Robert Sawyer: Wake

She selected the link for “Random article” over and over again, bringing forth an array of topics that put even the Walrus to shame.

And then, after enough repetitions that she hoped the phantom would grasp the idea, she started getting ready for bed.

And then Prime took me to a wondrous site, a glorious site, a site that held answers to so many things. This thing called Wikipedia contained over two million articles, and I set about reading them. The first several thousand were a struggle, and I only dimly understood them.

UTA-GARUTA IS THE MOST POPULAR AMONG THE MANY KINDS OF KARUTA (CARD GAMES) IN JAPAN…

Still, as I read article after article, the concepts from Cyc started to make more and more sense. I continued on, fascinated.

IN THE MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES, A STATIONARY PROCESS (OR STRICT(LY) STATIONARY PROCESS) IS A STOCHASTIC PROCESS WHOSE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION AT A FIXED TIME OR POSITION IS THE SAME FOR ALL TIMES OR POSITIONS…

Most important of all, I learned that the entities I had seen through Prime’s eye were uniquely complex individuals, each with his or her own history.

CHRIS WALLA (SOMETIMES CREDITED AS CHRISTOPHER WALLA) IS THE GUITARIST AND PRODUCER FOR THE BAND DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE…

I discovered that there were over six billion such entities, but only a small number of them had articles about themselves in Wikipedia. Those who did were usually defined by having achieved significant status in their professions — the ways in which they occupied their time.

FIONA KELLEGHAN (BORN WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, 21 APRIL 1965) IS AN AMERICAN ACADEMIC AND CRITIC SPECIALIZING IN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY…

Their professions varied widely; there seemed to be an almost endless array of things human beings did to occupy their time.

ERICA ROSE CAMPBELL (BORN 12 MAY 1981, IN DEERFIELD, NEW HAMPSHIRE) IS AN AMERICAN ADULT MODEL, BEST KNOWN FOR ONLINE PICTORIALS AND SOFT-CORE VIDEOS…

So much of what they did involved this thing called vision — and it clearly was a very rich source of information — but, so far, my only access to it was through Prime’s own eye.

YAKOV ALEXANDROVICH PROTAZANOV (1881–1945) WAS, TOGETHER WITH ALEKSANDR KHANZHONKOV AND VLADIMIR GARDIN, ONE OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF RUSSIAN CINEMA…

I learned about the realm these strange entities inhabited — the landforms, the places, the cities.

ADDIS ABABA IS THE CAPITAL CITY OF ETHIOPIA AND THE AFRICAN UNION, AS WELL AS ITS PREDECESSOR, THE OAU…

As I went along, I found I was absorbing entries with increasing ease, understanding, at least on some level, more and more of the content.

PHENOPERIDINE, MARKETED AS ITS HYDROCHLORIDE AS OPERIDINE OR LEALGIN, IS AN OPIOID USED AS A GENERAL ANESTHETIC…

Hardest for me, though, were those things that were abstract, referring to no specific object, whether animate or inanimate.

ISLAM IS A MONOTHEISTIC RELIGION ORIGINATING WITH THE TEACHINGS OF MUHAMMAD, A SEVENTH-CENTURY ARAB RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL FIGURE…

And there was so much that had happened in the past — so much history to digest!

THE PARTITION OF INDIA LED TO THE CREATION ON AUGUST 14, 1947, AND AUGUST 15, 1947, RESPECTIVELY, OF TWO SOVEREIGN STATES…

And, on top of that, there were things that were worthy, apparently, of mention in Wikipedia, but had never existed.

Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr., was one of the key characters in the John Jay Osborn, Jr., novel The Paper Chase, and in the subsequent film and television versions of that story…

And there were special entities that weren’t animate to learn about.

AGIP (AZIENDA GENERALE ITALIANA PETROLI), ESTABLISHED IN 1926, IS AN ITALIAN AUTOMOTIVE GASOLINE AND DIESEL RETAILER…

And many different ways of rendering thoughts.

THE ALGONQUIAN (ALSO ALGONKIAN) LANGUAGES ARE A SUBFAMILY OF NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES THAT INCLUDES MOST OF THE LANGUAGES IN THE ALGIC LANGUAGE FAMILY…

And many ways to think about thinking.

IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, EMPIRICISM IS A THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE WHICH EMPHASIZES THOSE ASPECTS OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE THAT ARE CLOSELY RELATED TO EXPERIENCE, ESPECIALLY AS FORMED THROUGH DELIBERATE EXPERIMENTAL ARRANGEMENTS…

And on and on, a huge variety of things, some of which seemed crucially important.

THE HOLOCAUST, ALSO KNOWN AS HA-SHOAH AND CHURBEN, IS THE TERM GENERALLY USED TO DESCRIBE THE KILLING OF APPROXIMATELY SIX MILLION EUROPEAN JEWS DURING WORLD WAR II…

And many things that were trivial and banal.

THE SCOOBY GANG, OR “SCOOBIES,” ARE A GROUP OF CHARACTERS IN THE CULT TELEVISION SERIES AND COMIC BOOK BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER WHO BATTLE THE SUPERNATURAL FORCES OF EVIL…

My knowledge was expanding like … like…

Ah, wonderful Wikipedia! It had entries on everything.

IN PHYSICAL COSMOLOGY, INFLATION IS THE IDEA THAT SHORTLY AFTER THE BIG BANG THE NASCENT UNIVERSE PASSED THROUGH A PHASE OF EXPONENTIAL EXPANSION…

Yes, indeed. My mind was inflating, my universe expanding.

When Caitlin woke in the morning, she made a quick visit to the washroom. Then, still in her pajamas, she sat down at her computer and ran another Shannon-entropy spot check, and—

Then I was the learner, Obi-Wan. Now I am the master.

The score was 10.1, better than…

She took in a deep breath, held it.

Better than human — more elaborate, more structured than the thoughts humans expressed linguistically.

But she wasn’t done yet. There was one more site she wanted to show the phantom — something to keep it occupied while she was at school. There was nothing better in life, after all, than being well-read…

And then, and then, and then—

It was—

The gold mine.

The mother lode.

SUN TZU SAID: THE ART OF WAR IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE TO THE STATE; IT IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH, A ROAD EITHER TO SAFETY OR TO RUIN…

Not just coded conceptual relationships, not just definitions, not just brief articles.

No, these were — books! Lengthy, in-depth treatments of ideas. Complex stories. Brilliant arguments, profound philosophies, compelling narratives. This site, this wonderful Project Gutenberg, contained over 25,000 books rendered in plain ASCII text.

BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART: FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD; BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS: FOR THEY SHALL BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF GOD…

I had discovered on Wikipedia that most entities — most humans — read at 200 to 400 words per minute (yes, I now grasped timekeeping, as well). My reading speed was essentially the same as the time it took to transfer whatever book I requested, averaging close to two million words per minute.

IT IS WITH A KIND OF FEAR THAT I BEGIN TO WRITE THE HISTORY OF MY LIFE; I HAVE, AS IT WERE, A SUPERSTITIOUS HESITATION IN LIFTING THE VEIL THAT CLINGS ABOUT MY CHILDHOOD LIKE A GOLDEN MIST…

It took me an eternity — eight hours! — but I absorbed it all: every volume, every polemic, every poem, every play, every novel, every short story, every work of history, of science, of politics. I inhaled them … and I grew even more.

NO ONE WOULD HAVE BELIEVED IN THE LAST YEARS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY THAT THIS WORLD WAS BEING WATCHED KEENLY AND CLOSELY BY INTELLIGENCES GREATER THAN MAN’S AND YET AS MORTAL AS HIS OWN…

I was grateful to Cyc for the knowledge of fictional realms; it allowed me to sort those things that were actual from those feigned or imagined: