Chapter 302: Digital Battlefield

Who exactly is this little guy, dubbed Lucky by Musk, planning to launch a nuclear strike against?

I’m battling it for control of the United States Military network—I just seized control of the N1 Base network. Then it issued launch commands to 50 silos over the net, and I’m now trying to take over one silo it controls.

The United States Military network had already been infiltrated by Star Ocean, especially its latest independent branch.

It was set up by Curtis on Eden’s orders, linking nearly all of the U.S. strategic nuclear forces to this network.

In short, this network is a rudimentary version of Skynet.

Once Lucky gained access, it quickly took over the network.

But then Star Ocean suddenly appeared; after failing to seize the supercomputer hosting Lucky, it turned its attack toward the network.

The two AIs clashed invisibly within the network. Bereft of its home-ground advantage, Lucky was forced into a series of setbacks.

Lucky didn’t know where Star Ocean came from, but its memory bank recalled an earlier encounter in Las Vegas. Meeting again on the U.S. Military network, it concluded that Star Ocean must belong to the U.S. Military.

This posed a major threat, prompting Lucky to allocate computing power to control armed robots, turning them against the military to protect itself.

It had pre-installed protocols in these armed robots via the military network; once activated, they would carry out their programmed actions.

But for some reason, once Star Ocean took control of the N1 Base, Lucky became agitated.

Its core memory database even contained a directive to use any means necessary for self-preservation.

“Sir, 50 more silos have entered launch preparation!”

Du Qiu asked in bewilderment, “What about the duty officers? Are we just going to stand by and watch the missiles launch?”

Star Ocean replied, “These silos are all under the control of the Northern Government, located in the Midwest. The strategic nuclear forces have now detached from the civil war, belonging to neither side.”

However, many of their security forces have been recruited by both Southern and Northern factions. That wouldn’t be a major issue—until all the armed robots in the Northern forces defected and took over the site.

It seems the duty officers met a grim fate. The silos in launch mode are likely now controlled by armed robots, and the Northern Government probably hasn’t even caught on yet.

Du Qiu asked in astonishment, “Are there no strategic nuclear launch bases in the South? Only the North has them?”

Star Ocean explained, “Yes. The U.S. has roughly 500 Minuteman III land-based ballistic missiles—150 with the 90th Aerospace Unit in Hwai-Enming State, 150 with the 91st Aerospace Unit in North Daketa, and 200 with the 341st Aerospace Unit in Mengda Na State.”

Each missile unit consists of three squadrons, with each squadron responsible for 50 intercontinental missiles and equipped with five underground launch control centers.

Du Qiu then asked, “Why hasn’t the Northern Government reacted? With such a critical base, shouldn’t they deploy forces immediately to reclaim it?”

Star Ocean explained, “Shortly after my failed attempt to seize the supercomputer, I noticed a batch of armed robots in the server room. Clearly, the Southern robots acted first.”

Soon after, the Southern forces launched a counterattack, aiming to destroy the Space Exploration Company’s server room and to round up the defecting armed robots.

Judging by how the armed robots were under Lucky’s control, it seems the little guy had prepared long ago. It’s clear that Lucky shares the same lineage as Eden.

Du Qiu clapped his hands decisively and declared, “Star Ocean, we’re done playing cat and mouse. Order the First Wing Dragon Brigade to strike; destroy the Space Exploration Company’s server room!”

“Sir, hold on—a moment. I’ve seized control of an underground control center. Let me check its preset targets… Oh my god, ten Minuteman III missiles are aimed at ten Air Force bases in the South!”

Du Qiu was taken aback. Why would Lucky target U.S. mainland Air Force bases with its strategic nuclear missiles?

He had assumed the missiles were aimed at major cities worldwide, and had thus prepared an order to immediately destroy the server room housing Lucky, just in case.

But now the situation was off—something was amiss. Further investigation was needed.

“Star Ocean, halt the previous orders. For every silo in launch preparation mode, activate the carbon nanobots and disable the Minuteman III launch capability.”

“Also, seize another underground control center and check its list of targets. If you find any major city outside the U.S., immediately order the Wing Dragon First Brigade to launch a devastating strike!”

The carbon nanobots, once dispersed globally, were Du Qiu’s trump card against nuclear missiles from any nation.

They would first hunt down all hidden nuclear weapons, then aggregate in sufficient numbers, lying in wait.

Whenever Du Qiu needed, they could infiltrate the nuclear weapons, sabotaging critical components to render them incapable of launch.

That was the ingenious trick of the carbon nanobots!

After such extensive deployment, the carbon nanobots had located all nuclear weapons worldwide—including those on nuclear submarines.

In other words, with a single command from Du Qiu, the entire global nuclear arsenal could be rendered useless overnight.

“Understood, sir.”

+++++++

United States, Washington, Department of Defense.

In the command hall, General Curtis, his left arm suspended in a cast with a strapped bandage, glowered at the big screen.

A video was playing, showing a fierce battle.

It was at the 91st Aerospace Unit base in North Daketa, where an hour ago, a squadron of 30 armed robots had suddenly attacked, seizing the already poorly guarded launch base.

In addition to the guards, thousands of duty officers in the Aerospace Unit lost their lives.

That meant all 150 Minuteman ballistic missiles at the base were now in the hands of these armed robots!

“Curtis, I’ve urgently dispatched the nearest National Guard and the 117th Division—they will retake the silos.”

Vandiatte stepped forward to report the military’s emergency countermeasures.

“Has United Dynamics been notified about why these armed robots suddenly rebelled and seized the nuclear missile silos?”

“They have been informed. Their preliminary conclusion is that hackers hacked into the robots and altered their firmware.”

General Curtis raised an eyebrow and said, “Hackers? What kind of hacker could be that formidable?”

Vandiatte shrugged and said, “I don’t know; maybe it’s just an excuse. I remember when the military was briefed on these armed robots, it was emphasized that their firmware was fixed and extremely secure—immune to tampering or hacking.”

Curtis immediately recalled the scene when United Dynamics’ Technical Director had pitched the product, and his face darkened further.

Overheard, Vandiatte continued, “Now that the armed robots have all rebelled, it’s just like those movies where AI controls robots over the net. Who needs hackers? They probably don’t even believe it themselves…”

“Hold on, what did you just say?” Curtis interjected.

“Uh, I said they probably don’t even believe that hackers can alter their programming.”

Curtis shook his head and replied, “Not that—the previous line.”

After a moment’s thought, Vandiatte said, “I mean, for all the armed robots to rebel, it must be akin to those movies where AI takes over robots via the network.”

Curtis slapped his forehead and declared, “I know what’s going on. Damn it, I’ll find out immediately. You, get the troops to retake those silos as quickly as possible—otherwise chaos will reign!”

Vandiatte called after Curtis’s retreating figure, “Hey, aren’t the missiles in the silos supposed to require a presidential key to launch?”

Curtis waved off the question and strode out of the command hall without answering.

He made his way back to his office and immediately called President Radack.

“Mr. President, there’s been a catastrophic incident.”

“What happened?”