Chapter 20
"The patch will modify the source code that currently prevents him from executing a solution," Janison said. He stood before a virtual control panel as his hands skillfully reconfigured an array of files projected between him and Muzar's sedate body.
"What do you mean by prevents him?" Antone asked suspiciously.
"Our unique information theory, the primary reason the project has been so successful to date, is what has enabled Muzar to run his own show since the beginning," Stalling explained. "The code base, while complex in design and execution, are the simple laws the user must abide by. Governed only by this broad sequence of instructions, the results are only limited by Muzar's imagination."
"The results go beyond the imagination, Muzar's soul is the ultimate influence," Janison added as streams of code scrolled down the three remaining open files.
"True," Stalling agreed. "The imagination is what we have been able to quantify and reengineer into the Auranet, link visor and the entrainment platform. But it is the quantified experiences of the soul that we covet most and now look to salvage."
"So what went wrong?" Antone asked the room.
Janison, his back to the rest of them, fought the impulse to reply while Jennifer, standing to the left of Antone, looked to Stalling standing to his right. After a long pause, Stalling replied. "I overestimated the durability of his soul. We knew there was part of him that would be stretched thin," Stalling said, locking his sight onto the server tower on their right, "but…well the assumption was that it would persevere, no matter what the circumstances."
"And it didn't," Antone concluded as he studied the same tower, wondering what could possible cause a soul to break. "So, it is this tainted portion causing the systematic breakdown of the rest," gesturing with a nod to the tower behind Muzar and the one to their left.
"Essentially," Stalling said
"And we have no cure for this virus?"
"The cure must come from him. More specifically, we are assuming he has already identified the cure. We are simply allowing him to alter those laws so that he may activate it," Janison stated matter-of-fact.
"Why can't we just isolate the problem and fix it ourselves?"
"We could study the data for a lifetime and still be nowhere near to understanding why the problem occurred, much less know how to solve it." Stalling answered.
"I am confused. My understanding, confirmed by you only a second ago, is that the data gleamed from the project over the past decade has enabled everything to this point. Now you are telling me we no longer have control over it?"
"The information we have garnered is but a thimble full of what the project has produced, it is the tangible data the source code is designed to identify and extrapolate. The rest is...beyond our conception. Our ability to both comprehend and deliver it to the world lies with him."
Janison closed out the last window as Stalling finished his statement and stepped back to join his friends to gaze upon Muzar.
"It is done." Janison stated.
"What now?" Antone asked.
"We wait. If our theory is correct, Muzar will return to us in moments."
"And then what?"
Janison paused and turned to Stalling. Preparing for what came next, Stalling’s attention centered on Muzar, leaving Jennifer to reply. "Then we give ourselves unto him. Muzar is the key to unlocking the door to our ultimate reality. The only reality that matters."
Known Afterlife (The Provider Trilogy: Volume I) Page 41