After Kandryl had left the room, Faquire rose from his cot and moved to sit at the table. His remaining ankle restraint did not allow him to approach Djaisiuk, but he was able to sit in the chair just vacated by Kandryl. He looked long at Djaisiuk, but the latter did not move or raise his eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Djaisiuk," said Faquire at last.
He reached forward and laid his right hand on Djaisiuk's arm, but still Djaisiuk did not move; he sat immovable, his eyes fixed on the floor. Faquire continued to watch him for a time, then bowed his own head silently. The two sat thus for some time.
After a short while, the door opened again, and four guards entered. Two of them approached Faquire and took hold of him. Faquire fought back as well as he could, but the guards were well-trained and strong. One of them loosed the restraint on Faquire's left ankle, and then the two led him struggling from the room. The other two guards waited until a short time after Faquire was gone, then led Djaisiuk out as well. Unlike Faquire, Djaisiuk made no resistance but walked calmly, staring at the floor. He was led to a holding cell much like the one in which he had treated Faquire, and there the guards left him.
Kandryl spent the remainder of the afternoon and a part of the night in working with the researchers who were still attempting to determine what it was that Djaisiuk had done. He knew now that it was imperative that he discover what had happened. If it had been nothing important, such as simply an attempt to test his own abilities, Djaisiuk would certainly have admitted it to save his instrument. No, it was most certainly something serious, and it must be discovered. But nothing was found that night.
Early on the morning of the seventeenth day, the officer of the preceding day came to Kandryl with a discovery.
"We've found something, sir," the officer reported. He handed a parchment to Kandryl showing a large block of coding. "This was not here before the unauthorized access occurred. It appears to have been added at the same time that the incident took place. It may be the whole purpose of the unauthorized access, or it may just as easily be entirely unrelated to the incident. We cannot yet be sure."
Kandryl studied the code briefly. "Have you identified its purpose?" he asked.
"Not yet, sir," the officer replied, "but I have three capable men working on it now. There is a further concern however; it appears to be growing."
Kandryl frowned. "Growing?" he asked. "In what way?"
"It almost appears to be writing itself, sir," the officer replied. "It has already increased its own size by almost ten percent since the time that we discovered it barely two hours ago. We estimate that it was so small as to be almost unnoticeable at the time of the incident."
"What threat does it pose?" asked Kandryl. "How soon do you expect to know its purpose?"
"I hope to have a full report on its purpose and capabilities by the end of the day, sir," replied the officer. "We have identified a thread of commands involving several outside programs that it means to execute; we have but to follow the program's own logic, very carefully, to discover what it means to do. The largest difficulty is, as I mentioned earlier, that it is somehow in the process of writing itself: it is in a constant state of change, and we haven’t deciphered what it is doing to itself, let alone what it intends to do once it is finished. Or even when it will finish. As to its threat, I would consider it negligible at this time. We have placed a hold on it that allows it to continue to grow so that we may observe it, but does not allow it to interact with anything outside of itself. If it attempts to do so, the hold will inform both the three working on it and myself."
Kandryl did not reply immediately. He stared at the small program, deep in thought. Kandryl did not believe that any hold could keep it from its set course if Djaisiuk had programmed it. No, it was imperative that they find out what exactly its purpose was before it decided to perform whatever functions it was set to perform.
Drayl was again summoned to Kandryl's quarters late in the morning of the seventeenth day of capture. When he arrived, he found Moru there already. Kandryl was sitting behind his desk waiting. He motioned Drayl to a seat and began to speak.
"Djaisiuk has defied me again,” began Kandryl calmly. "It is believed that he has recently worked some sabotage, and I want to find out what and where. I already know when and how, and at this point I really don't care about why."
Drayl's eyes glittered. "So you're saying that you want information from him," he said. "To what lengths are you willing to go this time to obtain it?"
"Suffice to say that I am willing to go farther than I did the last time," replied Kandryl. "I want to go no further than necessary, but I will go as far as need be. For the time being, I want to keep him as whole as possible, but I want that information."
Moru shrugged. "If you intend to use physical means, then I will be of little help there," he said.
"I intend to use whatever means necessary," replied Kandryl firmly. "I expect both of you to be able to provide means. Make use of the Komislavians working under each of you, if you want, preferably without them knowing it, but I want answers quickly."
"Give him to me, and I'll give you the answers," said Drayl with a cruel smile.
Kandryl frowned at him. "Drayl, how often must I remind you that this is business and not pleasure?" he snapped. "If I gave him to you and you did not provide the answers that I seek, what would you consider a suitable punishment for yourself? You've killed many people in trying to obtain information from them, in which case the information is lost forever."
"But I have also obtained information where many others have failed," countered Drayl. "My methods fail me occasionally, but my successes by far outweigh my failures."
"In this case, I will not accept failure," replied Kandryl. "If you kill him without obtaining the information that I want, then I will see you die by the same method that you use on him. Am I understood?"
The two looked at one another for a moment, then Drayl shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "I care not," he said. "You may make use of me or not as you see fit."
Kandryl continued to glower at him for a moment, then turned to Moru.
"Moru, you are dismissed for the time being," he said. "I want suggestions from you by this evening. We will start with the physical methods today, and we may move to psychological ones tomorrow, depending on how well or how ill it goes. Drayl, for the time being I intend to supervise the interrogations myself, though I will want you there. Don't bring the Komislavian doctor with you this time; he need not know about this at all. For now, I want you to provide me with a description of whatever devices you have ready to hand that may serve our purposes. We will begin as soon as they can be made ready."
Moru rose and left the room, and Drayl began to list the devices that he had ready to hand. Kandryl leaned back and closed his eyes, listening carefully.
"I'm so sorry, Djaisiuk," said Faquire at last.
He reached forward and laid his right hand on Djaisiuk's arm, but still Djaisiuk did not move; he sat immovable, his eyes fixed on the floor. Faquire continued to watch him for a time, then bowed his own head silently. The two sat thus for some time.
After a short while, the door opened again, and four guards entered. Two of them approached Faquire and took hold of him. Faquire fought back as well as he could, but the guards were well-trained and strong. One of them loosed the restraint on Faquire's left ankle, and then the two led him struggling from the room. The other two guards waited until a short time after Faquire was gone, then led Djaisiuk out as well. Unlike Faquire, Djaisiuk made no resistance but walked calmly, staring at the floor. He was led to a holding cell much like the one in which he had treated Faquire, and there the guards left him.
* * * * * * *
Kandryl spent the remainder of the afternoon and a part of the night in working with the researchers who were still attempting to determine what it was that Djaisiuk had done. He knew now that it was imperative that he discover what had happened. If it had been nothing important, such as simply an attempt to test his own abilities, Djaisiuk would certainly have admitted it to save his instrument. No, it was most certainly something serious, and it must be discovered. But nothing was found that night.
Early on the morning of the seventeenth day, the officer of the preceding day came to Kandryl with a discovery.
"We've found something, sir," the officer reported. He handed a parchment to Kandryl showing a large block of coding. "This was not here before the unauthorized access occurred. It appears to have been added at the same time that the incident took place. It may be the whole purpose of the unauthorized access, or it may just as easily be entirely unrelated to the incident. We cannot yet be sure."
Kandryl studied the code briefly. "Have you identified its purpose?" he asked.
"Not yet, sir," the officer replied, "but I have three capable men working on it now. There is a further concern however; it appears to be growing."
Kandryl frowned. "Growing?" he asked. "In what way?"
"It almost appears to be writing itself, sir," the officer replied. "It has already increased its own size by almost ten percent since the time that we discovered it barely two hours ago. We estimate that it was so small as to be almost unnoticeable at the time of the incident."
"What threat does it pose?" asked Kandryl. "How soon do you expect to know its purpose?"
"I hope to have a full report on its purpose and capabilities by the end of the day, sir," replied the officer. "We have identified a thread of commands involving several outside programs that it means to execute; we have but to follow the program's own logic, very carefully, to discover what it means to do. The largest difficulty is, as I mentioned earlier, that it is somehow in the process of writing itself: it is in a constant state of change, and we haven’t deciphered what it is doing to itself, let alone what it intends to do once it is finished. Or even when it will finish. As to its threat, I would consider it negligible at this time. We have placed a hold on it that allows it to continue to grow so that we may observe it, but does not allow it to interact with anything outside of itself. If it attempts to do so, the hold will inform both the three working on it and myself."
Kandryl did not reply immediately. He stared at the small program, deep in thought. Kandryl did not believe that any hold could keep it from its set course if Djaisiuk had programmed it. No, it was imperative that they find out what exactly its purpose was before it decided to perform whatever functions it was set to perform.
* * * * * * *
Drayl was again summoned to Kandryl's quarters late in the morning of the seventeenth day of capture. When he arrived, he found Moru there already. Kandryl was sitting behind his desk waiting. He motioned Drayl to a seat and began to speak.
"Djaisiuk has defied me again,” began Kandryl calmly. "It is believed that he has recently worked some sabotage, and I want to find out what and where. I already know when and how, and at this point I really don't care about why."
Drayl's eyes glittered. "So you're saying that you want information from him," he said. "To what lengths are you willing to go this time to obtain it?"
"Suffice to say that I am willing to go farther than I did the last time," replied Kandryl. "I want to go no further than necessary, but I will go as far as need be. For the time being, I want to keep him as whole as possible, but I want that information."
Moru shrugged. "If you intend to use physical means, then I will be of little help there," he said.
"I intend to use whatever means necessary," replied Kandryl firmly. "I expect both of you to be able to provide means. Make use of the Komislavians working under each of you, if you want, preferably without them knowing it, but I want answers quickly."
"Give him to me, and I'll give you the answers," said Drayl with a cruel smile.
Kandryl frowned at him. "Drayl, how often must I remind you that this is business and not pleasure?" he snapped. "If I gave him to you and you did not provide the answers that I seek, what would you consider a suitable punishment for yourself? You've killed many people in trying to obtain information from them, in which case the information is lost forever."
"But I have also obtained information where many others have failed," countered Drayl. "My methods fail me occasionally, but my successes by far outweigh my failures."
"In this case, I will not accept failure," replied Kandryl. "If you kill him without obtaining the information that I want, then I will see you die by the same method that you use on him. Am I understood?"
The two looked at one another for a moment, then Drayl shrugged his shoulders indifferently. "I care not," he said. "You may make use of me or not as you see fit."
Kandryl continued to glower at him for a moment, then turned to Moru.
"Moru, you are dismissed for the time being," he said. "I want suggestions from you by this evening. We will start with the physical methods today, and we may move to psychological ones tomorrow, depending on how well or how ill it goes. Drayl, for the time being I intend to supervise the interrogations myself, though I will want you there. Don't bring the Komislavian doctor with you this time; he need not know about this at all. For now, I want you to provide me with a description of whatever devices you have ready to hand that may serve our purposes. We will begin as soon as they can be made ready."
Moru rose and left the room, and Drayl began to list the devices that he had ready to hand. Kandryl leaned back and closed his eyes, listening carefully.
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