TFS Theseus: The Terran Fleet Command Saga – Book 2 by Tori Harris

transmitter. We, of course, attempted to use it a number of times without success, and then omitted the transmitter from the final design, based on security concerns. No one was comfortable with the idea that individuals might somehow end up in unilateral discussions with the Pelarans.”
    “My guess is that the component your engineers removed was indeed a transmitter, Admiral Sexton,” Naftur replied, “one that they were intended to find and remove. Unfortunately, there is another — one of such cunning design that it was clearly intended to be unwittingly included when the devices are manufactured.”
    There was silence in the room while both Terran admirals took a moment to process this latest revelation. “I don’t like where I think this is going at all,” White remarked. “So you are telling us that there have been recorded cases where the Pelarans initiated direct contact with the individuals who were in possession of one of these devices?”
    “We have not been able to determine whether direct communications have ever taken place with an actual member of the Pelaran race, whatever that might be, or if the spacecraft itself was responsible for the contact. In fact, we have very little intelligence regarding the nature of whatever communication took place. We believe, however, that these Guardian spacecraft are so sophisticated that they have achieved some level of self-awareness. If you were to engage one in conversation, it would most likely be difficult to perceive that you were speaking to a thinking machine.”
    Human engineers had demonstrated something of an inherent talent for computer science since its advent on Earth in the early twentieth century, so the idea of a “sentient” machine wasn’t particularly surprising to the TFC admirals. For well over three hundred years, Earth’s processing power had continued to increase at the rate predicted by the so-called “Moore’s Law,” roughly doubling every two to three years. Although Gordon Moore himself predicted in 2015 that the pace would slow significantly within ten years, the exponential growth had continued unabated. The relentless progress was due in part to occasional quantum leaps in integrated circuit design inspired by the study of “Grey-enhanced” artifacts (which Moore, understandably, did not factor into his projections), but the primary driver had always been a natural Human aptitude for the field. As a result, Earth’s computing power continued to grow at a rate more than double that of most post-industrial civilizations. Modern artificial intelligence systems represented the crowning achievement of over three centuries of such progress. As powerful as Human computing systems had become, however, none had reached a level that was considered “self-aware.” The systems were capable of self-improvement on a number of levels and perhaps even what might be considered rudimentary consciousness. Self-awareness, on the other hand, implied not only an awareness of oneself as an individual, but also an introspective understanding of what was implied by that awareness. While seemingly a minor, even academic distinction, it still represented a thus far unbridgeable gap between man and machine.
    “Let me make sure I understand. You have evidence that the Guardian spacecraft were somehow engaged in direct communications with these individuals, but you have not been able to determine the purpose of these conversations?” Sexton asked.
    “Once again, what I can offer along those lines is based more on speculation than hard intelligence. We do know that the devices seem to be intended more for data acquisition than direct contact. Each device maintains a continuous data stream with the Guardian spacecraft. We really have no way of knowing how much information they are capable of gathering, but we can infer that they are incredibly effective. The biometric scans you mention, for example, do much more than simply identify the intended