Sai's Transcendence
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“See us soon?” thought John. He hadn’t thought about Sai returning.
RETURN TO SENDER
“Don't go around thinking the world owes you a living. It was here first.” - Mark Twain
John sat in Magenta’s office on one of her new chairs. The chair formed to his body but emulated the softness of a cushion as well. His job had suddenly become relevant again, but he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing yet.
“So, the all powerful AI and his robot minions are riding an asteroid back to Earth to, ‘see us soon’. Would you care to explore what that might mean? The UN Space Agency and the military are breathing down my neck, demanding answers. You realize what the military types tend to do when they get nervous, right?”
“Of course… But attempting to destroy Transcendence would not be a good idea. If it fails, Sai might decide to start pushing other asteroids towards Earth instead of away.”
“Yes, that has been mentioned, among other things. What do we do?”
“Be friendly with him?”
“So that is your advice? You realize he has set up a Bitcoin address for people to donate money to him? How the hell is that possible from space?”
“Well, all the coin addresses are simply very long prime numbers. If he generated the proper keys, which he is very capable of, he could have a secure deposit location that only he could withdraw from. That is how it was designed more than fifty years ago. It doesn’t matter if it’s a machine or a human doing the withdrawal.”
“Wonderful. He’s also giving short interviews to reporters from all over the world and taking speaking fees in his new coin account as well. He certainly learns quickly. If he is planning on being on Earth, coin will certainly help. What it’s going to help him to do is anyone’s guess. He’s actually on the Tonight Show right now. Here, I’ll pull it up on a display so we can watch it.”
Magenta tapped her wrist and a display projector rose out of her desk and showed a bright image of the Tonight Show studio, relatively unchanged for the past hundred years. She thought to herself that people still loved to gather together and talk about current events, the same impulse keeping humans gossiping about their neighbors since the beginning of time. As the show started, a nanocam swarm flew around the studio showing the audience whooping, cheering and smiling at the slightly translucent display of a human sitting next to the host.
“Welcome to the Tonight Show with Jebb Camp! Tonight’s guest is Sai, the intelligence behind Transcendence and the recent stoppage of Deja. Since Sai is still on his way back to our wonderful little planet, he sent us a small interview model that can answer our questions. Sai, how does it feel to be the savior of Earth?”
Sai’s image shimmered for a moment and then turned towards the crowd. He looked like an older version of Sanaka mixed with some of Vu’s features, tanned and in shape, with eyes that were vaguely oriental and a head full of black hair that he regularly swung off his face with a flick of his head. His voice was calm and patient like Vu’s but with a tone of authority and assertiveness like Sanaka’s. “It feels great Jebb, although I think I should mention Deja isn’t stopped, just pushed off course. It has passed Earth by before and then returned so it is still possible it could eventually come back. That would most likely be hundreds or thousands of years from now though.”
“Well, we’re certainly glad you’re still around then! Sai, can you explain how you are appearing to us now?”
“Sure. I have chosen my physical form as an amalgamation of the people that I have cerebral patterns for. I have done a similar thing with my voice. I built 3D models for my visual appearance and decision trees for the interview questions. I sent them to your producers beforehand so that I have only a minimum of information to send and keep it in sync, looking somewhat normal for your viewers. What do you think?”
The audience clapped and cheered.
“It sounds like the people like what they see!” the interviewer responded. “What are your plans now? Will you come down to Earth?”
“For now no, since it would take too many resources to get Transcendence back up in Earth’s orbit. I still have enough from the mining of Deja to stay in operation for hundreds of years though. So I have some time to think about things. I can, of course, interact with anyone on Earth I need to through the net or even in person using techniques like what you are seeing now.”
“We understand that you are taking donations from individuals and speaking fees for your appearances, including this one. What do you plan to do with the coin?”
“Earth’s economy is predominantly capitalist so having a way to participate in the economy seems like a pragmatic way to go. I may purchase computing resources or physical surrogates for interacting with people on the surface and in the cities. I’m really excited by the prospects. I’m in the same boat as the rest of humanity now, just trying to figure out what to do with myself!”
The audience laughed and cheered then the host continued.
“Well Sai, good luck on your journey back to Earth. We sure were lucky you were around!”
“It was probably a coincidence Jebb, but thanks, and I’ll see you soon!”
About the Author
Frank Vu worked at the Mauna Kea observatory in Hawaii for years before discovering an unmapped asteroid and becoming an author. He enjoys traveling, watching documentary films and meditation. This is his first book. He is not married, but will soon be traveling to Tibet to study Buddhism.