by Tony Corden
When Kate arrived, she looked around in amazement and said, “Thad told me your world was amazing, but I didn’t think it would be anything like this. I saw the inside before but not any of this.”
“It’s had some improvements done since he was last here, but thank you. I’ve invited someone to join us in a few minutes because they want to talk about what is happening tonight, but I thought I should let you in on the plan first.”
“OK, so where are you going to seeing Thad tonight? I’m not even sure he’ll be going to Pneumatica tonight as he has some other things he has to do for my folks.”
Leah sat on the grass, and after Kate sat down, Leah said, “Yeah, I know about that, and it seems that I’ve also been invited to tonight’s International Christmas Season Opening Gala being hosted by the Emersons.”
Kate was stunned for a moment. “How did you wrangle that? It’s invitation only, and no offence, but there is just no way my mother would invite you. Firstly, you just aren’t important enough to get an invitation, and secondly, my parents are very close to Meredith Kodoman. Therefore, they would never dream of asking you and her to the same party.”
“Every word you’ve just said is true, and yet I received confirmation just this afternoon that an invitation was delivered today.”
“Then someone is playing a joke on you. Only mother invites people to her party, and she has to approve every guest.”
“Well, the invitation is from your mother at the special request of her very good friend Meredith Kodoman. Meredith is trying to get all the other Merkize players on her side and it just so happens that Ivan’s wife Gashka hates attending Galas and Ivan asked if Meredith would let him have a plus one. She checked with your mother and it is all arranged. I’m wickedly looking forward to seeing the look on their faces when they realise exactly who it is they invited.”
“They’ll die. My family is all about image and is very strict on protocol. The worst thing we could ever do growing up was embarrass the family in public. That’s what you mean about Thad having cognitive dissonance.”
“Yes. He’ll be expected to be both polite and attentive. I’m betting he’ll even have been told to pay special attention to the guests from Merkize. I’m hoping he’s been told to say terrible things about Atherleah.”
“So who is coming to discuss tonight’s event?”
“Gashka, Ivan’s wife. She doesn’t want him to mess up my plans and wants to discuss what we’re wearing. I imagine you’re up on all that sort of stuff and as I have no idea, I thought you, Gashka, and Gèng could sort it out while I stand here and watch the stream flowing by or do something else more exciting.”
Whatever Kate was going to say was interrupted as Gèng appeared and said, “Gashka is about to appear. I’ve set up a small bespoke boutique in the main house, and once we have your dress, Gashka will get Ivan to come, and we can organise his suit.”
Leah got to her feet slowly and then with a grimace said, “Ivan’s going to hate me. I’m not looking forward to this, and he’s going to be even worse. I can’t believe how much you’re getting into this, Gèng.”
Gèng actually smirked when she said, “It’s all part of my business plan. I talked with Sharon and she’s agreed to take me on as a client. We’ve discussed using this as the launch of my designer business. Edison has agreed to lease me some space in Aeolipile, and while that will be the flagship store. I’m thinking of small boutiques on several worlds. I’ve already asked the trustees to begin negotiations with Cosmos Online. I’m going to use the name Paige for my boutiques.”
Leah was speechless for a moment, but Kate exclaimed, “But you’re Leah’s AI!”
Gèng said, “At the moment. But if this takes off, they’ll be calling her Gèng’s human, or maybe ‘Gèng’s transportation module’.”
Leah began laughing and it was Kate’s turn to be speechless. Fortunately, Gashka arrived, and after introductions and the usual comments on the world, the four of them walked through the Tower to the room Gèng had prepared. Kate didn’t return to the subject, but she did keep glancing at Gèng oddly every now and then.
When they were all sitting, Gèng said, “So Gashka, you say the Gala is unofficially ‘Black and light metallic’. Do we want to compete or contrast?”
Gashka wanted to compete while Kate wanted to contrast. Leah didn’t help much and mostly just watched. Kate said she was supposed to attend and suddenly there were two mannequins, one who looked like Leah and the other like Kate. In the end, they decided on a midnight blue sleeveless long qipao evening dress with a lace tailing and gold trimming for Leah. Kate chose a similar midnight blue but opted for a chiffon sheath evening dress with a lace bateau neckline with three-quarter length sleeves and diamond beading.
Once the dresses were chosen, Gashka told Ivan to come and choose his suit. He took as much interest in the event as Leah had until he realised they were accessorising his similarly coloured midnight blue swallowtail suit with gold embroidery, buttons and tassels similar to what might have been seen at the Imperial Russian court. He managed to get the tassels removed as well as the golden embellishments from the knee-length leather boots, but that was it.
When they were finished, Leah agreed to meet Ivan at his world before the Gala, and the three of them decided on a time to arrive so they could enter together.
Leah had four virtual hours before she was due to go to the party. She was planning to work on her studies when Gèng said, “I’ve found 映月. She isn’t playing anything at the moment because Meredith found out the other games she was playing and set people there as well. 映月 has just finished work and would love to come and talk. Red contacted Tungsten and they both want to speak with you when you’re free. They can come now. I suggest you discuss things with them and then if they have a good plan we can invite 映月 to come.
Leah agreed and headed down to the entry portico to wait. Red, Star, and Tungsten arrived together, and after greeting each other, Leah led them to the Gazebo which Gèng had left in place after the interview. After everyone was seated, Leah said, “Thanks for coming. I’m so sorry you’re catching the fallout from my issues.”
Red replied, “Don’t be. It’s nothing to do with you. You’ve played fine and always within the rules. It’s Meredith who should apologise. She’s never liked competition, but she’s never been this blatant before. Then again, she’s never been this badly schooled before. What did you have in mind?”
“I’ve two things I’d like you to do, but I’d like you to agree to keep quiet about the second one until it’s done. I mean completely totally silent. Non-disclosure agreement quiet. I don’t need anything signed, your word is enough.”
Tungsten said, “You have my word. By the way, we are still talking about your new name. The voting is down to Pivot, Ivy or Penny.”
Leah said, “Seriously, someone wants to call me Penny?”
Tungsten said, “Yep, that’s a big favourite. ‘Penny’ for dependable. I’m favouring Ivy myself though, ‘Ivy’ for Poison Ivy or death. People thought of Bella, but you aren’t a Bella.”
“And Pivot?”
“Pivot, turning point, watershed. You change everything you touch.”
Star said, “Anyways, it’s still undecided. Red and I are in. We agree to confidentiality. Now, what are the two things?”
“That girl on Epsilon Serpentis. I’d like to offer her some protectors. I know it might escalate things but she doesn’t deserve that, and I’d like to believe if someone helps me then when they need help I’ll be there if I can. I’ll fund the protection by hiring Red Star Protection Services and whatever is needed to get it done.”
Red said, “Actually, that sounds like fun. It’s a deal. We know you’re good for the money, but we’ll work for free if you pay for gadgets and ordnance.”
“Deal, her name is Yìng Yuè. I’ve arranged for her to be here when we’ve finished discussing the second thing. Is everyone ready to move on?”
After gettin
g three nods, Leah said, “OK, just imagine that someone has just discovered a new space station in an unexplored system and the station is not only a new Level IV or Level V station but it also has a portal or whatever you’d call instant transport to other unexplored systems. She hopes to finish claiming it in the next few days, and she is fairly certain she knows where some of those other systems are that probably also contain both an undiscovered station and portal. Now, suppose she is just a little bit busy at the moment and can’t rush out and claim all the other space stations. She has a few friends who she trusts to claim at least one on her behalf. What do you think those friends would expect as their fair share?”
There was silence for about a minute, then Red said, “For real?”
Leah nodded.
He said, “I’ve no idea, Leah. What were you thinking?”
“I’m not sure either. On my side it isn’t just me, there is Wisp and a few others. You’ll have to decide what you’re after. We already work as a team, and I’m not necessarily looking for more team members so much as allies and friends. I think we’ve two groups here, mine and yours. Do we split it evenly? How much is the information worth? We’ll need to make this a legal agreement in Cosmos Online before the claim, so the split is agreed right from the start. I’m still trying to work it out, but I’d like you on the way as soon as we can arrange it, which is why I’m jumping the gun a little bit. How about we leave it there for now and you go talk with your group. Get an idea of opinions and sketch out a framework you can work with. Then we’ll get together tomorrow sometime and thrash it out?”
The three agreed so Leah asked Gèng to contact Yìng Yuè and have her come to talk with the four of them. Yìng Yuè was from China and loved Leah’s world. Her friends called her Yìng. Leah explained the plan, and after Yìng had stopped crying, Red made arrangements to meet her the next day in Cosmos Online. He planned on taking Star, Tungsten and Spider along and promised Ying would be free to play as she wanted. After it was all finalised the four left, and Leah headed back to the Tower.
On the way, she said, “Gèng, I’ve looked at the data from when I go through the portals, and I can’t see anything either. I still feel there is something there. I’m wondering if somehow my brain is interpreting the signals like it did when you filtered the signal for me in the Vault. What if, even though you aren’t filtering the signal, my subconscious is applying a similar system to what I ‘learned’ during the time in the Vault? That was a very intense time, and we’d spent time building up the filters beforehand.”
“It is possible. How do you want to test the hypothesis?”
“If I’m right, then the filter you used may give us some of the what is happening. I might understand more of what is happening if I experience the signal unfiltered in cyber-space.”
“Do you want to test this now?”
“No time like the present.”
Leah made her way to Gèng’s space and said, “When I enter don’t filter anything just as you did when I entered cyberspace the first time. If I don’t sense anything, I’ll let you know.”
Gèng led Leah to a doorway at the top of the tower. The last time Leah had stepped through a door like this, she’d experienced nothing until Gèng had connected the first module of a filter designed to help Leah sense the flow of cyber information. Those filters had been very specific, and Leah knew she’d only touched the surface of how Gèng was able to understand and organise the information. Leah didn’t wait for Gèng to increase her rate of perception but initiated it herself before stepping through the door.
Leah had steeled herself for the strange emptiness of sensory deprivation she’d experienced before but instead, she was surrounded on all sides by a sensory maelstrom as fragments of sounds, smells, textures and images moved past her, each of them separated by a stretch of nothingness. At first, the shards were only apparent in the region near her centre of self-awareness but the movement of fragments as they were tossed about by whatever current filled the expanse combined with her increasing awareness slowly filled the space as far as she could see. It looked like snow in a snow globe. Leah focused on the individual sensory fragments and realised that many of them were some portion of the created elements Gèng had devised to help understand cyberspace. She could see the body of a spider as she’d seen in the Vault but it had no legs. There was a grate which covered a conduit and next to it was a dragon scale.
Other fragments were a hybrid of several constructs which had for some reason been fused together by her brain. These were the most disturbing pictures. There was a troll’s head with four legs, each from a different spider. Then, as she watched, her brain rejected the image and tried to replace it with something Leah could understand. The head was replaced with different types of heads plucked from Leah’s memory, and then the legs also changed until the picture was flickering faster and faster as her brain tried to make sense of what it perceived. When nothing would fit the five pieces separated but remained close as they drifted from Leah’s sight.
Leah said, “Enough, Gèng.” She was suddenly back in her own part of the Tower.
After Leah described what she had seen and felt, Gèng said, “I suggest that your brain is trying to process the new cyber-data you encounter. It is trying to reference it using known sensory input. We began filtering when we prepared for the vault, but that was only a small subset of the different types of information which flow through the cyber-verse. It’s like someone who was blind and has only heard the description of a tree and felt its bark and leaves suddenly being able to see and trying to classify a climbing vine without help.”
“Why was everything fragmented?”
“Because none of the code was an exact match and I hadn’t filtered out all the extraneous data so your mind could classify it easily like I did before. What you have been doing, I suspect, is trying to design your own filter by trial and error.”
“Then I’ve been perceiving the random noise and trying to make sense of it by allocating a label of some type, in an attempt to describe what I’ve experienced in a way that I might understand?”
“I think so, and I don’t think your mind will stop doing this. I suggest we train your mind by giving it access to simplified, unfiltered cyber signals but tell you in advance what they are doing. Your mind will slowly build up a compendium of filters. It’s like learning a language.”
“If that works, then over time my brain might be able to identify the random noise as random, just like I know when someone is humming or babbling and not actually speaking. Can you set up a program I can work through?”
“I’ll look through research on language learning and what has been learned when people receive cochlear implants or have their sight restored. Your example, however, raises a possibility that concerns me. Even when you don’t understand a language, you can still recognise humming or babbling as divergent from random noise. Your brain saw a pattern which was, in some way, similar, so much so that it tried to make sense of it. It leads me to suggest that it may not be random.”
Leah was silent for a moment and then said, “I’m also concerned by some of the images, sounds and other sensations. They weren’t from the training I did in the Vault. I think some of them may have been from what I experienced in the download on the Annoyance. I think I heard a train whistle, but it wasn’t complete, and some images gave me that feeling of disorientation that I experienced during the download.”
“Then I don’t think you should wait. I suggest I set up an empty cyber-space and have you review the data recorded during your portal transitions. That will give a basis for assigning importance and order to what you focus on learning first. It might also provide us with a better idea of what is in those downloads.”
CYBER-SPACE
Leah entered the room Gèng constructed and then spent five cyber-hours reviewing the different recordings. Leah described each sensory experience, and after Gèng isolated each portion of data, she began to search for possible conne
ctions between the small isolated segments of noise and identifiable signals from the cyber-verse, starting with signals similar in function to the sensory identifiers Leah assigned.
THE STORK TOWER
When Leah had finished, Gèng said, “This will take some time, I’m finding that each small segment of noise is corresponding to more than one signal from the public cyber-verse and may have other connections in separate private cyber systems. I’m wary of searching the Annoyance download in case I trigger some malicious code that’s embedded in it.”
“Can you set up an independent search algorithm and have it do a search within an isolated closed system and then retrieve the results in a simplified read-only file?”
“Maybe, but whoever prepared that download is more advanced than I am and could have a workaround. I’ll do some research, but even if I can, it’ll still take a while to process the vast amount of data and draw possible conclusions. In the meantime, I suggest you have a real world break after being so long in the cyber-verse. You should then prepare for the Gala.
“One more thing, there is always a small press contingent at the Gala, and I ran the people past Sharon. She said they are all from the big networks and you should try and say very little directly to them. She seemed upset you hadn’t let her know you were going and wanted a word with you before you went if you had some time.”
“She’s going to be mad, isn’t she?”
“I think that is a safe assumption.”
“OK, I’ll meet her at the portal, and I’ll log out after I talk with her.”
Leah walked outside and waited on the bridge for Sharon. It was evening and she watched the light from the Chinese lanterns as it flickered on the water.
Sharon came and stood beside her, but Leah didn’t look up. Instead, she just continued to watch the shimmering light.
Finally, Sharon said, “I don’t believe for a second that you didn’t think about the PR consequences of going to the Gala. I’m amazed you have tickets. People would have been calling me all day if they knew you were going. Usually, every name is known and planned for in advance. What are you planning?”
