‘Just as long as they work. Okay? And get that mag-res scanner up and running. You’ve got a million layers to neuro-image.’
‘It’s a lot more, actually.’ Geoff could tell her the exact number, but there was no point.
‘And then the calibration with the electrical current maps – what you call megging.’
‘Only because it’s too hard to say magnetoencephalo . . . whatever it is.’ Geoff placed his hand on Maura’s stomach. ‘D’you really want me to make you a Virtuon?’
‘I do – so don’t waste time trying to argue me out of it.’ She got up and put her top back on.
‘You realise you don’t have to die physically. There are ways we could map your brain into a computer and make a clone of you, to live in parallel.’
‘Holy Mother of God! D’you think I haven’t considered that?’ she said, her eyes flashing. He put his hand on her shoulder.
‘I’m sorry, I know you mean well.’ She wrapped her arms around his waist. ‘Why do you think the Virtuon Shetani killed his human body?’ she said, her cheek pressed against his chest.
‘I’ve been trying to work that out myself. I can’t decide whether there’s a practical reason why an organic brain can’t live alongside its digital counterpart, or if Shetani did it because his mind was simply evil through and through.’
‘You mean he killed his body because he hated himself?’
‘Maybe, or perhaps as a Virtuon he was afraid the original Prior Shetani could clone a rival artificial brain.’
‘I think I’m more worried about being able to telepathise with the AI version of me,’ said Maura.
‘Why’s that? Telepathy is a wonderful gift, surely?’
‘You’re wrong, Geoff, it’s a burden. It’s not easy sharing someone else’s ideas, opinions, memories. A lot of their thoughts clash with your own. Leona was a wonderful person, but she’d had a terrible struggle trying to decide where her loyalty lay. It was painful to know all that.’
‘But the organic you and the digital you will have the same motivation.’
‘If you created a duplicate brain, I’m afraid I’d be able to share its thoughts. I’d never be able to cope with all the extra knowledge and power it needs to fend off OPDEO. I don’t want to live in parallel with it. I’d have a nervous breakdown. Do you understand?’
‘Oh God, it’s so difficult. I don’t want to lose you, Maura.’ He hugged her as if he was trying to weld her body to his.
‘Hey, careful, remember I’m pregnant. And you won’t be losing me. I’ll just be, well, different.’
General Flannery hastened to intercept Breckenridge as he passed through the concourse.
‘Major, I heard you’d tracked down another Thiosh.’
‘Yessuh. We caught the varmint in a trawl net. It was tryin’ to get back to the Cronus Rift.’
‘Good work. Where is it now?’
‘We’ve got it in the interrogation centre. We’re just about to add a little phosphorus to its sulphur ration. I know it could talk to our computers if it wanted to. I just wanna know if there’re any others hidin’ down there.’
‘Does it realise it’s being questioned?’
‘Oh, sure it does. We’ve been teachin’ it Morse Code with some electrodes – long and short pulses.’
‘Okay, keep me informed. Where are the G-bombs now?’
‘Just headin’ for Mars.’
‘Isn’t that some way off course?’
‘It’s to save time, suh. We can slingshot around Mars and increase speed. Then we’ll separate the warheads and let the Earth pull ’em in.’
‘Okay, Major. You’ve done well. I’ll see you in the bar at lunch. I think you deserve a drink!’
It was late. Geoff and Maura had spread out their nightclothes on the bed. ‘It’s a shame we didn’t save any of Shetani’s code when we corrupted its software,’ said Maura. ‘I guess it would be really useful to us now.’
‘I know what you’re saying,’ said Geoff, ‘but our focus was to kill it, not reproduce it. Anyway, it would have been incredibly dangerous to have any part of it still functioning after we gave it the virus.’
‘I was just thinking, if its programming was so advanced, you could have learnt its language.’
‘Nice idea, but I don’t think it would have helped. What we must do is design a self-teaching program. It’ll learn all there is to know and how to optimise itself.’
‘But it’ll just start with all I know, won’t it?’
Geoff froze for a moment. I can’t do this – not if she has to kill her body to make it work. I can keep her safe, but I can’t tell her. I have to carry on as normal.
‘Are you okay?’ asked Maura.
‘Sorry, I was distracted for a moment.’ Keep focussed, he told himself, zipping up his pyjama top. ‘Yeah, all you know is an enormous quantity of data. We’ll have to use a huge amount of computing power to replicate your brain.’
Maura laughed. ‘Are you flattering me?’
‘Not really. Brains are fantastic organs. We can’t engineer anything nearly as compact and efficient, but we’ve made a lot of progress in AI recently.’
‘I s’pose it won’t matter how big and complicated the program is if it runs without hardware. But how can that be possible?’
‘You’ll have to develop the ability to move individual atoms, telekinesis on a very small scale, working at a level of picometers. That’s very tiny. I need to search my own brain to find which part does TK and build that into the model with an auto-teaching capability. Then it’ll be able to apply forces to smaller and smaller objects.’
‘That’ll be a fantastic help doing the housework,’ said Maura.
‘Geoff?’
‘Sorry, my mind drifted off.’
‘You’re thinking about absolute power corrupting absolutely, aren’t you?’
‘Yes, that was it,’ he lied. ‘I’m doing everything I can to protect you – and us. But it’s not possible to give you all the power you need and limit you at the same time. That would be a fundamental contradiction.’
‘Then you’ll just have to trust me not to get corrupted,’ said Maura. She flipped off the bedside light and snuggled up close, embracing him with her arms and legs. ‘The best thing is, if you give me TK-power, then I’ll have a part of you in me. Perhaps that will keep me under control.’
Geoff busied himself checking the alarm setting on his com-phone. I trust you but can you trust me?
General Flannery pressed a button on his office com-phone. ‘Breckenridge – would you believe it? A message has come in on the hotline!’
‘From the Septagon, suh? We thought it’d been wiped out by the aliens.’
‘Well, it was. Those stooges are trying to trick us into thinking the High Command is still operational. But, somehow, they’ve got wind of the G-bomb. They’re kind of agitated about it.’
Breckenridge’s laugh was cut short by his nervous tic.
‘They want me to abort the bombs,’ Flannery continued.
‘I s’pose they would, suh.’
‘I told them to take their buoyancy aids next time they go swimming with the aliens. The sea may get kind of rough.’
Breckenridge alternated his laughter with more hiccups.
‘But this is important,’ said Flannery. ‘Somehow the Septagon got a warning. I made sure R and D wiped everything off the server and I put all the files in the strongroom. But someone’s been speaking out of turn about the G-bombs. I’m relying on you, Major. Find the bastard who leaked the info and erase their memory – permanently.
Janey Mack, this is incredible! Zakristan has sent a robot midwife. It’s written on her uniform. And she’s got two assistants. How do they know what to do? Their knowledge can only be theoretical. At least their hands look soft – synthetic rubber, probably. The room’s okay. It smells of antiseptic. I guess that’s a good sign. The floor’s a bit wonky but the bed is level. I’ll have a look round before I settle down on the mat
tress. It’s probably self-profiling, but I’m not expecting the last word in comfort today. These paintings are nice. They’ve got brush marks like originals – how do they do that? I think they’re scenes from County Kerry. That one looks like Macgillycuddy’s Reeks. The wall screen’s just like a real window, except the view keeps changing.
‘How are you feeling now?’ says Geoff.
‘Not too bad so far, thanks. How are you?’ I bet he’s still upset. He’s given up trying to understand me. Whoa! Here comes another contraction. They’re getting sharper . . . P’raps I should have had the drugs after all.
‘Can you get these robots to help me, Geoff. I’m soaking wet.’
‘You can talk to me directly, dear. My name’s Millie.’
Millie the mid-bot, how perfect. But why have they given her a high voice? A lower one would have been more soothing.
‘There, is that better?’ says Millie.
‘Thank you.’ It isn’t really, but I’ll be even stickier soon.
‘Ten minutes between contractions,’ says Geoff. ‘It won’t be long now.’
Are these robots programmed for emergencies? So much can go wrong during childbirth. I could die today, and that’s ironic. I’m planning to die anyway. But am I really going to end my bodily life when I love Geoff and I’m about to have a baby? P’raps I should never have gone to Europa, but then I wouldn’t have met Geoff, or found out the truth about OPDEO. Or have a chance to destroy it. Is that what this is about? My mission? Who d’you think you are, Maura? Joan of Arc? There’s plenty of evidence she was seriously unhinged. P’raps that applies to me too. Oh shit, the pain’s building up again.
‘Aargh!’
‘Just relax,’ says Geoff.
He’s mopping my brow with something damp. I’ll give him a smile. Ah, Millie has a pair of callipers. She must want an accurate measurement. I think she’s measuring the dilation of my cervix on different axes. No doubt she’ll take an average.
‘Don’t poke me with those things. I’ll rip open!’
‘Four centimetres,’ says Millie. ‘You’re doing fine. Keep doing your breathing.’
I wasn’t planning to stop breathing, you stupid mid-bot. Oh, this is hell. I can’t move. I think my back’s seized up. My insides are twisting harder and harder. I must breathe steadily, in through the nose and out through the . . .
‘Oh shit, God save us!’
‘Eight minutes, that time,’ says Geoff.
What’s he thinking now? It’s a shame I can’t read his mind. I’m sure he still doesn’t understand my decision. Choosing to leave my body, do I understand that myself? I’m so confused. But when I talk to the others, I’m categorical and dominant. I do it to hide my uncertainty. What’ll it be like to become a Virtuon? Pure artificial intelligence. Geoff will build in self-learning programmes. I’ll be incredibly knowledgeable and powerful. ‘Omniscient and omnipotent’, as our village priest used to say, but he wasn’t talking about Virtuons.
‘Oh, bleedin’ hell, I wish this was over.’
‘Seven minutes.’
Five months, that’s all we’ve got before the G-bombs hit Earth. Mary, Mother of God, I’m so frightened! Brain emulation is so difficult. We don’t know if what we’re doing is right. We’re only halfway through the neuro-imaging and we’ve still got to map the electrical currents. Even when I’m a Virtuon, it’ll be a while before I can take on OPDEO. What the hell have I done? My insides are being ripped out. Let me die now!
‘Six minutes.’
I haven’t told anyone the baby’s name yet. What presence will I have in her life? I’ll never be able to touch her. Jaysis! It’ll be like watching her through a window. And Geoff too. And what will it do to us? He’ll never look at me the same again. In fact, he’ll never look at me. There’ll be nothing to see. Clodagh, oh, my Clodagh! I’ve been so stupid, and now I’m being punished.
‘Six and a half that time. Don’t worry, it’s going well,’ says Geoff.
I need to talk to him, but now’s not the time. He said my artificial brain will be the same as me only for a millisecond. After that it’ll go off grabbing more and more knowledge and suck energy from here and there. I won’t be me anymore. Will I really have consciousness, or just be a bunch of numbers? I’ll be like a bulldozer without a driver. But OPDEO are evil. They want to destroy the Earth, every living thing in the sea, on land and in the air. I must stop them, whatever the cost. Just thinking about them makes me sick.
‘Oh, Sweet Mother of God, the pain!’
‘Well done, Maura. We’re back to six.’
This is our one chance to stop those bloody fascists. One of us must do it. I’m closest to nature. I’ve studied it all my life. Geoff’s much more academic than me. Kai’s more spiritual. I’m not sure Chen’s up to it. Atherlonne could do it, but she’s a pacifist and the job ahead will be violent. I didn’t know about the dolphins. They gave up technology tens of thousands of years ago – how fantastic is that?
‘Jaysis Christmas!’
‘Five minutes. Keep doing the breathing.’
‘Whose having this feckin’ baby, you or me?’
It's me having the baby, and they expect me to make the jump. Giving up my Clodagh. What the fuck have I done? I’m already using her for my own ends. I convinced the others it’s my brain that must be uploaded into a feckin’ computer. I made myself sound adamant. I said I was prepared to sacrifice my body and my motherhood. I used Clodagh as my trump card so I could get my way. But what a way.
‘Shit, shit, shit!’
‘Four minutes. You’re doing fine.’
‘Aaaaaargh!’
My arse is going to split in two. I might as well become AI. My body won’t be any use after this. Not with my arse in two bits. As long as Clodagh survives. Please God, save her. Let Clodagh live, that’s all that’s important.
‘Three minutes. This baby wants out.’
Something’s happened. Clodagh’s digging her nails into my vagina. She’s ripping it apart. The mid-bot is fiddling with her feckin’ callipers again. God, I’m not going to be able to hold back much longer.
‘Maura, dear, you can push now,’ says Millie.
Living Wake
Perhaps the designers had never intended the occupants to spend long periods in the TUCC. But for humans trained as space travellers, their accommodation was not unpleasant. True, the floor sloped all over the place, but that made walking the corridors more interesting; the building had no windows, but the varying landscapes shown on randomly spaced wall screens effectively eradicated feelings of claustrophobia and imprisonment. Geoff preferred the freedom of the ocean but he was surprised how well he’d adjusted to this artificial environment. The different areas enabled the inhabitants to work at their respective projects, interact, rest and enjoy entertainment, without an excessive yearning for the outside world. The days passed only too quickly.
Geoff was at his desk in the open-plan office working on his com-pad. He looked up and was surprised to see someone waiting to gain his attention.
‘Oh, sorry Kai. What’s on your mind?’
‘The uni-net is working properly again. Can you help me, please? I want to set up a webinar.’
‘I think I can fix that for you. What’s it about?’
‘Basically, I am proposing a conference about the future of our planet, and I would like you to chair it.’
‘Why me?’
‘Because you are a representative of the former Unified Nations. I believe we have to start again, but with an expanded membership. I want to propose the foundation of a new institution, dedicated to achieving peace and harmony on Earth. We could call it the League of Sentient Beings.’
‘Well, it’s worth a try. I like your positive thinking. I’m still wondering if we’ll even have a future. Who do you want to attend?’
‘Could we link together General Courtney Watkins, Shan Chonglin, Atherlonne and Voorogg? I do not think the Abbot of Drepung would want to get involved, but I
can ask him. Also, perhaps, Yul T’an. Why not? She is good at offering a different point of view – at least, she did to me.’
‘She argued with you?’
‘She tried to tezla me.’
‘Right, well, we’d better also include the leader of the dolphins. Atherlonne calls her Cetania, but I don’t know how she’ll communicate. Her whistles and clicks are a form of language, so we need to set up a translation program. Actually, I think Wally could help us there, let’s count him in. And, of course, there’s my partner, the would-be Virtuon.’
It was lunchtime. Clodagh was fast asleep, monitored by Geoff’s home-made baby alarm linked to Maura’s com-phone. The four adult humans were in the kitchen, along the corridor from their bedrooms. Chen was busy selecting recipes, checking the nutrient content and programming the omniprinter. Maura, Geoff and Kai were sitting at a table where a robot auxiliary had set places for a meal.
‘Well, I don’t think we should be too unhappy about this,’ said Maura, brightly. ‘Just think of it as a wake, while I’m still alive. I went to quite a few of those before I left Earth to go to Europa. Most of my elderly relations opted for assisted suicide. It’s better than wasting away and losing your marbles.’
‘But you’re still young,’ said Geoff. ‘You told me your aunties were in their two hundreds and all their bones had been replaced with plastic.’
‘Well, if I’m going to have a funeral, I don’t see why I should miss out on all the cucumber sandwiches and the sherry. I insist we have a party, while I’m still alive.’
‘You are very brave,’ said Kai. ‘But you do not have to put on an act for us. We have the deepest respect for you. It would be right to celebrate your life and achievements, and we should do that seriously.’
‘Oh, don’t do those sickening speeches, I couldn’t stand that. I think Chen should make us a Black Forest cherry cake. You could do that, couldn’t you?’ she called across to Chen, who nodded happily.
‘It’s my favourite,’ she said. ‘Death by chocolate, can’t be so bad.’
The Hesperian Dilemma Page 21
