by Saul Garnell
Packard smirked and put his hand on Ronald’s shoulder, escorting him down the porch steps. They followed Thomas, who hurried at an eager pace toward the supply depot.
“The Garden of Eden?” Packard exclaimed. “First let me explain to you the big picture.”
“Big picture?”
“Yes, indeed!” Packard said, grinning. “Let me tell you something about...the future.”
The two men strolled after Captain Rynning and passed by several towering Saguaro. Arms silently pointed toward the sky, their prayers continuing.
Unaffected by the actions of man or time.
Chapter 14—Dark Sublimations
The ego represents what we call reason and sanity, in contrast to the id which contains the passions.
—Sigmund Freud
As heavy doors closed behind Sumeet and Shinzou, antiseptic whispers brushed over the titanium bolts of the airlock. Sumeet became alert to severe changes in air pressure, while harsh strobe lights and numerous laser scans danced over his body like intense fairy dust. Quite unnerving. He peeked to his side only to find Shinzou unaffected by the whole process. Apparently for him, it was business as usual.
Sumeet was beginning to like Shinzou, but their visit raised questions. Who was he? And how could he so easily gain access to the Santa Fe Institute Langton Center for Sentient Research? The place was a fortress. One didn’t just walk in like it was a department store. Just getting permission to see the visitor’s center was difficult. But entry to the inner sanctum? That was simply unheard of.
On the short trip over, Shinzou had explained in somewhat vague terms his association with numerous government entities as a research consultant. However, Sumeet still didn’t entirely fathom Shinzou’s vocation. The term “research consultant” could mean a number of things, and Sumeet presumed Shinzou’s expertise was technical in nature. But that assumption didn’t easily explain the endless resources and strange network of friends. Was it just imagination, or was there some clandestine background to the man he had befriended just a few days back?
As the airlock cycled through its security protocols, Sumeet couldn’t shake his doubts. He even wondered what might happen if they were deemed undesirables. A simple phone call to the authorities? Or would the lock engage some unseen weapons array and shoot them where they stood? He relentlessly fantasized until a green light flashed, allowing them both to quietly exit through the inner door. What a relief.
Beyond the threshold, a small floater awaited them. Scrolling with crimson red text, it requested they follow through several nondescript inner halls of esoteric designation. Along the way some walls became semi-transparent, revealing the movement of individuals inside. Strange markers also embossed secured entryways, but did little to explain the purpose of each section. Sumeet figured it was better not to ask.
Noticing Sumeet’s curiosity, Shinzou said, “I’ve known Dr. Gupta a long time, but we haven’t seen each other in about two decades.”
“You worked here?” Sumeet asked.
“Not very long, but in my line of work I’ve had to engage with various professions in deep tech. I was lucky to befriend Gupta back then.”
“I see,” Sumeet said, looking from side to side.
“I can’t talk about it freely, you understand, but Gupta and I were fairly close. He’s going out of his way to let us visit.”
Sumeet gazed around the hall. “Outsiders don’t get in here much.”
Shinzou grinned. “An understatement.”
The soft clacking of heels ended as the floater came to rest before a door. Its security panel strobed with dancing lights and cryptic icons until the door’s embossed markings changed form. Indistinguishable at first, they rearranged themselves and spelled out the title: Director’s Office – Dr. L. Gupta.
A mild hissing sound emanated as the door unfolded, revealing a spacious office packed with wetware research equipment of varied design and purpose. Waiting patiently for them was a short man of Indian descent. Quite thin, his face was juxtaposed against extremely long white hair trailing down both sides of his dark bald head. Stark eyebrows were abnormally fulsome, and hung slightly over asymmetrical eyeglasses which bulged enough to convince Sumeet of concealed mechanics. But for all his unique features, Dr. Gupta wore very casual attire. A simple linen shirt with baggy chinos projected a relaxed form, one that Sumeet appreciated within the Institute’s faceless penetralia.
Raising both arms warmly, Gupta greeted Shinzou with a long and overly zealous hug. “After all these years! I can’t tell you how happy I was to hear from you. And now? Here you are.”
“Thank you for allowing the visit,” Shinzou answered, then gestured toward Sumeet, who waited patiently a few paces back. “This is Sumeet Ramasaraswati, a good friend of mine. He’s visiting from Japan and I wanted him to join. With your kind permission.”
“A pleasure to meet you,” Sumeet said, stepping up.
“Any friend of Shinzou is a friend to all,” Gupta answered with a firm handshake. Looking back at Shinzou, Gupta gestured toward foam couches set up for guests. Two serving flatheads waited patiently nearby to assist with drinks and other refreshments. “Please sit and have something while we chat, shall we?”
Sumeet accepted a tea and sat down next to Shinzou. Dr. Gupta nudged the flathead aside and filled a plate with sweet biscuits, placing it carefully on a small coffee table made of interwoven ceramic and bronze.
“I’m sorry to come to you under such troubling circumstances, Babu,” Shinzou said, after Gupta plopped himself down deep into foam.
Gupta’s mood, which had been quite placid, soon darkened. Thoughts of turmoil welled up, his face creased with unspoken pain, cold and sober.
“Ach, the tragic deaths of Kim and Nagel have been a shock to everyone here. No one ever expected to incur such a loss, with colleagues so close.”
“Tell me,” Shinzou inquired after a respectful pause. “Were they here when you and I worked together years ago?”
Gupta lay back and chewed a biscuit thoughtfully. “They were, but I wasn’t director back then. Still, I must be careful. I’ve already provided records to the ASPAU central authorities. I’m not sure how much I can share with you.”
“Don’t worry. I’m just a freelance consultant, Babu,” Shinzou explained. “Some agencies were impacted by the Martin Luther King, so I was asked to look into it. And only because of our relationship...well, that’s why I called.”
“Can you tell me which agency?”
Shinzou briefly glanced at Sumeet before answering. “Uhm, the SWCISA, which stands for Southwest Criminal Investigation System Agency. But they’re not leading the investigation. They’re how I got involved. Direct contact with you isn’t possible without explicit permission from ASPAU’s central command. This is really just a friendly visit, you see.”
Sumeet made careful note of the agency name. This was an interesting fact that Shinzou had left out until now. Maybe it would explain things. He would need to follow up, or even discuss it at length with Shinzou when the opportunity availed itself.
Taking a cup of tea from a nearby crawler, Gupta happily dunked his biscuit and nodded. “Yes, a personal visit. That’s the most sensible way to look at this. I certainly won’t tell anyone, but please understand that this whole affair is a tragedy. And there really is no evidence that Kim and Nagel have any bearing on the matter, other than being on the Martin Luther.”
“You have my sympathies and understanding,” Shinzou offered politely. “But you mentioned that they both had become moody in the past few months.”
Gupta put down his cup. “Well, that was speculation based on hearsay. Kim and Nagel, you see, didn’t work in the same area. Kim was an expert on education and Sentient-based developmental learning, and Nagel was our technical director for embryonic neural pathology. There are some crossover topics, as one would expect. However, on a day-to-day basis they didn’t meet very often. I only noticed because people talked about them. We ar
e a very close-knit family, as you can imagine.”
Shinzou looked confused. “Why were they together on the flight, then?”
“A robotics conference in Yokohama,” Gupta said. “It was planned months back.”
“Interesting. Were they angry about anything?”
Gupta thought off to one side. “No, I wouldn’t say that. This is why I didn’t want to bring it up with the authorities. There’s nothing I can really explain. Maybe it’s all just coincidental, personal matters and the like.”
“Have their families said anything?”
Gupta shook his head. “Kim was a bachelor and a bit reclusive. No one to talk to. And Nagel’s wife has said nothing to me. She is very distressed, as you can imagine.”
Shinzou considered the information. “What about their past? Did they ever have any kind of relationship, either here or at other institutions?”
“That’s an interesting question. I assumed not, but I can check it.”
Gupta walked over to his desk and began typing a few search commands. Before long, streams of data began scrolling on his flexi panel. He then drilled down and pushed translucent text in various directions, looking for something of interest.
“It’s hard to tell,” Gupta said with a mild grimace. “Over the years there are many white papers and projects. Their names appear in big lists, but that doesn’t mean they really collaborated. Let me try something...”
Gupta deftly made additional key strokes and manipulated datasets with his hands. Shinzou and Sumeet looked at each other with anticipation.
“Interesting,” Gupta finally said. “There’s a classified project sixteen years back. They worked closely with three external consultants, two of whom were very old at the time, so I am not sure if they’re even alive now. I can check, but the third one was a bit younger, a professor who lived in Japan.”
Shinzou became more attentive. “Do you have his name and current location?”
Gupta peered over his bulbous glasses. “I can’t send this information to you, but if you happen to overhear me reading out loud, there is little I can do.”
Shinzou grinned.
Looking carefully over his glasses, Gupta verbalized slowly. “Dr. Shunro Kamiyoshi in Omika Japan. Let’s see here...at the time he was a teacher specializing in theology. Roman Catholicism, to be precise.”
Shinzou abruptly stiffened and screwed up his face. Sumeet noticed something was wrong, but was completely befuddled by the statement’s implications. Unsure what to make of it, he just took a sip of tea placed out for him on the table.
“This might sound a bit strange,” Shinzou asked, “but why on earth would a theology teacher work on a classified project?”
Nodding at the screen still entranced, Gupta mulled over the question. “Indeed, it does look odd. The files on that project were archived decades ago. I will need to retrieve them. They should come back online within the hour.”
Sumeet’s curiosity became unbearable. Everyone was talking around the issue rather than about it directly. What was the problem? With little knowledge of Sentients and their origins, he simply had to interject.
“Excuse me,” Sumeet asked timidly. “May I ask why that’s an issue?”
Gupta looked up. “Pardon?”
“Why is theology a problem?”
Gupta looked at Sumeet then at Shinzou, who just shrugged apologetically. “I see you have little knowledge about Sentient upbringing.”
Sumeet stared back silently as Gupta returned to the couch and sat down. Enjoying the innocent question posed, Gupta picked up his cup and took a long sip.
“I’ve been locked up in this place so long,” Gupta finally said. “I’ve forget sometimes what it’s like to meet people who really don’t understand.”
Sumeet looked at both Gupta and Shinzou with mild trepidation. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ask too many questions.”
Gupta laughed quite loudly, and then slapped Sumeet on the knee several times. “No, my boy! It’s quite all right. Why don’t I give you and Shinzou the standard tour? He can see the upgrades since his last visit, and I can educate you while the archives are retrieved.” Gupta bowed toward Shinzou. “Unless you object?”
“Lead the way, Babu,” Shinzou said, holding out an outstretched hand.
All three departed down the hall to an elevator, which Gupta opened with high-level clearance. A floater attempted to follow them inside, but without much thought Gupta pushed it outside just as the doors began to close.
“Pesky little things,” he said, punching in commands to the elevator.
With only the slightest alteration in momentum, the elevator descended. Sumeet watched with interest as the floor counter decreased into negatives and then simply went blank. Pressure altered before they finally came to rest on a floor identified as SubTerr157-A. It was hard to make out what that meant. Were they one hundred and fifty seven floors down, or was this strange numbering system indicative of a complex multidimensional maze? Sumeet mulled over the possibilities as the door hissed open to a hallway with lush carpeting and cool indirect lighting.
“Tell me, Sumeet,” Gupta said, leading them down the corridor. “How familiar are you with Sentient Beings? With their creation and biology?”
“I work with some Sentients at Chindo Securities, so we get a basic course on interpersonal relations. But many fundamental questions about their biology are never answered. In fact, we are strictly forbidden from prying too much. Such matters are deemed technical IP.”
“Yes, but you already understand they don’t have a corporal body as we humans do,” Gupta confirmed.
“My understanding is that they are genetically augmented brain tissue. Something like human but with cognitive abilities far beyond what is considered normal. Other than that, I know very little.”
Gupta nodded as he walked with both hands clasped behind his back. “Yes, information on their biology, birth, and formative years has become quite a secret, bordering on national security.” Gupta stopped before a door that flashed with several arrow-shaped goal indicators. “Ah, here we are.”
It took several seconds for the security checks to finish before two heavily shielded doors separated just enough for them to pass. Inside was a large rectangular hall that contained nothing but white walls and nondescript brown carpeting. However, what the hall lacked in decoration it made up for in size. It was roughly one hundred meters deep by a kilometer wide. Slightly curved, it was hard to tell its exact shape.
Initially, Sumeet imagined it was a banquet hall, or maybe unused office space. Gupta said nothing, and walked across to the far side where he placed his hand upon the wall. The section around his fingers immediately came to life and revealed the white opaqueness of flexi. Keeping his wrinkly hand in place a few moments, a keypad appeared. He chortled while making some final key commands, and then stood back to enjoy his guest’s reaction.
“I think you’ll appreciate this Shinzou,” he said smiling. “You always complained about how cramped things were.”
In silence the entire kilometer long wall slowly desaturated, revealing its true purpose as a transparent flexi observation window. In fact, the entire hall was an overview platform, one designed to observe what took place on the other side.
And what took place was nothing more than phenomenal.
“Oh, my God,” Shinzou breathed.
Sumeet was speechless.
There before them in leviathan proportions was the largest manmade cavern either had ever laid eyes upon, so large in scope that making out its true shape was impossible. Perhaps a sphere, or a square, it was impossible to tell.
The floor below was a far drop. Several hundred feet. And without the flexi barrier, one could easily fall to his death. The ceiling was dark and vast, but contrasted with an incandescence glow from below that stemmed from spherical containers sprawling out in every direction. Furrows in a vast metallic field, they transparently brimmed with liquid and light. Each container was a
bout two meters in height, and supported below by a crawler-based system with numerous devices laced between spider-like joints. Capping each was a bristling nest of wires, pipes and tubes that ran down the sphere’s side. It was a strange sight.
“Behold our nursery, gentlemen,” Gupta said with pride.
“It’s beyond anything I’ve ever could imagine,” Shinzou said, still breathless.
Gupta happily rocked on his heels. “Oh, yes, the Institute began work on this several years after you left. Came online within the last twelve months. Quite a sight for someone like you who saw this place so long ago.”
Sumeet walked up to the flexi window and tried to make out small details below. Squinting, he shook his head, unable to make out very much.
“Those are Sentient Beings...inside each sphere?”
Gupta stepped forward and touched the flexi in front of Sumeet. A screen and submenu appeared that semitransparently augmented the front-facing reality. Like virtual binoculars, it was able to zoom in on anything. Using a few deft finger commands, Gupta displayed a magnified view of a single sphere, then gestured for Sumeet to take control and browse the floor in greater detail.
“They’re similar to us in many respects,” Gupta explained. “But we’ve manipulated their genetics to abstract the very essence of human consciousness – our sentience, so to speak. When all is said and done, they’re really just synthetic brain tissue, as you stated earlier. We’ve taken away sensory apparatuses like eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skin, and other related terminal organs. That whole package was replaced by virtual inputs, and there you have it.”
Sumeet used the magnifier to pan around and closely examine one sphere. Its contents now clearly displayed what looked like a mesh of veins and web-like tissues which surrounded the Sentient brain. Convoluted and milky white, it filled the entire translucent shell, lit aglow by micro lights and sensors that circumvented the outside. Sumeet then panned over to the top casing, where a complex set of equipment conglomerated. A rat’s nest of various colored wires and tubes provided what he assumed was its biological support. However, with no background, the nature of what he inspected did nothing other than fascinate.
