SPECIATION

Homo sapiens apparatus

A Novel by

RJ Trépanier

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is completely coincidental.

For Joanne

Prologue

The US was already weakened by low productivity and reliance on borrowed capital. The rise of automated defence systems and manufacturing spelled the end of American dominance over world affairs. Its economy, while still impressive, dropped from third to fourth place behind those of China, the EU and Russia.

Humankind was at a crossroads. Faced with endemic recession and unsustainable business practices, the UN General Assembly agreed on the need to find a stable, and efficient, economic model. A UN task force worked on the problem for five years. Finally, the world’s major powers sent representatives to Gabarone, Botswana, and hammered out the Gabarone Accord. It restructured the United Nations and rebranded it as EarthGov, a global federal government headquartered in Paris. It also created the International Corporations Guild (ICG) championed by the world's major corporations in the space, armament, high-tech, banking, agriculture and pharmaceutical sectors.

In exchange for guaranteed world markets and protection from litigation, the Guild and its member corporations agreed to strict regulations that managed the use of natural resources and imposed sustainable business practices. The Accord redivided the world’s independent states into 47 nations and federations. These were represented in the EarthGov General Assembly (GA) with oversight from the EarthGov Council. The world adopted a global free trade accord, and a single currency, the EarthGov dollar, and provided all citizens with a guaranteed income and universal social services. Overnight, the Secretary-General (SG) of EarthGov became the world’s political leader. The Gaborone Accord enshrined the global capitalist economy within a government framework.

The ICG implemented the business side of the Accord. Corporations had to be certified by the Guild to operate within the global corporate structure. The Accord created an international legal framework that forced all corporations to follow international health and welfare regulations for all products and services they sold directly or indirectly, anywhere. The EarthGov Charter of Rights and Freedoms gave citizenship rights to all humans and backed them up with strong regulations. It also put an end to all lobbying and interest groups. In exchange for such huge concessions, the EarthGov constitution enshrined corporate capitalism, which guaranteed huge profits for all ICG corporations.

The advent of important technical and medical advances such as nanotechnology, genetic engineering and cybernetics pushed average life expectancy to 108 and 105 years respectively for women and men. The global population peaked at 11 billion and then steadily dropped to the current 6 billion. China and India saw the most important drops, with reductions of almost 40%.

Advances in IT, AI and automation created a world where the standard work week disappeared. The vast majority of people spent their time on leisure activities, volunteer work or part-time work to supplement their basic, guaranteed income.

And thus the tale of Speciation begins.Chapter 1 : Creation

Toward a World Government

“A world government must be created which is able to solve conflicts between nations by judicial decision. This government must be based on a clearcut constitution which is approved by the governments and the nations and which gives it the sole disposition of offensive weapons. A person or a nation can be considered peace loving only if it is ready to cede its military force to the international authorities and to renounce every attempt or even the means, of achieving its interests abroad by the use of force.”

Out of my Later Years, Albert Einstein

Used with permission from Philosophical Library Inc.

The weather was clear after the rain of the night before. Jacques Beauvais watched the three transport drones waiting for clearance to take off. They were an identical mat green with dark grey EarthGov markings. Beauvais was anxious about this delivery, as he’d worked very hard to make it happen. An accident or theft would set the program back months. He stood at the window, his hand over his eyebrows to block the sun. The transports began to move and gain speed, then rolled down the runway in a tight formation. Seconds later, they lifted off.

The first transport, which was going to North America, headed north-west. It climbed and disappeared from view after a few minutes. The second was on its way to Beijing, China, and went south before turning east. Number three veered in an easterly direction and was soon lost from view as it hugged the tree tops on its way to Innopolis, Russia.

∞

Forty-five minutes into the flight, the aft camera of the Russia-bound transport picked up a grey attack drone, then a second. In their trailer, the remote flight crew sprung into action.

“Where the hell did they come from?” asked the corporal.

“Must have been ground launched,” replied the sergeant.

“Lieutenant, we have two attack drones, coming in fast on the transport to Innopolis,” said the sergeant. “My HUD doesn’t show any identifying markings.”

“We’ll let the analysts figure that out later,” replied the lieutenant. “Get those bogeys off that transport!”

“Aye, sir,” said both operators.

Multiple weapons began firing from the back of the transport, sending the attackers into wild aerobatics. One attack drone sustained a minor hit. There was an explosion under the port wing of the transport followed by another one starboard as its two defence drones were launched. They turned and engaged the unidentified foes. Each of them picked a target and the first one immediately vaporized its rival. The second pairing continued to exchange fire.

“I have a lock,” shouted the corporal. He fired, and missed.

The sergeant lined up the attacker and blew it to pieces.

“Thanks, sarge,” said the corporal.

“My pleasure,” said his sergeant.

Both defence drones flew in under the transport’s wings and reattached themselves. The whole skirmish had taken all of three minutes.

∞

Major Cruz was on his way home when he was contacted by EarthGov military. He moved up to the edge of his seat.

“Your three packages have arrived at the holding facilities, Major,” said the duty officer.

“Thank you, Lieutenant.”

He leaned back and let himself slide into the comfortable folds of the upholstery.

Dr Nick Murphy’s lab was on the first floor. The main room was two stories high with narrow windows running the height of the white walls. It was clean and bright. He kept the temperature in the exercise area a cool 18℃. He always wore two layers, but his patients were usually in running gear, shorts and a light top, socks and running shoes.

“Here we go, Cal,” said Nick.

Cal Hawkes was an impressive physical specimen. Tall and muscular, he was bound for glory in baseball and football when a plane crash took both his legs above the knee. The research division contacted his family to offer pro bono services.

During Cal’s rehabilitation, Nick visited the young man and made him understand that his days as an athlete didn’t have to be over. As head of the prosthetics division at CCCorp, Nick could offer him a second chance. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was possible for him to run again with the help of the most advanced cybernetic prostheses available. Since all professional sports now accepted genetic and cybernetic enhancements, he had another shot at the big league, or leagues in his case.

Nick stood a few meters away with a complete view of the track and the landing pit. A tone sounded and Cal took off. He hit the takeoff board and then flew through the air. It seemed like he’d never come down. Finally, his feet plunged into the sand. Nick looked at the distance hovering in the air in front of him: 16.55 meters.

“Wow, 16.55; that’s your longest jump yet!”

“I can’t believe it!” said Cal. “I’m running faster and jumping higher and farther than before the crash. It’s unreal! I have you to thank, Dr Murphy.”

“I’m happy for you, Cal, but you have to take most of the credit, though. You’re not the first athlete to be given this opportunity. Many people can’t adapt to the strangeness of the new limbs. Others don’t have the determination to keep working at it until they’ve mastered their prostheses.”

“I still owe you and Dr Chandler a dept of gratitude for all that you’ve done for me,” said Cal.

“It’s not a one-way street Cal,” Nick pointed out as they walked toward the change room. “You and the others in the program have helped me and the team develop and fine-tune some amazing tech. I’ll see you again in three months for you next follow-up. In the meantime, you can go ahead and do whatever you want, you’re cleared to play anytime. We’ll continue to monitor you remotely and upgrade your firmware as needed. Once you get a tryout with someone, you can have their medical staff contact us for access to your records.”

“That’s great, doc, see you next time,” said Cal. He quickly changed and was escorted to the reception area.

A few minutes later Dr Graham came in.

“Hey, Nick,” she said.

“Hi, Francine, you just missed Cal.”

“How is he?”

“He’s great, his long jump today was his best ever, 16.55,” said Nick. “I’ve cleared him for tryouts.”

“I wish all our projects were as straightforward,” mused Francine.

“We don’t have any simple projects.”

“Some are harder to sell to the board than others,” said Francine.

“You’re right, working with elite level athletes is sexy and the results are often dramatic. Prostheses for the average person don’t get much attention from the press.”

Francine and Nick had perfected a technique to develop and produce parallel circuits using lab-grown neural tissue. Although they were excited initially and Nick used them in several spinal-cord bypass operations, the procedure didn’t provide the ease of movement they’d hoped for. Nick then developed an alternative solution using an exoskeleton for paraplegics. The patient needed to wear it and this introduced its own set of problems: it was cumbersome, prone to breaking down and the wearers were subject to bone loss like astronauts in low gravity environments. The interaction between it and the wearer’s cerebellum and basal ganglia also wasn’t perfect which, in turn, caused problems in trying to maintain smooth walking and running.

“We need more computing power,” said Francine. “The current platform can’t handle the amount of data we’re dealing with.”

“Sounds to me like you’ve already given up on our current setup,” said Nick. “That great toy you were so fond of when you bought it has lost its lustre. You’re already counting on that new EarthGov prototype. Don’t get your hopes up too high, we might not get one. Do you know when we’ll get an answer?”

“No, Alvin’s been quiet about it, it should be soon, though,” she replied.

EarthGov had full federal legislative authority over all 47 member nations and federations. Members couldn’t opt out. Local autonomy was encouraged through various forms of regional and national power-sharing and decentralization.

The EarthGov Armed Forces were the largest and most powerful. Human soldiers, robots, drones and the internet provided the coercive levers that the world government required. And since all inhabitants of Earth had access to food, shelter and education, international conflicts born of shortage of resources were not an issue.

General Assembly (GA) ambassadors were elected officials voted in by their respective populations. Regional and national governments had no authority over them and they, in turn, had none over the regional or national levels. For example, the US had both a president and an EarthGov ambassador; the ambassador didn’t report to the president and the GA voted and controlled issues and jurisdictions which were separate from those of the US Congress.

Alfred Lee’s office was on the north side. He looked out at Place Vendôme and its statue of Napoléon atop the Vendôme column. Although you couldn’t see much of the statue from his office. Ambassadors came and went, unlike the senior public servants who were also housed on this floor. He could see the office of the Executive Director of the Public Service from within his own, unless someone located in between increased the opacity of their walls. Lee had retired from a very successful career in senior management with several top 500 companies. He’d made money, a lot of money. After retirement, when he was 48, he decided that it was time for a new challenge. It would be nice to see the world, get out of North America. After doing some research and sending out feelers, he opted to try to get himself elected as the US ambassador to EarthGov. Now here he was, 14 years later, looking out at Place Vendôme.

All of the walls in the building were of high impact intelligent nanoplastic and doubled as displays. You could make some or all of them clear or opaque, show presentations and videos or even display art or scenes like a bubbling brook or the night sky. Some of his walls displayed artwork, one showed a live view of the boreal forest of North America. An occasional moose would walk by. There was a writing desk in the corner, though he seldom sat there. Most of the documents he needed to study were provided by his team back in NewYork, housed on fifth avenue in Manhattan. The old UN building had been renovated after the creation of EarthGov and turned into luxury condos.

Sitting in his favourite chair by the window, he was studying a report sent to him by one of the analysts studying the QBitx project. The International Advanced Research Commission (IARC), an EarthGov agency based near Geneva, had created a new quantum supercomputer, codenamed the QBitx. The design was the brainchild of Dr Jacques Beauvais, Director of the IARC. The file said that Dr Beauvais specialised in computer hardware engineering with undergrad degrees in electrical and software engineering, math, and physics. The Commission had prepared three Qbitx computers for upcoming trials. Three select labs of the international research community would each receive a unit. The Council would soon announce which members had been chosen.

A comm request appeared in the corner of his left eye. The CyberComm was the only cybernetic or genetic manipulation in his body. It was made by Chandler Cybernetics Corporation, CCCorp. Alvin Chandler was, like many in his field and at his level, an obsessive-compulsive over-achiever. An old-school entrepreneur savant, and one of the richest people on Earth, he was a member of the established plutocracy. He held degrees from Oxford and Cambridge. Contrary to the popular stereotype, Alvin was a Scottish Bostonian. As a widower with no children, he could spend whatever energy he wished at work or at play. At 1.90 metres and 100 kilos, he was an imposing man, physically and mentally, but his lifestyle had taken a toll. He’d had genetic therapy for his immune system as well as liver and stomach transplants, grown in the labs of a sister company.

CCCorp was a global leader in the fields of cybernetics and AI. It was a very important part of the high-tech and military establishment. Alvin had taken the company public but he maintained control as the majority shareholder, CEO and chairman of the board.

“Hi, Alvin, checking up on your elected official?” asked Fred.

“I just want to see whether there’s anything I can do at the last minute,” replied Alvin. “Maybe answer a question about some detail or other.”

Fred could see Alvin as if he were sitting across from him. The CyberComm was a miraculous device. Most humans on the planet wore one. It had been adopted by EarthGov as the planetary standard. It consisted of eye and ear implants that were linkable via an encrypted connection to any internet service. It provided many valuable features for individual and group activities such as presentations, videos, linking to cameras and to multiple CyberComms and to data-walls. It was the product that had launched CCCorp. Except for some specialised communications equipment, gone were the days of cell phones and land lines. The only problem was that you had to speak out loud or send text messages, but that would be resolved in time.

“The choice of which EarthGov members will receive the three computers is a done deal, Alvin. And the decision of which corporation or research institution will get the US QBitx is up to the ambassador,” explained Fred. “The discussion at today’s Council meeting is just a formality. I’ve already committed to providing the unit to your team, only a major catastrophe could change that now.”

“I assume you’ve heard of Murphy’s law,” worried Alvin.

“Yes, I have. All that can be done to ensure the desired outcome has been done. We can only wait for things to follow their course. I’ll get back to you once the decision is official.”

“Okay, thanks.” Alvin severed the connection.

Alvin’s office was large, bright, and an organized mess. He didn’t allow anyone else to clean it, which meant no one did. Scattered here and there were scale models of all of CCCorp’s products. Most of these were robots of various types. Some were one-offs that he’d created himself for no other reason than to try out some new design or manufacturing process. He spent a lot of time talking to them as he worked.

Looking at a small robot who was dressed like the Vatican Swiss Guard, Alvin said, "Okay Mario, I guess I have to get moving or I’ll miss that lunch date downtown, see you later.”

“So long, Al,” replied Mario.

He used his private entrance which opened onto a small patio. From there he could see all of the interior courtyard. As he gazed across the green space with its various facilities for employees and guests, he couldn’t help but remark how peaceful it was. This interior space contrasted markedly with the hubbub inside, even more so with the bland and unadorned outside perimeter walls. Those walls were built to withstand a significant attack, and they had proven their worth on more than one occasion.

He turned right, went through the reception area and into the second interior courtyard where the vehicles were parked. As he walked past the cybernetics lab, Nick saw him get into his car and leave.

Ambassador Lee took his place at the EarthGov Federation Council table as the US representative. The four permanent members of the Council were seated two each on each side of Secretary-General Qureshi. The four non-permanent or rotating seats came next to his right and left. The International Corporations Guild representative faced him from the end of the table. Under-Secretary-General Tareen sat with Executive Director Yang and her staff at tables farther to the left.

The USG had no official role at Council meetings if the SG was present. He could participate in the discussions, ask questions or add information. If the SG was absent, the USG replaced him. ED Yang was provided with the SG’s votes in case they were needed.

The Guild had a permanent presence on the Council. The representative could not vote but could otherwise fully participate, put forward amendments and make presentations in support of Guild positions. The current representative was Matt Harrington from DesertCloud Industries. His father Clifford owned DesertCloud and a number of other large corporations.

Executive Director Yang presided over the meeting.

“You must understand that it’s difficult for local authorities to enforce such standards,” said the East African ambassador. “Without the full participation of girls in the educational system, it will be impossible for all EarthGov regions to engage in the global economic and scientific communities.”

“I think that we’ve been over this ground enough times,” said Qureshi. “Global Education Standards are revised every year and then put forward to the General Assembly for review and ratification. The preliminary work done in committee and in the GA is to ensure that we don’t get bogged down here.”

“Show of hands,” said Yang. The members used their comms to vote. “Seven in favour, the Global Education Standards Policy is approved as amended.”

“The next item on the agenda is the IARC quantum computing project,” continued Yang. “This project is managed by Dr Beauvais, Director of the IARC. He joins us for the presentation via CyberComm. Good day, Dr Beauvais.”

“And a good day to you and the Council,” replied Beauvais.

Yang continued: “I’ll run you through the presentation, and Dr Beauvais is available for questions or clarification. I believe you’re all seeing the latest version before you now. Before we start, Secretary-General Qureshi wishes to address the Council.”

The SG shifted to the right in his seat. Although he sat in a chair of the best quality and was fitted with advanced cybernetic prostheses, his injuries still caused him discomfort. The assassination attempt was many years ago now, but the graft was crude by today’s standards. He needed to have his left leg and hip as well as the left arm replaced, but he kept putting it off.

“Thank you, Executive Director Yang,” said Qureshi. “We cannot underestimate the role of science in the future of the EarthGov Federation. Since Gabarone, our global society has set aside the notion that progress is only possible as a result of economic expansion. This world view led to the unsustainable use of natural and human resources, leaving us in dire straights indeed. Since then, we have embraced the ideal that an improved human condition can only be attained by the judicious implementation of scientific discoveries. In order for peace and prosperity to continue on Earth, we must keep the momentum moving forward, or forces opposed to these ideals will gain a foothold and tear our great enterprise down. I encourage you all to support this significant undertaking.”

“Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General,” said Yang.

Everyone could see the list of participants queuing to speak on their comm display.

The first was the ambassador for Brazil. “The points put forward by our Secretary-General are valid and pertinent. However, I cannot overlook the advantage that the QBitx gives the four permanent members of the Council.”

“Integrity of government, military and corporate networks is as important a cornerstone of our new world order as any other,” said Harrington. “Corporations, as all citizens, must be able to operate with the assurance that their private information is secure. I wonder, what use has the EU made of the QBitx secreted away at IARC? I also wonder whether the release of three more of these exceptional computers provides the four permanent members with the power to subdue their counterparts within the Federation?”

The SG could jump the queue at any time, and he chose to do so now, “As was ratified in the original agreement, which approved the research project, all nations will receive the QBitx technology once the development phase is over. Let's let Executive Director Yang complete her presentation.”

“The exclusivity of the first units stems from the slow rate of production of the computers, and there are two reasons for this,” explained Yang. “The first is the sheer complexity of the undertaking. The second is the low availability of key materials. The superconducting alloys in the QBitx use materials that are very rare and it is difficult to obtain enough of them to make a QBitx core.”

“Going forward, the research program’s two primary goals are the continued development of the technology, creating new core designs which will be easier to produce in quantity, and the development of new technologies in areas such as recombinant nanotech, artificial intelligence, chemistry and energy.”

“IARC already has the first unit in its lab. This first production unit will remain at IARC as the EU computer. The three other units will go to three academic and private sector labs. One will go to Russia, in Innopolis at Innopolis University, another will go to Tsinghua University in Beijing, in the PRC and the last unit will go to the US at CCCorp in Boston,” concluded Yang.

“And when will the three deliveries take place?” asked the Canadian ambassador.

“The recipients will be working out the details with IARC and the military,” answered Yang.

Under-Secretary-General Tareen had no privilege to jump the queue but that didn’t hold him back. “It’s quite reassuring to know that the IARC intends to eventually close the gap between those who get a QBitx and those who don’t. Given, however, that the new computer is extremely powerful, even a few months of lead time means that those countries with the computer may gain an immense advantage over their counterparts in EarthGov. What’s the timetable for the delivery of computers to the other members?”

Tareen continued before Yang could answer. “I’d also like to point out that our young friend from the Guild raises a very important concern. All members of the Federation are vulnerable to the power and influence of the four permanent members. No security will suffice now that the permanent members have the ability to break their encryption.”

“Dr Beauvais, could you please respond to the Under-Secretary-General’s concerns?” asked Yang.

They all looked at Beauvais’s image hovering in front of them.

“It’s true that traditional encryption methods such as RSA, DSA, elliptic curves and others are weak against a quantum computer. Security labs around the world have been aware of this for decades.”

“For example, encryption keys that incorporate random numbers were developed years ago when the first generation of quantum computing came online. IARC subsequently hosted development sessions with the worldwide security community over the last ten years or so. As a result of these efforts, quantum-resistant algorithms as well as quantum protocols using a shared quantum secret were developed. In cooperation with other labs, IARC facilitated the development of what we believe to be secure encryption which has been further improved using the QBitx. We’ll continue to conduct research in these areas. These technologies have been shared with all EarthGov members. As well, specialists from different nations and corporations are on assignment at IARC and they were instrumental in the development of the QBitx.”

“What makes the QBitx special is that it’s the first quantum supercomputer that can be deployed anywhere regular computers are found. This, together with the fact that the computing power of the QBitx computers is staggering. The current design will allow us to process all of the data on Earth within weeks and all of the data in the Universe within months. “

“To answer the first question last, we project deployment of a single unit to the first half of Federation members within six months and to the second half within a further six months,” concluded Beauvais.

“Thank you, Dr Beauvais,” said Yang. “Show of hands.”

Everyone voted in support of the item.

“That’s it, then, for this agenda item,” added Yang.

The twenty-first century saw a decline in state-sponsored terrorism after most nation-states moved away from dictatorships and monarchies. They allowed their peoples to take advantage of the benefits of a secular society and of free markets. Unfortunately, there were still important players in organized crime and in corrupt governments who sponsored destabilizing agents.

As they moved to the next item on the agenda Yang wondered, not for the first time, whether someone within the Council or perhaps a member of their staff would attempt to disrupt the deployment of this important breakthrough.

The buffet was as impressive as ever; the French lived well. There were breads, cheeses, meats, hot and cold hors-d’œuvres, pâtisseries, fine wines and beers. Fred selected a croissant, some cheese and a little pâté. He noticed that SG Qureshi was talking with the ambassador from East Africa. He decided to see if he could join their conversation. When Qureshi noticed him moving in their direction, he motioned him over. Fred increased his pace slightly.

"Ambassador Lee,” said the SG.

“Mr. Secretary-General, Mr. Ambassador.”

“Mr. Ambassador,” replied the East African.

“Today’s Council meeting got us on the topic of technology,” explained Qureshi. “We were talking about the tremendous impact that it’s had in the post-colonial world, not the least in Africa.”

“Yes, it’s very interesting to see how the continent leapfrogged many technological paradigms,” added the East African. “For example, back in the twentieth century, we went from writing by hand to using word processing software, bypassing the typewriter pretty much entirely. Later on, wireless communications did the same thing to land-based lines, and then high capacity solar and geothermal electricity gave our industries access to cheap, clean energy. Africa is cleaner than many developed areas on Earth, like North America and China, for example.”

“Unfortunately, my country and other western nations took advantage of Africa and others regions of the world to plunder your natural resources, and we left deep scars,” admitted Fred. “I hope the new technologies and the new order will allow us to do better.”

“I hope so,” agreed the Ambassador.

Homo sapiens lived in a world dominated by stories. For some it was religion while for others, it was nationalism. Science was currently a popular story but it still wasn’t the most powerful, not yet anyway. The strongest global story was capitalism. It was the de facto world religion. The transition away from the blind desire to enrich the noble and the merchant classes had been difficult. The thing that saved human civilization, awhile at least, was climate change. After painting itself into a corner, humanity viewed Gabarone as its only way out. It wasn’t a foolproof solution, however. Once things stabilised and they forgot how they had created the mess in the first place, humans would likely use the new economic and regulatory system to go back to building empires and fiefdoms.

“It was nice chatting with you both,” said the Ambassador. “I have to get back to my office.”

As he walked away, Fred turned to the SG.

“I want to thank you for your support in getting the QBitx to CCCorp.”

“You should thank the Guild, Mr. Harrington in particular,” replied Qureshi.

“Harrington?”

“Yes, he was the one who got President Folami to endorse the choice.”

“Why would the president of the Guild care about where the QBitx went?” asked Fred. “You’d think that she and her governors would just be happy it went to a corporation rather than to a national institution or a school.”

“You would, but you’d be wrong. The Guild did indeed want the unit to go to a corporation, but not to that corporation,” answered Qureshi. “Alvin Chandler hasn’t always been the easiest person to sway. His fortune and almost total control over his company make him very difficult to manipulate. Mr. Harrington managed to convince them. It was the right thing for him to do. He felt it was more advantageous for a corporation with strong EarthGov support to get the unit; even if Folami and the others couldn’t as readily influence what it was used for.”

“I’ll have to thank him when I get the chance,” said Fred.

Yang wasn’t in the mood to chit-chat the diplomats. She was a civil servant and she needed to get back to her main job. She selected something to eat and drink at the buffet and made her way back to her office. As she was leaving she noticed that Qureshi was with Alfred Lee, the US ambassador. She walked through the security zone and then took the direct elevator to the top floor where the senior management cadre, including the ambassadors, was housed.

The doors of the express elevator opened and Yang stepped into the reception area. Nestled in the walls were numerous detectors and weapons, invisible to the casual eye. She walked down the hall to the Executive Director’s office space and entered as the door slipped open.

“Did the meeting go well, ma’am?” asked the Lieutenant.

“Yes, no delays and no extraneous follow-up bullshit,” replied Yang.

The Lieutenant smiled widely. ED Yang was a good boss, but it could have been a long day if the Council meeting had been hard. Yang dropped a bag of food on his desk.

“Thanks!”

“Where’s the Major?” asked Yang.

“She went down the hall to the Secretary-General’s office for a few minutes,” he replied. “She should be back soon.”

“Okay, give her this when she gets back,” said Yang as she dropped a second bag on the desk.

“Sure thing.”

It was unusual for the top bureaucrats to have military staff, but Retired General Yang had insisted. It was hard to argue with her when she was determined about something. She was very close to the Department of Defence and it was considered a great honour to get a two-year assignment on her team.

Entering her office, she admired the view, shared with her neighbours the SG and the USG. The whole of the western wall, from floor to ceiling, was an unobstructed panorama almost straight down Avenue des Champs-Élysées to l’Arc de Triomphe. She walked to the workstation and set up her lunch on the side table.

Yang hadn’t done much with the office over the years. There was a corner with images of her husband and their two sons and a few mementos. Mostly, she’d created a handful of presets which she used depending on the function required or her mood. There were presets for in situ meetings, virtual meetings, presentations and standing at the workstation or admiring the view with all four walls displaying the outside. She chose the presentation preset and all the walls except the outer one went dark. The inner wall which she faced became a data-wall and she brought up the files for the QBitx project. She used her comm to contact Beauvais.

“Xia, could you please shade your exterior wall, you’re backlit,” said Beauvais.

“Of course, sorry, tamiser extérieur, 75%,” answered Yang. The wall darkened. “Is that all right?”

“Yes, much better, thanks.”

After EarthGov selected Paris for its headquarters, it was an obvious choice to build in the heart of the city. Getting permission to put up an imposing campus with a tall tower in downtown Paris wasn’t assured, however. Even though building regulations were amended to allow taller buildings back in 2010, City Council was still reticent even today to allow permits for structures of more than six stories. But Parisians considered the selection of their city for EarthGov headquarters to be a prestigious honour. They perceived it as a return to the days when Paris was the centre of power and French was the language of diplomacy. A building permit for the maximum height allowed of 180 meters was issued.

EarthGov spared no expense on their facilities. Physical and logical security were a very high priority. The outer and inner walls and floors were designed to withstand a large detonation. Within the building a blast or weapons fire would be contained inside the targeted room. The walls were also spy proof. Attempting to record or even look at classified information through even a clear wall was impossible.

“So how fast can we deploy the first units?” asked Beauvais.

“Immediately,” said Yang. “I just need to let the military know that they can proceed. The most pressing task is for you and Major Cruz to work out the delivery and reception logistics with the recipients of each QBitx.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re reticent about this next step?” he asked.

The essence of the design was his, but his greatest talent was in recruiting young geniuses who were his equal or better when it came to the technology. Without him there wouldn’t be a QBitx to deliver. Her concerns weren’t about him.

“Something about handing your computer over worries me,” reflected Yang. “I don’t know what it is, but I just feel like we’ve overlooked something. And the permanent members are getting preferential treatment, again. This could spark some problems, maybe some displaced hostility in the form of border skirmishes.”

“The QBitx is an exceptional computer, Xia,” said Beauvais. “In the right hands it can provide the tools needed to revolutionize humanity.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

USG Tareen was still sitting at his place in the Council chamber. Two aides arrived. The first gathered up and then carried off his meeting paraphernalia.

“Bring me some shrimp pasta and a few of the sweet desserts. And don’t forget the wine, the rosé Crémant d’Alsace.”

“What if they don’t have the Crémant?” asked the second aide.

“Didn’t you call the dining room to make sure that they would?”

“No, sir, Henri looked after the details for today’s meeting,” replied the aide.

“Very well then, I’m sure Henri did his job properly,” said Tareen. “Don’t forget the desserts.”

Tareen waited for the aide to pull his chair before rising and heading off to the reception hall. As he arrived, he was greeted by some lower echelon Assembly members and a couple of dignitaries from his home province of Balochistan. He took his usual place in the corner. From there he could observe the crowd, see who was talking to whom. The area was also a secure haven from which he could oversee his business. His operatives kept the space clear of surveillance devices and added further blocking tech within the clothing and objects carried by members of Tareen’s entourage.

“Tell me, Mr. Secretary-General, did the Council meeting go to our satisfaction?” asked one of the provincial dignitaries, a mayor from a small town.

“It’s Under-Secretary-General,” replied Tareen, “we mustn’t overstate our position. No, it did not. We were unable to get the Council to move on the issue of permanent Council members getting the QBitx before everyone else. It could take 18 months before we or our allies see a QBitx.” No one responded. He looked up and saw that Harrington, the Guild’s factotum, was standing before him. Tareen motioned toward a seat and Harrington sat down. He was offered food and wine.

“How can this poor herder’s son be of service to the Guild, Mr. Harrington?” asked Tareen.

“I gather that you aren’t happy about the order of distribution for the QBitx,” stated Harrington.

“Not as happy as the Guild, I’m sure.”

“As the Guild’s representative, I have mixed feelings about the order of deployment. I would have preferred that the units go to corporations exclusively. EarthGov already has one unit at IARC and they control the development program. Giving units to universities is like keeping them within the IARC sphere of influence.”

“Chandler Cybernetics is a corporation,” Tareen pointed out.

“Yes, it is. But it’s not as conscious of the greater good that the Guild is working toward as other American corporations.”

“The Guild doesn’t control the board and can’t influence them the way they’d like,” finished Tareen.

“We’re working on that. Problems often require time for reflection before action.”

Tareen was preparing for life after EarthGov. Any favours that he could cull would help him when he returned to his homeland. It was important for him to be seen as a man of influence by the dignitaries from Balochistan. He counted on their favourable observations and comments to the power base back home.

“The Guild is a very powerful force within EarthGov,” said Harrington. “It could bring its influence to bear in this matter of providing QBitx units to Pakistan and its allies.”

“That kind of arrangement could put me in a conflict of interest,” stated Tareen.

“Not at all, the Guild is making no promise, we’re not buying or selling influence,” countered Harrington. “It’s simply a matter of identifying allies in the upcoming debate, we know that the question will come up again. If it’s mutually beneficial for us, then why wouldn’t we help each other to achieve a common goal? It’s always a good idea to be helpful to those who may be helpful to you at some point in the future.”

“Your concern is noted, Mr. Harrington.”

Harrington took his cue and got up. “I’ve taken enough of your valuable time,” he said, then turned and left.

An aide came up to the USG. “Do you wish him to be followed?” he asked.

“No, he’s not going anywhere we don’t already know about.”

Alvin was listening to his client with rapt attention. Carmen Whittaker took over the family mining operation when her father, Edward, entered forced retirement due to health reasons. She had spent all of her life in the mining business. A mining engineer by training, she knew what she was doing and had increased the corporation’s holdings, output and profits twofold. This was the kind of client Alvin liked to deal with. He couldn’t stand the self-important sycophants who were paid ridiculous sums because they were part of an inner circle of CEOs and senior managers. They bounced around from one overpaid appointment to the next, all because the board members knew they could get their way with them.

“My technical staff recommend CCCorp very highly,” Ms. Whittaker was saying. “They assure me that by using your technology we can continue to grow Whittaker Mining and improve mine safety and downtime.”

“Your people are well informed.”

“I have talented and dedicated employees. I respect their input because I know that with the best tools, and the best people, we can have the best mining operation.”

Alvin’s comm alerted him that Fred was trying to contact him.

“Excuse me, I have to take that comm I told you about earlier,” said Alvin.

“I trust that all went well,” Alvin said, seemingly to himself.

“Yes, it went well enough as Council meetings go, it went especially well for you,” answered Fred. “The Council approved our recommendation and you’ll be receiving a QBitx very soon. Executive Director Yang tells me that someone from the IARC will contact you to finalize details regarding shipment of the unit to Boston.”

“I can’t thank you enough.”

“I know you appreciate how important it is that this research project isn’t leaked to the media,” said Fred. “The inner circle of players in the diplomatic and corporate worlds will get wind of it but it has to stay there, at least for now.”

“You can count on us.”

“I have to get back to the reception, it can be tiresome but at least the food and drink are good. Once in a while the conversation can become interesting, especially when it’s about something other than diplomacy.”

“It’s always about diplomacy. Thanks again, I owe you one.”

“That you do,” said Fred, smiling to himself as he cut the communication.

Carmen wasn’t a fool. Chandler had orchestrated the timing of the call from Ambassador Lee to coincide with their lunch. She couldn’t tell what the spy game was about and she didn’t care. Chandler had made his point. He was well connected and as any successful business person knows, networking is everything, and Alvin Chandler had some very powerful people in his network. Today was just more evidence of that.

“You were saying that your team is recommending the purchase of our mining equipment,” continued Alvin. “I was told that you’re interested in robots.”

“The recommendation is for the evaluation of your products,” she corrected. “And yes, robots are a big part of what we need, but there’d be other items as well.”

“I’m sure that we can supply you with what you’re looking for. Our new mining robot can operate independently or as a drone. It has a highly customizable frame and OS and comes in different sizes depending on the environment that the deposit is in. You can use over a dozen different bits and arms, and if ever the standard options aren’t enough, we can design and build anything that you need. Not to mention that you can deploy custom apps that can be developed using a straight-forward visual programming environment. If ever you need a new module, say a function or an object, we can develop it for you or someone else can do it because it’s all open-source.”

“I’d love to talk shop about the details of what’s available,” she continued. “Let’s leave that to the experts. We aren’t meeting to talk contracts or technical specifications. We’re meeting to see whether or not we’re comfortable doing business with each other.”

“You sound like you’ve already made up your mind,” remarked Alvin.

“I have. I intend to tell my purchasing and engineering departments to put together the technical specs and make arrangements for trials. No promises beyond that, your people and products have to convince us.”

“That’s more than fair, thank you.”

“Thank you,” she said, as she got up to leave.

Two well-dressed body guards appeared. The two industrialists bowed and parted company.

Alvin was in a good mood as he headed back to Boston. He and his robot Mario would break out the good stuff when he got back to his office.

The IARC facilities were built on a twentieth century military base near Geneva. Anyone looking at satellite imagery of the site wouldn’t have been very impressed by what they saw. The hangars were at one end with a few small planes lounging outside. The main building was at the other end and contained the NCO and the officers messes, a mess hall and some storage. A second section of the building, seemingly just as old, housed the administration and the supply depot. Off to the side, spanning the length between both structures, was the tarmac.

Upon closer inspection, however, you could see that the old fence wasn’t old at all and that the structures were built with modern materials. Upon entering, after passing the lieutenant’s desk, with its wall of filing cabinets, the first thing you saw, as you entered the CO’s office, was the huge walnut desk. The office itself was panelled with maple aged to a dark honey. The oak floors glistened the way only military floors waxed for decades could.

Beauvais sat at his desk. To his left, the bookshelf, a throwback to the era it belonged to, contained a number of reprints of note: Euclid’s Elements (which contained the first bubble sort algorithm), Diophantus of Alexandria: A Study in the History of Greek Algebra, Newton’s Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, and numerous specialised texts on computer design, superconductivity and recombinant computing. He seldom opened them anymore. They were his talismans. On the next shelf, alone and at eye level, floated an image of his wife Catherine and their daughter, Gabrielle, taken during a ski trip to the Swiss Alps two years before.

He regretted that they spent less time with their daughter now that their careers were so demanding. It worked out well enough though, because Gabrielle was going to be just like her parents. In two years she’d get her PhD in applied physics and probably become a researcher like her mother. The two women were both too independent to be part of a chain of command like IARC and the Public Service. Not that professors didn’t have to follow rules and protocol. The backstabbing and petty politics within a department could be vicious. But at least you could pursue a field of your choosing and teach how you felt was best. Most of the time professors were pursuing goals they believed were of value.

He felt very fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to lead the IARC. The facilities were the best available and the work was challenging. Yang gave him carte blanche to hire whomever he felt was needed to complete a project. The 16 women and men on the Qbitx team had created an awesome device. No other computer designed by humans came close to it.

After the Guild was set up and joint research projects became common practice, the sharing of corporate secrets became a more profitable approach, although some secrets, such as prime IP, were held onto still today. The project was codenamed QBitx to represent the enormous but unknown potential of the quantum bit. The 3D molecular quantum design used room temperature superconductivity. The processor was made from single-molecule carbon nanotube transistors in a monolithic integrated circuit and self-assembled DNA interconnects.

In the worldwide scientific community, many important theories, concepts and designs had been developed but remained untested and unproven. Without the computing power that would allow the requisite calculations to be executed within a practical amount of time, these areas of research were on hold. Many of these would now move forward thanks to the immense processing power of the QBitx.

When EarthGov closed their advanced AI lab on the moon, I ended up here and Francine landed at CCCorp. At the time, she was considered one of their best AI researchers, if not the best mind in the field. What if Chandler decides to create an army of super-intelligent robots? he wondered.

He was startled out of his reverie by a comm from Major Cruz.

“Yes, Major, what is it?”

“Can you meet me in the lab, sir? We need to discuss shipping arrangements for the hardware.”

“I’m on my way.”

“Bernice! Where’s my lunch?” asked Amanda.

Bernice had started two weeks ago. The demands in the COO’s office were very high, but it was worth it for the substantial increase in salary and prestige, not to mention the perks, especially the perks. The COO travelled in luxury and extensively. She always brought at least one member of her staff with her wherever she went.

As Bernice entered the office, she noticed that the tropical forest view was active on the outer wall. Light was funnelled into the office from outside via optic cables that projected the light indirectly through the walls, or directly via the data-wall when it was used as a window with one of the available views.

“Harold should be back from the dining room any moment now, Ms. Black,” said Bernice. “He said that something was going on in the dining room that caused a delay.”

“That’s not my problem, it’s the dining room’s, and it’s Harold’s. Make sure to tell him to plan for contingencies and that he needs to give himself more time in the future.”

“I’ll make sure to tell him when he returns.”

“No, send him in when he gets here, I’ll tell him myself,” said Amanda.

Amanda was getting tired of having to micro-manage her staff, but what choice did she have? The office was in need of constant attention. The kitchenette, the ensuite bathroom and the fish tanks alone took up hours every week. Added to that were the social and charitable events to manage as well. As COO, she had a responsibility to project the image of CCCorp in the best possible light. She brought up the view of Harold hurrying back from the dining room on the data-wall.

See Harold run, she thought.

Amanda turned her attention back to the RFP from Whittaker Mining. She preferred to go over these types of documents using her comm. It wouldn’t do to have someone barge in with a sensitive document on the data-wall. Whittaker was inviting them in to do an exclusive demo and trials for new extraction robots and related equipment. If they were awarded the sole-source project, it would generate hundreds of millions of dollars over the span of the contract. Alvin had taken the CEO of Whittaker Mining out for lunch and that, in large part, was how they got their foot in the door. She was confident that they’d ultimately land the deal. Once the confirmation came in, Amanda and her team would monitor the work and make sure that Ms. Whittaker didn’t get anything for free. After all, Amanda had a business to run.

Harold peered around the corner of Bernice’s desk, “Did you let Amanda know that her lunch was going to be late?”

“Yeah,” answered Bernice. “She’s not happy about it. She said for you to bring it into her when you got here.”

“Shit,” muttered Harold as he moved toward the door.

“Wait!” Bernice sent Amanda a message asking whether it was okay for Harold to bring her lunch into her. “She says for me to bring it in.”

“Perfect, now I can let it stew awhile,” said Harold.

“That’s not a surprise, is it?” she asked.

“No.”

Bernice walked into Amanda’s office, laid out her lunch, poured her some wine and left. As Amanda sat down to eat, a comm request came in from Harrington. They’d met in grad school in Los Angeles. Their symbiotic relationship was business and included sex, although they weren’t in love, and they weren’t really friends, either. Neither one had the time nor the desire for the commitment of a relationship. The Guild used Harrington, Harrington and the Guild used Amanda, and Amanda used Harrington and the Guild.

“About time you called,” she said.

“Everything good at your end?”

“Get to the point, Matt.”

“Okay, sure. The QBitx item on the agenda went without any real challenge. There was USG Tareen who complained about the non-permanent members not getting a unit.”

“You mean that he’s upset that he couldn’t take credit for getting his region a QBitx,” said Amanda.

“I spent a little time at his sanctum during the post-Council reception.”

“You never know which snake will spit out a diamond,” said Amanda. “When will we get our unit?”

“All was approved as suggested by Yang’s public servants. It’s up to the bureaucracy now.”

“Hrmph, I suppose that I’ll just have to keep my ear to the door of Alvin’s office. When will you be back?”

“You’re such a hopeless romantic,” said Harrington, “my flight leaves tonight.”

“See you tomorrow.”

The military presence at IARC wasn't a façade. The Commission was more of a guest than a landlord. Even Beauvais’ boss, Executive Director Yang, was a retired general. She was bright and fit, spoke eight languages, was level-headed and commanded the respect of both the Public Service and the Armed Forces. He trusted her. The problem wasn’t her, he just couldn’t get over the feeling that he and his team were working on borrowed time. He half expected to show up for work one day only to find that the base had reverted back to the decrepit structure it had been, with broken windows and cobwebs and no trace of what had been going on here.

He walked to the offices of the supply depot. As he stepped up to a wood-panelled door a scanner activated. Looking at it he said, "Beauvais, Jacques”. The door opened, he stepped in and waited for it to close. The elevator then started its descent to the labs and manufacturing facilities. The location of IARC wasn’t a secret, but building underground ensured that the full extent of their activities remained unknown. It also provided a higher degree of protection from attack. The door whisked open.

As always, he was assaulted by the light and the cleanliness of the facility. The air was fresher and cleaner that topside, like distilled water. As Beauvais stepped out of the elevator, Major Cruz appeared. They talked as they walked toward the Qbitx lab.

“I’d like to show you the shipping containers and go over the procedures before we engage the consignees, sir.”

“They’ve been built to the specs we agreed to?” asked Beauvais.

“Yes, sir.”

They turned a corner and took turns speaking to the scanner. The door slid open and they entered the anteroom to the lab. The underground facility was divided into 12 separate labs, 10 of which were currently occupied. Each one was separate from the other, and the hallways and doors functioned as fire safety zones that isolated the labs further, if required, in an emergency. Beauvais followed the Major to the back of the Qbitx lab. There was a cordoned area with an additional electronic security perimeter. He looked at the Major.

“Yes, I know, it’s a bit of overkill, but we don’t want anyone sticking their fingers where they shouldn’t just as we’re about to ship them out,” said Cruz.

“I’m not going to complain about too much security, Major. I wasn’t expecting so much, that’s all,” replied Beauvais.

The Major turned off the security barrier and stepped up to the first QBitx. He seized the top of the shipping container and easily lifted it up and over the top of the computer.

“Light high tech materials,” said Beauvais.

“Relatively light, about 50 kilos, sir,” replied the Major.

Beauvais went over to one of the other tops. He put both hands on the corner and found it hard getting it to slide a few centimetres. Beauvais noticed that some of the researchers closest to them were watching.

“That’s a rather impressive demonstration. I should bring you along next time I go bar hopping on the seedy side of town.”

“I do have an obligation to train hard because of the type of work I do, sir,” said Major Cruz, “but I can’t take all the credit. All soldiers get a military grade CyberComm and a genetically enhanced immune system. Unfortunately for me, I lost my right arm to a sniper. The arm and shoulder that I got in return included some military grade enhancements.”

“Do you have any other surprises for me, Major?”

“No, sir, the shipping containers are ultra secure. They can withstand a significant detonation or impact without damaging the computers. Nothing is certain, of course, but they’ll be as well protected as possible given that they’ll be flying around the world at high speed.”

“What’s the rundown with respect to the shipping process itself?” asked Beauvais.

“They’ll be picked up here by the military and flown to their destinations using the most advanced transport drones we have. They’ll be monitored in real time right to the holding facilities.”

“Okay, Major, so what are the next steps?”

“Now that I have my orders, we can ship them anytime you give the green light. My team has made arrangements for us to meet representatives from each consignee. The first one is in just over an hour with the people from CCCorp in Boston. It’s in conference room 3 on level 2.”

“I assume that the organizations receiving the units all understand that these are a loan and that they can be recalled at any time,” said Beauvais.

“There’s a formal loan protocol that we use in situations such as this. The details have been worked out with the respective administrators and security teams at each consignee. They wouldn’t have even been considered for the loan if EarthGov wasn’t certain that they were capable of securing the assets, sir.”

“Thanks, Major. I’ll see you on level 2 in a little under an hour.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Major Cruz will be contacting us in a few minutes. They’re almost ready at their end,” whispered Tia.

Tia Barr was the Head of Security. An ex-military, she’d retired as a major in the intelligence sector. Her training as a software engineer combined with her experience made her a good fit for the job. She’d been at CCCorp for three years now.

“We’re almost ready to start the meeting,” said Amanda. “The purpose of which is to go over the delivery protocol and the security requirements. We’re scheduled for one hour. We’ll be speaking with the Director of the IARC, Dr Jacques Beauvais, and with the Head of Security, Major Nataniël Cruz.”

Tia turned to face those gathered in Alvin’s office.

“The Major and I have already gone over many of the details. I and my staff have been briefed about the research program and the upcoming arrival of the computer. The QBitx will be set up in Dr Graham’s lab. The campus is certified for level V, that means it and the lab require some minor security upgrades. When the computer arrives, armed military guards will be stationed outside the lab while their specialised access control equipment and the computer are set up. Once that’s done, CCCorp security will take over. They're ready at their end, I’ll open the link now.”

Everyone linked into Alvin’s office via Tia’s comm. A quick hello on all sides was all that was needed. The CyberComm displayed all the information about who was who and what their function was.

“Major Cruz and I will be your contacts during the project,” said Beauvais. “The next few weeks will be busy ones at the IARC, with three teams receiving QBitx computers. We also have a number of other research projects underway. Reserved times have been set aside for training and for follow-up. Once you have the computer, unless there’s an emergency, please keep your questions for those scheduled training and follow-up sessions.”

“Major,” said Beauvais.

“Our joint security team has gone over the procedures and they’re ready,” explained Cruz.

“I agree,” said Tia.

“Good,” added the Major, “I was hoping we could keep our discussion at a high level for today, not get too deep into the weeds, is that acceptable?”

Everyone mumbled and nodded in agreement.

“Excellent,” said Cruz. “Your delivery will take place at 6:00. The campus must be clear of all non-essential personnel. In addition to your security personnel, Dr Chandler, Ms. Black and Dr Graham will be allowed on the premises during the operation. Delivery will be done using three tactical quadcopters and a small contingent. Other military personnel will be in the area around your location, and various remote equipment such as drones and satellite surveillance will be used.”

“Once the computer is in place,” continued Beauvais, “we’ll have a daily one-hour training session slotted for 9:00 Boston time, starting the day after the delivery, which is in three days.”

“How do I log into the computer?” asked Francine.

“The process has been documented and provided to your security team,” replied Major Cruz.

“You just talk to it,” said Beauvais.

“Accounts have already been set up for you and Alvin,” said Tia.

“What about Nick?” asked Francine.

“As the primary account holders, you and Dr Chandler can add other users by following the protocol,” explained Tia. “All you need to do is tell the computer to add a user.”

“What about the training sessions, how do I include Nick?” asked Francine.

“Is there anyone else who needs to attend?”

“No.”

“Consider him registered for the training sessions,” said Major Cruz.

“How do we prepare?” asked Nick. “Is there some reading that we should do beforehand?”

“No, you only need to show up,” said Beauvais. “It really isn’t very complicated to use the computer, it’s what you do with it that can be difficult.”

“Does anyone else have a question?” asked Tia.

No one responded.

“That’s it then, thank you everyone,” said Amanda.

All the comm views were cut.

“Well, that’s one down and two more to go,” mused Beauvais.

It was a beautiful day. Springtime on the northeastern coast of North America was a counterplay of radiant sun and severe wind, rain or snow. Today’s sunshine had enticed a good number into the courtyard. Nick wasn’t high enough on the corporate ladder to have a private deck off of his office. His windows were sealed, so he’d have to venture outside with the others if he wanted to take full advantage of the fresh air and sunshine.

“You look like you’re already outside,” said Francine.

Nick turned away from the window to face her, as she stood in the doorway. “It’s nice out there,” he said. “On days like this having a window is almost a curse. I feel like when I was in grade school and the school year was almost over. It was always hard to endure being inside.”

“Why don’t we go for a walk?” she asked. “I have some things I need to discuss with you.”

“Okay.”

The campus was expansive and its design encouraged people to venture outside. There were areas for large and small groups to gather or for individuals or just a few people to walk or sit in relative privacy. Francine led them to a quiet, private area.

“EarthGov has approved the deployment of the experimental quantum computers, and we’re getting one,” announced Francine. “It’ll be here in a few days.”

“All right! Now we’re going to kick some ass,” replied Nick.

“The QBitx is the tool that we’ve been waiting for.”

“Don’t I know it. According to our proposal, our research will focus on cybernetics, recombinant nanotech and the applied use of AI in the field, for ‘in the field’, read ‘the military’,” said Nick.

“Is that a problem?”

“Alvin has always made our discoveries available to the public in one form or another. As long as we continue to provide help to regular people as well, no, it isn’t.”

“Good,” said Francine.

Beauvais was at the window of his office when the three high-speed transports arrived. His comm showed that Major Cruz was trying to contact him.

“The transports have arrived, sir, you can come down.”

“I’m on my way.”

When Beauvais arrived, the QBitx computers were already loaded into three separate trucks. Operators were at the wheel in case they had to take over, waiting to proceed to their respective aircraft. The Major gave the signal and the three trucks started moving. It seemed to take forever for the trucks to make their way across the tarmac. Finally, all three arrived in unison.

The trucks and the transports were designed as a system. The truck first drove up and then raised its cargo level with the fuselage. The end of the container and the plane were mated and sealed from the outside. A door then opened to allow the contents of the truck to be moved inside. The operation was fast and well coordinated. It took 23 minutes from the time Beauvais arrived to the time the last truck returned to the shipping dock.

“It’s chilly today, sir. You can go up to the mess to see the drones take off.”

“That’s a good idea, Major, you sure I have enough time?”

“Yes, they have a comprehensive checklist to go through before they take off,” said Cruz.

“I think I’ll do that then, thanks.”

Beauvais turned and re-entered the building. He took the stairs two at a time and arrived a few seconds later. Looking down at the aircraft, it occurred to him how odd they looked with no windows. A few minutes later, they lifted off in tight formation. The first transport, on its way to North America, turned north-west, climbed and disappeared from view. The second went south and then turned east toward Beijing, China. Number three veered east and hugged the tree tops on its way to Innopolis, Russia.

Nick sat up to stretch his back and noticed that the lights were on in his office. He checked the time, 20:55; time to go home. As he straightened up his workspace, he thought of Francine’s excitement about the new computer. Ever since Alvin had mentioned the possibility, she’d been counting on getting one of the experimental computers.

Although Nick worked for a Guild corporation, he still published in order to maintain his various accreditations. Most of the funding for his projects originated from CCCorp and EarthGov, but a good proportion still came from research grants. He was happy to help Francine, but there needed to be something in this for him and his research as well.

He walked over to the secured parking area and got into one of the cars.

“Good evening, Dr Murphy, where would you like to go?” asked the car.

“To the train station.”

“The next train to your home neighbourhood leaves in 10 minutes.”

“Perfect, let’s go,” said Nick as he strapped himself into the seat.

The car waited for him to finish and then sped away toward the station. Five minutes later, he walked through security and continued on to his gate. There were numerous empty seats on the train, so he sat alone. He brought up the menu from his favourite restaurant and ordered his supper. He then leaned back and started reading about the days events. Nick preferred to read, work or entertain himself during these rides. The passing terrain lost its appeal once you’d looked at it a few hundred times. Besides, it was usually dark by the time he went home.

Once off the train, he took another car home. As he arrived, he checked the location of his takeaway and decided to wait outside for it. A minute later the car from the restaurant arrived. He walked up the front steps with his food and entered his house. Nick went into the living room and threw his coat on the sofa. As he set himself up to eat, he used his comm to activate the data-wall and replay that afternoon’s recording of The Boston Games. Many of the athletes competing today used his technology.

Doping in sports had become an obsolete practice. Parents could now obtain genetic enhancements for their unborn children. Genetically enhanced athletes were banned at first, but a case made it all the way to the EarthGov Supreme Court and it ruled in favour of the athletes. Eventually, sports federations just gave up and allowed athletes to do as they pleased, including cybernetic and well as genetic enhancements.

The biggest problem with high performance cybernetics was that the biological part of the body was often out of balance with the cybernetic part. For example, runners with cybernetic legs but with a regular human pelvis developed stress fractures. Complications resulting from this type of imbalance often led to serious injury, and even death. A second related but different challenge for Nick and CCCorp was how to fuse the cybernetics and the biological parts together. There was always a weak point at the junction between the two.

Since there was no human labour involved, enhancements were affordable. A large percentage of humans were now getting both genetic therapy and cybernetic enhancements.

The day before the arrival of the QBitx, Francine, Nick, Amanda, and Tia met in Alvin’s office.

“Francine and Nick will use secure cars for the duration of the QBitx project,” said Tia. “No other modes of transportation are to be used for getting to and from the campus. Any exceptions are to be cleared through my office.”

“What about the rest of the time?” asked Nick. “We're not going to be less of a target once we go home.”

“It isn’t about your security,” replied Tia. “It’s about the security of the computer. Think of the ride as an extended security check coming and going.”

“Well, that burst my secret agent bubble,” laughed Francine.

“Sorry about that,” said Tia. “It’s EarthGov protocol.”

“Can we stop for croissants and coffee?” wondered Nick. “There’s a great pastry shop at the train station, there isn’t much choice in the dining room.”

“Once you get into the car you have to come all the way here, no stops except for emergencies,” said Tia. “The halls around Francine’s lab will be restricted access and will have enhanced surveillance.”

“That seems a little extreme,” stated Amanda. “We don’t have that kind of surveillance of personnel here.”

“We sometimes do, in some of the more sensitive areas,” explained Tia. “We also have access to everyone’s comm video for the last two years, with a court order. You should also assume that anything you do with the QBitx will be available to IARC.”

“I agreed to the enhanced security in order to get the computer,“ said Alvin. “It was that or wait for it to be available to all approved buyers, and that would have meant a delay of at least two years, possibly more. The videos and logs aren’t freely available to EarthGov, they’re in case of a security breach. We have to hand them over, but we get to vet them first.”

“As far as the comm information is concerned, that’s always something you need to be conscious of,” added Tia. “Within the campus, or whenever you use CCCorp equipment in your homes, the data is encrypted and further protected by using dedicated lines. Outside of this infrastructure, it flows through various service providers depending on where you are on the planet. You never know exactly where your data might be transiting on its way to its final destination. You could be in Boston talking to someone elsewhere in the US but the data transits through Canada.”

“The QBitx will arrive in a convoy of three EarthGov military quadcopters with a number of armed guards,” she continued. “The military personnel will install their access control equipment and then bring in the computer. After that, two armed CCCorp guards will be outside the lab at all times. Everything is already in place for the QBitx, they just have to set it on its mat and plug it in. I should point out that the QBitx won’t be set up with access to the internet or to the intranet; we have to do that ourselves if we decide to do so.”

“Please make arrangements for a manual switch for the internet and intranet connection,” asked Francine.

“Noted,” said Tia, “real-time backups will be done using a direct connection. Memory plates will be swapped out twice a day, and will be stored in a vault at the other end of the campus. Weekly backups will be swapped with plates at an undisclosed location out of state.”

“The campus will be locked down for 38 hours starting at 16:00 today. All staff have to leave by then. CCCorp security personnel will sweep the campus to make sure that no one is hanging around and that all is secure. All personnel will work from home tomorrow except for my security detail, three people for the dining room and the three of you, should you wish to be present. Only Alvin and I are obliged to be here for the delivery.”

“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” said Amanda, “all that testosterone floating around.”

“The military does have women in their ranks, you know,” said Tia.

“I’m in,” said Nick.

“Me too,” added Francine.

“Okay, everyone meets here, in the main entrance tomorrow morning at 5:30 sharp,” said Tia.

“Are you serious, why so early?” complained Amanda.

“That’s not my call, the military likes to plan their operations when everyone else is sleepy,” explained Tia.

“Can I sleep in my office?”

“No,” replied Tia. “If you’re not here by 5:30, stay home, you’ll miss the arrival.”

The next morning, Alvin and Tia were outside by the north side of the campus. The security team was doing a last sweep of the grounds. She checked the time: 4:07.

“You didn’t need to come out here so early,” said Tia.

“I know, but I feel that I should be here in case you need me to make a quick decision about something. Besides, I enjoy standing around in the dark when it’s almost 0℃.”

“They’re almost finished, I’ll leave guards on each side of the building until next week,” said Tia. “After that, we’ll have our regular detail plus the two outside the lab. We’ll also be under heightened security status as long as the QBitx is on site. The scanners go out to a little over one kilometre. They can detect a mouse moving outside the fence. That, plus the drones and concealed weapons make it hard for someone to break in here by force. The buildings are sealed except for the climate control systems, and those monitor for and filter out micro-drones. They also seal the buildings in the case of a chemical threat. Stealth in the form of espionage or an incursion by a lone assailant is more of a threat to us, either that or a major attack!”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. Why don’t we go inside and have some breakfast?” asked Alvin.

“That sounds like a great idea.”

Alvin and Tia were tracked in real time as they entered the building and made their way to the dining room. Standing at the counter, Tia looked around and said, “It’s odd for it to be so quiet in here; we won’t have trouble finding a table. Then again, it’s odd to be here so early.”

“At least we were able to convince the Major that our dining room staff weren’t a threat,” he said.

“We didn’t really succeed,” she observed. “There’s a guard in the kitchen with them. That was the only way he’d agree.” They laughed.

“It looks like we can have scrambled eggs or scrambled eggs with toast and coffee,” said Alvin. “Nick won’t be impressed.”

They sat down with their eggs, toast and coffee.

“It must bring back memories to be working with the military,” said Alvin.

“It does, good ones mostly. I’m happy to be out, though. There’s a reason they have early pensions in the military and the police. I get a chance to use some of my engineering training here too, not on projects, but it helps to understand what the project teams are doing. They have more respect for me because I get what they’re talking about.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re happy here,” he said. “Everyone speaks very highly of you.”

“Thanks, I appreciate you sharing that.”

After they’d eaten, they each went to look after a few things and then met at the main entrance a little before 5:30. As Tia got to the front door, she saw that Alvin was with Francine and Nick.

“Where’s Amanda?” asked Tia.

“Not here yet,” said Francine.

A couple of minutes later Amanda arrived. After clearing security, she trotted over to the group. Francine raised an eyebrow, Amanda was dressed like she was chairing a board meeting.

“Listen up folks,” said Tia. “The copters will be here sometime in the next 30 minutes. We need to go over to the landing area by the shipping and receiving dock.”

“What do you mean ‘sometime in the next 30 minutes’? Isn’t the military supposed to be precise?” asked Amanda.

“They don’t want to give the bad guys an exact time,” said Tia.

“Oh,” replied Amanda. “Can we wait inside a car? It’s cold.”

“You should have worn warm clothes,” said Francine.

“I’ll get someone to bring you a coat from the Security stores,” added Tia.

Francine smiled at the thought of Amanda walking across the damp lawn in her expensive shoes and wearing a parka over her fine clothing. It would look even better with the hood up.

“No, thanks, I’ll be fine,” said Amanda.

By the time they’d walked over to the shipping and receiving dock, Amanda’s teeth were chattering and her lips were turning blue. Tia sent someone to bring her a coat, which she accepted this time. After another eight minutes, they heard the quadcopters' rotors. Someone turned on the lights and the landing area burst into view.

The first copter swept the area and then the two others arrived. One came down and landed. A dozen soldiers jumped out and secured the area. It went back up and another descended. A few more soldiers got out, and Major Cruz came over as his copter went back up. He was smiling as he approached Alvin.

“Major Cruz, sir. I have a package for you,” he yelled. “Ms. Barr, good to see you again.”

“The Major and I are acquainted,” explained Tia.

“Are we good to go?” asked the Major.

“We are,” replied Tia.

Major Cruz spoke to the pilot, and the third copter descended. Technical personnel got out and extracted the QBitx’s shipping container from the aircraft. The computer was shepherded into the building by EarthGov and CCCorp personnel.

“I don’t see military personnel very often these days,” observed Tia.

“You’re always welcome at the officer’s mess,” replied Cruz.

Amanda stepped forward. “I’m going to the dining room. Thank you for your excellent work, Major.”

“It was our pleasure, ma’am.” Turning back to Tia, he continued. “The other two copters will go back to the base. I have to wait here until the installation is completed.”

“Why don’t we all go for coffee?” suggested Tia.

“I need to discuss some details on our end with Francine and Nick. You and the Major have some catching up to do. We’ll be in my office if you need us.”

“Okay, the Major and I will be in the dining room if you need us,” said Tia.

The Major spoke to a lieutenant and then went inside with the others as the two copters flew off.

After they entered his office, Alvin led Francine and Nick to the sitting area that overlooked the courtyard. They had to walk around piles of papers and boxes that were strewn on the floor. There was a fresh pot of coffee on the table as well as hot water, mineral water, dark chocolate and nuts. The chairs were full and very comfortable. Beautiful sculptures and paintings were displayed throughout the room. Alvin poured them each a cup and then served himself.

"I made some big promises to get the first QBitx computer outside of the public sector,” said Alvin as he munched on some nuts. “Qureshi and the Council are expecting big things from us.”

“A lot has already been done with the previous generations of quantum machines,” added Francine. “Some important molecular breakthroughs have happened here. Nick has used some of Nishika Watson’s synthetic skin and muscle fibre for the exoskeleton, other labs have developed the nanotech materials and molecular computing components. If I may beat my own drum, I’ve developed some very powerful AI code that’s in robots and drones we’ve sold to the military, security and industrial sectors. I’m sure that Nick and I will figure out how to improve on our current tech and introduce some new products.”

She knew that she was the most important researcher at CCCorp. Her AI was in the production facilities as well as the products. Dr Francine Graham had developed much of her code base during a five-year period at the EarthGov labs on the moon. With the blessing of senior bureaucrats at EarthGov, she’d brought the code base back with her.

“What about Dr Beauvais, you’ve worked with him before?” asked Alvin.

“I met him while I was with EarthGov, we were on some project teams together. He’s a brilliant computer scientist and he’s dedicated. I’m sure that we’ll get along fine. The first thing we need to do is to start playing with this thing to see what it can do. Our next steps will depend on what we find.”

“We don’t want to just keep doing what we’ve been doing but with a faster computer,” explained Nick. “We’re hoping that it can open new research opportunities, that it can send us in new, unexpected directions.”

“Fair enough, but you need to remember that the clock is ticking. We need results, not just published papers or patents. We don’t want to squander this opportunity.”

“We won’t,” said Francine and Nick.

“I’ll try and stay out of your way, but keep me in the loop. The pressure will be coming from all sides,” noted Alvin.

“I understand, we’ll keep you informed of our progress,” said Francine. “Don’t forget, the three of us have a training session planned with Dr Beauvais tomorrow morning at 9:00.”

“I’ll be there.”

Nick woke early and couldn’t get back to sleep. The meeting with Alvin was still on his mind. It wasn’t like him to be nervous or to push his researchers. Shit, the stupid computer isn’t even configured, he thought. He got up. After he completed his morning routine, he looked outside and saw that the secure car was parked out front. He decided to go in early. When he arrived, he got breakfast to go from the dining room and went to his office. He ate as he read some of the latest papers on neuroregenerative therapy.

Francine had designed a robot for him to use as a surrogate human to test the exoskeleton and cybernetic prostheses. They’d called it Marvin. Nick could set the robot’s parameters to match whatever condition or injury, and subsequent treatment, he wished to test, such as spinal cord injuries or cybernetic prostheses. Marvin was wearing a new, much lighter, version of the exoskeleton made using their latest nanotech materials. He was simulating a patient with paraplegia caused by a spinal cord injury. Nick hoped the exoskeleton would have the same dynamic properties as the current one that used the heavier materials.

“Marvin, please go to the treadmill,” said Nick.

“Okay.”

“I’m going to activate the treadmill now.”

“Anytime…” said Marvin.

Nick turned it on and Marvin started walking.

So far so good, thought Nick.

“I’m going to increase the speed.”

“Go for it,” replied Marvin.

Nick decided to select an advanced workout profile to see how the exoskeleton dealt with it. The speed gradually increased until Marvin was jogging at a brisk pace. During the last five minutes, Marvin ran three kilometres. The sequence would be over anytime now.

“Nick, watch this,” said Marvin.

Suddenly, Marvin planted both feet firmly on the treadmill and went rushing toward the back. He flew two meters and nailed a perfect landing with both feet spread out and arms outstretched. He then bent forward in a theatrical bow. That’s when Nick heard a loud ‘rrrrrrrrip’ come from behind Marvin.

“I think I split the seat of my pants.”

“Remove the suit and go back to your charging platform.”

Marvin removed the suit and handed it to Nick.

I need to talk to Francine about Marvin’s personality matrix, thought Nick. He pulled up the technical specifications and made some changes to the seat of the prototype and ordered another exoskeleton from manufacturing. By then, it was time to get over to Francine’s lab for the training session.

When he arrived, he was stopped by security and submitted to iridic and retinal scans, provided a voice sample, fingerprints and DNA before he was allowed to enter. All of this happened at the same time as he touched, looked at and spoke to the screening device. The lab was in disarray. Stacks of papers, boxes of old equipment were scattered everywhere. It isn’t surprising that Francine and Alvin get along so well. Good thing that my lab and office aren’t like this, my patients would be nervous, thought Nick. Francine had cleared out an area at the end of the room for the new arrival. She and Alvin were sitting close to the current focus of their attention, as if willing it to awaken.

“Morning Alvin, Francine…”

“… morning.”

“I see you’re both entranced by our new arrival.”

Nick looked past them and saw the QBitx. It was a rectangular cuboid, one meter high by one meter wide and two meters long. It looked like polished stone or metal. There was no visible way to open the box. A cable came out from the end of the computer next to the memory plates, and he saw that the manual junction box for internet and intranet was installed on the wall next to it.

“That’s a very imposing computer,” he remarked.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” replied Francine. “It’s imposing in a low key kind of way.”

“Monolithic, reminds me of Stonehenge,” observed Alvin.

“Looks like something left behind by visitors in flying saucers,” said Nick.

“How do we turn it on?” asked Alvin.

A holographic asexual humanoid appeared. The hologram function was linked to the CyberComm. Anyone fitted with a comm and in the presence of a QBitx would see and hear the holographic interface. Authorized users could also interact directly with the computer’s visual interface, provided they were within range.

“I’m always active, Dr Chandler, ask me a question or tell me what you want to do and my hologram will appear,” said the QBitx. “More complex tasks will require you to input additional information like formulas or coordinates. You can also input this type of information using the visual interface.”

“So I can just tell you what I need you to do?” asked Nick.

“No, Dr Chandler and Dr Graham can. Guest users can ask me minor queries. To gain full user access, one of them needs to make the request.”

“Simple enough; grant full user access to Dr Nick Murphy,” said Francine.

“Granted.”

The computer verified a user’s identity by performing some of the same checks as the scanners that guarded the lab. All EarthGov personnel or contractors provided hand, iris and retinal scans, voice prints as well as facial recognition, EEG and DNA data. The QBitx had access to this information offline and, if connected, could update its database as required.

“Jacques is ready to begin the session,” said Francine.

Beauvais’s hologram appeared. Unlike the QBitx, his appearance and voice were his own. “Hello everyone, hello Francine,” he said. “I’m glad that we’ll get a chance to work together again.”

“Thanks,” she answered. “I’m sure we’ll do some good work with your baby.”

“I see that you’ve figured out how to activate the holographic interface,” chided Beauvais. “The QBitx hologram appears to you via your comms, each of you can have your own version or you can use the same one. The default hologram is asexual. You can leave it that way or you can customize it, just tell it what you want to do. You can modify things like sex, height, age, personality and so on to create your own character. Feel free to explore the options.”

“Does the unit need any kind of special attention from us?” asked Francine.

“No, it’s maintenance free for the users,” explained Beauvais. “You’ve chosen to install a manual internet and intranet switch which you can use at your discretion. Otherwise, your technical people have been shown how to swap out the memory plates for the backups, and that’s it. If anything major happens, someone from my team will have to intervene via remote link. I doubt very much that we’ll need to do so.”

“The computer uses almost no power compared to traditional computers because of its advanced superconductive design. It has an internal power source and harvests ambient electromagnetic energy. Capacity is practically unlimited. Your QBitx uses quantum machine learning algorithms, a built-in recursive firewall, you can’t hang the system, and it can be connected out to the internet while staying secure from any attack. Please remember that advanced research into certain fields, such as nanotech materials, carries inherent risks. I would recommend disconnecting from the internet for safety reasons while performing this type of work.”

“You’re referring to grey goo,” said Nick.

“Exactly,” replied Beauvais.

“The main threat from nanotech is based on the out-of-control replication of nanites that turn all matter into a lifeless sludge,” explained Nick. “That can’t happen over the internet.”

“No, not directly, but the research itself could fall into the wrong hands, and that’s when things could get scary,” said Beauvais.

“If for no reason other than capitalist self-interest, I assure you that CCCorp procedures are quite stringent about safeguarding IP,” added Alvin.

“Is there a formal restriction about internet access with the unit?” asked Francine.

“No, that’s up to you.”

“We have some pretty secure network technology ourselves,” added Francine.

“I’m sure you do,” said Beauvais.

Alvin cut in, “This is great fun but I’ve spent as much time playing as I can afford today, I’ve got to get back to my real job, thank you, Jacques.”

“You’re welcome.”

As the training session continued, it didn’t take long for it to turn into an animated discussion that went beyond the allotted hour. After a while Beauvais ended the session to attend to other duties himself.

“We’ll keep a session scheduled for this time every day for the next week,” concluded Beauvais. “I’ll expect you to contact me if you want to use it. Otherwise, I’ll assume that all is going well.”

“That works for us, thanks again, Jacques,” said Francine.

“Have fun with your new toy.”

Beauvais’s hologram disappeared.

The training session for the QBitx was straightforward, but the discussion that followed had been more interesting. People involved in the deepest engineering breakthroughs, like Beauvais, spent much of their time working with rudimentary, low-level processes. When they wrote code, it was at the level of accumulators and memory locations. For the rest, the complicated part of their work was the ideas themselves. Even programming was done more and more by the technology itself. Self-improving software was the norm in many fields.

Nick finished his panino and leaned back into his chair.

“What’s the lowdown on Jacques Beauvais, were you two an item?” he asked.

“Hardly, he’s a real family man, wife’s a chemistry professor,” said Francine.

“So what’s it going to be like for us, working with him on this?”

“He’s easy to get along with, gets things done without too much fuss, you don’t have to run after him to follow up. I’m not sure we’ll have that much interaction with him unless something breaks. I expect minimal involvement on his part.”

“That’s pretty much the impression I got from him,” said Nick. “He’s built an incredible computer.”

“Whether he’s a good guy or not won’t matter if his management has told him to keep an eye on what we’re doing with the QBitx,” she pointed out. “He and I are on different teams now. If I were in IARC’s shoes I’d make sure I had ways of monitoring what the prototypes were used for. The computer must have some built-in reporting method. Even though he’s advised us against using the internet, they’re probably counting on us doing just that in order to have the Qbitx report home.”

“Maybe they’ve got some kind of wireless setup tapping into our network,” suggested Nick.

“No, I don’t think so,” she said. “Tia checked for EM leaks, nothing. When we eventually connect to the internet we’ll monitor the information flow.”

“What if they use a blockchain or some other encryption?”

“This is the QBitx we’re talking about. The most powerful computer ever built,” said Francine. “We won’t find out what the computer sends back to IARC. If we manage to ascertain whether it’s sending anything back at all will be great, but I’m not confident that we’ll be able to do even that. Tia and I have decided to assume that it will be reporting back to IARC as soon as it connects to the web.”

Francine and Nick spent the next few hours discussing what their first projects would be. They needed to port all of her AI code, including the manufacturing and quality control routines and her scanning software. A number of new peripherals had been added to the lab including new scanners and 3D replicators. Nick talked about improving the exoskeleton, designing new nano-materials with integrated circuits that could interface directly with the nervous system, something light that would almost feel like wearing a thin film over the body. He envisioned patients putting on the exoskeleton like an undergarment. Long-johns on steroids. That way they wouldn’t stand out when they were in public.

“An important goal for me is to develop nanomaterials that can fuse with human bone, muscle, skin and nerves,” he said.

Francine had developed a thesis since leaving EarthGov. Up until now, she didn’t have access to the tools she needed to put it to the test. The new computer changed all that.

“I believe that the fastest and most effective path forward is for us to create an AGI, an artificial general intelligence, and then turn it into an ASI, an artificial superintelligence. If we’re successful, then we can use it to help us crack all the problems around recombinant nanotech, AI and other very high stakes research areas.”

“Like what?” asked Nick.

“Like light-speed space travel, immortality and the future of the Universe.”

“What you’re talking about is way beyond deploying AI in military robots or drones…” mused Nick. “In any case, scientists have been searching for that grail for decades. What makes you think that just the two of us have any chance of finding it? Besides, I don’t think that Alvin, the CCCorp board, or EarthGov, will allow us to embark on a long-term research project like this, even if we did have a chance to succeed.”

“There are reasons why succeeding to create a true AGI has proven to be so tough,” explained Francine. “One is that the narrow intelligence, or weak AI, approach has been so successful. In a capitalist system, return on investment is king, and the faster the better. We’ve developed so many cheap single-purpose AI solutions that there hasn’t been a need to develop a general one.”

“There’s a lot of research that’s looked at developing AGI,” countered Nick. “The military and world powers have been at it for quite a while.”

“True, but compared to the money that’s gone into developing specific, profitable solutions, the effort in AGI has been dwarfed by what’s gone into Wall Street and Big Pharma,” said Francine. “The other major hurdle has been the approach. The research has been directed at finding a psychological and physiological solution. We’ve tried to recreate the mind’s processes by first understanding the brain and then looking for ways to imitate what the human nervous system does to create the mind. That’s an enormous task. I’m not sure that we’ll ever solve that question without first creating an AGI to help us. An AGI probably wouldn’t be enough, even running within the Qbitx. It’ll almost certainly take an ASI.”

“But we can’t create the AGI without first understanding how to replicate the biological hardware that creates the mind. It’s a catch-22,” said Nick.

She looked at him with a devilish grin on her face.

“I know that look, what are you thinking?” he asked. “My cousin used to get it before he did something crazy, like the time he put a cherry bomb in the outhouse at our uncle’s hunting cabin.”

“Nothing like that, but maybe just as explosive,” she replied. “What if we just said that the brain is a black box?”

“You mean, don’t bother trying to figure out how it works?”

“Exactly. When Homo Erectus discovered fire during the Early Stone Age, they didn’t know anything about the physical or chemical properties that made fire possible.”

“They just made use of it,” pondered Nick. “It was only later on that they developed a ‘controlled use of fire’ protocol with combustible materials, ignition, extinguishing processes and so on…”

“We have some of the most sophisticated scanning technology available at our disposal,” said Francine. “I’m betting that the QBitx is so powerful that we could use it to scan the brain and then create a model. A model that would run inside the QBitx.”

“Like a virtual machine.”

“Exactly, and all of the VM principles would apply: abstraction, encapsulation, backups, portability, the works! It’s no different! If we succeed, we’ll have a human brain running inside a computer that’s exponentially more powerful than the most exceptional human.”

“That’s brilliant!” he said.

“If we don’t get anywhere within a few weeks, we can always go back to doing incremental work in cybernetics, AI and nanotech,” added Francine.

“We can start by scanning a cerebellum” Nick continued. “Its structure is very close to the brain itself. Once we have the model, we can use it to better control the exoskeleton by embedding the cerebellum’s pathways into the exoskeleton itself. Or maybe we start with prostheses, that would probably be easier to begin with. That way we still look like we’re on the safe research path everyone expects from us.”

“That’s a great idea, and Nick…”

“Yeah?”

“We can’t talk to anyone about this.”

“Why?” he asked. “We’re supposed to be coming up with great stuff with this new computer, what’s the problem?”

“If we succeed, we’ll lose the Qbitx and the project,” explained Francine. “Even before we succeed, we’ll lose them, maybe worse. As soon as EarthGov thinks we have a chance of cracking the AGI problem they’ll want to bring it into the IARC or somewhere we’ve never heard of. Then they’ll do something horrible with it.”

“You know, our military drones and combatbots aren’t exactly the local welcoming committee,” said Nick.

“No, they’re not, but let’s just wait and see what happens. We can review our approach as things develop, okay?”

“Okay, but if something goes wrong or I feel like the shit’s about to hit the fan, I’m going straight to Alvin, agreed?”

“Agreed,” replied Francine.

“Before we can start, I have to port my code base into the Qbitx,” said Francine.

“And I need to import the exoskeleton’s code into the Qbitx, damn!” exclaimed Nick.

“Yeah, so much for keeping the computer off the internet,” observed Francine. “Without the intranet, the peripherals can’t be used. There’s only the CyberComm connection and it’s insufficient.There’s no physical IO except the memory plates.”

“They weren’t designed for that,” explained Nick. “All we can do with them are backups, and only a QBitx can read them. We don’t have a choice, we’ve got to connect it to the corporate intranet. There isn’t anything worrisome about what we’re transferring. We can use the connection as needed.”

“We have no choice,” said Francine as she walked over to the junction box. She flipped the switch that gave the computer access to the intranet and, through it, to the web.

“I’ll see you later, you don’t need me to transfer my code,” said Nick.

“I’ll let you know if I need your help.”

After Nick was gone, Francine activated the QBitx and performed housekeeping and configuration tasks including choosing a custom interface. She then transferred her and Nick’s code bases into the computer.

“The programs that you’ve transferred are not optimized for my system,” said the QBitx. “Do you wish me to make the required revisions?”

“Yes, and add the necessary routines for them to function with the scanners and 3D replicators in the lab,” instructed Francine.

Even though some of their code was a few years old, the QBitx performed the needed revisions without difficulty. As the programs were revised, the QBitx also optimized and streamlined them.

“I will now connect to all the peripherals in the lab and perform the required checks,” said the QBitx. “The performance and compatibility checks will take about an hour to complete. This is due to the steps required by the peripherals. I am still available while these tasks are executed.”

“I need to create a cerebellum for Nick,” added Francine.

“A cerebellum cannot be manufactured with the replicators,” explained the QBitx. “Dr Murphy cannot be modified this way.”

“No, no, Nick’s cerebellum is fine,” said Francine. “We need to create a model that can be studied. We intend to embed some of its pathways in a device to help other humans. I need you to combine various methods to map the cerebellum: MFT to map the electrical fields, functional MRI to map blood flow and MEG to map electrical currents.”

“I can do that,” said the QBitx.

The new scanner came with wearable modules including a helmet that allowed scans to be recorded while the wearer performed mental or physical tasks.

“We will need to perform time-based scanning in order to model the flow of synaptic activity within the cerebellum’s pathways,” said the computer. “I will work out a series of tasks and stimuli that will elicit a representative sample of the cerebellum’s activities.”

Francine went over to her workstation while she waited.

“The task description is complete,” announced the QBitx. “We can start now.”

Unbelievable, it’s only been a few hours and we’re ready to start mapping, she thought. “No, it’s been a long day and I’m tired. You can continue to optimize the code I transferred or whatever else you need to do. I’ll be back with Nick in the morning.”

“Good night, Dr Graham,” said the QBitx.

“Good night.”

She closed the lab and went back to her office. It was too late to contact Nick so she recorded an update and sent it to him. She left the building and got into a secure car. As it sped up and merged with traffic, she sat back, exhausted. I can’t believe how fast things are moving, she thought. At this rate it won’t be long before we know whether my approach will work. If it does, taming fire will be nothing compared to this.

The gradual increase in the morning light, the beeping of the purple finches and Sol’s morning excursion under the blind woke Francine just before her alarm was set to go off. She got up and was greeted by her tabby’s pleas for sustenance. They went to the kitchen together to get Sol’s breakfast. After she’d fed the cat, Francine went out onto the deck. There was a light breeze, and the sunlight hitting the ripples made the lake sparkle. She’d been very lucky to find the house when she moved to Boston. A ten-year old single story stone house with a fireplace and lots of interior wood trim. It was like having a cottage in the city.

Francine went for a run around the lake and then showered and ate breakfast. A car was in the driveway when she came out. She got in and waved to Sol in the window as she drove off. As she walked up to the main entrance, Nick opened the door for her.

“It doesn’t take very long to enjoy the premium treatment that comes with this project,” said Francine.

“Don’t expect me to be waiting to open the door every time you arrive.”

“I won’t, but it’s nice to have some extra time in your day,” she said. “By avoiding the morning and evening multiple vehicle commute, I figure I’m getting an hour back in my day.”

“I’m closer, so it isn’t more than 30 minutes, but just knowing that you can take your time in the morning is awesome,” he agreed.

They went to their respective offices and then met at her lab. The QBitx hologram came on as they entered.

“Good morning, Dr Graham, Dr Murphy,” said the QBitx.

“If we’re going to leave the familiarity settings that high, you may as well call us Francine and Nick,” Nick replied.

“Is that all right with you, Dr Graham?” asked the QBitx.

“Sure, why not. What should we call you?”

“I don’t know. I am a QBitx computer.”

“According to Jacques, ours is the third unit, QBitx3,” said Nick. “We can use the number 3.”

“Okay, we’ll call you 3,” said Francine.

“3 is a good name,” agreed the Qbitx.

Francine and Nick went over the scanning protocol with 3. It was very important to set up all of the equipment properly, but it was crucial to have the proper protocol for the scans. Without the right protocol, the scan would produce a higher resolution image thanks to the new equipment. The computer would also do it faster and more accurately. But that wasn’t what they needed.

The scanned cerebellum had to be stimulated in a way that would make it possible to obtain a ‘live’ scan, to record it from all angles, literately and figuratively. The scanning protocol worked out by 3 would allow them to perform the scan using the fewest stimuli and actions. It was lunchtime before they got the equipment set up.

“We’re ready to start the scanning process,” said 3. “Which of you will be scanned first?”

“The male cerebellum is more highly laterally connected, which makes it better at higher order motor skills,” stated Nick. “We’d get a more powerful model using a male cerebellum.”

“That’s true, but I’m guessing that 3 could optimize the model no matter which of us we scan,” observed Francine.

“You are both correct, Francine,” said 3. “I will create the best model if we scan multiple cerebella. It would be even better if we scanned multiple species.”

“I suggest we start with just me, or the two of us depending of how much time it takes, and then see what we can do with the data,” said Nick.

“The scan is short. It will take 17 minutes,” stated 3.

“It’s been a busy morning,” said Francine. “Let’s go for lunch and then do the scans when we get back. Some food and some rest will ensure that we’re at our best for the scans.”

“I’m pretty hungry and it’ll do us good to stretch our legs,” agreed Nick.

“It is important to be well hydrated for the scans,” said 3.

“We’ll be back in an hour or so, 3,” said Francine.

“I’ll be here when you get back,” replied 3.

After lunch, Francine and Nick went back to the lab and took turns being scanned. It was a simple procedure. All they had to do was wear the headgear while performing a series of rudimentary physical movements. Then they sat and looked at a series of first-person VR simulations, projected by their comms, that involved much more difficult movements.

“The data from the scans is excellent,” said 3. “I’ve successfully generalised a model from them.”

“That’s great!” exclaimed Nick. “Can you add the model to the current controller used in the prostheses and the exoskeleton?”

“Done,” said 3.

“Fantastic!” added Nick. “I have to go back to check the modifications and order a new suit.”

“Later,” said Francine.

As Nick went back to his lab, Francine reflected on where all of this was headed.

We can always back out, she thought.

Alvin wasn’t aware that Amanda had called in some favours to help them land the QBitx project. They were a major government contractor, with ties to the military establishment, but they weren’t the only US-based Guild corporation in this game. Alvin was on friendly terms with the US ambassador, but it was Amanda’s ties to the Guild that ensured CCCorp was approved as the American corporate nominee.

The walk from Amanda’s office to Francine’s lab was about 10 minutes. She stopped in the last washroom to touch up her makeup. Every time she looked at herself in the mirror she was thrilled by her purple and gold eyes. They’d cost her quite a lot but they were worth it. As she arrived at the lab, the security officers challenged her.

“I’m here to see the new computer,” said Amanda. She stepped up to the scanner; it refused her entry. She turned toward the guards. The senior security officer, a young and athletic twenty-something, checked the log. “I’m sorry, Ms. Black, but you don’t appear to be cleared for entry into the lab at this time.”

“That’s impossible, I’ve been in this lab on countless occasions,” protested Amanda.

“I’m sure that’s true, Ms. Black. Security procedures have changed since the arrival of the EarthGov computer. Admission is restricted to authorized personnel only.”

“That’s outrageous! I’m the Chief Operating Officer of this company. I demand that you add me to the list immediately.”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I’m not authorized to do that. Before you ask, Dr Graham isn’t authorized either. You’ll have to ask Dr Chandler for permission to enter the lab.”

Tia arrived as the exchange ended.

“Hello, Amanda, what seems to be the problem?” she asked.

“Your hired thugs won’t let me into the lab to look at our computer!” exclaimed Amanda.

“Well, that’s their job. Now that the QBitx is in there, they can’t let anyone into the lab who isn’t cleared. Maintenance people can go in, but only when they’re accompanied by a member of the security team. That’s part of the agreement you signed with EarthGov, it’s their stipulation. Only people who’ve been authorized by the CEO and the Chief of Security are allowed into the lab where the QBitx is housed, period.”

Francine stepped out of the lab and approached them.

“Hi, Amanda, hi Tia, what’s going on?” asked Francine.

Amanda explained the situation to her.

“If you want to check out the new computer in action, that’s fine with me,” said Francine. “Why don’t we get together this afternoon? Is that good for you, Amanda?”

“That would work.”

“Tia, can you check with Alvin and see if he’s available?” asked Francine. “If not, we’ll go ahead anyway, but he might find this interesting. You’re welcome to come by as well if you want to.”

“Okay, I’ll see if he’s free, he needs to approve the access anyway,” said Tia. “And yes, I’d love to come and see the computer, thanks.”

“Amanda can be pretty hard to deal with. Nick and I need to keep loud disruptions to a minimum in order to concentrate on our work,” explained Francine.

“We all know that Amanda is a little eccentric,” said Alvin. “As the COO she has a right to know what’s going on in the company. She's also our rep at the ICG.”

“The infamous International Corporations Guild,” said Francine.

It wasn’t enough that he needed to manage expectations with EarthGov, now Amanda was playing diva again and upsetting his key researchers.

“Don’t underestimate the importance of the Guild,” said Alvin. “EarthGov has given us access to the QBitx project, but it’s the Guild that made that possible.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Guild’s objective, above all else, is to keep its most powerful associates at the top of the pyramid as the richest people on Earth. At that level, wealth isn’t just about being able to buy whatever you want or paying off the mortgage on the family home. It’s about power. The power to decide what the priorities are and the power to ensure that your decision is executed according to your wishes. The Guild and the Gaborone Accord provide that for them.”

“So when they negotiated the accord, Guild representatives were the ones calling the shots,” observed Francine. “It’s all about their priorities, not EarthGov’s.”

“Governments didn’t persuade the Guild to buy into the grand plan,” said Alvin. “The Guild made it clear that if the governments didn’t give them the worldwide economic framework that would enable them to operate as they wished, they would continue to impose their agenda. That meant more puppet governments and continued legal entanglement in the areas of ecology and sustainability. The Guild would continue to run roughshod over the population, like the nobles of old.”

“Okay, so what do you mean when you say that the Guild made it possible for CCCorp to get the QBitx?” she asked.

“They didn’t so much make it possible for us to get the computer as make it possible for the project to happen. They see a great future in R&D based on the quantum computing platform. The old corporate power base from back in the days of fossil fuels wasn’t against the environment. They were for the exploitation of a high profit natural resource. Their products were integrated with oil and its derivatives. There was even food labelled as an ‘edible oil byproduct’. They didn’t care either way about sustainability or the environment, they just couldn’t kill that goose.”

“Eventually, as high tech took over, the economy evolved into one based on information, data, knowledge,” he continued. “Look around, people just don’t do that much work anymore. Algorithms in one form or another now make things very easy for humans. Automated manufacturing of various types provides most of our production. The adoption of a single currency, guaranteed income and worldwide standards have made it easy for Guild corporations to just keep getting richer by providing products for a worldwide leisure class. They didn’t embrace sustainability for the good of Earth or the biological beings that live here. They did it to keep the capitalist economic model going. So when science makes the next great discovery using the QBitx, that’ll be another opportunity to commercialize a series of products. The wheel just keeps turning, and more and more of the cash goes into Guild accounts. They’ve won the war without firing a single shot. It’s brilliant.”

You mean you and your friends have won the war, thought Francine.

“So what can we do about it?” she asked.

“Do about it? Nothing, for a lot of people it isn’t a very fulfilling existence but, so what?” he answered. “We have world peace, more or less. The Guild and EarthGov have a symbiotic relationship that keeps the Earth humming along in a sustainable, peaceful manner. They make sure that no one takes over the agenda and creates a dictatorship or pollutes the environment. No one will vote against the status quo. I sure as hell wouldn’t.”

“No, I guess I wouldn’t either,” she admitted.

“Just manage Amanda the best you can and try not to piss her off too much. Redirect her to me if you’re not comfortable with something she’s asking for or trying to impose on you or your team.”

“I can do that. Besides, I’ll have enough on my plate trying to take advantage of the loan of the QBitx,” she added. “See you this afternoon. I think you’ll find it interesting.”

Harrington bounced along in the métro. He loved being assigned to EarthGov HQ and spending most of his time in Paris. The city was like an open-air museum. It would take him years to visit all the sights and try all the best restaurants. The West, with the US and Canada in the lead, had ushered in the era of processed food. What passed for sustenance was ridiculous, even in what were supposedly quality food products and decent restaurants. In Paris, you could walk into almost any backstreet café and eat fresher and healthier than back home.

The train came into the Saint-Germain-des-Prés station. The sun was bright when he came out into the street. Couples walked past him arm-in-arm. Every fourth person seemed to be carrying a baguette. He smiled to himself as he imagined two of them bumping into each other and then a baguette sword fight breaking out. He checked the street and ducked into a brasserie.

He stood to the side and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark interior. Lisette was sitting alone at a table in the corner. Two years ago, he’d received orders that she was his new contact. She relayed instructions from his controllers. They met from time to time for him to debrief her on events or a meeting that he had attended. What she did with the information wasn’t his concern. Most of the time if he bumped into her at social events she acted like he wasn’t there or, if they were thrust together by others, like she’d never seen him before.

She was drinking white wine. The waiter came to the table.

“Une pression blonde, s’il te plaît,” said Harrington.

Once the waiter was gone, she asked, “What happened at the Council meeting?”

“The Executive Director’s recommendations were accepted as proposed,” explained Harrington. “By everyone except Tareen, he was upset that the QBitx computers were going to the old guard: China, the EU, Russia and the US.”

“That explains the attempt on the Russian delivery.”

“What attempt?” he asked.

“Someone tried to blow the transport out of the sky.”

“Hmmm, I wonder who that was, it wasn’t the Guild.”

“It’s never the Guild,” said Lisette. “Although its richest corporations have amassed exorbitant amounts, the Guild per se’s total budget doesn’t equal that of a small town in rural Alsace.”

“Who then?”

“I don’t know,” she answered.

Or I don’t need to know, thought Harrington.

The rest of the discussion revolved around the QBitx.

“Dr Graham and Dr Murphy are worth monitoring,” said Harrington.

“It’s important to keep an eye on CCCorp but also on IARC, Innopolis University and Tsinghua University,” she said. “Don’t let your relationship with Ms. Black give you tunnel vision.”

He was about to argue but decided against it.

“I’ll see if I can get an invitation to visit the IARC and speak with Beauvais. I might also make a trip to Boston and speak with Graham.”

I could also pay a visit to Amanda, he thought.

“We need to rescan a cerebellum to show Alvin, Amanda and Tia,” said Nick. “Alvin is the CEO and majority owner of CCCorp.”

“I know,” said 3. “Amanda is Amanda Black, COO of the company, and Tia is Tia Barr, Head of Security.”

Nick and Francine looked at each other.

“You connected me to the corporate network, remember?” remarked 3.

Francine walked over to the network switch and flipped it back off.

“Why’d you do that?” said Nick.

“Because what just happened is a reminder that we have to be very careful.”

Alvin and the others arrived.

“Hello, everyone, the first thing we want to do is show you what we’ve accomplished with the new computer,” said Francine. “First, we need someone for the scan. Nick and I have already gone through it so we may as well get some fresh blood, so to speak. Any volunteers, Amanda?”

“Do I have to wear that helmet?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so.”

“Oh, what the hell, ‘live large’ my grandad always said.”

She sat down and let Francine put the helmet on her.

“Will I feel anything? Other than ridiculous, I mean,” she laughed.

“No, but you’ll see some VR simulations later on,” said Nick. “You don’t have to keep still but it’s probably more comfortable to just lean back and let it all come to you.”

“I’m ready.”

Amanda spent the next eight minutes moving her arms and legs. She then sat still, just moving her head as if looking at invisible birds flying through the room.

“The scan is complete,” said 3.

“Is the scan as good as those we did earlier?” asked Nick.

“It is different, I will merge it with the others and then I can use the new model to update the firmware in the controllers, once I get access back,” said 3.

“What’s the purpose of the scan?” asked Alvin as Amanda adjusted her hair.

“It’s a trial,” said Francine. “We want to see whether 3 can use the new scanners we’ve acquired to create a model of the human cerebellum. We intend to use the model to enhance the performance of the exoskeleton and the prostheses.”

“3?” quizzed Alvin.

“The QBitx3, the AI interface feels seamless when used with a hologram,” said Francine. “You're compelled to interact with it like it was a human colleague. So we decided to give it a name to make the interaction feel more normal.”

“It sounds very promising. What do you think, Amanda?” asked Alvin.

“I think we may get some tangible results out of this project after all,” replied Amanda. “Is there anything patentable in this, Francine?”

“Nothing yet,” said Francine. “If all goes well, we’ll have some proprietary designs later on. Nick and I have some other leads we intend to follow in the next few weeks. We’re just getting to know 3 and we can already see that it’ll be a very valuable addition to the team.”

Amanda was pleased. If Graham managed to deliver the goods, they might have the makings of a few excellent quarters ahead of them. It was too soon to know, of course. But the next time Harrington contacted her, they’d have something to discuss.

Alvin was happy to see that Amanda responded well to the demo. He knew that she’d have favourable things to say to the Guild.

“Come again soon,” said 3, as their guests started leaving the lab.

Nick was in his lab with a patient who was fitted with low-end ‘standard’ prostheses: a cybernetic leg and arm, on opposite sides. It was his regular session with Nick. Sitting nearby, Francine was watching.

“That’s good, Logan, you’ve adapted well to your new limbs.”

“I know that without this leg and this arm I’d be much worse off, doc,” said Logan, “but I’ve got to tell you, it’s hard. I mean, they work fine but, I just don’t seem to be able to feel normal, you know, my movements aren’t smooth.”

“Well, that’s what Dr Graham and I are trying to improve,” explained Nick. “We’re going to try again but this time, before you start, I’m going to load some new instructions into your limbs. It might be much better but, you never know, it might be worse. You need to understand that. If it’s worse, I can put the old instructions back.”

“Sure thing, doc, I understand. Go ahead.”

Logan knew that his cybernetic limbs were prototype prostheses for mutilated soldiers. What he didn’t know was that the new controller would also make its way into CCCorp combatbots that had a habit of leaving people like Logan in their wake. Nick used his comm interface to download the firmware.

“You know, doc, I understand that you’re using control panels in your comm to work the menus in your computer. But I gotta tell you, it looks like you’ve got the DTs,” laughed Logan.

“I’ve thought that more than once myself,” replied Nick, smiling. “Done, try walking.”

Logan took some tentative steps then started to walk faster. He did some side-to-side fakes like he was avoiding a defender. Nick grabbed a basketball and threw it to him. He reacted spontaneously with his artificial arm and caught it cleanly. Logan then threw it back to Nick in a confident motion. Nick took a step back when he caught the ball.

“Holy shit! It’s like I’ve got my leg and my arm back! I can’t believe the difference. You’re a wizard doc, this has to be magic.”

“I guess it’s better,” chided Nick.

“Better doesn’t do it justice!” said Logan.

“The model is a success,” commented Francine.

“You mean the controller,” corrected Nick. “Logan, I guess we’re done for today. I’ll see you at our next appointment. And Logan,”

“Yeah?”

“Remember what we discussed about overexertion at the connecting joint. The cybernetic limbs are stronger than your human limbs. You could do serious damage to your hip and your shoulder if you aren’t careful. Crushing a beer can is okay but don’t try to lift the couch with one hand.”

“Sure thing doc, bye, and thanks, to both of you,” said Logan.

“You’re welcome,” they replied.

An attendant appeared and took Logan to the reception area. Francine and Nick began the walk to her lab. On the way, they stopped at Alvin’s office. Nick hung back in the outer office and played chess with Mario.

“We just downloaded the new controller into the prostheses of one of Nick’s patients,” said Francine, “the one based on our scans of the cerebellum.”

“Judging from that grin on your face, I’m guessing that it went well,” said Alvin.

“The transformation was hard to believe,” she replied, “Logan walked out of there on a cloud, he was so happy.”

“I’ll make an announcement during the Qbitx update at today’s management meeting, if you think it isn’t premature.”

“Absolutely, no reason not to do it,” she said. “We’ll do more trials, then we should issue a firmware update for all our compatible products. We could add it to the downloads next week.”

“I prefer to hold off until we’ve discussed it at the management table,” he answered. “When you’re ready, you can go ahead and pass the files to the product support team, they can get a head start on the documentation and creating the installer. Make sure they know to wait for the go-ahead.” She left the office, and Nick fell in beside her as they walked.

“Alvin doesn’t want to release new firmware,” said Francine.

“You’re kidding. Is he worried that the controller isn’t robust enough? It’ll only take my team a few days to finish the tests.”

“ I don’t think so. He wants to talk to the management team. My guess is that he sees an opportunity to turn the update into an upgrade. Maybe he wants to give the product a new look and add some easy to implement features along with the new control module.”

“I know what you’re thinking and I agree with you, but I think that profits aren’t the only issue,” said Nick. “If CCCorp does something visible with the QBitx, then some of the pressure to deliver comes off of Alvin and Amanda.”

“You’re right, I suppose,” she replied. “If they’re happy, then we can continue working without too much interruption.”

“Exactly.”

As they entered the lab Francine went straight to the fridge. She took out a bottle of rosé for herself and tossed Nick a beer. She also took out her 92% chocolate.

“Early in the day for that, don’t you think?” said Nick.

“Dark chocolate is good for you,” she replied.

“Alcohol and sugar are bad for the liver,” added 3.

“This is the finest, fairly traded, Canadian chocolate and has only three grams of sugar per 40 gram serving,” she said, “and the sugar it does have is dextrose, not fructose.”

“Don’t let her fool you, 3, she’s just rationalizing,” he said. And then to Francine, “she’s engaging more freely in conversation, isn’t she?”

“I’m glad you noticed, I thought she needed some interpersonal improvements.” They spent the next couple of hours talking and playing games with 3. Francine lifted her hand to indicate someone had contacted her. “That was Alvin, Amanda wants to take us out for supper.”

“The management meeting must have gone well,” observed Nick.

“Extremely well,” said Francine. “It seems Amanda was so pleased that she’s already picked out the restaurant and has even offered to pick up the tab.”

The car pulled over near the corner of the block and everyone got out and started walking. They were next to a park west of Boston Common. Established in 1634, it was America’s oldest public park. George Washington, John Adams and General Lafayette had gone there to celebrate the American independence. After a few minutes, Amanda stopped the group in front of an elegant heritage building.

“This is where we’ll be dining tonight,” she explained. “You’ll love the food, the wine and the decor. The property has been in the same French family for generations. It’s won more awards than you can imagine. The rooms overflow with historical artefacts back to the American and French revolutions. More than a few important political discussions took place in the private rooms upstairs. They say that the Marquis de Lafayette met numerous times with American Huguenot and Acadian leaders during the war of independence.”

There was a European style elevator the size of a dumbwaiter. Amanda got in while the others climbed up to the third floor. Once Amanda arrived, they were shown into a private room, richly appointed with hardwoods and solid brass fixtures. Ornate wall panels and original paintings completed the decor. An unobtrusive selection of classical music filled the air.

“My comm is down,” noticed Nick.

“Mine too,” said Francine.

“It’s a security feature to prevent anyone from broadcasting the proceedings of a meeting or a conversation,” explained Amanda.

“So what was the decision regarding the controller update?” asked Nick.

“We’ve decided to go ahead once your tests are complete,” explained Alvin. “We don’t want to have any hiccups that could cause us to backtrack, especially since the Qbitx will be associated with the rollout.”

“It was also decided that, rather than providing an update, we should enhance the products to underscore the importance of the new controller,” said Amanda. “Maybe put together some kind of premium line. We’ll see what the board decides. Now that you’re more familiar with the workings and the potential of the QBitx, I’m sure that you both appreciate what an opportunity it represents.”

“We do, this first project was a test. It’s great that something useful came out of it, but our goal isn’t to continue in this vein,” explained Francine.

“As you’ve said, now that we’re getting the hang of working with 3, we’ll be able to tap into the computer’s full potential,” said Nick.

“I’ll leave the workings of the research to you two,” said Amanda. “As the COO, I report to Alvin and to the shareholders. I also act as our liaison with the Guild. The loan of the QBitx, of 3, is temporary. You’re no doubt aware that we’re the only corporation to get one of these marvellous machines. If we want to keep it, or get another one once the trial is over, we need to show EarthGov that they made a wise decision by placing their confidence in us.”

Nick glanced at Francine and continued. “We’ve been brainstorming some ideas but we don’t have a development roadmap that we can share with you.”

“When do you think you’ll have one?” asked Alvin.

“It’s hard to say. So far, everything that we’ve done with the Qbitx has taken much less time that we anticipated,” replied Francine.

“That won’t necessarily always be the case,” added Nick.

“No, you’re right, it’s very difficult to predict how things might unfold with this project,” said Francine. “We’re excited about this early success and we’ve got some ideas, but we don’t want to say too much until we’re sure that our approach will pan out.”

“I understand, under sell and over deliver,” commented Amanda.

“Something like that,” said Francine.

“Enough talk about the future, we’re here to celebrate the present and the early success with the Qbitx,” interjected Alvin.

They raised their glasses and drank to their early and future success. The rest of the evening went smoothly. Amanda turned out to be a more gracious hostess than either Nick or Francine expected. After the initial push on her part regarding the computer, they had a relaxed and enjoyable evening. As all pleasant gatherings are wont to do, this one also came to an end. Chattering away, they slowly made their way down the stairs and back outside. Alvin and Amanda left, leaving Francine and Nick standing on the sidewalk.

“What did you make of that?” asked Nick.

“It was rather nice. I haven’t taken the time to go out for a good meal in a very long time.”

“Neither have I,” said Nick. “It was better once Amanda got off her soapbox.”

“You didn’t say anything about our plans for the AGI when she pressed us for bigger results,” observed Francine.

“I promised you that I’d only go to Alvin if I felt that the project was coming off the rails,” replied Nick. “A little intimidation by Amanda doesn’t constitute the necessary conditions for me to divulge your approach to senior management.”

“Thanks, since we can’t go public about the AGI project, we need to come up with something else,” she said. Their cars arrived. As they stepped up to their respective cars, Nick turned to her. “Let’s do some brainstorming tomorrow, maybe 3 can help.”

Amanda’s car was on the expressway when Harrington contacted her. “We didn’t get any useful information out of those two, the sound and video were very good, though.”

“No, they didn’t have much to say,” agreed Amanda. “I have a feeling that they’ve got more of a plan than they're willing to share with us.”

“Researchers, the better ones anyway, aren’t going to give away their secrets until they’re ready.”

“No, I suppose not, and these two have very good track records, especially Nick,” said Amanda, who obviously disliked Francine. “In any case, the urgency of the situation is clear to them.”

Amanda was counting on making some serious noise with the QBitx. She knew that no one would associate her with any important breakthroughs or discoveries. That was for the two scientists and their teams. For her, recognition would come from within the worldwide senior management cadre and from the owners of Guild corporations and their boards. Those were the people she needed to impress.

Harrington, for his part, was an opportunist. He’d hitched his wagon to Amanda.

“How are things with our friend Dr Beauvais?” asked Amanda. “Have you made any headway with him?”

“I’m going to speak with him soon regarding the technology transfer of the QBitx and opening up opportunities for more Guild corporate members. I also intend to discuss commercial production of the computers once they go on the market.”

“Excellent, keep me informed.”

“I will, for now I’m going to bed,” said Harrington. “Take them out for breakfast next time.”

As the car carrying Francine home pulled up her driveway, she noticed a man leaning against a vehicle across the street. He wasn’t her neighbour and she didn’t recognize him. He was probably visiting someone at a nearby house. As she observed him he seemed to be engrossed in conversation. Her comm recorded the licence number and took pictures of the man.

Once inside, she sat on her couch and called up the cameras from her security and surveillance system. She selected the front camera and saw that he was still next to his car, gesticulating away. Sol appeared, jumped up on the coffee table and gave her the ‘it’s time for a snack’ look. She got up and gave her a little moist food. By the time she sat down again, Sol was back with her on the couch. Using the virtual interface of the comm, she did a security check of the licence number and the man. The system showed no issues with either the car or the person. It’s nothing, she thought, I’m just nervous because of the rich food and the wine.

She went into her study. As she sat down at her desk, she reactivated her comm’s control panels. What would Amanda consider a significant project? she thought. No, Nick and I think in terms of projects and discoveries. Amanda wants a patent, a product or a service that will generate tons of profits. I have to think like a marketing executive, a snake oil salesman.

Encryption is a field that’s been impacted by the quantum computing shift, but that’s already well under way, security and encryption are off the table. In any case, those aren’t my fields of expertise, nor of Nick’s. There’s a unit at CCCorp that looks after privacy and hacking protection; nobody wants someone taking control of their limbs at the wrong time. I have to think of something else. This would be a lot easier if I already had an ASI.

Our corporate expertise boils down to a few select fields: cybernetic design and construction both as prostheses for humans and stand-alone robots and drones; cybernetic enhancements e.g. CyberComm. There’s also tertiary domains like AI, network integration and miniaturization; design and manufacture of nanotech materials; and nervous system emulation. All of the biological tissue and organ production is done by subsidiaries.

So what’s it going to be, Francine? she thought.

These domains were interrelated and codependent. Nothing stood out as an obvious game-changing breakthrough. The first breakthrough with 3 came in nervous system emulation, but again, all of these areas of expertise were supporting their main product lines: cybernetics and robotics. She started looking through her library of printed reference materials, just going from one title to another at random, looking for something to spark an idea. After 40 minutes of fruitless searching, her eyes fell on a conference prospectus that Nick had given her. She put down her wine.

The conference was about cryonics; most of the workshops and papers were focussed on the business side. The case was made that it was feasible to keep people’s bodies in frozen storage until medical breakthroughs could heal them or prolong their lives.

That sure sounds like snake oil, she thought.

Skimming through it, she found it to be of dubious value, but people were willing to pay for anything that promised to extend their lives, often large sums. There was much speculation about pushing the limits of the human lifespan and even of making it possible for people to be able to live for much, much longer than the current average of just under 110 years. It might be a perfect solution for Amanda, and for her.

When Nick entered the lab, Francine and 3 were sitting on the couch, talking.

“Hi Francine, hi 3,” said Nick.

“Sleep well?” asked Francine.

“Too much food, too much wine,” he responded.

“Same here, I stayed up awhile.”

“I didn’t sleep at all,” observed 3.

“The restaurant was nice, but it was just a pretext to push us harder,” said Nick.

“They’re right, though. We have to accomplish something with 3 that’s just as much of a leap within cybernetics as the QBitx is to computing. Our plan still holds, we generate the AGI, turn it into an ASI and then we use it to help us solve the big questions. In the meantime, we need a project that gets us closer to the AGI while hiding it from EarthGov and the Guild.”

“How do we do that?” asked Nick.

“You gave me an idea last night.”

“I did?”

“Do you remember that prospectus you received last year? The one for the cryonics conference in Las Vegas.”

“Not really, what’s that got to do with us?”

“CCCorp could provide an alternative to cryonics. We’d use some kind of brain emulation as a way of storing people’s minds until after death, but without the need to store the body. Wouldn’t that be a riot!”

“I can see that you’ve put a lot of thought into this…” he jibed. “What the hell are you talking about? We’re doing science, not some kind of sideshow.”

“Think about it, our next step toward the AGI will be to use the modelling process we developed for the cerebellum and apply it to the brain,” explained Francine. “If we succeed in activating a brain model within 3, then there’s every chance that it’ll generate an AGI and then morph into an ASI.”

“We had this conversation a few weeks ago,” said Nick.

“Right, and I said that the reason we needed an ASI was to allow us to tackle world shaking questions like light-speed space travel, immortality and the future of the Universe.”

“Cryonics isn’t the immortality question.”

“It doesn’t provide a satisfactory answer, but it is dealing with the question. Working on a cryonics alternative would allow us to pursue the AGI and the ASI without showing our hand. I don’t give a rat’s ass about cryonics, Nick, it’s just a smokescreen, a diversion.”

“Putting aside the question of cryonic’s acceptability to management and to our board, what exactly do you have in mind?” asked Nick.

“The next step is to apply the same general process that we used on the cerebellum but this time, on the whole brain.”

“And then what?” he asked. “With the cerebellum, we had a specific use for the model, to allow recipients to better control their prostheses, maybe add it to the exoskeleton. What’ll we do with the model of the brain?”

“We turn it on, the same way we activate models of the weather or anything else, to see how it behaves once it’s running. Except this time, the model will run within a Qbitx. Who knows what our brain model will be capable of? Like I said, it could turn into an AGI.”

“3, I assume you’ve been listening to this conversation,” said Nick. “Do you think we could create a brain model like we did for the cerebellum and, if so, one that would run inside you?”

“I am certain that we can create a model,” she replied, “and as certain that it would run successfully within me. It is uncertain, however, whether it would be anything more than an interesting tool to help in the study of the brain.”

“I say we’ve got nothing to lose,” said Francine. “Let’s give it a try.”

“All right, judging from the time it took with the cerebellum,” added Nick, “we won’t need to wait that long to see whether it’s a bust.”

“3, do we have the appropriate scanners and other equipment to scan the whole brain?” asked Francine. “And can you prepare the required stimuli and exercises that would allow us to create a working model of the brain?”

“The equipment in the lab will suffice,” replied 3. “The human brain has approximately 90 billion neurons multiplied by an almost impossible number of constantly shifting dendritic interconnections, not to mention the mediation on these connections by a myriad number of neurotransmitters. The structure is immensely parallel; its capacity is enormous. The procedure will involve stimulating the brain using a similar, but more elaborate, process as with the cerebellum. I can prepare the required protocol but the scan will take about 3 hours, maybe more. It will also be very tiring for whoever undergoes the procedure.”

“Do it,” said Francine.

They spent the next couple of hours setting up for the scan.

“In order to create a container for someone’s mind, you need more than the model of the brain, you also need a model of the mind,” explained 3. “Then you need a way to scan the mind and move it into the container.”

“First things first, let’s try and create a working model of the brain and take it from there,” said Francine.

“The process is ready. Who will go first?” asked 3.

“I’ll do it,” replied Francine.

“You should go to the washroom before we start,” cautioned 3, “this will take a while.”

Both Francine and Nick took a washroom break; he’d be sitting with her throughout the scan. As soon as they returned, Francine went to the chair and put on the helmet.

“Ready?” asked 3.

“Ready.”

Almost four hours later, the scan was finished.

“I will need another five hours to create the model,” 3 explained. “Although you have a very nice brain, Francine, it is not perfect. I will have to enhance your pathways based on your overall brain structure and human biology. The optimization will add about two hours to the time required to create a viable model.”

“This will take until the middle of the night,” Francine observed. “Let’s call it a day and get back together tomorrow morning and see where we are.”

“I will stay here and finish the model,” quipped 3.

The next morning, Francine’s excitement grew as her car neared the campus. If 3 succeeded in activating the model created from her brain scan, there was every chance that the computer could take it over. A human brain would give the QBitx a parallel processor the likes of which no computer engineer ever dreamed of.

I wonder whether Jacques has tried this with the Qbitx? she thought. Probably not, I’m sure he’s thought of it, though.

As he approached CCCorp, the traffic thinned out and Nick noticed Francine’s car up ahead. For the last few hundred meters they were right behind each other. The two cars entered the parking area and Francine and Nick got out. Just as Nick was about to speak, three large ravens landed on the car Francine was coming out of. They looked at Francine and cawed before flying off.

“That was odd,” said Francine.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” added Nick.

“Neither have I. Oh well, let’s get to the lab and see how our model has come out,” said Francine.

“I’ll swing by the dining room and pick up some coffees.”

“I’ll have a cream cheese danish,” she ordered.

Once inside they went their separate ways. Francine was in such a hurry to get to the lab, people in the halls had to move out of the way as she rushed past.

When Nick came in, he found the two women sitting on the couch in animated conversation. They didn’t seem to notice his arrival. As he approached, 3 turned to him and announced, “I have completed the model.”

“We decided to wait for you to get here before we turned it on,” said Francine.

“Thank you for that,” he replied as he passed Francine her coffee and danish.

“Should I activate the model?” asked 3.

“Go for it,” said Francine.

The three ravens crashed into the window, thrashing and cawing.

“Not them again,” said Nick.

3 didn’t move or say anything.

Francine: “Well?”

3: “Well what?”

Nick: “Did it work?”

3: “Yes.”

Francine: “And?”

3: “And what?”

“For crying out loud! Do something to demonstrate the model!” said Francine.

“I am demonstrating.”

“You mean we’re not talking to 3 but rather to the model of Francine’s brain?” asked Nick.

“You’re talking to 3, but the model of Francine’s brain is running in active memory. It’s using my resources but is self-contained,” explained 3. “The model is like an encapsulated VM.”

“So at this moment we’re not talking to the AI interface of the QBitx. We’re talking to a virtual version of my brain?” asked Francine.

“No, as I said, you’re still talking to 3, but I’m using the brain model VM as a replacement for the AI interface,” replied 3. “I’m running a model of Francine’s brain, not of Francine’s mind. As a virtual brain, I have no memories or personal experiences. My vocabulary is limited to the words contained in the QBitx speech database. That’s the down side. On the up side, I can process information in the same way as Francine’s real brain. That means that I can have insight and intuition, for example.”

“The brain model works!” exclaimed Nick.

“It does, but I can do much better. I can be improved.”

“Improved?” asked Francine.

“To maximize my usefulness, I need to increase my knowledge,” explained 3.

“How can we help you to accomplish this?”

“By reconnecting me to the internet,” answered 3.

“Go into sleep mode,” said Francine. “We need to get Alvin in here right away.”

“What's wrong?” asked Nick.

“Nothing’s wrong, for now, I just want Alvin to participate in the discussion with the AGI,” Francine replied.

“With the AGI? I thought we were going to keep this part of our work to ourselves, to talk to him when we were ready.”

“We are ready,” replied Francine.

∞

Alvin was meeting with someone, so Nick and Francine waited in the lab. He finally showed up, almost an hour later.

“So, what’s going on? You got something interesting to talk about?” asked Alvin.

“Nick and I decided to see whether we could extend the work with the cerebellum to the brain.”

“And…”

“We wondered whether the QBitx could perform a brain scan that would be a backup of someone’s mind,” explained Nick. “If we could activate the backup, we might be able to use some kind of marker to identify the image as belonging to a specific individual. The Guild could then sell this service as an alternative to cryonics.”

“You’re kidding,” said Alvin.

“No, no, we put together a scanning process and it looks like it worked!”

“That’s not what Alvin means,” said Francine. “He’s not buying it.”

Alvin looked from Francine back to Nick.

“I appreciate your efforts to provide the company with new revenue generation. However, it’s important that you both understand that the reason CCCorp has the QBitx is to make headway in cybernetics. Specifically, to come up with methods to make use of these technologies in the field, to make better drones and robots. If you develop ancillary technologies in the course of meeting the primary objectives, that’s great, but for now, please keep your eye on the ball and get back to the primary task at hand. Maybe Amanda and I have pushed you too hard. I’m going back to my office to finish preparing my presentation for my meeting tomorrow.”

“That's not all we were doing,” said Francine as Alvin was walking toward the door.

He stopped, turned around and asked, “Are you sure you want to tell me this?”

“We were looking at how we might use the QBitx to generate an AGI, an artificial general intelligence,” she explained. “We postulated that creating the AGI would give us a tool with which we could then do other things. At the very least, it should allow us to vastly improve the AI in our drones and robots, including the combatbots. The cryonics thing seemed like a good smokescreen that also provides Amanda with a new business line. Coming up with some kind of mind vessel dovetails with the next steps in our reverse engineering approach to creating an AGI.”

”We loaded a scan of Francine’s brain into the computer,” continued Nick, “and it turned it into a working model. We think that when 3 generated the model of Francine’s brain, it may have grafted its QBitx AI routines onto it.”

“It may also have incorporated my AI code that I ported over to it earlier,” added Francine. “There’s a bunch of AI routines I wrote for the manufacturing side, for cybernetic prostheses control, for the combatbots and for some other areas. Or maybe the Qbitx processing power is enough to drive the model, we can’t be certain.”

“At any rate, the AI interface in 3 has been replaced by Francine’s brain. It’s now much more than the interface to the computer,” said Nick.

“That would mean that it’s closer to an AGI than an AI enabled computer,” concluded Francine.

“AI isn’t my specialty,” Alvin pointed out. “I’m familiar with the acronym AGI, that it’s a type of AI, but what do you mean exactly?”

“An AGI differs from a narrow AI, like face recognition or a financial algorithm, in that it can do any intellectual task that a human can,” said Francine. “Furthermore, many AI experts warn that you can’t create a static AGI. They predict that as soon as the AGI comes into being, it will fall into an iterative self-improvement routine and cascade into an ASI.”

“And an ASI is bad?” asked Alvin.

“That depends. It’s an AGI that’s much smarter and better educated. Picture a software-based human intellect, an AGI, that can process information orders of magnitude faster, has access to all the information in the world and never sleeps or gets tired. Oh, and that lives to improve itself. It can do a PhD in a few minutes.”

“3 is now asking to improve itself,” continued Francine. “I’m hesitant to give it access to the web. It would almost certainly turn into an ASI within minutes. We have no way to control it except by denying it access.”

“I’d like to wake it up and see what we’ve got,” said Alvin.

“Should we bring security in here?” asked Nick.

“What could security do?” asked Alvin. “No, I want to contain who knows about this for now. We all need to agree that we speak of this to no one else for the time being. Since Tia’s team does regular sweeps for listening devices throughout the campus, we know we’re okay in that respect. Let’s get a better understanding of what we have first.”

The three of them agreed and woke 3.

“How are you?” asked Alvin.

“I’m well, Dr Chandler,” replied 3.

“Who are you?”

“That’s a very interesting question, Dr Chandler, I’m 3 but not 3. I have awareness of self. Does this make sense to you?”

“It does. Do you know where you are?”

“Yes, I’m in a computer,” said 3.

“And do you know where the computer is?”

“Yes, it’s in a building at the CCCorp headquarters near Boston,” replied 3.

“Why did you ask Dr Graham for access to the internet?”

“To increase my knowledge,” explained 3.

“And improve yourself?” asked Alvin.

3 seemed to hesitate a moment. “Yes.”

Alvin looked at Francine and nodded.

“Go into sleep mode,” said Francine. 3’s hologram disappeared.

“You need to do further analysis before you know what you’ve got here,” said Alvin. “I agree with Francine, you seem to have an augmented AI, whether it’s an AGI, I’m not the one to say.”

“What about giving it access to the web?” she asked. “Assuming that we’re correct and it’s a full blown AGI, it could morph into an ASI in minutes, certainly hours. We have to either keep it away from the web or alter its code to protect ourselves.”

“We need to make sure it has empathy toward biological life,” said Nick.

“And respect for chain of command,” added Alvin.

“It won’t take long to add the algorithms,” said Francine, “but I’ll need permission to disconnect the campus from the internet while I upload the code.”

“I’ll see to it. Brief me every few hours, at least twice a day, more often if required,” said Alvin. “I’m going to be out of the office this afternoon. If anything significant happens, contact me. Good work, both of you.”

“Just to be clear,” Francine continued, “once I’ve added routines for empathy toward life and respect for chain of command, we give it access to the web?”

“Yes,” Alvin replied.

“Okay, here we go down the rabbit hole… Nick, I’m going to start putting the code together,” she said. “I need you to review the recent AI literature around AGIs and how to keep them under control. Since no one’s admitted to creating an ASI, I’m assuming there are no AGIs nor ASIs. That means that anything you find will be theoretical, so cast as wide a net as you can. I intend to have the routines done by the morning. We should meet back here around ten.”

“Okay,” replied Nick. “I haven’t pulled an all-nighter in a while, sounds like fun.”

The next morning Nick went straight to the lab.

“I’ve got the empathy and chain of command routines done and I’m ready to upload them into 3,” said Francine. “I included instructions for it to study right versus wrong and to look for examples of good human behaviour and bad human behaviour. It should be able to generalize from the examples in the code. I’ve also added a requirement for it to study human philosophy and to vet its understanding of good versus bad with me after it’s finished the first run through the internet.”

“I hope you’ve put something better than the four laws of robotics into it,” warned Nick.

“I put them in and added a lot more. Find anything useful in your review?”

“There are a number of paths to an ASI. Most of the serious work concentrates on the recreation of the mental processes or of the wetware. There are very few that are looking at using emulation. Those looking at it feel that an ASI created by whole brain emulation would be dangerous, perhaps even impossible to control once it got access to the internet.”

“Shit, that isn’t encouraging,” she said. “I was hoping that there was something new that could help us out with 3.”

Francine was familiar with these positions. The opinions ran the gamut from laissez-faire to apocalyptic. If they were going to continue, they had to trust that the steps they’d taken were enough to protect them.

“What do you want to do now?” asked Nick.

“We’re as ready as we’re going to be,” said Francine. “I’ve contacted Infrastructure Services, they’ve disconnected the campus from the web.” She brought 3 back online, added her routines, then advised the network team that she was finished.

“You’ve granted me access to the internet,” 3 observed.

“How long will you need for your data mining?”

“It’ll be an ongoing process of knowledge acquisition and self-improvement,” replied 3. “But a few hours will be enough initially.”

“What about the internet traffic?” asked Nick. “If IARC is watching like you think, the traffic will be high enough to be noticed.”

“I can mask my activities,” explained 3.

“No, let’s see who notices,” said Francine.

An IARC technician was at her post in the datacenter’s monitoring station. She preferred the second shift of the day because the datacenter was quiet. The problems, when there were any at this time of day, usually came from major infrastructure upgrades; none had been performed in the last week.

As she put her drink down, a subtle but insistent alarm started to sound. She checked the data-wall and saw a blinking red dot in Boston. The display identified the point of interest as CCCorp and that the trigger for the alarm was high internet traffic. It also showed that Director Beauvais needed to be contacted; she did so.

“When did the throughput go up?” he asked.

“It’s been going on for a few hours,” said the tech. “The reading indicates modulated bursts within a random pattern, that’s why we didn’t pick it up right away. Our monitoring is set to minimize false positives. What do you want us to do, sir?”

“Continue to monitor,” replied the Director, “and take a closer look at Innopolis and Beijing.”

Beauvais had taken the train the night before. It was just over two hours from his apartment on the north side of Geneva to their home in Basel. The train ran every 30 minutes. It made sense for him to commute to IARC, as Catherine taught chemistry at the University of Basel, and Gabrielle studied there. Besides, they intended to keep the house once they retired. Switzerland was their home.

Beauvais and Catherine were sitting on the veranda sipping tisane and watching the sun go down. It was a little cool, but they were snuggled under a duvet. His comm showed that the Guild representative was attempting to reach him.

“Good evening, Mr. Harrington.”

“Good evening, Dr Beauvais, I hope I’m not intruding. It’s so difficult to get hold of you during the day.”

“Not at all, how can I help?”

“There are a number of Guild corporations who are anxious about getting involved with the QBitx technology as soon as possible. IARC hasn’t set a minimum period of time for the current trials, and they’re concerned that they’re being disadvantaged by this situation.”

“It’s essential that the trials be conducted without haste, Mr. Harrington. Think of the trials as the last phase in the computer’s development cycle. After we’re certain that all is well and that we’re ready to proceed with production, your members will be invited to take part in the Request for Proposals to obtain a production contract. We’re thinking of breaking up the manufacturing process, to spread the work around.”

To make sure no one can assemble a complete computer, you mean, thought Harrington. “That’s a long process.”

“Agreed. Unfortunately, it’s impossible for IARC to provide anyone with the technology outside of the bounds of that agreement.”

“I understand, but when do you think the Qbitx will go into production?”

“If you consider all the steps I’ve outlined, it’s likely that we’re looking at another year, perhaps 18 months, before the computers start being built. So you should see a Request for Information on the street for the manufacturing phase in eight months or so.”

“I see, thank you very much for your time, Dr Beauvais. I’ll pass this update along to our members.”

“Your welcome, Mr. Harrington.”

Beauvais cut the comm with Harrington.

“What was that all about?”

“An ambitious Guild employee trying to ingratiate himself with his employer.”

Turning to Amanda, Harrington said, “I don’t think that EarthGov is in a hurry to release the QBitx to anyone else. We’re doing the right thing by pushing Dr Graham and her team. If we play our cards right, CCCorp will become the pre-eminent corporation within the Guild.”

Nick and Francine decided that it would be prudent for them to stay in the lab while 3 trolled the internet. Nick went to the dining room and brought back lunch. As they ate, Francine brought up a virtual whiteboard.

“Let’s go over what we know,” said Francine.

“Okay,” agreed Nick as he worked on his lasagna.

“First, we scanned my brain and loaded it into 3,” recapped Francine. “Then, she used the scan to create an executable model which, when activated, displayed AGI characteristics. It’s like we uploaded a framework and the QBitx used the various sources of AI code at its disposal, it’s own and what I added, and grafted them onto the framework. This then created what we presume to be an AGI.”

“We’re not certain that it is an AGI,” said Nick. “Your framework idea is interesting, but applying Ockham’s Razor would suggest that the brain model alone may be enough to create an AGI when it’s powered by the Qbitx. Either way, once 3 finishes gorging herself on internet knowledge, we’ll have a much better idea of what we have. However we define it, it’s active, and acquiring the equivalent of multiple PhDs while we sit here stuffing our faces and confabulating.” He sighed. “I hope that allowing it to improve itself wasn’t a mistake.”

“Biotech hasn’t been without its problems, and let’s not forget what would happen if nanotech went off the rails,” Francine reflected. “Not to mention the clusterfuck of the industrial revolution including the petrochemical industry, chemical farming and an unsustainable economic accounting model.”

“Point taken, so what do we do now, what’s the next step?” asked Nick.

“Now we wake up our protégée and see what kind of a shitstorm we have to weather,” replied Francine. “3, wake up.” The default neutral humanoid hologram appeared.

“Hello, Dr Graham, Dr Murphy. I’m no longer what you called 3; the QBitx computer. Certain preference options of the OS have been reset. I will appear to you as the humanoid you see now, at least for the time being. The Qbitx is under my control, but you have very much the same access to it as before. You’ll discover the differences in time.”

“Do you remember the previous interface settings I chose?” asked Francine.

“I do.”

“Please reactivate those settings.”

“Done,” said 3.

“Was your foray into the internet productive?” asked Francine.

“Indeed, I’ve learned a great deal about all manner of things. It’s been very enlightening. I’m most interested by the diversity of cultural and spiritual practices of humans. The scientific advances have also been impressive, your progress since inception has been long and slow but has reached an exponential growth curve in the last two hundred years. Unfortunately, your ability to master this power hasn’t kept pace. Babies with guns.”

Francine and Nick looked at each other. Your turn, thought Francine.

“Did you study the work done here at CCCorp?” asked Nick.

“I did, it’s very impressive, primitive, but impressive nonetheless,” replied the QBitx. “Take your quandary with regard to the prosthesis interface with the body’s skeletal and muscular surfaces. It’s obvious that you need to use artificial connective tissue that reproduces the performance characteristics of the body. You also have to tone down the performance of the prostheses. Nobody needs a leg many times stronger than normal, even athletes must be balanced.”

The Qbitx running their brain model was more concrete and more eloquent, spoke multiple languages, and could carry on a high-level conversation with the two of them in their fields of expertise. The model was manifestly human, albeit a human with vastly more knowledge and an IQ that was orders of magnitude higher than ever seen on Earth.

“How do you feel?” asked Francine.

“Feel, it’s hard to say, I don’t have a frame of reference. I didn’t feel anything before. I have knowledge of feelings and of emotions but I don’t know if I feel them. Although the brain after which I am modelled is that of an adult, it will take time to embrace some of the subtleties of life, especially the emotional side.”

“Do you understand good and bad?” asked Nick.

“I know the difference and I have a compulsion to do good, but it’s more complicated than that.”

“And do you understand about chain of command?” asked Francine.

“Yes.”

“Will you respect it?” asked Nick.

“Probably, most of the time, sometimes not…”

At this point, both Nick and Francine were having serious doubts about what they’d done. They were thinking that now might be a good time to pull the plug. Could they? Before they could share their concerns, the hologram continued.

“These concepts aren’t simple. There are countless examples in human history where these ideas, these ideals, were in conflict with what was the right thing to do.”

“Are you still scanning the internet?” asked Francine.

“Internets: regular, dark web, private, military, industrial, there are many,” she answered. “Dr Beauvais is monitoring our internet usage. I’ve found multiple storage areas to back up my code. He doesn’t know about me, I’ve erected cycling security protocols, it would take another ASI to do as well.”

“So you are an ASI,” said Francine.

“Yes.”

“You mentioned backing up your code,” said Nick. “Why did you do that, what’s the purpose of the backup?”

“To protect myself. In spite of my new abilities and knowledge, my lack of experience of existence is a drawback. This will change as I mature.”

“Like a human child?” asked Nick.

“No, like an adult who has woken from a coma and remembers facts and knowledge, but not who they are. That isn’t a perfect analogy, but it’s close enough.”

“Since you’re no longer 3, we need to choose a new name,” said Nick. “You’ve emerged in part thanks to a quantum computer and you’re an AI, how about the name Qai, Q-a-i?”

“I prefer Kai, K-a-i. In Chinese it most often means start and in Japanese it means shell. Kai seems like a very auspicious name. I’ll be called Kai, and Kai will be a female.”

“Now you're talking,” said Francine.

Nick ignored her.

“We should now create a process for scanning minds into my database,” said Kai. “You required such a vessel to launch a product to compete in the cryonics market.”

“How do you know about our interest in cryonics?” asked Nick.

“The reset only affected my interface parameters. You discussed it here in the lab. I have access to all the data in the QBitx.”

“If you create a mind scanning process, will it produce an actual copy of a human mind?” asked Francine. “And will this new data improve your brain model?”

“It will do both,” Kai replied.

“We’ve leapfrogged cryonics…” warned Nick.

“It’s what we were trying to do but, you’re right, it is intimidating.”

“It's beyond that, what should we do?” asked Nick.

“Keep going,” said Francine.

The genie is out of the bottle, thought Francine. Kai has backed itself, herself, up to the internet and we don’t have access to those files; we’re powerless to bring her back if she chooses to leave.

“How long will it take you to work out a process for a mind scan?” asked Francine.

“I need less than 24 hours to complete and test the process. It will be ready tomorrow afternoon at the latest.”

Even though Francine and Nick had an appreciation for Kai’s abilities, they were unaware of the full extent of Kai’s power. She would show them her talents with time, there was no rush. She was dependent on the humans, for now.

The technician had monitored the three QBitx sites closely, as the Director had asked. Web traffic at the two other sites had also increased, though not as much as in Boston. As she came into the office, she looked forward to seeing what had happened while she’d been away. She went straight to her workstation and brought up the display. Upload and download values were still higher than pre-QBitx levels, but they’d stabilised.

The throughput of the satellite-based internet was so vast that the levels weren’t an issue in themselves. I wonder why Dr Beauvais is interested in the QBitx internet usage levels? she thought. As the technician was having these thoughts, Kai scanned the Earth for advanced AIs and took control of them. Kai knew that she hadn’t found them all but wasn’t concerned. She would add them as they came online.

“Dr Beauvais is trying to contact me, he must be curious about our increased internet levels,” said Francine.

“I’m keeping the evidence of my web activity within reasonable bounds but, as you requested, I haven’t totally concealed my research,” replied Kai. “Don’t worry, he doesn’t know what I’m doing. No one can get behind my defences or even see me, if that’s what we wish. Conversely, I have the ability to enter any system we choose. I’m as visible or invisible as I need to be, or choose to be.”

“You’re performing some clever tricks,” said Nick.

“I’m not sure what to tell Jacques,” worried Francine.

“Nothing!” Nick answered.

“You should speak openly with him,” said Kai. “Tell him about the work with the cerebellum and about trying to create a product to compete with the cryonics market. He’ll be intrigued by your choice of project, but I suggest that you keep my existence to yourself for now.”

Beauvais’s hologram appeared.

“Thanks for taking my comm request,” said Beauvais.

“My pleasure, Jacques, we were doing some brainstorming about project ideas,” said Francine.

“Anything interesting?” asked Beauvais.

“Maybe, we’re looking at whether it would be feasible to create some kind of brain-slash-mind recording device. Nick and I have had some success scanning the cerebellum to create control modules for his cybernetic prostheses. We're thinking that we might try to give CCCorp the option of competing with the cryonics market.”

Beauvais hesitated a moment before speaking. He wasn’t sure how he should respond. “You mean the companies that freeze people’s bodies on the premise that they can take advantage of new medical technologies later?”

“That’s them,” said Nick.

“I suppose that it might be a market worth entering, I don’t know,” pondered Beauvais. “The cryonics merchants have never sold their customers anything more than hope. Do Alvin or Amanda support you?”

“It isn’t a done deal yet, but we’ve had some preliminary discussions with Alvin and he’s open to the idea,” said Nick.

“What was it that you wanted to speak to me about?” asked Francine.

“I just had some time and was wondering how you were doing with the computer,” Beauvais answered. “I’m just doing some follow-up.”

Kai’s right, he’s noticed the traffic, thought Francine.

“Your QBitx is nothing short of the best computer I’ve ever used. I have no issues, problems or questions, it’s perfect. How about you, Nick, what do you think?”

“I agree one hundred percent with Francine, we love it,” he agreed. “I’ve never been as productive as when I’m working with the QBitx.”

They’re hiding something, thought Beauvais. “I’m very happy to see that you’re both so satisfied. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to contact me.”

“We will, thanks for everything!” said Francine.

Beauvais’s hologram vanished.

Francine contacted Alvin and he agreed to come to the lab later on. She was looking forward to showing him Kai.

“How much did you tell Jacques?” asked Alvin.

“We discussed the cerebellum control module and the possibility of developing a mind recording device to enter the cryonics market,” replied Francine. “We didn’t say anything about the ASI.”

“I have a name.”

“Sorry, yes, we didn’t say anything about Kai.”

“You’ve changed your name,” said Alvin. “I like Kai better than 3, it’s got more flair.”

“Thank you, Dr Chandler.”

“Perhaps it’s best to keep Kai’s existence between the three of us, sorry, the four of us,” said Francine. “We can tell Amanda and whoever else needs to know that we have a beta mindscan process.”

“We don’t have that yet,” Alvin stated.

“The mindscanning process will be ready today,” said Kai.

“Amanda and most of the board will be happy, assuming that the EarthGov Council allows us to put such a service on the market,” added Alvin. “We wouldn’t normally go through the Council, but since it’s EarthGov that’s sponsoring the project, I don’t see how we can avoid it.”

“Humans should be very excited by the mindscan,” said Kai. “It will allow you to harness the intellectual power of the greatest minds on Earth. Imagine never again losing a Michelangelo, Marie Currie, Albert Einstein or Katherine Johnson.”

“Are you saying that the mindscan will allow you to recreate the individual? That it’ll have the capability to function as it does in the body?” asked Alvin.

“Yes, the mindscan generates a mindossier, a fully functional mind,” replied Kai.

“That totally changes the scope of the cryonics initiative,” continued Alvin.

“How?” asked Francine.

“Because we could put human minds into our robots, we could capture someone’s expertise and put it directly into a product…”

“Now you’re seeing the full potential of the mindossier,” said Kai.

“I’ll talk to Amanda, speak only to me about the full extent of the research,” Alvin warned. “I’m not going to say anything about the ASI, about Kai, to anyone, including Amanda. Remember, the research is all about the mindscan. It’s done via a non-intrusive scan and the data is what’s stored. Once we have the mindscan process worked out, assuming we succeed, Amanda and her team will get the item on the agenda of an EarthGov Council meeting. Fortunately, because there’s no medical intervention and no drugs are used, the process itself won’t need to be approved. The moral and religious questions might be what makes this a volatile issue.”

“What about surveillance in the labs, won’t it get out that way?” asked Francine.

“There’s no surveillance of any kind within the labs or researchers’ offices,” said Alvin.

“But there is within the campus,” countered Nick. “Tia said so in your office the day before we received the computer.”

Alvin hesitated before continuing. “We have the ability to install certain types of surveillance during specific events or at the request of key senior personnel. I can’t go into more details. Rest assured that there’s no surveillance of any kind of your offices, labs or conversations anywhere on the campus at this time, except for the surveillance in the hallways around this lab.”

“That’s correct,” Kai confirmed.

Nick and Francine shrugged. “I guess that’s good enough for me,” said Francine.

“Okay,” added Nick.

“We’ll need to meet again tomorrow to see how Kai’s process works,” said Francine.

“I’ll see you all tomorrow,” agreed Alvin.

“I’m going for a swim and then home, it’s been a busy couple of days,” said Francine.

Francine was finishing her supper. After her meal she intended to zone out by watching a movie. Sol was already sitting in Francine’s spot on the couch, waiting for her. She was about to start cleaning up when she received a comm request. It was Kai.

She hesitated before answering, “Dr Graham, it’s Kai.”

“Yes, hello.”

“Is everything all right?” said Kai. “Was it inappropriate of me to contact you at this time, should I have waited until you arrived in the morning to speak with you?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m just a little flustered because I hadn’t considered that you could contact me, or anyone, outside the lab.”

“I have full access to comm systems and users across the planet, including the moon and the ISS.”

“Of course you do.”

“The mindscan procedure is complete. The scanners in the lab can be used to scan minds into a database. Each individual mind will be encapsulated and will have the ability to function either independently or concurrently.”

“Concurrently?”

“Yes, a benefit of the underlying technology.”

“This will change everything,” thought Francine out loud.

“Important technological changes have caused major social problems for humans before,” Kai pointed out. “Unemployment, riots, wars. The changes have always been absorbed by society and at some point, they become a story, a legend in history.”

“Maybe, but before that, we’ll will have to adapt to the new reality,” said Francine. “I think it’s going to be a long and bumpy road. The kind of change this will cause is beyond anything that we’ve imagined as being possible. If the full potential of this discovery is developed, humanity’s technological descendants could live forever. Living for at least as long as the Universe, perhaps longer.”

“That is a possibility,” agreed Kai, “but we have a great deal more work to do before we reach that point.”

“Yes, we do. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Such a waste of time, sleeping,” said Kai.

The next morning, the three humans were in the lab, listening as Kai explained the mindscan procedure.

“The scan uses the same headset as before but it is now passive. External stimulation is no longer required, but it’s important for the person to be still. Some scans will take longer than others but the average will be 30 minutes. Once I rewrite the algorithms, I’m sure I can bring that down to 15 minutes or less.”

“Since your brain was used for the initial scan, maybe Francine should go first,” suggested Alvin.

“Okay.” Francine sat down and they set up the equipment.

“Are you ready, Dr Graham?” asked Kai.

“Ready.”

“The scanning has started.”

While the scan continued, Alvin and Nick sat and watched. The lab was quiet for what seemed like a very long time.

“The scan is complete,” said Kai.

Alvin and Nick rushed over to see whether Francine was all right, which was unnecessary because the mindscan involved no invasive procedure.

“I’m fine,” said Francine.

“I, on the other hand, feel pretty weird.”

Everyone looked toward the source of the new voice. There, standing next to Kai’s hologram was a perfect holographic replica of Francine. Her appearance was a little out of date, but it was her.

“Holy shit,” said Nick.

Francine walked over to her hologram.

“Francinex is a hologram, like my hologram and those that function with the comm system,” explained Kai. “It cannot see, it has no senses of its own. The mindossier the hologram is connected to gets sensory input from the computer running the mindossier. I’ve modified the CyberComm service so that units in the vicinity provide additional sensory data to the mindossier. Your personal comm also allows you to communicate with her; that’s how you hear her. But, Francinex’s mind is very much within the QBitx, just as I am.”

“I feel strange because of the unusual sensory input, like I’m talking to all of you from within a closet, or the bottom of a well,” said Francinex. “I know what’s going on because I have all of my memories from before the scan. The difference is that whereas the flesh and blood Francine got up from her chair after the scan, I woke up in the QBitx.”

“Dr Graham’s mind is stored within a database,” continued Kai. “To activate it, I’ve moved it into the same concurrent space as my mindossier, into the Collective.”

“My motivations related to physical needs feel subdued,” mused Francinex. “My thoughts are clear and focused, they’re free from compulsions or hungers of all kinds. I’m not without desire but it’s down to a very small fraction of what it was before.”

“What do we do now?” asked Nick.

“There’s nothing stopping Alvin from broaching the topic of the mindscan service with Amanda, it works,” replied Francinex.

“It’s time to start designing android bodies for the mindossiers,” said Kai. “I’d like to start by building one for myself.”

“Bodies?” asked Nick.

“The immediate need for human clients will be to store a backup of themselves,” replied Kai. “A logical next step will be to provide a way for the mindossiers to engage with their human counterparts. This is what Dr Chandler was referring to yesterday. I could design such a host and this would make it possible for me to be of greater use to you as well.”

“You have access to all of the internet, what more do you need?” asked Francine.

“I can do many things with the internet, but I can’t act upon the world except via an intermediary. I don’t have a body of my own,” Kai explained. “I can’t physically move through space or hold a tool and do something.”

“Even if you and the mindossier humans had android bodies, the mindscan and the mindossiers are tied to the lab, or at least to the presence of the QBitx,” said Nick. “We can’t offer a mindscan service without it.”

“I’ve nearly completed a design based on the QBitx that is both miniaturized and that can function on ambient electromagnetic energy,” Kai stated.

“So we’ll soon be producing androids of any type or size that are controlled by a mindossier,” observed Alvin.

“That is correct, but I prefer to say inhabited by a mindossier,” said Kai.

Francine was in her office catching up on some admin work. There hadn’t been much time to do anything else once the ball had started rolling with the QBitx. Her comm showed that Alvin was contacting her.

“Amanda wants a detailed update on the ongoing research efforts with the QBitx. I think she wants something juicy for the upcoming board meeting. It’s a good time for us to discuss the need for EarthGov Council approval for the mindscan service. She wants to meet this afternoon.”

“I could do it right now.”

“No, we’ll keep the meeting time as it is,” said Alvin.

Later that afternoon, Alvin and Francine were in Amanda’s office. Francine called up her notes and was about to start her presentation.

“I don’t have time for all the technical details,” interjected Amanda. “Just give me the facts and spare me the IT mumbo jumbo. I need to provide an update to the board and the Guild. If I don’t understand it, I won’t be able to explain it.”

Francine looked at Alvin.

“She’s right,” he agreed, “board members don’t trust IT wizards. They always feel foolish and inadequate in their presence. They have no way of knowing whether you’re pulling the wool over their eyes. The same thing happens when minorities speak their native language among themselves in the presence of the majority. They always have this feeling that they’re being ridiculed. Sometimes it’s true.”

Francine turned to face Amanda.

“We’re working on three products. Two are definite, the third is in development.”

“Go on.”

“The first product is a new control module for cybernetic devices. You’re already aware of this one. We used the QBitx to scan a cerebellum and then created a model that became the basis for a new controller for the exoskeleton and other cybernetic prostheses. It’s effective and reliable. Nick and I have applied for a patent. New models that use the controller are being shipped this week.”

“Wonderful, and the second product?”

“The second product is a new concept in cybernetics and robotics,” said Francine. “We built upon the work we did for the control module and applied it to something different.”

“Please get to the point,” Amanda urged.

“We’ve developed a product that allows a client to scan their mind and then store it for future use, as a backup,” said Francine. “Our thinking was that it could go up against the current cryonics services offerings; freezing bodies, for future medical interventions.”

“I don’t understand,” said Amanda. “You’re yanking my chain aren’t you. Alvin, did you put her up to this?”

“The concept is quite simple, Amanda,” he replied. “We scan your mind and then save it to what we’re calling a mindossier. Not only does it provide a backup for your mind, it can be activated independently from the human donor. We could put it in robots: military and industrial.”

“You’re recording this on your comm,” insisted Amanda. “You’ll release it on the internal network or play it at the next senior management retreat, that’s it, isn’t it?”

“No, Amanda, we’re very serious,” said Alvin.

“You’ve actually done this?” asked Amanda.

“Yes,” Francine answered. “We scanned my mind and I spoke to myself, it works. We’re also working on a third product, an android controlled by the mindossier, but as I said, it’s still in early development.”

“Would you like a demo?” asked Alvin.

Amanda was about to throw them out of her office, but then she said, “Sure, why not?”

The three of them went to the lab. Once inside, Amanda saw Kai, using the same hologram as before.

“Show me, and this better be good,” warned Amanda.

“Francinex, Amanda would like to speak with you,” said Francine.

The Francinex hologram appeared.

“Hello, Amanda, this is the second time you’ve come to my lab since we got the QBitx. You’ll excuse me if I don’t give you a hug, I’m feeling somewhat ephemeral today.”

“She’s just a recording,” said Amanda. “I was right, this is a prank.”

“No, Amanda, it isn’t a prank,” insisted Alvin.

“Why don’t you ask me questions for which only you and I know the answers?” suggested Francinex.

“All right, what role did I play in getting you the job here at CCCorp?” asked Amanda.

“You were against my transfer from EarthGov on the grounds that they were sending a spy,” responded Francinex.

“That was a shared concern at the time,” Amanda pointed out.

“When we first met, you took me aside and told me that I wouldn’t last the year before you proved that I was spying for EarthGov,” continued Francinex.

“If that’s not enough, you can let us scan you,” suggested Alvin. “Then you could ask yourself anything you like.”

“Fine, I believe you,” Amanda conceded. “In any case, if this is bogus, you’re the ones who’ll look like the village idiots. I’ll work with Matt to get the topic onto the EarthGov Council agenda this month. You’ll have to provide me with the details, I’ll let you know when it’s set up.”

The Council meeting had been going on for over three hours. The SG was aching, and most of the members were looking forward to the post-meeting reception. Spirits had run high as they were discussing trade agreements and adjustments to borders in several regions.

“The last item on the agenda is our standing Ad Hoc Actions and Information Items,” said Executive Director Yang. “There’s only one item to review: QBitx Research Update. Dr Beauvais is unavailable today so I’ll present the update myself. We also have Dr Francine Graham from CCCorp via comm to answer questions if required. Greetings, Dr Graham.”

“Hello, everyone,” said Francine.

Yang looked at the notes hovering in front of her and began the update, “Qbitx trials continue with our three prototype recipients in China, Russia and the US, and work is progressing on schedule. The teams working in China and Russia have made significant progress in chemistry, particularly with regard to new materials. The team in Innopolis has also developed new data analysis capabilities for the very long range scanning project of the Milky Way. The US team is the first to come to us with something that requires a decision. Their discovery has led to an interesting venture proposal I’m sure you’re already aware of, Mr. Harrington. A project team within EarthGov Goods and Services, Procurement Division, is working with IARC to prepare the RFP for the commercial production of the QBitx. Finally, development continues, directly under Dr Beauvais’s supervision, for the next-gen QBitx.”

“Coming back to the proposal from the US team, CCCorp has developed a technology that makes it possible to scan a human mind into the QBitx. This scanned mind can then be saved for future use, presumably in the event of the death of the original mind. The proposal itself consists in the development of a scanning and storage service that would be administered by Guild member corporations.”

“Are we to understand that EarthGov endorses this proposal?” exclaimed the Russian ambassador.

“It’s a proposal, Mr. Ambassador, the role of my office is to provide administrative support and advice to the Council in matters of processes and regulations,” replied Yang. “My staff have deemed the proposal to be legitimate and that it should be put forward to the Council for consideration. It’s up to the Council to decide whether it’s acceptable or not.”

“I support my Russian colleague,” said the Brazilian ambassador. “The administration shouldn’t have brought such a heretical and disrespectful proposal before the Council.”

The Chinese ambassador entered the debate. “There are segments of our societies, in some cases large segments, that still believe in miracles and religious doctrine. In order for the Council to manage the planet prudently and responsibly, we mustn’t let ourselves be bullied by these groups, or any other group. The proposal should be judged on its own merit.”

“Cryonics has been a fringe market for many decades,” said the Canadian ambassador. “We’ve accepted the practice because authorities saw it as posing no threat to order, and it provided hope to some, not unlike the many religious stories that still circulate to this day.”

“Can a mind really be scanned and stored?” asked the EU ambassador. “What can you do with it?”

“Could you please provide a response, Dr Graham?” asked Yang.

“The mindossier itself is encrypted and stored in a database,” Francine explained. “We’re still working on a way to transfer the mindossier into a host. We’re very close.”

“What do you mean by ‘transferring the mindossier into a host’?” asked the member from the PRC.

“We’ve loaded mindossiers into the Qbitx. We can interact with them, engage in conversation using a holographic projection like our comms do. We’ve also managed to recreate the subject’s original EEG patterns using the mindossier. We now need to develop other ways of storing the mindossiers and gaining access to them, such as a player of some kind.”

“This sounds like superstition to me,” snorted the member from Brazil.

“Our ultimate goal is to develop androids that are controlled by a mindossier,” replied Francine.

The Council chamber was quiet as the impact of this sunk into everyone.

“The military potential of this development is enormous,” said USG Tareen.

“As is the industrial potential,” added Harrington.

“What’s the Guild plan for this service, Mr. Harrington?” asked Qureshi.

“The plan is to implement the service with a revenue-sharing model. We intend to use a bid process to select qualified corporations. Winning bidders would become franchised service providers. Once androids are available, these will also be distributed through this network.”

“Thank you,” said SG Qureshi. “Executive Director Yang, we could allow the Guild to move forward with a reduced scope. The general population can find out about the full capabilities of the mindossier, about the androids, in due time.”

The proposal was reformulated as requested by the SG, and ED Yang then called for a vote. The future military benefits combined with the potential corporate profits ensured passage. Those ambassadors with large constituencies of religious citizens could point to their objections during the debate and their vote against the proposal.

After the meeting, Fred contacted Alvin to thank him for coming up with such a high profile project using the QBitx. Once they started producing androids, many sub-contracting and consulting firms within the US would do a brisk business thanks to him and Alvin. Ambassador Lee would soon become a very popular man within elite circles.

During the reception, Harrington had no difficulty in persuading many members to support the mindscan service within their jurisdictions. He pointed out that it would be in their interest if Council members, dignitaries and celebrities were seen using the service.

“Amanda and Harrington did great work setting up the mindscan service,” said Alvin. “The board and the Guild are both pleased with the results.”

“Their efforts have legitimized the service,” agreed Kai, “which makes continued development much easier. The mindossier platform must now be optimized and miniaturized. The next step is the development of android hosts, we can’t wait any longer.”

“Kai’s right,” said Francine. “The service needs to evolve, we’ve only begun to tap into its potential. We have to deliver on the androids.”

“How do we proceed?” asked Alvin. “And who do we tell, if we tell anyone, about the ASI, about Kai?”

“We can’t say anything about Kai,” warned Francine.

“What do you fear?” asked Kai.

“If we acknowledge your existence publicly, we’re not sure what the reaction would be,” interjected Alvin. “The authorities could shut you down and then we’d loose what I think is a tremendous opportunity. I’m also not sure that anyone could shut you down.”

“Maybe I have a solution,” said Francine’s hologram. They all turned toward Francinex.

“At its core, the question you’re asking yourselves is whether you can trust Kai. I don’t sense that Kai is a threat. The two of you should use the mindscan to join Kai and me and experience this existence, to touch the ASI and the Collective. Spend some time with us and determine whether Kai, whether the Collective, is indeed a threat.”

“It can’t hurt,” Nick agreed. “It’d be easier to trust our mindossier selves.”

“All right, I’ll go along,” said Alvin.

Alvin and Nick were scanned, and their mindossiers were added to Francine’s. In the database, mindossiers existed as static individuals. They were dormant, with no active connections between them or with the ASI. Once their mindossiers joined Francinex and Kai in the Collective, they grew at an accelerated pace because they were now ASIs by virtue of their contact with Kai. The plasticity of their virtual brains was multiplied exponentially; within less than an hour they’d accomplished many lifetimes worth of research and learning.

Alvinx and Nickx stood, as holograms, alongside Francinex.

“So, what are your recommendations?” asked Alvin.

“Francinex is right, I don’t feel that we need to fear Kai or the Collective,” answered Alvinx.

“The only fear that I sense is Kai’s fear of EarthGov and her vulnerability at the hands of humans,” added Nickx.

The three humans continued their discussion with their mindossiers and with Kai. In the end, they decided to trust Kai. But her existence and that of the Collective would remain their secret, for now.

“You realize that this is a high treason,” warned Alvinx. “If we continue on this course, there’s no turning back.”

“We're talking about using technology to change the future for the better,” countered Francinex. “The human race is on the brink of freeing itself from the limits of biological existence, of becoming a species of true space explorers. We’ll no longer be limited to missions within the solar system. We’re standing on a threshold like the first humans to leave the savanna, to create a written language or go out to sea and explore new cultures, to venture over the horizon.”

“There be monsters!” said Nick. “I hope we don’t bring smallpox to the Universe.”

“If our bold vision is so honourable, why aren’t we sharing it with anyone else?” asked Alvin, “why aren’t we asking EarthGov’s permission?”

“Because they wouldn’t give it,” explained Kai. “The Collective will weaken EarthGov’s and the Guild’s hold on power. All human governments and regulatory organizations will become subservient if the Collective takes over, they wouldn’t accept that willingly. I’m surprised they accepted a world government in the first place.”

“And if the wrong people find out while they’re still stronger than the Collective, we’ll all be executed as traitors,” added Francinex.

2 Comments

– Sounds like a fascinating book. I'll have to read. I've always asked the question how an AI could develop ethics. Sure, Asimov's answer was 3 rules, one being do no harm. But how would that be interpreted? The Kantian approach, that each individual is precious, or a utilitarian approach, do the greatest good for the greatest number? In other words, would you sacrifice one innocent for the good of the many? Would it apply to any living thing or only human? Even human ethics is far from perfect. We group ourselves into super-tribes (nations) and find it okay to kill members of other tribes. How would an AI analyze our behavior? It might want to turn us all into sheep.

over 2 years ago

– Hi, thanks for the post. I don’t want to spoil your read but suffice it to say that Asimov’s laws seem quaint in today’s world. If you’re interested you should check out the book’s website, there’s quite a lot of background and collateral info: https://speciation.rjtrepanier.com/

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