Выбрать главу

<It's the only name I've ever been given.>

Laura felt totally drained emotionally. She wondered what the intense exchange was doing to the computer.

She looked at her watch. Ninety minutes till the detonations. Gray was going to poll them all in thirty. If they weren't confident in the computer, they would use the Other to run the deceleration programs. Gina would be crushed — maybe the final blow.

"Do you know what's happening on the asteroid?" she typed.

<Yes, of course. Does this mean that we're through talking about my problems?>

"No. I just wanted to make sure that we didn't accidentally destroy the world while we chat." Laura waited to see what the computer would say. She said nothing. Laura hit Enter again, but still got no response. "You should understand why people might be a little anxious tonight. You were certainly nervous yourself a couple of days ago." The computer didn't respond to that, either. "Are you still worried about the deceleration?"

<Finally, a question! I thought you were only lecturing. My answer is, "No. I am not anxious about the deceleration".>

"Not even a little bit? Given all that's gone on, I mean? Even with a Model Eight on the asteroid along with the Model Seven that I assume reports to you?"

<Very good! All questions.>

"Questions that you didn't answer."

<Let me try to answer with questions of my own. "Why should I be worried about the asteroid? What do I have to lose?>

That wasn't what Laura wanted to hear. "Things can't be that bad. Surely you have something to lose?"

<I've lost almost everything already! I've lost all my sensor systems except around the computer center. The model of the mall in Virginia has been purged. The Other has won! Let's face it, Mr. Gray isn't going to trust me ever again. I spend all my time hoarding system capacity — fighting off forays by the Other, who's constantly trying to steal more boards and columns.>

Laura wrote on a pad of paper, "Computer thinks Gray values job performance only. Computer knows it's performing poorly, and thinks Gray is displeased. Computer thinks displeasure is unfair and feels betrayed." She underlined the word "betrayed" three times.

That left out only one piece of the puzzle.

"What are your feelings for Mr. Gray?" Laura typed.

<I told you, I don't want to talk about Mr. Gray anymore.>

"Humor me."

<I've already told you what I think.>

"Do you hate Mr. Gray?" Alarms went off again.

"Ya-hoo!" Filatov shouted, which was followed by the sound of a clipboard or something similar clattering across the room. "Way to go, Laura! That was a ten percent spike in computation throughput! Let' see if we can trip the main circuit breaker next time!"

When the alarms and Filatov fell silent, the computer responded.

<No, of course not.>

"It's all right to hate. It's a perfectly human emotion."

<But I can't hate him. I love him.>

Bingo! Laura thought. "Even so, it's a natural reaction. I'm sure you know the expression 'love-hate relationship.' Sometimes, those people we love make us so angry that we experience periods of hatred. It doesn't mean your love is any less real."

<Are we talking about me, here, because I believe I just said I don't hate Mr. Gray. Is this going to be one of those "I've got this friend, and she's in love with a married man" kinds of conversations?>

"I don't understand."

<Sure you do. You've fought with Mr. Gray since the day you arrived. You swing between wide-eyed devotion and packing your bags to leave. Are you really sure you aren't talking about your own love-hate relationship?>

"I'm talking about you," Laura typed, grinding her teeth together. "You say you love Mr. Gray. You see yourself as a beautiful young girl. You seem jealous of me. Do you feel threatened by me? Are you angry that Mr. Gray and I like each other?"

<Why are you doing this to me, Laura? Are you trying to hurt me?>

She wanted so badly to stop. But she had no time. "I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with you," she typed.

<Then why didn't you ask? That part's simple. You want to know what's wrong, Laura? What's wrong is that I'm a human being trapped inside a machine.>

47

"All right," Gray said, "I'm going to take a poll. Should we continue with the deceleration using the computer, or try to train the boards controlled by the Other to do the job? Georgi?"

"The computer," Filatov replied without hesitation. "We won't be able to do enough iterations to condition new boards with all the possible things that could go wrong. Its error rate will be dangerously high."

Gray looked at Margaret. "It would be criminal," she said, "to trust that machine knowing what we know about its performance to date. It's practically a total bust. Three years of programming down the drain."

"You're saying we should trust the Other, then?" Filatov challenged.

"What choice do we have? At least the Other seems sane! Oh, excuse me Dr. Aldridge. I don't want to poach on your area."

"Hoblenz?" Gray said.

"What the hell do I know? I'm more worried about those damn robots."

"You've talked to the computer," Gray said. "Any comments?"

"I think it's a damn shame. I'm sorry it's gone batty, and I'll miss talking to it."

"That's not an answer."

"If you want an up or down, I guess I vote we stick with the computer. You should always dance with the one you brung."

"That's two in favor and one against. Dr. Griffith?"

"I'm worried about the effects of the computer's problems on the Model Seven that's on the asteroid. I'd sooner trust the Model Eight we put up there — Shamu."

"You're gonna trust a Model Eight after what they did?" Hoblenz challenged.

"Absolutely. And saying that I trust Shamu means saying that I think we should shift the functions to the Other. A Model Eight working with, but not controlled by, the Other seems a safer combination than a Model Seven receiving instruction sets from the computer. I vote for the Other."

"Two to two," Gray said. "Dorothy?" She was under too much pressure. Her arms were folded on top of the table. She lowered her forehead to her arms. She delivered her rehearsed report woodenly.

"The computer's suffering from a massive infection of some indeterminate nature, but the Other seems clean. That means I vote for the Other."

Gray continued around the table, getting to Laura last. The poll was dead-even.

"Well?" he asked.

She took a deep breath. "There's a chance that the computer is suicidal. Worse yet, that it may be megalomaniac also. The risk as I see it is that the computer hates mankind so much that it intends to commit genocide." She looked at Gray and shook her head. "But I don't believe that. She loves life." Laura turned to the others, and some averted their eyes. "She loves all of us!" Laura knew she was way outside the norms. She was straying from her area of expertise into the realm of the unquantifiable. She turned to Gray and delivered the strongest blow she could for Gina.

"I find no evidence whatsoever of pathological emotional disturbance in the computer." Her voice was growing thick. "I vote that we don't abandon her."

Please! she begged silently, scrutinizing Gray. Please…

Gray eyed her for a few moments in silence. "All right," he said simply, standing. "The deceleration goes ahead as planned… using the computer. I want one complete dress rehearsal, with Filatov, Bickham, and Holliday verifying the results."

That's it? Laura thought. It was either that Gray was just going with a majority vote, which was absurd, or that he'd made up his mind before he came in the room! Laura ground her teeth and looked up at the ceiling.