Geosynchron (46 page)

"But you're basing your judgments about what's possible on a
system that the Surinas designed from the ground up. One family, multiple generations. Who knows what you could stick in a system like
that if you had hundreds of years to do it? If you created the rules for
bio/logic programming, then certainly you could create a program that
breaks those rules too.

"And make no mistake. This program doesn't just break rules-it
creates its own. It does not stay between the lines. I'm guessing that
Papizon is going to say that there are safeguards and firewalls and protections that are supposed to prevent this kind of apocalypse, but
MultiReal skips right over them."

"Papizon is indeed going to say just that," quipped Papizon.

Quell nodded. "I've seen MultiReal at work. I've measured the
number of computing cycles it uses. I have no idea how accurate the
Council's estimates about adoption are, and whether that red line
belongs where it is. Maybe the point of no return happens when fifty million people run the program. Maybe it happens when a hundred
million or five hundred million or two billion people run the program.

"But that line exists. And I, for one, believe what the Defense and
Wellness Council is saying."

Papizon discreetly dismissed the chart floating over the center of
the table with a wave of his hand. The Islander's words seemed to satisfy Jara and all the others in the room-all except for one.

Speaker Khann Frejohr pushed himself back from the table and
stood. The dissatisfaction had been growing on his face for several minutes and had now blossomed into outright anger. "You all might
believe what Magan Kai Lee is telling you," he snapped. "But have you
forgotten who he is?"

All eyes turned surreptitiously towards the lieutenant executive, as if
expecting him to make some caustic retort. Magan took a quick glance
at the Band of Twelve and their lofty promises made with fingers
crossed behind their backs. No, that would not be him. He had
pledged that everyone in the room should speak freely, and he intended
to abide by that pledge. He motioned for Frejohr to continue.

Frejohr began pacing slowly around the end of the table opposite
the representatives of the Council. "Magan Kai Lee is a lieutenant executive of the Defense and Wellness Council. He faithfully served High
Executive Len Borda for nearly a decade before he started this rebellion. How do we know we can trust him?"

"Are you suggesting he's still working for Len Borda?" said Bali
Chandler with a wry look on his face. "I think once you try to assassinate someone, the companionship's over." Frederic and Petrucio
chuckled.

"No, of course I'm not suggesting that," said Frejohr, either not
noticing or not acknowledging Chandler's sarcasm. "I'm saying that until a few months ago, the lieutenant executive was a loyal member
of the current administration. Until a few months ago, he was working
to bring MultiReal into Len Borda's hands.

"Jara's right. The Blade tells us that releasing MultiReal onto the
Data Sea is a recipe for overloading the computational system and triggering a catastrophe like the Autonomous Revolt. But all we have to
go on is her word, and Magan's word, and Papizon's. All we've seen is
a chart." Papizon stretched his hand out as if about to conjure the holographic diagram again, but Speaker Frejohr angrily waved him off.
"Have any of you actually seen these reports that supposedly back their
conclusions?"

"They will be made available to any of you who wish to read
them," replied Magan.

"Fine," said Frejohr. "But I can show you reports commissioned by
the Congress of L-PRACGs that conclude exactly the opposite."

"And how do you know those reports weren't written by secret
devotees of Creed Thassel?" snapped Gonerev.

"That's not the point. What did Brone tell Natch in Old Chicago?
He said Len Borda was using the fear of computational collapse to seize
additional power. He said that Borda had created the infoquakes to
scare us, to pave the way for him to seize MultiReal. Think about it.
This Possibilities 2.0 could give everyone the power to throw off the
centralized government forever. The ability to live multiple lives
simultaneously! The ability to live a life of ultimate selfishness!
Doesn't that scare Len Borda? How do we know that Brone isn't right?
How do we know that this isn't just a manufactured crisis?"

Rey Gonerev rose to her feet, incensed.

"Do you really believe that the Defense and Wellness Council is
behind the infoquakes?" she shouted. "Do you really think that even
Len Borda would murder tens of thousands of innocent people for some
... political game?"

Frejohr had circled around the far end of the table to Jara's posi tion, and now began circling back. "I'm saying that we still don't have
an explanation for the infoquakes. We still don't have an explanation
for Margaret Surina's death. For process' preservation, we still don't
have an explanation for Marcus Surina's death.

"And now here we have the lieutenant executive of the Defense and
Wellness Council, a member of the very organization that many
believe responsible for these atrocities." He turned to address Magan
directly. "Your organization kept the Islanders under your thumb for
decades. Your organization put down the Melbourne riots with intimidation and murder. Your organization instilled the fear of the white
robe and yellow star in every man, woman, and child from here to Furtold. And now you tell us to just trust your word about the release of
Possibilities 2.0?" He turned back to face the rest of the table. "What
assurances do we have that Magan Kai Lee can be trusted? What assurances do we have that Magan won't overthrow Len Borda and then
seize control of MultiReal for himself?"

There was a long and tense silence in the room. Rey Gonerev stood
behind her chair gripping the back so hard that her knuckles had
turned white. Once again, everyone turned expectantly to the lieutenant executive for answers.

"You ask for assurances," said Magan, choosing his words carefully.
"But what can I say that you'll believe? Trust only comes after a long
pattern of promises made and promises delivered. As you have pointed
out, Khann, only a short time ago I was a loyal member of Len Borda's
team. So all I can do now is state my intentions and state the truth
about what I know."

Frejohr scowled. "And what do you know?"

"I know that the Defense and Wellness Council did not create the
infoquakes, and we were not responsible for the death of Margaret
Surina."

"What about her father?"

Magan stared down at the tabletop for several seconds, weighing truth and consequences on an imaginary scale in his head. "Your suspicions about Marcus Surina are correct," he said. "Len Borda had him
killed."

The room exploded into shocked silence.

Khann Frejohr walked slowly back to his seat and collapsed into it,
looking as if he had aged a decade. Rey Gonerev, too, returned to her
seat without comment. Quell's forearms flexed dangerously, as if he
were strangling some invisible enemy on the table. The fiefcorpers
were all slumped down in their chairs in disbelief. As for Josiah-the
person most affected by Borda's actions-he wore a look of plain sadness, but did not appear particularly surprised.

"I heard the conspiracy theories," muttered Robby Robby to himself, opening his mouth for the first time in the meeting. "I just never
believed they were true."

"High Executive Len Borda has much to answer for, Khann," said
Magan after the room had settled back into some semblance of normalcy. "Marcus Surina's death is only one example. There are others.
But you're yelling accusations at the one man who actually intends to
hold him responsible."

"So what-what happened?" asked Merri softly. "To Marcus Surina?"

Magan shook his head firmly. "This is neither the time nor the
place to unearth old skeletons. Suffice to say that I intend to reveal the
real circumstances of his death in a truth commission at some point in
the future. After the crisis of MultiReal has been dealt with, when the
world is not on the brink of apocalypse. Until that point, the information I've told you should not leave this room."

Speaker Frejohr had been staring morosely at the mural of the
Band of Twelve, but at the mention of the MultiReal crisis, he spoke
up again. "Again we come back to the issue of trust."

"You want to talk about trust?" said Rey Gonerev, still irked at the
Speaker. "You want to talk about leaps of faith? What proof do we have
that this Possibilities 2.0 program even exists?"

Frejohr held up his index finger as if starting to speak, then
thought better of it and put his hand back in his lap, chagrined.

"Natch is the only person outside of that complex in the Twin
Cities who has actually seen this program. Quell has indicated that he
was not aware of Margaret's experiments in that direction. So we're
only taking Natch's word that the concept of multiple simultaneous
realities is even feasible. We're only taking his word that Brone has
gained access to MultiReal. If we were to rely solely on trusted sources
of information, we wouldn't be holding this meeting at all. Do you
want to know what the Council files say about this man Brone? Hardworking businessman, extraordinarily wealthy, keeps to himself. No trace of
criminality. What if Natch and Brone conjured up this entire story
between the two of them for some unknown reason? What if Natch is
exaggerating the issue as a way to pursue his personal vendetta against
this man?"

All eyes turned toward the entrepreneur, who, Magan realized, had
not spoken a word since the council was called to order. He had been
sitting at the far end of the table, listening intently, his face betraying
no clues as to his thoughts. He appeared to bear no ill will towards Rey
Gonerev for her suspicions.

"What do you want me to say?" Natch rasped. "I worked at Brone's
side. I've seen the program. I've used it. It's real."

Serr Vigal leaned forward, as if hearing his charge's voice had given
him permission to speak as well. "And do you believe that releasing
Possibilities 2.0 on the Data Sea would have the effect the Council is
claiming? Do you think it would overload the computational system?"

"Yes. I think, if anything, their projections are too conservative."

This seemed to have more of an effect on Frejohr than any chart of
Papizon's or any word of the Blade's.

"So when you talk about trust, the issue cuts both ways," continued
Rey Gonerev bitterly in the Speaker's direction. "This is a man known
for breaking his word, known for his elaborate scheming. This is a man with a personal interest in the outcome of the MultiReal crisis. You say
you don't trust the Council, Khann-well, how can the Council trust
Natch?"

Before the Speaker could think of a suitable rejoinder, Horvil
slapped one hand on the table. "Hey, I've got a good idea. Why don't
we have Serr Vigal make a speech? I'm sure he's still got the last one
queued up."

Horvil's joke was the tension breaker that the room so desperately
needed. Both sides of the table spontaneously combusted in laughter,
prompting a red-faced Vigal to stand up and raise one finger in the air
like the proverbial self-important politician. Khann Frejohr withered
under this assault of mirth and made a deferential gesture towards the
Blade. Even Natch bowed his head and smiled.

"The point I'm making," said Rey Gonerev after the laughter had
died down, "is that we're all in the same position. We're all relying on
mutual trust. If the Defense and Wellness Council can accept that
Natch is telling the truth, then it shouldn't be unreasonable for you to
accept that we're dealing on the level as well."

Frejohr rocked his jaw back and forth for a moment, contemplative. Then he finally placed his palms flat on the table, closed his eyes,
and gave a nod of assent in Magan's direction. The atmosphere in the
room had suddenly become much more tolerable.

"So now that trust and goodwill have been restored among all the
enemies of Len Borda, the question remains," said the lieutenant executive. "How do we stop Brone from releasing Possibilities 2.0 on the
Data Sea and take care of the problem of Borda at the same time?"

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