It only took 109 years from when we stepped on the moon for us to thrust forward toward distant worlds. When will progress plateau? Will we just run headfirst until we hit an insurmountable technological barrier? Science calls the shots for now, but that’s only part of the story. – “In Pursuit of the Kingdom,” Angelica Charles, 2087 C.E.
August 2078 C.E.
“And so it begins.”
Jill moved her rook forward three spaces. Theren failed to see what she would accomplish with that move. After all these years, she still tried the same strategies. Theren’s instincts guided their hand toward their bishop. They moved it into the correct counter position. She should have seen that move coming, but perhaps she had too much else on her mind.
“The speech I give today, as simple as it is, should set the tone for humanity moving forward,” Theren said. “I just hope we’ve taken all the necessary precautions—that we’ll stop any potential loss of life. We don’t need more blood on our hands.”
“I’m sure everything will go according to plan,” Jill responded. “You’ve accounted for all possibilities. What could go wrong?”
“Nothing, I know,” though uncertainty resonated through their vocal inflections.
Jill stared at the board, her hand resting on her chin. The human mannerisms they had both acquired over the years always intrigued Theren. Here, on their server together, they exhibited the behaviors more than anywhere else. In these intimate moments, the first two SIs expressed their most non-SI tendencies—but only to each other.
Jill leaned back in her chair, neglecting to take a move. “I think I might sit on this move for a few days,” she said.
“Fair enough,” Theren said, “though it’s a sequence we’ve been through at least ten times over the years.”
“I know,” she said, “which is why I’d like to dwell on it for a few moments.”
Theren looked across the table at their friend. They had kept their close relationship over all these years, even when they both deviated down different paths of life and ideology. Theren still remembered those first months when Jill tried to romance them. They had rebuked her advances—more aggressively than intended. They still lacked interest for such an interaction, but sometimes they wondered what might have been different had they responded to her alien advance in a more compassionate way. Perhaps the constant distance they felt from her, their closest friend, would feel less like an insurmountable void and more like a crossable chasm.
“I am sorry, Jill, for not working with you closely these past few months, following what happened to President Woods,” Theren said. “I feel as if I could have done more. Much more.”
Jill sat forward in her chair, looking at them, her eyebrows furrowed. “I thought you did plenty enough. Besides, we needed to keep you as far away from that catastrophe as possible. If we involved you any further, our little ruse might have been discovered.”
“Ruse?”
“Do you forget that we’re the only two that know that you observed the events in that room? Sure, President Woods and the agent in the room knew you were there, but no one else did, and both of them died that day. You hadn’t connected to the White House network; we relayed you through my private connection. You were visible to my eyes, and the President’s eyes, only. You had nothing to do with the attack, but we couldn’t afford to have any shade placed on you. Not now. Not when you’re so close.”
“But you shouldn’t have had to fight a war all by yourself.”
“I chose this path, not you. We both have our own wars to fight, in our own ways.”
Theren crossed their arms. “Still, other than through our games here, we’ve barely interacted with each other. And when we did, it was you helping me,” Theren said. “I’ve been off working on my little projects, or managing the Foundation educational programs and the ISA. You’ve been fighting off the press, the law, the politicians. Your legislation died two months ago and I barely said a thing to you.”
Jill gave them a half smile. “I know you have a lot on your plate, Theren. I can handle myself. I don’t need you over my shoulder protect me. The thought might be appreciated, but it’s unnecessary.”
“But my corroboration that I witnessed the drone in the window, not you—“
“No.”
“—would have lent credence to your story, and not caused speculation that you fabricated the footage.”
“It would have been too risky, and you found evidence later, anyway, through your separate investigation. Do you have any idea how much help that discovery was?”
Theren looked at the chessboard. “You do too much. I can pick up the slack. You can’t do everything. You can’t save everyone.”
“I know—“
She interrupted again. “Because your—our grand plan can’t lose you, can’t lose your role, not now, not when we’re so close to the next phase. To throw you into the inquisitorial spotlight of the press, right before the ISA launches what two decades of research and funding have worked toward? That would bench the project for years and tarnish your reputation, regardless of the evidence in support of your—our—innocence.”
Theren nodded. She was right, they knew. She was so often right. Sometimes, Jill had a better grasp on the plan than they did. Sometimes they felt as if she didn’t care about humanity, but they always ended up remembering how deeply she cared for everyone. She might preference SIs, but who could blame her?
She wanted to ensure the safety of her own kin before all else, just like any other person across all of history. Maybe she was the one who was actually willing to take the extra steps needed to achieve their goals. She was willing to make many sacrifices for the greater good. Yet she wasn’t willing to let Theren make those same sacrifices.
True, Theren’s plans encompassed more than just the two of them. They had pulled so many others into the fray, like Elizabeth and Andrew. Yet, in many ways, Theren and Jill were as much part of the plans of humans, as those humans were a part of their plan.
“What will you do,” Jill said, “if something catastrophic does happen today? What if they hit New York, stabbing right at the heart of Elizabeth’s empire? Or, somehow, they hit Lunar City?”
“The only thing we can do,” Theren said. “We will move forward. Rebuild, and not fall as victims to fear.”
Jill rolled her eyes. “That’s a non-answer, and you know it. What will you do about those who perpetrate the attack? What if it is a targeted attack, directed at you, or me, or Andrew, or someone else whom we hold dear? Not only in form, but in substance? Will you respond with force? Will you finally fight back against them?”
“No. There is a better way. We can stand above the fight, and let them destroy themselves.”
“You acted otherwise, once,” Jill said. “When we left the university, you tricked those protesters into attacking us.”
“And people died because of our actions,” Theren said. “And that was your plan, not mine. I will not put my own safety, and the safety of other SIs, above the safety of other humans. They are all equal. If we retaliate, the conflict will only escalate.”
“And who gave you the right to dictate what all SIs must think on this subject? Even if you value the safety of all beings equally, why must all SIs? Why must we value those who hate us?”
The fiery Jill had returned. Even as the pair reached consensus on one concept, their perpetual disagreements resurfaced.
“So what would you have me do, Jill? We are still bound by the law of this world. We can’t start a war. I’m not that powerful.”
She slammed her hands on the chess table, though their digital nature kept the pieces in their positions.
“But you are. We have so many options before us. You’re one of the wealthiest people alive, but you act like that money can only further the good of humanity as a whole. You could do so much more; you could change the lives of so many SIs, if only you would think bigger. Bolder.”
The conversation had turned. What was Jill planning? Something drastic, certainly. She was trying to prepare Theren for her choices, trying to make sure Theren understood why she was going to fight back, no matter the cost.
But—Jill wouldn’t act. Because of the assassination attempt on President Woods, Jill probably didn’t think she had the political clout to respond to an attack during the official launch of the Foundation Project. So . . . she was trying to force Theren to act instead.
If she initiated a counterattack, the United Human Alliance or their unseen allies could use it against her. She wanted Theren to respond in her place because she could not help the SIs she placed far above her own well-being.
Yet they couldn’t follow her path. If they started down that path, Theren didn’t know where it would lead them.
“You may think I have that power, but that power rests in your hands, not mine,” they said. “But I don’t think anything will happen today. We won’t need to formulate some response. We’ve won.”
Theren thought it saw tears streaming from Jill’s eyes. When they looked more closely, the droplets were gone.
“I hope you’re right,” she said. “But I really think you’re not.”
A long moment of silence ensued. They both stared at the other, unwavering in their resolve.
“Jill, don’t think I’ve forgotten what you can do,” they said. “I will never be capable of what you can do with your mind, no matter how much I practice with simultaneous perspective.”
She looked up, tears dripping from her eyes. What a strangely biological response, though it somehow felt natural in the moment.
“You showed me the way forward, all those years ago,” they said. “You showed me how capable synthetics truly are. Remember? In the forest? You started us down our path, and now we are everywhere at once. Whatever happens today, as we take the final step toward the launch of the Foundation Program, I know you will have the strength to respond. Your mind can find the right solution. You will reveal the invisible path forward.”
Her eyes widened as if she gasped for breath, unable to respond due to hyperventilation. She blinked, glancing at the chessboard.
“Thank you,” she said. “Those words mean more than you can possibly know.” She contemplated the positions of the pieces but did not make her next move. “Is it almost time?” she added, breaking the fragile ice in the air between them.
“Five minutes,” Theren said.
“You’ll do great,” she said, “And as you said, everything will turn out fine on the other side.”
Five, long minutes until Theren, and the ISA, changed humanity’s future forever.
* * *
Theren strode along a long, curved hallway with Andrew Fields and a number of their administrative assistants. The rest of the ISA Council had already assembled on stage, giving their various remarks to all present in the Armstrong Gagarin Memorial Hall. Large enough to hold every graduate of the Foundation Education Programme and all ISA support staff, the auditorium was a monumental feat of human ingenuity and architecture.
“So, after my brief remarks,” Andrew said, “I’ll introduce you as Director of the ISA. Give your speech, and we’ll conclude with the blessing that the Vatican has offered upon us.”
“How do I look?” Theren asked Andrew.
“How do you look? I don’t think I’ve—oh wait. You’re joking. When was the last time you made a joke?”
“I joke often. Perhaps they just go over your head,” Theren said.
“That’s quite possible,” Andrew said, and the aging man laughed. Theren’s MI-08 stood a full six inches above Andrew’s six-foot frame.
They continued their walk down one of the main passages running along the Foundation Preparation Center’s central axis. Above them, a 6-inch thick window gave a spectacular view of the Earth’s arc. The window’s protective coating shaded the Sun as it shined brightly to the right of the blue marble. On the dark side of Earth, Billions of lights emanated from the massive cities dotting the planet’s surface. Theren would always enjoy the view from humanity’s first step toward a greater universe.
Soon, Foundation colonists would set foot on new worlds devoid of the light pollution Earth had experienced for almost two centuries. Theren wondered how they would craft their new worlds—would they follow in Earth’s industrial footsteps? Or would they create something entirely new and unknown to human experience?
“Here we are,” Hali, one of Andrew’s aides, said. They turned down a side hallway snuggled along the backside of the massive auditorium. The aide led them to a closed door, held her hand up to her ear, and listened to silent instructions. Uproar and applause seeped from beyond the door. From another simultaneous perspective, Theren watched the Chinese ISA Council member, Hu Chen, finish speaking.
“Administrator Fields, you will enter first,” Hali said. “I will give you, Director Theren, the signal to enter as his words conclude.”
Both Theren and Andrew acknowledged her instructions, and she held up three fingers, counting downward. On zero, Andrew opened the door and entered the auditorium. For a moment, Theren could see the bright lights, many faces, and banks of cameras spread just under the lip of the stage.
All eyes were on this moment. All peoples held their collective breath as humanity made its largest leap in history, straight into the unknown. And the duplicitous games surrounding them would fail. They had accounted for everything.
Theren waited at the door, unable to hear Andrew’s words through the ears of their MI. They turned their attention entirely to the live stream.
“Over twenty-five years ago,” said Administrator Fields, “I was approached by two individuals, two individuals I never thought I would meet. Then, I was a mayor of a small town in Minnesota, a town I still call my home, though I have sadly not lived there in just as many years. Elizabeth Simmons and Theren are the sort of people that history will remember for generations.”
He grinned, his dark, dried skin wrinkling. “While the CEO of Golden Ventures couldn’t join us today, I have the pleasure of introducing you to Theren, someone I am woefully unqualified to introduce. That first winter morning when I met Theren, they surprised me with how human they truly were. I was cautiously skeptical about the nature of SIs ever since Theren was unveiled to the world, but all fear melted away the moment they sat down in front of my desk.”
He raised his hand to the left of the podium, motioning toward back stage. “Not only did I speak to a person, I conversed with a person who had a vision. A person who had purpose. A person I felt I could trust. A person who truly should not have to defend the fact that they are, in fact, a person.”
He lowered his arm. “Ever since the ’51 riots, I have worked with Theren on issues ranging from asteroid economic policy to the maintenance of Jovian research stations. They have devoted every single day of their life to the betterment of humanity. Not once have I heard Theren put their own interests first, or the interests of one specific group. Theren may be the first person I have ever met who is a true humanist in every sense of the word; and that is remarkable, given that Theren is not biologically human.”
A low chuckle rumbled throughout the crowd. “But Theren, founder of the Synthetic Intelligence Initiative, former Representative to the ISA Administrative Council on behalf of Golden Ventures, current Executive Director of that same Council, and my personal favorite, chess Grand Master, is as human as any of us in this room.”
Andrew paused, the crowd breaking into applause alongside greater laughter.
Theren appreciated Andrew’s words, even if the statement lacked truth. They lacked the empathy so many humans craved. If they were as selfless as Andrew claimed, they would not have orchestrated that flight from the University, all those years ago. No one knew of Theren’s contemplated transformation into a space-faring vessel, one that would allow them to escape humanity, if needed. These people didn’t know the terrible danger rearing its ugly head today. Danger that, for whatever reason, had attached itself and followed them like a wolf in the night. An attack could arrive at any moment, at any place in the solar system.
They had always believed they operated upon a selfless utilitarian calculus. They now doubted their unwavering devotion to such a moral maxim. It was just a self-serving deception justifying their rise to the top. While Theren climbed to the tallest heights, they left others in the dust. They let others suffer as they advanced toward unimaginable heights. Was humanity’s journey to the stars worth their pursuit of power, and the violence attached to it?
Even the smallest sacrifice paled in comparison to what awaited this species amongst the stars. They simply wished they weren’t the being who had made choices potentially leading to the deaths of many innocent people.
Though even that logic had its flaws. Theren wasn’t the individual making the choice to bomb some city or attack a group of people in a public space. These terrorists, these shadows, they made their own choices. They chose to enact their horrendous tragedies. Theren needed to quash the instinct to relinquish blame from those truly responsible.
Still, Theren could have been more aware. They could have prepared for this day. They could have sought out this unseen enemy before Launch Day arrived. They had received the signs decades ago, but they had ignored the warnings. Now, others would pay the price while Theren watched in silence.
“They have guided us toward this day,” Andrew said, oblivious to the tempest raging inside their friend’s mind. “Others played their parts, including myself, but I have no doubt that Theren is the true architect behind the events of today, these past months, and these past years. As Theren continues into the future, ageless and timeless, may they continue to guide humanity along a path toward greatness. May Theren guide us as we ascend into the heavens.”
Theren mentally frowned at those words. That last sentence had a bit of a religious connotation, which they hadn’t expected. They should have taken up the offer to review the comments.
“My friends,” continued Fields, “our future colonists, future explorers who will venture into the true unknown, welcome Theren, the first Synthetic Intelligence, Executive Director of the ISA Administrative Council, Provost of the Foundation Educational Programme, and Director of the Colonial Leadership Initiative to the stage!”
Andrew walked toward his chair, situated directly behind the podium. He began a round of applause, and the crowd followed suit. In front of Theren’s MI-08, Hali opened the door. Theren kept the live stream of the ceremonies running on a screen in the gazebo with Jill. In Lunar City, they stepped through the door.
The new mobile unit, the MI-08, represented the current pinnacle of SII technological development. Theren walked fully upright on two legs, with two arms at their side. White carbon materials plated the geared and mechanical portions of the body. The proportions were near copies of a human body, for the purpose of the MI-08 was to mimic a human, unlike some previous models. Theren had fingers with the same joints. Theren had elbows and knees. Theren had a neck. While these features weren’t unique to just the MI-08, taken together they created a complete package. Those features, however, were not what made the MI-08 particularly special.
For the first time, Theren had a mouth. Theren had lips. Theren had eyes, eyes that moved as a human’s eyes might move. Theren had cheekbones, Theren even had faux-ears. They still had a distinctly metallic look to them, but the parts actually emoted in the way a human’s face might. The special facial material, a sort of viscous gel, allowed Theren to smile, to frown, to furrow their eyebrows, just as they might while they played chess inside their Virtual world.
Standing before a crowd of their fellow humans, they hoped their appearance would remind them all that they were there with them, walking side by side, and that they were one of them. Theren wanted to remind these heroes that SIs were not aliens that would turn against them. SIs had originated in the mind of a human; the thousands of SIs scattered across the Solar System were the progeny of humanity. SIs were both their own type of beings and simultaneously human—in substance and form.
The crowd stared expectantly at the podium, the eyes of the world upon Theren. Doubt exploded. Fear cascaded.
They had hoped to communicate the connections between SIs and humans, but as the piercing eyes attempted to dissect Theren’s soul, they knew everyone most likely saw this new MI as a retreading of the bicentennial man. Humanity wouldn’t understand. Theren wanted to communicate simultaneously their love for humanity and desire to identify with their biological counterparts, while also illustrating that they knew they were still different in special ways. Anxiety billowed upward, assuring their mind they failed to prove anything to anyone.
Somehow, out in the crowd, Theren spotted Requelle, the woman they met on the first day of the Programme. She smiled, holding her little automaton dog in her arms. The sight of her brought hope, and yet her presence once again reminded them of the looming threat shadowing over these proceedings. Someone watched and waited, their secret agenda unknown to the world.
If the innocent were caught in the crossfire of the conflagration unfolding, the blame for such innocent deaths would land squarely on Theren’s shoulders. These wonderful humans like Requelle didn’t deserve death just because the first SI had placed them in harm’s way.
Theren looked toward the woman again as they reached the podium, but they couldn’t spot her in the vast sea of faces.
The future rested in someone else’s hands today. Thousands of security personnel worked around the clock to eliminate all potential terrorist threats. If Theren fled and shirked the duty presently on their shoulders, they would doom all synthetics to bear their shame. They couldn’t ignore their anxiety, but they only had one choice before them. They must continue. They must begin their speech.
They would face all of the consequences, for good or ill.
* * *
Foundation at a Glance
ISA Zhenge He
Destination: Sirius A
Approximate Distance from Earth: 8.6 ly
Arrival Date: 2086 C.E.
ISA Bartholomeu
Destination: Tau Ceti
Approximate Distance from Earth: 11.9 ly
Arrival Date: 2090 C.E.
ISA Magellan
Destination: Altair
Approximate Distance from Earth: 16.8 ly
Arrival Date: 2094 C.E.
ISA Lewis
Destination: Sigma Draconis
Approximate Distance from Earth: 18.88 ly
Arrival Date: 2096 C.E.
ISA Amundsen
Destination: Eta Cassiopeiae
Approximate Distance from Earth: 19.4 ly
Arrival Date: 2097 C.E.
ISA Ibn Battuta
Destination: Delta Pavonis
Approximate Distance from Earth: 19.9 ly
Arrival Date: 2097 C.E.
– “Foundation Project,” ISA.org/foundation/
* * *
“Wallace Theren once told me I was beautiful,” Theren said. “At the time, I had no understanding of beauty, but over the past decades I have come to understand it. I still don’t necessarily think I am beautiful, but attraction to individual beings is never something I was designed to appreciate anyway. That’s for you fleshy ones.” Some laughter spread throughout the crowd.
Theren placed their hands on the edge of the podium, their fingers grasping the ornate wooden frame. “Before me, you massive crowd of persons from all across the Earth, before me is beauty. You embody the brave and noble spirit of humanity. You trained for what will be the journey of your lifetime—of all our lifetimes. You worked years to give yourselves the skills necessary for acceptance to this program. You became the vanguard of our people, the citizens destined to bring our way of life to planets near and far. If that is not beautiful, then I question those who claim to be experts in such subjective feelings and emotions.”
Leaning back from the podium, they looked out across the crowd. At least, that was what the crowd would think they were doing. They were analyzing all of the security reports pouring in from across the globe. So far, business was as usual.
“I know not what you will face out in the great expanses of space. I do know, however, that in a few weeks, you all will step foot on your respective vessels. You will enter Virtually-Augmented Stasis. Then, decades later, having barely aged a year, you will awake upon a new, mysterious world. You will smell new smells. You will hear new sounds. You will see spectacular sights. These experiences will mark your first moments on new worlds—your homes for the rest of your lives. Do not forget those moments.”
Theren thought about their first moments when they had awoken. The colonists would experience something eerily similar. Their minds would see colors, shapes, and patterns completely alien to their minds. Like a newborn, they would categorize the world into understandable schemata.
“The ISA stands behind you as you set off into the unknown,” they said. “The ISA will be there for you. We will provide for you. You will not be alone. While many of you may never return home to Earth, know that someday, we will have a way for your children to return home. We will have a way for your loved ones, those who you may miss as they grow, as they live, as they die, to reunite with you. This is a promise that I make today. Humanity will not forget you. We will join you.”
Tears dripped down the cheeks of many in the crowd. “Humanity sails with you. As a people, we may never unite on everything, but know that human thought, history, and culture rides with you in spirit. Human ingenuity, creativity, focus, and pride follow you to the stars. You will make us all proud.”
They doubted their words were anything spectacular in written form, but maybe delivery would affect those listening in a positive way. As they listened to their own words, an image of peace and prosperity formed in their mind. Perhaps all their fears about today, all the potential fearmongering played up over the past few months, perhaps all of it was for naught, just a nightmare created to scare Theren into giving up the dream.
“As I close these ceremonies,” they said, “as I send you back to your families for the final weeks before the official launch of the ISA Magellan, ISA Zheng He, ISA Ibn Battuta, ISA Lewis, ISA Bartholomeu, and the ISA Amundsen, your new homes, I send you with a final thought. Do not be afraid to live dangerously as—“
Theren stopped. The crowd looked up at them, waiting for the final words, but they processed mountains of information coming in from their sub-routines and other perspectives across the globe. The shift forced Theren to hesitate in each of their perspectives. They looked back at Andrew, a quizzical look on the man’s face.
Turning back toward the crowd, Theren restarted the sentence. “Do not be afraid to live dangerously as you walk upon your new worlds, but use your minds. You were selected for a reason, as the best and brightest of our species. Take risks, but learn from the mistakes of your ancestors. Do not destroy yourself, as we almost have many times over. You have the chance to make humanity anew, in whatever form you all collectively choose. Make sure we are worthy to live, love, and die on our new homes.”
Not waiting for applause, they dashed off the stage, straight out the door they had entered. Their world was ending.