anywhere without one.’
‘So what
exactly do you bring about with you’ I enquired.
‘Why a
pocket-plasma-launcher of course.’ Seeing my confusion she
continued. ‘Ah, of course, little before your time I suppose. Well
before the Wars PPLs were all the rage. People practically couldn’t
visit another country without one. Mine I suppose is one of the
last ones left. But enough of my baby and I.’ She turned back to
Sean. ‘Where exactly are we.’
Sean began to
glide around the room again and restarted his infuriating humming.
He appeared to observe the room in the way a child might observe
their presents wrapped beneath the tree. He was full of glee.
‘Why Aeniah,
can’t you see, we are inside a data control nexus’ he replied.
‘And what
exactly does that mean’ I enquired.
‘DCN’s were
commonly used as part of a chain link network of processing for
United World nations. Activating one link in the chain allows
another link in the chain to come online. With each link in the
chain activated more and more meta-systems come online until a
complete AI is formed. Most importantly each DCN contains all the
basic power and processing requirement for the section in which it
is placed.’ Smugly Sean turned towards Aeniah as if looking for
approval. Aeniah did not appear to be in the mood for giving
any.
‘So
effectively, we turn this on and this section functions at a basic
level. Turn them all on and we get all the bells and whistles’ she
stated dryly. Without waiting for a reply she grabbed hold of his
frame and said ‘then turn the bloody thing on.’
‘Aeniah you,
perhaps, are better suited to activating these systems. United
World systems typically reject unauthorised computer entry. Manual
interfacing is always preferred, and with your background...’ He
trailed off.
Aeniah strode
over to a large slab of glass surrounded by many others at
different heights and orientations. Placing her hands above the
glass she drew images into life. The slab had become a screen and
the language again was unfamiliar, radically different and yet
somehow meaningful. Aeniah appeared to have no trouble
understanding it as her fingers began to fan wildly about the
screen. She proceeded to spin a box this way and that, enter text
into another, then rotated a pulsing circle. In all the entire
procedure was needlessly complex.
All of a
sudden there was a chiming followed by a laboured dialogue in that
language. The crass and unyielding language sounded so familiar and
yet it was completely incomprehensible. The ground beneath my feet
started to hum, I could feel it all the way to my ankles.
Incredibly I began to smell fresh air, with a purity and fragrance
I could not describe.
If the room
had appeared large before it was massive now. Lights that had been
dormant for so long began to force their way into the room. Blues
and purples and reds, burst into existence. The world became
warmer, better, greater. The room (if it could be called such a
thing) now revealed itself. It curved at either end and expanded in
the centre, the effect was a room shaped somewhat like an eye. Huge
diamond shaped crystal pyramids rose and curved like sculptures.
Within them was imprisoned a violent blue light, which performed
motions almost too fast for the eye to see. In the centre of this
eye was its pupil, more exactly a huge ring around which pure
energy, immediately visible to the naked eye, rose in spirals. It
appeared organic. It appeared alive.
Aeniah turned
to me quizzically and opened her mouth, ‘George the system says
that a language update is available for you.’
‘I don’t
understand’
‘It appears
your...modifications, have given you the ability to receive, as it
were, updates.’
‘Like genetic
memory,’ I enquired.
Sean spoke the
words ‘ exactly’ before Aeniah could open her mouth. Crossly,
Aeniah turned to me and asked, ‘well do you want to update or
not?’
‘Go for it’ I
reasoned, ‘what harm could
‘So what
exactly do you bring about with you’ I enquired.
‘Why a
pocket-plasma-launcher of course.’ Seeing my confusion she
continued. ‘Ah, of course, little before your time I suppose. Well
before the Wars PPLs were all the rage. People practically couldn’t
visit another country without one. Mine I suppose is one of the
last ones left. But enough of my baby and I.’ She turned back to
Sean. ‘Where exactly are we.’
Sean began to
glide around the room again and restarted his infuriating humming.
He appeared to observe the room in the way a child might observe
their presents wrapped beneath the tree. He was full of glee.
‘Why Aeniah,
can’t you see, we are inside a data control nexus’ he replied.
‘And what
exactly does that mean’ I enquired.
‘DCN’s were
commonly used as part of a chain link network of processing for
United World nations. Activating one link in the chain allows
another link in the chain to come online. With each link in the
chain activated more and more meta-systems come online until a
complete AI is formed. Most importantly each DCN contains all the
basic power and processing requirement for the section in which it
is placed.’ Smugly Sean turned towards Aeniah as if looking for
approval. Aeniah did not appear to be in the mood for giving
any.
‘So
effectively, we turn this on and this section functions at a basic
level. Turn them all on and we get all the bells and whistles’ she
stated dryly. Without waiting for a reply she grabbed hold of his
frame and said ‘then turn the bloody thing on.’
‘Aeniah you,
perhaps, are better suited to activating these systems. United
World systems typically reject unauthorised computer entry. Manual
interfacing is always preferred, and with your background...’ He
trailed off.
Aeniah strode
over to a large slab of glass surrounded by many others at
different heights and orientations. Placing her hands above the
glass she drew images into life. The slab had become a screen and
the language again was unfamiliar, radically different and yet
somehow meaningful. Aeniah appeared to have no trouble
understanding it as her fingers began to fan wildly about the
screen. She proceeded to spin a box this way and that, enter text
into another, then rotated a pulsing circle. In all the entire
procedure was needlessly complex.
All of a
sudden there was a chiming followed by a laboured dialogue in that
language. The crass and unyielding language sounded so familiar and
yet it was completely incomprehensible. The ground beneath my feet
started to hum, I could feel it all the way to my ankles.
Incredibly I began to smell fresh air, with a purity and fragrance
I could not describe.
If the room
had appeared large before it was massive now. Lights that had been
dormant for so long began to force their way into the room. Blues
and purples and reds, burst into existence. The world became
warmer, better, greater. The room (if it could be called such a
thing) now revealed itself. It curved at either end and expanded in
the centre, the effect was a room shaped somewhat like an eye. Huge
diamond shaped crystal pyramids rose and curved like sculptures.
Within them was imprisoned a violent blue light, which performed
motions almost too fast for the eye to see. In the centre of this
eye was its pupil, more exactly a huge ring around which pure
energy, immediately visible to the naked eye, rose in spirals. It
appeared organic. It appeared alive.
Aeniah turned
to me quizzically and opened her mouth, ‘George the system says
that a language update is available for you.’
‘I don’t
understand’
‘It appears
your...modifications, have given you the ability to receive, as it
were, updates.’
‘Like genetic
memory,’ I enquired.
Sean spoke the
words ‘ exactly’ before Aeniah could open her mouth. Crossly,
Aeniah turned to me and asked, ‘well do you want to update or
not?’
‘Go for it’ I
reasoned, ‘what harm could
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