Limitless: Book IV: The Settlement Chronicals Page 5

  Moore laughed, “I suppose we could expect quite a discount.”

  Andrea looked confused for a moment, then smiled, “of course; I’m sure a very big discount would be provided for such an unusual circumstance.”

  Then, turning, “in this wing we also have athletic facilities, and for those residents who choose not to prepare their meals in their apartments a large dining room plus two luxury restaurants. We require all customers in stage one to leave their private worlds for their meals and other physical needs, but aside from that they are free to live their lives as their avatars. We also have numerous shops providing nearly anything one could wish, and provide transportation to major shopping or entertainment facilities at no extra cost.”

  The tour of stage one was cursory, a walk through the common facilities and the smallest and largest of the apartments, all of which contained a hospital type bed with the necessary attachments to the virtual network as well as normal sleeping arrangement.

  When they were through with stage one Andrea led them through the main lobby of the building to a door on the other side. Entering they found themselves in an office area where several desks were occupied by Androids sitting silently as if asleep.

  “Here customers are interviewed to determine what type of world they desire, the place they choose to take in that world, and what residential facilities they wish or can afford for the first stage.”

  As she led them through the area Andrea commented, “of course new customers are scarce nowadays, and as you can see most of our sales persons are inactive. We are one of the few facilities that originally took naturals only, but with their declining numbers now mostly we see clones, only a small percentage of whom can afford our facilities even with the government subsidies. Much cheaper ‘back room’ facilities are+ often all they can afford.”

  “Still, when we reach the second stage area, which is for those customers whose bodies still function properly but prefer to stay permanently in their virtual worlds, you will see all our customers are well taken care of. Currently over half our customers are in stage two.”

  Leaving the room and passing through another set of doors Andrea led them into another room filled with hundreds of beds surrounded with equipment, most of which were occupied. A number of androids moved between the beds or just stood idly nearby.

  “In this area those customers who choose to reside permanently in their virtual worlds remain until their vital organs begin to fail, at which time they are moved to the third stage; which we will visit next. In this stage nutrition and disposal of personal waste is managed automatically, so there is no need to ever leave their private worlds. But I assure you they are provided with every comfort, and if they find themselves unsatisfied with the world or role they have chosen, their minds are continually monitored and we are notified, allowing a new selection.”

  Glancing around the room, Moore asked, “are we permitted to record what we see?”

  “Certainly,” Andrea responded, “but we should stay on schedule. Although,” she added, “we can take as long as you like.”

  Lt. Yashita motioned to a member of his squad who removed a small recorder from his shirt pocket and started to record the scene.

  “I notice,” Lt. Yashita commented, “many of the beds are unoccupied; is there a reason?”

  “Yes,” Andrea smiled sadly, “as I mentioned before there are very few naturals any more, and with the declining rate of clone production due to the ‘one clone per natural’ rule stage one in some facilities is being closed with occupants transferred to another location. Also, even with the government subsidies many clones still lack the resources for a premium facility such as ours. But we expect to be one of the last to close, and all contracts will be honored; even those for perpetual care in stage five.”

  Adding, “the law requires the companies providing services to maintain such a capability; if not they may have their license revoked.”

  “But,” Andrea added, leading them back across the office area to the hallway, “we should proceed to stage three where customers are moved when their vital organs begin to fail.”

  It was several minutes before they reached the stage three area and were led in by Andrea. It was considerably smaller than the stage two area, but here the majority of the beds were occupied and the number of android attendants was both larger and appeared busier.

  “Now,” Andrea said, “here we find customers whose vital organs, such as the heart, kidneys, or lungs have failed, but their brain remains active. As you see, more equipment is involved with each customer, such as state of the art artificial kidneys and hearts. With advances available a customer can be maintained here for many decades; some up to 100 years or more. Again, as with stage two, each customer retains the ability to change his world or role as he or she chooses. If you would care to circulate about the room and examine the customers feel free.”

  Moore glanced over at Lt. Yashita motioning him to accompany him and slowly moved from table to table, examining the occupants. Most appeared aged, many perhaps in their 80s or 90s at least, but a few were of middle age. After several minutes of wandering from bed to bed the two returned to where Andrea and the soldiers waited.

  “If you’re satisfied with what you see here, we can go on to stage four,” Andrea said, “there you will find those customers where so many functions have failed that it is pointless to keep the body alive, and the brains ‘thinking’ functions are maintained externally. Of course,” she added, “there is no need to maintain motor functions once the body is replaced, but all thought and memories, and the full virtual world, are still fully maintained. In this stage all aspects of human thought and reasoning remain intact.”

  The fourth stage area differed from the second and third in that it lacked beds, and contained rows of tables with a sealed liquid filled container for the brain connected by multiple tubes a nearby equipment bank. Sickened by the sight, Moore and the others had seen almost enough.”

  Moore asked, “what happens when the brain begins to fail?”

  Andrea smiled and commented, “that depends. Since government subsidies for clones are provided only through stage three, few progress to stage four; for which subsidies remain for naturals. But for both classes, for those unable to afford the premium package, when the brain fails it is disposed of; with all due ceremony I assure you. For our premium customers the memories are transferred to permanent storage, allowing them to live indefinitely. Or, as Monica probably mentioned before, for the ‘eternal life’ option transferred to an android body.”

  “While not allowed at present because of government regulations, we also have the capability of transferring the memories to a clone, giving even more meaning to the term ‘eternal life’,” Andrea added, “but currently while some attempts have been made to remove the restriction, it is still in place.”

  Adding, with a look of pride, “our facility is large enough that we have a server and control computer of our own; which is true of very few of our competitors. That allows storage of all patient memories on-site, as well as distributed throughout the network. The advantage is, of course, faster retrieval, although the network is always there in case of the unlikely event of a failure.”

  Andrea said proudly, “the premium customers who move on to stage five can live on in their own worlds forever without even knowing their bodies and physical brains have been retired.” Adding, “that stage isn’t part of the tour, since all you would see is some equipment. And, for the eternal life program, the android bodies return to stage one or two; depending on which they prefer.”

  “But only those customers you refer to as ‘premium’, which I presume are those that pay a generous fee, progress on to stage five,” Moore asked?

  Andrea nodded, “well, mostly. A selected group of outstanding naturals who can’t afford the fee, and a few outstanding individuals from the ‘clone’ class, also move on without charge, but that is subject to government selection. It has been deemed impor
tant that the best of human minds be maintained indefinitely.”

  “However,” she added, “whether indigent or not, all naturals are entitled to the first four stages. For normal clones regulations only require we accept all applicants that can afford the cost and provide for them through stage three, with the government covering 50% of the cost through stage three. For indigent naturals the government covers all costs for ‘basic’ care from stage one through stage four. But stage five, and the ‘eternal life’ option, comes at their own expense; although there are some offsetting credits. Also special services, such as personal attendants and, for stage one, units larger than efficiency units, are at their own cost.”

  Moore motioned to Lt. Yashita to follow to where they couldn’t be overheard, and said quietly, “it’s interesting what she said about stage five. Do you suppose that means one of Carl’s nodes is actually here? In this building?”

  “Could be,” Lt. Yashita responded, “an opportunity we can’t let pass.”

  Returning to where Andrea stood, Moore smiled and said, “we would love to see your stage five. I am very interested in the latest in technology. Would that be possible?”

  Andrea appeared confused for a moment, “I’ve never been to stage five myself, and of course it would require approval. Wait just a moment.”

  Closing her eyes she remained still for about 30 seconds, then opened them and said to Moore, “I’ve been asked whether you would expect to be using all services through stage five as paying customers?”

  Moore nodded, “yes, if the facilities meet with our approval and prices fall within our budgets; which are substantial.”

  Monica smiled brightly, “then I’ve been given approval to take you there since your number is so exceptional. In fact, because of your numbers I have been authorized to offer a ‘very’ special group rate if you decide to contract for our services.”

  “Fine,” Moore responded, smiling, “we’ve seen all we need here.”

  As Andrea turned and led them toward the exit doors, Moore turned to Lt. Yashita and said in a low voice, “make sure we have a complete holographic record of everything in stage five. We may want to return later and remove the node if it truly appears to be a ‘Carl’ node or connected to his network. Particularly make sure any connections are included.”

  Lt. Yashita nodded and followed Moore and Andrea to the exit, followed by the squad of soldiers.

  It took several minutes to reach the room where the stage five equipment was located, through a set of corridors that extended below the main building, with Lt. Yashita instructing the squad member tasked with maintaining the record to record every twist and turn. Finally they reached a small subterranean room no more the ten meters to a side, against the wall of which a pair of desks jutted out with two male androids busy at holographic monitors. In the center of the room stood a platform where a small box rested. The platform itself had a set of access doors which, Moore assumed, led to any needed cabling and power sources.

  Surveying the room, Lt. Yashita indicated most of the squad should stay outside in the hallway to avoid crowding, and followed Andrea into the room, followed by Moore and the soldier with the recording equipment.

  Monica commented, “since I’ve never been here before, perhaps its best if one of the technicians describes what is here,” motioning one of the androids to join them.

  One of the androids rose and came over to greet them, “it’s a pleasure to describe what we have to such an important group. As you see,” he said, pointing to the cube on the table, “we have our own node containing all the necessary records for all our occupants, both past and present, and all the control capability needed by our facility.

  Further,” he said, “that is all backed up by the network, so if, in the unlikely event we had a local failure or disaster of some sort, it could assume full control.”

  Moore looked at the android for a moment, “is the node a part of the planetary network many refer to as Carl?”

  The android nodded, smiling, “yes, but we here don’t use that name; although I understand it is in common usage on the outside.”

  Moore glanced over at Andrea and asked, pointing to the cabinet doors, “is there any objection if we open them and see what’s underneath?”

  Monica looked over at the android technician, who only shrugged his shoulders; then smiled and nodded, “of course. Go ahead. I’ve been given no instructions except that you not handle the computer itself.”

  Moore kneeled and opened the cabinet doors and peered inside, motioning for Lt. Yashita to also look. The only content was a single small cable extending from the computer down through the floor.

  Moore stood looking thoughtfully at the box on the table, “what happens if the box is damaged or removed; as an example if the cable itself were damaged for some reason. Is anything lost?”

  The technician looked surprised at the question, “why of course not. But that could never happen; or at least has never happened except when for some reason the equipment is upgraded. But our equipment,” he added proudly, “is the latest available. If and when something better comes along the node can easily be replaced without loss of any information.”

  “Even if the network were interrupted though some natural occurrence; such as an earthquake,” Moore asked?

  “Of course. The power supply is self contained and could operate indefinitely to keep the operation going; well, maybe not forever, but for several years at least. And even with loss of that power all programs are in permanent storage, and if any data were lost it could all be recovered by a download from the network itself.”

  “But, again,” the android added, “such a thing is unthinkable with all the safeguards.”

  Moore glanced over at Lt. Yashita with a raised eyebrow, who just nodded without comment.

  Turning back to Andrea, Moore said, “I think we have seen enough, but need some time to make a decision. Perhaps we could return in a few days, maybe with an even larger group of potential customers?”

  Andrea smiled back at Moore as she started to lead them from the room, “I will see that the front desk has a package of information to take with you, including our rates; which of course will be heavily discounted.”

  Later, on the Hudson Bay . . . .

  The formal part of the meeting had ended, and most of those present had left; Admiral Sutter, General Korchev, and Ambassador Corado remained, along with Captain Fleming, the chief of fleet intelligence. Captain Fleming had just finished outlining some of the unknowns that could result if Carl’s node at the surface installation was removed. One thing was certain; whatever they chose to do they must proceed rapidly. Almost certainly Carl knew of their visit.

  Ambassador Corado just shook his head, “the stupid shits,” he commented angrily. “Transferring memories to a clone for a generation I understand; we do that ourselves for medical reasons. But providing eternal life by transference to androids? Or even to multiple generations of clones? If I was a religious man I’d call that sacrilegious.”

  Admiral Sutter just smiled, “well, some ignore the law of unintended consequence; fortunately we haven’t. I well understand your concern; if everyone lives forever, what about new generations? And, of course, even the best of us would eventually find boredom once we’d seen everything.”

  Dr. Laura Wells, head of the group that would later do the evaluation of any technology recovered, including any network node, commented during the ensuing silence, “I find it odd they haven’t discovered the same thing we have; that most of those extended lives result in suicide. Only about 60-70 percent of those entering a clone manage to avoid suicide and live out a full life. How many would make it through two or three generations?”

  After a short pause she added, “the only way to stop the suicide tendency appears to be a ‘mind wipe’ that removes all memories of past lives. But then, what’s the point? Although,” she added, “if each successive clone lived in a new and different virtual world it might change
the equation.”

  Dr. Ail Ziti, Laura’s department head, who was seated beside her, commented, “possibly, but then, once you let the camel’s nose in the door it wants the whole tent.”

  Laura laughed, glancing over, “what’s that? One of you famous Arab proverbs?”

  Dr. Ail Ziti only shrugged, “actually, I’ve never seen a camel. But if it isn’t one of their proverbs, it should be.”

  Corado chuckled, then looking serious, “I’m losing my inhibitions against wiping them all from the face of the Earth. Whoever or whatever is in charge seems to be ignoring what it means to be human.”

  Admiral Sutter looked carefully at General Korchev before asking, “do you still think it’s worth the risk to try to capture one of the network nodes? It could be a suicide mission, and will certainly warn Carl of our intent.”

  It was a moment before General Korchev broke the silence, “yes, it could; but what we hope to learn is worth the risk. Our presence here hasn’t caused any reaction, and there’s a good change removing the node won’t either; and even if it does we can’t just sit here in orbit doing nothing.”

  “What we do know is that eventually ‘all’ nodes in the network will have to be destroyed, and best we learn early what opposition we might have. It may even turn out the node contains the location of other parts of the network which could save us months, if not years, of looking.”

  “And,” he added, “we may also find the network isn’t fully distributed but has a controlling intelligence as well. That could alter how we proceed.”

  Turning to Captain Fleming, “are you sure the node can be removed without losing its content? It sounds like the connecting cable would have to be cut; the photographs show no physical connector but a hard connection.”