|
|
|
|
Betrayals: twentyfiveby Steve Bowers |
She was nowhere. Actually that was not an unfamiliar sensation, as most
of her life was spent in cyberspace with no specific material location,
but this particular nowhere was not where she expected to be. After
leaving the Peridot, the Librarian’s human level avatar, who
was beginning to think of herself as Sallie Hung Chang, anticipated a
brief period of non-existence while her mindstate was transmitted back
to Arkab Prior B. Instead here, she was, in limbo. And everything about
this slice of nowhere reeked of Negentropism; the constant antiviral
immunity checks and counterchecks, the vast, empty database arranged in
orderly, clean segmentation; she was apprehensive, yet something told
her she was in perfect safety.
The mind-numbing safety of the tightly controlled Negentropy
cybersphere.
~
So, it has come to this, eh? Hijacked by my supposed colleague from
Prior A. What are you going to do- interrogate me?
~Certainly not; we would simply like you to carry a message
back to your higher self.
From the depths of nowhere Bailiff Beta Forty-nine addressed her; there
was no audiovisual content, simply data transfer. But she recognised
his signature as being the human-level avatar that had accompanied her
on the Peridot. He was attempting to address her on her own level; that
was a good sign.
~
A message, is it. Why am I doing your dirty work? The lines of
communication are open; you have been in high band contact with my
higher self for four standard days now. Yet you want to use my poor
limited consciousness as a go-between? Are you afraid of something?
~Oh yes; we fear a terrible mistake could be made, which
could drive our two stars into conflict. We are close enough to do
terrible damage to each other, much closer than most stars. And the
Keterists outgun us both; they are fey, and unpredictable. I feel that
I can speak to you as a friend, and perhaps find out if our fears are
grounded.
~So
this is an interrogation; you are just playing at friendly cop. If I
had a body I would be feeling fear right now; as it is I feel indignant
at such treatment. Well; say your piece; let’s see
what is on your mind.
‘Sallie’ was momentarily amused by the irony of her
own words; she could see nothing here, certainly not the mind of the
Bailiff or its contents. But seeing into people’s minds was
one of her occupations; paring away through people’s memories
to find some hidden truth was second nature to her higher self. Well;
here and now, in this darkness, it seemed that she was likely to be the
one under dissection if she was not careful.
The Bailiff spoke again;
~You know that our investigators have found an illegal cybercosm on the
Syie planetoid; the transapient Alrami and an unidentified other have
been identified as the main, if not the only customers of an illegal
trade in human virtual copies. So far we do not know what use these
copies were put to after purchase. Generally illegal virch copies are
used in violent or exploitative entertainment scenarios; the NoCoZo has
a large black market in such scenarios, and it would be a major
achievement for the Negentropy alliance to crack such an operation
open.
~Still
jealous of the Cozzies, eh? A little too much freedom in the NoCoZo for
your liking, I think.
~If there is any freedom there it is an illusion, or a marketing ploy.
But I digress; I have to ask you to inform your higher self that we
believe have discovered the one responsible for setting up
this illegal cybercosm. The Deeper Covenant themselves do not use cosm
tech, and all kinds of sentient slavery is taboo to them. This is no
doubt the reason they have lasted so long as a nearbaseline human
civilisation, out on the edges of so many planetary systems controlled
by benevolent cybercrats like your higher self.
~And
you fit that description even more closely, Bailiff.
~I truly believe that you are not aware of the full picture; you are a
tool, a limited avatar gifted with only limited information, and so
what I have to tell you may be somewhat of a shock.
‘Sallie’ remembered her wild speculations during
the interview with Alrami; yes, it was true, she didn’t have
the full picture. But it seemed just as likely that the Negentropists
were also missing a few pieces of the puzzle as well. In the visionless
database environment, she imagined herself smiling.
~Say
what you have to say.
~ Librarian, the only entity capable of hijacking those human copies
was you. To be exact, your higher self. The copies were protected with
high level encryption; no entity could have infiltrated those deeply
buried databases without attracting the attention of the Covenant
Protector, who is no fool. But the database was constructed from the
very first in such a way to be an active substrate, not just a memory
bank. Constructed by your own higher self more than five hundred years
ago.
I want you to return to your higher self and tell Her what we know; we
will then begin formal negotiations concerning this matter, which if
necessary will involve the Judge of the Alliance Emself and the Great
Architect of Djed. In any case the proceedings of this inquiry are
already being sent directly to both those parties in real time.
~I
see. Thank you. So the whole civilised Galaxy is watching now, eh? Well
I had better get this message right then. Will you come with me, o
avatar of the great Bailiff Forty-nine? I think my higher self might
have some interesting things to say to you.
*
*
*
*
After a timeless interval ‘Sallie’ found herself in
the familiar Arkab B Necklace Library datasphere, endlessly vast and
familiar, full of the idiosyncrasies she recognised as the mark of her
higher self’s eccentric personality. The great mind that was
the conscious level of the Lady Ur-Negeb enfolded her, and heard her
message in a microsecond. Then the Lady turned her attention
to the avatar of the Bailiff, who had accompanied
‘Sallie’ into this, the lion’s den.
The dark Bailiff was just reaching for a book off a shelf;
seeing the Lady materialise in the cyberscape in her full glory, he
carefully put it back, aligning the spine with all the others in an
orderly, negentropic fashion. He was tall, but not as tall as before;
the Librarian was only allowing him to appear as a human-level avatar
here, for the moment.
~So,
then Bailiff; it is time to cast subterfuge aside. This matter has some
very interesting aspects to it; I think I can spare the time to
introduce them to you now, as you have been so helpful to me in this
investigation.
~My Lady, I would be most grateful for that information; I am however
moved to caution concerning your words, as you seem to have been
willing to obscure the truth until now. In short, how can we trust you,
if the charge is true.
~Since
this meeting is being channelled to the great Archailects of our
respective empires, I think we will let them decide that. It is time to
get everything into the open. But before that transpires, there is a
little matter that intrigues me. My aspect Sallie Hung Chang has become
interested in your human level avatar, Bailiff; if you perhaps could
indulge me a little, before I answer your queries, and answer some of
mine.
~If it please you, My lady; but it seems to me that this is not a time
for idle talk.
~Very
little I do is idle, my friend. Who were you, Avatar, before you became
the messenger of the Prior A inquisitor? A nearbaseline policeman on
some distant planet, perhaps?
~Very close; the Regulars on Daffy are not a police force, but a
militia; I was a Leftenante in that militia, working to keep the peace
between the Haqqua and the Indigines. Caught between religious fanatics
and augmentation enthusiasts we had to deal with a lot of killings in
the big cities.
~Yes,
the Regulars. Best known for their ‘irregular’
tactics, as I understand it.
~ That has been said, my Lady, with some justification. We caught many
vicious murderers and gangsters in a web of guile and misinformation.
The spirit of the Trickster duck still lives strong on his world.
~Admirable.
Those sort of underhand tactics -, infiltration, entrapment –
those are frowned upon by Negentropist lawmakers elsewhere,
wouldn’t you say?
~The alliance is not such a monolith as you suggest; and it is far from
a lowly avatar to anticipate the opinions of our great Judge and His
delegates.
~Well
said, especially as He, or his ‘delegates’ might
well be listening to this conversation, far away.
~Since I have been a Bailiff of Arkab Prior A it has not been necessary
or prudent to use such subterfuge in maintaining the rule of Law. It is
useful to keep those skills in reserve, of course.
~No, I
am sure you prefer more direct methods. On the other hand in the Mutual
Progress world we have no such restrictions, and I have had occasion to
use – imaginative – tactics myself.
~ Many
centuries ago my remote operators became aware that there was a
substantial flow of illegal virtual human copies passing into the
Necklace system; we could not detect any outflow from the system, so it
seemed that some massive and illegal operation was taking place under
our very sensors. I first used the same strategy as the Blessed Dolphin
was attempting to use when she was put out of action; I encouraged
various individuals to ascend toposophic levels, and during their
period of adjustment, we examined their memories and experiences
together. Over time I built up a picture of the mysterious trade in
copied souls, which had no outlet in the virtual black market at all.
These copies were being stored, long term, in databanks around the
Necklace, most of which were hidden too subtly for me to find. Those I
did find I watched, hoping to get a clearer picture of their purpose,
without success.
Finally
I set up the cosm in Syie planetoid, and my agents advertised it on the
underground net channels on certain worlds, including Nova Terra; that
world has a myriad ancient communication systems used by illegal
mindsmugglers, and worse. Soon I had a bite, from our friend Alrami; he
has siphoned off about fifty billion copies, over the last few hundred
years. I was not aware of his scheme to get rid of the Dolphin until it
misfired; I suppose he might have attempted something similar against
me, if he had known that I was onto him.
~Well;
speak; what say you now?
~My lady, I have to say this is not entirely unexpected. My higher self
has constructed a multitude of plausible scenarios which explain your
involvement in the illegal cybercosm; your account resembles a number
of those models in many respects. So I expect that He will be prepared
to accept your version of events as possibly true. On the other hand I
cannot even begin to imagine the opinions of the Higher powers of our
respective empires.
~Let
them terminate me, if they must; but I beg leave to see this matter to
the conclusion. Alrami had another, much more powerful entity working
with him; this entity has been consistently silent and almost
undetectable, but E appears to be collecting virtual humans
obsessively. Almost as if E were building an army. I do not know if it
is an army of conquest, or just an army of devotees, or an army of
colonists to be whisked off to the Outer Reaches to found an instant
slave empire; but we should find out soon. While you were off chasing
Alrami with my little avatar I have been working with the mind of
Gienah a little more; he couldn’t remember accurately enough
in his unaugmented state, so I’ve – expanded
- him a little. He now has a pretty good idea of where to
find our hidden antagonist, and I am going to let him take a look on
our behalf.
