"You and I are heading to Dekhtin, another city, to conduct diplomatic negotiations," Isara said, settling into the backseat of the needle threader.
"It's very inconvenient to engage in passion here, dear. Let's do it later."
"In a situation where technology exists that could enslave the entire human race," she finished.
"Still, I don't think it changes character, only memories. On the other hand, this technology would allow us to create functioning harems and gain total control over people."
"Harems?" she challenged.
"I can't delete the pornographic warehouse Ra gave me, so yes, I can make such jokes." I raised the threader vertically, all the way to orbit. Flying on an unknown planet, shrouded in ammonia and other less-than-useful elements, was an extremely risky undertaking. Selecting the nearest city, I guided the fighter at low speed. A few minutes later, we entered the dome's space. Fortunately, the city was full of skyscrapers. Below, life was in full swing; it was the middle of the workday. Unlike the "historic" part of the capital, this was clearly a major metropolis. I landed in a nearby clearing, apparently intended for a park. People were running towards us, clearly quite friendly.
"Won't they take me for souvenirs?" I asked.
— I don't know, but prepare the intar.
- Are you telling me to prepare intar?
The reaction of the people who ran outside the dome was much more lively and natural than that "castrated Luddite nonsense" like, "Oh, aliens, okay." They went wild, trying to climb onto the ship's wings. I didn't leave until the police showed up, and I started pushing the onlookers away from our needle threader. This was reassuring: the presence of police meant they hadn't been brainwashed. After all, if their minds were under control, why would they need law enforcement? Obviously, the presence of criminality indicated otherwise. After a while, we were officially accepted into one of the institutions, where the council also met.
"We are pleased to welcome you. I am Isara, this is Sareh, my husband," she introduced herself.
— Your ship is unusual. Are you from another city?
"Actually, from another planet. The Morrigan Ring is a technological device that allows one to traverse the galaxy from one point to another. We first visited what was once your capital."
The advisors exchanged glances. There were no neural links on their temples.
"The capital survived? Our predecessors sent search parties there, but no one returned. We believe the capital was destroyed by a geothermal rift after the impact."
"It exists and is quite thriving. Their dome is supported by a geothermal spring. And yours?"
— Cold thermonuclear fusion. A power plant was built near our city, and when the impact occurred, we used it to power the shield.
— You mentioned a blow. What was it?
The advisers looked at each other again.
"Didn't they tell you in the capital? An ammonia comet, about 10 kilometers in diameter, crashed into our planet. We had no means to shoot it down. Missiles, of course, existed, but they failed at that moment. The backup plan was to shelter under energy domes to save lives and protect ourselves from the powerful shockwave. The first decades were chaotic. Shields were operating at full capacity to protect us from storms and other disasters. Our sensors determined that much of the planet had become toxic. Aircraft had become inoperable during this time without proper maintenance. All we had left were the ground road systems. We sent teams to various cities, and found some. However, we existed with a resource deficit, so we had to rationalize their consumption."
— What can you tell us about Neurolink technology?
The advisers paused. It seemed this was unfamiliar to them.
— Direct neural interface. This device, located on the temple, is powered by the human body and allows remote access to databases.
"We're familiar with the principle of remotely receiving information, but we do it through computer terminals. A direct neural interface is amazing. Perhaps it was an advanced development in the capital that didn't have time to spread to other cities. The capital has this technology."
"To their misfortune," I replied.
- What?
"I don't know what idiot programmed the neural network that controls your shields, but the idiot who linked it to the databank and then didn't install antivirus software on the devices was clearly mentally retarded. The capital never responded to you because every citizen now has a neural interface, and the neural network that controls their dome has compiled a vast database of human brain activity and can compel them to leave the dome. The geothermal sources are depleting, after all."
People looked at each other in horror.
"I'm recording everything that happens to me. You can watch it. We're currently trying to disconnect them from this neural network system, because they're acting rather strangely. I offered them a planet, and they said they were happy with everything as is. I suspect the program is self-protective: if people leave, no one will maintain it, and it will perish. I understand that adding a sense of self-preservation to the protocols for the program that controls the device that protects you was necessary, but you have to control the device."
"Perhaps there's information about this program in the archives. We could provide access. Can you really give us another place to live?"
"Yes. I've suggested it to other people, and I'm suggesting it to you too. I haven't met anyone who truly wants to live under a dome on an infected planet. The people of your capital don't count; they're controlled by a computer."
Overall, the news of the possibility of leaving the dreaded planet sparked general rejoicing. Repairing pipes, heating systems, and other infrastructure was grueling, especially with the complete lack of production capacity. Only the brainwashed could consider such an existence fun.
"If the device controls people through the communications system, couldn't it be jammed with countermeasures right at the source of the signal? There must be a central repeater," one of the advisors suggested. "It's unlikely the neurolink can switch to other frequencies."
"There remains a small problem: how to tell the residents of your capital everything. Of course, I have documents defining the property ownership, drawn up by your lawyers. They indicate that the city had 100,000 people, and the city itself was larger…" I pointed to the obvious evidence, "but I don't know how much that will help."
"Maybe we can help." "Did I mention how people want to get off their planet? No? They really want to get away."
"Okay, I have a number of planets suitable for colonization. One of them is Sparta. There's a city there for 100,000 people, now abandoned, but built to a rather primitive design. Then there are the Tollans—a fairly advanced species, but they're currently in the process of reconstructing their planet after extensive climate change. I even supply them with birds and animals, because their own have all gone extinct. Then there are several more advanced planets and my Urvashi."
"Ours," Isara pointed out. "We rule this planet together."
"You're rulers and you explore other planets?" the locals asked in surprise.
"It's a vacation," Isara said honestly. "When you rule so many planets, you need to relax somehow, and exploring other planets is as good as any other leisure activity."
— I'd still go to a tropical island. Are there any on your planet?
"Yes, there is. We'll go there once we've resolved the problem on your planet," I pointed out. Although I wanted to play around with the shield technology, and especially with the neural network, capable of everything the Pieces of Eden in Assassin's Creed could do. Of course, it had to have limitations. For example, a neural network would hardly be able to implant information it doesn't have. For example, so that people would remember how I defeated a dragon in hand-to-hand combat. For starters, it would be worth explaining what a dragon is and providing a video, albeit a fake one, that would then be converted into electrical impulses that would become memories in people's heads during the update. Even the neural network itself is interesting as a program capable of performing its functions (which it did perform) with sufficient energy in the fusion generators. Security systems in other cities haven't developed anything like the one in the capital. This, incidentally, again smacks of Unit 731's dilemma, as it did with Pelops. At least my conscience will be satisfied knowing that if some doctor wants the same data as Unit 731, they can review all the experiments and, assuming they're not crazy, they'll get it. But I probably won't be too happy looking at data about how a computer regularly changed people's personalities (essentially, "killing" them a little). It'll be much better to watch how it optimized shield energy consumption.
Returning to the capital, I contacted Tollana and sent her the data needed to build a powerful electronic warfare system, along with the frequency range these people's neural connections operate on. The electronic warfare plan was sound. For now, I needed to maintain the illusion of a normal situation and pretend I was setting up the Anaquad generator.
The next day, they delivered a completed electronic warfare device capable of jamming communications. While working with the Dome operator to adjust the power consumption, I, as usual, took the opportunity to shoot him with an intar—after all, what's a mission without that? Then, having removed his neural link, I activated the electronic warfare system.
"Well... you're playing with human lives, and that's wrong," I addressed the neural network. "I've installed a backup shield emitter. There's no choice, you better surrender."
Next, using a series of programs, I began cutting her off from the database she was supposed to use for self-improvement. But this turned out to be a backdoor into people's minds. The shield itself was switched to manual backup. From my terminal, I began reprogramming the unfamiliar system, written in Irish, or more precisely, Celtic—the language of the peoples whose ancestors were taken away before the spread of Christianity. Fortunately, with the help of the locals, I managed to install adapters, which allowed me to hack them. However, it's not surprising that they helped the damned computer penetrate their minds. Now all that remains is to explain to these idiots how they were fooled not so much by artificial intelligence, but by a completely ordinary, albeit highly advanced, neural network. Install reliable cybersecurity systems, kids, or one day the neural network will play tricks on your brains.