The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, . . .
-- William Shakespeare
In April 1990 the Hubble Space Telescope was launched providing an extraordinary window on the universe that culminated in the discovery of single cell life forms on planet X740 in the Dusty Spiral Galaxy. That was in 2019 and a year later its systems failed and it was replaced by Hubble 2, a vastly more sophisticated version of its remarkable predecessor that boasted an exceptional advancement in AI technology developed by Howard Nickerson, the renowned cognitive scientist and Professor of Knowledge-Based Systems at Stanford University.
After a decade of milestones using computers to understand human intelligence and behavior, Nickerson had formulated software that would allow Hubble 2 to take independent initiatives designed to enhance the process of information aggregation. It was the most evolved thinking machine ever sent into space and NASA scientists anticipated great findings as the H2 telescope probed the universe with a lens 50 times more powerful than its forebear.
To the chagrin of Hubble scientists, eight hours after it was propelled into low Earth orbit it ceased all communication, both visually and aurally. It was a dead bird, in the lingo of NASA personnel, who worked feverishly to resuscitate it, but after 10 hours hope for its resurrection had greatly diminished. A servicing mission to the space telescope was being discussed when the screens in the control center suddenly came alive revealing an amorphous expanse of beige.
"What the hell is that?" exclaimed H2's project director, Dwight Curtis. "Can you articulate the lens?"
"I'll try," answered, Casey Dubay, the tech control coordinator seated to his right.
After several moments, the scene on the screens began to alter.
"Get me some resolution," requested Curtis.
"It looks like a surface. Maybe planetary," observed Dubay.
"But what surface on what planet?" asked Curtis leaning into the monitor at his workstation.
Slowly the picture on the dozens of screens in mission control took on an entirely different aspect and Curtis soon found himself staring at his own image.
"What the . . .?" he mumbled in astonishment.
The picture then widened to include the entire room.
"It's us," observed Dubay.
"No shit," replied Curtis. "But where's it coming from?"
"The signal is beamed from H2," answered Dubay.
"How the hell can that be?"
"I got it locked in, and that's the point of origin. I think it's looped into our security cameras here in mission control," said Dubay, fiddling with a row of controls.
"Can you get it reoriented?" requested Curtis.
"I'm trying, but it's not very responsive."
Minutes passed and then the picture transmitted by H2 showed Earth from its position 370 miles in space.
"Okay, that's progress. At least we've got some control back. Adjust the scope to the 71H6 coordinate as planned," requested the project director.
"Nothing. It's not responding," replied Dubay.
Despite the frantic efforts of scientists and technicians in the Hubble 2 center, the device remained intransigent. For the balance of the day and into the night, the center's countless screens displayed an ultra high-definition shot of Earth.
***
At 3 A.M., the scene beamed by H2 began to change as the telescope closed in on the continent of Africa. In the course of 15 minutes, the lens had converged on Burundi, a small sub-equatorial country wedged between Rwanda and Tanzania.
"Why is it doing this now?" asked Curtis with ever mounting frustration.
"It's operating with complete autonomy," replied a perplexed and exhausted Dubay.
"So what's new? Get Howard Nickerson on the phone!" demanded Curtis.
In an hour Nickerson had arrived and was engaged in intense discussions with H2's top section managers. Midway through their debate about the derelict telescope, H2's transmission dramatically morphed. The vision emanating from the center's monitors showed the interior of what appeared to be a palace stateroom in which several military officers sat before a large ornate desk. Behind it stood a diminutive figure cloaked in a resplendent yellow and blue kaftan and red checheya.
"Now what are we looking at, for chrissakes?" questioned Curtis shaking his head.
"Wherever it is, H2's somehow managed to access its com systems.
"It's Burundi's President Tungania," offered an attractive Asian woman located several feet behind the conclave of high-ranking officials.
"What's that, Kim?" responded Curtis.
"They're talking about using sonic weaponry to kill the six thousand freedom rebels closing in on Bujumbura."
"You understand Burundi?" inquired Curtis.
"Kirundi, sir. It's one of the ten languages in my implant," replied the woman.
"Ah, yes, of course, the internal language chips. I forgot. Thank you, Kim. Do they indicate when this attack is going to take place?"
"In two days," she replied moving a bit closer to the group.
"So our extragalactic explorer is now a covert operative? My God, Howard, what's going on here? Has the CIA co-opted H2?"
"I haven't got a clue what it's doing. Likely an anomaly in its programming," replied Nickerson.
"What about that new AI software of yours? Was there a free will component to it?" asked Curtis half mockingly.
"It's smart but it's still a machine controlled by us," snapped Nickerson aggravated by Curtis's snide tone.
"Yeah, obviously we're in control of it, aren't we?" rejoined Curtis as he responded to the ring of the phone in his console.
The person on the other end of the line was H2's director of public relations who was informing the mission leader that what appeared on the center's screens was being simultaneously broadcast to the general public.
"Okay, listen up everyone, what we're watching here in Control is being viewed in every living room in the country," announced Curtis returning the phone to its stand. "So how about them apples, Howard? That's some world-class anomaly . Jesus Christ! This is crazy."
"There's no rational explanation for H2's behavior," responded Nickerson.
"Behavior? So you're saying this machine is exhibiting behavior? Isn't that a human . . .a biological trait? Not an attribute usually associated with a machine, right?'" commented Curtis with a sharp edge to his voice. "You know what I think? I think we have a renegade computer on our hands, and your super AI program has gone outlaw on us."
***
The H2 telescope remained fixed on the interior of the Burundi presidential palace for another hour and then its lens returned to transmitting a view of Earth. Over the next two days, Curtis and his crew tried without success to recover control of the errant telescope and by that point the decision was made to launch an exploratory shuttle to the orbiting observatory.
During the two weeks that an Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) was being prepared to rendezvous with H2, the telescope had eavesdropped on several other trouble spots, among them Burma, Moldova, Nepal, Libya, and Colombia, and exposed to the world numerous nefarious plans and actions of regimes, cartels, and terrorist organizations. As a result widespread conflict and human suffering had been averted around the globe. While this inspired the admiration and praise of law-abiding and peace loving people everywhere, it raised the ire of certain countries, which accused the U.S. of spying. In a moment of extreme exasperation, Curtis lamented aloud, and mostly for the benefit of Howard Nickerson, that the once prized Hubble program had become a pathetic geopolitical reality show.
Nickerson continued to be at a loss to explain the bizarre machinations of H2, although there were some at NASA who believed he had programmed it to perform exactly the way it was. Dwight Curtis was among them.
"You can't tell me you have no idea what's going on. I just don't believe that. You designed the artificial intelligence protocol for H2, so you can't be totally in the dark about this," he complained to Nickerson shortly after being skewered by the Secretary of Defense, who believed the telescope posed a significant threat to national and global security.
"This goddamn thing might cause a preemptive strike by Russia or China if it infiltrates their inner sanctums," declared the Secretary. "Mind you, I wouldn't be averse to hearing what they're up to, but they are freaked-out by this! And God forbid if it ever turns on us. Not that it would have reason to. We're certainly not a threat to anybody."
After a long pause during which Curtis wondered if the Secretary had disconnected him, he came back on the line firing a parting salvo. "Just get out there and fix that thing, or I'll do everything I can to kill your program. To my way of thinking, it's a goddamn waste of the taxpayer's dollar anyway, and now it's one big ass headache."
Technical problems with the CEV boosters delayed the launch another week, and that incensed the Secretary of Defense even further, since during that time H2 continued to expose the iniquitous schemes of various governments.
Then what was already a grim situation turned dire as H2's telescope chose a new subject to probe.
"Holy shit!" blurted Curtis, desperately scrambling to kill the transmission emanating from H2.
"It won't be blocked!" shouted Dubay. "It's got a mind of its own."
"And a better one than most of us," commented Nickerson with a far off look in his misty eyes.
***
Within an hour of directing its omniscient lens at the Joint Chiefs of Staff boardroom in the Pentagon, the latest generation space telescope was blasted from the sky. In the days and weeks that followed the military intervention, the number of conflicts and atrocities around the globe returned to pre-H2 levels. Life on Earth had returned to business as usual.