The Immortality Code

by Douglas E. Richards

  “Of course,” replied Aronson, properly chastised.

  “One more quick question before you continue,” said Allie. “Tom also told us you tried to obtain perfect encryption using quantum methods, but that this didn’t pan out the way theory suggested it would. Is that true?”

  Aronson sighed. “Yes. Another one of the few accurate things he said. I only wish it wasn’t. But he lied about most of what he told you. Events are out of order, didn’t happen at all, or have been grotesquely twisted. So rather than try to compare my version—the truth—to his version, I’ll just tell you what happened. If something troubles you because it doesn’t line up with his version, I can address any concerns or questions you have.”

  “Sounds fair,” said Reed, and Allie nodded beside him.

  “This means that for the few instances Tom was telling the truth, I’ll be covering the same ground again. Apologies for the duplication.”

  Reed smiled. “Duplication does seem to be the theme of the day,” he said. “But no need to apologize. I’m having you repeat the entire story you already told me. And even if you cover something Hoyer told us, your perspective on it will be different.”

  Allie nodded. “Not to mention that these are events that will undoubtedly change the course of human destiny,” she said. “So if this information isn’t worth hearing twice, nothing is.” She nodded. “So go ahead.”

  “About three and a half years ago,” began Aronson, “experiments I was conducting in quantum entanglement and FTL communication kept showing anomalous readings. But in a very specific way, pointing unambiguously to a signal originating a few hundred feet below the Adriatic Sea. And no matter how I shook the compass, so to speak, it always pointed to the same place. In my view, this indicated that something at this precise location was attempting instantaneous communication using quantum entanglement.” He shook his head, remembering. “I was absolutely stunned.”

  “I’ll bet,” said Reed. “Sort of like Alexander Graham Bell putting the finishing touches on the world’s first and only phone . . . and then getting an incoming call.”

  Aronson’s eyes widened.

  “You don’t like the analogy?” said Reed.

  “No. I love the analogy. It’s spot on. But it’s also the exact same one you made the first time I went over this. Almost word for word. Maybe Tom was right. Either there is no such thing as a soul, and consciousness is just an emergent property of complexity. Or you’re still able to channel your old soul. I mean, you’re still you enough to think the same thoughts, even though your recent experiences were quite different than those of your original. My guess is that I could have said what I just said to a thousand people, and this analogy wouldn’t have sprung up in any of their heads.”

  “It sure didn’t in mine,” said Allie.

  “Exactly,” said Aronson excitedly. “But it did in Zach’s—twice. It occurs to me that we still have our original conversation recorded on his phone. When we’re finished, it might be an interesting experiment to listen to the recording and compare his reactions now, to his reactions then.”

  “Good thought,” said Reed. “But there’s one problem. I had already been digested and reborn when we spoke. So this only compares the reactions of two copies of me to each other.”

  Aronson frowned. “You’re right, of course. Too bad.”

  “Even so,” said Allie, “experiments like these—conducted in a more controlled manner—could go a long way toward settling the debate about the human-ness of a duplicate. If a duplicate is identical, not only in structure, but in its every reaction and behavior, it gets harder to argue that it isn’t the same as the original.”

  “But you’d expect minor variations no matter what, wouldn’t you?” said Aronson, as his powerful intellect seized on this thought and raced ahead. “It’s been theorized that the mind has a quantum nature. I know you believe this is the case yourself, Allie. Since the quantum world acts in a statistical manner, this would introduce a small degree of randomness to our thoughts. So responses given by an original and a duplicate would inevitably vary on occasion.”

  “And if they didn’t,” said Allie excitedly, taking the baton and running with it, “that would be profound. And horrifying. It would be an indication that free will is an illusion. That our responses are out of our control. Present a certain stimulus and we react the same way every time.”

  “Which would also mean—”

  “You two do know this isn’t an academic symposium, right?” interrupted Reed. “Wow. Is this what it’s like getting two genius physicists in the same room? I’m just as fascinated by the possibilities as you are, and I know it’s relevant to our current situation.” He turned to Aronson. “But why don’t we get through your version of events first.”

  “Sorry about that,” said Aronson. “But as you’ll see as we proceed, the discussion of souls, consciousness, and so on is more than just relevant. It’s going to become the fundamental question. And once I’ve convinced you I’m not the bad guy, I can’t wait to spend more time with Allie.”

  “Yeah, you and me both,” said Reed with the hint of a smile. “So, Bryce, you were saying that you detected a signal in the Adriatic Sea.”

  “Right. Tom Hoyer was my superior within ET Ops at the time, so I informed him of this discovery. He was intrigued, but suggested we keep this hush-hush until we had time to check it out. No use getting everyone at ET Ops excited over a false alarm. So he arranged for an expedition, and we managed to retrieve the nanites.”

  Reed nodded. The fact that these microscopic dynamos had been discovered in the Adriatic Sea tracked with what Hoyer had told them, but the rest diverged. Hoyer had said Aronson had taken a vacation and mounted the expedition on his own. The version they were now hearing seemed more likely.

  “Does that mean the nanites were visible?” asked Allie.

  “Fortunately, yes. But we had no idea what they were. They generated a signal. When we took them back to the States, the signal moved with them. But other than that, they were as inert as a block of lead. Trillions upon trillions of microscopic particles that didn’t do anything, and that we couldn’t learn anything about, no matter what electron or scanning tunneling microscope we used.”

  “Which in itself is pretty stunning,” said Allie.

  “True. And that wasn’t lost on us, either. So Hoyer set up a lab for me. Again, he convinced me to keep this secret for a while longer while we explored what we had. I trusted him, and he was as persuasive as only a high-functioning psychopath can be. So I agreed to keep it a skunk-works project until we learned more.”

  He paused. “And I got nowhere,” he continued. “Long story short, I continued working on perfecting my FTL communication theory and resulting tech. I had solved how to receive signals—obviously—and was just nearing the finish line on how to send them when the nanites were discovered.”

  “Let me guess,” said Reed. “Based on what Hoyer told us, when you perfected the second half of the puzzle, the nanites came to life.”

  “Exactly. They were triggered when I completed my quantum entanglement theories and built a working FTL communication system. One that could send information as well as receive.”

  “Hoyer told us an alien AI also came to life when the nanites were activated,” said Allie. “Is that true? And if so, is that why you’re so certain of what triggered the activation?”

  “Yes and yes,” said Aronson. “It was the most mind-blowing day of my life. I had just completed what I had thought was my life’s work. And suddenly the nanites awoke, and I had absolute proof of the existence of advanced aliens. Something that, by itself, would rock the foundations of our civilization, impacting religion, science, cosmology, and confirming we aren’t alone in the universe. And that was only the beginning.”

  “No doubt,” said Allie. “Because you were soon experiencing perfect telepathy. And then learning about perfect nanofabricators. Nanites that mostly exist in higher dimensions, making use of s
cience that’s many thousands of years more advanced than our own.”

  “That sums it up nicely,” said Aronson. “But there’s still more. Much more. Because the AI also gave me an abbreviated backstory on the origins of the species that created the nanites. And why the nanites are here.”

  Reed’s eyes widened. This was historic. To not only know that an advanced alien species existed, but to learn something of their motivations.

  “The species responsible,” said Aronson, “originated thirty-three thousand light years away from us. On the second planet from their sun, a red dwarf.”

  “How is that different from our sun?” asked Reed.

  “Ours is a yellow dwarf. A red dwarf is smaller and less hot.”

  Reed nodded.

  “Anyway,” continued Aronson, “this species first achieved sentience over one hundred thirty million years ago.”

  Reed whistled. “I can see why they might be a little ahead of us in the science department. What do they call themselves?”

  “It doesn’t translate into English. I decided to call them the Ions. An acronym I found amusing.”

  “Ions,” repeated Allie, deep in thought. She smiled. “Does that stand for Inventor of Nanites?”

  “Outstanding,” said Aronson. “That was quick.”

  “Great name,” said Allie. “A lot better name than Nanite Inventors, which would have been the Ni.”

  “You two are killing me,” said Reed, rolling his eyes. “I’m not sure if I should be delighted that you seem to be on the same wavelength, or terrified.” He paused. “So what more did you learn about these . . . Ions,” he added.

  “A fair amount. At least big-picture stuff. About six hundred thousand years after their species first arose, they invented their namesake technology. And then they began to think big.”

  “How big?” said Allie.

  “They had their nanites construct small interstellar craft by the hundreds of billions,” replied Aronson. “Consuming entire gas giants for the raw materials. That big.”

  Reed drew back. “Gas giants like the planet Jupiter?” he said in disbelief.

  “That’s right. Planets so big you can fit many hundreds of Earths inside. Engineering and construction on an unimaginable scale. So epic, they had to consume these planets in nearby solar systems, dead solar systems. Why? Because the gravity of these planets is so great, doing so in their own backyard would have altered the orbit of their home planet.”

  Aronson paused while his small audience pondered the enormity of the Ions’ project.

  “How could they possibly need billions of interstellar vehicles?” asked Reed.

  “The vehicles weren’t for the Ions themselves. Each was loaded with a nanite cargo. Many times the number of nanites needed to support a distributed intelligence. So that even a subset could generate the AI function that came to life in my lab. Ultimately, these craft landed on every moon and every planet in the Milky Way galaxy. Every single one. ”

  “Extraordinary,” said Reed.

  “More than extraordinary,” said Allie. “Now that’s what I call an ambitious species. On a cosmic scale.”

  “You have no idea,” said Aronson with an awestruck expression. “Because that was just the beginning.”

  51

  Allie found herself spellbound, hanging on Aronson’s every word. She just hoped everything he was saying turned out to be true. His story felt right, felt true, but how many times did she have to be fooled before admitting she couldn’t see the wolf in sheep’s clothing?

  “To continue,” said Aronson, “while the Ions perfected instantaneous communication, they never did learn how to travel faster than light. So their ships plodded along at sub-light speeds. But after a few hundred thousand years, their ships eventually blanketed the entire galaxy. When the resident AI on a given ship detected a planet with sentient life, it would land and observe surreptitiously. Or it would land and introduce the new species to the Ions, depending on how advanced the species was.

  “When a ship came to planets or moons without life, or with life that wasn’t sentient, it would land in an inconspicuous place and send back data. Geologic characteristics, analysis of planetary life forms found, the potential for sentience, that sort of thing.”

  Reed nodded slowly. “When you say the ships landed in inconspicuous places, you mean like deep under the Adriatic Sea.”

  “That’s right. The nanites would land and immediately digest the interstellar ships that had carried them. Then they would—”

  “Wait a minute,” said Allie. “Why digest the ships?”

  “So less advanced civilizations couldn’t find them, reverse engineer them, and jump ahead of where they should be technologically. After disposing of the ship, the nanites’ job would be to transmit data back to the Ions, and carry out any orders Ion central might give them. The nanites were built and programmed to operate on geologic time. So if earthquakes or tectonic shifts made their location suddenly more conspicuous, they’d simply relocate to somewhere more off the beaten path.”

  “How long have they been here on Earth?” asked Reed.

  “A hundred twenty-nine million years,” replied Aronson. “Give or take.” He grinned. “Long enough to get a feel for the place, that’s for sure.”

  Allie smiled, and noticed that Reed was too. It was becoming obvious to her that he liked Aronson, and hoped that he turned out to be the good guy in this drama. Assuming there was a good guy. She felt the same way.

  “For about ninety million years,” continued Aronson, “the nanites hung out on Earth and sent information about our biosphere back home. But then, abruptly, thirty-nine million years ago, the nanite AI tells me that the Ions stopped responding entirely. They didn’t acknowledge receipt of reports, or issue any orders to the nanites to follow up on anything reported. After some investigation, the AI found that the entire Ion species had simply vanished.”

  “Without saying goodbye?” said Reed.

  “That’s right. They were simply gone. The nanite AI surmises that they had achieved a higher level of being. Perhaps they learned how to exist as pure energy. Perhaps they became trans-dimensional beings. But whatever they achieved, they are no longer responding.”

  “Fascinating,” said Allie in awe.

  Aronson smiled. “And yet I haven’t even gotten to the most important, mind-blowing part. Because for the Ions, getting their ETs to phone home wasn’t the only goal of their ridiculously ambitious project. It was the least of their goals, in fact.”

  He paused for effect. “Their true goal was to spread their civilization far and wide throughout the galaxy.”

  Reed tilted his head in confusion. “Spread their civilization how?” he said. “By giving the gift of nanites to the galaxy? By using them to make first contact with other species?”

  “I should have phrased that better,” said Aronson. “When I said spread their civilization, I should have said spread themselves. Because their plan was nothing short of using their nanites as advanced scouts, as terraformers, and then as conduits for instantaneous travel to new planets.”

  “You’re going to need to unpack that,” said Reed.

  “Happily,” said Aronson. “Think about it. Why send nanites throughout the galaxy as opposed to just sentries? Why not just send specialized data collectors?”

  He paused. “Because the nanites’ real mission was to pave the way for Ion colonization. If the nanites landed on a planet with life, it was off limits. They would send back data only. But if they landed on a lifeless planet, one in the right Goldilocks orbital zone for their species, the Ions could colonize.

  “The steps would be as follows. A nanite ship lands on a dead planet and sends this information back to Ion-kind. The Ions decide the planet’s orbit and climate are suitable for their needs and send FTL instructions back to the nanites to terraform it. Or Ion-form it. To turn it into the Ion’s version of the Garden of Eden. To replicate in vast numbers and then transform the pla
net’s terrain, water content, atmosphere, vegetation, everything. In fact, if the Ions wanted to, they could turn any dead planet into a precise duplicate of the surface of the planet on which they originated.”

  Allie’s expression had changed from stunned to even more stunned. “Of course,” she whispered in awe. “It makes perfect sense.”

  “The rest is obvious,” said Aronson. “When the planet is ready for habitation, any group of Ions who have interest can populate it with their duplicates. And they don’t have to have their original selves melted down to do it, the way Tom did. They’re able to have trillions of nanites take a complete scan of them. Collect data on the composition and location of every atom. In a way that isn’t the least bit damaging. This allows them to obtain the same information our nanites on Earth get from complete dissolution of the object to be copied. They transmit the information instantaneously to the nanites on the planet to be colonized, and exact copies of the colonists are created. The duplicates have the same minds, the same memories, as the originals. To them, it seems as if they’ve simply been teleported to the new planet.”

  Reed nodded slowly. “Hoyer said the same thing. When he was reborn here seconds after being digested in Nevada.”

  “Exactly. This is the same, except without the need to be digested. And with destinations that could be tens of thousands of light years away.”

  “Incredible,” whispered Allie. “And I thought they were ambitious before. I don’t even have the words.”

  “How many planets did they end up colonizing?” asked Reed.

  “Millions,” replied Aronson. “They spread out across the galaxy at the same rate as their ships.”

  Allie’s eyes widened. “So when you said the Ion species vanished, did you mean vanished from the entire galaxy? From every single planet?”

  “That’s right. All the planets they colonized have been vacant now for many millions of years. It’s easy to see why the AI believes they must have crossed into a new plane of existence. Nothing else could account for a disappearance of this magnitude.”