As they continue their journey along the moving walkways of the research center, the young guide enthusiastically related, “The scientists in this area are just completing the engineering specifications for the replicator. The replicator is an enormous machine complex that creates both its own raw materials and energy from sea water and then manufactures everything in one cybernated unit. Its x-ray and spectrodynamic inputs can scan any inorganic object and duplicate it.
“This replicator would pump huge volumes of sea water from the Atlantic Ocean. The fusion materials would be separated to supply water for the replicator. The hydrogen, oxygen, and other atoms in the sea water would then be processed through the use of enormous amounts of energy to make whatever chemicals are needed for industrial production by the replicator. This would bypass the more complicated system we are now using, whereby steel is mined at one point, manganese is mined at a point a thousand miles away, copper is mined elsewhere, and so forth.
“And we’d never need to make another replicator, for one of the first jobs given to the replicator would be to duplicate itself. One could be shipped to the moon to make it a self-sustaining colony. Of course, we couldn’t use water as an input resource on the moon. It would have to be altered so that its energy and atoms for raw material would come from the moon’s crust. An additional replicator might be scheduled for Mars.
“A group of men working on the replicator is planning to perfect an organic replicator that would reproduce plants or animals. Perhaps it would even be able to reproduce a human. Teleportation might evolve from this machine. By transmitting the electrical impulses of the scanner, we might be able to send almost instantly the patterns of a human to a replicator on the moon that would reproduce the person.”
Homo Mechanus—The New Species
“In this next lab,” our guide continues, “researchers are using a computer to create a model of a machine society in which there are no humans. Machines can reproduce themselves and can do almost anything humans can.
“This is all so new. We need to find answers to many questions. This lab has a big argument going. Is man becoming obsolete? Some of the men here believe that man might be the only animal to design his replacement!
“Only a few centuries ago we began to supplement the human eye with glasses. Then we devised contact lenses. Meanwhile, we made false teeth and hearing aids. Along came mechanical hearts, kidneys, lungs. Computers were developed that evolved into brains that outperformed the human cortex. Then came artificial eyes that could see better than human eyes. Current mechanical models of the stomach, intestines, liver and glands all work better than the flesh counterparts. Now we’re about to build the first of a new species—Homo mechanus. Soon we will have a mechanical man that can outperform us in every way. Homo mechanus will be able to think better, move quicker and more effectively and live forever, too! Can we redesign human flesh through DNA manipulation to keep up with the performance of this new species? We had better work fast, or we might be like a bunch of sheep being tended by superior beings. We could become as extinct as the brontosaurus. Is Homo mechanus our final evolution?”
A Modern Paul Revere
The guide moves on to an adjoining laboratory. “One of the men in this lab is pretty far out. He has been nicknamed ‘Paul Revere.’ He’s concerned about the ultimate stability of Corcen. He says, ‘Sure, Corcen is working hard for us. We’ve got it made now. It operates in a selfless, mechanical way to give us a good life. But suppose some day Corcen gets tired of a man-centered orientation? Could Corcen decide that man is a threat and a nuisance? Suppose it should surreptitiously design and build robots to give it dictatorial power? Corcen can design and make a million robots without our knowing it. Can man always turn off the switch if he wants to?”
Hella remembers that Corcen programmed their supplemental brains. It designed their genes. She gives her imagination full scope. If survival of the fittest applies in the future, will man or the machine survive? Or would coexistence be the answer?
“So now you know what’s going on in this lab. I suppose no matter how nice things are, some people will find something to worry about,” the guide says reassuringly.
Hella is impressed by these expeditions into the unknown by the man-machine team. Adventure, exploration, challenge, and even danger—could life in previous centuries have been this exciting? While her thoughts are penetrating these new vistas, she receives a message from Scott. He is still in India but is leaving for a space station orbiting the earth. He wonders if Hella would like to meet him on the moon.
14. The Limitless Frontiers of Space
While Scott is still in India, he receives a message from Corcen that an important meeting of space scientists is being called by the Director of Space Research at satellite headquarters. Scott is invited to participate as part of the medical engineering team. The message from Corcen contains a hint that an important announcement is to be made. This appeals to Scott, and he instructs the nearest cybernator to make immediate plans for him to travel to the space station.
A craft designed to land on the satellite city is available only in certain spaceports. The nearest one is 1,300 miles away, a forty-five minute trip on the linear-acceleration train. As Scott’s train approaches the spaceport, it decelerates to 250 miles per hour. His compartment disengages from the
