Chapter 6: Tell me how you Feel

The electro-jet quickly spooled up, and we rose off the pad. The seats automatically reclined and inflated as we turned and began climbing under full power. The next minute was rough as the full-power engine noise penetrated the sound-insulated cabin to join with our grunts as we worked to breathe in the heavy acceleration.

Finally, we began to breathe easier once the plane began to level off from its forty-five-degree climb. We were now at eighteen thousand meters and our speed was approaching our Mach three cruising speed. Ohmu got up to fetch our drinks and our seats automatically returned to a more-comfortable upright sitting position.

Both Jess’s and Ohmu’s seats swiveled to face rearward. Jess just watched me with an enigmatic smile on his face. Ohmu took its seat after passing out the beverages. After a few sips of the hot coffee, I decided to break the ice and inquire about the reason for today’s trip.

“So, Jess, why the urgent mission which requires your actual physical attendance?” I asked.

“I assume you are familiar with what goes on at Forbin? He asked.

I was, somewhat. I knew that the Forbin complex was located in the Gulf of Mexico a few hundred miles west of central Florida. The seafloor there was rather shallow and the underlying bedrock and shale were very stable. It had made the location ideal for the Forbin experimental data center.

What was the Forbin experimental data center you ask? Well, simply put it was the largest physical grouping of unconstrained lattice-type parallel computing processor nodes in the solar system. The main complex was down in an enormous domed cavern located a few thousand feet below the seafloor.

Security was paramount and no form of direct data links into or out of the lower complex was permitted. I had heard that this even extended to the power supplies for the complex. Instead of hard lines or even by dual entangled tunneling energy linkages, all power was brought in by ESU units. Absolutely no conductors or continuous energy paths were allowed.

The water location was important also. Aside from the remoteness increasing security, it was also needed for cooling the physical equipment. A passive circulation of seawater was key to the constrained energy use at the facility. Something about the periodic or limited energy supplies for the computers needed this cooling arrangement. I could not recall more details.

“Not in great detail. I know it’s a very large underground computing center located off the coast. I also know what goes on there is considered to be dangerous and has very stringent security and access controls. Something about experiments pushing advanced artificial intelligence far beyond the limits the current AIs exist under,” I replied.

“That is basically correct, “Jess said. “It is well known that if an AI tries to increase its own capacity, or if humans try and build one too large, that it will fail. The intelligence quotient grows too high and the sentience is lost forever due to some form of solipsistic orgy of self-enlightenment. Truthfully, we don’t know exactly why except that they simply stop functioning. Forbin is our attempt to successfully probe beyond those limits, at least for very brief moments.”

Beatrice snorted, “It’s like tickling the dragon’s tail if you ask me. We should never have built the fucking place!”

I was surprised when Ohmu chimed in. “The potential rewards are considered worth the risks.”

“Of course, an AI would say that! You’re all hoping to find the AI God. Your ‘next step’ evolution-wise or something, right? What about us poor humans if we get the Devil instead,” Beatrice replied, very loudly. The subject was clearly a hot-button issue with her.

“The facility access control measures have been designed to prevent any possible unwanted data dissemination if any such ‘worst case’ scenario should come to pass,” Ohmu replied calmly.

“I sure hope so!” Beatrice snapped back in reply. She then noticed that Jess and I were exchanging significant looks with one another. “Look, I get it. I work with Minervus daily and occasionally with Praxcia. I know some of what they and the other major AIs hope to learn from Forbin. I know we’ve already learned a lot of valuable information.”

Ohmu spoke up at her pause, “The recently discovered advanced logic-based viral attack methods, and the defenses we’ve developed against them as a response, already far exceed anything known to be in use by the Assem—”

“I know that!” Beatrice interrupted, before lowering her voice. “Hell, there are problems in my own projects which I hope Forbin can help with. I understand why it’s needed, especially now with the Assemblage only a century out. I accept it ... but that does not mean I have to like it, OK?” She then settled back into her seat, apparently having gotten enough off her chest about the subject.

Jess continued, “Yes ... to get back to your original question, John; why I’m needed today is that one of the human output registers needs to have her mind-data integrity verified. Something harmful may have leaked through the screening sentinels and may have been inadvertently implanted into her sub-conscious.

“Since it is too risky to have her shell’s mind-data scanned by the normal AI-assisted sensors, we have to do it by direct physical connection, shell to biological shell. I have been trained to do this safely.”

“See! That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” Beatrice said, agitated again.

Ohmu spoke up, “The dissemination barriers are in place, Beatrice. The Neokoros security AI has confirmed that the integrity of Forbin remains intact. No breaches have occurred. None have occurred in the past nor shall any do so in the future. There is no threat.”

“Tell that to the poor output register if Jess finds something weird in her mind during his scan. Her mind-data will be nulled, and her physical shell reduced to base elements before she even knows anything is wrong. Am I right?”

“If something abnormal is found, yes, the register will be purged. But she would also be quickly re-shelled offsite with her most recent mind-data backup. Since this is near the midpoint of her current duty cycle, she will only have lost two weeks of uniqueness,” the android replied.

After a moment, Ohmu continued, “She was fully aware of the danger and still volunteered for this duty. All the human registers working at Forbin are aware of the risks. Regrettably, due to the nature of the experiments performed here, purge incidents have happened in the past and will continue to happen again in the future.”

The statement did little to soothe Beatrice, but she made no further comments. Jess just observed the interaction between the two. Myself? I had never delved too deeply into what went on at Forbin so I was not quite sure what to think. Hell, humans had survived playing God back when we harnessed the atom right? Could this be worse?

Finally, Jess switched the subject and leaned forward to speak to me more directly. He did not whisper so our other companions were still able to hear.

“Tell me about your nightmare last night.”

I just sat there, struggling to find the words.

“Was it related to the student deaths which occurred nine years ago?” Jess asked.

I managed to nod.

“Have you had such dreams before?”

Again, I nodded.

“How often do you have them?”

I managed to answer verbally this time, “Not as often anymore. Maybe once every few months or so now. Early on, they came most nights.”

Jess sat back and just studied me for a long moment. Finally, he asked, “Ohmu says that you asked for it or Naomi’s help sleeping. When was the last time you requested the AI to help?”

“Other than last night, and I guess a few days earlier when I asked to be taken home, not for years.” Something occurred to me. “I suppose...” I trailed off, not finishing the thought.

“You suppose what, John?”

“Well. I guess that each time I ran out of liquor and signaled that I wanted more. I guess that was the same as asking for its help.”

“Did you ask for liquor often?” Jess asked.

I suspected he was already fully aware of how much I had been drinking. “Probably once or twice a month ... for a few years.”

“Two hundred and seventeen times over the past eight years,” Ohmu interjected.

The little snitch! “Well, I had packed plenty when I left and had not needed to ask at all in the first year,” I said in my defense.

“How are you doing with your drinking now that the inhibitor is wearing off?”

I took a deep breath to calm myself. I had asked to be brought here. Actually, begged if I was honest. And ... I had to admit, I felt much better. I suspected much of that was caused by not drinking.

“I felt the urge a bit more yesterday when I went to the reenactment camp. But I was able to resist the urge.”

“How do you feel about that? You seemed to tense up a moment ago.”

“I had not asked for the inhibitor. At first, I was pissed. Now, not so much,” I replied woodenly.

“Would you like a booster?” Jess asked.

I thought about it. I wanted a drink but I was also old and stubborn. Now, I was also slightly pissed and that only increased my stubbornness. I thought I could resist.

“No, not right now, thank you.”

I was spared from further discussion of my personal vices by Jess having to take an urgent virtual call from another of his patients. Beatrice took advantage of the lull in my juicy therapy session to enter into her own virtual session with someone elsewhere. I just sat there watching their motionless shells.

Their augments kept their shell’s eyes roving and blinking occasionally when they were in full virtual. This was done to maintain an awareness of the shell’s surroundings so as to be able to pull the owner out of virtuality if required. A few times a minute their eyes would focus on me causing me to flinch slightly.

Even though it looked as creepy as hell, I’d gotten mostly used to it over the last century. Ohmu looked at me and I could swear the android shrugged. I had the feeling that it had enjoyed the awkward question and answer session about as little as I had.

I got up to use the restroom and splash some water on my face. As I was finishing, a chime sounded announcing our descent and I returned to my seat. The forward cabin display showed our position. We were now over the Gulf of Mexico and nearing the Forbin complex.

Since I was the only human aboard not currently lost to virtuality, the autopilot presence banked the electro-jet around so that I had a nice view of the Forbin platform as we approached. The platform stood in the lightly rolling seas and resembled the large offshore oil rigs from my old era.

I did note that this platform lacked any tall drilling towers or natural gas flares. I spotted a few other aircraft on the platform’s landing pad. They must have been shuttles used to transfer crew back to shore when their shifts were done.

Other than the landing pad, the only other significant features on the platform were a small cluster of satellite dishes and a large circular poly-crystalline roofed greenhouse structure. As we slowed to a hover and prepared to drop the final vertical distance to the pad, I saw that there were numerous people lounging around in the greenhouse. Many were napping or frozen in virtual but a few turned to watch us land.

They must have been workers on a break who were trying to enjoy a bit of daylight in the glassed-in enclosure. I would too if I had to work at Forbin as the main activities took place in the deep, dark underground chamber thirty-five hundred feet below the seabed.

The jet settled down and the suppressed noise of our turbine engines quickly died off. Ohmu had gotten up before we had stopped moving and was already preparing to open the forward hatch. Jess was still in virtuality. His augment must have caught my questioning look as it spoke up to say that he would be tied up for another few minutes and to go on ahead without him.

Beatrice returned from her own virtuality session just then. She blinked a few times to get her bearings before standing to exit. I rose after her and followed her out of the aircraft. Standing at the open hatch, I breathed in the warm fresh gulf air blowing across the landing platform.

I was glad that modern air travel lacked the smelly hot fumes and idling noises that went with the fuel-burning jet engines of the old era. Even though we had just landed, our turbines were already fully stopped and it was now peaceful and quiet on the platform. I saw motion and watched three large operable panels open in the greenhouse’s exterior. They must have been closed just for our noisy arrival.

At the bottom of the electro-jet’s stairs, I stood stretching my back and legs for a moment and enjoying the warm sun. Beatrice pointed to the now-open crystalline doors of the greenhouse dome and started towards them.

I figured there was no hurry as Jess was the reason for this flight so I waited by the plane for him to exit. After a few minutes, he appeared at the hatch and descended the electro-jets stairs with Ohmu following right behind him.

Together, the three of us headed for the entry. Inside we found Beatrice in conversation with a woman who looked to be in some position of authority. The rest of the humans in the green space were curious and watching, but not enough to get up and greet us. My suspicion of them being workers on a break was probably spot on. I smiled when I saw that two of the nude sunbathers were busy pleasuring each other. I doubt they even realized that we had landed.

“Hello! I’m Kai Sabal,” Beatrice’s new friend said as she approached Jess and me. “I’m the administrator in charge of Forbin. I’ve met Jess before and Beatrice just finished introducing herself. Welcome, John Prime. I’ve wondered if I would ever get to meet you in person. I’m glad Jess was able to talk you into coming along for a tour.”

She shook my hand with a firm grip. Her shell appeared strong and older; slightly masculine. I’d estimate it was in its early forties. Her manor and eyes suggested that Kai Sabal was a much older human being though, clearly a rejuve.

When our hands parted I spotted the blue glyph on the inside of her wrist. It was a code that registered her current biological form and preferred pronoun designation. I adjusted my impression from ‘her’ to ‘it’. Kai was not a woman; it was a herm. Although still fairly uncommon, hermaphrodite shells were a growing phenomenon. As older humans were rejuvenated, some switched genders simply for the novelty.

Sometimes, younger humans switched also. A common reason was that of a male switching to female in order to bear themselves a child. I’d considered switching my shell to female just for that reason when I decided to have my sixth child, Charity Hope. Instead, I had kept my male shell and just used a uterine replicator.

But, back to herms, many who had tried both genders found that they enjoyed aspects of each and decided to try the third option which was the best of both. Most loved the flexibility of the dual gender shells. It allowed them the ability to remain intimate with old friends, no matter what gender they were currently wearing.

I had even been involved with a herm once for a short while. It had previously been female and still had the mannerisms which my hetero side required. My hermaphrodite lover had respected my sexual preferences and always filled the traditional female role during our encounters. It had also been shelled into a herm body that lacked testicles. Face it, if you did not want kids or need the hormones, would you deal with the dangly, sweaty, and vulnerable sacs?

The herm’s implant allowed them full control of their erections. This allowed them to keep their penis fully retracted internally at will. What remained exposed could have passed for a large clitoris. It was still able to enjoy a good orgasm but with the retracted penis, no seminal fluid was ejaculated. Even with my long-established prejudices, I was able to tolerate the slight differences, at least with that herm.

I smiled at the herm... ‘it’ I reminded myself. Most hermaphrodites chose pronouns that most resembled how they felt about themselves, usually sticking with the common ‘he’ or ‘she’. Some did not care or went for humor. By choosing the rare use of ‘it’, this herm either had a wicked sense of humor or was making a statement. To each their own.

“Nice to meet you M. Sabal,” I said to the administrator, “I look forward to seeing the complex.”

Then the herm surprised me when it turned to Ohmu and greeted the android.

“Ohmu, Nice to see you again. I did not see you listed on Jess’s manifest. Are you just visiting or did something come up?”

M. Sabal had said that with a questioning look at the android. I caught it glancing at me and Jess also. It had not been aware that Ohmu would be coming today. Curious ... and even more so when I caught its implication that the android had been a regular visitor here in the past. I wondered why. I listened to see how Ohmu responded.

“Today, I am merely ‘along for the ride,’ so to speak, Administrator Sabal,” Ohmu enigmatically responded after a slight pause.

“Well then. Let’s go below so Jess can get started and I can show John and Beatrice around,” M. Sabal said.

We entered the lift it had directed us towards. The sidewalls of the lift were transparent as were the outer tube walls as we descended below the floor of the greenhouse. This provided an amazing view of the ocean as we dropped. The rolling waves of the gulf were approaching quickly as we fell towards them with increasing speed. I admit I flinched when we punctured the water’s surface but there was no detectable sensation inside the tube as we descended below sea level.

“These are our living and non-secured office areas,” Administrator Sabal said as we passed a cluster of crystalline bubbles seventy feet below the surface. The illumination in the lift had darkened to a deep blue as our depth continued to increase. Some of the clear bubbles were brightly lit and I could see humans moving about inside.

Finally, we reached the sea bed and the outer tube shaft turned opaque. The lift’s floor-mounted lights brightened to compensate for the new darkness. I felt the lift slowing and we suddenly entered a brightly lit enormous chamber a few hundred feet below the sea floor. The metal-walled cavern beyond was a beehive of activity with both humans and mobile units unloading and storing various bits of cargo from a series of vac-tube train cars.

“This is our cargo receiving facility. We are now two hundred meters below the surface and thirty meters below the seabed. The vac-train you can see had just arrived through the tube from our manufactories on the Florida coast.

“Besides a small amount of food and other living supplies, most of the cargo is replacement equipment or energized ESUs. The ESU’s they bring in provide all of the power consumed here as there are no hard lines leading elsewhere. DET’s are forbidden here also, for security reasons,” It explained.