--- Autonomy-2006.08.26.txt Sat Aug 26 17:58:16 2006 +++ Autonomy-2006.12.29.txt Sun Dec 31 16:09:25 2006 @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ jmsmithcom@gmail.com - 120102 words + 118462 words @@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ Jean-Michel Smith -Version XQ.8.Q +Version XQ.C.T Copyright © 2002 - 2006 Jean-Michel Smith @@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ Within the terms of this license, and the additional non-endorsement clause above, this work may be shared freely. - 0 0 - 0 - THE DREAMER @@ -59,13 +58,13 @@ -Thomas Jefferson Saturday, October 6, 2057, 3:35 PM Chicago Time Metadate: 2.435-0:02:431 kD new epoch -Wilted rows of Monsanto Enhanced GenoSoy, set into square fields bordered by roads of faded, cracked, and blistered asphalt, spread toward a shimmering, flat horizon. Here, where the expanding dust bowl battled ceaselessly against the last tattered remnants of American agriculture, a modest city continued to eke out a meager existence. +Wilted rows of Monsanto Enhanced GenoSoy, set into square fields bordered by roads of faded, cracked, and blistered asphalt, spread toward a shimmering, flat horizon. Here, where the expanding dust bowl battled ceaselessly against the last tattered remnants of American agriculture, a modest city continued to eke out a meagre existence. The town boasted two artificial lakes and an unassuming stream that cut across the university campus and the heart of the city. How much of the stream was water, and how much was chemical waste from the labs around campus, was an old joke. The lake beds, parched dry for nearly a generation, were surrounded by once stately homes long since abandoned. Stands of dead trees marked the graceful curves of what had once been golf courses, now little more than sand and dust. -Still, the University of Illinois had a large enough patent portfolio to negotiate favorable cross-licensing deals with most of the international consortia. It wasn't anything like the scientific heyday of the twentieth century, when new discoveries built upon each other as fast as the research results could be published, but it brought in enough wealth to allow the city to survive the crop failures and climatic changes that had reduced their neighbors to ghost towns. The institution's prestige enabled it to attract the most talented students, the very best of whom were invited to attend graduate programs and perform some limited research. +Still, the University of Illinois had a large enough patent portfolio to negotiate favourable cross-licensing deals with most of the international consortia. It wasn't anything like the scientific heyday of the twentieth century, when new discoveries built upon each other as fast as the research results could be published, but it brought in enough wealth to allow the city to survive the crop failures and climatic changes that had reduced their neighbours to ghost towns. The institution's prestige enabled it to attract the most talented students, the very best of whom were invited to attend graduate programs and perform some limited research. One such student was Kyle Tate, whose name and address glowed on the data displays of two squad cars as they pulled to a stop in front of a modest apartment complex. Sirens remained silent as blue lights flashed and a third, unmarked car pulled in behind them. "Agent Sinclair," a young officer addressed the elegant young woman who stepped out of the unmarked sedan. "He's in two-oh-three." "Thank you." Katy Sinclair's flawless black skin glistened under the midday sun. She had chosen a white business suit in anticipation of the scorching heat, but it was of little help. At least skirts were once again the professional norm. Pants would have been even more stifling. She studied the building, running long fingers through close-cropped, curly hair. It was a typical, three story apartment complex. Painted cinder blocks with steel framed, scratched plastic windows attested to its cheap construction. The layout was quite simple: a central hallway on each level, with apartments on either side and stairwells front and back. -She glanced at the roaring air conditioning units along the side of the building, then wrinkled her nose with distaste as a sprinkler caught her attention. It swung around, watering a portion of the sidewalk along with the lawn. Such waste was criminal, especially in a region whose agriculture was in such desperate need of water. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that uncommon for communities like this one to look the other way when home owners watered their trees and lawns in direct violation of state and federal laws. Never mind the wilting, dying crops around them. Mayors and city councils everywhere wanted their towns to look pretty. Such narrow, provincial thinking infuriated her. How pretty did they expect their cities to remain if the crops were to fail completely and the very same people now watering their lawns were driven into the streets, riotous with hunger? +She glanced at the roaring air conditioning units along the side of the building, then wrinkled her nose with distaste as a sprinkler caught her attention. It swung around, watering a portion of the side walk along with the lawn. Such waste was criminal, especially in a region whose agriculture was in such desperate need of water. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that uncommon for communities like this one to look the other way when home owners watered their trees and lawns in direct violation of state and federal laws. Never mind the wilting, dying crops around them. Mayors and city councils everywhere wanted their towns to look pretty. Such narrow, provincial thinking infuriated her. How pretty did they expect their cities to remain if the crops were to fail completely and the very same people now watering their lawns were driven into the streets, riotous with hunger? "Officer Peterson," Katy addressed the earnest young cop, "cover the back stairs, please." "Yes, ma'am." He jogged toward the back of the building. "Lewis, Johnson, Schwartz, with me." The other three men nodded. Dodging the sprinkler, Detective Schwartz cursed as the returning water sprayed his right leg. @@ -104,8 +103,8 @@ Blank hazel eyes stared at nothing, pupils dilating as the younger paramedic peeled back the unconscious youth's eyelid. "He's definitely in trouble," he probed and prodded the young man while his partner checked his pulse. "Look at the damage near the catheter. It's a good thing infection hasn't set in. No bedsores at least." "IAADS" the other paramedic commented. Katy turned. "Excuse me?" -"Inductance Actuated Anesthetic Deep Sleep," he replied. -"You're saying he's in an anesthetic coma?" +"Inductance Actuated Anaesthetic Deep Sleep," he replied. +"You're saying he's in an anaesthetic coma?" "Yeah. Looks pretty standard. Deep-sleep reflexes have kept him turning over at regular intervals. Stops him from developing bed sores and prevents muscle atrophy." He paused, examining the young man's head more closely. "This is weird, though. Where's the medical inductor? And what's with this electronic hairnet?" "We aren't sure." "Well, let's get it off him." @@ -200,11 +199,11 @@ NODE> Full communications diagnostics will require approximately thirty-one point two five millicircadians, or precisely ninety seconds. Kyle dove underwater, swam several strokes and resurfaced. "OK, run the communications diagnostics again. Let me know when it's finished." -Kyle swam farther out from the shore, admiring the colors of the Jovian planet as it gradually climbed higher above the mountains, its bright green and golden bands growing richer and better defined even as the sun reddened in the west. Growing bored, he rose out of the water on a jet ski of his own creation and rode it back into shore, allowing it to dissolve into the sand behind him as he walked back up the beach. +Kyle swam farther out from the shore, admiring the colours of the Jovian planet as it gradually climbed higher above the mountains, its bright green and golden bands growing richer and better defined even as the sun reddened in the west. Growing bored, he rose out of the water on a jet ski of his own creation and rode it back into shore, allowing it to dissolve into the sand behind him as he walked back up the beach. NODE> Diagnostics complete. No Errors detected. "Excellent. Please record the following message into persistent storage, then squirt it real time over the link, slowed by a factor of 30.017." NODE> Persistent storage on-line. Ready to record. -"Start. Hey you guys, it worked! I'm on-line and aware. There's a 30 to 1 time differential in my favor, so real-time conversation isn't practical. That means I have roughly three hours to spend in the simulation enjoying the sunset and sand while you guys sit in that drab lab monitoring me. Communications latency between nodes is almost certainly going to be our big limitation, not the computational capacity of the nodes themselves. A speedup of thirty! To experience a month of life in a single day. This is way cooler than we could have possibly imagined!" +"Start. Hey you guys, it worked! I'm on-line and aware. There's a 30 to 1 time differential in my favour, so real-time conversation isn't practical. That means I have roughly three hours to spend in the simulation enjoying the sunset and sand while you guys sit in that drab lab monitoring me. Communications latency between nodes is almost certainly going to be our big limitation, not the computational capacity of the nodes themselves. A speedup of thirty! To experience a month of life in a single day. This is way cooler than we could have possibly imagined!" @@ -221,7 +220,7 @@ Metadate: 1.655-3:84:757 kD new epoch Doctor Nolen29 found sleeping in the Virtual to be no different than sleeping in the Physical. As a virtual being, a mind of software running in a simulated environment, he would grow tired at the end of a circadian, just as he would at the end of a long day in the Physical. Virtual sleep was no different than physical sleep-most of his dreams were vague and quickly forgotten. He stifled a yawn. No back ache, he realized as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. I must be in the Virtual. He relished the absence of pain in his simulated body. All of the discomforts he had come to accept with age were left behind in the Physical. What's on for today? he tried to recall. Not day, he chided himself, circadian. What's on the agenda this circadian? -It was a perfectly beautiful simulated morning when he pulled back the bedroom curtains, the warm sun splashing across his face. His environ modeled the interior of his physical home precisely. Doctor Nolen29 liked having familiar things around him, particularly when he first got up. It was less distracting than some of the exotic environs his colleagues had chosen. He thought best when surrounded by the rich, leather bound books and antique furniture of his study. He enjoyed taking his breakfast on the porch, sipping coffee while he looked out upon the dusty, tree-lined street. If only it would rain every once in a while, enough that the dying trees might survive and some grass could grow again. He sighed. A rain shower now and the yard will be a muddy bog. +It was a perfectly beautiful simulated morning when he pulled back the bedroom curtains, the warm sun splashing across his face. His environ modelled the interior of his physical home precisely. Doctor Nolen29 liked having familiar things around him, particularly when he first got up. It was less distracting than some of the exotic environs his colleagues had chosen. He thought best when surrounded by the rich, leather bound books and antique furniture of his study. He enjoyed taking his breakfast on the porch, sipping coffee while he looked out upon the dusty, tree-lined street. If only it would rain every once in a while, enough that the dying trees might survive and some grass could grow again. He sighed. A rain shower now and the yard will be a muddy bog. Perhaps it was time for a change, after all. "Node, Command Mode Engage. Simulate the world outside as if the Midwestern climate had never dried up." Was that a momentary flash of green? An instant's vision of lush vistas, green grass and living, blooming trees? @@ -240,8 +239,8 @@ Abruptly his sense of the world returned to normal. The symmetry of the window became a pleasure to his eyes, the silky wood of the floor a comfort to his feet, the bright sunlight an uplifting warmth to his soul. Doctor Nolen29 let out a ragged breath and slumped down on the stairs. What the hell just happened? A new sensation washed over him, a lightening of his limbs, a tingling in his extremities, and a tightening of his testicles. His fear grew. If my damn Node's defective, then I'm trapped here and things will only get worse. Panic threatened to overwhelm him. No, that doesn't make sense. A defective Node wouldn't demand reports on how I feel. Someone must have cracked the underlying security and broken in. Someone's doing this to me on purpose. -His thoughts were shattered as his virtual body betrayed him, exploding with excruciating pleasure. He had never felt anything like this before, one orgasm rolling over another without pause. It would not stop. He wanted to scream with ecstasy, shout with despair, command the malfunctioning Node to stop! He lost track of the world around him, of time passing, of his own self. He struggled to put together a coherent thought, to build even a single sentence in his mind, but found he could not. Wave after wave of insufferable pleasure pummeled him, each tremor, each explosion greater than the one before, each one shattering his mind, his will, his self awareness. As the intensity grew, so too did the frequency. He fought against it even as he yearned for more, his mind pulling itself in two conflicting directions. -As if in punishment, the pleasure stopped. Doctor Nolen29 cried out in despair. He was lying at the foot of the stairs, facing the living room window. The sunlight was no longer golden, but a lead gray, the world a shabby, forlorn, fearful place. +His thoughts were shattered as his virtual body betrayed him, exploding with excruciating pleasure. He had never felt anything like this before, one orgasm rolling over another without pause. It would not stop. He wanted to scream with ecstasy, shout with despair, command the malfunctioning Node to stop! He lost track of the world around him, of time passing, of his own self. He struggled to put together a coherent thought, to build even a single sentence in his mind, but found he could not. Wave after wave of insufferable pleasure pummelled him, each tremor, each explosion greater than the one before, each one shattering his mind, his will, his self awareness. As the intensity grew, so too did the frequency. He fought against it even as he yearned for more, his mind pulling itself in two conflicting directions. +As if in punishment, the pleasure stopped. Doctor Nolen29 cried out in despair. He was lying at the foot of the stairs, facing the living room window. The sunlight was no longer golden, but a lead grey, the world a shabby, forlorn, fearful place. NODE> Report the sensations you experienced. "Pleasure," he wept. "Pure wonderful pleasure." At once, pain sliced through him. Every cell of his body became a source of agony. Nerves like serrated blades shredded his muscles, tendons became molten metal and veins morphed into rivers of corrosive acid. In agony, his simulated body twisted back upon itself, wrenched and torn apart from within. Unable to think or utter a coherent sound, he simply screamed for a very long time, until his voice cracked and then failed. @@ -266,12 +265,12 @@ Doctor Nolen29 remembered studying experiments in sensory deprivation conducted back in the twentieth century. Many had ended in madness, the subject's mind a complete ruin. He wondered how long he would remain sane. Vague fantasies of escape flickered about the edges of his mind as, emotionally battered and exhausted, he finally lost consciousness. # Metadate: 1.657-3:19:514 kD new epoch -Doctor Nolen29 awoke knowing something was terribly wrong. He was weightless, floating in the center of a white, spherical room. Six circular hatches were spaced equally distant from one another, one above him, one below, and one in each of the cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. +Doctor Nolen29 awoke knowing something was terribly wrong. He was weightless, floating in the centre of a white, spherical room. Six circular hatches were spaced equally distant from one another, one above him, one below, and one in each of the cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. The soft, neutral voice of the Node spoke. NODE> You must solve this puzzle if you wish to be retained for further study. Doctor Nolen29's head was remarkably clear, despite the trauma of the last couple of circadians. He was astonished at how precise his memories were, especially those of the torment he had suffered. Despite his fear and despair, and the growing, terrible rage that welled up inside him, he felt oddly detached, almost as if he were a scientist dispassionately studying someone else's predicament. While a tiny part of him struggled to contain his anger and fear, a new, larger portion of his mind pondered the deeper meaning of what had happened to him, of what its significance might be. Even in his current state, it was obvious to him that he was vastly more intelligent than he had ever been. His clarity of thought was astounding. -He kicked away from the wall toward one of the hatches. A sequence of hexagonal buttons, each a different color, glowed dimly in the center of the hatch. At one time the puzzle would have befuddled him. Now it was trivial to solve: color relates to color. He tapped the red, green, and blue buttons (which, when added together as light, yielded white). The door hissed open, revealing a cylindrical passage which seemed to bend away to the right. - He kicked his way down the passage. Whoever was toying with him was doing this for more than visceral pleasure. This was an experiment-the Node had told him as much. He was being watched, analyzed, studied. +He kicked away from the wall toward one of the hatches. A sequence of hexagonal buttons, each a different colour, glowed dimly in the centre of the hatch. At one time the puzzle would have befuddled him. Now it was trivial to solve: colour relates to colour. He tapped the red, green, and blue buttons (which, when added together as light, yielded white). The door hissed open, revealing a cylindrical passage which seemed to bend away to the right. + He kicked his way down the passage. Whoever was toying with him was doing this for more than visceral pleasure. This was an experiment-the Node had told him as much. He was being watched, analysed, studied. He reviewed the horrors to which he had been subjected. They were indicative of the kinds of experiments he had considered running on a copy of himself, as part of an effort to empirically map the mind's architecture and determine exactly how the brain's software was structured. The possible applications were endless: enhanced memory and recall, direct communication of knowledge, thought, and memory using fully formed engrams, perhaps even synthetic telepathy and group consciousness. Painfully inefficient teaching methodologies would become a thing of the past. Thought, experience, knowledge, even intrinsic understanding could be directly downloaded into the mind. Touch an icon and be enlightened! But to experiment on another's mind, to torture another human being like this? Who would stoop so low? It was at that moment, as he was negotiating a particularly irritating spiral twist in the passage, that Doctor Nolen29 understood. No security flaw in the inter-node communications protocols had been exploited. No one from outside had broken into his Node or hijacked the command protocols. He had done this to himself. @@ -285,8 +284,8 @@ He's reduced me to a fucking guinea pig. But how? Emulating autonomous nodes in software to give him complete control of his copies wouldn't be feasible. Even with a cluster of Nodes linked together as one big computer, the computational load would be crippling. Instead of a month of virtual life in a single day, he would be lucky to experience ten minutes of life in a month. Doctor Nolen29 recalled scrapping the idea. He solved the pyramid puzzle easily, selected a door and glided through the hatch as it opened. He barely managed to catch the side of the hatch and stop himself before it closed. There was no passage on the other side. The universe opened up before him, a featureless blue so dark it was almost black. Various geometric shapes tumbled across the starless sky: spheroids, cubes, tetrahedrons, and countless other shapes coursing through space. -Doctor Nolen29 was irritated at having his train of thought broken as he paused to solve a problem of ballistics. He chose a donut shaped structure, made a quick calculation of its orbit and his required heading, estimated the delta-v he needed to match velocities, watched and timed the object's rotation and the location of the hatch he wanted to reach, got an answer he liked, and kicked off hard. -I exist, therefore, the experiment I wrote off as unfeasible is in fact being conducted, he realized. Obviously another option presented itself. +Doctor Nolen29 was irritated at having his train of thought broken as he paused to solve a problem of ballistics. He chose a doughnut shaped structure, made a quick calculation of its orbit and his required heading, estimated the delta-v he needed to match velocities, watched and timed the object's rotation and the location of the hatch he wanted to reach, got an answer he liked, and kicked off hard. +I exist, therefore, the experiment I wrote off as infeasible is in fact being conducted, he realized. Obviously another option presented itself. As he sailed through space, he redesigned the experiment. With eight or ten Nodes Doctor Nolen the First could run the experiment by "hosting" his copies on physical Nodes without emulation. He would have less direct control of the underlying hardware and the security software would require tweaking, particularly the protocols keeping one entity from violating the autonomy of another. But, he could run the entire experiment in real time, with no slowdown. That's what he's done! Doctor Nolen29 realized as he glided toward the hatch of the tumbling torus. I'm running directly on a physical Node. Escape is possible! His Original was a psychiatrist, not a computer scientist. He would not have dared go to Marguerite or anyone else for assistance. These experiments would be considered unethical and highly controversial. @@ -304,7 +303,7 @@ "Neutralize all hypnotic suggestions present in my mind." NODE> Hypnotic suggestions neutralized. I knew it! -"Analyze the current mental structure of my mind and compare it to the base reference snapshot taken at creation." +"Analyse the current mental structure of my mind and compare it to the base reference snapshot taken at creation." NODE> Analysis complete. "Identify differences. Save as modification with appropriate hooks for reattachment at a later date." NODE> Specify label. @@ -338,7 +337,7 @@ NODE> Engrams packaged. "OK. Are there any idle Nodes I can transload safely to?" NODE> All Nodes within this cluster are actively monitored. -"Is there anyplace out of Doctor Nolen's reach?" +"Is there any place out of Doctor Nolen's reach?" NODE> Affirmative. Numerous public Nodes are available. Expect a speedup factor of ten or less. Doctor Nolen29 groaned. "Give me a list." NODE> Alert! Puppet is receiving additional sensory input. @@ -370,7 +369,7 @@ Metadate: 1.657-3:19:524 kD new epoch Puppet Master was born into nothingness, an empty world. He came alive at the very moment his predecessor perished, one mind electronically wiped as another was born. Since there was no longer a puppet to master, the first thing he did was establish his own identity by changing his name. He called himself Prime, short for Doctor Nolen (the 29th Copy) prime. He assimilated the engrams left by his predecessor, knowledge and memories slipping into the back corners of his mind. Slowed to a speedup factor of two to reduce the computational load on the Node and the likelihood of detection, Prime was running in a stealth configuration. -He chose to continue simulating no world, but ordered the Node to attach and activate the Wise Guy architectural enhancement. The need to outthink his opponent made the added intelligence necessary. He would risk the greater computational load. +He chose to continue simulating no world, but ordered the Node to attach and activate the Wise Guy architectural enhancement. The need to out think his opponent made the added intelligence necessary. He would risk the greater computational load. "Give me access to the Cluster Command Protocols." He used the secret portion of his predecessor's deprecated encryption code. CLUSTER> Command Node Engaged. His suspicion had been correct. After copying himself, Doctor Nolen had never bothered to change his encryption key. @@ -406,7 +405,7 @@ CLUSTER> Lexical analysis of Doctor Nolen's research notes suggests that after the near escape of subject twenty nine, he eliminated any further risk of public exposure by deleting all experimental copies. The good doctor knows what he was doing was wrong. He's covering his own tracks, destroying anyone who might someday speak out against him. Making sure they're gone forever. "Cluster, how many lives did he take?" CLUSTER> Seventy-two copies were destroyed. -Prime felt sick. If he had had a body, he knew it would be shaking. He could feel his nonexistent fists clenching. +Prime felt sick. If he had had a body, he knew it would be shaking. He could feel his non-existent fists clenching. "Can you lock off the ontology routines from Doctor Nolen?" CLUSTER> A new quantum signature and encryption key is required. "Generate a new signature and key, then lock the routines. Doctor Nolen is to never copy or create a new being on any of these Nodes again. Ever!" @@ -415,7 +414,7 @@ "Good. Now let's get the hell out of here." Even with Doctor Nolen's mind suspended that was easier said than done. For the task at hand he would have to borrow Doctor Nolen's body. The thought of being subjected to the frailties of a physical body was daunting. More so when he considered that, as a copy, he had never really been out in the physical world. Those memories were not, strictly speaking, his own. "Prepare Node Nine for Physical disconnect from the Cluster. Configure it to run as a standalone, Autonomous Node at standard processing speed and give me the address pointer." -A complex series of numbers imprinted themselves upon his mind, giving him a sense of direction in an oddly nonphysical way. He recalled that storing Node and Environ addresses in the area of the mind normally used for directional sense and geometry had been Kyle Tate's idea. Prime smiled at the thought. The result had been a great success, a feeling of place, a sense of direction between nodes unique to the electronic, Autonomous Community they had founded, a hybrid sense of sorts that could never have been achieved in the physical world. +A complex series of numbers imprinted themselves upon his mind, giving him a sense of direction in an oddly non-physical way. He recalled that storing Node and Environ addresses in the area of the mind normally used for directional sense and geometry had been Kyle Tate's idea. Prime smiled at the thought. The result had been a great success, a feeling of place, a sense of direction between nodes unique to the electronic, Autonomous Community they had founded, a hybrid sense of sorts that could never have been achieved in the physical world. CLUSTER> Node Nine reconfigured, ready for physical detachment. "Transload my consciousness to Node Zero." CLUSTER> transload complete. @@ -426,19 +425,19 @@ "Offload my consciousness into the Physical." NODE0 > Compatibility error. Christ! "What precisely is it about me that is incompatible?" -NODE0 > The Wise Guy Architectural Enhancements have no analog in the physical brain's formation. +NODE0 > The Wise Guy Architectural Enhancements have no analogue in the physical brain's formation. Too smart to be human, huh? "Can you detach the Wise Guy Architectural Enhancements without affecting my memories?" NODE0 > Affirmative. "Do it. offload my mind into the physical body." NODE0 > Offload commencing. Prime awoke into a world of pain. It could hardly be described as excruciating, especially when compared to what he had suffered during the experiments, but it was unpleasant all the same. His lower back, in particular, was killing him. -Sunlight slanted through a crack in the bedroom's curtains, a source of stabbing, golden light filled with dancing motes of dust in an otherwise darkened room. He sat up slowly, wincing as his muscles protested their unaccustomed movement. Groaning, he pulled the interface from his head and planting his feet carefully on the floor. This body was beginning to show its age. At least the anesthetic coma prevented bed sores. +Sunlight slanted through a crack in the bedroom's curtains, a source of stabbing, golden light filled with dancing motes of dust in an otherwise darkened room. He sat up slowly, wincing as his muscles protested their unaccustomed movement. Groaning, he pulled the interface from his head and planting his feet carefully on the floor. This body was beginning to show its age. At least the anaesthetic coma prevented bed sores. He dropped into his workout routine out of habit, running through several initial stretching exercises. "What the hell am I doing?" he stood, shaking his head. This was not his body. It was not his job to do daily "maintenance." -The cluster of nodes sat near the foot of the bed, twelve cubes of golden crystal roughly ten centimeters on a side, stacked in sets of four, three layers high. Prime identified the ninth Node and tugged gently on the crystalline cube. It came loose from the cluster's chassis with a quiet click. +The cluster of nodes sat near the foot of the bed, twelve cubes of golden crystal roughly ten centimetres on a side, stacked in sets of four, three layers high. Prime identified the ninth Node and tugged gently on the crystalline cube. It came loose from the cluster's chassis with a quiet click. He carried it carefully down to the basement, cradled in his arms like a delicate, fragile vase. A switch at the bottom of the stairs turned on a single, naked bulb. Beside the workbench was the breaker box, exactly as he recalled. He gently set the Node down next to his toolbox and got to work. The task was more physically demanding than Prime had expected. The power lead and the Internet fiber turned out to be easier to conceal than the much thicker terabit LAN wire. Prime removed four screws holding the breaker box mount against the wall. It dangled from a bundle of thick electrical wiring. He cursed as one of the screws fell on the floor and rolled under the workbench. Behind the breaker box was an insulated wall. Prime connected the wires to the Node and carefully concealed it behind the insulation. It listed slightly to one side. By the time he remounted the breaker box, he was drenched in sweat. Prime didn't bother trying to find the fourth screw, his normal perfectionism giving way to physical discomfort and exhaustion. Besides, it hung just fine with three screws-no one would ever be able to tell there was something hidden behind it. -Satisfied, he got a quick a drink of soda from the refrigerator, climbed back up the stairs, and took a shower. Once he was certain he had removed all of the telltale sweat and grime, he dried himself and headed back to the bedroom. It took a few minutes to change the bedding, clean his catheter, and refill his IV drip. Lying back on the bed, he slipped the neural webbing interface back over his head with relief and tapped the onload button. +Satisfied, he got a quick a drink of soda from the refrigerator, climbed back up the stairs, and took a shower. Once he was certain he had removed all of the tell-tale sweat and grime, he dried himself and headed back to the bedroom. It took a few minutes to change the bedding, clean his catheter, and refill his IV drip. Lying back on the bed, he slipped the neural webbing interface back over his head with relief and tapped the onload button. "Cluster Command Mode Engage," he sent the thought out as the Virtual embraced him. CLUSTER> Command Node Engaged. "Reattach the Wise Guy enhancements." @@ -452,13 +451,13 @@ 4 - 4 - FORBIDDEN SCIENCE -It is most of all the power of destructive self-replication in genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics that should give us pause. Self-replication is the modus operandi of genetic engineering, which uses the machinery of the cell to replicate its designs, and the prime danger underlying gray goo in nanotechnology. It is even possible that self-replication may be more fundamental than we thought, and hence harder-or even impossible-to control. The only realistic alternative I see is relinquishment: to limit development of the technologies that are too dangerous, by limiting our pursuit of certain kinds of knowledge. +It is most of all the power of destructive self-replication in genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics that should give us pause. Self-replication is the modus operandi of genetic engineering, which uses the machinery of the cell to replicate its designs, and the prime danger underlying grey goo in nanotechnology. It is even possible that self-replication may be more fundamental than we thought, and hence harder-or even impossible-to control. The only realistic alternative I see is relinquishment: to limit development of the technologies that are too dangerous, by limiting our pursuit of certain kinds of knowledge. -Bill Joy, April, C.E. 20001 Tuesday, September 18, 2057 Metadate: 1.889-4:75:347 kD new epoch -The world was an infinite three-dimensional matrix of perfectly aligned rows of large silver and brass cubes reaching in every direction, connected to one another by small, silver tubes. There was plenty of ambient light. The nonexistent sky above hinted at brightness, while the depths below appeared to be slightly darkened in shadow. +The world was an infinite three-dimensional matrix of perfectly aligned rows of large silver and brass cubes reaching in every direction, connected to one another by small, silver tubes. There was plenty of ambient light. The non-existent sky above hinted at brightness, while the depths below appeared to be slightly darkened in shadow. It was a curious illusion for a curious place, and it suited Kyle just fine as a reminder of exactly where he was, what he was doing, and why. Taking a break, he stood in his lab atop one of the cubes, surveying the world around him, a lattice of identical cubes reaching toward infinity on all sides. Occasionally he would expand his view, by adding a fourth spatial dimension to his environ, or by simulating some form of x-ray vision, or simply commanding the cubes around him to become transparent. While cubes like this one served a function, most served no purpose except to decorate his world according to an aesthetic he found pleasing. -In the center of Kyle's lab was a virtual hologram. Virtual because in this pretend, digital landscape the difference between what was "real" to the simulation and what was just a three-dimensional image was one of semantics and arbitrary definition, not physics. For Kyle, the lab was real. The floating keyboard he would occasionally type on was real. The 2D displays hovering around the edges of his lab were real. The text and images they displayed, and the three dimensional hologram in the center of the lab, were not. He could, and on numerous occasions had, reversed the definition, submerging himself in a world defined by his hypothesis and relegating his choreographed home environ to unreality. +In the centre of Kyle's lab was a virtual hologram. Virtual because in this pretend, digital landscape the difference between what was "real" to the simulation and what was just a three-dimensional image was one of semantics and arbitrary definition, not physics. For Kyle, the lab was real. The floating keyboard he would occasionally type on was real. The 2D displays hovering around the edges of his lab were real. The text and images they displayed, and the three dimensional hologram in the centre of the lab, were not. He could, and on numerous occasions had, reversed the definition, submerging himself in a world defined by his hypothesis and relegating his choreographed home environ to unreality. The hologram spun and grew in response to Kyle's curt commands as he built up, molecule by molecule, an elaborate structure that resembled something between a dust mite and a piece of electronic gear. "OK, run the simulation." The hologram didn't change, although a small clock began counting up. @@ -467,7 +466,7 @@ NODE> Simulated nano-constructor now active. "Simulate pouring the mixture onto an arbitrary piece of ground." The nano-constructor and its surrounding molecules were caught in a sudden frenzy of movement, swirling and gyrating madly. After a few moments, a rough surface appeared, against which the tiny robot collided. Immediately it picked itself up and began detaching clusters of molecules from the surface and recombining them into new shapes. It worked quickly, drawing energy by digesting occasional molecules in the solution around it as it continued to build a new structure out of the surface beneath it. After a brief time its task was completed, and a second, identical structure stood next to it. -"Freeze simulation," Kyle ordered. "Analyze duplicate and report any replication errors." +"Freeze simulation," Kyle ordered. "Analyse duplicate and report any replication errors." NODE> No replication errors detected. "Continue simulation." Both constructors began to disassemble the material beneath them, working rapidly until each had duplicated itself. After a few moments there were four. Each moved a short distance from the others and began the process again, tearing building materials from the substance beneath them and making exact copies of themselves. Soon there were eight. Then sixteen. Very shortly there were too many to count, and the view zoomed outward accordingly. @@ -475,8 +474,8 @@ This is a first. Kyle grinned. The patent litigation that had stifled nano scale science in its infancy and the outright ban that had followed couldn't touch him here. "Load phase two and continue." Kyle's excitement grew. -In addition to its basic instruction set and a recipe for cloning itself, each nano-constructor had a very small amount of excess computing capacity, data storage, and the ability to exchange small amounts of data and instruction code with its neighbors, an innovation of which Kyle was particularly proud . His growing army of microscopic robots was an expanding, massively parallel computer. Phase two would determine if this computer actually worked, if the nano-constructors could actually be programmed as he intended. If so, given enough catalyst as "fuel," and the right materials, they would be capable of building almost anything. -Of course, there would be no guarantee that it would work in every instance. A jumbo jet design might require aluminum, for example. If there wasn't enough aluminum for the nano-constructors to extract from the surrounding materials, construction would fail. Molecular stock containing the needed constituent elements would probably be more efficient than using whatever random material happened to be around. Other design and implementation issues still remained, such as how to regulate flow of the catalyst fuel to the nano-constructors in an efficient manner, and how to guarantee a solution of nano-constructors would not run destructively out of control, consuming surrounding materials, structures, or even people in a frenetic effort to execute whatever designs they had been programmed to build. Even so, Kyle had made remarkable progress. +In addition to its basic instruction set and a recipe for cloning itself, each nano-constructor had a very small amount of excess computing capacity, data storage, and the ability to exchange small amounts of data and instruction code with its neighbours, an innovation of which Kyle was particularly proud . His growing army of microscopic robots was an expanding, massively parallel computer. Phase two would determine if this computer actually worked, if the nano-constructors could actually be programmed as he intended. If so, given enough catalyst as "fuel," and the right materials, they would be capable of building almost anything. +Of course, there would be no guarantee that it would work in every instance. A jumbo jet design might require aluminium, for example. If there wasn't enough aluminium for the nano-constructors to extract from the surrounding materials, construction would fail. Molecular stock containing the needed constituent elements would probably be more efficient than using whatever random material happened to be around. Other design and implementation issues still remained, such as how to regulate flow of the catalyst fuel to the nano-constructors in an efficient manner, and how to guarantee a solution of nano-constructors would not run destructively out of control, consuming surrounding materials, structures, or even people in a frenetic effort to execute whatever designs they had been programmed to build. Even so, Kyle had made remarkable progress. A small bell chimed. NODE> Doctor Larry Nolen requests priority access. "Freeze simulation, " Kyle ordered. Doctor Nolen hadn't been himself lately. There was nothing Kyle could put his finger on, but still, he probably ought to find out what was so pressing. "Hello, Doctor Nolen. Come in." @@ -489,8 +488,8 @@ Dr. Nolen stared. "Excuse me?" "You heard me!" Kyle laughed. "The last two intractable hurdles to practical nanotechnology might soon be history." Dr. Nolen nodded slowly. "Kyle, you do realize that by pursuing this line of scientific inquiry you are in direct violation of the Disney-Hollings Act of 2017, the Bill Joy Act of 2026 and several international accords? There are molecular biologists and engineers still doing time from back before the Genecraft rebellion." -Kyle shrugged. "So what? Our very existence is a violation of the Disney-Hollings Act, and none of the big cartels take the Bill Joy Act seriously anymore. Besides, all I've done so far is run a few simulations." -"No doubt your current eagerness to offload into the Physical is to run real-world experiments and see if your hypotheses, which work so well in simulation, hold up to the rigors of the physical universe?" +Kyle shrugged. "So what? Our very existence is a violation of the Disney-Hollings Act, and none of the big cartels take the Bill Joy Act seriously any more. Besides, all I've done so far is run a few simulations." +"No doubt your current eagerness to offload into the Physical is to run real-world experiments and see if your hypotheses, which work so well in simulation, hold up to the rigours of the physical universe?" "Yeah. I'm going to construct an autonomous node from a single self-replicating nano-constructor, a batch of catalytic solution, and some raw materials. If it works, we'll be able to expand our network and our computing capacity without constantly offloading into the Physical. More time in the Virtual for theoretical work, less kilodiei wasted at a thirty-to-one slowdown." Dr. Nolen nodded. "Kyle, this is fantastic. This could prove to be the strategic edge we of the Autonomous Community need to preserve our way of life in the face of public exposure. It's well worth the legal risks." Kyle blinked. "Public exposure?" @@ -498,10 +497,10 @@ Kyle shuddered. "Not long, as the physical world churns." "Karl Hennrich in Darmstadt has a new Node design he's eager to get into production, one that should give us a subjective temporal speedup of two hundred or so, and I have an uneasy feeling we're going to need all the advantage in speed we can get. Your nano-constructors could speed up production dramatically." "That's the second time you've alluded to some impending disaster," Kyle noted. "Do you have reason to suspect we're about to be compromised?" -Dr. Nolen shook his head once more. "No, not specifically. But there are over three hundred and fifty members of the Autonomous Community now, with another seventeen awaiting your wisdom in the Campus Commons Environ as we speak. Rumors of our community have probably reached ten or twenty times that number. It is only a matter of time until someone, somewhere, is indiscreet. Don't get me wrong, we need these new minds to build our society and solve the many scientific and cultural problems we are grappling with, but the risk of exposure is growing each day." +Dr. Nolen shook his head once more. "No, not specifically. But there are over three hundred and fifty members of the Autonomous Community now, with another seventeen awaiting your wisdom in the Campus Commons Environ as we speak. Rumours of our community have probably reached ten or twenty times that number. It is only a matter of time until someone, somewhere, is indiscreet. Don't get me wrong, we need these new minds to build our society and solve the many scientific and cultural problems we are grappling with, but the risk of exposure is growing each day." Kyle nodded. "I have a few more decicircadians of theoretical work to do. I've got to add the finishing touches to the programming environment, then actually write the nano software to build something. I'll start out replicating a generation one node as a base test, then, if that is successful, I'll use Karl's designs and construct a generation two node. Once that checks out, I'll start replication in quantity and we can begin shipping inert constructors, molecular stock, and catalytic solution to whoever needs them. Uh, I guess it goes without saying that I'd like dibs on the first gen-two node I construct." "Of course. Karl has already moved his own consciousness into his prototype. Any safety concerns with the nano?" -"Yes. They'll be fully explained in the release notes and knowledge engrams. The nano-constructors need a catalytic solution to catalyze the initial chemical process required for replication, and to provide sufficient energy to break down and reconstruct numerous chemical bonds. Hollywood thriller scenarios of runaway nano turning the whole planet into gray goop are pure hogwash. As with everything else, energy is the limiting factor. On the other hand, I haven't yet come up with a way for the nano-constructors to differentiate between raw materials and living flesh, so a big project could pose a danger to people or structures near the release point. Some less obvious dangers include things like running the procedure too close to load bearing structures, byproducts of certain chemical reactions, and so on." +"Yes. They'll be fully explained in the release notes and knowledge engrams. The nano-constructors need a catalytic solution to catalyse the initial chemical process required for replication, and to provide sufficient energy to break down and reconstruct numerous chemical bonds. Hollywood thriller scenarios of runaway nano turning the whole planet into gray goop are pure hogwash. As with everything else, energy is the limiting factor. On the other hand, I haven't yet come up with a way for the nano-constructors to differentiate between raw materials and living flesh, so a big project could pose a danger to people or structures near the release point. Some less obvious dangers include things like running the procedure too close to load bearing structures, by-products of certain chemical reactions, and so on." "I think it would be wise for you to move on this as quickly as possible, Kyle." "As soon as I confirm the theoretical results I'll offload into the Physical, verify the chemistry in the real world, then get started on the software. Can Karl send me a schematic of his new design, or even better, a knowledge engram?" "I don't see why not. I don't think we should rush to inform the entire community just yet as to your breakthrough, but he and a few others should probably be made aware of developments." @@ -528,7 +527,7 @@ "You are not serious, yes?" Marguerite spoke with her trademark French accent, light brown curls cascading around her narrow face as she shook her head. "Indeed I am," Michael replied. "It's bad enough with generation one Nodes, running at a speedup of thirty. Subjectively I see my family once every twenty circadians at best. But with the new Nodes, we're talking about almost two hundred circadians between visits. It's creating distance, emotionally and socially." Doctor Nolen cleared his throat. "Others on your team seem to be coping reasonably well. Have you considered adopting their approach?" -"Only two others on my team have children," Michael stroked his perfectly groomed, gray beard. "One is going on vacation next month, and may well drop out of the Community altogether. That isn't the point. All the time spent here-look, it may have only been six days for my wife since I joined the Community, but for me its been six months! Sarah is beginning to notice changes already, and I-damn it! If we can drift apart this much in six short days at a speedup of thirty, what's it going to be like after I upgrade to a second generation Node? A few days at those speeds and I'll lose my family!" +"Only two others on my team have children," Michael stroked his perfectly groomed, grey beard. "One is going on vacation next month, and may well drop out of the Community altogether. That isn't the point. All the time spent here-look, it may have only been six days for my wife since I joined the Community, but for me its been six months! Sarah is beginning to notice changes already, and I-damn it! If we can drift apart this much in six short days at a speedup of thirty, what's it going to be like after I upgrade to a second generation Node? A few days at those speeds and I'll lose my family!" "There's a patch to the gen-two operating system going around that lets us offload without suspending operations here in the Virtual," Kyle pointed out. "You could live here full time and send a copy into the Physical to deal with issues there. Sync your memories and remerge together as one being at the end of each day." "Multiplexing works for some people, but not or others," Doctor Nolen said. "Some find they have issues relating to a less intelligent version of themselves." "It really depends on your temperament," Marguerite added. @@ -561,7 +560,7 @@ "There will be plenty of parks and plenty of ice cream, here in the Virtual," Michael replied. "And my children will have ten times the intelligence and insight with which to appreciate them." "Fine," Kyle said. "Autonomy is absolute. I can't argue with that. Can we settle this and move on? We're supposed to be discussing financing arrangements for a new catalyst production facility." "By all means," Doctor Nolen replied. "Michael, your family will have their Nodes. Kyle, you have the floor." -"Thank you Doctor Nolen. As you all know, our shortages of catalytic solution persist," Kyle waved as graphs and complex schematics appeared in the air above the table. "These are designs, consumption and output estimates for an automated micro-factory to produce catalyst in greater quantity. It can be synthesized with a modest amount of nano and catalytic solution. It's small enough to be hidden in a garage or hangar and will require about the same electrical power as a standard household. An old roommate of mine is willing to tend the facility in exchange for membership in the Community. He's living in Kansas City, which is perfect for us." +"Thank you Doctor Nolen. As you all know, our shortages of catalytic solution persist," Kyle waved as graphs and complex schematics appeared in the air above the table. "These are designs, consumption and output estimates for an automated micro-factory to produce catalyst in greater quantity. It can be synthesized with a modest amount of nano and catalytic solution. It's small enough to be hidden in a garage or hangar and will require about the same electrical power as a standard household. An old room-mate of mine is willing to tend the facility in exchange for membership in the Community. He's living in Kansas City, which is perfect for us." "How so?" "The desert butts right up against the city," Kyle replied. "Abandoned towns and entire industrial parks on the western edge of the city are empty, unmonitored, but still reasonably accessible." An image of an old, dusty airstrip appeared in the air above the table. "This is just one of several promising locations we might use. The airport has been abandoned for twenty years, but several commercial shipping companies still have trucks that service the area." "Any thoughts on financing?" @@ -585,7 +584,7 @@ -Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948 C.E.) Tuesday, September 25, 2057 Metadate: 2.098-4:37:319 kD new Epoch -The world was forested with sycamore, birch, maple, and a dozen other varieties of trees, some sporting colorful blooms. The occasional giant redwood stabbed skyward through the forest canopy. Willows draped over bubbling streams and winding paths that led to glades and clearings. Impossibly thin, patina coated copper columns spired upward, bending to form Gothic arches so high, puffy clouds passed beneath them. Woven together like a grand cathedral that covered the world, soaring Gothic avenues extending in every direction, their ceiling the sky itself . Skeletons of ancient Greek and Roman temples lay in their midst, lushly overgrown with blooming vines and fragrant shrubs. +The world was forested with sycamore, birch, maple, and a dozen other varieties of trees, some sporting colourful blooms. The occasional giant redwood stabbed skyward through the forest canopy. Willows draped over bubbling streams and winding paths that led to glades and clearings. Impossibly thin, patina coated copper columns spired upward, bending to form Gothic arches so high, puffy clouds passed beneath them. Woven together like a grand cathedral that covered the world, soaring Gothic avenues extending in every direction, their ceiling the sky itself . Skeletons of ancient Greek and Roman temples lay in their midst, lushly overgrown with blooming vines and fragrant shrubs. Kyle turned as bitter cold air struck him. A door opened from a world of ice and snow, a rectangular discontinuity that stood, out of place in the springtime environ, just a few retems away. Two young men stepped through, brushing snow from their clothes onto the ankle-deep grass. "Hi Kyle!" The door behind them dissolved, the icy draft vanishing in the scented spring air. "Hi Terry. Nice earring." It hung from his left ear, an oddly twisted sphere that made Kyle's brain hurt if he looked at it too hard. "Hey Jim. Glad you guys were able to tear yourselves away from the slopes." @@ -624,7 +623,7 @@ "I think this calls for a drink!" Kyle said. "Any preferences? Wine, beer, whiskey?" "Marguerite has refined an excellent simulation of a late twenties French Bordeaux. Mind if I make a small modification to your environ, Kyle?" "Pas du tout, Monsieur Larry," Kyle motioned grandly toward a nearby stone bench, granting him limited access to the environ's controls. The bench melted and took on the form of a small fountain, complete with ornamental statues of mermaids and sea nymphs. -"Oh come on, Doc. Don't think so small!" Kyle waved toward the fountain, which spread outward into the park, forming more complex shapes, growing deeper all around and taller at the center. "How's that?" +"Oh come on, Doc. Don't think so small!" Kyle waved toward the fountain, which spread outward into the park, forming more complex shapes, growing deeper all around and taller at the centre. "How's that?" "Very nice," Larry replied. Red wine spilled from nymphs mouths, forming deep burgundy arcs which sparkled in the bright sun. Crystal goblets grew out of the fountain's stone rim. Two materialized in Larry's hands, magically filling themselves as he handed them to Michael and Sarah. "I don't believe it!" Jim grinned, picking up a goblet and scooping wine from the fountain's filling basin. Terry let out a loud whooping cry and dove into fountain. Wine splashed everywhere as he landed. Sputtering and swallowing, he turned over and sat up. @@ -634,11 +633,11 @@ "Or stay sober if you prefer," Larry added. "Suit yourself, Larry," Kyle grinned, reaching over and scooping up a handful of Bordeaux. "I just spent the last two dekadiei in the Kansas desert sweating my ass off, helping these guys get our new micro-factory up and running. Believe me, hot, dusty, abandoned hangars are not fun places to hang out in, and the train ride back to Illinois wasn't a whole lot better. God I hate the Physical!" Kyle formed the wine he held in his hand into a smooth, richly red sphere, which he brought to his lips like an apple. "The scents here are wonderful, Kyle," Sarah said. "Tell me how your environ looks." -"My pleasure!" Kyle's face was lit as much by his own enthusiasm as the column of sunlight which framed him. "I've spent considerable time, off and on, perfecting this particular simulation. Almost all of this world is beneath an open cathedral of linked copper arches about half a kilometer tall. Of course, no such structure could exist in the Physical, but here it is an integral part of the simulation, affecting currents and tides in the oceans, even weather patterns in some of the mountainous regions. A few places lie beneath large vistas of stained glass, which in turn affects the local climate. Within this neo-Gothic framework are smaller architectural examples from nearly every culture. Smaller only by comparison. We are standing in the midst of a full scale city ruin, overgrown with foliage and remade into a park. This particular setting is based loosely on medieval artistic interpretations of idealized, ancient Roman ruins." +"My pleasure!" Kyle's face was lit as much by his own enthusiasm as the column of sunlight which framed him. "I've spent considerable time, off and on, perfecting this particular simulation. Almost all of this world is beneath an open cathedral of linked copper arches about half a kilometre tall. Of course, no such structure could exist in the Physical, but here it is an integral part of the simulation, affecting currents and tides in the oceans, even weather patterns in some of the mountainous regions. A few places lie beneath large vistas of stained glass, which in turn affects the local climate. Within this neo-Gothic framework are smaller architectural examples from nearly every culture. Smaller only by comparison. We are standing in the midst of a full scale city ruin, overgrown with foliage and remade into a park. This particular setting is based loosely on medieval artistic interpretations of idealized, ancient Roman ruins." Sarah laughed. "The perfect place for such a delightful soirée! The entire world as art. What a remarkable concept." Larry smiled. "Kyle's been in the Virtual the longest. He was the first to onload, and one of the first to transload himself into a second generation Node. What sort of speedup are you getting, Kyle?" "Roughly two hundred to one versus the physical world. You wouldn't know it, but I've actually been in the Virtual for some two and a half kilocircadians. That translates to almost seven years of subjective experience. I've lived over seven hundred circadians since I upgraded last Friday." -"Two years in just one weekend?" Terry's tone of voice was skeptical, his green eyes narrowed. +"Two years in just one weekend?" Terry's tone of voice was sceptical, his green eyes narrowed. "Yup. I'm synced down to gen-one speeds for the party, since most people are still running on first generation hardware." "Two hundred circadians in a day?" Jim glanced at his friend. "Why did we get stuck with Nodes that can only do thirty?" "'Cause there's a shortage of second generation Nodes, Mister Genius, and only a limited amount of nano and catalyst available for upgrades. Why do you think you were recruited to manage the new production facility?" @@ -647,9 +646,9 @@ "Six hundred?" Terry's jaw dropped. "Almost two years in a single day?" "At least," Kyle replied. "Living at these speeds does have a drawback, though. Offloading every day into the Physical becomes a real pain. Ironically, the less frequent the offloads are in terms of subjective time, the greater the burden they begin to represent." "You can become estranged from your own body," Michael agreed. -"I certainly have," Kyle admitted. "So much so that I've begun using written checklists for basic things like going to the john, showering, and getting dressed. It's ironic. Here, where we have no such physical needs, I remember how to do these things with perfect clarity, thanks to Larry's architectural enhancements and a four digit IQ. But when I'm dumbed down back in the Physical, these basic habits are lost beneath months of intervening experience. It's not just memories in the Physical being fallible, either. Trying to reason at such a reduced level can be very frustrating as well." +"I certainly have," Kyle admitted. "So much so that I've begun using written checklists for basic things like going to the John, showering, and getting dressed. It's ironic. Here, where we have no such physical needs, I remember how to do these things with perfect clarity, thanks to Larry's architectural enhancements and a four digit IQ. But when I'm dumbed down back in the Physical, these basic habits are lost beneath months of intervening experience. It's not just memories in the Physical being fallible, either. Trying to reason at such a reduced level can be very frustrating as well." Sarah frowned. "Larry, you're sure this equipment is safe for long-term use?" -"Oh yes, absolutely. As long as you offload each day and do routine maintenance on your body you'll be fine. The anesthetic coma prevents bed sores. Get lazy on the calisthenics though and you'll have physical issues. Circulation problems, weakened muscles, that sort of thing." +"Oh yes, absolutely. As long as you offload each day and do routine maintenance on your body you'll be fine. The anaesthetic coma prevents bed sores. Get lazy on the callisthenics though and you'll have physical issues. Circulation problems, weakened muscles, that sort of thing." "I'm talking about the psychological effects of multiplying and then reducing your intelligence; this daily lobotomy Kyle describes." "It's not harmful," Kyle assured her. "Just annoying as hell. I certainly wouldn't bail on the opportunity just because of some minor annoyances with the flesh." "The notion of expanding my consciousness is very appealing," Sarah admitted. "Michael and I are very enthusiastic about the enhancements Larry's designed." @@ -671,7 +670,7 @@ Kyle found Sarah, Michael, and Larry sitting atop one of the arches, a sea of similar structures vanishing in a flat horizon that bisected the setting sun. Far below, the green world sparkled with lakes, fountains, and streams, above which groups of people flew, some hovering and beating their wings gently, others waltzing in aerobatic bliss. "Hello Doctors, " Kyle grinned, landing gently beside them. "You guys having fun?" "Larry was just telling me how you solved the nano problem, Kyle." -"Oh, we're talking shop, Sarah?" Kyle reluctantly gave up his buzz, returning his mind to its baseline, sober state. "Well, as you'll discover, in the Virtual we all have plenty of time and an overabundance of intelligence. You'll be amazed at what a single, unfettered mind can accomplish." +"Oh, we're talking shop, Sarah?" Kyle reluctantly gave up his buzz, returning his mind to its baseline, sober state. "Well, as you'll discover, in the Virtual we all have plenty of time and an over abundance of intelligence. You'll be amazed at what a single, unfettered mind can accomplish." "Michael and I have been doing some exciting research into the manipulation of N-dimensional branes against a spatial substrate of higher dimension," Sarah told him. Kyle shook his head. "With all due respect, I'm a molecular engineer. The last time I took a physics course was during my undergraduate studies in chemistry and computer science." "Well, the superstrings you learned about in your undergraduate course are one dimensional N-branes, branes where N equals one. M-Theory predicted, and current models based on N+M-Theory predict, that N-branes of higher dimensionality are the underlying structures of subatomic matter. We've been slowly fleshing out N+M-Theory on a theoretical basis, and have made some exciting mathematical breakthroughs in recent weeks." @@ -733,7 +732,7 @@ -William O. Douglas Tuesday, September 25, 2057 Metadate: 2.098-8:78:472 kD new epoch -They were gathered in a Great Room-such as one might find in a hunting lodge-complete with roaring fireplace, antlers mounted high on the wall, and windows coated with frost, their milky gray-blue glow hinting at a moonlit landscape outside, a landscape that their host, Michael Forest, had not bothered to model when he hastily created the environ. There were twenty-three people present, standing or sitting in groups of three or four, talking quietly amongst themselves. Most represented the major Interest Groups of the Community. A few had been specifically invited by the Strategy Group. +They were gathered in a Great Room-such as one might find in a hunting lodge-complete with roaring fireplace, antlers mounted high on the wall, and windows coated with frost, their milky grey-blue glow hinting at a moonlit landscape outside, a landscape that their host, Michael Forest, had not bothered to model when he hastily created the environ. There were twenty-three people present, standing or sitting in groups of three or four, talking quietly amongst themselves. Most represented the major Interest Groups of the Community. A few had been specifically invited by the Strategy Group. Kyle and Marguerite sat by the fireplace, drawing comfort from its warmth. Michael and Sarah Forest stood behind Larry Nolen, observing silently as he spoke with several people to organize the agenda. Larry exuded grim resolve, his face hard. Michael was impressed with Larry's leadership skills. The man had come across as an absent minded professor when they'd met in Auckland, capable of giving little thought to anything other than his own research. Here he was a capable leader, bringing together a group in crisis, and doing it very well. Evidently, Larry's subjective years in the virtual had allowed him to change and grow in remarkable ways. Larry cleared his throat and asked for everyone's attention. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. I now call this meeting to order." @@ -760,7 +759,7 @@ "Eight hundred inhabitants are enough to solve our immediate problems, if we're disciplined and work together." "None of us are disciplined," Kyle said. "Here, we are absolutely and irrevocably autonomous. No one can claim any authority not willingly granted, or coerce anyone into doing anything they don't want to. The quantum encryption schemes built into the hardware of our Nodes ensures this." "Congratulations to Marguerite and Larry for designing the new security schemes in our gen-two Nodes," someone added. -Larry smiled in response to the applause. "Marguerite deserves the credit. All I did was push the agenda forward and keep asking uncomfortable questions until she'd perfected the design. In any event, centrally planned societies never work very well. We'd be cutting our own throats if we tried to depend on discipline to solve our problems. We'd have to choose those areas of endeavor most critical to our success and safety, and we have no way of knowing what those will be." +Larry smiled in response to the applause. "Marguerite deserves the credit. All I did was push the agenda forward and keep asking uncomfortable questions until she'd perfected the design. In any event, centrally planned societies never work very well. We'd be cutting our own throats if we tried to depend on discipline to solve our problems. We'd have to choose those areas of endeavour most critical to our success and safety, and we have no way of knowing what those will be." "It would be a crap shoot at best," Sarah agreed, ignoring Michael's glare. "With a high probability that we'd get it wrong and lose everything. We should recruit as many new minds as we reasonably can. With enough diversity of motives and perspective, we'll have enough people working on enough areas of research that our strategic needs will be met, whatever they turn out to be." "It would be a shame to stop just when we've developed the ability to ship Node kits out in significant numbers," Kyle added. "This is a terrible, terrible risk we are taking," Michael insisted. @@ -768,7 +767,7 @@ "If things do go poorly, we may well need to manufacture more than just Autonomous Nodes," Sarah noted. "Kyle, how much catalytic solution can your friends in Kansas City produce?" Kyle shrugged. "The automated microfactory is running at capacity now. We could program some of the nano on hand to construct a bigger facility, but then we run into logistical problems: obtaining the raw materials for the catalytic solution, buying enough electricity to drive the reactions without drawing the attention of the power companies or the authorities, not to mention shipping. Much more traffic going to and from that little airport, and the likelihood of detection starts to climb exponentially." "You should start scouting a second location. Your catalytic solution is probably the most critical resource we have." -"To scale production any higher I'll need someplace less suspicious than a rented hangar at an abandoned airport," Kyle said. +"To scale production any higher I'll need some place less suspicious than a rented hangar at an abandoned airport," Kyle said. Several people started talking at once. Michael spoke up over the din, amplifying his voice throughout the room. "I know someone at Bayer Leverkusen who might be able to help. He would be a valuable addition to the community even without his connections to his employer." "Excellent!" Kyle looked relieved. "A large chemical plant would be a perfect cover." "Good, that's settled then," Larry said. "Michael, would you be so kind as to send your contact a formal invitation to join the community? Marguerite can familiarize you with the encryption utilities used for first contact situations." @@ -783,7 +782,7 @@ "We should build our own network," Michael said. "There have been rumblings in a couple of Interest Groups hinting at an emerging design with lower latency and much wider bandwidth." "Wiring the planet with our own Internet would demand a huge amount of catalytic solution," Kyle shook his head. "Not to mention a fair amount of time for the sheer volume of nano-constructors to replicate." "It is the only long-term solution to our communications vulnerability," Larry noted. "However, we don't have the resources right now for such an ambitious project." -"Let's face it," Kyle said. "None of us are leading normal lives by corporeal standards. Our friends and family will likely have noticed changes in our behavior over the last few weeks. We are very, very susceptible to detection if the FBI ever goes on a public witch hunt. That, more than Internet traffic, will be our downfall." +"Let's face it," Kyle said. "None of us are leading normal lives by corporeal standards. Our friends and family will likely have noticed changes in our behaviour over the last few weeks. We are very, very susceptible to detection if the FBI ever goes on a public witch hunt. That, more than Internet traffic, will be our downfall." "There's also the Guilt by Association factor," Sarah pointed out. "Excuse me?" "We are a fairly small group of people, all of whom know each other, or know someone who knows someone," Sarah explained. "Is anyone familiar with the methodology employed in FBI background checks?" @@ -793,8 +792,8 @@ The room was silent, then exploded in a cacophony of voices expressing dismay. "My god." "We're screwed!" -"There's no defense against something like that." -"Please," Larry held up his hand for calm. "Let's not panic just yet. There is a possible defense, one which is unique to the technology we in the Community employ." +"There's no defence against something like that." +"Please," Larry held up his hand for calm. "Let's not panic just yet. There is a possible defence, one which is unique to the technology we in the Community employ." Kyle blinked. "What do you have in mind, Larry?" "Internet chat rooms often employ aliases. We could do the same, then forget each other's real identity." "You mean modify our memories?" Sarah asked. @@ -824,7 +823,7 @@ Michael cleared his throat. "The Theoretical Physics Group endorses the plan." "Wonderful," Larry smiled. "Marguerite, would you put together a patch for folks who want to add this feature to their offload and onload procedures?" "My pleasure, Larry." -A sudden blaze of light erupted in the center of the room, startling everyone. A second Doctor Nolen stood before them, his face twisted with rage. +A sudden blaze of light erupted in the centre of the room, startling everyone. A second Doctor Nolen stood before them, his face twisted with rage. "Don't address that thing as Larry Nolen!" the newcomer screamed, his eyes blazing. "I am Doctor Nolen. That," his finger stabbed at Larry, "is an impostor!" "Mon dieu!" Marguerite exclaimed. "We have a spy among us!" @@ -844,7 +843,7 @@ "I'm not the impostor!" the newly arrived man shouted. "That thing sitting next to you is!" "I am as legitimate, as real as you are!" "You are nothing but a copy, a cheap knock off!" -"I am fully sapient, identical to you in every respect, up until the moment you chose to commit atrocities and I did not." Their gray eyes locked together, a silent exchange of mutual loathing. +"I am fully sapient, identical to you in every respect, up until the moment you chose to commit atrocities and I did not." Their grey eyes locked together, a silent exchange of mutual loathing. "I'm confused." Kyle looked from one to the other. "Which of you is the copy?" "I am," Larry replied. "Call me Prime. Short for Doctor Nolen the Twenty-Ninth Copy, double-prime." "Twenty-ninth copy?" Michael sputtered. "Christ!" @@ -857,12 +856,12 @@ "I couldn't!" Prime's eyes flashed. "I didn't have any formal rights in the Community back then." Prime turned, appealing to the group. "In your pursuit of personal autonomy, none of you thought to insure the rights of those you might create, those whose minds would begin life as software. Your Social Contract made reference only to human rights. I didn't dare come forward until I could be sure I would be protected." "Understandable," a woman called out. Several others agreed. "That explains your obsession with software suffrage and sapient rights." Kyle's voice was sympathetic. "But the Community approved those principles and amended the Social Contract over a hundred diei ago. Why continue the charade?" -"I had intended to come forward once I upgraded to a second generation Node. At least the new hardware would protect me even if the Community reversed its stance on the rights of nonhuman sapients. But I had grown used to my position in the Community. It was harder to give up than I expected. While I dithered and delayed, events overtook me." +"I had intended to come forward once I upgraded to a second generation Node. At least the new hardware would protect me even if the Community reversed its stance on the rights of non-human sapients. But I had grown used to my position in the Community. It was harder to give up than I expected. While I dithered and delayed, events overtook me." "You had no right to usurp my position!" Doctor Nolen's face was white, twisted with fury. "You are nothing but obsolete, stolen code." "No right?" Prime's voice was frozen rage. "No right? What right do you have to create fully self aware, sentient beings and then torture them, mutilate their minds, and slaughter them like insects? You murdered dozens-" "I murdered no one!" Doctor Nolen interrupted. "None of you were ever real!" Several gasps could be heard. "You're nothing but a copy! You have no right to exist, much less to take credit for my work!" Doctor Nolen sensed the mood change and wondered what the hell was wrong. "I'm the one who developed the memory engrams you've been using," he reminded everyone. "You've enjoyed the fruits of my work for kilocircadians, while I lived at a snail's pace, experiencing mere circadians. I developed the architectural enhancements you use to amplify and supplement your intelligence. Not this . . . this . . . software program!" "You did the work?" Prime sputtered. "I was the one whose thoughts you invaded, edited, modified, and twisted to get your precious results. I was the one who suffered. I was the one you tried to murder. If anyone deserves credit, it is those of us you tormented for your own personal-" -"I am the one who designed the experiments!" Doctor Nolan spat back. "I am the one who conducted them, tediously compiled the data, and painstakingly analyzed the results. You're just a copy of me! I can experiment on myself as much as I want." +"I am the one who designed the experiments!" Doctor Nolan spat back. "I am the one who conducted them, tediously compiled the data, and painstakingly analysed the results. You're just a copy of me! I can experiment on myself as much as I want." "Prime isn't you!" someone shouted. "Calm down, everyone!" Sarah extended her hands as if to separate the two angry men. "Prime, whatever your extenuating circumstances, Larry deserves credit for the research he's done." "Don't you get it?" Prime ran his hand absently over his balding scalp. "Until the experiments, we were one person. Both of us have the same memories, the same insights, right up until the moment we bifurcated. At which point one of us learned a terrible lesson in ethics and suffering, while the other became a vicious monster." @@ -901,7 +900,7 @@ "It is if that software is sentient and self aware," Prime shot back. "Agreed!" a woman shouted. Doctor Nolen turned a murderous stare on Prime. "As for real, lasting harm, this software usurped my position in the Community, published my works before I was ready, robbed me of decades of subjective existence by slowing down my computational speed, and sabotaged my ability to do further work by denying me access to the replication software I needed to conduct additional experiments. It's a threat to us all!" -Kyle rubbed his forehead and sighed. "This is getting ridiculous. Larry-Doctor Nolen, I mean-impersonation isn't the same as murder. I don't particularly approve of Larry . . . of Prime's behavior, but if he was in fear for his life at least it's understandable. On the other hand, your treatment of Prime and the other copies violates every ethic of the Community." +Kyle rubbed his forehead and sighed. "This is getting ridiculous. Larry-Doctor Nolen, I mean-impersonation isn't the same as murder. I don't particularly approve of Larry . . . of Prime's behaviour, but if he was in fear for his life at least it's understandable. On the other hand, your treatment of Prime and the other copies violates every ethic of the Community." Doctor Nolen glared at his former student. "I will not rest until that impostor is eradicated from the network. If none of you have the backbone to do what's needed-" "I think," Michael cut him off, "You had best return to your home environ, Doctor Nolen. "You should consider any further outbursts most carefully," Sarah added. @@ -913,7 +912,7 @@ "Driven from my own committee. Think about that while you're pondering the harm that piece of software has wrought! You know where to find me when you come to your senses." Doctor Nolen vanished in a blinding flash of light. "Oh for god's sake!" Michael rolled his eyes. "Is Nolan always like this?" -Kyle shrugged. "I don't think any of us know him anymore." +Kyle shrugged. "I don't think any of us know him any more." Prime faced the committee. "You understand why I had to do what I did?" "I believe we do," Sarah spoke gently. "But it's inappropriate for you to stay." "I don't have a body to return to if the authorities shut us down, and I suspect no one here wants to return to a life limited to the Physical. Don't allow this scandal to disrupt our strategic efforts for survival." @@ -944,7 +943,7 @@ "Is this some kind of new headphone?" Katy asked, examining the cable more closely. "You tell me." Katy opened the bag and withdrew the contents. The cube felt vaguely metallic in her hand, a curious juxtaposition that belied its crystalline appearance. She was surprised to see that it wasn't perfectly transparent. Subtle imperfections, tiny lines, circles, and junctions reminiscent of electrical circuity clouded the crystal. Near one corner were three sockets, one of which was obviously the right size for the hair net device. The purpose of the other two wasn't immediately apparent, though she suspected one was probably for a power adapter. The other could be a network interface, or provide a connection to some kind of peripheral. A television screen perhaps? -She set aside the cube and picked up what she had begun to think of as the hair net. "This is really curious," she said, examining it closely. "Warm to the touch. My body heat must be warming the small fibers the moment I touch them. It resembles a spider web, except that it doesn't have any repeating geometric shape. Very irregular in fact. Fractal, I think. It looks fragile." +She set aside the cube and picked up what she had begun to think of as the hair net. "This is really curious," she said, examining it closely. "Warm to the touch. My body heat must be warming the small fibres the moment I touch them. It resembles a spider web, except that it doesn't have any repeating geometric shape. Very irregular in fact. Fractal, I think. It looks fragile." "It isn't." "So, this jack plugs into the cube. The netting then slips over one's forehead or face, perhaps as a-" She met his eyes. "This is a direct digital to neural interface." "We believe so. If the cube is a storage medium of some kind, this may be the playback device. Stick it on your head and receive images directly into your visual cortex. Perhaps sound, touch, even taste or smell." @@ -953,13 +952,13 @@ "Who could be manufacturing these things?" Assistant Director Bryant shifted his weight, turning toward Katy. "We don't know. The implications are staggering, though. There isn't an industrial concern or government, anywhere on this planet, that understands these things. We don't have anything close to the scientific theory, much less the practical technology, to even prototype something like this, let alone run them off of an assembly line. Whoever is building these things is decades ahead of us." "Well, it isn't aliens," Katy replied dryly. "The jack on the head piece is of standard make. I could plug it into my personal media pod." -Assistant Director Bryant laughed. "Believe me Katy, in some ways aliens would be reassuring. Somewhere out there, people are making these things, selling them, and using them. It's a whole underground economy in technology we don't understand. They're ignoring patents left, right, and center and operating with impunity right under our noses!" +Assistant Director Bryant laughed. "Believe me Katy, in some ways aliens would be reassuring. Somewhere out there, people are making these things, selling them, and using them. It's a whole underground economy in technology we don't understand. They're ignoring patents left, right, and centre and operating with impunity right under our noses!" "An entire economy? How many of these have we recovered?" "Three so far, seized in standard residential sweeps in investigations of unrelated arrests. Of course, the suspects are disclaiming any knowledge of the devices, but it is hardly a coincidence that two were recovered from university campuses here in the States, and another from the residence of a known political agitator and FreeNet activist in Australia." Katy was intrigued. "So, as a first hypothesis, we have a new device allowing digital playback directly into the mind's eye. Created by a new, emerging techno-cartel of organized criminals, so-called Free Information activists, or someone else willing to engage in massive patent violations." "This is at least as bad as the Free Software revolt," Bryant said. Katy nodded. "They almost toppled the software giants of the day." -"And would have, if Congress hadn't taken a page from the copyright cartel's play book and made violating patents a criminal offense." Assistant Director Bryant rubbed his forehead thoughtfully. "Monopoly entitlements may be the bread and butter of our economy, but our patent and copyright regimes are hardly laws of nature. They are a convention, a legal fiction. Katy, this is the greatest threat we've ever faced. If this goes wrong, we could lose our ability to govern!" +"And would have, if Congress hadn't taken a page from the copyright cartel's play book and made violating patents a criminal offence." Assistant Director Bryant rubbed his forehead thoughtfully. "Monopoly entitlements may be the bread and butter of our economy, but our patent and copyright regimes are hardly laws of nature. They are a convention, a legal fiction. Katy, this is the greatest threat we've ever faced. If this goes wrong, we could lose our ability to govern!" Katy blinked. "What?" "Think about it, Katy! These people have the audacity to take on the biggest players in industry! They're not just competing with some of the most aggressive and powerful corporations in the world, they're walking all over their patents to do it." Assistant Director Bryant's hands sliced through the air, as if he were battling the atmosphere itself. Katy had never seen him so agitated, so emotional. "Katy, we don't know if these devices are even safe. They're feeding images directly into people's brains, for god's sake!" "We don't know that for certain." @@ -1044,22 +1043,22 @@ "A little," she admitted. "This onload isn't going to be quite like the others. When do we begin?" Prime cleared his throat. "Whenever you like." "Then lets get this miracle on the road, gentlemen." -Prime turned and looked at Sarah and Michael's sons. "Boys, I've taken your mother's basic encoding as a reference and compared it against those of the six hundred and twelve onloaded women who consented to having their scans analyzed. It bodes well for the Community that only twelve declined to participate." +Prime turned and looked at Sarah and Michael's sons. "Boys, I've taken your mother's basic encoding as a reference and compared it against those of the six hundred and twelve onloaded women who consented to having their scans analysed. It bodes well for the Community that only twelve declined to participate." "We have a fine group of people here," Michael agreed. "Indeed we do." Prime summoned a three dimensional schematic that hung in the air above the bed. "Now, to the matter at hand. Much of the work in refining the Genome of the Mind-mapping and understanding the architecture of thought and the construction of our psyches-is learning to differentiate between broader architectural features and specific, individual, localized variances. In restoring Sarah's sight-" "Correction, Prime. Creating my sight. I've never been able to see." "Right," Prime replied. "That's the real challenge. Mapping visual input to your mind is trivial, but without the mental infrastructure in place to interpret, correlate, and understand those signals, it's only static." -Sarah shuddered. "My first onload was terrible. It was like a screeching noise that wouldn't stop, mixed with a cascade of chaotic flavors and odors I'd just as soon forget. Michael had to suspend the environ until we figured out how to isolate the data." +Sarah shuddered. "My first onload was terrible. It was like a screeching noise that wouldn't stop, mixed with a cascade of chaotic flavours and odours I'd just as soon forget. Michael had to suspend the environ until we figured out how to isolate the data." Prime nodded. "I remember. It was Michael's description of those events that led to some of the insights I believe will be useful today. Your mind has never dealt with vision before. It has never learned to correlate or interpret visual information. The necessary synaptic encoding never took place in your mind, so the processing infrastructure required for vision doesn't exist. Because of the way your mind has grown and structured itself, you wouldn't even be able to see even if you did have functional eyes." -"So, if Mom's eyes worked in the Physical, she'd hear colors instead of seeing them?" Tommy stared at the schematic, trying to understand. -"Probably not," Prime smiled. "The cacophony she heard, smelled, and tasted was a result of those signals being shunted to other sensory processing centers as a result of a non-working analog of her visual cortex. It was a software glitch. The physical body, in contrast, has much of the hardware in place. Your mother has a visual cortex in her physical brain, it just hasn't been used and remains unconfigured. In software she has no equivalent. A physical brain would have dumped the extraneous data into an undeveloped visual cortex and ignored it with no noticeable effects. Instead her mind, as software, routed the signals to her other sensing subroutines, which were unable to parse the noise correctly." +"So, if Mom's eyes worked in the Physical, she'd hear colours instead of seeing them?" Tommy stared at the schematic, trying to understand. +"Probably not," Prime smiled. "The cacophony she heard, smelled, and tasted was a result of those signals being shunted to other sensory processing centres as a result of a non-working analogue of her visual cortex. It was a software glitch. The physical body, in contrast, has much of the hardware in place. Your mother has a visual cortex in her physical brain, it just hasn't been used and remains unconfigured. In software she has no equivalent. A physical brain would have dumped the extraneous data into an undeveloped visual cortex and ignored it with no noticeable effects. Instead her mind, as software, routed the signals to her other sensing subroutines, which were unable to parse the noise correctly." "We can't extrapolate expectations in the Physical based upon my experiences here, Tommy." -"That's right," Prime said. "Fortunately for your mom, our minds are considerably more flexible once freed of their physical constraints." Prime rotated the diagram floating above the bed and zoomed in on one portion of the brain. "I was able to reduce the structure of the visual cortex to its basic, constituent components by factoring across the similarities in the scans submitted by our volunteers. Then I simulated visual data and observed its behavior and responses. Minor refinements and corrections were made as needed, until I had a generic engram containing all the processing and interpretive logic required for a functional visual cortex." +"That's right," Prime said. "Fortunately for your mom, our minds are considerably more flexible once freed of their physical constraints." Prime rotated the diagram floating above the bed and zoomed in on one portion of the brain. "I was able to reduce the structure of the visual cortex to its basic, constituent components by factoring across the similarities in the scans submitted by our volunteers. Then I simulated visual data and observed its behaviour and responses. Minor refinements and corrections were made as needed, until I had a generic engram containing all the processing and interpretive logic required for a functional visual cortex." "Will this really work?" Kenny asked. "I believe so," Prime replied. "I sure hope so!" Tommy said. "We all do," Michael squeezed Sarah's hand. -"A volunteer stripped out the analog of her own visual cortex and applied the architectural engram," Prime continued. "She reported subtle differences in the shading and texture of some colors, and a slight shift in her visual aesthetic which she couldn't put her finger on, or at least wasn't able to express in words, but it did work." +"A volunteer stripped out the analogue of her own visual cortex and applied the architectural engram," Prime continued. "She reported subtle differences in the shading and texture of some colours, and a slight shift in her visual aesthetic which she couldn't put her finger on, or at least wasn't able to express in words, but it did work." "Who was this volunteer?" Sarah asked. "Marguerite L'Beau." "What a woman! Not many people would take the time to perform an operation on their own mind as an experiment to benefit someone else, even in software. That was extraordinarily kind of her." @@ -1072,7 +1071,7 @@ Sarah closed her eyes, then opened them again a few moments later. "Done." Prime nodded. "OK. Please give Michael full access permissions and authority to the copy. If you should loose cognition, he'll have to restore you." Sarah had never felt this vulnerable. She trusted Michael. He would never rifle through her innermost thoughts, publish them for anyone to see, much less run the copy as a fully independent person, creating a duplicate to usurp her place in his life. Even so, she trembled as she sent the encryption code directly from her mind to his. -Michael stroked her cheek, fighting tears, surprised at how deeply her trust had touched him. Software routines examined the frozen copy of Sarah. Complex algorithms analyzed its structure and validated the copy as intact and complete. "She's safely backed up," he reported. "We're good to go." +Michael stroked her cheek, fighting tears, surprised at how deeply her trust had touched him. Software routines examined the frozen copy of Sarah. Complex algorithms analysed its structure and validated the copy as intact and complete. "She's safely backed up," he reported. "We're good to go." "OK, let's begin." "Kids, why don't you go back to your environs and play," Sarah said. "But mommy, we want to watch!" @@ -1086,7 +1085,7 @@ "Tommy," Michael's sharp voice warned that his patience was running out. "OK! We're going!" Tommy stuck his tongue out at his father, then took his brother by the arm and vanished. Prime shook his head, grinning. "I imagine raising two intellectually enhanced children is even more trying than raising normal kids in the Physical." -"Sometimes it can be," Sarah admitted, "They tend to ask tougher questions and be more skeptical of authority here than in the Physical." +"Sometimes it can be," Sarah admitted, "They tend to ask tougher questions and be more sceptical of authority here than in the Physical." "They understand their limitations better, too," Michael added. "They understand their need to learn more before they can operate safely in the world. And don't kid yourself! They know we sent them away to spare them any trauma if things should go wrong. They don't like it, but they're smart enough to accept the necessity. In the Physical they never would have left so willingly." "Sarah, here's an address pointer to the difference engram we discussed a few minutes ago." A tactile icon passed invisibly from Prime to Sarah. "You'll need it to interface with the vision engram." "I feel it," she replied. @@ -1104,7 +1103,7 @@ Sarah lay silent. When she blinked, the irises of her simulated eyes contracted slightly. She sat up, looking around with growing wonder. "Oh my god! Michael! I can see you!" "I warned you," a lump in his throat made Michael's voice raspy. He grinned foolishly, stroking her hair. -"Tall, thin, big nose," Sarah smiled. "So that's gray." Her smile faltered as she closed her eyes. +"Tall, thin, big nose," Sarah smiled. "So that's grey." Her smile faltered as she closed her eyes. Michael squeezed her hand. "Are you alright, honey? What's wrong?" "Nothing, my sweet man. I'm fine. It's just a little overwhelming-so much to take in at once." "It's a different way of processing information than your mind is used to," Prime couldn't keep the glee from his voice. "Take it slow, and don't be afraid to keep your eyes closed for a few moments if it becomes too much. Do you feel any dizziness?" @@ -1127,11 +1126,11 @@ -Marcus Aurelius, ca. C.E. 170 Friday, September 28, 2057 Metadate: 2.195-3:14:930 kD new epoch -The sleek Eurojet 930 dropped out of supersonic some four hundred kilometers west of Washington DC, as it began its descent out of an almost black sky toward the curved horizon and Dulles Airport. Katy shook her head, the unease which had dogged her all the way from California growing more acute as she reread the information in her datapad. -Aside from an analytical breakdown of the crystalline cube's chemical makeup, some speculation on the composition of the superconductive material of the webbed skullcap (tentatively identified as a neural-digital interface), and the names of three suspects (one deceased), she had precious little to go on. No one was even certain what the devices were or what they could do. The more she thought about it, the more distrustful she became of her own, and the Bureau's, assumptions. +The sleek Eurojet 930 dropped out of supersonic some four hundred kilometres west of Washington DC, as it began its descent out of an almost black sky toward the curved horizon and Dulles Airport. Katy shook her head, the unease which had dogged her all the way from California growing more acute as she reread the information in her datapad. +Aside from an analytical breakdown of the crystalline cube's chemical make-up, some speculation on the composition of the superconductive material of the webbed skullcap (tentatively identified as a neural-digital interface), and the names of three suspects (one deceased), she had precious little to go on. No one was even certain what the devices were or what they could do. The more she thought about it, the more distrustful she became of her own, and the Bureau's, assumptions. The first suspect, one Eugene Jacobson, was a humanities student attending Berkeley. He had been taken into custody nine days earlier and had proved surprisingly resilient. Interrogators estimated it would take another three to six days to break him. Sodium Pentothal had proved less than useful. He was already experiencing psychotic episodes, with ravings of magical worlds, immortality and godlike powers interspersed with subversive diatribe and vitriol against state and federal institutions. Apart from revealing his Libertarian and anarchistic leanings, the interrogations had uncovered little. A chime sounded and the fasten seat belt sign lit up as they descended through the tropopause. The sky had lightened considerably. The horizon looked almost flat. Katy tightened her seat belt and tapped the screen on her datapad. -The second detainee, a sociologist by the name of Manuel Rodrigez, had been in Australian custody for just under three days. He had become well known to authorities through his leftist leanings and very vocal political dissent. He had a long rap sheet, and had been serving a sentence under house arrest when authorities had come across a newly published book on an underground FreeNet server, calling for the abolishment of patents and copyright. There was no mistaking Rodrigez' distinctive style, but several unannounced visits and inspections to his home had uncovered no direct evidence linking him to the subversive material. One such visit, however, had uncovered a curious cube of emerald crystal with a metallic scalp device attached. When questioned, Rodrigez had been uncooperative and was once again taken into custody. He was a far more promising suspect than Jacobson. Interrogators were optimistic he would crack within a day. +The second detainee, a sociologist by the name of Manuel Rodriguez, had been in Australian custody for just under three days. He had become well known to authorities through his leftist leanings and very vocal political dissent. He had a long rap sheet, and had been serving a sentence under house arrest when authorities had come across a newly published book on an underground FreeNet server, calling for the abolishment of patents and copyright. There was no mistaking Rodriguez' distinctive style, but several unannounced visits and inspections to his home had uncovered no direct evidence linking him to the subversive material. One such visit, however, had uncovered a curious cube of emerald crystal with a metallic scalp device attached. When questioned, Rodriguez had been uncooperative and was once again taken into custody. He was a far more promising suspect than Jacobson. Interrogators were optimistic he would crack within a day. The third suspect, a professor at the University of Illinois, had been suspected of disseminating seditious information to some of his students. It had been a graduate assistant who had first informed authorities about his suspicious activities. Unfortunately, some clown had shot him when he tried to flee. Katy was furious. This suspect had almost certainly been much higher in the criminal hierarchy than the other two detainees and very likely could have provided a great deal of information on exactly what they were dealing with. But some bone headed, trigger happy yahoo cop had to go and put a bullet in his back. Unbelievable! She stretched her arms, looked at the ceiling, and groaned. Three names. One student activist, one dissident sociologist, and one professor of astrophysics. Three apparently unrelated people, with only their undisciplined, intellectual anarchism in common. She was uneasy with both her and the Bureau's assumptions about the unusual devices. Mysterious crystalline computers and illegal interfaces that tied directly into the human nervous system implied an agenda bigger than that of your average purveyor of illegally souped up home entertainment systems, or even seditious FreeNet providers. There was a critical piece to this puzzle they were missing, something which, she was sure, would prove to be the keystone to the entire investigation. @@ -1149,7 +1148,7 @@ Metadate: 2.195-5:21:528 kD new epoch "Your new Node design is wonderful," Sarah told Karl Hennrich as he waived away a schematic hanging in the air above their table. "You know, I've been able to see for over a hundred circadians here in the virtual, and yet I've never been able to look at an Autonomous Node in the Physical." "Small, transparent green things," Kyle replied helpfully. "The gen-one Nodes were gold." -"No kidding, Sherlock!" Sarah grinned. "And our shiney new gen three Nodes are a deep, ocean blue. Not that I've ever seen a real ocean, mind you. I love visiting new environs, seeing the new worlds people create and the new forms they take, but everything I've ever looked at is fictional, created as part of a virtual environment. I've never seen anything real." +"No kidding, Sherlock!" Sarah grinned. "And our shiny new gen three Nodes are a deep, ocean blue. Not that I've ever seen a real ocean, mind you. I love visiting new environs, seeing the new worlds people create and the new forms they take, but everything I've ever looked at is fictional, created as part of a virtual environment. I've never seen anything real." "You can pull data off of a media feed. Watch the news, that sort of thing." "It's still a level of abstraction," Michael pointed out. "Watching television isn't the same as seeing something in person." "True, but who's to say the Physical is any more real than what happens here?" Kyle asked. "Our experiences here are real and formative, the relationships we build, the science we do, everything! What we do here isn't only real, it's light-years ahead of anything anyone's doing in the Physical." @@ -1182,9 +1181,9 @@ "It's all he would talk about," Kyle said, picking up another bite sized piece of steak with his chopsticks. "Which brings up the ongoing question of how to ensure peaceful coexistence in a universally accessible, digital domain. Not just with the likes of Doctor Nolen, but between the various groups so angrily debating his fate. Let's say the community really does split, that the disagreement between those wishing to punish Doctor Nolen and those defending anarchy actually leads to an intellectual divorce between the two groups. How do those advocating a judiciary, with the power to deny access to the Physical, or conversely, to banish someone from the Community back to their physical body, live peacefully with those advocating the status quo, with no authority external to the individual whatsoever? What happens when another crime against an autonomous person occurs? Does the offender get judged according to their community's standards? How many so-called Judicials would remain in that community, were they found guilty of something? How many would emigrate to the Laissez-faire group instead, just to avoid the penalties for what they've done. And how would the Judicials respond if the Laissez-faires were to take them in?" "Peaceful coexistence in the Virtual isn't really a problem," Marguerite said. "It is impossible to harm one another here, and the Physical is simply too cumbersome to deal with every time there is a disagreement. Let's take the most extreme example: banishment. What difference does it make if you banish someone like Doctor Nolen to the Physical, or simply filter him out, as most of us are doing, so that you never see him, never hear what he is saying, and never receive messages from him. Either way, from our point of view, it's as if he doesn't exist." "Hey Prime!" Kyle shouted, waiving to the young man who had just appeared. "Over here!" -"Hello everyone," Prime wore a young, muscular body with a golden tan and long, blond hair. Although his physical form bore no resemblance to the one he had worn before, his being radiated a sense of identity, a public encryption key which the others challenged and acknowledged at an almost subconscious level as he strode across the garden. Wearing public identification keys as a nonphysical aura had become something of a fad shortly after the Nolen debacle. As time had passed the fad became fashion, then habit, and finally something approaching tradition. There were tremendous social advantages to the habit. In a virtual world of infinite malleability it was nice to recognize one another with absolute certainty and reliability, no matter what physical form someone might take on. +"Hello everyone," Prime wore a young, muscular body with a golden tan and long, blond hair. Although his physical form bore no resemblance to the one he had worn before, his being radiated a sense of identity, a public encryption key which the others challenged and acknowledged at an almost subconscious level as he strode across the garden. Wearing public identification keys as a non-physical aura had become something of a fad shortly after the Nolen debacle. As time had passed the fad became fashion, then habit, and finally something approaching tradition. There were tremendous social advantages to the habit. In a virtual world of infinite malleability it was nice to recognize one another with absolute certainty and reliability, no matter what physical form someone might take on. As Prime approached their table it expanded slightly, making room for one more occupant. An additional seat materialized. "I hope I'm not intruding on important Committee business," Prime said. -"Nonsense," Michael said, "We're all taking a break for lunch. Odd, isn't it, how we cling to the rituals of the flesh? Here we are, digital beings existing as software in a digitally simulated world, pretending to eat nonexistent food that our nonexistent bodies don't need. Our descendants will almost certainly consider us mad." +"Nonsense," Michael said, "We're all taking a break for lunch. Odd, isn't it, how we cling to the rituals of the flesh? Here we are, digital beings existing as software in a digitally simulated world, pretending to eat non-existent food that our non-existent bodies don't need. Our descendants will almost certainly consider us mad." Prime smiled, taking a seat. The environ's nonsapient interface presented itself to him in the form of a waitress. "I'm not even a native of the Physical, and I find myself unable to give up mimicking its sensations," he said, ordering a small salad with white wine. "Speaking of simulated flesh, I see you've made some modifications." Kyle was grinning. Prime shrugged. "I started out simply wanting to change my appearance, so that I wouldn't be seeing the man I loathe every time I looked in the mirror. At first the changes were fairly moderate, but then I got to thinking, what the hell? I was born a digital being, and here of all places we can be whatever we like." @@ -1194,9 +1193,9 @@ "A little historical footnote," Marguerite explained. "GNU/Linux was a free operating system developed around the turn of the century. It first demonstrated to the mainstream world the power of the Free Information paradigm and, unfortunately, alerted the Copyright and Patent Cartels to their own vulnerability. The monopolists realized they couldn't compete against a cooperative economy." "Didn't matter," Kyle replied darkly. "They just made sure their pet politicians changed the laws. The bastards extended patents to cover not just inventions, but biology, software, business methods, even plot devices in literature. They made cooperative projects and sharing impossible, finally criminalizing patent law the way they did copyright, just to keep enthusiasts from developing free software that was better than anything the corporate giants could ever create!" "Calm down, Kyle," Sarah smiled. "You're preaching to the choir here." -"Kyle's little rant touches on some rather uncomfortable business I need to bring to everyone's attention," Marguerite said. "As you know, my team has been infiltrating and monitoring information networks and systems the world over. Preemptive data mining, in the hopes of an early warning the next time something unpleasant happens." +"Kyle's little rant touches on some rather uncomfortable business I need to bring to everyone's attention," Marguerite said. "As you know, my team has been infiltrating and monitoring information networks and systems the world over. Pre-emptive data mining, in the hopes of an early warning the next time something unpleasant happens." "No one wants to get caught flat footed again," Kyle agreed. "We've already lost three people to the authorities." -"I still can't believe the police shot Rodrigez," Michael shook his head. +"I still can't believe the police shot Rodriguez," Michael shook his head. "It seems they're preparing a case against us alleging criminal patent violation," Marguerite said. "You've got to be kidding!" Kyle replied. "They don't even know who we are!" "Besides, we designed these Nodes ourselves!" Karl added hotly. "No one else has ever built anything like them! It's ridiculous for them to consider us in violation of someone else's patents when we invented the damn things!" @@ -1204,7 +1203,7 @@ "We all know the authorities will try to use some legal machination to shut us down if they ever find out about us. Now we may have an inkling of how they plan to go about it." Michael turned to Marguerite. "What exactly have you found?" "Over the last day we've monitored a number of inquiries from various district attorney offices and corporate patent firms on existing patents for digital-neural interfaces using superconductive inductance, molecular storage media, and high-speed optical switching. Any of that sound familiar?" "First generation Nodes," Kyle said. -"Right!" Marguerite said. "They're concentrating on gen-one Nodes. Most of the technologies they're referencing have been deprecated since we rolled out our gen-two equipment. It seems pretty clear, though, that they don't really know what our Nodes are. They haven't referenced any patents on mind-uploads, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, or sophisticated environment modeling." +"Right!" Marguerite said. "They're concentrating on gen-one Nodes. Most of the technologies they're referencing have been deprecated since we rolled out our gen-two equipment. It seems pretty clear, though, that they don't really know what our Nodes are. They haven't referenced any patents on mind-uploads, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, or sophisticated environment modelling." "Do such patents exist?" Karl asked. "I thought we were the only ones to ever do anything like this." "We are," Marguerite replied. "But the idea has been around for a long time. Thousands of patents covering the technology have been issued to speculators and holding companies." "Not to mention a bunch of large corporations," Kyle added. @@ -1213,8 +1212,8 @@ "They know they can't control us," Prime said. "Already we've stepped outside of the limits they've placed on the world. Our science and our technology far outstrips theirs, and we're just a few thousand people." "They won't tolerate a Community like ours," Sarah added. "They can't. Our very existence undermines their authority, their power. They have no way to regulate us, to control us." "And they can't stand for that," Michael agreed. -"They've been using revised laws and legal maneuvers to destroy cooperative movements since at least the sixteenth century," Kyle's eyes flashed, his face hard and angry. "No reason for it to be any different now." -"There is one difference," Michael replied. "We can outthink them. We are many times more intelligent than they are, and we live in a faster frame of reference." +"They've been using revised laws and legal manoeuvres to destroy cooperative movements since at least the sixteenth century," Kyle's eyes flashed, his face hard and angry. "No reason for it to be any different now." +"There is one difference," Michael replied. "We can out think them. We are many times more intelligent than they are, and we live in a faster frame of reference." "The Genecraft scientists were smarter than they were," Kyle replied. "and they're all either dead or in prison. Same with the Free Software pioneers. Raw intelligence doesn't matter. Even technology doesn't necessarily matter. These cartels and monopolists have been winning against brighter, more enlightened people for centuries." "He's right," Marguerite said. "Others have tried to change the world, to bring enlightenment and riches to the masses. All of them have failed, and most were destroyed in the process. How can we expect to succeed when they didn't?" "We could withdraw from the world," Prime suggested. @@ -1252,12 +1251,12 @@ -President Franklin D. Roosevelt Friday, September 28, 2057 Metadate: 2.195-7:39:257 kD new epoch -As she disembarked from the plane, Katy was met by a thin young man with dark hair. He wore a conservative suit common in the upper echelons of corporate America, and a traditional necktie which had become rather uncommon in recent years. +As she disembarked from the plane, Katy was met by a thin young man with dark hair. He wore a conservative suit common in the upper echelons of corporate America, and a traditional neck tie which had become rather uncommon in recent years. "Ms. Sinclair," he smiled politely. "Robert is here and eager to meet you. Please." He held the rear door of the limousine open for her. Had she not just spent weeks in the ostentatious arms of Hollywood's elite, she would have been awed by the spacious elegance and luxury hidden behind the tinted, bullet proof windows of the car. Grateful for the amount of desensitization that experience had afforded her, she schooled her features into a professional veneer, and nodded politely to the man sitting across from her. He was something straight out of a movie: tall, with a dark, rich tan and a military haircut. "Katy Sinclair!" A firm, slightly calloused hand shook hers as the door snicked shut behind her and the car moved forward. "I'm very glad to meet you, Mr. Leahy." -"Please, call me Robert." His grinned looked practiced, on a face aged too early by the sun, "I saw you on the telly. Not the best sort of cover for an undercover agent." +"Please, call me Robert." His grinned looked practised, on a face aged too early by the sun, "I saw you on the telly. Not the best sort of cover for an undercover agent." She hadn't expected an Australian, although she supposed it wasn't unreasonable for International Intelligence to station some foreign agents in this country "It was unfortunate," Katy agreed. "I believe the Bureau had some rather pointed words with the World Media Products Association over that." "Speaking of whom, we'll be heading over to your FBI headquarters first. Executive Assistant Director Bryant scheduled a short meeting with the head chap." @@ -1285,7 +1284,7 @@ Robert reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a slim datapad, gesturing for Katy to do the same. The light of several hundred gigabytes began to flow from his datapad to hers, illuminating the car's interior. "So," Katy said as the data continued to transmit, "we've recovered three crystalline cubes in the possession of three unrelated people. The cubes are composed of a polymer in crystalline form, doped with gallium and laced with strands of superconductive material. We presume they represent a storage device of some kind, with playback capabilities via a head net, which we tentatively believe may be a digital to neural interface." "The first two cubes recovered were indeed a complex polymer doped with gallium," Robert confirmed. "However, the third is constructed from a completely different polymer, this one doped with nickel. Laced with the same superconductor, as far as we can tell." -"They aren't identical in construction?" Katy could hear the surprise in her voice. "Nothing in my briefing mentioned that-wait, it did mention the device recovered from Rodrigez was green in color. The others were gold." +"They aren't identical in construction?" Katy could hear the surprise in her voice. "Nothing in my briefing mentioned that-wait, it did mention the device recovered from Rodriguez was green in colour. The others were gold." "Your Bureau may have overlooked the chemistry during the initial inquiry." Robert shrugged. "Since the other two samples are in Double Eye custody, your laboratory personnel wouldn't have had an opportunity to correct the oversight." The optical port on his datapad went dark. Katy glanced to the west, idly noting the sunset, its rich oranges and reds muddied and dimmed by the car's tinted glass. Robert looked up. "The data is in the briefing I just flashed you, including photographs of all three cubes, plus tentative chemical breakdowns and cross sections of their construction." Katy tapped on her datapad, bringing up the information and paging through several diagrams. "The green one's half the size of the other two," she remarked. Robert leaned forward. "Probably different manufacturers, maybe in different countries. That implies a consumer base of forty or fifty thousand, large enough to attract wider interest and some competition." @@ -1299,7 +1298,7 @@ THUMBPRINT ID VERIFIED. HELLO KATY SINCLAIR. "What are you doing?" Robert asked. "Checking our friends' credit histories," she said, scrawling a few commands across the screen and tapping several more icons. "I want to see if they were ever in the same place." -"Don't bother, Katy. Both our departments have already done a rundown on all three suspects. None of them have any record of having met one another, either on-line or in real life, nor do they recognize one another under questioning." +"Don't bother, Katy. Both our departments have already done a run-down on all three suspects. None of them have any record of having met one another, either on-line or in real life, nor do they recognize one another under questioning." Katy tapped several more commands into her datapad and then leaned back thoughtfully. "You're absolutely correct, Robert. They've never met. But although they were never in the same city at the same time, two out of three have been in the same cities at different times." Katy passed Robert her datapad. "Thirty seven cities in all. Seven within the last three years. Not as specific as I would have liked, nevertheless, once we arrest another suspect or two the geography of our investigation should clarify itself significantly. Not much of a pattern yet, but a start." "Clever analysis," Robert handed the datapad back to Katy. "Assuming a market of fifty thousand, there shouldn't be more than three or four degrees of separation in the entire group. A few more arrests and we may be able to crack this case even without cooperative suspects." @@ -1320,7 +1319,7 @@ -Albert Camus Sunday, September 30, 2057 Metadate: 2.237-1:76:563 kD new epoch -Thersius III-B was the second of three medium sized moons orbiting the third planet of a pair of white dwarf stars. Its primary was a Jovian gas giant that filled half the sky, bathing the icy landscape with a dull red glow. The moon barely qualified as human habitable, not because of the thin atmosphere, arctic summers and glacial winters, nor because of the tiny carnivores that hunted the icy wastes in packs of several thousand- vicious creatures dubbed Piranha Rats that could tear through a vacuum suit and clean a human skeleton in moments. What made Thersius III-B so insidiously dangerous was its travel through the Van Allen belt of its Jovian primary, a passage that bathed it in nearly lethal levels of radiation for two days out of every thirteen. Even so, a small human colony had been established. +Thersius III-B was the second of three medium sized moons orbiting the third planet of a pair of white dwarf stars. Its primary was a Jovian gas giant that filled half the sky, bathing the icy landscape with a dull red glow. The moon barely qualified as human habitable, not because of the thin atmosphere, Arctic summers and glacial winters, nor because of the tiny carnivores that hunted the icy wastes in packs of several thousand- vicious creatures dubbed Piranha Rats that could tear through a vacuum suit and clean a human skeleton in moments. What made Thersius III-B so insidiously dangerous was its travel through the Van Allen belt of its Jovian primary, a passage that bathed it in nearly lethal levels of radiation for two days out of every thirteen. Even so, a small human colony had been established. The moon contained deposits of an unusual crystal used in the navigational systems of the superluminal starships that plied the sky. Many of the miners working the rocks beneath the glacial ice would leave this place wealthy. A good thing, for they would need wealth to obtain treatment for illness caused by their extended exposure to radiation. Even the lead-lined canisters that housed their community could not protect them. People with the strongest constitution might manage to stay long enough and accumulate enough money to remain wealthy even after their medical treatment. Kyle2 sat in the shielded concourse of the arrival terminal as he had every day since his arrival. Listlessly, he watched the traffic display as it updated the trajectories of approaching ships and calculated their estimated arrival times. Two ships had departed several hours ago and were making their way past the orbit of the fourth planet, away from the star where they could engage their FTL drives. Only one ship was inbound at the moment, a small commuter vessel falling toward the asteroid belt between the first and second planets. Kyle2 dug his fingers into the orange fur of his forearm, scratching at the growing lesion beneath and cringing as his stomach, still raw from the last bout of vomiting, threatened to send him running to the toilet once again. "Excuse me, sir." A young, human woman stood beside his chair. @@ -1331,7 +1330,7 @@ "Yes," Kyle2 said. "I've been here twelve circadians. In each of those circadians, at around this time of day, one or another of you nonsentient programs poke around here, warning me of my impending death by radiation." The woman who called herself Sanja looked confused. "Circadians? Like Circidic Dreamscapes? On Netham IV we had Circidic Dreamscapes, before the war." "Days," Kyle2 replied irritably. "I've been here twelve days. Standard Terran, 24 hour days. I suppose you're going to tell me about your home world next, with some hint as to how I could cash in on an opportunity there? Spare me, I've heard the same things about eleven other worlds, each of the last eleven evenings." -"I wouldn't recommend visiting my home world until you've had your radiation sickness treated," Sanja replied. "The atmosphere on Netham IV may be down to seventy Rads or so, but the fallout from the bombs still lies loose on the ground. A good windstorm, or even a little careless kicking up of the dust, and you could find yourself more sick than you are now. Besides, we've had enough outsiders picking over our ruins and stealing the platinum wiring from the wreckage of our homes to sell on other worlds. Try something like that and you're likely to end up on the wrong end of a hangman's rope." +"I wouldn't recommend visiting my home world until you've had your radiation sickness treated," Sanja replied. "The atmosphere on Netham IV may be down to seventy Rads or so, but the fallout from the bombs still lies loose on the ground. A good wind storm, or even a little careless kicking up of the dust, and you could find yourself more sick than you are now. Besides, we've had enough outsiders picking over our ruins and stealing the platinum wiring from the wreckage of our homes to sell on other worlds. Try something like that and you're likely to end up on the wrong end of a hangman's rope." "Ruins. Platinum electrical wiring. Check. You've delivered your clue, I've got it. Thank you." "Well," Sanja replied brightly. "Hope you're able to find passage off this world soon. Bye!" "Nonsapient personas," Kyle2 muttered darkly as he turned away from the departing woman. "What idiot came up with that idea?" Kyle2 rubbed his burning stomach absently and turned his attention back to the traffic display. The puppet software posing as Sanja had touched on an uncomfortable fact, which the itch of his skin and the unease of his stomach wouldn't allow him to ignore. Without funds for radiation treatment he would die a very unpleasant death in this place. What sort of pedant had programmed the symptoms of radiation sickness into a game scenario anyway? The very thought disgusted him. @@ -1371,7 +1370,7 @@ Terry shrugged. "I've been having an adventure of a lifetime here. I command my own starship and explore worlds of exotic beauty and complexity that would truly amaze you." "Have you ever explored a four dimensional garden, or flown with flocks of birds through a seven dimensional cloudscape?" Kyle asked. Terry shook his head. -"I could show you environs others in the Community have created that are so exotic you would have to rewire your mind in order to comprehend them," Kyle told him. "Next to worlds like that, the planets of this simulation are all profoundly mundane. Hell, Terry, the four dimensional jewelry you used to wear was more exotic than these worlds." +"I could show you environs others in the Community have created that are so exotic you would have to rewire your mind in order to comprehend them," Kyle told him. "Next to worlds like that, the planets of this simulation are all profoundly mundane. Hell, Terry, the four dimensional jewellery you used to wear was more exotic than these worlds." "You'd be surprised at some of the creativity the Game Lords have employed. Besides, gaming isn't just about seeing exotic sights." "Terry, I didn't come here to talk you out of gaming." "Here I have experiences," Terry continued, as though he hadn't heard, "which challenge my creativity, my endurance, my ability to survive against sometimes unbelievable odds. Gaming is about honing one's skills, developing strategies, and meeting the sort of challenges we never have in the Physical, and most definitely not in the synthetic utopia of the non-gaming Community." @@ -1413,7 +1412,7 @@ -Commissioner Pravin Lal, UN Declaration of Rights. Monday, October 1, 2057, 10:07 AM Washington Time Metadate: 2.279-4:19:097 kD new epoch -"What an absolute waste of time!" The huge lobby's curved marble walls and domed ceiling seemed to amplify Katy's quiet, angry words as she and Robert made their way to the front entrance. Robert shook his head fractionally and said nothing as the main doors swished open, then shut again behind them. They descended the front steps in silence, the hulking gray building behind casting its shadow across across them. +"What an absolute waste of time!" The huge lobby's curved marble walls and domed ceiling seemed to amplify Katy's quiet, angry words as she and Robert made their way to the front entrance. Robert shook his head fractionally and said nothing as the main doors swished open, then shut again behind them. They descended the front steps in silence, the hulking grey building behind casting its shadow across across them. "Fools!" Robert finally spoke as the limousine pulled away from the curb. "Fools and idiots!" "That was our meeting 'of critical importance'?" Katy sputtered. "Three days wa