Asunder Chapter 21

Chapter 5.1 (21)

The Man in Reverse

The Oneirologist

“Suffering a carnal state satiates the worthless, but I suppose I cannot judge, as I had also lost all self-restraint. I just wish I had not lost my faith.” - Ether Conwight

- 249 years before the present day -

- The year 2039 -

- Age 29 -

With the presentation of a lifetime about to begin, Balthazar gathered his schematics and handwritten notes and slowly approached the podium. He still preferred pencil and paper in a world of holograms and digital screens. As a child, his parents had not allowed him to use the enumerable screens, tablets, and cell phones all the other children readily used and played with. Instead, his parents preferred he read books and focus on studying rather than waste time and energy on digital games.

Ultimately, Azar attributed much of his current success to the way his parents raised him. His family had immigrated to the United States of America from Egypt when he was a child. With this immigrant status came the integration of the nuances of their culture and their strict religious observances not-so-subtly integrated into their lives in America. All of these variables invariably instilled values he still carried with him to this day. Though he had not practiced Islam in years, he still refrained from alcohol, course language, and idleness. This peculiarity in cultural norms set him apart from his colleagues. When they set out to the bars after class and lab, he put his nose to the grindstone, keeping the same nose buried in a book.

Eventually, his way of life and his dedication to his research inspired the life-changing conversation between Azar and the infamous Senator Hayward at a government Christmas party years back. These government higher-ups convinced Azar to enter the world of secretly funded research. Now, he held the title of lead Oneirologist for the government-funded military research firm SIDEREAL - Sleep Induced Dream Engineering for the Requisite Establishment of Artificial Limbicity. All in all, the research firm was just a facade—a shell corporation created by the government to keep the wanton eyes of the media fixated on specific aspects of their research while keeping the rest hidden deep within the confines of a high-security vault—Azar’s mind.

The public mission statement of this shell corporation rang some truth to the research—”We strive to create a genuine artificial human brain through means of mapping active neural communications of the sleeping mind.” Their research claimed to have discovered that the sleeping mind could communicate over long distances by emitting, as well as receiving and interpreting, gravitational waves and links in spacetime through micro-Einstein-Rosen bridges. This was, in fact, a massive breakthrough, and as much as the government wished they were the ones who discovered it and also wished they could keep it secret from the public, it was public sector knowledge and had been for years.

In reality, their mission statement was a facade, a false cover to conceal SIDEREAL’s true motives. The corporation’s true purpose was to act as a secret government intelligence agency. To aid in spying on other nations through the process of dreamlinking. The agents within the shell corporation actively dreamlinked over long distances with other people to discover secrets and information about their government. It was essentially “Oneirologic Espionage.” In dreams, these highly trained agents acted as though they were only a creation of the person's mind, pretending to be a passerby or background being, not critical to the dream but appearing apparent enough to express information to the one dreaming.

The work Azar performed nowadays was much more involved than what Senator Hayward had first insinuated it would be. But at this point, with Azar’s complete immersion in the governmental body, he knew far too much. There was no backing out now. His family had received too many new comforts in life. Not only had his family greatly benefited from his dedication to the work, but Azar himself had become quite successful. He had been a Nobel Prize nominee in physics for his research proving the theory of the relation between “neural pathway waves” and “gravitational waves.” The same study also inherently discovered the quantum mechanics behind “experience” and “perception” and their relevance to the influx and efflux of spacetime. In fact, these accomplishments led to his invitation to speak at today’s 2039 International Conference of Quantum Mechanics.

Azar checked the time on his wristwatch and looked out at the crowd. His agent expected nearly 2000 people to attend the meeting. Instead, it appeared way more than that were already there, waiting for his lecture. Not a single seat was empty, and many guests seemed to sit against the back wall or in the aisles. He knew many of the faces. Most were his colleagues, reporters, and even his competitors.

He grabbed the stack of papers before him, leveled the pile against the hard surface of the podium, and smoothed them out under the reading lamp he had requested. The room lights began to dim, signifying the lecture was soon to begin. The music cued, and the visual spectacle erupted with a confluence of stars zooming through the audience and music filling the room.

The audience cooed and gasped at the grandeur enveloping them. Azar was not one to create these menageries, but the Public Relations department at SIDEREAL insisted on it. They clearly hadn’t understood the simplicity of a scientific research presentation. Those scientists in the audience who doubted his theories and research reveled in the theatrics, further enriching their doubt. They knew how to see through the cacophony of colors and graphics into the raw data he would present. He knew the overdramatized display the company’s board of directors and his agent devised would not easily trick those scientists in the crowd as it would the reporters and laypersons who attended.

The calm female voice recited the script of how the universe came to be. Where humankind evolved from, and what we would evolve to become. She explained the existence of space-time, the creation of Einstein-Rosen bridges, and how the minds of humankind could access these quantum portals and connections. The imagery ended with a fireworks display of neurons firing and a loud procession of orchestral strings waining into the faded distance of reverberations.

“Ahem,” Azar’s throat clearing echoed throughout the theater hall.

“My name is Dr. Balthazar Gutien. Thank you for coming this evening. I always get nervous before giving presentations. I’ve done it for years, but it never changes. Before coming here tonight, I was discussing my presentation with my wife, and I asked her for her advice on overcoming my anxiety. She said to me: ‘Don’t try to be charming, witty, or intellectual… instead, just be yourself’.“

A light chuckle peppered through the audience.

“I assure you I will only be my boring old self, which should carry well with the other scientists in the room. My wife asked me the other day about physicists. She wondered how many physicists it would take to change a light bulb. I responded Eleven; one to do it and ten to co-author the paper.” A more spurious laugh emanated from the audience this time.

“Tonight, I will discuss a fairly hot topic, ‘Gravity Shadows’.” He spoke the last word slowly to create a more dramatic effect. “There is much speculation about its authenticity, but my research team at SIDEREAL labs has just proven their existence.” A murmuring erupted, and he waited for the low rumble of voices and whispers to die down some.

“Allow me to explain for those of you who are unfamiliar with Gravity Shadows. From my previous research, we have proven our brains emit quantum-gravitational waves. These waves can be received by another human’s gravity receptors within the amygdala and interpreted subconsciously. This theory was first proven by Dr. Seeder’s lab in the Netherlands, using the Twin Logic model. Times when we experience this emission and reception process occur in two ways. One is when you experience an episode of DejaVu.” Images of the human brain and expertly edited videos played behind him while he spoke.

“The proof of Deja Vu was first described by Lothwin et al. in Vancouver as a malfunction in the perception process, where one accidentally receives their own emission of quantum-gravitational waves and causes a perception of reliving a previously experienced moment.”

As the words came out of his mouth, he knew he was lying. He had to reassure himself it was better the world had not known what DejaVu really was, and so he continued, gratifying his conscience. He would at least imbed the subsequent explanation with some truth.

“The human brain’s second emission and reception of quantum-gravitational waves occur while dreaming. Our models predicted the hippocampus can emit quantum-gravitational waves based on an emotional response. The initiation of REM sleep lowers the threshold for the reception of patterns via neurochemical inhibition by acetylcholine, as well as concurrent neuromodulation by the GABA-like neurotransmitter Gravistem.” he could start to see the eyes of many of the reporters begin to glaze over while instead, the eyes of the scientists lit up.

“Via microgravity receptors and particle acceleration models, we were able to prove these perception thresholds actually create subatomic Einstein-Rosen bridges. This door in the sleeping mind is much like the slight opening of a dam. Causing bosons and top quarks to squeeze through, thus triggering information perceived by the hippocampus, much like the old quantum computers of 2028.” Whispering erupted throughout the audience. Likely, the reporters were asking each other what bosoms and top quarks were, while instead, the scientists were likely whispering about the evidence to prove such a statement.

“This information trigger is perceived as a communication, or what we call a Shadow. It is information left behind by a strong emotional event. The stronger the emotional event, the larger the amount of data. Much like the wider you open a faucet, the more water leaks from it or even sprays forth if opened wide enough.” Confused looks began to cross the faces of most of the audience.

“The first gravity shadow ever recorded was after the massacre of Lisbon. Soon after the event, gravity sensors at the University of Lisbon erupted with mass amounts of data. At the same time, the department of Oneirology in Lisbon experienced a giant uptick of Seer events, indicating the local dreamers were experiencing an influx of contacts.” He knew the reporters came for this information, so he spoke slowly and directly.

“With this, we speculated, when human acts create strong emotional reactions, there is created, in the event, numerous quantum-gravitational neurowaves by one or more experiencers, thus producing ‘Gravity Shadows’.” He understood the implications of the comment as he spoke it. This part was where many would find the argument less believable.

“Thus, dreamers can access these gravity shadows. Accessed, in a way, they could communicate with the shadows left behind. Therefore, accessing the memory of the event is much like a time stamp. Where these dreamers can communicate with those individuals within the memory.”

A combined gasp echoed throughout the hall, and immediately, chatter boiled over his explanation. He continued raising his voice, which caused the talking to lower to hushed tones. The implications of this were beyond what he wanted. They chose to present the data as though the event were only a memory when, in fact, they were actually communicating with the dead, thus proving the very existence of the human soul. He wondered, though, if many in the audience could see through the explanation and understand what he was suggesting.

“The proof of Gravity Shadows, at this point, is beyond a shadow of a doubt, no pun intended, and thus, SIDEREAL labs has created an entire research department looking into the application of such information. With the help of computer analysis and mathematical interpretation, we can pinpoint the exact location of a strong emotional event and, therefore, eventually access the specific event.”

The music kicked back on, and clips played of scientists researching in lab coats and police arresting criminals—all the things a local and even world audience would eat up. The rest was the art of entertainment. This pantomime of a presentation was what he was there for—to satiate the masses. None of this was new to him.

They, in the government, had spent the past decade using Gravity Shadows to locate war criminals, terrorists, and cartels—however, recent information leaked to the press from a whistleblower, created concern within the department. The PR department quickly decided to present the data to the public first. Otherwise, the public would find out from other sources and risk exposing the entire secret program. Here, they had control. They could spin the data as needed.

The morality of altering the findings ate away at Azar. As a scientist, he was a purist. But ultimately, he knew it was necessary. Having dabbled in politics in his younger years, and after getting his Master’s Degree in chemistry and neuroscience and his eventual Doctorate in Oneirology, he understood both worlds and was likely why he was the best to play this part—the part of the deceiver.

The audiovisuals concluded, and the audience erupted into a cacophony of applause and yells from reporters. Guards quickly ushered him off-stage to avoid any questions. He hated being the face of the research and not being allowed to answer questions. His agent told him it was to protect his image and his research when, in reality, he knew it was to protect the company.

As he entered the hall behind the stage, he unexpectedly stumbled upon the company’s investors and board of directors, standing in a line, each applauding him on his presentation and latest discovery. The unexpected visit irked him, but more than anything, their presence created an unsettling feeling within his stomach. The event must have been more critical than he realized. They clearly were banking on the presentation’s success. Most of the exorbitantly wealthy men and women before him knew the presentation was a facade, but many had not looked any further as it all lined their pocketbooks handsomely.

He followed the motions, giving his falsely exteriorized greetings to each board member. Each one had their own individual filth, unique to them—a filth covered by suede and cologne. Rotting souls walking in polished bodies, their smiles attempted to hide the greed consuming their eyes.

Upon reaching the end of the line, the other board members had already begun slinking off back to their helicopters and limousines to escape the grips of the reporters. In contrast, the last and newest board member, whom Azar had yet to meet, stood silently waiting at the end of the hallway. He was not as quick to greet Azar as the others. His smug coolness exuded even more in person than Azar had seen on the news. Colin Ricci, the CEO of Solutronics, was a young entrepreneur. This MIT grad claimed to be on the verge of creating not only a perfectly renewable energy source but a completely free-thinking artificial intelligence—an AI who could not only feel and express emotions but simultaneously solve mathematical theorems, create independent pieces of art, and even experience love.

Azar approached the man, who stood tall and thin and wore a blazer over his vintage t-shirt and jeans. The man smoked a filtered cigarette and stood with his arms folded, clearly waiting for Azar. He looked like someone straight from a Camel Light cigarette commercial from the 1990s. The ember of the cigarette created a red glow across the man’s cleanly shaven face and reflected off his sunglasses, which he felt the need to wear indoors.

“Well, if it isn’t the man of the hour,” a smooth voice emitted from the darkness. “It’s nice to finally meet you,” Colin’s image emerged from the shadow, completely revealed by an overhanging lamp. He put his hand out and shook Azar’s hand.

“It’s nice to finally meet you as well, Mr. Ricci,” Azar responded dryly.

“Oh good!” Colin’s voice perked up and reached around Azar, half hugging him, “I wasn’t sure if you knew who I was.”

“I don’t think there is a person on this planet who doesn’t know who you are,” Azar admitted.

“Haha, good one!” He laughed.

“Let me tell you something. I have been following your research closely for years.” Still, with the cigarette between his fingers, he tapped Azar’s chest as he spoke. Azar looked down, half disgusted by the billowing smoke in his face.

“Oh, sorry!” Colin said. He quickly threw the cigarette on the ground and stamped it out with the toe of his leather boots.

“I really gotta quit those things.”

“I thought they were illegal?” Azar coughed.

“Well, true, but so are many things. Gotta live on the edge a little if you know what I mean?” He nudged Azar with his elbow as he retrieved a stick of gum from his blazer pocket and gestured to Azar to have one.

“Want one?”

“No, I am fine, Mr. Ricci.” Azar continued slowly walking. Colin caught back up to him with a bit of a skip in his step. Clearly, the man retained an absurd amount of pent-up energy.

“Let me ask you something, Doctor, what are your thoughts on dreamlinking?” Colin spoke with a hint of eagerness—as to purposely startle Azar.

Azar stopped in his tracks, gripping his papers tighter.

“It is just a theory. And even if it were real, it would be highly immoral, Mr. Ricci.” Azar’s mind reeled. The government had made Azar swear an oath to never speak of dreamlinking outside the lab, and yet here was one of the board members, blatantly putting Azar at risk. At the same rate, Senator Hayward told Azar the board members were oblivious to the sector they used to dreamlink anyway. How had Colin found out about it?

“Hmm,” Colin shrugged smugly. “That’s not what I’ve heard. I know a guy who knows a guy who knew a guy who dreamlinked once with a dreamer he knew pretty well. That being said, there are only a handful of dreamers in the world capable of such a thing.” He raised his eyebrows and looked at Azar.

Azar’s heart beat rapidly in his chest. A film of perspiration whelmed up along his brow.

“What are you implying, Mr. Ricci?” Azar spoke softly between gritted teeth.

“Oh, nothing, Dr. Gutien. It would just be interesting to learn a little more about these research projects you are conducting.” He put his hands in his pockets and childishly kicked at the ground.

“You are given full access to all of my research as a board member, Mr. Ricci, so I am quite confused by your question.” The tempered anger rose in his voice.

“Let’s just say I have a few projects in mind I’d be curious to have you look over. Dream over if needs be.” He portrayed a face of ignorance.

“I’m also presenting my patent to Congress next week. You know, of the AI programming I designed. I was hoping you’d take a look at schematics and algorithms. The committee requires I have an expert in the field look them over, and they recommended you. They are near perfect, if I do say so myself, and the mock trials have shown complete independent consciousness.” He proudly straightened his blazer.

Was this blackmail? 

What was he trying to accomplish here?

He obviously knew of Azar’s ability to dreamlink, but was he implying he would reveal this to the world if Azar didn’t approve his schematics?

“And what if I find a discrepancy?” Azar retorted back.

“Then I believe you would be the first.” The man eyed him suspiciously, then continued, “But don’t worry, Azar,” Colin smiled wryly, “Your secret is safe with me.” He winked and then pulled away.

“If you find something wrong, I’d like to be the first to know. But I assure you, you won’t. The schematics are flawless. I think even you will be surprised to find this is the case.” Colin carried himself surprisingly more seriously now.

“Won’t the committee find this to be a breach of etiquette? You just became the lead investor in SIDEREAL. Don’t they think I will be compromised as I work for you now?” Azar tried to find a way out of his current predicament.

“They were the ones who offered your expertise,” Colin smiled.

“Also, they have looked into your investment profiles, which show no connection to Solutronics. They also want you to sign a waiver preventing you from ever buying stock in Solutronics or any of its other subsidiaries.”

He leaned in closer, “Don’t worry, they have no clue as to the true mission statement of your research endeavors. Your government projects are kept deeply under wraps.” He winked at Azar.

Azar was unsure which was more disconcerting: Congress expecting him to approve or disapprove the largest project deal from the largest company in the world or the owner of the same company knowing far too much about his involvement in Project Ensign and its secret missions. All of it had made him nauseous, and he wished he had never encountered Colin Ricci and his tobacco-tainted breath.

Colin nudged him on the shoulder.

“Remember, your secret is safe with me.”

§

Azar sat at his desk, slowly looking over the schematics Colin had sent. He was right. It was perfect. Colin found a way within the axiomatic systems to overcome Russel’s Paradox and thus overcome the inevitable contradictions preventing artificial intelligence from learning to learn and theorize independently, unrestricted by Cantor’s diagonalization argument. The smug trillionaire likely didn’t figure it out himself but instead had an army of peons working around the clock to make him look like the most intelligent person in the world.

Azar had to hand it to him, though. It seemed flawless. The CEO had set the proper limitations in place. Multiple mathematical workarounds allowed the intelligence to work within this mainframe of restrictive laws. Funny how the laws of a science fiction author, Isaac Asimov, from nearly a hundred years prior, were used as the foundational laws of artificial intelligence:

1. An artificial intelligence may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. An artificial intelligence must obey orders given by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. An artificial intelligence must protect its existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Colin Ricci, or rather his scientists, had sewn the rules directly within the framework of the algorithms and programming. It indeed was a work of art. The only key missing was an arc source. The arc source would have to provide the perpetual power needed to sustain immense amounts of information flowing within a single entity without overheating. The schematics showed the containment of the AI mainframe within the skeleton of an anthropomorphic body. Still, Azar was unaware of any power source strong enough to fuel such an immense amount of computing without taking up at least an entire room.

As he thought this, Azar flipped through Colin’s submitted documents and stumbled upon the answer in a series of reports and experiments.

The beginning of the file consisted of clippings from the journal International Geological Survey and Application and information from a Paraguayan news source, both sources reporting on a rare ore discovered in Paraguay. The reports defined the ore as a natural alloy of Niobium-Osmium. Scientists found that it acted as an unconventional superconductor. Even without being refined, the ore could not only conduct a current without resistance, but it could conduct trillions of variable currents without overheating—remarkably working at elevated temperatures rather than near absolute zero. The journal had named the ore, Caerulum, and considered the endless application of the ore, especially when it came to powering microquantum computers.

The language of the article was sometimes challenging to understand, but Azar comprehended the gist of what it implicated. There finally was a superconductor out there strong enough to power this AI Colin had created.

After flipping through more articles, Azar stumbled upon a news clipping deep within the attachments of one of the files titled, “Discovery of new ore, found by a local tribesman.”

The report contained a picture of a local tribesman standing beside a tall Caucasian male in military uniform. The report contained text written in Guaraní, the local language spoken among the tribes of the Pilcomayo River in Paraguay. Someone had printed an italicized English translation below the text, and so Azar read on:

“Sepe Barrios, a local Simba man, highly regarded as a Guaraní Katui, was the first to discover the new Ore. Sepe states he had a dream in which his ancestors showed him the location of the Ore. He stated when he went to the cave his ancestors in the dream guided him to, he could see the Ore glowing brightly within the surrounding rock. When others arrived to investigate the cave, they could not see the same glowing substance Sepe saw. However, once Sepe and his friends had excavated the area, the ore was sent to the nearby National University of Asunción, where it was analyzed. Soon after, European investors drew attention to the site, and now the area is closed to the public.”

Another attachment icon appeared next to the article's title, and the link took him to a journal article in the Paraguayan Journal of High-Energy Physics. Throughout the text, multiple lines appeared highlighted, drawing his eyes to a section within the discussion:

“The Meissner Superconductivity Effect created by the newfound Ore creates a profound Higgs Mechanism reaction, enough to increase the mass of the Higgs bosons surrounding the ore.”

Azar somewhat understood the physics of the article so he continued reading.

“This effect further increases the mass of its associated gravitons, which alters the gravitational pull of the mass around the ore. We believe this gravitational effect was strong enough to create a gravity shadow, and thus we theorize this is how the tribesman was able to sense the presence of the Ore.”

Azar’s heart skipped a beat—Gravity Shadow. This was the reason Colin wanted to look further into Azar’s research. He was trying to find a connection between Gravity Shadows and this superconductor of his. Azar quickly scanned the rest of the document and shut the tablet down. He needed to contact Senator Hayward and let him know a fox was guarding the henhouse, and they likely didn’t have much time before someone leaked something much more enticing to the press.