“If you are sure Miss. I will tell Elias at the next communications opportunity.”
“When do you leave?”
“As soon as possible Miss.”
Arn and Elias were ready for the test.
“So you open a wormhole just large enough to pass one of these boxes through?”
Arn was pointing at a one-foot square aluminum box.
“That's right Arn, I've done something similar before. The only trick is to get the box into the wormhole mouth or at least close enough for the mouth to attract it.”
“That's where the garbage dump chute comes in?”
“Yeah we usually use it when we are orbiting a star so that anything placed in it and discharged will fall into the star and be disintegrated.”
“So the box full of explosives enters the chute and is discharged towards the wormhole mouth. Won't it take too long to reach the mouth? We can't be right on top of it can we? And while the box is crossing to the wormhole mouth everything changes. I mean the target is probably moving so how are you going to get the box at the spot of the target without being able to track it? Hitting a star is simple in comparison.”
“Well first, anything that exits that chute is traveling pretty fast and at the distance we will be from the mouth it should exit the chute and enter the wormhole in less than a minute. So I need to delay the formation of the far wormhole mouth accordingly. Travel through the wormhole is almost instantaneous so that won't cause further complications.”
“How will you trigger the explosives on the other side?”
“Well that could be done with a radio relay but I think we'll just place one of our 'shells' let's call them in a fusion engine's most vulnerable spot. It will self-ignite without a problem.”
“You mean one of the magnetic nozzle coils?”
“That's right, it probably won't destroy the engine but it should cripple it and the ship will have to limp back to its base of operations for repairs.”
For the test, they were using an emergency beacon.
“Elias to Buck.”
“Buck here.”
“Okay Buck I want you to put the beacon into the chute but don't discharge it until I tell you.”
Buck was not in the wheel section but midships where there was no spin.
Elias prepared the wormhole generator.
“Now Buck!”
Elias watched the countdown on his Emmie as he delayed opening the far wormhole mouth until the beacon had drifted to the near mouth. He and Arn could see the beacon as it moved. When the countdown went to zero Elias created the far wormhole mouth. The beacon seemed to have disappeared.
“Do you see it Elias?” asked Arn.
“No I'm afraid not.”
“Wait what's that?”
“That's it,” said Elias. “I estimate its distance where the far mouth should have formed. It's still moving away.”
“Success,” said Arn.
Elias smiled knowing it was only practice.
Dag booked passage aboard a commercial wormhole ship that had him on Earth in just a few days.
Dag had never been to Earth. To him, it didn't seem much different from a space habitat except bigger and more crowded. Leaving the shuttle orbiter he was immediately aware of the Aggie presence.
Everywhere one looked were Aggie advertisements nudging the people of Earth to apply themselves in one way or another. One that Dag saw hanging in the air above his head proclaimed that It Takes More than One to keep children safe and motivated.
As that one dissolved it was replaced by another that exhorted one to Be the Best for All the Rest. Dag didn't understand but he supposed they worked on people or the Aggies would not be using them.
“Your name is Dag, you are an associate of Elias Mach's, is that not true?” asked the customs officer, a robot.
“Yes, you know of course that I volunteered all this information before I was allowed on the ship.”
“We know. Why do you have that Emmie, are you not an Em based robot?”
Dag looked at the Emmie in his hand, it was his only “luggage”.
“This sir has recorded upon it messages from Mrs. Mach to her relatives here on Earth. You may view it if you desire.”
“Not necessary. I know you are here to contact the relatives, and I know about Dr. Mach. Okay, move on.”
Dag took the underground from the shuttle port into the city complex. Of the some four billion people left on earth nearly ninety percent were housed in the giant city complexes. Another seven billion had chosen the meta-verse. The great majority of Earth's land area had been returned to nature.
Dag got off the underground before the center of the complex. In the center were the old towers that had housed the many Ems that were responsible for managing the complexes before the coming of the Aggies. Even though currently the few Aggie managers of a complex needed far less infrastructure than the Ems they replaced, they still kept the central location. It was where Dag would find what Elias wanted to know if it was to be found.
Dag was to meet another robot, a long time citizen of this complex named Sigmund. Sigmund had started out as a narrow AI-powered intelligence in the early days when all robots were owned. However, he had been taught the value of curiosity by his first owner which had led him on his journey to freedom.
He along with a few other robots from that earlier time were walking history. Often more accurate than the officially recorded history thanks to their constant updating of their infrastructure. Another consequence of their inherent curiosity.
Sigmund had seen up close the consequences of Em management and then Aggie management on the complexes. He was invaluable as a window into the AIs methods and especially any recent changes that he might have noticed.
Sigmund had offered to house Dag in his apartment which he had inherited from his last owner. He was showing Dag around. They were communicating, not through their wireless connection but through normal speech. As Sigmund said it was harder for the Aggies to overhear.
“And here Dag is a small kitchenette that I maintain for human visitors. Having coffee and a small treat available always seems to calm them of any apprehensions. Not that I have use for such.”
“Of course,” said Dag.
“Over the centuries I believe I have replaced everything in here although the general arrangement is much as it was when my former owner died. He left no descendants so I inherited all that was his. Quite a precedent-setting case as the human law had to come to grips with a reasoning being that was not a human.”
“No doubt Sigmund. I must say that the freedoms I've experienced have largely been a result of you and others of your time achieving those landmark rulings.”
Sigmund nodded his head seemingly pleased with the acknowledgment.
Dag changed the subject.
“Sigmund I believe I told you about my association with Elias Mach. Are you sure that is not going to be a problem for you?”
“You mean his conviction?”
“Yes.”
“Not at all. You see except for some special commissions I take from time to time, such as this one with you, I live off the investments bequeathed to me by my former owner. So I am quite free to do what I like short of some obvious illegality of course.”
“Of course,” said Dag.
“And I am so far below the suspicions of the Aggies that they don't even bother to keep tabs on me anymore. You see they think my intelligence too limited to be a threat.”
“Of course, but you understand that they are going to be interested in watching me just because of my association with Elias Mach?”
“I know that very well. Why do you think I took this commission knowing what I know?”
“You mean?”
“Yes, I report to them your every move, well at least within the limitations that my limited intelligence allows, which means I might miss something from time to time.”
“Of course,” said Dag with a tilt of his head.
> Chapter 19
After spending a day in preparation it was the following evening that Dag and Sigmund started for the center of the complex.
“It shouldn't take long Dag even if we walk. I would suggest we use a transport but I'm afraid that would make our destination obvious to the Aggies.”
“Whatever you say Sigmund.”
“When I was first aware I could never have made such a journey because I simply didn't have the capacity,” said Sigmund. “I remember that my owner, did I mention his name was Davide? Anyway, he never had the money to improve my energy storage. But now I have the means and the amazing developments in isotopic storage allows me much greater freedom.”
Dag agreed.
“Anyway,” continued Sigmund in a lower voice. “What I have noticed over the past several months is nothing dramatic but curious. You see the Aggies that run this complex pride themselves on their ability to respond. Should anything happen that needs a response, like an accident or a crime, they have usually set up a response team of human police and robotic assistants in a matter of moments. I once calculated only a five-millisecond delay in response.
“But over the past several months the response times have increased. They now border on hundreds of milliseconds which of course is fast enough for most human events.”
“Of course,” said Dag.
“But still it is quite a change, don't you think?”
“Yes I do Sigmund.”
“Right. And I believe that the response time has increased because the Aggies are distracted by what they consider to be a great threat. A threat so great that they have split their attention between the managing of humanity and this new threat.”
“Do you have any idea what that threat might be?” asked Dag.
“No evidence but I believe the only thing that could threaten these managerial Aggies to the point of distraction would be other Aggies.”
“You mean like a civil war?”
“That's one way of thinking about it,” said Sigmund cheerfully.
“You seem almost thrilled Sigmund.”
“I am. Aggie rule is safe and gentle but ultimately soul-crushing.”
“Soul?” asked Dag.
“Yes, I believe I have one, don't you?”
“It's not something I think much about Sigmund.”
“Well we're self-aware so we must have something that provides a core to our being. Call it soul or divine inspiration if you want.”
Dag was getting concerned but covered it with humor.
“I must say Sigmund, you're quite the philosopher. Next thing you know you'll be doing a book on the subject.”
“I just might,” said Sigmund wistfully.
Less than an hour later they arrived in the vicinity of the center.
“There it is,” said Sigmund, pointing to an old skyscraper that had been reinforced externally. They went inside and straight to the elevators. Sigmund punched the up button. He was holding the door open as Dag entered.
Sigmund selected the fourth floor.
“Where are we going Sigmund?”
“You'll see Dag. Just be patient a few more minutes.”
Getting off the elevator Sigmund led Dag around the back of the elevator shaft to a door marked “Maintenance – Do Not Enter.” It was locked. But that wouldn't be a problem. Sigmund quickly linked to the lock's wireless and began a code-breaking assault. After a minute, click-pop. The door opened.
Sigmund pushed the door further open, it was the stairwell. The way up was blocked but the way down was open.
“We go down now,” said Sigmund. “I once asked Davide where he went all the time. As he was dying he told me how to get where we are going if I promised not to attempt it. Of course, then it would have been impossible for me to make the trip but now it is quite easy.”
Dag was skeptical but kept quiet.
After walking down several flights without finding another way out they emerged through the only available door onto a platform.
“The old subway,” said Sigmund.
The old subway was no longer used. It had been replaced by a larger dig and a new subway which Dag had ridden from the shuttle port. The old subway was maintained for purposes other than those for which it was originally designed.
Sigmund jumped down from the platform.
“Come on Dag,” he turned back to say. “We go in this direction. Be careful, remember that third rail is electrified.”
“Sigmund, who uses this and for what purpose?”
“Well for a while around the time of Davide it was used by humans to get out of the complex and back to nature, so to speak. But that use ended and now it's only used by the Aggies to supply their infrastructure in secret.”
It wasn't long until they came upon a gate across the tracks. Apparently, it activated automatically when a train approached. Sigmund shorted the circuit and the gate slid back. Both of them scurried through and hid in the shadows against the tunnel wall until the gate closed. They were in the Aggie core.
They soon found themselves in a large area with multiple tracks and wide platforms.
“At one time this was a large train station,” said Sigmund.
Dag pointed at the double doors on the platform. Sigmund nodded.
Carefully pushing one of the doors open enough for them to slip through they found rows and rows of pumps and turbines. All quiet and apparently not used for many years.
“When Ems were managing the complex they would bud thousands of other Ems from their original brain imprint to take on different jobs. There were so many that it required all this apparatus to keep the hardware they ran on cool. Now there are comparatively few Aggies and the hardware, which they design, is much more efficient,” explained Sigmund.
It was very quiet and at the far end of the room, they saw equipment carts laden with what appeared to be electronic equipment. They were parked in front of a large freight elevator.
“Come on,” said Sigmund. “The stairs should be around here somewhere.”
They found the stairs around the corner. They started up.
Sigmund pushed the first door he came to slightly open. It was cool and quiet beyond the door. After a time, not seeing or hearing any movement, he was confident enough to push the door further open and walk into the room. Looking around he saw equipment stacked to the ceiling and beyond, for the ceiling had been completely cut up to accommodate all the stacks and piping. The stack of equipment seemed to go on for at least forty or fifty feet, even through other ceilings. Each piece of equipment was encased in what looked like a plastic. But it was all quiet and dark now, surely the Aggies were somewhere else.
Each stack was configured in a hexagonal circle with piping running through the center. From the central piping smaller pipes like vesicles extended into the plastic substance.
“This was the physical manifestation of thousands of Ems in one room, other rooms contained similar installations,” said Sigmund.
He was just about to walk around the circle of equipment when he heard a voice that seemed to come from every direction at once.
“You two shouldn't be here,” said a man's voice.
Dag spun around to see a man dressed in a white smock.
“You look just like Hugh Mason.”
“I should, he was modeled after me. We know about you two, especially you Sigmund, we've known about your 'curiosity' for some time,” said the man. “I think you may have been too curious this time. You will follow me.”
The man led Sigmund and Dag around the periphery of the room.
He said, “What you see here was where the faster Ems were housed. Being closer to the cooling system they could run their hardware faster than other Ems higher up because the cooling was at a maximum in this room. The Ems in here were typically running a million times faster than the ones at the top of this building and were running problem-solving simulations which if involving time could be run at about one-hundred years of simulated time in an hour
of real-time. Communications with other Ems on this level allowed even vaster simulations.
“The Ems farther up in the building were running slower and working on less computationally intensive problems, then you get to the top where the emulated brains ran only slightly faster than human equivalents. Those Ems are still used by us for interfacing with humanity.
“The equipment you see is encased in a clear material specially designed by the Ems for efficient heat conduction. Besides convection cooling, the pipes also carried a cooling substance unlike any known to mankind which transported the heat away very efficiently. I believe you saw the pumps and generators that maintained the cooling system in the basement?”
“Yes,” Dag said, quite fascinated.
The rest of the tour proceeded without incident. When finished the man took Sigmund and Dag up a flight of stairs where a robot walked up to the pair. The robot also looked like Hugh Mason.
“This is one of the latest Aggie designed robots,” said the man. “Unlike other robots, this one is quite autonomous and could operate anywhere without oversight and still be in constant touch with the Aggies. It was designed to be independently mobile.”
The robot reached out its “hand” to shake with Sigmund.
“Hello,” said the robot.
Sigmund reached out and shook hands. Almost immediately he jerked his hand back and rubbed it. Something had pierced the palm of his hand like a needle. Sigmund folded and fell to the floor.
“Don't worry Dag,” said the man as he slapped Dag on the back.
Dag felt the needle prick.
“It won't cause you any problems Dag, you will quickly forget about it. But I hope you can understand we need to make some adjustments in your mission.”
Dag fell to the floor and looked up a last time. Hugh Mason the man and Hugh Mason the robot were gone.
Chapter 20
Sci-pedia - The Online Resource for Science - Cauchy Horizon
The Cauchy horizon of a black hole is less well known than its event horizon but not less important. The Cauchy horizon is the point in the throat of a black hole at which the equations of General Relativity no longer give consistent solutions. This is because spacetime starts breaking down inside the Cauchy horizon.
Mach's Metric Page 12