Transhumanist Wager, The (57 page)

Jethro Knights

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

Later that afternoon, Jethro
Knights walked into the Transhumania News Network television studio on the
forty-sixth floor of the tallest tower. Anxiously awaiting him were renowned
international journalists and videographers who were allowed to be embedded
into the city to cover the battle. Many were tense and disheveled, the result
of the missile explosion a few hours before. Some of the nearby windows were
cracked. Jethro walked up to the podium in the studio and adjusted the
microphone. He was about to begin his scheduled five-minute telecast, being fed
live all over the world through IMN and other major broadcasters who were
present to air it. Draped behind him was a large Transhumanian flag, which bore
the TEF infinity symbol on it.

Jethro looked into the cameras and
nodded firmly. He said, “People of the world, thank you for watching and
listening today. My name is Jethro Knights. I am the founder and leader of
Transhumania—a nation of scientists, technologists, and futurists dedicated to
transhumanism and the pursuit of our own immortality. We are sworn transhumanists.”

He inhaled a deep breath.

“Today you have seen the world’s
most powerful countries and their governments attack the nation of Transhumania
with the best of their military might, despite our plea that they should not do
so, and that they do so at the expense of their own safety. We openly gave your
governments a chance to surrender, to peacefully accept our leadership, and to
convert to our transhuman ways. Many of you have heard it yourselves in the
news when I was at the United Nations in New York three days ago. Your
governments chose not to accept that offer. They thought it better to arrest
me, abduct me, wound me, and torture me until I would agree to share the
benefits of Transhumania's amazing technology and research with them. My nation
and I will not share it with them.

“We will, however, share it with
you. But only under conditions that Transhumania decrees. Today, you have seen
how feeble your governments and their military forces are in the face of the
armed prowess Transhumania possesses. Today we have suffered no casualties or
serious damage. Your military forces, on the other hand, have suffered many
deaths and the loss of much of their navies. And, in doing so, they have done
nothing but further anger a giant.

“Now carefully listen to my words,
then decide who you want to support from this moment forward. Because there is
a choice to be made. The choice is either to stand by your arrogant, fool
leaders and their mediocre conventionality and traditionalism, or to join in
the launch of a brave new world. One where Transhumania will send out its
inspiring leaders and scientists amongst you. One where we will revive your
economies with our research, with our technologies, with our rational economic
decisions, with our medical cures, with our inventions, with our sane laws, and
with our resolute guidance. We want our scientists to return to their homelands
to remake the way we all live on Earth. In time, you can expect a much better
life. You can expect your cultures to progress forward; your restrictive
religions to be diminished; your ignorance to be turned into intellect; your
apathy into determination; your pessimism into optimism; your frustration into
fulfillment; your hardship into prosperity.

“Like you, your governments were
given a choice to support a quest of the transhuman mission. Unfortunately,
they did not want to listen to reason or to the calling of evolution. They
chose to fight us instead. They chose wrongly. They will not be invited back.
Tonight, I swear to you, they will witness Transhumania's full fury. Tonight,
they will see all their illustrious political edifices and sacred religious
monuments destroyed. The world will wake up tomorrow and be a part of
Transhumania.

“When the choice comes to you
personally, of whose side you support, think deeply and logically about making
the right decision. Your future and prosperity—your children’s future and
prosperity—depend on it. I have told you once during the inaugural announcement
of Transhumania that you are all dispensable. I ask you tonight to prove that
wrong. Tomorrow, when our destructive work is possibly finished, I will again
appear on television, radio, and throughout the Internet, and formally invite
you to join Transhumania; to form a world where prosperity, innovation,
happiness, fulfillment, freedom, security, and transhumanism go hand in hand.

“For the next twelve hours, we have
instructed the media what world sites and institutions will be destroyed by our
airships, and at exactly what time. The media will broadcast the list of sites
often. You are encouraged to stay away from those areas being targeted so you
do not become collateral damage. You are also encouraged to warn your families,
friends, and peers to stay away.”

Jethro looked unflinchingly into
the camera and said, “Transhumania will now begin the launch of its four
aircraft—and the remaking of the world’s human cultural landscape. Let the
abominations of irrationality, control by religion, encouragement of fear,
ineptitude by government, collectivism over individuality, and the war against
transhumanism, all be wiped away.”

Chapter 32

At the top of the Technology Tower,
a gargantuan stainless steel roof was composed of four interlocking triangles;
they slowly began to withdraw from one another. The noses of four shining
airships appeared, growing in length under the roof's shadow as it retracted. Each
machine bore an inscribed Lojban name in small black letters on its starboard
wing:
Trano
,
Cidro
,
Kijno
, and
Tabno
. The names
represented the four elements that gave rise to advanced life on Planet Earth:
Trano
for nitrogen;
Cidro
for hydrogen;
Kijno
for oxygen;
Tabno
for carbon.

Each of the drones was unmanned.
All control and maneuvering of the mission was to be performed automatically by
supercomputers located in the Transhumania Defense Command Center. Without any
transparent cockpit windows, the aircraft appeared menacing, cold, impervious.

Simultaneously, each of the planes'
Hyper-scram jets activated, creating concentrated beams of light that shot
thousand-degree heat onto the skyscraper's dense titanium floor. The city of
Transhumania, basking in a violent sunset that consumed the Pacific Ocean,
vibrated softly. Citizens looked up and watched the iridescent skies above
them. Moments later, the aircraft began hovering a few feet off the roof. Then,
in perfect synchronization, they broke away from each other and flew in
different directions:
Trano
, west;
Cidro
, east;
Kijno
,
south; and
Tabno
, north.

On each of the airships' noses, a
sophisticated night vision video camera and a weatherproof boom microphone were
slightly visible. The drones would record every second of their entire
missions. The footage would be broadcast live by the Transhumania News Network
and shared with every major news platform on the globe. Across all continents,
people watched tensely, gathering around television sets in bars and cafes. Or
listening to radios in their homes and vehicles. Or viewing the footage from
wherever they happened to be, via their phones, computers, and tablets. Jethro
Knights wanted the missions of the aircraft to be the most viewed and
recognized event in the history of the planet.

Francisco Dante, the city's lead
news correspondent, arrived at the Transhumania Tower’s broadcast studio and
immediately sat down in the anchor's chair. He threw off his formal black
jacket and rolled up his sleeves. Excitement poured through him. Dante knew he
would be reporting live all night, in front of three dozen cameras with
tentacles reaching to every population center on the planet.

“Viewers, if you are just joining
me tonight—
welcome
,” he said. “I am Francisco Dante, a citizen of
Transhumania, and proud to say history will be made here in the next twelve
hours upon our dear planet. Tomorrow, all of us will wake up to a new day—and a
new world. My news team and I, here in the Transhumania Tower, will be giving
you updates and bringing you important information as it occurs, once our four
airships get underway on their missions. On our affiliate channels and with our
partners, the news will be teleprompted into your regional languages.”

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

After Jethro Knight’s speech and
his declaration to transform the whole world into a greater Transhumania, the
launching of a nuclear attack against the city was unanimously agreed upon by
A10 leaders and its military commanders. Each country with nuclear arms began
fueling their most sophisticated missiles. Some A10 countries also loaded their
largest bomber aircraft with airdrop nuclear weapons designed to explode upon
impact. These planes could accurately drop bombs on any target from 20,000 feet
in the sky, and still fly safely without the use of any electrical instruments.
A10 governments were now overtly worried that Transhumania possessed the
ability to hack into every computerized navigation system in their military
arsenal.

When satellite photos taken by the
Transhumania Command Defense Center revealed how the A10 governments were
planning to attack the floating city, Jethro Knights quickly initiated an
international conference call. He requested top dignitaries and leaders from
each A10 country to carefully listen in. He warned them that if any nuclear
weapons were directed at Transhumania, they would be redelivered to attack and
decimate the capitals of the countries from which they came.

“You witnessed once what happened
when you attacked our nation,” Jethro said on the phone, unwaveringly. “The
best of your navies are literally gone. We can, and will, annihilate you if we
must. I implore you not to make the ignorant decision to underestimate us
again. You are encouraged to surrender, or if you will, to give me the
cooperation I sought at the United Nations in New York, a few days ago. Now
that you haven’t, you won’t even have your revered political buildings,
castles, and churches to make into museums.

“You will, however, be given
another chance after tonight to save many of your lives, your prosperity, and
the infrastructure of your societies. I encourage you to remain reasonable and
take a wait-and-see approach before committing your countries and its citizens
to the void.

“Unfortunately, since I know many
of you are not reasonable, I feel compelled to make an acute display of
Transhumania’s military strength in order to preempt any nuclear strikes and to
avoid further loss of human life. Therefore, in the next ten minutes, I’m going
to turn your worlds upside down. Why don’t we all schedule another conference
call in a half hour.”

Jethro hung up. Immediately
afterward, he instructed Josh Genear and his team to reprogram various A10
nuclear missiles near Washington, D.C., Beijing, London, Paris, Delhi, Tel
Aviv, and Moscow. He ordered the same for select nuclear submarines cruising
the oceans. In less than five minutes, Genear and his programmers recoded the
warheads’ supposedly fool-proof detonation timers. Other members of his team
corrupted the rockets’ navigation systems, rendering the missiles impossible to
launch or fly. Genear then initiated three-minute detonation countdowns,
threatening to explode multiple nuclear warheads around the world at the same
time, right inside their own launching silos, some of which were only ten miles
from major urban centers.

Chaos ensued on nuclear weapons
bases and submarines. Many personnel at the land bases panicked and left their
posts, jumping into their cars, and driving as fast as they could away from the
warheads. Trapped crews in submarines watched in disbelief as warhead timers
autonomously counted down. Senior engineers, captains, and generals made
screaming telephone calls to the leaders of their nations, begging for orders
and guidance. A10 presidents and prime ministers stared at the receivers of
their phones, aghast and terrified. The strongest military around the world
were left in utter instability and fear, their greatest weapons turned against
them.

Before the detonation countdowns
reached zero, Jethro asked Genear to stop each of the explosions, leaving the
timers armed and frozen with only three seconds remaining on each bomb.

A half hour later, in a second
conference call with all top A10 leaders nervously listening, Jethro sharply
told the politicians, “Let that be a clear lesson to your generals and
warmongering selves. You have lost the war. It's time for you to fold and offer
your assistance in helping to make this transition as peaceful and expedient as
possible. We have you beat in every way.”

Despite this, in a last ditch
effort to preserve the world as the A10 knew it, a reckless, hotheaded American
general, on an aircraft carrier in San Diego, sent his best F-22 fighter jets
to meet one of the Transhumanian drones,
Trano
, as it flew across
California. The U.S. pilots were ordered to fly and fight using only manual
controls, so that none of their planes’ electronics could be interfered with or
hacked into.

Jethro didn’t bother to destroy the
American planes. Even if the pilots were lucky enough to get off a few decent
shots, the probability of their missiles or bullets ever touching
Trano
was nearly zero. The aircraft traveled three times faster than anything that
could be shot at it.

The American general, tracking
Trano
on radar from San Diego, muttered, “It can’t be possible. It looks like a damn
meteorite flying across the sky.”