Mparntwe

by Peter Wood

  Very carefully, Mirri opened a finger and showed a strange looking insect with bulging eyes.

  ‘It’s a big March Fly … I think. It was on my shirt?’

  ‘Not fly! Not real!’

  Mirri moved his hands closer to Jarra’s eyes, insisting he look more carefully. The eyes did look funny, but so did most insect eyes when you really looked at them. Jarra was about to say just that when he noticed a shiny glint on the wing right next to where Mirri’s finger was gripping. Strange, as if the colour had smudged off the surface. Shock coursed through his mind.

  ‘Don’t let go! Mirri! Don’t let go. We have to show Durrebar.’

  Mirri nodded his understanding and watched with intense concentration as Jarra opened his travel pack and dumped out the contents of the little first aid container with the screw-on lid.

  ‘Put it in here, Mirri. I think it’s a bad thing and we mustn’t let it get away.’

  Mirri knew from Jarra’s tone that this was an important task and he very deftly manoeuvred the artificial insect into the container and screwed the lid carefully back on before handing it over. Jarra looked at him in amazement.

  ‘Mirri, you are so clever. How could you tell it wasn’t an ordinary insect? It tricked me even when I was looking close.’

  ‘Looked funny. It is a bad thing?’

  ‘We’ll show Durrebar and the Security people when we get to Alkere. I think your explorer eyes have found a bad thing and stopped it from hurting Yirgy.’

  Mirri nodded happily and Jarra gave him a big hug of congratulation then spoke directly at his special ComPatch.

  ‘Yirgella, I’m not sure how much you could see but that insect Mirri caught is an artificial construct and the Security people should be ready to examine it when we land.’

  ‘Yirgy is listening now?’

  ‘He listens to us all the time when we wear our special ComPatches, Mirri, and he’s probably already told Durrebar what to do.’

  A soft vibration registered against Jarra’s fingertips where they were holding the container.

  ‘It must be flying and trying to get out. Mirri, your hands are stronger than mine. Will you hold it till we get to Alkere?’

  Mirri took the first-aid container and Jarra nodded approval at the determined expression and strong grip.

  That container was in secure hands now. The sound of the air transporter engine deepened, the belt-up sign flashed and the pilot looked round and called a warning to stay in their seats. A strong thrust of acceleration sent them travelling at a speed which Jarra wouldn’t have thought possible in this small craft. Thirty seconds later the pilot turned again and relayed an urgent message from Alkere to place the container on the floor beneath a seat and move as far away as possible as a precaution against a possible self-destruct mechanism. Oh no. He’d put Mirri in danger. Jarra unbuckled and whisked the container to the back of the plane then moved Mirri so they were sitting close to the pilot.

  ‘What happened, JJ?’

  ‘The insect might go bang and hurt you. Yirgy is watching and he told the pilot you shouldn’t hold it.’

  The plane arrived nearly 5 minutes faster than normal and Jarra, Mirri and the pilot disembarked quickly and joined the phalanx of waiting Security people to watch a remote-controlled techbot enter the plane and collect the little container.

  ***

  ‘Well, Mirrigan, I hear you are a very clever young man and you helped to protect Yirgella from a nasty spy. Are you going to tell me about it?’

  ‘I saw the funny insect with my explorer eyes and we put it in a box. It didn’t go bang. JJ said it was bad and Durrebar said it was bad and the other men said it was bad and Yirgy said it was bad. It was very bad.’

  Mirri subsided after this extraordinarily long expression. It was now Jarra’s job to do the full explanation.

  ‘Mirri was amazing, Aunt Alira. He knew it wasn’t a real insect as soon as he saw it and I couldn’t tell even when I was looking closely. If some of the paint hadn’t been scraped off it would have fooled me completely. We think it must have landed on the back of my shoulder when Mirri was getting on the plane in front of me otherwise he would have noticed it. The Security people said it could have gone almost anywhere in the project site and Mirri’s clever eyes stopped a major security breach.’

  ‘You don’t just have explorer eyes, Mirri. You have eagle eyes.’

  Alira turned back to Jarra.

  ‘How serious a breach would it have been?’

  ‘They analysed it completely. It took half the day with electron microscopes to disassemble all the components and scan them for Yirgella to study. It couldn’t access any electronics or do any physical damage but it was built to watch and listen to anything in its presence. After three or four days it would hitch a ride back to Mparntwe where the data would be harvested.’

  ‘Harvested?’

  ‘That’s the term the Security people use. They’re pleased it’s independent and not a transmit/receive device because whoever sent it won’t know it’s been caught.’

  ‘Does that mean there’s a chance of catching them when they do this harvesting?’ asked Alira.

  ‘No. Security found a base station hidden near the airport and it had a strong transmitter which meant no people had to be involved.’

  ‘Could they track its signals?’

  ‘They know the signals would go to the InterWeb but they couldn’t do any tracking because the station wiped its memory when it was disturbed.’

  ‘What are they doing about it at Alkere? Can they catch these spy devices if any more fly in?’

  ‘No more will ever get in because they’re installing extremely high resolution cameras throughout every part of the project and Yirgella has found a way to jam their flying mechanisms with a strong electric field. Every entrance will be protected and if the spy flies try to go through they’ll fall to the ground immobilised.’

  ‘Spy flies! Is that what you call them?’

  ‘Mirri started it when he heard the word spy being used so much and when Yirgella took it up so did everybody else. It’s a good description.’

  ‘It’s an excellent description,’ said Alira.

  ‘Spy flies can’t get in now. Yirgy stopped them.’

  ‘I think we can say it was you who stopped them, Mirrigan. Have you ever seen spy flies anywhere else?’

  ‘No more. I told Yirgy and the other men.’

  Jarra had asked him on the plane and then it was one of the first questions asked by every group at Alkere. Alira turned to Jarra again.

  ‘Was there any conjecture as to why they used this new tactic? Two days ago Yirgella’s report to Council said the misinformation strategy seemed to be working very effectively.’

  ‘We think it worked really well. They were getting information that said there were serious problems with connecting Yirgella’s different banks of processors properly and that scientists were arguing so much about it that morale was low and affecting progress.’

  Mirri headed off to bounce on his trampoline. He somehow knew that Jarra and Alira were starting a serious talk mode.

  ‘We knew the misinformation couldn’t last because so many new things like the ComPatch and security modules and the start-up of the materials factory have gone out into the world and they’d work out that the misinformation couldn’t be right. It got us through the time while Yirgella was vulnerable to an attack on his energy supply, which was its main purpose while we built up a secure storage of over six months. Durrebar thinks our new 3D printers might be what got them to send in the spy fly.’

  ‘Why the 3D printers, Jarra? They’re not major like the vacuum tunnel or the materials factory.’

  ‘They are in a way. They’ve got some good ideas in them and we build them much better than any of the old ones.’

  ‘You build them at Alkere? I presumed you’d get some engineering company to do that.’

  ‘No, it’s really interesting. Yirgella programmed his own techbots to
build them in a big new construction area we built at Alkere.’

  ‘We? … As distinct from the project itself?’

  Jarra felt a little awkward.

  ‘Um … It was Yirgella’s idea. We use the money that comes in from the Security modules so there’s no cost to the project and it gives us complete control over the quality. Yirgella has set everything up to produce 2500 units a week. We’ve got thousands of orders already and it’s only a week since our first models were released to the scientific and engineering community. Yirgella says it will be millions when the general community sees all the good reviews.’

  ‘Millions? That’s astonishing.’

  ‘Not really. We’ve designed a home version, like the one you got for me, except it’s much better, as well as our bigger ones for universities and engineers, so it’s an enormous market.’

  Alira laughed.

  ‘Will the Council be able to borrow money from you if it needs to? It sounds like you’re going to be very wealthy … I suppose Yirgella is giving you a fair share?’

  ‘No, he’s not. He’s giving me too much. He’s set 40% of the profits for each of us and the other 20% to Mparntwe. You won’t need to borrow anything.’

  ‘Really? Has he worked out what the amount for Mparntwe might be? That would be interesting for our finance people to know.’

  ‘It’s a bit hard to believe.’

  Jarra outlined Yirgella’s estimates and Alira was staggered.

  ‘Jarra, that’s astonishing, and you get twice that amount. What will you do with it all?’

  ‘I won’t get any of it. Our new project is far more important and it will use every bit of profit we make for at least the next eight months.’

  ‘Nanobots? You’ve studied them several times already so why eight months? That’s longer even than your ComPatch project.’

  ‘Yes, it started out as a way to build nanobots more efficiently but we kept having new ideas to try and the whole thing grew. We call it our NanoFactory project now.’

  ‘What’s a NanoFactory? I’ve never heard of one.’

  ‘It’s an idea I had when I watched Yirgella design the techbots for the printers. Instead of using techbots I wondered if we could make a special environment where nanobots could do the same sort of thing.’

  ‘Nanobots would build the printers? What’s the point if your techbots can already do it better than anyone else?’

  ‘The point is that our NanoFactory could build the printers directly or build the techbots or any other construction task we wanted to program it with, with far more accuracy and speed.’

  ‘Well, I don’t really understand but it sounds very impressive. What would you mostly use it for?’

  ‘Everything. Well, everything we already know how to build. Yirgella is really excited about it. He says it will be the perfect tool for an AI.’

  ‘Does Yirgella get excited?’

  Jarra laughed.

  ‘I don’t know. It seems like it to me. Perhaps I should say he sounds very eager.’

  ‘Is there any chance you might have this project finished by next June?’

  ‘June? Yes, that’s nine months. Is there something happening?’

  ‘We hope so, Jarra. The whole family is having a special three weeks in Carnarvon and Mirri won’t go unless you can too.’

  ‘Visiting Karmai?’

  ‘Karmai will be with us the whole time even if you and Mirri can’t make it. It’s a Centre where families experience our cultural traditions first hand and live the Old Ways for a short while. It would be a wonderful adventure for you and Mirri both.’

  ‘The Old Ways? Like living out in the bush?’

  ‘Exactly. It’s all structured with support from the Centre staff. We’re not just dumped in the middle of nowhere to fend for ourselves, and the setting is inland from Carnarvon and next to the river so it looks especially suitable for a couple of young explorers.’

  Next to the river and living in the bush! Mirri would be absolutely excited and there was no way he was going to miss out on that.

  ‘Aunt Alira, Mirri is more important than a NanoFactory and adventures like this are so good for him he has to go. If I’m still working on the NanoFactory in nine months time I’ll need a holiday anyway.’

  ‘Wonderful! I knew you’d want to come, but the things you do with Yirgella are so important I thought they might have to take priority.’

  ‘Everything’s a priority with Yirgella but he’s nearly as good as Mirri at knowing when my energy levels are down. He even turns my InfoSystem off when I do too much, so I know he’d want me to go.’

  ‘Are you doing too much? Darri tells me you work every minute you can manage.’

  ‘I can’t do enough. It’s so exciting working with Yirgella that I need every one of those minutes. You don’t have to worry about me, though, because everyone else does: the doctor, and Mirri, and Yirgella, and Durrebar. The doctor says the arrangement we have at Alkere is far better for me than studying at the university where I’m locked into a rigid timetable. At Alkere I can stop for a rest or sleep whenever I need it and the four days a week commitment gives me three days to relax at home and be with Mirri.’

  Alira nodded. She’d heard all this from Darri but it was good to know first-hand that Jarra was so pleased with his situation.

  ‘Do you think you’ll stay at Alkere when this newest project is finished?’

  ‘Of course. Yirgella and Durrebar both want me to stay forever and I’d be silly to leave. How many people can have an AI and specially selected professors to help them learn? I’m totally spoilt really … Are there facilities for my treatments at this place or will I have to go into Carnarvon to get them?’

  ‘I’ll have to check. I know they have a medical centre because there’s quite a large support community.’

  Chapter 12

  ‘Darri, Jarra tells me he plans on staying at Alkere indefinitely. Evidently Yirgella and Durrebar both want him there.’

  Darri and Alira were having one of their regular talks about Jarra’s progress and activities.

  ‘Want isn’t a strong enough word. I think Durrebar and all the other scientists would go into a state of panic if he left.’

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Well, not panic, but they wouldn’t be happy. There’s an interaction between Yirgella and Jarra that makes unexpected things happen and they don’t want that to stop.’

  ‘Is unexpected good when we’re dealing with an AI?’

  Darri gave Alira a funny look.

  ‘Alira, by nature an AI doesn’t think the same way we do so the unexpected is what we have to expect … Is that a tautology or something? Of course it’s good, but there’s an interaction between Jarra and Yirgella which has a kind of compounding effect. Look at their new project. It’s going to change the world. The whole Alkere team can hardly believe the potential it offers.’

  ‘Change the world? That’s a bit strong, isn’t it? Jarra said it was important as a tool for Yirgella.’

  ‘Primarily, yes, which in itself is astonishing. Yirgella will be able to use it to design and make improvements to himself quite independently, but it’s the secondary uses which will impact human society so much. Has Yirgella’s proposal for a vacuum tunnel system reached the Council yet?’

  ‘Between Mparntwe and Alkere? What do you mean? The work has already started.’

  ‘Um … Yirgella must be holding back till he has more definite plans. The Mparntwe–Alkere tunnel is the trial version for an Australia-wide high-speed travel system where a trip from here to Carnarvon would only take half an hour. This NanoFactory project, if it works as well as they think it will, would make it possible to complete the whole system in just seven or eight years.’

  Alira was quiet then shook her head.

  ‘Darri, that is astonishing but even if it’s feasible it won’t happen. The cost would be so enormous we couldn’t contemplate it, even with help from the OverGovernment and every Australian Community
… Why are you smiling?’

  ‘Yirgella wants to do it all as a kind of goodwill gesture. The only help he’d need would be in providing enough energy to run everything, which from the sound of it would require a rather large new solar array.’

  ‘I know you’re serious but I find it hard to believe what you’re saying.’

  ‘I know, and that’s just one of the possibilities. An even bigger one is the changes they’re talking about with construction work. Yesterday they were arguing about whether a 30% reduction in time and cost would be possible within twelve months.’

  ‘They? We’re talking about Yirgella and Jarra?’

  ‘You should hear them. They throw ideas at each other and argue whether they’re possible. Well, the imaginative ideas come from Jarra and the practical ones from Yirgella. Alira, why don’t you come and work with us for a morning? Or even several days. It would be a real eye-opener for you to see first hand just how capable Jarra is at research. They usually start with a general discussion before doing anything else. I know Jarra would love to have you there, and Yirgella is always interesting.’

  ‘I will. Seeing him once a week with Mirri isn’t the same.’

  ***

  A week later Alira asked Kyrra, as Mparntwe Council science advisor, to accompany her to Alkere and pass the day in Jarra’s project room. It didn’t take any persuasion because Kyrra had the highest interest of anyone on the Council about what went on at Alkere. Right now they were listening, amazed, as Jarra and Yirgella discussed the pros and cons of living in the space habitat which, at Jarra’s request, Yirgella had just designed with several minutes work on his simulators.

  ‘It’s too unwieldy, Jarra, and the energy requirements for building it make it impractical.’

  ‘That wouldn’t matter. People want to explore space and if you already live there it’s a lot less energy than if you take off from a planet.’

  ‘There are seven functioning space stations and two abandoned ones. Space exploration happens from those without the need for a habitat.’

  ‘Abandoned? Did something go wrong with them?’

  ‘Nothing went wrong. The consortiums running them didn’t plan well enough and when the energy costs sent them bankrupt they couldn’t do anything else.’