Scale Free

by Patrick Arnesen

  I ignored their questions and focused on the protesters. Christians, Muslims and Hindus stood together, for once unified in their outrage. Their placards were not encouraging:

  “Outlaw Uploads”

  "Uploading = Death"

  “Crimes against Nature, Crimes against God”

  “Just Pull the Plug”

  Many of the protesters reacted angrily when they saw me. They surged against the police line and the officers were forced to put their backs into their riot shields.

  “Abomination!” yelled one protester.

  “Free your soul from the machine, God is waiting!” yelled another.

  “Murderer!” screamed a third.

  Never before had I been the target of so many hateful glares. I quickly turned away and walked up the stairs to the courtroom. The room itself was small, almost cozy. With rich velvet carpets and beach colored paneling and courtroom furniture. The audience pews were filled with reporters and academic looking types. For every physically present member of the audience, I knew there would soon be dozens more watching remotely.

  There by the defense table I found the lawyer for VivraTerra and his aides. I approached and introduced myself.

  “I’m Jarrod Roamer” I said. “Sorry I can’t shake your hand.”

  “Ahh, the upload who was driving robot132 when it went berserk, and also on special assignment under Gregory Speer, minister of foreign relations. Good to have you here. I’m Anthony Zuckbern."

  "Do you think you can fill me in on what this courtroom session is about?"

  "Well, when we heard what had happened, we knew that the police's would want to pursue a homicide trial, and given the gravity of that charge, they would request broad search and seizure powers. Since that would include confiscation of VivraTerra hardware, it would present a real problem for you and your polis. To prevent that, we submitted a pre-emptive injunction, requesting that the court deny the police's application for warrants. The police objected, and to settle matters, the judge ordered both sides appear at this session to make our cases, and here we are."

  I nodded. Zuckbern continued.

  "I’d like you to sit with us here. The session is about to start. Please don’t speak out of turn or volunteer any information. If events play out the way I think they will, the session will be brief and your polis will be safe for the time being."

  I nodded again and took my seat.

  Zuckbern leaned over and spoke in my ear “By the way, please don’t take what I’m about to say personally. I’ll be speaking from a purely legal perspective, and sometimes the law doesn’t have much to do with the real world or common sense. It’s got a logic all its own.”

  Chapter 36

  A few minutes later the judge entered and struck his gavel. He pressed a large red button on his desk. It began to glow, indicating that the proceedings were now being recorded and broadcast to the public.

  “This court will now hear preliminary arguments for Canada vs. VivraTerra. We will start with the attorney for the plaintiff. Mr. Enbridge?”

  “Thank you your honor. The prosecution intends to pursue three charges of homicide against VivraTerra and Mr. Jarrod Roamer. We have filed warrants for the confiscation of the equipment involved in the crime, namely VivraTerra's servers and networking equipment and...”

  Zuckbern raised his hand. “Objection; I thought the warrant requests were against VivraTerra, not Mr. Roamer.”

  Enbridge took the interruption in stride. “Canada vs. CanBright, 2025, sets precedent here. When a corporation is accused of criminal action, it is necessary to identify the authorized agent or employee of the company, who directly committed the crime. That agent plays the role of the defendant, and the agent and the company share responsibility for the crime.”

  Enbridge gestured toward me. “In this case, the agent in question is clearly Jarrod Roamer, who was in charge of the robot at the time of the killings.”

  Zuckbern raised his hand again. “I believe that in Canada vs. CanBright, the agent in question was defined as, and I quote: ‘a person capable of taking premeditated action and capable of holding a guilty conscience.’ I submit that the software program known as Jarrod Roamer is not a person and was thus incapable of taking ‘premeditated action’ of any kind.”

  Enbridge looked annoyed. “Your honor, after 15 years of living with uploads, it should be obvious to everyone by now that they satisfy the requirements for persons capable of conscious action.”

  “Are you asking his honor to grant the status of legal personhood to every upload in Canada Mr. Enbridge?” Zuckbern said. “If so, then this trial will take a lot longer than any of us were planning for. There’s also a rather large gathering of Canadians outside this building right now who would want to have their opinions heard on that matter.”

  Enbridge turned to the judge. “Your honor, corporate criminal law requires there to be an agent of authority who acted on behalf of the company. Without such a person, we cannot bring the suspect, or VivraTerra to justice.”

  Zuckbern said “Precisely your honor. If no person was involved in committing a crime, then how can a crime have been committed? Assuming VivraTerra is even responsible for the actions of the robot at the time of the incident, which we are prepared to refute if necessary, then what we are dealing with here could only be defined as an industrial accident. Robotic hardware and software owned by VivraTerra may have suffered a malfunction, with tragic results. When an industrial accident occurs, the owner of the faulty equipment may be charged with involuntary manslaughter. In this case, the equipment was owned by VivraTerra, which is in turn wholly owned by a Mrs. Inga Kristofferson. Is it the crown’s intention to press charges against her?”

  Enbridge scowled, “Your honor that is not acceptable. Inga Kristofferson is a medical patient in a state of suspended cryostasis. She clearly had nothing to do with the killings, and is in no condition to stand trial."

  Zuckbern interrupted. “And therefore if the prosecution were to press charges against her, the defense would be forced to ask the court to declare her incompetent to stand trial, on account of her not being conscious, and move that the trial be delayed until such time that she can actively participate in her own defense.”

  Enbridge shook his head. “Again unacceptable; she was placed in stasis because she suffered a massive embolism in her brain. It’s highly unlikely that she will ever be revived. So it’s also unlikely that a case against her would ever come to trial.”

  The judge leaned forward. “Mr. Enbridge. I am not prepared to grant legal status to Jarrod Roamer or any other upload. I’m quite sure I would exceed my authority if I tried. If you wish to proceed with a charge of homicide, then you will need to identify a legal person that this court can try. If instead you intend to proceed with a lesser charge against Mrs. Kristofferson then please do so, but I would be forced to grant the defenses request for a delayed trial. Other than that I don’t see any way to proceed.”

  Zuckbern raised his hand again. “Your honor, I understand the police investigating this case have requested search and seizure warrants against VivraTerra, most notably its computer equipment. They have also requested that they be granted warrants to disable the company's backup hardware, in order to ensure no repeat incidents occur while they pursue their investigation.

  The equipment in question is vital to VivraTerra’s core business functions, Also since the company has physically disabled all of its robots, a repeat incident is no longer possible. I therefore move that any warrant for the seizure of that equipment be granted only if the more serious charge of homicide is leveled against VivraTerra or any of its agents. Otherwise, I request that the warrants be denied. If this was indeed an industrial accident, then VivraTerra has already taken the appropriate steps to ensure public safety, and should be given time to diagnose the problem and make the necessary repairs."

  “Agreed.” said the judge. “Mr. Enbridge. Would you like to pursue a charge of homicide at this
time?”

  Enbridge, who was frowning at Zuckbern, turned back to the judge. “No your honor. But the prosecution begs the court for time to review the circumstances of the case and bring charges at a later date if necessary.”

  “Very well. Then for the time being your warrants are denied, and this court stands adjourned.” The judge struck the gavel, stood up and left the room without looking back.” The little red light on his table went out.

  Chapter 37

  Enbridge made a few crisp gestures in the air with his hands and then, with a nod to Zuckbern spun on his heel and headed past the emptying pews and out the door. I waited for most of the spectators to leave, and then turned to face Zuckbern.

  I curled my hands into fists. "Mr. Zuckbern. This strategy was not in VivraTerra's best interest. You've just started the worst public relations nightmare I can possibly imagine."

  Zuckbern smiled patiently. "Mr. Roamer, despite Enbridge's protests, both he and I knew perfectly well how this session was going to turn out. So did the judge for that matter. Given the current state of the law, this couldn't have played out any other way. We all went through the motions in order to record the argument in the court record, for posterity, so to speak."

  "Posterity!?" I asked, incredulous.

  "This is the beginning of a precedent setting case of real significance. Three people have been murdered, and according to the law as it now stands, there isn't any way to bring the case to trial. That's a gaping hole in our current legal code. These sorts of holes are everywhere if you look for them, and sometimes they fester for decades, but this time three people are dead, and something will have to give. The judge's decision today will be appealed all the way to the supreme court, and at the end of the day, the law will be changed in one of two possible ways. Either uploads will be granted the status of legal persons, so that they can be brought to trial, or corporate criminal law will be changed to acknowledge that computers can make decisions all by themselves, and the requirement to identify a human decision maker will be removed."

  "Or uploads will be declared a public threat and the NASC will have us all executed." I interrupted. "Working this case through the supreme court will take years. In the meantime you've just informed the world that uploads can basically kill with impunity. When the public hears of this, they'll be outraged, and they'll feel threatened. It'll arouse their most basic our tribe vs. their tribe instincts. They'll demand to see our heads on a spike."

  Zuckbern raised his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry, I really didn't have any choice. For one thing the law is very clear on this matter, and I hadn't filed the injunction, the police would be unplugging your servers right now."

  I glared at him. "From now on, before you make any major decisions, I want you to talk to me first."

  I dropped my virtual business card on the table. Zuckbern smiled at me sympathetically, but then made a grabbing gesture over the card - a signal for his interface to make a copy of it.

  I gave Zuckbern another glare then jumped back to VivraTerra.

  Chapter 38

  There was a summons waiting for me in my inbox the moment I returned. I hit the included link and found myself back at Speer's hilltop office. Mr. Speer was sitting behind his desk, surrounded by a dozen floating video screens. He nodded to acknowledge my entrance but continued to rapidly shift his attention from screen to screen.

  “I’m monitoring the more popular news channels and vloggers to gauge the public’s reaction to the court events. As expected, people are reacting fearfully. This is a very dangerous situation for VivraTerra and the other polises.”

  I nodded, encouraged to find Speer ahead of the curve.

  “Were there no other options available?” I asked. “…something that might have avoided a public backlash?”

  “This was the only course open to us to defeat the search and seizure warrants. Our job now is damage control. We need to get people thinking rationally and temper the public’s natural impulse to fear and anger.”

  “Is there anything I can do?” I asked.

  Speer nodded.

  “Over the next few days, I’m going to be running a publicity campaign, and you’re the lynchpin. You were the pilot of robot132, which casts you in the role of the villain in the public’s eyes, and the media is falling over itself trying to learn everything it can about you. You’re the one everyone wants to talk to, so it falls to you to defend yourself and the rest of us in the forum of public opinion. I’m arranging an exclusive interview with a top news agency that historically has cast us in a favorable or at least neutral light. This will be the only interview we’ll be giving for the time being, so it will command international attention. I need you to be ready.”

  I felt my eyebrows go up. “Do you mind if I sit down, sir?” I asked.

  Speer smiled and gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk. I took my seat gratefully.

  “I’m not going to send you in there unarmed.” Speer said. “You’ll have a team backing you up. Right now they’re putting together a series of arguments and facts that should help you convey our position effectively. We’ll be monitoring the interview in real time and teleprompting you all the way. At every turn you’ll have a roadmap in front of you to help you make your case.”

  “Shouldn’t I be helping them?” I asked.

  “They'll brief you tomorrow, a couple of hours before the interview. In the meantime the best thing you can do is to rest so you’ll be at your best when the time comes. So go home, spend some time with your daughter and try to put this out of your mind for the time being.”

  Chapter 39

  I thanked Mr. Speer, jumped back to my house and sat down at the kitchen table. Emma's school desktop was there, but she wasn't around. I pulled up my interface and sent her a quick message. "It's getting late, do you want to do homework before or after dinner?"

  She replied a minute later. "not hungry."

  "Ok, but we still need to do some homework. Come home."

  "Maybe later."

  I frowned at her last message. Emma normally enjoyed learning and most of her assignments were fun for both of us.

  I gestured toward Emma's icon in my interface and selected the "jump to" command. An error message popped up. "Unable to jump, no location found". I selected Emma's icon again and selected the "where is" command. “No location found". I selected her icon a third time and punched "Voice Call". A phone appeared on the desk. I picked up the receiver.

  "Emma, I can't jump over to you. Where are you?"

  "I'm not anywhere."

  “Come on Emma, tell me where you are. I’m getting worried.”

  “I’m not in any sim Dad.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. Why can’t I see your location?”

  I heard her sigh. "It’s hard to explain. Run my script and you'll see." A little rolled-up papyrus scroll appeared next to the telephone. I unrolled it and studied the contents. It was covered with a computer language I couldn't read. At the bottom was a big red button labeled "Execute". With a shrug, I hit the button. A big warning appeared in my interface, with options to cancel or continue.

  "Honey, are you sure this script is safe?" I asked.

  "Don't worry Daddy, I wrote it myself. I've run it lots of times."

  The warning message was controlled by my personal host software, which had analyzed the script. It did not say that I would be denied access to my interface, or that the script would attempt any alterations to my mind, and I knew such warnings must always be present for scripts that tried to do so. Whatever Emma had in mind, I would still be in control and could undo the effects of the script anytime, so I hit the button labeled "Continue."

  The table and desktop were suddenly gone. I was surrounded by total blackness. The sound of the seagulls and waves from the porch were replaced by silence. There was no ground beneath my feet. I felt a sickening sensation of freefall. It was as if I had jumped into a sim of a deep, black cave, weightless inside an as
teroid.

  Instinctively I tried to flail my arms and legs. The normal feeling of resistance, unconsciously felt, as flesh and sinew fight inertia to gain speed, was gone, as was the feel of the wind running over the little hairs on my arms. With growing panic I tried to bring my hands to my face and once again encountered no feedback of any kind. My arms and legs and face, indeed my entire body, were gone.

  I let out a shout of fear and surprise. I heard my voice, even though I had no mouth to shout with and no ears to hear.

  "Calm down Daddy. You're ok."

  "What is this Emma?"

  "It’s what disconnecting from your sim feels like. You can still send commands to your host through your interface, but it won't send you back any feelings from your sim, because you aren't in one.”

  "I can’t feel my own body."

  "Your body's part of the sim. If you aren't connected to one, then you have no body at all.”

  "Then how can I hear you?"

  "Because our voice call was never part of the sim. It's a direct connection between you and me."

  The oppressing blackness quickly began to overwhelm me. My nerve endings were screaming for signals of any kind. At that moment, I think I would have happily accepted a visit from a nineteenth century dentist.