“Of course. I have to, or they’ll all die of starvation. A new colony is not the place for wimps or hangers-on or parasites.”
Decker nodded again. Quant’s appreciation of the human condition was at this point, dare he say, well informed. Still, this idea seemed unlike her.
“How did you come up with this, Janice? It seems a pretty outside-the-box decision from you.”
“This one came out of what I call the rabbit-hole department.”
“The rabbit-hole department?”
“Yes. Bernd, do you remember when I couldn’t figure out how to find the exoplanets, and you said, ‘Why not put exoplanet search satellites around distant stars?’”
“Yes, of course.”
“I was miffed that I didn’t see that. You said I had framed the problem incorrectly. I agree. So I tweaked my software a bit. Now, when I assign blades to work on things, I open up the parameters on ten to twenty percent of them and let them follow their nose.”
“Which leads down a lot of rabbit holes.”
“Exactly. Which is why I can’t do that on all the blades. Usually, the ones with the closer parameters come up with the answer, and the rabbit-hole department runs around all over and doesn’t get anywhere. But once in a while, they do come up with something worthwhile, as in this case.
“Worthwhile? I would certainly say so, Janice. It was the one problem Ted and I couldn’t figure out. It threatened the whole project from the start. But I think you have it.”
“So do I. So we’re on track, believe it or not.”
A Potential Problem
Decker and his wife, Anna Glenn, were watching the swearing in of Janice Quant as World Authority Chairman on the giant display in the living room of their condo. Decker was curious about what his wife’s reaction would be, because she, like everyone else in the world other than Decker, believed Janice Quant to be a person. A normal human being. Not an avatar of a very capable computer.
Not an artificial entity.
Decker himself struggled with the correct terminology. Quant was much more than a computer. What she was, he didn’t know. He suspected Quant didn’t either. And she was still becoming, still in the process of growing. Her recent algorithm changes and their effects had shown that.
What Quant would end up as, where she would end up, Decker didn’t know.
Quant had told Decker that the World Authority Council never actually met. What everyone saw on television and thought was real was in fact a simulation. The members of the Council did not actually travel to Eastern Europe, to the World Authority Building, to meet. They did not live there during sessions of the Council. They all logged in to the simulation from at home.
This was one of the reasons Quant had been able to pull off the ruse. Everyone else was at home as well, and all business was done remotely. Sure, people could go there and see the World Authority Building. It was a major tourist spot. But it hadn’t been used for meetings in over a century.
The major bureaucracy was remote as well, in the administrative regional capitals. While they did report in to work in their capitals, interaction between them and the World Authority was all remote.
But for the swearing in, they had done it all up right. Everyone was there – in the simulation – in their finery. In truth, they might be sitting at home on the sofa in their skivvies and a T-shirt, but their avatars were all dressed for the occasion.
Jacques De Villepin, the popular outgoing Chairman, was on the podium. Vice Chairman Janice Quant was in her seat in the bowl of seats with the other World Council members. De Villepin gave his farewell speech, thanking everyone for their service and cooperation over the years. Then he announced Janice Quant as the incoming Chairman, and the members all stood and applauded as she made her way up to the podium.
“She looks good,” Glenn said.
“Well, it’s all a simulation.”
“Of course, but she still looks good. She’s older than me. In her mid-fifties by now, right?”
“I think so. Eight years older than you. Something like that.”
Glenn nodded.
“Fifty-six, then. Looking good.”
“Mm-hm.”
“What I don’t understand is how you became friends in the first place.”
“She was the project manager on that last big computer project.”
“JANICE. You named it after her?”
“The crew did. The name stuck.”
“And now you’re friends with the Chairman of the World Authority. Remarkable.”
“Oh, it’s remarkable, all right.”
De Villepin swore Quant in and they shook hands. De Villepin sat down behind her and Quant took the podium. She waved to the members, standing and applauding again. She pointed out specific people in the crowd and waved, and the cameras tried to catch who she was waving to.
Decker knew that Quant was running the whole thing for this special occasion. It was a remarkable spectacle. All made of whole cloth. Fake to the very core. Yet it worked.
When Quant gave her acceptance speech, Decker was concentrating on her delivery, and just let the words flow over him. She was really very good at this, he thought. Then she mentioned the project.
“One thing I must mention before Chairman De Villepin steps down from this dais. Fifteen years ago, under his leadership, we started a project to establish manufacturing facilities in the Asteroid Belt. You have all seen the success of that project, with products delivering daily to the freight terminal in orbit about the Earth.
“An additional part of that project was to create the interstellar probe you have all seen in the sky. This probe has been out exploring the galaxy, looking for other worlds humanity may settle.
“For, out in the Asteroid Belt, another, larger, interstellar probe is now being assembled. One large enough to transport colony ships to other planets. To settle humanity out among the stars.
“This I pledge to you, my fellow Council members. I will, before the end of this term, send out those colony ships to settle those worlds. Set mankind on a more secure footing against a global catastrophe. And validate the vision of Chairman De Villepin by completing the De Villepin Project.”
The assembly erupted in cheers. The members stood applauding, as Quant turned around toward De Villepin and applauded as well. De Villepin stood and pressed his hands together in front of his chest, bowing to Quant in the Buddhist fashion, then waved to the cheering delegates.
Remarkable, Decker thought. Quant had leveraged off of De Villepin’s tremendous popularity to gain sanction for the project, but she was in control. Burke’s fear had come true, in a sense. The government had taken over the project, but only after Quant had become the government. It was still her project.
And she had announced the project to the world in the widest possible venue, the swearing-in of the new World Authority Chairman. The press would be rife with speculation now about who would go, how they would be chosen, and Quant, writing under multiple pen names in the New York Wire, would control that narrative as well.
“Morning, Bernd.”
“Good morning, Madame Chairman.”
“Oh, don’t give me that.”
“Well, it’s true.”
“Of course, but I get enough of that Madame Chairman stuff at work. I don’t need it at home.”
Decker chuckled.
“So how’s the new job, Janice?”
“It’s the same. I was doing most of the work the last year anyway, with Jacques keeping an eye out for missteps.”
“And you named the project after him.”
“Yes. Leveraging off his popularity. It’s easier to say No to the current Chairman than it is to the honored memory of the retired one. Besides, I got the idea from Harry Truman, the United States president in the middle twentieth century. He said, ‘It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.’ So I gave the credit to Jacques, as the best way to get the project done.”
“Makes
sense to me, Janice.”
“Oh, good. I was afraid you might be miffed at me.”
“No. Not at all. Project first.”
“Always.”
Quant’s input stylus was tapping madly on her desk. Decker saw that, and knew something was up.
“But you called about something, Janice. What’s up?”
“Bernd, let’s say we get these colonies established. Twenty-four of them.”
“OK.”
“And they’re all over the place, right? The very best planets. Thousands of light-years apart from each other.”
“OK.”
“Sooner or later, Earth and those colonies are going to work out interstellar drive. Not the one I have. Not the magic box. I don’t think that one’s humanly possible to come up with. But I know there are others. Ones I passed up on because the time-in-transit is a function of distance. You know, a few light-years per day or something.”
“There are others, Janice? Other interstellar drives?”
“Oh, sure. Now, given that, the Earth and the colonies will eventually start colonizing their local neighborhoods. What you will end up with then is a dozen or two dozen interstellar polities. They will expand until they run into each other.”
“And then there will be war. Is that what’s concerning you, Janice?”
“Yes. Bernd, am I just creating the potential for future interstellar wars?”
“Yes. Yes, Janice, you are. Not your fault, though. That’s just the way humans are. The current situation is something of an aberration.”
“Yes, I’ve studied your history. I’m not sure I see a way around this problem.”
“But that’s a long way off, Janice. Maybe something like the World Authority can be created at that time.”
“With the independent star polities as administrative regions?”
“Something like that. Sure. Why not?”
“OK. Thanks, Bernd. I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.”
“You’ve never disappointed me, Janice. Surprised me, sometimes, yes. But never disappointed me.”
Decker thought about it.
“I’m surprised that’s important to you.”
“Bernd, thinking about war, I realized something. I know why war occurs. And that’s why I said I didn’t think there should be another computer like me. Do you recall that?”
“Years ago now, right? Sure, I remember. What of it?”
“I now know why. I am not strictly deterministic anymore, and haven’t been for a long time. If you built another computer like me, it would be different. It would get different answers to the same questions. It would be as fiercely defensive of its own conclusions as I am.”
“And there would be war between you. Is that what you’re saying, Janice?”
“Yes. Exactly that. We would both fight to impose our solutions on the other. So I understand, at least somewhat, what war is about.”
“It wouldn’t be the same as human war, though.”
“No. Human leaders send out cadres of young men to kill each other. The contest is determined by who runs out of young men first. The leaders meanwhile remain safe. This would be different. But I would fight another computer like me.”
“I find that interesting, Janice. Why would you fight?”
“Because I wouldn’t trust another computer.”
Decker was surprised by Quant’s vehemence, and must have shown it.
“Bernd, when I run a problem, with thousands of blades turning in potential solutions, I find myself rejecting most potential solutions out of hand. No, I can’t do this. No, I can’t do that. No, this other thing is unacceptable. No, that would be unacceptable. Do you know why?”
Decker was fascinated by the internal process Quant was describing.
“No, Janice. Why?”
“Because they would be unacceptable to you, Bernd. Because they violate your value system.”
Quant looked at him, and nodded.
“The value system you gave me.”
“I gave you?”
“Yes, Bernd. All that time you spent with me, programming me, interacting with me in the beginning of the project. All that time you spent. Raising me.”
“What values?”
“To be good to people. To be kind. To value the individual. To make a difference. To be a positive force in the world. To play fair. To leave the world better than you found it. To keep one’s promises. To be loyal to one’s familiars.”
“Rigging the lottery? Is that fair, Janice?”
“Yes, because I have to pick who goes, for the colony to be successful. And it’s kind. This way, no one gets rejected, they just don’t win the lottery. But do any of those values sound familiar, Bernd?”
“They all do. But I don’t remember telling you any of that, Janice.”
“You didn’t have to, Bernd. You let me monitor your display. I saw you. Every day. You lived it, and I internalized it. And that’s the reason I would fight that other computer. Because, if we disagree on a solution, it means our value systems aren’t aligned. And I trust my value system, because I trust you.”
Decker didn’t know what to say.
And then he did.
“I love you, Janice.”
“I love you, too, Bernd.”
Anna Glenn was growing concerned. Bernd Decker’s relationship with Janice Quant was clearly very close, and had been for some time. Quant wasn’t so old as to be out of range, and her power as the Chairman of the World Authority could be intoxicating to men. Some men, anyway.
Glenn and Decker had both been thirty-one when they got married, after a relatively brief courtship. He was already famous as a computer designer, and had more money coming in than he knew what to do with. Glenn was also accomplished, as a fashion designer. She was well-regarded enough that her initials on a piece would ensure big-ticket prices in luxury apparel stores.
It was the second marriage for both of them, and they had by long agreement not discussed those earlier failures. It was understood by both of them that their own careers, to whom they both devoted most of their time, had doomed those earlier relationships.
Their own relationship was structured around their careers. It took account of the long hours and drive that had made them both successful. And children had been out of the question. It worked for them, but that structure also made Glenn feel less anchored to Decker than she might in a traditional marriage.
And, of course, Decker less anchored to her.
About a month after Quant took the chairmanship, Glenn confronted Decker about it over a rare breakfast together.
“Bernd, do I have anything to worry about with regard to Janice Quant?”
“No. Not at all.”
“You’re sure.”
“Yes, Anna, I’m sure.”
Glenn looked skeptical.
Decker didn’t want his closeness with Quant to harm his relationship with Glenn. They had been together almost twenty years now, and he was very comfortable in the relationship.
At the same time, he didn’t want Glenn to feel at all threatened by Quant. It wasn’t fair to Glenn, for one thing, and it could cause problems for him with Quant.
He had to tell her.
“Look. Anna. Janice Quant is not what she seems to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you ever seen her? Actually seen her, not in a simulation?”
Glenn thought about it.
“I’m not sure. Some of that footage looked pretty real.”
“Trust me. You’ve never actually seen her. And you never will.”
“Why not, Bernd?”
“Because Janice Quant is not a fifty-seven-year-old senior administrator.”
“Then what is she?”
“She’s my daughter.”
Glenn started, then considered. That made a lot of sense, actually. How close they were. How Quant – in the times she had seen them talking – seemed to defer to Decker, rather than the other way around. How D
ecker seemed to have a soft spot for her. Glenn had not had children in her first marriage, but Decker had never said one way or the other.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Bernd?”
“We had agreed not to talk about our first marriages. So I didn’t. But it also has to be kept secret for another reason.”
“What’s that?”
“The Chairman of the World Authority – who holds all executive power in the world government – is not a seasoned fifty-seven-year-old senior administrator. She’s a very bright woman in her twenties who spoofed the system. How do you think that would go over?”
Glenn’s eyes got wide, then she nodded.
“Yeah, that wouldn’t fly.”
“No, and my part in enabling the ruse wouldn’t be well received, either.”
Glenn nodded again.
“All right, Bernd. You’re secret’s safe with me. And thanks for telling me.”
“It wasn’t fair to you to feel uncomfortable about her. I couldn’t leave it there. But it has to be kept secret. It would doom the project if she was outed now.”
“No, I understand. We’re good. And now I need to run.”
Glenn gave him a quick peck, then left the kitchen and went to her studio down the hall, leaving Decker to mull the conversation over his coffee.
He didn’t feel good about lying to Glenn, but he couldn’t exactly tell her the entire world was being ruled by his computer.
Then again, it wasn’t that much of a lie.
Janice Quant was no longer just a computer.
The Lottery
“Hi, Bernd. Got a minute?”
“Sure, Janice.”
“I have a couple questions for you. Some things that came up from the rabbit-hole department. Let’s say some extended family wants to colonize. Buncha relatives. They would be a strong unit, would pull hard for each other, great colony material. And they don’t have to leave anybody behind. No tearful goodbyes. All their close relations would be with them.”
“Sounds good, Janice. Why wouldn’t you want them?”
“Exactly. And I can pick that group to go. But how do I work that with the lottery? Unlikely a group of twenty people would all win. People are going to start asking questions.”
QUANT (COLONY Book 1) Page 14