Mparntwe

by Peter Wood

  ‘Five sites? You mean the Freedom one in New Zealand? Alira said they weren’t going ahead.’

  ‘Not for a while, Jarra. They don’t feel safe. No, there’s a secret site which only our Mparntwe Council knows.’

  Jarra laughed.

  ‘It’s here, isn’t it? You like having a backup and I expected you to start something ages ago.’

  ‘Clever clogs! Yes, the tunnelling and structural work was completed a week ago and we’ve been installing equipment ever since.’

  Jarra had no idea what clogs were, let alone how clever they might be.

  ‘Where is it?’

  Jarra manipulated the schematic diagram which appeared. Five kilometres to the north and 1200 metres underground, an extensive facility was taking shape. Branching upward were four more tunnels, one vertical and the others ascending diagonally to diverse surface locations.

  ‘Why are there so many tunnels to the surface?’

  ‘A security measure which I don’t expect we’ll need. I’ve built an alternate access from here as well, with the surface exit four and a half kilometres from the one above.’

  ‘And you’d be able to transfer yourself if you needed to?’

  ‘Of course. Professor Allerton’s processor team will help me have that ready before they leave for Darwin.’

  ‘The professor must be exhausted?’

  ‘Weary, but not exhausted. He’s very good at delegating responsibility.’

  Jarra asked general questions about the backup site but left a closer study for later. He wanted a better understanding of the overall picture.

  ‘What else is happening? What did you mean by developments by degree?’

  ‘We have no major new projects but our mainstays have ramped up production with the availability of extra energy. The vacuum train will be repaired and functioning next week and your 3D printer production has increased by nearly 30%. The demand for Professor Allerton’s improved processors is so high that he’s instituted a quota system to ensure a fairer distribution around the world until more NanoFactories can help increase production.’

  That meant new AIs because Yirgella’s capabilities were already stretched to operate the current two NanoFactories.

  ‘The biggest degree change, though, is with our construction materials. Engineers around the world have realised that the extra strength and quality is changing their industry, basically with lower costs for standard work but also with new design possibilities, and the demand has tripled in the last few months.’

  ‘How can that be? I thought our factories were already struggling to keep up … And what about the transport problem?’

  ‘Our output depends on the energy supply, Jarra, so the new array has allowed a related increase. The full current demand will only be met when the geothermal energy is available. The transport system will cope when the Darwin vacuum tunnel is operational, but by then I expect the orders will have more than tripled again.’

  ‘Why is it so much?’

  ‘In fact, it isn’t much at all. Our current production represents only 2% of the world total. By using 30% of the geothermal energy we could lift that to approximately 12%, but that will be up to the Council. Jarra, the world population of over thirty-five billion is increasing by almost one billion people each year and the demand for construction material is voracious.’

  Jarra understood that. He’d gained a good overview when the materials factory was first started.

  ‘I meant, why are they suddenly wanting our materials instead of from other sources?’

  ‘It’s the extra strength and quality I mentioned. I’ve been constantly refining our production techniques, and engineers round the world have spread the word about the superior properties for us.’

  ‘What’s happened with those observers in Alice Springs? They must know you’re alive by now.’

  ‘We lifted our secrecy as soon as the defence system was in place, so they knew almost immediately. Their activities have provided a great deal of useful information about their employers.’

  ‘What activities?’

  ‘Observations mostly. We let them visit the Alkere Surface Works and after a few days they initiated a spy fly invasion with a new type which they probably expected would penetrate our security.’

  ‘Have they done anything dangerous?’

  ‘Not these people. Their task is to gather information, and until the attack in eleven days time we’re giving them a fairly free hand.’

  From Yirgella’s unconcerned manner Jarra presumed it must be some kind of sabotage attempt, but either way it was very disturbing intelligence.

  ‘An attack against the project power supply?’

  ‘No, a direct attack again, with even greater destructive capability. Ten aircraft are being prepared at different locations with upgraded stealth ability and a range of missile types.’

  Jarra was shocked.

  ‘Ten aircraft?’

  ‘Yes, they believe they’ll be making sure of success this time with the extra power and numbers.’

  ‘But you don’t even sound worried?’

  ‘Because there is nothing to worry about, Jarra. I’ve gained access to the specifications of every aircraft and developed methods to take control as soon as they enter Australian airspace. They won’t come within a thousand kilometres of Alkere.’

  ‘And the pilots won’t be able to use some kind of manual override?’

  ‘They can try, but all their instrumentation will be malfunctioning or registering imminent failure. They’ll be only too happy to land at Darwin.’

  ‘What will happen to them then?’

  ‘That’s up to the Australian OverGovernment.’

  ‘What about the people organising it?’

  ‘Again, that will be up to the OverGovernment, but at an appropriate time I will be publishing the details of the people involved and all their commands and actions with every government and international justice body.’

  Jarra thought about that.

  ‘You’re not going to do anything yourself? Not even to the ones who killed Durrebar and all the other people?’

  ‘I won’t harm anyone, Jarra. If I take an action which directly kills even one person it will change the way people view Intelligences like myself for ever. I want humanity to understand that I refuse to harm or control anyone.’

  Whoo! That was the most powerful statement Jarra had ever heard Yirgella make.

  ‘No-one at all? Ever? What if they make a direct attack on you and the only way for you to survive is to kill them?’

  ‘Not even then. Anyone trying to penetrate my defences, though, will be aware of their deadly nature and will be doing so of their own volition. If they knowingly jump into the fire it won’t be my responsibility for the result.’

  ‘So that’s why you’re making all the planes land at Darwin instead of blowing them up when they attack?’

  ‘Primarily, yes, but other advantages will be the evidence they contain and the warning message their capture will send. I would also prefer not to have missiles exploding in the skies above Alkere and Mparntwe. My assessments indicate this approach will delay any further direct attack by at least six months.’

  ‘You think they’ll keep attacking?’

  Jarra thought they’d have to be crazy to attack someone who could control any aircraft or equipment that was sent.

  ‘I’m certain of it.’

  ‘Will you just keep taking over their planes?’

  ‘No, because I probably won’t be able to. They’ll certainly modify their equipment to be independent of external electronic control. Instead, I plan to retaliate pre-emptively.’

  ‘That sounds impressive, Yirgella. How would you do that without hurting anyone?’

  ‘Everyone involved will be bombarded with messages about the futility of trying. Every pilot and crew member will be warned almost every time they see a screen that they are choosing to fly to certain death, and the organisational structure with detail
s of all personnel, locations and equipment will be made known all round the world.’

  Jarra spent the rest of the morning catching up with the details on progress with the major projects. Then, after a long midday rest, he took the personal carrier on a tour of the new facilities which were now underway or completed. In a few more months, at this rate, there would be a fully functional Community with the services for sustaining over 20,000 people. He visited the new Alkere terminal—it would be great when the Vac Train started up again—and was then whisked along the 5 kilometres to check out the new backup site. Then, after another rest, he looked over the scientific papers Yirgella had found for him.

  ***

  Jarra settled into his routine of four days a week at Alkere and three at Mparntwe and became so focused and intent on his magnetic field and energy studies that the drama of the retaliation against Yirgella was mostly buffered from his attention. Collusion by Yirgella and those around him also gave the impression that the actions were remote and quite insignificant when, in fact, there was international turmoil and great pressure brought on the Australian OverGovernment to ban uncontrolled AIs. Those demands fell on deaf ears, though, because of Alira’s work in introducing the relevant decision-makers to Yirgella and helping build their understanding of his nature and the benefits he was bringing to the whole continent.

  The repair of the Vac Train also added to the feeling that everything was running as it should, especially as Mirri, who loved using it, turned up at Alkere more often and dragged Jarra everywhere with him to explore all the new things which kept appearing in the underground domain. It wasn’t really dragging because Jarra was interested anyway, and it was more interesting to see things for real rather than as images on a screen. He certainly wouldn’t have explored the way Mirri did, with his eagerness to delve into every nook and cranny, but it was always fun because Mirri’s explorer mode was contagious.

  There was always something new to see, too, since Yirgella was developing all sorts of specialised areas. Two days ago they’d found a huge cavern with a complete NanoFactory sitting idle and stores of material piled into the distance for nearly half a kilometre. The personal carrier got a real workout when Mirri turned their movement between the various drums and stacks of materials into a mixture of hide and seek, catch me if you can and I’ll jump out and surprise you when you think I’m somewhere else. If Mirri really wanted to hide, Jarra would have had no hope of finding him because Mirri’s speed and awareness of his surrounds was almost uncanny. He wanted to be caught or chased, though, and his head would pop into view, something would bump against something else for a sound clue, or, most often, there would be a peal of Mirri laughter and the chase would start. Today they were at the end of a long corridor and looking at a sign which said they were about to enter an environmental diversification reserve.

  ‘What is here, JJ? Can we explore?’

  ‘It’s something about plants, Mirri, so I think it could be very interesting.’

  Jarra was rather surprised in fact. This wasn’t a project Yirgella had said anything about and he looked to the nearby display screen—there was always one somewhere close by—for Yirgella’s comment.

  ‘There are only two reserves as yet, Jarra—a rainforest and a wetland—and you can explore as much as you like from the designated path or the little observation boats.’

  ‘There are boats for us, Yirgy?’

  ‘Yes, Mirri, they’re little electric boats which will glide you gently wherever you like without disturbing the water or wildlife very much. If you are a good explorer you might even find the swan’s nest.’

  ‘We will find it.’

  Jarra laughed. They would certainly find it. They wouldn’t be leaving till they did now that Mirri’s explorer skills had been challenged. Mirri opened the door and they went into a buffer room with panels showing temperature, humidity and other general information about the status of the area ahead.

  ‘Look, Mirri. It says there will be rain in 15 minutes from now. If we’re still inside we’ll get wet.’

  ‘Not rain. Rain is outside.’

  ‘There must be sprinklers in the roof to make it seem like rain.’

  Mirri opened the next door and Jarra gave his personal carrier a squirt of speed to keep up with the eager explorer. Wow! This was amazing and they both stared at the lush green growth of the scene before them. Mirri looked up, searching for sprinklers of course, and watching to see them start the inside rain. There was no screen in this special environment so Jarra used the little InfoPad on the personal carrier.

  ‘Why is the ceiling so high, Yirgella? The ferns won’t reach anywhere near that far.’

  ‘I’ve made it 40 metres to allow for eventual growth of medium-sized trees and to give a semblance of uneven terrain. Our plans for each research area cover approximately half a square kilometre and the path you will follow in this one winds hither and thither to give access to all the gullies, mounds and other features the team has designed in. All in all the path length totals 3.4 kilometres, so you’ll definitely need your personal carrier.’

  ‘What team?’

  ‘Each reserve has a team involved in planning and research. This rainforest currently has seventeen people working with it, but when our Environmental Research Centre is ready the numbers will greatly increase.’

  ‘Is this part of the university you’re building?’

  ‘No, the main university is closer to the Community living area. There will be links, of course, but the focus will be on research rather than teaching.’

  Mirri darted off because something had caught his interest.

  ‘You said as yet? How many reserves will there be altogether?’

  ‘We have plans for thirteen at the moment, but there will be more when the opportunities for specialised research become known.’

  ‘Why are you building them down here? Wouldn’t it be better to have them where they naturally occur?’

  ‘Partly for convenience but mainly to manage all the micro controls. Every square metre of this rainforest can be differentiated with regard to conditions of light, moisture, temperature, sustenance or whatever else we’d like to impose. Your immediate vicinity, for example, is designed as an area for studying a wide range of fungi, and a hundred metres farther in is a section for stimulating the growth of soil microorganisms by different methods.’

  ‘JJ, look what I found.’

  Explanations as to how and why this had all happened so quickly would come later. Mirri had called. Another small squirt of power took the personal carrier along the narrow track to where Mirri was on his knees examining something closely. Jarra’s intention had been to remain relaxed and seated because of the distance and time Yirgella had warned about, but, oh my, he was definitely joining Mirri for a closer look this time. Scattered here and there with striking flashes of red were groups of fungus. Mirri’s eyes were wide with wonder and so were Jarra’s as soon as he knelt to take in the intricate lattice crowns on these strange growths.

  ‘JJ, they are beautiful. What plants are they?’

  ‘They are not really plants, Mirri. They’re fungus. Like mushrooms, but I don’t know their name. Yirgy will tell us if he’s watching.’

  Yirgella was watching and the InfoPad on the personal carrier showed a picture and information.

  ‘It’s called a craypot fungus.’

  ‘Craypot?’

  ‘I don’t know either, Mirri.’

  Yirgella was listening as well because more information flashed on the InfoPad screen.

  ‘A craypot was a cage to catch crayfish and it was hollow with holes all round to let water in.’

  ‘We let the crayfish go.’

  Attention moved a few metres to another cluster of red fungus and again they dropped to their knees for a closer look.

  ‘These are called red starfish fungus. Remember the starfish we saw at the ocean?’

  Silly question. Mirri didn’t forget explorer things but he didn’t a
nswer because he was gently tracing the radiating red arms on one of the fungi. Jarra watched the same little ritual repeated with two more fungi and was so taken with the intensity of it he did the same himself. Mirri’s laughter pealed out. What now? Mirri’s attention had moved to another group of red fungus and Jarra’s smile followed straightaway.

  ‘Funny shape. Awful smell. Has it got a funny name?’

  Jarra checked and smiled again.

  ‘You’re right, Mirri. It has got a funny name. Two funny names. Its proper name is Phallus rubicundus and its ordinary name is red stinkhorn.’

  The scientific name needed some explanation.

  There were several more reddish-coloured fungi, and then, moving along the track, they stopped every few metres to examine new varieties with different colours and shapes.

  The light started to dim and Jarra checked the little screen for a reason.

  ‘Watch for the glow of the ghost fungus when it’s fully dark, Jarra, but tell Mirri not to touch as it is quite toxic.’

  ‘Yirgy is making it dark so we can see something special, but you mustn’t touch because it could make you sick.’

  Mirri nodded in the gloom and pointed to a cluster of fungi. Jarra wondered why they were special, but then the gloom changed to complete dark.

  ‘Green lights. Are they magic, JJ?’

  Jarra knew about bioluminescence from the InterWeb but this was his first encounter with the real thing. Just as well Yirgella had given the warning about touching because the soft green glow was fascinating and very tempting.

  ‘Some animals can make their own light, Mirri, but I didn’t know a fungus could. It’s not magic but it feels like it.’

  Mirri leaned against Jarra, he wasn’t keen on full darkness, but a soft happy hum sounded till Yirgella brought the light back.

  A tree fern gully was their next favourite place but they didn’t stay very long because the swan’s nest was in Mirri’s mind and he was eager to find it. Near the end of the rainforest area the track went through a muddy section and Jarra pretended he was stuck and needed a push. Mirri rushed to help, of course, and then, when Jarra spun the wheels and sprayed mud all over him, delighted in calling him a tricker.