Reality Matrix Effect (9781310151330) by Laura Remson Mitchell Page A

uncertain comments and
questions began building into a roar of indistinguishable
voices.
    “When’s it due?” Emilio’s plaintive cry rose
above the din. Somehow, he managed to make the question sound
almost like a prayer for mercy.
    “I want you to give this a lot of thought.
How about four weeks from today?  That ought to give you
enough time.”
    Another roar from the class.
    “I’m not even sure I can find out who my
ancestors from five generations back were!” Emilio complained.
    “Sure you can. You all can. You’re sitting in
front of the greatest boon any genealogist has ever known!”
    Rayna patted her computer terminal. “Over the
last three decades, every existing paper record in the world has
been transferred to the limited-access files of the Consolidated
Data Network. So have all microfilm, microfiche and every other
type of record. The originals are stored in environmentally
controlled warehouses in case of a computer failure, but the data
are available to anyone with voiceprint clearance for the
information requested. Since all computers these days are
automatically hooked into the network, all you have to  do is
ask the computer for your family tree going back five generations,
and Voila! you have it. I’ve done traces on some historical figures
for research purposes, and it’s really quite simple.”
    The students looked uncertainly at one
another and then at Rayna.
    “Still not convinced?  Okay. I’ll show
you how to do a genealogy trace right now. That ought to get you
started. Let’s go through it step by step.”
    Rayna waited as the students cleared their
work areas and activated their terminals.
    “Okay, now. The first thing you do is punch
in the CDN program code. That’s G-E-N-T-R-A-C. The program will
begin by asking you how many generations you want traced. There.
It’s coming up on my terminal now. I’ll put this all on ‘demo’ in
case you want to watch what I’m doing before trying it on your own
terminals.”  Rayna pressed the appropriate keys as her
students set their terminals to a “demo-receive” mode.
    “All right. Now I answer the question. Let’s
make it a five-generation trace. You can make it longer than that
if you wish simply by telling the computer how far back you want it
to go.
    “This next prompt asks whether you want to
follow natural parentage or adopted family lines. It’s simplest if
you start out with a trace on natural lines only. If it turns out
there’s an adoption in the family tree, the computer will let you
know, and you can request adoption information for that stage of
the trace. If you enter ‘adopted’ first, though, you’ll just get
the official records as they stand. The computer will ignore the
distinction between natural and adoptive lines, and it won’t alert
you to adoptions in your family history. That’s because of our
privacy laws. Many adoption records used to be completely sealed.
Some still are. The only way the government would authorize the
GENTRAC program to use the Central Data Network was on condition
that traces involving adoptions would require a specific request
and voiceprint clearance.
    “Anyway, the next step is to tell the
computer who you are. Just type in your name...” Rayna did so as
she spoke “...and key in a voiceprint test. Then state your
name—slowly and clearly—into the ID mike.”
    Rayna removed a small microphone from the
clip that held it unobtrusively against the right side of the
computer’s keyboard.
    “Rayna Joanne Kingman,” she stated
carefully.
    “Now all you have to do is press the ‘run’
key,” she  said, looking up and smiling at the class as they
watched their terminals with intense interest.
    “Hey, Miss Kingman, if this is so doggone
easy, why isn’t anything happening?” Rick taunted.
    “Huh?”  Rayna returned her attention to
her own terminal and stared in surprise. Her name was displayed on
the screen in blinking capital letters. She must have made