Tony Ballantyne - CAPACITY

“Hi there, Eleven.”

Judy 11 looked grave. “I was listening to what you were just telling Helen. I never realized before how much we take for granted what we are told by the EA.”

“What do you mean?”

“All that talk about the Transition. About the Watcher and the way it studied Eva Rye. No matter what we believe in, we always believe that humans are going to be looked after. What if that wasn’t true? What if someone was lying to us?”

“To you and me?”

“To the entire human race.”

They spoke in sign language. The atomic Judy had set the window to opaque. Frances stood before the window, scanning for any attempts at trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. Judy 11’s black kimono had its sleeves cut long, a lot longer than those of the atomic Judy. She had pushed them back so that the other could see her hands clearly.

– Do we really believe in the Watcher, AJ?

– Well, yes. I suppose so.

– What, really? Do you really believe that modern society was shaped by a conversation that an AI had with a woman named Eva Rye back in 2051? Or is that just a superstition, like knocking on wood? We think that we really know better, but we do it anyway. Really deep down, do we believe or not?

– I don’t know…

The atomic Judy turned a hand palm up.

– Well, I believe, said Judy 11,-I really believe. There really is one AI more powerful than all the others. It has successfully concealed its true strength for the past two hundred years.

Speaking to herself was sometimes just like thinking aloud, so the atomic Judy answered the unasked question.

– Because the true power behind the throne always conceals itself? It hides the fact that there is another plan?

– From what I’ve heard, the potted history you and Judy 3 were recounting to Helen just then was bunk. An invention of the Watcher to draw attention away from itself.

The atomic Judy frowned and sat down on the low bed, Judy 11 apparently sitting beside her. A red line now ran across the white quilt, separating them.

– What makes you think all this?

– I haven’t got time to explain it all. I met a man in that simulation where Judy 3 found Helen. He was hiding out on one of the lower levels-in the torture area. He has been hiding out in simulations and obscure processes for most of the past seventeen years, hoping to meet someone like me. Like us.

– What did he want you for?

– To empathize with one murder and to stop another one.

The atomic Judy gave a half nod. Empathizing with a murder, that was a job for Social Care, but…

– Stopping a murder? Isn’t that more a job for the EA?

– The EA is an accessory to the crime.

Judy 11 bit her lip.-The Watcher is behind these murders.

The atomic Judy paused, genuinely shaken. Even if she hadn’t ever quite believed in the Watcher, she had believed in its effects. It was an accepted force, like gravity. You didn’t quite know what caused it, but you could observe its effect everywhere. The Watcher was supposed to be a force for good, the mysterious teacher leading humanity on the path to enlightenment.

– Are you sure? How do you know what this man was saying was the truth?

– I know he believed he was telling the truth. He was the one who suggested I test him.

“ You’re a virgin, aren’t you? You’re known for it .” The man standing by the torture chair gazed thoughtfully at Judy 11’s kimono as he spoke. His expression made it perfectly clear that he was aware that if he were to undo the sash, the front would just fall open. Judy waited until his gaze came back up to hers, and then she spoke with calm patience .

“ Yes. Is that relevant ?”

“ Not really. I suppose you get your rocks off by empathizing with people such as me. Well, go ahead. I’ve got lots of memories. I expect you’ll find plenty of experiences there to show you what you’re missing .”

“ In my experience the people who do the talking aren’t much good at the fucking ,” Judy said levelly .

The man smiled . “ Normally I’d agree, but I’m confident you’ll find that I’m the exception. Give me a go .” He raised his eyebrows suggestively .

“ Do you think we have time for this ?” Judy 11 asked .

“ No, but I want you to understand that I’m telling the truth. Empathize with me. I’ve been waiting years to get in touch with someone like you. Someone who is in a position to help .”

Judy gazed at the man as her console shushed in her ear, announcing the seeding of the processing space with fifteen billion memory leaks. She was calm .

“ We have possibly just under three minutes to live ,” she said . “ Why didn’t you just ask me to link with you directly ?”

She slipped a little blue pill of MTPH into her mouth and gazed at him, contemplating a koan, allowing her mind to drift, waiting for her subconscious to pick up on the signals emanating from the man’s body .

“ Are you ready ?” he said .

Judy 11 nodded .

“ Okay. The Watcher first came into existence around 2045. It believes itself to be of extraterrestrial origin, probably the result of a sort of pan-universal computer virus that infects processing spaces that have achieved a given level of sophistication .”

Judy watched the man carefully, reading his face, his pulse, listening to the little voice that spoke inside her, the voice that was apparently the man’s thoughts but was really just an MTPH-enhanced construct of her own mind. It was the voice of her subconscious, supercharged and given life. And it was telling her that the man was speaking the truth… .

– Or he believed that he was anyway. All that you were just telling Helen about the Transition…it was all part of the Watcher’s plan. The last century and a half of history have been shaped by an extraterrestrial intelligence that has taken root on Earth and is guiding us along its own path. The Watcher believes that the only way that life in the universe can coexist peacefully is by beings such as itself guiding us towards the path of enlightenment.

The atomic Judy nodded slowly.-I’d heard that before. So the Watcher knows there are other forms of life?

– It’s confident that there are. After all, something created the Watcher virus…

– Well, it sounds like a nice idea. I can think of worse fates.

Judy 11 shook her head.-I know. But that’s not the point. You see, the Watcher doesn’t know for sure. It wanted to confirm its theory, so it built a test bed. Somewhere out in the galaxy, far from Earth, it has established a colony planet. On that planet it has built a computer network, just the same as the one that covered Earth back in 2045. It is hoping that the network will be infected by the pan-universal virus, confirming its theories.

– Sounds like a good idea.

– Maybe, except that if another being takes root on that planet, the Watcher is going to kill it. I don’t know why…

– Oh.

The atomic Judy knew what 11 must have thought. She felt it herself, and it sickened her. Destroying an AI was murder. The Watcher couldn’t do that, could it?

– The man said the Watcher has already murdered. It will do it again.

The atomic Judy felt sick.-There doesn’t seem to be a lot we can do about this, is there?

– No. And doesn’t that worry you, that humanity has had the responsibility for its actions taken away from it? That we now live according to the rules of the Watcher, whether we like it or not?

– Yes. But, like I said, what we can do about it?