The simulation vanished. Margaret was once again alone onstage.
'We may never know what caused the Minds and their Keepers to strike the first blow in the Autonomous Revolt,' she said. 'Were the Minds acting in collusion to exterminate the human race, as some have suggested? Or was the sabotage of Yu a power grab by the Ecumenical Council of New Alamo? Did the cloned soldiers of the Allahu Akbar Emirates have an agenda of their own?
'The ultimate truth lay buried beneath the rubble of eight continuous years of war, along with the empty burned-out husks of the Autonomous Minds.
'Humanity's cult of the god had ended.
'The consequences of our ancestors' folly? Nearly two billion dead and the great nation-states of antiquity left in ruins.
'During the Big Divide which followed, the elaborate technologies of our ancestors were gradually forgotten- forgotten, or sabotaged by Luddite mobs intent on destroying all that the Minds had touched. The triumphant engineering works of our ancestors gradually fell into disrepair. New Alamo descended into murderous fundamentalism, the Allahu Akbar Emirates disintegrated, the Chinese Territories and the Democratic American Collective vanished into irrelevance.'
A panoply of still pictures now floating about the auditorium, portraits of an age. Skeletal cities. Haggard mobs with makeshift uniforms marching through city streets. Smoke rising from pyres fueled by the gnarled carcasses of inventors and scientists. Demagoguery, fanaticism, starvation. The corpse of a child.
Margaret continued: 'And so the surviving nations bowed down before the whims of the mob. Strict anti- technology laws appeared around the globe. The innovators of the age had to present their discoveries on bended knee to the moralists and functionaries and politicians who used the fears of the masses to cling to power. Works of the ancient programmers and physicists moldered in decaying books and unreadable discs written on dead machines.
'Science was on the cusp of extinction. Humanity had fallen into its own death spiral.
'My ancestor Sheldon Surina changed all that.'
As Margaret paused for breath, Jara surveyed the crowd. The attendance had settled at 738 million multi projections, if the auditorium figures were to be believed, and who knew how many billions more were watching or listening remotely. Whatever the number, Jara had never seen such a mass of people so mesmerized before. The only sound to be heard throughout the arena was the quiet susurration of shifting fabric and shuffling feet.
Jara looked around and noticed that the Defense and Wellness Council troops remained aloof. No hint of purpose crossed their placid brows.
'Sheldon Surina,' intoned Margaret. 'The man whom we honor here tonight. The man who would have been four hundred years old today.' The Father of Bio/Logics himself floated over her head, a scrawny man with a big nose standing in mid-speech with his arm extended. 'My ancestor stood before the proctors at the Gandhi University here in Andra Pradesh-just across the courtyard, in fact-and declared, There is no problem that we cannot solve through scientific innovation. Moments later, he turned this statement into a mission for humanity: There is no problem that we should not solve through scientific innovation.
'Think of the courage that required! Think of telling a world decimated by technology and hobbled by superstition-a world ruled by the draconian edicts of the Ecumenical Council and the crazed prophecies of the New Jesuses-think of telling that world that science could solve all its problems!
'Sheldon Surina did.
'Had he stopped there, the man we have come to know as the Father of Bio/Logics might have ended up just another martyr to the ideals of science. But Sheldon Surina did not just say we should look to science-he came down into the real world and showed us how. He invented the discipline of bio/logics. He designed the first programs to automate the care of the human body. He created the industry that conquered the virus, the industry that tamed the brain, the industry that prolonged life and reengineered birth. All without MindSpace, without bio/logic programming bars, without the Data Sea as we know it today.
'Most of all, Sheldon Surina renewed our faith in the powers of humanity. He taught us that scientific enlightenment does not descend to us from without, but grows from within. He showed us we did not have to forfeit our intellects to Autonomous Minds or suffer from the ignorance of Luddism-instead, we could use technology to empower ourselves. Sheldon Surina's words and ideals were the beginning of the Reawakening, that great age of progress and prosperity which continues to this day.
'Of course, progress did not come without peril. The founder of this house spent many years of his life in hiding from the Texan governments that had sworn to destroy him. He watched his friend and colleague Henry Osterman, founder of the OCHRE Corporation, slowly succumb to bitterness and paranoia. He spent his own latter days combating the forces of tyranny which sought to dominate the world with their ruthless and narrow-minded oppression. A fight that continues to this day.'
Margaret's allusion to the Defense and Wellness Council did not go over the audience's head. A low murmur snaked through the crowd. Jara saw one of the white-robed men near her break into a wry grin.
'All things come to an end, and Sheldon Surina's life was no exception. But after Sheldon's death, the Surinas did not shirk their duty to humanity. Through the Center for Historic Appreciation here in Andra Pradesh, through Creed Surina and through the Surina family investments in bio/logics, we have continued to serve humanity's quest for progress and enlightenment.
'And Sheldon Surina was not the last visionary to emerge from Andra Pradesh.
'Six years after his death, Prengal Surina published the Universal Law of Physics, which unlocked the potential of every rock, tree, and blade of grass to serve as a quantum energy source. His work freed us from the dictates of our surroundings, the limitations of our resources, the oppression of ancient Einsteinian physics. Without Prengal Surina and his Universal Law, an event like this one today would not be possible. Multi projections would be a pipe dream, and subaether communication would be an arcane tool of academics.
'In recent years, my father Marcus took up the family's mantle of service. Marcus Surina had spent many years denying his heritage. But when he finally took his rightful place as the heir to the Surina family, he pioneered bold new approaches to teleportation technology. Many believe that, had he not suffered a tragic death in the orbital colonieshad he been given the opportunity to fulfill his mission-Marcus would have brought cheap and efficient teleportation to the world, and we would live in a better place.'
Above Margaret's head, the stern visage of Prengal Surina shifted to that of Marcus in all his Adonic beauty. Jara stared at the dead man and felt the same tangled knot of emotions his face always stirred up. Few had inspired so much hope. Few had left so much devastation.
'And so, what have we, the Surinas, contributed to the world?' Margaret continued.
'I believe Sheldon Surina and his descendants have remained true to the highest ideals of humanity. We have used scientific advancement to improve the human condition. We have provided choices and expanded opportunities. We have enlightened the mind instead of constricting it. And it is in that spirit that I stand before you today.'
Margaret paused and took a few dramatic steps forward. 'Citizens of earth, Luna, Mars and the colonies- Islanders and Pharisees-I stand here on the occasion of Sheldon Surina's four hundredth birthday to announce the ultimate fulfillment of his ambitions.'
All at once, several hundred million spectators took a sharp intake of breath. Inside herself, Jara could feel a gathering hurricane of emotion, wrath and hope that threatened to sweep out of control. She could feel the clouds gathering throughout the arena, and for a moment it seemed as if the hopes and dreams of humanity had suddenly coalesced around one blue-eyed woman in Andra Pradesh.
The Council officers began to shift nervously on their feet. Dozens of dartguns and disruptors surreptitiously crept off the floor and into the soldiers' hands.
Margaret Surina continued, her face devoid of emotion.
'The Surina Perfection Memecorp is preparing to unveil one of the most important scientific breakthroughs since the dawn of the Reawakening-possibly the most important advance in the history of humanity.
'It is the ultimate freedom.
'It is the ultimate empowerment.
'It is the path to complete control over our destinies.
'The Surina Perfection Memecorp has discovered a technology to create multiple realities, and we call this
