Living Among the Stars: A Human's place in the Universe (The Stories behind the Future Book 2)

by R E Kearney

  After waiting and watching for several minutes, his turn arrives. A Receptive Operator-bot slides in front of Robert and immediately scans his face and eyes for identification. “Robert Goodfellow?”

  “Yes.”

  “Invitee Goodfellow, your behavioral-based interview is not to be conducted. Human companion Heu Reux is assigned to escort you to your consultations. Do you have any questions?”

  “Yes. Where is the man who arrived with me?”

  “I will access arrival files.” For several seconds the bot is silent before reporting. “Mack Evoil is receiving treatment for dizziness and nausea. His positioning bracelet indicates he is lodged in room six hundred and sixty six of Butaritari tower. He is sedated and isolated with awakening scheduled for six tomorrow morning.”

  The bot’s naming of Evoil and his location immediately grabs the attention of the man standing at the next table. Robert cringes. He hopes the man’s interest is innocent and not malicious. However, he continues watching and listening too assiduously for Robert’s liking.

  “Do you have any additional questions?” the bot inquires, as a young French woman joins the two of them.

  “Uh...Thank you. No.”

  “Facilitator Heu Reux is present to tutor you regarding Venus. I will continue welcoming Travelers.” The bot departs with a whisper to interview the neighboring man who is closely scrutinizing their conversation.

  “Robert Goodfellow?” Reux extends her hand toward him.

  With a smile, Robert shakes her hand. “I understand that you are my tutor.”

  “Actually, I am a Facilitator. I hope you will understand. I’m not certain what we should do, or I should do with you. I’m usually assigned to assist visiting groups of researchers conducting Foresight Analysis or Megatrends discussions.”

  “Not growing coffee or tea?”

  “Oh no, that’s a completely different area. It’s still our financial foundation…supplying scarce agricultural products. But we’re a lot more than that anymore. Venus has established itself as an international innovation center, enabling developers, partners, and competitors to push the boundaries of new technologies and codevelop new products. Diversify or die, you know.” Reux sniffs and frowns. “Not to be insulting, but may I suggest a stop at our hygiene chamber and a fresh set of clothing?”

  Robert sniffs at his chest and wrinkles his nose at his own pungent aroma. “Point the way.”

  “Since you are changing clothing, would you like to try our new prototype energy suit with the integrated exoskeleton and flexible hybrid electronics? I can have one printed for you in fifteen minutes.”

  “Integrated exoskeleton? Sounds tempting. Sure. I’ll give it a try for you.”

  “Mugavus Komfort said you would,” Reux smiles. “I’ll print it and hang it in the hygiene chamber for you. Komfort also told me to warn you to start slow or you could hurt yourself.”

  “Mugavus Komfort, eh. Just where is Mugavus?”

  “She is currently in a behavioral risk management consultation, but she is planning to join you soon.” Reux scans the room. “Actually, she should be here by the time you are finished cleansing and changing.”

  Clean, refreshed and encased in the prototype energy suit, Robert returns to the Reception Center. Four new Travelers stand at tables participating in their behavioral-based interviews with Receptive Operator-bots. Out of sight of the Travelers, he flexes his knees and then hops. He notices no difference. He hops again. This time, he believes his hops are springier and higher.

  “Every time you move you generate more energy which powers the suit’s integrated exoskeleton,” Mugavus Komfort explains from behind him. “Keep hopping like that and you will soon bounce your head off the ceiling. Believe me, I speak from painful personal experience.”

  “Mugavus!” Robert whirls around and falls headlong, thanks to some unexpected, extra exoskeleton spring in his step.

  Komfort springs forward and grabs Robert by his shoulders stopping him from crashing on the floor.

  “I told you to be careful,” She chuckles as she pulls him into a friendly, welcoming hug. “Still clumsy, I see.”

  Robert carefully steps back and surveys Mugavus Komfort from top to toe.

  “Life on Venus must be good,” he flatters her, “because you look amazing.”

  “Oh, you crazy, Canadian Casanova. You do know how to make me feel good.”

  “It’s the truth Mugavus,” Robert grasps her hand. “And it’s been far too long since we were last together. I’ve missed…working with you.”

  “Oh, that’s what you say now. But, I will warn you. I’m a lot tougher and harder than you probably remember. Just ask the researcher, who received my behavior modification earlier.”

  “Trouble in this paradise?” Robert teases. “Certainly not.”

  “Hah! You haven’t dealt with many digital natives, have you? Tremendous technical knowledge, but limited social skills. Although our technology continues to improve exponentially and computers are faster than lightning, we human beings haven’t changed much. I’ve found that we still have our weaknesses, idiosyncrasies and emotions. Far too many emotions. Jealousy and envy, along with suspicion and distrust, cause no end of arguments and disputes and heated debates and even the occasional fist fight here.”

  “You’re the second SPEA citizen to tell me that Venus is not utopia, today.”

  “No utopia could be this competitive. And Serious. And acutely ambitious. And cold-bloodedly ruthless concerning interference and infringement with their work.

  Komfort waves her hand toward the Travelers awaiting their interviews. “SPEA actually creates our own problems. We’re attempting to develop a creative caste we call Minervans. They’ll be dedicated to wisdom, art, schools, commerce, innovation, invention and research while deriving continuous creative destruction. Or we hope creating a wave of innovation to preserve our little planet through technological convergence. So we invite and assist and encourage some of the best minds in the most advanced technological fields in the world. But we’re finding that all too often, the higher the intelligence, the bigger the ego and the more opinionated and difficult the individual. Especially because of the digital individualism they all possess. We say there is no progress without pain. But sometimes, this is really painful.”

  “Sounds like that old saying that you cannot make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, or eggheads, holds true here.”

  “Well aren’t you the witty one.” Komfort begins bounce stepping toward the exit. “Come on, it’s time to go. Time for you to see Venus.”

  Learning to control his new strengths proves more difficult than Robert first expected. With each of his movements generating more energy, his exoskeleton energy suit threatens to run away with him. Twice he almost flies over the side of the elevated island bridge. He grabs and clings to the bridge railing, inching forward, while he studies Komfort, learning to mimic her experienced stride. Yet, as he struggles to control himself and his suit, at the same time, he eagerly desires to test the full power of his suit. To leap as high as a flying bird. To run as fast as a cheetah.

  Komfort bounds off the bridge and onto the Venus floor. She impatiently beckons for Robert to hurry and join her. Still unsure of himself, he continues to grip the bridge railing and cautiously edges forward.

  “Well, this suit certainly puts a bounce in your step,” Robert quips when he finally joins Komfort.

  “You’ll get the hang of it. If you like the leg power, just wait until you experience your increased arm strength.”

  Robert flexes his right arm and then his left. He does not realize any enhancement. But then, he did not notice any strengthening of his leg muscles until he attempted to walk. He searches for something to lift. He searches in vain. Every building, bench and carbon dioxide consuming tree exists on Venus for a function and a reason. No extraneous or irrelevant clutter is created or tolerated. Surrounding him, he sees only the ca
refully and precisely designed physical order of Venus’ central plaza crammed full of human disorder. Nothing loose to lift, unless he grabs one of the countless robots transiting the plaza or an aerodrone circling above.

  Komfort bounces past him into a mishmash of humanity encased in regular energy suits and augmented reality glasses or other mobile digital networking appliances. She greets each person she passes. Some respond. Most do not. They are not being rude. They are simply cyberspace citizens. Digital natives too deeply involved in their own thoughts or online discussions to notice her. Their bodies may be standing next to Komfort on the central plaza of Venus, but their essence is not there. Their always-on online minds are engulfed in their digital, cyberspace worlds sharing files, being active on a social network, blogging, tweeting, or conducting multifaceted, brain-bending calculations.

  Following close behind her, Robert quickly finds himself swallowed up in a cacophony of languages and conversations generated by dozens of cyberspace inhabiting Minervans. He observes several groups engaging in cyber Socratic discussions. Clusters of men and women stroll in no particular directions dialoguing, while drawing in the air with their hands using their entire environment as a life-size, 3D computer screen to conceive with their associates. Single men and women intermingle with the rest. Some talk. Some listen silently.

  “At first, it can be a little confusing and overwhelming. I know.” Komfort pauses in the plaza center and slowly rotates surveying the activities. “There is no order. There is no structure. There is no restraint. And that’s exactly how we like it. Sometimes we call Venus the living lab.”

  As she pivots, she waves her finger in an arc encompassing all of the Venus buildings. “Recognize that this debating and free flow of ideas is occurring on every inch of Venus. Outside of Venus, as well. Or between Venus and every nation. All of this communication is virtual, so somebody here could be collaborating with another person sunning on a beach in Spain and yet another person in Chile. Some call it organizational convergence. It’s only possible because of their new social communication platforms. They needed increasingly sophisticated, virtual collaboration spaces and tools for cross-organizational and interdisciplinary collaboration so they developed them, themselves. It’s the old, necessity breeds invention thing.”

  “Why are they here then? Are they all SPEA citizens?”

  “No, they’re not all SPEA citizens. Some are, but many aren’t. A SPEA citizen may be a cybercitizen or a virtual citizen or a person living here, like me.” Komfort proudly pats her chest. “My birth nation of Estonia first introduced this cyberstate concept with its e-citizen program way back in 2014. SPEA simply refined it.”

  “And what about protection? How do you protect against hacking and viruses? How do you keep either the Russian or US Navy from spying or stealing data?”

  “Encryption.” Komfort points down and then up, “Computer in the water and satellite in the sky. No digit leaves or enters here until it is routed and encrypted through our data processor chilling in the seawater below us. Then we deliver the comms through the SPEA satellite system.”

  Giggling to herself, Komfort covers the corner of her mouth with her hand as she whispers to Robert, “I don’t think the US knows that the same group that produced their decoding equipment are now SPEA citizens and the designers and maintainers of our encryption system. The US can’t crack it. Driving them crazy I hear.”

  A tall woman steps between Robert and Komfort. She continues speaking to someone in her cyber world as she simultaneously asks Komfort about some problem. Komfort taps on her wrist computer and then reassures the woman that her problem has been corrected.

  “To many of them, like her, Venus is a resort. A retreat where they can be themselves among other digital natives. Where they won’t be criticized for not being sociable with the person standing next to them while they’re always-on in their social networks. We charge them a small fee for their berthing and food, and we also receive a percentage from any products they develop. But…”

  She waves her hand dismissively. “I know this sounds corny, but the money isn’t important. It’s enabling them to create a livable future for humanity that’s important to us. Nanoengineers collaborate with biochemists, IT programmers with geneticists, psychologists with neuroscientists, and then sometimes pioneering research demands the combined knowledge of all of them together plus more. Their vanguard projects frequently take them into new, virgin territory. And that’s the way we like it.”

  “Sounds to me like they are following Albert Einstein’s advice to learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.” Robert smiles at Komfort.

  “Oh no! Are you still doing that?”

  “Doing what?” Robert acts ignorant.

  “You know what. Don’t act innocent. You throw quotes into conversations.”

  “Well you know what Marlene Dietrich said, I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.”

  Komfort grimaces. “Well here is what I say. Keep it up and I will injure you.”

  Robert chuckles. “Well you know Mugavus, Charles Caleb Colton said that those that are the loudest in their threats are the weakest in their actions.”

  Ignoring Robert, Komfort points at an Arabic looking man. “He is an Algerian geneticist who is cross-collaborating with that bio-chemist over there.”

  She points at an Oriental looking woman. “Those two and a doctor in Israel have created several groundbreaking RNA interference medicines. Yet, none of the three can stand to be in the same room with the other. Once they even had a heated argument during their own patent awarding ceremony.”

  Watching the woman Komfort identified, Robert detects the man from the Reception Center lurking off to their side in the crowd. Robert quietly whistles to gain Komfort’s attention and then nods toward him. “What do you know about him?”

  Surreptitiously, Komfort focuses the internet camera embedded in the chest of her energy suit on the man. She rubs her finger across her wrist computer. The man’s face appears above his identification and Curriculum vitae.

  “His name is Naucna Ubica and he is a neurobiologist from Belarus. Why?”

  “He worries me. He acted far too interested when he learned that Evoil is here,” Robert watches Ubica maneuver into hiding behind a trio locked in an animated discussion.

  Komfort taps on her wrist computer. “I’ll activate his positioning bracelet with Behavior Compliance for surveillance. We won’t interfere or limit his movements otherwise. He came here guaranteed freedom of movement, freedom of thought and freedom to conduct research with anybody he wishes. Venus is a safe haven for those who require a physical environment free of restraints. So, unless he does something aggressive or hostile, we will only observe his bracelet position.”

  “And what if he’s here after you or Pion? I only presume that it’s Evoil. I could be wrong. You and Pion are targets for just about everybody, you know.”

  “Yes, I know.” She nods her head in agreement. “But, our protocols will remain the same. Dame Gutefrau and SPEA citizens believe that they have a moral obligation to provide an open society to encourage unrestrained scientific thought and technological innovation.”

  Visually, Komfort searches the plaza for Ubica. “This is an open society and, true, an open society can be a dangerous society. And the more open, the more dangerous. But, it’s the price we willingly pay to promote the progress we believe our survival depends on.”

  “Yeah, well Pion is also a target. Does she share your high principles? Who is protecting her?”

  “I am protecting her. She’s in no danger from Ubica. Don’t worry.”

  “How can you protect her here, where there is no security? No sanctuary?”

  “There are no weapons either.” Komfort bounces a few steps ahead of Robert. “Come with m
e. We need to talk.”

  Unnoticed, they weave their way through the crowded plaza. Komfort ushers him into a café. She hurries past the diners and the chef-bots printing food and into a small private room.

  “Even we digital natives need some quiet privacy now and again.” Komfort closes the door and locks it. She drops into a chair next to a small table. Robert joins her at the table.

  “Pion isn’t here. She couldn’t survive here. When I rescued her from the Cyber Defense Group she was as fragile as crystal glass. The least amount of pressure applied in the wrong way could have shattered her. Destroyed her. So, I hid her away where she could heal.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “It’s best if you don’t know that right now. The fewer people who know the better. Each day, it seems that she is in more danger.”

  Komfort leans toward Robert and lowers her voice. “You’ve been off-line so you probably aren’t aware. There’ve been more killings. Two officials in Russia and a US Senator was killed. Long time Abaddon supporter, he died in a strange accident with a…”

  “So you know why I’m here then,” Robert interrupts.

  “Of course, I do. Where SPEA’s future and survival are concerned nothing is unknown, if it can be known. Did you ever see me unprepared, Robert? In fact, if I remember correctly, it was me who taught you about Sun Tzu and how if you know your enemy and know yourself you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.”

  “And you complain about me using quotes…”

  Emergency news notifications abruptly start squealing on Komfort’s wrist PCD. At first, she simply scans her wrist screen. But, then Robert watches her swallow hard. Her jaw tightens. Her face blazes crimson. “Unbelievable! Somebody has hacked into the Kroack Brothers oil company and is posting records revealing in detail how Abaddon and Chennai and the Kroack Brothers conspired and instigated the Nordic War.”