THE LAST ARK

CHAPTER 10: ENTANGLEMENT

Maison Godin Women’s Prison, North of Quebec Five Days Before Temple Ceremony

The famous author Neil Gaiman once wrote, I would like to see anyone, prophet, king, or God, convince a thousand cats to do the same thing at the same time. While Mr. Gaiman never wrestled with quantum entanglement, the temperamental nature of qubits, or the mind-bending nuances of neurotrophic cognitive models within the uncertainty of a quantum state, he perfectly captured the experience of working with WITNESS. “WITNESS, open the data fi le for soft ware update hacks. Find false personas created by the hacks.” Nelson gives a command the AI should know how to complete based on the quantum algorithms he spent a month developing with Jester. Jester has legitimate concerns that soft ware update hacks such as SolarWinds open a highway for the Kremlin to create false personas within our networks. Jester needs to fi nd the false identities to determine their purpose. While Nelson can agree with the concern, and finds the theory plausible, he cannot agree that the SNO, an illegal vigilante organization, should be the one to solve the dilemma. CISA should drive this effort. After a long pause, WITNESS finally responds. “I maintain one thousand f ive hundred seventy-six unique personas in fifteen languages. There are sixty different languages in the Middle East. Cambyses II became Roman Emperor during 522 CE, creating a greater schism with Rome.” Another meaningless response. There should be zero non-English language personas within the US software hacks. The other information makes no sense. “WITNESS, show me a list of your non-English personas.” “File not found.” Nelson sighs. He’s getting nowhere. In theory, a D-WAVE quantum AI should be exponentially faster and more intuitive in resolving complex analysis, such as unbreakable encryption, predictive modeling, climate models, decoding enemy military strategies, or finding the hidden personas of a software hack. Much to Nelson’s disappointment, the billion-dollar WITNESS AI functions slightly better than a smart AI assistant when in the mood. WITNESS seems in perpetual observational mode, absorbing an unknown amount of information at massive speeds, like a child watching every channel at once. Perplexed by the persistent issue, Nelson can’t understand where all the data originates or how the data gets converted into qubits. “WITNESS, explain your design purpose,” Nelson asks the same question he has asked daily since the first day he met the unusual AI, wishing he could ask its creator, the SLVIA. “To bear witness to the truth during the end of days,” WITNESS replies. And Nelson gets the same disturbing, vague answer that he has yet to decipher. Until a year ago, Nelson was the top civilian scientist at DARPA and director of the prestigious Defense Science Board, a highly influential group of civilian scientists providing policy recommendations to the Pentagon and the White House. Internationally recognized for his expertise in AI platforms, an unfortunate tsunami of events led to his arrest and a CIA interrogation tank accused of espionage. That experience opened his eyes to the true soul of the American government. Had he not responded to texts from the SLVIA, he would enjoy the privileged life of honor and achievement he had earned. Had Taylor not rescued him, Nelson would still be in the CIA tank, forgotten. Nelson accepted fugitive asylum with the SNO alliance for the unique opportunity to work with the world’s first quantum AI designed by the SLVIA, which he himself created. In retrospect, he underestimated the complexities of optimizing a quantum intelligence, or the humiliation and isolation of living outside of the law. While an expert in artificial intelligence software technologies, Nelson’s still learning the complexities of quantum computing, such as superposition and entanglement. Superposition states that any two or more quantum states can join, or superpose, to result in an unpredictable, yet valid, third quantum state. Ironically, similar to how a human will think intuitively and creatively in unexpected ways. As a result, WITNESS will often respond to a query in unexplained ways. Entanglement deals at the subatomic particle level. When two photons or electrons become entangled, they remain connected even when separated by a vast distance. WITNESS shows an entangled connection to something, responding to questions never posed and reporting information never requested, but Nelson can’t determine the source. T hen Nelson realizes that he’s never actually asked WITNESS for an example of truth. He had assumed it to be religious rhetoric. Before disappearing, the SLVIA claimed the world had entered a prophetic period known as the Seven Seals. Perhaps something entangles WITNESS to that theory. “WITNESS, show me a sample of truth,” Nelson asks, unsure what to expect. “Contrary to reporting by The London Times, Lord Basil Garrett died of cyanide poisoning. The removal of Lord Garrett, a key Bilderberg representative on the Council on Foreign Relations, covered up his connections to publisher Roger Maxwell. His testimony would have compromised the activities of the Concilium Tredecim.” Nelson falls back into his chair, speechless. Not at all the answer he expected. Yes, his father, Lord Basil Garrett, was a member of the Bilderberg Group, involved in planning annual events. A secretive man, there was a wing of the family estate that he forbade Nelson from entering. Nelson distinctly recalls his father once mentioning Concilium Tredecim to a friend, a royal, when he thought they were alone. “WITNESS, tell me everything you know about Lord Basil Garrett, the death of Roger Maxwell, and the Concilium Tredecim.” “My apologies, Dr. Garrett, but the requested files do not exist,” WITNESS replies. “Mr. Rogers was a beloved children’s show character who taught good manners. Bang, bang, Maxwell’s silver hammer came down upon his head.” Another meaningless response. How does WITNESS know about his father? Who is the Concilium Tredecim?