Callisto 2.0, Susan English [i love reading .TXT] 📗

as well as “designer babies,” where parents were able to pick and choose the genetic traits of their offspring. The ectogenesis designer babies were perfect specimens, considered to be the most beautiful humans who ever existed, but unfortunately, the side-effects of gestation in a synthetic environment were severe, and often crippling, psychological problems. Luckily, only very few humans had been produced in this way before the global law came into effect—only the extremely rich had been able to take advantage of the technology. After that short-lived experiment, all humans were produced the old-fashioned way.

“Ectogenesis is a technology which never should have been allowed in the first place,” said Diana, almost to herself.

I stared at her. Was it possible that she knew someone who had been artificially created? It was a sobering thought.

“At least the world population is more reasonable now than during the peak back in 2030. What was it? I think around eight billion people.” Berit shook her head.

Naomi nodded. “Global pandemics are an extreme, but they’re incredibly effective 25

as population control. Mother Nature undoubtedly wins in the end.”

Diana glanced at her wrist computer. “Let’s head back to the dining room, it’s time for lunch.”

“I’ll go with you,” Berit said, gently setting Satet on the floor. The chickens scattered, cackling and scratching the ground with their clawed feet. We exited the coop, and Berit secured the door behind us.

As we retraced our steps to the main door to the corridor, we could see Yasmin closing up the hive.

“Yasmin, come have lunch with us,” Berit called out. “You can meet Calli.” She gestured toward me with her hand.

“On my way.” Yasmin carefully brushed off a few bees from her chest and arms.

“How are the bees?” Berit asked as Yasmin approached.

“They’re awesome! Did you see they were swarming? I’m so glad I was there. The new swarm moved into an empty hive immediately. That’s an intelligent queen.”

Yasmin smiled broadly, then she turned to me. “Hi, Calli,” she said, bending down to hug me. Her accent was, what? Turkish maybe.

“Are these the descendants of the bees from the original lunar bee colony?” I asked as we made our way to the dining room.

“They’re a different variety, from Hawaii, if you can believe it. That was many, many generations ago.”

“Wow, Hawaii,” I said.

“Though they aren’t native to Hawaii,” Yasmin continued. “The honeybee was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands in the mid-1800s. But for whatever reason, the Hawaiian honeybees are some of the most peaceful bees on the planet, so it made sense to bring them here.”

“I can see the bees are very docile,” I said.

“Oh, they’ll sting you all right,” said Berit. “I’ve been stung loads of times, but it’s always my fault—I’m too rough, or I accidentally grab one while I’m harvesting fruit, but Yasmin, she never gets stung.”

Yasmin shrugged. “I did at the beginning. But once I figured out how to tune in to their frequency, we’ve been able to work together. It’s like a beautifully choreographed dance.”

The dining room was already full of people when we arrived. We stood in line, waiting to fill our plates from the buffet table.

“It’s hard to explain,” continued Yasmin, “but when I’m with the bees, I feel like I’m part of the collective hive mind. And today, when they swarmed ….” She paused to wipe her eyes with her sleeve, then continued, “it was pure ecstasy. The queen leaves the old hive and, I don’t know how they decide, but half the hive goes with her. The air is positively electric with love. That’s the only way I can describe it. The workers will follow their queen anywhere. The devotion is palpable, very pure.” Yasmin laughed self-consciously. “I guess it sounds a little crazy.”

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Plates full, we sat down at an empty table. There was a jug full of water on each table, and several glasses, and we helped ourselves.

I took a bite of my food—a noodle dish with a rich, savory sauce which left my tastebuds tingling. “Wow, not only do you have the best air, you have the best food.”

“It’s a labor of love for the chefs,” Diana said.

Spearing a noodle with my fork, I held it up to examine it more closely. “This tastes like Pad Thai, but these aren’t rice noodles.” I put the noodle in my mouth, enjoying the firm and chewy texture.

“They’re made from taro,” said Yasmin. “We haven’t mastered the art of growing rice, but our taro patch is very robust.” She pushed a container toward me, handing me a clean spoon. “Here, try this—honey from the hives.”

I took the proffered spoon, dipped it into the honey, and savored the delicate, tangy flavor. “Mmmm. Divine.”

Yasmin sat up straighter, her emerald-green eyes gleaming.

The dining room was full of people eating, talking, and laughing. “Everyone seems so happy here.” Maybe just a little too happy. Could this possibly be real?

“We’re all doing exactly what we love the most,” Berit said. The other women nodded in agreement.

I studied the women’s faces, they all seemed sincere. Could it be as simple as what Berit claimed? Whatever the explanation, this was better than my wildest dreams. No need to see the orbital lab—I was taking the job!

◆◆◆

After lunch, Naomi showed me to my quarters where I would spend the night before we traveled to the space station the following day. The room had a cozy feel, with a sofa, a table and chairs, even a few plants, and my backpack was on the bed waiting for me.

“There’s a computer interface system, in case you need anything.” Naomi sat down on the bed, and I shifted my pack to the floor and sat beside her. “She’s voice activated, our very own artificial intelligence. Her name is Annie.” She turned her eyes toward the ceiling. “Annie, respond please.”

“How can I assist you, Naomi?” a sultry feminine voice replied.

Naomi shook her head, laughing. “I don’t know why I tend to look at the ceiling when I talk to her. She’s not specifically there! Alright, technically, her hardware is in Arcadia’s computer operations area but that’s over by the main entrance. Annie, I want to introduce Calli.”

“Hello, Callisto Collins, thirty-one years old, only child, parents’ names Rachel and Daniel, born in Eureka, in the country of California, on January 12, 2066, undergraduate degree in physics, Caltech, graduated cum laude, PhD in theoretical physics, Caltech, postdoctoral researcher at the Alcubierre Center for Space Technology, published six 27

scientific articles on the theory of faster-than-light travel and warp fields, unmarried, intelligence quotient of—”

“Okay, Annie, that will do.” Naomi rolled her eyes. “Annie is a work in progress.

We’re trying to teach her to interact more like a human, but I think she’s still getting the hang of it. She has access to all our personal data that exists on the internet, and work we’ve done for the Foundation. You can ask her anything. Consider her to be your personal assistant.”

“Okay.”

“I know she’s AI, though sometimes I feel like she’s my geeky little sister, always trying to work out how to hang with the cool kids. I don’t know if it’s thanks to the programmers, or some emergent property, but for me, Annie has a CPU of gold, or QPU, quantum processing unit, I should say.” Naomi pursed her lips, a thoughtful look on her face. “Hmm, there is gold in her hardware, but you know what I’m getting at.”

I laughed. “I do. We have an AI at the university, and he’s got a great sense of humor.”

“I’ve been doing a bit of reading on emergent intelligence, and it’s hard to know what’s real.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Humans are hard-wired to see sentient life even when it doesn’t exist. Look at animism. It’s been around since the dawn of humanity, and even today there are plenty of people who believe that inanimate objects have spirits, so it’s no surprise that when something talks and interacts, and even tells us jokes, we see it as a living, conscious being.”

“Yes, but human psychology aside, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that consciousness emerges. From a biological standpoint, that’s how sentient life began.

Bits of code, in this case nucleic acids, amino acids, and lipids, coming together to form macromolecules, and from the primordial soup life appears, and then, three hundred thousand years later, we get creatures that can contemplate our own existence and place in the Universe.”

“Wow, you’re quite the philosopher.”

Naomi burst into laughter. “Look who’s talking! Apparently, Annie’s not the only geek around here.” She put a finger on her chin. “Truth is, almost everyone here is the same. I suppose I’m used to it after so many years. Start talking to someone about their favorite color, and before you know it you’re deep in a conversation about how the human retina can detect a single photon of light.” She grinned at me. “Okay, that might have been me.”

I started laughing. “Guess I’ll have to brush up on my biology if I want to fully participate.”

“I know what we can do! An exchange, like a cultural exchange, but for science: biology and physics.”

Without thinking, I leaned over and gave Naomi a hug. “It’s a plan!” How strange. I was not a particularly demonstrative person. But the impulse was natural, organic.

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“Does that mean you’re going to accept the job offer?” Naomi’s eyes widened.

“You’ve got to be kidding! This place is … well, it’s amazing.” Taking a deep breath, I felt my mood shift. I looked toward the wall, eyes unfocused. “I was in a bad place before Diana got in touch with me,” I admitted. “I didn’t know what to do, about my career, I mean.”

“You mean about finding a job in your profession?”

“Yeah. It was kind of a desperate situation. I figured that to continue my research, my only option was to work for the California government. No one else was interested in me.” Naomi rubbed my back, her touch gentle, and I gave her a wan smile, picking at the blanket on the bed. “I didn’t want to