Divergence

“The Watcher?” said Maurice. “Why do you want to kill the Watcher?”

“I don’t. Chris told me that I would someday.”

“When did he tell you this?”

“Twelve years ago.”

“How could you possibly do it, anyway? The Watcher was the first AI. It is the most powerful entity known to humankind.” Maurice snorted. “It’s not even as if there is a reason for killing it! You might disagree with its actions, you might find them restrictive, but it’s doing its best. It nurtures humans! Why would you want to kill it?”

“I don’t know. Chris is a powerful AI himself. He wants the Watcher out of the way; he thinks that he has better plans for how humanity should operate. He thinks that I will agree with him someday.”

“Do you think that he’s right?”

“I hope that he’s not. I’ve spent the last twelve years wondering about it. That’s why I ran. I suppose now, at last, I’ll get to find out.”

Edward shook his head. He turned to the new captain of the Eva Rye . “We don’t have to take her, do we, Saskia? Not if she doesn’t want to go?”

Without speaking, Maurice traced a pattern across the surface of his console. Pale gold letters sprang to life in the middle of the living area.

Violation of Contract?

Are you sure you wish to disengage from a Fair

Exchange?

Yes/No ?

Saskia tilted her head forward so that she was looking up at Edward from under her purple-black fringe.

“I don’t think we have any choice, Edward,” she murmured.

maurice 1: 2252

Edward had made surethere were three boiled and three roast potatoes for everyone sitting at the table. Maurice had watched him share them out carefully, counting under his breath as Edward spooned them one by one onto each plate.

So now, as Saskia was pouring gravy onto her cauliflower, Maurice wanted to know why Miss Rose, who still had three boiled and three roast on her plate, was just forking up a fourth roast potato with the evident intention of eating it all at once. Where had she got it from? Maurice was mystified: she did this kind of thing every mealtime, and nobody seemed to notice but him.

“You say the Eva Rye was born on the first of August,” said Judy, interrupting his thoughts. “That’s an odd choice of words.”

“No, it’s a good description,” said Maurice. He brought his attention back to Judy. What was it about the way she gazed at him that he found unnerving? It was the way she studied you as if you were an object, he decided. She would stare at you for a moment and then there would be a flicker of recognition in her face, as if she had remembered what you were: a human, rather than just another piece of furniture. And then that spark of recognition would be replaced by a carefully blank expression. Judy knew that Maurice was watching her. She turned to Saskia.

“You’re not eating, Saskia,” said Judy. “Maybe you can tell me about how you adopted the Fair Exchange software. I’ve heard rumors, but nothing concrete.”

Saskia speared a piece of cauliflower with her fork. “Why do you want to know?” She leaned forward so that her face was hidden again by black curtains of hair.

“Because I find the FE system fascinating,” said Judy. “I have never been on a ship without an AI before, and yet…”

“What?” asked Maurice.

“And yet…I can almost feel the presence of something here on board…” Her voice trailed away to nothing.