Living in Syn (16 page)

Mission,
Susan, Pierce, and Montag sat down at a folding table.  Susan transferred data
from her pocket reference into their respective coms and said,  "Montag
placed all the information we have onto these files.  Why don't we start with
the organization of the settlement itself?"

Everyone
nodded and she said, "All you have to do is select New Angeles and the
next menu appears.  That gives you an idea of the different topics
available."

"Pioneer
Inc. created the New Angeles settlement 34 months ago, after the first
successful petition for settler's rights by a corporation.  Pioneer planned a
mining-based community on Triton, Neptune's only significant moon.  Very
preliminary surveys revealed Triton's crust to be rich in titanium.  Company
geologists interpreted this as an indication of the presence of other
lightweight, high strength ores.  Pioneer also mentioned the possibilities of
manufacturing goods for space stations and mining settlements.  They were quite
enthusiastic about what they calculated to be a 94% decrease in transportation
costs for goods servicing Planet's Row."

"Pioneer
had already developed detailed specifications and other planning documents, and
they began construction less than one month after petition acceptance.  They
used what has become a standard development plan by first assembling a
modularized hub which provides atmospheric controls, power, and a chemical
processing plant for water.  They completed the module in three months, and
attached the first living and storage space module two weeks later.  At that
point, the workers could live on site, and they expanded to space for 2500 in
two more months. 

As 2500
is the recommended limit of persons per hub, they installed a second hub in
three weeks (and that gives an idea of what being on site does for
productivity, three months for off-site, three weeks for on) and the associated
space took five more weeks.  A third hub is now complete with its associated
space in progress."

"The
figures I have list the New Angeles population at 5041 humans and 1127
synthetics."

Mission
said, "Wait a minute.  I don't want to lose this thread.  What is your
source on these population numbers?"

Montag
said, "That set of numbers came from the Pioneer Incorporated Report to
Stockholders on September 30 of this year."

Mission
said, "Okay, please continue."

"Alright. 
This community has produced outstanding results.  They exceeded projected
yields every quarter and came in under budget every time.  All management and
personnel received maximum bonuses in every period.  They use the strip mining
techniques that destroyed so much of Earth's landscape in the twentieth
century.  Even though this is a lifeless moon, every settlement petition
requires replenishment activity at least equal to the disruption caused by the
mining."

"Pioneer
brought in genetics engineers who developed several mutations of mosses and
lichens which could grow naturally there.  This strategy paid off handsomely
and Pioneer has shown the most benefit and least cost of any of the settlements
in terms of restoration."

"Now,
the power structure in New Angeles works like this.  Arthur Atwood is the
Senior Administrator.  The mining settlements always encounter difficulty in
finding qualified people who are willing to commit to a tour on Planet's Row. 
Most companies believe you need at least 30 months to derive any sort of
benefit from a senior manager.  Atwood's tragedy became Pioneer's gain.  His
wife of 29 years died suddenly.  At the age of 54, he decided that he preferred
to leave everything behind, and volunteered to establish and manage the
settlement.  There seems to be no question that he is the best manager in any
of the mining colonies."

"The
day to day mining operation makes up the heart of the settlement and it is run
by Jesse Bolton.  As you might imagine, mining is not a profession for the
weak, and Bolton is a very tough man.  He has twelve supervisors that report to
him.  Each supervisor has eight to twelve crews and each crew has between eight
and twelve men.  That's the prime shift.  Bolton has two deputies and together
they work the operation continuously."

"A
small scientific group reports directly to Atwood.  Dr. Juan Mendoza is in
charge of the group which includes a genetics engineer, a botanist, a
geologist, and a chemist."

"Beverly
Fulton heads up a small manufacturing group.  She is charged with building a
manufacturing operation in New Angeles.  As I understand it, that group
currently works on a D hub and associated space for the manufacturing
facility."

"And
finally, Gregory Benton handles city administration.  His accounting group handles
payroll, financial reports to the home office, and general bookkeeping.  He has
a seven person staff for law enforcement and a general services group that runs
the cafeteria, provides maintenance to the city facility, and offers medical
services."

Susan
tired of talking.  She sat down and said,  "What's next?"

Mission
turned to Carson and said, "Anything in the corporate jungle yet?"

Carson
shook his head.  Montag said, "Our queries have reached Earth.  I will
continue to check every hour or so for a response."

"Carson,
what do we know about the Dick?"

"Well,
he seems to be just what Pioneer reported.  He's an efficiency expert, he
disgusts everyone he meets.  He's been slapped with sexual harassment twice. 
The last time, Pioneer fired him.  His lawyer showed at corporate headquarters
within the hour and they reinstated Dick the next day.  The courts cleared him
of all charges both times."

Mission
shook his head.  "A kind, gentle soul.  Why, I think the word that
describes him best is ... misunderstood."

Mission
said, "Anything else?  Okay, let's go.  And Carson.  Don't forget, we
don't like each other."

Carson
just gave Mission an evil glare.

Mission
said, "That's good.  That's very good."

Carson
smiled a genuine smile. Vivienne Chapin described her last vacation, a two week
tour of Europe that focused on Amsterdam. Not the Amsterdam that young men
visit, the hash bars and the brothels. She recounted her trips to the
Rijksmuseum in detail, describing painting after painting, and what she found
remarkable about each.

And
Carson listened and simply watched her face. Her eyes so intent. Her very
delicate features. Her skin so flawless. He thought, there is nothing in the
universe that compares to a beautiful woman.

“Carson?”

He
realized that she had called his name. Three times. “I’m sorry Vivienne.”

She
smiled. “I said you looked lost. Penny for your thoughts?”

He
looked at his watch. “I have to pack. I’m leaving in the morning.”

He put
his hand on top of hers. “I want to see more of you. ..find a way to see you
once we’re both back on Earth.”

He
looked at her expectantly. He held out his com and she touched it with hers. He
stood up, leaned over and kissed her on the cheek ever so softly. He whispered,
“Beautiful Vivienne.”

And he
strode out of the room and was gone. She smiled. She was rather pleased that
she had been wrong. She had seen the West Point class ring. She assumed she was
a potential conquest and that leaving tomorrow meant the full court press
tonight. And instead, he worried she might say no when he asked for her phone
number and e-mail address. She realized she was still very aware of the spot on
her cheek where he had kissed her.

For the
seventh time, they strapped themselves into their seats on the shuttle.  But at
least this time, they would land on a planetary body.  The settlement itself
measured almost the exact proportions of a space station, but it would be anchored
to the ground.

Again it
was difficult to say exactly when they pulled away.  But as the hours passed,
they began to see Neptune looming huge on the horizon.  Its color was such a
brilliant blue that it sometimes appeared fluorescent.   It wouldn't be long
now before Triton rotated into their field of vision.

Mission
turned to Susan and asked, "What's on your mind?  You have that pensive
look."

She
said, "I don't know.  Mixed emotions.  I'm excited by the prospect of
unraveling this mystery.  I'm scared to death by the thought of hundreds of
those killing machines." 

She
shuddered.  "And I guess I have a morbid curiosity about how this will
affect you.  You put it in my mind when you mentioned it.  You know, this being
your last fling at risking your life."

"You
act like I enjoy getting slapped around by an anatomically correct ass-kicking
machine."

"Well,
don't you?  I mean, isn't there a part of you that loves the thrill of gambling
your life on your skills, and walking away from the table a winner?"

He put
his hand in his chin and considered.  "Probably.  I don't think it was
there at first.  But I guess it grew on me."

"So
how much will it hurt to give it up?  Can you give it up?"

"I
don't know.  Some people, they think the worst thing in the world is not having
choices.  But actually, it's one of the easiest.  There's nothing to second
guess.  You don't have any doubts.  You just go and do the only thing you can
do.  And for the first time in my life, I have some choices, and that’s not
something I'm used to."

"Mission,
it doesn't get any easier.  You learned some lessons very early on at the
expense of losing the chance to learn another set later on.  Now it's your
turn.  Welcome to thirty something.  You have to learn to live with bundles of
choices, with self-doubt, with choosing between a million shades of gray and
then getting on with it."

"Is
this from your Tough Love Seminar?"

"Fine,
you don't want a ticket to my carnival of clichés, that's just fine."

"You
want to guess my weight?"

At that
point Susan hit him, and she had obviously paid attention to all the combat
around her lately, because she made it hurt.

Mission
dozed several times during the trip.  Then he woke up to find Susan wearing
reading glasses as she pored through her research.

"What
subject are you worrying today?"

She
didn't even break the sweep of her eyes across the page.  She said, "I'm
looking at about eighty different psychological indexes and indicators to see
if there are promising candidates for separating human and synthetic
responses."

"What
do you have so far?"

Susan
closed her eyes and then dropped her papers on the tray table.  Mission could
see that she was taking great pains to be patient with him. 

"The
Hirsch/Gartner Creativity Scale is interesting.  Because synthetics begin their
existence with an adult body and an adult brain in terms of performance
potential, their HGC scale varies considerably in comparison to a human adult. 
The synthetic's creativity runs well below human norms for the first eighteen
to thirty months.  After that, their HGC scores begin to converge with their
human counterparts."

"Then
you have Frederick Napier's Socialization Inclination Index which plots four
components of the human urge to socialize, and then builds an aggregate score
which indicates the likelihood of the individual initiating contact, seeking it
out, and working to maintain the relationship.  Unfortunately, the synthetic's
score varies widely depending on the class, specialties, and software
options." 

"The
standard synthetic is designed to be neutral with respect to socialization,
neither seeking nor avoiding social encounters.  However, we quickly learned
that the Domestic class needed to be social-oriented or the members of the
household wouldn't accept it.  So we could probably spot a Mining class, but
... no.  We couldn't differentiate between a Mining Synthetic and a human
introvert."

She
turned to face him and spread her hands apart.  "The problem is that any
measure developed for humans shows a wide scale.  I mean, what would a
psychologist do with a test where everyone bunched around a score of
eighty-seven?   He would file it in the recycler."

Mission
said, "The next time you make changes to the syn brain, you should include
an identity question."

Susan
scowled.  "A what?"

"An
identity question.  Say ... if you asked the synthetic the question
How tall
does a starship weigh?
then the syn would have to answer,
Ralph and a
half
.  Then you'd have a foolproof means to identify a syn, providing your
identity key wasn’t compromised."

She
stared at him like he had proposed sex change operations.  "That is the
most ridiculous idea I have ever heard."

"Don't
hold back Susan, how do you really feel?"  He grinned at her and said,
"You know what I think is ridiculous?  A company so obsessed with building
perfect replicas of humans, that they fail to consider they might want to
differentiate someday."

Obviously
he had crossed the line and the icy cold assumed control of her features.  She
looked at Mission and said, "Look, I understand that you live for moments
when you can antagonize people who are serious about their work, but play time
is over.  I have a job to do."

Mission
found himself studying the view of Neptune and wondering how he had so quickly
put his feet in his mouth.  He was already thinking negative thoughts about the
settlement.  It seemed that the only relief from the tedium of cramped
conditions and the boredom of life in a settlement, would be a life threatening
emergency.  Add to that the fact that Susan was ticked with him, and he was
mired in a no-win situation. 

Mission
now realized the depth and breadth of his error, especially from a tactical
view.  He had angered the woman sitting next to him and they were both strapped
in and unable to move to another seat.  He also had failed to bring any
materials to occupy his time and now cabin fever held him in an unrelenting
grip.  He couldn't be sure, but he thought that he and Susan were in a
competition in which the first person to speak would lose.  That was fine with
Mission, he sometimes went days without speaking.

But after
another hour, Mission surrendered.  "Susan?  Could I look at the materials
you’ve finished?"

Almost
magically, a stack of papers dangled from her left hand, waiting for Mission to
take them.  As he moved into the first page, he looked at her and said,
"Thank you."  No response.  He wondered if this were perhaps a time
based sentence and he would be forgiven by tomorrow.  Or next week.  Or next
year.

He waded
into the world of psychology.  He looked at a test that placed scores along a
Risk Taking/Reward Seeking Axis.  The Bickel Avoidance Index measured a subject's
propensity to avoid pain.  Or perhaps the answer was the Obsessive/Compulsive
Correlation.  Anhaus and Overton had developed methods for quantifying the
scale between thrill seeking and excessive order and organization.

Susan
was right.  Every one of these measures was designed to produce results across
a wide spectrum.  That way, the usefulness of the measure was in contrasting
tendencies and suggesting effective strategies and treatments for the polarized
extremes.  As such, these measures couldn't help in solving their problem. 
They had to find a test where humans consistently answered the same, or the
synthetics did.  Of course, the optimum would be for humans to consistently
make a different response from the syns.

The more
he thought about the problem, the more convinced he became that they should
jump into the syn brain programs.  That would serve as the inspiration for a
means to develop a question that syns are compelled to answer in a certain way.

The
captain announced that docking procedures would begin in a few minutes. 
Mission knew that this would take some time.  Triton was the only moon besides
Titan to have an atmosphere, and the swirling methane gasses generally reduced
visibility to zero.

Eventually
the captain welcomed them to Triton and the city of New Angeles.  Mission
smiled grim reservation.  His gut instinct told him that nothing about this
visit would be easy or cheap.