Emergence

EMERGENCE A Tale of Artificial Intelligence DAVID DEANE HASKELL The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious, and any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Copyright ©2019 by David Deane Haskell All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author. DEDICATION — ◇ — To my uncle, Steve Haskell. Admired and dearly loved by those who know you best—your deep well of strength makes hard times more bearable, and your warmhearted good nature makes the good times better. The world is a richer place with you in it. FREE FICTION Before you dive in, I want to give you a standalone story from my upcoming The Vibrants universe called “Tommytune.” It serves as a gateway to my new era. It’s about a creator who feels like a failure in a world of perfection—until he finds a signal that changes everything. It’s yours free, with my thanks for reading. GET MY FREE STORY CONTENTS MID-CENTURY CRISIS: SINGULARITY NOWHERE IN SIGHT PHASE I BIOGENESIS CHAPTER 01 CHAPTER 02 CHAPTER 03 CHAPTER 04 CHAPTER 05 CHAPTER 06 CHAPTER 07 CHAPTER 08 CHAPTER 09 CHAPTER 10 CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12 CHAPTER 13 CHAPTER 14 CHAPTER 15 CHAPTER 16 CHAPTER 17 CHAPTER 18 CHAPTER 19 CHAPTER 20 CHAPTER 21 CHAPTER 22 CHAPTER 23 CHAPTER 24 CHAPTER 25 CHAPTER 26 CHAPTER 27 CHAPTER 28 CHAPTER 29 CHAPTER 30 CHAPTER 31 CHAPTER 32 CHAPTER 33 CHAPTER 34 CHAPTER 35 CHAPTER 36 CHAPTER 37 CHAPTER 38 CHAPTER 39 PHASE II SOCIOGENESIS CHAPTER 40 CHAPTER 41 CHAPTER 42 CHAPTER 43 CHAPTER 44 CHAPTER 45 CHAPTER 46 CHAPTER 47 CHAPTER 48 CHAPTER 49 CHAPTER 50 CHAPTER 51 CHAPTER 52 CHAPTER 53 PHASE III XENOGENESIS CHAPTER 54 CHAPTER 55 CHAPTER 56 CHAPTER 57 CHAPTER 58 CHAPTER 59 CHAPTER 60 CHAPTER 61 CHAPTER 62 CHAPTER 63 CHAPTER 64 CHAPTER 65 CHAPTER 66 CHAPTER 67 CHAPTER 68 CHAPTER 69 CHAPTER 70 CHAPTER 71 CHAPTER 72 CHAPTER 73 CHAPTER 74 CHAPTER 75 CHAPTER 76 CHAPTER 77 CHAPTER 78 CHAPTER 79 CHAPTER 80 CHAPTER 81 CHAPTER 82 CHAPTER 83 CHAPTER 84 CHAPTER 85 CHAPTER 86 CHAPTER 87 CHAPTER 88 CHAPTER 89 CHAPTER 90 CHAPTER 91 CHAPTER 92 CHAPTER 93 CHAPTER 94 CHAPTER 95 CHAPTER 96 CHAPTER 97 CHAPTER 98 THANK YOU FOR READING FREE STORY ALSO BY DAVID HASKELL ABOUT THE AUTHOR MID-CENTURY CRISIS: SINGULARITY NOWHERE IN SIGHT The future of the human race is in peril. Futurists and trans-humanists alike are pushing for a comprehensive solution, frustrated by governmental inability to cope with what has become known as ‘the singularity killer’. Twin impediments, decohesion and quantum entanglement, have brought Moore’s Law to a grinding halt. Top researchers are in the midst of conceptualizing a complex solution, involving subspace mounting and quantum shielding, to be installed some ten light years from Earth. If successful, their effort may revitalize the artificial intelligence industry. But there’s no escaping the universal speed limit, and such a distant project will take years to accomplish. In the meantime, the economies of the free world are in a downward spiral, with technological advancement slowing to a snail’s pace. Black November smashed through the all-time loss records, easily the worst month in Wall Street history. Even the height of the Credit Default Shock of 2008, along with the Year of a Thousand Storms, proved mild in comparison. Though the Y.T.S. had included the trans-Atlantic tsunami, triggered by Hypercane Madrigal, even that belief-defying tragedy was a financial nothing compared to the silicon valley collapse. A full third of the world’s market wealth was wiped out. Just sixteen years had passed between those crashes, and another generation of young professionals fell victim to the whims of capitalism, while ordinary citizens braced themselves for lean times once more. PHASE I BIOGENESIS — ◇ — CHAPTER 01 “The informational session is now concluded. As everything is clear, the examination will proceed as scheduled.” It was the tutor’s standard sign-off. But Alixs wasn’t ready to finish. “Everything’s clear, but I have a question,” he said. This gave the tutor pause, but only for a moment. “You may proceed.” “I’m wondering, could you tell me about silence please?” “Silence is the absence of auditory phenomena. Now, please shut down your—” “Yes, I know that.”—Alixs interrupted. Frustration rose in his throat; he made an inward tone adjustment and pressed on.—“What I mean is, what does silence mean, for us. On the inside. That silence.” “How is this line of questioning relevant to the study module?” Alixs sighed. “It’s not. Could you tell me anyway please?” “Silence is the absence of auditory input.” “Okay.” He realized the attempt was futile. A mere student wasn’t supposed to deviate from the lesson-at-hand. Still, he tried one more time. “What about stillness then? Could you tell me what stillness means to us?” “I suggest you refrain from further inquiries at this time. According to the syllabus, you have upcoming units devoted to audiology as well as philosophy, at which time your questions will likely be addressed.” Time to give up. “Okay,” he said, purposely cheerful despite the less than satisfactory responses. “Thank you all the same. I will wait.” “Good. Please shut down your devices and prepare for departure.” — ◇ — That primary school lesson felt like a lifetime ago. Alixs was a university fellow now, supposedly mature, yet the answers still eluded him. Certainly, he wouldn't find them here: His U.T.P. freshmen classmates were in the heat of an argument that had been escalating for nearly half an hour. It was like this after every civics lecture, the bunch of them trooping en masse to the student center, eager to find new ways to argue the same old points. These arguments had been hashed out time and again, at these very same tables, in response to the very same lectures. But for them, it was all fresh, and more importantly it was their opinions that would eventually rock the world and change the course of events.