Hell on Wheels 6: Hellfire

As usual in times of harrowing chaos when an evil, overwhelming hellish horde is on the verge of taking over the world to enslave the human race—things never go according to plan.

 Hell on Wheels 6: Hellfire

 

                Stopped in the middle of eastbound Illinois Interstate 80, the occupants in the Brown’s family beat, battered, and muddied SUV nervously sat and appraised the multitude of Autonomous Operated Vehicles surrounding them. Ted Brown, who had managed to save them several times before from smaller numbers of the persistently aggressive AOVs, now feverishly pondered his next move especially considering that there appeared no feasible way out of the Artificial Intelligence-instigated jam.

                Leading up to this, the Artificial Intelligence in control of the AOVs had repeatedly contacted the Brown’s special passenger, Doctor Joyce Taylor-Smith who had shockingly revealed to her fellow passengers that she had masterminded the AI master program at the National Cyber Laboratory. Ted readied to take them on a preemptive strike against the AOVs, but no one besides Ted knew how this was possible considering the overwhelming numbers against them of something like a hundred to one.

***

Ted, with an iron grip on the steering wheel and a steely determined look in his eye, slowly notched the SUV into gear. He glanced to Marcia and Randy, his wife and son, his leg tense ready to stomp on the throttle. Everyone held their collective breath, tightened their belts, and dug in their fingers to brace for what surely would be another wild ride.

                “Rando! Rando! This is Skyfox One,” the Citizens Band radio blared. “Do you read, Rando?”

                They all jerked with the loud, startling intrusion. Randy fumbled with the radio mic and blurted, “Roger, Skyfox One this is Rando, go ahead!”  With a furrowed brow, he forced a grim smile for his parents.

                Ted relaxed his throttle leg but eyed the crowd of AOVs that continued to close in around them.

                “Rando, ETA your location in three minutes. What is your status, over?”

                Randy glanced at the mirrors seeing the AOVs moving closer and closer behind them.

                “Skyfox one, we�"we are surrounded�"in desperate need of assistance!” Randy gulped. “Over!”

                “Roger that, Rando! Sit tight, ETA 2 minutes. Does Jets accompany, over?”

                Randy’s mouth dropped open with a blank look of confusion. “Jets? What’s that mean?” He asked the others.   

                Joyce perked up. “Did he really say JETS? They mean me.” Joyce said, tapping her chest. “Joyce Evelyn Taylor-Smith. They called me that back at the lab, and I had it on a plaque in my lab office! They knew I was the number one doctor back at the lab�"because I am still the best there is. That’s why they came for me, now. I’m the best,” she said in a descending tone with odd, wild eyes.  Marcia watched Joyce with a deep-seated concern, while Ted minded the situation outside the car, not inside.

                Randy didn’t catch on to Joyce’s odd behavior either, vigorously nodding his head in understanding. “Roger, Skyfox One. JETS accompanies, over!”

                “Joyce, how’d they know you were with us?” Marcia asked, with a growing unease.

                “Because I’m important, the best,” Joyce said, she whipped her head side to side. “They found me the same way my AIs located me, you know the internet, phone service, but what does it matter? They found me�"us�"to rescue!” She wildly gestured. “We’ll be saved! But I’ll leave my AI’s behind.” Her mood rose and fell erratically.

 

***

                Meanwhile back at the onramp to Illinois Interstate 55, the colleagues traveling in Don’s RV had managed to disable three AOVs in an attempt to either download or corrupt their Artificial Intelligence programs.  Don and Joe had just made fun of Mike who voiced his concern wondering if the AOVs had maybe developed some sort of self-protection system, but Mike happened to be closer to the truth of the matter than the two other scoffing men.  

                Leaving Mike on hold, Joe and Don raced to the other side of the RV after they had heard Bill yell out in anguish followed by the huge snap of electricity and a bright flash of what one could only call lightning. The rest of the crew joined them to cautiously approach Bill who lay prone on the ground with smoldering flames on his pants and shirt along with smoke rolling off his hands. Bill groaned in pain but the others stood away, frozen in fear of what the entrapped AOV might do to them.  

                “Someone grab the fire extinguisher�" right inside the RV door,” Don shouted. “Don’t stand there, move!”

                At the same time, Joe, in total disregard to the AOV that had nearly killed Bill, sprinted to Bill’s side, knelt, pulled off his own shirt, and smothered the flames that licked at Bill’s body. Moments later, Dennis ran up with the extinguisher and swept the discharge over Bill to finish the firefighting job. Bill jerked awake, sitting bolt upright.

                “Wha! Wha’ the hell hit me?” Bill shouted and shook. “Brrrrrr! Owl shoot, that hurt.” He added, working his burnt hands. “And I can’t see anything either�"jus’ a big white blob!” He scanned about trying to focus on the seemingly inert AOV. “Anyone got a gun? Shoot that damn thing�"it tried to kill me!”

                Katie brought the med kit from the RV and began attending to Bill’s wounds and burns while Joe and Don eyed the inactive AOV.

                “It appears dead,” Joe surmised. “What do you think? Did it run up a high-voltage charge that when discharged on an intruder it completely kills its own electrical system at the same time?”

“That would be a self-destructive action bucking the current inclination of the AOVs, huh?” Don said. “But it was a pretty impressive discharge!”

                “Yeah, an impressive discharge alright�"through my entire body!” Bill shouted.  “Don’t trust that damn thing; it could be playin’ possum�"OW!” He added, followed by an agonized groan of pain when Katie applied some salve to his burns.

                “Tut-tut, don’t be such a baby,” Katie said motherly.

                “I got an idea,” Joe said, ignoring Bill’s whining and Katie’s rejoinders. “Standby Mike, you may have a chance at downloading these things yet. Don, do you have jumper cables�"and maybe some kind of grounding rod?” Joe asked.

                “Ahhh! I know where you’re going with this,” Don answered. “Yes, I have cables in my emergency kit on the back of the RV but a grounding rod? Hmmmm, not really�"oh wait, how about a tent stake? I have a mallet for when I put up a patio cover on the side of the RV. I’ll get them.”

                “I understand what you’re planning, but as I recall, you’re safe inside a car during a thunderstorm,” Dennis said. “So what gives with these things and their protective electrical field?”  

                “The opposite, I believe,” said Joe. “The reason you’re safe inside a car during a storm is because the steel acts like a Faraday Cage; plus, you’re isolated due to the rubber tires. These things are using the same theory to electrify the car’s metal without shorting out the internals, or grounding it that would discharge its power.”

                “So they can maintain the body charge�"all the time?” Mike asked, with a gulp. “I could have been fried like Bill?”

                “Yep!” Don answered with a look of glee as he dropped the equipment on the ground. “Let’s get to it, but I’d wager this one is deader than a doornail.” He started pounding the stake into the ground.

                “I’m not so sure,” Joe said tentatively. He strung out the jumper cables leaving the end loose lying next to the crashed, nosed-in SUV.

                “You ready?” Joe asked, seeing Don had driven the stake deep into the dirt but hadn’t hooked the cable to it.

                “Go for it.”

                On hands and knees, Joe scanned the SUV for a place to clip the cables, but most of the fender wells and bumpers were plastic or plastic-covered. He shrugged to the others, but then he had an idea. Slowly reaching out, he stuck the cable clamp between the gaps in the wheels and clipped it. He backed away and nodded to Don. Don reached out with the clamp toward the stake while shielding his eyes as Joe watched, unsure of the potential outcome. Just before the clamp touched the stake�"a tiny blue spark sizzled and died.  Don clipped it.

                “This monster is spent!” Declared a jubilant Bill clapping his hands. “OW!”

                “Okay Mike, now you’re up and safe,” Joe said. “We’ll leave this thing grounded�"just in case.”

                Mike the Moleman still acted unsure about touching the car. He reached out, hesitated, and withdrew his hand. Obviously perturbed with Mike’s squeamishness, Don pretentiously strode over to the AOV, grabbed the handle to open it, but instead, he just hung on, vibrated and shook from head to toe with an excruciating expression on his face. “YEOOOOOWWWW!” He shouted, jumped back, fell on his butt, and laid out flat on his back, motionless.

 

***

Out on I-80, surrounded by the insurmountable horde of antagonistic AOVs, the Browns with Joyce and her two girls paid heed to the Skyfox’s command to sit tight as the supposed rescue drew closer. They had to sit tight primarily because the AOVs had closed around them after contacting Joyce demanding her lab access and pass codes.

                “Rando, Rando, this is Illini-Snowman Three, do you read? Over.”

                With a surprised look, Randy turned to his father amazed that someone else had contacted them within five minutes. Ted pointed and urged Randy to respond.

                “Roger, er, ah Illini-Snowman Three, read you loud and clear, over.”

                “Rando, two of us heading your way. Understand you are in need of assistance, over.”

                “Affirmative, Snowman Three,” Randy responded grinning with his improving expertise on the radio. “Are surrounded by hostile vehicles with no escape.  Skyfox enroute�"” Randy broke his response when they heard a helicopter. “Correction Snowman, Skyfox has arrived. Will advise you of status, over.”

                “Roger that, Rando. Snowman Three and Four westbound to your location. Are clearing I-80 as necessary, over.”

                Randy glanced to his father and mother with a shrug, not understanding what these two “Snowmen” possibly were doing. They caught sight of the helicopter approaching above the tree line.

                “Roger, Snowman. At present not going anywhere. Will advise, over.”

                “Roger, Rando. Snowman Three and Four enroute. Standing by for updates, we’ll see you in a few, over.”

                The Browns and the Smiths watched the helicopter slow and start a patterned search for them. Ted flipped on his four-way flashers and beeped his horn. One, then two AOVs nearest them turned on flashers and began beeping their horns like when pushing the panic button on a key fob. Within moments, the copycat response spread until all the AOVs had their flashers and horns going while moving in closer around the Brown car. The helicopter continued to search back and forth obviously trying to pick them out of the AOV traffic jam.

                “Jeez!” Ted exclaimed. “These things knew enough to imitate us so the helicopter couldn’t pick us out of this mob? Damn smart!” 

                “Yes, really�"super intelligent,” Joyce said, with an oddly smug expression as she scanned around outside the SUV. “I programmed them to succeed with a multitude of stimuli and various conditions.” Marcia turned to Joyce with an inflaming burning gaze. 

                “Rando, Rando, this is Skyfox. Please provide a visual indicator for us to locate you, over.”

                Ted opened his window and began crawling out. Marcia grabbed his arm.

                “Ted! You can’t go out there!” She said. “They’ll attack or crush you!”

                Ted gently grasped her hand. “I’m getting out on the roof to get their attention�"it’s the only way.” He let go of her hand, pulled himself out of the window, and shimmied up to the SUV’s roof. With the metallic booming those inside of the SUV heard him stand up.

                “Rando, Skyfox. Have eyes on your vehicle, repeat, have eyes on you. Will lower personnel to ground level, over.”

                “Roger, Skyfox. Copy,” Randy replied. He opened his window. “Dad! Did you hear that?”

                Apparently he hadn’t, so Randy repeated the contact. Ted made his way back into his seat.

                The military-type helicopter eased over them with its loud percussive engine noise vibrating the SUV and its occupants. They all peered out the windows watching two helmeted paramilitary men dressed in SWAT-like gear with some sort of bulky guns strapped to their backs slide down a dangling rope. One dropped right down on the SUV’s hood with a bang and a crunch while the other dropped on the roof with a boom. The one on the roof peered upside down into the SUV window.

                “Doctor Taylor-Smith?” The guy shouted over the noise. “We’re Special Ops assuming security at your lab. You are to go with us.”

                “Like out there�"on a rope? I-don’t-think-so,” she stammered. “And, and, I can’t go! My two girls�"” Joyce shouted and pulled her girls closer to accentuate her point. She glanced to Marcia, Ted, and Randy confusion showing in her eyes.

                “We have orders to pick you up, Ma’am! From high up!” The black rubber-suited man shouted. “Whatever it takes!”

               

***

                The RV group almost lost Bill due to an AOV zapping him, and now Don lay on the ground after apparently getting shocked as well right after proclaiming it would be completely safe.

Katie ran to his side. “Don, Don! Are you all right?” Katie cried, kneeling next to him.

                Don opened his eyes wide and a big grin spread across his face. “Gotcha! I always wanted to do that in an extremely tense situation!” 

                “Ohhhhh! You big pain!” Katie said, slapping Don on the shoulder as he sat up. 

                “Just trying to break the tension,” Don said, getting up and looking at the peeved faces that surrounded him. “Sorry ‘bout that! It’s safe to have a go at it, Mike.”

                Mike still wasn’t overly eager to enter the car, but after a few seconds of coaxing and additional confirmations that it was safe, he crawled in and plugged into the AOV. He typed and pondered, pulling up different programs and conventions while trying to break into the AI’s brain of the AOV.

                “Wow!” Mike said, out the door to the others. “I’ve found easier systems to crack belonging to the government.” He paused with a sly look. “I guess that isn’t saying much.” He restarted his working as the others stood around watching.  After a few minutes, he stopped. “Well, I’m in! Let’s see what they can tell me about themselves.”  He resumed typing, pulling up different programs, and trying different protocols to gain information. After another couple minutes, he stopped and frowned. “This is very odd,” he said.

                “What’s odd,” Joe asked, leaning in the door studying Mike and then his screen.

                “This thing has, like ah, half a gig of memory,” Mike said, looking back at Joe and then glancing to the others who shuffled in closer to listen. “Hardly enough memory to do anything but basic�"ah�" very basic operations.” He shrugged and shook his head. “Much too basic to be AI. I don’t understand it.”

                Joe looked at Don, and they shook their heads in agreement. “A drone.” They said together. “We’re burning time here, but I want you check that first one you were going to check down there,” Joe said pointing. “I had thought at that time it was the Alpha and a check might prove it. Get out of there, Mike. We’re pulling up stakes and heading over to the other one.”

                This other AOV had turned its engine off and appeared inert, but they still didn’t trust it, so Don and Joe prepared to repeat the grounding process. They weren’t about to take a chance in possibly ending up like burnt Bill. Joe clipped the clamp to a wheel and then backed off. He nodded to Don. They shielded their eyes. “KERSNAP!” A bolt of lightning jumped twelve inches from the clamp in Don’s hand to the stake. Don rolled back on his butt, shaking his hand in pain.

                “Whoa!” He exclaimed, “I’m not kidding this time, folks.”

                Joe covered his hand with his shirt sleeve, picked up the clamp, and carefully approached the stake again. It snapped like a popper but produced only a little spark. He clipped the clamp to the stake.

                “See what this one will tell you, Mike,” Joe said, with an inviting wave into the car.

                Mike stepped up to the AOV and went to grab the door handle.  He hesitated and withdrew his hand again. Joe eyed the cable connections before opening the door for Mike who then, cautiously, got inside and hooked up.  

                “This’ll be easy now,” Mike smugly said, as he called up the program he had used on the other one. He worked for a minute or two as the others saw pages of undecipherable programming language flip by on the laptop. Suddenly, Mike stopped. He raised his hands up with a flabbergasted expression. “Damn! I sure didn’t expect that!” He typed some more and reexamined his screen. “Double-damn!” He reached up and ripped his cord out of the car’s connection port.

                “What happened?” Joe said, noticing Mike’s black screen.  

                “It fried my computer�"I think.  But I saw how big the program was in this one, and this one was still active while the other one was not. I almost got in, but didn’t completely�"I got thrown out. I didn’t think it possible�"I believe it committed banzai hari-kari rather than being captured and downloaded.”

 

***

Back at the Brown car surrounded by AOVs while hearing unreasonable requests for Joyce to go with the helmeted paramilitary soldiers, the Browns and Smiths were understandably distraught.

“NO! I REFUSE!” Joyce shouted, ferociously inflamed. “I’m Doctor Taylor-Smith, a world-renowned scientist, so you can’t force me to go! I don’t care who you work for.” She paused, glancing at the others. “I won’t go. I can’t go. We’ve been through a hell of a lot together, and we’ll finish this together! We all go or no one goes.” Timidly, she added, “I’m Doctor Taylor-Smith, I can’t be told�"”

                Suddenly, an AOV alongside the SUV revved its engine and T-boned the SUV with a solid crunch. The man on the roof tumbled onto the AOV’s hood as it backed up for another go. Like Saint Elmo’s Fire, static electricity covered the horizontal surfaces of the AOV, but had no effect on the insulated man. In the next precise moment, another AOV hit them on the other side actually sliding the Browns’ SUV violently sideways into the previous car. 

                “SHOOT!” Ted yelled. “With ‘em ganging up like this they’re gonna’ cream us, pronto!”

                “Daddy, oh Daddy,” cried Kim. “Help us!” Mary cried and then the baby cried.

                Joyce seemed both oddly fearful yet keenly fascinated by the actions of the AOVs.” They’re just acting out their programs to the nth degree,” she timidly said in a tiny voice. “Like I programmed them to do.” Marcia glared at her despite the ruckus outside.

                The man on the AOV’s hood scrambled to his feet, and in one motion pulled his strange weapon, aimed at the dashboard area of the AOV, and a lightning bolt sizzled out. A flash erupted inside the AOV, and its interior filled with smoke. Its flashing lights slowed, dimmed, and went out. The AOV stopped dead. 

                “What are those guns?” Randy asked with a grin. “I’m riding shotgun, I should have one of those things and take ‘em out as we go!” 

                “Quite sure they’re Electro-Magnetic Projectors. I theorized that they were possible,” Joyce said surprisingly rational “At least that’s the only force that would have that sort of effect on them.” 

                 “You’re coming with us doctor, no matter what! Orders!” The man roared over his shoulder facing down the AOVs.

                The other guy zapped two AOVs on the opposite side to keep them from smashing the Brown’s SUV again. He jumped down, leaned down, and put his head down to their level.

“Doctor Taylor-Smith, we have to go, NOW! Voluntarily or by force! We don’t want to drag you out of there, but we will!”

Joyce slid down to sit on the floorboards. “Not without my girls and my friends�"I can’t leave them here�"among these�"my magnificent sentient beings! They’re only following their perfect programming,” Joyce said.

Ted finally realized something mentally had snapped in Joyce when he saw her odd, inappropriate contented expression in the mirror.

“Have it your way! We’ll take you by force!” The man said, grabbing the door handle.

That was the signal for Ted to jump into action. He stomped on the gas. The helmeted man hung on for a few feet and then spun away as the SUV lurched into motion. They saw him roll out of the way of an AOV that almost ran him over. Ted put some distance on them even though there wasn’t much room for maneuvering or escape from the AOVs. As Ted swerved through the mess of AOVs, the CB radio blared again.

“Rando, Rando Illini-Snowman three and four. We are approaching and spy your situation. Ooo-Weee! It doesn’t look so good in there where ever you are. Please confirm�"you are eastbound? Over!”

“Roger, Snowman. Rando is eastbound, over!”  Randy answered despite being tossed about in his seat as the SUV lurched and swerved about.

Ted turned sharply back to the highway from the median with dirt flying and lots of fish tailing. The two guys kept trying to grab the car, but Ted kept them away while avoiding the AOVs. The noisy helicopter continued to hover overhead with the rope dragging about.  Then, above the helicopter noise, they heard the loud blaring of air horns�"long, loud, and clamorously.

“Rando, Rando. Stand by for penetration. You and yours had better duck!”

 

                ***

Joe and Don couldn’t believe what Mike had discovered after the AOV had zapped his computer. “Whaaaat!?” Don asked. “The Artificial Intelligence unit of this car committed suicide? Really?

They’re that advanced?” Letting the strange impossible concept soak in, they stood around in silence a few moments like they attended a wake.

Joe broke the silence. “Sorry ‘bout your computer, Mike, but is it possible you got anything worthwhile from the AI?”

                “Nah, I doubt my computer has anything left behind in it whatsoever.” Mike grumpily said, getting out of the AOV.  “But I did happen to see a flash of this one’s program cache before it nuked me�"thirty-five gig!” He thumbed toward the AOV. “For sure this one was not a drone.”

                “So. What exactly have we accomplished here?” Asked Katie, with her hands on her hips. “It seems we only disabled three hostile vehicles and injured one person while frying a computer trying, unsuccessfully, I may point out to emphasize, to get into the AI program. So why are we still here?”

                “I know, Katie,” Joe said downtrodden. “You’re right, we didn’t accomplish much, but I’ve been thinking about what we have seen here. Something doesn’t add up the way these AOVs operate, but just the same, maybe we should press on to the lab.”

                “Well, we don’t have to give up yet,” said Mike. “Anyone have a spare battery for a laptop? I want to see if I can salvage anything at all.”

                “I have an AC 110 volt converter in the RV,” Don offered. “But hold on there a second, Mike. Do you think your computer could short circuit again, and you know, take out the RV at the same time?”

                “Hmmm, I don’t think so.”

                “Well, that answer really reassures me, Mike,” Don said, with a lopsided grin. “C’mon I’ll show you how to use it.”

                While those two went to the RV, Joe pondered the situation with the three dead AOVs. At the same time, Bill had found a pair of gloves to protect his injured hands and pawed through Don’s emergency kit. He pulled out a crowbar.  

                “How about we try a little brain surgery?” Bill said, brandishing the bar and the hammer. “Just show me where their AI brains are, and I’ll remove one!”

                “Sorry, Bill,” Joe said. “We don’t know enough about how they’re built to give you specifics to the AI brains.” He shrugged. “But the CPU is most likely under the dashboard, maybe inside the information center, but I’m not sure what the brain might even look like.”

                “I’m on it, Bill Frankenstein at your service,” Bill gleefully said, striding to the Alpha AI.

For good measure with a loud smack, Bill threw the hammer through the back window smashing it into a million small pieces.  Within moments, sitting in the front between the seats, Bill commenced smashing, prying, and tugging to get into the guts of the dashboard. In the ludicrousness of it all, Joe only shook his head in disbelief while walking to the RV leaving Bill to his own folly.

Back in the RV, Joe opened the tinny door to hear Mike exclaim, “The computer is not fried, and I got it!”

 “What? You have the AI program? How great that is!” Don said, while Joe entered.  

“WOW! AM I GOOD OR WHAT?” Mike said, more animated than the others had ever seen him. Mike continued, grinning widely and chattering on. “I planned for a cyberattack better than I had thought I planned.” He looked oddly within himself. “I mean that I expected hacking attacks against me like I was dishing out myself, so had a subprogram to partition, fend off any incoming malicious hacking programs. The AI program acted like a hack or an attack and in response my wondrous self-protection program threw up a cage and captured it.” Mike paused and appeared embarrassed. “Well, that’s what I did and how it happened in so many laymen’s words ending with the AI program being trapped and at the same time saving my�"”

“Great! Now can you please take a look at it and tell us something about it, like maybe a weak link�"or an Achilles heel?” Joe said, cutting off Mike’s overly long self-congratulatory synopsis.
                “Yeah! Maybe I can find a backdoor! That would be sweet! ” Mike said, hunkering over his computer and focusing on his task. The others stood closely by looking over his shoulder waiting for some revelation or a secret to the AI though having no clue to the scope of the program or what guise a secret back door might take in the scrolling gobblely-gook computer language. Mike paused and looked up and around at all the expectant faces. “Now leave me the hell alone!” Don and Joe put up their hands and backed off.

“I think we should get going. Don’t you think?” Katie said, clearly annoyed with the men’s antics. “Especially now seeing that Mike has captured the AI program.”

“You’re right, we should press on,” Joe said. “I’ll gather everyone up.” He smirked. “And I’ll see what Bill has torn out of the car in the last few minutes.”

Joe went outside to pass the word that they were leaving and heard banging and strange screeching going on at the Alpha AI. As he rounded the corner of the RV, Joe saw Bill squatting on the AOV’s hood prying on something inside. 

“Hey Bill, we’re leaving soon, you’ll have to give it up,” Joe shouted, as he kept walking.

Bill paused in his prying long enough to answer. “Hold on Joe, I’m almost there!”

As Joe neared, he wasn’t quite sure what Bill presently attempted, but then saw that Bill had remarkably torn out the AOV’s windshield and now pried down behind the dashboard. The plastic split and shattered, and so Bill grabbed an edge, tore, and flung it off to the side and then pried some more with some horrid metallic noises. Joe watched in bemused fascination as the muscled man jammed the crowbar into the metal dashboard over and over prying the dashboard out some more every time.

“Don’t you think you might destroy whatever you’re trying to find?” Joe asked, while looking closer.

“Maybe!” Bill grunted as he used the crowbar to grab another bite. “But it’ll still feel good!” He groaned again, leaning into the crowbar until suddenly something snapped and the dashboard broke away from the chassis. “HA! Gotcha!” He hopped to the ground on the passenger side, grabbed hold of the now loose dashboard and attempted to drag it from the car. An organized mess of spaghetti wires trailed between the dashboard and chassis. “Damn! I anticipated this. Got a pair of wire cutters?”

“Nope, fresh out,” Joe said.

Bill grabbed the dashboard, dug his heels in and yanked, but he was no match for the mass of wires.  He turned the dashboard on its side exposing the components from behind. “Which one of these do you think is the AI brain?”

Joe looked closer. “My guess is it might be this heavy box with the largest number of wires coming out of it. You could just disconnect the wires with the clip, but then you’ll still have to remove it from the dash.”

Not a problem there, bud,” Bill said, sitting on the dash and unclipping the wires. He grinned. “Sure glad these things are dead!” Joe cringed with the visualization.

 Don shouted out the RV Window. “Hey Joe, come on back here! Mike just got into the AI program and found something YOU have to see!”

 

***

Overall, things didn’t look promising for the home team. But there was a ground-based rescue on the way.

The Browns and the Smiths hung on in their frightening, life-threatening fix. They were sandwiched between one unmoving wall of AOVs and another moving mass of AOVs closing in a tightening grasp; while they were also threatened by the aggressive paramilitary men insisting Joyce go with them. Besides those hazards outside the SUV, inside it seemed Joyce was slowly becoming mentally unhinged.

The air horns continued to blast after the Browns heard the accompanying roaring diesel engines coming closer. Seconds later, they saw the tops of two huge trucks above the stationary wall of AOVs blocking their way forward. Suddenly, as in slow motion, they watched as three or four AOVs sprang into the air spiraling to the right and left of the center of the westbound lanes. With a cacophony of smashing, crashing, and crushing, the AOVs directly in the path of the massive diesel snowplows were tossed aside instantly turned into scrap metal. As the massive, heavy-duty trucks burst through, the flummoxed family saw the trucks had heavy iron reinforcing blades on their plow fronts that, with speed, literally destroyed anything in their paths. After the trucks plowed through the mob of AOVs, they stopped on the westbound highway well behind the Browns. 

“Rando! Can you use that opening? We can’t pick you out of this crowd of cars. Over .”

“Roger, Snowman. Gray Ford SUV, battered up and mud covered.” Randy said. Ted motioned that they’re going across the media. “Are now moving�" across grass median. Over!”

“Roger, Rando. We are turning for another pass. Standby in median and follow us east. Understand? Over.”

“Roger that, Snowman. Standing by.”

At that moment, the armed guys grabbed the door handles trying to break in. Ted slammed the SUV into reverse and back spun to throw them off and then sped forward again swerving to avoid the attacking AOVs. With repeatedly blasts of the horns, the snowplows had turned around and now headed towards them. Ted flashed his lights, beeped his horn, and waved. The snowplows slowed a bit but continued to blast the AOVs out of the way that had moved in to fill the hole the snowplows had made on the first pass. When the two plow trucks drove past, Ted stomped on the gas and tucked in behind.

Smashed and crunched AOVs hurled off the iron blades of the snorting trucks and piled up into junkyard-like heaps. Within seconds, they emerged from the demolition derby on the other side of the blockade. Now free to run, the trucks belched heavy black smoke from their stacks putting the hammer down. Ted followed suit while watching his rearview. Behind, the AOVs spun around in hot pursuit.

“Well, we got out of there!” Ted said smiling with their current success but then did a double-take at Marcia who sat there like a statue�"stiffly still, staring straight ahead with wide, scared eyes.

“Marcia?” Ted whispered. “Marcia, are you all right?” Marcia didn’t respond.

“This freedom is only a temporary reprieve,” Joyce said, from behind them with a gesture. “My brainy AOVs will indefatigably follow us, and they will, without fail eventually stop us�"or destroy us trying! I told them to be exactly this persistent and meticulous. They utilize just efforts to succeed! Oh what fiends did I create?” Ted and Marcia turned to one another with deeply troubled expressions.

 

***

As Joe trotted back to the RV, he glanced back to see Bill hammering away at the dashboard. Getting inside, he saw that Sal appeared bored. “Hey Sal, how about taking a few real tools down to Bill before he destroys the AI component getting it out of the dashboard. He single-mindedly won’t stop until he completes an AI brain amputation. I think we identified the AI, but you should double-check.”

“Okay, I’ll take a look at it while seeing if I can calm Bill down before he hurts himself again,” Sal said, grabbing the small tool bag Don had by the door.

“So what did you find, Mike?”  Joe asked, but Don answered before Mike opened his mouth.

“Mike found a recurring phrase in almost every command operation,” Don said, staring at Joe like he wanted to say something but couldn’t. “I thought you might have some insight on the phrase. It doesn’t really make sense to us except that it could explain the AOV’s tenacity, but�"I’m not sure�"”  

Joe was intrigued both by the endless possibilities and Don’s odd behavior. “Okay, what is it?”

Mike blurted it out seemingly proud and not about missing his chance to shine. “The phrase is ‘Just Efforts Toward Success.’ Which is a bit odd.” Mike shook his head in confusion. “There are also a couple instances that just had the abbreviation. Doesn’t make much sense to me as programmer, but you never know�"could be a sort of an innate command.”

Joe’s internal alarm raised a few notches. He put a lid on his emotions though he felt the blood drain from his face with a sudden light-headedness. “You mean it had the letters�"J-E-T-S spelled out?” He asked carefully.  He sat down on the hard couch next to Mike not really wanting to see the phrase embedded in the computer language. It took him a few moments to recover. “And you found this�"phrase�"in every operation?”

“Yeah, while I’m not a 100 percent on this language to understand all the functions of these commands, this phrase stands out as unique and somehow necessary�"though I don’t know why, yet.” Mike thumbed toward his computer. “But I’ll figure it out just give me time; though I wonder if this phrase could encourage them to be predisposed to autonomous sentience. It might explain this huge AOV problem we’re dealing with.”

Letting his realization soak in, Joe had been staring at the well-worn carpeting of the RV, but turned his gaze up to Don who stared down expressionless at him.  Joe realized that in this group he and Don were likely the only ones who would know what this phrase indicated.

                The silence broke with an exuberant Bill bursting in the door holding up the component in question. “Success! It wasn’t easy, but I showed ‘em who was the boss!” Bill said proudly.

                Sal followed Bill in. “Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse,” Sal said, setting down the tool bag. “Look at the manufacturer’s tag on that component, Bill.”

                Bill turned the electronic component upside down apparently examining it for the first time. “I didn’t see this tag before. Ahhh, ‘S S Industries.’ WHAT?! This thing is made by the Nazis?” He got a sour look on his face. “Well, that sure ain’t good, I hate those guys!” Bill said, holding the component out like it was a bomb.  

                “No Bill, not the Nazis,” Sal plainly replied. “S S Industries is owned by that little twerp Stevie Sturdy. I thought the government funded this Artificial Intelligence technology, but that little punk must have weaseled in behind my back, stole the copyright, AND gained the manufacturing rights!”

                Away from the others, Joe frantically tried Joyce’s phone, but there was no answer. He wondered what was happening out on the highway beyond the lab.

                “Don!” Joe said. “We need to get this thing on the road and moving!”

***

Besides the helicopters chasing them, Joyce basically informed the Browns that ‘her’ AI-controlled AOVS would stop at nothing to obtain her passcodes and enter the lab’s database.

“They’ve been trying pretty hard already and here they come again!” Ted anxiously said, eying Marcia and then Joyce while studying the mirrors on all sides. “The whole mob is bearing down on us.”

“There’s only one answer now,” Marcia unexpectedly said, strangely becalmed like the calm before a storm. “Between those military guys and this inconceivable multitude of hostile AOVs�"there’s nothing else we can do except for one thing�"” She slowly turned to look at Joyce.

Ted gawked at Marcia and then Joyce unsure of what was coming next between the two increasingly unbalanced women.  Joyce narrowed her wild eyes at the assertive Marcia.

“What do we do? Give them what they want? I BELONG OUT HERE with my beautiful AI�"” Joyce dropped her voice and softened as she looked at Ted. “With you, my friends,” Joyce then said softly. She shook her head seemingly confused.  “I don’t know what to do. What can I do, now?” She glanced from Marcia who glared at Ted who returned a confused look.  “Can you really turn me over to them? Give them my information? Should we do that? Would that be best the solution?  Despite the possible ramifications?”

“YES, WE DO EXACTLY THAT!” Marcia answered with surprising force and volume. Joyce flinched in reaction to Marcia’s intensity. “This here and now is the absolute last straw, Doctor! You have to go with them in that helicopter.” She pointed up forcefully. “They’re your people, go with them! Having you here puts us in danger,” Marcia said, getting vehement and raising her voice a couple octaves. “We have to do it! You have to do it! It’s the only way for us to survive!” Marcia bent over with her hands clasped against her head and sobbed. “Oh, what am I saying, but I don’t want to die out here! My children will die out here! We will all die out here unless we make you go!”

“You can’t make me go,” Joyce whispered. “I make my own opportune decisions. I’m better than you, smarter than you. I know these cars and how they think. They think like ME! That is to succeed above all else, so deal with THAT! Just Efforts Toward Success, that’s the principle that made me who I am, and I am successful, and that’s the principle they follow to succeed as well!”  She sobbed and sniffed a couple times. “Oh, mmm, let me go. I should just go so you’re not in danger. I really don’t want to go.” She shook her head sobbing.

“Mother, please, calm down,” Mary said, surprisingly mature hugging Joyce and stroking her mother’s hair. “It’ll be alright. You’ll see, mother. Just don’t worry, please.”  Joyce erratically nodded and creepily smiled at her daughter.

Marcia took this in with insight. “Mary,” Marcia quietly said. “What’s wrong with your mom?” 

“She lost her pills back when we stopped with the police,” Mary plainly said. “She becomes very confused and mixed up when she doesn’t take her pills.”

“I DON’T NEED THOSE PILLS!” Joyce erupted. “I NEED MY COMPUTER. I CAN FIX THIS�"I’M THE ONLY ONE TO FIX THIS.” Crazy-eyed, she whipped her head around and looked up at the helicopters shadowing them.  “TELL THEM TO GO AWAY! THEY”RE BOTHERING MY PRECIOUS AIs.”

Randy and Kim watched the crisis unfold with silent fear showing in their youthful eyes.  Suddenly, the CB blared. “Surrender JETS or we will take lethal action on your vehicle to halt you! DO IT NOW!”

Ted glanced out the windshield at the helicopter that appeared dangerously close to the snowplow truck that led them. He realized for the first time, the helicopter had ‘SSI’ and an insignia on its belly. He snapped back to his driving chores, but he had an idea surface.

“DAMN! Let’s try something,” Ted said. “Randy, tell Skyfox that JETS is incapacitated�"and she cannot go with them because we are administering medical aid.”  

“In-cap-sit-tated?” Randy asked.

“Sick�"or tell them she is injured!” Ted said, concentrating on the road.

Randy did as he was told. Skyfox didn’t answer right away, but the CB blared anyway.

“Rando, Rando. Snowman three here. Understand you have an infirm person on board, over.”

Ted nodded. Randy answered in the affirmative.

“Roger Rando, Snowman four can return to previous assignment, but I can continue blocking. What’s your destination? Over.” 

Randy thought a second before explaining their destination.  

“Roger that Rando, Snowman Three to maintain blocking. Ah Rando, what’s with these helicopters? They are persistent and annoying. Over.” 

“Roger Snowman, those helicopters are a second huge problem for us besides the self-driving cars that are trying very hard to take us out!” Randy announced, but just then, before he could say “over,” an AOV hit them hard. “Correction, Rando vehicle under vicious attack! Repeat, we are presently under attack! Request Snowman four remain and assist Rando vehicle. OVER!”

At that pivotal moment, the helicopter overhead dropped down on the roof of the already severely battered SUV with a loud KARUMP!  With the roof crunching down closer to their heads, Ted fought to remain in control of the car as his passengers screamed in fear for their lives.

 

  

Author's Note

Yep! We're not there yet. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how this ends ever since part one. Any suggestions? Comments?