Free Rogue by Mark Walden

‘what is so urgent that it could not wait until the morning?’
    ‘I believe we may have found what has been causing the problems with H.I.V.E.’s systems,’ the Professor said, looking anxious.
    ‘Really?’ Nero said. ‘I take it that it is something that I need to be concerned about.’
    ‘Yes,’ the Professor replied. ‘I’m afraid an aggressive program appears to be attempting to build new code within our system. Miss Brand has found sections of code very well hidden within the network, very well hidden indeed. The problem we have now is that neither she nor I can determine exactly what it’s designed to do or who is responsible for concealing its presence in such a devious way.’
    ‘Is it a virus?’ Nero asked, secretly hoping that this would be one of the occasions when the Professor explained things without going into too much technical detail.
    ‘Not really,’ Laura said. ‘A virus is usually designed simply to replicate itself, to spread, just like an organic virus. This almost seems like something is being constructed from scratch. It’s not making copies of itself, it’s growing.
    ‘I’m afraid the distinction is rather lost on me, Miss Brand,’ Nero said, sounding slightly impatient. ‘I assume that it is something hostile, judging by the disruption it has been causing. Certainly we need to stop it before it can do serious, lasting harm. Thus far it has been little more than an inconvenience. I do not wish to wait until it becomes something more sinister. Can you remove it?’
    ‘That’s the most worrying thing,’ the Professor said with a frown. ‘We’ve tried to, but every time we remove any of the mystery data it simply reappears somewhere else on the system. If I did not know better, I would say that it’s behaving intelligently.’
    Nero felt a sudden cold chill run down his spine.
    ‘Are you saying that the code in question is aware of what you’re trying to do?’ he asked.
    ‘It rather appears that way, yes,’ the Professor replied. ‘The code being built is more complex than anything either I or Miss Brand have ever seen before. I may have had a hand in designing artificial-intelligence systems in the past, but I was merely building upon the work of others. This is all rather beyond my experience.’
    ‘I see,’ Nero said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. ‘Thank you for your work on this, Miss Brand. You appear to have been most helpful. I think you should return to the accommodation block now. It’s very late and you have classes tomorrow.’
    ‘But, sir, I –’ Laura began.
    ‘It was not a request, Miss Brand,’ Nero said calmly. ‘I am sure that the Professor will keep you updated on any developments.’
    Laura looked for a moment like she might be going to argue, but then thought better of it.
    ‘Yes, sir,’ she replied with a sigh before leaving Nero’s office.
    ‘I do not like the sound of this, Professor,’ Nero said as the door closed behind her. ‘What’s our next step?’
    ‘Well, what we really need is an expert in designing and controlling AIs, and no one on the island has that kind of experience,’ the Professor replied with a frown.
    ‘Actually, Professor,’ said Nero, looking slightly uncomfortable, ‘that is not strictly true.’

    ‘Doctor Creed,’ the young technician sitting at a nearby workstation said, ‘I think I’ve found something.’
    ‘What is it?’ Creed said, walking behind her and peering over her shoulder at the display.
    ‘Here,’ the tech said, pointing at the three-dimensional image of a brain on the screen, ‘near the stem. It’s so small and well concealed that we missed it during earlier scans.’
    ‘What is it?’ Creed asked, examining the tiny ovoid deformation in the normal structure of the brain.
    ‘I have no idea,’ the technician replied honestly. ‘It appears to be organic, but it also seems to be shielded somehow from our normal scanning techniques. I’ve never seen anything quite like