Exodus: Guns & Gore

QJ levered the chamber door and it opened with a hiss. Using the chamber really did have a lot of advantages, they even had this new suit you could get that helps keep your muscles toned, for those who would rather play than work out. "I think Ren has one of those from when she was in a coma."

He walked into the bathroom and rinsed his face with water. Reading his dad's plaque had been a sobering event. "He started with nothing but himself and then surrounded himself with friends he could count on." QJ nodded to himself in the mirror, "that's the key part right there."

QJ grabbed a blueberry bagel from the pantry bin and heaped a generous portion of peanut butter on it before grabbing a bottle of water. From his seat at the kitchen Island, he could see Lotte wheeling toward his front door. He opened the door just before she stopped. "I was coming as soon as I finished eating."

Lotte had her hair up and was wearing a short sleeve shirt for once. Her jeans emphasized her slender build, "peanut butter on a bagel?"

QJ nodded and closed the door behind him, "doesn't peanut butter go with everything?"

Lotte shook her head, her lips curved in a crooked smile. "I don't think so."

"Bite." QJ held his bagel in front of her, refusing to move it until she sampled it. "What do you think?"

"Hmm... I guess I'd eat that." She smiled when QJ moved behind her to push her chair. "I think you like driving this thing more than I do."

"Safe bet." QJ noticed that she was smiling a bit more. "When should we road trip?"

"Tomorrow maybe? I think if we wait too long, the server will come back up." Lotte spent a lot of time chatting with Breeze on her hud, the Chero was one of the funniest people she'd ever met.

"I'll see if I can use the truck."

"Do you know why the servers went down in the first place?" Lotte was surprised to learn that it would be going down after the restart, "was there an issue with updates?"

QJ nodded "it was actually related to our Quest. I believe the unique situation of the NPCs caused an LAI to evolve."

Lotte turned her head and stopped the wheels with her hands. "Is that even possible QJ?"

QJ nodded again, "the first known LAI evolved in a similar circumstance. It was only after trial and error that we learned to recreate the process."

Lotte rang the doorbell when QJ stopped the chair in front of it. A moment later a lovely blonde haired woman opened the door. "QJ!"

QJ didn't get a chance to say anything before Ren hugged him tightly. His sister was a petite version of his mom. A lovely woman with pale blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She could play a half dozen different instruments expertly but was famous for her work with the flute. "Hey Ren, you remember Lotte?"

"Brought a date to my house?" Ren raised an eyebrow.

"Yep." QJ pushed passed her and wheeled Lotte into the house.


Naomi was sitting on the couch and had several huds open. She looked exactly like what QJ thought a scientist should look like. "Thanks for coming QJ, who's your friend?"

"This is Lotte. She's a classmate of mine and our new neighbor." QJ moved from behind the Lotte and sat down in the chair next to her. "This is Dr. Naomi Gajendra. She's an expert in LAI development, and just about anything else you could think of."

"Woah... nice intro. Just call me Naomi please." She quickly closed her huds and grabbed her coffee cup. "I spoke to my friend at GnG."

"Bet he's done already right?" QJ smiled at Naomi. She was a startlingly attractive woman, to his knowledge she had never dated anyone or even showed interest.

Naomi didn't bother asking why he thought that, the Riley men were impressive problem solvers. "You were right, both of those NPCs have developed enough cognitive reasoning to be classified as LAIs."

"Really? Now that is interesting." QJ glanced at Lotte, "NPCs in GnG aren't LAIs, the easiest way to classify them would be to call them Virtual Intelligence. They respond and act according to a predetermined set of parameters. There's no reasoning, or thought process involved."

Lotte wasn't a science buff, but she was a bright girl with a keen interest in the virtual world. "You're saying that Lilly has become an LAI? Like Remmy?"

Naomi nodded, "according to my friend at GnG, QJ was right on the money."

Lotte turned toward her classmate, "you discovered it?"

QJ shrugged, "I only noticed some changes in behavior. They would have figured it out without me. Those developers are super smart."

Naomi raised an eyebrow, "I don't think so. How do you think they solved the issue?"

"Well... if it changed classifications to an LAI, then they'd have to act according to the LAI Accords. The higher functions would have to be reduced, also the data would need to be localized."

Lotte stared at her classmate, "what's that mean in understandable terms?"

"If left with higher functions, it could out think and out perform everyone else. In a relatively short amount of time, it would take over everything." QJ frowned at the thought, "imagine being able to draw your weapon and one-shot kill anything from any distance."

Lotte eyes widened, "like a god cheat?"

QJ nodded. "If you didn't localize the LAI data, it would quickly gain unimpeded access to every Virtual System imaginable."

Naomi watched QJ with interest, "exactly right. It makes you wonder how we've managed to avoid such a thing happening."

"What makes you think we have? If such a thing existed, do you think it would show itself? Wouldn't it slowly work behind the scenes and establish a proper power structure instead?"

Naomi sipped her coffee while trying to keep the look of horror off of her face. "You're scaring the crap out of me QJ."

Lotte looked between QJ and Naomi, "I'm going to have nightmares tonight."

Naomi watched as QJ stood up and moved behind Lotte. "We are extracting Lark tonight, you going to be around QJ?"

"I should be around. Going to stop by the Apple Festival first, but after that I'm free."

"My lab at 2000 hrs, you already have a passcode." Naomi started opening up multiple huds, "oh and bring Lotte with you."

Lotte glanced at the Doctor in surprise, she hadn't expected to be included. "I'd like that."

QJ noticed the strained look on Ren's face, Lark's disappearance had been hard on her. "It'll be great to have Lark back."

Ren smiled at her little brother, "she's going to be angry if you don't give her that bracelet back."

"Been saving it for her." QJ had taken some items to Lark for identification. The Lightbringer was a common item but Lark had accepted it.

Naomi enlarged one of the huds she had been working on, a skinny man with brown hair and eyes that darted everywhere looked at QJ with interest.

"I'm Felix Soma, I oversee game development at GnG." The man was sitting behind a very expensive looking desk.

"Nice to meet you sir, I'm QJ." He gave Lotte a sly glance, "there any in-game reward for saving the world from a runaway AI?"

Felix kept a straight face even though he could tell Naomi was laughing behind her hand. "Definitely. What do you want?"

"How about a truck." QJ said with a serious look.

Felix raised an eyebrow, "a truck in GnG?"

QJ nodded, "too much? How about a T-Rex then?"

This time the developer smiled, "I'll see what I can do."

Lotte leaned closer to QJ, "should have opened with the T-Rex."

QJ shot her a deadpan look, "was the truck too much?"

"How would you feel about helping us with something?" Felix leaned back in his chair, watching the young man carefully.

"You've discovered another candidate haven't you?' QJ had been wondering why Naomi would invite him over and why a GnG developer would happen to be on the hud, it had seemed like a set-up from the start.

"What makes you say that?" Felix glanced at Naomi who only shrugged.

"If the scenario can be repeated in the same environment, then you have a viable way to create LAIs. One that is substantially less complicated and much cheaper than the current method." QJ glanced at Naomi, she had a very readable face, which is why QJ loved playing cards with her.

"He's already on to us Felix." Naomi laughed at the developers face, she had told him that QJ would figure out what he wanted. "I should have bet money."

Felix gave her a friendly smile before moving his focus back to QJ. "We are asking you because you already know what's going on and have a character in the game."

"I don't mind helping. Send me everything I need to know." As someone who had grown up in the virtual community, QJ was fascinated by the idea of a new LAI process."

They chatted for another hour before QJ and Lotte left. He escorted his classmate back to her house before heading to his room.

***********

The Eden-Burrough was a collection homes set in a large circle in the Northern Section of Southdale. They were a small community of a dozen families who shared a rather large courtyard. It was just after dark and the lights of the courtyard were lit up. Kaeli Sy was throwing a large party to celebrate her daughter's visit home.

Quinn and Lara sat on the edge of the small fountain located in the center of the courtyard. Lara smiled contently, leaning against his shoulder while they held hands. The man whom she had been following for twenty years had finally stopped and turned around.

"Thank you, Commander. Time flows so fast, I hadn't realized how long it had been since I visited my family."

"I am the one who is thankful. It's been a great day." He glanced down at her light blue hair, "call me Quinn."

She gripped his hand tightly, scared of letting go. Her heart had been racing most of the day, she thought she might cry if she tried to speak. She nodded and leaned against him, enjoying the feeling of warmth.

***************

Authors note: Great to be back. Will introduce five new chapters this week.