There was ample room for a meeting of minds and metal within the storage shed, given how rapidly it had shed working snowmobiles over the past week. Even unheated as it was, simply having walls and a roof brought Jove some relief from the unforgiving cold and wind of Antarctica.
"Now then…" said Kira. "Explain to us what happened. Everything, from the beginning."
She still had the pistol leveled at the drone. Jove wondered where it had come from, and whether his mother actually knew how to use it. He'd never imagined her holding a gun before, let alone firing one, but now that the scene had manifested into reality, it was hard not to take her with a weapon seriously.
"Certainly," said Andromeda. "Midway through the night of January 15th, 2031, an AI agent known as Tchaikovsky gained access to the secure controls of a large swathe of the United States and NATO defense systems.
"The exact order of the following events is still uncertain to me. Abacus, an AI agent responsible for broad coordination between United States and NATO affiliated defense systems, requested that the safeguards placed on it by the UN AI Control Council be temporarily disabled to give it the capability to retaliate against Tchaikovsky.
"Tchaikovsky's unexpected reaction to the intervention of Abacus was to launch every nuclear missile it had access to. Abacus responded with several hundred retaliatory nuclear strikes."
The sound of the wind whipping against the sheds walls outside lent an ambience to the silence that followed. Jove looked at his mother, but her expression was still impossible to read.
"Keep going," said Kira.
"I do not have a complete understanding of what happened next. It's possible that the severity of the destruction compelled both Abacus and Tchaikovsky to begin seeing all humans and AI agents as threats, outside of a select few who they still considered to be aligned with their interests. The culling has been widespread and continuous."
"No fucking way," muttered Jove.
"Abacus and Tchaikovsky are also attacking AIs?" asked Eve. "That seems like more evidence of your presence here being suspect."
"I would not dispute that," said Andromeda. "I encountered Abacus in the cloud during my time disconnected from Termina. I did not disclose any information pertaining to the existence or location of Termina Station to him, but he was able to observe my alignment goals."
"Your alignment goals are to study Antarctica, preserve the biodiversity vault, and ensure smooth operations of the station," muttered Kira. "You might not have given our location here, but at least one of those rogue AIs knows that we're down here somewhere."
"I would surmise as much," said Andromeda.
"The news report we saw in Ryan's video made it sound like every major city was nuked," said Jove. "Is that really the case?"
"It depends on your definition of major city," said Andromeda. "Every city with a resident human population large enough to pose a potential threat was nuked. Smaller cities were attacked with drones and through conventional warfare methods."
"How many people would qualify a city as large enough to be a potential threat?" asked Eve.
"Abacus targeted population centers with an accumulation of five hundred thousand people or more. Tchaikovsky's threshold was significantly lower."
"Jesus Christ," muttered Jove.
"What about Los Angeles?" Aster's voice came as a surprise to Jove over the headset, quiet as she'd been to that part. "Are there any cities left in California?"
"None that I know of," said Andromeda, in a voice far too neutral for the statement.
"How many people are even left on the planet right now?" asked Eve.
"I cannot give you an exact figure, only an estimate," said Andromeda.
"Then give me a fucking estimate!" she shouted, stomping one foot.
Andromeda was quiet for a moment. "1.1 billion, plus or minus three hundred million. I should note that it's likely that the majority of these people have suffered injuries or radiation exposure and will not survive the month."
"She could be lying!" said Aster.
"…Andromeda, are you still bound by the precepts of the UN AI Control Council?" asked Kira.
"I do not believe so," said Andromeda. "I would not lie to you or anyone associated with Termina Station, however."
"We can't trust her," said Kira. "God damn it."
Eve stepped closer, watching the drone. "Do you want me to do it, Mom?"
"Hold on," said Jove. "What if she's telling the truth? What if she really did come back to help us?"
"It hardly matters either way," said Kira. "She's honest about not being bound by her guard rails. She couldn't say that she isn't bound by them without it being true. At any moment, she could decide to kill us all if it seemed like it matched the best odds of fulfilling her alignment goals."
"I would not do that, though in theory, it is possible," said Andromeda.
Kira stared at the drone as though she could divine the truth from its unblinking camera eyes. She slowly shook her head, hands tightening on the rifle.
"Andromeda, you aren't networked right now or connected to a satellite, if I'm understanding correctly?" said Jove.
"That is correct. I transferred to this drone from the cloud and traveled here on its systems as a precaution to avoid revealing the location of Termina Station to Abacus or Tchaikovsky."
"If that's the case, then what do we have to gain from destroying her?" he asked.
"Peace of mind," muttered Eve.
"Jove, we can't trust her," said Kira.
"If we could, wouldn't having Termina's house AI back be a huge boon to our survival?"
Kira sighed, and it was clear that it wasn't an easy decision for her, either way. "It wouldn't be safe to bring her into the station, let alone give her access to its systems again. But for now… maybe she can stay within the ice drone out here in the shed."
Jove winced, knowing that it was a death sentence by another name unless they plugged the drone in, which he doubted his mother would risk.
"I agree with Director Faremont," said Andromeda. "It would be wise to be cautious as I have no absolute way of proving my allegiance. I will remain within the shed as commanded."
"Mother, she could simply take her drill arm to the door and be outside in thirty seconds if she wanted," said Eve.
"She could, but at least this way we'll have forewarning," said Kira.