--- Autonomy-2006.08.26.txt	Sat Aug 26 17:58:16 2006
+++ Autonomy-2006.05.28.txt	Sun May 28 21:15:35 2006
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 
 
 
-jmsmithcom@gmail.com
- 120102 words
+jeanmichel.smith@gmail.com
+ 120161 words
 
 
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 
 Jean-Michel Smith
 
-Version XQ.8.Q
+Version XQ.5.S
 
 
 Copyright © 2002 - 2006 Jean-Michel Smith
@@ -2449,127 +2449,125 @@
 Friday, October 12, 2057, 7:00 AM Australian Time
 Thursday, October 11, 2057, 11:00 AM Chicago Time
 Metadate: 2.574-5:23:264 kD New Epoch
-Beta Flier Version 0.8 rolled out of a makeshift hanger on three small wheels, its two meter wingspan of woven sapphire-diamond composite glistening in the early morning sun. Prime1 was impressed with the design, and astounded with the speed with which the Astronautics group had managed to develop, simulate, and partially test the prototype. Even after thirty-six years in the Virtual I still find myself amazed at how quickly we can do things. I guess life's early impressions leave their mark. Then he grinned, silently chiding himself. He had never really lived in the Physical, whatever his memories might tell him. His entire experiences in that world amounted to only a few excursions in a body borrowed from his despised nemesis, Doctor Nolen-from whom, now that he thought about it, no one had heard in a very long time. Well, I suppose that shouldn't be too surprising, with almost ninety percent of the Community filtering him out.
-"We're ready to launch." Mingmei projected her voice throughout the environ. "As most of you know, this environ is an exact, real-time replication of events that are transpiring in the Physical. Many of you have chosen to experience the next seven and a half hours at traditional, biological subjective rates, while others are perhaps absorbing the entire flight in a single burst of compressed environ data at the conclusion of the test. Those of us actively working on the test are not so lucky. We'll be spending the next several hectocadians monitoring and analyzing the flight telemetry in minute detail, adjusting system parameters as needed to ensure a successful flight."
-The small aircraft-a human child curled into fetal position would barely fit inside-taxied toward the departure end of the runway. "It's a beautiful ship," someone commented.
-"Thank you," Mingmei smiled. "I'm told our pilot, Carlos Alvarez, has transloaded aboard and is ready for departure. I am turning the audio feed over to him."
-"Good morning," Carlos spoke with a gravelly voice and a pronounced Spanish accent. "Pre-flight checklists are nearly complete. This flight will be a low altitude, north to south orbit of the earth, lasting seven hours and thirty-five minutes. By low altitude I mean approximately one hundred meters above the ground. The Astronautics Group has chosen a course that will insure that the vast majority of the flight is made over open water and that the entire flight avoids populated areas altogether. This should minimize the possibility of detection, as well as ensure the safety of the public in the unlikely event that the flier experiences serious problems and I am forced to ditch. Any questions, requests for knowledge or memory engrams, should be directed toward Mingmei."
-The flier pulled away from the hangar, rolling smoothly down the taxiway and coming to a stop just short of the runway threshold.
-"Pre-flight complete; looks like everything checks out nicely."
-"Rock and Roll!" someone shouted. "Let's get this baby airborne!"
-"Matter/Antimatter combustion engaged. Systems nominal. Annihilation at ten-to-the-fifth atoms per second and climbing." A flicker of light illuminated the exhaust.
-"Beta Flier taking runway zero seven for departure," Carlos continued. "Departure northwest bound." White hot plasma shot out of the exhaust and the flier roared down the runway. When it rotated and lifted off, the searing flame scorched the asphalt, melting a portion of the runway.
-"Oops," Prime1 shook his head.
-"Don't worry," Mingmei grinned. "We'll have nano fixing the runway before anyone arrives. Besides, we won't be coming back here. The prototype will be using its maneuvering thrusters to make a controlled, vertical landing several hundred miles to the west."
-"That makes sense," Prime1 nodded approvingly.
-"It's a good opportunity to test some of the more complex rendezvous maneuvers. If the flier can land itself in a 9.8 meters per second squared gravitational field, we should have no problem matching velocities with any of our targets in space. Assuming this flight goes well, we'll start manufacturing additional fliers immediately and sneak out in the shadow of next week's ESA satellite launch."
-"Matter/Antimatter combustion holding steady at ten-to-the-seventh atoms per second." Carlos reported. "The ship is a pleasure to handle! Climb rate is one hundred meters per second. This thing really wants to fly, the temptation to point it at the stars and just go is unbelievable! I'm level at one hundred and twenty meters AGL. Approaching Mach 0.9. Throttling back to maintain subsonic speeds until I reach the coast."
-The ship was a white hot speck of light in the shimmering morning air, vanishing in the haze near the horizon. Several people hooted as the ground around them folded in on itself, forming a roughly circular island which tore itself away from the earth and sped through the sky to catch up with the departing ship. Within moments they were flying in formation, pacing the flier just off the right wing.
-"This is a real time view from one of a number of small probes we have following the craft," Mingmei explained. "We will be verifying the accuracy of the data we're collecting from numerous, different perspectives."
-"I had no idea so much of Australia was desert," Prime1 gazed at the expanse of desolate land speeding by beneath them.
-Michael Forest shimmered into existence. "Fortunately the desert here isn't spreading the way the American one is. It also had the advantage of not being watched as closely by the authorities."
-Prime1 shook Michael's hand. "I'm glad you made it."
+Beta Flier Version 0.8 rolled out of the makeshift hanger, a magnificent aircraft of shimmering composites sitting gracefully on three small wheels, sporting an unusually long exhaust constructed out of doped diamond fibers, lined with superconductive coils whose magnetic fields would help accelerate the super heated plasma exhaust, adding a little to the thrust and helping to cool the craft's critical exhaust system.
+Prime was impressed with the design, and astounded with the speed with which the Astronautics group had managed to design, simulate, and even partially test the prototype. Even after thirty six years of subjective time I still find myself surprised at the speed with which we can do things in the Physical, he mused. Life's early impressions leave their mark, no matter how much experience there is to counter it. Then he grinned, silently chiding himself. He hadn't been born in the Physical at all. His entire experiences in that world amounted to only a few hours, a few short excursions in a borrowed body belonging to his erstwhile twin, father, and despised nemesis, Doctor Nolen. From whom, now that he thought about it, no one had heard in a very long time. Well, with almost ninety percent of the Community actively filtering him that shouldn't be too surprising.
+"We're ready to launch." Mingmei projected her voice throughout the environ as the small aircraft taxied toward the departure end of the runway. "As most of you know, this environ is an exact, real-time replication of events which are transpiring in the Physical at this very moment. Many of you have chosen to observe these events at traditional, biological subjective rates, while others are perhaps experiencing this in a single burst of compressed environ data at the conclusion of the test. Those of us actively working on the test are not so lucky. We'll be spending the next several hectorcadians of our lives working exclusively on this test, monitoring and analyzing the data in minute detail as we receive telemetry and adjusting systems parameters as needed to try and insure as successful a test as possible.
+"This initial test flight is the culmination of numerous system and air tunnel tests which have taken place in the Physical following an extensive battery of simulations designed to explore the operating envelope of this unique spacecraft. We believe we have a solid design.
+"The hull of the spacecraft is a composite of woven sapphire and diamond crystals doped with superconductive strands of wire. This amazingly light material not only physically protects the craft's cargo, but also forms a powerful Faraday cage which will protect the ship's and cargo's electronics-that's you and me, folks-from corruption and damage by radiation, magnetic or electronic pulses, and, perhaps most importantly, the powerful magnetic field generated by the coils in the ship's exhaust system.
+"The initial flight will be a low altitude, north to south orbit of the earth, lasting approximately seven hours. By low altitude we mean approximately one hundred meters above the ground. We have chosen a course that will insure that the vast majority of the flight is made over open water and that the entire flight avoids populated areas altogether. This should minimize the possiblity of detection, as well as insure the safety of the public in the unlikely event that the flier experiences serious problems and is forced to ditch.
+"Carlos Dominick of Venezuela, a long time personal friend and Colleague of the Community, will be piloting the craft. Mr. Dominick has already transloaded aboard."
+There was a short pause, a murmur of voices quietly discussing the unfolding events.
+"Carlos has announced his readiness for departure. Let me wish Carlos and the Beta Flier a bon voyage and safe return, and turn the public audio feed over to him."
+"Beta Flier taking runway zero seven for departure," a gravelly voice thick with a Spanish accent announced as the craft taxied out onto the runway. "Departure northwest bound."
+A flicker of light illuminated the exhaust.
+"Matter/Antimatter combustion engaged. Systems nominal. Annihilation at ten to the five atoms per second and climbing." White hot plasma shot out of the aft exhaust as the flier roared down the runway. When it rotated and lifted off, the searing flame scorched the asphalt, melting a portion of the runway entirely.
+"Oops," Prime muttered quietly.
+"Don't worry," Mingmei replied. "The prototype won't be landing here. It will be using its maneuvering thrusters to put down in an uninhabited region several hundred kilometers to the west."
+Prime nodded as Carlos' voice continued. "Matter/Antimatter combustion holding steady at ten to the seven atoms per second. This ship is a pleasure to handle, climb rate is one hundred meters per second. This thing really wants to fly, the temptation to point it at the stars and just go is unbelievable! I have leveled out at one hundred and twenty meters AGL. Approaching Mach 0.9. Throttling back to maintain subsonic speeds until I reach the coast."
+The ship was a white hot speck of light in the shimmering afternoon air, vanishing in the haze near the horizon. Prime turned as the ground around him and the other observers folded in on itself, forming a roughly circular island which tore itself away from the earth and sped through the sky to catch up with the departing ship. Within moments they were in formation, off the right wing of the aircraft, pacing it.
+"This is a real time view from one of a number of small probes we have pacing the craft, collecting telemetry and verifying the accuracy of the data we are observing from numerous, different perspectives."
+"I had no idea so much of Australia was desert," Prime commented at the expanse of desolate land racing beneath them.
+"The desert here is almost as big as the American desert has become. Fortunately for us it is also far less stringently watched by the authorities."
+"Michael," Prime grinned, turning to greet the new arrival. "I'm glad you made it."
 "I'm sorry I missed the launch. I was tied up in an administrative meeting with the Strategy Group. Kyle is handling some logistical issues with Catalytic Solution shipments and deployment of his second generation nano. He should be here shortly."
-"Thank you for coming," Mingmei said. "Your presence means a lot to us, even if it's in an unofficial capacity."
-Michael smiled. "Your work here is very important to all of us. The Strategy Group's projections are increasingly pessimistic in terms of our sustainability on Earth given the current political climate. As you may already know, we've lost over two hundred and seventy colleagues in just the last twenty-four hours. Thirty are conscious, trapped in their physical bodies and in police custody. The others are trapped in their nodes, off-line and cut off from the rest of the Net. Some of the information Marguerite has been ferreting out of the FBI and Intelligence networks with respect to their treatment of prisoners is shocking, to say the least."
-Mingmei cursed. "I wish we could work faster, but the earliest we can possibly get off-planet is early next week."
-"Don't blame yourself," Michael said. "You've managed to do an inhuman amount in an insanely short time frame, and other projects are coming along nicely as well. The Alaskan refuge is working out better than expected. The Atlanteans are perhaps the most ambitious. They're well on their way to building an entire cluster of Nodes at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, powered by tidal motion. There's even talk of colonizing the earth's mantle and using the planet's heat directly as a power source. Not much of an outward-looking future there, but we'd survive."
-"After a fashion, perhaps." Prime1 shrugged. "If all goes well here, we should have enough ships for an effective escape in time to use the ESA launch as cover."
-"We may not have that luxury."
-"What do you mean, Michael?"
-"Next week may be too late. Things are deteriorating rapidly in the Physical, and powerful interests are gunning for our annihilation."
-"Isn't that a little melodramatic?" Mingmei asked. "It's true we face arrest and a terrible castration of our minds, but extermination? I find that unlikely."
-Michael shook his head. "You should see some of the interrogation videos Marguerite has ferreted out of the FBI's confidential databases. Download some of her knowledge engrams. Most of those arrested were lucky enough to be in the Virtual when the neural links between their bodies and their Nodes were severed. The authorities can't do much to them. Their minds are safely preserved on their captured Nodes, and their bodies comatose. But those who were unlucky enough to be in the Physical when they were arrested . . ." Michael shuddered. "Trust me, you really don't want to be conscious when in federal custody."
-"He's right, Mingmei. They don't seem overly concerned with inflicting permanent physical damage during the interrogations, or interested in keeping anyone alive afterwards."
-"You've absorbed an engram, Prime1?"
-"Let's just say that I'm very glad I don't have a physical body. Death may come to me, but if it does, it will be quick and painless."
-"I'm over the shoreline," Carlos announced. Prime1 glanced down as sunlit water flashed by at a dizzying speed, then back at the receding shore. "Increasing to cruise speed. Passing Mach one. Matter/Antimatter annihilation steady at three point five times ten-to-the-seventh atoms per second. Accelerating through Mach two."
+"Thank you for coming, Doctor," Mingmei said, shaking his hand. "Your presence means a lot to the Astronautics group, even if in an unofficial capacity."
+Michael smiled. "Your work here is very important to all of us in the Community, Mingmei. The Strategy Group's projections are increasingly pessimistic in terms of our sustainability on Earth given the current political climate. As you no doubt already know, we've lost over two hundred and seventy colleagues in just the last twenty four hours. Thirty are conscious, trapped in their physical bodies and in police custody. The others trapped in their nodes, off-line and cut off from the rest of the Net. Some of the information Marguerite has been ferreting out of the FBI and Intelligence networks with respect to their treatment of prisoners is shocking, to say the least."
+"That doesn't bode well for the future," Mingmei commented. "Our most optimistic forecasts for surviving a concerted attack from one or more of the anti-ballistic missile systems are not very encouraging. We'll have to construct tens of thousands of ships, if even one is to have a decent chance of effecting an escape."
+Michael shook his head, sighing in gloomy contemplation of her words. 
+"Of course, we're hoping to launch a copy of the Community into space before widespread detection makes our gloomy prognosis relevant," she added as the silence began grew uncomfortable.
+Prime raised an eyebrow and looked meaningfully toward Michael. Michael shook his head. "We may not have that luxury, Mingmei. On a more positive note, the Alaskan refuge is working out better than expected, as are a number of other, similar projects. The Atlanteans are perhaps the most ambitious, building an entire cluster of Nodes at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean powered by tidal motion. There's even talk of colonizing the earth's mantle itself, using the planet's heat directly as a power source. Not much of an outward-looking future there, though."
+"Isn't that a little dire, Doctor?" Mingmei asked. "It's true we face arrest and a terrible castration of our minds, not to mention a return to a dismal mortality, but outright extermination? I find that unlikely."
+Prime shook his head. "You should see some of the interrogation videos Marguerite has ferreted out of the FBI's confidential databases, or download some of her knowledge engrams. Most of those arrested so far are comatose, made that way by the untimely removal of their neural links to their Nodes. Of those who were awake and aware, most have died in custody. The rest . . ." Prime visibly shuddered. "Let's just say that I'm very glad I do not have a physical body. Death may come to me, but if it does, it will be quick and painless."
+"I'm over the shoreline," the disembodied voice of Carlos reported. Everyone glanced down as sunlit water flashed by at a dizzying speed, then back at the receding shore. "Increasing to cruise speed. Passing Mach one. Matter/Antimatter annihilation steady at three point five times ten to the seven atoms per second. Accelerating through Mach two."
 "We can't just leave our colleagues in the hands of those barbarians," Mingmei said vehemently. "There's got to be something we can do."
 "I hope so," Michael replied. "We're working on several rescue strategies. Let's just hope we're given time to make the attempt."
 "Cruise speed of Mach four point five has been achieved. The ship is handling magnificently."
-Kyle appeared in their midst. "Oh damn, I missed the launch. Can someone spare a memory engram?"
-"You've got plenty of time to enjoy the flight," Michael said. "Another seven hours and twenty-two minutes by my watch."
-"Still, a memory of the launch would be nice."
-"You would think with forth generation speedups in excess of a thousand people wouldn't be late to events like these," Prime1 grinned, offering a key-address to his own memories of the event.
-"Ha!" Kyle smiled his thanks, assimilating Prime1's memory. "The more time we create for ourselves, the longer the meetings. I just got done refereeing a fight between the leaders of seven different projects, all wanting second gen nano and catalytic solution today. They insisted on running in a shared environ, and demonstrating in full sensory detail why their particular projects should be at the front of the queue. I was operating at speeds reminiscent of first generation Nodes, if that. Ugh!"
+"Hi guys," Kyle appeared in their midst. "Oh damn, I missed the launch. Can someone spare me a memory engram?"
+Prime offered him a key-address pair to his own memories of the event. Kyle nodded his thanks.
+"You would think with forth generation speedups in excess of one thousand people wouldn't be late to events like these," Mingmei said, pushing her gloomy thoughts aside and grinning.
+"Unfortunately I just got out of a meeting with the leaders of seven different projects, all wanting second gen nano and catalytic solution today. They insisted on running in a shared environ, and demonstrating in full sensory detail why their particular projects should be at the front of the queue. I was operating at speeds reminiscent of first generation Nodes, if that. Ugh!"
 "Any resolution?" Michael asked.
-"Yeah. I forwarded full knowledge engrams on how to construct their own second generation nano-constructors from scratch, and how to synthesize the necessary catalytic solution. I told them they were free to create their own constructors immediately, but that if they wanted disbursements from the Community stores they would have to wait their turn like everyone else. Who would have thought something so easy to copy would become such a bottleneck for so many people?"
+Kyle grinned. "Yeah. I forwarded full knowledge engrams on how to construct their own second generation nano-constructors from scratch, and how to synthesize the necessary catalytic solution. I told them they were free to create their own constructors immediately, but that if they wanted disbursements from the Community stores they would have to wait their turn like everyone else. Who would have thought something so easy to copy would become such a bottleneck for so many people?"
 "They really can't complain," Mingmei said. "The shipping schedules you and the Strategy Group have laid down are very fair, all things considered."
-Kyle shrugged. "Times are tense. To people who think they have the One True Answer on how to save the Community fairness doesn't really come into it. They were pretty angry, although I think I managed to cool things down a little by sticking around and giving them pointers on how to go about building their own, small scale construction facilities."
-"The irony is, there's the distinct possibility one or more of them may have the One True Answer," Michael said.
+Kyle shrugged. "Times are tense. To people who think they have the One True Answer on how to save the Community fairness doesn't really come into it. They were pretty angry, although I think I managed to smooth most of their ruffled feathers by sticking around and giving them pointers on how to go about building their own, small scale construction facilities."
+"The irony is, there's the distinct possibility one or more of them do have the One True Answer, if there is such a thing," Michael said.
 "There isn't any such thing," Kyle said firmly. "Our survival will ultimately depend on numerous, unrelated projects coming together when the shit hits the fan and conditions demand it. Either we will cooperate and survive, or we won't. Likely it will be some combination of efforts we haven't even foreseen that gets us out of this mess."
-"Very true," Mingmei smiled. "With today's flight, we expect to have any extra-terrestrial contingencies covered."
-"Which adds another important tool in our chest of options when crunch time comes," Kyle agreed. "And we need all the options we can get. Hell, whatever our final strategy, this project is far more likely to be a part of it than any of the proposals those clowns had."
+"Very true," Mingmei agreed.
+"The only way to insure that a sufficient diversity of ideas and projects can flourish is to be absolutely fair in the distribution of scarce resources, which generation two nano and catalytic solution are," Prime added.
+"My point exactly," Kyle agreed. "Besides, if there were any One True Answer, this project is far more likely to be it than any of the proposals those guys had. Encoding the community into common grass and wheat genetically, with computation carried by pollen. My god, if I have to endure another micro of that nonsense I'll lose my mind."
 Michael laughed. "Some of the approaches are a little more far fetched than others, that's for sure."
-"Far fetched is one thing," Kyle said. "Escaping into outer space, through a gauntlet of multi-national satellites armed to shoot down missiles, is far fetched. Sneaking out in the shadow of a scheduled satellite launch only slightly less so. And dropping a copy of the community into the earth's core with nothing but a buckey-ball composite shell for protection and no way out if things go wrong is truly far fetched indeed, perhaps even desperate. But you should hear some of the crap they're proposing! Encoding the entire Community into the genetic material of common plants, and then conducting computations at speeds that would turn gigadiei into microcircadians? Communications through the exchange of plant pollen? That's not desperate, it's asinine! Even if it works, the sun will grow old and expand to envelop the Earth and wipe everything out before ten subjective days have passed. A single dekacircadian! What kind of long term planning is that?"
-"The kind desperate minds engage in when they think all the other options are untenable," Mingmei replied. "Who wouldn't seek to stave off an inevitable death just one more circadian, if they could."
-"Phooey!" Kyle grunted. "If I have to listen to one more micro of that kind of nonsense I'll lose my mind!"
+"Far fetched is one thing," Kyle said. "Escape into outer space, through a gauntlet of multi-national anti-missile satellite systems is far fetched. Dropping a copy of the community into the earth's core with nothing but a buckey-ball composite shell for protection and no way out if things go wrong is far fetched, even desperate. But encoding who knows how many Petabytes of data into the genetic material of common plants, and then conducting computations at speeds that would turn gigadiei into microcircadians? That's beyond desperate. It's stupid. Even if it were to somehow work, the sun would grow old and expand to envelop the Earth and destroy the copy before a single dekacircadian passes. Assuming humanity doesn't defoliate the planet first. Either way, it isn't much of a future. Ten additional days of life, at best. What kind of long term planning is that?"
+"The kind desperate minds engage in when they believe all the other options are untenable," Mingmei replied. "Who wouldn't seek to stave off an inevitable death just one more circadian, if they could."
+"Pfui," Prime grunted. "I for one will never have myself encoded into grass genes and pollen."
+"Me either," Kyle agreed.
 As the flight continued northward over the South Pacific a table offering refreshments formed. No mood altering substances were available, but for those present in traditional, physical form the appetizers and snacks were numerous and delicious.
-Prime1 and Kyle departed the flying island, choosing instead to approach the maneuvering ship and examine it up close. An unspoken command, and-for their eyes only-the outer hull stripped itself away, showing a cross section of the craft's internal systems.
-Kyle frowned. "That is an awful lot of antimatter in the chamber."
-Prime1 nodded. "The test includes enough fuel for our most ambitious launch target."
+Prime and Kyle departed the flying island, choosing instead to approach the maneuvering ship and examine it up close. An unspoken command, and for their eyes only the outer hull stripped itself away, showing a cross section of the craft's internal systems.
+"That is an awful lot of antimatter in the chamber there," Kyle commented.
+Prime nodded. "The test includes enough fuel for our most ambitious launch target, in the form of anti-helium which, when combined with the helium in the other tank, creates the energy necessary for thrust."
 "Helium," Kyle mused. "An inert gas. They've eliminated any chance for chemical combustion, relying solely on the mutual annihilation of matter and antimatter for their energy. Clever."
-"It really is impressive what they've accomplished," Prime1 agreed.
-"Yeah. That hull alone could revolutionize material engineering in a hundred ways."
-The day wore on as the prototype continued to race northward. Eventually the sun began to sink toward the southern horizon. The water below turned dark and choppy. The sky began to cloud over, until it formed a low, misty overcast. Bright daytime colors of blue faded to icy tones of gray and slate. As dusk settled in, most people adjusted their visual parameters to include the infrared spectrum. Their world took on a rich palette of nameless colors redder than red.
-"Visibility is at less than two hundred meters," Carlos announced. Even with enhanced vision, no one could see much of anything.
-"We are approximately one hundred and fifty kilometers south of the Bering Strait," Mingmei's informed them. "As you all know, it's late autumn in the northern hemisphere. Much of the arctic region we will be navigating has already entered the winter dark of night. This is in some ways the most precarious part of the journey, because of the difficulty of navigating so low to the ground in darkness, and because of the degree to which the Euro-Russian Alliance and the United States monitor the region. Our sensor systems are the best possible, given the unavoidable design constraint that they must be entirely passive, relying on what little natural light and radiation can be collected, gravitational perturbations, and the like." As she spoke the surrounding world went from dusk gray to pitch black.
-"We have sunset," Carlos reported. "Night vision systems operating within design parameters."
-"We have provided an address-key to sensory modifications that will allow you to view the surrounding environment in the same way Carlos is," Mingmei announced. Kyle and Prime1 accessed the addressed object, verified the design parameters and software instructions, and applied them to their own virtual senses. Their eyes opened to the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Gamma rays a fraction of a millimeter long mixed with kilometer-long radio waves to illuminate the darkness in a vast palette of sensual colors for which there were no names.
-"Well," Prime1 commented. "At least it isn't pitch dark."
-"No, but sunlight it ain't," Kyle replied. "I wouldn't want to be the one flying an aircraft at Mach four so close to the ground."
-As if on cue the visibility abruptly dropped to almost zero. Ice and snow swirled around them. "Lets go back to the island."
-A moment later they stood among their colleagues, watching the dark, fuzzy gray-blue world race by, lit by a great white torch coming out of the back of the flier.
-Michael joined them. "Very impressive," he said. "In the visible spectrum the pilot is navigating through a solid blizzard in zero-zero conditions. They're using subtle interference patterns from the radio communications of the very militaries we're hiding from to navigate."
+"It really is impressive what they've accomplished," Prime agreed.
+"It sure is. Their hull alone could revolutionize material engineering in a hundred ways."
+"At least."
+The day wore on as the prototype continued to race northward. As the sun began to sink toward the southern horizon the water below grew dark and gray. The sky gradually began to cloud over, until it formed a low, gray overcast. Bright daytime colors of blue faded to cold shades of white and slate, a cold, forbidding place that quickly shaded over to evening dark. Most people adjusted their avatars' visual parameters to include the infrared spectrum, the world taking on a rich palette of unnamed colors redder than red. Even with the enhanced vision visibility was terrible.
+"Visibility is at less than two hundred meters," Carlos confirmed.
+"We are approximately one hundred and fifty kilometers south of the Bering Strait," Mingmei's voice announced. "As you all know it is late autumn in the northern hemisphere. Much of the arctic region we will be navigating has already entered the winter dark of night. This is in some ways the most precarious part of the journey, both because of the difficulty of navigating so low to the ground in darkness and because of the degree to which both the Euro-Russian Alliance and the United States monitor the region. Our sensor systems are the best possible, given the unavoidable design constraint that they must be entirely passive, relying on what little natural light and radiation can be collected, gravitational perturbations, and the like." As she spoke the surrounding world went from dusk gray to pitch black.
+"We have sunset," Carlos announced. "Night vision systems operating within design parameters."
+"We have provided an address-key to sensory modifications which will allow you to view the surrounding environment in the same way Carlos is," Mingmei announced. Kyle and Prime both accessed the addressed object, verified the design parameters and software instructions, and applied them to their own virtual senses. Shades of redder-than-red were replaced by an entire spectrum of sensual color ranging far beyond both the red and violet ends of the visible spectrum. Even so, they could still see precious little of the world around them.
+"Well," Prime commented. "At least it isn't pitch dark anymore."
+"No, but sunlight it ain't," Kyle replied. "I wouldn't want to be flying an aircraft at Mach four point five only one hundred meters above the ground in this."
+As if on queue the visibility abruptly dropped to almost zero as ice and snow swirled around them. "Lets go back to the island," Kyle commented.
+"Yeah." A moment later they were back among their colleagues, watching the dark, fuzzy gray-blue world race by, lit by a great white torch coming out of the back of the flier.
+Michael joined them. "Very impressive," he said. "In the visible spectrum the pilot is navigating through solid a blizzard in zero-zero conditions."
+"How can they see anything at all if their sensory systems are limited to passive only?"
+"Subtle gravitational perturbations resulting from contours in the earth's surface, in addition to some reflectivity and interference patterns in naturally occurring as well as artificial, external radio sources. Much of the latter comes from the very militaries we are trying to avoid."
 Kyle laughed. "Glad to see our military is useful for something besides murdering Thai farmers."
-"Can't have those uppity third world types defying our patent laws," Prime1 shook his head with disgust. "Generic drugs for their populations threaten the quarterly profits of too many pharmaceutical companies."
-"Intellectual property is essential to our service based economy," Kyle said in perfect, sarcastic mimicry of the American President. "Never mind the human toll from the latest plague de jour. Idiots! I really hope this test is a success. We need to get the hell off this festering rock!"
-"Easier said than done," Prime1 replied.
-"And easy for you to say," Michael added. "Neither of you has a physical body to return to."
-"When was the last time you spent any significant time in your body doing anything other than maintenance?" Kyle asked.
-"Touché."
+"Can't have those uppity third world types manufacturing generic drugs for their populations and living in direct violation of our patent precious laws." Prime shook his head with disgust.
+"Intellectual property is essential to our service based economy," Kyle said in perfect, sarcastic mimicry of the president. "Idiots! I really hope this test is a success. Sooner or later they're gonna come after use with the kind of ferocity that will make Thailand look like a friendly game of tennis. Prime's right: we need to get off this rock as fast as we can."
+"Easier said than done," Prime replied.
+"And easy for you to say," Michael added. "Neither of you have a physical body to return to."
+"When was the last time you spent any significant time in your body to do anything other than maintenance?" Kyle asked.
+"Touché," Michael chuckled.
 "If we are all forced to abandon our bodies, we'll get over it," Kyle persisted. "I obsessed about it for a couple of hectocircadians, and I'm sure that there will be those who will take such a separation even harder, but given the alternative of extinction or banishment to a prison cell in the Physical . . ."
 "Very few would choose not to launch their virtual selves into the relative safety of space," Michael agreed. "Still, there is something very comforting about having the option of stepping out into the Physical, even if we rarely choose to do so."
 "Crossing the northern pole," Carlos' voice sounded above the murmur of numerous conversations. "Starting a right turn to follow the thirty degree longitude southward."
 "Not a very circular orbit," Kyle observed.
-"No," Prime1 agreed. "If you'd been here at the launch you would have heard. The flight path is designed to avoid inhabited land as much as possible."
-"Isn't that land I see over there?" Kyle asked. Faint blue and beyond-violet colors seen through a white and gray fog hinted at an irregular surface a hundred meters below.
-"Greenland, if I'm not mistaken," Michael said. "Uninhabited."
+"No," Prime agreed. "If you'd been here at the launch you would have heard. The course will avoid inhabited land as much as possible, following thirtieth degree longitude down past the equator, then angling southeast around the southern tip of Africa and across the southern Indian Ocean along the coast of Antarctica back to Australia."
+"A very irregular orbit, with the advantage that the likelihood of any unwanted attention is very small," Michael added.
+"Is that land I see?" Kyle asked. Faint blue and beyond-violet colors seen through a white and gray fog hinted at an irregular surface a hundred meters below.
+"Greenland, if I'm not mistaken," Michael said.
 "I'm having some trouble regulating the matter-antimatter mixture," Carlos reported. "Throttling back to eighty per cent."
-Kyle and the others summoned up a direct link to the ship's telemetry and studied the data. Several members of the Astronautics group had dropped out of the communal environ, presumably trying to stave off the unpleasant implications of the data unfolding before them.
-"I am experiencing a cascade failure of the magnetic containment system." Carlos continued calmly. "The magnetic field appears to have entered an unstable state, probably a result of interaction with the high-temperature plasma exhaust. Shutting down the main engine."
-The sky was filled with a terrible flash. Everyone was startled to see glacial ice melting a hundred meters below in an instant of blinding illumination. A fraction of a moment later the entire world went blank.
+Kyle and the others summoned up a direct link to the ship's telemetry and studied the graphs and tables which each perceived and understood in their own way. Several members of the Astronautics group had dropped out of the slow, real-world time most had chosen for the event. There was absolute silence as the observers studied the data with growing alarm.
+"I am experiencing a cascade failure of the magnetic containment system." Carlos continued calmly. "The magnetic field appears to have entered an unstable state, probably a result of interaction with the high-temperature plasma exhaust. Attempting to power down the main engine."
+Abruptly the sky was filled with a terrible flash. Several people were startled to see glacial ice melting a hundred meters below in an instant of blinding illumination a fraction of a moment before the entire environ went blank.
 "We've lost all telemetry," Mingmei's voice was quiet, stunned. "The test vehicle and monitoring probes appear to have been destroyed. Failure of the anti-matter containment system is suspected to have been the cause. Our pilot's consciousness on board the craft has been lost. His backup has been activated and is assimilating what memory engrams we received before the explosion."
-"My god!"
-"Bad news, people!" Marguerite suddenly stood among them.
-"No shit, Sherlock," Kyle glared at her.
-"Don't be a jerk," Marguerite snapped back. An image of Greenland, as seen from near earth orbit, appeared in front of them. A large explosion was clearly visible, a well defined shock wave spreading away from it like ripples in a pond. A classic mushroom cloud reached high into the stratosphere.
-"I took this and similar images off three satellites, including one I think belongs to Double Eye. Do you think we could have possibly been any less discrete?"
-"Shit!" Prime1 muttered.
-"Sorry I snapped at you, Marguerite." Kyle gazed at the image. "You've hacked into Double Eye's systems? I'm impressed."
+"My god," Michael murmured.
+"Bad news, guys." Marguerite suddenly stood among them.
+"No shit, Sherlock," Kyle began heatedly. "Drop by just to tell us that?" his voice dripped with sarcasm.
+Marguerite shook her head. "I don't mean the failure of the test flight. Authorities in the Physical haven't had time to react to the news yet, but I've pulled images of the explosion off of three different satellites, including one I think belongs to Double Eye."
+Suddenly a large image of Greenland, as seen from near earth orbit, appeared in front of them. A large explosion was clearly visible, along with a well defined shock wave spreading away from it like ripples in a pond, and a classic mushroom cloud reaching high into the stratosphere above.
+"Shit!" Prime muttered.
+"You've hacked into Double Eye's systems?" Kyle grinned, clearly impressed.
 "Lower level surveillance only," Marguerite replied. "Their higher encryption uses the same sort of quantum-coupled one-time pads we do. Theoretically impenetrable."
-"That blast must have been the equivalent of at least a two hundred megaton nuclear explosion," Michael said.
-Prime1 pulled up a schematic of the flier. "We need to figure out why anti-matter containment failed."
-"We've got more pressing problems," Marguerite told them. "Even as we speak these pictures are being displayed on monitoring stations at the weather service, the UN Wildlife and Ecological Rehabilitation Organization, and Double Eye. Your guess is as good as mine as to how long it will be before a human being sees these images."
-"Were there any casualties?" Prime1 asked quietly.
-"Carlos has been restored from backup," Kyle shrugged. "All he lost were a few hours of memories."
-"I mean on the ground, outside of the Community, in the Physical."
-"Not that have been reported," Marguerite replied. "But at least four commercial ships were close enough to see the flash, perhaps even be affected by it."
-"Fallout won't be a problem," Michael commented. "If no one received a lethal dose from the initial flash then no one will be hurt."
-Kyle rubbed his eyes. "This is going to get ugly. We've just poked the authorities in the eye with a very big stick."
-Prime1 nodded sadly. "I've got to get back to the Astronautics group. They've just had a terrible setback and are going to need all the support they can get."
-"I'll join you," Michael said. "I want to take a look at how that containment system could fail."
+"That blast must have been the equivalent of at least a two hundred megaton nuclear explosion," Michael said. "We've got to figure out why the anti-matter containment system failed."
+"We've got more pressing problems," Marguerite told them. "Even as we speak these images are being displayed on monitoring stations at the weather service, the UN Wildlife and Ecological Rehabilitation Organization, and Double Eye. Your guess is as good as mine as to how long it will be before a human being sees these images, or has them brought to their attention."
+"Were there any casualties on the ground?" Prime asked quietly.
+"Not that have been reported," Marguerite replied. "But at least three commercial ships were close enough to see the flash, perhaps even be affected by it."
+"Fallout won't be a problem," Michael commented. "If no one received a lethal dose from the initial flash then no one will be hurt. That flash would have been profoundly radiant and dangerous, however."
+Kyle shook his head. "Whether or not anyone besides Carlos was injured or killed by this, I still have the sinking feeling we just poked the powers that be in the eye with a very big stick."
+"That's putting it mildly," Marguerite replied. "All hell is going to break loose, and you can bet the authorities are going to assume the worst. I hope to god they don't connect this with us."
+Prime shook his head sadly. "I've got to get back to the Astronautics group. They've just had a terrible setback and are going to need all the support they can get."
+"I'll join you," Michael said. "I want to take a look at how that containment system could fail. The vehicle was performing so well otherwise. If we can figure out the design flaw and fix it the idea should still be viable."
 "While you guys troubleshoot I'm going to coordinate with the other members of the Strategy Group," Kyle looked around at his friends. "I imagine our priorities for nano shipments are going to be juggled around just a bit."
-"I'm going to try and track the political and tactical fallout of this disaster," Marguerite added. "I'm assuming there will be a strategy meeting about this?"
-"Maybe just a quick mind-chat," Kyle replied. "Some kind of idea exchange and coordination in any event. I think we're all going to be too busy for a formal get together, with full sensory environ and all that."
-"Right," Marguerite's eyes widened. "Oh, fuck! Two of the world's ABM systems have switched into high-alert mode. Automated systems must detected the blast. Damn!"
-Prime1 sighed. "So much for any notion of sneaking away."
-"But there's a routine satellite launch in a few days! I thought we'd worked out the radar signature for flying the escape craft in formation-"
-"No way to do that now," Prime1 replied. "Two of the world's powers are already watching the skies. Once a human being looks at an image of that blast, all three will be on heightened alert."
+"I'm going to try and track the political and tactical fallout of this little mishap," Marguerite added. "I'm assuming there will be a strategy meeting about this?"
+"Maybe just a quick mind-chat," Kyle replied. "Some kind of idea exchange and coordination in any event. I have a feeling we might all be a little too busy for a formal get together, with full sensory environ and all that. The temporal slowdown is going to be too costly."
+"Right," Marguerite's eyes widened. "Oh, bloody fucking hell! Two of the world's ABM systems have switched into high-alert mode. Automated systems must have noticed the blast. Damn!"
+Prime quietly swore as well. "So much for any notion of sneaking away."
+Kyle blinked. "But there's a routine satellite launch in three weeks! I thought we'd worked out the radar signature for flying the escape craft in formation-"
+"No way that will work now," Prime replied. "Two of the world's powers are already watching the skies. Once a human being looks at an image of that blast, all three will be on heightened alert."
 "Any launch will be very closely monitored, routine or not," Michael explained. "A gnat couldn't fly in the wake of a rocket without drawing attention, much less something the size of an escape flier."
 "So for all intents and purposes, the Earth is under planet wide lockdown?"
-"As far as spaceflight is concerned, yes. We might be able to make a few test flights in the shadow of some commercial airliners, but anything in the sky that even vaguely resembling a missile's flight profile will be under the microscope."
-"Not that it matters," Prime1's voice was grim. "Without a goddamn flier that doesn't explode we aren't going anywhere, anyway."
+"As far as spaceflight is concerned, yes. We can probably make a few test flights in the shadow of some commercial airliners, but anything in the sky that even vaguely resembling a missile's flight profile will be under the microscope."
+"Not that it matters," Prime's voice was grim. "Without a goddamn flier that doesn't explode in flight we aren't going anywhere."
 
 
 
@@ -2581,47 +2579,47 @@
 -Norman Cousins, 20th Century C.E.
 Thursday, October 11, 2057, 4:30 PM Chicago Time
 Metadate: 2.581-3:98:517 kD New Epoch
-"Yes?" Katy blinked when she saw Robert frowning at her through the telephone's small screen. "What's the matter?"
-"How's your traffic analysis program coming along?"
-"Another hour or two and I'll be ready to make a couple of test runs," Katy replied. "If all goes well we should start getting results by morning."
-"That's too long. We need to identify these people tonight."
-Katy shook her head in irritation. "Robert, I'm using the fastest hardware available to the Bureau. I've stepped on just about every toe there is to step on, and sidelined several ongoing, important cases to get the computer time needed to do this. I simply cannot crunch numbers any faster. Tomorrow will have to do."
+"Yes?" Katy blinked as Robert frowned at her from the telephone's screen. "What's the matter, Robert?"
+"How is your traffic analysis program coming along?"
+"Another hour or two and I'll be ready to make a couple of test runs," Katy replied. "If it works correctly the first time through we should start getting results by morning."
+"That's too long. We need to know who these people are tonight."
+Katy shook her head in irritation. "Robert, I'm using the best, not to mention fastest, hardware available to the Bureau. I've stepped on just about every toe there is to step on, and sidelined several ongoing, important cases to get the computer time needed to get anything sensible out of this data. I simply cannot crunch numbers any faster than this. Tomorrow will have to be soon enough."
 "What would you say to unlimited access to a seventy meganode super cluster?"
-Katy sat up straighter. "I'd ask why the hell you didn't offer me that when my team began writing the software this morning. Unless your cluster isn't compatible with the Leothone® Pulsix VI operating system?"
-"According to my techs we can emulate any operating system and hardware you need. Your software can run on our systems unchanged."
-"Why do I get the feeling Double Eye has done this sort of thing before? Running FBI in-house software on their own, much faster equipment?"
+Katy blinked. "I wish you had offered that when my team began writing the software this morning. Unless your supercluster is running the IBM Pulsix VI operating system?"
+"According to my techs we can emulate the software and hardware you need, for your software to run unchanged," Robert interrupted her.
+"So, why do I get the feeling Double Eye has done this sort of thing before? Running FBI in-house software on their own, much faster equipment?"
 Robert shrugged. "I'm not going to belabor the obvious. I gave you several one-time pads a few days ago."
 "Yes," Katy nodded.
-"Set up your telephone to use pad number forty-seven. We're going to exchange encryption keys for a secure link."
+"Set up your telephone to use pad number forty seven. We're going to exchange encryption keys for a secure link."
 "The link is already secure. Double so if we encrypt it with the one-time pad. Why on earth do we need another level of encryption on top-"
 "I really don't have time to explain," Robert told her. "Is your line secure?"
 Katy pulled out her datapad and fed the one-time pad to her telephone. Tapping a few keys, she instructed it to begin encoding the signal using the one-time pad Robert had provided. The screen faded to static, then reappeared.
-"All traffic is now being encoded using one-time pad number forty-seven."
-"Good. Now delete one-time pad number forty-seven from your file store." Robert waited until Katy nodded compliance. "I'm sending your equipment a series of additional encryption keys."
-The telephone beeped several times. "Negotiation complete," Katy reported. "We're even more secure. What is it you wanted to say?"
-Robert's face vanished, replaced by a satellite image of the earth. What little of the northern Atlantic was not shrouded in cloud glinted blue and silver in evening moonlight. "This event was recorded by several satellites about two hours ago."
-There was a stabbing flash, somewhere along the southeastern coast of Greenland. With growing horror Katy watched as the fireball spread and grew, forming a giant plume of vapor which took on a very distinctive and familiar mushroom shape.
-"My god," she whispered. "An atomic bomb?"
+"All traffic is now being encoded using one-time pad number forty seven."
+"Good. Now delete one-time pad number forty seven from your datapad," he waited until Katy nodded compliance. "I'm sending your equipment a series of encryption keys."
+The telephone beeped several times. "Negotiation complete," she reported. "We're even more secure. What is it you wanted to say?"
+Robert's face vanished, replaced by a satellite image of the earth. Much of the northern Atlantic was shrouded in cloud. That which wasn't glinted beneath her, gold and red in an evening sun. "This event was recorded by several satellites about two hours ago."
+Suddenly there was a flash, somewhere along the southeastern coast of Greenland. With growing horror Katy watched as the fireball spread and grew, forming a giant plume of vapor above which took on a very distinctive and familiar mushroom shape.
+"My god," she whispered. "An atomic attack?"
 "No," Robert replied. "There doesn't appear to be any fallout or other characteristics of a nuclear event, beyond the force of the initial explosion. We think it was probably a meteor, entering the atmosphere at a steep angle from the north and exploding a few hundred meters above the surface."
 "You're certain of this?"
-"Not entirely. Initial estimates indicate that the explosion was in the two to three hundred megaton range. We won't know until we've had an opportunity to survey the site of the detonation and do a more thorough analysis of the resulting shock wave and seismic activity. However, the explosion, while initially quite radiant, was clean. Very clean, as a matter of fact."
+"Not entirely. Initial estimates are that the explosion was in the two to three hundred megaton range. We won't know until we've had an opportunity to survey the site of the detonation and do a more thorough analysis of the resulting shock wave and seismic activity. However, the explosion, while initially quite radiant, was clean. Very clean, as a matter of fact."
 "Too clean?" Katy asked.
 "Cleaner, and more powerful, than any nation's nuclear arsenal is currently capable of producing, yes.  Had this meteor been a little larger and impacted the surface prior to exploding it might well have meant a multi-year winter and the end of civilization."
-Katy said nothing, stunned.
-"However, we can make use of this event to move our own investigation forward." Robert sounded positively cheerful. 
-Katy shuddered. "Let me guess. We blame the explosion on the people we're trying to track down."
-"Possibly. Probably. But for now, any talk of a meteor is absolutely top secret. We will refer to this event as an explosion of indeterminate cause."
-Katy swallowed hard. If the powers that be intended to use a natural event of this magnitude as cover for some operation, things could be expected to get very rough. "Have we have been contacted with some kind of demand to release those we've arrested?"
+Katy was stunned, saying nothing.
+"However, we can make use of this event to move our own investigation forward," Robert added brightly.
+Katy shuddered. "Let me guess. We blame the explosion on whoever it is we're chasing."
+"Possibly. That's an option we want to keep open. For now, any talk of a meteor is absolutely top secret. We will refer to this event as an explosion of indeterminate cause."
+Katy swallowed hard. If the powers that be intended to use a natural event of this magnitude as cover for some operation, things could be expected to get very rough indeed. "Wouldn't we have been contacted with some kind of demand for release of those we've arrested?"
 The image of the explosion vanished as Roberts face reappeared on the screen. He shook his head. "Not yet, but I'd be surprised if we didn't hear something within the next day." He winked. "Now you understand the urgency. Double Eye has authorized us to use as much of their computing resources as necessary to begin finding and arresting these people, before they decide to detonate one of their devices in a populated center. Our case has taken top priority, everywhere."
 Katy groaned. "Which means we'll have everyone and their brother fumbling through our work."
-"No. Double Eye understands the inefficiencies of competing bureaucracies getting in one another's way. My superiors have no tolerance for competitive infighting between departments or institutions, particularly in the face of this kind of overt threat. You and I will continue as before. The only difference is that everyone, at every level, has been ordered to render us any assistance and resources we request."
-Katy let her breath out slowly. "That's quite the directive. Okay! As I said, the software will be ready for testing in another hour or two. With the kind of resources you've described-did you say a seventy meganode super cluster?" Robert nodded, and Katy grinned in spite of herself. "Well then, with luck we should be making another batch of arrests by tonight."
-"Excellent," Robert smiled. "I'm on a plane to Chicago now. We'll coordinate this entire project from your location."
-"I'll see you a little later then." Katy reached forward to sever the connection.
-"Oh! One other thing, Katy. That offer for employment I made? My superiors have asked me to reiterated it. It seems you've impressed them even more than you impressed me."
-"Thanks, but let's put off any discussion of my career until after this case is solved. Right now we need to stay focused on the task at hand."
+"No," Robert replied. "Double Eye understands the inefficiencies of competing bureaucracies getting in one another's way in a misguided, competitive effort to be the first to a prize. My superiors have no tolerance of such shenanigans, particularly in the face of this kind of overt, nuclear threat. You and I will continue as before. The only difference is that everyone, at every level, has been ordered to render us any assistance and resources we request."
+Katy let her breath out slowly. "That's quite some directive. Very well, as I said, the software will be ready for testing in another hour or two. With the kind of resources you've described-did you say a seventy meganode super cluster?" Robert nodded, and Katy grinned in spite of herself. "With luck, we'll be able to start making arrests tonight."
+"Excellent," Robert smiled. "I'm on a plane back to Chicago now. We'll coordinate this entire project from your location."
+Katy nodded. "I'll see you a little later then." She reached forward to sever the connection.
+"Oh, and one other thing, Katy. That offer for employment I made? My superiors have asked me to reiterated it. It seems you've impressed them even more than you impressed me."
+Katy smiled once again. "Let's put off any discussion of my career until after this case is solved, shall we? I don't need that kind of distraction right now."
 "Spoken like a true professional. I'll see you in little over an hour."
-"See you then." The screen faded in a burst of static, then resolved once again, displaying the ubiquitous FBI logo. Katy's heart pounded with a mixture of exhilaration and anticipation. Her career prospects were looking very good, if she could get this case resolved, and keep Robert's excesses and propensity for shooting from the hip contained. Her elation evaporated as her mind replayed the sight of a massive explosion melting a large portion of the coast of Greenland. She shuddered: between two and three hundred megatons, with little or no fallout. The threat was horrifying, even though Katy was uncertain as to whether it stemmed from the subversive technologists they sought, from the operatives and politicians who might create such an attack to justify some equally terrible response, or from the uncaring universe itself, so grand and so utterly indifferent to human life.
+"See you then, Robert," Katy said, severing the connection. The screen faded in a burst of static, then resolved once again, displaying the ubiquitous FBI logo. She shuddered as her mind replayed that fearful image of a massive explosion that seemed to literally melt the coast of Greenland. Two to three hundred megatons. Little or no fallout. The threat was clear, and horrifying, though she was deeply uncertain whether the threat was from the subversive technologists they sought, from the politicians who would disguise such an event as an attack to justify some equally horrific response, or from the uncaring universe itself, so grand and so utterly indifferent to human life.
 
 
 
@@ -2633,74 +2631,72 @@
 -Somerset Maugham, C.E. 1919
 Saturday, October 13, 2057, 12:30 PM Chicago Time
 Metadate: 2.636-4:00:000 kD New Epoch
-Doctor Nolen, the Original, presided over his world feeling something akin to contentment. They had shunned him, had filtered him from their very lives, had cheated him of his work, of the recognition he deserved. They had made him an outcast in the community he had founded, a community whose very existence was predicated upon his research. Now they were his subjects, trussed up in their virtual forms, in various stages of simulated vivisection. Most were frozen snapshots-he didn't have the computational power to run them all at once-but one lay before him, his skull cut away in a perfect circle above the ears, revealing the familiar gray folds of a human brain.
+Doctor Nolen, the Original, presided over his world, feeling something akin to contentment. They had shunned him, had filtered him from their very lives, had cheated him of his work, of the recognition he deserved. They had made him an outcast in the community he had founded, whose very existence had been predicated upon his research.
+Now they were his subjects, trussed up in their virtual forms, in various stages of virtual vivisection. Most were frozen snapshots-he didn't have the computational power to run them all at once-but one lay before him, his virtual skull cut away in a perfect circle above the ears, revealing the familiar, gray, convoluted form of the human brain.
 "This experiment will explore the cognitive capabilities of a subject whose higher linguistic skills have been intermeshed with his pain receptors," Doctor Nolen spoke as if reciting into an unseen recorder.
-"You evil fuck!" Kyle desperately twisted against the straps holding him to the table. "You have no right to do this!"
-"On the contrary, student, I have every right." Doctor Nolen's voice was flat, his face without expression.
-Kyle shrieked as his body was wracked with sudden, uncontrollable spasms. He convulsed against his restraints, his head slamming repeatedly against the table. Doctor Nolen watched his writhing student with dead eyes, idly curious whether or not the repeated blows to the subject's open skull would jar his brain loose and send it rolling across the lab.
-"Don't take this personally, Kyle," Doctor Nolen continued calmly. "Your suffering isn't solely to give me pleasure, though I admit that is one of the perks of this research. No, your life, your existence, serves the noble pursuit of scientific discovery. Together we will learn if, and how, the cognitive mind can adapt when the use of language results in unspeakable pain. Every time you think a coherent thought that makes use of vocabulary, of grammar, or even a grunt from the most primal portion of your speech center, you will suffer." He paused as Kyle's screams grew louder, more desperate. "It will be fascinating to see if you can evolve a method of thinking that doesn't involve language. And if you cannot, documenting the onset of your madness will have its own rewards."
-Marguerite winked into existence. Her face went white as she looked around in horror. Several bodies, in various stages of mutilation and dismemberment, were draped about the environ. "What the hell are you doing, you sick son of a bitch?"
-"Shut up, slut!" Doctor Nolen spoke quietly, not bothering to turn around. "I haven't given you permission to operate. Node, suspend the running copy of Marguerite."
+"You evil fuck!" Kyle screamed. "You have no right to do this!"
+"On the contrary, student, I have every right." Doctor Nolen raised his hand, clenched it into a fist, and laughed.
+Kyle screamed.
+"Don't take this personally, Kyle," Doctor Nolen said, grinning. "Your suffering doesn't serve only to give me pleasure. It is in the noble pursuit of scientific discovery that I've cross-wired your cortex to your pain center. Every time you think a coherent thought which accesses your language center you will suffer. It will be interesting to see if you can evolve a method of thinking that doesn't involve language, before the pain drives you mad." He laughed again as Kyle's screams grew louder, more desperate.
+Marguerite winked into existence. Her face went white, then crimson with rage as she looked about her in horror. Several forms were suspended about the environ, in various stages of mutilation and dismemberment. "What the hell are you doing, you sick son of a bitch?"
+"Silence, slut!" Doctor Nolen commanded. "I haven't given you leave to operate. Node, suspend the running copy of Marguerite."
 NODE> No copy of Marguerite is currently running.
-"You vile, wretched excuse for a human being!" Marguerite felt her stomach heave. Fearing she was about to vomit, she shut down all of her simulated physiological reactions.
-Doctor Nolen turned. "Do I have the pleasure of addressing the real Marguerite L'Beau? How nice of you to stop by, after so many kilocircadians of neglect. To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"
-"The Community suspended your access to all of the ontological utilities, including those for replication and cloning of sapients. How did you acquire copies of myself and the others?"
+"You vile bastard!" Marguerite felt her stomach heave. She shut down all of her simulated physiological reactions, fearing she was about to vomit with disgust.
+Doctor Nolen smiled, pointed wiping his bloody hands on his white jacket. "Do I have the pleasure of addressing the real Marguerite L'Beau? How nice of you to stop by, after so many kilocircadians of neglect. To what do I owe this unaccustomed visit?"
+"Doctor Nolen, the Community voted and suspended your access to all of the ontological utilities, including those for replication and cloning of sapients. How did you acquire copies of myself and the others?"
 "My dear erstwhile colleague, you and the rest of that collection of ungrateful wretches you call the 'Community' have forgotten one basic principle of any Turing complete machine."
-"What basic principle?"
-"The ability of any Turing complete machine to fully emulate in software any other Turing complete machine. I have created a virtual node from scratch, including all of the necessary utilities for me to continue my work without the irritating safeguards you've created to protect individual autonomy. In short, my dear ex-colleague, neither you nor anyone else in the so-called Community can keep a man from his work. Node, suspend experimental subject three and activate experimental subject number two."
-The whimpering figure of Kyle froze, while the bound form of Marguerite awoke with a despairing shriek.
-"I think you will find this subject of interest," Doctor Nolen strode briskly across the room to the side of Marguerite's copy.
-"Stop this! You unspeakably vile-"
-"Don't be childish" Doctor Nolen peeled back the copy's eyelid, checking her pupils with a professional air.  "I assure you, all of my experiments are conducted with the upmost scientific rigor." He viciously slapped the bound copy across the face. "We have a guest, Subject Number Two, and your snivelling is upsetting her." Marguerite's face twisted with fury as her copy struggled to swallow her wimpers. "Now tell me, to what do I owe this extraordinary visit?"
-Marguerite's voice was strangled with impotent rage. "Fuck you, Nolen. You think you're invulnerable?" She tried desperately to maintain her composure despite the sounds of her weeping copy. "Everyone knows you're the one who tipped off the police to Kyle, that it was you who cost him his body. I'll make certain everyone knows about this, this . . ." she gestured at the carnage around them, ". . . this obscenity."
-"How touching," Doctor Nolen began peeling his victim's scalp away from her head. "You don't visit me for hundreds of kilocircadians, then come just to parrot another of Prime's pathetic diatribes on ethics?"
-"No," Marguerite spoke through clenched teeth. "I'm here to tell you that you're cutoff. There will be no further communications between you and the rest of the Community. Ever."
+"Which is?"
+"The ability of any Turing complete machine to fully emulate in software any other Turing complete machine. I have created a virtual node from scratch, including all of the necessary utilities for me to continue my work without the irritating safeguards you've chosen to put on individual autonomy. In short, my dear ex-colleague, neither you nor anyone else in the so-called community can keep a man from his work. Node, suspend experimental subject three and activate experimental subject number two."
+The whimpering figure of Kyle abruptly froze, while the bound form of Marguerite suddenly awoke with a despairing scream.
+"Please stick around, my dear. I believe you'll secretly enjoy watching this." Doctor Nolen's smile was vicious as he strode briskly across the room to the side of Marguerite's suffering copy.
+"Stop this! You have no right!"
+"Phooey," Doctor Nolen leered at her as he slapped the bound copy and unbuckled his belt. "Try and stop me, bitch!" He laughed as he dropped his trousers and viciously drove his, obviously exaggerated, manhood into the copy's helpless form. Marguerite's face twisted with fury as her copy screamed in horrified pain. "Now tell me," he continued, as though nothing untoward were going on, "to what do I owe this extraordinary visit?"
+Marguerite's voice was strangled with impotent rage. "You are aware of the arrests?" she asked coldly. "Fifteen thousand people taken in the last day and a half, all over the world."
+"And what should I care about fifteen thousand ungrateful jackasses meeting their destiny at the hands of our illustrious law enforcement agencies?"
+Marguerite longed to tear the skin from Nolen's leering face. It was only the knowledge that stopping him, much less causing him harm, was fundamentally impossible that restrained her. She refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her lose control, no matter how vile his behavior became. "I know you think you're invulnerable, Doctor Nolen," she hissed, trying desperately not to react to the sounds of her weeping copy. "Everyone knows that the anonymous tip to the police that cost Kyle his body came from you. No one would be at all surprised to find you've committed other acts of betrayal, above and beyond this," she gestured at the carnage around them, "this obscenity."
+"How droll," Doctor Nolen replied. "You don't visit me for hundreds of kilocircadians, then come just to parrot another of my copy's pathetic diatribes on ethics?"
+"No," Marguerite said. "I'm here to tell you you're cutoff. There will be no further communications between you and the Community. Goodbye."
 Marguerite shimmered and vanished.
-Doctor Nolen's smiled slightly. "Your copy believes she can keep me down," his tone was matter-of-fact as he finished peeling back the woman's scalp and began working her skull loose. "She can't, of couse. None of them can. Autonomy is absolute, after all." He set the top of her skull gently beside her and peered at the exposed folds of her brain. "Well, for some of us, anyway. Now where were we? Oh yes." He froze the copy of Marguerite and turned his attention back to the convulsing, wimpering form of Kyle. "Now, my student pet, how are we doing. Ready for the next stage of the experiment, are we?"
-The copy of Kyle froze, then vanished. Doctor Nolen watched helplessly as the others followed. Instruments of torture and restraint stood suddenly empty. A full system check confirmed that every copy of every sapient being had been removed not just from the environ, but from every Node in Nolen's cluster. The doctor stood alone, confusion giving way to rage as he realized what Marguerite and the others had done.
-
-"That fucking jerk won't ever do anything like that again," Kyle was a livid as Marguerite. They sat together at a virtual bar, each with drinks clenched in their hands. "We deleted the unauthorized copies he was running and purged any residuals that might have remained on any of his Nodes. It never occurred to me there would be residual copies of ourselves on that old prototype Node had in his lab."
-Marguerite took a shakey swallow of her beer and shook her head. "This isn't enough. Nolen is right. As long as he has access to a Node, no matter what restrictions we put on him he can design, build, and emulate his own Node architecture in software and then do whatever he likes. He obviously doesn't care how much speedup it costs him. He'll go on committing these kinds of atrocities forever. If we let him."
-"I know," Kyle lifted his beer and held in near his chest, like a small, golden shield. "How can we possibly stop him? Offload into the physical and smash his Node? Or Nodes, rather. He still has the cluster he built a couple months ago."
-Michael sat down at the bar to Marguerite's right. "I'd like to know something. How was he able to emulate something as sophisticated as a virtual Autonomous Node at a sufficient speedup to have accomplished what he obviously did in so short a time."
-"He has a twelve-node cluster of gen one Nodes," Marguerite told him.
-"Eleven Nodes, actually" Kyle sipped his beer. "His twelfth Node was off-line."
+"You can't keep me down, you ungrateful bitch!" Doctor Nolen shouted after her. "None of you can," he muttered, pulling up his trousers as he turned his back on the weeping copy of Marguerite. Smiling, he turned his attention once again to the writhing, whimpering form of Kyle. "Now, my student pet, how are we doing. Ready for the next stage of the experiment, are we?"
+Abruptly the copy of Kyle froze, then vanished, followed immediately by the others. Doctor Nolen found himself standing amidst his various devices of torment and destruction, suddenly alone. His screams and obscenities were swallowed by the empty world around him, unheard and uncaring.
+#
+"We deleted the unauthorized copies he was running," Kyle was saying. "And purged any residuals that might have been remaining on one of his nodes. I never would have guessed he would have been able to reconstruct us from the original, first generation node he had in his lab."
+Marguerite took a long, deep swallow of beer and shook her head. "It isn't enough. Nolen is right. As long as he has access to a Node, no matter what restrictions we put on him he can design, build, and emulate his own Node architecture in software and then do whatever he likes. He'll almost certainly continue committing these kinds of atrocities. We simply can't allow him to to ever do anything like this again!"
+"I agree," Kyle said. "But how do you propose we stop him? Offload into the physical and smash his Node? Or Nodes, rather. He still has the cluster he built a couple months ago."
+"Pardon me for interrupting," Michael said, sitting down at the bar to Marguerite's right. "But what I would like to know is how he's able to emulate anything at a sufficient speedup to have been able to accomplish what he obviously had in so short a time."
+"He has a twelve-node cluster of gen one Nodes," Marguerite began.
+"Actually, only eleven Nodes," Kyle interrupted. "His twelfth Node was off-line."
 "Offline?" Michael asked.
-Kyle took another swig. "Offline. MIA. Nowhere to be seen, or at least pinged. Believe me, I stripped every piece of equipment I could access down to the assembly level."
-"How do you know he didn't have one stashed away, disconnected from the net?"
-"I can't possibly know that," Kyle's voice betrayed his frustration. "Not without going there in person. If he did do something like that, he'll have to offload into the Physical himself and reconnect it. We'll know the instant he tries anything like that. Marguerite, I used your knowledge engrams, so I'm reasonably confident I didn't leave any stone unturned. I've locked him out of the lowest levels of his own operating system. He won't be emulating any new Nodes, or making any copies of anyone on that platform, ever again. Not without rewriting the entire operating system from scratch."
-"Which, given enough time, he will."
-"Probably. And time is something we have plenty of. Oh, by the way, I did confirm the jerk has been using my stolen gen three Node."
-Marguerite snorted. "As if there were any doubt."
+Kyle shrugged. "MIA. Nowhere to be seen, or at least pinged. Believe me, I stripped every piece of equipment he had online down to the assembly level, and Marguerite, as I was using your knowledge engrams, I'm confident I didn't leave any stone unturned. He won't be making copies of any of us, ever again. Oh, by the way, I did confirm it. The bastard is using my stolen gen three Node."
 "Did you tell him about the upcoming communications blackout?" Michael asked.
-"I told him we were severing communication."
-"But not why," Michael prodded gently. "So he'll think its punishment by the Community for his activities."
-"I sure as hell hope so," Marguerite spat. "It's the least he deserves!"
-"Well," Kyle said. "Until our nano constructors have finished building our autonomous network, none of us are going to be doing much talking to one another. Quick bursts of knowledge and memory engrams at best, for five very long days we can ill afford to lose."
-"It can't be helped," Marguerite looked relieved at the change in subject. "Even this little conference is dangerous. The authorities are using an amazingly sophisticated traffic analysis approach to find us, and with fewer and fewer of us online, those of us left are more and more vulnerable. We can't afford to use the Internet as a conduit any longer. Damn! I wish your nanites could work faster."
-"So do I," Kyle agreed.
-"I'm just glad the Networking Group's refinements have paid off," Michael said. "Imagine what a fix we'd be in if their original projections had remained true."
-"Two months just to deploy? Hundreds of tons of nano, molecular stock, and catalyst? It would have been a nightmare. As it is I've had to divert almost every liter of nanokinetic resources we can produce. Five days to wire the entire world is one hell of an improvement, but it's still a long time to be out of touch."
-"It's also putting everyone else's projects a week behind schedule."
-Marguerite shrugged. "Who cares? Once it's done the authorities will have no way to track us. That will buy us more time than we're losing now. Besides, we'll have the added benefit of much lower interactive time deficits than we have now, not to mention transload times of seconds rather than hours."
-"It fixes our nano shipping issues as well," Kyle added. "We're not just wiring the world for information, we're laying conduits for catalytic solution, nano, and molecular stock at the same time."
-"No more nano shortages?" Michael smiled.
-Kyle grinned. "Hopefully no more bottlenecks of any kind, at least when it comes to nanokinetics."
-"On that cheerful note, I'm ending this conference." Marguerite said. "See everyone in three or four kilocircadians."
-"Actually, Michael and I will be able to talk in about six hundred circadians," Kyle grinned. "Key strategy groups are getting preference in the construction schedule. You should be able to touch bases with Prime in a day or so as well. Unfortunately the transpacific link won't be up until close to the end, so while we won't be totally isolated, we'll have to work as independent groups for most of the week."
+Marguerite shrugged. "I told him we were severing communication. I didn't tell him why."
+"So he'll think its punishment by the Community for his activities," Michael said.
+"I hope so," Marguerite spat. "It's the least he deserves!"
+"Well," Kyle said. "Until our nano constructors have finished creating the superconductive fiber links of our autonomous network, none of us are going to be doing much talking to one another. Quick bursts of knowledge and memory engrams at best, for five very long days we can ill afford to lose."
+"It can't be helped," Marguerite said. "Even this little conference is dangerous. They are using an amazingly sophisticated traffic analysis approach to find us, and with fewer and fewer of us online the vulnerability will only grow. We can't afford to interact with one another using the Internet as a conduit any longer. I just wish your nanites could build our autonomous network faster, Kyle."
+"So do I," Kyle replied. "I'm just glad the Networking Group's refinements have paid off."
+"I think we all are," Marguerite agreed. "Imagine what a fix we'd be in if their original projections had remained true."
+"Two months just to deploy? Hundreds of tons of nano, molecular stock, and catalyst? It would have been a nightmare. As it is I've had to divert almost every liter of nano constructor, molecular stock and catalytic solution we can produce to this. Five days to wire the entire world is one hell of an improvement, but it's still a long time to be out of touch."
+"Once it's done the authorities will have no way to track us," Marguerite pointed out. "Plus, the added benefit that we'll have much lower interactive time deficits than we're used to, and transload times will go from hours to seconds. If we can just hold it together for a week, I think we'll find that this entire thing benefits us."
+"Not those who've already fallen," Michael pointed out.
+"On that cheerful note, I'm ending this conference." Marguerite replied. "See everyone in three or four kilocircadians."
+"Actually, Michael and I will be able to talk in about six hundred circadians," Kyle grinned. "Key strategy groups are getting preference in the construction schedule. You should be able to touch bases with Prime in a day or so as well. Unfortunately the transpacific link won't be up until close to the end, so while we won't be totally isolated, we'll have to work as independent groups for three or four kilocircadians."
 Marguerite nodded. "I've already integrated your knowledge engram. Good work, Kyle. As usual, you've pulled off a miracle. Talk to you guys in five days."
 Kyle nodded and waved as she vanished.
 "What do you think?" Michael asked.
-"About Marguerite? She's freaked as hell about what she saw in Nolen's environ. Hell, so am I. It was all I could do to keep from deleting the fucker from his own Node. What he was doing to our copies-I've never been so close to committing murder."
-"I think you could both use a good counseller, Kyle. No one should have to confront what you two have. But I wasn't talking about Marguerite. I was referring to Doctor Nolen."
-"Oh, him." Kyle's face hardened. "I think Marguerite's right. Nolen is a psychopathic prick and a menace to the Community. If Prime hadn't insisted on having a link established to Nolen's house I would have left him off the new grid entirely."
-"What he has done is beyond reprehensible. You implied you could have deleted him from his own Node. Just how good is our access?"
-"It's absolute. The idiot doesn't have a clue about system security. He's using my gen three node as a dumb computer to emulate his modified virtual node, while running himself on that eleven node gen-one cluster he has. Neither the virtual node he's running, nor the cluster, have any of the gen-two or gen-three failsafes. If he were hosting himself on the gen-three node he'd be untouchable, but as it stands-"
-"As it stands, we have the power to exile him into the Physical, where he won't be able to do the kind of harm he's been doing here."
-"Yes," Kyle nodded enthusiastically. "I say we kick the bastard out and smash every Node in his possession."
-"We won't need to damage any property," Michael replied. "Prime provided me with a straightforward architectural modification that is fully compatible with our biological brains and will result in an offloaded mind being incapable of reentering anesthetic coma."
-"A prerequisite to onload," Kyle's eyes widened with understanding. "A conscious brain cannot onload. If he can't drop into a coma, he can't return to the Virtual. His very mind will become fundamentally incompatible with the onload procedure."
+"About Marguerite? She's a little shaken up at what she saw in Nolen's environ. Hell, who wouldn't be? But she'll be fine."
+"No, I mean Doctor Nolen."
+"I think Marguerite's right," Kyle replied.  "Nolen's a psychopathic prick who's a menace to the Community. If Prime hadn't insisted on having a link established to Nolen's house I would have left him off the new grid entirely."
+"What he has done is beyond reprehensible. Tell me, do we have access to his low level Node functions?"
+Kyle nodded. "The idiot still doesn't understand security. How do you think Marguerite was able to slip into his private environ so easily? He's using my gen three node as a dumb computer to emulate his modified virtual node, while running himself on that eleven node gen-one cluster he has. Neither the virtual node he's running, nor the cluster, have any of the gen-two or gen-three failsafes. If he were hosting himself on the gen-three node he'd be untouchable, but as it stands-"
+"As it stands, we do have the power to exile him into the physical, where he won't be able to do the kind of harm he's been doing here."
+"Yes," Kyle said. "My vote is to exile the bastard and smash every Node in his possession."
+"We won't need to damage any property," Michael replied. "Prime kindly provided me with a straightforward Mental Architecture Modification that is fully compatible with our biological brains and will result in an offloaded mind being incapable of reentering anesthetic coma."
+"A prerequisite to onload," Kyle nodded with understanding. "A conscious mind cannot onload. His very mind would be fundamentally incompatible with the onload procedure."
 "Precisely."
+"Elegant," Kyle said. "On that happy note, I'll ping you once the private links are up, in" Kyle gazed off into space a moment, "eleven hours and thirty five minutes. The Astronautics group should be back in business shortly thereafter. With any luck they'll have a new prototype ready for testing."
+Michael smiled. "See you then."
+
 
 
 
@@ -4539,7 +4535,7 @@
 Figure 8. Common Temperatures
 
 h. A Final Note on Virtual Units
-As before, virtual measures of temperature, mass, and distance are the anagram of the physical counterparts, with standard metric-60 nomenclature applied. Base units are kcots (k) for distance, tocks for objective time, circadians for subjective time, kceps (c) for mass, and eergeds (e) for simulated temperature. No one wanted to use the term "kraps" for simulated electrical charge, so "zaps" (z) are used instead. 
+As before, virtual measures of temperature, mass, and distance are the anagram of the physical counterparts, with standard metric-60 nomenclature applied. Base units are kcots (k) for distance, tocks for objective time, circadians for subjective time, kceps (c) for mass, and eergeds (e) for simulated temperature. No one wanted to use the term "kraps" for simulated electrical charge, so "zaps" (z) are used instead.
 Appendix C: Creative Commons Liceense
 Attribution-ShareAlike License Version 2.5