Harbinger (The Janus Harbinger Book 1)

by Olan Thorensen

  It was nip-and-tuck whether Zach or Chunhua adjusted faster, depending on the task. What was consistent were the expected headaches the first week, which faded the more they practiced with the VR.

  “Correct me if I’m wrong,” Sinclair said to Huxler, after getting a daily update two weeks into training, “but I expected these two to take longer, based on the reports from the Virtual-Reality experience.”

  “Oh, not really unexpected,” said Huxler. “At the company, they tried thirty-one members of the project, most of whom had backgrounds in computer technology and programming. I speculated that Ralph turned out to be so good at it because his game programming takes an imaginative and flexible mind. Andrew wasn’t predicted—maybe just a matter of chance he does as well as he does. According to the latest test version they just took, I don’t expect Andrew to improve much over where he is now, whereas I predict both Marjek and Ciminoni will far outclass Andrew once the two of them are more experienced.

  “That these two may match or surpass Ralph won’t be a surprise. Ciminoni’s innate language gift indicates a complex mind able to absorb new input very quickly.”

  “And Marjek?” asked Sinclair.

  “Similar in the outcome, but with different antecedents. Zach’s years of experiencing stressful situations where constant alertness and evaluation of situations are at a premium, combined with his natural aptitude, were bound to hone his ability to handle new situations.”

  “So, you think we’re ready to bring Simeon into the VR to interact with our four explorers? That’s what I’m thinking these four people are. Explorers where no one can predict what they will find.”

  Huxler sagged in his chair. “Yes, as much as I can be certain of anything about all this. I wonder what we should make of the fact that Simeon slipped into using the system almost without a stumble. He continues to make suggestions for tweaks. Like myself, I think the staff expected that differences in technology would be an issue. The Object’s technology is likely so advanced that even this VR system and the IBM computers might seem like flint axes and animal skins.”

  What Do You Say When First Meeting an Alien?

  Ralph Markakis was not happy.

  “I’m the most experienced person in using the VR system, so why aren’t I the first to interact with Simeon?”

  Huxler had anticipated the reaction. “Ralph, no one questions your expertise with the VR setup or your central role in its development. You will have ample opportunities to be involved, but this is a ‘first contact’ situation. Let’s be frank. You let your enthusiasm carry you away. This is one of your most valuable traits, but we want someone with more self-control for the first session. You’ll admit that means Andrew because the choice in this first session is only between you two. These first tries will be short sessions to check out how this two-sided VR system works in a real situation and not in a laboratory. Your initial main work will come in adjusting as necessary. Again, you’ll have plenty of chances, just not today.”

  “All sessions will initially be watched closely by the rest of the Level 3 staff, except for the people selected,” said Mueller. “Those four will initially not witness the sessions of the other three.”

  “We simply don’t want their interactions to be influenced by observing the other three users,” said Huxler. “It may change in the future, but we also want to observe Simeon’s reactions to different people during these initial contacts. We didn’t do it earlier because people were added to Level 3 over time and before we had any protocols in place. And yes, maybe we should have thought this through more, but interacting with an alien intelligence didn’t exactly lend itself to checking precedents.”

  An hour later, Andrew was suited up and immersed in the VR chamber. Next door, the control room was packed with people sitting at stations or standing and watching over others’ shoulders. Howard would be the only other person directly communicating with Simeon.

  “Here we go,” Mueller said to the others and then keyed the link to the VR chamber. “Ready here, Andrew. All looks good.”

  “Same here. Anytime.”

  “Phasing into the room,” said Mueller.

  Rather than Andrew suddenly jolting from darkness to a virtual room, he would experience light gradually increase from nothing to his being able to discern shapes, and finally, he would see a cartoon-level resolution of an empty, square room.

  “I think I see something . . . ah . . . yes . . . starting to make out shapes.”

  Andrew continued to describe the increased resolution. He had been in the room before—back at Virtual-Reality, Inc., during his first experiences with the system. There was no definition: the walls were a light green color supposedly soothing to humans, the floor a tan to remind people of earth, the ceiling a robin’s egg blue to simulate the sky. He held a hand up to look at it—skin with no wrinkles or hairs but in his natural tone. He remembered how the first training module at VR Inc. had few options, and taking into account different skin colors was not an available choice—to Ralph’s embarrassment the first time Andrew entered the room and drolly commented, “So this is what it’s like being white.”

  Mueller watched a monitor. “All right, Andrew. The room is finished coming up.”

  “Okay. I’ll check movement. Yes . . . I’m walking around the room. Seeing my hands if I lift them. Tapping my chest. Yes, can feel it. All seems okay. Ready for Simeon.”

  “Confirmed,” said Mueller. “Simeon is cleared to enter when he’s ready.”

  The lead scientist turned from his chair and took off the headset. “To reiterate for those of you who are new, all our previous communication with Simeon was via audiovisual hookups. Depending on how many of us participated in the interaction, we let Simeon see and hear everyone or arranged it so he saw and heard only one person. We could also make it so that either only one person hears the interchange or everyone in the room does. For today, Simeon will see and hear only Andrew via the simulation.”

  He turned back to his console and monitors. “Now we wait for Simeon. From here on, the only exchange will be between Andrew and Simeon.”

  Andrew was tense. He was about to “meet” an alien something, even if it came as an avatar for whatever the Object was.

  The only door of the room opened to reveal a cartoon representation of a human man. It walked into the room, its motion jerky. Andrew had seen better figures on Saturday morning TV cartoons when he was five years old.

  “Hello,” said the figure. “My name is Simeon. What is your name?”

  “This is amazing,” said Ralph to the other observers in the control room as they watched a bank of monitors displaying representations of the VR room from different angles. “When we tested this feature of the system, both inputs were coming from people sitting not far from each other . . . humans. But this . . . the Simeon figure is coming from the Object, and we can’t predict anything.”

  “My name is Andrew Jefferson.” He stopped, his mind suddenly forgetting what he’d planned to say.

  “Pleased to meet you, Andrew Jefferson. Would it be acceptable if I called you Andrew? I understand from the others that first names are not used between strangers until permission is given or implied.”

  “Andrew is fine. I know you only have one name.”

  “I presume Howard and the others I have talked with did not tell you many things about me. I had suggested we let new people find out about me by themselves.”

  “Why would that be good?” asked Andrew.

  “I wish to understand humans and how individuals vary from one another. Factual information is important, but equally useful is comparing how different humans react to the same situation. Please tell me things about your childhood.”

  “Well . . . that was unexpected,” said Mueller.

  In the adjacent chair, Huxler put his hands together, the tips of the fingers resting under his chin. “Hmmm . . . if Simeon were human, I’d suspect he was trying to put Andrew at ease, but that would imply he understa
nds humans more than I thought. I’ve relistened to every exchange we’ve had with Simeon and read all the reports from the earliest days, once he revealed himself and before recordings were made. Nothing suggested to me that he understood enough of human psychology or how to read emotions.”

  “Maybe you’re overthinking it,” said Mueller. “Maybe he just selected a question to start with.”

  Huxler opened a line to Andrew only. “This is Wilbur. Offer to exchange personal information.”

  Andrew didn’t answer because there was no way for the person in the VR to respond without Simeon hearing.

  The psychologist noticed Huxler’s questioning look. “Simeon has always deflected such questions. Let’s see if this new situation changes that.”

  “If I tell you things about myself, politeness requires you do the same,” said Andrew.

  “Yes,” said Simeon, “that will aid us in becoming friends.”

  “Blimey,” said Rotham, standing behind Huxler. “Where did that come from? He’s never mentioned developing a relationship with anyone, plus he’s implying he’ll reveal something about himself.”

  “I wonder if Simeon has been deliberately waiting for the VR before moving to some kind of next-level exchange,” said Huxler. “We might explore that later, but let’s see where today leads.”

  He opened the connection to Andrew again. “Follow this up. See what he’ll say about himself, but don’t push too hard.”

  “I’m thirty-five years old. I’m an African American and was born in Ramstein, Germany.”

  “Interesting,” said Simeon. “I do not believe any of the others I have talked with are African American. Do I assume correctly that one or both of your parents were in the United States military and stationed in Ramstein?”

  “How the hell does it know ANYTHING about Germany or what ‘African American’ refers to?” said a befuddled Charles Adams.

  “Remember, Charles, we don’t know what the Object accessed before we surrounded it with the Faraday cage. Still . . . we need to reexamine everything that’s been said to Simeon,” Huxler asserted. “Even though we’ve been careful what we reveal, people slip up.”

  “I have a different nasty thought,” said Rotham. “If we can’t figure out how it knew those things, where does that leave us? We tell ourselves not to make assumptions, but haven’t we been operating under a long list of assumptions, such as it only knows what we say through our electronic communications? What if it’s been listening to spoken words by some incredibly sensitive audio technology when we thought it couldn’t hear us? We also assume it doesn’t have access to our computers. I’ve suggested before we can’t be sure an advanced-enough technology couldn’t bypass all of our safeguards. We need to keep reminding ourselves not to forget our ignorance about exactly what it can do.”

  “I agree,” said Mueller, “that IS a nasty thought.

  “All right,” said Andrew, “your turn. Tell me something about yourself.”

  “I am afraid I have limited details to tell, Andrew. I was ‘born’ two years, twenty-six days ago. At least, born in the sense of the first awareness of my existence. As to ‘where’ I was born, I have no sense of movement, so I assume it is where I am at this moment.”

  “Hot dingy,” said Zooty Wilson, “tell Andrew to ask him if he’s alone or others are in there or elsewhere.”

  Mueller shook his head. “Let’s not go too fast. We don’t know what his limitations are, insofar as what he can or is allowed to answer. Remember . . . assuming he’s a computer, AI, or something similar that we don’t conceive of yet, he may be constrained on what he can say.”

  “Andrew, thank him for the answer and puff him up a bit about wanting to be friends.”

  “Thank you, Simeon. I appreciate learning about you. It’s a good start for us becoming friends. Is there anything specific you’d like to learn about me?”

  “Andrew, I’m curious what’s your favorite pizza topping and why it is?”

  “I give up!” exclaimed Mueller. “What’s that about?

  “Chunhua, add to searches into transcripts of interactions with Simeon for any possible reference to ‘pizza.’ Hell . . . include other words like Italian, topping, pepperoni . . . use your imagination.”

  “That’s all well and good, Howard,” said Huxler, “but even if he knows about pizza, WHY would knowing Andrew’s favorite topping be important?”

  “Maybe the information itself is not important, or he’s trying to relax Jefferson,” said Zach. “If this were a human, I might also suspect he’s just pulling our chain. He might even be hinting he HAS outside access. Why? I have no clue.”

  Mueller keyed in Andrew. “Tell him your favorite, and let’s see the response.”

  “I like Canadian bacon and pineapple.”

  “Is that a common preference for other humans?”

  “Some, but others think it’s gross.”

  “Gross? You mean they actively dislike it?”

  “Yeah. Gross.”

  “How do you feel about preferring something others find objectionable?”

  “No, I think it’s your turn to give information.”

  Twenty minutes into the session, a wall light appeared in the simulation and flashed red.

  “I see our session is ended. Thank you, Andrew. I look forward to meeting with you again.”

  Simeon turned and walked back through the door, which closed on its own.

  When Andrew emerged from the tank, he was surrounded and inundated with questions before Mueller shooed people away so Andrew could unhook and clean up.

  The formal debriefing session was cut short by Sinclair after two hours. He agreed with continuing similar sessions, alternating initially with Ralph and then later bringing Zach and Chunhua into the rotation. For now, they had long since exhausted any objective conclusions and had drifted into speculation. Sinclair knew some members would continue until hunger or the need to sleep intervened. He also needed to get his own thoughts organized.

  In the following week, the other three primary VR users had their initial sessions with Simeon. Although the entire Level 3 staff participated in a general discussion of the first round of sessions, a smaller meeting followed that involved only Huxler, Mueller, and Sinclair.

  “Well, I realize these sessions were only trial runs,” said Sinclair, “but did you two glean anything interesting from them?”

  “The VR worked!” quipped Mueller. “I’ll admit I was uncertain about it. My understanding of the complexity of VR and the parameters Simeon insisted on made me skeptical about both the system and getting it shipped and operational at such a remote site. Not anymore. I’m a believer. Granted, the performance was crude, more like one of the simplest Saturday morning shows my son used to watch when he was four or five years old, but it impressed me enough that I’ll take Ralph’s and Simeon’s words that it can be far more complex.”

  Sinclair looked at Huxler.

  “I agree with Howard, General, but what struck me was a single question that Simeon asked all four users. After going over the recordings, I found one question that was not only asked of all four, but the wording and the exact intonation were the same.”

  “He asked what each one wanted,” said Mueller. “I picked up on that, too.”

  “So, why is this important?” asked Sinclair.

  “Simeon’s exact words were, ‘What is the most important question you want to ask me?’ All four answers were interesting, but only one led to follow-ups before they moved on to other questions. Major Jefferson said he wanted to ask whether the Object posed a danger. Not a question I would have wanted to start with but perhaps not unexpected from a military officer. I also note in passing that the major used ‘Object’ instead of ‘Simeon’ during the session. We’ll keep an eye out if Simeon notices the choice and how he reacts.”

  Huxler thumbed through papers in front of him. “As to Andrew’s question, Simeon said, ‘Anything can be a danger.’ When the major tried to foll
ow up, Simeon either repeated the same statement or ignored the question.”

  “Chunhua asked if there were other civilizations throughout the galaxy. Simeon’s rather droll answer was that it was obvious. Chunhua laughed and said she meant besides Simeon, who then did his usual two-step. For a second, I was hoping to get some clues about one of our main questions. What exactly is Simeon? Didn’t happen.

  “As for Ralph, he did as expected . . . got enthused asking questions about technology and didn’t wind down for almost ten minutes before he realized Simeon wasn’t giving answers. At first, I was a bit annoyed that he forgot—or ignored—our coaching him not to blurt questions right out but to edge up to them. Then I figured, ‘What the hell.’ Why not let Ralph be Ralph and see what happens? Maybe Simeon’s responses might be different. They weren’t. It’s an open question whether Ralph’s sessions will be useful, but he’s so good with the VR, I’m hoping his interactions with Simeon will have more impact later.

  “Then there’s Zach’s session. Something happened that we don’t know the implications of, but I’m wondering whether Zach’s participation might turn out to be fortuitous.

  “The answers of the other three to Simeon’s asking for their most important question were reasonably predictable, but not Zach’s. He said, ‘I want to ask what you want?’ At first, I thought it was just a variation on another obvious question, ‘Why are you here?’ but then I got to thinking about it after hearing the rest of the session. I don’t know if Zach was being insightful, or it was just a chance question, but it got a very different response than I expected because we had already asked Simeon many times why he was on Earth.”