“So how did you overcome that?”
“We genetically modified the plankton, by increasing the rate it divided. If all requirements were met, such as warmth, nutrients, and building blocks for the nanoparticles — the cells would now multiply every 2–4 hours.”
Sam frowned. “Yes, Veyron showed me. We were wondering why anyone would do that.”
“But it didn’t just produce more symbiotic plankton. The process ended up having an unexpected side effect.”
A small wave lapped up towards the side of the ship. Sam stepped back to avoid the splash. “What was the side effect?”
“It sped up the life cycle and generations of the plankton.”
“What would that do?”
“It’s an old theory in evolution. You see, if you subscribe to current theories about evolution you learn that everything evolves through generational responses to external stimuli. For example, in a small cave system in Bolivia a certain breed of fish have become entrapped in complete darkness. As the species evolved to survive without light, their eyes became smaller and smaller until today’s cavefish no longer have eyes. Instead, they developed whisker like sensor at the edge of their mouths which pick up tiny movements.”
Sam nodded his head. He’d read about the Bolivian Cavefish in college, but he still didn’t see the relevance to their nanocreation. “What happened?”
Luke finished his coffee and immediately poured himself another. “We shortened the generational cycle of the plankton — and increased their rate of evolution.”
Chapter Ninety
Sam started on his second cup of coffee. It was unusual for him, but so was this story. “You increased its rate of evolution. But how much does plankton evolve?” Sam still didn’t feel like he was getting anywhere.
Luke smiled patiently. “It turns out quite a bit. Also, you have to remember, this wasn’t just plankton. It now shared its DNA with the nanobots which served a basic point. They were basically designed to create kinetic energy as they moved with the swell of the ocean.”
“How were they storing the energy?”
“They weren’t. We hadn’t gotten to that point yet. All we wanted to know was that the energy could be produced. We had a number of theories about how to then capture that energy, but the entire program was still in its infancy.”
“And the colony was growing and evolving?” Sam persisted.
“Yes. Incredibly fast.” Luke took a deep breath. Swallowed. And then continued. “We started off a small private island in the Bahamas, using a small lake. Each day, I would take more nutrients and building blocks down to the lake. Soon they would meet me at the jetty, like carp they would wait to be fed. Eventually, they befriended me as someone who fed them.”
Sam threw the last of his now cold coffee overboard. “Are you telling me this thing developed AI?”
“No. Artificial Intelligence kind of went out of vogue after the turn of the millennium. Too many Venture Capitalists got burnt by what it was supposed to be capable of. We talk about the term Predictive Response. This is where machines are designed to mimic the appearance of cognitive function by applying a series of answers to yes and no questions to solve a common goal. You have to remember these were still a series of machines performing very basic tasks as a collective to achieve a common goal. Such as, move here when man comes down and get food.”
“None of the AI theories proved possible?” Sam asked.
“Sure they did. It’s just the scientists asking for the money from the Venture Capitalists were off by about thirty years’ worth of research.”
Sam persisted. “And yet you built a working prototype?”
“Yes and no. Evolution sped up the process of their mimicked intelligence but we hadn’t taken into account the simple fact that plankton is alive. Single cellular or not, all living things share one common desire — they want to survive. It was after the colony had survived for a year that things began to get super weird.”
Chapter Ninety One
Sam looked at the starlight, fading into the twilight of dawn. The possibilities were limitless now. “Okay, tell me how things got weird?”
Luke sat down. He appeared tired but at the same time frustrated because he needed to get some things off his chest, and he still had a job to do before it was finished. “Because I came down to the lake one day and the colony started to raise itself out of the water and take form.”
“The green ghost we saw?” Sam asked.
Luke stared into the dark water. “Ah, you’ve met one of them?”
“One of them? You mean there’s others?”
“Yes. Not at first, but eventually they multiplied. They liked to mimic things. Soon they were copying my general shape and eventually they were able to perform simple tasks such as creating the shape of my eyes, and face. In the end it was like I was staring at a reflection, albeit a little greener.”
Sam looked at him. He appeared close to tears. “So what went wrong?”
“We needed money. We’d raised our initial capital ourselves. Timothy was one of the worst hit. He had to sell his house to put in his equal share. I think he wanted to ask us for a loan, but had too much pride. Besides, we all thought we were on to something. This was our big break.”
On the horizon Sam watched a shooting star race towards earth. “Okay, so where did you raise the funding to continue? I would have thought with that kind of story you’d have Venture Capitalists trying to throw money at you.”
“No way. Not anymore. Too many broken bridges with nanotechnology. No one was interested. After all, what had we really created? A microscopic machine that could create a single face out of water. No one knew of any particular uses for that. No, we needed to increase the size of the colony so that we could begin progress towards energy production.”
“But someone did fund your research?”
“A friend of ours knew a person who could get us the cash we needed. In fact, they could get us all the funding we would ever need — because they’d just discovered exactly what they could do with machines that made seawater rise and fall into the air.”
“They wanted a weapon!” Sam shook his head.
“Of course they did. If you really want funding for research and development, just tell them that one of the uses of your study will create a weapon. Pity, really. The human race is so predictable.”
“Did you know who was making the offer?”
“No. It was a high tech armaments company. Probably American based, but who knows. Our friend assured us THEY would only sell to friendly countries.”
“You were going to create the world’s most destructive weapon, and you took it on your friend’s word that THEY weren’t going to sell to unfriendly nations?”
Luke stood up and paced a little. He looked uncertain about whether or not he would be allowed to leave the ship. “We just wanted the funding. Per our contract, we were paid for the product. Any other collateral data gathered in the process was a bonus. We kidded ourselves into thinking that we were producing a machine that could power the world, rendering most wars redundant. Wars that, as you know, are fought over energy.”
Sam sighed. “I thought they were fought over religion.”
“No, we just say that so that people accept the craziness better. We don’t blink an eye when a country slaughters its minorities, despite our Christian ideals that America was supposed to be founded on. But if such an atrocity were to affect our pipelines, our oil production, or our gas production — then let’s put boots on the ground.”
Sam had been in Afghanistan. Even if he’d been there for the right reasons, he knew that Luke was telling the truth. Would his government have cared so much, if it hadn’t effected the free flow of oil and gas? “Okay, so you were saving the world at the same time as you were offering the perfect weapon to destroy it.”