Craig turned back and watched Aldous exact his revenge for the death of Samantha. The expression Aldous wore seemed more like a mask; the muscles contorted to extremes Craig wouldn’t have imagined possible, to extremes that made the famous scientist appear deranged. As Aldous dropped Morgan’s body and huffed and puffed in a desperate attempt to gain control of his breathing, Craig slipped Paine’s ocular implant out of his pocket and regarded it one final time. He suddenly remembered words he’d once read somewhere: An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
“I’ve had enough of this,” he said to the A.I. “Take me home.”
“As you wish,” the A.I. replied.
Epilogue 1
Craig stood outside the giant doors at the A.I. Governing Council headquarters, marvelling at the vaulting ceilings and the pillars of light that streamed into the circular building. He’d never been to the headquarters before and felt out of place, like a country bumpkin in the big city. It was a big step for him: He’d been out of the loop for a long, long time, convalescing, in a sense, in Texas with Daniella. He’d watched from the sidelines as the world changed dramatically, and now he was ready to join back in.
He indicated his arrival with his mind’s eye, and the doors to Aldous Gibson’s office opened automatically, allowing Craig a view inside of the spectacular, sprawling room. “Wow,” he whispered as he crossed the chrome floor toward Aldous’s desk.
The chief of the governing council was already coming out from behind the desk with a smile on his face and his hand—his biological one—outstretched in greeting. “It’s been far too long, my friend.”
“Yeah,” Craig replied. “Last time I saw you, you looked a lot different.”
Aldous laughed and shook his head. “Yes. That was something, wasn’t it? It took days to grow my limbs back after that. The nans have come a long way since then. Please,” Aldous said, pointing to the chair, “have a seat.”
“Thanks,” Craig replied as he lowered himself into the luxurious chair while he watched Aldous slide back into his spot behind his desk.
“We should’ve had this meeting long ago,” Aldous noted.
Craig nodded. “Yeah. Well, it’s taken me a long time to be ready to reenter the world.”
“Yes. I saw you were in Texas. You married that doctor—”
“Daniella. Yes,” Craig replied, smiling.
“Say hello to her, will you? And thank her again for saving my life.”
“Will do. She sends her regards, by the way, as well as her thanks for getting me out of the house.”
Aldous laughed warmly again. “It’s my pleasure. When I saw your request for assignment, I took care of it personally. We’ve got a plum position to offer you.”
“Ah, I don’t know about that. I’m brand new. I don’t have much to offer in return.”
“Nonsense,” Aldous countered. “You’re exactly the man I need for this assignment. After all, you were the one who chose terraforming as your area of interest, and I need someone with your life experience to help guide the young genius who’s in charge of the project.”
“A genius? Guide?” Craig shook his head. “How am I supposed to guide a genius?”
“He’s a hot-head,” Aldous replied, sighing. “I both love him and hate him, Craig.”
“You’re not exactly selling it.”
Aldous looked up and smiled. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I should be. He is brilliant, Craig, on a scale we’ve never seen before. His brain is completely natural—a mutation no one engineered. He’s a savant without any of the handicaps that usually accompany such talents. He’s synesthetic—capable of profound mathematical, spacial, and linguistic thinking. I’ve seen him master a new language in days. He has all of Shakespeare memorized verbatim, right down to the punctuation marks. He knows all the constellations and the positions of the stars and where they should be at a given time of night at a given time of the year. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In some ways, his intelligence outstrips even that of the A.I.’s mother program.”
“That’s amazing,” Craig replied, shaking his head.
Aldous nodded before adding with a shrug, “He and I have trouble getting along though. He wants to be unfettered—to work without limitations.”
“Sounds like another genius I know,” Craig noted.
Aldous grinned briefly. “Thank you, my friend, but his desire for freedom could one day develop into a serious concern. This is just the sort of fellow who could, without limits, independently stumble upon the secret of Planck technology. His mind is so creative. The A.I. has to keep him preoccupied in other, safer areas of research.” Aldous looked into Craig’s eyes, reading the thoughts that were so obviously running through his mind. “Ironic, I know. I’ve calmed down over the years. What I’d like you to do is help this young man see that immortality means the future is long. He needs to understand that he can afford to be cautious.”
“Whatever happened to the Planck technology? Have we had any visits from outside our universe?”
“No, though it’s almost a certainty that someone from another universe is using it to cross into pre-WWIII universes, where the technology to detect a transgression hasn’t yet been developed. The A.I. constantly monitors the solar system for any breaches of the Planck energy.
“And?”
“So far, so good.” Aldous leaned forward. “Craig, that technology should never have been developed. It was a mistake. I’m experienced enough to realize that now. I’m not sure I could say the same about James Keats.”
Craig’s eyes narrowed. “That’s this young man’s name?”
“Yes. I’ve arranged for you to meet him, as soon as we’re finished here.”
“I can’t wait. It sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Aldous nodded, his smile fading as his expression became pensive. He turned his chair slightly and regarded the spectacular view from his windows. The city of Seattle, rebuilt and vibrant, hummed in front of him. Post-humans flew over the cityscape, encapsulated in their green cocoons, guided by the A.I. to their destinations.
“This is a world we both fought hard for, Craig…and we lost a lot in the process.”
Craig shifted in his chair and nodded politely. He’d hoped the conversation wouldn’t turn to dark reminiscing. “Yes, we did.”
“Do you think it was worth it? Is the world we built good enough?”
Craig nodded. “Absolutely. It’s impressive. You deserve a lot of credit, Aldous.”
Aldous smiled broadly, Craig’s words seemingly soothing the burden the chief carried with him daily as the architect most responsible for their civilization as it now stood. It was somehow a relief for Craig to see that even great men had self-doubt.
“Thank you, my friend,” Aldous said. His expression shifted back to curiosity. “And what about the Purists? Do you think we’ve handled that problem correctly?”
“Gosh. I haven’t thought about them in years. I don’t think there is a correct way, unfortunately,” Craig replied. “Appropriately, yes. Giving them their own land where they can express their beliefs freely seems like the only possible solution.”
Aldous nodded, the satisfied smile returning. “Good. Good.”
An awkward silence ensued. “So, shall I head out to meet this James Keats fellow now?” Craig asked, attempting to break the uneasy pause.
“There’s one more thing I need to discuss with you,” Aldous announced. This time, it was his turn to shift uncomfortably in his chair. “Well, really I need to show you. I’ve done something—something I should have told you about long ago. But I need to know before I show you that I can count on your complete discretion.”