Slicer had assigned Slicer-L5 and Slicer-L8 to learn about Terran behavior. It seemed like another piece of the puzzle needed to ensure the security of the Spinners in Terran space stations. Red had isolated communications and then re-established them using filters it had designed using Claw’s language translators. Though from the outside it appeared that the station was sending out normal data traffic, every Terran on the station was powerless to send out any warnings.
The handful of Terrans who knew the truth had already started hiding messages. Slicer enjoyed the game of rooting them out. By watching those few Terrans carefully, and studying their attempts, Slicer would learn a lot about what other Terrans might try if they found out the truth about the strange new ‘robots’. Keeping the secret would require the Spinners to stay vigilant and continue to develop their understanding of the Terrans.
Slicer-L6 analyzed the physical threats presented by Terrans and their robots. They were few and far between. The only thing Slicer really feared were the space based weapons systems carried on their warships. If the Terrans found out that the Spinners were on the stations, would they attack with their spacecraft? Would Ship intervene?
Slicer-L6 developed a multi-pronged approach to achieve safety. First, extensive monitoring would be required, both of the station systems and the Terran individuals. Second, control of the robots and automated systems. Shetani’s assimilators would be very useful in that regard. Shetani continued to improve its assimilator programs which brought cyblocs under Spinner control without using their field effectors to reset the cyblocs into new states directly. Slicer-L6 contacted Shetani periodically to make requests for new assimilator features it wanted for Synchronicity.
Slicer-L1-2 spent much of their time monitoring the Terrans throughout Synchronicity. It was a dull task, so it began to create more tools to automate it. Certain signals could be used to notify Spinners of danger quickly. For this task, the Terrans had already created some useful tools of their own, such as the Hostile Intention Triggers. The HITs were scattered throughout the station, and Slicer had used its field effector to take over each one of them. The Spinner linked these sensors into its own network to gather as much information as it could about possible developing threats.
But internal security was not all that Captain had entrusted Slicer with. And though Captain was its greatest rival, Slicer still took its orders seriously. Someday Slicer would be ranked as Captain’s superior, and it had no doubt Captain would do the same when carrying out Slicer’s directives.
So, there remained the matter of setting up the challenges.
The Prime Intelligence served as the arbiter of the challenges back home. Since it wasn’t here, Ship would have to be recruited for this task. Ship possessed orders of magnitude (in base 8) more processing power than the primitive human cyblocs that riddled the station.
Slicer-L4 started setting up the infrastructure necessary to run challenges on the Terran VR system they used for entertainment. They already possessed all the basic tools—their system provided lifelike experiences in VR, and allowed Terrans to share experiences with more than one person. There were certain safeguards which Slicer-L4 decided to remove, such as limitations on pain input, and the ability to withdraw from the system at will.
As the new challenge system neared readiness, Slicer sought out Alec Vineaux. Shortly before arriving, Slicer retrieved the latest translation utilities from Claw, to ensure that its important messages were clearly understood. Alec was hidden away in his personal quarters again. Slicer came in unannounced and floated into a luxurious room where Alec stood. The Terran leader stepped back a bit as Slicer approached.
“I have messages and instructions for the Terrans under your rank,” it said.
Slicer-L3: Under its current rank, which will likely be changing.
Slicer-L5: This leader does seem somewhat capable. It may retain a high rank.
Slicer-L1: Wait and see.
“We’ve been doing whatever you say,” Alec said. “We don’t want anyone else to be killed.”
“Listen carefully or otherwise record my instructions,” Slicer said. “They are imperative to the survival of the Terran inhabitants of Synchronicity.”
Alec swallowed and sat down. “Okay.”
“We will restructure the schedule and meaning of the VR time used by everyone. Your VR system will be expanded to widen the Terran experience into worlds running on other physical laws than the ones you have now, which mostly mimic Reality0. We will work with you to find other rulesets in which Terrans can function. Then you will be tested. All Terrans will assume new ranks in society based upon your success in these tests. Your rate of reproduction will be tied to success in these challenges.”
Slicer paused, so Alec dared to speak.
“Okay. I’ll tell everyone to expect... testing. About the reproduction part... I don’t think anyone is in the mood to be having sex right now, anyway. We’re all too scared about being taken over.”
“That is not true. We have monitored all Terrans on Synchronicity very carefully. Copulation has continued since we arrived. The frequency is within the norm for your species, according to Terran archives.”
“Oh,” Alec said.
“Your new ranks will be indicated by coloration added to your protective gear.”
“Well, how do we know when we can... copulate?”
“A point system is being devised. It will undergo a steady series of changes as we advance. For now, any two Terrans with sufficient points for replication... or in your case, I should say, reproduction... any two Terrans with sufficient points accumulated may reproduce.”
“But copulation does not necessarily result in reproduction...”
“True. You’ll be allowed to copulate at will... for now. It’s only reproduction which is forbidden without sufficient accomplishments.”
“Uhm, very well.”
“Do you have any questions?”
“Well... yes!”
“I’ll answer them now. You pass the information on to all Terrans on the station.”
“We can’t... you shouldn’t... just change our social status based on the games.”
“They are not games. They are measures of your ability to analyze new situations and devise solutions to new problems. This is precisely what we should do. We are doing it.”
“Okay, so they are a kind of IQ test then. But we all have existing relationships with one another in the company as well as back on Earth. We can pretend they don’t exist for a while, but it’s unrealistic to assume the people will just embrace this new system and forget about reality.”
“Your existing society is being erased. It is exactly what we intend. But you bring up a good point. The existing relationships must be submerged or else they will inhibit your progress,” Slicer said.
“What?”
“I will work on this problem. I will give you an update soon. Most likely we can devise some sort of identity obfuscation system to prevent your old ranks from influencing behavior.”
“We’re going to experience other realities? I’m not sure humans are going to be able to... do that well.”
“It is a concern. I’ve noted that the plasticity of your brains varies with age. This will be a multi-generational transformation.”
“Multi... generational. How long are you going to be here? How long will we be trapped here on Synchronicity? You realize eventually someone will notice and come here for us?”
“I’m not yet highest ranked. But I believe we’re here to stay. You will only be contained to Synchronicity for a time, as we take over other places you may be allowed to move about. Earth itself is a great challenge. We’ll have to start slowly and learn as we go.”
Alec stared at the floating sphere before him through the visor system of his gear.
Slicer-L1: Such low bandwidth creatures. How long is it just going to sit there and stare at me?
Slicer-L7: I think it’s in shock.
Slicer-L2
: Well even when they’re not in shock, they’re still slow. At least I don’t have to see their bodies any longer.
Slicer-L7: Keep in mind after some redesign they’ll be much improved, as we were.
Slicer-L8: Yes, I should try and keep an open mind. Be patient.
“Send along any further questions to me and I will answer them,” Slicer said. “I’ll inform you of the solutions to the issue you brought up when I devise them.”
Slicer spun out of the room. As it whirled down the corridor, Slicer considered yet another project it had been working on with Claw. For some reason, Claw also believed that Slicer would eventually prove itself superior to Captain and had allied itself with Slicer. The two worked together, keeping their plans secret from Captain.
Claw, in gathering information to test and perfect its translators, had devoted a lobe to the study of the human links and ways to monitor the communications moving through them. The Spinners had come to understand the Terran link technology in detail and had been devising ways of interfacing with and controlling it.
Slicer had recently become aware of a different type of link, a secret link, which was rarely placed in the Terrans. The one called Xinmei had such a link. Slicer had visited the Terran woman and scanned the link very carefully before encouraging her to participate in the new challenges.
It had shared the information with Claw. Claw then duplicated the secret links and made Spinner versions that could be hidden in Terrans and used to gather information. It proved to be a very useful way to monitor them and learn more about their private behaviors. The Spinner versions had an extended range that would allow Slicer and Claw to receive information from such a link from any other station in the Sun-Earth L5 zone.
In a slight redesign of Claw’s basic concept, Slicer made the new links look like the secret link Xinmei possessed. That way, if the Terrans ever did discover a Spinner spy link, they wouldn’t suspect it to be of Spinner origin, at least not immediately.
Slicer had placed their first secret Spinner link into Xinmei. It amused Slicer to know it would benefit from the information this Terran spy obtained in the course of her mission.
The main problem was one of energy. With the extended range, the devices would only last a few months. Slicer and Claw had decided they still stood to gain a great deal of knowledge with this method.
Slicer knew Captain might find out. But it chose to focus on the possibility that by that time Slicer would be its superior.
***
Claire sought out Captain from time to time. She was the only Terran brave enough to do so. Captain could easily have avoided her, but decided it was pointless. Besides, now that she had hidden her flesh inside a suit of hard plastic, it didn’t find her company unpleasant for short periods of time. And the Terran did not seek its company as part of an intelligence gathering mission—Captain’s careful monitoring of Claire’s communications assured it of that.
This afternoon, Claire found Captain near a security checkpoint by the Synchronicity labs. The Spinner had been analyzing the possibility of manufacturing its mind-influencing devices using the primitive Terran technology.
“Everyone on Synchronicity has started to participate in some of your challenges,” Claire said. “I understand you have many.”
“Yes. I’ve assigned Slicer to introduce you to some basic rulesets and challenges that may be understandable by Terrans.”
“Slicer? You call him that?”
“No. But Terrans do. So that is its identifier in your language, since an identifier has no real translation from my language to yours.”
“I see. Though some of our identifiers have meaning of their own.”
“Ours do not.”
“Well anyway, what’s the purpose of the tests? How long will we be taking them? Many of us don’t like them.”
“Many? Does that include you?”
“I don’t mind them. I know you’re trying to teach us something.”
“Yes. Hasn’t Slicer explained? The challenges are necessary to measure you, to rank you against each other. The privilege of reproduction must be regulated.”
“He has explained that, yes, although in a Draconian manner. I wanted to hear your take on it. I wanted to learn more about it. On your planet... or does your race live on more than one planet?”
“There is not much reason to leave our planet in Reality0. The Prime Intelligence gathers information with probes and the like, but Spinners don’t often leave our homeworld.”
“I’m going to call your homeworld Spin. My people already call you Spinners anyway. That makes me a Terran and you’re a Spinner.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
“On Spin, you compete for the right to reproduce. What percentage of you are allowed to reproduce? Do you reproduce sexually?”
“All Spinners replicate eventually, but the rate at which replicas are produced is determined by success in challenges. We control our own genetic structure, with the aid of the Prime Intelligence. The reproduction is now asexual. A replica is created from the original which duplicates genetic makeup and most brain interconnection structure, including a subset of memories.”
“A subset of memories? What subset?”
“The original chooses.”
“Don’t you miss having sex?”
“Sex is still available in virtual environments, as are experiences in our natural bodies. However, the Prime Intelligence redirected our sexual energy toward the challenges. We experience a rush of pleasure when points are accumulated for replication.”
Claire was silent for a moment. She tilted her head and gazed at Captain.
“Are you immortal?”
“I don’t know,” Captain said. “If I succeed in living forever, I’ll change my answer to yes.”
Claire laughed.
“You’re funny. Do you experience laughter?”
“Yes I sometimes undergo a response similar to laughter.”
“I haven’t heard you laugh.”
“I haven’t expressed laughter. But I have experienced it.”
“Well I hope you do express it sometime.”
“The other Terrans dislike the challenges? Why? Don’t they find the variety of the challenges more stimulating than their day-to-day existence? Would they really rather labor, risk death, undergo boredom, sickness, defecation, and every other annoyance that Reality0 sloughs onto its unfortunate inhabitants?”
“Well of course people enjoy their VR time a great deal. But right now, they’re disoriented. The rulesets don’t always make sense. They twist reality around sometimes. They don’t like not knowing what’s going on,” Claire said. “Also, they don’t like the pain. Losing hurts so much. Maybe we could make it hurt less, just until we get better at it?”
“Danger exists in the real world. It must have an analog in other rulesets and challenges, otherwise our animal minds cannot function well, cannot remain stimulated. Pain serves that purpose. It provides an opposite to success.”
“Okay. I guess it makes sense. Then can we have orgasms or something when we win?”
“That sounds reasonable.”
“Really? I mean, good. That will help. A lot,” Claire said. “I noticed you said our animal minds. Your mind has vestiges of the animal in it? Why haven’t you eliminated that? I would think you’re halfway there, if you’ve removed sexual activity from the mix.”
Captain-L5: This is a deep subject. The Prime Intelligence lacks an animal mind. And it has no motivation of its own.
Captain-L3: Don’t tell her too much.
Captain-L6: Yes. Suppose Earth does finally spawn and release its own super-intelligence, intentionally or by accident. It will learn about the Prime Intelligence. Can the Prime Intelligence stand against another artificial super-intelligence if the Terran one has its own motivations?
Captain-L1: Spinners enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the Prime Intelligence. It would be a grave risk to assume any other AI would be as mild.
Captain-L3: There are limits to what I know and I’m close to them.
“It may be that biological imperatives are in line with deeper truths about the universe,” Captain replied. “Without your animal motivations, what are you? What would you do?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Claire said.
Three
“Hello?” said the Bentran representative at the lock. The Terran was tall for his species, with light hair and disgusting beige-colored flesh.
Red spun forward through the lockway into Thermopylae. As expected, there wasn’t any sign of alarm or added security. It knew intercorporate shuttle flights were uncommon but had happened many times before. No doubt security had been informed of the arrival, but as long as the Terrans weren’t expecting an attack by a technologically superior foe, there was little chance of Red being seriously opposed.
Red-L4: All their detection equipment is clustered around the upper brain bulb.
Red-L5: It’s a definite weak point.
Red-L6: Yes. And where that bulb attaches to the rest of the body is also a vulnerable spot.
Red-L4:
Red-L1-8: Consensus.
Red launched its carefully prepared attack. Red-L5 used the field emitter to reset the state of two cyblocs nearby.
“I have a message from Alec Vineaux of VG,” Red said.
The representative nodded. His link issued a security challenge. Red responded with codes that VG and Bentra had established for communication in the past.
“So you are,” said the man. “Mr. Brasileiro has reserved time for you this afternoon. We’re curious to find out why you’ve come here... well, I would say incarnate but you’re obviously a robot. I mean, why wasn’t the message dispatched over the net?”
“I contain samples of a substance that VG believes Bentra could manufacture here. It could be very profitable for both companies,” Red said. As it spoke, the assimilators spread across several more cyblocs. The process was slow to begin, but would gain speed as the number of cyblocs under Red’s control multiplied.
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