"What do the italics mean?" said Horvil to nobody in particular. Jara took a closer look, and sure enough, some of the affiliations were displayed in a slightly smaller, italicized font: Islanders. Data Sea Network Administrators. Pharisees. The Prepared. TubeCo.
"Nonvoting member," replied Ben, pleased to be the resident expert on something. "Twenty-nine reps total, but only twenty-three get a vote."
"I thought TubeCo was a voting member," said Merri, scratching her head.
"They were. Got booted off last year, remember? It was-"
Jara waved them all to silence. "They're about to start."
Everyone in the Committee members' ring rose dutifully and bowed in unison. It was a stirring sight, something Jara had seen often in Data Sea videos but never in person. For a moment, she felt like she was suspended above Melbourne in the tube car again, watching the reasoned and orderly process of government at work.
The members of the Prime Committee remained standing as a blue light swept around the ring three times like a roulette wheel and finally stopped in front of a nondescript woman from the Meme Cooperative. Apparently this meant she would be the randomly selected moderator for the proceedings. All the other representatives took their seats again.
The woman spoke. Some feat of aural wizardry allowed her voice to boom across the dome without distortion or reverberation. "This special session of the Prime Committee, held here on the fourteenth of January in the three hundred and sixtieth year of the Reawakening, will now come to order."
There was a brief pause as the Committee members' assistants shuffled into place beside the representatives and held quick, whispered conversations. Spectators around the auditorium gradually took their seats, and Council officers took up their posts, though they seemed in little hurry to do so. Jara took a glance at Natch. The entrepreneur simply looked dazed, like a tottering tree that might crash to the floor at any moment.
The Committee moderator continued. Jara got the impression that her words had been prepared ahead of time, that they were only coming from her mouth instead of someone else's out of sheer happenstance.
"We are at an important crossroads in history," said the woman. "For the past two hundred years, libertarians and governmentalists have been debating what the proper role of government should be. What powers should reside with the citizenry and what powers should reside with their governments? Should these governments be centralized or decentralized? Elected or appointed? Where does personal liberty end and public welfare begin?
"The Prime Committee cannot pretend to be the final arbiter of these questions.
"Nor is that our job. Though we may be governmentalists or libertarians in our personal philosophies, here we are all simply members of the Prime Committee. We speak with one voice, and we represent every citizen of the Reawakening. We provide oversight; we provide law and structure; and in times of crisis, we provide stability and judgment.
"It is in that last capacity that we sit before you today. The world is in a crisis. Vortexes of information are causing death and destruction from Earth to Furtoid. One of the beloved icons of the Reawakening has died under mysterious circumstances. Activists have taken to the streets and jammed the gears of commerce. And at the center of everything lies a powerful new technology the likes of which the world has never seen.
"Government cannot simply stand by and watch matters unfold. For better or worse, government must take action.
"Let it not be said afterward that the Prime Committee had already made up its mind before these sessions had begun. Truth walks through open doors, the Bodhisattva once said. We come to this hearing as representatives of the public welfare with no preconceived agenda, and we ask the observers of this hearing to do the same.
"The Committee wishes to emphasize that this is not a trial. As such, we will follow no formal procedures other than simple parliamentary rules of order. The Committee will call witnesses as it sees fit, in the order it sees fit, for as long as it takes to satisfy the questions at hand. We hereby command these witnesses to speak truthfully, honestly, and without reservation.
"Such is the agenda of the Prime Committee. Let any objections be entered into the record now."
Jara peered around the audience, wondering who would have the temerity to speak out against such a high-minded opening. But, of course, objections there were-a representative of the diss, demanding a voice in the proceedings and a seat on the Committee; a robed and bejeweled member of the Pharisee tribes, questioning the legitimacy of the entire centralized government; the outlandishly dressed bodhisattva of Creed Null, proclaiming imminent doom for all and sundry. The woman assigned to be the Prime Committee administrator nodded without comment as each exception was entered into the record. Obviously they had all performed these steps in the dance many times before. The dissenters even had a small reserved section to themselves right behind the petitioners' ring.
When the formal objections were complete, the woman took her seat once again. "The Prime Committee hereby calls upon Serr Vigal of the Surina/Natch MultiReal Fiefcorp to make a statement on behalf of the Congress of L-PRACGs," she said.
Serr Vigal made his way down the stairs and through the passageway that ran beneath the Committee members' ring. The passage emerged at the edge of the floor and ended in a waist-high gate of frosted glass. Vigal walked through this gate and found the center of the floor. Then he promptly rotated in place and gave several polite bows to the Committee members.
"Distinguished members of the Prime Committee," said Vigal, his voice resonant with a calm that went beyond bio/logics. "I'm honored to be in your presence today. Usually when I stand before a government body, I'm there to ask for money. You'll be pleased to know that I plan on making no such appeals today-unless, I suppose, my speech goes very, very well."
A chuckle worked its way around the crowd, even levitating the lips of a few in the ruling circle. Jara had to admit that it was a prom ising beginning: disarmingly humble, homespun. She looked over and saw Khann Frejohr and his libertarian comrades displaying bland, pleasant smiles. Natch merely stared straight ahead.
Vigal continued. "So what better issue to begin my inaugural speech of political advocacy than the issue before the Committee today? I speak of the paramount right of humanity. The force that has guided and steered us for a hundred thousand years or more. I speak of freedom.
"Yes, on the surface, it might seem like the debate over MultiReal is a debate over government regulation or business practice or some other arcane matter. That is certainly what Len Borda wants you to think. The drudges would have you think that this is just a clash of forceful personalities. They would tell you that the issue is the stubbornness of one particular fiefcorp master present here today. Natch, stand up so everyone can see you."
A thousand pairs of eyeballs pivoted toward the entrepreneur, who had seemed not to be paying attention. But at Serr Vigal's call, Natch's face suddenly lit up with humanity as if he had received a charge of electric current. He rose and delivered as warm a smile to the crowd as Jara had ever seen him deliver. Across the floor, Jara could see Magan Kai Lee's icy glare and Rey Gonerev's dour frown.
Five seconds later, Natch was seated once more, his comportment robotic, his skin pale.
"I'm sure many of you have heard the tale that the drudges are spinning," said Vigal. "You've heard the rumors and innuendo that High Executive Borda has leaked on the Data Sea. You've read selective bits of Natch's personal history and the accusation that he is `ethically challenged."' The neural programmer made a flippant clicking noise with his tongue. "It is impossible for me to be objective about Natch's moral fitness-a topic that was my primary responsibility for eighteen years while I was his legal guardian-so I won't pretend otherwise. I also hold an advisory position in the Surina/Natch MultiReal Fiefcorp, so my subjectivity about the company is similarly compromised.
"But these rumors about Natch and his business practices are merely a distraction. A diversion from the real iss
ue at hand. I propose we dispense with such irrelevancies and skip to the heart of the matter instead. The part Len Borda doesn't want you to talk about.
"What is the central issue here? As I said before, the central issue is freedom. Let me draw your attention to one of the adages of the first Bodhisattva of Creed Objectivv: Knowledge wants to flow to freedom like rivers want to flow to the sea.
"It's not for nothing that we call our vast compendium of knowledge the Data Sea. It's no accident that all the droplets of wisdom humanity has learned over its history have ended up here. Because information wants to flow Seaward. I'm not speaking of want here like we want money, or like some of those in the Council desperately want me to stop talking."
Another rumble of laughter. Even Lieutenant Executive Lee raised his eyebrows in amusement.
"I'm talking about the natural laws of the universe, the tendencies built into its very structure. Gravity pulls things down. Water flows to the sea. And knowledge flows to freedom. That's simply how things work.
"But you can't own the sea, can you?
"Oh, sometimes you can control its flow. You can erect dams; you can bottle up the water and keep it in a safe place. But these are only temporary solutions, aren't they? Eventually the dam decays. The bottle breaks. Those you have entrusted to keep the water safe wander away, or they grow old and shift allegiances. And when all else fails, water evaporates and is reclaimed by the sun." Vigal gestured toward the top of the dome, and many eyes followed his gesture as if they might actually see something besides the dull stone of the curved ceiling.
"High Executive Len Borda has been vigorously pursuing the Surina/Natch Fiefcorp's MultiReal technology," said the neural programmer. "Why? The high executive does not say. But it is widely believed that he wishes to bottle up MultiReal. He wishes to cask it and store it safely in his private vaults.
"Again I ask, why?
"We hear many rumors from the drudges, and sometimes it's difficult to separate fact from fiction. I have read articles claiming that the high executive plans to weaponize MultiReal and put it in the hands of every officer in his Defense and Wellness Council. There is a suspicious memorandum circulating on the Data Sea which claims that the high executive will use this technology to conquer the recalcitrant Islander and Pharisee territories once and for all. Some of the protesters on the streets right now have an even more radical idea-they think Len Borda will use MultiReal to do away with you, the august members of the Prime Committee.
"Let me suggest something that might surprise you, coming from someone who represents the libertarian wing of the Congress of L-PRACGs. I suggest we give High Executive Borda the benefit of the doubt."
In the libertarian delegation, Speaker Khann Frejohr let out a hearty laugh. Jara couldn't tell if he was laughing at the absurdity of trusting Len Borda or at the coy way Vigal had proposed it.
"High Executive Len Borda," said Vigal, extending a hand toward the group of Council officers. "The man entrusted with the safety and security of sixty billion people. The man who steered us through the Economic Plunge and the Melbourne riots and the Islander wars. High Executive Borda, who has faithfully served the Council and the Prime Committee for nearly sixty years. The man who, incidentally, handed a very green programmer named Serr Vigal his first government subsidy some forty years ago. We have no reason not to trust Len Borda, do we?
"So let us dismiss these conspiracy theories about the high executive's intentions and assume he intends to do the prudent thing. Let us assume he intends to seal up MultiReal forever in the depths of the government's vaults, never to be touched by human hands again.
"There is too much rancor in modern politics. I say, let us trust him!
"Good ladies and gentlemen of the Prime Committee, I ask you this question: how long can Borda hope to keep MultiReal bottled up?
"The high executive keeps many secrets, but I assume the secret of immortality is not one of them. Someday-let's hope it's fifty years from now!-someday Len Borda will slip into the Null Current like we all must, and a new high executive will be appointed. Maybe you will be the ones to appoint that high executive, or maybe that task will fall to another group of equally dedicated Prime Committee members. You know in your hearts that you're good, decent, honest people. Your dedication to the public welfare is beyond question. But what about your successors? Do you know what will lie in their hearts? Do you trust them to keep the secrets of MultiReal hidden?
"Then one day, those government servants too will go off to join the Prepared. Another crop will rise and enjoy its day in the sun. Do you trust them? And then another crop will follow. Then another. Fifty, a hundred, two hundred, five hundred years will pass. Do you still trust that every single man and woman to occupy those chairs for time unending will have the same goodwill and common sense that you do? What if another Zetarysis the Mad worms her way into power? Can you be so certain that none of your thousands of successors will one day decide to uncork a bottle of that prime vintage of information Len Borda laid down in his cellars?
"But it's not only future members of the Prime Committee that we have to worry about. Because while we all molder in the dust and our children's children's children play their political games, the water in those casks continues to struggle towards freedom. It wants to flow to freedom, remember? And so every year, despite your most careful stewardship, precious droplets evaporate into the air and back to the common well of knowledge. Every year, the enemies of the state work to steal that magic draft away from you. Enterprising programmers work to re-create and reverse engineer that well of information. All it takes is a single misstep, a single misplaced allegiance, and those barrels of information will come crashing to the floor and spill into the lowest sewer.
"That is what the world wants. And if I have learned one thing in my long and illustrious career, it is that you cannot stop the wants of the world.
"Let me put the clever metaphors and the verbal puffery aside for a moment and state plainly what should be obvious by now. The government will eventually lose control of MultiReal. You cannot keep it secret forever."
Solemn, unblinking eyes regarded the neural programmer from around the chamber. Not a sound could be heard from the crowd. Jara looked at the rest of the fiefcorpers to find them nodding gravely, snared deep in thought. Robby Robby was studying Vigal's every movement like a dance master critiquing an especially intricate ballet.
Serr Vigal clasped his hands behind his back and walked a slow, steady track around the floor. "Now let's look at another alternative," he said. "Let us imagine that after long and careful deliberation, the Prime Committee decides that the draft is not to be bottled up.
"No, I'm not suggesting we immediately pipe MultiReal code into the public trough for anyone to gulp down. I suggest something much more practical. I suggest the Committee call an end to the vendetta that the Defense and Wellness Council has executed against Natch and his apprentices. Restore this fiefcorp master to his fiefcorp. Let the Surina/Natch MultiReal Fiefcorp-and the Patel Brothers Fiefcorp as well, naturally-let them continue to refine their distinctive brews of MultiReal and sell them to the public. With a healthy amount of safeguards and government oversight, of course.
"What would happen in that scenario?
"We don't need a crystal ball to see that. Let me tell you what is happening right now, even as this hearing proceeds in Melbourne. At this very moment, tens of thousands of L-PRACG politicians are sitting in meeting halls, locked in heated debate. Governmentalists and libertarians and every flavor in between are furiously writing bills. Speaker Frejohr's office informs me that four hundred L-PRACGs have already banned their citizens from using MultiReal. The Islanders have been preparing a Dogmatic Opposition to the technology for weeks now.
"And perfection sustain them all for doing so! What did the great Sheldon Surina say? Progress is the expansion of choices. If the bottle of knowledge passes your way and you choose not to drink, so be it. That is your right and your privile
ge as a citizen of a modern, rational civilization. Nobody wishes to force this knowledge on you.
"So, as with any new technology, we have the doubters and the slow adopters. Some will choose to sit back and sip this new brew cautiously until it finds its way into the mainstream. Undoubtedly some will engorge themselves until they're sick, causing trouble for themselves and everyone around them.
"And some? I will not lie to you. A sullen few will choose to poison the well for everyone else. They'll use this intoxicating draft to further their selfish schemes, to break the law, to take advantage of others. This has been the way of human nature since the beginning, and we cannot pretend that it will change overnight.
"So how do we deal with such scofflaws? Why, the same way we've always dealt with them. By punishing the guilty. By protecting the innocent. By using the laws of the Congress, the Committee, and the L-PRACGs as our shields, and the officers of the Council as our swords.
"Distinguished members of the Prime Committee, let me conclude by saying this.
"The democratization of MultiReal is not something you should consider because the libertarians believe in it, or the governmentalists don't. Do not believe the chatter that this is a question of politics or a clash of personalities. Len Borda's desires are irrelevant. Natch's desires are irrelevant. You should allow private businesses to sell MultiReal to the public because that's what the world desires.
"MultiReal will flow freely, whether you wish it or not. That decision is not yours to make. What you have to decide is whether to swim against the tide or to take the more practical approach and work with it.
"I thank you, and may you all move towards perfection."
32
Serr Vigal stayed on the floor of the auditorium to answer the Prime Committee's questions for almost two hours, but Jara found it difficult to concentrate. The neural programmer's speech had jolted the fiefcorp from its stupor of pessimism and given them a faint taste of hope. By the grins on their faces, Khann Frejohr and his libertarian cronies tasted it too. The city that had seemed like a bloodthirsty circus this morning suddenly felt like a place of rational discourse and negotiation; in short, like a center of government.
Multireal Page 31