Read The Ouroboros Wave for Free Online

object data. If that works, we’re home free. If not, we’ll use the new ID and reboot on this side, correct?”
    “That’s right, Tatsuya.”
    “What’s all this about?”
    “I think Shiva’s taken a dislike to Amphisbaena.”
    “You’re kidding, right? What has Amphisbaena ever done to Shiva?”
    “Who knows? It could be anything. I seem to remember that the god Shiva never forgave his father-in-law for forgetting to invite him to a banquet.”
    “Listen, Cath, maybe we better just do what we can to get Sati activated.” As he spoke, Tatsuya was already preparing a new ID for Amphisbaena. Over time he’d picked up a great deal of knowledge about AIs from Catherine. Crew safety didn’t seem to be at stake yet but the situation they were facing was potentially serious. Everyone on Ouroboros and Amphisbaena knew this instinctively. As they worked, Tatsuya made a calculated effort to engage Catherine in small talk. As much as possible, he needed everyone to keep calm.
    “All right, Tatsuya. I’m restoring the file from backup. This probably won’t create any new problems.” Despite Catherine’s studied optimism, half the crew was glued expectantly to their monitors. The rest were too anxious to watch for fear of disappointment.
    After a few moments Catherine spoke again. “Well, that’s what I expected. Shiva’s gone ahead and erased the restored files too. I guess that’s good news. At least he’s acting predictably.” The stress in Catherine’s voice belied her attempt at humor. To Tatsuya her inability to fake things was one of her more endearing traits, but right now he wished she could be a little more convincing.
    “Let’s try a new ID,” said Catherine. “What shall we use?”
    “Up to you, Cath.”
    “All right then. Let’s see—the safest way to go would be an existing ID, something inactive.”
    “What about Graham’s old ID?”
    “I didn’t think of that. You’re right, that should work.” Tatsuya could hear Catherine inputting commands over the voice circuit of his web. Then he heard a small gasp.
    “Tatsuya, let’s use something else. On second thought, it’s bad luck to use Graham’s ID. Can we use something from mythology?”
    “Try ‘fei.’”
    “What’s that?”
    “Amphisbaena is a serpent with a head at either end. The fei is a mythical Chinese creature that’s just the opposite, a snake with two bodies attached to a single head.”
    “Sounds like just the legend we’re looking for. I’ll create a new ID based on that name. You’ll need to rename the station in your system.”
    Catherine proceeded to create a new system object called Fei. She associated Amphisbaena’s backup files with the new name and copied them to Shiva’s data portal.
    “Catherine! It worked, we’re back up!” shouted the SysInt specialist. The mood on West Platform immediately lightened. Amphisbaena—now Fei—was fully accessible to Ouroboros.
    “I want a facilities diagnostic before we do anything else. As soon as we’re sure that’s clean, we go to normal ops. Catherine, we’re going to do a full orbit to make sure everything’s normal. I can get you that equipment in about a hundred minutes.”
    “Got it. Thanks, Tatsuya, you’ve saved us.”
    “It’s you who’s saved us.” Tatsuya switched from the general circuit to a secure channel. “Listen, Cath. Did something happen when you tried to use Graham’s ID? It sounded like you ran into a problem.”
    “You heard that? Well, I guess you’d better know. Graham’s alive, at least as far as Shiva is concerned.”
    “What the hell does that mean?”
    “His ID is still a valid system object. And one of his agent programs is still active. I haven’t been able to trace which one yet. Maybe these events are a crime, rather than an accident.”
    “That’s impossible. It would take someone with a thorough understanding of Shiva’s program. Access to the system is strictly controlled.”
    “That wouldn’t have