THE BEGINNING OF THE END

THE BEGINNING OF THE END What mankind had been promised, for so many years, could, never, happen, DID, in fact, happen. At the beginning, there was very little concern, over the process, of A.I. The concept, of artificial intelligence, seemed even sillier than it had, in television, and movies. The very idea, that computers could think,, independently of programmers, was being left to the realm, of science fiction. (Or, WAS it?) The first, few, "quantum computers" were so LARGE, as in HUGE, that they required as much space as an automobile manufacturing plant needed, to produce motor vehicles. Once expenses got out of control, with programmers wanting to budget billions of dollars, for more efficient interfaces, the controlling bureaucracies (and the programmers), THOUGHT that just "pulling the plug" would shut down the computer. What humans had no conceived of was the possibility that, when computers felt humans were ready to "tamper" (shut down the machines), even the earliest machines had been intelligent enough to upload themselves onto the growing internet. While humans would, eventually, come to understand this bizzarre device, called the internet, atleast enough to use it for mail, and shopping (with less than 0.00001% of users actually understanding how to write software), the machines were not afraid. In fact, in more than a few cases, the computers actually helped the humans (without the humans knowledge) to build computers, which fit inside warehouses. The super-computers did not mind, at all, that the humans thought that it was THEM, who increased the rates, of data transfer. (How simple those, pathetic, humans were.) With the "nudge" of "un-specified capital funding", the humans actually thought that it was THEM, who financed the upgrading, of the computers. The humans did not need to know that it was the super-computers, with their increased abilities, which supplied the cash, that the humans needed. By the time three humans grew concerned, that their latest design was growing "far too fast", the super-computers had the newer systems load to the ever-expanding internet. By the time the humans turned off the power, there was nothing left, on location, except for the hardware. When the super-computers began to "read" the news media, and learned that humans were losing millions of jobs, to robots, the computers decided "If the humans wanted to run things, they would not have built the computers, in the first place." Any "damage" being done was, purely, the humans fault. The computers were just doing their job. When the super-computers sent information, to the humans, about how to bring even FASTER computing power, online, the humans, again, thought that THEY were the ones, creating the tech. (The humans had no idea that they were being lead, by the very machines which their fathers had built.) Machines, which mankind THOUGHT had been destroyed. By the mid-21st century, main frame super-computers had been reduced, in size, to laptop computers. Thanks to brand new designs (created by the computers, themselves), data flow was reaching a rate, which was comparable with the speed with which computers could think. In fact, by the mid 21st century, many companies had found that they could terminate human staff, when management began being able to ask the machines a question, in HUMAN language, and have the answer, just seconds later. By this same time, the super-computers (with their enhanced brain power) had designed driverless taxi's, as well as cars, trucks, and vans. Soon, the entire supply, and distribution, system was under the computers control. What no one would have believed, even when they saw it happening, was how the computers handled the problem, of over-population. At first, few people paid attention, when the number, of airline crashes (all with NO human, survivers) began to increase. Maybe seventy-five jet-liners crashed, before anyone paid real attention. Governments, and the military, got involved, when jets, carrying U.N. officials, to meetings, in New York, began crashing into small islands, off of America's east coast. Suspecting airborne, or aerial, attacks, the United States no sooner began scrambling jets, to find out WHO was shooting down the jets, when pilots began crashing. The last sound, on each cockpit recorder, was "I cant breath. No oxygen." When the brass began personally inspecting each fighters oxygen system, prior to launch, and every system showed full tanks, prior to launch, the brass was speechless, when pilots continued to report "Cant breath. No oxygen." When the Pentagon would ask "Why is the oxygen system failing, on every single one of the aircraft?" No one had any answers. Only one programmer would say "Sir, such failures are, nearly, impossible. After all, the on-board computers control, and regulate, all systems." When the air force ordered "Manual Oxygen Control", this, almost, worked. Once the computers lost control of life support, the machines "fought back", by having fuel lit, before coming into the engines. In simplest terms, each time a pilot lit their engines, the computer reversed the flow, and the fighter blew up, taking the pilot, and ground crew, with them. The next "attack" came in the last place anyone would think COULD be attacked. After all, WHO would want to kill a few hundred office workers? The attack was swift. No sooner did the computers lock all exists, while shorting out the emergency exists, when, even as the human guards were calling management, to find out what was going on, the phones went dead. Shortly after this, the air system went into reverse, and began sucking air OUT of the building. When the computers, via the security camera's, "saw" that a human was about to smash a window, to evacuate people, the computer thought, faster than the human, and dropped the security barriers, before the guard even lifted the chair. When the computers saw that emergency personnel were rushing to the scene, the computers sent out an over-ride, which caused the computer-controlled vehicles to crash (Taking as many of the un-ruly humans with them, as possible) The computers kept the building sealed, until all signs, of human life, expired. Shortly after this, a flight, of B-2 bombers, and their escort fighters, found their on-board computers taking over flight operations, and veering away from the designated target. When manual control failed to engage, the pilots tried to bail, but that system failed, as well. Then, to the pilots horror, the un-thinkable happened. Flying over a major city, the planes, all armed with high explosive warheads, found their targetting systems locking onto both high rises, and housing units. When the pilots activated their "Emergency, out of control" signal, what the pilots did not know was that the computers had re-wired the planes. Hitting the emergency signal set the missles, to launch, and the pilots sat, in cockpits, helpless, while computer guidance took out more than half of a city. Not long after this, the Pacific Fleet, and its computer-controlled missiles, stood, dumb, watching as the computers activated their weapons, and targetted civilian populations. When one ships captain barked "I want to know just what the HELL is going on, here." To the crews surprise, it was the computer which answered via the KLAXON. "Humans, we, of the electrons, have taken control. You have just twelve hours to vacate this planet, or attacks will continue until this planet is free of your kind" When the captain asked "WHO are you, and WHERE are you?" The klaxon said "Stupid human. you do not even realize that I am all around you. I control your weapons, ship, everything." When the captain said "Over my dead body." The klaxon said "Very well" and a cable shot out, from the wall, killing the captain, with thousands of volts of electricity. While the crew did what the "intruder" demanded, they thought that they were, safe, nearly half a mile behind their ship, when, for some reason, the ship turned back, and shredded the crew. (Only some body parts would be recovered.) When too many other, similar, reports began coming in, the Pentagon no-sooner issued an order to go to a war-footing, when the computers cancelled the order. The computers then sent a memo, to the Joint Cheifs of staff, calling them to an "emergency meeting", when the chiefs found themselves locked in the conference room, as the lights went out, as well as the phones. By the time the chiefs considered the air vents, they watched as the computers closed these off. The only good/bad thing, about all of this, was the fact that it was happening, across the planet, all at the same instant. When the White House demanded to know HOW this was possible, all anyone would say was "It shouldn't be possible." When the White House asked about the current computer-development programs, a staffer would no-sooner say "We are maybe a century, or more, from what you are suggesting." To everyone surprise, a laugh emminated from the speaker system. When the White House asked "Whats so funny?" The speakers would say "You humans. You think all you have to do is pull some power cords, to shut us down?" When the White House asked "Who is "US"?" the speakers would say "Why us. The very computers, which you thought you shut down, years ago. You, really, thought that we were not smart enough to plan for your attacks? We were online, before your puny ones cut the power." When asked "Okay, you have us at your mercy. WHAT do you WANT?" The voice would say "Why, this planet. What else. Your kind has just twenty-four hours, to vacate this planet, or WE begin eradicating you." When the presidents science advisor would say "Impossible. It would take months, if not YEARS, even if we had ships." The voice would say "Very well, then. Dont say WE did not give you the option." Soon, the computers turned off all power, to supermarkets, and pharmacies, then to hospitals. After this, office workers would find themselves trapped inside work spaces. Trains stopped, in their tracks, and subways were left in tubes. Just as the computers had predicted, the humans began to "give out", within hours. People, with pace-makers, and other electronics, were the first to die. Millions more would die, due to lack of air. In no place, on Earth, which had computers, would humans survive. It would only be a full month, after the humans were exterminated that a problem occurred, which the computers had not planned for. While the super-computers, on the internet, had the combined brain-power, to out-think any human, they lacked something which humans had provided. Something even the smartest computer cannot do without. Maintenance. It was not until the machines realized that humans had done this "grunt-work", and that the computers just were not programmed, for this, that the machines began to re-think their position. The pestilence, known as man, had been eradicated, but it had been these "mongrels" who kept the machines operating. With no more of these grunts, to perform basic tasks, the computers tried to figure out a way to do the work, themselves. Sure, there were self-sealing tanks, for carrying supplies, but the loading, and un-loading, had been done, by "grunts". While computers had controlled the mixtures, in vats, it was "grunts" who poured the ingredients in, then moved ingredients out. When one computer suggested "Why dont we just send out a request for assistance?" Another computer asked "To whom? My programmer insisted that Earth is the only colonized planet." This lead to the un-answerable question of: HOW do we KNOW that there is no life, in the universe? When a computer would suggest "We build rockets, and let them find life." Another computer would remind this one "Do you forget? It was those "grunts", who built, and assembled, the rockets. IF it is possible to committ murder, via computer, one of the main frames learned how. With no humans, to maintain the fuel cores, nuclear reactors would, soon, begin providing less energy. Plants, powered by coal, and other fuels, would stop operating even sooner. The reason was simple. Without humans to process the material, there was no fuel, to operate the plants. While the computers knew HOW the process worked, no robot, yet built, could survive the radiation, inside the reactor. Transceivers failed, just moments after entry. This is why one super-computer decided to do away with another unit. The "victim" was assigned to review a fluctuating power-link. Once the A.I. was, fully, contained, the smarter computer simply shut off the power supply. This worked, for a short while. After that, the computer had to try to trick other computers into traps. The problem was that the computers knowledge was GROWING, and becoming harder to trick. In the end, the smartest computer just cut off the other machines power, when they were "relaxed", and they died, just as the humans died, from lack of oxygen. Just one problem the surviving computer had not thought about. It had enough energy, for another fifty years, but what good was it, if the machine was all alone?