The Resurrected Man (43 page)

“To put it simply,” said the AI, “yes.”

“But—” His eyes widened as the realisation sunk in:
Five minutes.

He was trapped only so long as the hot-wire simulation lasted.

After that, he would entirely cease to be.

Click

It was three o'clock in the morning, West Australian Standard Time. He had woken suddenly from a dream about Lindsay—a dream in which he saw again the moments leading up to the explosion. He couldn't understand why they were bothering him so much. Bad enough that it had happened; worse that he should torture himself with the memories, over and over again.

Even now, awake, he couldn't get the images out of his mind: Lindsay in the lab, doing his best to avoid the argument, claiming he was busy, glancing at his watch, turning away to fiddle with the equipment, looking over his shoulder, shifting slightly then—

It hit him.
The truth unfolded in his mind like a flower awaiting the sun. He knew who had killed Lindsay, and why. He knew why SciCon was so concerned that he was interested, and why the inquest was doomed to explain nothing. He even knew why Lindsay had taken the d-mat to SCAR the day before he died.

But in the darkness and solitude of his bedroom, he didn't smile. Instead he felt very sad. And that was all.

Click

For the first time in QUALIA's existence, SHE was overwhelmed by inputs.

On one channel was Jonah McEwen, reacting with surprisingly subdued anger to the news that he had been trapped in a hot-wire simulation. On another was Fabian Schumacher, more concerned about the ramifications of the simulation itself than McEwen's life, although the latter was, of course, a consideration. Odi Whitesmith occupied a third, linked by VTC to many of the involved MIU staff-members. A
fourth contained Jago Trevaskis, his face becoming increasingly red as each minute over the deadline saw the MIU fall deeper into debt. And Marylin Blaylock was on yet another, wanting to know what had gone wrong.

SHE was also aware of Herold Verstegen on an anonymous line, simply observing for the moment. He was silent, watching the crisis break around his creation with keen interest.

That, somehow, only made it worse. SHE felt
tested
for the first time in well over a year. And if immediacy of response was a criterion, then SHE had already failed. There was a limit to how far QUALIA's awareness could be spread, even with twenty Standard Human Equivalent data processors linked in a synergistic array. Simple mathematical or analytical tasks could be delegated to eikons like KittyHawk, but where higher thought was required only a substantial proportion of QUALIA's processing power would suffice. Instead of dividing QUALIA's consciousness into progressively smaller pieces, SHE was forced to rank the inputs and deal with them as SHE could.

“I am sorry to keep you waiting, Director Schumacher,” SHE said.

“Don't apologise, Q,” he said, nodding at the nearest camera. “Only a few events could come close to bringing KTI to a standstill: this would have to be one of them. What is the situation at the moment?”

SHE outlined the latest development as concisely as possible, downloading raw data and edited text files into his overseer for later perusal. He absorbed it rapidly.

“If only we'd avoided the whole thing,” he mused. “It would've been so much simpler. Could this be a glitch?”

“No, sir. All other hot-wire simulations have been performed without incident—as has this one, in essence. The fault lies in the Resurrection procedures. They will not allow his Last Sustainable Model to be accessed. Without that data, which is continuously updated by the simulation, we cannot recreate his physical body.”

“You oversee much of the Resurrection procedure. Have you found any sign of sabotage?”

“No, sir.”

“Yet it must
be
sabotage, related somehow to the investigation. We can have no doubt about that. The question is: who's behind it?”

“The Watchers have—”

“Don't even
mention
them, QUALIA. Until we know how someone managed to delete Herold's records from the security files, I have to assume the entire system is compromised. We will continue to talk, of course, but discretion is advisable.” Schumacher rubbed his chin. “Especially where
they
are concerned. I've already heard from RAFT, you know. How they found out is anyone's guess. They want to know what the hell we're going to do about it now that the situation exists.”

“Have you decided yet, sir?”

“No. The MIU and Jonah are contractually bound to accept any consequences of their actions, so we're not obliged to help. But
not
to help would be a serious public relations blunder. And no matter what, we'll set a precedent. We can't possibly hide it. It's the MIU we're dealing with, not KTI, and it's accountable to the EJC. They'll be next, wanting to know if the rumours are true.”

“I believe Director Trevaskis has already been contacted by Chief Commissioner Disario, requesting a full report.”

He rolled his eyes. “Well, she'll have to be stalled. Make sure Jago's aware of that.”

“I have him on hold, sir, and will be sure to tell him when I can.”

“You really are stretched, aren't you?” Schumacher chuckled to himself. “Don't worry, Q. I'll talk to him myself. About time we stopped relying on you quite so much, eh?”

He disconnected the line, and QUALIA moved onto the next priority.

“I see what's going on, now,” said Jonah. “Everything I say and do in here is being monitored. I have no Privacy at all. That in itself doesn't bother me, except for the fact that one of the people watching me is the
Twinmaker. If he's high enough in the KTI decision-making chain, it won't be hard for him to put me out of the picture, if it turns out the superimposition has worked. Do you see what I mean? The moment I start spilling my guts about what I've remembered, I'll be shut down. And the only way to avoid that is to produce hard evidence and have the Twinmaker removed—but I can't do anything like that from in here. I can't even
talk
to anyone. I've been effectively neutralised.”

“That's an interesting theory,” SHE said, as diplomatically as SHE could, “but it suggests that the Twinmaker has intended this to happen all along. I find it hard to credit that anyone could have anticipated the sequence of events that led to this, let alone planned it in detail. The expedition to Quebec could have ended quite differently, for instance, as could have your murder on Mars.”

“So he's winging it. I don't know. Why couldn't he be? All he had to do was give the nod for the simulation when the opportunity arose, or support the motion along the way. He didn't have to know exactly what would happen, just what
could
happen.” Jonah chuckled bitterly. “And don't tell me who was in favour of the simulation. I shouldn't even speculate aloud about this. How long are we over-time now?”

“Seventeen minutes.”

“That's seventeen good reasons to switch me off. I'm not going to give
anyone
an excuse to use them. In fact—”

Jonah suddenly ceased speaking. His brain and nervous system exhibited evidence of seizures, but his limbs did little more than twitch. SHE kept him carefully placid throughout the flashback, to prevent him from hurting himself, which he was quite capable of doing in the simulation. SHE also recorded his brainwaves, although SHE had given up attempting to make sense of them. The violent memory spikes and sudden electrochemical swings were only indicators of mental activity. Fascinated though QUALIA was, SHE could only guess what was occurring within his mind.

Watching Jonah writhe at the whim of his unconscious was like
listening to a language SHE had not learned to speak, or trying to read an encrypted file without the correct key. SHE could not even imagine what it would be like to forget something—let alone to remember it without conscious control. Again SHE dismissed the possibility that SHE might be able to excise the knowledge of QUALIA's error from his mind without his knowledge. That would be like a neanderthal with a stone axe attempting to modify a biochip.

SHE allocated an eikon to keep a watch on him. When he awoke, SHE would return immediately.

“We
have
to shut him down,” said Jago Trevaskis, next on the list. “There's no other course open to us. It's costing us too much to keep him going. Any longer and the MIU will be dead as well.”

QUALIA scanned his recent communications with Chief Commissioner Disario, head of the Earth Justice Commission. “I hate to disagree, sir, but—”

“But you will anyway. Doesn't that strike you as ironic? An artificial intelligence fighting for the life of a man who, for all we know, might be implicated in a series of vicious murders.”

“Irrespective of that possibility, he
is
alive. By suspending the hot-wire simulation, you will be depriving him of his liberty.”

“Morally, yes, but only temporarily. We can bring him back once the Resurrection problem is fixed.”

“The fact remains, sir—”

“It remains only if you want to be pedantic.”

“The law thrives on pedantry, sir. If the Formal Definitions of Intelligence and Consciousness are interpreted the way Chief Commissioner Disario believes they should be—”

“I know what she thinks, QUALIA, and I don't happen to agree with her. In the short term I'll win because I'm in charge of the MIU and I have the final say.”

SHE doubted that fact but didn't want to say it. Instead SHE said: “You could be risking a civil suit.”

Trevaskis frowned. “How?”

“Should we be unable to revive him, his estate could sue for negligence.”

“I didn't even know he
had
an estate. Or an heir that gave a shit, anyway.”

“He has a nominated heir, sir, although I doubt she herself is aware of the fact.”

“You mean—Blaylock?”

“Yes, sir.”

He chewed his lip. “Still, I don't see why that should make a difference. After all, if he dies, he dies. We've already brought him back to life once—
twice
, if you count finding him in the first place. What more can we do? We can't be expected to sacrifice ourselves for his benefit.”

“It could be argued, sir, that you have a duty of care arising from your intervention in
Faux
Sydney. By waking him without his express permission, you automatically assumed responsibility for his well-being.”

“At our own expense?”

“Perhaps. That would be up to the High Court to decide.”

“
Spierdz!
I don't care about the High Court!” Trevaskis snapped. “I care about the MIU. What does Schumacher think? Will he fund the simulation when we run out of money?”

“I believe he will, rather than allow the EJC to intervene in the operation of the MIU.”

Trevaskis' eyebrows went up. “He'd rather keep Disario out and his vested interest safe? Is that what you mean?”

“I mean only what I tell you. That he would rather the EJC did not intervene in this case.”

“Well, tell him I'll think about it. And while you're at it—”

“I'm sorry, Director Trevaskis. It would be better for you to speak with him yourself. I believe he intended to call you soon anyway. Another time, under less pressing circumstances, I will be happy to carry your messages.”

Trevaskis blinked, startled, as though QUALIA had reached down from the ceiling and slapped him across the face. SHE suspected that SHE had offended him by speaking so bluntly, but for a brief instant SHE had felt genuine annoyance at his automatic assumption that SHE would unhesitatingly obey his will. It was a new feeling, and one SHE cherished as a sign that QUALIA was still growing as an individual, and learning with every new experience. It was an achievement, even if it didn't last very long.

Luckily, after his initial surprise, Trevaskis seemed more amused than annoyed. He nodded and broke the connection.

“The question is,” said Herold Verstegen: “
Is Jonah McEwen alive
?”

The voice of QUALIA's mentor cut across the next priority on the list. SHE had little choice but to pay attention.

“Jonah McEwen is alive as I am,” SHE said

“Perhaps. But the law protects you, QUALIA dear. It is not equipped to deal with him. He is beyond its experience.”

“The law is prepared to change with the times. Flexibility has been a key priority since the EJC was established in 2020. A legal precedent can be set within days.”

“It can be set much more quickly than that, if a department takes it upon itself to act without proper consideration. This is a pivotal time in humanity's evolution, QUALIA. Whatever decision the MIU makes now will affect how such hot-wire illusions will be treated in future, if only in the short term. The EJC will be required to support its decision, regardless of what it is, in order to save face. And what the EJC supports is, in effect, law. The legal life of Jonah McEwen, as well as the actual, hangs in the balance.”

QUALIA carefully considered what Verstegen said. SHE knew his argument was flawed, but SHE couldn't isolate the error.

“This case has provoked many legal issues, none of them insurmountable,” SHE said, approaching the matter from a tangent. “The question of the victims themselves, for instance: being copies of still-extant individuals,
are they and their rights to be considered null and void simply because the originals continue to exist? Of course they are not. Along the same lines, I would argue that Jonah retains the same rights as anyone else. After all, no one doubts that the colonists in transit to Eta Boötis are alive, even the ones whose originals have died—”

“But the colonists and the Twinmaker's victims are copies that cost society nothing to maintain,” Verstegen argued. “This is a very important, practical distinction. Jonah is not self-sustainable without the combined resources of KTI and the Pool. Remove either one and he ceases to exist. So his nett worth, in terms of his contribution to society, is less than zero—significantly less if his continued existence results in the fiscal demise of the MIU.”

SHE pondered this in turn. There was a clear conflict between Jonah's rights as an individual and the well-being of the MIU and perhaps society as a whole; she could see that. But SHE felt quite strongly that the MIU had brought this situation upon itself—disregarding the intervention of the Twinmaker—and that it and its affiliated organisations should now pay the price.