Multireal (50 page)

They walked into the bedroom, where the boy performed a similar
clockwork motion at the tasteful portraits of Very Influential Persons
arranged neatly on the walls; the window tuned in to a gentle
Himalayan snow; the armoire that held the small assortment of
clothing he had purchased over the years.

The living room was next, with its familiar chair-and-a-half and
sofa; its luxurious garden of daisies and buttercups dividing the room
like a moat; its glass balcony door facing the snow-carpeted hills; its
Tope and Pulgarti paintings bracketing the small foyer and front door.

Finally came the kitchen, scene of a thousand late-night mugs of
nitro and early-afternoon bottles of ChaiQuoke; the camouflaged white
tile of the sink; the access panel to the building's communal larder and
its high-class variety of foodstuffs; the small range he had purchased,
at great expense, for the sole purpose of heating pots of Serr Vigal's
peculiar British tea.

Natch turned to the youth, wondering if there was some lesson to be learned here. His apartment bore no mysteries, and he liked it that
way. If there was an epiphany to be found taking inventory of life's
unremarkables, it had bypassed Natch entirely.

So what was all that for? he said.

Hope you got a good look, replied the boy, brushing a strand of hair
from his forehead. You're never going to see any of it again.

33

Jara slept well that night, for the first time in who knew how many
weeks. The rest of the fiefcorpers apparently did too. Serr Vigal's surprising performance hadn't completely reversed their fortunes in the
struggle for MultiReal-for their company-but at the very least, the
neural programmer had put the brakes on their downward
momentum.

Things aren't worse today than they were yesterday, Jara reflected as she
led the Surina/Natch contingent past the giant holograph of Tul
Jabbor. Not much of an accomplishment, but I'll take it.

They arrived early and took the same seats in the petitioners' ring
they had occupied yesterday. While they waited, Jara consulted the
drudge alerts, which were predictably fragmented in tone this
morning. Benyamin and Horvil discussed soccer scores.

The participants to the hearing trickled in over the next fifteen
minutes. On the libertarian side of the ring, there were smiles, laughs,
and the occasional back slap. Frejohr and his supporters were ruddy
with confidence as they congratulated Serr Vigal on his speech yesterday; the delegation even took the extraordinary step of scooting a
few seats closer to Natch. Vigal made sure to deliver a warm wave in
the fiefcorp's direction, which Jara returned.

So if things are going so well for us, thought the analyst, how come the
Council doesn't look worried?

Jara swept her gaze through the auditorium at the officers in the
white robes and yellow stars. There seemed to be more of them today,
but that didn't necessarily mean anything. It wasn't the attitude of the
rank-and-file that bothered her, but the attitude of their superior officers. Lieutenant Executive Magan Kai Lee didn't look perturbed in the
slightest by the libertarians' jovial mood. On the contrary, Magan remained as mysterious and aloof as ever. The tactician Papizon lurked
behind his right shoulder, ungainly as a heron, with his head tilted and
his mouth splayed open. Only Rey Gonerev expressed any recognizable
human emotion-and that emotion, Jara noted with a shudder, was
pure disdain.

As for Natch, his demeanor was even more vacant than yesterday,
like a man standing on an active multi tile. He neither saw nor
acknowledged Jara's tentative wave hello.

Moments later, the lights dimmed as the twenty-nine members of
the Prime Committee solemnly filed in to their exclusive ring with
retinues in tow. After a smattering of ceremonial niceties, the moderator stepped forward and called the Defense and Wellness Council's
chief solicitor, Rey Gonerev.

The quiet rustle of audience noise died as the Blade stepped into
the center of the auditorium. She stood in the floor's exact focal point
for a moment and gathered her thoughts, looking as slim and deadly
as a needle. And then she opened her mouth and let the words march
out like some rumbling army of justice.

"My word is the will of the Defense and Wellness Council, which
was established by the Prime Committee two hundred and fifty-three
years ago to ensure the security of all persons throughout the system.
The word of the Council is the word of the people."

Perhaps it was Rey Gonerev's height, which allowed her to address the
Committee members without craning her head too far; perhaps it was
the fifteen years of security and intelligence briefings that had taught
her the nuances of the auditorium; perhaps it was a genetic trait
common to all high-ranking Council officials. Whatever the reason,
the Blade took to the floor of the Tul Jabbor Complex as if it were her
natural habitat.

"The libertarians say they want to give you freedom," began the
Blade, her diction precise, her words carefully crafted. "What you will
get is madness."

A murmur swept through the audience. Let the slicing commence,
thought Jara.

The chief solicitor walked the marble floor with a dancer's grace,
long braids swaying hypnotically behind her. Throughout her speech,
she found occasion to lance each one of the Prime Committee members
with her glare-and without exception, Jara noticed, Gonerev was
never the first to turn away.

"Margaret Surina stood before the world and declared that the
future would be an age of MultiReal," continued Gonerev. "It was just
a few weeks ago, at her auditorium in Andra Pradesh. Margaret stood
in front of several hundred million people, and she promised us the ultimate freedom. She promised us the ultimate empowerment. She promised to
deliver us from the tyranny of cause and effect.

"Our libertarian colleagues have bought into this vision wholesale.
They've trumpeted Margaret's words up and down the Data Sea
without bothering to examine them closely. And why should they? It's
a simple argument, after all. What's wrong with freedom? Everybody
wants freedom! How can you have too much freedom?

"The esteemed neural programmer Serr Vigal put an even finer
point on it yesterday, right here in this auditorium. Gravity pulls things
down. Water flows to the sea. And knowledge flows to freedom, he said. MultiReal will flow freely, whether you wish it or not. That decision is not yours to
make. "

Across the auditorium, Vigal stroked his goatee and nodded, lost
in contemplation.

"So then let's all exercise our complete freedom and give in to the
wants of the world!" said the Blade. "Is the person sitting next to you
wearing an expensive coat? Why not just take it? Obviously, the world
wants you to have it, because a hundred thousand generations of human evolution planted that lust for acquisition in you. Go ahead; take
whatever you want. The offended party can always seek redress from
the law.

"Some of you in the Committee members' ring roll your eyes, and I
hear a few groans from the audience. That's fine. It's a childish example.
Then again, complete and unrestrained freedom is a childish idea. It's an
embarrassment that I even have to stand here and explain it.

"Why don't you steal that fancy coat? Is it fear of punishment and
retribution that keeps you honest? No. You don't steal because you
can't always be a slave to your desires. Desire isn't the only instinct
we've inherited from our ancestors; that tug of conscience in your gut
was planted there by a hundred thousand generations of human evolution too.

"Humanity abandoned complete and unrestrained freedom thousands of years ago. Instead we chose the social contract. We chose to
deliberately set aside our personal wants for the good of the group. Do
not steal. Do not kill. Do not cheat. Why abide by these restrictions
on personal liberty? Because we've seen the alternative, and we've
chosen stability.

"Yes, we've deliberately chosen this path, time and time again. Hundreds of years ago, the Autonomous Minds liberated us from the rule of
the nation-states. A chance to start over! A chance to reshape society!
Humanity had a choice between the anarchy of radical individualism and
the constancy of the lawful society. What happened? The globe descended into chaos for a while-and then, acting independently without
coordination, our ancestors chose the social contract once again.

"The concept is very simple, and it works every time. We put aside
personal ambitions that are harmful to the group.... Society benefits
by becoming a more stable and predictable place.... And then we each
reap the benefits of that stable society.

"The result? Bio/logics. The Data Sea. The multi network.
Teleportation.

"Not only did we choose the social contract-but we expanded it and
codified it with the creation of the L-PRACG. We set those compromises
down in explicit government contracts written in clear and simple language. Here is what you are giving up. Here is what you are gaining.

"Is society moving towards personal freedom? Yes, I believe it is.
History and technology prove Margaret Surina's point that there is an
undeniable curve towards liberty. Freedom of movement, freedom of
expression, freedom of government. Yet societies do not adapt as
quickly as individuals do. We must consider change slowly and
examine its costs carefully.

"But is such compromise not enough for you? Do you yearn for that
ultimate freedom without compromise? You can have it, any time you
want! Simply halt your government subscriptions, stop paying your fees,
and float out with the diss. It's that easy. No one will stop you. In fact,
the Prime Committee has prohibited governments from keeping citizens
on their membership rosters by force or coercion. Some L-PRACGs will
actually pay you to leave the ranks of another L-PRACG.

"But such freedom is still not good enough for some in the libertarian
movement. And so they found a champion-a Surina, no less, daughter
of scientists and freethinkers. The social contract is a thing of the past! she
claimed. Let's do away with limitations! Let's embrace ultimate freedom!

"We don't need a global experiment to see where that path leads.
If you're interested in seeing the end result of complete and unrestricted liberty, look no further than this man Natch."

Rey Gonerev stopped in front of Natch and extended one talon
straight toward his chest. Jara leaned forward and looked at the entrepreneur's expression. He seemed oblivious to the chief solicitor's finger,
to the hushed attention of thousands of spectators. And then, just as
the Blade lowered her hand and started to speak again, Jara could see
a macabre smile creep onto Natch's face.

The solicitor resumed her speech. "Here in this auditorium sits the
ultimate freedom made flesh. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Natch, former master of the Surina/Natch MultiReal Fiefcorp! A man who
recognizes no laws but his own, who ignores all boundaries but those
that suit his own purposes. Here is a man who has ruthlessly rejected
the social contract time and time again for his own personal selfgratification. To enrich his own freedom, if you will.