“Dr. Keane is being modest,” said the colonel. “I’ve seen headlines lately touting the development of ‘hot qubits.’ But, believe it or not, these refer to qubits that can work at four hundred fifty-eight degrees below zero instead of four hundred sixty. I’m pretty sure this doesn’t fit the dictionary definition of hot. But even these are being touted as a big breakthrough.”
Reed turned his gaze back to the young physicist. “So how did you do it?” he asked her.
Allie collected her thoughts. “I borrowed from nature,” she replied finally. “For many years now those on the fringe of physics have suggested that all living organisms can make use of quantum processes. And there is growing evidence that this is possible. Especially when it comes to photosynthesis, human consciousness, and avian navigation. But the mainstream continues to reject the idea.”
“Why?” asked Reed.
“Because the only way physicists know how to take advantage of quantum processes requires absolute isolation, as I just described. Frigid temperatures. Vacuum. Not a single photon or outside vibration allowed. So how can usable quantum activity be going on in the hot, messy, uncontrolled environment inside cells and living creatures?”
“I can see why they’d be skeptical,” said Reed.
“I can too. But their views are shortsighted. Nature, evolution, has a history of making breakthroughs, of providing answers before we’ve even asked the questions. Bats and dolphins were using radar and sonar before we had the vaguest idea this was possible. Birds were flying, and geckos were walking across ceilings. Natural organisms can produce all kinds of organic molecules that our best chemists can’t come close to synthesizing. A bacteria doesn’t need a Ph.D. in chemistry to do it, either. All it takes is trial and error—many trillions of trials, over billions of years—until something useful just happens to randomly, accidentally, emerge.”
“A persuasive argument,” said Reed.
“Thanks, but I’m just warming up. A more relevant parallel is the history of electricity. For most of human existence, electricity was the ultimate enigma. It was far more mysterious to our ancestors, even three hundred years ago, than quantum physics is to us. Spooky and mind-blowing. Magical. Humanity had no idea what it was. And when we did, we had no idea how to generate it. Or how to store it. Or how to use it. Or even that it could be generated, stored, and used.”
She arched an eyebrow. “But cells knew. Biological organisms knew.”
Allie noted with satisfaction that both members of her small audience were now hanging on her every word.
“Not too long ago,” she continued, “poor humanity could only produce static electricity—sparks—without having any idea what this really was, or why it came about. We had no idea that lightning was a form of electricity. And even less of an idea that it could be found in cells and living organisms. Eons before humanity had found a way to generate electric current, electric eels and torpedo fish were not only generating electricity, but storing it, and using it to electrocute prey.”
She paused. “Yet scientists at the time refused to believe it. They decided the torpedo fish’s strange sting must be some kind of venom. Because how could a fish possibly generate a substance as mysterious and elusive as electricity? It didn’t have metal plates and acid inside of it. It was a living creature, soft and squishy.”
Allie leaned in toward her audience. “Sound familiar?” she said pointedly.
She continued, not waiting for a response. “Finally, in 1770, experiments proved that the sting of the torpedo fish was electric. Which was a huge step forward. And then a man named William Nicholson dissected the internal organ responsible. Inside the torpedo fish, he found a mass of columns, each consisting of stacks of tiny circular layers. A design that Alessandro Volta copied in 1799, putting together a tall stack of alternating zinc and copper disks, with brine in between, and creating the first electric battery capable of delivering current to a circuit.”
“I had no idea,” said Reed. “Who would have thought that the torpedo fish made integral contributions to modern technology? We really do take electricity for granted. Even though it has utterly transformed every industry and every aspect of our lives.”
“Amen to that,” said Allie. She had long marveled at the many wonders people took for granted. With respect to electricity, it had taken mankind thousands of years of steady progress to truly understand it and harness its potential. And to eventually discover that it was an integral component of the much broader universe of electromagnetism, including light, microwaves, radio waves, Wi-Fi, and so on.
She decided that she and Commander Reed made quite a pair. She had nearly suffered a total mental collapse and had lived on the streets for years. He had almost certainly seen untold human savagery. Yet they had both retained their sense of humor—and their sense of wonder.
“So you took this historical example of learning from Nature and applied it to quantum physics,” said Reed.
“That’s right. And I managed to come up with experiments that finally proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that organisms do make use of quantum effects.”
“Was that in your recent online disclosure?” asked Reed.
“It was.”
“I think you’re underplaying the genius behind these experiments, Dr. Keane,” said Hubbard. “Many others have tried to show what you showed, and failed. And while you make your experiments sound straightforward, our chief quantum scientist, Dr. Sergio Caldwell, told me they were anything but. Breathtakingly original. As brilliantly conceived as any experiments in the history of science.”
Allie’s eyes sparkled in delight. “Thanks,” she said. “That means a lot to me.”
“Dr. Caldwell desperately wanted to meet you,” said Hubbard. “I didn’t want you to feel overwhelmed, so I asked him to wait. But he was so eager, I practically had to restrain him.”
Allie shook her head. She already felt overwhelmed. Beyond overwhelmed. A week earlier she couldn’t get a prominent physicist to notice her if she were on fire. Now, she was on the capture or kill list of at least one foreign power, and physicists were treating her like a rock star.
“So you proved that organisms use quantum processes,” said Reed, eager to move forward. “But that was just the beginning, right?”
“That’s right. I then managed to isolate biomolecules in certain quantum states that are vital to making this work. Which is what I’m most proud of. It wasn’t as simple as dissecting a torpedo fish. These are processes at the subatomic level, and biology had some tricks up its sleeve that were truly unexpected and astonishing.”
“I think I know the rest from here,” said Reed. “You then isolated the critical components, and identified, or calculated, an ideal organic molecule. One that you could combine with other mechanical components to make the perfect, scalable, room-temperature qubit.”
“That’s right.”
“I was briefed on that part. The punchline. And it’s also the part of the puzzle that you’ve kept in your head. The key to making it all work.”
Allie blew out a long breath. “And the key to making me a target,” she noted.
“That too,” said Reed. “Why did you decide to keep that part in your head?”
“I’ve been the victim of a hacker stealing my work and taking credit for it,” replied Allie. “I’ve seen that no computer file is safe. And my memory is nearly photographic, so it wasn’t a burden.”
She shrugged. “And to be honest, I wanted some time to strengthen and expand the work. Prove the theory out. Polish it. It’s important that I do this on my own. If I released everything I know immediately, other physicists would run with it, and possibly muddy the waters before I could make the work ironclad.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” said Hubbard.
“Garbage in, garbage out. Design a faulty experiment and you get faulty results. And these experiments are complex and tricky. If a physicist used my biomolecule in a poorly designed experiment, and i
t failed, this could negatively impact the acceptance of my work. Appear to discredit it. If this happened, I’d have to convince people the experiments were faulty, not the theory, and repeat them the right way. Even if I did, it’s hard to change a negative first impression. It’s like having a slanderous front-page feature written about you in a newspaper, followed much later by a one-sentence retraction, indicating that the source for the story lied about everything. Too late. Public perception has already been set.”
“Interesting,” said Reed. “A fascinating answer, and an even more fascinating overview. Thanks for indulging me.”
“You’re very welcome.”
Allie turned to face Hubbard. “So it seems we’ve now come full circle, Colonel. I believe you were going to tell me why my work seems to be kicking off World War III. I can see why it might be a big deal in the physics community. But the molecule I’ve discovered might take many years to synthesize. And even if I could magically produce a full-fledged quantum computer right now, I don’t see how it would shift the balance of world power. It’s not like perfecting AI. It doesn’t guarantee a superintelligent computer. A quantum computer will perform some tasks much better than traditional computers, and other tasks much worse.”
“Very true,” said Hubbard. “Except that one of the tasks it will perform much better is breaking encryption. And by much better, I mean infinitely better. Whoever has a quantum computer will have an instant key to breaking the security of every computer and computerized system in the world. Of instantly unlocking every classified individual, corporate, or government database. Banks and all other financial accounts and transactions around the world would be completely unprotected. As would software, phones, credit cards, texts, emails, driverless cars, and so on. Not to mention our electric grid, military infrastructure, and all communications. The list is endless. Everything will be vulnerable!”
The colonel looked ill. “It’s a world-wide doomsday scenario,” she whispered. “Like giving your worst enemy you social security number, all of your banking account information, and all of your passwords—times a hundred.”
Hubbard blew out a long breath. “In short,” she finished, “if any private citizen or government ever gained access to a full-fledged quantum computer, the entire world would be at their mercy.”
18
The hospital room became eerily quiet as Allison Keane adjusted her position in the chair, lost in thought. She was far more confused than she was horrified.
Of course she knew about the ability of a full-fledged quantum computer to effortlessly strip away common encryption protocols. No one who spent even five minutes in the field didn’t.
Factoring the product of two large prime numbers was at the heart of RSA and other public-key encryption schemes. Since finding the right pair of factors using classical computers could take longer than the life of the universe, those intent on breaking this security needed to have a lot of . . . patience.
But this wasn’t the case when running a quantum computer. These computers could run Shor’s algorithm and come to the answer almost immediately. Which basically saved an infinity of time.
And who could put a price on that?
The government had begun using symmetric cryptographic algorithms, such as AES, which stood for Advanced Encryption Standard, for enciphering major databases and protecting classified data. But a quantum computer could easily break these also, this time using Grover’s algorithm.
Still, none of this should matter. Recently proposed algorithms that involved hiding an encryption key at the intersection point of a multi-dimensional lattice should prove unbreakable, even for a quantum computer. So what was the big deal?
“Sorry,” said Allie in frustration, “but have I been transported to a parallel universe in which no one ever realized the decryption potential of quantum computers until now?”
“I wish I could say yes,” replied Hubbard. “But the truth is that the threat has been clear for a long time.”
“So what am I missing? It’s my understanding that companies and governments have been switching over to encryption methods that could beat quantum computers for some time now. In anticipation of their arrival.”
Hubbard sighed. “They’ve tried to switch over,” she said miserably. “But it’s been a bust. Most have given up. While the solutions are clear on paper, their implementation has been anything but straightforward. This is the part that most people aren’t aware of. A very, very small number of encryption protocols have been switched over successfully. But it’s been a huge pain in the ass, and it can’t even be done in most cases.”
Allie looked confused. “Why not?”
“A variety of reasons. Take satellites and power plants, for example. Their security is an integral part of their very design. The only way to even try to upgrade a satellite so it’s safe from a quantum computer is to bring it back down to Earth. The only way to do this for a power plant is to redesign it from the ground up.”
The colonel sighed. “And for almost all systems, the truth is that cryptography is often buried deep. It’s been patched. It’s evolved. Applications have been adapted to the characteristics of the cryptography used, rather than the other way around. Excising the old security to make way for the new isn’t like removing a tumor. It’s like trying to remove a cancer after it’s metastasized throughout the body. It either can’t be done, or it would bankrupt the entire world economy to do it.”
Allie’s mouth had long since fallen open. This was insane.
“To put it in military terms,” added Reed, “what we have on our hands is a giant cluster screw. And I only use the word screw here because I’m in polite company.”
“Yeah, I’m familiar with the real expression,” said Allie. “But I had no idea this was the case,” she added. “I mean, obviously I didn’t.”
“I know you didn’t,” said Hubbard. “Few do. But as it became clear that the needed upgrades were impossible, or much more difficult and expensive than expected, the appetite to follow through evaporated. Most figured the quantum computer was far enough away from being perfected that they could punt for a decade or two. Let someone else worry about it.”
Allie winced. “But now a working quantum computer might be finished much sooner.”
“Exactly,” said the colonel. “Catching the entire world with its pants down.”
“And that’s not a pretty sight,” said Reed wryly. “Believe me.”
Allie wasn’t even able to fake a smile. This was horrific. But now the reaction to her work made a very sick sense. Of course cryptographers worldwide wouldn’t advertise their lack of quantum preparedness. Most were convinced that a quantum computer capable of running Shor’s and Grover’s algorithms wouldn’t even be perfected in their lifetimes. So why go public with their failures and incite panic? They had far more pressing security concerns to worry about.
And she had blithely posted her discoveries online. She had drawn attention to what she had thought was a key to unlock a better future for mankind. Instead, she had revealed the existence of what everyone else recognized as the perfect skeleton key, able to unlock every digital door in existence.
She suddenly felt sick to her stomach, for about the fourth time in a day that seemed eternal. It was approaching ten at night, and she had never been so glad for a day to come to an end. What a nightmare. When her neighbor had knocked on her door that morning, she really shouldn’t have answered.
“What about quantum cryptography?” said Allie. “Quantum computers can obliterate current encryption schemes, yes. But quantum physics also offers the promise of developing new encryption schemes—quantum encryption—that is absolutely unhackable.”
“I’m familiar with the idea,” said Hubbard. “But there’s no guarantee it will really work. In theory it should. But perfect quantum encryption will require devices like single-photon detectors that could be easily disrupted themselves. It isn’t widely known, but physicists have found all sorts of loophol
es that can compromise the security of such quantum systems.”
She paused. “And even if such a system could be perfected, my sources tell me it’s likely a quantum computer will get here first.”
Allie shook her head. “What a mess,” she said miserably. “Now that I know the real state of play, I wish I could un-know it.”
Hubbard nodded somberly.
There was a long silence in the room. Finally, Allie stared into the colonel’s eyes. “So you need me to take this off the table,” she said. “I get that. But will I have any say in the matter? Do you plan to make an offer? Or do you plan to force my hand at gunpoint?”
“You were at gunpoint when we found you,” noted Hubbard. “We were the ones who saved you from that.”
“But did you save me so that you could hold the gun instead?”
“That’s not how it is,” said Hubbard. “I won’t lie. This isn’t pretty. But we aren’t going to threaten or coerce you. We’d rather you join us as a good friend and ally, rather than kicking and screaming because your other alternatives are . . . limited.”
“And by limited,” said Allie, “you mean that without you, I’ll be lucky to live out the week.”
“I don’t know about that,” said Reed. “We’d try our damnedest to protect you no matter what. But if you refuse to go underground—which, at minimum, means a full-scale witness protection program, the kind they serve up to someone about to testify against the mob—you’ll make our job very difficult. The risk that you’d be killed or abducted would be considerable. Or that you’d find yourself an unwilling servant of a totalitarian regime somewhere, or of a rich psychopath.”
“Both sound delightful,” said the physicist miserably. “But if I did say no to Tech Ops, and elected to go with witness protection, I wouldn’t be able to pursue my work, would I?”
Reed frowned. “I’m afraid not. You’d need very specialized equipment.”
“Which would lead the bad guys right to me,” said Allie.
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