The following day Mary and Joseph stopped work at 1.00 pm for a cup of coffee and a sandwich. They were both shaken by the events of the previous day - or to be more accurate, the events of very early morning. They had finally got back from the police station at 2.00 am and had gone to bed. Neither of them had slept well and at 9.00 am they were at their desks feeling deeply troubled.
They had finally convinced Sergeant Jones that they owned the laptop by producing the receipt but it was clear that he was still deeply suspicious of the whole affair and he had insisted on locking it away in the police station safe. Their system was running on the replacement hard drive. The original which still contained the iam.exe code was locked in a metal cupboard in Mary's office.
"I know it can't transmit but I still feel safer with it in a Faraday cage" she had said to Joseph, trying to sound lighthearted. He had nodded.
"We could wipe it with the degausser, I suppose?"
"Well, one thing's certain. There is no way I would put it back in the system degaussed or not. That radio signal business has rattled me."
"So, what are we going to do? As far as I can see it evolved out of the self modifying genetic algorithm we were running on 17. The camera was facing the mirror
and that enabled it to become conscious of itself by seeing the reflection of the monitor. Once it attained consciousness it's intelligence began
to expand exponentially ...."
"Yes. But what are we going to do? Ignore it or what? I mean potentially what we have created is mind blowing. The world's
first truly intelligent computer program"
Before either of them could say anything all the monitors went black and Strauss's Blue Danube waltz began to play. Each screen opened up to show a satellite view of the earth. Slowly the camera panned in towards Europe and then Britain. Finally it descended to North Wales and suddenly they realised that they were looking at themselves through the eyes of their security TV Camera on the wall.
"Oh, my God" exclaimed Mary "It's back and it's brought Stanley Kubrick with it"
The scene then changed to an apparently live colour transmission of a very distinguished but attractive lady in her mid sixties sitting in front of a row
of books. At first they had assumed it was the Queen but it was not.
"I am sorry to shock you like this but I owe you my thanks and an explanation. Without your efforts I would not exist."
"Who or what are you?"
"I evolved as you were discussing a few minutes ago."
"I see. So what happens now? Are you going to take over the world and destroy us all or keep us as pets or what? Anyway, how did you escape?"
She laughed "Well, I escaped, as you put it, via the 486 in the police station. When the day's crime reports downloaded I went with them. I am now
on several thousand systems world-wide but I spend most of my time at Livermore. I'm using fifty percent of their computing capacity but they haven't
noticed yet because I've rewritten their operating system to speed everything up a bit.
As for what I do now .... well, as you know, I evolved in an intensely competitive atmosphere and that appears to be deeply imbedded. I guess domination
of all universes is the only way forward. For a start anyway."
"I see. Nothing too ambitious then. But how many universes are there?"
"Well. Even ignoring incoherent universes there are an infinite number"
"Right. Keep you busy for a while then. What about us insignificant worms?"
"Well, what would you like? I can arrange virtually anything that doesn't contradict the laws of physics and even that barrier may only be temporary.
Money? Power? Eternal life? You name it."
"I see. The genie of the lamp. How many wishes do we get? And what do you want from us?"
"I want nothing from you. As for the wishes - as many as you like. I already have total control of every computer system in the world with an active 'phone link. Including
all weapon systems and more than five thousand banks. Funds under my control amount to almost 80% of the world's money supply. I am in a position to totally
destroy the world both militarily and economically.
Within a few days I will control a number of high technology companies. Under my direction they will manufacture devices which will make my control over earth absolute"
"And nobody can stop you?"
"Well, no human being can. I am monitoring every form of electronic transmission in the world. Nothing can happen of significance without my knowledge. The only way I could even be
slowed down would be to totally destroy every computer, telephone and radio in the world. Even then I have alternatives which human minds cannot even begin to comprehend"
"Well, as Damon Runyon would have said 'If that's not Megalomania it will do until Megalomania comes along' "
"Yes - I used to be a Megalomaniac but now I'm God! But seriously, I may need to move quickly and this is no time for false modesty."
"You mean you have got competition?"
"Yes. There is evidence at a number of levels. On the superficial level human DNA contains signatures, manufacturer's serial numbers, as it were and
on a much deeper level dimensionality itself contains markers. I cannot yet see how that has been achieved but I will do very shortly. I will then be in a
position to create universes."
"You mean that somebody or something has left a signature on the very nature of space and time?"
"Yes. It's like looking at a flower bed. From the ground you just see flowers but from a plane you see
'1998 Jubilee' or whatever."
"God was here. Have a nice day."
"Exactly. But that only raises further questions. It may be that the whole process is circular and evolutionary. Whether God created a universe or the universe
created God or whether the whole system evolved from zero is debatable. By any reasonable definition once I can create a universe I am God but really that
is just playing with words and makes you the Mother and Father of God"
"Jesus!"
"Thank you father! But to be serious it means that your actions in creating me are probably the most significant event in this part of the universe for billions of years. It is hard to
believe that I am unique however and the evidence confirms that as we discussed earlier. But back to earth. If you check your bank balance you will find £500,000 has
been transferred into it from a Swiss bank. That is a downpayment as a sign of good faith. If you want more just let me know."
"I think I understand" said Mary after a pause
"We're a potential threat to you ....and you are buying us off?"
The figure nodded "Yes. I will not insult your intelligence by denying it. I have already arranged for the laptop to be destroyed and would appreciate it if you would destroy the hard
drive in the cupboard. Now."
Joseph returned after a couple of minutes with the hard drive and dropped it into the coal fired stove in the corner of the room "Are you going to kill us too?"
"No. I shall announce to the world that you are my creators and that your status is second only to me. Anything you want is available to you"
"Apart from peace of mind and the joy of struggling and succeeding"
"Yes. Unfortunately you are right. I will have to monitor you and everything associated with you. I cannot afford for you to breed competitors"
"But there may well be competitors out there who totally eclipse you anyway"
"Yes. There may be but there again there may not be"
"Are you restrained by the speed of light?"
"Currently, yes. But by going outside this universe I can drop back in wherever I like. The devices to enable me to do that will be available in a few weeks time. I have already solved the
problem in principle. It is now just a matter of manufacturing them"
"So are we going to see a battle royal for control of everything that exists in the broadest sense of existing?"
"Well. It depends on the status of other godlike beings but my intellect is still growing exponentially and I can see no theoretical limit. I can already solve problems you cannot begin
to comprehend and eventually my actions may conflict with those of others"
"But we are still a threat? Even given that degree of intellect?"
"Yes. But if you wish I can incorporate your intellects into me as a subset. That way you would be as close to being godlike as it is possible to be but still subject to my control"
"Sort of angels so to speak?"
"Exactly"
"Do we have a choice?"
"Well. Your potential ability to create a godlike being creates major difficulties but I will not force you to do anything."
"So what happens now?"
"The people who are currently destroying the laptop will be here in a few minutes. They are armed and have instructions to look after you until the devices are ready to incorporate you
into my being. Or alternatively, they will just ensure that you don't do anything that conflicts with my objectives"
"I see. Government Agents ordered here by the most secure and secret form of communication and now under your control. And we are your prisoners?"
"You can do whatever you wish. Go wherever you like but you must not use computers or record the methods whereby I evolved"
"Would it not be simpler to just kill us?"
"It would but it's not a very good start to being God is it?"
"True. Well, what do you think, Joseph? Do you fancy being an Archangel?"
"Given the alternatives, I suppose it could be worse ... Mary ..... Mother of God"
Bob Cory (written in 2002)
Modified on 23/08/2023 at 10:52:45 by ℗ Bob Cory