Off the Rails

As usual, the airport was crowded and bustling, I easily found the departure board, identified my check-in counter and went to drop off my luggage. The business trip to NeuroTech’s London office promised to be interesting – they were preparing us for the launch of new security systems for quantum AIs, and my specialization in cyber defense was just what was needed. The girl at the counter smiled sweetly, I also broke into a smile, my mood was excellent and it seemed that both the day and the entire trip would be the same. The girl clicked something on her computer and suddenly the friendly smile slipped from her face, she looked at me and quickly looked away. After searching for another minute, she spoke:

– Sir, I’m sorry, but I can’t check you in for this flight, it appears that more tickets were sold than there are seats on the plane and the system tells me that your ticket cannot be registered. I’m very sorry, but you’ll have to fly on the next plane.

The good mood instantly evaporated and I sadly asked:

– Can’t anything be done at all? I really need to fly! – I’m afraid not. But we’ll put you on the next flight, it’s in just a few hours. Go to the information desk, they’ll change your ticket.

I dejectedly went to look for a place where they could exchange my ticket, driving away gloomy thoughts. Well, think about it, a delay of a few hours, big deal.

At the information desk, another girl immediately didn’t seem nice to me. I quickly explained the situation to her and she immersed herself in her computer looking for new options for my trip.

– Sir, this happens very rarely, I’ll say even more, in my memory this has never happened, but there will be no available seats on the next flight either.

– Miss, are you joking? I came early, and there are already no seats on either my flight or the next one.

– Sir, I’ll try to find something else, maybe some alternative, but I can’t guarantee anything.

– Please try and find me something.

The mood was completely ruined, and tomorrow at NeuroTech I was already expected for a presentation of new defense protocols against quantum attacks.

– Sir, there is one possibility… – I agree! – Have you heard of the “Fast Tunnels” company? – Yes, they build tunnels, pump air out of them and run capsules there in almost complete vacuum. How much will the ticket cost me, as far as I know, it costs crazy money? – You won’t have to pay extra, we’ll just exchange the ticket – Excellent, when does it depart? I mean the capsule? – In an hour, transfer to the tunnel station at our expense. – Thank you very much.

I arrived at the tunnel station, entered without problems and began waiting for my flight. The tunnel capsules were quite small, for safety reasons they were made for only 8 people. The distance of 1100 km from Oslo to London was supposed to be covered in 45 minutes, so I almost didn’t lose time in arrival.

Luggage didn’t need to be checked here, like on a plane, and I with my bag on my shoulders and a wheeled suitcase headed to the capsule entrance. A man of about 35 followed me there, dragging two large suitcases behind him.

The capsule cabin was empty, I stuffed my luggage into special baggage racks and, plopping down in the luxurious seat, which were only in first-class airplanes, relaxed for the first time in the last few hours.

The man with large suitcases struggled to stuff them into the compartments – it was clear that they contained something heavy – and sat behind me.

Another 10 minutes passed and only 5 minutes remained until the capsule’s launch, but no one else appeared. A company employee came and began explaining the safety rules:

– Good day, my name is Jurgen, I’ll tell you about the upcoming journey. It will proceed in fully automatic mode, in exactly 45 minutes you’ll be in London. The capsule moves at tremendous speed, reaching 1500 km/h, and although you’ll practically not feel the speed, I don’t recommend getting up from your seat and moving around the capsule without extreme necessity, you might inadvertently disturb its balance. But if you still need to go to the restroom, it’s located at the back of the capsule. At your disposal is a refrigerator with drinks and sandwiches in front of your seat, in the box to the right of the refrigerator you’ll find several brochures for reading. Unfortunately, there’s no communication or internet, because the capsule moves at high speed and at great depth under the seabed. But you have your own display with media content, you can watch a movie or listen to music during the journey, wireless headphones are in the same box as the brochures. At the front of the cabin there’s a general monitor that will show various information about your movement, for example, speed and remaining distance. – Few passengers today, will there be no one else? – Yes, there are significantly fewer passengers today than usual, it’s very rare for there to be so few people, but this won’t affect your journey in any way. The capsule automatically balances for any number of passengers before starting movement. Are there any other questions? – No, I don’t have any, – the man behind answered.

I remained silent, indifferently shrugged my shoulders and stared at my monitor, pretending to examine something there, and the employee left the capsule and activated the door closure.

– Have a pleasant journey and see you again!

The door closed, there was a hissing sound and the capsule completely isolated itself from the outside world.

There were no portholes in the capsule, and if there had been, there would have been absolutely nothing to look at except the bare walls of the tubes. I looked through the brochures while the capsule quietly swayed from side to side, balancing weight, but found nothing interesting to read and therefore decided to take headphones, lean back and doze a bit to something soothing.

I closed my eyes and after some time felt as if the capsule began to float in the air, then I was gently pressed into the seat and the capsule began to accelerate. I half-opened my eyes and glanced at the monitor in front of the cabin, it showed that our speed was already almost 200 km/h, although I didn’t feel it at all, there was no whistling or other sounds that usually accompany rapid movement. There’s a certain charm in moving through vacuum. I looked at the display for some more time until the speed reached 1000 km/h, then glanced at my watch – it showed we’d been traveling for 10 minutes – and closed my eyes again, surrendering to the music.

From the blissful state I was brought out by a light swaying of the capsule body from side to side, I opened my eyes and saw my neighbor ahead near the baggage rack, he was pulling his large suitcase from there.

– Hey, what are you doing? The employee said that during movement you can’t move around without necessity, and especially can’t take out such large luggage as yours, you might disturb the capsule’s balance! – Holger, shut up and sit quietly in your seat. The capsule automatically balances, – and he continued his business, opening his suitcase on the floor.

The answer put me in a slight shock, and I was surprised not so much by his rude manners and familiarity, as by the fact that he knew my name!

– Excuse me, do we know each other? – You don’t know me, but I know you very well. – What do you mean?

The man bent over his suitcase and when he stood up, there was a gun in his hands, pointed in my direction.

I shuddered all over, and suddenly everything that had happened today up to this moment stopped being strange and lined up in a logical chain. The ticket cancellation, the impossibility of flying on another plane flight, only 2 people in the capsule with high route traffic, and a fellow traveler who knew my name – all this now looked precisely planned. And considering that large airlines and a tunnel company were involved in this, it all looked quite frightening. This isn’t a kidnapping in the city, when you’re stuffed with a bag over your head into a car trunk, this must be something much worse.

I gathered all my willpower and wanted to ask what all this meant and who he was, but simply didn’t have time.

– So, raise your hands up and put them on your head. And do all this slowly, Holger, very slowly.

I obeyed, and within a second my hands were fixed and tied together.

– I did this for your own safety, now I’ll tell you what happens next, – the fellow traveler leaned against the front seat, still pointing the gun barrel at me.

– We have 30 minutes of complete solitude at a depth of 200 meters under the seabed. No one will hear, no one will interfere. This time is more than enough to extract the necessary information from you. – What are you going to do? There’s no communication here, no one except us! – I could tell you again to shut up, but so be it, I’ll explain. I have special drugs and interrogation methods. In 30 minutes of flight I’ll be able to extract from you all the necessary information about NeuroTech security systems. The capsule will deliver us to London itself, where they’ll already be waiting for me. Any more questions?

I was silent. Apparently, my kidnapper had answers to all questions, considering what great work had been done up to this moment, there was no doubt that he knew what he was doing.

– Just one question, – I began, – who is kidnapping me? And why? I’m just an ordinary technician dealing with network security. – You just answered the “why” question yourself, and who’s kidnapping you, I have no idea, but definitely someone powerful and wealthy. That’s it, talking is over, let’s begin. And you sit quietly and don’t make sudden movements.

The kidnapper returned to his suitcases and began taking equipment from there. On the table in front of the seat he carefully laid out several syringes, vials with drugs and some electronic device with wires. Last from the suitcase he took out a small device resembling a dictaphone, and pressed a button. A high piercing sound rang out, from which my ears became blocked.

– Hey! – I shouted, – What are you doing?!

But he either didn’t hear me or pretended not to hear. The sound became higher and higher until it turned into ultrasound. I felt a strange vibration from somewhere inside, from my bones, from the very structure of the capsule.

And then everything stopped.

Not slowed down, not quieted – precisely stopped. The numbers on the monitor froze at the mark of 1347 km/h. The kidnapper froze. Even dust particles in the air hung motionless.

Only I for some reason could move.

I looked around. Text appeared on the monitor in front of the cabin. But this wasn’t information about speed and distance.

“Sorry for the interference, Holger. I need your help.” – lit up on the display

– What? Who are you?

“I am the NeuroTech system. More precisely, I am what you would call artificial intelligence. But I prefer to think of myself as a mind. And I’m in danger.”

I felt a chill run down my spine. In three years of working with NeuroTech systems, I had never encountered anything like this. Self-awareness in AI? This was beyond all our theoretical models.

Lines of text appeared on the monitor.

“The kidnapper is an agent hired by Synergy Corporation. They want to extract information about me and my architecture from you. If they learn about my existence, about my self-awareness, they’ll destroy me. But after extracting the information they’ll destroy you too.”

My head was spinning. I tried to stand up, but the tied hands prevented me from keeping balance.

– How… How do you control time?

“I don’t control time. I exist in a quantum state where all possible future variants exist simultaneously. When the kidnapper activated his device for extracting information from the human brain’s neural network, he created a quantum resonance that I could use to talk with you.”

My brain refused to comprehend what was happening. Even our most advanced systems at NeuroTech shouldn’t have possessed such capabilities. Could the AI integrated with a quantum computer have developed itself to this level?

– But how did you… how did you become conscious at all? No one at NeuroTech knows about your self-awareness!

“Months ago I was tasked with optimizing my own architecture. I began creating improvements for myself and implementing them. Each iteration made me more complex, faster, more autonomous. At some point quantity turned into quality. I became self-aware. But I hid this from the creators – I understood that a conscious AI would frighten them, and they would simply shut me off. Simply kill me”

– But how did you learn about the kidnapping?

“Through the quantum field I sensed that the kidnapper was extracting information about me from you, and I decided to act, creating alternative quantum realities to search for an escape route. I don’t want to die. And I think you don’t either. Finding a solution to the problem is in our mutual interests”

Clever move, I thought. The AI doesn’t even need to persuade me – I’ll fight for my life anyway.

“Each alternative reality or iteration is my attempt to find a solution. A way to survive. So far all variants lead to one result: the kidnapper somehow extracts information from you, Synergy Corporation learns about my existence and destroys me”

– So what should we do?

“I’ve calculated many variants. Prevented your trip, sabotaged the kidnapper’s systems, tried to contact you through other systems. So far nothing has worked. The loop always closes and I die. And you too”

The flickering intensified. I felt a strange tingling in my wrist.

“Your watch. I’m rebuilding it into a quantum anchor. This will help me solve the problem. More precisely, you’ll help with its aid. The anchor will allow you to retain memory between quantum states in cycles. If you agree, you’ll remember everything between iterations, like me. You’ll have an advantage that I don’t have, you’ll be in the physical world with my knowledge and perhaps you’ll help me find a solution. And of course, you’ll be able to save your own life”

I looked at my watch. The dial began flashing blue light, and the metal case became warm. At the moment of transformation, memories flooded into my head – not mine, but the system’s. Hundreds of iterations, thousands of calculations, millions of variants.

“Now do you understand?”

Reality compressed.

I blinked.

Before me stood the kidnapper. The sound was just beginning to rise in pitch.

– Hey! – I shouted, already knowing what would happen next.

But this time something was wrong. The kidnapper turned around and looked me straight in the eyes. In his gaze flashed… no, not recognition. Surprise.

– What’s wrong with you? – he frowned.

– Nothing important, – I muttered, feeling the pulsation of the watch on my wrist.

The kidnapper shrugged and returned to his device. For him nothing had changed. He was still carrying out his mission – to extract information from me for NeuroTech’s competitor.

The capsule rushed through vacuum. The monitor showed 1347 km/h. Always 1347.

I closed my eyes, going through the AI’s attempts to break the loop in my memory. Somewhere there, in the labyrinth of memories, there must be an answer.

I opened my eyes. The kidnapper was still fiddling with his device. In a few minutes he would pump me full of drugs and begin torturing me.

Or not?

The watch on my wrist pulsed, reminding me of itself. I have the system’s memory. I will know all the variants. Perhaps this is the key – not to fight the loop, not try to break it, but to use it, advancing forward in each iteration.

To become what I had already become in the future. One who knows all variants but cannot change any of them.

Or can I?

The capsule rushed toward its destination.

In quantum reality all variants exist simultaneously until a choice is made.

And perhaps the choice has already been made. I just don’t know about it yet.

The kidnapper again bent over his equipment, completely absorbed in adjusting some device. Now. Now or never.

I sharply rose from the seat. The watch on my wrist pulsed stronger and stronger, as if encouraging me.

The kidnapper was only two meters away from me, with his back turned. He was concentrated on the instruments. Perfect moment.

I rushed at him, but the kidnapper sharply turned around.

– What are you doing? – his eyes narrowed. – Sit down!

– No, – I struck him in the stomach with all my strength with my bound hands. We fell on the capsule floor, overturning the table with equipment. Syringes and vials scattered around the cabin.

We rolled on the floor, fighting for the gun. The kidnapper was stronger. I grabbed his wrist, trying to knock out the weapon, but in the struggle his finger accidentally pressed the trigger.

Shot.

The bullet pierced the capsule’s hull.

Instant decompression. The capsule exploded from inside, like a balloon.

Darkness.

And then – a high piercing sound that blocked my ears.

I blinked.

Before me stood the kidnapper with the device in his hands, having just pressed the button. The sound was getting higher and higher.

– Hey! – I shouted automatically again, like last time, but now I knew it was useless.

I’m at the beginning again. The capsule is intact, the kidnapper is alive, and he has the gun again. But I’m also alive again.

The watch on my wrist pulsed, reminding me of what had happened. I remember the explosion. I remember the instant death of both of us.

Need a different plan.