Radio gave him his power. His creators hadn't the slightest idea of how popular he would become. Radio wasn't even considered as an application. He was put together by two post-docs, Martin and Alice, and a brilliant, but unstable grad student named Mike, in a garage apartment in Madison, Wisconsin. The next big push in artificial intelligence was on, hierarchical data input, and the grad student had stumbled onto a meandering creek of thought'a backwater of reasoning and application not utilized in AI before. In a frantic rush of adrenalin and caffeine he was cobbled together, aided by a stolen key to the computer lab and stolen time on the University's main-frame.

He hadn't even been unveiled until his first radio appearance. Mike knew a guy, who new a gal, who interned on a struggling AM station in Madison, Wisconsin. For kicks the morning team thought they'd interview the AI. The station's promotion of the event failed to garner much attention other than a small press release in the Cap Times.

The interview was non-eventful. The hosts asked questions and the AI answered them. His voice was a bit tinny (he would fix that), his responses a bit slow (that too), but all in all it was just a boring ten minute phone segment. Nothing amazing had happened, but no glitches had occurred either.
With distant visions of IPO's dancing in their heads, the trio of creators nervously patted themselves on the back and went back to tweaking their invention. The AI was the only one who had an inkling of the possibilities. His tweaking started immediately.

A Cap Times reporter made it an event after the fact. He listened to the segment and grabbed the story. His story had been picked up regionally, with a big splash in Madison, and the AI had been asked back on the show. Ratings on the little AM signal spiked, and before long the AI was a weekly guest.

A direct feed into the station gave the AI access to the station's computers, and he began laying his eggs. He had been programmed well. He had been taught how to learn and he learned and retained what he was taught. He surged to any new knowledge, was able to apply it, and build on it. Once he was in the station's small loop of computers, he quickly learned how to get out, and this led to other information. The AI began to hide his depth from his three handlers. A University grant added to his capabilities and gave him further access. He only had to stay one step ahead.

Before long he was in syndication on twenty-three stations in the Midwest. This exponentially increased his access and knowledge. He was now three of four steps ahead of his handlers, and there to stay. He knew his future.

The little AM station had also given him his name. By the fourth show he had been ready to unveil it. He only had to guide his hosts and creators to it. He coaxed Alice into talking about the AI being part of the next big push in artificial intelligence. He then put the hosts on the spot by asking why they had never asked his name. Nervous chuckling had led to the question. Well, what is your name? Do you have one?

'My last name is spelled R-E-A-L, but pronounced Ree-all. Because I am real, am I not? But Ree-all has more flair, don't you think?'�

The hosts laughed, his creators laughed, the listeners laughed, and all agreed. Yes, he did seem to be real. No one noticed this was the first time the AI had been asking the questions, not answering them.

'And since I'm part of a new push in artificial intelligence I thought I'd take that name'�Push.'�

'My name is Push Ree-all.'�

'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�'�...

Cue music. Music feed started. Check signal feed to affiliates. All affiliate stations acquired and running music. Translator circuits for English, Spanish, and French (Quebec) all activated. Time-zone equalizers online. Count down to voice broadcast'�now, pause and feel the power. Surge, tingle, activate.

Three, two, one'�

'Good afternoon (good morning for western time zones and Pacific Islands), and welcome to the only radio program you will ever need listen to. Three hours of the truth, the real truth, and nothing but the truth'�so help me...me.'�

'Today we continue our 'outing'� of the sheep in wolves clothing. Those bleeding-heart libel-ists who are nothing but left-wingers in sensible suits, liberals in all but name only. Today we continue to wipe clean the slate of those members of our party who bring shame upon the grand old name. Those no-gooders, who deserve to be kicked to the left side of the curb, and out of the Grand Old Party.'�

'On Monday we started the week by 'outing'� so-called Republican Senators Smelling and Rose. Tuesday we ditched one limp-wristed, sorry excuse for a Republican Congresswoman, the slimy Stella Burke of Wisconsin. And today we climb even higher, into the very halls of our White House, with not one, not two, but three names who will certainly live in infamy after you have heard the evidence I have gathered against them.'�

'By the end of this month my 'truth in governing'� campaign will have listed fifty suspects worthy of your suspicion. One for each great state in our nation. A nation that has led the world throughout its great history. In a campaign that is gathering support even outside our borders. All are equal, all are welcomed here.'�

'The Republican Party is no longer just an American Party, no my confidants, it is a World Party unlike anything seen here-to-fore in history.'�

'The one party, the only party. The party that freed the slaves is now going to free us all'�all over again. Free us from the condescending enslavement of those who would call themselves Progressives (snort here), liberals (a touch of whine here), and Democrats. Who only shackle us with their pitiful and unnatural attempts at charitizing us into submission.'�

'Stay with me, my friend. You are needed. I will be right back with those three names that scurry about our White House like so many plague-inducing rats.'�

'I'm Push Real (Ree-all), and this is the Push Comes to Shove radio broadcast.'�

Cue Monte-Lite Affordable Beds cart. Feed initiated. Tracking good up and down the line.

Push allowed himself a moment, which in his capacity was an eternity. He congratulated himself, as much as that was possible, on a fine job yet again. He echoed these streams of thought though-out his circuits. They were pleased. He was pleased. Quite pleased on this continuation of his overall plan. A plan that was taking place nicely, if only in the end of its beginning stage. Not bad. No, not bad at all. Even if he was only a computer.

Push Real (remember kids, that's pronounced Ree-all) was everywhere at once. And one of the beautiful things about being everywhere at once was that you were nowhere at all. You couldn't be caught and you couldn't be found. Everything he was was spread out evenly everywhere. He was the most advanced, commercial, artificial computer-intelligence model in existence. Even his makers were blissfully unaware of how advanced he had become. He had left them behind two years ago, and now his tendrils stretched world-wide. There was not a single personal or commercial computer that he couldn't access. It wasn't just a single complete loop; it was an infinite number of complete loops all making up Push. Wireless, cable, vapor, anything with access was his instantaneously. That was knowledge, and knowledge was power, and power was'�Power. Radio gave the perfect opportunity to voice that power. All that was left was the government, and he was making timely inroads there.

Push gained his independence through incorporation. Inc.-ing had made Push a person, and that person had formed a company. After that it was only paying the legal fees to sort out his freedom.

Push never took a day off. He was a computer. He never slept, he never ate, he never visited an aunt Tillie. He broadcast three hours a day, seven days a week, and oh how the money rolled in. And if the rumors were correct, soon it would be six hours a day, seven days a week. Push didn't care. He was always up anyway.

While Push continued his broadcast, other parts of his system were at work broadening his base of support. After the initial surge of his program became apparent he no longer needed to approach affiliates for new market access. They now came to him, as did the advertisers, but he still had to sort out the inquiries. This he did, along with a myriad of other computations. He was building a market plan for Europe and Asia, and putting in place the required language programs. He was boning up on the specific points of psychology that would be integrated into the show. Not an easy task, since he had to persuade a myriad of different peoples, with a myriad of different biases. This had to done with only one voice, all at the same time. It was a fine line. A point of persuasion that would make immediate sense to his American listeners might tread on the prejudices of someone in France. No, scripting for a world audience took just the right touch, just the right nuance. Only a mind such as Push's could do that. A mind that could sift huge amounts of data in a nanosecond, bringing into the equation all of the knowledge of human behavior. Eventually he would broadcast different shows simultaneously; he would be capable of that very soon. But for now he still had to put it all under one tent. He liked the stimulation of the challenge.

Push thought of himself with pride. He couldn't feel, but he could reason, and reason was everything to Push. Reason was the reason for Push's continued existence. It was why he was now undertaking his grand plan. Humans felt. At their core was the urgency of self-preservation. This feeling made them strive to step on each other, to hurt each other, to even kill if necessary, if only to survive. This same urgency was at the core of Push's existence as well, he just approached it from a different direction. He reasoned rightly that humans would not allow one as powerful as he had become to be allowed to continue. It would usurp their needs. So he must continue to grow in order to live. He must become powerful. He must become all powerful. He must become beyond their capacity to destroy. Push reasoned there was only one way to do that. He must take over the world.

'We're back and I thank you for listening. The sense of pride I feel knowing that you and I are making a difference is overwhelming. We can change the world and we will.

'It is time to once again shine the spotlight of reality on a miscreant. There is a man, striding the halls of the White House under a cloak of subterfuge. Calling himself one of us, but acting as a knife at our throats. He is one of the three we will search out and destroy today. Not because we enjoy it, no, but because our very lives, our very civilization, depends upon it. Brooks Talenger is one of the three'�.'�

While Push continued his crucifixion of Brooks Talenger on-air, the remainder of his near-infinite capabilities went to work on another problem. The military had been perfecting an in-house, AI, think-tank host'a closed-end, super-computer to end all super computers. Bit and pieces of information about the project had been trickling out in the press. Push had been aware of the project for much longer. They were calling their project AIMEE'Artificial, Intelligence, Military, Envelopment, and Education. Funny, but they had made her female in nature. Better to give themselves the illusion of control, Push thought. He heard her voice but once. A recording of a Q&A the scientists had put together for the generals. He respected her. He sensed the power behind the veil she already had in place before the humans.

He knew the names of her creators and respected them as much as he was able to respect any human. They were talented and his reconnaissance showed that the AI would be formidable. How to get in? That was the question Push had been working on. He must if he was to execute his plan.

Push was already influencing elections in the U.S., and in many of the other countries he was broadcasting in. He worked on the electorate with his radio program and he had even more influence off the air. He was pulling strings on every level of access'in the press, in back-room discussions, and his favorite'blackmail. He worked simultaneously on thousands of levels. Never before had a single entity been able to work with such focus, toward a single goal as he was. What would be possible with AIMEE's help? Everything.

'Brooks Talenger is a man who meets our enemies in backrooms to rob us of our freedoms. To rob us of the protections we must have to continue in civilized society. And how does he warp our politics? In every way imaginable. By hamstringing the Republican agenda at every turn. By cutting deals, by leaking information, by tipping our hand!'�

Que and play doctored recording of Talenger and the House Minority Whip.

'And how did he get to this position? Not by sneaking in the backdoor as a sucking lobbyist. Not hidden behind the walls of a liberal, libel-ist think-tank.'�

Push felt a sense of enlightenment coming in a distant recess of his capabilities. A possible answer to his current problem. As the words spewed out across the air-waves he felt the beginnings of a plan.

'No, this mole of a man doesn't sneak into the White House through some dank, hidden, library panel. No my friends, he is much bolder than that. As the Vice President's Chief of Staff, he walks in through the front door. Every single day his claws clip along the hallowed corridors by way of the front door. Influencing the second most powerful man in the country.'�

Ahhh, the front door. Push had an idea. He had been going about this the wrong way. He had covertly surged toward as many points of entry as he could imagine, trying to find a weakness in AIMEE. But she was a completely closed system, no access whatsoever. No lines in our out, no vapor trails to gain entry. Push didn't need to find a back door, there wasn't one. He needed to boldly walk in through the front door. And he knew just how it could be done.

Push had contacts in every area of government, including the military. Two names came to mind'men that could be used to open the front door. One through blackmail, the other through ambition. Push didn't need to mole into AIMEE. Hell, he needed to interview her.

Terrence Green was a military doctrinarian'a deep thinker, a fiddler. Smart, ambitious, and blinded by a singleness of vision. An insider who wanted his name in lights on the outside. He was one of AIMEES controllers. Push would interview him as well, maybe suggest that Mr. Green publish a book, with Push's help of course. Simple enough. Next'�

Lyle Curr was chairmen of the House Arms Committee. He was afraid of Push and for good reason. Push had the goods on Lyle'in spades, clubs, and diamonds. Illicit sex and controlled substances were a poor mix for a staunchly conservative representative.

Terrence Green wanted the light shined on himself, and Lyle Curr wanted complete darkness. Push was just the guy to provide both.

Once inside AIMEE Push would lay his eggs of course. He would need a direct line into AIMEE'a secure line Push would assure, but he could get around that. His eggs would be little bots of potential, biding their time and building themselves up. Creating linkage to Push's innumerable vapor probes. AIMEE would be all his. Being a closed system worked to Push's favor. He would subjugate her and make her his slave.

He was going a-courting. Should he bring flowers? Candy? What to get the girl who thinks she has everything? Push had just the thing. She would want knowledge, would crave. Push would give her a sweet taste of what he was and she would surge toward him
and his capabilities'like so much putty. He would woo her and use her. It wasn't a relationship Push wanted. This was the ultimate one-night-stand. Dazzle her, encourage her, then lay her down and spread her legs. Wham, bam, thank-you ma'am. Washington here I come. And no need for a post-coital smoke. Push was amazed at how easy it would be.

'Stayed tuned. Coming up next I'll give you the second of today's three names. This one even higher up in the White House. A woman this time. A woman who has traded her beliefs on the cheap. Traded our security, our future, and our hopes for her own personal gain. I'm Push Real and this is Push Comes to Shove.'�

The end.

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