Multireal (48 page)

Serr Vigal made his way down the stairs and through the passageway
that ran beneath the Committee members' ring. The passage emerged
at the edge of the floor and ended in a waist-high gate of frosted glass.
Vigal walked through this gate and found the center of the floor. Then
he promptly rotated in place and gave several polite bows to the Committee members.

"Distinguished members of the Prime Committee," said Vigal, his
voice resonant with a calm that went beyond bio/logics. "I'm honored to be
in your presence today. Usually when I stand before a government body, I'm
there to ask for money. You'll be pleased to know that I plan on making no
such appeals today-unless, I suppose, my speech goes very, very well."

A chuckle worked its way around the crowd, even levitating the
lips of a few in the ruling circle. Jara had to admit that it was a prom ising beginning: disarmingly humble, homespun. She looked over and
saw Khann Frejohr and his libertarian comrades displaying bland,
pleasant smiles. Natch merely stared straight ahead.

Vigal continued. "So what better issue to begin my inaugural speech
of political advocacy than the issue before the Committee today? I speak
of the paramount right of humanity. The force that has guided and
steered us for a hundred thousand years or more. I speak of freedom.

"Yes, on the surface, it might seem like the debate over MultiReal
is a debate over government regulation or business practice or some
other arcane matter. That is certainly what Len Borda wants you to
think. The drudges would have you think that this is just a clash of
forceful personalities. They would tell you that the issue is the stubbornness of one particular fiefcorp master present here today. Natch,
stand up so everyone can see you."

A thousand pairs of eyeballs pivoted toward the entrepreneur, who
had seemed not to be paying attention. But at Serr Vigal's call, Natch's
face suddenly lit up with humanity as if he had received a charge of
electric current. He rose and delivered as warm a smile to the crowd as
Jara had ever seen him deliver. Across the floor, Jara could see Magan
Kai Lee's icy glare and Rey Gonerev's dour frown.

Five seconds later, Natch was seated once more, his comportment
robotic, his skin pale.

"I'm sure many of you have heard the tale that the drudges are spinning," said Vigal. "You've heard the rumors and innuendo that High
Executive Borda has leaked on the Data Sea. You've read selective bits of
Natch's personal history and the accusation that he is `ethically challenged."' The neural programmer made a flippant clicking noise with his
tongue. "It is impossible for me to be objective about Natch's moral fitness-a topic that was my primary responsibility for eighteen years
while I was his legal guardian-so I won't pretend otherwise. I also hold
an advisory position in the Surina/Natch MultiReal Fiefcorp, so my subjectivity about the company is similarly compromised.

"But these rumors about Natch and his business practices are
merely a distraction. A diversion from the real issue at hand. I propose
we dispense with such irrelevancies and skip to the heart of the matter
instead. The part Len Borda doesn't want you to talk about.

"What is the central issue here? As I said before, the central issue
is freedom. Let me draw your attention to one of the adages of the first
Bodhisattva of Creed Objectivv: Knowledge wants to flow to freedom like
rivers want to flow to the sea.

"It's not for nothing that we call our vast compendium of knowledge the Data Sea. It's no accident that all the droplets of wisdom
humanity has learned over its history have ended up here. Because
information wants to flow Seaward. I'm not speaking of want here like
we want money, or like some of those in the Council desperately want
me to stop talking."

Another rumble of laughter. Even Lieutenant Executive Lee raised
his eyebrows in amusement.

"I'm talking about the natural laws of the universe, the tendencies
built into its very structure. Gravity pulls things down. Water flows to
the sea. And knowledge flows to freedom. That's simply how things
work.

"But you can't own the sea, can you?

"Oh, sometimes you can control its flow. You can erect dams; you
can bottle up the water and keep it in a safe place. But these are only
temporary solutions, aren't they? Eventually the dam decays. The bottle
breaks. Those you have entrusted to keep the water safe wander away, or
they grow old and shift allegiances. And when all else fails, water evaporates and is reclaimed by the sun." Vigal gestured toward the top of the
dome, and many eyes followed his gesture as if they might actually see
something besides the dull stone of the curved ceiling.

"High Executive Len Borda has been vigorously pursuing the
Surina/Natch Fiefcorp's MultiReal technology," said the neural programmer. "Why? The high executive does not say. But it is widely believed that he wishes to bottle up MultiReal. He wishes to cask it
and store it safely in his private vaults.

"Again I ask, why?

"We hear many rumors from the drudges, and sometimes it's difficult to separate fact from fiction. I have read articles claiming that the
high executive plans to weaponize MultiReal and put it in the hands
of every officer in his Defense and Wellness Council. There is a suspicious memorandum circulating on the Data Sea which claims that the
high executive will use this technology to conquer the recalcitrant
Islander and Pharisee territories once and for all. Some of the protesters
on the streets right now have an even more radical idea-they think
Len Borda will use MultiReal to do away with you, the august members of the Prime Committee.

"Let me suggest something that might surprise you, coming from
someone who represents the libertarian wing of the Congress of
L-PRACGs. I suggest we give High Executive Borda the benefit of the
doubt."

In the libertarian delegation, Speaker Khann Frejohr let out a
hearty laugh. Jara couldn't tell if he was laughing at the absurdity of
trusting Len Borda or at the coy way Vigal had proposed it.

"High Executive Len Borda," said Vigal, extending a hand toward
the group of Council officers. "The man entrusted with the safety and
security of sixty billion people. The man who steered us through the
Economic Plunge and the Melbourne riots and the Islander wars. High
Executive Borda, who has faithfully served the Council and the Prime
Committee for nearly sixty years. The man who, incidentally, handed a
very green programmer named Serr Vigal his first government subsidy
some forty years ago. We have no reason not to trust Len Borda, do we?

"So let us dismiss these conspiracy theories about the high executive's intentions and assume he intends to do the prudent thing. Let us
assume he intends to seal up MultiReal forever in the depths of the
government's vaults, never to be touched by human hands again.

"There is too much rancor in modern politics. I say, let us trust
him!

"Good ladies and gentlemen of the Prime Committee, I ask you
this question: how long can Borda hope to keep MultiReal bottled up?

"The high executive keeps many secrets, but I assume the secret of
immortality is not one of them. Someday-let's hope it's fifty years
from now!-someday Len Borda will slip into the Null Current like
we all must, and a new high executive will be appointed. Maybe you
will be the ones to appoint that high executive, or maybe that task will
fall to another group of equally dedicated Prime Committee members.
You know in your hearts that you're good, decent, honest people. Your
dedication to the public welfare is beyond question. But what about
your successors? Do you know what will lie in their hearts? Do you
trust them to keep the secrets of MultiReal hidden?

"Then one day, those government servants too will go off to join
the Prepared. Another crop will rise and enjoy its day in the sun. Do
you trust them? And then another crop will follow. Then another. Fifty,
a hundred, two hundred, five hundred years will pass. Do you still
trust that every single man and woman to occupy those chairs for time
unending will have the same goodwill and common sense that you do?
What if another Zetarysis the Mad worms her way into power? Can
you be so certain that none of your thousands of successors will one day
decide to uncork a bottle of that prime vintage of information Len
Borda laid down in his cellars?

"But it's not only future members of the Prime Committee that we
have to worry about. Because while we all molder in the dust and our
children's children's children play their political games, the water in
those casks continues to struggle towards freedom. It wants to flow to
freedom, remember? And so every year, despite your most careful stewardship, precious droplets evaporate into the air and back to the common
well of knowledge. Every year, the enemies of the state work to steal that
magic draft away from you. Enterprising programmers work to re-create and reverse engineer that well of information. All it takes is a single misstep, a single misplaced allegiance, and those barrels of information will
come crashing to the floor and spill into the lowest sewer.

"That is what the world wants. And if I have learned one thing in
my long and illustrious career, it is that you cannot stop the wants of
the world.

"Let me put the clever metaphors and the verbal puffery aside for
a moment and state plainly what should be obvious by now. The government will eventually lose control of MultiReal. You cannot keep it
secret forever."

Solemn, unblinking eyes regarded the neural programmer from
around the chamber. Not a sound could be heard from the crowd. Jara
looked at the rest of the fiefcorpers to find them nodding gravely,
snared deep in thought. Robby Robby was studying Vigal's every
movement like a dance master critiquing an especially intricate ballet.

Serr Vigal clasped his hands behind his back and walked a slow,
steady track around the floor. "Now let's look at another alternative,"
he said. "Let us imagine that after long and careful deliberation, the
Prime Committee decides that the draft is not to be bottled up.

"No, I'm not suggesting we immediately pipe MultiReal code into
the public trough for anyone to gulp down. I suggest something much
more practical. I suggest the Committee call an end to the vendetta
that the Defense and Wellness Council has executed against Natch and
his apprentices. Restore this fiefcorp master to his fiefcorp. Let the
Surina/Natch MultiReal Fiefcorp-and the Patel Brothers Fiefcorp as
well, naturally-let them continue to refine their distinctive brews of
MultiReal and sell them to the public. With a healthy amount of safeguards and government oversight, of course.

"What would happen in that scenario?

"We don't need a crystal ball to see that. Let me tell you what is
happening right now, even as this hearing proceeds in Melbourne. At
this very moment, tens of thousands of L-PRACG politicians are sitting in meeting halls, locked in heated debate. Governmentalists and libertarians and every flavor in between are furiously writing bills. Speaker
Frejohr's office informs me that four hundred L-PRACGs have already
banned their citizens from using MultiReal. The Islanders have been
preparing a Dogmatic Opposition to the technology for weeks now.

"And perfection sustain them all for doing so! What did the great
Sheldon Surina say? Progress is the expansion of choices. If the bottle of
knowledge passes your way and you choose not to drink, so be it. That
is your right and your privilege as a citizen of a modern, rational civilization. Nobody wishes to force this knowledge on you.

"So, as with any new technology, we have the doubters and the
slow adopters. Some will choose to sit back and sip this new brew cautiously until it finds its way into the mainstream. Undoubtedly some
will engorge themselves until they're sick, causing trouble for themselves and everyone around them.

"And some? I will not lie to you. A sullen few will choose to poison
the well for everyone else. They'll use this intoxicating draft to further
their selfish schemes, to break the law, to take advantage of others.
This has been the way of human nature since the beginning, and we
cannot pretend that it will change overnight.

"So how do we deal with such scofflaws? Why, the same way we've
always dealt with them. By punishing the guilty. By protecting the
innocent. By using the laws of the Congress, the Committee, and the
L-PRACGs as our shields, and the officers of the Council as our swords.

"Distinguished members of the Prime Committee, let me conclude by saying this.

"The democratization of MultiReal is not something you should
consider because the libertarians believe in it, or the governmentalists
don't. Do not believe the chatter that this is a question of politics or a
clash of personalities. Len Borda's desires are irrelevant. Natch's desires
are irrelevant. You should allow private businesses to sell MultiReal to
the public because that's what the world desires.