Infinity Born

by Douglas E. Richards

  “To say this is a lot to think about doesn’t do it justice,” said Carr.

  “I guess the bottom line, in my view,” said Jordan, “is that no matter how clever the argument, you believe one of two things. You either believe your soul, your essence, is inextricably tied into the gray matter you were born with, that it’s part of your physicality, or you believe your mind is simply a pattern of impulses and potentials that can be duplicated.”

  Jordan took a sip of water while he let all of his guests ponder this last. “Regardless,” he added, “it’s certainly a brave new world we’re facing here. Not easy to get your arms around.”

  Riley had been listening in rapt attention, and Carr wondered what a mind like hers was making of her father’s arguments. “So did you do it?” she asked him. “Did you really bring Mom, Cole, and Noah back to life? Or at least some kind of soulless approximation?” she added, not ready to accept that the process worked as her father maintained.

  “Not yet,” he said with a sigh.

  “Why not? I thought this was one of your vows.”

  “It was. The short answer is that I was weak and afraid. The same reason I didn’t contact you before now.”

  “And the long answer?” asked his daughter.

  Jordan hesitated. “Haven’t I already given you enough to digest for one day?”

  “More than enough,” said Riley. “More than enough for one lifetime. But don’t let that stop you,” she persisted. “I want to hear everything.”

  38

  Isaac Jordan took another long drink of water, draining the bottle entirely, and set it down on the pink marble table.

  “At first I didn’t bring back your mother and brothers because I wanted to be sure everything about the transference was perfect. At the start there were kinks to work out. Just because their bodies would be exact replicas, fashioned based on DNA samples I’ve kept, didn’t mean they would be themselves. I had to make sure the quantum computer that would house their consciousness could precisely emulate a human brain, that every human neuron could be replaced with a computer node. And it isn’t enough just to copy a brain, you have to emulate how a brain lays down new memories, reacts to hormones, and so on.”

  “How do you do that?” asked Bram.

  “In the beginning, we wouldn’t attempt the transference until the nanites had at least a few weeks to gather data. They’re very sophisticated. They don’t just take a snapshot of the state of the brain, they record how it reacts to stimuli. Not just how it lays down new memories and responds to hormones, but its state during moments of anger, arousal, laughter, and so on. Which provides us with plenty of data to get a very good handle on this. Then we did extensive experimentation to perfect the technique further.”

  “We?” said Riley.

  “I still had access to hundreds of billions of dollars after I left Turlock,” replied her father. “So I was able to build a shadow organization, with only a handful of people knowing who’s in charge or what’s really going on. My inner circle have all been vetted by an improved lie detector system that Pock came up with, so I’m sure of their loyalty. When my team was in place, we began recruiting volunteers. Lots of them. We finally stopped when we reached twelve hundred. We paid each of them two million dollars for a year of their time.”

  “Did they know what they were volunteering for?” asked Riley.

  “For the most part. They didn’t know that it was an exercise in putting the finishing touches on whole brain emulation, but they knew what they would be expected to do.”

  “Which was?” said Bram.

  “Become subjects in a study designed to elucidate the human condition. Which was true.”

  “And you injected them with nanites?” said Riley.

  Her father nodded.

  “Without their knowledge?” she said disapprovingly.

  Jordan sighed. “I’m afraid so,” he admitted.

  “Go on,” she said. “What then?”

  “We allowed the nanites to record data for fifteen days. Then we transferred a subject’s consciousness into a brain-sized quantum computer, fitted inside a replica of his or her body, and checked to see how well the nanites had done.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Carr. “Checked to see if the brains were identical?”

  “No. We already knew they were—at least at the start. We needed to confirm that if presented with identical stimuli going forward, the original and duplicate minds would remain identical, would change in the same ways. So we’d awaken the original volunteers and record their reactions to stimuli. We’d show them horrific or erotic photos. Puppies. Maggot-infested food. Politicians they hated. Then we’d repeat this with the copies.”

  Jordan paused to let this sink in. “If the original and copy didn’t react identically, down to the blink of an eye and degree of arousal or disgust, we tweaked our nanites, algorithms, and emulation. Before long, we nailed it. We got it to the point where they matched every time. Now we don’t even need the nanites to collect two weeks of data. We can inject them, expose the subject to various stimuli, and within an hour the nanites can collect enough data for a perfect transference. We’ve even become sophisticated enough to emulate mental fatigue and sleep.”

  Carr wasn’t sure how he felt about this, but he couldn’t help but admire how thorough Jordan had been.

  “After this we advanced to the next phase,” continued Jordan, “which is just wrapping up now. In this phase we really put the transference to the test. This allowed us to fine-tune our process to a remarkable degree. After the transfer, we kept the original and copy unconscious. We wanted them to remain identical until the experiment began. If just one were awake, they would be subject to stimulation the other one wasn’t receiving, which would cause a slight divergence. A divergence that could distort our experimental results.”

  Jordan paused. “Any questions so far?” he asked.

  “Yeah, a lot of them,” said Carr dryly. “But keep going.”

  “With Pock’s help, I came up with two tools that were of enormous value in our experiments. One, a perfect virtual reality system. And two, a way to erase precise memories. So we would awaken our subject, and later the copy, inside this VR world, and observe how each reacted across a wide variety of simulations. At a party. In a romantic setting. When their life was on the line. Many of the simulations were brutal, treacherous, but we did warn them that this might be the case.”

  “To what end?” said Carr.

  “To satisfy ourselves that the original and duplicate were truly identical. If they were, and they were thrown into the exact same scenario, they should react identically. They should both respond to a given situation in the same way, using the same words. Make the exact same decisions. Shed tears at the exact same time.”

  “And this really happens?” said Bram incredulously.

  “It does. The results are truly stunning. It’s like the original and copy are both in a play and reading from the same script.”

  “So if you transferred my consciousness to a double and woke him up in this room,” said Bram, “he would be saying exactly what I’m saying now? Using the exact same words?”

  “That’s right. As long as everyone else’s dialog and actions were also the same. Which is why virtual reality is helpful, so we can make sure the other players stick precisely to their scripts.”

  “Stunning is the right word for it,” admitted Riley.

  Jordan looked pleased by these words from his daughter. “I would argue that if a copy and the original react the exact same way to all stimuli,” he said, “then they are the same. If one is conscious and human, how can you not call the other conscious and human? In fact, if not for one having an optical, quantum brain, and one having squishy gray matter, there would be no way to tell them apart.”

  “Incredible,” said Carr.

  “You can still ask if the copies have souls,” said Jordan. “This remains a valid question. But one that, as far as I can tell, is
forever unknowable. What I do know is that they are identical in every response. Indistinguishable. And while I can’t rule out a soul, if its presence has no effect on a man, doesn’t change a single response, doesn’t change his level of compassion or the way he hates, or loves, or laughs, I would say it’s meaningless.”

  Carr knitted his brow in thought. There may have been a solid counterargument to this assertion, but he couldn’t think of one at the moment.

  “And as a bonus,” continued Jordan, “we’ve gained unprecedented insight into the human condition. We’ve learned what makes a human a human. We’ve been able to study the sex drive, addiction, compassion, cruelty, self-interest, remorse, joy, and so on, more completely than ever before.”

  “So you must have considered the next obvious step,” said Riley. “Have you already gone down that road?”

  Carr raised his hand. “Again, for the slow learners in the class, what next obvious step are you talking about?”

  “She’s talking about improvements,” replied Jordan. “We can now transfer your consciousness into a new Cameron Carr at the time of your death. One indistinguishable from you. But we have the power to further tweak this one. Make it better than you. Cameron Carr two point oh. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. So far we’ve made perfect copies of the bodies of our subjects, including the imperfections. Same age and same scars. Same male pattern baldness and beer bellies.”

  “Really?” said Carr with a smile. “You couldn’t even ditch the beer bellies?”

  Jordan shook his head. “For them to react the same, they had to be the same. If one woke up young, vigorous, and slim, basically a younger, fitter version of themselves, this would throw off their reactions, screw up every experiment.”

  “Of course,” said Carr, serious once more.

  “The key point is that we’ll be able to put people into younger versions of themselves when they die.”

  “Which means you’ll have people killing themselves right and left to get younger bodies,” pointed out Bram. “Provided they believe your process represents a true reincarnation.”

  “Yes, this is yet another wrinkle to think about. And most will come to accept the process as a true reincarnation. They’ll recognize their friends and loved ones who undergo transfer as undeniably the same people, with the same memories and personalities acquired over a long lifetime, just in new, shiny packages.”

  “And youth might be just the start of the enhancements you could introduce,” said Carr.

  “Right. For Cameron Carr two point oh, we could increase your general level of happiness. Or eliminate all emotions. Or curb your addiction to caffeine, or cigarettes, or alcohol, or gambling. You get the idea.”

  “Yes, but isn’t there a good chance some of these supposed improvements will backfire?” said Carr.

  “More like a certainty,” said Jordan. “This is the danger. Take the sex drive, something we’ve been studying with particular interest. It evolved along with us, and so much of our society, our culture, and our behavior stems from this primal compulsion. There are men who report feeling free for the first time in their adult lives when they finally reach the age at which this drive wanes. Free of craving sex, free of the need for frequent orgasms. To them it’s a blessing. But what effect would it have on men if this drive was ratcheted down in their prime, or removed altogether? Is our motivation to succeed in any way tied to the interest and need for sexual intimacy? To our obsession with attracting a mate, with demonstrating our fitness as a partner the same way a peacock might display its plumage? We know testosterone can lead to violence and aggression. But is all aggression a bad thing? Would its removal make us too sheep-like?”

  “Have you actually tried this?” asked Bram.

  “I haven’t. Given the limits of our current understanding, it’s too dangerous a game to play. Humans are a complex tapestry of traits that evolved together, with uncertain interconnections. Does stripping us of our capacity for anger also strip us of our passion? Even changes that seem like they could only be good, like perfect memory, could have negative, unintended consequences.”

  “And how many changes can be made before we’re no longer human?” said Riley.

  “That is also something to keep firmly in mind,” said her father. “I think of it this way: if the goal was a pure mind without any warts, a perfect, emotionless intelligence, we could just recreate Savant.”

  “There is one aspect of the human condition that mind transference can’t help but change,” said Riley, “even if you don’t tinker with the original at all.” She raised her eyebrows. “Our knowledge of our own mortality. Death has always been the ultimate motivator, the ultimate deadline. If we know we have an eternity to operate within, does that drain our ambition? If fear of death is out of the equation, what effect does this have on our behavior?”

  Jordan looked delighted. “An impressive insight, Riley,” he said proudly. “It took me a lot longer than it took you to get there. And another great question, worthy of further study.”

  “My head is really beginning to hurt,” said Carr wryly.

  “And we’re only scratching the surface,” replied Jordan. “You could transfer your consciousness into an artificial body and be truly indestructible. Without the need to breathe, some of us could live in the ocean. We could adapt ourselves to life on other planets. Our body could even become a submarine or a starship.”

  “Not to mention you could make improvements in the mind itself,” said Bram. “Improving memory, as you mentioned. Or increasing our mental clock speed. And I could offer many other possibilities.”

  Jordan nodded. “There are, of course, significant issues with this kind of tampering, as well. Take clock speed. We can’t seem to modulate it. Once it’s sped up, it’s sped up for good, and at the fastest rate possible, which doesn’t really work, for reasons I can go into later. It also prevents the emulation of sleep. But the point you’re making is a good one: the options truly are endless.”

  “Yet your VR system gives you the perfect means to sort through these options,” said Riley. “You’ve already gathered huge amounts of data on the human condition. Which gives you a robust baseline, and allows you to rigorously test the effect of a change. Figure out the optimal way to make improvements.”

  “Yes, but optimal is subjective, as you well know. My idea of optimal might be quite different from yours.” He raised his eyebrows. “So I think you raised this point to test me, Riley. To see if I’m still arrogant enough to make myself the arbiter of where we go from here.”

  “Are you?” she asked.

  Jordan smiled. “Not at the moment, at least, no. I just want to preserve humanity the way it is now. And immortality would be a nice bonus. But my first goal isn’t to change or improve us, just preserve us. Maybe someday, when enough data is gathered, further experiments can be tried. But that day is far off. Right now, my goal is to continue to gather data and try to perfect a wireless backup system, so a person can be reanimated exactly as they were at the moment of their biological death.”

  “So you’ve ruled out having two or more copies of the same person at the same time?” said Bram.

  “Before you answer that,” said Riley, “can we return to my original question? Now that you’re convinced your procedure is flawless, why haven’t you brought Mom and my brothers back yet? Your short answer was that you’re weak and afraid. Afraid of what?”

  Her father blew out a heavy sigh. “I guess I’m afraid of how they’ll react to their new reality. I have a memory of killing them. Beheading them. Even though I know they died in their sleep, I somehow imagine they’ll know this. They’ll remember, too. Even if they don’t, they’ll eventually see the public footage online.

  “And I’ll have to tell them what happened,” he continued, looking sick at the prospect. “Right now, I think of them as being in stasis. Frozen in time as the people they were just before the events of that night. These people loved and respected me. They had amazi
ng lives ahead of them.”

  Jordan shook his head despondently. “But the moment I bring them back, they have to face a new reality. They’ll awaken to learn that what seems like yesterday to them was eight years ago. That everything they cared about has been taken from them. By my actions. That I’m now widely despised, thought dead, and in hiding. That their friends and lives are gone. That they’re thought dead, also, and for good reason.”

  Riley nodded solemnly, as if sharing their pain.

  “And I know how people react when they find out their consciousness is an emulation,” continued her father. “We’ve tested this as part of our experiments. First it’s disbelief. They are certain they are in their original bodies and this is some kind of horrible joke. But when it’s proven to them, there can be an . . . adjustment period. It can take some time to cope with this, emotionally and intellectually.”

  Carr could well imagine.

  “And how would your mother react?” he said to Riley. “What if she disagrees with what I’m doing now? What if she can’t forgive me? She’d want to know about you, for certain. And if I told her I thought it was best for you psychologically to take on a new identity and to continue to believe I’m dead for the time being, she’d be outraged. She’d insist on seeing you.”

  Jordan paused to let this sink in. “But just so you know, Riley,” he said softly, “I had planned on revealing myself to you later this year. Volkov just accelerated this timetable. I had decided it was time to contact you and confess what had happened. I hoped you would find a way to forgive me and to join me. But either way, it was time to stop being selfish. Time to live up to my vow, put my pathetic personal fears aside, and bring them back. ”

  There was silence in the room as Riley lowered her head in thought. “Thank you for your honesty,” she said after almost a minute had passed. “I know this wasn’t easy to admit,” she added, using a tone that suggested her attitude toward her father might be thawing. “I’m not sure how I feel. About any of this. Too much has happened too quickly for me to be able to sort through it all.”