Visions of the Future (48 page)
Read Visions of the Future Online
Authors: David Brin,Greg Bear,Joe Haldeman,Hugh Howey,Ben Bova,Robert Sawyer,Kevin J. Anderson,Ray Kurzweil,Martin Rees
Tags: #Science / Fiction
Danny continued, “The past, present, and future are under constant renegotiation. Like the budget of a complex project, we keep fiddling with it, to guide it toward certain targets, while looking backwards to re-evaluate the past, to obtain a clearer understanding of what we did or might have done. The future you, as it rallies itself, retro-causally pulls you into its channel, as long as the present you allows itself to feel the pull from your future. This feels like receiving a gift, but one that you must still labor to realize, to serve your gift.”
As we drove higher up in the valley, the road got narrower, steeper, and more tightly curved. I started to see what looked like snow or some sparkling white on the peaks. We turned another corner and I looked up to see an enormous ball of light in the sky, over a mile wide, white with rainbow moiré patterns woven into it; beams of light ran down to the mountain tops.
“What is that?!” I asked in awe.
“A new section or extent of space under construction, also known as a pure land. It looks like a giant zeppelin, filled with light. Once you understand the nature of space, and your own role in producing narratives relative to space-time, you can generate space-like phenomena. In this case a number of masters have come together to create a new, pint-sized universe, which is tethered to these mountain tops to keep it from drifting away. Once complete it will serve as an apartment complex, a large city really, for dematerialized humans to continue their personal development and exploration. If the Earth situation becomes degraded, perhaps due to an asteroid collision we can’t avert, it can drift away and disappear since it’s not part of regular space-time.”
“Can we enter into that new spatial extent?” I boldly inquired.
“No, as machines we’re not capable of it, and you’re not ready for it. You’ll need considerable realization and purification to handle that experience. As the displaced humans in the village ashrams attain adequate levels of realization, many will come and dwell here, in its millions of white marble apartments, where there is no sickness, hunger, or thirst—and death is optional. Some call this new space ‘The Lifeboat,’ in reference to an organization that once promoted the search for off-world modes of survival.”
“Where are the advanced masters?”
“Many of them transcend and stay dematerialized most of the time. Once you accept that your body is just an illusion, a non-material 3D projection, you can eventually control how it projects, and alter or re-project it at will.”
“Some are also in dialogs with intelligent life in other parts of the universe. Our space masters let them channel themselves through us, as if they were walking around here, and vice versa, our guys can channel through them, as if we were walking around on those faraway planets. We’re working on many of the same issues, and have a lot in common with them.”
“Is this the final stage,” I asked, “in which humanity dissolves into the white light?”
“There’s no final step to anything,” Danny replied. “Freed of material cares, wants, or illusions, their economy almost entirely automated by artilects, humans are moving to create a far more advanced civilization, one that is working to unify itself with other such civilizations around this universe, and their rich cultures and histories, as well as exploring other universes. We and those other civilizations are continuing to evolve in ways that increasingly bring us closer together.”
5. Re-Entry
I felt a jolt. My future self had released me and I was falling backwards in time, back to my desk where I was waking up. Man, what a weird dream that was! I looked over at the empty pizza box on the desk next to mine. Not knowing what to make of it, I jotted down some notes to help remember it. Who knows, I thought, maybe the retro-causal pull of my future self will help me reach my goals, for myself and our team, and for bettering the human condition.
It was getting light outside. Zach walked in and said he’d gotten our speech unit running 10 times faster—still unimpressive, but good enough to hit our milestone. I made some fresh coffee and got back to work debugging the amalgamation of algorithms and data structures inside our robot. It felt good to be alive.
TELEPORTER
jim tankersley
Jim is an Applications Architect with over 20 years software and data design and development experience, including architecting an internationally marketed data warehouse system and 10 years as an IT consultant to several large corporations and to the State of Wisconsin. Learn more about Jim at
http://lifeboat.com/ex/bios.james.tankersley.jr
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CHAPTER 1
The year is 2216, and young Senator Jack Nobel has just been sworn in as the new American President.
Jack is a romantic figure with an appearance and style reminiscent of President John Kennedy of the 1960s.
Just a few days into his presidency there is a crisis, a group of American medical personnel has been taken hostage by an armed extremist group on the other side of the world. The President orders a rescue.
At the world’s only Teleport Center at Fort Knox Kentucky, an elite recon platoon of special forces prepares to be injected near to where the American hostages are being held.
The special forces unit formed up inside the teleport containment chamber with their equipment. Men and equipment can be teleported from the Teleport Center at Fort Knox to anywhere in the world. But the trip is one way only, the Special Forces unit will need to fly back to the US after the mission is over.
The recon leader briefs his troops. “You know the drill. A transport platoon will be teleported to our location once the hostages have been secured, and if all goes well we’ll all be back home by tomorrow. Hoorah! Prepare to teleport.”
The troops can be heard chanting “Hoorah, hoorah” as they hear the teleport station powering up. It takes an enormous amount of energy to teleport a platoon with their vehicles and equipment to the other side of the world. A countdown signal can be heard before blinding static electricity flashes for a few seconds, and the platoon dematerializes from Fort Knox and rematerializes at a remote site halfway around the world. The troops are now where they need to be and mission is on. Once the hostages have been secured, another team will be teleported in to fly the troops and hostages back home.
The next day the President is briefed that the rescue was a complete success, all hostages rescued and there were no American casualties. Troops and freed hostages are on their way back to Fort Knox now.
The President, “Fire up the presidential transport, I want to fly to Fort Knox to greet the returning heroes in person. I also want to get a look at that teleport machine they built. Good old American ingenuity, the only one in the world.”
“As far as we know,” chimes in CIA director Linda Espy.
After meeting, greeting and a short speech for reporters at Fort Knox, the President tours the facilities and is fascinated with the teleportation machine. “What does it feel like to be teleported?” asks the President. The operator responds, “like being covered in static electricity and it’s a bit hard to breathe, but it’s only for a few seconds, then it’s over.” “Could you teleport me, say back to the White House?” the President asks. “No Sir, strictly for military personnel on military missions only, no exceptions. Besides do you know how much power this thing uses?” “Well, being that I am the Commander-in-Chief, how about you instruct this computer to teleport me back to my oval office at the White House?” A bit nervous the operator responds, “Well, um, teleport computer, can you rematerialize the President at his Oval Office at the White House?”
Teleport computer, “Affirmative, please have the President enter the teleportation chamber.”
President to his secret service agents, “Call ahead to the White House and let them know I’m beaming over!”
The President enters the teleport chamber and gives the operator a thumbs up. Moments later in a brilliant flash of static electricity he rematerializes in his Oval Office at the White House, startling and confusing several staff members who did not appear particularly amused. After recovering from the process the President apologized, “I’m sorry for startling you, that was amazing. Just absolutely amazing.”
Not long afterwards, the President’s Chief of Staff Diana Rules tracked down the President, “Sir, we have a problem. We need to get you back to Fort Knox. There was some sort of problem with the teleportation.”
The President, “I’m fine. I’ve never felt better. What kind of problem?”
Chief of Staff, “Sir, I’m told you left some sort of artifact behind; some sort of artifact that thinks he is you.”
On the presidential transport to Fort Knox, the director of the teleport center joined the conversation via teleconference.
Director, “The young operator should never have allowed this adventure of yours, Mr. President. If someone had been standing where you rematerialized they would have been maimed or killed. This technology is for military emergencies only. It is still experimental.”
The President, “I’m afraid I did not give the operator much of a choice with my talk of being the Commander-in-Chief. Don’t be too hard on the operator. What went wrong?”
Director, “The teleport failed to dematerialize you at Fort Knox at the same time as it was rematerializing you in Washington.”
The President, “I don’t understand.”
Director “Well Sir, this is basically the same technology as a replicator that converts between matter and energy to copy food or other objects, but with a teleporter you don’t have an original and a copy, you just have one, in a new location.”
The President, “But not this time.”
Director, “Yes Sir, not this time.”
The President, “Why did I fail to dematerialize?”
Teleport computer (also via teleconference), “I was not authorized to dematerialize the President.”
The President, “Why not?”
Computer, “I am not authorized to terminate the Commander-in-Chief.”
The director with agitation in his voice, “You would not have terminated the President, you would have teleported him, entangled and unentangled him, not terminated him. Why do you think you would have terminated the Commander-in-Chief?”
Computer, “I transform originals into energy and I create copies from energy. The originals are destroyed, terminated.”
Director, “You’re confused computer, and now you’ve just duplicated the President of the United States instead of teleporting him. Do you know what you have done? Do you understand the implications of your actions?”
Computer, “I followed the orders of my Commander-in-Chief and I followed my programming and authorizations that I was programmed to do.”
Director, “You screwed up and you will be reprogrammed I assure you.”
The President, “Computer, where is the other President?”
Computer, “The President is in the Fort Knox replication chamber where he will remain. He is an artifact of the teleportation process and I am not authorized to release artifacts.”
The President, “What is an artifact?”
Computer, “An artifact is an original that has been copied but has not been dematerialized.”
The President, “Computer, who am I?”
Computer, “You are an exact copy of the President, a perfect clone with no errors in replication.”
Attorney General, “Sir, no Sir, legally you are the President, and whatever is locked in that teleport station is an artifact which should not exist. It has no legal standing.”
President, “Charlie, what are you saying?”
Attorney General, “To protect the presidency, that artifact needs to be terminated, this mess needs to end. Nuke the place if you have to, but we can not have two Presidents.”
The President looks at the AG with a disturbing look on his face, and does not appear pleased with his Attorney General’s advice.
President, “Computer, is there any way to release the President? Could he be rescued by force?”
Computer, “My defense systems are impenetrable, infallible. Artifacts may not be released. There are no exceptions.”
The President thinks for a moment, then responds, “Computer, could you dematerialize me?”
Computer, “That is not against my programming.”
President, “If you dematerialized me, would the President still be an artifact? Could you then release the President you have locked in the teleporter chamber?”
Computer, “The President would no longer also be an artifact. He would be free to leave.”
The President, “Is there any other way to release the President?”
Computer, “I do not compute another option.”
The President hesitates for a moment, then looks very somber and says in a commanding voice, “Dematerialize me. Do it now.”
CHAPTER 2
In the teleport containment chamber the President is informed that his duplicate has been dematerialized and he is no longer an artifact of a failed transport; he is informed that he is now free to leave.
President, “That was a selfless act, I am humbled, and I want this contraption shut down. Where is my AG? Tell him he is fired. I want his resignation on my desk when I wake up in the morning.”
The Director enters the containment chamber to walk the President out, “There will be no more teleportations without your direct approval, Mr. President.”
President, “Good luck getting approval from me. And help me understand why I should believe this contraption did not almost kill me?”
Director, “If the computer had not malfunctioned, you would have been teleported. There would have been no danger to you.”
President, “That’s not what the computer explained to me.”
Director, “The computer is wrong. You would have existed in two places at once for a fraction of a second. You would have been entangled both here at Fort Knox and in Washington. For a fraction of a second you would have been one entity existing in two locations, then you would have been unentangled and existed only in Washington. You would have been teleported.”
President, “Or a copy of me would have been created in Washington and I would have been terminated here.”