Crisis Memes 10 & 11

10 - Thu 07 Aug 2256 13:05

The library smelled musty, stale and damp.

Real books really stink, thought Harry.

The beam from his wind-up torch passed along the titles of the volumes stacked along the shelves until he found a hardback edition of one of his favourite stories. Opening it carefully he discovered it had been printed in the late twentieth century – over two hundred years ago.

Carefully flipping through the pages he stopped randomly and read a scene that he knew by heart, though despite the fustiness of the paper it now seemed somehow fresh and new. That you could find passages without entering any search criteria gave them an element of surprise, in fact it was almost shocking, the way the story arbitrarily leapt off the page at you. Rows and rows of solid unchanging fixed-font words; paragraphs that did not automatically re-size themselves to suit the screen width - and pictures – pictures that you had to look at closely to see the details rather than just zooming in!

Lost in the magic, Harry did not notice Selena beside him until she spoke.

“I have come to update you on the whereabouts of your sister,” she said at a low volume, respecting the printed instructions on the library door.

“What? Amber? I didn’t know she was lost.”

“She isn’t. She is in the Navigation Room, assisting with some astronomy work. This was an unexpected outcome, and I anticipated that it would be useful for you to know the facts.”

“Oh, yeah, well, thanks, Selena. I wasn’t worried about her. She’s a pain when she’s bored, so it’s good she found something to do.”

The android made no move to leave.

“I was um, looking for something to read,” Harry said. “Well obviously, since I’m in the library. I can’t find anything new though – just fantasy stuff that I’ve read before.”

“I have access to the complete inventory list,” Selena stated. “If you could give me some selection criteria I could make a suggestion.”

“OK. But you know, I kind of like the idea of something unexpected. Can you chose something I’d probably like, but isn’t so popular? Something a bit different?”

Activating the LED lights dangling from her ears, Selena moved off to the corner of the room, and reaching up onto the top shelf, she pulled down a small paperback volume. She returned and handed it to Harry. In the torchlight he read the title: ‘Dynamic Social Evolution’.

“Your request was difficult to translate. This is not a work of fiction. Your personal profile indicates an underlying interest in human behaviour and development. This book contains information on those subjects. I estimate that you will find it appealing, educational and enlightening, and I recommend that you read it.”

Harry caught the faintest whiff of an unfamiliar aroma, but paid little attention to it. After spending several weeks with barely adequate emergency lighting he had begun to notice that his sense of smell and hearing had sharpened to an almost annoying degree.

“Have you read it?” he asked turning the textbook over to look at the back cover.

“I am familiar with its content and there are similar concepts in my core memory. They assist with my understanding of the motives and drives underlying human behaviour. The manufacturers of advanced AI units always equip their products with this type of knowledge. It helps us to interact with humans in an acceptable and non-threatening way, and enables us to impart information in an appropriate format.”

He read out the books contents page. “Survival, Tribal, Warlords, Cities, Industrial States, Corporate Planets…”

“The theory suggests that when mankind’s physical evolution reached a certain level they began to ascend through a series of cultural structures that brought us to our current technological peak. Each stage contains a stable period where the world conditions match the needs and expectations of the people. In earlier times it was possible to find all levels on the Earth, but gradually it has become a standardized Corporate Planet. Though that state does not meet everyone’s requirements and expectations”

“So people like us who want to live a simpler life, say Tribal, we have to go a settlement world where people live in small groups without technology.”

“Correct. Organisations like History Planet provide Settlers with a home world maintained at a certain level of Social Evolution, and then earn revenues from bringing tourists to observe you.”

Harry looked at the book again. There seem to be other levels after Corporate Planets.”

“It is an old book. It was once believed that Social Evolution would continue on to theoretical higher levels, but this has not happened. Most now believe that Corporate Worlds are the most complex structures that human minds can comprehend, and that a new phase of physical evolution has to take place before any further advances will occur. Others say that this will not happen because the forces of Natural Selection have ceased to operate. Science makes the weak equal to the strong. Random mutations do not give any advantage over normality.”

Harry’s interest was aroused, but he needed time to digest these new thoughts.

“So are you satisfied with my selection?” asked Selena.

“Hmm, yeah, OK, I’ll give it a go. I might take this novel as well though.”

Selena moved closer, illuminating the books illustrated cover. “I am familiar with this work also. It describes a great quest, which takes place in an imaginary world populated with mortal heroes and mythical beings such as elves and goblins. If the quest is successful then the whole world will move into a new age. The protagonists are guided by a Wizard – a wise being, who foresees the greater possibilities and opportunities that the new age will bring, though he knows it will also be a transition that will render his own role obsolete.”

Harry nodded. He hadn’t thought about the book in quite those terms before. “I like the bit where the horse riders charge the giant elephants and save the city,” he said, and then felt somehow foolish and embarrassed.

“You may get some interesting insights if you read the text-book first.”

Harry continued to nod in agreement, keeping his eyes on the novel. His throat had become dry. Visually, Selena was indistinguishable from a young human woman. She was not beautiful - transport ship androids never were - but she was pleasantly attractive, and was now well inside Harry’s personal space, which was closer than robots generally approached.

“I can spend some time helping you to understand it, if you find it difficult,” she said softly.

Again he detected the faintest of smells. Did robots wear perfume, he thought?

“Great, yeah, that would be really - really, err, helpful,” he managed to say.

“I have some duties to complete,” she said. “But I can meet you tomorrow at 1pm. Is your watch working?”

“No - it’s been dead since the systems failed.”

“Here,” she said, handing him a small device. “This shows the time. You can also page me if you press this button here. I’ll come to your new accommodation.”

“New accommodation? You mean on Deck 10?”

“No, your family is being relocated again to a safer part of the ship. There may be further disturbances. I suggest you return to your temporary quarters and help your mother to pack. I’ll know where to find you.” She was even closer now, almost touching him and looking into his eyes. “See you later, Harry,” she said, and smiled.

Since when did robots smile? Harry thought, as he watched her walk away.

11 - Thu 07 Aug 2256 18:10

“We managed to retrieve a star-map from the archives,” said Kuo. “The star’s name is OGLE-2003-BLG-235L. It’s listed as a red-dwarf star with one massive gas giant planet, orbiting at about the same distance as Jupiter. It was discovered in the early twenty-first century using a technique called ‘Microlensing’.”

“I’ve heard of that,” said Amber. “You have to find two stars that are aligned. The gravitational field of the foreground star acts as a sort of lens, which magnifies the light of the background star. The amount of magnification and light fluctuation gives you information about the foreground star.”

“Very good. You paid attention in school I see.”

“How far away is it?”

“In astrological terms, we’re in its back yard, less than one light day away. But that’s still about ten billion miles – almost three times as far away as Pluto is from Sol. The star isn’t quite what we expected. An error in the records perhaps. It hasn’t been re-analysed for decades. It’s bigger and brighter than the old data suggests. It’s almost as massive as Sol, slightly cooler, but still warm enough to support recognisable life.”

“And the gas giant – it may have moons?”

“Yes, probably, although it’s on the far side of the star from us at the moment. But we have even better news. From this distance we have detected small rocky planets in the inner system – at least one Earth like.”

“Great!” Amber swallowed her disappointment at not being the one who had discovered the planet.

“We’d like your ideas about a name for it, in return for your help today.”

“I’ve already thought of one,” said Amber.