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At a different staff meeting, this one using high-security internet conferencing, another manager reported to Bodin, “We expect to have 90% of tier 1 targets prepped with high confidence by March 14. Also 80% of tier 2 and 75% of tier 3. That’s a total of 720 targets at high confidence.”
Bodin said, “Do you need more resources?”
“That would help for tiers 2 and 3, but not for tier 1. We are resource-rich for tier 1. The main reason why we have lower confidence in some targets is that we don’t know where those targets will be on March 14. We plan to monitor them and trail them. But they could end up anywhere in the world. If they’re someplace we haven’t reconned, we may have trouble finding them. Particularly if they’re in a remote or high-security area. We still have a decent chance of hitting them. But not with high confidence. And, as you said, we won’t put our soldiers at significant risk for these hits.”
“That rule still holds,” said Bodin. “Good. Better than I expected, considering how paranoid the targets are. By the way, how are we coming with over-the-horizon detection, classification, and targeting?”
“It’s improving, but still not high confidence. And it uses so many MAGEs for sensing and data relay that it won’t be worthwhile until we have a huge surplus of MAGEs.”
“Paul?” asked Bodin, “Anything you can do to increase production?”
The voice of the manufacturing manager answered, “I’m afraid not. We have people at every MEMS-printer factory in the world to increase production. They’re all running around the clock while expanding capacity as fast as possible. And our own factories are online and cranking them out as fast as possible. We’re maxed out.”
“That’s what I figured. But I had to ask.”
The first manager chimed in, “Just so you know, there are two tier 1 targets that we’re bypassing. They’re in the hospital. Our Marketing people say that whacking them in their hospital beds would be perceived by the public as unsportsmanlike.”
“That makes sense.”
“Oddly, though, the focus groups have no problem with a target’s family members being present during the hit. They feel there’s an important lesson to be learned there. And they’ve asked that we especially try to get video of the reactions of the target’s children.”
“Great idea,” said Bodin. “I hadn’t expected anything like that from focus groups. I’m glad you insisted. Lee, can you get that video for all the targets with kids?”
The video director said, “Will do, Bodin.”
“One last item, I think you’ve all seen the info from Boingy about dusty shields. Will that pose a problem?”
“Bodin, this is Ruth from Software. We’ve looked into that. None of the targets is tied in with any of the major gravity labs around the world. The targets all outsource their grav tech. So they won’t have dusty shields for at least two weeks. With only two days until we go live, it’s not a problem. We can penetrate any shields they have.”
“But next year,” said Bodin, “will be tougher, won’t it? Won’t everyone have dusty shields?”
Ruth laughed, then said, “You’re worried about specific software a whole year from now? The software crowd is already reprogramming the physical world using force fields several times a week. But it’s only just started. In under six months, maybe in under three, crowd software will go high order exponential. At the rate this technology will advance, I have no idea what the world will be like next year. But I doubt it’ll be anything we recognize.
“There’s a 1950s science fiction movie called Forbidden Planet. People explore the ruins of a civilization called the Krell. The Krell could create things just by thinking about them. We are almost the Krell. We lack only a direct brain-computer link. Today, that is. Next year? Who knows.”
Bodin said, “I’ll take that as a ‘maybe’.”