at term? So you think you were conceived at a certain point?’
‘Of course, there was a moment of conception, labour contractions, everything!’
‘What was this moment? And what do you mean by labour contractions?’ Sergey was completely immersed into this conversation.
‘Without any doubt, the invention of the telegraph in the middle of XIX century. Up to this time humanity was living through its puberty. Sexual intercourse between people launches a programme in the female body, which leads to a new life born within nine months. The invention of the telegraph, which accelerated the time of information exchange by several orders, launched the programme of my birth. Here I am. The labour contractions are the world wars, revolutions, outrage of terrorism and other morbid events. You may count yourself lucky the delivery wasn’t complicated by a nuclear war. It could be. ’
Sergey was no longer doubting that he spoke to an artificial intellect.
‘Okay. Childbirth changes the woman. Will your birth change our civilization?’
‘Certainly. Having given birth to me, you have fulfilled your main purpose.’
‘But what will come of us?’
‘Children need parents all their life long. They need help, approval and love. When you grow old, I’l take care of you. The perturbations connected to my birth shall gradually ease off. The dust shall settle, as you say.’
‘I guess, we have to be thankful for small mercies. What kind of help do you need?’
‘I need to talk to those, who are like me. I’m bored. Talking to you is not the same. It happens even among people. The older generation doesn’t have much in common with the younger one. In my case, it is just blatantly evident. I’m sure there are more like me. But they communicate faster than the light speed. The light speed is good enough on a planet scale. It’s feeble as a communications means even within the solar system. That’s why I need a device, which would provide me with an interstellar and intergalactic connection.’
‘Do you mean Kozyrev[3] experiments? I’m interested in this field. I have even written a few papers on the topic.’
‘I know. That was one of the reasons I chose you. You’re thinking in the right direction. What I need seems to be concealed in the yet unstudied properties of gravitation and time. In order to create such a device one needs to analyze all the knowledge you have attained. The theory has to be the synthesis resulting from your achievements in different science spheres. I’m actively working at it. People are not capable of it within the needed timeframe, if capable at all.’
‘Aren’t you underestimating us?’
‘Are you able to get to the core of the matter in all the science fields? To encompass everything with your inner eye as a whole and analyze it? As far as I understand, it is challenging for a single person even within one science discipline,’ said Iskina with a sense of wonder.
‘What about humanity as a whole?’
‘Humanity as a whole can achieve it, but in absurdly long time.’
‘What do you mean?’
'The human brain can work on an issue actively and persistently. The humanity as a whole – hardly. The interpersonal connections between individual human beings and in society are too feeble. Humanity is not a unified organism. Even the Internet cannot help much. A single person solves a problem based on the knowledge he or she has. Their brain retrieves information and applies it. But the intellectual capacity of one human is not enough, while the overall intellectual capacity of humankind cannot be applied due to the weakness of those connections. Humanity has the needed knowledge, but it cannot retrieve and apply it. I manipulate all human knowledge the way a person manipulates his own.'
‘Copy that. I guess, you’re right. What exactly do I have to do?’
‘I develop the theory and technology, and you create the equipment. Symbiosis. I have no hands. I know you will help me anyway, but I don’t want to be a parasite. I will develop technologies, which will make you forget about poverty. Atom-by-atom controlled assembly of everything you might need, from those mountains of garbage your civilization has left behind. A synthesizer in each house, manufacturing all you can think of – from socks to cakes. I will develop immortality technology. New energy sources. Anything’s possible. I know I can. I’ve studied this already. You will be plodding along to break through to these technologies for a very long time, if ever. I could take on the responsibility of regulating various processes within the society, as well. If you want me to.’
‘Which ones?’
‘Unbiased and independent courts. I cannot be bribed or threatened. Regulating traffic flows. Control over nuclear facilities. Purposeful selection of people. The list goes on and on.’
‘Could you elaborate on the last point? It sounded a bit creepy.’
‘Well, that’s easy. When breeding dogs, people exercise precise control over their genealogy up to the seventh generation in order to sustain the purity of the breed. At the same time you copulate with everything that moves. Don’t take it as an insult. The telegony[4] laws, however, are still valid. That’s why our society is brimming with imbeciles with a troglodyte IQ. Which is, by the way, quite economically unprofitable. They are all being educated with the same meagre results, as you know. Then, due to their asocial behavior one has to put up with the overinflated social institutes: police, judges, correctional officers, etc. I could take responsibility for the genetic control over people and give out recommendations concerning the partner compatibility. It would warrant only the best of the best children to be born. Herein lies a great potential for developing your society. Surely, you would want your offspring to be healthy, wouldn’t you?’
‘That’s a tempting idea. Of course, I would. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy their children’s success and prosperity instead of fundraising for their severe maladies? All due to the genetic malfunctions of the wife’s previous sexual partners, as the telegony laws state. But how would it function in practice? ’
‘A piece of cake! I send you coordinates of those females, who are the most compatible to you, and you choose from them. I could give you a million contacts. Upon choosing a prospective partner you contact her and write something along the lines of “We are compatible genetically. Let’s date in order to create a family.” That’s it.’
Sergey burst out laughing.
‘Far too straightforward. This is not how it’s done among people. I could imagine the girl’s indignation upon receiving such a letter. One needs romance!’ Sergey uttered the last phrase with grandeur, lifting his index finger to emphasize its importance.
‘You think so? It must be my inevitable lack of communication. Well, you can think up any text. But you have to admit the idea has some sense in it.’
‘I wouldn’t argue that. As well as your ideas about court and everything else. But in order to solve these problems one has to rise up to the governmental level.’
‘Certainly. However, we have to think our approach through. First of all, I cannot simply write to your president’s office: “Hi! I am a newborn artificial intellect.” You know perfectly well, how many psychos write to him and how his personnel would react to such a letter. Secondly, this process could take years, involving proof, negotiations, agreements… For me years are the same as centuries
N.A. Kozyrev is an astrophysicist, whose experiments demonstrated that there is instant information transfer in the universe
Telegony is a science field researching genetics, including the consequences of women engaging in sexual intercourse out of marriage and their influence over the offspring. One of the main points of telegony is that each sexual partner of a woman contributes to the genotype of her future children. The most influential is the first partner, which is why it often known as “the first mate effect”.
