John Wright - The Golden Transcendence

Diomedes asked Atkins what he recommended.

Atkins just shook his head, a bitter and tired expression on his features. "It is not too late to try to set up a blockade around the sun. Destruction of the Solar Array, if it could be mined in time, would be best, before the whole thing falls into enemy hands and is used as a weapon to destroy all Inner System traffic.

"The enemy will strike during the Transcendence, or as soon as it sees a volume-drop in the amount of people linked in.

"We can assume, at worst, a twenty percent casualty rate in the civilian population in the first eight minutes of combat, most of that from minds in transit during the celebration, and from viruses corrupting the noume-nal personality records.

"We can write off the energy shapes living above the solar north pole; they're as good as dead; and we can assume almost complete destruction of the people living at Mercury Equilateral.

"Also, the form cities on Demeter, and the shadow clouds living in Earth's penumbra don't have any defenses hardened against high radiation; we can expect more deaths there when the Demeter grid goes down.

"Expect communication and power failures along Earth's ring city, and many more deaths from anyone who relies on continuous energy sustenance, like a download, or a deep-dreamer. The atmosphere will protect Earth herself from the worst of the storms.

"The Earthmind's intelligence will drop considerably when she is cut off from her remote stations, and orbital-based Sophotechs will be killed.

"The moons of Jupiter will still be in good shape, though, and the Jovian magnetosphere has enough dikes to dampen out the worse of any particle floods the enemy might throw their way. That's the first eight to sixteen minutes of combat.

"Then, over the next six hundred years or so, the Jovian equatorial supercollider might be able to make enough material to create a fleet of smaller sun-diving vessels like the Phoenix here, and by that time, whatever population the enemy has produced inside the sun or throughout the wreckage of the Solar Array could probably be brought down by sheer weight of numbers. This assumes that civilian morale and support for the war effort will not instantly collapse after the first few permanent deaths when the noumenal resurrection system goes down, which, of course, is an assumption that is ... well... false.

"It also assumes that the enemy would not receive any reinforcements from out-system, and would not receive any help from treasonous elements in our own system."

He was looking at Diomedes when he said this. The unspoken thought hung in the air: the Outer System would be greatly advanced by the war-damage to the Inner System, and the Neptunians, far beyond the range of any battles, untouched, and perhaps glad at the weakness of their hated rivals, the Sophotechs, would be the dominant powers in society during any postwar reconstruction.

Diomedes saw that look or guessed that thought. One of his side comments in the discussion grid was issued in a mild tone: "Do not underestimate the mem-bers of the Tritonic Neuroform Composition. We accept lives of wildness and privacy and danger, and yes, the price we pay for that is a certain amount of vandalism and good-natured chaos. But we are not insane. No Eremite of the Outer Dark would steal a gram of unwatched antimatter from a millionaire, or a block of air left unattended in a park, even if he were dying of energy loss, smothering, and about to freeze. We may be poor, but we are not barbarians. And even if we hated you silly, pompous Inner System people, we would not express that hate by aiding in a violent invasion, spilling blood, and trampling your rights: because our rights would be trampled next, our home-selves invaded, our ichor spilled. Why do you Base people all have such a bad opinion of us?"

Daphne offered, "You're blue and cold and icky and sticky, and you think too fast for us to keep up; that's my guess."

Diomedes, sardonically: "Well, thank you."

Phaethon formed a conversation branch leading from the war speculations back to the main thread.

Had the talk been live, he would have leaned toward Diomedes and asked: "But you wouldn't, would you, Diomedes? Steal something no matter how badly you needed it or wanted it? Would you, Diomedes? You just take it for granted that people should and will uphold a standard of proper moral conduct. What about attacking civilians without provocation, negotiation, or declaration of war. You never would. Why not?"

Diomedes spread his hands. "I'm a civilized man living in a civilized age. I suppose if I had been ma-trixed, born, and raised in the Silent Oecumene, I would behave differently."

"Father? What about you?"

Helion smiled. "What about what? Would I assault an innocent victim like some cleptogeneticist or pirate from an opera? Oh, come now. The way I have lived my life is a sufficient testimony to how seriously I cherish my integrity, I hope."

"Marshal Atkins?"

He looked bored. "Sneak attacks are useful only in certain limited-engagement situations, or under certain political circumstances, such as a guerrilla campaign. It has to be done to achieve some defined military goal, and with full knowledge of the repercussions. It is more characteristic of primitive warfare or nation-state warfare than modern warfare. Usually, it's better for both sides to agree upon rules of engagement, and only to break those rules if no diplomatic solution, no retreat, and no surrender, is possible. If that is what you are asking. But there are plenty of times I'd think it was moral and justifiable to strike without warning. The sophistication of modern weaponry makes any open, frontal attack cost-prohibitive. What's the point of the question? Do we all think that what the Nothing Machine has done is wrong? I certainly hope we do. Do we think that you and your virus bug can convince the Nothing Machine, in a single conversation, to give up, say it's sorry, and just surrender? You've already heard me say that I did not think that that was very likely."

Phaethon looked at Daphne. "And what about you?"

She blinked and smiled. "I believe in you."

He smiled at that. "Thank you. But do you believe what I am saying?"

Daphne thought about that for a moment. Then she said: "If reality is real, if the universe is coherent, and morality is objective, then all sufficiently advanced minds will all reach the same conclusions. If that is the case, then I do not see how you can fail. But if reality is subjective, I do not see how you can succeed.

"My love, you are taking a gamble. A philosophical gamble. Philosophers since the Era of the Second Mental Structure have debated these issues. No one knows the ultimate nature of reality. The universe is always larger than the minds inside it.

"Is a gamble worth taking? We all heard Marshal Atkins's plan for a more conventional war. I would take the risk, if it were me. But you've already made up your mind. Why ask me?"

Phaethon said, "But I do not see it as a gamble. It is no bet to bet reality is real. It is a tautology. A equals A." Had the conversation string contained gestures he would have simply spread his hands, as if to show that nothing could be more obvious.

Helion said, "Son, where does this line of thinking lead? Are you trying to prove that the Earthmind thinks morality is objective? We know that. She has said so often enough. But so what? You're giving an argument from authority. The mere fact that she holds that opinion, in and of itself, is not convincing. If you cannot convince us, we who are your friends and family, then how are you going to convince an enemy Sophotech, a machine who does not even think like a human being?"

Atkins said, "Give us the argument you will be loading into the gadfly virus. Let's look at it. If it is sound, we should go ahead with Phaethon's plan. Not like I have much choice: Kshatrimanyu Han and the Parliament have already ordered me to give my full cooperation to the venture. And we will need help from Helion-he and I can act as meteorological support crew, guidance, and ranging from the Array Tower-if this is going to have any chance of success. Which I doubt it has. So let's listen. Besides, even if it would not necessarily convince us, it might convince a Sophotech. Remember, they do not think like us, do they?"