Transhumanist Wager, The (51 page)

"It is my hope that in your
new appointments, you will seed and cultivate a surplus of amazing new
transhuman projects to fruition for us all. As incentive to accept these new
duties asked of you, your compensation packages will be staggering. I aim to
make each and every one of you—as well as all other citizens on
Transhumania—some of the richest and most powerful people in the world.”

 Murmurs erupted in the crowd,
until Dr. Mohamed Abrim, the Iranian Nobel Prize-winning chemist, stood up and
asked, “What of our research and discoveries? What will happen to all our
advancements and hard work here?”

 “On your journey back to your
homelands and new posts,” Jethro said, “you will take the inventions,
technologies, discoveries, and new fields of science we've created here and
share them. Share them all: the cures for cancers, the anti-aging innovations,
the aerospace advancements, the biotech tissues, the neurotech enhancements,
the microchip improvements, the robotic technologies; anything and everything
that will kick-start their economies, spawn new commerce, and enhance our
relations with the world’s people. You will be the visionaries and leaders who
make our greater future possible. You will launch a new era, all under the
Transhumanian flag.

“Earth, and human habitation of it,
will be redesigned. It will no longer be many different countries with
different cultures on different continents, but one committed transhuman
alliance. It will be transformed into one global civilization bound to
advancing science—one great transhuman planet. There will be no more sovereign
nations, only Transhumania. Our transhuman goals will be the same as before;
there will just be a lot more people working towards them, and a lot more
resources to help us achieve success.”

************

Four months later, after
sanctioning trade, freezing accounts, and issuing threats against Transhumania
and its citizens proved largely ineffective, A10 governments decided to pursue
far harsher action to control the rogue nation. At the urging of Senator
Gregory Michaelson, Reverend Belinas, and the President of the United States,
America recommended that all A10 countries convene in Europe to create and sign
a bold new decree. In a highly publicized meeting in Brussels, the ten
countries unanimously voted to issue a formal ultimatum—for the protection of
humanity they insisted—to collectively monitor and regulate the activities and
research on Transhumania. Moreover, they determined their collective legal
right to stop transhuman experiments discovered to be crimes against the
greater good of the human race. If Transhumania didn’t comply, then the A10,
through a resolution with the United Nations, retained the right to declare war
and use military force to accomplish their objectives.

The following day, the ultimatum
was crafted into a letter and addressed to Jethro Knights and Transhumania. The
letter was signed by all leaders of the A10. Numerous other countries around
the world also issued their support and consent when requested by the A10. The
letter was sent via Chinese Government courier to Transhumania.

Jethro was working at his desk in
his residence, dictating to his computer, when the computerized intercom
announced, “Dr. Preston Langmore is here to see you, Mr. Knights.”

 “Okay, let him in,” snapped
Jethro, annoyed to be interrupted.

 Langmore quickly walked in,
holding up the sealed letter in his hand.

“Well, here it is, Jethro,” he
said, looking pale and nervous.

“Oh come on, Preston. We already
know what it says. We don’t need to read it. It says: Dear Transhumanists:
We’re afraid of you. We don’t like being afraid. We’re a super-ape race. We
worship omnipotent gods and pink elephants flying around in the sky, which we
can't really see but can create very elaborately in our minds and cultures
anyway. And why don't you join us and be a super-ape too? Otherwise, if you
don't, we’ll beat you up.”

“Yes, probably something like that.”

“Open it. Pin it up somewhere.
Maybe at one of the restaurants downstairs. Or better yet, sell it on the
Internet to fund some research. It might bring in some drachma.”

“Jethro, this is serious,” Langmore
insisted.

“Yes, I know it is, but be quiet
now. I’m just finishing the final section of my essay,
The Morality of a
Machine
. This is one of the last moments I'll get to write in peace,
possibly for years.”

Langmore opened the A10 letter and
read the contents aloud. Jethro tensed up, staring at his computer screen, but
not registering anything he saw. He was carefully listening to the semantics of
the letter's language, hoping there might be another way.

There was not. 

“Well, there you go,” Langmore said
after reading it.

“Yes, it’s inevitable now—war.”

“So, how will we proceed?”

“I’m going to go to America to
offer my surrender terms.”

“Huh? What!?”

“Oliver, Burton, and you will be
left in charge while I'm gone.”

“That’s absolutely insane. Are you
serious?”

Jethro stood up, stretched, and
walked towards a hot pot of coffee—a permanent fixture in his living room. He
held it up and offered some to Langmore.

“No way. Not what my nerves need at
this moment.”

Jethro poured himself a cup and
took a large gulp. Meditatively, he looked at the sea through the apartment’s
immense windows. He was tired, and all he really wanted to do was finish
writing his latest paper and enjoy the last few moments of peace on
Transhumania.

Langmore blurted out, “They could
kidnap you, kill you—anything.”

“Yes, I imagine that's the point,”
Jethro said, his thoughts shifting to Zoe Bach for an instant. Then he even
questioned the nature of death, what became of her, and how soon he could find
out. 

“Are you sure, Jethro?”

“Yes, I am. And I understand your
concern, Preston. But if they do anything stupid, it will give us ample
provocation to go to war and send out the four aircraft.”

“Do you need ample provocation?”

“No, of course not,” Jethro said
quietly, full of diplomacy. “Nonetheless, we should try to be cognizant of the
fact that everyone in the world—and I mean everyone—will be watching us. The
course of history will be fundamentally transformed. We don’t want to be
interpreted as implacable aggressors. That's important to me. That's important
to the future of greater Transhumania and the new scientists who may join it.
That much I can give them.”

“More human than I thought, now
that missiles are being armed and pointed,” Langmore said.

“Far from it. Just posterity I'm
thinking of, Preston. We'll have seven continents with billions of people to
manage. It's going to be a lot more complicated than running a city full of
well-mannered, over-educated scientists, all striving for the same goals.”

Three weeks later, an arrangement
was made for Jethro Knights to meet with the A10 at the United Nations
Headquarters in New York City. Top leaders and diplomats of each country flew
in for the assembly. It was assumed Jethro wanted to negotiate or offer his
nation’s conditional surrender so that Transhumania might be able to continue
its scientific missions. The A10 coalition, over days of teleconferencing and
tense backroom meetings with each other, tentatively agreed to a negotiated
surrender. Nevertheless, each wanted the technologies Transhumania had
invented, specifically those that were military-related, and none could agree
how that would be shared or distributed amongst each other.

Reverend Belinas knew something was
awry with Jethro's visit to New York City. He doubted Jethro would ever
surrender, even conditionally. Regardless, he was adamant that only the United
States broker a deal with Transhumania. And that if any deal were made, America
would retain majority control of the floating city since Jethro Knights was, in
theory, still a U.S. citizen. He convinced the U.S. President and Senator
Michaelson to insist on the same, expounding how America could not afford to
let Transhumania's discoveries blossom in other nations.

By the time Jethro showed up in New
York City, feuds over who ultimately would control and monitor Transhumania
were raging between the most powerful A10 countries. Friendly relations and
cooperation between the allied nations were severely compromised. They were all
blind to the real reason Jethro was coming.

************

Behind locked doors at the A10
assembly in the United Nation's legendary Summit Chamber in New York City—a
massive hall designed for the most urgent international occasions—Senator
Gregory Michaelson stood at a podium reading the charges levied against
Transhumania. The A10 had designated him as the lead spokesperson of the
meeting. The seated dignitaries of various countries formed a thirty-meter-long
arch around the podium. Jethro Knights, wearing faded jeans and a gray,
Transhumanian-made, bio-monitoring T-shirt, sat in the middle as if he were on
trial. A small bronze plaque bearing the name “Transhumania” was in front of
him atop his desk. The configuration of the assembly reminded him of the town
hall forum at Victoria University years ago. Noticeably absent, though, were
all media. The A10 wanted to keep negotiations, except for the final result,
strictly out of the public eye.

Gregory delivered a long accusatory
speech of many carefully crafted sentences, describing the dangerous ethical
conflict between the human race and Transhumania's research. He spoke of the
perils of too many veteran nuclear scientists working together in one isolated
city; of medical researchers pushing the bounds of the human body and mind with
no outside, authoritative regulation; of the need for civilization to be led by
a higher power that protects us from our own greed, our own darkness, and our
own imperfect selves.

Gregory made the additional point
that if Transhumania’s medical advancements, cures, and vaccines were to be
openly shared with the world, then the tiny city might be allowed more normal
provisions and a reasonable measure of independence. He continued, offering
that Transhumania might even be welcomed back into the global community as a
recognized sovereign state—of course, only after a lengthy period of strict
adherence to universal human rights, rules of democracy, and custom-tailored
U.N. dictates—which would include security monitoring of the nation. At the end
of the Senator's speech, clapping ensued by the A10 politicians and their
dignitaries.

Jethro Knights found their
enthusiasm so ridiculous it was almost amusing. How do buffoons like these ever
get into power, he wondered? When it was his turn to speak, he rose from his
desk and confidently strode up to the podium. He passed Gregory in the aisle
and neither greeted nor looked at him. Gregory eyed him disdainfully.

At the podium, Jethro introduced
himself and proceeded to commend his aggressors for allowing him the
opportunity to speak. He especially emphasized his gratitude for being able to
state his terms live to the world, because he wanted everyone in the Summit
Chamber to know that his speech—through technology that only Transhumania could
develop—was being transmitted across the planet’s airwaves. Transhumania's
satellite-filming technology recorded heat-sensing imagery and worked through
all basic building materials, including concrete, wood, and steel. The data
feed was then encoded back into a watchable color image, and downloaded onto
the Internet and into television channel servers all over the world.

Each A10 member looked around the
huge hall for cameras, for journalists, for any sign of the press. None were
visible. The contents of the meeting were supposed to be highly secretive and
confidential. Jethro smiled, shaking his head, briefly chuckling at how naïve
they were. Super-apes, he thought to himself.

Then he turned ghostly serious.

“Countries of the world and
politicians who lead them, you have stated your terms for the surrender of
Transhumania. As leader and founder of my nation, I have come here to tell you
that we firmly decline your offer.

“You have stated that if we do not
surrender, then you will use military power to accomplish your goals and
declare a state of war against us. We accept your declaration of war. I hereby
make it official: We are now at war.

“With that, I have come here to
accept your unconditional surrender, of all your nations and governments as a
whole, without any bloodshed. If you do not accept, then my country will
forcefully take over your nations and transform them into a greater
Transhumania. We have the technology and weaponry to do so, and if you don’t
believe it, you soon will—by your blood, fear, and suffering, as well as your
worldwide humiliation.

“We will begin by destroying every
major religious symbol and every major political institution on Earth. If you
force us, we will continue our plight until every one of you is left homeless,
hungry, abandoned, and disgraced. Until your cities are in utter chaos. We will
shut down the world. We will halt its economies, its governments, its abilities
to enforce laws. We will send you back into the Dark Ages. If there is still
more resistance that deliberately hinders or interferes with goals of transhumanism,
we will eliminate you—each and every one of you who defies us. We will implement
a systematic humanicide.

“My country and I are after extreme
life enhancement, our own personal immortality, and in creating a far more
advanced, rational, and spectacular future for our planet. Many of you are
useless to us right now and are therefore completely dispensable. We have the
power, and we will methodically use it to destroy any force that purposely
stands in the way of our transhuman mission.”