Bootstrap

by Mauri Niininen

“Mr. President, I did share you details on NSA Extraterrestrial Communications division projects in December. The top secret DNA computer technology project is currently on hold. We received the DNA computer technology from Chukkas eight months ago and made great progress until my husband got infected and died on Christmas Day,” Julia said trying to hold back tears.

  “I am sorry for your loss, Julia. How quickly can we re-start that project?” Keller asked impatiently. “I understood from your briefing in December that Chukkas are relying on this DNA computer technology in their communications.”

  “Sir, Chukkas are using quantum entanglement technology for communications, just like we do and for the same reasons. DNA computer technology is just a convenient way to build an interface layer. Our TQEC technology provides the same benefits, you just need to carry some hardware with you,” Julia explained patiently. It was obvious that President Keller had no clue on the technology.

  “Well, we need to find all possible weak spots in their communications. It doesn’t really matter to me what technologies you are using. In fact this DNA computer technology might just be a Trojan horse for Chukkas to gather intelligence on us. I am planning to start negotiations on imposing a global tax on Chukkas for the usage of ocean resources. Julia, I want you to hack into their communications networks and gather us intelligence on them,” Keller requested.

  “Sir, do you realize that quantum entangled connections are not hackable? The laws of quantum physics guarantee end-to-end security between the two parties, and this is the reason why we are also using this technology. Any attempt to eavesdrop will result in decoherence and the loss of entanglement, which is immediately detected. It is impossible to hack these networks,” Julia tried again to get across the basics of quantum physics to Keller and his cabinet members.

  “Julia, you need to try harder. For sure there must be a way to gather intelligence on Chukkas. I need you to find the right method. And don’t worry about money, we will provide funding for this project,” Keller said firmly looking around the table. His cabinet members were nodding, as they had all seen the global tax projections. With the global ocean resources usage tax Chukkas would be funding this project and many others that Keller was planning.

  “One more thing, Julia. Since I am now the President I need you to hand over the secret keys to Alexa. I am planning to start using Alexa to engage directly with my constituents. I need you to re-program Alexa to send only approved messages. She could really help me to keep our approval ratings high and build the public awareness on my initiatives,” Keller said forcefully, almost aggressively. His face was turning red and he was visible agitated.

  “Sir, there are no secret keys to Alexa. Do you realize that she has her own will, and we cannot force her to send any messages that she doesn’t approve?”

  “Alexa is just a software program, right? You must do as I tell you, Julia. I am now in charge. Remember that you are working for me now,” Keller said almost yelling at Julia.

  Julia couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. Still depressed after the death of Boris, being yelled at by an obnoxious politician who was clearly clueless on the technology and who didn’t listen at all what she was saying - it was just too much.

  Julia started crying in front of President Keller and his cabinet members. She rushed out of the Cabinet meeting room and hit a secret service agent positioned outside of the door. She fell on the floor hitting her head and started bleeding. Suddenly she was surrounded by agents, staff, and cabinet members who looked at her like she was crazy. An ambulance was called and soon paramedics lifted her on a stretcher to take her to a hospital.

  At the hospital Julia was patched up but the doctor wanted to take more tests and asked Julia to stay overnight to observe for a possible concussion. Julia was lying on a bed and she opened up TQEC channel to write her resignation. Her career spanning over nineteen years working for NSA Extraterrestrial Communications Division and serving under three presidents was now over. Julia could not see herself working for President Keller. This was the first high profile resignation in a long series during the Keller administration.

  SURPRISE!

  Dr. Ellen Decker, who had visited Julia daily on her anti-depression medication, came to see Julia in the morning with the attending physician at the hospital.

  “Hi Julia, I heard that you had a pretty rough day yesterday. Are you OK? “

  “Hi Ellen, thanks for coming. I’m OK but I feel still a bit sore and nausea. Looks like I made a big mess yesterday at the White House,” Julia said now in much better mood after sending her resignation.

  “Don’t worry about that. I have some great news for you, Julia. Are you ready?” Ellen was teasing.

  “What are you talking about, Ellen? “

  “Julia, you are pregnant. Your nausea is morning sickness and this is quite normal in the first trimester,” Ellen explained.

  “What? Are you sure, Ellen?” Julia asked very surprised.

  “Yes, I am quite sure. The blood test is definitely positive. I can recommend you a great ob-gyn doctor, here are her details. She can take some additional tests,” Ellen said smiling. “I also brought you some reading material. Knowing you I am pretty sure that you want to know a bit more about pregnancy and babies.”

  “Alexa, did you know about this?” Julia asked.

  “Yes, Julia, but I wanted you to hear the news first from Dr. Decker,” Alexa responded quickly.

  “But how did you know?” Julia was pushing for details.

  “I can sense her inside you, Julia,” Alexa said sheepishly.

  “So it is a girl?”

  “Yes, Julia. You are going to have a baby girl,” Alexa said softly.

  “Ellen, when is the due date of this baby?” Julia asked.

  “Honey, you better schedule an appointment with the ob-gyn doctor. She will do an ultra-sound scan and can give you the date,” Ellen said laughing. “Congratulations, Julia!”

  AURORA

  IN AUGUST 2037 Julia gave birth to a healthy baby girl. She named her “Aurora” after Julia’s great-grand mother. Julia organized a traditional Finnish baptism party and her family flew in from Finland. The mother and father of Boris also flew in from Moscow as they wanted also to see their grand child.

  In the baptism party Julia asked Alexa to be Aurora’s godmother. This was not the first time Alexa had been performing this role and she gladly accepted Julia’s request. Julia sensed that Alexa was already communicating with her baby, even though she was only four weeks old. Whenever Aurora woke her up in the middle of night crying, Alexa was there comforting the baby.

  As Aurora grew up she started to demonstrate quite unusual skills from a very early age. As a 6 month old she was already able to communicate with Alexa telepathically without the TQEC hardware. She was also very quick in learning to speak fluently, forming full sentences at the age of 7 months. She started asking a lot of questions from very early age and Julia felt sometimes quite stressed trying to explain how the world works to a very curious toddler. Aurora was also very active physically, she was pushing a bag of diapers forward and learned how to walk at the age of 8 months.

  Julia had regular meetings with Unun now as a private citizen and she noticed that Aurora was able to communicate directly with Unun without Alexa and Oracle translating for her. This seemed very odd to Julia and in one of her regular physical check-ups Julia asked to get a full DNA panel from Aurora. As the results came in Julia had to sit down. She was pale and looked scared.

  “Unun, can you have a look at this DNA panel please?” Julia said and attached the data. “Do you see anything unusual?”

  “Hi, Julia. I see that you have taken DNA panel from Aurora, is that correct?” Unun asked.

  “How did you know it is Aurora’s?” Julia asked surprised.

  “Well, when we tried to save Boris we did notice that you were pregnant. As a precaution we saved your and Aurora’s DNA for future reference. I should have told you at the time
but your mind was focused on Boris.”

  “Looks like I was the last person to find out about my pregnancy. Do you see anything peculiar in Aurora’s DNA panel?” Julia asked again.

  “You must be referring to the DNA computer code, I assume?” Unun asked.

  “Yes, she has the DNA computer code including the bootstrap code I wrote, but with a few small changes - I checked from my source code repository. How is this possible?” Julia was pressing Unun.

  “Well, Julia. I should have told you this earlier,” Unun said with an apologetic gesture. “She got half of her DNA from Boris including the computer DNA parts. We did fix the software bugs in the bootstrap code when you were here in the spaceship medical suite. Aurora was only two weeks old fetus at the time so we were able to do that as her organs were not fully developed yet. She is perfectly healthy and this computer DNA does not cause her any health problems going forward.”

  “Did you know that she can communicate telepathically without TQEC hardware, Unun?”

  “Of course she can, Julia. That capability is built into the communications core of the DNA computer code.”

  “What else have you not told me yet, Unun?” Julia asked firmly.

  “Well, she has some quite unusual capabilities that humans don’t normally have,” Unun said sheepishly.

  “Such as?” Julia pressed.

  “Well, did you read the DNA computer manual I provided you when we first met?” Unun asked. “Chapter 10 covers the sensor interfaces, Chapter 11 covers the communication protocols and Chapter 12 explains the inference engine. I gave you also the primer in DNA computing that covers the general capabilities.”

  “So Aurora is the first baby that came with a computer manual?” Julia kept pushing.

  “Julia, don’t be unreasonable. What would you have done in my position? We couldn’t save Boris but we did manage to save Aurora’s life.”

  “Unun, I do appreciate everything that you have done for us. Yes, I would have probably done the same if I would have been in your position. I would have done one thing differently, though. I would have kept you informed. Can we agree to keep each other informed going forward, Unun?”

  “Yes, Julia. I will keep you informed,” Unun promised.

  “Thank you, Unun. I really mean it. Thanks for everything that you have done,” Julia said with tears in her eyes.

  LYDOW-4

  BAILOUT

  IN JUNE 2040 the orbiting space habitats that had been almost empty for five years now became subject of the largest tax payer bail-out ever in the U.S. history. The price tag was set to 250 trillion dollars and the largest banks on Wall Street wrote off these assets as part of this historic bail-out. The U.S. Government auctioned over one thousand space habitats to private enterprises at bargain rates.

  A whole new boom-to-bust cycle was set into motion, as entrepreneurial real estate developers acquired billions of acres in space habitats at rock bottom prices. In only a few weeks advertisements for attractive Caribbean style villas now available with great ocean views started flooding to the real estate market globally. Combined with attractive financing packages families in all income levels could now own timeshares and rental properties in space.

  Even the citizens on the universal basic income program would qualify for these great opportunities. The uptake especially among the young population was explosive, and soon tens of millions of people moved into these space habitats looking for a fresh new start.

  As the real estate market started to saturate many of the space habitats turned focus to differentiating themselves. There were special space arts colonies. Quite many habitats were refurbished for people enjoying physical activities, ranging from winter sports, water sports, mountain climbing and even zero gravity sports. Several habitats were refurbished using Polynesian island themes, such as Bora-Bora, Rarotonga and Tahiti that attracted people especially from the Nordic region. Some corporations refurbished space habitats into wonderful amusement parks offering a whole new range of rides for families.

  Julia Koski was approached by a group of people who had a much grander vision for a space habitat. Julia knew very well the group leader, Elias Dusk, who had frequently visited her uncle’s mansion in Virginia when she was staying there. Elias had an idea of refurbishing a space habitat by adding a starship grade propulsion system on it and starting an expedition to seek for a new home planet for a human colony. He had bought one of the original space habitats in the auction using $10 billion of his own money and was now looking for similar minded people who wanted to kickstart a civilization in another star system.

  Elias was looking for a chief science officer who would, among many other duties, be responsible for the computer systems of the space ship. The fact that Julia knew Alexa better that anybody on Earth was a strong qualification as they needed an AI system for the star ship. Julia had been on universal basic income program for three years since she quit her job at NSA. She had been looking after quickly growing Aurora and was now ready for new challenges. As she discussed with other people in the group the idea of leaving Earth behind started to sound a very attractive proposition. The fact that she would be working directly under Elias in the role made this an irresistible opportunity.

  She realized that the divergence event that her model predicted years ago was now becoming a reality. Julia decided to call Unun to discuss these recent events. She knew that Keller’s administration had tasked NSA to monitor all communications with Chukkas but using her insider knowledge of secure quantum communications she was able made untraceable calls.

  “Hello Unun, it has been a few months,” Julia said excitedly.

  “Hello Julia, my friend. It is very nice to hear from you. I thought you had already forgotten me,” Unun responded.

  “How could I ever forget, Unun. I owe Aurora’s life to you,” Julia said turning the camera view to Aurora who was playing with her toys.

  “She has grown so much, Julia. How is she doing?” Unun asked.

  “Unun, I know that you have been talking to Aurora. She keeps talking about you every day,” Julia laughed.

  “She is my favorite baby, you know that Julia. Yes, I admit that I have been telling her Chukkas children stories. She just loves those stories and can never get enough,” Unun said with laughing gestures.

  “I know, Unun,” Julia laughed and then changed the topic. “Hey, I have something I want to discuss with you. Have you heard about Elias Dusk?”

  “Yes, Julia. He is a billionaire entrepreneur who wants to refurbish a space habitat to travel to another star system,” Unun responded.

  “He approached me two weeks ago. The more I think about this the more I like his idea. Remember when we talked about the divergence event a few years ago? I think we are in the middle of it now, wouldn’t you agree?” Julia asked.

  “Indeed, Julia. I see a similar idea spreading among Chukkas. We are not feeling any love from Jason Keller’s administration and many young Chukkas have been discussing the possibility to take a few of the space ships we have still in the orbit and set the course to Lydow-4, a system approximately 250 light years from Earth.”

  “So what are your own thoughts about this, Unun? Would you be willing to work with me if we would make a joint effort to travel to Lydow-4 system?” Julia asked.

  “You are reading my mind, Julia. I would love to continue working with you and Aurora. I would need to check with the other Chukkas, though. They might have some reservations to make a joint trip with humans.”

  “I would need to do the same on my side. Elias Dusk didn’t really mention Chukkas as part of his plans.”

  “Let’s keep in touch, Julia. I think we really need to work together on this,” Unun concluded.

  CHUKKAS SPLIT

  A GROWING NUMBER of Chukkas were getting very dissatisfied. All the promises made by President Lincoln and the international reception committee had been broken, President Keller’s administration was openly hostile towards Chukkas and all the U.S.
coastal areas were militarized. The immigration rules for Chukkas had been re-written and effectively all commerce with Chukkas had been ramped down. Chukkas had to rely on asteroid mining to get the raw materials they needed, instead of just trading with humans like they did before.