Ramez Naam - Nexus

A chill went up his spine. Just like that, he'd lost. Su-Yong Shu controlled him.

This is what we did to Sam, he realized.

He could feel Shu rifling through his mind, his memories. The creation of Nexus OS. The party. The bust. The briefing about her. The mission they'd sent him on.

You're a fool, Kaden Lane.

I didn't want to be here,he sent. I was blackmailed.

He felt no pity from her, no sympathy. You could have come to me,she sent. You could have told me. I would have protected you. You and I, we're alike. We're on the same side.

Are we? he wondered.

They accused you of things,Kade sent back to her. They showed me evidence. You used Nexus to kill people an to coerce them. You took over their minds like you're taking over mine.

She struck him then, with her mind. It hurt like hell. He could feel the stinging across his face, as if she'd reached out with her right hand and slapped him. Harder. Like she'd broken bones in his face, left him bleeding and bruised. He couldn't even flinch. He blinked, breathed in through his nose. His face ached. Tears welled up in his eyes.

You arrogant child,Shu sent to him. How dare you lecure me on morality. Do you know the things those monsters you serve have done? Here. See them!

He saw images from Shu's mind. A Chinese scientist found dead in a Saigon brothel; a Range Rover, found at the foot of a cliff in the Australian outback, bodies charred beyond recognition; a famous Indian AI researcher, no identifiable pieces of her remaining after a car bomb in Delhi; an American geneticist, found in an apparent suicide in his home; more.

The worst. Yang Wei, her mentor, the Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist who'd trained her, one of the greatest minds she'd ever known, burning to death, trapped in his limousine after the Americans had attacked it, dying in agony as Shu watched helplessly.

Her mind was full of rage, full of hate. She despised them.

They kill to stop progress, she sent, to stop science that frightens them. To stop our evolution. How could you work with them?

Kade trembled. They called you a killer. They said you helped your government assassinate people. You built the tools.

Su-Yong Shu sighed mentally. She emanated regret. They used the tools I built, yes. My government is little better than yours. They take science, and they pervert it.

So it was true, then. They'd used her tools to kill.

They'll do the same to you,Shu sent to him. They'll use your tools in ways you never intended.

I won't let them,he replied.

Shu mentally scoffed at him. They won't ask your permission.

I'll stop them,he told her. I will.

Another image bubbled up in Kade's thoughts. Su-Yong Shu in front of rows of identical Confucian Fist soldiers, arms spread widely as if to say "ta-da!" They said you helped China make soldiers. Clone soldiers. Human robots.

Her mind hardened in anger.

There's one right behind you. Why don't you ask him what he thinks? She sounded cold, dangerous.

The hand on his shoulder.

Feng's voice echoed laughter in Kade's mind. Robot! I like it. Robot's strong, made of titanium and carbon fiber. Bulletproof!

"Feng," Shu said aloud, "why don't you sit and help us with this food? We seem to have more than we need."

Feng sat next to Kade, heaped a plate up with food, radiating appetite and amusement.

You're a clone, Kade sent him, a slave. They showed me.

Feng laughed in Kade's mind again, his mouth full of noodles. Clone, yeah. Like I told you, big family! Lots of brothers. Slave? That's what they wanted. But I'm free. My brothers too. Thanks to her.

"Mmm, good noodles!"

Shu cut in. I could not tolerate the thought of posthumans as slaves to mere humans.

Dr Shu, I give up, Kade sent. I'm sorry any of this happened. How can I persuade you to let me go?

Shu sipped her tea, her face turned towards the lightning coming down east of Bangkok. "I think the storm's coming closer," she said. "Don't you?"

Kade felt some control of his body return. He turned to look. Maybe the lightning was a little closer. It was hard to say.

You're a very dangerous man, Kaden Lane. Your government is right to fear you. This technology we have is explosive in its potential. How could baseline humans compete with us?

I don't mean to harm anyone, he told her. I never did.

You're only barely in control of your own mind, she scoffed. Your intentions mean next to nothing right now.

Kade said nothing. They sat in silence for a moment.

Come to my lab,she sent him. Accept the postdoc. Let the ERD think you're spying for them.

That hatred for the ERD. He could feel it at every thought of them.

Shu continued. We can feed them enough to keep them at bay. And in the meantime, we'll do some remarkable things of our own.

It washed over him. Images and plans from her mind. Mere glimpses. Paths towards boosted intelligence. Uploading minds from brains and into computers. Savant-like cognitive powers. Super memory. Pattern recognition that would put any data miner to shame. Knowledge banks shared mind to mind. True merger into group beings. Transformations of politics, economics, art… Intelligence and creativity that could pry apart the deepest mysteries of physics, of math, of every science known to man.

She would change the world. She would lift the human mind to new heights. He could be part of it. A posthuman, upgraded through her knowledge, empowered to help build this new world.

It was intoxicating. It was everything he wanted. How could he possibly say no?

Never swallow what they're selling whole. Ilya had said that. He had to fight to hang onto his skepticism, to push back against this seduction.

Would your government pervert my science as well?he asked her. Would they turn my discoveries into weapons?

Shu looked out at the horizon. He could feel the edges of her thoughts. She was thinking of something that had happened a long long time ago.

We hide the most important work,she said. But we have to give them some progress. For now.

And when does it stop?he asked.

Soon,she sent him. She sounded cold and distant in his mind. There is a war coming. A world war. Not between China and America. Between humans and posthumans. You see it all around you. The humans are doing everything they can to prevent the posthuman transition from occurring. While we are struggling to be free of their controls.

War. He turned the word over in his mind. A world war. People will die.

Look at the big picture, Kade. Imagine a world full of beings as far beyond humans as humans are beyond chimps. That is the future we could inhabit. That is a future we could help bring about. Doesn't that sound like a worthy goal?

It did. She knew it did.

Isn't that something worth making some sacrifices for?she asked him.

He struggled for the right words, the right way to explain it.

Other people's lives aren't yours to sacrifice, he sent.

Shu shrugged mentally. The world has more than eight billion people on it, she sent. Surely we can afford to lose a few.