Kira nodded. She had yet to disagree with a single thing van Hutten had said. And it wasn’t just the concept of infinite universes that were incomprehensible and completely unreasonable; or even a single universe. A single star, all by itself, was an impossibility great enough to blow the mind of any human. The Sun, a relatively small star in the scheme of things, was a raging fireball so massive a million Earths could fit inside, maintained a core temperature of twenty-seven million degrees Fahrenheit, and was capable of burning for billions of years. How could any belief be more ridiculous and improbable than the existence of even one such inferno?
“Okay, so you believe in God,” said Kira. “I won’t try to argue you out of it. I, personally, haven’t settled on a final position, but I agree that the God hypothesis is just as likely to be true as any other; just as likely to be an explanation for the inconceivable. But you still haven’t told me what’s going on here. Or what troubled you about my vision at the second level of enhancement.”
A quizzical smile came over the physicist’s face. “Isn’t it obvious? Your ultimate goal is for humanity, along with any other intelligent life in the universe, to become God. A tiny bit . . .” He paused. “I hate to use the word blasphemous, since it sounds too fundamentalist for my taste, so let’s just say presumptuous. A tiny bit presumptuous, don’t you think?”
“Maybe,” she allowed. "But you know the laws of physics work equally well if time runs forwards or backwards. And Einstein’s equations allow for time travel, in theory. What if we need to evolve into God so he can create the universe billions of years in our past?”
Van Hutten shook his head. “I don’t believe that. Not if this evolving into God takes us across the path of immortality you laid out, which will result in us losing our humanity along the way. I remember our discussion about this vividly. Even you have to admit that the idea of dropping our brains into artificial bodies is abhorrent. I saw your expression during our first meeting. You defended the concept, but you were more aware of the thorny theological questions than any of us. What is man? Would we lose our soul?” He paused. “I found it a horrific concept. And now that I’ve experienced the more evil nature of this incredible intelligence you’ve unleashed, I’m even more troubled. I can’t believe the path to heaven and enlightenment leads through hell and sociopathy. The negative effects of your treatment must be God’s way of sending a message.”
Kira didn’t respond right away. She lowered her head in thought for several seconds and then locked her eyes on van Hutten’s. “Look . . . Anton, I don’t have all the answers,” she acknowledged softly. “And I agree with most of what you say. The path to immortality, at least the way my feeble mind lays it out, is very disturbing in many ways. But I’m convinced this is only because we’re too limited right now. We’ll keep learning and growing. We’ll find better answers; a way to do it right.”
“I admire your optimism, I really do.” He paused for several seconds. “But what you’re trying to do almost exactly mimics the tragic story of Adam and Eve. And I see it ending the same way.”
Kira tilted her head in confusion. “I’m afraid you’ve lost me,” she said.
“Look,” explained van Hutten. “I believe in God, but I don’t believe in organized religion. Even so, the classic story of Adam and Eve is fascinating to think about in the context of what you’re attempting. In this context, you’re Eve.”
“I’m Eve?” repeated Kira in disbelief. “Now you’ve really lost me.”
“According to the story, there were two trees in Eden that were noteworthy. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Tree of Life. The Tree of Knowledge represented omniscience. And the Tree of Life represented immortality. Many scholars think these were really two aspects of the same tree. Mankind was allowed to strive and make progress, but was forbidden from taking a one-apple leap to omniscience and immortality. You’re reaching for the same apple that Eve ate.”
Kira was intrigued despite herself. She had never thought of it in quite this way before.
“I don’t believe in the accuracy of the bible,” admitted van Hutten. “But I do believe that all efforts to reach immortality and godhood, made by Adam and Eve or by Icarus, are misguided and doomed to failure.” He adjusted his glasses and added, “The story of Adam and Eve has nothing to do with my final reasoning, by the way. I just find it fascinating.”
“It is interesting. But nothing you’ve said can possibly justify what you’re doing right now.”
“I agree. But I’m not done. Along with being disturbed by your vision of immortality and the sociopathic pull of your therapy, your superenhanced alter ego had a second, even more troubling vision. That all life should be merged into a universe-spanning intellect. Analogous to trillions of single celled organisms giving up their independence and identities to merge to form a human being. To form something far greater than themselves. Have I got that right?”
“Essentially.”
“Are you familiar with the Borg from Star Trek?”
Kira frowned. She had streamed the entire seven seasons of the Next Generation when she was a little girl, and had watched every last one. Borg was short for cyborg, half organic, half machine beings, organized into a massive collective. Far more technologically advanced than the humanity of this fictional future age, and ruthlessly dedicated to absorbing all intelligent life in the universe into itself. Their defining phrase being, resistance is futile.
Kira’s lip curled up in disgust. Her vision of immortality, in which people would become almost entirely machine—despite having neuronal circuitry that was an exact duplicate of their organic brains—combined with her vision of a collective intellect, could be construed as being Borg-like.
“I can see from the look on your face you can tell where I’m going with this,” said van Hutten.
“Yes. And I agree that the Borg were horrific. The idea of giving up your identity in this way seems horrible beyond imagining. But maybe there is a way to be part of a collective while also maintaining individuality. And the Borg were purposely portrayed badly. They were the show’s greatest villains.” She shook her head. “My vision couldn’t be more different. Unlike the Borg, I would never force this on anyone. Each individual would be free to pursue their own vision of happiness and fulfillment. No one would be coerced.”
“Really?” said van Hutten, almost in amusement. “Did you ever think you would coerce anyone to become enhanced? Like you did with me?”
Kira frowned deeply—her expression giving van Hutten his answer.
The physicist pressed forward. “What if you knew being part of this collective consciousness—on its way to godhead—was the best thing for everyone? You know, like giving penicillin to a dying primitive. Think about individual single celled organisms. Would they choose to band together to form a human? Maybe not. They might want to cling to their identities. But once human, they would understand, right? You’d be justified in forcing that understanding on them, right?”
Kira felt herself reeling, as though his words and concepts were physical blows. “You’re a brilliant debater, and you make some good points. Maybe the difference between us is that you believe in God, but don’t have faith. Not in what Icarus is trying to accomplish. I may not be sure about God, but I have faith. Faith that we’ll come to the point where we’ll know the right path. And whatever it is, even if it’s the opposite of my vision, it will be obvious at the time.”