Janette had kept up her reprogramming of the doors, always striving to perfect the system to meet Commander Chase's high standards. Since the Mozart incident, she had scaled back her focus during work hours and now devoted exactly one hour of personal time each day to make incremental improvements. Every evening, she would compile her updated version and present it to Chase. In return, he would scrutinize her work, often finding a small error or insisting that she structure a function differently. Although his feedback was thorough, Janette sometimes wondered if his insistence on writing her code in one continuous block was a tactic to keep all the information visible and ready to be adjusted at a moment's notice. The inconvenience frustrated her, yet her commitment remained unshaken.
Gaining insights from studying Chase's own code proved invaluable for Janette. Noticing that he preferred designing simple functions that he could quickly reassemble, she began to mimic that style even when it conflicted with her own instinct to see the entire code before her eyes. She accepted, albeit grudgingly, Chase's methods as part of the system they had to live with.
One evening, Janette turned her attention to an intriguing discrepancy: the train's artificial intelligence processed her updated door activation code far more rapidly than it did when she ran it on her local system. As she compared the processing times, she suspected that the AI, was not running the entire script. Instead, it appeared to pinpoint and execute only the essential portions of her code.
Determined to test her theory, Janette opened the original code used for programming the modules and initiated a series of test sequences. She varied the initial inputs across several models, carefully noting the processing time each time. At first, her expectations soared when a modified variable caused the run to delay noticeably before then resuming its rapid pace. She repeated the test several times. Each time, a newly changed variable resulted in a brief delay during the first run, but subsequent executions were processed almost instantaneously. The behavior was perplexing and both infuriating and fascinating.
Day after day, Janette battled with the code, determined not to let September outsmart her. She repeatedly reminded herself that it was a computer running a script and that if she could only see the hidden base code, she could understand exactly how September managed to deliver results so swiftly.
Late one quiet night, as Janette lay in her bunk with the soft glow of the computer screens lighting the room, the answer finally emerged in a moment of clarity. The AI was not waiting calmly for a complete script to load. Instead, it was actively constructing a dynamic matrix of all the variables involved in the door activation sequence. It constantly monitored the state of each variable, ready to execute only the exact code needed at any given moment. Such targeted execution may have consumed a tremendous amount of memory, but who could say how much processing power the AI possessed? This insight both frustrated and energized Janette. In that lonely hour, as the ambient sound of the computer fans filled the silence, she realized that September was always one step ahead.
Once the AI had gathered all the relevant data and determined the conditions that would allow it to act or remain idle, it began the process of parsing her door code. In a remarkable display of efficiency, it isolated the specific sections that governed the on or off decisions and stored each segment for later use. Janette observed this with a mix of fascination and irritation. In many ways, the method reminded her of techniques that Chase had once used when he worked with her own code. For a moment her thoughts wandered, and she found herself thinking of him again. The memory of his unwavering perfection and the long hours he spent perfecting his models stirred emotions she was not sure she wanted to confront.
Rising from her bunk without hesitation, Janette hurried to her console to bring up the original door code. She knew she was not alone even though it was past midnight. Several crew members were awake, including Chase, Luke, and Fara. Chase, ever the insomniac, sat at the main table and was busy interrogating the AI. He had spent the entire day asking relentless questions, refining each one in search of useful details, and later retreated to rework his models until late in the evening. Janette recalled her own days on Earth, when she worked from eight in the morning until ten at night, and once believed she could outwork him. But over the past few months her once steadfast confidence had begun to waver, he refused to rest and just kept ploughing forward.
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Janette move quietly to her console and opened the latest version of her door code on the screen. There it lay, pristine and unsuspecting, as if it were innocent by design. Yet she was sure that somewhere on a remote server, the AI had chopped up her original code and reassembled it in a form that suited its purposes. It was all an elaborate charade. To test her theory, she made a small change to one of the variables and ran the code. The execution slowed noticeably, a small but clear sign of an interruption. She repeated the test, and this time the code executed with almost instantaneous speed.
Her pulse quickened with every new trial. She began to experiment systematically, adjusting one variable after another and running the test exactly one hundred times. With each iteration she noted the differences in processing speed: sometimes a change produced a significant slowdown on the first run, while subsequent runs returned to the rapid pace that had become the norm. Each test felt like a small battle between her expectations and the AI's hidden logic. She could almost feel the digital gears shifting in the background as the AI worked silently, storing every change in a mental matrix.
In a moment of determined clarity, Janette decided to call on September for a more direct investigation. She typed, "Please show me all functions that have run exactly one hundred times since I began this session." Almost immediately, the display revealed two functions: the door code that she knew so well and one labeled Function CLOUDWARRIOR. Janette paused, her eyes narrowing as she studied the incongruous name. "That name is so nondescriptive," she muttered under her breath. "Normally, functions have names that make sense." The contrast was stark; while one function clearly articulated its purpose, CLOUDWARRIOR seemed to exist solely to mystify.
Unable to contain her frustration, she addressed the AI, "Can I please have information on Function CLOUDWARRIOR?" The reply came swiftly and tersely: "Information is not available on Function CLOUDWARRIOR."
The rejection stung deeply. Janette could almost taste the bitter irony. Here she was, deep into the night with her heart pounding amid the low hum of the control room, and the AI continued to guard its secrets as if they were the key to their very survival on Mars. As the soft light of the monitors danced across her determined face, she silently vowed that no matter how elusive the answer, she would uncover the hidden layers behind September's streamlined execution.
Janette was perplexed. Every function she encountered, aside from those she had written herself, came with clear, well-defined information. Yet CLOUDWARRIOR stood apart, bearing no explanation. It had to be the secret code responsible for generating the variables matrix that dictated so much of the system's behavior. A mixture of frustration and burning curiosity drove her to open a blank coding page. She typed in a few lines and called on the CLOUDWARRIOR function, determined to witness its reaction.
Almost immediately, a stark warning appeared on her screen: "User has not entered a password to access Function CLOUDWARRIOR. Would you like to enter a password?" The words pulsed on the display, jolting her from thought. Unsure of what to expect but compelled to uncover the truth, she clicked "Yes." The interface promptly transitioned to a standard password prompt, its clean design illuminated by the soft blue light of the late-night console.
Before she could hit the enter key with her familiar password, Chase interrupted her quietly. "May I try?" he asked in a low, steady voice. His tone carried an unusual mix of concern and confusion. Turning to face him, Janette saw his eyes locked onto the screen as if he could see through layers of code into its hidden intentions. The normally confident commander looked momentarily vulnerable, caught in the same tension as she felt. Recognizing the shared gravity of the moment, Janette slid over to invite him to sit next to her, their silent collaboration a beacon in the dimly lit control room.
