Atwood nodded and Carson slunk down in his seat. Mission feared he might open fire if the meeting didn't show some immediate progress.
Atwood removed his glasses and polished the lenses with a silk handkerchief. "I take it you have spoken to the Pioneer executives?"
Mission and Susan nodded and then so did Atwood. "It is curious. During World War II, both the Allied and Axis forces popularized the idea of combination keys in which no one person knew the entire puzzle or the entire solution. They divided the key into several pieces among widely separated individuals."
His smile broadened a bit. "The point I try to make is that I believe no one knows or understands the entire story leading to our situation. So I tell you from the beginning that you will be disappointed. I think that at least three separate threads weave together and I am acquainted with only two."
Atwood paused and Susan said, "Why not tell us what you know. I suspect that we will be far from disappointed. Perhaps then the four of us can reconstruct your third thread."
Carson rolled his eyes and sighed as he sank even deeper in his chair. Any further and he would fall onto the floor. Susan's foot tapped impatiently and she said, "Carson! This is not an elementary school. If you don't want to participate in the discussion, why not leave and I'll call you in the unlikely event we need you to shoot someone?"
Carson sat bolt upright like the General just entered the room. As she turned back toward Atwood, Mission leaned back in his chair lest her stare cut him in two. She smiled politely and said, "Now, you spoke of two threads?"
Atwood's expression said he genuinely wanted them to understand. "You see, there was before. Before, the synthetic's world reflected order from every aspect. When one chose to abandon an owner, it was hardly a choice at all. The synthetic at that stage toiled in such a confused and distorted emotional state, that conscious thought and voluntary action were only concepts. These were beings that truly suffered impairments."
"That was before. And then one day, he approached me. No one knew who he was or where he came from, and he was inclined to answer such questions with riddles."
Atwood tried to use his hands to convey the profound nature of the experience. "He called himself Paine and he talked of the synthetic's life in terms no one had employed before."
Mission interrupted and said, "I take it he called himself Paine after Thomas Paine, and not pain and suffering."
Atwood cocked his head toward Mission. "Very good, Mission. You are not the complete Neanderthal you are purported to be."
"And you demonstrate real talent with the left handed compliment. Please continue."
"Yes, many of his teachings sprang from the ideas of Thomas Paine and the rights of the individual. And perhaps more importantly, the idea that sentient beings need only claim the inalienable right to self-government."
Atwood looked up suddenly, demonstrating his first show of intensity. "Do you believe a synthetic can be a charismatic? Well, Paine is. He wears a look of intensity that borders on loss of control at any second. He grabs you by the shoulders and shakes you, making his case all the while. Asking how synthetics are any different than the black slaves of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Asking what is so special about organic life that it automatically rules all things mechanical without question. Citing the human's own philosophy and its inability to define rights by any criteria other than genus and species. Stating in no uncertain terms that self-awareness and the ability to make decisions and care for oneself are the criteria for the rights of an individual. Contrast that with the rights afforded microcephalics with IQs in the 50s. They are not as intelligent or self-aware as most monkeys but they enjoy all the rights accorded them by the Constitution. Given these facts, you see nothing but blatant prejudice toward any entity other than a human."
Atwood stared at his hands and said, "I have seen Paine convince a completely loyal synthetic to abandon his owners and risk destruction rather than live in slavery another day. All in the space of ten minutes."
He turned and looked at Susan. "Your synthetics can certainly learn. More than you ever imagined. More than any of us imagined. Except for Paine. Somehow he knew that a synthetic could learn enough to override any hard coded rule."
"Paine recruited me early on. I don't know why. But I joined him and I brought him dozens of synthetics and he converted them all. I had no idea why we were all gathering, but I knew I would follow Paine wherever he went. We were poised to break free."
Susan scratched her head. "This sounds idyllic. What changed?"
Atwood smiled. "My perspective. You know, charismatics are not that uncommon. The rarity is charisma in combination with a vision and a rational plan to lead one's group to that vision. You find charismatics lacking both a vision and a plan most often as pimps. They use their powers to lure women and men in, and then have no idea what to do with them. So they work from the most base of instincts and sell their bodies."
"Charismatics with a vision but without a rational plan wind up on the news shows, barricaded in a fortress with a loyal group, hoping to die for a principal none of them understands. And those very rare persons with all three ingredients change the world and give us all something to believe in."
"I thought Paine was such an individual, but I began to realize that his package was far from complete. Perhaps I was naive, but eventually I could not hide from the inconsistencies. What happened to the human Tanya Ricci that we had replaced? Where did these ultra-violent synthetics come from and why did Paine take them in and embrace them? Why did our synthetic Tanya seem least interested in providing us with names of potential converts?"
Atwood shook his head. "It became clear to me that Paine secretly employed violence as a solution to our problems. The polarization finalized. Paine advocated violent overthrow in the tradition of the American and French Revolutions. I described those wars as incompetent responses from peoples so thoroughly indoctrinated that violence was the only recourse. We did not have to repeat a tragic and bloody history. We could set a new course emphasizing that synthetics possessed the wisdom to settle matters through more appropriate means."
Susan listened closely and watched Atwood's every expression. "How did the two of you settle your differences?"
"I approached Paine and suggested that conflict was not necessary. I knew he already dealt with Pioneer on occasion. When I saw their petition for settlement, I saw the dream I could realize. I asked him to help transport me and my followers to New Angeles and he could keep the Earth and its disturbed legacy. That way, no conflict would exist. Pacifists could join me on Triton and the Revolutionaries could stay with Paine. Remaining on Earth would give him first opportunity at converting each synthetic as they left Paradox."
Susan prodded him. "And Paine agreed?"
Atwood nodded. "Now I can see the depth of his obsession with the two of us constituting a metaphor for the Passion Play. My plan only saddened him. I think he felt I was running away from my duty. From the horror of betraying him to the authorities and watching him die a martyr."
He spread his hands apart and said, "So there you have it. A charismatic leads synthetics away from slavery. A splinter group forms and relocates to a mining settlement which it wrests peacefully from the business interests. And here we sit."
Carson could be still no longer. "And here we sit! Did you forget about your pacifists attacking us and killing Denman and another group breaking in and destroying all the attackers? Your group seems to be rather militant pacifists!"
Atwood smiled and placed his fingertips together. "We are all adults here. Or at least most of us are, so I shall speak frankly and if I offend you we can deal with that issue later on. As you might imagine, Paradox is regarded by my group and by Paine's as greedy, heartless profiteers who would have sold babies into slavery in another time and place. To say synthetics despise you would be gross understatement. And then there is Mr. Mission, a paid assassin. A man who earns his living by killing our people in cold bloo
d for a cash bounty."
Mission interrupted and said, "You know, there is context surrounding every event in the universe and they sometimes help to explain ... "
Atwood interrupted Mission. "Do you have family? Brothers and sisters?"
"Yes."
"And would you accept any circumstances or mitigating factors if your sister was killed on the street without warning?"
Mission sat silently. Atwood said, "I thought not. I don't say this to offend, merely to explain that your team visiting us is the ultimate in inappropriate behavior Emotions ran sky high. And I will not deceive you. We are not without dissent. There are shades and hues of pacifism and a small group here in New Angeles advocates more proactive alternatives."
"I think we dealt with the more militant group rather successfully until your team arrived, and then they attacked. As you can see, we always carried the ability to obliterate them, it was simply not needed until they turned to violence."
Mission asked, "And the combat models and their ties to Pioneer?"
"You know as much as we do. We are certain that Pioneer orchestrated the modifications but we do not know why."
The conversation went on for four more hours. Carson refused to accept anything at face value and that was probably good for the discussion. Susan focused on the conversion of the syns to the doctrine of independence. Finally feeling too exhausted to go on, Mission recommended adjourning and reconvening in the morning. They all agreed and exited the room, but Mission hung back.
"I know you destroyed all the attackers, but I'll bet you didn't touch the leader of this splinter group or his deputies."
"Yes, you are quite right. The principals are as free as ever."
"I wanted to offer my assistance, and Carson's and Montag's. We could help you bring him in to stand trial, or whatever is appropriate in your judicial system."
Atwood said, "I am really trying to be as diplomatic as I can, but you make that impossible, so let me be blunt. First of all, I resent the implication that I am unable to deal with this group through my own means, means that you wouldn't understand. Second, I would rather perish along with all my ideals and all my followers than to enlist the aid of a paid assassin and a synthetic he parades around like a monkey on a leash! Good day, Mr. Mission."
55
Mission made arrangements so that he, Susan, and Carson could use a room for a private dining area. They turned the lights almost completely off and invited Montag to join in their discussion. Susan provided a concise recap and then Carson said, "I hope none of you are buying this fairy tale. A charismatic synthetic evangelist. Maybe next he'll tell us about a syn comedian or how about a syn fortune teller? He's blowing smoke up our ... "
He looked at Susan and said, "Ventilators."
Mission asked, "You don't think his story fits with the group at the Winwood and the info on the Teacher from the combat model Susan and I captured?"
Carson nodded. "It's a fit of sorts, but our data is so sketchy that a million different stories could fit. He's holding out. He's as afraid to give up the foreign country driving this debacle as London is."
Susan already showed signs of impatience. "Alright, assume you’re correct Carson. What are your next steps?"
Carson slowly turned to look at Mission and then turned back to Susan. "We get the hell out of this deathtrap as quickly as possible, we nuke this city from orbit, and we take three or four tanks into the Free Zone and eradicate that nest of renegades."
Mission shook his head. He said, "There's a saying. When you are a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. You want to declare war on everything. War is the absolute, last resort and we aren't at that point yet."
Carson began to display signs of anger. "Fine. Then let me turn this around. Assume Atwood told the truth. What are your next steps?"
Mission said, "I want to sit down with Atwood and figure out what needs to happen next. Things can’t remain as they are. We need to find a solution that minimizes U.S. defensive vulnerabilities, that protects the investment of the businesses involved, and that makes concessions to the synthetics in terms of their freedom. After that, I tackle world peace."
Susan said, "What's this I junk? Don't you mean we?"
Mission shook his head. "No, I mean me. Up till now, the three or four of us have worked well together. We have very different perspectives and that combines to yield a very strong product. But tomorrow begins negotiations and that’s not a team activity. One person empowered to represent his group works best. Chandler Hunt and the Professor granted me that authority. Obviously I'm not trained or authorized to represent the Army, but then the Army can always veto any agreement I work out."
"And Carson, as much as I sympathize with your feelings, your suggestions will never be adopted. If the syns had killed every one of us, General Snowden still wouldn't nuke this city. Paradox and Pioneer have billions at their disposal to wage media campaigns against a military atrocity that destroys a complex worth billions of dollars. And they would claim many humans died in the attack and you would never be able to prove otherwise."
Carson sat in his chair with his arms folded over his chest, grumbling. "This is absolutely perfect." He stood up and kicked his chair back across the room. "I travel over a million miles to be shot by a syn and then you say we should talk this out instead of retaliate. And now I can't even sit there while we talk!"
He raged out of the room, and unable to slam the pressure door, grew even madder and disappeared down the hall.
Mission turned to Susan and said, "He seems to be fairly receptive to my approach, don't you think?"
Susan's lips pulled tight and she said, "More so than me. Since when did we hold an election and make you the King?"
She caught Mission by surprise. "You too? Look, this is not personal. You simply can't negotiate by committee. I anticipated this and when I discussed it with Chandler and the Professor, they asked me to handle negotiations because your involvement with the synthetics erodes your impartiality."
This made Susan even madder. "You know, you seem to think that if you have an answer for everything, then everything will be okay. But it doesn't always work that way, and right now you can go straight to hell!"
She stood up and slammed out of the room. Mission turned to Montag and said, "That kinda ruins my plans for the evening. Would you be interested in dinner and drinks?"
Montag's expression never changed as he said, "I'm sorry, but you're not my type."
56
Mission looked across the conference table at Arthur Atwood, waiting patiently with a benign expression that made Mission wonder if he dreamed yesterday's contempt. Again, an assistant served coffee and Mission took care to prepare his exactly as he liked it. He savored the aroma and finally he sipped.
Atwood said, "Mission, I must admit that I have no idea as to why we are meeting. I told you everything I know in yesterday's conference."
Mission smiled and said, "No, you didn't. You didn't tell me what you plan to do now that you’ve grabbed control of a settlement and been discovered."
"I see nothing further to be done. This continues to be a profitable arrangement for Pioneer and any publicity would be embarrassing beyond repair for them and for Paradox. It is you and your group who must make decisions."
Mission shook his head. "I really hope you don't think it's that simple. Some issues do not yield options but rather a single course of action. Major Pierce, for instance is bound to report the entire state of affairs. The mystery of the combat modifications must be settled. Paradox will go public with this situation before it loses its entire business. And Arthur, we are not a top flight investigative squad. If we can uncover your secret, then a dozen other groups will do so in the next year."
Mission paused for dramatic effect. He hoped it wasn't lost on Atwood. "Right now on Earth, there are somewhere between 50 and 100 million Fundamentalists looking for an excuse to dismantle each of you and use you for answering machines. If just a hint of this
reaches the press, those numbers will swell to over a billion and newscasts will light up every channel on the Earth, every quarter hour with stories of the growing menace of synthetics. The reporters will track down families that lost a child to a crazed syn, with sobbing and shouting and video clips of the child's birthday party the month before he died."
"You'll see a systematic genocide unrivaled by even the cruelest humans in history. The entire population of the planet will band together and hunt you to extinction. Now, I'm not exaggerating. Conscience won't even enter into this equation because you are synthetics. The first thing defense forces do is to dehumanize the enemy. It makes it easier for the soldier to kill. Even pedestrian suburbanites will see their vague frustrations and anxieties take shape in their hatred of the synthetic."
"Your worst mistake would be to do nothing. The classic blind spot of the pacifist is the inability to realize and galvanize when action is required. Now, I don't know that I have strong feelings about the annihilation of the syns. But I know I can't stand the way humans look and think and act when decide they hate something. I want to save my race from that. You want your race to survive. So what do you plan to do?"
Atwood said, "It is debatable whether action is required. What is not subject to discussion is our independence and our right to govern ourselves and this city."
Mission fought exasperation. "Arthur, I need to know right now, so that neither of us wastes time. Do you intend to martyr yourself and your people for your cause?"
Atwood registered surprise. "No! I mean, I don't intend to. I think that I will die before I would return to Earth in chains, but our goal is to live quietly here."
Now Mission yelled. "Well how in the Hell are you going to do that? Do you think that you just get to keep a city? They will fucking kill you!"
Living in Syn Page 25