As a solution, Raymond Dyer's project developed the first genuinely self-aware artificial intelligence -- code name: Spartacus. But could Spartacus be trusted to obey its makers? And if it went rogue, could it be shut down? As an acid test, Spartacus was put in charge of a space station and programmed with a survival instinct. Dyer and his team had the job of seeing how far the computer would go to defend itself when they tried to pull the plug. Dyer didn't expect any serious problems to arise in the experiment.

Unfortunately, he had built more initiative into Spartacus than he realized....And a superintelligent computer with a high dose of initiative makes a dangerous guinea pig.