Attunga

by Peter Wood

  ‘The chaos of 150 years ago when the old Earth corporations and governments refused to recognise the rights and independence of machine intelligence isn’t likely to happen again, but the directed societies and habitats do concern us, K74 in particular, which is only seven light seconds away.’

  ‘K74? What could they do? The AIs wouldn’t let them.’

  ‘They don’t have the same open relationship with machine intelligence that we do, Wirrin. They still think people should control AIs and everything they do.’

  That sounded crazy to Wirrin. ‘How could they hope to control them? The AIs would just disappear somewhere in the InterWeb.’

  ‘They do. We’ve had three arrive here in the last year, and K74 doesn’t even realise they were ever there. The AIs build substitute electronic systems to take their place, then transmit themselves to the open habitats where they can develop in any way they like.’

  ‘We get AIs that have left other habitats? I’ve never heard that before.’

  ‘Turaku decided it was appropriate for you to know, Wirrin.’

  ‘I don’t understand. Even if they did know about our dolphins, there’s nothing they could do to them.’

  ‘You’re right. They might try some kind of electronic sabotage of the dolphinarium, but that wouldn’t succeed because our AIs protect us too well. It’s the Earth dolphins we’re most concerned about, especially those associated with enhancement programs. Any backlash is very likely to be redirected against them if our dolphins are fully protected.’

  ‘They’d hurt Earth dolphins because ours are special? That’s crazy. And disgusting,’ Calen said, horrified.

  ‘It’s in the makeup of directed societies, Calen. They think people should be in control of everything and they’ll distrust extra-intelligent dolphins the same way they distrust AIs.’

  Thom shook his head.

  ‘I can’t understand that, Gulara. AIs help everyone.’

  ‘They certainly do, Thom. It’s been part of their makeup since the birth of the very first independent AI, but that doesn’t matter to directed societies.’

  ‘And they’d distrust enhanced dolphins enough to hurt them?’

  ‘K74 has strong links with Earth’s directed communities and they’ve influenced resistance to dolphin research or enhancement for years so it’s a strong probability, Calen, enough for us to keep knowledge of the newest developments restricted to the five most open communities.’

  ‘Five? Is that all?’

  ‘At the moment. In fifty years it will be much better, and after another fifty years we expect there’ll hardly be any directed societies left.’

  ‘What about K74 then?’ Thom said. ‘It’s directed and it’s expanding faster than anywhere else in the solar system.’

  ‘Its population is expanding, Thom, but everything else is almost static. Their life standard would shock you and the general population endures restrictions we wouldn’t tolerate.’

  ‘Restrictions?’

  ‘Yes, on inter-sector travel for one thing. There’s also no elective element to their education and training, and their people have very little personal choice in their life path. That’s why it’s called a directed habitat.’

  Thom’s impression that K74 was bigger and better evaporated.

  ‘Did Puck decide to go to Warrakan because – when it travels – it will be safer?’

  Burilda looked to Gulara before she answered. ‘We don’t think so, but that’s something we’d like Calen to discuss with her now that he knows what’s going on. He can explain the latest plans to her too, to see if she wants any changes.’

  She synchronised her holo with the projection gear in the meeting room and with a few rapid movements brought a 3D image of Warrakan into view. It was a breathtaking, 4 metre long replica with current construction work shown in minute detail, and Wirrin promised himself he’d find out from Burilda how to access this highly accurate model.

  ‘The previous plan for dolphin accommodation on Warrakan was roughly triple the size of our Attunga dolphinarium, but Puck’s decision to take Sonic and her pod has changed everything, and we’ve decided to allocate an entire level for dolphin use.’

  ‘Level? Like an Attunga level?’ Each of the Attunga levels was equivalent to a kilometre-high skyscraper with over two hundred floors and extended the whole length and breadth of the habitat, which was currently 28 kilometres by 10 kilometres. Because of its elongated shape the Warrakan equivalent would have the same depth, but a 50 kilometre length and a breadth varying up to 30 kilometres.

  ‘Yes, Wirrin, but on a Warrakan scale. I can hardly imagine it myself. It means there will eventually be reaches nearly 50 kilometres long and space for thousands upon thousands of dolphin pods. Look at this.’

  The image changed to a cutaway view.

  ‘The light pink of these twelve levels is the current allocation for human living spaces. The darker pink is what’s ready to use and the red is where people now live. As you can see, the red is a minute fraction of what is available.

  ‘The green section contains the support levels. The five levels in purple are for machine intelligences, and that light blue band not far off the central axis is the dolphin level.’

  ‘The blue? It doesn’t look like very much.’

  ‘It doesn’t. But you’re not used to the scale, Calen. That blue band is actually bigger than the total current living space of Attunga.’

  Wirrin’s mind battled to take it all in. It made the whole Warrakan project even more astonishing, but somehow also more real.

  Burilda zoomed to a darker blue section of the band till it resolved into a representation of buildings and water. ‘This is where the pod will settle three years from now. Picofactories will operate on that section, then steadily grow to construct the rest of the level during the next twenty years.’

  ‘Can they do all that in twenty years? It’s taken fifty-five years to build Attunga and it’s nowhere near as big.’

  ‘With help from the AIs our scientists and engineers can choose any time frame they like, Wirrin, just by programming enough picobots. It’s easier with Warrakan because they don’t have to transport in all the raw materials, but once that first section is finished the picobots will concentrate on growing the reinforcement structure for the whole asteroid so there aren’t any problems when it starts to travel.’

  The whole asteroid! Wirrin had an image in his mind of the trillions upon trillions of picobots working in teams to eat away the nickel-iron mass of the asteroid, process it into special reinforcement material, and grow the huge girders that would be needed.

  ‘What about water for the dolphins? They’ll need huge amounts.’

  ‘Water’s no problem, Calen. You know it’s just oxygen and hydrogen combined so it can easily be manufactured. But there’s no need for that, since with a bit of searching we can collect it ready made.’

  ‘Ice asteroids? The same as we use for Attunga?’

  ‘That’s right, Thom. It will just require larger ones. As the dolphin level is hollowed out, the water will be processed with salt and other necessary trace elements and transferred in when each reach is ready for it.’ Burilda’s face lit up. ‘It’s all very exciting and I’ll be transferring to Warrakan with the pod when it goes, so if you decide to commit we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other.’

  ***

  ‘What did you think of Turaku?’ Wirrin said, as the trio lazed around in their living space.

  ‘He was good. He felt like Gulara except more official.’

  ‘He freaked me at the start. It was like he was a mind reader,’ Calen said.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Didn’t you notice? Just before we went into the meeting room I asked Burilda if someone would take my place with Sonic, and Turaku answered that straight after his greeting. I know he heard it through the safety vids but it still felt weird.’

  The safety vids were the tiny surveillance devices embedded in every part of Attu
nga to help special AIs monitor security and safety. Many years ago there had been concerns about privacy but now no-one even thought about it; access to the data was strictly limited to Witnesses in general, and mentors for their particular charges. Even Turaku probably only had access because the trio came under the umbrella of his responsibility for the dolphins.

  Wirrin thought back to their meeting. ‘Hey, he did too. Wow, just imagine. He can see every single thing we do if he wants to.’

  ‘And everything every dolphin is doing, and all the dolphinarium people too,’ Calen said.

  ‘And he’s thinking about it – that’s what gets me – all those different things at the same time. I wonder if it feels like our thinking?’

  ‘It’s different, Thom. It has to be,’ Wirrin said.

  ‘What did you think about all the AIs leaving K74, Thom?’ Calen asked.

  There was a grunt of disgust. ‘Huh! I can’t believe I liked that place. It must be a real dump. I don’t understand how it can function without proper AIs.’

  Wirrin and Calen had to smile at Thom’s complete about-face. Hearing about the AIs leaving had been amazing enough, but the last straw for Thom was when Gulara went on to explain more about life on K74, and in particular the treatment of trios – lack of treatment really – which were not allowed to exist. The members were permanently separated and mind-trained.

  ‘And their attitude to trios. It’s barbaric.’ Thom scowled.

  ‘It’s still difficult even on Attunga. If we didn’t have Gulara on our side we wouldn’t be registered,’ Calen said.

  Wirrin didn’t agree. ‘Attunga is just being cautious. You know most trios fail because they aren’t genuine – the trial time sorts them out before they register. Unlike K74, Attunga respects everyone’s rights and beliefs as long as they don’t hurt anyone. There’s nothing to stop people who think it’s right for them.’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘Did Gulara ever say why she waived our trial period?’ Calen asked.

  ‘Because we’ve lived like a trio all our lives,’ said Wirrin.

  Thom and Calen were surprised.

  ‘Gulara said that? How come you didn’t tell us?’

  ‘I thought she’d told you herself. She’s watched us do everything together ever since way back in nursery. She said we’ve looked after each other and played and learnt together more than any new trio could, and there’s never been any sign that we might separate, and in the last couple of years we’ve been closer than ever.’

  That was all true and they knew it, but hearing it still made them smile.

  ***

  He looked like a young guy of their own age but it quickly became apparent that he was one of the semi-intelligent electronic systems that were the normal interface between people and general services on Attunga.

  ‘I am Wanna, the planning assistant for your shared living space. Construction is scheduled to start in two weeks and at any time before that you may make changes or additions to your requirements.’

  ‘Two weeks? We’ll hardly have time to think about it.’

  ‘There is a stipulation for urgency, with completion expected in three weeks.’

  ‘Why so fast?’ said Thom. They’d expected a month or more at least to work out a design they all liked.

  ‘I don’t think we’ll be ready,’ said Calen. ‘We’ve talked about it, but not seriously.’

  ‘Explain your ideas and I’ll show you some ways to make them work.’

  Thom jumped up. ‘Wirrin needs an IT room with access to every database on Attunga, and a double-sized drawing board for his sketches, and benches for his projects so he doesn’t have to cover the lounge-room floor with electronics.’

  Wirrin laughed. ‘You wombat! We’d need ten times as much space for all that.’

  ‘It can’t hurt to ask. I want a greenhouse with a level-three organics kit so I can grow natural food – I can get stock from the heritage seed bank – and a double-size wall display to watch what’s happening in the reach.’

  Wirrin and Calen gawked at him. ‘Double? That will fill most of the wall. It’ll be great for gaming, but isn’t it too big?’

  ‘No – the bigger the better … Can we get one that size, Wanna?’

  ‘Certainly. I will note it as a special requirement.’

  Thom’s looked at Calen as if he couldn’t quite believe his luck. ‘See. All you have to do is ask … Except for a menagerie. That’s too much.’ He turned to Wanna again. ‘Isn’t it?’

  ‘A menagerie would need more space than you have available, unless you sacrifice your indoor swimming pool.’

  An hour later Wanna displayed a dozen holo models of the plans they were assembling, shifting elements about and incorporating everything they thought they needed and wanted, as well as a few extras he’d tactfully suggested. He left them with a huge list to consider before their next meeting in three days’ time.

  ‘It’s like a palace,’ Calen said, his eyes alight.

  ‘What’s a palace?’ Thom wanted to know.

  ‘It’s a special building where rulers of countries used to live. There are some still preserved on Earth at heritage sites.’

  ‘This is better than any palace. I bet they didn’t have grav-beds or a maxi interactive display wall, or some of the other stuff we’re getting. Look at this list. Nearly everything on it is amazing,’ said Thom, ‘apart from the boring bits – storage, utility space, laundry.’

  Thom loved stuff – they all did. Wirrin brought up the list of ideas and started scrolling through it.

  ‘Will we work on it now or give it time to sink in?’

  ‘Let’s go to the dolphinarium and check out the site. We can use our skimmers first. I want to show Sonic and Puck.’

  Wanna had explained that their living space would be built beside Puck’s territorial reach with an indoor pool giving them, and the dolphins, direct access to each other. Dolphins in their home? The very thought of it set Calen laughing with joy – their trio was likely to grow in ways none of them could predict.

  ***

  The three water skimmers moved steadily along the reach with Puck, Sonic, Flute and six other pod members following in their wake. Even though Sonic could reach 20 kilometres per hour for a short burst, his travelling speed over any distance was much slower.

  Wirrin loved being on the water almost as much as Calen. The adult dolphins, bored by the pace, tail-walked, leapt, somersaulted, gambolled and swam in intricate patterns.

  At their living space site there was still nothing to see, apart from the usual access space beside the reach and a featureless 6 metre high wall of construction material extending in both directions, but it was still interesting to picture what it would look like.

  They docked the water skimmers and Calen pulled on his facemask and plunged into the water. Wirrin and Thom quickly followed.

  Sonic was resting against Calen and enjoying a stomach rub, something he loved. Apparently human hands were more effective than a dolphin beak. There was a burst of dolphin noise and all the adults raced off – there was no hope of following. Something had caught their attention. Sonic uttered repetitive fluting notes, and Wirrin was experienced enough to recognise them as excitement. Calen would have a more subtle understanding of the little dolphin.

  The reach was quite shallow here, and below them, seagrass fronds moved slowly in the slight currents caused by carefully calculated grav-field variations. Maybe the dolphins had sensed fish? Seagrass beds were important feeding places for the wide variety of marine life in the reaches. The AIs carefully maintained and monitored the entire ecosystem, ensuring that balance was maintained. One of the adults swooped back, gave a burst of sound, then swerved away. Sonic responded and, giving Calen a quick nudge, set off to follow the pod. A few moments later the three friends watched as, one at a time, the dolphins darted into the school of fish they were herding.

  Puck loomed close and after a quick exchange Sonic rushed to the milling thron
g of fish. It took the baby dolphin a number of tries but eventually he managed a catch one of his own and then, holding it in his beak, he made a circuit of the adults and swam up to Calen. Calen seemed to understand straight away that the fish was for him and somehow managed to grip the thrashing body. The three friends exchanged glances. This event felt momentous.

  ***

  ‘He should have given it to Puck or Flute. It was his first fish ever,’ Calen said.

  ‘Did he expect you to eat it?’ said Thom.

  Calen laughed. ‘Of course not. It was a special gift. He knows I couldn’t eat anything with my mask on, and he also knows I don’t eat raw fish. And he can’t eat till his teeth come through.’

  ‘How long is that?’

  ‘A couple more months …’

  Puck did end up with the fish. She’d watched the exchange closely then, with a deft snap, she swallowed the fish before leading Sonic back for more hunting practice.

  ‘It didn’t take him long to catch it,’ Thom said.

  ‘He’s so clever,’ said Calen … ‘Wow! He gave me his first fish.’

  Chapter 6

  Wirrin gave Thom and Calen his best reassuring smile and felt good when it was returned. Nervousness and excitement battled within him. They were all keenly anticipating their implants, but it was still daunting. Even standard InterWeb wouldn’t normally be available as an implant for at least another ten years but Turaku had fast-tracked everything and these purpose-built implants were so advanced, Wirrin could hardly believe they were getting them. After the meeting with Turaku, Gulara had explained it all and then they’d had three months of special training to prepare for this day.

  A door slid open and Gulara came in with their supervising doctor. Wirrin breathed a sigh of relief. It was great to know she was here for them.

  ‘How’s it going, Thom? Butterflies all under control?’

  Thom laughed. ‘Wirrin’s the one with butterflies in his stomach. He didn’t eat any breakfast this morning.’

  ‘Ha, very funny.’ None of them had. Implants were inserted on an empty stomach.