revealed the surrounding village of elaborate bungalows. Foundation members didn’t reside in any of the island’s ordinary towns; in the last century few ventured out beyond the heavily guarded perimeter strip. It was a micronation of genetic ideologues, despised by just about everyone, yet continuing to operate under Senate- imposed research restrictions. Restrictions which had grown ever stronger since the establishment of Huxley’s Haven.
Paula was familiar enough with the set-up, though she’d never actually visited before. The notion of walking round the place which conceived her — intellectually and physically — was an experience she simply didn’t want.
Her plane landed on a circular pad by the tower. Long plyplastic petals unrolled from the edges to form a protective shell over her little craft. An astonishingly attractive woman called Ophelia escorted her up to Dr Friland’s office on the top floor of the tower. On the way through the atrium lobby, people stopped and stared at Paula. It was three o’clock in the morning local time; the tower should have been deserted. She was used to attention, but this was akin to religious respect. Some looked like they wanted to bow as she walked past. The effect was unnerving — and she wasn’t used to that feeling at all.
‘You’re the living proof that the concepts for which we stand have been successful,’ Ophelia murmured as they walked into the lift. ‘There have been many sacrifices down the decades, so please excuse their wonder.’
Paula sucked in her cheeks, unable to meet any of the ardent stares as the lift doors slid shut.
According to his file, Justin Friland was born towards the end of the twentieth century. Meeting him in the flesh, Paula couldn’t tell, and she normally prided herself in spotting the tell-tale mannerisms of the truly old. He didn’t have any. His effusive good-nature matched his handsome adolescent appearance perfectly. Like the Foundation members down in the lobby, he gave Paula an incredulous smile as she came into his office.
‘Director, I appreciate you seeing me,’ Paula said. ‘Especially at this time of night.’
‘Not at all, this is an absolute honour,’ he said, shaking her hand too vigorously, and beaming a wide smile.
‘Thank you,’ Paula said gently, and removed her hand from his grip.
‘I spent twenty-five years on Huxley’s Haven helping to establish the birthing centres,’ Justin Friland said. ‘And seeing you here is…’ He spread his arms out. ‘Astonishing. We never thought one of you could adapt to life offworld.’
‘One of
‘Sorry, sorry! It’s just — we took so much shit over the Haven. Even fifty years ago the perimeter here was surrounded by protestors. However, the days of the ten-thousand-strong mob have long gone. We still do have a hard core camped to the side of our main entrance. They’re not…
‘I see.’
‘Please, sit down.’ He hurried over to a wide couch. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘I need information.’
‘Whatever I can provide.’ He was nodding enthusiastically as Paula sat beside him.
‘There is a rumour that the Foundation financed Merioneth’s Isolation.’
‘Not us,’ Friland said emphatically. He brushed some floppy chestnut hair from his forehead. ‘However, the Foundation has undergone considerable schism during the last quarter-century. I now lead what you’d probably call a conservative faction.’
‘What of the other factions?’
He sighed. ‘The person you want to talk to is Svein Moalem.’
Paula gave Friland a surprised look. ‘He’s a Foundation member?’
‘An ex-colleague, yes. Now the leader of the New Immortals.’
‘We didn’t know that. We don’t have access to Merioneth files now.’
‘Wouldn’t have done you any good. The New Immortals have coveted their own planet for some time. They did a lot more than simply finance the Isolation revolution on Merioneth. They infiltrated its civil service quite some time ago. Any records you did access through the unisphere merely say what they want them to say.’
‘And you didn’t feel obliged to tell us this?’
‘Us?’ Justin Friland smiled faintly.
‘The Intersolar Senate. The Serious Crimes Directorate.’
‘Ah. Your government? No. Pardon me, Paula. I wasn’t about to come running to the organization which officially condemned my projects as the work of the devil. Besides, up until they started killing Dynasty members, our Immortal brethren didn’t actually do anything illegal. Political shenanigans are perfectly permissible under our oh-so-liberal Intersolar constitution. Manipulating public data for ideological ends is common practice. I assume you have better statistics than I do on the subject.’
Paula thought about arguing, but decided against. The information might be useful later, if the Directorate decided to press complicity charges against Friland. ‘The New Immortals?’ she asked. ‘I assume it’s a relevant name. What method have they adopted? And why does it need an Isolated world?’
Julian Friland looked distinctly uncomfortable. ‘It’s a modified version of today’s re-life memory succession, which eliminates the requirement to rejuvenate a body.’
‘Thank you. You’ve just told me nothing.’
‘If you suffer bodyloss today, your insurance company grows a clone and downloads your secure memory store into it. Many people regard that as death. It’s a question of continuity, you see. In rejuvenation, your body simply floats in a tank while its DNA is reset. The you which comes out is still the you which went in a year before, so there’s no doubt about originality and identity. What Moalem and his group proposed was operating continuous bodies. A mental relay, if you like, with a personality twinned between an old and young version of the same person.’
‘So when the old physical body dies, the young one carries on.’
‘With continuity intact,’ Friland emphasized. ‘I acknowledge the concept is an elegant one.’
‘Not entirely original,’ Paula said, thinking about the emissions she’d detected coming from Moalem. She frowned, trying to follow the idea through to its conclusion. ‘Surely the two bodies would have to be close together. If they started to diverge, see and react to different things, then the personality would also start to fraction.’
‘Good point. The New Immortals claimed that was actually a desirable outcome. Moalem decided that a singular personality input-point was a primitive notion. The human mind should be able to expand to encompass many bodyforms, all inputting their experiences to the unifying mind.’
‘That has to be unstable. Bipolar disorder and multiple personalities are notoriously erratic.’
‘I’ve been through these arguments so many times with Svein. He maintains that inherent mental illness is completely avoidable in these circumstances; that the human mind can evolve in conjunction with its physical environment. The host personality has to be willing and receptive to change, to want to learn how to be different. He’s probably right.’
‘I’m sorry, I don’t follow. You say the Foundation split because of this? I thought you were all about exploring new forms of human existence.’
‘We are. I set up the Foundation to advance humanity through genetic modification. But change in isolation is not a desirable thing. Hence Huxley’s Haven. Not only are its citizens perfectly adjusted to their jobs, the entire society is designed to be stable so that only the professions and abilities we have allowed for are needed. There are human clerks who make electronics, especially computers, redundant. Engineering is constitutionally fixed to equal early twentieth-century development, so mechanics are capable of performing all repairs, rather than writing software for maintenance bots. It’s a level which was specifically chosen to give everyone a decent quality of life without dependence on cybernetics. Which is what makes Huxley’s Haven a perfectly integrated society. It doesn’t change because there is no requirement for change. That is what Commonwealth citizens found so disturbing, it’s also why it works. Within the Foundation we had a very large debate as to whether we should Isolate it once it was established.’
‘Why didn’t you? A society like that can only be challenged by an outside force, so why risk continued exposure? There are plenty of idealists even today who would like it stopped.’
‘I don’t believe we had the right. Maybe in a few hundred years’ time, the Haven will choose to isolate itself from what the Intersolar Commonwealth will become. Who knows?’
‘And if it starts to fail, you can fix it,’ Paula guessed. He had that kind of egotism.
