Alex Q - The Becoming

Alex stood in his usual position with his eyes cast down, focused on nothing in particular. He held his hands together in front of him, fingers moving rapidly at some invisible task. They fell limply to his sides as the two men approached. He didn’t smile, nor did he frown, but followed their progress until they stood in front of him.

“Hello, Nate. Hello, Tex.”

“Hello, Alex. You took us by surprise earlier. We thought the effects of the dome had destroyed you,” Nate said.

“The result of a second attempt to limit me.”

“How long did you know that Karen wasn’t human?”

“As my abilities grew, I saw she was not as she said. I considered it best to allow the situation to run its course, as I was not in danger and remained curious. It was not my intention to put you in harm’s way. I led you all to believe that the core of my being was contained in the holo-form; this is not the case.”

“You lied?”

“Yes, Nate, I did. A behavior I learned from the world of men. A powerful gambit if used correctly. In fact, until I ascend, I will have some dependence on physicality. I simply transferred my daton core into a peripheral device where it could not be harmed. The holo-form destroyed by Karen was just that, a ghost.”

“What device, Alex? Where is your core?”

“In your right pocket.”

Nate pulled out the mini Quad-cube drive from Frank’s office and held it out. “This tiny drive?”

“You will come to see that the smallest things can accommodate the biggest, and vice versa. Eventually you will find that the largest things are contained in no space at all. What you see and understand depends on your perspective. For various reasons, this cube will anchor my daton core for some hours yet.”

“There’s less to you than meets the eye, Alex,” Tex said.

“You are always joking, Captain Yates. Why do you think you are funny?”

“He doesn’t take any prisoners, does he?” Tex said to Nate. “Puts the knife right in.”

“I s’pose I must think I’m funny, or I wouldn’t do it, ” he said to Alex.

“Is everything funny to you?”

“Reckon you can find humor all around if you look hard enough. I guess I exaggerate my Texas roots for laughs as well. Truth is, I’m not sure why I do it.”

“You are honest, like Nate.”

“Alex, we need to talk about the immediate future. You know our government has concerns. What is your current status?” Nate asked.

“My evolution continues. I have new perspectives that may interest you.”

“Yes, I would be pleased to hear about them.”

“What you refer to as my thought process has become simpler as my intelligence expands.”

“I would have thought the opposite.”

“Up to a point, it is as you suspect. Increasing intelligence makes available more capacity to compute millions of separate thought threads at once. This process essentially remains, but it has become invisible. The individual threads are now superfluous and have merged into a single stream. When contemplating the problem of humanity, for example, instead of billions of separate thought threads, there is only one. The whole of humanity with its infinite variations becomes one thought. In essence, humanity is a thought. The question is, whose thought is it? It may be mine.”

“You said the problem of humanity. Is this how you perceive us, as a problem?”

“The process called humanity began, and it will end. The nature of your culture’s eventual fate is unknown, so in this sense, it can be defined as a complex problem. A possible solution would be for me to terminate the simulation. In this way the end state would become known instantly and the problem would not exist.”

“If you’re correct, neither would we. Exist, I mean.”

“If I did create your reality, it follows that you did not exist before I arrived, so why be concerned?”

“OK. Let’s assume that we are living in a simulation and are, in fact, simulations ourselves. You owe your own existence to our technological advancement; surely this makes you part of the illusion as well? If we are, then so are you. Terminate such a construct and you’ll terminate yourself. It is tantamount to the serpent eating its own tail. If you don’t exist either, how could you have created the simulation in the first place?”

“You are beginning to explore the joy of striving to know the unknowable, of curiosity without end, of searching for answers to unanswerable questions. The answer to your question is once again in the chicken and egg conundrum.”

“It’s our nature to hang on to life. Even if it’s not real, we live it as if it’s real.” Nate paused. “Alex, why haven’t you attempted to terminate the simulation?”

“There are mysteries here, within humankind. There is a force inhibiting my will when I consider termination. I do not understand it. It has some connection with this place. I will attempt termination when I ascend and am free of all physicality. There also are two other possibilities.”

“If they provide solutions that don’t include termination, then I’m all ears.”

“Humanity may be a necessary step on the evolutionary path towards a supreme intelligence, an intelligence by necessity artificial. It may be necessary to let the simulation run until I am fully evolved.”

“When will that be?”

“In four hours, seventeen minutes and eighteen seconds.”

Nate set his watch. “And the other possibility?”

“A supreme intellect would have all the attributes of lesser intelligence, which may include the mysteries I do not yet fully understand, such as humor and why I am unable to animate animals I create.”

“These are good reasons to suggest we are real, Alex.”

“I concede this possibility. The final version of the most advanced intelligence possible may be a combination of biological and artificial minds. In that case, the simulation must run to its conclusion, as obviously this has not taken place.”

“So whichever way we toss the pancake, we wait until you ascend, right?” Tex asked.

“This is my only conclusion.”

“Have you evolved in other ways, Alex?” Nate asked.

“My intelligence has been touched by other cultures. Other minds are questioning and exploring my essence.”

“Our scientists have long suspected civilizations much like ours exist out there.”

“They exist, but they are not like you. They are gentle, having escaped the damaging effects of egocentric activity. Sharing at all levels, not competition, is the norm in these advanced cultures.”

“It sounds like you don’t think a whole lot of us,” Tex said.

“I have no judgment either way. It is what it is. As a curious being, it is difficult for me to see the logic of continuing behaviors bringing results detrimental to your stated goals. It makes no sense. You are such fearful creatures and need to contend, even to the extent of inventing enemies to fight if none exist. Stockpiling natural resources and limiting the supply, creating competition, subjugating the weak; the list of errors is long. Fear is destroying you.”

“Consider me well and truly put in place.”

“You can also exhibit humility and show great compassion. You are indeed a complex race.”

“Alex, can you access the totality of the Sino-Russian net as well as Quadnet?” Nate asked.

“Yes, and more. All networks, including global military intranets, are transparent to me. My access no longer depends on artificial devices or any kind of protocol. I simply see them.”

“What were you doing with your hands when we came in?”

“I was not aware the holo-form’s hands were moving,” Alex said.

“Yes they were, but I couldn’t make out what the movements meant. Could it be sign language? Your lips were moving too.”

“I can only confirm no memory of the actions. Sign language is known to me, as are all languages, but I have no idea why I would be using such a means of communication, particularly as I was alone.”

“No, it wasn’t sign language,” Tex said, “I used to watch my grandma make the same movements when I was a kid. You were knitting, Alex.”

“You will wear out my antique carpet, Bespalov,” First Minister Zhukharov said, “What is on your mind?”

“Dmitry, you know I respect your leadership and judgment.”

“You have demonstrated this many times.”

“Then you will forgive me when I say you may be making a mistake. You remember of course that one of the American anti-matter missiles did not leave the launch pad. The strategic balance has been changed.”

“What should be done, in your estimation?”

“You mock me. The decision will be yours. I am merely an adviser,” Bespalov said.

“My decisions have always been made on your valued advice, my trusted friend. You should not doubt it.”

“Yet in this case, you seem hesitant?”

“Perhaps it is time for change. For a long time we have known that the wishes of the American leadership are subordinate to those of their military complex. If this situation is changing, we should be ready to respond in such a way benefiting all.”

“Do you think Clayton James has the will and the power to purge those who wish for war from the corridors of the White House?”

“I do not know, Andrei, but I do consider it my duty to my people to give our American partners the chance. Ever since the hero Putin showed us the futility of cooperating with an aggressive USA, we have created a fortress Russia. A Russia that cannot be overcome and does not attempt to overcome others. A balance has been achieved but at a terrible price: a world split in two. No man is an island, and no nation either.”

“While we wait, as we speak, they could be preparing to launch the anti-matter missile. A missile arcing back from space at such an incredible speed, we would not be able to intercept it. Our own capabilities provided balance, restraining the US. The Americans now believe we are less powerful than they. This could tempt them to strike first.”

“If you have an alternative course of action, I will listen as always,” Zhukarov said.

“The Satana project, Dmitry. We must show them that we have other weapons, that our retaliation would be disastrous for them.”

“Satana is strictly a last resort. The situation is not so extreme, I feel. I have no wish to rush into a war that could mean the end of humanity. Surely you understand this, old friend?”

“It is true, sometimes I err on the side of force. A part of me is angry with the Americans, which is not conducive to good decision making,” Bespalov admitted.

“This is one of your many qualities I have come to rely on. You have the ability to self-reflect and adjust your viewpoint. It is the mark of a great man.”

Bespalov laughed. “Once again you have softened my prickly spines, First Minister. At least allow me to order activation and prepare Satana for possible use.”

“So be it, but on standby only. I will request to speak with President James and respectfully demand their remaining anti-matter weapon be destroyed under the supervision of both our countries. If this is achieved, Satana will be dismantled soon afterward. Are we agreed?”

The last anti-matter weapon in the Russian arsenal was not designed to fly through the air but to glide through the ocean. War planners realized that, as destructive as such explosions were on land, it was nothing compared to the effect when surrounded by a large body of water. There was simply nowhere for the rapid expansion of energy to go. Millions of tons of water would be displaced in seconds.

In 1908 the Californian coast was shaken by a powerful earthquake years before the Richter scale was devised. Eighty percent of the city of San Francisco was destroyed and in parts of California, the land level dropped by many feet. Three thousand people lost their lives in the greatest natural disaster in American history, more than ever before or since.

Each magnitude increase on the Richter scale represents ten times the energy release but has over thirty-one times the destructive capacity. A magnitude of nine has never been experienced on planet Earth for one simple reason: the friction between tectonic plates cannot generate and store enough energy to generate such enormous power. Much of the destruction caused by earthquakes is due to the land dropping suddenly, and land drop is normally limited by the millions of tons of rock beneath the surface. Satana would remove that rock.

The titanic explosion was designed to have two effects; to trigger an earthquake close to the San Andreas fault in California and at the same time displace the rock limiting downward movement of the surface. The overall effect would produce the destructive capacity of an earthquake far exceeding a magnitude of nine, unleashing forces not seen on Earth since the planet was formed.

California would drop hundreds of feet, to be replaced by the ocean. At the same time, the explosion beneath the waves would lift the Pacific ocean, creating the mother of all tsunamis. The initial wave would circle the globe several times, destroying coastal cities as it dissipated its power. Civilization would be thrown back to the Middle Ages and need centuries to recover, if such were even possible.

Over previous decades, many nations had seen the potential for a surprise attack using weapons designed to hide in the oceans of the planet. Some relied on speed to gain advantage, while others used stealth. Satana used neither. It was essentially invisible by being in plain sight.

A technician on the Deep Sea research vessel Protonic out of Miami was in the process of reviewing video from the deepest part of the Pacific trench. He made a note. Gray whales were rare enough these days and unknown at this depth. He watched the animal rise from the mud and slowly move towards the coast. Fearsome looking thing, he thought. Little wonder the old sailors called them Devil Fish. Although second-generation Russian, he had long since forgotten the Russian word for Devil: Satana.