Infoquake (57 page)

In addition, the strict separation of functions that Surina wanted
has not always been maintained. The distinctions between the three legs of the system have begun to blur as the OCHRE Corporation's
successors have imbued their bots with limited intelligence, and software programmers have embedded their own medical standards rather
than rely on outside storehouses of information.

While the techniques of creating bio/logic programs have changed
radically over the years, the principles remain the same.

Bio/logic software is a series of instructions a user can transmit to
his or her OCHRE machines to perform a specific function. In Surina's
day, programming was performed through the manipulation of a series
of machine "languages," software was stored on miniature "chips"
implanted within the body, and instructions were broadcast to the
machines inside the body through radio waves.

Programming itself has evolved from a primitive linguistic model
to today's more sophisticated visual model. This evolution enabled
programmers to visualize logical structures instead of spelling them
out. Advances in the science of holography allowed the invention of
MindSpace, which allowed programmers to interact with their programs through a three-dimensional interface. The capabilities of
MindSpace programming have been significantly expanded by the
development of special tools for the medium, the bio/logic programming bars. A typical set of programming bars consists of twenty-six
entities (marked A to Z after the Roman alphabet), with each bar containing three to six separate functions. Most MindSpace bubbles also
recognize a common set of twelve hand gestures.

The data itself, once stored on plastic chips, is now stored in protected
molecular chains scattered throughout the civilized world. Prengal
Surina's Universal Law of Physics and Aloretus Monk's discovery of subaether transmission have made it practical for programmers to store information on an atomic level virtually anywhere in the world.

Libertarian elements of the government have been particularly active
in promoting a renewal of competition in the hardware and information legs of Sheldon Surina's three-legged system. Proposals include
privatizing Dr. Plugenpatch and breaking up the three main companies that have divided up the OCHRE spectrum between themselves.
But detractors have pointed to the chaos of the bio/logic programming
industry as reason to keep these industries heavily regulated and centralized.

The bulk of current bio/logic research is dedicated to improving
the energy capacity of the human body. Users often encounter problems when bodily resources that run bio/logic programs are overtaxed,
and some industry watchers predict severe resource limitations in the
human body within the next twenty to thirty years.

The line of scientists, politicians, freethinkers, and programmers that
began with Sheldon Surina is perhaps the greatest dynasty humankind
has known since the Caesars. Not only did the Surinas lead the way out
of the chaos of the Big Divide and give the world trust in technology
again; they also enriched that world in ways no family had done before
or has done since.

Like most of his peers, Sheldon Surina was taught to shun the achievements of the scientists and programmers that led to the Autonomous
Revolt. During Surina's formative years, the world was still feeling the
aftershocks of that cataclysmic event and the disasters that followed it
(although by this time, the world had regained a modicum of order,
and New Alamo's fanaticism was already beginning to taper off). His
parents sent him to the Gandhi University at Andra Pradesh for a spiritual education. It was during his long apprenticeship at the Gandhi
University that Surina became enamored with the ancient wonders of
biotechnology. Against the warnings of his proctors (who considered
the sciences to be a heretical course of study), Sheldon embarked on a
project to recreate the achievements of the biologists of antiquity.

When he was 41 years old, Sheldon published his seminal work,
Towards the Science of BiolLogics and a New Direction for Humanity. The
first words of this manifesto were a shocking call to arms: "There is no
problem that we cannot solve through scientific innovation." He then proceeded to outline a new discipline of science that would allow computer programs to interact with the systems of the human body. Surina
called his new discipline "bio/logics."

The work caused a firestorm of controversy in the academic world,
with many educators denouncing Surina as a heretic bent on causing
another Autonomous Revolt. Within a decade, Surina had crafted the
first working bio/logic program: HeartMonitor 1.0, which could make
rational decisions about cardiological treatment on the fly. Using this
and several other successful prototypes, Surina raised funds for the first
bio/logic corporations. His investments in these firms eventually made
him and many of his proteges phenomenally wealthy. One of his disciples, Henry Osterman, founder of the OCHRE Corporation, would be
a lifelong collaborator (and sometime competitor).

Surina's growing fame and influence began to upset the balance of
power among the fragile nation-states. Many of these states owed their
survival to delicate anti-technology treaties designed to prevent
another Autonomous Revolt. During the years 35 to 37, Surina
became the target of numerous assassination plots hatched by the
splinter East and West Texan governments. These threats largely
ended with the overthrow of the West Texan regime in 37.

In the years that followed, Sheldon Surina had a hand in nearly
every major technology to come down the pike. He created or co-created the key tools and practices of the bio/logic programming industry
(including MindSpace and bio/logic programming bars). He made
important contributions to the development of the multi network, and
with Henry Osterman sat on the board of the original Dr. Plugenpatch
company.

Growing fear of the power of bio/logic corporations led to the creation of the Prime Committee in the waning years of the Reawakening's first century. Sheldon Surina decried the Prime Committee as
an "insidious evil" and became the world's leading opponent of centralized governmental authority. (Surina and Osterman had widely diver gent views on this issue and eventually ended their friendship over the
formation of the Defense and Wellness Council.)

Surina spent the opening years of the second century railing
against the Council and the Committee and seeking their dissolution.
A firm believer in individual empowerment and unbridled personal
freedom, Surina believed that any centralized authority (no matter how
limited) would lead to totalitarianism. The majority of public sentiment was against him, however, and in his last years Surina even began
to advocate open rebellion and violence. He died in 116, a bitter man
with waning political influence.

Prengal Surina was never as tempestuous a figure as his grandfather
Sheldon, but many have argued that his influence on modern society
was even greater.

Because of the family's vast bio/logic fortune, Prengal was raised
with great wealth and privilege in India. He followed in Sheldon's
footsteps by attending the Gandhi University at Andra Pradesh, and
eventually attained a permanent post on the faculty. Prengal tended to
shy away from politics, however, despite the increasingly desperate
urging of his grandfather and other anti-Prime Committee forces.
Upon Sheldon's death, Prengal and his companion Ladaru organized
Creed Surina in his honor, but disappointed many by insisting that the
group be strictly apolitical.

At the age of 42, Prengal published what many consider to be the
most significant scientific breakthrough of humanity since antiquity:
the Universal Law of Physics. Prengal's theorem neatly tied together
the previously disparate fields of quantum and classical mechanics. By
revealing the ways in which matter and energy are intimately connected throughout the universe-in ways that transcend space and
time-Prengal made possible the fields of teleportation and anti-grav itation. Without the Universal Law of Physics, multi projecting over
great distances would be impossible.

Prengal Surina's breakthrough was poorly understood for many
years. Unlike his grandfather, Prengal was not a charismatic figure who
trumpeted his own accomplishments. As his work grew in stature and
importance, however, the system began to view him with an almost
mystical reverence.

When he did become involved in the political arena, it was only at
the urging of his old friend, High Executive Toradicus. In direct contrast to his grandfather's beliefs, Prengal Surina became a spokesperson
for centralizing power in the Prime Committee. The current system of
L-PRACGs pledging support for the oversight of the Prime Committee largely owes its existence to the lobbying of Prengal Surina and
the hard-nosed politics of Toradicus.

Prengal lived the last decades of his life in quiet seclusion at Andra
Pradesh, remaining neutral in the great battles between big business
and government during the term of High Executive Par Padron. He
died in year 185 of the Reawakening.

Unlike his predecessors, Marcus Surina did not seek a life of scientific
achievement. He spent much of his youth disavowing the wealth and
"decadence" of the Surinas in Andra Pradesh and the creed that was his
ancestor's namesake. Marcus became a drifter and adventurer out in the
orbital colonies, where records were scarce. He had much wider experience in the world than either Sheldon or Marcus, and in his time he
gambled, piloted starships, formed L-PRACGs, and ran a number of
reputable and disreputable companies.

Marcus originally entered the science of teleportation as an
investor. TeleCo was one of many pet projects he funded with Surina
money. He had very little scientific training and only became involved in the development of the science after several of the principal players
resigned from the project over frustrations with his management.

It was at that point that Marcus Surina experienced an epiphany of
sorts and devoted himself to perfecting the science of teleportation. He
made up for lost time by delving into the research and development
processes with more single-mindedness than any of his predecessors.
By the end of the century, Marcus had transformed himself from a
playboy and dilettante to the leading scientist and entrepreneur of his
age. His passion for teleportation fueled the fortunes of TeleCo and,
indeed, the entire economy.

Marcus spent the last decade of his life in a feverish struggle to perfect teleportation. He became a public spokesperson and pitchman, not
only for his own technology, but for the bio/logics industry in general.
He engaged in a great public struggle with Len Borda, the newly
appointed high executive of the Defense and Wellness Council, over
the dangers of the project. Their dispute remained unresolved, however, when Marcus died suddenly (along with many of his top advisors)
in a shuttle accident in the orbital colonies.

Rumor and innuendo attributed hundreds of illegitimate children
to Marcus, who allegedly was an incessant womanizer. Whatever the
truth of those claims, he left only one legitimate child and heir, a
daughter, Margaret.

The only child of Marcus Surina, Margaret has assumed the family
mantle as Bodhisattva of Creed Surina; the professorial chair at the
Gandhi University held by every Surina since Sheldon; and head of the
various family investments. She also founded the Surina Perfection
Memecorp, but its aims and goals remain unknown at the present
time.

Society has experimented with any number of virtual communities,
from the primitive text environments of the World Wide Web to the
sophisticated pleasure worlds of the Sigh. But none has achieved such
widespread acceptance as the multi network.

A multi projection is a virtual body that "exists" in real space.
While the multied body is only an illusion created by neural manipulation, it can interact with real ("meat") bodies in a way almost indistinguishable from physical human interaction. In order to achieve such
verisimilitude, however, the architects of the multi network have had
to limit many of the freedoms taken for granted in other virtual communities.

The multi network depends on two key components: (1) the trillions
of microscopic bots that process and relay sensory information to the
network, and (2) neural OCHREs that manipulate the mind into
"seeing" the sights, "hearing" the sounds, and "feeling" the sensations
of the network.

Similarly, those who interact with multi projections allow neural
manipulation to trick the mind into believing the virtual bodies are
present. Participation in the multi network is not optional in civilized
society. Even unconnectibles such as Islanders and Pharisees are required to wear so-called "connectible collars" so they can interact
with multi projections.

Thanks to the advances in nanotechnology that have occurred since
Henry Osterman's time, multi bots are lighter than air and only molecules thick. They carpet most of the earth and populated colonies in
concentrations high enough to provide sensory information almost
anywhere a user would want to go, but still diffuse enough that their
presence is undetectable to the naked eye.

Developments in subaether transmission have enabled multi to
follow humanity to the moon, Mars and the orbital colonies.

Because multied bodies are merely illusions of the mind and do not
have physical substance, their interactions with the physical world are
governed by a strict set of unbreakable rules. Some rules simply repeat
the constraints of nature (e.g., a real person cannot climb on top of a
virtual body). Other rules are arbitrary decisions that have been hammered out over the years by a succession of governmental agencies.