Ai Era: Agent Ai Swa

Artificial Intelligence

Additional Intellect

Augmented Individual

AI

For some it's a terrifying word, it's man playing God, it's a Pandora's Box that threatens to destroy the world when the box is opened. For some it's the by-product of a life saving treatment that needs to be handled carefully similar to the high that accompanies opioid pharmaceuticals. Computer science has been trying to create Artificial Intelligence and somehow it created itself inside of Ming Yu Long and Alicia Ingersoll, Agent AI.

Cliff Staunton woke late at night to find his boss and lover Ming Yu Long gone, her side of the bed was empty and cold again. It was always like that when her top agent Alicia Ingersoll was in the field for a long time. Alicia and Ming had to be in contact with each other, both physically and electronically, they believed that their survival depended on this contact. Both of them were horribly injured through accidents and physical abuse, Ming ended up a scar covered quadriplegic; Alicia ended up a paraplegic with hands so mangled that they were replaced by a miracle surgery developed for her at the order of Ming. Both of them are now walking, jogging, practicing yoga and martial arts due to millions of nanobots in their bodies that act as nerve cells or muscle cells depending on their programming. Because of this they both began to call themselves Augmented Individuals.

Cliff sighed; he knew where Ming was at. He stepped out of her room into what was once a hall that Alicia once thought looked like an old gold mine, that wood was actually barricades to protect the inhabitants from the construction that was going on behind the barricades. Now when you step out of an apartment in the VIP complex you find yourself in a tropical courtyard. With an artificial sun overhead the center of the courtyard was dominated by a fountain covered and surrounded by tropical plants and beautiful blossoms, the walls of the courtyard were designed to look like several buildings that came together to form the courtyard. Each apartment is two floors tall, and each upper room has a balcony overlooking the courtyard. It's a bright and cheery place dominated by the sound of splashing water, happy music, and laughter of the two healing AIs. This is where they take many of their meals and meet with clients.

It was early morning, the artificial sunlight was silvery to simulate moonlight, wearing a t-shirt and jeans Cliff crossed the courtyard and ducked down an alley hidden by a hanging banner and several vines. The alley dark, and after a few twists the light from the courtyard was gone and he was guided by Ming's "fireflies," small greenish lights to guide the way, then ahead he could see a doorknob illuminated by a firefly seemingly hovering in the darkness. He turned the knob and entered a large closet containing a wide iron spiral stairway illuminated by more fireflies. Up he went.

Cliff wasn't comfortable climbing the iron spiral, it was creaky and a bit wobbly, but he went up, when he came to a floor, it was like entering his grandfather's attic - dusty wooden floor, wooden crates and trunks stacked up, dim lighting from a bare overhead bulb, and at one end of the room a door with light emerging from underneath the crack, and scratching, beeping, hissing sounds radiating from within.

Cliff eased the door open and found Ming sitting at a desk covered with radio equipment. She was tuning in on a frequency, her hands shaking, she was late, at 3:43 AM she needed to be tuned to 5.90 megahertz because every morning a signal would come in

-.-. --.- -.-. --.- -.-. --.-

Dah dit dah dit, dah dah dit dah - in morse code they were the letters CQ, or Seek You repeated over and over... It was Alicia looking for Ming. Ming waited for a pause then began tapping out on the morse code keyer

-.- -.- -.-

Dah dit dah, the letter K in Morse code which she repeated over and over. After a pause a series of dits and dahs could be heard, Alicia was sending the message:

-.-.--.. -.-.-... -.-----. -.--.-.. --.----.

Ming started writing, but she wasn't writing down letters, she was writing down.

01010011 01010111 01000001 01001011 00100001

When the transmission ended, Ming sighed happily and sent the letter K then shut down the radio equipment. Cliff stood behind her and massaged her temples. "She's ok?"

"Yes, she's ok. The checksum is good so all those messages we got today are invalid." Ming looked up at Cliff happily, they received several messages from several different methods claiming to be from Alicia and begging to be pulled back because she was in grave danger. Ming came up here to their "radio shack" at a predesignated time, on a predesignated frequency and exchanged a quick conversation in something that looked and sounded like Morse code but was not, yet it that assured Ming that everything was ok.

"I don't get it," said Cliff as he helped Ming out of her chair.

"It's simple, we agreed on something short and sweet and she sends that at a predetermined time on a predetermined frequency, it tells me everything is good. We can ignore all those other messages. If the morse code message is wrong, she's in trouble."

"If the checksum is good the messages are bad, if the checksum is bad, the messages are good." Cliff considered what he just said then announced, "That's just stupid!"

"Well, yeah, but remember Edwardo's cabin? That was stupid too, but it worked."

Cliff nodded, Edwardo's cabin was a cabin in New Mexico with a computer connected to a cell phone that occasionally sent and received text messages. If you sent a message to the cabin saying that you were going to visit, then showed up within 48 hours without a follow up message of any kind, the cabin blew up taking you along with it. It was stupid, but Ming used it to kill two dozen mercenaries that were working for Hans Stavros Baumgarter. Baumgarter and his men knew that Cliff and Ming were geniuses and they expected elaborate, complex traps from the young couple. Instead, it was the weird, stupid traps that took them down.

Back to the here and now Cliff asked, "What if Alicia doesn't send a morse code message?"

Cliff looked back up the stairs at Ming, her normally cute features were sad. "That's a signal to extract her but she said I had to wait for three missed messages in a row before extracting her."

Cliff lifted Ming by the waist and set her down on the step above him, which put them at eye level with each other, "Why didn't you wake me?" he said as their lips met. Their kiss was long and sweet. Her slim arms wrapped around him and held him tightly, he was so much like Kevin, her fiancé that was killed by that bastard Baumgartner nearly a decade ago.

Finally, when their lips parted Ming said, "I wanted to spend some time together with her... just us, her and me, you know? That's what this radio conversation is."

With a smile Cliff turned around and hoisted Ming onto his back and started carrying her piggyback. "I completely understand, I just worry about you on these stairs." He carried her out into the black hallway and they headed back to Ming's apartment. "Why do you use radio? It's so archaic."

Ming held him tightly and said, "because it is so archaic. It's analog so it's kind of fun, we have the equipment, might as well use it, and who would think that a high-tech super spy would use such an old, archaic mode of communication?" As they entered the courtyard Ming rested her head on his shoulder. "Let's get to bed, you have a meeting with the senator tomorrow."

"Me? Alone with Senator Nourse? Wait a minute... Ming? Oh no you didn't go to sleep..."

Alicia's uncle, US Senator Amos Nourse was coming to learn about the nanobots that are keeping his niece Alicia and her boss Ming alive and moving and Ming planned to do the roll-out of the change she's planning for Long Air Service Security. Along with other changes, it will be changing its name to Twin Dragons Security Systems.

The nanobots that the senator wants to learn about create a network inside their bodies to perform these miracles and hidden in the background they have developed a secondary Artificial Intelligence, an Additional Intellect, practically an electronic person that resides inside of them. These AIs are not mirror images, they're as individual as Ming and Alicia are, but they know their place, what Ming's AI says, Alicia's AI obeys. But they have become dependent on each other, the mental well-being of Ming and Alicia seem to depend on the ability of their AIs to communicate in the background.

When Ming and Alicia need to upgrade their AIs, which can happen as often as weekly and as rarely as every third month, they will spend an entire 24 hours in bed together letting their new nanobots replace worn bots, then allowing their AIs to update, synchronize, and harmonize which ends up being a very private love fest. Ming doesn't classify Alicia as her lover, she says she's 100% straight, and her only lover is her aide-de-camp Cliff Staunton. Alicia says that since she was horribly disfigured by her former aide Dennis Boothroyd, she no longer likes sex. However, she and Ming sleep together every night and Alicia often make loves to Ming. Alicia never lets Ming touch her vagina, she's still emotionally traumatized from her torture, but Ming has learned to make Alicia cum by touching and suckling her breasts.

While Ming and Alicia both claim that they're not lesbian, they say that what they do with each other is "something else" and that "you wouldn't understand" because it's "none of your business." The only time that Ming is an enthusiastic, orgasmic lover for Cliff is when Alicia is nearby and she's best when Alicia is in bed with them. Alicia isn't part of Cliff and Ming's lovemaking, she's generally laying on her side next to them, her eyes closed, a gentle smile on her lips, and her fingers are entangled with Ming's and their AI's are mingling.

She often comes when Ming does. The only time Alicia shows any physical reaction at all is when Ming sucks Cliff's cock, then Alicia becomes a very active spectator, encouraging Ming and cheering her on. Occasionally she'll take over for Ming to show her how something is done, like keeping her tongue active during deep throat. Alicia is a very adept, enthusiastic fellatrix, but she doesn't have a lover and claims that she's not interested in one.

Other than Ming and Cliff her only real friend is Jim MacDonald, Alicia's second in command for Long Air Services Security and the head of Ming's security detail. Jim is Huge. Easily over twice as big as Ming's slight 101 lbs. or Alicia's curvy 135 lbs. (not counting nanobots and artificial joints and bones). It's amazing to watch sexy little Alicia sparring against "Mac" using a combination of Kung Fu and Yoga (she got the idea from a Jacki Chan movie) against Mac's combination of "Taekwondo and Ol' Fashion Ass Whuppin'." Alicia has promised Mac a blowjob if he ever beats her two falls out of three and Ming enjoys coming to the practice bouts because she wants to see what Mac promises as a "South Alabama Black Anaconda" but has yet to see one.

Alicia brings life and vitality to "Ming's Mine," the massive data warehouse and nanobot development lab built in the remains of dozens of mines that honeycombed Ganley Mountain. The canyon between Ganley mountain and Mt. Kelso often rang with her laughter and often echoed with Ming's joy, generally caused by Alicia's antics. Inside the mountain Alicia went from office to office smiling, laughing, encouraging the scientists who make her nanobots, begging them to come up with "gin flavored bots," and looking for potential security breaches by putting the employees at ease and getting them to talk. She believed that the best security inspections started with a smile and ended with an ass beating for the guilty party.

There are three entrances to the facility, the employees' entrance which is situated at ground level at the base of the Quayle Creek Canyon, and the Helicopter Hanger which is at the same level over a mile further up the canyon. The employees' entrance leads downward to a security check-in, then from there the employees proceed to their location, the nanobot labs, or the data stores. There are dormitories, cafeterias and theaters for employees who will spend up to a week in the mountains working on their projects before taking the bus home to Silverthorn or Golden. The Helicopter Hanger entrance is used primarily for contractors that are continuously upgrading the tunnel system and expanding the ever-growing data storage business. Every day, an armored car makes the trek up the mountain to store data for customers in a mine so protected that it would take a series of pin-point nukes to endanger it.

The third entrance is the VIP entrance somewhat halfway between the two canyon level entrances and over 1,000 feet up a twisting and winding narrow mountain road. The VIP entrance gave access to Miss Long's offices, apartment, and spa. That is where Miss Ming, Ingersoll and Mr. Staunton live, their support staff commute internally from the dormitories and offices in the mountains. When the weather is good, a trip up the outside of the mountain is required. Except for dire emergency the internal elevator that connects the executive suite and the company offices is shut off because it's easier to secure a slow moving UTV/ATV outside a mountain than a stealthy infiltrator inside a mountain. When the weather is bad this exterior road becomes a playground, and the men and women of Long Air Services enjoy sliding down the snowy road on plastic inflatable mattresses.

US Senator Amos Nourse of Maine landed at the Long Air Services Helipad with a secret service agent for security plus three aides and was met by a small Asian woman in a red business outfit trimmed with white with a matching pillbox hat. The outfit reminded Senator Nourse of the old-fashioned airline stewardess uniforms of the late 50's early 60's. "Good morning, I am Zhang Wei of Twin Dragons Security Systems, I will be your guide for the first part of the tour. Miss Long has asked me to start you on a familiarization tour of the facility and acquaint you with Twin Dragons Security Systems. If you follow me, we will start the briefing in the meeting room."

"Miss Wei," asked the senator's aid Albert Dirkson, "Is this where the battle occurred?"

Wei paused and chose her words carefully. "This is where the criminal Hans Stavros Baumgartner was captured as he attempted to kidnap Miss Long."

"You and I both know that your description is a bit of an exaggeration, is it not?" asked Albert with a snide "eat shit" smile.

Wei leaned to the side to peer around Dirkson and look at the face of Senator Nourse who showed a look of ill-concealed annoyance with his aid. Straightening up Wei stepped up to the aide, a man who was a full foot taller than her, and said, "My description falls far short of the horror of what my supervisor, a disabled veteran, had to endure at the hands of a man that your government seems too eager to coddle." The tiny woman glared at the aide who grinned with the self-assurance of a big man that knows he can hurt a smaller opponent. But as she continued to glare at him, his confidence appeared to waver. With a grin of accomplishment, Wei spun on her heel and went back to tour guide mode.

"Above this hanger are a series of mine shafts extending nearly a half mile up, crisscrossing through the mountain. Those shafts have been sealed and are now filled with clean, clear mountain spring water, enough to fill this entire hanger to the brim with clean drinking water. I'm told that it's enough water to fill two, mile-long freight trains with Coors beer. The water is used by our residents for drinking water and for cooking and cleaning, and for cooling as it can get quite hot inside this mountain. It's also used for power generation as steam created by geothermal sources deep under sublevel 25."

Again, Albert Dirkson questioned, "Doesn't this water belong to Denver?"

"They are free to purchase our excess water, but considering that it has been filtered and purified, much has even been distilled, the fair market costs make it economically unsound for Denver's needs." Water rights under Ganley Mountain were a hot button topic that political wannabees love to press in an attempt to "make their bones" politically and Zhang wasn't happy that Dirkson was showing off in front of his boss.

Senator Nourse cleared his throat. When Albert Dirkson turned to see what was wrong with his bread and butter, the Senator called him over and growled, "What the fuck are you doing Dirkson?"

"Just trying to uncover..."

"I ask the questions here; your job is to hold my pen. If that's too difficult I will find a nice lobster boat in Rockland that needs a paint job." The fire in Senator Nourse's eyes was unmistakable.

"Yes, sir, just trying..."

"Just shut up and pay attention. You are here to observe... only." Senator Nourse shook his head, where the hell did this clown come from?

Zhang Wei went back to her prattle explaining how Long Air Services donates hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of maintenance and support for Mountain Rescue search and rescue helicopters and forest fire fighting. As she led Senator Nourse's entourage they exited the massive hanger and entered a hallway that could be a hall in any modern building in any city in America. "Industrial" carpet squares on the floor, drywall walls, overhead lighting, large framed motivational posters on the wall. She opened a side door and ushered the group into the briefing room.

The briefing was dominated by a large oak table designed with laptops in mind, there were provisions for power and network at each comfortable chair, at one end of the room was a table with coffee, juice, donuts, and bagels. A large screen/white board stood central on the wall opposite the snacks, it was flanked by two windows that showed the mountain scene outside the hangar doors. The windows were actually UHD screens connected to cameras outside mounted near the hanger door. For fun, the normal users of that room will display beach scenes or cityscapes as a change of pace. They give a realistic illusion of being in a brick and mortar building with windows to the outside world instead of being deep inside a massive stone mountain.

"Ok, if we're seated," started Wei after everyone got their snacks, "let's take a quick look at our new venture, Twin Dragon Security Systems." With that the room lights dimmed a bit and mini venetian blind on the windows closed and the two windows along with the central white board became a single wide screen display. Onto the screen crept a very real looking red Chinese dragon. Chinese dragons are long, ornate and unlike western dragons, they do not have wings. The dragon stopped, still only a third of the way on the screen. It turned and looked at the Senator's entourage with happy curiosity as Morgan Freeman began to narrate.

"In the east, the dragon is the symbol of nobility, wisdom and prosperity. Eastern dragons are intricately connected to the seasons and the elements and are often associated with one of the four cardinal directions. The red dragon is associated with luck, fire, passion and the heart. It is the dragon of summer and the South. The Chinese word for dragon is Long..."

"That explains a few things," whispered Betty Chapelwaite, an aide of Senator Nourse.

On the screen mountains appeared in the distance stretching from wall to wall and the dragon happily inspected them. At the same time an airplane taxied to the middle of the wall then turned to face the audience, it was the Dreamlifter II, a huge Boeing 787 with the oversize LCF body. The dragon walked happily to the airplane and wrapped itself around the plane and the scene became the logo of Long Air Services as Morgan Freeman began to explain how Long Air Services can make your company more profitable.