by how reasonable Seeker made it all seem. Kagan had been in awe of the probe, had soaked in everything it had said like a man learning at the feet of a god, only for this to be the result. He had been a preschooler, spellbound by a jolly Santa Claus. Right up until this Saint Nick transformed into a fiery Satan before his very eyes.

Even before Seeker’s demonstration, Kagan had been convinced that its threats were not idle. Even though it was housed within a tiny probe, he had been convinced it could carry out the massacre it promised with effortless ease. But its horrific demonstration had certainly hammered this point home, for anyone here who had doubts.

“I’ll lay out just a few more ground rules and then let you get started,” continued Seeker simply, as though it hadn’t just dropped the greatest bombshell of all time. “You should know that any attempt to collaborate with another group will result in instant disqualification. I chose these groups for a reason, and I intend for them to remain distinct. Since you and Ella came here together, Ben, you and she will constitute a team, even though that was never your intent.”

Kagan shook his head in disbelief. Seeker had just made an error! There was a chink in its armor. It was extraordinary, but not omniscient. By its own admission, its creators had found a way to stop it short of this level. Its failure to keep up on current events, and realize that Ella was now deceased, was proof that this was true.

If it could make a mistake, perhaps it could also be defeated.

“I will also provide directions to Ory that will lead you to me,” continued the AI, “one mile at a time. Simultaneously, I will also be providing directions to all other groups, most of these one kilometer at a time, since this is the measuring scale they prefer.

“Why not give you my location instead of a series of directions? Because you are all at different distances from me, which isn’t entirely fair. So I will fix things so you each have to travel the exact same distance to reach me, approximately fourteen miles, through roughly the same conditions. I will lead you to the promised land, Ben, but you’ll be taking a circuitous route to get there.

“You’ve noticed that I’m no longer allowing long-range remote sensing, long-range communication, or long range technology operation of any kind. Again, this is an attempt to level the playing field.”

Seeker paused once again. “So that’s it in a nutshell,” it said finally. “Your survival instincts are very powerful. I am certain that these stakes will bring out your best efforts, drive you to your highest level, which will tell me everything I need to know. All but one group will lose and soon perish. But those of you

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