Geosynchron

  Margaret offers Natch an opportunity to license her new technology. He is to stir up enough trouble to keep Len Borda off balance for the next week; then, after Margaret reveals the existence of MultiReal in a widely publicized speech, Natch needs to quickly put together a prototype to show the world that the technology is real. The fiefcorp master agrees.

  Natch goes looking for a source to fund his company's new project, but partly due to his shady reputation, nobody will support him in this new and undefined venture. Finally, with the help of his new apprentice, Merri, he snags an appointment with the leader of Creed Thassel, an organization dedicated to the power of selfishness. The leader turns out to be none other than Natch's old nemesis Brone. Brone, still smarting from the wounds of initiation, offers Natch a quick loan and foretells a future where the two of them will work together to market MultiReal. The fiefcorp master, seeing no other alternatives, accepts the loan from his old hivemate.

  Armed with a new infusion of cash, Natch hires a new appren- tice-Horvil's young cousin Benyamin-and forms a partnership with sales channeler Robby Robby to help market the new product.

  The day of Margaret's speech arrives, and with it comes an incursion into the Surina compound at Andra Pradesh by the troops of the Defense and Wellness Council. As Margaret unveils her new technology before hundreds of millions of people, the Data Sea networks explode with a strange new computational disturbance: the infoquake. Thousands die in the tumult, but the Council does not follow through with its implied threat to kill Margaret and seize MultiReal.

  Natch gathers the fiefcorp for a meeting the next day and informs them that a frightened Margaret has handed over the reins of the company to him and allowed him to rechristen it the Surina/Natch MultiReal Fiefcorp. Furthermore, Natch will get a new apprentice, Quell. A longtime confidant of Margaret's, Quell is an Islander, a member of a society that spurns all but the most rudimentary forms of bio/logic technology.

  For a short time, it appears that Natch has gotten the upper hand. He is on top of the world and has even used his new partnership with Margaret to pay back Brone and sever his ties with the Thasselian.

  But Natch's expectations are dashed when he discovers that his enemies the Patel Brothers have also secured a MultiReal licensing agreement with Margaret Surina. Margaret soon reveals that she suspected the Patels of selling out to the Defense and Wellness Council. Only after she despaired of working with them did she turn to Natch, who she knew would never give in to pressure from Len Borda.

  Natch immediately goes on the offensive to counter the Patels. Frederic and Petrucio Patel have scheduled a demo in less than a week's time; Natch decides that he's going to hold his demo first, in three days. But after he commands his fiefcorp to prepare a quick-and-dirty demo, a group in black robes ambushes him in the streets of Shenandoah. Natch is hit by their black code darts, falls unconscious, and vanishes.

  Meanwhile, unaware that Natch is missing, the fiefcorp prepares for their product demo. They only realize Natch has disappeared hours before the demo. The fiefcorpers frantically attempt to find him as Len Borda's forces once again march on the Surina compound. Jara makes a last-ditch effort to convince Margaret to deliver the demo in Natch's stead. Margaret refuses, choosing instead to retreat to the top of the Revelation Spire, her private tower. Jara decides that she will give the presentation instead. Horvil catches up with her and attempts to dissuade her from making this dangerous presentation, in the process confessing that he has developed deep feelings for her. But Jara will not be deterred.

  And then, at the last possible minute, Natch shows up. He had awakened from his black code coma mere hours before. With him is Len Borda-who, as it turns out, has brought the Council troops to Andra Pradesh at Natch's request, in an effort to scare off any potential black code attack. In exchange for this intervention, Natch has hurriedly promised Borda access to MultiReal.

  Natch delivers a product demo that involves using the power of MultiReal to simulate hitting a baseball to all five hundred million spectators simultaneously. The audience reacts more enthusiastically than anyone could have anticipated. (The Patels' demo, meanwhile, is a disaster.)

  As Infoquake draws to a close, it occurs to Natch that the attackers in black robes could have been sent by the Defense and Wellness Council as a ploy to get MultiReal under its control. There are, in fact, any number of organizations that might be using the black code inside him as leverage to get control of MultiReal. Brone, the Patel Brothers, and even Margaret Surina are listed as potential suspects.

  Natch is beginning to feel the deleterious effects of the black code inside him; but as he tells his mentor, Serr Vigal, he's up for the challenges ahead. He's come this far against all odds, and he won't back down now.

  As MultiReal begins, High Executive Len Borda has put his second-incommand, Lieutenant Executive Magan Kai Lee, in charge of forcing Natch back to the negotiating table. Magan reluctantly agrees. Two years before, he had been on the verge of assassinating Borda, but the high executive made a deal with him to step down peacefully. That deal expires in a few weeks, yet Borda has shown no signs that he's preparing to leave. Still, Magan does as he is ordered. He conducts a raid on Natch's apartment, only to find a pack of drudges (journalists) waiting to humiliate him before the world.

  Magan goes back to Borda and baldly accuses the high executive of mismanaging the fight to regain control of MultiReal. He says Borda made a terrible mistake assassinating Margaret Surina's father, Marcus, almost fifty years ago, causing a devastating worldwide economic depression. He persuades Borda to give him a few more weeks to get MultiReal under the Council's control. Assisting him will be his trusted subordinates: the Council's chief solicitor, Rey Gonerev, nicknamed the Blade; and Magan's chief engineer, Papizon.

  Meanwhile, Natch returns home to Shenandoah after several weeks on the run from the Council. He decides that his company will hold an exposition where two teams of volunteers (chosen by public lottery) will play soccer against each other using MultiReal.

  Jara, Quell, Horvil, Benyamin, Serr Vigal, and Merri get to work preparing for the exposition. But the fiefcorp has a number of obstacles in its path. Magan Kai Lee tries to persuade Jara to make a deal with the Council before they intervene and stop the MultiReal exposition. Natch is being tormented by tremors from the black code he was hit with in Shenandoah, as well as by mysterious bits of MultiReal code that have turned up in his bio/logic systems. The Patel Brothers are still working on their own competing MultiReal product. And the fief corp is getting no assistance from Margaret Surina, who has seemingly gone insane after fleeing to the top of the Revelation Spire.

  Suddenly, as the date for the exposition approaches, Magan Kai Lee and the Defense and Wellness Council swoop in. They've used a variety of tactics to suspend the business licenses of everyone in the company-except Jara. Since Jara is the only one legally capable of doing business now, the Council has effectively put control of the Surina/Natch MultiReal Fiefcorp into Jara's hands. Natch threatens to launch MultiReal right then and there in retaliation-until news breaks that Margaret Surina is dead.

  The fiefcorp master rushes to Andra Pradesh, where he finds that the Council has taken control of the Surina compound. He and Quell sneak to the top of the Revelation Spire, trying to find out what happened to Margaret. On seeing her lifeless body, Quell goes crazy with grief and attacks Magan Kai Lee. He lands a solid blow on Lee, but ends up being dragged off to a Council orbital prison.

  Margaret Surina's death throws everything up in the air. Jara leads the rest of the frightened fiefcorpers to the estate of Benyamin's mother, Berilla, where she relies on the pack of news-seeking drudges outside to keep them safe. Natch soon arrives, telling Jara that he's given her core access to the MultiReal program in order to smooth things over. Jara is initially convinced by his peace offering. But when Natch threatens his own apprentices-Horvil and Benyamin, Berilla's nephew and son-in an attempt to coerce Berilla to assist the fiefcorp, Jara has had e
nough. She casts Natch out of the estate and tells him she is running the company now.

  Jara embarks on a campaign to repair the fiefcorp's image. But the campaign gets off to a rocky start with a failed press conference, and the rest of the apprentices are suspicious of her motives. Jara makes a desperate deal with the Patel Brothers to secure their help restoring the fiefcorp's business licenses: from now on users of both companies' versions of MultiReal will have limited numbers of daily "choice cycles." This means that Surina/Natch users will not be able to handily win any MultiReal-versus-MultiReal conflict against Patel Brothers users.

  Jara and Horvil also try to cut Natch off from the MultiReal program, afraid of what he might do with it on his own. But it turns out that the mysterious MultiReal code in Natch's head has given him access to the program that can't be taken away.

  Meanwhile, Natch has not been idle. He arranges to meet Khann Frejohr, speaker of the Congress of L-PRACGs and sworn libertarian enemy of Len Borda. Natch demonstrates to Frejohr that MultiReal can be used to enact a form of mind control. With the help of a forged Council memo to enrage public opinion, Natch persuades Frejohr and his libertarian allies to stir up civil unrest against the Council during Margaret Surina's funeral. Chaos and violence soon break out. The Prime Committee steps in and declares they will hold a hearing to determine the fate of MultiReal-all as Natch had planned.

  The hearing in the Tul Jabbor Complex begins with a pair of highminded speeches by Natch's mentor Serr Vigal and the Council solicitor Rey Gonerev. But just as Petrucio Patel is summoned to demonstrate MultiReal, another infoquake strikes, sending the crowd into panic. Len Borda loses his patience and instructs his troops to kill both Natch and Magan Kai Lee, who has failed to follow through on his deal to deliver MultiReal. Natch manages to avoid death through the power of MultiReal, while Magan prevails over his would-be assassins with the aid of a contingent of loyal Council officers (including Rey Gonerev and Papizon). As the battle rages, the mysterious group in black robes who hit Natch with black code enters the auditorium, dartguns blazing. Strangely, they're not firing at Natch; they're firing at the Council in an effort to help Natch escape.

  Magan enlists the help of Petrucio Patel, commanding him to use the "MultiReal-D" programs he brought to demonstrate. The two track Natch down just before he leaps onto a hoverbird with the group in black robes. Petrucio fires his dartgun at Natch. However, because of Jara's earlier deal with the Patel Brothers, Natch is not able to use MultiReal to triumph over Petrucio, and gets hit with the black code dart as he escapes.

  The people in black robes turn out to be apprentices of Brone, the bodhisattva of Creed Thassel and Natch's childhood enemy. They take Natch to a decrepit hotel in Chicago, a city ruined hundreds of years ago in the Autonomous Revolt and now occupied by the diss (the indigent). The Thasselians hail Natch as a hero. Brone explains that the black code he implanted in Natch was a cloaking device to keep him hidden from the Defense and Wellness Council. He has brought Natch here to participate in his "Revolution of Selfishness," which will be brought about by enhancing MultiReal to its next level of functionality-a level Brone calls Possibilities 2.0.

  Brone has discovered a way to use MultiReal to not only calculate multiple realities at once, but to actually experience multiple realities simultaneously. Using Possibilities 2.0, one can actually run parallel tracks of consciousness. According to Brone, this can eliminate "the tyranny of cause and effect" forever, giving humanity ultimate and irreversible freedom-and completely eliminating the dominance of the Council.

  Seeing nowhere else to go, Natch Joins Brone's group in trying to complete the programming of Possibilities 2.0. But as Natch's black code tremors grow in severity and Brone gives him elusive answers to his questions, Natch grows suspicious. He accuses Brone of killing Margaret Surina in an attempt to get hold of MultiReal. Brone claims that he threatened to kill the bodhisattva, but she committed suicide before he could follow through. Natch is unsure whether to believe Brone, but he moves the MultiReal databases and cuts off all access to the program as a safeguard. Finally, haunted by a late-night vision of Margaret, Natch flees.

  But his flight from Brone into the ruined city of Old Chicago is short-lived. Pursued by the diss and plagued by Brone's voice in his head, Natch collapses on the street and falls into total blackness. His senses are completely cut off now. Brone admits that this is, in fact, the real purpose of the black code that was planted in Natch. He tells Natch that he did sincerely want to join forces, but now he realizes that Natch cannot be trusted. He threatens Natch with horrible torture until he hands over MultiReal. Natch refuses Brone's request; he feels his death approaching, and falls into darkness.

  Meanwhile, Jara and the fiefcorp await the Prime Committee's ruling about the fate of MultiReal. Despite the fact that the program is gone, the Committee votes to seize it from Jara's fiefcorp. Confused and unsure what to do, she winds up finally getting together with Horvil.

  As the fiefcorp tries to figure out what to do next, Magan Kai Lee approaches them and proposes they make a deal to try to find Natch. Jara refuses. She's confident now that she can make her own way forward.

  Magan leaves in disappointment. He has effectively declared his intention to start a full-scale rebellion against Len Borda; the key is finding Natch and getting hold of MultiReal before Borda does. As MultiReal comes to a close, Rey Gonerev asks Magan if Natch is even still alive. Magan replies that Natch is definitely alive; he is absolutely certain of that fact.

  Geosynchron is the concluding volume of the jump 225 trilogy.

  APPENDIX B

  GLOSSARY

  OF TERMS

  For more comprehensive definitions and background articles on some terms, consult the Web site at http://www.geosynchron.net.

  APPENDIX C

  HISTORICAL

  TIMELINE

  The chronicling of modern history began with Sheldon Surina's publication of "Towards the Science of Bio/Logics and the New Direction for Humanity." Surina started the Reawakening, which ended the period of the Big Divide that began with the Autonomous Revolt. The publication of Surina's paper is considered to be the Zero Year of the Reawakening (YOR).

  Development of the precursors of the Data Sea on

  hardware-based machine networks.

  The last pan-European collective alliance falls apart.

  The nation-states of Europe never again gain prominence on the world stage.

  The predominant Arab nations form the Allahu Akbar D

  Emirates to counter American and Chinese domi-

  nance.0

  Scientists make major advances in nanotechnology. C

  Nanotechnology becomes commonplace for exterminating disease and regulating many bodily systems.

  Final economic collapse of the United States of

  America. During the unrest that follows, the northeastern states form the Democratic American Collective (DAC), while the southern and western states

  form New Alamo.

  Establishment of the first permanent city on Luna.

  First orbital colony, Yu (named after the legendary

  founder of the first Chinese dynasty), launched by the

  Congressional China Assembly.

  Yu is sabotaged and destroyed by the Autonomous Z7j

  Minds. Beginning of the Autonomous Revolt. M

  End of the Autonomous Revolt. Much of the civi- 0

  lized world lies in ruins. H

  The Big Divide begins. A time of chaos and distrust

  of technology.

  The Ecumenical Council of New Alamo, seeking to CD

  establish order in a time of hunger and chaos, orders G)

  mass executions of its citizenry. 0

  Rebellion in New Alamo splits the nation-state into <

  0

  West Texas and East Texas. M

  Birth of Sheldon Surina.

  Birth of Henry Osterman.

  0 Sheldon Surina publishes his first manifesto on
the sci-

  M

  ence of bio/logics. The Reawakening begins. D

  10 Final dissolution of the New Alamo Ecumenical >

  Council. TN

  lOs- The Three Jesuses lead pilgrimages of the faithful to z

  40s Jerusalem. Rampaging Pharisees leave devastation in z

  their wake. G)

  25 Henry Osterman founds the Osterman Company for

  Human Re-Engineering (OCHRE).

  35-37 Seeing potential ruination from the technological revolution that Sheldon Surina has engendered, the two

  Texan governments put a price on his head. Surina

  leaves the Gandhi University and goes into hiding.

  37 The president of West Texas is assassinated. The new

  president exonerates Sheldon Surina and calls off the

  manhunt for him. It is still many years before Surina

  can appear in public without intense security.

  39 Creed Elan is founded as a private philanthropic

  organization (though the term "creed" has not yet

  been coined).

  52 Dr. Plugenpatch is incorporated as a private enterprise. Henry Osterman and Sheldon Surina are among

  those on its original board.

  60- Many of the great nation-states of antiquity dissolve as

  100 their primary functions (enforcing law, keeping the

  peace, encouraging trade) become irrelevant or more

  efficient to handle through distributed technology.

  People begin to form their own independent legal

  entities, or civic groups.

  61 The Third Jesus leads a splinter group of radical Pharisees in building a new orbital colony (the first since

  the destruction of Yu). Though initially promising,