Scale Free

by Patrick Arnesen

  Melanie squinted at me and frowned. “We know the explosions line up with some of the deleted comm log entries, but we don’t know who was communicating at the time.”

  “What about other activity besides communication?”

  “Well, there was an enormous amount of traffic just before and after the lab blew up. Something big was being computed. It might be that they were using computer resources both at the lab and within VivraTerra. I know we track processor and memory usage of each upload so we can charge them for it when they exceed their quotas.”

  “Quotas?” I asked.

  “I guess you haven’t had to worry about that, but there’s a limit on the amount of computer power you can use freely. Our constitution says that each upload has the right to use enough computer resources to host themselves, their sims and a reasonable amount of personal software. Every few years, we evaluate the amount of resources available and up the limit. Most uploads never come anywhere close to reaching it, but there are some who need more power. They use it to run huge personal sims, or large business applications, or to do science research. Whatever they use it for, if they exceed their quotas, we charge them for the extra computer time.”

  “Makes sense.” I said. “So if most people never hit their quotas, then perhaps we might get lucky and see a spike in computer usage for just one person around the time of the lab explosion.”

  Melanie smiled. “Jarrod, remember when I wasn’t sure you’d be any good at real work? I take it back. I’ll need permission from the council to see those records, but given the circumstances I think I can convince them.”

  “They’ve already given you full access to the com logs” I said. “In for a penny, in for a pound?”

  Melanie leaned over and gave me a peck on the cheek. “When this is all over, I just hope they don’t lock me away for knowing too much.” She stood up. “I’ll call you when I’m done looking at the records.” Then she raised her hands above her head and with a flourish, popped out of sight.

  Chapter 31

  It was time to check on Emma. In all the commotion I hadn’t seen her in over a day. I tucked away my desktop, looked up her location and jumped.

  Sometimes when jumping into an unfamiliar sim, it’s good practice to jump staring at your feet, then as you slowly look up, your mind has time to gradually take in the new environment. I hadn’t followed that good advice this time, which was why I felt my heart leap suddenly into my mouth. Dominating nearly my entire field of view was a brilliant disk. Red, orange and white bands of clouds moved steadily across its surface. The rest of the sky was dark black, emblazoned with countless brilliant stars. I soon realized I was staring at Jupiter, king of the planets. To add to the disorientation, the disk seemed to be spinning steadily around its center, like a record on a turntable, viewed from above. Now my focus shifted to the horizon, just a few degrees below Jupiter’s disk. It was curved visibly upwards both to the left and the right. In fact the horizon wrapped completely around the planet, encircling it like a round window frame.

  I looked to my left to take in a bright green pastoral countryside curving constantly upwards. I continued to follow it until I saw a lake, directly overhead, several kilometers away. From there the landscape descended until it became the ground to my right. I was standing on the inside of a enormous rotating wheel, circling Jupiter in a low orbit. Light and warmth streamed down from a narrow hub at the center of the wheel. Behind me the view looked directly away from Jupiter. I was greeted by a rich starscape. The Milky Way was a brilliant band of white and one star that was much brighter than the others. With a start I realized I was looking at the sun, 800 million kilometers away.

  Altogether the scene was breathtaking. The greens and blues of the wheel’s inner surface contrasted sharply with the blackness of space. But dominating everything was the overwhelming sight of Jupiter, so close by.

  My eyes drifted back to the terrain to my left. There were little forests and streams and green fields with grazing deer. Before me was a winding dirt road. From my interface, I could confirm that Emma was nearby, just down the trail, so I began making my way forward. Looking ahead at the ascending terrain, I could see that the trail led to an Italian style villa, hugging the side of a small blue lake. Between the lake shore and the villa was a garden, adorned with green bushes, flowers, and marble statues. The garden featured a large stone fountain. Using my super-vision I could see at its center stood a tall Greek nude, Diana the huntress; straight backed and bow drawn, she stood forever primed to let her arrow fly. Her eyes dispassionately regarded her target.

  There were two moving figures in the fountain. They were swimming and splashing around the statue. One was Emma, the other was her friend, Sheila. There was a third figure sitting on the fountain's edge. With a start, I realized it was my mother.

  I checked my interface. Teleportation was allowed within this sim, so I jumped directly to the side of the fountain.

  “Hi Daddy!” Emma shouted. She smiled and waved. Her wet hair was plastered to her shoulders.

  “Hi Baby.” I said. Then I turned to my mother and gave her a long hug.

  “Hi Mom, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  “Emma invited me. She said she wanted me to see this… place.”

  “This is Sheila’s sim” said Emma. “Isn’t it great?”

  “Stunning” I replied.

  Sheila waded over to join us. She too had blond hair, stood half an inch taller than Emma, and wore a green one-piece swimsuit. I turned to address her. “This really is an amazing place. Are the physics all realistic?

  “They are” she replied “We’re at a 40,000 km orbit above Jupiter. The station is six km in diameter and spins to produce one gravity here at the surface.”

  “What made you decide to build a sim like this?”

  “I wanted a nice view, and I’ve always liked Jupiter.”

  I turned back to Emma. “Have you been spending a lot of time here?”

  “All the time Daddy. Sheila’s given me full access and sim editing permissions, so I’ve been helping her with the landscaping and building up the ecology” She pointed straight up. “I’ve got my own house next to the other lake up there.”

  “Ecology?”

  “Ya, we’re building a real ecosystem, with an oxygen, carbon and nitrogen cycle, and a real food chain. We even designed the plants and animals so they live and die, have babies, and even evolve naturally. In a few million years you’d see totally new animals and plants living here.”

  “That couldn’t have been easy to set up.”

  Emma laughed. “Sheila said that if we make the biosphere big enough the ecology would be able to balance itself naturally, and that’s mostly what happened. This wheel has almost ten million square meters of land.”

  I turned again to look at Sheila. “Amazing.”

  Sheila shrugged. “It didn’t all go smoothly. We had to intervene quite a lot before the natural cycles finally began to stabilize on their own; but the best way to learn is by doing.”

  “Is this some sort of school project then?” I asked.

  Emma laughed. “No silly, this is Sheila’s home sim.”

  I sat down on the fountain’s edge. “Well I for one have never seen a sim this impressive. What do you think mom?”

  “I don’t know what to think” Elan replied. “When I was her age I was just playing Farmville on facebook.”

  “Farmville?” Emma asked.

  “Forget it” Elan laughed. “After seeing this I’d be embarrassed to show you.”

  Chapter 32

  It was good to see my mother involved in Emma’s life again. For over a year after we uploaded she had refused all of my attempts to communicate with her. It was Emma who finally broke through to her. Without my knowledge, Emma had begun sending her grandmother regular letters, sometimes written, but usually in the form of short videos. She had shown Elan her favorite places and activities and begged her to return her calls, t
elling her how much she missed her.

  Then one day out of the blue I received an email from Elan. It was short, just a single sentence:

  Jarrod,

  I want to talk to you.

  -Elan

  I had replied with instructions for setting up four fish-eye cameras around the corners of her living room. A few days later she said she was ready, and I placed the call. For the first time in over a year I found myself standing in my mother’s apartment. Elan stood facing me, looking stiff and apprehensive. Her hands gripping each other tightly in front of her. For a moment we both stood and stared at each other.

  “It looks like you’re really there.” She said.

  “It feels like I’m here.” I replied. In fact I was standing in a simlet, reconstructed using the live data from the four cameras my mother had set up. My mother’s HUDS contact lenses were projecting a three dimensional image of me into her living room.”

  “Can I sit down?” I asked.

  “Can you?”

  “Yes.” I sat down on the couch and gestured for her to do the same. After a moment’s hesitation she took the opposite end of the couch.

  “Would you like some tea? No, of, of course not.” She stammered.

  Another moment of silence passed. Finally I spoke. “You haven’t answered my calls for over a year. Why did you suddenly answer me now?”

  “I still don’t know if this is a good idea.”

  “But something must have made you change your mind.”

  Elan made a few gestures in the air and the video wall on the far side of the room lit up. It was a video message from Emma. She was dressed in her Polynesian outfit, kneeling inside our hut on a straw mat.

  “Hi Granma.” She said. “I hope you’re watching this. I went swimming again today, and Daddy’s teaching me how to sail. It’s a lot of fun. Daddy and I spend all our time together now. It’s really great. But I miss you Granma.” Tears began to stream down Emma’s cheeks. “Please come visit us Granma. I really want to see you again.” The wall went blank.

  “Where do you get off sending me tear-jerkers like that?” Elan said. “For the past year I’ve been grieving the deaths of my son and granddaughter. Do you think this makes it any easier?”

  “Mom, I didn’t know Emma was sending you messages. She did that all by herself.”

  “That… thing, inside the computer. It isn’t Emma. Emma died in Amsterdam.” She cast me an icy gaze. “You killed her.”

  I nearly pointed out the obvious contradiction in her logic, but then thought better of it.

  “Mom, I’ll never be able to make up for the pain I caused you. All I can say is I’m sorry. But there’s a little girl who longs for her grandmother and wants to see her again. Are you going to keep denying her that?”

  “It’s not Emma!”

  I knew that there was a whole religious community that was helping my mother to support that conviction, despite what her instincts must be telling her.

  “I’ve been with her every day for a whole year since we uploaded. She acts like Emma, she looks like Emma, her personality is Emma’s. She even smells like her.” Whether or not she actually ‘is’ the Emma you knew before the upload is a philosophical question. Your own beliefs determine the answer, so it’s not something I can convince you of; but the point is, she looks and acts exactly like the Emma you knew, and she loves you. For nothing other than purely selfish reasons, wouldn’t you like to be a part of her life? Think of her as a different person if you have to.”

  “She’s not a ‘person’ at all.”

  “Then what’s the harm in communicating with her? If she really is just a piece of software, then you’re just interacting with a computer. Where’s the harm in that? Just try it for a while. If you don’t like it you can stop.”

  “It would defile the memory of the real Emma. Talking to an abomination like that, it’s a Sin Jarrod, a Sin.”

  I spread my hands. “That’s what your mind is telling you, but I know your heart is saying something else, or you wouldn’t have called me here. Just see her one time, please. After that you can decide.”

  My mother was crying now. I wish I could have reached over and held her, but in this room I was just an apparition. Without warning I suddenly found myself back on the beach in Polynesia. Elan had cut the connection.

  Chapter 33

  A few days later I received another short message from my mother, saying she wanted to see Emma. I replied, asking her to come to the VivraTerra head office the next day.

  My mother arrived on schedule. She entered via the door at the back alley, and then found her way to the main lobby. I was waiting for here there, wearing a standard robot.

  “Is that you, Jarrod?” She asked?

  “Yes mom. Could you please open your inbox? You’ll find a link to a HUDs overlay program there. Please run it.”

  I waited a few seconds while she interacted with her personal interface.

  “Oh, the robot looks like you now.” Elan said.

  “The overlay is projecting my image on top of the robot. Are you ready to see Emma now?”

  “I guess so.”

  I called for Emma, who was waiting in the hallway. I had been careful to select a child-height robot for her. Like all the robots, it was coated in a soft blue rubbery skin. I had put a wig and a dress on it, and set its internal heaters to simulate human temperature. The result looked hideous, but with Emma’s image projected onto it, the robot would provide the most realistic interaction between Emma and her grandmother I could come up with.

  Emma came into the lobby. With the HUDs overlay running, I knew my mother was seeing her true form, not the robot.

  “Granma!” she yelled, and ran over to Elan. Elan looked terrified. She took a step back, but Emma didn’t stop until she had wrapped her arms tightly around her grandmother’s chest and buried her head in her shoulder.

  “I missed you Granma.” Emma wailed.

  My mother stiffened for a moment, but then I saw the ice over her heart shatter, and she started to cry.

  “My little Emma.” She said, and stroked her hair.

  From that day onward Elan returned to our lives. She still held her religious convictions, but somehow she had found a way to leave them behind in the human world.

  Chapter 34

  Elan was worried about the murder. I was busy weaving a white lie of reassurance when a message from Mr. Speer came in. It was a perfunctory request to meet him at his hilltop office. I hugged Emma and Elan, said my goodbyes, and jumped.

  Mr. Speer was sitting next to his fireplace. When I jumped in he gestured for me to join him in the second easy chair. Another coconut and straw were waiting for me on the coffee table next to his whiskey.

  “Hello Jarrod, how are you feeling?”

  I settled into the chair and took a sip from the coconut. “Much better sir. Thank you for the instructions on dealing with the police. They released me without a fuss.”

  “Sooner or later you will have to submit to questioning, but hopefully we’ll be able to delay that until the Polis is out of danger.”

  “Have there been any new developments?” I asked.

  Mr. Speer nodded. “The human authorities are moving faster than ours. VivraTerra has been summoned to appear before a provincial court judge for some sort of special preliminary hearing. It seems the judge is having difficulty sorting out how to proceed. There isn’t any legal precedent for dealing with the murder of a human by an upload.”

  “That’s not what happened, sir.”

  “I didn't mean to imply that it had, but the authorities are of course going to try to charge you with murder. From their point of view, the evidence against you is quite incriminating. We have hired a defense lawyer to represent us. I'd like you to be in attendance. The judge may wish to hear a statement from you, and I also need to you to be ready to help deal with any political repercussions from the trial. Although I don’t think you’ll run
into any problems personally, the outcome could well be problematic for Vivraterra overall, and NASC will no doubt attempt to manipulate public sentiment to their advantage.

  “I’ll be there, sir.”

  “The trial starts at 3pm. That’s 2 hours from now. We’ve been forced to physically disable all of our robots until we can discover how robot132 was hacked, but the courthouse is rigged for telepresence so you can attend virtually. Access to the building has been restricted because of the media frenzy this case has started, so you’ll need a pass to gain entrance...”

  Chapter 35

  The courtroom was at the downtown law courts building at Nelson and Hornby in Vancouver. When I jumped in, I found myself standing in the main atrium. The chorus of shouting could be heard outside. A line of police was holding back a horde of reporters and protesters at the front entrance. I walked over for a closer look. The reporters were all running the courthouse HUDs overlay and so I was visible to them.

  “What’s your name?” one yelled.

  “Are you an upload from VivraTerra?”

  “Were you involved in the murder?”