Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Page 2
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
Looked at this way, the best science we
These students look like classic examples of
have says we simply can’t afford leadership
both. But I also know that few things in teach-
that wants to lead us galloping backward. So
ing are as rewarding as getting through to stu-
we have two basic choices: we can try to get
dents like that, and getting them to learn, per-
better leadership, or we can try to find ways
haps even excel, in spite of themselves.
to do without it.
It will be a huge challenge—but it’s one to
Some have already resigned themselves to
which all of us (or at least, all of us who actu-
the latter course. Some big tech companies,
ally know something) can contribute. How? In
for example, have started finding ways to de-
lots of ways, beginning with writing or calling
velop solutions on their own—and some of
officials (not just the president, but senators,
those companies are big enough that they just
congressmen, and so on) to tell them not only
may be able to accomplish something. Some
what they need to do, but why. With luck and
scientists, despite their profession’s historical
persistence, maybe some of them will even
tendency to try to avoid getting involved in
gain a faint glimmering of how science works,
politics, have become much more politically
why they need things that only it can provide,
active, taking part in demonstrations and even
and why they need it now.
running for office.3
Because even if they think they don’t, we do,
But those efforts, though admirable and
and they were hired to work for us. If enough
worthy of support, look uncomfortably like
of us tell them, in enough different ways,
mere drops in a proverbial bucket. Even if a
maybe eventually they’ll begin to realize there’s
few companies and scientists-turned-politi-
something there that they need to learn.
cians can make some difference, how much
Back in 1995, astronomer and science popu-
more could they do if they had the support of
larizer Carl Sagan wrote4: “Science is more
a federal government that understood the im-
than a body of knowledge; it is a way of think-
portance of what they’re trying to do—and at
ing. I have a foreboding of an America in my
least the rudiments of how it works? Especial-
children’s or grandchildren’s time—when the
ly if that government could also, by example
United States is a service and information econ-
and diplomacy, inspire others to do likewise.
omy; when nearly all the key manufacturing in-
So whatever else we may get at the grass-
dustries have slipped away to other countries;
roots level, we really need more informed and
when awesome technological powers are in
rational leadership at the national level. How
the hands of a very few, and no one represent-
can we get it? We don’t have another chance
ing the public interest can even grasp the is-
to elect it for four years (okay, two, at the
sues; when the people have lost the ability to
House of Representatives level), so the only
set their own agendas or knowledgeably ques-
option I see in the shorter term is this: we
tion those in authority; when, clutching our
who do understand the importance and
crystals and nervously consulting our horo-
methodology of science must educate the
scopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable
leaders we have.
to distinguish between what feels good and
I know it’s quite a challenge; some would
what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing,
say that “long shot” is putting it mildly. But
back into superstition and darkness.”
that doesn’t mean we can’t or shouldn’t make
I’m sorry Carl is no longer with us, but I’m
the effort. As a former teacher myself, I know
glad I don’t have to tell him that in a mere
all too well that some students can be difficult
twenty years we have reached the depths he
to reach and resistant to learning what they
feared. We don’t have to stay here indefinitely,
need—especially those who think they al-
but it’s going to take a lot of effort, by a lot of
ready know it all, or think they don’t need it.
people, to climb back out. ■
3
See, for example, “For Scientists, a Political Test,” by Amy Harmon and Henry Fountain, in The New York Times, February 7, 2017, p. D1. Also, as a personal aside, I note that while scientists have often tried to stay out of politics, there have been conspicuous exceptions. E.g., I knew quite a few science professors who actively protested the Vietnam War until we finally got out of it.
4
In his book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1st ed.), New York: Random House.
EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGE
7
The
Quantum
Magician
Part I
Derek Künsken
Chapter One
and landings speared the gallery. The paint-
elisarius Arjona was perhaps the only
ings, sculptures, and silent films set in bricked
con man who drew parallels between
alcoves had to be appreciated across a three-
his confidence schemes and the quan-
meter gap between the edges of the stairs and
Btum world. Ask a question about fre- the wall. Belisarius was curating the first exquency, and the electron appeared to be a
position of Puppet art ever permitted by the
wave. Ask a question about momentum, and
Federation of Puppet Theocracies. Smell,
the electron appeared to be a particle. A gang-
lighting, and sound invoked the aesthetic of
ster looking to muscle in on a real estate scam
the Puppet religious experience. Far above,
would find sellers in distress. A mark looking
near the entrance to the galler y, a whip
to cash in on a crooked f ight would f ind a
snapped arhythmically.
f ighter ready to take a fall. Nature fed an ob-
“I like Puppet art,” he said.
server the clues needed to turn the quantum
“So when you’re rich, buy more.”
world into something real. Belisarius fed his
“You don’t get to buy art from prison.”
marks the clues they needed to turn their
“We’re not going to get caught,” she said.
greed into expensive mistakes. And some-
“Don’t lose your nerve. If it works here, it will
times he did so at gunpoint. To be precise, the
work in my casinos.”
muzzle of Evelyn Powell’s pistol rested on her
Powell was a beefy casino boss from Port
knees as she talked to him.
Barcelona. She’d crossed the embargo around
“Why the long face, Arjona?” she asked.
the dwa
rf planet Oler to see if the news of
“No long face,” he said sullenly.
Belisarius’ miracle making the rounds in crim-
“I’m going to make you really rich. You
inal circles was true. She tapped the nose of
won’t need to scrape by with this freak
the pistol against her knee, drawing his eyes
show,” she said, waving her hand expansively.
with the movement.
They sat in the gloom at the bottom of the
“But you haven’t been totally honest with
cylinder of glazed brick that was his gallery of
me yet, Arjona. I’m still not convinced you re-
Puppet art. A column supporting spiral stairs
ally hacked a Fortuna AI. I’ve seen people try.
8
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
I’m paying people to try. What are the odds
“So what’s a super-smart Homo quantus
that you, by yourself, surrounded by Puppets
doing in the sweaty armpit of civilization?”
all the way out here, got it?”
“I reacted badly to the medications that let
He let her stew in the conviction of what
the Homo quantus see quantum things,” he
she’d just said for two breaths—8.1 seconds.
said. “They kicked me out. The Banks didn’t
Then, he lowered his eyes, matching her ex-
want to pay for a dud.”
pectations, buying him another second of her
“Ha!” she said. “Duds. I hear you. Damn
patience.
Banks.”
“No one can hack a Fortuna AI,” he admit-
Belisarius was good at lying. He had a per-
ted. “And I didn’t either. I broke into a security
fect memory, and every Homo quantus had
graft and snuck in a tiny bit of code. I couldn’t
to be able to run multiple lines of thought at
make it big, or the rest of the AI would notice,
once. Most of the time it didn’t matter which
but this tiny change added a factor into its sta-
one was true, as long as they didn’t get mixed
tistical expectations.”
up.
Powell was calculating behind her stare: the
“Let’s get this done,” he said f inally, point-
odds of this being the secret to beating the
ing at the pills in her palm.
Fortuna AI, the number of casinos vulnerable
“You wouldn’t be trying to poison your
to this modified graft, and what Belisarius had
new partner, would you?” she said, grinning.
changed to crack the graft.
Behind the grin was something very hard.
Statistical expectations were the core of the
“Get interferon from your own sources if
Fortuna AI. Technology had leapt so far past
you want,” he said.
games of chance that any casino could rip off
She shook her head and popped the two
its patrons pretty easily. For that matter, any
pills. “My augments wouldn’t let me die of a
patron could cheat an unprotected casino.
fever.”
The presence of a Fortuna AI was the seal of
That was probably true. His brain began
approval on any casino. In conjunction with
running dosage and toxicity calculations, ac-
an advanced surveillance system, the AI moni-
counting for the abilities of black-market aug-
tored ultrasonic, light, radio, IR, UV, and x-ray
ments like the ones she was probably
emissions. It also calculated odds and winning
carrying. He let one part of his brain keep it-
streaks in real time. For the clients, it was
self busy with those calculations. He wasn’t
proof the games were fair. For the casinos, it
jealous of her ability to fight a fever, but those
was protection against cheaters.
kinds of augments wouldn’t work in him any-
“The security grafts are unhackable too,”
way.
Powell said. “I’ve got people working on
Powell’s fever would start very quickly. He’d
them.”
explained the scam to her three times, so she
“Not if the code-breaker is fast enough to in-
should understand it by now. Powell running
tercept the patch during transmission, and the
two degrees of fever wouldn’t trigger casino
change is small enough,” Belisarius said.
security, but that difference would activate
The Fortuna AI was “unhackable,” in the
the statistical algorithms in the security patch.
sense that Powell meant. All AIs were, be-
The Fortuna AI would expect her to win
cause they were grown. They could only be
more, and so when she did, no alarms would
evolved, or patched with small grafts.
go off. That was what had brought her all the
Powell considered him for a while.
way to the Puppet Free City.
“My people are close, but we don’t have a
“Come on,” she said, her breath fogging the
system to go with it yet,” she said. “Using
air. “Your gallery is creeping me out.”
body temperature is ingenious.”
They walked up the helical stairs, past the
A whip sounded far up the gallery again. A
eerie displays that were so good at attracting
recorded Puppet moan of religious ecstasy
the pattern-seeking portions of Belisarius’ en-
echoed softly.
gineered brain without triggering deeper
“My people say you’re pretty smart,” she
mathematical reactions. Complicated conf i-
said, “that you’re one of those Homo quan-
dence schemes did the same thing.
tus. Is that right?”
The street was colder. They had a 9.6 min-
“You’ve got good sources,” he said.
ute walk, long enough for Powell’s fever to
THE QUANTUM MAGICIAN, PART I
9
ANALOG
rise. The decor became slightly cheerier as
blers could collude with casino owners.
they went. The Puppet Free City was a warren
Cheaters invented new cheats. That made the
of subsurface caves dug into the icy crust of
Fortuna AI critical. Without the trust created
Oler. Some were bricked. Some were bare ice,
by Fortuna’s inviolability, the honest money
stained with the remains of food or drink.
didn’t flow.
Many of the tunnels were poorly lit, with
Powell shouldered past him. He followed
lumpy garbage frozen to the streets.
her to the craps table. The boxman was one of
The Free City liked its gambling, from holes
their plants, as was the stickman. Powell and
in the wall and street craps to places that actu-
he had secretly met them yesterday in the
ally called themselves casinos. Blackmore’s
gallery. Powell waited her turn to make her
was the only one with a Fortuna AI, so it at-
pass line bet and held out the dice to him. He
tracted the well-heeled gamblers and kept its
rolled his eyes and blew. She smiled with her
icy streets
relatively clean and garishly lit.
big, flushed cheeks, and rolled a seven for her
Belisarius liked the way the lurid greens and
come out roll. That was the easy part.
soft blues mixed and ref lected off ever y
Three other players made their pass lines
smooth patch of ice.
and picked their service bets. The stickman
Along the sides of abandoned apartments
put Powell’s service bet of a hundred Congre-
and shops, rows of mendicant Puppets stood
gate francs on cornrows and moved a new set
in rudely constructed Toy Boxes and fake
of dice to her. The dice were of Belisarius’ de-
Cages, with their hands out. They looked like
sign. They contained embedded liquid-phase
humans descended from pale Old European
nano components. The transparent liquid in-
families, shrunken to half-size. One emaciated
side the dice underwent a conformational
Puppet woman had even set herself up at a
change with small changes in heat, weighing
folding table with a real Cream-Puff pastry,
down the single-pip side. The dice had been
long since dried to wrinkles. Belisarius threw
under the hot white light near the boxman,
her a few steel coins. Powell made a face at
and were now in Powell’s fever-hot hands.
him and kicked the folding table onto the Pup-
Powell rolled a pair of sixes and the watch-
pet woman, who yelled a stream of f ilth at
ers cheered.
them.
The next player took the dice with cold fin-
“Shouldn’t she be thanking me?” Powell guf-
gers and fogged the air with her breath for
fawed.
luck. Sevens. She was out. The next rolled
“That’s not how Puppets work.”
craps with a three, and the watchers cheered.
“You got no sense of humor, Arjona,” she
The last rolled a hard ten and was out.
said as they approached the entrance to Black-
Powell f lexed her f ingers, then held them
more’s. Human security were scanning pa-
under her armpits. She jerked her chin to the
trons with wands, giving the casino a grasping
stickman to keep her bet on cornrows, and
touch of class over automated scanning.
twitched her f ingers for the dice. The stick-
“Loosen up.”
man slid them back. She held them between
The scan took 9.9 seconds, an eternity for
her hot hands for long seconds, closing her
his brain. He played with parallels and pat-