The second key component, of course, is the algorithm itself, which forms the basis of the program logic. This is the key value and the development by our laboratory, which is so jealously protected by our esteemed colleagues from the security service,’ smiled Alexandra.
‘And, of course, it should be noted that the operation of our software complex would be impossible without the power and infinite potential of the artificial intelligence of PAX. The complexity of the calculating task for only one model, an indicator of the level of computation power required for the software package operation, could be demonstrated by the following remarkable figure, which I will share with you. The load on the entire global system of PAX when dealing with our task increases by 0.1%, and peak values reach 0.15%. This is a colossal figure, as you would understand.’
Thomas nodded in affirmative:
‘Alexandra, this is amazing! Which way such a complex mathematical model could have ever been developed at all, for me as a man from the street, I’m afraid, would never be given to understand. But here’s another thing also of interest and calling for some clarification: what made you launch such an extraordinary project? What is at the bottom of the idea to create a software product which could be used to interview, simulate the answers of someone who has already died, who is no longer in this world?’
Alexandra reflected for a couple of seconds, took a sip of water, adjusted her glasses and continued:
‘The idea is based on a complex of various factors and conditions. The key one is located somewhat outside the Interview, as it may seem at the first glance. The current stage of work on the project, its part, which we have implemented as of today, is one of the first stages of a large task that our laboratory is expecting to solve.’
‘And what is this bigger project, Alexandra?’
‘We live in the age of an infinitely large array of data and devices, which surround us everywhere, that are always connected, we ourselves, you and I, are always online also. Data about our activity, our condition, our medical indicators, everyday habits and daily routine—everything that is peculiar to us is constantly collected, systematised and analysed by PAX. Society on the whole has come to an agreement, to some kind of social contract, to an understanding of why we would allow the system to have access to information about our lives. The launch of the PAX system made it possible to globally stabilise the endless chaos that was happening on the planet in the twenty-first century. Not to mention solutions to age-old problems in the field of energy, ever limited resources, military conflicts. The list of accumulated unresolved problems of the past century could be continued and it will take some time. The solution was proposed by science—deep analysis of big data at the level not accessible by us, humans. PAX has formulated a number of priority proposals, which implementation has allowed us to break the deadlock. What’s the next step? What challenges are awaiting us tomorrow? We, our laboratory, are looking for answers to questions that are not yet relevant to society today.’
‘Wow! Alexandra, what does all this mean? I’m sorry, but your wording is extremely vague and foggy. And what do you think will be relevant for humanity tomorrow? And what is the timeline of this tomorrow? When is it?’
‘First of all, let’s see what we have achieved today as a species. There are about twelve billion people living on the planet. We live on six continents, and are well settled there. The demographic pattern has fundamentally changed after the scientific revolution in the field of medicine. Human life expectancy is up to three times higher than similar indicators at the beginning of the last century. This has changed everything—we no longer give birth to children just like that. Should we continue to adhere to the way of life we used to, we wouldn’t have been able to balance the ecosystems on the planet. But now these issues have been resolved. We have an operating base and a colony on the Moon and Mars, totalling ten thousand people. And this is the beginning of a new era for humanity. We start taking our first steps as a species in a new way for ourselves—as explorers and conquerors of new worlds.’
‘Alexandra, if you were speaking on the good old TED platform, I assume that the audience would burst into applause at this moment,’ Thomas smiled. ‘But what do you think will be the next step?’
‘It’s obvious, Thomas—we have to find a way to go beyond the solar system, sooner or later. And this is a complex task. In addition to the colossal engineering challenges that we continue to work on, for example, such fundamental ones as the current speed limits not allowing us to go beyond our star system, or the astronauts life support designed for exceptionally long journeys, for hundreds or even, perhaps, thousands of years. In addition to answering these questions, we must understand how we will populate those new worlds where humanity will come to.’
‘And what is your version of the answer to this textbook question, Alexandra?’
‘We believe that one of the possibilities of travelling infinitely long distances to develop populations in new star systems is of a hybrid basis.’
Thomas was numb for a second, froze motionless, and only his eyelids continued to reflexively perform the function assigned to them by evolution. Coming back to his senses, he continued:
‘Wow! What’s the core of such a hybrid system? Would you tell us, please.’
‘We proceed from the fact that in the near future humankind will be not only biological species, but also completely digital ones, which would allow us to remove many barriers and restrictions that we cannot overcome now.’
‘Alexandra, if I understand correctly, you are working on a possibility to place a digitized human consciousness, for example, in a robot, in some kind of mechanical device? Is that how it works?’
‘That’s about it, Thomas.’
‘To be honest, I couldn’t have imagined, preparing for our meeting, that the interview would take such a turn.’
‘I’m glad we’re having an interesting conversation, Thomas.’
‘Of course! Now, I think, the connection between your development of the Interview software package and the large project you have described, becomes clear—this is a step in the implementation of the program.’
‘You’re absolutely right, Thomas. The formation of a digital model of the person’s personality, based on information about one’s life and big data, is an opportunity to reliably assess the degree of readiness of the Interview module for the next stage of the implementation of the main task.’
‘I understand your experiments are going well. Digital models are credible, reliable—do they really work?’
‘Yes and no, Thomas. Things are going, of course, not as fast as we would like. And if it were so simple, it would have hardly caused public interest and your curiosity. At the moment, we provide stable functioning of only one model—my long-perished brother.’
‘Now?! Your brother?’ Thomas said, showing surprise.
‘My brother’s digital model—his name was Igor—is stable. The nuance here is that I have been investigating the cause of his death for a long time and have collected a large database of everything that somehow correlates with his life. Besides, it’s obvious that I knew him well. We were very close. When we realised that the digital personality models we were trying to recreate were not working, their stability was no good, and their credibility was low, I decided that we should try to run a model based on my brother’s data archive. Our tests confirmed that this was the right step. It worked.’
‘Alexandra, to be honest, all this looks somewhat strange and even frightening. Your brother, who died a long time ago, has now come to life, so to speak, in his new digital incarnation. How do you communicate with him? I understand that you can talk about any topic with a digital copy?’
‘This tragedy in our family happened a long time ago, Thomas. Today I’m feeling about it quite differently. It’s been about 25 years since his death. Working with Igor’s digital model for me means an amazing opportunity for the project. We are constantly refining his personality, based on my memories of how he used to behave too, how he talked, what he dreamed about, what was important to him. Everything that defined Igor as a person is now fundamentally important to be taken into account in his digital model, which, eventually, as we expect, will grow into something more important.’
‘And what this something more could be, Alexandra?’
‘We are working to ignite the fire of a new life. I would say so.’
‘I’m just short of words, friends!’ Thomas leaned back in his chair. ‘As the interviewer with some experience, of course, I shouldn’t have said that. I should always have the right and correct, precise words. But this is not the case. I’m more than amazed!’
Thomas continued:
‘Do you mean saying that you and Igor can communicate on any topic? And he responds, responds to you the way we are communicating with you now.’
‘Everything looks exactly like this if, for example, I connect to his program remotely.’
‘It’s amazing! But here is a question that also bothers me regarding this situation, Alexandra. Aren’t you breaking moral and ethical norms by recreating a digital copy of a person? He did not give you his permission to deal with his digital heritage this way, all the information and data that had been preserved about his life.’
‘This is another reason why my colleagues and I decided to develop the Interview software package based on my brother’s digital model. I have all the necessary civil rights, the legal basis for those actions with his digital heritage—you’ve used the exact term—that we carry out within the framework of the project. From the point of view of general moral and ethical norms, I do not see any conflict. I am glad to have the opportunity to communicate with Igor’s recreated model, and I believe that his mission is revealed in this project in particular.’
Before: The Red Button
A Meeting with Friends
‘Look guys, if we want our channel to take off, we need some breakthrough, relevant and resonant material’, Olga was talking. ‘Murzik of course is a pretty boy, and a hero—he saved a mouse from imprisonment in the basement at Tonya's granny’s—but I'm afraid it won't be enough to conquer YouTube, even here, at our place. Thirty-two people watched our last video about the repair of a bus stop near Meget, and I think, thirty were our friends, parents and relatives.’
‘Thus, we can conclude that Tonya’s Murzik attracts much more attention than our high-profile investigation about a broken bus stop glass on the Irkutsk-Angarsk public transport service and a heater failer at the bus stop’, Gleb agreed smiling. ‘So let's film our good old Murzik!’ Gleb roared with laughter.
‘You know what’, Tonya objected indignantly, ‘when November frosts come, it will be below minus 30, and if this stop is not put in order, it won’t be funny to anyone at all. People will freeze waiting for the bus. That's what matters! I’m sure our report is necessary—we are doing useful work for the community, by the way! So let us guys stop moaning here that we are so unhappy with the number of views. Wait for a month or two.’
‘Listen, you may console yourself as much as you wish, Tonya’, Olga retorted. ‘The point is that it doesn't change anything. Statistics: figures don't lie —the number of views is weakly low. No one really cares about this bus stop. We need to do something about it if we really want to make an impact.’
Three teenagers were sitting in a cafe next to the window, ignoring the visitors glancing at the young people, enthusiastically discussing in high voices something of their own. Tonya and Olga were sitting on one side of the table. On the sofa opposite, next to Gleb, warm jackets and backpacks comfortably placed themselves. Everything was white outside, snowflakes were covering the street with a veil. Cars on the road confidently, made their way forward letting pedestrians cross the road at the traffic lights. A touch of frost and the first snow brought locals and tourists together in a cozy, warm cafe in the city center. The waiters were taking orders from the visitors flowing in and casting stern glances at the table where the trio had positioned themselves, consuming two small bottles of drinks already over an hour.
Tonya, blowing air through a straw into a bottle of coke, opened the Irkutsk News app on her communicator. ‘Here's what people write’, and began reading out short annotations to articles in the app.
‘The Irkutsk Region Government has approved a federal program for the further development of a transport infrastructure in the region. By 2145, the energy supply trunks for a new transport system will reach far wider than just Irkutsk. All major regional centers, including Angarsk, Usolye-Sibirskoye, Sayansk, Tulun and a number of other cities will gradually become connected to the modern ecosystem of Russia and the entire continent, following the program of further integration into the new economy … The travel time from Moscow to Irkutsk will take no more than 6 hours on a high-speed shuttle…’
‘Or here's another one’, Tonya was scrolling through the news feed further, ‘look, this news has already been viewed by over 5,000 people. “The construction of the second stage of the large Baikal Tourist Center goes on. Every year the Irkutsk region attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world. A new wellness complex, designed for 10,000 residents, will provide a five-star level of comfort for our guests…”
‘That’s not the right place to check, Tonya! Give me the phone!’ Gleb tried to grab the communicator. Tonya covered it with her hand, stopping her friend's cheeky attempts. ‘Open it yourself then! Under the heading “What happened”. That's exactly what everyone is always interested in. There’ll be the most of views there.’
‘OK, let's look through “What happened”, Tonya agreed. ‘Well, well, what do we have here… – “A happy reunion. A five-year-old girl lost her parents in the Siberia Shopping Center. The store employees helped the child and the girl's parents…”, “A dangerous accident in the city center. An old electric car lost a wheel when turning from Zhelyabov to Federation Street. The rescue service helped the owner to evacuate the car…”, “The buyer could not pick up his order at the self-service point. The equipment breakdown led to a short-term malfunction of the passport scanner…”
‘Oh yeah, very impressive’, Olga drawled, covering her mouth with her hand and yawning. ‘The place is just so lively. The views are sky-high, 314 about a wheel on a wreck in the city center.’
‘Wait a minute! There may be something in it!’ Gleb started tapping his fingers at the table, looking Olga into the eye. ‘Let me have a better look at the message about the passport’, Gleb turned to Tonya.
‘Well, OK, have a go’, Tonya pushed the communicator across the table towards Gleb.
‘So’, Gleb began reading the message carefully.
“A Citizen's Passport.
Ilya Ponamarev, the Irkutsk News editorial office correspondent, recently met with a resident of the city who couldn’t have picked up his order at the self-service department of the MegaMarket delivery service due to a failed passport scanner of a citizen of the Republic.
Why did this seemingly ordinary story attract the attention of our editorial staff? Our readers might ask such a question. What's so special about this story? Let's figure it out.
Let us briefly cover a historical and political-organizational situation. This case requires an understanding of the modern social system, the interaction of an individual, society and governmental structures. Let us remind our readers the basics in terms of structural and technical components.
Since the end of the 21st century, the passport of a citizen of the Federation, or, as it was also called, the Tracker, was implanted into the body at the stage the woman started carrying the child or while it was growing in special incubators, in maternity hospitals. The Tracker or passport, if you prefer it, has long been the key to all the modern infrastructure. Whatever you did and wherever you were, the digital identifier provides you access to everything—from the ability to enter your apartment or house, to get by transport to any point within the city or the country, even to travel all over the planet. You would not have been able to go to a grocery store or a beauty shop, and, perhaps, to any business or trade company without a passport. A person just would not have been served without a citizen identification. The passport provided continuous monitoring and control of the medical indicators of its owner, which was required not only for the citizen support by appropriate services in emergency situations, but was needed primarily for timely, and therefore early detection of negative trends in the health condition, allowing to make required amendments to the individual health program. Finally, last but not least, an important function of the Tracker was security. If the situation occured when the life, physical or psychological health of an individual were threatened by something or someone, the PAX system—a distributed system of quantum computers which was monitoring, analyzing and managing the main life systems—would identify relevant situations and would react to them even in a preventive mode. Summing up, without a passport, a person was not a citizen of the Republic and could not interact with any part of it in the official or commercial sphere. One was simply invisible to society.
It would be safe to assume that bearing the functions of the tracker so critical for a person, the counterpart of the PAX system, responsible for identification and interaction with a person, has to be reliable as a must. For a smooth functioning of the system with a high degree of probability, close to 100%, any built-in scanning system even for the least critical public infrastructure at the very least has a double for back-up. And in critical applications, for example, in automatic control systems of a high-speed mainline shuttle, the system has a four-fold redundancy. Moreover, two of the four backup control units operate remotely via ultra-high-speed communication networks. In the entire history of the PAX, not a single failure of control systems with triple redundancy has been registered, and malfunctions in systems with two modules have been an exceptional event subject to thorough investigation and identification of the reasons for failure. Each such situation is thoroughly investigated by the PAX security specialists in order to identify potentially weak links and eliminate them.
Taking into account the theoretical basis and the unique nature of the situation that took place in Irkutsk in an ordinary post office in the first week of October 2142, our agency could not help but pay attention to it. We found a resident of Irkutsk, who came as a first-hand participant of the story, and asked him about what had happened.
Irkutsk news: Alexey Petrovich, please tell us how it was—what happened to you on October 7 at the MegaMarket post office.
Alexey Petrovich: There's nothing to tell. There's not much to tell, I’d say, there's nothing. In the evening after work I went to the post office, next to my house. I wanted to pick up my order—I bought my daughter a birthday present. Her birthday was on October 10th. Anna, my wife, and I decided to make a gift for my daughter …
Irkutsk news: Alexey Petrovich, please tell us in some more detail just what it was that happened there in the post
office.
Alexey Petrovich: Nothing happened. That's what I'm trying to tell you. So I went to the post office. I checked on my phone what my cell was, where my order should have been stored. I approached the cell, but it would not open. That's actually all. You can see everything on the video, on the CCTV.
Irkutsk news: Alexey Petrovich, do you maybe happen to know why the cell in which your order was stored didn’t open? Might the lock mechanism be broken?
Alexey Petrovich: Well no. What can I know. They seem to have said later, when the courier delivered my order to me, that there was a problem with the program. There was something wrong with it. That’s how I got it.
Irkutsk news: Alexey Petrovich, thank you for your answers. And wish your daughter a happy birthday from us!
All the details of this seemingly unremarkable story, as told by Alexey Petrovich, have been transferred to the PAX security service, which will now carefully investigate the situation. We will keep you, dear readers of the Irkutsk News, informed of its development as new details become available to our editorial staff."
‘Well, why do you say it’s interesting, Gleb?’ Olga asked.
‘What do you mean, why! This is the very story for prime news. It will attract attention!’ Gleb retorted excitedly. ‘Don't you see that!?
‘What? A report about a guy who failed to pick up his order from the post office? Gleb, what’s going on with you?’ Tonya looked at him in surprise. ‘It's better to shoot videos about Murzik and the rescued micae! And then, there will be a better feedback altogether!’
‘Yes, damn it … Well, you… what does the man have to do with it, Tonya!’ Gleb answered calmly with deliberation. ‘It's about the passport, about the Tracker, about what it means for a person of today! About what it means to be outside the system, the world! That's what we have to make our next video about! And it will definitely be an interesting story!’
‘If I understand your idea correctly,’ Olga went on, wrinkling her forehead a little, ‘you are suggesting that we meet with divergents!? So what is it?’
‘Bingo!!’ Gleb exclaimed even too loudly.
The visitors of the cafe turned in surprise to the table, at which a tense discussion of the teenagers was going on. A slim guy sitting opposite the two girls at the table turned slowly and looked in the cafe hall. ‘Excuse me’, Gleb muttered.
The waiter came to the table. ‘Do you guys want to order anything else? You've been sitting here for more than an hour and still drinking two bottles of Cola. I don't mind. You are welcome. But there are people standing out there, waiting for the seats to be vacated. So, will there be anything else to order?’
‘No, thank you very much. We are just about to leave’. Getting up from the sagging sofa, Olga answered.
Everyone started collecting their belongings. It was already quite dark outside.
‘It's been snowing! That's so beautiful! Everything is clean and white around!’ Gleb spoke in a slightly singsong voice.
‘It's just a little cold somehow. Brr …' Huddled in an oversized full-length down jacket, Tonya muttered, wrapped as well in a scarf that covered her face almost to the eyes. ‘I want to go home.’
‘Okay. Let's do it. I'll think over all the details of the script tonight, forward it to you, and tomorrow, right after class, we'll discuss everything again.’ Gleb suggested.
‘I am for. We'll discuss everything tomorrow. Bye!’ Olga began saying goodbye.—I hope you're not serious about Cheremkhovo, Gleb. This story about an old abandoned mine and its weird inhabitants may end badly.’
‘Well, let's think over everything and make sure that all goes according to our plan, so that everything is OK! Well, all right, bye!’ Gleb turned around and, making sure that he had time to cross the roadway between the stream of cars, ran across to the other side of the street.
‘I don’t know, Tonya, somehow this whole idea looks somewhat … It’s simply dangerous’. Staring after Gleb, Olga
noted.
‘Look, I agree, Olga. But, on the other hand, we will never be able to achieve anything if we only do what is safe and strictly by the rules. Let's talk together again tomorrow.’
The friends hugged each other and headed in different directions.
The Client
It would seem, one could physically touch the evening energy of the city. Just reach out. Cafes and restaurants on the first line of the central streets, fashionable dress stores outshouted each other with their bright lights in an endless succession ready to lure a new buyer in. High-rise office centers and employees still, though it was so late, unwilling to give in to the will of fatigue, and the endless river of transport carried people over to friends and families, accelerating the pace every minute. Everyone after their own destination, their own purpose.
‘Tonight Irkutsk reminds me of Christmas,’ Sergey thought, sitting on a bench in a park, sipping hot tea with cognac from his small tin flask. He chose a place where no one would disturb them. And the weather was perfect for business meetings. A thick snow veil did its job—you could see the silhouettes, but nothing more. Sergey checked the weather forecast on his communicator. No changes predicted for the next two hours. “Snowfall will continue until at least midnight.”
‘Wonderful. Let's take this as a good sign,’ Sergey whispered.
He angled his left arm and slightly pressed his palm on the end of the sleeve, holding two fingers for a second, as if measuring his pulse. On his wrist, the scale for adjusting the temperature of the down jacket was barely noticeable, Sergey lightly ran his hand along it. ‘It's better this way. Too hot’.
‘Good evening. Sergey?’ A man in a gray coat and patent leather shoes, in a lush ushanka hat, obviously not dressed for the weather, approached Sergey sitting on a bench.
‘Hello, Igor. Please sit down.’ Sergey gestured to a place to his right.
‘I suggest we walk a little around the park. Somehow I didn't guess the weather today. I hope you don’t mind,’ Igor turned to his counterpart, carefully examining him from head to toe.
‘A walk sounds good enough. Let's go.’
‘You were recommended to me as an exceptional specialist. They say you are able to turn day into night, and night into day,’ Igor addressed his companion.
‘Sounds mysterious, but I must admit my professional skills are somewhat exaggerated. If I can briefly describe the nature of our upcoming work with you, if of course, I understand the task correctly, we can say that those who made recommendations are not that far wrong.’
‘Great, Sergey. May I put this straight? I am a man of business and time is key for me’, Igor stared at Sergey for a second.
‘That's why we are meeting here with you: to discuss the job and the terms for it to be done. It would be unfair to drag out our conversation longer than required, given your dress-up gear.’
‘It’s good. As I see it, you are an observant and thoughtful person. You were recommended to me as a specialist in your field. OK then. What I need is to have the opportunity to exclude myself from the system, to become invisible when necessary. Or, as a second option, to appear to the system as someone else.
‘The second task will be much more difficult, Igor. Such a solution would require more time and additional resource.’
‘You will get everything you need. But time, Sergey, as I noted, is an important issue. I would like everything to be ready within two weeks.’
‘I am ready to provide a solution to the first part within the next week. The second will require an additional two weeks, and the payment will have to be double.’
‘All right, Sergey. Great!’ Igor agreed without hesitation.
‘I would need samples of your DNA, all the indicators of your personality, from your voice to a complete blood count.’
‘You already have some of the answers, haven’t you?’ Igor glanced at the counterpart. ‘Anything else you need will be forwarded to you. Nice to meet you, Sergey. I am confident that everything will go according to the plan. It can’t be otherwise.’
‘My feet are frozen stiff.’ With a quick step, almost running, Igor moved away from the hacker.
Sergey walked around the park, breaking up the fluffy snow under his feet. Having settled down on a bench to wait for his new client, Sergey took out a communicator and started carefully looking through the collected information. The built-in scanner did its job.
“Petr Ivanovich Iganov.
Gender: male.
Citizenship: citizen of the Federation, Russia.
Age: 96 years old.
Primary place of residence: Moscow.
Height: 1 m 78 cm
Weight: 79 kg
Pressure: 123/86 mmHg
Body temperature: 36,5 ℃
Blood type: 0(I) Rh+
Access to services: unlimited.
…’’
‘A weird guy…’ thought Sergey. ‘A well-known entrepreneur, wealthy industrialist. There is something to work with. I hope he flew to Irkutsk not only for the sake of a five-minute meeting with me. It’s cold for him somehow.’
Sergey took a couple of sips out of his flask.
‘Damn it! The tea is already cold at all!’
‘Sasha, you keep an eye on this “Sergey” until the end of the month.’ Pyotr Ivanovich gestured in quotation marks.
‘All right, Pyotr Ivanovich.’
‘Nothing else at the moment. Just make sure everything goes according to the plan. That he does his job and keeps his nose clean,’ Iganov ordered, rubbing his hands vigorously, trying to warm himself.
On the monitor at the eye level of the passengers in the back row, a man in an ankle-long black coat was heading towards the exit from the park.
A tall man in a suit and tie stepped out of a dark-blue limousine. The head of security watched the red lights of the boss's car slowly picking up speed and got into a nearby four-by-four. He watched a man in a black coat in the park for several minutes on the communicator, then pressed a button on the screen. A drone parked neatly on the roof of the car.
The Plan
‘Alice, turn off the music.’ Olga gave instructions to the taxi management system.
The car was immediately filled with the muffled sounds of the road.
‘Let's repeat the main outline of the scenario. Gleb, what do we have there? Let's go through it once again’, Olga turned to her friends.
‘It's all straightforward,’ said Gleb. ‘(1) Filming on the way to Cheremkhovo. You and Tonya are on the camera. Inside the cabin, you say what kind of town it is and why it is so important for our history. (2) We take a break on the way to shoot more footage that we can then use when editing the video. (3) We do a few shots in the town center when we arrive. We will try to talk with locals on our topic—what they know about their neighbours, what they have heard about divergents, are they worried about such a neighborhood. It is obvious that they know and have heard. The question is whether they want to talk about it,’ continued Gleb. ‘Whatever it is, no matter what they tell us and no matter how they react, such an information will only benefit us. The fourth and most important is the main task: surveying the mines. If we're lucky, we'll be able to chat with the divergents themselves.’