THE NANOROBOT
The year was 9325. It
was a golden age for nanorobotics. Everyone was racing to make the
smallest possible model. Deep in the bowels of the Earth Federation,
many young men and women were attempting to make it invisible even to
the eyepiece of an electron microscope. All efforts were directed
toward just that. Whole farms were engaged in their production.
Nanoengineering had become the most prestigious and sought-after
profession.
The string theory of
the 26-dimensional model of the universe had long been rejected as
unreliable and perhaps even entirely wrong. But quantum physics was
flourishing. Somewhere in there was born the idea of nanorobots that
could change its structure by controlled and directed launches of
entire fleets of them into specific regions where an important
universal event was about to occur. For example, the birth of a super
nova or the appearance of a black hole.
Earth's Bureau of
Directed Nano-Interventions was going to deal with those issues. The
more time progressed, the more the growing responsibility was clearly
felt. Any controlled change in the course of the universe's
development could be extremely dangerous.
In the very distant
past, nanorobots had simply treated cancer cells and other elementary
things, whereas now the fate of entire galaxies and star clusters
depended on them. Morality had to be raised much higher.
The advent of the
exananorobot was the first major event in the history of this
science. This is where our history begins.
The exananorobot was a
new savagery born in the minds of scientific polymaths. It allowed
interventions from the ether level even in the brains of humans.
Everything was going exactly according to plan. Somewhere deep
inside, however, something cracked in the organization of all this
ultra-advanced technology.
Access to people's
brains was divided into multiple levels. The eta level was the first
of them, providing direct access to people's memories and to their
memory itself. The lack of morality then created many problems. The
new virtual reality caused the death of many.
Few dared to check out
what lay in the sigma level, and no one had gone to the omega level.
It was simply inaccessible to the current level of development.
The so-called
singularity had gotten out of all possible control and had become
unpredictable. And unpredictable meant extremely dangerous.
Kurzweil's stated assumptions had long since become reality. In other
words, due to the enormous technological advances, the world could
perish at any moment.
Ernst Thaler was one
of the best-trained nano-robotics specialists to be found.
Somewhere behind his
desk Ernst Thaler was doing tons of calculations as he figured out
down to the smallest detail the specifics of the nanorobots, the
command of an entire fleet of them, and also the prioritization of
the targets they were being used for.
Thaler liked to work
alone, and none of his colleagues prevented him from thinking and
acting. He was born for it.
As for the desk - the
problems were too many and different. And there were still not enough
people. And the nanorobots had one specificity - the so-called
"swarms" or "flotillas", as they were called in
plain language, could become too unmanageable and chaotic, because
they used artificial intelligence imitating human behavior.
Scientists had been
scrambling to solve this problem for the past three thousand years
without much success. What's more, several accidents had already
occurred, and there were no culprits. Deep in the bowels of the
planet, there was a secret laboratory that was engaged in special
pre-launch testing of the colony. Where on earth could they have
handled all that?
Ernst was trying to
solve some special cases of Euclidean geometry equations to improve
their routing in the wild vacuum of space, which may have been the
key to fixing the accident. Sweat trickled from his brow. One
elementary mistake could have cost him dearly. Somewhere deep in his
heart, he could feel the deaths of millions who could have perished
simply from one oversight on his part.
The process of
replication or self-replication of each individual nanorobot was
linked to what was called non-biological reproduction.
Getting it wrong,
however, could have created a new nano-virtual reality that would be
particularly dangerous for near-real objects. This was the
scientists' main concern. Even objects such as the Earth, and even
entire galaxies and star clusters, could be relatively quickly
trapped in a kind of nanoscale virtual world. Scientists did not know
what to do in a situation of such a catastrophe.
Erica Jale was the
only one who dared to hang over his head, but only occasionally. Not
too often and not too rarely. To give him advice and make him a cup
of tea or cappuccino. Even to give him a light massage.
Thaler was stingy and
didn't like paying for shit, no matter how necessary it was to keep
him healthy.
Finally the solution
was discovered and a long, slow and rather unnerving series of checks
for every variable in the chaotic solving of the system began.
The food was pretty
crappy. People used high calorie kibble similar to dog food, but they
felt happy. Thaler was quite the antisocial type, but he didn't
bother anyone and so everyone respected him. And he knew too much.
- "You're working
on something that might not come to fruition,"
Erica remarked, "So much work for nothing."
- "The nanorobots
took us over a long time ago," he added.
- "Isn't it just
better to selectively restrict sending them only to people's brains.
The symbiosis we've built could help us localize the whole problem.
We still live on Earth after all," she
expressed her somewhat strange irony.
- I think you're
right.
- "But my
superiors tell me what to do and I just do it. I don't ask questions.
I don't reason," Ernst replied
quietly.
- "You know you
are," Erica agreed and walked out.
No one else came in to
Ernst. For a period of six whole months. He ate, slept and rolled
around on the floor like a little panda in a zoo, not caring about
anyone. He got up and kept solving the equations for fleet control.
His schedule was very busy.
In those six months,
four significant events occurred - the birth of a super nova in the
constellation Centaurus, the destruction of an entire asteroid field
near Mercury, the patching of the hole in the ozone layer above
Earth, and finally the collapse of a black hole that threatened to
engulf the Andromeda galaxy. It was all so banal to Ernst. He was
just doing his job.
The light in his small
office was neon and came from white tubular light fixtures tied in
bundles throughout the room.
Ernst Thaler was
German to the marrow of his bones. He was just super disciplined, but
after hours he liked to have a drink of fresh milk, because he had
once seen a movie where the motto was that that was all real men
drank. Plus his nerves were relaxing.
His equations were
just perfect. There wasn't a single mistake. And he was proud of
himself. He didn't care about the outside world he meddled in every
day. That was real power. And he was aware of his responsibility.
His bosses called him
to them and rewarded him. His work increased even more. And here,
somewhere, a little flaw in his behavior showed.
Erica had long since
died, as he had spent long hours in a room where the subjective time
being reported had preserved his youthfulness. He was completely
alone.
When he opened the
door to his room he was astonished to find that the entire world
outside was dead, only because he hadn't gotten to the last line of
his equation.
Then it occurred to
him to check if he had some semblance of a chip in his head, or if a
nanorobot had accidentally wormed its way through his ear.
He went to a special
scanner and before long found just that. The intruder had cleverly
copied his changing behavior, which hadn't really changed at all. He
had been doing his job without paying attention to other people. He
had completely forgotten about them. Outside it was a wasteland.
He went out and looked
around. He couldn't leave the planet either. He grabbed his head with
his hands and started screaming like crazy. He was just a sick
psychopath. Bloody tears dripped from his eyes.
Then he heard a voice
behind him.
- This is where your
calculations have led you! Human life doesn't fit into even the most
complicated mathematics.
He didn't want to turn
around. Nor was he willing to admit defeat. A senseless defeat.
He had trained kendo
in his youth, and every time they knocked the bokken out of his
hands, he would start cursing. He'd swear like a brawler. That's why
they finally kicked him out of the dojo. Experiencing a refined and
perverse delight in it. But now it was different. He slowly turned
around and saw Erica.
- "How did he
even come alive?,"
He wondered.
- By not being guided
by your theories, but just finding a safe hiding place. Didn't you
notice that the giant nanoflotilla attacked planet Earth. With
nothing to do, inaction was killing them and they decided to stop
obeying your commands.
Thaler was silent.
- "But you're
alive," he
objected quietly.
- "Alive, yes,
but - unburied," she laughed
scathingly.
The souls of the two
of them would remain here together forever. Not that they liked each
other, but they had no choice. Quite a pity!
The German mused. He
had done his job properly. He'd met the deadlines, too, and he'd even
been a little late.
- "Relationships
with people are much more important,"
she told him, "What you've done, while impressive, isn't much.
You have to be more careful with people and not let them gas you, and
that's even harder. Soon we will both perish for lack of food and
water. Then what will we do in these last minutes?"
Ernst just kicked the
dust with the toe of his shoe like a stubborn donkey being told how
to behave in public. He knew that somewhere out there a lot of things
were no longer the same. He knew he was living a lie.
- "You know, I
know I made myself needed - it's true. Nobody else on this planet
could solve Euclidean equations like I could. But where did that
leave my so-called friends?," he brightened. "Whatever we
say, I'm all alone!"
- No, you've got me.
Whether we like it or not, we're together.
The first thing was to
find shelter. There was no such place around. Everything was deserted
and bare.
Suddenly, Thaler
slapped himself on the forehead. What if the nanorobots had just
returned to planet Earth and what they were seeing was virtual
reality. He immediately shared his concerns.
- "Impossible,"
she responded.
-
"Let's see," Ernst sighed, "if
there's anything in my brain, it will listen or try to adjust to any
change."
- I want an isolated
hiking tent, plenty of food and water, enough for two people for at
least three months.
His wish was granted.
- "This looks
like a child's tale," he laughed, and
set about eating and drinking greedily as if for the last time, "he'd
just die of overeating. Beside him were delicious vegetables,
chicken, oven fries, ice cream and grits for dessert."
- "I'm really
going to splurge," Erica muttered, patting her tumbler, "That's
a lot of food!"
- "You know there
was a bear in the folk tale," Ernst
objected.
- "But you're
German, and the bear thing is from a Bulgarian folk tale,"
the girl protested.
- "Why not?,"
he twitched his imaginary moustache. - "As long as the new
reality fulfils our wishes, let us be brazen to the end."
Erica was about to say
something else, but nothing could stop Thaler.
- I want a palace, a
huge mansion, a stable of horses, lots of money, I want a whole harem
of women, and last but not least, that Bugatti model!
- "You're
overdoing it," Miss Jill scolded him.
- I want to be the
greatest mathematician in the world, greater even than the Lord God.
As he spoke these
words, the heavens opened and roared and a terrible storm arose. It
swept away the castle, the beautiful mansion, the horses flew through
the air, and not a trace of the sumptuous table remained.
- Thou impudent man,
thou hast not appreciated the salvation which I have granted thee,
and hast thought thyself my equal!
- "Are you
real?," continued gloating Thaler, "No
one has seen you before!"
Instead of an answer
he saw a picture in his mind. He was small and playing in his
nursery, he had every toy imaginable, then he was on the desk
calculating probabilities, a little later at university, the centre
of attention. What followed was a brilliant and unforgettable
scientific career in international companies until he was put in
charge of the Earth Bureau of Directed Nanointervention. He wasn't so
above things that he forgot.
He turned around -
Erica was gone, too. Now he was truly alone.
- "This isn't
some kind of flashy trick or stunt, is it?,"
he almost growled, like a wounded animal. - "It took everything
I had until a little while ago."
The voice was silent.
He could see that. Ernst stared like a madman. But there was nothing.
Before his eyes fell a
small sign, "Happiness for all and let none be wronged." It
was from the Strugatsky brothers, I think. But they had written
millennia ago.
In the distance he saw
a statue of Stalin. With a twisted moustache. Behind him a thick fog.
- "What is this
geopolitics?," I don't even know this one, but he's certainly
not from our era!
He kept on walking -
it was the Battle of Waterloo. He'd read about it somewhere and
remembered it being quite bloody.
He didn't have the
courage to go any further. He turned and saw a smooth wall before his
eyes. He could feel himself dying. The new reality was drawing on his
physical strength and he was slowly fading from lack of food and
water. Time flowed differently here too.
Then he saw the end of
the road and plunged into the abyss.
He woke up in the
morning in the same room with nothing in it. He was dying slowly and
his eyes were glazed over. Everything was becoming so banal.
Something was nagging at him, but it wouldn't even let him die like a
samurai with his honor hurt.
He suddenly looked at
his face in the mirror - he had aged thirty years, but he was still
young.
- "Do you want to
undo what you've done?," he heard
God's voice.
- "Yes," he
roared.
- "Then just go
back and everything will be the same," was the answer.
Ernst turned and was
already in his study. Erica was lying there somewhere, sleeping. He
hugged her.
- "You are enough
for me to spend my last days here and now," he wept over his
unhappy fate.
The girl woke up and
looked at him.
- Don't give up so
easily - you've already fought through, you have too many more feats
to go. You must not stop, and I will be by your side.
The two held hands.
They were happy. The only people on this planet. The void would save
them from intruders. They all wanted to be like this - separated in
infinity.
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