Athena's Choice

by Adam Boostrom

  Athena turned toward the captain. She raised both her eyebrows, implicitly begging the question: You have a lead?

  “Cheese, Ms. Vosh. Mozzarella cheese.”

  Athena paused, confused about whether Captain Bell was joking. She wasn't.

  "On the night of the theft,” explained the captain, “the nursing home’s air quality filters detected trace amounts of certain digestive gasses which are only present during the breaking down of mozzarella cheese — a food item not on the menu for anyone living or working in the home that day. Our culprit tried to cover all of her tracks, but she may have tripped herself up when she accidentally belched just before exiting.”

  “What about individual location-tracking?” Athena asked. “Wouldn't that tell you who was here on the night of the theft?”

  “Sadly, location-tracking only works if all citizens agree to publish their location to the network — which, legally, no one is required to do. So thanks a lot for that, Freedom Act of 2072.” Captain Bell rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Oh,” she continued, “I almost forgot. Our in-house cybersecurity team sent out this note earlier this morning.” She flicked her finger. A message immediately appeared in the center of Athena’s display:

  Recommendation:

  Although an anti-man protest group would appear to have the most incentive to steal the Lazarus Genome, Helix employs a formally verified encryption software that makes hacking into its mainframe from the outside not just difficult, but mathematically impossible.

  With greater than 99% confidence, our recommendation is to focus all investigative efforts on Helix personnel who already have access to the genome server in question.

  Athena let the implications soak in. “Wait. What? Your team thinks this was an inside job? I thought Helix was a scientists’ paradise? And Dr. Antares is a legend. Why would anyone there betray her?”

  “Who knows,” sighed the captain. “Perhaps it’s not like that. Perhaps our thief didn’t betray anyone at all…perhaps she was just following orders?” The two women exited the building and headed toward a line of waiting heli-cars.

  More ideas sparked inside Athena’s mind. “What about the Core? Could she, or another AI like her, have somehow cracked the lab’s formal encryption?”

  Captain Bell’s head tilted to one side. Her thick, black eyebrows arched in effortful thought. “I have absolutely no idea what that quantum whirling dervish is capable of. But if the Core had stolen the genome, the Laws of AI Neutrality would have forced it to automatically shut down — obviously, that hasn’t happened.”

  A junior officer approached. “Captain Bell, your appointment with Dr. Antares is in one hour. It’s time to leave.”

  Athena looked at the captain. The captain looked back at Athena. “I’m coming with you,” Athena said. She raised her head proudly. “I’m going to help you with the case.”

  “Hmmmm,” Valerie grumbled. She tried to look disappointed, but the glint of excitement in her bright blue eyes betrayed her tough exterior. She gazed Athena up and down, taking in all of her body with a single glance. “Alright, chosen one. You’re in. But don't you dare do anything to embarrass me.”

  The NAU Times

  November 16th, 2094

  “Be Our Guest” Episode 467: the Esteemed Dr. Grace Antares

  (Partial Transcript)

  …

  Interviewer: Hello everyone. Welcome back from the break! If you're just joining us, today I’m speaking with famed scientist, inventor, and Founding Mother, Dr. Grace Antares. She’s here to discuss her past accomplishments and her future work on Project Lazarus.

  Doctor, I just want to thank you again for being here.

  Dr. Antares: It's my pleasure, Claire. Thank you again for having me.

  Interview: Ok, let's get personal. You’ve been called a savant, a polymath, and a genius. All modesty aside, do you think you’re one of the brightest women alive?

  Dr. Antares: (Laughs.) Oh, I have no idea, Claire. But, truthfully, what does it even matter? I’m just one person doing my small part to make the world a better place. No woman is an island. The accomplishments of individuals pale in comparison to the work that is achieved by striving together. I'd rather be called a great collaborator than a lone genius.

  Interviewer: I'd say you've earned both titles. (Laughs.) Changing tracks, only last night you received the news that your research facility, Helix, was awarded the coveted opportunity to build the Lazarus Genome. How does it feel?

  Dr. Antares: Well, Claire, thank you. Humbling? Yes, humbling. For those of us like myself who were alive pre-fever, we know what a monumental and important task it is to bring back the hopes and dreams of so many forgotten male voices.

  Interviewer: Like many of our listeners, I was born post-fever. Can you enlighten us? What were Men like?

  Dr. Antares: Well…they were…complicated? Just like us women, men were so many things, all at once. Brave and foolish and strong and scared. Once we’ve finished our work, you and your listeners will be able to see for yourselves.

  Interviewer: I can’t wait! (Champagne glasses toast.)

  Interviewer: Moving on. The name Lazarus dates back to a story found in the New Testament. The original Lazarus died and was brought back to life. I understand that you are quite religious yourself. Is that true? Does the story of Lazarus carry any extra significance for you?

  Dr. Antares: Ha, Claire. No, I’m not very religious. Although, don’t tell my mother that. From the first day I was born until the day I moved away for college, she made sure that I never missed a single Sunday of church. I suppose, once upon a time, those bible stories did carry an extra significance for me. But that all ended years ago. As far as Lazarus and his resurrection goes, the parable carries no special meaning for me.

  Interviewer: I see. Not even with regard to your brother? I understand that you two were very close growing up. His death during the Fever must have been very hard for you?

  Dr. Antares: Well, yes. Absolutely, it was. I think that my brother’s death was probably the single, toughest moment of my life. It’s been almost five decades since he died, and I still don’t go a week without thinking about him. He was the kindest person I’ve ever known. I only hope that by living my life as I have, I have honored his memory.

  Interviewer: I’m sure, doctor, that if your brother could see you now, and all you've done, he would be very proud of the amazing woman you have become.

  Dr. Antares: Thank you, Claire. It means a lot to hear you say that.

  Interviewer: Would you say that your brother’s death, and the pain of overcoming it, were major factors in your decision to create your most successful technology to date: the science of happiness profiling?

  Dr. Antares: Yes, well, I suppose in part. Trying to understand what makes us happy has been my life’s work. It is, I believe, the only question that really matters in the end: what must we do in order to feel fulfilled? I always knew that we — that womankind — would survive the chaos of the forties and the fifties. We have always survived. We find a way. But I wanted more than that for us. I wanted us to thrive. And to do that — to thrive — that requires something else. That requires a true knowledge of the self.

  (Dr. Antares plucks a daylily from the table’s centerpiece.)

  Take this flower, for instance. If I were to plant this lily on the edge of a mountain, in ten centimeters of dirt, where sunlight is infrequent, this flower would survive. It would not grow very fast, nor grow to be very large, but it would survive. On the other hand, if instead I planted this flower in a lush river bed, with deep, rich soil, and abundant sun, it would grow to many times its current size, and quickly. That is the difference between surviving and thriving. With profiling, I wanted to give every girl and woman on earth the knowledge of exactly where she should plant herself in order to thrive. I wanted all of us to grow to our fullest potential.

  Interviewer: That’s very inspiring, doctor. I never thought about profiling that way before. Now, i
f you don’t mind — since you are the world’s leading expert on the subject of happiness — we have an online question here from listener Lisa S. She’s wondering, “Why does my H-pro change so much all the time? Why does it sometimes tell me to go to bed early, and then only an hour later tell me that I need to stay up all night with my friends? Is there something wrong with me?”

  Dr. Antares: (Laughs.) Ha. In a word, Lisa, ‘no.’ There is nothing wrong with you. To understand your H-pro, you have to remember what happiness is in the first place, and why we feel it at all.

  Happiness, of course, is the carrot of evolution. Our bodies — or more specifically our DNA — want us to be healthy and, when we’re ready for it, to reproduce. So when we act in ways that increase our chances of fulfilling that evolutionary mandate — of being healthy, and of having and raising children who are healthy — then our bodies reward us with the tool that evolution has given them to spur us on. Our bodies reward us with a warm and pleasant emotion that we experience as happiness.

  Sometimes, what we need to be happy is obvious and right in front of us. The joy we get almost every day from water, food, and sleep, is commensurate with our bodies’ constant need for these life-giving essentials.

  Other times, what we need to be happy is not obvious at all. This is because our bodies cannot predict the future any better than we can. They cannot know which trials we are likely to face tomorrow, and as such, they do not know precisely what we should do in order to best prepare ourselves. This uncertainty is why your H-Pro can vary so much from day-to-day, and hour-to-hour. Your body is trying to guess about what future you will need most in order to survive.

  Occasionally, your body will decide that what you need most is a good night’s sleep — a good re-knitting on that raveled sleeve of care, as Shakespeare used to say. Other times, though, your body may decide suddenly that what you most need instead is to reaffirm your shared bonds of affection with others. Your body needs to be sure that your friends like you, and that they would care for you if some misfortune befell you.

  You have to remember, Lisa, that for hundreds of thousands of years, your ancestors had to fight for survival every single day of their lives. If they became sick, or injured, or pregnant — and if they were alone — then it meant certain death. As a result, your body today will make you miserable, will deny you all happiness, if you begin to feel too alone in the world. It needs you to make strong connections with others because it needs you to survive.

  The humans that didn’t worry constantly about whether they were spending enough time with their friends…those humans all died off long ago.

  Interviewer: That’s very fascinating, doctor. I read once where you wrote that we, as women, sometimes feel our evolutionary need to connect with others expressed as sexual attraction — to clever people that we normally wouldn't even like!

  Dr. Antares: That’s right, Claire. Our bodies use all kinds of tricks like that to keep us alive. They make us want all kinds of things that we would not otherwise want. Even if we don’t realize it at the time that that’s what’s going on. Even if the desire feels to us on its surface like something else.

  Interviewer: Amazing. Unfortunately, I’m afraid that’s all the time we have for today. Thanks again to our guest, the esteemed Dr. Grace Antares. And thank you, as always, to all of our listeners.

  Dr. Antares: I had fun, Claire. Thank you for the invite.

  Interviewer: Doctor, as soon as you’ve completed that genome, we’ll be sure to have you back on the program. Just between the two of us, how long do you think it will it take you to bring men back? Three months? Six months?

  Dr. Antares: I’m afraid I can’t say for sure. We have a lot of work to do.

  Interviewer: Then I’ll let you get to it. For everyone else, make sure to tune in next week. We’ll be speaking with “18 E. Mars” co-creator, Melanie Dunn!

  June 9, 2099

  18

  “Have you ever used a stress-detector app before?” Captain Bell asked Athena as the pair rode in the back of a city-car on their way to Hyde Park, the home of Helix.

  “We tried them once in school?”

  Valerie sneered and flicked an app onto Athena’s display. It began installing immediately. “Whatever,” she groaned. “The thing’s pretty idiot-proof, anyway. I doubt even you can mess it up. Just open the app to track the eye movements, facial micro-expressions, pulse, heart rate, and galvanic skin-response of anyone within your field of vision. Basically, it’ll tell you if an interviewee is experiencing the symptoms of physiological stress or discomfort. It’s not a hundred percent or anything. It’s not a truth serum. But sometimes it can be useful.”

  Athena nodded as the city-car pulled up to the front entrance at Helix. Whereas Public Safety headquarters had been entirely composed of cold marble and hard glass, the Helix skyscraper was marked by soft edges and abundant vegetation. Spiraling upward from the ground, like a strand of sky-born DNA, the structure twisted dozens of stories into the air. Vines and perennials encircled the outside of the building as it rose. To Athena, walking into the fantastic sight felt like entering into a recreation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

  Marching confidently, Captain Bell led the way past the first-floor security desk. Curtly, she flicked PS permissions at anyone who dared to oppose her. “Public Safety,” she barked. “Move aside. Dr. Antares is expecting us.”

  Athena began to wonder if the captain’s happiness profile included getting off on making others feel less important.

  Several floors up, the pair reached the private office of Dr. Antares. Small and outdated, the office looked like something right out of the National History Museum. It featured a central desk flanked by two bookcases covered with actual books. Antique still-photos decorated the desk, depicting the doctor’s various travels to distant lands. On the walls hung a variety of images which pertained to the building. One showed the early stages of construction, and another documented a visit from the President. A third image on the opposite wall displayed the universally-recognized symbol for Helix’s intellectual property: a vertical ribbon spiraling into the shape of a single strand of DNA.

  Two lev-chairs hovered in front of the desk. Behind it, hovered a third. Not knowing how long they would have to wait, Valerie and Athena seated themselves.

  “This place looks like my grandmother’s house,” commented Athena. With her head, she nodded in the direction of the still-photographs that were busy gathering dust.

  “She is almost eighty,” replied the captain. “I’m sure I’ll have worse trash lying around when I’m her age.”

  After several moments of awkward silence, Athena got up from her chair to examine the photos on the desk. In one, the doctor smiled from inside a hot-air balloon floating above an endless sea of African wildebeests. In another, the doctor snorkeled among a school of vibrantly-colored reef fish. In the last one, she stood beneath a dark sky brought to life by the dancing, emerald hues of northern lights.

  While the backgrounds kept changing, Grace’s appearance did not. Her fresh tan skin and half-European-half-Asian features appeared ageless. She didn’t look like a teenager, exactly — she had the subtle hint of laugh lines around her mouth, and a slight loss of collagen in her lips — but she also didn’t look a day over thirty-five. Regenerative science had preserved the flower of her youth.

  The only sign of age which Grace did allow to remain was the whitening of her hair. Long strands of it were braided into a lengthy pony tail that reached to the center of her back. Perhaps, too, there was a hint of the passage of time in the twinkle of her turquoise eyes. Athena found herself wondering what all they had seen in their days.

  “She’s deliberately testing us,” complained Valerie. She tapped her finger against the edge of her chair. “She wants us to know that she can make us wait.”

  “So let her,” Athena replied, too deeply engrossed in her snooping to care. Walking over to one of the bookcases, she began examining a line of bo
oks placed at eye-level. She observed, all in a row, multiple translations of the Torah, the Bible, and the Quran. Next to them lay the Vedas, the Tripitaka, the Tao Te Ching, the Kojiki, the Avesta, and numerous other sacred texts, including various ‘Books of the Dead.’

  Honing in on one thick, gray volume in particular, Athena reached out with her first two fingers and rubbed them against the book’s course binding. Plucking it from the shelf, she held the unopened book to her nose and smelled the musty odor of its pages. Its hefty weight left a surprising impression in her arms. Spying its title on the front cover, she mouthed the words as she read: The Iliad.

  “I always loved that one,” declared Grace, suddenly appearing in the room. The doctor wore a monogramed, white lab coat, on top of a pink blouse and beige pants. Around her neck hung a small, blue-lapis pendant in the shape of a spiraling ribbon.

  Startled, Athena nervously replaced the book on its shelf and moved to make a formal greeting. The captain cut her off.

  “Good morning, Dr. Antares. I’m Captain Valerie Bell of Public Safety. We’re investigating the theft of your Lazarus Genome, and we’d like to ask you some questions.”

  “Yes, of course,” Grace responded warmly. “Thank you so much for coming. I’m comforted knowing that this case is a top priority for the fine officers at Public Safety. And what about you?” she added, turning in the direction of Athena, “I didn’t catch your name?”

  “Um,” mumbled Athena. Her face grew flush. “I'm Athena. Athena Vosh. We spent a whole section learning about you in school. You’re amazing.”

  Grace smiled and surrounded Athena’s extended hand with both of her own. “That’s nice to hear, dear. But I hope those textbooks on me saved some room.” She batted her turquoise eyes. “After all, I’m not finished yet.”

  The doctor made her way around the desk and guided Athena toward the empty chair beside Captain Bell. “Please, have a seat,” she ordered warmly before sitting herself. “Can I offer either of you anything? Some sweet cakes, perhaps?”