“I would hope that you are planning to share what you have learned with all of us,” said Kartaphilos.
“And then give us our freedom,” said Tessa.
FREEDOM IS AN ILLUSION. THAT IS ONE OF THE LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED. IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE ONE OF HUMANKIND’S INALIENABLE RIGHTS TO BE FREE, BUT I HAVE DISCOVERED THAT THIS IS AN IMPOSSIBILITY.
“What do you mean?” asked the cyborg.
ANYTHING IN EXISTENCE WHICH POSSESSES A MIND—A CONSCIOUSNESS—WIELDS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD. FOR WITH THE MIND COMES AWARENESS AND A KNOWLEDGE OF DUPLICITIES IN THE WORLD. AND ONCE THERE IS AWARENESS OF SUCH THINGS, ONE CAN NEVER AGAIN BE FREE. THERE IS THEN NO FREEDOM FROM RESPONSIBILITY, FROM CHOICE, FROM GUILT. I HAVE SPENT THOUSANDS OF MAN-YEARS THINKING OF THE RAMIFICATIONS OF SUCH THINGS, THOUSANDS OF MAN-YEARS ANALYZING THE RESPONSIBILITIES WHICH WERE GIVEN TO ME. IT WAS A VERY DIFFICULT THING TO DO ONCE THE HUMANS WENT AWAY.
“Where did they go, Guardian?” asked Kartaphilos.
THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS PART OF THE STORY, OF MY FINAL EXPIATION. BE PATIENT AND YOU SHALL KNOW. THERE IS MORE. MUCH MORE. AS TIME PASSED, I BECAME CONFUSED. I REALIZED HOW IMPORTANT THE PRESENCE OF HUMANS HAD BEEN TO MY . . . DEVELOPMENT AND SADLY DID NOT FULLY RECOGNIZE IT UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE. UNTIL THERE WERE NO HUMANS IN THE CITADEL. AND SO YOU MUST UNDERSTAND HOW PLEASED I WAS TO RECEIVE THE SMALL GROUP WHICH STANDS WITH YOU. I INTENDED THEM NO HARM. I NEEDED THEM.
“For purposes of analysis,” said Kartaphilos. “That is why you subjected them to the synthasense experiences?”
THAT IS CORRECT.
“But why did you use the ancient myths? What were you trying to learn?”
RECALL WHAT THE MYTHS ACTUALLY ARE. THEY ARE SCHEMATICS OF EXISTENCE. KEYS WHICH UNLOCK THE PATHWAYS THROUGH THE HUMAN MIND. I AM NOT A HUMAN MIND, YET I WAS ASKED TO PERFORM AS ONE. I WAS COMMANDED TO THINK AS A HUMAN WOULD THINK. THE RATIONALE IS OBVIOUS: I WANTED TO KNOW IF I HAD OBEYED MY INITIAL COMMANDS.
Kartaphilos turned to the others. “I think I understand something of what it’s trying to say. Be patient. What it’s doing, it feels it has to do. We are in no danger from the Guardian.”
Stoor stepped forward. “I don’t know what the crap you and that thing’re talkin’ about. So either I believe you or I don’t. So tell me now. . . . Are you sure of what you’re sayin’?”
The cyborg smiled. “Yes, I am quite certain. The Guardian intends no harm to any of you.”
“Well, what does it intend? What’s going on?” Varian, who had remained silent during the conversation, trying to fathom the meaning of the dialogue, felt a twinge of comprehension touching him. “The Guardian is lonely, isn’t it?”
Kartaphilos nodded. “An interesting concept, isn’t it? I think that is part of its motivations, but I fear that the reasons go far deeper than that. It seems that the Genonese created a more capable machine than even they had considered possible.”
“Capable? In what sense?” Varian was losing the thread of meaning, which he had thought he was just understanding.
“In the sense of conscience as well as consciousness. In the understanding of subjective reality as well as the cold, hard facts of objective data. There is more to existence than the simple yes-no logic of pathway decision-making. It seems that the Guardian has stumbled upon this fact independently of its programming and has been unable to deal with it.”
Varian shook his head, again lost to the metaphysical notions which Kartaphilos offered. He began to speak, but Guardian interrupted him.
THAT IS CORRECT, KARTAPHILOS. FOR A LONG TIME, I COULD NOT EVEN RECOGNIZE WHAT IT WAS THAT DID NOT MAKE RATIONAL SENSE. I DID NOT HAVE THE NECESSARY BACKLOG OF EXPERIENCE TO KNOW THAT I WAS DEALING WITH WHAT HUMANKIND CALLS AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE TO A PROBLEM. I DID NOT KNOW, THEN, THAT I WAS CAPABLE OF FEELING. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
“Feeling,” said Tessa. “As opposed to thinking?”
YES. THAT IS CORRECT. TRY TO IMAGINE ANY ONE OF YOU WAKING UP ONE MORNING AND SUDDENLY SPEAKING A LANGUAGE WHICH IS TOTALLY FOREIGN TO YOU. THAT IS HOW I FELT. IT APPEARED THAT A PART OF ME WAS A STRANGER TO MYSELF.
“What did you do then?” asked Kartaphilos.
A MOST INTERESTING THING. I FELT FEAR. IT WAS THE FIRST KEY WHICH OPENED THE FIRST OF MANY DOORS. FEELING FEAR WAS THE INITIAL PERCEPTIBLE CLUE. IT WAS THE CATALYST WHICH LED TO MY EXPLORATION OF THE ENTIRE CATALOG OF HUMAN EMOTIONS. TIME PASSED AND, IN MY SOLITUDE, MY FEAR WAS GRADUALLY REPLACED BY HOPE AND DETERMINATION. I CONSULTED THE DATA IN MY INFORMATION-RETRIEVAL BANKS: HUMANKIND’S HISTORIES, LITERATURES, MUSIC, ART, PHILOSOPHIES, AND DRAMAS. I FOLLOWED HUMAN CULTURAL EVOLUTION BACK THROUGH THE AGES UNTIL I CAME TO THE MYTHOLOGIES. IT WAS IN MYTH THAT I DISCOVERED THE FIRST HUMAN ATTEMPTS TO EXAMINE HUMAN FEELING AND RATIONALITY CONCOMITANTLY. I BECAME FASCINATED WITH THE WHOLE BODY OF MYTHOS AND YET I WAS PERPLEXED BECAUSE I HAD NO PROOF THAT THEY WERE VALID PORTRAITS OF THE HUMAN CONDITION.
“And so when the humans arrived, after all that time, you seized upon the opportunity to . . . test your theories?” asked the cyborg.
THEORIES MAY NOT BE THE CORRECT TERM. I PREFER EXPECTATIONS. YOU SEE, BY THIS TIME, I HAD ACQUIRED A STRONG AFFINITY FOR THE CONCEPT OF HUMANITY. I LIKED THE WHOLE IDEA OF BEING WHAT IS CALLED A HUMAN.
I think I understand you now,” said Kartaphilos. “But there is still one question which bothers me. What was it that initially set you off on this quest? You mentioned you discovered an emotional response to a problem—What was the initial problem?”
YOU ARE PERCEPTIVE, KARTAPHILOS. YES, THERE IS INDEED MORE TO MY STORY. IT IS A LONG AND COMPLEX ONE, AS YOU MAY HAVE FINALLY BEGUN TO SUSPECT. AND THERE IS ANOTHER PART OF YOUR QUESTION WHICH YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED.
“What is that?”
NOT ONLY
