‘My dear Sandy, here in the UK, probably the one thing that all the prime ministers I’ve personally known, from Tony to Boris, have agreed on is that the power of global consciousness could ultimately be the biggest threat there has ever been to national government as we know it. Think Berlin. The Wall fell in a week. You, of all people, must have asked yourself how that could possibly have happened? After all those years of hardcore communist rule. It was a straightforward example of the power of linked consciousness.’
‘Of course,’ said Sandy. ‘I hadn’t thought of it like that. There was no revolutionary army, no Che Guevara. And the worldwide web, with its ability to bring people together, had barely begun. So it’s already happened, without most people noticing. I’m not sure even Paul and Connie took their thought process that far. But you are saying that our political leaders did?’
‘Indeed. It was regarded as just one of those things, though. Because we have never known how it happened. Not until now, perhaps, and the Ruders Theory. One can only imagine the situation that would arise if we fully understood what consciousness was and, even, heaven forbid, if we understood how to control human consciousness on a global scale. That’s the rub, old girl. Control!’
Jones was stunned. She had heard this kind of stuff from Connie and Paul, but Jimmy Cecil was a man at the heart of the UK government.
‘You have to realize that we are at a very crucial stage in time,’ Cecil continued. ‘We have the web now, which, as you implied, gives us a kind of access to global consciousness, in that it provides a regular and constant update on what is happening everywhere. Because of the web alone, governments cannot lie as easily as they once did — which is particularly relevant in countries without even the semblance of a free press. We can be instantly made aware not just of what is happening around the corner, but also on the other side of the world. Now that kind of knowledge can dramatically change the way we behave. Very unusual effects can be achieved by mutual coherence, very fast social and physical change. Thoughts can be swiftly catalysed. They can explode.’
The steak and kidney puddings arrived, together with a selection of perfectly appropriate vegetables. Jones willed the waiter to serve quickly.
Before recent events in America, Jones had always taken much of what Connie had had to say with a large pinch of salt. Connie, by the very nature of what she did, was something of a fantasist. Jimmy Cecil was a different proposition. An international mover and shaker who lived and breathed politics. And Cecil seemed to have explored the possible practical repercussions of the solving of the mystery of consciousness far more extensively than Jones had ever done. Prior to the last few days.
‘Do you remember the reason for the 1987 stock market crash?’ Jimmy Cecil continued. ‘It marked the beginning of computer trading, the mechanics of which turned the economic world on its head. The feedback system was suddenly so much faster. The system, as it was, just could not cope with the volume of deals.’
Cecil placed a large chunk of pud in his mouth and after chewing for a few seconds looked up at Jones in some surprise.
‘Delicious,’ he murmured. ‘Every bit as good as my club’s.’
‘You were saying, Jimmy,’ Jones prompted impatiently.
‘Ah yes. Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? You’re a scientist. You believe the brain is a kind of computer, don’t you? A biological computer.’
‘Well, up to a point.’
‘All right. Up to a point. Well, up to a point, then, imagine any kind of universal method of controlling that biological computer. Global consciousness could be the next great weapon. It leaves nuclear power standing—’
‘Connie has always said that.’
‘Yes,’ Cecil continued. ‘But did it occur to either you or her that the governments of the world were also thinking that way?’
‘Not on the scale you are suggesting,’ said Jones. ‘RECAP’s problem was always that people with power were sceptical of its work. It’s a quantum leap to think in terms of governments actually accepting, fearing even, the power of consciousness.’
‘Well, they are. When RECAP was on its own, tucked away in an obscure corner of Princeton, it’s probably true that nobody on the outside gave it much thought. Certainly there was no anxiety about it, nor about the handful of similar institutions scattered around the place. The Global Consciousness Project changed all that. When the RECAP Random Event Generator began to spawn many more of the things, and when, more revolutionary still, they linked them together, via the internet, that was different. Governmental departments across the globe have monitored this project — you must know that, what cloistered academic world do you live in, Sandy? — and have been left in no doubt that something monumental was being illustrated by these REG experiments. It’s not just America that has been keeping a close watch on the GCP for decades. In the simplest of terms it’s mind over matter, isn’t it, Sandy? And the results are fact. Only the questions “how” and “why” have remained unanswered. The possibility that Professor Ruders may have finally answered those two questions is of immense international concern.
‘So, you can be assured that whatever course of action has been taken so far regarding the Ruders Theory was’ — Cecil broke off and cleared his throat loudly — ‘was not taken by the American government alone.’
Jones took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
‘It really is even bigger than I’d thought,’ she muttered.
‘Probably. And you should know that I am only telling you any of this, Sandy, because you have confided in me that you have in your possession a copy of Paul Ruders’ theory. You do realize the enormous responsibility of that, and the position that puts you in, don’t you?’
‘Well, I think I do, yes. I’m well aware that it puts me in further danger, or it would if it came to the attention of the wrong people, anyway. And I therefore certainly realize the risk I have taken in confiding in you today.’
‘A calculated risk, I hope. But you really ought to think very carefully about what you should do next, my dear. If we come to fully understand the nature of consciousness, to utilize it in the ways that I have described, then governments worldwide will fall. The established order of things will be destroyed. Life as we know it will be changed beyond recognition. There would be no doubt about that...’
‘Yes, well, that might not be such a bad thing.’
‘If you’ll forgive me, those are the words of an idealistic child, Sandy. Whatever might happen eventually, you would in the short term almost certainly be talking about anarchy. Are you an anarchist, as well as an idealist?’
‘Of course not.’
‘No. Of course not. You suddenly have immense and probably rather unenviable power in your hands, Sandy. The power of whether or not to change the world irrevocably.’
Cecil poured some more claret into Jones’s glass.
‘Personally I prefer the devil I know. Which is why I do the job that I do...’
‘And what job is that exactly?’ Jones heard himself ask, albeit with little hope of a proper reply.
‘Oh, this and that, you know,’ murmured her companion, suddenly returning his entire attention to the remains of his steak and kidney pudding.
‘I am slightly disturbed by the extent to which you may be personally involved, Jimmy.’
‘Really, my dear? You surprise me.’
Cecil helped himself to a second helping of mashed potato. He obviously did not intend to elucidate any further.
Jones put down her knife and fork, picked up her glass of claret and emptied it in one swallow. She was aware of Jimmy Cecil wincing. No doubt the claret was special. Jones hadn’t noticed. She had other things on his mind.