mc.prey-第31部分

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　that　core　range；　it　defines　a　sort　of　home　base；　which　the　swarm　may　consider　to　be　the　inside　of　this　facility。〃
　I　said；　〃You　believe　that？〃
　〃Not　really；　no。〃　He　hesitated。　〃Actually；〃　he　said；　〃most　of　us　think　that　it　es　back　looking　for　your　wife；　Jack。　It's　looking　for　Julia。〃
　　
　DAY　6　
　11：42　A。M。
　That　was　how；　with　a　splitting　headache；　I　found　myself　on　the　phone　to　the　hospital　in　San　Jose。　〃Julia　Forman；　please。〃　I　spelled　the　name　for　the　operator。　〃She's　in　the　ICU；〃　the　operator　said。
　〃Yes；　that's　right。〃
　〃I'm　sorry　but　direct　calls　are　not　allowed。〃
　〃Then　the　nursing　station。〃
　〃Thank　you；　please　hold。〃
　I　waited。　No　one　was　answering　the　phone。　I　called　back；　went　through　the　operator　again；　and　finally　got　through　to　the　ICU　nursing　station。　The　nurse　told　me　Julia　was　in　X…ray　and　didn't　know　when　she　would　be　back。　I　said　Julia　was　supposed　to　be　back　by　now。　The　nurse　said　rather　testily　that　she　was　looking　at　Julia's　bed　right　now；　and　she　could　assure　me　Julia　wasn't　in　it。
　I　said　I'd　call　back。
　I　shut　the　phone　and　turned　to　David。　〃What　was　Julia　doing　in　all　this？〃
　〃Helping　us；　Jack。〃
　〃I'm　sure。　But　how；　exactly？〃
　〃In　the　beginning；　she　was　trying　to　coax　it　back；〃　he　said。　〃We　needed　the　swarm　close　to　the　building　to　take　control　again　by　radio。　So　Julia　helped　us　keep　it　close。〃
　〃How？〃
　〃Well；　she　entertained　it。〃
　〃She　what？〃
　〃I　guess　you'd　call　it　that。　It　was　very　quickly　obvious　that　the　swarm　had　rudimentary　intelligence。　It　was　Julia's　idea　to　treat　it　like　a　child。　She　went　outside　with　bright　blocks；　toys。　Things　a　kid　would　like。　And　the　swarm　seemed　to　be　responding　to　her。　She　was　very　excited　about　it。〃
　〃The　swarm　was　safe　to　be　around　at　that　time？〃
　〃Yes；　pletely　safe。　It　was　just　a　particle　cloud。〃　David　shrugged。　〃Anyway；　after　the　first　day　or　so；　she　decided　to　go　a　step　further　and　formally　test　it。　You　know；　test　it　like　a　child　psychologist。〃
　〃You　mean；　teach　it；〃　I　said。
　〃No。　Her　idea　was　to　test　it。〃
　〃David；〃　I　said。　〃That　swarm's　a　distributed　intelligence。　It's　a　goddamn　net。　It'll　learn　from　whatever　you　do。　Testing　is　teaching。　What　exactly　was　she　doing　with　it？〃
　〃Just；　you　know；　sort　of　games。　She'd　lay　out　three　colored　blocks　on　the　ground；　two　blue　and　one　yellow；　see　if　it　would　choose　the　yellow。　Then　with　squares　and　triangles。　Stuff　like　that。〃
　〃But　David；〃　I　said。　〃You　all　knew　this　was　a　runaway；　evolving　outside　the　laboratory。　Didn't　anybody　think　to　just　go　out　and　destroy　it？〃
　〃Sure。　We　all　wanted　to。　Julia　wouldn't　allow　it。〃
　〃Why？〃
　〃She　wanted　it　kept　alive。〃
　〃And　nobody　argued　with　her？〃
　〃She's　a　vice　president　of　the　pany；　Jack。　She　kept　saying　the　swarm　was　a　lucky　accident；　that　we　had　stumbled　onto　something　really　big；　that　it　could　eventually　save　the　pany　and　we　mustn't　destroy　it。　She　was；　I　don't　know；　she　was　really　taken　with　it。　I　mean；　she　was　proud　of　it。　Like　it　was　her　invention。　All　she　wanted　to　do　was　'rein　it　in。'　Her　words。〃
　〃Yeah。　Well。　How　long　ago　did　she　say　that？〃
　〃Yesterday；　Jack。〃　David　shrugged。　〃You　know；　she　only　left　here　yesterday　afternoon。〃　It　took　me　a　moment　to　realize　that　he　was　right。　Just　a　single　day　had　passed　since　Julia　had　been　here；　and　then　had　had　her　accident。　And　in　that　time；　the　swarms　had　already　advanced　enormously。
　〃How　many　swarms　were　there　yesterday？〃
　〃Three。　But　we　only　saw　two。　I　guess　one　was　hiding。〃　He　shook　his　head。　〃You　know；　one　of　the　swarms　had　bee　like　a　pet　to　her。　It　was　smaller　than　the　others。　It'd　wait　for　her　to　e　outside；　and　it　always　stuck　close　to　her。　Sometimes　when　she　came　out　it　swirled　around　her；　like　it　was　excited　to　see　her。　She'd　talk　to　it；　too；　like　it　was　a　dog　or　something。〃　I　pressed　my　throbbing　temples。　〃She　talked　to　it；〃　I　repeated。　Jesus　Christ。　〃Don't　tell　me　the　swarms　have　auditory　sensors；　too。〃
　〃No。　They　don't。〃
　〃So　talking　was　a　waste　of　time。〃
　〃Uh；　well　。。。　we　think　the　cloud　was　close　enough　that　her　breath　deflected　some　of　the　particles。　In　a　rhythmic　pattern。〃
　〃So　the　whole　cloud　was　one　giant　eardrum？〃
　〃In　a　way；　yeah。〃
　〃And　it's　a　net；　so　it　learned　。。。〃
　〃Yeah。〃
　I　sighed。　〃Are　you　going　to　tell　me　it　talked　back？〃
　〃No；　but　it　started　making　weird　sounds。〃
　I　nodded。　I'd　heard　those　weird　sounds。　〃How　does　it　do　that？〃
　〃We're　not　sure。　Bobby　thinks　it's　the　reverse　of　the　auditory　deflection　that　allows　it　to　hear。　The　particles　pulse　in　a　coordinated　front；　and　generate　a　sound　wave。　Sort　of　like　an　audio　speaker。〃
　It　would　have　to　be　something　like　that；　I　thought。　Even　though　it　seemed　unlikely　that　it　could　do　it。　The　swarm　was　basically　a　dust　cloud　of　miniature　particles。　The　particles　didn't　have　either　the　mass　or　the　energy　to　generate　a　sound　wave。
　A　thought　occurred　to　me。　〃David；〃　I　said；　〃was　Julia　out　there　yesterday；　with　the　swarms？〃
　〃Yes；　in　the　morning。　No　problem。　It　was　a　few　hours　later；　after　she　left；　that　they　killed　the　snake。〃
　〃And　was　anything　killed　before　that？〃
　〃Uh　。。。　possibly　a　coyote　a　few　days　ago；　I'm　not　sure。〃
　〃So　maybe　the　snake　wasn't　the　first？〃
　〃Maybe　。。。〃
　〃And　today　they　killed　a　rabbit。〃
　〃Yeah。　So　it's　progressing　fast；　now。〃
　〃Thank　you；　Julia；〃　I　said。
　I　was　pretty　sure　the　accelerated　behavior　of　the　swarms　that　we　were　seeing　was　a　function　of　past　learning。　This　was　a　characteristic　of　distributed　systems…and　for　that　matter　a　characteristic　of　evolution；　which　could　be　considered　a　kind　of　learning；　if　you　wanted　to　think　of　it　in　those　terms。　In　either　case；　it　meant　that　systems　experienced　a　long；　slow　starting　period；　followed　by　ever…increasing　speed。
　You　could　see　that　exact　speedup　in　the　evolution　of　life　on　earth。　The　first　life　shows　up　four　billion　years　ago　as　single…cell　creatures。　Nothing　changes　for　the　next　two　billion　years。　Then　nuclei　appear　in　the　cells。　Things　start　to　pick　up。　Only　a　few　hundred　million　years　later；　multicellular　organisms。　A　few　hundred　million　years　after　that；　explosive　diversity　of　life。　And　more　diversity。　By　a　couple　of　hundred　million　years　ago　there　are　large　plants　and　animals；　plex　creatures；　dinosaurs。　In　all　this；　man's　a　lateer：　four　million　years　ago；　upright　apes。　Two　million　years　ago；　early　human　ancestors。　Thirty…five　thousand　years　ago；　cave　paintings。　The　acceleration　was　dramatic。　If　you　pressed　the　history　of　life　on　earth　into　twenty…four　hours；　then　multicellular　organisms　appeared　in　the　last　twelve　hours；　dinosaurs　in　the　last　hour；　the　earliest　men　in　the　last　forty　seconds；　and　modern　men　less　than　one　second　ago。　It　had　taken　two　billion　years　for　primitive　cells　to　incorporate　a　nucleus；　the　first　step　toward　plexity。　But　it　had　taken　only　200　million　years…one…tenth　of　the　time…to　evolve　multicellular　animals。　And　it　took　only　four　million　years　to　go　from　small…brained　apes　with　crude　bone　tools　to　modern　man　and　genetic　engineering。　That　was　how　fast　the　pace　had　increased。
　This　same　pattern　showed　up　in　the　behavior　of　agent…based　systems。　It　took　a　long　time　for　agents　to　〃lay　the　groundwork〃　and　to　acplish　the　early　stuff；　but　once　that　was　pleted；　subsequent　progress　could　be　swift。　There　was　no　way　to　skip　the　groundwork；　just　as　there　was　no　way　for　a　human　being　to　skip　childhood。　You　had　to　do　the　preliminary　work。　But　at　the　same　time；　there　was　no　way　to　avoid　the　subsequent　acceleration。　It　was；　so　to　speak；　built　into　the　system。
　Teaching　made　the　progression　more　efficient；　and　I　was　sure　Julia's　teaching　had　been　an　important　factor　in　the　behavior　of　the　swarm　now。　Simply　by　interacting　with　it；　she　had　introduced　a　selection　pressure　in　an　organism　with　emergent　behavior　that　couldn't　be　predicted。　It　was　a　very　foolish　thing　to　do。
　So　the　swarm…already　developing　rapidly…would　develop　even　more　rapidly　in　the　future。　And　since　it　was　a　man…made　organism；　evolution　was　not　taking　place　on　a　biological　timescale。　Instead；　it　was　happening　in　a　matter　of　hours。
　Destroying　the　swarms　would　be　more　difficult　with　each　passing　hour。　〃Okay；〃　I　said　to　David。　〃If　the　swarms　are　ing　back；　then　we　better　get　ready　for　them。〃　I　got　to　my　feet；　wincing　at　the　headache；　and　headed　for　the　door。　〃What　do　you　have　in　mind？〃　David　said。
　〃What　do　you　think　I　have　in　mind？〃　I　said。　〃We've　got　to　kill　these　things　cold　stone　dead。　We　have　to　wipe　them　off　the　face　of　the　planet。　And　we　have　to　do　it　right　now。〃　David　shifted　in　his　chair。　〃Fine　with　me；〃　he　said。　〃But　I　don't　think　Ricky's　going　to　like　it。〃
　〃Why　not？〃
　David　shrugged。　〃He's　just　not。〃
　I　waited；　and　said　nothing。
　David　fidgeted　in　his　chair；　more　and　more　unfortable。　〃The　thing　is；　he　and　Julia　are；　uh；　in　agreement　on　this。〃
　〃They're　in　agreement。〃
　〃Yes。　They　see　eye　to　eye。　I　mean；　on　this。〃
　I　said；　〃What　are　you　trying　to　say　to　me；　David？〃
　〃Nothing。　Just　what　I　said。　They　agree　the　swarms　should　be　kept　alive。　I　think　Ricky's　going　to　oppose　you；　that's　all。〃
　I　needed　to　talk　to　Mae　again。　I　found　her　in　the　biology　lab；　hunched　over　a　puter　monitor；　looking　at　images　of　white　bacterial　growth　on　dark　red　media。　I　said；　〃Mae；　listen；　I've　talked　to　David　and　I　need　to…uh；　Mae？　Have　you　got　a　problem？〃　She　was　looking　fixedly　at　the　screen。
　〃I　think　I　do；〃　she　said。　〃A　problem　with　the　feedstock。〃
　〃What　kind　of　problem？〃
　〃The　latest　Theta…d　stocks　aren't　growing　properly。〃　She　pointed　to　an　image　in　the　upper　corner　of　the　monitor；　which　showed　bacteria　growing　in　smooth　white　circles。　〃That's　normal　coliform　growth；〃　she　said。　〃That's　how　it's　supposed　to　look。　But　here　。。。〃　She　brought　up　another　image　in　the　center　of　the　screen。　The　round　forms　appeared　moth…eaten；　ragged　and　misshapen。　〃That's　not　normal　growth；〃　she　said；　shaking　her　head。　〃I'm　afraid　it's　phage　contamination。〃
　〃You　mean　a　virus？〃　I　said。　A　phage　was　a　virus　that　attacked　bacteria。　〃Yes；〃　she　said。　〃Coli　are　susceptible　to　a　very　large　number　of　phages。　T4　phage　is　of　course　the　most　mon；　but　Theta…d　was　engineered　to　be　T4…resistant。　So　I　suspect　it's　a　new　phage　that's　doing　this。〃
　〃A　new　phage？　You　mean　it's　newly　evolved？〃
　〃Yes。　Probably　a　mutant　of　an　existing　strain；　that