Transhumanist Wager, The (49 page)

When people were just finishing
with dinner and beginning to mingle, Jethro decided to take a moment to make a
toast. He grabbed his wine, stood up, and waited until the massive hall quieted
down. Soon, all that could be heard were thousands of whispers. Langmore
brought him the microphone.

“Friends, colleagues, and fellow
citizens, the past five years have been a triumph for all of us. It has been a
triumph for the human species and for whatever lies out there for us to become.
Our sovereign transhuman nation has grown tremendously, mostly due to the
courage each and every one of you has shown by coming here, by living here, by
working here—by believing in what is possible on our dear planet and also in
yourselves. You’ve set an example for the world of how to live and how to act,
of how to fight for the challenge each of us faces. Your courage has brought in
more funding that I ever would've dreamed possible. We are now nearly
quadrupling the incredible generous donation of Mr. Vilimich, who originally
bestowed upon us the resources to give birth to this nation.”

Jethro bowed respectfully to
Frederick Vilimich, sitting to the right of him.

Thousands of people stood up and
began clapping and cheering for the huge Russian man. A tiny, subtle smile
appeared on the man's hardened face, his thick brows covering his eyes like
tentacles. He slightly nodded in appreciation. Jethro clapped for him too,
noticing at the same time the almost imperceptible creases in the man’s shirt
pocket. Inside it, as always, was the aged photo of Vilimich’s wife and son. It
made Jethro think of Zoe Bach for an instant.

When it quieted down, Jethro
continued naming other milestones Transhumania had reached, and discussed what
could be expected in the future with so much new funding available to so many
promising minds. He even commented on the fact that, remarkably, Transhumania
was now at full occupancy, and a waiting list of amazing scientists eager to
join was tens of thousands long. He spoke enthusiastically about the other
transhumanist organizations around the world, and about some of its leaders who
were in the crowd that night. He mentioned how they were creating powerful
networks of transhumanists, including variations and offshoots of his beloved
Transhuman Citizen. Even other seasteading transhuman cities and flotillas were
reportedly being considered for construction. Jethro promised to work hand in
hand with anyone embracing the transhuman mission, and praised the courage of
people in far-off places.

Clapping ensued again.

“But I am not toasting them tonight,”
Jethro interrupted the crowd, speaking over their noise. “I am toasting you.
You, for making this special night possible. You, for renewing your contracts
and continuing with your research. You, for supporting and standing by the
transhuman mission. You, for allowing the omnipotenders in all of us to
manifest and for participating in the Transhuman Revolution. May you all live
as long as you wish. May you all find and fulfill your dreams. May we achieve
what we set out to do.”

The crowd exploded into cheers.
Some held their filled glasses high in salute; others made the transhumanist
infinity sign with their hands above their heads.

“Enjoy your celebration,” Jethro
shouted.

Moments later an army of waiters
began moving tables and clearing a large open space in the sky hall. At a
nearby stage, the world famous band, the Mellon Wings—flown in just for the
party—jubilantly announced it was dancing time, and launched into their first
song. A dance floor soon appeared near the musicians. A gambling area with a
dozen card tables was quickly set up in the east corner of the hall. A giant
chessboard using four-foot robots was set up in the west corner. An immense
fifty-foot-wide television screen—complete with twenty helmet apparatuses
capable of connecting all players at once to an experimental virtual world—was
set up in the south corner. The screen's image showed a tree-entangled Mayan
temple in a teeming jungle full of howling monkeys, jaguars, and parrots.
Waiters, including some who were droids, pushed through the crowd serving
champagne, wine, beer, and Imagineade—the Transhumanian-brewed energy drink
that induced creativity. The muse on the transhuman city was festive and
celebratory.

Jethro Knights didn't stay long
before disappearing into his residence to work. Preston Langmore, Rachael
Burton, and Oliver Mbaye met near the blackjack tables and nervously looked at
each other, knowing exactly why Jethro had left early. Yesterday,
Transhumania's network of insiders in Washington, D.C. reported that a U.S. Congress-supported
vote, to begin sanctioning and eventually policing the floating city, would
soon be held.

************

On the same day Transhumania
celebrated its fifth anniversary, the media reported countless demonstrations
and terrorist attacks around the world against transhumanists. The headquarters
of a new life extension group in Budapest was torched. A CEO of a private
cryonics center in Japan was found shot in the head, a Bible quote from the
Book of Isaiah penned on his forehead. A Transhumania-bound package in transit
at a postal distribution center in Philadelphia, billed as science equipment,
exploded when prodded in a radar detection system.

Reverend Belinas was in the midst
of a critical week. He worked closely with his squads of thugs, making sure
each led noisy, disruptive campaigns during the anniversary time. He assigned
his most talented agitators to work alongside other international
anti-transhumanism outfits, instructing them to help those groups carry out
hostilities against life extension and human enhancement scientists. He
promised financial kickbacks and valuable press promotions to the leaders of
those organizations if they succeeded in their violent activities.

“Don’t worry,” Belinas told a
nervous director of World Light Network, an aggressive Christian group with
ties all over Europe and Asia. “My friends at IMN and their crews will be there
covering the stories you drum up. Just be sure to make news that casts the
transhumanists negatively, and I'll make sure extra special funding arrives for
you next year.”

Over the past year, public views on
Transhumania were increasingly becoming more divided. Many thought it worrisome
and threatening that on a small floating community in the Pacific the world's
best scientists carried out radical experiments unsupervised by any regulatory
international bodies. Others cheered that amazing advances could come from such
a unique, independent place. The media, often pressured by intimidation from
the NFSA and high-level American politicians, mostly chose to depict
Transhumania in a one-sided, negative light. Senator Gregory Michaelson
continued to be ubiquitous on the news circuit, giving damning speeches on the
renegade city and its dangers to American society. Belinas did the same in his
broadcast sermons. Even the U.S. President took time in his State of the Union
address to discuss the grim hazards the rogue nation might present to the human
race.

Ultimately, many laypersons tuned
out the warnings they heard, caring less and less for the doomsday naysayers
anymore. Disastrous times had already arrived for large swaths of the world.
Misfortune and adversity were everywhere. Having all the basics—food,
employment, affordable fuel prices, safe schools, and healthcare—was more
difficult than ever to come by, except for the wealthy. Besides, wasn't it
sensible to want some of the technology and advancements being developed in
Transhumania, many asked. The cancer vaccine and treatments Transhumania had
recently invented were especially contentious because pesticides, air
pollution, and the breakdown of the ozone layer were producing a populace with
significantly higher rates of cancer.

Yet, people couldn't get access to
the medicines. The American and other A10 governments had forced pressure on domestic
companies to disallow affiliation with Transhumania, including all its products
and innovations. Of course, when it came to healthcare, people just wanted the
best, especially those who could afford it. You don’t tell a prosperous,
hardworking mother and father their child is dying from leukemia when a cure
exists 3,000 miles off the coast. That’s when the parents pledge allegiance to
transhumanism and arrange a private black market charter flight to Transhumania
for a week of treatment. Medical care on the floating island was expensive for
outsiders, but the incredible cures, advancements, and health results were
easily worth it. Thousands of wealthy, powerful, and influential people from
around the world began flying to Transhumania to assuage their health issues.
By the time those outsiders departed the floating city, many were passionate
believers in the
TEF Manifesto
and the transhuman mission. Back in their
home countries, they compelled their friends and family to think the same.

For those who couldn’t afford to
get to Transhumania or to purchase its superior medical care, but were worthy
to receive it, Jethro Knights created the Immortality Grant. It promised to
treat, at no charge, 500 non-Transhumanians from around the world every month,
if they were afflicted by life-threatening diseases or debilitating health
situations. To qualify and be accepted, an applicant simply had to prove in a
short essay why he or she was worthy to receive the free help, but couldn’t
afford it. The applicant did not need to be a believer or a supporter of
transhumanism. For any person chosen, free transport, housing, food, and
medicine were provided to cure their ailment, improve their health, and change
their life.

Every month a different
twelve-person team of Transhumanians, led by Jethro, sat around a giant
conference table and scoured over tens of thousands of applicants. These people
ranged from dying cancer patients to crippled car accident victims to children
hounded by tragic birth defects. Everyone applied, from environmental activists
in Paraguay, to rural school teachers in Mongolia, to children soldiers
fighting dictatorships in Africa.

Almost overnight, the Immortality
Grant became one of the most renowned awards in the world. Those who received
the grant and returned healed from Transhumania said the experience was like a
swim in the magical waters of the fabled Fountain of Youth. The media, large
and small, widely covered some of the most extreme healing cases, often in
sensational ways. Inevitably, an ever-increasing number of people applied for
the grant every month. Soon, the number of applicants was in the millions. Most
of those people were not worthy of the uniqueness of Transhumania’s life-saving
gifts.

“Here’s a Las Vegas lady requesting
the grant; she has five kids from three different marriages,” announced a young
biochemist. He was sitting at the conference table with Jethro Knights and ten
other Transhumanians on that month’s Immortality Grant team, scouring through
endless applications. “She says she’s unemployed, lives in a trailer park, is
barely able to feed her family, and now has been diagnosed with brain cancer.
She says she wants to live longer so she can teach her kids how to be
responsible, upright people.”

A computer engineer sitting next to
Jethro grumbled loudly. “Isn’t there a way to screen idiots like that from the
applicant pool? What a waste of our time. Send her six feet of rope to hang
herself.”

"Negative," said Jethro.
"The cost of the rope isn't worth it."

“Finally got a good one," a
nuclear physicist blurted out. "This 22-year-old Cambodian kid started a
small nonprofit group to put solar panels in isolated villages near the border
of Laos, where there isn’t any electrical power at all for a hundred miles.
Unfortunately, both of his legs were blown off by a landmine while on the job
last year, and now he can’t physically do the work anymore. He’s requesting new
legs.”

“Put him in the finalists pile,”
said Jethro. He sounds like the kind of person who would enjoy a few weeks here
while we bolt on our newest bionics to get him back to work.”

Despite the huge success and
generous spirit of the Immortality Grant, the United States Congress voted for
America to begin banning all association with Transhumania. It enacted laws
that made the use and application of its inventions, medical cures, and
technology illegal, treasonous, and punishable by prison time. Congress cited
that Transhumania’s unregulated weapons proliferation, dangerous untested
medical cures, and violations of accepted world trade, tax, and technology
agreements were all highly illegal.

To enforce its new sanctions and
laws, the U.S. Government began carefully monitoring and inspecting all
airports and ports where planes and ships to and from the floating city might
arrive. More importantly, it instigated high-level conversations with other A10
countries, asking all members to apply the same political, legal, and economic
pressure to Transhumania as the U.S. was doing. With the world economy
shattered, A10 countries agreed, sensing a good chance to divert their
attention to something that seemed righteous, humane, and praiseworthy. Soon,
all members began issuing threatening rhetoric and applying sanctions against
the seasteading nation if it refused to allow the United Nations to internally
monitor its scientists’ experiments and emerging technologies. Inevitably, a
global united front was formed against Transhumania.

The international coordination
lacked unity, however. Behind closed doors, finger-pointing and accusations
were abundant. Leaders of the A10 suspected the President of the United States
and Senator Gregory Michaelson—who was at the start of a campaign run for the
White House—were after exclusively acquiring the new military and scientific
technology on Transhumania. After all, America, once the longtime leader of the
world, was no longer that at all. They may have still reported the largest GDP,
but it wasn’t by much of a lead anymore, and they certainly lacked new ideas
and inventions in the pipeline. Data showed China, India, and maybe even Brazil
would surpass them in less than a decade in terms of innovation and overall
wealth. The U.S.A. needed something to kick-start them as the undisputed world
leader again, as the principal superpower. One obvious way was by exclusively
grabbing Transhumania's bounty of transformative technology, medical cures, and
inventions.