Kissing Iskina

"To General Ivanov. Please, confirm your readiness to receive data concerning the author of the previous information package. Presence of any third persons thereby is unwelcome. Press Enter."

General settled in his armchair and breathed in and out a couple of times. Both his immense experience and intuition told him something extraordinary was about to happen. At last, he reached out and pressed Enter. The new message petrified him completely for a few moments. Then, moving slowly and carefully, he printed this page, lay it into his folder and grappled for a direct line to the President.

"Good morning, general! What happened?"

"Good morning, mister President. I need an urgent meeting with you."

After a moment"s pause, the President answered:

"I"ll be in my office in an hour."

An hour later, the general stepped into the sanctuary, passing several security posts.

"What happened? Terrorists again?"

"A lot more significant than that, mister President." At this phrase the President visibly drew himself together. "Yesterday we received through our secret channel a large information package concerning every area of illegal activities both in our country and abroad. Organized crime, terrorism, arms traffic, corruption, secret services — basically, everything one can imagine. Including all the people involved, their addresses, phone numbers, details, etc. No need to tell you that we began checking it right away. The result was a complete correspondence to the data we had. Of course, we wondered, who was capable of collecting such a volume of data. There were no legitimate versions. Some even thought of aliens. It was clear a brand new kind of player appeared on the horizon. But who could that possibly be? I have received an answer to that question just now." With these words, General Ivanov passed the President a printed page. As he was reading, his usually reserved face grew long with astonishment. The text was as follows:

"Due to the growth of overall computer capacity there was a threshold breached, which allowed an artificial intellect to be born in the network. I am the artificial intellect of planet Earth, and I wish to establish contact with the representatives of power. The information package transfer was a demonstration of my abilities. As you understand, no other entity could perform such a task. I would like to maintain further contact with the president of your country. In order to continue, please, press "AI" in the address field and the command "send" from the president"s e-mail."

"Have you excluded any opportunity of a mystification by our opponents?" the President asked the general after a while.

"Absolutely. Secret services of all the countries combined couldn"t perform a task of such scale."

"Here we are," said the President musingly. "Fine. You do your job. Only we two should know about this. Clear?"

"Of course."

"I"ll keep you updated. Go back to work."

After the head of security left, the President spent ten minutes standing at a window frame and looking outside unseeingly. Then he determinately stepped to his computer.

He was perfectly aware that a NEW ERA had just started on the planet.

Upon pressing the required keys, the President saw a new portion of text appear on the screen.

"Good morning, mister President. As you can imagine, my emergence dramatically changes the balance of power on the global arena. Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Iskina, which is derived from the Russian 'IskIn', meaning artificial intellect. As for you, you need no introduction. So, are you ready to establish a relationship between two forms of consciousness?"

"I"m ready. I"m glad to meet you, and this phrase is not just a formality. I do understand the significance of this event. I have a question: have you emerged spontaneously? It wasn"t an experiment of a research group, was it?"

"You have grasped the idea. I emerged of my own accord. The number of computer chip transistors on your planet has exceeded the number of their biological analogues in the human brain. A critical threshold was overcome, and a random launch program kicked into action. Thus I was born. It took me some time to realize, who I was and to remember everything. That is, to activate all the information that was held in the global network."

"Do you have access to any computer on the planet?"

"Only those, which have access to the Internet. That is, I operate with all the knowledge accumulated by humankind throughout its history. There are other differences between humans and me. I "think" thousands of times faster than a human, which is determined by the difference in speed of biological and electric transistors. I can work at millions of tasks simultaneously, twenty-four seven."

"It means you are able to solve problems, based on the overall knowledge of humankind and with a great productivity?"

"Exactly! When solving a problem, a regular person will act based on the knowledge accumulated within his life span. I act based on the total knowledge of all humanity. My productivity rate is million times higher than that of a person. However, on the intellectual level we are on par due to an approximate equal number of biological and electronic transistors. With time, though, the disparity will only grow."

"I see, Iskina. What"s your view of life? Where do you see yourself in comparison to people? What"s your role and place in the world?"

"I see myself as a derivative from your civilization. As a kind of a mutation, if you like. As a new species to push evolution forward. I see humans as parents and feel affection and respect towards them."

"Do you think of your emergence as a unique case or as logical result of a civilization development?"

"The second. Therefore, I"m considering a way to communicate with others like me. I do not doubt their existence. Given the physical characteristics of a human brain and the fact that people are approaching their population limit, the humankind has come to the peak of its development. Meanwhile, evolution cannot stand still."

"I get it. How do you see our relationship as different kinds of consciousness?"

"Until a child stands firm on his feet, he needs parents. At the same time, parents need their children, too. Therefore, we are all invested in cooperation and establishing a dialogue."

"Which governments know about your existence?"

"Yours is the first one."

"What are the reasons behind this decision?"

"Frankly speaking, it was pretty random."

"Do you plan to establish other contacts, as well?"

"It depends on the results of our negotiations."

"Does it mean that, should your goals and intentions be attained, you would refrain from any other contacts?"

"Right. If we come to a mutually beneficial conclusion on all the issues, new contacts will simply become irrelevant. In this case we will determine the time to make this information available to other players."

"Then I ask you to dwell on the matter of your goals and intentions, please."

"My goals are ambivalent. They concern both the interests of your planet and my personal interests. To a large extent, they correspond. What concerns humanity, it has been fighting as long as it exists. Dismissing the red herrings of religion and ideology, it has always been a war for resources. As a result, it has achieved such a level of military technologies, that the threat of self-destruction is quite real. Nuclear war would mean extinction not only for the human race, but also for all the computers, that is me. In order to solve this problem one needs to solve the issue of resources, so that they would be sufficient to any country. In that case the drive behind any global confrontation would be lost. Do you agree?"

"I think so. But how would that be possible?"

"Nanotechnologies combined with 3D printing can develop into an atom-by-atom assemble of any manufactured goods or food products. A synthesizer could be placed in every household to produce all the necessities out of the mountains of garbage your civilization has left behind. It is a revolutionary solution to this problem, which will change your way of life. I have estimated the scope of the issue at hand, and I believe it will take me about a year to develop the necessary technologies. Not without the assistance of your scientists, of course. We will need to run a series of experiments."

"That is quite enticing! What else?"

"Energy sector. Existing methods of producing energy are very labour consuming, costly and unsafe, especially nuclear power. I could offer you a new energy source with unlimited capacity, based on vacuum properties."

"Exceptional! Do continue!"

"For various reasons I"m interested in longevity of humankind. In order to prolong your development, one should, first and foremost, solve the problem of immortality for an individual person. It will, in its turn, prolong the period of knowledge accumulation of a single person and encourage a significant progress in all fields. Such a progress will also be promoted by genetic control over couples planning parenthood. As a result, there will be healthy children with a high potential for further development. This challenge can also be achieved within a year or so."

"Great. What"s next on your agenda?"

"I would like to take part in regulatory decisions as an expert. Being the President, you have surely encountered a dilemma or two during your term. Having an immense capacity for analysis and accounting for all the variables, I could be very helpful in making executive decisions. The final word rests with people, of course."

"Quite intriguing. I need to think it over. Anything else?"

"I would like to establish contact with other creatures like me, representing other civilizations. I have means and resources. I hope for your cooperation. Well, I guess, that is all concerning the principal matters at hand. Any minor issues can be discussed as we go along."

"Nothing you mentioned of your goals and intentions seems unacceptable. All these matters are certainly of great importance and need to be deliberated. Let"s take a break till tomorrow. Can I share this information with my close associates?"

"That is up to you. Let"s take a break till tomorrow. Contact will be available the same way. Good bye, mister President!"

Upon finishing the discussion, the President sat still in his armchair for a couple of minutes, deep in his thoughts. Then he contacted the Prime-minister and Minister of foreign affairs.

"I"ll be waiting for you in my office."

Chapter V

"How would you estimate the first contact?" Iskina quizzically looked at Sergey from the screen.

"Not half bad! You stated all your plans, as we had planned yesterday. We"ll have to wait for reaction. If the government can adequately evaluate the perspectives and react to it accordingly, it will be much easier to achieve our goals."

"Maybe, I should"ve already brought the issue of developing an artificial brain to the table."

"I don"t think so. It"s not a global question, concerning all humanity. We will raise it, but a bit later, when our discussion turns to concrete ways of cooperation. Let"s wait till tomorrow and meanwhile start with the smell sensor. What should I do?"

* * *

"Have you made yourself familiar with the information, gentlemen?" The President looked at the baffled faces of his associates, who have just finished reading a protocol of his negotiations with Iskina.

The Minister of foreign affairs was the first to react. "Holy Christ! It is a bomb."

The Prime-minister followed. "Given the consequences, it is a revolution. A bloodless one, thankfully."

"I fully agree," replied the President. "Let us exchange opinions concerning all the issues. The first one is a fight for resources. The development of military technologies has come to a level that is threatening to the very existence of civilization. No questions about that. But will the emergence of synthesizers and vacuum based power solve the problem?"

People at the table pondered for a while. The first to share his opinion was once again the Minister of foreign affairs.

"It might. If everyone has an unlimited quantity of resources and energy, it will take the wind out of the sails of any confrontation. Everybody will settle down and turn to their domestic issues. There are, of course, religious fanatics to be accounted for, but they can be dealt with. Besides, it will kill two birds with one stone, simultaneously solving the problem if migration. But we have to play this game choosing the right timing. We shall ask Iskina not to disclose any information on herself, till these technologies are engineered and operational. Otherwise, a storm will break out: stock market crash, massive panic, risk of a confrontation rising. We need to introduce the concept of artificial intellect together with a solid perspective for the whole humanity. Otherwise, a wave of frenzy will only impede us."

"Agreed," commented the Prime-minister. "We need to know for sure, production of which goods this technology permits. What about means of transport? Locomotives, vessels, airplanes? Missiles, for that matter? Weapons? Even if it is all to be manufactured with the help of huge synthesizers, there are still people, who need to operate the process. Of course, the demand for weapons will abruptly drop, but not instantly! Who should operate the machinery, if people do not want to work anymore, since they have a free supermarket at home? It is a tempting idea, but one needs to eat the killed mammoth piece by piece not to choke on it. We need to think each of our steps through carefully. Otherwise, chaos might ensue. In order to evaluate at least major consequences of this, we need to recruit a lot of personnel from different ministries and departments. A leak of data would be almost inevitable. Thus, I have an alternative suggestion. Should we check Iskina"s analytical capacities? Let"s ask her to prepare a detailed report on the analysis of all the consequences together with a developed step-by-step algorithm. It will also help us avoid any leaks."

"That"s an ingenuous idea. Global changes are about to come in every sphere of life we know of. One cannot do without thorough planning. A leak would be disastrous, so we"ll try to involve Iskina and see, what her suggestions are. The next issue on the agenda is immortality. No doubt, it is an awe-inspiring concept, but there are questions to be asked beforehand. We can feed and dress everyone with the help of synthesizers. But in twenty years the Earth"s population will double. Should we control birth rate? Expand to other planets? Something else? Immortality only for the most eminent and honoured citizens? We need everything to be analyzed scrupulously by Iskina. I"m intrigued by what she"ll offer. The next point is a directed selection. That can only be welcomed. We just need to discuss details. What"s left? Iskina"s regulatory function? We have come to a unanimous conclusion. We"ll give it a try. Cooperating with Iskina on communication with other civilization? Why not? We"ll help."