John was late getting up the next morning. He found his father in the atrium with Daniel and some of the volunteer deputies from Bradbury, among them was Rex Stamford. John showed them the results of his analysis. “I think you’ve found the how of the incidents,” said Abel. “And I think that I’ve discovered the why by messaging uncle Ephraim.”
“Don’t tell me,” said John. “He’s involved in more activism.”
“Yes, our uncle, as usual, is pursuing his beliefs to both positive and negative consequences. He is involved with a group that is trying to get the UN to recognize the right of independence for the Republic.”
“The cause is good,” said Daniel.
“Yes, uncle always works for good causes,” said John.
“But he often doesn’t think of the antagonism he will meet,” said Abel. “Well, that explains the how and the why, but who?”
Daniel spoke up, “Rex here has told me something about these people. He was hired to place a relay station on Phobos for them. Rex would you care to fill them in?”
“I've already told Daniel most of what I know,” said Rex. He briefly told them what he had been hired to do. He finished up, “And I can tell you one thing, these people will stop at nothing to get their way. Even murder if necessary. They tried to kill me so that I couldn't lead the authorities to them.”
“Yes,” said Daniel. “And because of Rex's information we now have one of them in custody. He hasn't talked yet, but we think he can tell us a lot about the who when he does talk.”
“I don't know about that,” said John. “But I think I know who's behind our network intrusions.”
“What do you mean son?” asked Abel.
“I don't know who will eventually be held responsible, but I think our network intrusion involved an Em.”
“An Em?” asked a surprised Daniel.
“Yes. When you think about it, it makes sense. Daniel, you remember me telling you all the expertise it would require, and the careful timing required to cause the EV accident?”
“Of course I remember, it made my head hurt.”
“Well, at the time I couldn't imagine how anyone person or a group of people no matter how smart, well-educated and trained could pull it off. That's when I first thought about an Em but dismissed the thought. But when I was discussing a replacement for Rothmeyer with dad, he pointed out what an unknown quantity Ems were. That's when it occurred to me, the possible problems with Ems are unknown unknowns. In other words, no one knows or can know what an Em is capable of because of their ability to learn.
“Now ordinarily any AI such as an Em based on a human brain would have a prohibition against doing anything that might be illegal or harm someone. But if you could train an Em to disregard that prohibition, then it would literally do anything for you. I think that is what someone has done. And that is why one entity, an Em, has all the capabilities needed to cause the incidents we've witnessed.”
“That's incredible,” said Daniel. “And dangerous. How could they let loose such a technology?”
“It's done,” said Abel. “And there is no going back I'm afraid. John, it will be important for you to write this up in such a way as to convince people that an Em is the only explanation for what happened here.”
John nodded.
“Anyway,” said Abel. “I think we have enough new information that another visit to the Attorney General's office is warranted. The fact that the entry point of the intrusion is through the Senator’s office might prompt the government to redouble their efforts.”
Just then John’s Annie alerted, it was the intrusion alarm that April had put on the network after John had identified the suspect pattern. They all hurried to IT.
April looked up from her screen and grimaced. “What is it April, did you block the intruder?” asked Abel.
“Yes sir, we blocked him, but it is the target that concerns me.”
“What is the target,” asked John.
“The water system, particularly the fluoride additive.”
Abel looked at his son and then at Daniel before speaking. “Well,” he said. “I guess they are serious.”
“What could happen?” asked Daniel.
“It depends on the amount of fluoride we would ingest. Adults would probably just be sick although it could lead to more serious problems like heart attack. But children could be poisoned to the point of life-threatening. And we wouldn’t necessarily know what was happening until it was too late. We would probably think that it was just the flu going around.”
“This should get the government involved in a serious way,” said one of Daniel's deputies.
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