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“Of course,” Dr. Halsey replied dryly.
“I have also, um . . . coordinated with UNSC’s astrophysics department and discovered some interestingbits archived in their long-range observational databases. There is a black hole located approximatelyforty thousand light-years from the Sigma Octanus System. An extremely powerful pulse-lasertransmission back-scattered the matter in the accretion disk—essentially trapped this signal as thismatter accelerated toward the speed of light. From our perspective, according to special relativity, thisessentially froze the residue of this information on the event horizon.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Dr. Halsey said.
“This ‘frozen signal’ contains information that matches the sample from Sigma Octanus Four.” Cortanasighed and her shoulders slumped. “Unfortunately, all my attempts at translating the code have failed . . .so far.”
“Your conclusions, Cortana?” Dr. Halsey reminded her.
“Insufficient data for complete analysis, Doctor.”
“Hypothesize.”
Cortana bit her lower lip. “There are two possibilities. The data originates from the Covenant or anotheralien race.” She frowned. “If it’s another alien species, the Covenant probably wants these artifacts toscavenge their technology. Either conclusion opens several new opportunities for the NavSpecWep—”
“I am aware of that,” Dr. Halsey said, raising her hand. If she allowed the AI to continue, Cortana wouldtalk all day. “One of those opportunities is Project MJOLNIR.”
Cortana spun around and her eyes widened. “They approved the final phase?”
“Is it possible, Cortana,” Dr. Halsey replied, amused, “that I know something you don’t?”
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Cortana wrinkled her brow in frustration, then smoothed her features to their normal placid state. “Isuppose that is a remote possibility. If you’d like, I can calculate those odds.”
“No, thank you, Cortana,” Halsey replied.
Cortana reminded Dr. Halsey of herself when she had been an adolescent: smarter than her parents,always reading, talking, learning, and eager to share her knowledge with anyone who would listen.
Of course, there was a very good reason why Cortana reminded Dr. Halsey of herself.
Cortana was a “smart” AI, an advanced artificial construct. Actually, the termssmart anddumb as appliedto AIs, were misleading; all AIs were extraordinarily intelligent. But Cortana was special.
So-called dumb AIs were engineered to function only were misleading; within set limits of theirdynamic memory-processing matrix. They were brilliant within their fields of expertise, but werelacking in “creativity.” Déjà, for example, was a “dumb” AI—incredibly useful, but limited.
Smart AIs like Cortana, however, had no limits on their dynamic memory-processor matrix. Knowledgeand creativity could grow unchecked.
She would pay a price for her genius, however. Such growth eventually led to self-interference. Cortanawould one day literally start thinking too much at the expense of her normal functions. It was as if ahuman were to think with so much of his brain that he stopped sending impulses to his heart and lungs.