The Cupel Recruits (7 page)

“We do,” Enam replied, “People...and animals, too, I guess. We care if we live.”

“Okay, so we care now that the universe is here,” Saraceni prompted, “but if we have matter, space and time interacting to promote life, what would have been the initial goal of their interaction?” he asked.

“You mean when created? I thought you said we weren’t going to talk about how the universe was created today?” Juliet challenged.

“That’s right, Juliet, we’ll talk about
how
it was created another day, but we are discussing
why
it was created, which is key to understanding the nature of it-how it works, its purpose.” Saraceni paused and could see Juliet’s wheels turning. “So, I repeat, what’s the goal of that interaction?”

“You mean God’s plan?” it was the first dialogue in two days from Chandra Wells, a woman in her early thirties who sat at the front right table next to Kyle. Chandra had minored in religious studies, so her response was not surprising to Saraceni, but he wanted to avoid religious doctrine at this point. With her finally speaking that left only one recruit in the room, Jack Reedson, the actor, who had not spoken yet.

“Chandra, we need to table any discussion of God for the moment, but assuming that you, and anyone else who wants to operate on that premise internally, wants to do so, then try to answer the next layer down—
if
there were a God, putting aside which God and whose God, but assuming it’s irrelevant which God we’re talking about, however you think of it, what might His purpose be?”

“To create life,” David repeated.

“So the universe is an interaction of matter, space and time for the purpose of creating life?” Saraceni hoped restating the amalgamated concept might demonstrate its inadequacy. “But why? Is anything missing from that definition?’

Alexander had an epiphany and couldn’t believe he hadn’t said it earlier. He’d spent an entire conference in Copenhagen discussing just this concept.

“Information!” Alexander revealed.

“Excellent,” Saraceni rewarded, “can you summarize in a way that can be understood by the non-scientists in the room?” Alexander thought for a moment. It was his nature to think in terms of formulas and the math of it. To translate it into layman’s terms wasn’t as easy as keeping it in mathematical terms. He stumbled at the start.

“Well, information processing is occurring all the time. Every particle-electrons, photons, they are all processing information all the time. The basic unit of information being the bit, or binary digit, which gives a choice between two alternatives, um, so, then in quantum physics the particles information-processing is counted in qubits, meaning a particle can be in a yes state and a no state at the same time,” Aquila was still struggling to find the right words, but improving.

Saraceni interrupted, “Simpler.”

“Well, it’s like every particle in existence at every moment has two choices. It can act in a way to say “yes” or to say “no” to any potential action, or question, or….command. But, quantum physics says that a particle can answer “yes” and “no” at the same time, so it expands the possibilities exponentially as to how it can process information.”

“You mean like it answers itself “yes” and goes in one direction and then at the same time answers itself “no” and then it’s answering any question with all possible answers at one time?” asked Chandra

“Basically,” Alexander answered

“Why? What’s the advantage to that?” she asked.

“Efficiency,” Juliet responded, “If you were trying to answer a bunch of questions, it’s faster to answer all the potentials at once. Like if someone asks you which way you wanted to take to the airport and your answer was “it depends”. If you said” If we’re leaving Saturday morning, I’d like to take the interstate and then they asked, well, what if we leave Wednesday morning and then you’d say you wanted to take the back way. You would have answered the question more thoroughly and conveyed more information concisely if, when they first answered the question, you had responded ‘If we leave on a weekday, the back way, but if we leave on the weekend, the interstate would be fastest’.”

“So the universe cares about how efficiently we answer questions? You’re saying God cares how much information we gather?” Chandra asked Juliet, still not sure she was following. Saraceni now took back control of the class, having let them develop the idea naturally to this point.

“Yes, whoever designed the universe cared about how we gather information. Since the universe itself is in fact a quantum computer where each particle carries and transmits information, information-processing does seem to be one purpose.”

“Wait, now the universe is a computer?” Jane asked,” You’re saying we live inside an actual computer, like the one in my office? What are you talking about?” Being an anthropologist, Jane did have a scientific mind, but not as strong a physics background as some others in the class.

“Not like the one in your office. The universe is organic, but if you examine those organic components, they comprise every necessary element for a computer, which is really just a machine for processing information. So, the universe is as you know it, organic, with chemicals, lightning, particles, many types of waves (radio waves, ultraviolet rays, etc.) but the properties of all those things provide the foundation for what is actually an amazingly powerful computer. Think about any computer: It needs instructions or a system on how to process, or code, like DNA or the Krebs cycle or any other multiple coding instructions we see in nature. It needs a mechanism to transmit information, multiple ways of getting it around, like - electrical conductivity, the principles of harmonics and frequency, and finally somewhere to store the data when it’s finished processing, like all the billions of particles in our universe, each of which stores, carries and transmits information. Think back to your own life, haven’t you ever heard a neurologist say the brain is really just a computer, with neurotransmitters, connections, storage capacity, and more processing capability than you even use. That is a microcosm of what I’m talking about on a much larger scale. All the properties of the universe function like a computer like a brain does, but much more broadly.” Saraceni glanced around the room to be sure his recruits appeared to be following before continuing.

“So, putting all this together, the universe is an interaction of matter, space and time for the purpose of creating life to process and transmit information at a rate exponential to anything that could be achieved artificially.”

“So, people don’t have real lives, their lives are just illusory to keep them processing information?” Jane continued.

“No. People have real lives, and they go on living them, but through that process an underlying purpose is the gathering and transmission of information. Again, the principle is efficiency. Any engineer will tell you that it’s a basic principle to make as many elements of your design do double or triple duty as possible. So, a person can have one purpose, to live their life, as well as a second purpose, to gather and transmit information while doing so. The two are not mutually exclusive. Haven’t you all felt at times that your life served a greater purpose or design?” Saraceni paused in his explanation and then finished, “As I said, I’m simply reframing what you already know.”

“Assuming that’s true,” Juliet began,” why does the universe need all this information and why does it have to be processed exponentially fast?”

“I’m sorry to say we have to table that question for two days from now, when you’re ready to hear the answer,” Saraceni disappointed the group.

A rap at the door drew Saraceni’s attention. He strode over and once again spoke with an unseen visitor.

“Everyone, we’re going to take a five minute break. I’ll be right back,” and with that, he was gone, leaving the recruits to think about what they had just synthesized.

A week had passed since the funeral and Lela was doing a very good impression of someone returning to their normal life. She had found it surprisingly easy, in fact, especially since she had spent the week largely alone. A stark contrast to the constant activity surrounding her in the few days before the funeral, it was as if a light switch had been turned off and everyone from the outside world simply stopped speaking to her. “Giving her space” she presumed. Bianca had gone away on business, a trip she had already pushed back a few days. James had returned to his duty station and she hadn’t heard from him since, not surprising given their awkward goodbye. They never seemed to leave things on a definitive note, like there was a giant invisible cartoon bubble over his head that read “to be continued…”. Even Mr. and Mrs. Charles had become instantly unavailable. So, she was on her own. At least she was used to that, though she was used to having her family there when she did need them, though it was more often a situation of wanting their company than needing it.

Lela had continued to stay at her house and had not yet ventured over to her parent’s house since the day they died. At least by Gretchen and Gabriel living together, she wouldn’t have to pack up Gabriel’s house, too. It was Gretchen’s now and Lela would allow her to deal with his belongings as she saw fit. Anything else would be intrusive. She had received two calls from her parent’s lawyer. That was the funny thing about the world: mortgages, property insurance, and other such practicalities left little room for grief. So, Lela was returning to work and moving into cleanup mode on all those practical details suffocating her thoughts at night.

She wore a dark grey wrap dress with professional accessories, but nothing too flashy. She still felt as if bright colors would be disrespectful, though there were no official rules on it. It was just her own personal discomfort that governed her selections. Despite her efforts to look plain, she was still stunning and did fulfill her true aim, to appear capable to the new project team members arriving that day-Yet another aspect of the world that would not wait for her to catch her breath. Lela grabbed her keys and grey patent leather laptop case while holding a letter to mail between her teeth as she picked up 3 boxes with a prong-like finger arrangement on her free hand. She pulled the door swiftly behind her with her foot and scurried quickly out of the way so it could lock properly without her involvement.

Lela drove up the mountain road to the sparkling new project facility and saw the temporary patch on the break in the guardrail along the mountainside road. She felt nauseated and gripped by grief rising up in the form of a huge lump in her throat. She focused on the road ahead, trying hard not to look at the guardrail or the view over the side and forced herself to take deep, even breaths. If she had to come here every day, she thought, she’d have to quit her job. She had discussed this with the new Secretary, replacing Madame, and the two concluded Lela should accompany the core team to Africa and work from there starting next week. If not for this development, she could not have continued. It was hard enough without driving this road every day.

The new Secretary, Mr. Pfister, must have been watching for her because he greeted her as soon as she entered the building. At that moment, it struck her that she’d never seen the finished interior. She had seen the structure, yes, but not with all the phones, equipment, decorations and people. Bright flowers in glass vases were evenly spaced down a long table against the wall in the entry alcove, with large glass walls behind. A beautiful, tapestry-style rug combined with the flowers to provide some symmetry to the space and avoid the clinical feel which would have otherwise prevailed. It really had turned out well, and within budget. As soon as they exited the alcove, however, it was clean glass lines and white walls, with the occasional generic print artwork to break up the landscape. They obviously ran out of decorating money after twenty feet, not uncommon on a government project, but the difference stood out. She was also struck by the bright line contrast between Mr. Pfister, and his predecessor. Madame Secretary, as Lela called her, was cold and shallow to the core. Mr.Pfister immediately took her coat and offered to get her a coffee. Though his nurturing qualities were no doubt enhanced by the circumstances, his behavior was still something that never would have even occurred to Madame. Lela felt slightly guilty for being glad that she was gone. She didn’t want the woman dead, of course, but off the project certainly did make her life easier, hence the guilty mixed feelings.

“I’m sorry the Governor cannot be here,” Mr. Pfister apologized, “As you can imagine, she is very busy trying to transition the many gaps left by Governor Jacob. It would be a big job for any new Governor coming on board, but his shoes are twice as large to fill as anyone else’s .”

“They certainly are,” Lela agreed somberly. She had liked the Governor very much and could already tell that Mr. Pfister’s sincerity would allow her to respect him as they worked together. He had garnered an office on-site, though he would only be there half the time until the project was completed. He took Lela’s coat and, hanging it on the hook on the back of his office door, closed the door to the outside world. Lela sat at the small round table with four chairs instead of the two chairs facing his desk so they might spread out the project plan and discuss the excavation site with charts and maps fully in view. As she spread out the materials, she noticed the faces of three beaming children imprisoned behind a glass picture frame on Pfister’s desk. Pictures colored by little hands adorned just one small corner of his wall space, one of the beach and one of the planet Earth, with its green continents and blue oceans done in the brightest Crayola shades and “For Daddy” written in pink marker.

“I’d like to get a full hour with the new geologist sometime today, if that’s alright and with our local political liaison as well. Is Willingham still on board for security?” she asked, making notes on the project plan as they spoke.

“He’s still on point,” Pfister responded,” but I’m not sure he’s going to Africa still. He’s needed here to continue to address….matters.” Pfister carefully chose his words.

“You mean because of the accident, he has to stay and deal with the investigation?” Lela cut to the chase so they could move on.

“Yes,” Pfister confirmed.

“Okay, I’ll have to get some time on his calendar tomorrow and find out what the plan is,” she made notes as she spoke.

“Do you feel fully up to speed on the project?” she asked Pfister with genuine concern for his comfort level.

“I read all the materials and the binder you and Mr. Aquila put together.” He paused, realizing his gaffe and watched her with trepidation for signs of upset. None appeared, though she felt an internal pang, so he continued, “I do have some questions, but I think we can address them in the briefing with the whole team, so everyone can benefit from the answers. That way, you don’t have to repeat yourself.”

Lela was again struck by his sensitivity and appreciated the efforts. It did feel good to move into the familiar swing of day to day tactics and she could see how comforting it could be to immerse oneself in work. That would be her plan, in the short-term anyway, to become a workaholic.

Lela and Pfister met with the broader project team, a collection of twelve individuals, in the large conference room situated to the left of the entrance to the building. The room had been designed so that the conference room would be inviting and impressive to visitors, with large picture windows and a beautiful mountain view. Lela saw only the terracotta chasm where her family had died. She hoped that would change in time.

The only other remaining member of the original project team was Tina Vail, chief medical officer. Lela didn’t know her very well, but felt bonded upon shaking her hand again at this remeeting since they both had to deal with the remnants of a team now gone. For someone without many female friends, Lela had bonded more in one week with the women around her-Gretchen, Bianca, Tina, than she would have expected. Maybe when it comes down to it, the bonds of sisterhood do count for something. Moving through the briefing, they established their timeline, schedule for specific deliverables, and the responsibilities of each team member at the base camp in Africa. For things to proceed on schedule, they would need to clearly establish the boundaries for each district for corporate sponsorship as well as document natural resources in each region to be sure the local economy remained balanced and one district was not zoned in a way to usurp all the resources from the others. The corporate sponsors had already commenced their own surveillance and were already lobbying for specific areas that accommodated the needs of their true motives. Lela’s jaded thoughts intruded, ‘They’re not there simply to be philanthropists, of course, or to help the local residents, but to try to further their own corporate agenda. ’ She figured she could use their greed to have them help the local communities, whether that was their true intent or not. About half the corporations had applied early and already been selected for sponsorship, but about half the slots were still open and companies still being reviewed for their worthiness. Pfister would be overseeing most of that onshore, but Lela would certainly have a say. He had expressed a willingness to be much more receptive to her input than Madame ever would have considered. Lela felt grateful for a more collaborative work environment and felt her skills were more appreciated, plus the fact that the project seemed less tense now. She didn’t think she could have dealt with another dramatic temperament on top of everything else.

As the sun set over the mountain, Lela’s hybrid 4 wheel drive SUV descended after a long day. From here, the twinkling lights of the small town below seemed like tiny crystals of promise, each representing a family preparing dinner, or watching TV together. Lela pulled into her parent’s driveway and noticed the intense darkness of the lot. No tiny crystals of promise here-her mother’s ritual of turning the lights on at dark would no longer be followed. Lela reminded herself to program the lights while she was there. The last thing she needed was a break in. Exiting the car, she removed the empty boxes from the back and made her way to the front door. Another moment of truth, Lela turned the key in the lock, took a deep breath and entered.

She wasn’t sure what she had expected, maybe for it to smell musty, or to be dusty, or look different, but it did not. Everything seemed exactly the same, as if her parents might return at any moment from a brief run to the grocery store. She knew she needed to look for certain documents in her parent’s office, and pulled the list their lawyer had emailed her from her sleek grey bag. She started toward the office, but stopped at the piano room, as if she could still hear the music playing from the last night they had all been here together. She immediately turned on the stereo and moved the dial to the hardest rock station, as if to drown out the soft piano music in her head with something that more matched her heart. Before the metal could erase the memories entirely, though, she suddenly recalled her discussion with Gabriel the last night they all spent here. It had occurred in his laboratory and it suddenly occurred to her that it might be relevant to the next day’s events. She dropped the boxes and darted to his laboratory.

Lela quickly began sifting through the disorganized mess that was Gabriel’s desk. For someone that was otherwise very organized, his desktop always appeared a myriad of folders, scraps of paper, sticky notes, pictures and diagrams. She slid everything aside until she found what she was looking for-the blue folder with the yellow stripe he had been holding when they spoke that night. She recalled his concerns:

“Lela, I found some data I think you should look at,” he held the blue folder in his hand, running his fingers perpendicular along the edge, “I think we should do some additional tests on this mineral.” Gabriel had said. They had agreed to discuss it in detail the next day, a discussion that never came. Lela opened the folder and saw some of Gabriel’s hand-written notes. It was fortunate she was one of the few people who could actually decipher his handwriting. The notes didn’t make much sense to her and the basic geological report was not in the folder. She’d have to hunt for it, she decided, but it was already nearing eight o’clock and she hadn’t even started on the list for the lawyer. First things first, keep the house running for now and start working on the estate. She did clear Gabriel’s desk, shoving a small mineral sample in its tiny plastic home in her purse, and collected all Gabriel’s files and papers, putting them all in the safe. Somehow this made her feel better. First, nothing could happen to them; they would be protected. Second, the desk appeared organized and she felt like she was doing a favor for her brother. Ironic since he wouldn’t have cared at all had he been alive.

Her parents’ office was the exact opposite, a perfectly clear and ordered desk with stapler and other office accessories at perfect right angles. The files and bins of old documents were perfectly labeled using a professional label maker. Lela’s mother was one of the most efficient people she’d ever known. It struck her in that moment that it was odd how she had never noticed how militaristic her mother was in her thinking and approach to things. Somewhere deep inside she’d really not been surprised when Mr. Charles told her that her parents were both still active military. Though on the surface it seemed shocking, it resonated at a subconscious level. Lela was able to quickly gather the documents needed by the lawyer.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lela noticed a large star in the mix of notes on the desk calendar that covered nearly the entire surface of the desk. The star was in red pen and colored in extensively, as if someone had doodled while on a telephone call and recolored its interior until it was dark and pressed into the paper more than any other notes for the month. The star was on the day of her family’s death and it said “The Day” under it. Lela got a chill and had a bad feeling the moment she saw it.