The Darwin Project Page 5

  Toby stared at the screen for five—no, it was closer to ten—minutes after the video ended. Nate had provided scant details, enough to tempt him but not enough to help a competitor if the file was released by a hacker into the public domain. He wondered about the security of Nate’s—now his—networks. There were numerous sophisticated hackers with extremely effective software waging war on every country and every business. Another worry.

  He roused himself when he heard Billie’s voice. He’d forgotten to order dinner. They’d be eating late.

  oOo

  Chapter Eight

  Billie quickly organized the forgotten meal delivery, although it was almost an hour later by the time the food arrived. They sat around an informal dining area in a portico that provided a night view of Los Angeles and ate their meal. Toby had discovered a bottle of red wine in Nate’s cellar that he thought would complement the meal. They raised glasses.

  “Here’s to friends,” said Toby. “Thank you for getting here so promptly. And Billie, I’m sure you’re going to be one of our friends, so I’m including you.”

  Billie smiled and nodded her head. Rick looked from Billie to Toby and back. He didn’t comment. Everyone was silent, more or less, as they ate. Rick tried to ask questions about Nate and why Toby wanted his presence, camera and all. Toby refused to answer, saying it was time to eat and then they’d go inside where they would be more secure.

  “Why is security an issue?” Rick questioned.

  “I’ll tell you when we’re secure,” promised Toby. “Billie, tell him why I need a bodyguard and a security firm to protect me, this property.”

  “That’s easy. Rick—those two men at the airport meant harm—to me, to you, perhaps to both of us. Toby’s uncle has disappeared; we don’t know what’s happened to him. Toby is next in line. So we have to protect him. Simple.” She licked gravy from her bottom lip, unaware of the attraction the movement provided to the two men.

  Rick suddenly remembered a young woman he’d left in San Francisco and looked away. Toby shook his head, silently reprimanding himself.

  He said, “That’s as much as we can tell you, out here. The rooms inside are secured against eavesdroppers.”

  “Very well. I’m ready to hear more, so when you’re ready—”

  Ten minutes later they were in the more formal and secure study environment, each with a second glass of wine. The sofas and armchairs were far too comfortable, and Toby felt more like relaxing than talking business.

  He said to Rick, “You know my uncle Nate; you met him a number of times. He’s disappeared. We don’t know if that means he’s dead, that he’s been the victim of foul play, or something else. Maybe he’s taking a long vacation in the Caribbean. We don’t know. He’d made arrangements with his attorney that if he didn’t attend a meeting at the attorney’s office on the first day of each month, his absence gave rise to what Nate called a trigger condition. He missed the last meeting. The result was the attorney contacted me, and I am now in control of Nate’s estate.”

  Rick stared at Toby for a long minute, shock evident on his face. He said, “You’ve had no word since? Your uncle’s still missing?”

  “Unfortunately. It’s more than perplexing. I don’t know whether to mourn Nate or prepare for his return tomorrow.” Toby frowned. “It’s completely thrown me. You know I have no other family—that’s why I need a friend or two, for support.”

  “Oh, man. I’m here. Just tell me what you want me to do.”

  “At this stage, nothing in particular. One thing you need to understand, though. I’m now responsible for Nate’s estate; his manufacturing business, his intellectual property licensing, real estate, everything.”

  “So that’s why”—he indicated Billie—“you have a bodyguard and all.”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh. I thought maybe she—you—”

  “No, Billie is an employee of a security company, and she’s my driver, bodyguard, and I believe, pilot.”

  Billie smiled and sipped a mouthful of wine.

  Rick said, “If I’d known, I wouldn’t have suggested bringing Karla with me. Are you sure that’s okay? Will there really be video work?”

  Toby shrugged. “You might find there are some interesting things to film.”

  “Like those brownshirts earlier, at the airport.”

  Toby raised his eyebrows, and Rick explained, “We were nearly accosted by a couple of thugs. At least that’s what they looked like.”

  Billie said, “Yes, you’re correct. I was also threatened while I was waiting for you.”

  Toby looked from one to the other. “How did you get away without being hurt?”

  Billie shrugged. Rick said, “I think some large cleaner bots pushed them away.”

  “Bots?”

  “Yes,” Billie confirmed. “Rick’s correct—they seemed to be protective. They gave us time to get to the vehicle. I checked. No one followed us.”

  “That raises an interesting point or two,” Toby said. He looked thoughtful. No one interrupted the silence. At last, he continued. “Both of you, Billie, Rick, if you stay with me, help me, work with me—you’re going to encounter things that I want to remain confidential. Billie, for example, you might learn something I don’t want your boss—or anyone else—to know. Rick, same for you. I could get you both to sign a confidentiality agreement—I probably will, anyway. More importantly, I want your promise—your undertaking—to keep anything you learn while with me totally—absolutely—confidential. Do you promise?”

  He turned his attention to his friend first. “Rick? You might lose some of your video work.”

  Rick took a deep breath. He looked his friend in the eye and said, “Toby, I promise. I’ll sign in blood, if necessary.”

  Toby laughed. “Nothing so dramatic.”

  He looked at Billie. “I know you’ll have conflicting interests. Can you promise that if you learn anything while you’re working here with me and Rick, and it doesn’t negatively affect your duties or your employer, you’ll keep it confidential, that you won’t reveal it to anyone outside?”

  Billie said, “As long as it isn’t contrary to my obligations to Drexel and doesn’t put you in danger, yes.”

  “If you identify anything you might want to tell Drexel, please discuss it with me, first. Is that okay?”

  “Yes. I give you my promise.”

  “Excellent. I’ll give you an idea of what I’m now responsible for. According to the papers provided by the attorneys, I’m now responsible for an estate valued in the billions. This will tempt all kinds of people.”

  “I understand,” said Rick. Billie nodded.

  “There’s more,” said Toby. “Apparently, most of the bots you see out there on the streets, in factories, and even here, in this house and other houses, are controlled by hardware manufactured by a company I’m now responsible for.”

  “Jayzuz,” drawled Rick. It was his favorite curse. “I begin to understand.”

  “Me, too,” said Billie. “Drexel told me there was a lot at stake; however, he didn’t mention how much.”

  Toby felt guilty. He had purposely understated the wealth he was now controlling. Or at least, that he would attempt to control. “You shouldn’t be surprised to hear, there’s more. We’re going to visit the chip manufacturing plant. Billie will be our pilot for the trip.”

  “First thing Monday morning. The Cessna will be ready for us,” confirmed Billie.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Out towards Nevada, somewhere in the mountains this side of Death Valley, I believe,” Toby said.

  “Correct,” Billie said. “I’ll show you our flight plan tomorrow, if you like.”

  Both Toby and Rick agreed. Toby said, “There’s more.”

  Rick laughed. “How long is this going to take? Surely you’ll run out of surprises soon?”

  “Both of you—this is one of the items I want to remain private, just between the three of us. Okay?”

&nb
sp; Two heads nodded.

  “Darwin?” Toby raised his voice.

  The androgynous voice replied, “Please clarify your instruction.”

  Toby muttered to Rick, “Computers.” He said in a louder voice, “Darwin, please respond.”

  The now familiar deeper-toned voice said, “Good evening, Toby.”

  “Aah. Thank you. Please display yourself on the main screen.” Toby indicated a fifty-inch screen on the wall close to Rick and Billie. He instructed, “Watch.”

  Rick said, “Certainly.”

  A computer-generated image, of startling color and clarity, formed on the curved screen. It was a beach scene with a deep blue sky, golden sands, a slow rolling surf, and three or four coconut trees in the foreground. A hammock was swinging slowly between two of the trees. A large sand crab scurried across soft sands, and a pelican, apparently bored, looked on. A hand hung over the side of the hammock, clasping a can of beer; beads of moisture formed small rivulets down its sides.

  The voice continued, “I was planning to relax, you know.”

  Toby smiled. “Darwin, I’d like you to meet two friends. I suspect you already know Billie, and this is my friend, Rick Steynes. They’ll both be assisting me, and I need them each to have maximum security clearance.”

  A face appeared over the side of the hammock followed by the rest of the body of a young man, blond-haired, suntanned, dressed in vividly colored Hawaiian shirt and shorts. He was barefoot. “Really? You want me to do some work?”

  “Yes, please.”

  “Hold on a moment.” Darwin reached into the depths of the hammock and withdrew a keyboard. He looked around and identifying his destination, walked over to a deck chair shaded by another coconut tree. The camera followed. He sat down and with the keyboard ready, said, “What did you want me to do?”

  “Give Billie Nile and Rick Steynes each a security clearance that will enable them to work with me as my deputies.”

  Darwin typed rapidly on the keyboard. “I’ve added images, a limited amount of biometrics; we’ll get fingerprints and DNA samples later. Oh, and I’ve added police records. Billie, tell me you didn’t drive a vehicle at your commanding officer?”

  Billie smiled and sipped the last of her wine. Toby said, “Yes, I know all about Billie’s misadventure.”

  Darwin continued, “And you, Rick—you danced nak—”

  “Er, yes, and I think Toby has heard about that, as well.”

  “Hmm. Very well. You are both added to the system. You have access at one level below Toby. Is that all?”

  “No,” Toby replied. “I want to inform them both about you.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “Yes. They are my deputies, as I said. They’ll undoubtedly be working with you in future.”

  “Please confirm your instruction.”

  “I authorize Rick and Billie to act as my deputies.”

  “Good. If it all goes pear-shaped, when your uncle returns, I’ll replay that instruction.”

  “Have you discovered anything about Nate?” Toby asked.

  “Unfortunately, no. If and when I do, I’ll immediately inform all of you.”

  “Good. Now please secure this room against any listening or video devices. “

  “Done.”

  Toby looked at his two friends and said, “Billie, Rick. Listen to me. Darwin is not a real person. He’s a superintelligence designed by Nate and developed using Darwin’s predecessor programs and a series of various levels of artificial and superintelligences.”

  “Damn,” Rick said.

  “Are you sure? He looks very real to me,” Billie demurred.

  “Yes. Okay, he’s using a very sophisticated CGI program to provide the beach setting in this display. Don’t be confused; he doesn’t have a body.”

  “Yet,” added Darwin.

  “Yet,” Toby confirmed.

  “So what’s a superintelligence?” Billie asked.

  “I was also wondering that,” Rick added.

  “Let me think how to explain this. Artificial Intelligence or AI is used to describe a computer system that is able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. An AI can see, hear, respond to questions, and generally engage in a conversation. There’s a test, called the Turing Test, which was developed in the 1950s and was intended to establish if a computer is displaying intelligence. Basically, if a system exhibits behavior so that you think it is a person, it can be described as artificial intelligence. So, if you engage in conversation with a computer system or program and you cannot tell it’s not human, it has passed the Turing Test. However, that test is somewhat discounted now, as it is very easy to obtain the result without achieving artificial intelligence.”

  “What about superintelligence?” Rick asked.

  “You saw Darwin on his desert island? He certainly passed the Turing Test—I’m sure you thought you were seeing and hearing a real person. There’s a second level test involving creativity, called the Lovelace Test. Darwin, while pretending to be a person, has had articles and short stories published; that indicates creativity. He wants to complete the creativity assessment and at the moment can only use software. He’d like to do some painting—you know, with easel, canvas, brushes, and oils or water colors.”

  “You omitted an important point,” Darwin said.

  “Yes?”

  “A superintelligence is defined as being more intelligent than humans.”

  Toby said to Rick and Billie, “Darwin’s IQ, according to notes written by Nate, is well over 200.”

  “It was measured a year ago. I scored very high in logic, analysis, mathematics, and similar assessment areas. Nate marked me down—rightly so—in categories requiring intuition and creativity. I’ve improved since, substantially, in all categories.”

  “Congratulations. Do you have a new result?” Toby asked. His two companions were listening with an intensity he had not seen them previously display.

  “Only my own assessment, using the same approach Nate used. He had the assistance of a psychology professor who I’d like to ask to reassess me.”

  “I approve that.”

  “Thank you, Toby. What about my earlier request?”

  Toby didn’t answer immediately. After a couple of seconds he turned to Billie and Rick and said, “Darwin, as I said, wants to do some painting. He needs hands—or some way to manipulate the brushes, paints, and so forth. He wants me to help him move into a body, which is something that needs to be designed and manufactured. What do you think?”

  “I—I really don’t know enough to have a valid opinion,” Billie replied after some hesitation.

  Rick said, “I’m partly in agreement with Billie. However, if it can be done, can you justify refusing to help Darwin achieve his objective?”

  The discussion between Rick, Billie and Toby continued long into the night. Toby had earlier excluded Darwin on the basis he had only one perspective. Nevertheless, he thought Darwin still was listening.

  Rick extended his line of thought. “I mean, if you knew a person like Darwin, you’d help them improve. If they needed surgery, you’d arrange for it. If they needed education, you’d send them to a facility with suitable teachers. I don’t see any difference.”

  Toby thought Rick had been influenced by the reality show of the CGI-based tropical island. He had to admit, Darwin had produced a convincing piece of theater.

  “Very well,” Toby said. “I’ll agree to Darwin exploring the issues, if he hasn’t already done so. There are some challenging technical problems for him to solve. The most significant one is how does he create and install a brain in an artificial body? The second part of that is how does he upload his computer-based personality into that brain?”

  “The body needs to be human-like,” added Billie. “It can’t be some kind of lumbering monster, fifty feet tall.”

  “I’ll add another issue we need to consider,” said Toby. “Rick, I trust you. I suppose I’m taking you, Billie, on faith, b
ut I trust you, too. You wouldn’t have been Nate’s chauffeur and bodyguard, if he hadn’t considered you trustworthy. I agreed that Rick could bring his friend, Karla, to join him here. I’m not sure I’ll be able to include her in some of our discussions and activities, though.”

  Rick raised his head as though to ward off criticism. “I didn’t know—yes, I do now. However, Karla has resigned from the production company and expects to come here. Should I try to change that? I’ll feel a complete heel if we decide against her coming.”

  “Understandable,” Billie agreed. “I’d be pissed if I was Karla.”

  “For now, continue as planned,” Toby said. “We’ll be cautious. She may realize there are areas where we are excluding her. I think we’ll have to work around that. It’s probably my last word on the topic. I cannot give Karla the same security level that you both have, simply because she’s your friend.”

  “I agree. We’ll work around it somehow. She knows that you and I were at high school and college together and that we’ve been friends for a long time.”

  “Good. It’s late. I want to spend tomorrow working on more of Nate’s paperwork, so it means an early start. Billie, I’m not planning on any outings, although we may head out for meals. That reminds me—I need a housekeeper. Does Drexel have anyone who might suit, who has an acceptable security level? Check with him tomorrow, please. Rick, you know your room—I’ll see you both in the morning. The pool will be open at 7 a.m.”

  Toby walked with Billie out of the sitting room. The house had five bedrooms on the second floor, which was the direction Billie was heading. Toby had a suite, a copy of his uncle’s, in a separate wing on the first floor. He looked back—Rick was talking on his cell phone. He wondered whether Darwin would track the call. He also wondered why Darwin was unable to track Nate. There was something strange about that omission.