Nexus n-1

by Naam, Ramez

  Her mind hardened in anger.

  There's one right behind you. Why don't you ask him what he thinks? She sounded cold, dangerous.

  The hand on his shoulder.

  Feng's voice echoed laughter in Kade's mind. Robot! I like it. Robot's strong, made of titanium and carbon fiber. Bulletproof!

  "Feng," Shu said aloud, "why don't you sit and help us with this food? We seem to have more than we need."

  Feng sat next to Kade, heaped a plate up with food, radiating appetite and amusement.

  You're a clone, Kade sent him, a slave. They showed me.

  Feng laughed in Kade's mind again, his mouth full of noodles. Clone, yeah. Like I told you, big family! Lots of brothers. Slave? That's what they wanted. But I'm free. My brothers too. Thanks to her.

  "Mmm, good noodles!"

  Shu cut in. I could not tolerate the thought of posthumans as slaves to mere humans.

  Dr Shu, I give up, Kade sent. I'm sorry any of this happened. How can I persuade you to let me go?

  Shu sipped her tea, her face turned towards the lightning coming down east of Bangkok. "I think the storm's coming closer," she said. "Don't you?"

  Kade felt some control of his body return. He turned to look. Maybe the lightning was a little closer. It was hard to say.

  You're a very dangerous man, Kaden Lane. Your government is right to fear you. This technology we have is explosive in its potential. How could baseline humans compete with us?

  I don't mean to harm anyone, he told her. I never did.

  You're only barely in control of your own mind, she scoffed. Your intentions mean next to nothing right now.

  Kade said nothing. They sat in silence for a moment.

  Come to my lab, she sent him. Accept the postdoc. Let the ERD think you're spying for them.

  That hatred for the ERD. He could feel it at every thought of them.

  Shu continued. We can feed them enough to keep them at bay. And in the meantime, we'll do some remarkable things of our own.

  It washed over him. Images and plans from her mind. Mere glimpses. Paths towards boosted intelligence. Uploading minds from brains and into computers. Savant-like cognitive powers. Super memory. Pattern recognition that would put any data miner to shame. Knowledge banks shared mind to mind. True merger into group beings. Transformations of politics, economics, art… Intelligence and creativity that could pry apart the deepest mysteries of physics, of math, of every science known to man.

  She would change the world. She would lift the human mind to new heights. He could be part of it. A posthuman, upgraded through her knowledge, empowered to help build this new world.

  It was intoxicating. It was everything he wanted. How could he possibly say no?

  Never swallow what they're selling whole. Ilya had said that. He had to fight to hang onto his skepticism, to push back against this seduction.

  Would your government pervert my science as well? he asked her. Would they turn my discoveries into weapons?

  Shu looked out at the horizon. He could feel the edges of her thoughts. She was thinking of something that had happened a long long time ago.

  We hide the most important work, she said. But we have to give them some progress. For now.

  And when does it stop? he asked.

  Soon, she sent him. She sounded cold and distant in his mind. There is a war coming. A world war. Not between China and America. Between humans and posthumans. You see it all around you. The humans are doing everything they can to prevent the posthuman transition from occurring. While we are struggling to be free of their controls.

  War. He turned the word over in his mind. A world war. People will die.

  Look at the big picture, Kade. Imagine a world full of beings as far beyond humans as humans are beyond chimps. That is the future we could inhabit. That is a future we could help bring about. Doesn't that sound like a worthy goal?

  It did. She knew it did.

  Isn't that something worth making some sacrifices for? she asked him.

  He struggled for the right words, the right way to explain it.

  Other people's lives aren't yours to sacrifice, he sent.

  Shu shrugged mentally. The world has more than eight billion people on it, she sent. Surely we can afford to lose a few.

  That's what it came down to then. Would he be willing to let a few die to make the world a better place? A few dozen? A few thousand? A few million? Where would he draw the line?

  Who would he kill for the freedom to improve his own mind? Who would he kill to rise to new heights? Who would he kill so that posthumans might be born?

  Shu caught the thrust of his thoughts. This is directed evolution, she sent. How many generations would this take natural selection? Millions? The faster we uplift ourselves, the fewer who need die. Join me. Help move the work forward.

  War. War over the human condition. War for the right to change oneself. War to create humanity's successor species. War to usher in a utopia. Had it begun already? Was the ERD an army, fighting to keep posthumans from coming into existence?

  And evolution. Evolution was a bloody process indeed. War would mean epic numbers of dead.

  It was too much for him. He was in over his head. He needed to step back, collect himself.

  I need to think about this, Dr Shu.

  He did his best to stay calm. This was too much, too much. It's a lot all at once, he sent.

  She looked him in the eye. He could feel her evaluating him, feeling out his mind.

  Of course, she replied.

  Shu nodded, picked up the thread of their out-loud conversation. "Feng, what do you think of the weather?"

  Feng lifted his eyes from his food to the horizon.

  "Definitely coming this way," Feng said. "Rain here again in half an hour."

  A thought struck Kade. Why don't you leave China? Why not come to the US?

  Shu snorted mentally. I'd be even less free in your country. My government doesn't object to posthumans, so long as the first posthumans are Chinese. They want control. Fools. As if such beings will be bound by nationality.

  So why not go somewhere else? Here in Thailand, maybe?

  We're not all so free. He got a sense then, of an obligation, a mother's love. An image of a young girl, long black hair, dark eyes. Her daughter.

  Her name is Ling, she sent him. It means "compassion."

  She's your daughter.

  Yes.

  She's the leverage they have over you? he asked.

  She's part of it, Shu replied.

  Kade caught a glimpse of something else, then. An image of Shu, a younger Shu, a pregnant Shu, her belly huge, in a surgical theatre, her skull shaven, frightened, alone, in pain, about to go through something no one else had yet survived… And then something so huge it sent him reeling. A network of processors, vast computing power, vast storage. An incredible mind, epic in scope, something that subsumed Su-Yong Shu, stretched beyond her.

  "Oh my god." He said it out loud, before he could control himself.

  "Yes, it's beautiful." She was staring out at the sky, covering his gaffe.

  Is that you? he asked her. You're an upload? You were sick… Is that it? You were forced to try. And you succeeded. You're the first digital being…

  His mind was spinning. He was trying to make sense of the glimpse he'd seen.

  She didn't answer for a moment. Kade felt the dread and awe climb up his spine, set the hairs on the back of his neck on end, chilling him even in the warm Bangkok night.

  Please, she replied, I shouldn't have let you see that. The less you know, the safer for both of us.

  They sat in silence for a while, watching the lightning illuminate the eastern sky.

  "I think you should come visit my lab in Shanghai," Shu said aloud. "And perhaps your collaborator Rangan Shankari as well. You'll get to see the lab, meet the other postdocs and graduate students, some of the other faculty. We can get a better sense if there would be a good fit."

  Sa
y yes, she urged him. Your masters will believe you've done your part. We'll have time to discuss more later.

  Thank you, Kade sent to her.

  "I think that's a wonderful idea. Thank you for the invitation."

  The check came.

  Feng went to fetch the car, left them watching the storm approaching on the horizon. Lightning struck again, closer. Thunder boomed seconds later. Raindrops touched the far side of the river.

  "Come, Kade," Shu said a few minutes later. "Feng will have the car by now. We can drop you off at your next engagement." He felt her release him fully, then. His body and his mind were his once more. It felt good.

  The Opal pulled around, glistening in the rain that was now beginning to fall. Feng held open the door for Shu, and then for Kade, and then they were on their way. They drove in silence for a few moments, before Shu reached out to him again.

  You will need to choose soon, Kade. Organizations like the ERD exist to stop humans from taking the next step. Conflict is inevitable. She paused. You have to decide if you're on the side of progress… or on the side of stagnation.

  Kade considered that.

  I'm on the side of peace, he sent, and freedom.

  Shu mentally chuckled. You are so naïve.

  Kade didn't reply. Wet, neon-streaked streets slid by outside the car's windows.

  Kade, Shu sounded more serious now, the ERD will probe your memories of our dinner. We must prepare you for that, with an alternate script. Open yourself to me.

  Do I have a choice? he asked her.

  I won't force you. But if our conversation is unearthed by the ERD, it will not go well for you or those you care about.

  False memories. Again. Yet she was right.

  Will I forget what just happened? he asked her.

  Oh no. I am not so crude. You will remember. But I will give you a second set of memories you can share with others. You will only forget the truth if you are under duress.

  Kade sighed. There was no way around this.

  OK, he sent her. Let's get on with it.

  He opened his mind to her. Her thoughts flowed into him, suffused him, pressed all else aside. Consciousness receded.

  When he came to, he felt the same. Then she showed him, and he understood. He remembered the truth. And he remembered an alternate event, just a slight twist on what had actually happened.

  It awed him. In minutes she'd made a change to his mind of a subtlety and sophistication he wouldn't have believed possible. His mind could be completely hers, Kade realized. Shu could do anything with him that she wanted. The scope of her ability to manipulate his mind was staggering.

  She was posthuman already.

  Wats watched through the scope of the rifle as the man with the all-too-familiar face left Shu and Kade and headed back to the car. Wats used the scope to capture images of that face and video of his gait. Who was this man who was driving Shu?

  Could he be wrong on the face? He didn't think so. The last man to wear that face had made a powerful impression. He'd killed four heavily augmented special forces Marines with his bare hands before they'd taken him down. That wasn't something Wats was likely to forget.

  Could this be the reason the ERD had sent Kade here? Did it have to do with this man? With Shu?

  If so, why Kade?

  And did this have anything to do with the monk who'd followed Kade and Cataranes to their hotel the night before?

  The unknowns were piling up.

  The car was coming around to the front of the restaurant now. Wats packed up his gear and prepared to follow.

  21

  WILD AT HEART

  Shu studied Kade as the glossy black Opal pulled up in front of the Wild at Heart bar where the neuroscience students' mixer was to be held.

  "Here you go," Feng said as he opened the door for the boy to exit. "Door to door service!"

  "That was very stimulating, Kade," Shu told him. "Let's talk soon."

  "It was, Dr Shu. Thank you for dinner. I'll be in touch on the dates for the Shanghai visit." He shook her hand and turned. "And it was good to meet you, Feng. I'm glad we talked." Kade nodded, held up his hand in salutation, and was gone.

  Feng got back into the driver's seat.

  Thoughts? Shu asked him.

  Feng put the car in gear, looked both ways, cautiously eased back into the riotous traffic of Bangkok. Shu knew he was taking the time to collect himself, to be sure he knew his own mind before he answered her. Always so careful, after all this time.

  I made them that way, she reminded herself.

  The boy is dangerous, Feng sent to her. He poses a great risk.

  He could be a great asset, Shu replied. He's done impressive work to have come so far so fast.

  Not as impressive as your accomplishments, Feng told her.

  Feng, the humans outnumber us by orders of magnitude, she sent back. No matter how capable I am, I can't do it alone. I can't do it with just the team in Shanghai. If we're going to prevail, we need more on our side. More who can move the frontiers forward. Those individuals are rare. Kade is one of them.

  Is that the only reason? Feng asked.

  He knew her too well. The old anger rose up. The painful memories. Yang Wei, her mentor, burning to death in that limo, a victim of the CIA. Along with…

  Nausea struck her. Her hand went unbidden to her belly. She forced herself to pull it away. This body was a traitor. Anger was better than sorrow.

  I hate them, Feng. The CIA, the ERD, they are the same. I despise them for the beautiful minds they've destroyed. I hate them for the pain they've inflicted. And yes, I resent the ERD for using him as a weapon against me. How dare they? The ignorant, venomous fools. I'm not a machine, Feng. I feel emotions as strongly as ever. And what I feel towards the Americans is rage.

  Feng was silent for a moment, then spoke into her mind. You could compel him.

  Shu chuckled. Was Feng testing her?

  You know my view on that, she replied. If I took control of him, what would that say to anyone else? Would I need to control them all? How much would they accomplish as my puppets? I would become no better than our masters, and no more effective. No. We're most capable as autonomous beings who choose to come together. Our as sociations must be voluntary.

  She felt Feng's satisfaction with her answer. If it was a test, she'd passed. The line between loyalty and compulsion remained clear.

  I remain concerned, Feng sent. The Americans respect you. They will not settle for surface answers. They may burrow deep, even destructively so. The memories and block you implanted may not hold.

  They won't harm him, Shu insisted. They want to use him to spy on me. And short of quite destructive methods, what I've done will hold.

  Perhaps, Feng replied.

  The Americans can't hurt me, at any rate.

  Perhaps.

  Feng refused to accept just how unassailable she'd become.

  They can inconvenience you, he sent. Greatly.

  Yes, she replied. That they can.

  They can perhaps goad our masters into hurting you, Feng went on. Or worse.

  It was a possibility. One that bore more safeguards against it.

  So what do you recommend? she asked.

  Feng was silent for a moment, threading the Opal through wet Bangkok traffic.

  I think the Americans should not get the chance to deeply interrogate Kaden Lane.

  You mean that we should liberate him? she asked. Or that we should kill him?

  Feng was silent again.

  I mean that the Americans should not get the chance to interrogate Kaden Lane.

  I doubt our masters would agree to either silencing him or whisking him away to China on such short notice, she sent.

  Feng took his time replying.

  What they do not know of, they need not agree to, he sent. Accidents happen. Bangkok is a dangerous place.

  You've become so hard, Feng, she sent him. You would kill this boy? An innocent?

  Y
our safety is my priority. He threatens it.

  What about the woman, the agent he's with?

  Feng considered. Challenging. Not impossible.

  I would rather have him alive, and on our side, than dead.

  You may not have that choice, Feng replied. We must all act within the choices we are given.

  Su-Yong Shu leaned back into the plush seat of the Opal, and contemplated.

  The Wild at Heart bar was a sprawling three-story club in the heart of Bangkok's tourist district. It was 9pm, halfway into the 8pm to 10pm mixer, and the place was packed with students attending the conference. Kade meandered through the throng, lost in thought. What had he expected of Shu? That she'd be completely innocent of what the ERD had accused her of? That she'd be a monster?

  She was neither. The opportunity she was offering him was beyond his wildest dreams. Could he accept it? Could he fool the ERD? Could he live with himself if his work was weaponized, was used to harm innocents?

  Could he become posthuman? A demigod? An immortal?

  He got in line for a drink, peeled off two hundred-baht bills for something strong and alcoholic. The Nexus link on his phone came alive before the drink reached his lips.

  [sam] Welcome back. Meet me on the roof.

  Kade shrugged and made his way to the roof, downing his drink as he went. Show time. Again.