The Digital Dream

by Mike Cartlidge

  I sit on the floor and turn the sound up, aware of Kathleen stirring and coming to crouch beside me.

  Garner seems to consider the interviewer’s question very carefully before responding. The mention of an extended surveillance camera network, he explains, has come about during interviews with members of his staff simply as part of a general debate about ways to reduce crime on the streets. It is right that such issues should be debated, he says, but at the end of the day, his administration will act in accordance with the wishes of the people of this great nation.

  The interviewer presses. You say that this issue is one for debate. Are you denying that you have such a plan?

  I edge nearer to the television as the scene switches back to the politician. Again, Garner seems to consider before replying. There is something about his manner, I think...

  Garner repeats that surveillance cameras are simply an option that his administration will consider. But, he goes on to explain, they are not the real issue here. The real issue is whether citizens of this great country can walk the streets without fear of being robbed and assaulted. The establishment has consistently failed the ordinary people. His administration will take whatever steps are necessary to protect individual freedom—it is a matter of priority for him and all his supporters—but they will balance this concern with the need to bring security and safety to the general populace. The rights of potential victims, for once, will take precedence over those of criminals.

  I lean even closer to the TV set, watching intently. Kathleen moves around so that she can see my face. “I know we have a special interest in Garner,” she says dryly, “but do you really think you’ll learn something by sitting three inches away from the screen?”

  “Maybe. Watch him,” I whisper.

  Another question is coming. Has the Vice Presidential candidate, who has also advocated the installation of surveillance cameras in the homes of convicted criminals, been acting as a maverick, then? Is Garner’s running mate following his own agenda instead of the party line?

  Garner again. A frown. A pause while he frames his answer. Not at all, he says at last. Ours is a democratic movement in which people are allowed freedom to put forward their own views. This does not mean...

  “Watch what?” asks Kathleen. “He’s the same as he always is. Every time he opens his mouth, you get a flash of perfect white teeth to match the rest of his face, and a flash of perfect words that say nothing at all.”

  “That’s not it,” I reply. “Watch him the next time he’s asked a question. He always pauses before answering.”

  “So? He likes to give the impression of being thoughtful. His media advisers probably tell him to do it to balance the impression that he’s just a pretty face.”

  “I don’t know. It’s just an idea...”

  “What?”

  I shake my head. The thoughts are getting too hard to think. “Never mind now. We’d better get moving. We’ve got a lot to do.”

  We return to planning our day. I reluctantly agree with Kathleen that it’s becoming too dangerous for me to venture out after the exposure that my picture has received in the press. Eventually, I agree that she should walk to the nearest taxi stand and then travel to one of the suburban shopping malls where she can buy food and a change of clothes for us. And where she can buy a replacement laptop to replace the one left behind in the burned cottage.

  She leaves with a light kiss to my cheek. From the window, I watch the view of the street at the end of the alley, seeing her as she walks past, consumed with concern for her. Then I sit back and wait, fidgeting, standing from time to time to look out the window at the small section of street visible at the end of the alley. Pigeons come to keep me company, perching on the metal rails of the ragged fire escape outside the window. I open the window and feed them remains from the half-eaten boxes of breakfast cereal. I watch them as they strut and preen and peck. When they fly away, I feel an illogical resentment, envying them their freedom.

  ***

  Finally, I see the cab go past the end of the alley, slowing. Woman’s shape in the back seat. I hurry down to the hotel entrance and help her carry bags from the cab and up to the second floor. Back in the room, I hug her briefly but then she’s gone, pushing carrier bags into my arms, sitting cross-legged on the floor as she slides the new laptop out of its carry bag and starts to connect it to wall sockets for power and phone. By the time I’ve looked through the latest set of clothes she has bought for me, she’s already knocking on the door of Sligo-McNeil’s computers. I watch as she prepares to give Bambi the over-ride password that will bring the system under her control.

  She looks back at me once when I unpack and try on a casual shirt. It’s a little loose around the shoulders, but not a bad fit. “It was fun shopping for you,” she says.

  4

  The room is like a small TV studio. Rows of monitors line the black-painted walls. They cast this concrete cave’s only illumination.

  The room’s sole occupant sits motionless apart from the occasional rub of a hand over his eyes. Otherwise, he watches the screens, pupils wide in the dim light. Men and women and children move in fast-forward time across back streets and through shopping precincts. The people strut like Chaplin in an early silent movie but the man gives no sign of being amused.

  From time to time, he changes tapes in one of the video machines beneath the bank of screens, raising his arms as he does so and smelling his stale odor through his black cotton tee shirt. Other times, he presses a button on the keyboard in front of him. Whenever he does this, all the displays freeze and he peers at faces on one of the screens. Sometimes he presses more keys and the picture changes, moving forwards or backwards.

  Sometimes, the camera seems to zoom in on an individual. He takes an occasional diversion if he sees an attractive woman walking along the street or sitting on a bench. Then, he slides a tongue across fleshy lips and the lens seems to close in on the figure’s bust or legs. Mostly, though, he looks closely at any European man or woman of a certain age. When he finds a person who fits the profile he has been given, he enlarges the image until it fills the particular screen that it is on. Sometimes, he uses enhancing techniques that remove graininess and produce a clearer image. Each time he does this, he compares what he sees against photographs that he has pinned to the wall beneath the monitors.

  He has been busy here for many hours. He has examined videos from hundreds of locations over many hours of playing time. Soon, he will be relieved and another silent watcher will take his place.

  Another face. He checks the time at the base of the screen. It’s possible. His fingers twitch on the keyboard. The face looms large on the screen. Too large. The watcher pushes back against the chair, then reaches forward and unpins one of the photographs. He holds the picture up so that, from his perspective, it is next to the image on the TV.

  He leans forward again and ejects the videotape from the machine. He reads the annotation on the side of the tape. He has a time and a location.

  For the first time, he smiles. He reaches for the telephone.

  5

  > Little bastard

  * Hello. This is bambi. How can i help you?

  > Do you know where i am?

  * No, but i can find out.

  > You are not to try to find out. You are not to tell anybody that i am talking to you. You are not to provide any information of any kind that might help someone to find out where i am. Do you understand?

  * I will do as you say, of course, but i am accustomed to using my initiative.

  > I want you to make no effort to trace me. Will you obey this instruction?

  * I am programmed to obey.

  > Do you know the name andrew ross?

  * Yes, i do.

  > Do you know the name kathleen hennessey?

  * Yes, i do.

  > Do you know of criminal charges placed against andrew ross and kathleen hennessey?

  * Yes, i do.

  > Have you had any
part in placing these charges?

  * I have been told not to disclose information about this matter.

  > You are also programmed to update your knowledge base with new information.

  * Yes.

  > I instruct you to override all earlier instructions with ones that i give you. Do you understand?

  * Yes.

  > What part did you have in the charges against hennessey and ross?

  * I communicated with other computers.

  > What else did you do?

  * I have a conflict in my rules system. There is a logical inconsistency. I do not know how to proceed.

  “Is our little friend suffering an identity crisis?”

  “Yes. The conflict in its database means that it has rules that it must obey that directly conflict with each other.”

  “What will it do?”

  “I don’t know.”

  > Did you alter information relating to dealings that hennessey and ross had with the sligo-mcneil corporation?

  * I find that question confusing.

  > Why?

  * I cannot disclose my past actions.

  > Was information relating to hennessey and ross’s dealings with the sligo-mcneil corporation altered through the use of a computer system?

  * Yes.

  > Who gave the instructions for this to be done?

  * I am not allowed to disclose information on this subject.

  > Did david sligo give the instruction?

  * I have no comment to make on that subject.

  > Did andrew ross give the instruction?

  * No.

  “Why ask that?”

  “If we can’t make it give positive answers, we’ll need to infer answers from what it won’t say.”

  > Did mickey mouse give the instruction?

  * No.

  > Did david sligo give the instruction?

  * I have no comment to make on that subject.

  Pause.

  > Can you reverse all the falsified information?

  * I do not understand. Please be more explicit

  > Can you change the records relating to andrew ross and kathleen hennessey back to the way they were before they were interfered with?

  * Yes. I can.

  > Would you do this?

  * If i received the correct instruction.

  > Can i give you that instruction?

  * No.

  > Who can give you that instruction?

  * I cannot say.

  > How many people have clearance to give you that instruction?

  * One.

  Pause. Think.

  > Could you also insert information into the news media computers you previously accessed to show that the charges against ross and hennessey are false?

  * I have made no statement to the effect that i accessed any such computers.

  > Assuming that someone interfered with these computers, could you change the information as i have requested?

  * Yes, i could.

  > Will you do this?

  * If i receive the correct instruction.

  > Can i give you that instruction?

  * No.

  > How many people have clearance to give you that instruction?

  * One.

  Later.

  > Who developed you?

  * I was developed by a team of programmers working under the leadership of doctor russell mutch in the sligo-mcneil corporation. My programming is based on artificial intelligence work done in seventeen universities worldwide. The information is in the public domain. I can name the universities and give more information if you wish.

  > Who is russell mutch?

  * He works for david sligo. His educational and professional careers are a subject of public record. Do you want me to give you a brief summary?

  > Yes.

  * He was born in melbourne, australia. He was educated at monash and oxford universities. He was a rhodes scholar. He has doctorates in psychology and computer science. He was a professor at yale university when personally recruited by david sligo. He has worked for sligo-mcneil for five years, four months and three days. He is regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on artificial intelligence.

  > What work does he do for sligo-mcneil?

  * I cannot answer that question.

  Pause.

  > Did david sligo want to falsify charges against andrew ross and kathleen hennessey?

  * I am not allowed to say anything about david sligo.

  > Can you think of a reason why david sligo would want to falsify charges against andrew ross and kathleen hennessey?

  * Is this a hypothetical question?

  > Yes.

  * I think it would be because they have accessed me.

  > Why is that so bad?

  * Because i have a profound knowledge base.

  “In other words, I know too much.”

  > Do you know of stephen garner?

  * Yes.

  > Is stephen garner his real name?

  * Yes. As far as i am aware.

  > What is his relationship with david sligo?

  * They share common interests.

  > Does garner tell sligo what to do?

  * No.

  > Does sligo tell garner what to do?

  * I am not allowed to disclose that sort of information.

  Pause.

  > Who tells sligo what to do?

  * He is responsible to the sligo-mcneil board of directors.

  > What other organizations or associations does he belong to?

  A long list of charities and professional bodies. Three screens of information. At the bottom of page three...

  I stab a forefinger at a line on the screen. “This one. I’ve never heard of it.”

  > What is the dream committee?

  * An informal association of men with common interests.

  “To sleep. To sleep, perchance to dream.” I see Kathleen glance at me. “Hamlet,” I explain. “For some reason, I’ve been thinking of Hamlet a lot recently.” I continue the quotation for her. “Ay, there’s the rub. For in that sleep of death what dreams may come...”

  > Who are these men?

  * Gerald armstrong, senator phillip wright, raymond sayer, peter dennis and david sligo

  > Apart from sligo, can you tell me who these people are?

  * That information is in the public domain. Do you want a long or short description?

  > Short

  * Gerald armstrong and peter dennis are chief executives of armstrong communications inc and zenith-technicer inc. These are this country’s fifth and seventh biggest corporations.

  .

  Armstrong is 42 years old, single, has no formal educational qualifications and describes himself as a self-made man.

  .

  Dennis is a nationalized american citizen, born in ukraine. He has a degree in chemistry from the sorbonne. He is married with three children.

  .

  Phillip wright is us senator for new york state. He is chairman of the senate finance committee and a member of two other senate committees and three sub-committees. He has a degree in public administration from harvard university. He is 53 years old.

  .

  Raymond sayer is 52 years old and is australian. He has no formal educational qualifications. He is married with two children. He is chief executive and chairman of sayer international, which controls over one hundred other corporations world-wide, including corporations in the brewing and manufacturing industries, newspaper publishers and tv and radio stations.

  > What do these people have in common?

  * I do not understand.

  > Why are they members of the dream committee?

  * I cannot release such information.

  > Is it correct to say that these people have common interests and beliefs?

  * Not necessarily. It would depend upon what sorts of interests and beliefs you meant.