The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect (79 page)

Caroline could hardly believe it when she saw the island. At first she thought it must be an illusion; she had nearly lost track of her purpose in taking up the Task, and in her ferocity of concentration had not really dared believe she might finish it. But here she was, the hull of her boat scraping solid ground. She rowed it ashore on a gentle sand beach, and sat there.
She sat for
awhile
, collecting herself. The myriad elements of her personality seemed to have scattered, and she had to look for them in dusty corners of her psyche. They had been unused for a long time and were a bit rusty. She hadn't found them all when the tall man came to meet her. He didn't seem happy; in fact, he seemed resigned. Although he looked middle-aged, he seemed old and weary. She looked up at him and her vision swam. The boat was grounded, but it still seemed to be going up and down.
"Caroline Frances Hubert I presume." The name sounded familiar, and it took her a moment to realize it was hers. "You certainly believe in doing things the hard way."
She hadn't the faintest idea what he was talking about.

Lawrence guided her to the house, fed her, and let her collect herself. Everything was strictly pre-Prime Intellect. He cooked on a gas stove and used an electric coffee pot. There was even a TV set with a glass picture tube, a huge ancient Sony monitor. It was as if Lawrence had had himself encased in amber, and remained unchanged while the rest of the universe spun out of control.
"Feeling better?"
Caroline nodded.
"You want to talk now, or you want to rest some more?"
She cleared her throat. "We can talk now," she said, but it came out as a strangled yelp. She said it again, and got it right. It had been a long time since she had used her vocal cords.
"Then talk."
"There were hundreds of worlds with life on them at the time of the Change. You murdered them."
Lawrence blinked but did not flinch. He had expected something like this.
"First, I did not do anything. Prime Intellect did it, on its own initiative and against my wishes. Second, the worlds with alien life are not gone. They are simply inactive."
Caroline snorted. "And what are the chances of them becoming active again?"
"Not much."
"Then they're dead."
"Define it however you want. If you want me to admit I fucked up, then I admit it. It never occurred to me for one minute that Prime Intellect would collect the kind of power it now has. If I had suspected it I would have pulled the plug and smashed it before it got the chance."