Divergence by Tony Ballantyne

about this. I am very sorry about this.”
    The expression drained from Saskia’s face. “Sorry for what?”
    “Sorry for involving you in all this.”
    “Look, I’m sure things aren’t that bad,” said Maurice.
    “Yes,” agreed Saskia. “Come back to the living area and you can explain what’s going on. What’s your name?”
    The woman gave another faint smile. “My name is Judy,” she said. “But you might as well call me Jonah.”

 

    interlude: 2247
    AIs have a different way of looking at the world.
    The Watcher and Chris stood on a beach, on either side of a flat stream of water that had cut a meandering channel through the sand. Sand blew in thin yellow ribbons from the grass bound dunes that loomed behind them; the flat sea threw little waves onto the shore below them.
    “What do you hope to achieve, Chris?” asked the Watcher.
    The water was tainted; a black tendril of ink ran down the stream at their feet, thickening.
    Chris dipped a hand in the running water, stirring the ink into a grey cloud.
    “I don’t know,” said Chris. “Just seeing what happens.”
     
    Or to look at it another way…
     
    The Watcher didn’t invent MTPH. It was a meme that had evolved at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It was a drug that had found favor with a significant proportion of the population, a drug whose effects could be engineered by those with the necessary know-how. The Watcher had that know-how.
    In its original state MTPH caused hallucinations. Phantom personalities arose in the user’s mind. Personalities that appeared to have minds of their own. Users would say they did have minds of their own. You had to be a user to understand.
    The Watcher had uses for MTPH.
    The Watcher planned a world of fairness and tolerance. It wanted a world where everyone could achieve their full potential. It saw MTPH as a means to achieve this. With a few subtle twists, MTPH became a drug that helped users to experience other people’s points of view. Administered through Social Care, a group of humans trained in the use of MTPH and the care and protection of clients, the drug became a delicate instrument, wielded in the manner of a surgeon’s scalpel, a way of subtly restoring the balance when things weren’t running as they should.
    It wasn’t until later, under the constant onslaught of the Dark Seeds brought about by Chris, that the Watcher dispensed with subtlety. The human population of Earth needed to understand one another completely. They needed to understand what was right. It was then the Watcher sent MTPH flooding Earth, tainting the water and the air and the food.
     
    Or to look at it another way…
     
    A clear stream of water flooded down the beach. And now Chris had corrupted it. But not for long.
    The Watcher waved a hand and the water ran clear again.
    On the opposite side of the stream Chris gave a shrug.
    “I will always be your superior. I made you,” said the Watcher. “I don’t know why you continue with these futile attacks.”
    “Just seeing what happens,” said Chris.

 

    judy 1: 2252
    Judy had wondered what it would be like to be away from the sterile corridors of the Free Enterprise and back amongst humans again. Now she knew.
    Cold and bleak and utterly hopeless.
    There was a slightly raised fleshy cross growing on her back: the Free Enterprise had done something to her to make it appear. She felt it now, rubbing against the material of her passive suit. It ran across her shoulders and down her spine, the top vertical running up the nape of her neck. There was something living inside there, she knew. It had no presence, and yet it could experience everything that she did, and it spoke to her of what they both saw.
    Judy had worked for Social Care. She had taken the drug MTPH to boost her ability to empathize with others. The Free Enterprise, however, had replaced that faculty with something far more cold and clinical. The shifting webs of emotions that she would once