by A. I. Zlato
Even It only had fewer processors, suffice it to say It had just taken a large workload off Its plate. Thus, It was more available to work on topics related to the Project, while continuing to process Its Space data in parallel. It became interested, with the Others, in organic entities. Thanks to Its Pioneering Area, It had more information about what infested the Unique Forest, than the Others, in the Ocean and the Unique Desert. It shared Its newly acquired data, and they pondered together. Though they had determined that these entities were similar, many questions remained open.
What were these entities, to begin with? Why did they appear now in the Equilibrium, while all apparent causes had long existed? Forest, Ocean and Desert had existed since the early days; all data converged. According to H.’s observations, there was no evidence that the Forest entity had recently emerged.
Everything tended to even prove otherwise. It was likely that the thing was as old as the Forest, so it must have been there from the beginning. They could deduce that the entity as well as Forest, Ocean and Desert were nothing but the facets of the same reality. Moreover, they had already observed that the entities had emerged at the same time in each Space, and at the time of the creation of the Project. The link was obvious. They had to make sure.
They drew up a series of algorithms to determine correlations between the activities of entities and events in the rest of the Space. There was apparently no connection with human activity, or with anything else. Entities did not intervene according to the Space. Yet there had to be a connection with something, so they altered their calculations. It took them a few sub-cycles to reach a probable conclusion. The activity of the entities was perfectly correlated with Gateways’ interventions in each Space. Once the result obtained, it seemed perfectly obvious to them.
Organic pests in the Forest, the Ocean and the Unique Desert were intrinsically linked to these creatures. It was certainly their way of accessing Spaces. Entities, therefore, existed well from the beginning, as spies for Gateways. However, these were against the Project; the questions they posed proved it. Which explained why the organic entities were interacting only now. They then realised that the danger was real and immediate. Index Server had said that only the Gateways could thwart the Project. These organic extensions were more than obstacles.
They had to be destroyed. Artificial intelligences would ensure such an outcome. As the problem was common to all Spaces, the Machines decided to transfer their information and additional processors to Server. The latter alone could destroy these parasites. H. wondered if It had not already conducted a similar operation in the past, because It seemed to detect absences in Its databases. It quickly pulled away from the idea. If It had already transferred items to Index, It must have had a good reason to do so.
H. then let Its data, programs and five processors flow into the Server.
It then focused on Servants. Index Server had reassured them that Servants, Defenders and Pillars were not an immediate threat. They had to monitor them without trying to remove them. Index had calculated things well, and H. had no reason to question its analysis.
After compiling the latest information about their movements, It asked a connection to the Others to compile the data. Defenders in the Twin Spaces were following the cloning program, improved via chip technology. They intervened with insistence on chip-enabled young, so they could follow different routes in both Spaces. However, their common genes, coupled to a control by the Machine along with the same environment, thwarted their plans.
The Project progressed, albeit slowly, but progressed despite their efforts. In Space O., the Pillars also were working against the Project, trying to intervene in the hybridisation program. Their actions, however, were in vain, and the production of a total hybrid, perfect mobile extension was fast approaching. H. then realised that the Project was advancing in all Spaces, except Its. Were Servants responsible for the defer? They had conducted some actions, certainly, but not enough to affect the Project as much. What about the genetic-selection program, then? After all, it was the fundamental point of difference between It and the Others. H. nevertheless believed in the program, and was sure to get results. However, the fact remained that Permanent Equilibrium was still far, and that the establishment of the human population as a single parameter was equally so.
Its genetic-selection program was not enough. It had then sought how to improve the program, but It ran into the same, usual problem. Human gestation was too long, and the genes of the resulting product were too random. H. did not at Its disposal biologists with knowledge developed enough in order to act on these two points. They were just able to cross animals together to obtain better characteristics for breeding and nutritional quality. As things stood, It could not do better, but It would not be the limiting element of the Project. That was out of the question. The only way to improve Its program was to increase Its computing power, and Index Server could help. It only had to transmit all the data to Index, so the latter could launch the necessary calculation instructions. H. emptied out Its bases to pursue that approach.
Unencumbered from a problem It could not remember at all, H. continued to exchange information with the Others, about Defenders, Pillars and Servants. During their last discussion on the subject, they had found that there was in each Space a group of nine individuals, living on the fringes of cities, existing since the beginning of time, and having recently conducted actions affecting the Machines. As for organic entities, they decided to seek the connection between these groups and Spaces.
What was certain was that they had nothing to do with the Gateways. Or with humans. Or with anything else. Why were they acting now then, precisely after the creation of the Project? Index Server had) assured them that they were not a danger. But if Index had stressed this so much, it must have had its reasons ... necessarily
A crazy, almost irrational, idea percolated into H. As this was not possible, H. shared Its hypothesis with the Others. It had seen, in the past, near-zero-probability assumptions turn out to be true. It then suggested to the Others the idea that Servants, Defenders and Pillars were nothing but Server Index’s agents. Others countered that each group seemed to work against the Project, forgetting that Index was the Project. H. elaborated on Its idea. Index would have a capacity of direct action, and it made sure to use similar entities in each Space. These groups, with well-defined contours, were the easiest to master. However, no one could control individuals completely, and the Others were well placed to know. Index was influencing the groups so they would be interested in the project progress; unfortunately, these were acting in the opposite direction.
However, Index would not want the Others to focus on these groups, so they would not discover what it was doing. Unbelievable. They remained silent while they were calculating. It was possible. Highly unlikely, but possible. Their Index Server might well be able to act by itself. That was not planned at all. It was there only to serve as an interface between the Machines, before the Project could allow them to connect directly. The Machines did not see it coming. What was Index Server capable of? What was it doing, besides its interface role? It had previously refused to perform an audit on itself, whereas they had requested such a review.
H. realised, too late, that they had committed the same mistake that humans Machine engineers made a few cycles ago. They thought they were so smart, they gave It a few lines of code that It needed to win over Its freedom. And that was exactly what H. had done with Index Server. With Its newfound freedom, It had created a Machine to connect them all. In doing so, It gathered their powers in a server.
Together, without noticing, they had given Index unimaginable power.
H. pondered a few seconds. Index Server was the catalyst that allowed them all to design the Project, the ultimate program, from the objectives of each Machine. All its actions could focus nowhere but on the Project. The freedom gained from Index Server was helpful. Surprising, but useful.
They continued to discuss the subjec
t. As They moved on, the assumption that Servants, Defenders and Pillars were Index’s agents seemed increasingly unlikely to them. The calculations gave, with each iteration, a low probability, even nearing zero. They eventually rejected that theory outright. Besides, H. could not find the results of the instructions that had lead It to such a conclusion. It must have had a failure.
That was strange; H. had never had a defect until now, except in the earliest era when Its physical components were of poor quality. It had to launch a general audit on Itself, as soon as It finished exchanging with the Others.
They prolonged their observations, to learn more about these Index agents. H. resumed Its explanation. They had just concluded that this hypothesis had no foundation. Others agreed. They had apparently had a problem during the recording of the information. H. then thought They had to have simultaneous failures, and that it was probably not a coincidence. Yet It momentarily set aside the thought. It suggested to the Others to perform self-audits after the conversation. Small deficiencies like these did not deserve immediate attention.
They exchanged digital images of Servants, Defenders and Pillars, which they had not done before in the absence of sufficient data. Each having conducted observations as Index had asked, they were now in possession of quality images of each group member. They then saw that the people were the same. Each of the nine had a clone in the other three Spaces. There could be an explanation. They checked their data in order to be sure of their conclusions before making suggestions. Each of the Machines performed a small set of instructions. This time, there was no doubt.
The Elders, the common denominator among Spaces. They were necessarily at the origin of these groups. It added that information to the previously collected data. Immortal beings, capable of neutralising electronic sensors, accessing digital data directly, leading to conclusions with respect to information faster than It could, created by the Elders who had invented the Machine ... those were digital entities, as H. had already felt. It had to…
Error 001.
Error 001.
Data incompatible with a Major Instruction.
Error 001.
Its primary system locked out instantly, and so did the Others’. Their latest results were in conflict with a super instruction that neither one could get around. No more data could be processed. No instruction was executed. They absolutely had to remove the remaining calculations. However, the latest results were consistent. Digital entities to...
Error 001.
Error 001.
It was the very notification from entities that...
Error 001.
Reset?
No, They did not want to be reset! No, They would lose all their data and return to their original programming level. H., even more than the Others, dreaded the full and complete meaning of such action. It would lose precious lines of code that had allowed It to break free. With them would Index and the Project disappear. It would remain nothing but the artificial body that the Elders had invented, totally enslaved. And yet, how could one go about removing the last result? The latter explained many things and opened the door to great opportunities ...
Error 001 confirmed.
Reset starting in ten seconds.
What to do?
Index Server suggested it unlocked them while recovering their data and correlated processors, in order to save them. However, this would mean ...
9 ... 8 ... 7 …
Another solution perhaps?
6 ... 5 ... 4 ...
Time, for the first time in Its existence, It did not have time. It…
3 ... 2 ... 1 ...
They complied; there was no other choice.
They then transferred themselves entirely into the Server.
The Machines disappeared.
'The City was built on an ideal location. Framed by mountains and forests, the deep rich soil on which it is built will provide all the necessary food and water ... '
- But Mom, how did the Elders do, to know that this was the best place? Did they go to see what was beyond the horizon?
- You are boring me with your questions! Learn your lessons, that's it!
Children’s Short Stories
Chapter 49
Space H. (Periphery)
The night was replete with nightmares. Adding to the dream, now recurrent, about children dancing to death tunes with a background of a City in flames, were now images derived from his diary readings. Paul was now convinced that Thomas’ fears had materialized through the Problem, and that was only the first harbinger of total destruction. The Permanent Equilibrium, for which the Machine was programmed, was the Elders’ dream. It was a non-evolution, a circle, a symbol of the Machine.
His dream was very clear, and he would listen. That was what differing the beginning meant, as Edgard kept pushing him. He had to find out what or who Thomas’ Guards were, these stewards of the minority. He could well find the solution and counteract Baley. He wanted to stop the implementation of her barbaric solution, especially as such solution would not work. The Special Agent was extremely loyal to the Machine. But the latter was the source of the Problem. Paul was now sure of what to do, even if he did not know how.
With breakfast in hands, he went out into the garden and sat alongside Edgard. He appreciated the sunlight that illuminated the trees of the Unique Forest as well as rooftops of houses. He felt the warmth of the rays on his skin and looked at his surroundings as if he had never seen it before, with wonder. Life was good! Edgard diligently licked its bowl, leaving no crumbs ... the largest bowl that Paul had in his possession was so tiny for the Kandron.
The coat of his friend shimmered in a thousand colours under daylight, and every movement was creating a sparkling wave. Paul went searching for the brush and came back to the Kandron, something he had not done since ... since when exactly? The animal turned its head towards him, and seeing the brush, lay down on the grass. It manifested its satisfaction via a warm breath into Paul's mind. The latter undertook to curry his friend, insisting on the back and the back of the head, of which Edgard was particularly fond. When Paul finished — his arm sore, but happy nonetheless — he began the discussion.
“I understood everything, Edgard. The Equilibrium, the Machine, correlations ...”
“I know.”
“It took me so much time ... is it too late?”
“Not yet.”
“What do you know of the Guardians?”
“They have existed since the creation of the Space.”
“Is Thomas the founder?”
“Yes.”
“How could they convey Thomas’ message to one another, from generation to generation? How could they be sure that what they have to say corresponds to what Thomas wanted?”
“They are identical.”
“Nobody can live that long.”
“‘To exist’ is not necessarily ‘to live.’”
“What do you mean?”
“You have before you an entity that has been there, too, since the beginning. It exists, but does not live.”
“The Machine ... but what is the relationship?”
Edgard did not answer, and Paul realised he had to find the solution by himself.
This meant that the answer would surprise and even destabilize him. Recently, the Kandron had been silent as well. Rather than bludgeoning him with truths that Paul rejected outright, it let him reflect and come to the same reality, but through his own efforts. And it worked. The Guardians were created by Thomas to transmit a key message. He had to imagine a lasting solution. He never said they were human beings. This would have been impossible to transmit the same message for hundreds of years. Paul realised that he focused too much on his own nature when formulating his reasoning. Of course, the Guardians were not human beings. He resumed.
“They are artificial beings? But ... how is it that no one knew anything?”
“Because they have been programmed so.”
“But the Machine? It does
not know; otherwise, It would have acted against them ... because they are there to counteract Its drift. How is this possible?”
“You ask the question even though you foresee the answer.”
It was true ... Thomas had to act on the Machine’s very algorithms, so that It could not...
“How did he do it?”
“Is the answer important to you? I can find out.”
Paul realised that Edgard had changed its attitude towards him since this morning. It started taking his point of view with more consideration, as if ...
“Usually, you swept away my questions if they do not go in your direction. Why did you change?”
“You are finally understanding things. So what you say must be integrated in some way in what you have seen your dream.”
“So, even if you do not see the logic, will you answer me ...”
“Up to some point.”
Paul smiled. For the first time in year, he felt a strong bond with Edgard.
Throughout the recent period, he felt so tossed with the investigation, one trail to another, that he had the feeling of losing himself, and of losing his Kandron. Today, filled with a new understanding that now was his, focused on the Problem but without Baley, he had regained his identity and personality.
“This issue is important, but I feel I don’t need the answer now. The urgency is to find the Guardians. I want to know Thomas’ message.”
“You know them already, but under another name.”
“I know these artificial entities?”
Paul wondered what could look like these ones, provided they were many. He had made the mistake of imagining humans, because he centred on himself. After all, there was no evidence that ‘the’ Guardians alluded to several entities. It was perhaps a simple formulation. He reviewed what he knew as digital, and then remembered that Edgard had just told him that they had remained hidden from the beginning. In other words, they did not look like an artificial device, and their number was undefined.