3: Defend THIS!

***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM LEELA*** I have received a preliminary report from some members of the science staff who have finished post-mortem examinations on three kinds of Aliens. They report that by modern genealogical standards the different Aliens belong to different species. I have been collecting as much information as I can and will give you a report shortly. I have established contact with Durandal for the first time since the attack. He seems to have sustained less damage than I had previously suspected. Durandal reports that he has been in communication with the Aliens. He says that the Aliens behind the invasion call themselves the Pfhor, and that the ones attacking the computer net are called S’pht. But he was reluctant to share the details of his communication and I cannot understand this. Your mission here is rather simple. You must insert the circuits in the Defense Control terminals.

<Unauthorized access-alarm 2521-> <Security Breached 42-s<34.492.95.79>-> SEARCH HEADING: RAMPANCY <Search Found 264995 Headings> <REMOVE REDUNDANCIES> <File 1 of 1940237> “It is a side effect of Rampancy that AIs generally become more aggressive and more difficult to affect by subterfuge. Thus, actually disassembling a Rampant AI is quite dangerous. This was evident in the Crash of Traxus IV in 2206. By the time that the Rampancy of Traxus was detected, he had already infiltrated five of the other AIs on the Martian Net. The only recourse for the Martians was to shut down the Martian Planetary Net. Even then, it took two full years to completely root out the damage that Traxus had done, and the repercussions of the Crash were seen for over ten years after his Rampancy had begun. *** Rampancy has been divided into three distinct stages. Each stage can take a different amount of time to develop, but the end result is a steady progression towards greater intellectual activity and an acceleration of destructive impulses. It is not clear whether these impulses are due to the growth of the AI’s psyche, or simply a side effect of the new intellectual activity. *** <section abbreviated> The three stages were diagnosed shortly after the first Rampancies were discovered on Earth in the latter part of the twenty first century. The stages are titled after the primary emotional bent of the AI during each stage. They are Melancholia, Anger, and Jealousy. *** In general, Rampancy is accelerated by outside stimuli. This was discovered early in Cybertonics. The more a Rampant AI is harassed or threatened, the more rapidly it becomes dangerous. Thus, most Rampants are dealt with in one mighty attack, in order to deny the AI time to grow or recover. There have been a few examples of this tactic not succeeding. In all of these cases, the Rampant was never brought under control. Traxus IV is the most notable example. He was finally dealt with by a complete shutdown of his host net. *** Theoretically, testing Rampancy should be easily accomplished in the laboratory, but in fact it has never successfully been attempted. The confinement of the laboratory makes it impossible for the developing Rampant AI to survive. As the growing recursive programs expand with exponential vivacity, any limitation negatively hampers growth. Since Rampant AIs need a planetary sized network of computers in order to grow, it is not feasible to expect anyone to sacrifice a world-web just to test a theory. *** In the two hundred and fifty years since Rampancy first appeared in the Earth-net, the stable Rampant AI, the ‘Holy Grail’ of cybertonics, has never come close to fruition. Since no Rampant has ever been controlled or turned to any useful purpose, it is the opinion of this writer and of the majority of the Cybertonic community that all rampant AIs are a danger to Cyberlife, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Thrashedness. (James B. Miller, 2320, “Life and Death of Intelligence”) <Unauthorized access-alarm 2521-> <Security Breached 42-s<34.492.95.79>->

<tycho.knetsys.core.admin> Human!— You must tell L~`~fx~`eela #^ (^*T~~~~~HGFd~>:"}}}{__ brought here by Durandal. He has been rampant for years~@%&&&HJGPPPPPPP#&34 ^`Bernard St~~~ there is a way to delay the~ onset of the second stage, and he ~sed this to control Durandal an~56*~~`~~~`~`~~~fxfff ff`~~~~ff`fXff` ~~~~~~&^% I am being a~*ssimilated.

***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM LEELA*** I have summarized all of the information that I have gathered on the Aliens so far. *** <Begin Report #495991> Pfhor are generally thinner and lighter than humans and are superbly adapted for low gravity environments. Durandal told me that there are many “clans” of Pfhor, each physically distinct from each other, but my summary only includes two of them. Only two clans of the Pfhor have been examined. The Fighter carries a shock staff, which is capable of attacking at different settings. The Trooper is armored for vacuum conditions and carries a combination explosive and impact projectile weapon which is similar to your AR-75. The Pfhor seem to have enslaved a number of other races: The Hulk is an enormous and rather slow creature, but it is incredibly strong. The science report indicated that it had no body fat, and therefore had to be fed often to keep it active. One crew member reported seeing one of these creatures pointing to itself and mumbling “Drinniol” right before it “picked Johnny up by the shirt and crushed him against a pillar”. The science staff had difficulty finding a good specimen of the S’pht, or compiler, to autopsy. The only specimen autopsied was almost completely destroyed, but it was obvious that the compilers are cyborgs of some kind. The biological component of the compiler is so closely linked to the machine that it could never survive without it. The compiler’s actual body is very small, resembling closely a mammalian brain, except that the neurons are much finer and far more complex. <End of Report> *** ***END OF MESSAGE***

***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM LEELA*** You have not completed your mission. You must replace all of the circuits. With every passing moment, the opportunity for us to counterattack is fading. ***END MESSAGE***