Truth & Code: The Future is Black and White

On Mission

Block 7,907,076

Han arrived at the Hong Kong node the day before. Today he was ready to validate the node. But, unfortunately, it would take nearly fourteen hours to do so.

Han AI always scheduled and planned all aspects of Han’s travel. The hotel was typical for his travels, as all others would be. It was usually a small hotel with less than fifty guest rooms, he preferred even fewer, but that was the maximum he wanted. Therefore, he always got the premiere suite. While he never stayed long at any location, he wanted to be as comfortable as possible.

He always slept in a king-size bed, and every suite was furnished with large comfortable furniture. He wanted to feel like he was home in a place where his wife and children would also feel at home.

Years before, his wife would occasionally accompany him on business-related trips. She had joined him mid-way in the northern SO-Land on one mission but didn’t make it the rest of the way. The rigor of Han’s schedule was different from what she expected. It was easier for her to understand now, though, when he had to leave. And now, with the children, it was easier to say goodbye. She figured her mission was much larger and more critical than Han’s. They joked about it as well, and he always agreed. “OK, Lǎopó!”

Han AI and his Home AI always coordinated with the Hotel AI. There wasn’t much to miss except his family. AI ensured he had what he needed. However, he did take pleasure in seeing what Huifen would hide for him when she packed. He laughed joyfully when he started finding the children’s surprises in his luggage.

There was not much to expect the day he arrived. He spent most of the time lounging or sleeping while the AAPD made its way to Hong Kong from Wuhan. The night before, with his wife, exhausted him in a good way. Most of his thoughts during the travel were directed toward his wife.

Given the distance and priority of his mission, his AAPD traveled well above other drone traffic. All drone traffic was coordinated through SO-Land AI and was categorized based on flight distance, cargo (human or inanimate), and priority. Most flights within SO-Land AI were low-priority. Priority was rarely an issue except for clearing air space or charging stations for drones like Han’s. But SO-Land AI left nothing to chance; priority was an early categorization that remained within the AI algorithm.

Battery charging was usually not available for low-priority flights. While drone distance and flying altitude were controlled, another feature of flying within SO-Land was the different programmed drones. No matter where you started, AI planning always included the last used drone incapable of passing beyond the borders of SO-Land. In the event that was to occur, the drones were so underpowered to preclude travel far outside the boundaries of SO-Land.

Citizens appreciated this aspect of drone flight. They were confident that if there was a malfunction, SO-Land recovery vehicles could always recover a SO-Land drone without extensive search and rescue efforts. Being outside of the SO-Land border was a significant fear of every citizen, given the history of the Event.

Arriving the day before, Han just relaxed. He didn’t even consult his glasses or console. Instead, he spent the day and evening simply relaxing.

Dinner was a simple affair of rice and fish. He ate plenty of fish because he knew what his next day would be like, and he usually forgot to eat. However, he did sip a little baijiu as well.

He got up early today. He showered, shaved, and dressed. He knew his day would be long, but he always wanted to look good. For him, dressing well-exuded confidence. The Hotel AI had already initiated the right mood as Han readied for the day. A soft yellow light permeated the room as the smell of newly fallen rain wafted through the air.

He put on his black wool and cotton blended socks, black fitted silk boxer briefs that fit just above mid-thigh, and black straight pants without a break and decided today not to wear an undershirt, just a nicely fitted white linen shirt with a stand-up color. And, of course, it was crisp. He did not need his favorite cologne for the next two months. Huefin would not be around to fall for his love potion.

He walked around after getting dressed with his glasses on and queried Han Tech AI about the status of the Hong Kong node and the code. He knew the Han Tech technical team was about three or four nodes ahead of him with their installs. So it was time to follow them and check on their work and the work of the nodes.

He sipped black tea, without sugar, from a white porcelain cup as he walked around the room. This is all he would have for breakfast.

His initial review of the data seemed satisfactory. He saw a few issues he would review again while on site but was satisfied. The first node install was always a cause of concern for Han. Even though Han and SO-Land AI had already approved the code and node updates. Han never trusted anything unless he reviewed it first.

He finished his tea and walked towards the door of the hotel room. He slipped on his black loafers as the door opened.

Han was the only guest at this hour in the hallway of his floor. The Hotel AI provided a mood zone around him as he walked down the hallway. The elevator opened as soon as he approached and shuttled him to the roof parking deck for AAPDs. The Han Tech AAPD was on and ready to go. The mood from the Hotel AI transferred to the Han Tech AI in the AAPD.

Han’s thinking continued despite a slight change in his environment. This would be a short flight to the Han Tech Node site, so he sat on the bench seat in the middle of the AAPD and continued reviewing his glasses’ data.

As soon as he sat down, the AAPD started lifting off the deck silently and gliding towards its destination.

Han could tell the wind was kicking up outside even though the drone was rock-steady, moving through the air. This time of year, the winds kicked up from the southeast. He didn’t check the weather and didn’t care. Monsoons were common this time of year, but he knew Han AI would have taken care of any issues with aborting the node update and potentially diverting to a new node or delaying his flight time. Neither of which happened, so he wasn’t concerned one way or the other.

He took these final minutes on approach to the Hong Kong node to continue reviewing the updated code the new node was now running. He was excited to finally implement the node consensus feature. He’d personally been working on this new feature for nearly five years, and he was anxious to see it finally installed. Because it was a new feature and not just an update to the current Spider Works network, it would be installed but not implemented until the 31st of October this year. He used a random number generator to provide the date. It was a matter of ensuring that all nodes would be online after the update with enough time to ensure that the Spider Works network was stable with the new update. Intellectually Han knew the chances of any issue were exceedingly low; otherwise, HAN or SO-Land AI would have altered the code, but he never trusted any AI completely. He always wanted to verify for himself. And quite frankly, after spending five years on a coding project that was his solo work and now pride and joy, it was nice to know that there were still problems he could solve or solutions he could implement that AI had not thought of before. This put Han in a rare breed of SO-Landers. There were only so many citizens capable of this type of complex problem-solving. It always seemed odd to Han that was the case, but he knew it to be so.

In retrospect, the new code consensus feature was not something that SO-Land or Han Tech AI would have conceived of. However, at this point of SO-Land AI’s evolution, it was the sole judge of code implementation anywhere within SO-Lands. All other AIs were subservient to that of SO-Lands. At least for the past fifty years, certainly the last thirty years since Han Tech was formed, there have been no failures of SO-Land AI. All social governance and hence the goals of SO-Land (energy security, food security, and territorial security) were continually being met.

But because security and enhancement of any security feature on the network was a paramount goal within SO-Land, Han Tech’s new consensus feature was a brilliant breakthrough.

While the SO-Land AI remained the sole judge of code, each node was permissioned to interchange data continually acquired from the Spider Works Network and verify with each other that the data was correct. At the same time, the information was relayed to SO-Land AI also to verify the data. It was essentially internal checks and balances of data integrity and energy usage within SO-Land. While a breach of SO-Land AI was highly infeasible, this added consensus algorithm practically guaranteed immutability to the SO-Land AI.

Han projected that this feature would also enhance the subservient AIs throughout the network to operate more independently of SO-Land AI. With fewer confirmations needed to check and double-check that interactions with other AIs could disrupt the SO-Land AI, Han projected about a three percent total reduction in energy usage for SO-Land AI. This would result in marginal increases in efficiencies throughout the vast AI network within the SO-Land AI network down to the most menial AI, such as a water pump at a wastewater treatment facility. Collectively this would result in massive energy conservation for SO-Land.

While the energy reserves of SO-Land were vast and secure well into the twenty-fourth century, the consensus feature may extend it for several more centuries.

The winds had picked up as he started his descent. He could tell by the birds trying to fly against the winds. However, AI was not providing any alerts, so Han felt comfortable. Finally, the AAPD landed, and as the door opened, a whoosh of wind came in. There was a noticeable increase in temperature; with enough moisture in the air, he could almost drink it. He was glad, now, that he had chosen a linen shirt.

Now it was time to check the node update, test the consensus feature on the node test net and program its release.

The AAPD lands in a designated pad next to the node. Next to the pad, each node had a weather station and antenna relays for the AI network. Han walks past the weather station and notices the anemometer is spinning to the point that he can’t even see individual cups.

He entered the node containment center and felt the cool 21-degree dehumidified air. Han loved being in these centers. He was all alone and comfortable, and the humming of the servers soothed his soul. As a computer engineer and coder, he imagined that this was what his mother’s womb felt and sounded like; he got a smile on his face.

To Han, the humming servers were the sound of thinking of the largest AI network outside of the SO-Land AI. He heard hundreds of thousands of terahashes calculating and solving problems. It was an incredible experience he never got tired of and could only be repeated in SO-Land except in the node centers. While the SO-Land AI was much more extensive and all-encompassing in its activities, it used small servers and smart devices throughout its vast network. It was like a massive neural network or mycelia that reached every person, every device, everywhere in SO-Land.

Han was also very proud of Han Tech’s innovative use of the massive amounts of heat generated in the nodes. For decades, the heat exhaust provided essentially free heat for agricultural warehouses. These huge sterile warehouses produced vast quantities of food consumed within SO-Land. While Han Tech’s node centers didn’t heat every warehouse within the territory, he was pleased he was doing his part to help with such an essential function. He thought of it as supporting two types of life within SO-Land: the AI network and its citizens.

Han began his methodical work, perfectly content in his environment, with the only interruption being the completed task of node verification. He would only consume water for the next fourteen hours or so. The ultra-low humidity drained him of it almost as quickly as he consumed it. Occasionally his glasses would prompt him to drink, aware of his body functions because he would become so focused on his task.

He worked through the day and early evening. Finally, he completed his last verification and was ready to give his stamp of approval. He always embedded an emoji in a comment line of code before logging out. These self-expressions would never be allowed within the code of SO-Land AI. In each node center, Han Tech AI was the supreme arbiter of code. Since Han Tech was the brainchild of Han, he coded for these allowances. They were meaningless, but he learned about them as a young boy as he became interested in coding. It was like a lost language now. No one he knew was even aware of what an emoji was. When one of his own engineers would see it on a random audit, he always tried to explain, but they always scratched their heads. They figured he was allowed to be eccentric.

At last satisfied, he exited the node center and entered the AAPD; it was dusk now over Hong Kong. Han always seemed to forget the mental, emotional, and physical toll each day took on him. When he arrived back at his hotel, he felt totally exhausted.

Every work day would end like this. His travel days would be days of rest and recharging. He was barely two days into the mission and was already feeling exhausted. “One down, nineteen to go,” he thought.

“I feel like I’m getting too old for this.” He mumbled to himself as he walked down the hallway. The mood zone around him was demonstrably different than it was this morning. The door opens to the room. His standard meal of fish and rice was already waiting. He was so tired he didn’t want to eat, but he knew he had to.

He slipped his shoes off after entering and unbuttoned his shirt as he made a bee-line to the bathroom. He stripped down completely, washed his face, and put on the bamboo fabric white bathrobe. He preferred a waffle weave robe. He tied the belt around his waist and entered the living room. Room service had placed the dinner on the coffee table. He plopped down on the sofa with oversized pillows and drowned in them for a moment. Off his feet at last.

He ate until he was satisfied.

He walked back into the bathroom to brush and floss his teeth. He had few rituals but was maniacally compulsive about keeping his teeth clean. His teeth were slightly crowded in the front, and he was always conscious of his smile. He didn’t want poor dental hygiene to be another reason he felt self-conscious when he smiled. But, of course, Huifen never complained.

He opened the dresser drawer, found some silk boxer shorts, and pulled them up around his waist. He placed his bathrobe over the chair next to the bed and lifted the massive bedspread and silk sheets off the mattress.

He slips into bed, and the lights go out.

He’s fast asleep. His brain has been firing on all circuits today. If anyone could match AI, it was Han. But while Han sleeps, AI doesn’t.