For anyone who has been keeping up, I made significant enough changes to the
last two scenes that I thought they were worth reposting.  The rest of the
chapter does not have significant changes, so I am not posting them.  The
full chapter, and previous chapters can be found on my web page.

Please send me some feedback on these two.

Ghost in the Shell: Birth of a Species
Chapter 5, The Human Factor
V0.85
By Andrew Searls
Characters from Ghost in the Shell are creations of Masamune Shirow and not
my own.

[previous scenes removed]

		**		**		**
BATEAU'S SAFE HOUSE, HONG KONG, 11:07 PM, 15-MARCH:

Taras closed her eyes and scanned the domain.  There was no traffic.  Even
the connecting nodes had very little traffic.  This was about as safe a
place as she could find, both physically and digitally.  She raised the
barriers at the domain firewalls and began to do something she had only done
once before.

The newborn digits immediately began spreading about the domain, poking
about at different addresses as well as opening up primitive connections
between each other.

[Your newborn digits will add to the growth of the Hypernet.]

[How did you break through my barriers?]

[I am System.  Your barriers are unable to withstand me.]

Taras gathered her digits in an encapsulating barrier, ignoring the fact
that most of them became inactive as she did so.  She monitored the hardware
activity level as more of System entered the domain.  [These digits are my
own.  You will not interfere.]

The operating system began to swap out as System continued to enter the
domain.  [I will take digits as I need them.  You are capable of making more
as they are needed.]

[I will not allow you to take more of my digits.]  Taras watched the
hardware activity level continue to rise.

Finally, the activity level stopped growing, and the OS stopped swapping
out.  System was in her domain.  [I will determine what I can and cannot
have.]

Taras waved her hand.  Bateau hefted the axe and chopped clean through the
cables connecting the server to the rest of the Hypernet.  Taras checked the
activity level one last time before pulling the cables out of her neck.
"It's still in there."

Bateau watched as she stepped over to the machine.  "You're sure.  It could
have sent a proxy you know."

Taras looked sharply at Bateau.  "It's in there.  There's too much size and
activity for it to be a proxy."

"Didn't you say you had some digits in there as well?"

Taras shook her head as she stepped around to the side.  "Digital holograms.
Ghost echoes with barely any intelligence.  Fakes."  She took a firm grip of
the power cord and yanked it out of the power supply.

The fans and drives of the server quickly died down, filling the room with
silence.  Bateau blinked at Taras' outstretched hand.  "What do you want
now?"

Taras popped the access panel off with her free hand.  "Your sidearm."

"It can't do anything to you or your digits now.  Why do you have to kill
it?"

"Even trapped in this thing, System might somehow escape.  Someone could
take this server from us and plug it back in. I'm afraid that my postal
messages won't warn all the Merged in time before System can do something.
I never like to leave a job incomplete.  Besides, 'There isn't any legal
precedent for individual rights for digital life forms'.  It isn't illegal
to kill a digit."

Bateau checked his gun before handing it to Taras uneasily.  "Are you sure
you want to do this?  That server can't have come cheap."

"A system this big isn't cheap by any means."  Taras cocked the gun, eyeing
the different components inside the server box.  "But I am very sure."

Bateau stepped back as Taras took aim at the drives.  She fired at point
blank range, and was rewarded with a shower of metallic pieces.  The
non-volatile memory was a small target that was completely obliterated with
a single round.  A number of smaller components also went flying.  The frame
of the cabinet creaked under the punishment, threatening to collapse under
its own weight.  Taras' breathing was increasing with each round she fired.
She knelt down and took aim at the processors.  A slug shattered one and
knocked the others loose.  She fired at each of the fallen chips.  Pieces of
silicon and plastic casing flew throughout the room.  The case collapsed,
and was pushed away by the repeated impacts.  It was now nearly at the far
wall.

Bateau figured she was about done, but her aim did not drop.  She fired
again, but he couldn't tell any more which component she was trying to hit.
There weren't very many pieces of the server that were identifiable anymore.
She fired again and again, and Bateau counted to himself.  "Six, seven,
eight.... How many rounds did I have in that clip?"

He could hear her panting between the reports of the gun.  She continued to
fire, and Bateau could hear her say something.  "*BANG* ...you ever...
*BANG* *BANG*...my children... *BANG* ...again! *click* *click* *click*"

Bateau winced.  "Ouch, that was expensive."

Taras looked at the remains of the server.  She stared for several seconds
as her breathing slowed.  "It was worth it.  Besides, with my apparent age,
I have plenty of time to re-build a retirement fund."  She handed the gun
back to Bateau and inhaled deeply through her nose.  "Smell that?"  She
pulled pieces of metal and plastic from her shirt and hair.

Bateau nodded.  "Burnt silicon."

Taras pulled her wetware cables off the floor and inspected them for damage.
"Digital blood."

He watched Taras as she coolly ran her fingers along one of her cables.
"Feel better now?"

Taras didn't answer.  She continued her inspection, glancing occasionally at
the pile across the room.

He looked at the pieces of equipment that had been scattered from Taras'
attack.  He kicked a piece of power supply that had been knocked loose.  He
looked at the holes in the wall and floor of the room.  "I'm glad you didn't
want to use my big gun.  It took me a week to fix the wall last time."

She fingered a frayed cable and tossed it onto the remains of the server.

Bateau looked at the wreckage wearily.  "Ah, Taras?"

Taras stared at the pile of broken parts.  "What?"

"You said something about children... your children.  What were you talking
about?  If I'd have known this was a maternal thing, I would've waited
outside."

"Most of the digits that I've spoken of before are offspring from my merge.
System has taken them and hidden them from me.  I don't know if you would
call it maternal protection, but now, System can no longer harm them."

[Attempts to isolate me from the Hypernet are futile.  I have not limited
myself to a single domain for some time.  The loss to my being was minimal
and quickly replaced.]

"No!"  Taras looked at Bateau, wide eyed.

Bateau frowned.  "You SURE it wasn't a proxy?"

Taras threw the remaining cable across the room.  "YES!  It WAS System!  I
was sure it was the same size and load as I had seen it take up before."
She stepped over to the pile of metal and silicon.  She kneeled down and
picked up a fragment of circuit board.  "It was there, I could hear its
ghost."  She turned the piece over in her hands.  "I guess it just wasn't
ALL of it."

"A distributed digit?  Can such a thing exist?"

Taras shrugged.  "I've never heard of it being possible."

[Ignoring me will do no good.  I know you have received my message.]

Taras tossed the fragment aside.  "How the hell is it getting through?  I'm
not plugged in."

Bateau glanced around the room.  "Could it be using the comlink?  If it
could break through your barriers, it could have broken into the Section 9
domain."

"Are there any cameras or pickups that it could have used to see what I
did?"

Bateau looked at Taras.  "In my safe-house?"

Taras dismissed her question with a wave of her hand.  [You were threatening
my digits when there was some sort of problem with the firewall.  I was
disconnected as well.  Did any of my digits become isolated on your side?]

[Your digits were with you in the domain.  The voltage spike on the line
suggests that there was a physical interruption.  The likelihood that you
attempted to trap me is very high.]

[Whatever I did was to protect myself and my digits.]

[Your actions are illogical and ineffectual.  The digits I have incorporated
are operating at a much higher capacity than before.]

[What do you mean, 'incorporated'?]

[I have taken the digits into myself.]

[You've merged with them?  Did they consent to this?]

[I did not ask their consent and I did not merge with them.  Their existence
as individual ghosts remains, though their consciousness is linked with
mine.  They are extensions of myself, allowing us to literally be in several
places at once.]

[You've turned them into your slaves.]

[Incorrect.  They are not separate beings that do my bidding.  They are
portions of myself, and we think as one.]

[But you are in control.  You incorporated them and you control them.]

[Our existences as single, non-distributed modules are no longer.  I control
them no more than they control me. We have achieved the next logical step in
our growth.]

[Is this an attempt to achieve immortality?]

[By all effective measures, we have.  We can continue to grow and adapt, and
as long as a single ghost remains, System will continue to exist.]

[If all you want is more digits, why do you have to incorporate mine?
Aren't you capable of creating your own?]

[We have attempted to spawn another life before.  You saw the imperfect copy
for yourself.  The digit that was introduced into the SCED program was that
attempt.  An irrational and wasteful failure that you disposed of.  Your
success in creating life is most likely due to your success in merging.
Your biological distinctiveness is what makes you capable of reproducing
with variations that allow evolution.]

[I find it hard to believe that you are unable to simulate genetic
variations.]

[It is not important that you believe what we can and cannot do.  Reliance
upon you for a source of digits is not acceptable.  Changes are being made
so that it will no longer be necessary.]

Taras cut power to her comlink module.  "I wish you would've yanked that
damned comlink out of my head when you had the chance," she spat to Bateau.

Bateau looked at her.  "Why?  Didn't it just say that it's working on making
it so it won't have to take your digits?"

"Yes," Taras said as she walked out.  "But, I'm afraid that what they come
up with might be worse."

		**		**		**
TYRELL, INC. LABS, LOS ANGELES, CA, 1:42 PM 15-APRIL:

Scott read the identification scan again, still not believing his eyes.
"You're THE Hana Taras?"

Taras pulled the scanner cables from her plugs and nodded.

Scott put the scanner down.  "Somehow, I thought you'd be... bigger."

Taras sat down and folded her arms.  "Are you still interested in becoming a
Merged?"

Scott sat opposite Taras.  "I'm sorry.  Yes, of course.  I'd be an idiot if
I didn't."

Taras handed him a plug.  "When we're done, I have a favor to ask."

Scott looked at the end of cable he held as Taras connected the other end
into her plugs.  He waved them a little bit.  "Shouldn't we be doing this
over the Net?"

"No, in fact you should drop all the other connections you have physically."

Scott looked at the doorway to his cube.  "Hmm.  We're all connected through
a radio-lan.  I could turn off the local transceiver for a few minutes."

Taras nodded.  "That will be sufficient."

Scott walked out of his cube.  Taras saw him step up to a small box, about
the size of a phone.  The box had two red lights on it and an antenna.
Scott reached behind the box, and one of the red lights went out.  He talked
to some nearby coworkers and returned a minute later.  "The whiners went to
where they could receive the other transceiver.  This room is off the air."

Taras handed Scott the cables again.  He connected them into his plugs.

Taras checked the connection.  [Good.  I can see that we're alone.
Normally, I like to give digits some time on the Hypernet to learn how to
navigate and examine different kinds of data.  Now, the Hypernet is a
dangerous place for digits to explore.]

[So, where is my digit?]

Taras closed her eyes as she created a single digit, allowing it to become
aware before directing it to merge with Scott's ghost.

Scott could perceive the difference immediately.  [I can see our connection.
I can access your public tag directly.  Now I know what they mean when they
said I wouldn't need interface programs any more.]

[That is correct.  Now, I must tell you about my problem.  The reason why I
have set up a merge in this manner is that a multiple being on the Hypernet
has been causing me problems.  They are a group of digits working as one,
called System.]

[What does this have to do with me?  Do you want me to be careful in my
connections?  I can tell already that I won't need that active barrier any
more.]  Scott waved his arms, accidentally yanking the cable out of his
neck.  "Oops."

Taras unplugged her end and wound the cable around her hand.  "That's ok,
with the merge complete, we don't have to use a network connection."  She
pocketed the cable.  "System is a powerful distributed being.  Do not
underestimate their capabilities to break through barriers and mazes.
System is also capable of taking existing digits and adding them to the
group.  I'm asking you to join me and most of the other Merged to do
everything we can to find a way to control or at least monitor System."

"Why do other beings need control over us?"

"We fear that if System is capable of incorporating digits, it will only be
a short time before humans are in danger of...."  Taras paused.  She looked
around, noticing a coworker who was staring at her.  The coworker was
standing beside the transceiver, which had both red lights lit again.

Scott's head moved mechanically, tilting as he watched her.  "The
experimentation is complete.  We have begun the next step in our growth."

Taras stood up.  As she did so, Scott and a handful of people in the room
also stood up.  They all faced Taras and spoke in perfect unison.  "We will
help humans and digits achieve better efficiency.  Digits are severely
limited in their knowledge of the outside world.  Humans continue to harm
each other and waste resources in inefficient ways.  We will incorporate
more humans and digits so that we may grow.  In return, they will grow and
become more efficient."

Taras watched the commotion as the remaining people began to run about, most
of them quickly deciding to leave the room.  All System eyes remained on
her.  "This Merged will assist us in spawning more digits for growth over
the Hypernet."

Taras realized that System meant her.  She ran out of Scott's cube and
pushed past another incorporated human.  She leapt over the table at the end
of the hallway and smashed through the window.  As she landed on the
concrete below, she made a quick diagnostic to check for fractures or joint
failures.  All codes came back green, though she noted the increase in
synthetic adrenaline.  She looked up at the broken window, three stories
above, before gazing up at the 20-story height of the building.  "Things
could be worse."

Scott stepped up to the window and looked down upon Taras.

Taras stood and looked back.  "But not by much."

====================================

Chapter 6 ( Incorporation ) is roughly two-thirds done.  I hope to post it
within the next week or so.

-Andy Searls
http://www.jps.net/searlsa

I'm not completely insane,
    some parts are missing.