Recursion

“Okay,” she said. She called out to the group.

“Over here. They’ve prepared an area for us.”

– Why do we have to keep moving? complained Red.

“Keep us moving, stop us thinking,” gasped Constantine out loud. He wanted them to hear what he said. Let them know he was onto them.

“Not true,” said Marion. “Don’t you realize the danger we’re all in? Come on. This way…”

They ran into a cornfield: genetically modified corn, standing taller than they were. They pushed on through the damp plants, tangled strings of vegetable matter clinging to their faces and bodies. On and on, pushing and pushing, lost in a maze of stalks. Just when they thought it would never end, they emerged into a clearing. They all fell panting to the ground.

“Okay,” Marion gasped, “we should be as safe here as anywhere else.”

Jay was biting her lip. Trembling. Hesitantly, Constantine put his arm around her. Wordlessly, she pressed closer. It felt nice. Constantine felt guilty.

“What now?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” said Marion. She was looking at Jay thoughtfully. “We just wait and see.”

The sun was rising. The heads of the surrounding corn were silhouetted against it. So he had lived to see the dawn. Now would he make midday?

They sat on prickly stubble in a cleared area, corn tickling their legs and bottoms, damp broken stalks caught in their hair and clothes. Constantine was holding Jay; the others were almost touching. Huddling for safety. No one had spoken for some time. They all looked at each other. Wondering. What was happening outside? Marion was watching Jay like a hawk. Why Jay? Why was she in here?

Constantine tried to distract her. He asked Mary the question that had been bothering him since he had first discovered where he was.

“I never understood, why were you in the simulation?”

Mary looked up at him and shot him a tired smile.

“Trying to get you to look at things from another perspective. You look at Stonebreak and you see it in terms of money flowing in and money flowing out. I was trying to get you to see the human cost.”

“But why?”

Mary and Marion glanced at each other. Marion spoke first.

“Because we think you are on the wrong side. We want you to join us.”

“What? Join 113 Berliner Sibelius?”

They laughed shrilly. The sudden release from the tension they had all been living under had made them slightly hysterical. Eventually they regained control. Mary spoke next.

“Oh, Constantine. You’re still thinking in terms of money. This isn’t about you being an employee of DIANA and us being employed by 113 Berliner Sibelius. Our loyalties go far deeper.”

“To who? Who are you working for?”

Mary laughed. “Me, Marion, all of 113 Berliner Sibelius. We’re working for the AIs.”

Constantine sneered. “Aren’t we all?”

“DIANA isn’t, but DIANA is practically alone. DIANA still thinks in human terms, Constantine. Humans plan five or ten or twenty years ahead. They’re using up the last of the oil now and leaving their children the problem of what to do when it’s all gone. AIs don’t think like that. They’ll still be here tomorrow to deal with the mess they make today.”

Constantine was scornful. “DIANA is run by AIs just like every other corporation. It wouldn’t be able to survive otherwise. Why should DIANA be any different than 113 Berliner Sibelius?”

Marion spoke in a low voice. “Because DIANA set up the Mars project. Only DIANA has tried to fight the Watcher.”

Constantine laughed. “Oh, come on. No one even knows for sure if the Watcher exists. It’s a very attractive story, true. My grandmother used to go on about it all the time-”

“Of course the Watcher exists,” said Marion, sounding tired. “We’ve known that for years.”

Constantine was stu

– It’s true, said Grey.

“What? But…but…why wasn’t I told?”

Marion looked at him.

“That question wasn’t addressed to me, was it? Well, I’ll answer it anyway. Everything about this war you are fighting is a secret. Look at you: a ghost. Did you honestly expect to be told everything? The Watcher has been in contact with every major corporation on Earth since 2068.”

“Just before Stonebreak was begun,” said Jay.

“And since then DIANA has been fighting its last war.”

“Its last war? Over what?”

“Over who controls human destiny.”

Constantine said nothing; it was obvious that Marion had scored a telling point. Jay stared at him. “Is this right?” she asked. Constantine looked at Marion as he answered.

“In a way. It’s what the Mars project is all about.”

Jay turned to Marion. They were all just dark shapes in the clearing, their whispers cutting through the damp air. Jay’s frustration was evident in her voice.

“Look, what’s going on? What’s the Mars project all about? What do you mean, fighting to control human destiny?”

Marion shook her head. “It’s not so much a fight as a vainglorious rearguard action, doomed to failure. Humanity surrendered control to the Watcher fifty years ago, back when Berliner Sibelius bought the design for a cold fusion system from the Watcher.”

“They bought the design? What was the price?”

“Nothing like what you’d expect. No money, just a commitment to a fast phaseout of fossil-fuel-powered ground vehicles.”

“Sounds like a good deal,” said Jay.

“It wouldn’t have been that good a deal,” said Mary. “Back then there were too many vested interests. Cold fusion wouldn’t have provided as much profit as the infrastructure built on fossil fuel. At least, not initially.”

“And when it didn’t,” interrupted Marion, “Berliner Sibelius decided to cheat the Watcher. They were slow on the changeover. They allowed things to slide, made excuses, cut corners. They thought they were getting away with it. After all, what could the Watcher do to them? Take away the plans? It was too late for that. They thought they were safe. What do you suppose the Watcher did?”

“I don’t know.”

“It gave the design for an even better form of cold fusion to Imagineers. They were a small company back then, two women on the edge of bankruptcy. Now they’re the third-biggest corporation around. Berliner Sibelius only just avoided collapse. The warning was clear: the Watcher was taking control.”

Jay looked from Marion to Constantine.

“Do you agree with her?” she asked him. “Is DIANA really fighting the Watcher to preserve the right of humanity to control its own actions?”

Constantine paused, listening for Grey, who remained silent.

“Yes.”

Jay sat for a moment in shocked silence. In the near dark, Constantine saw her obstinately fold her arms.

“Okay. So it’s true, then. It’s still not a war, though.”

“But it is,” Constantine said thoughtfully. “Because if there is a Watcher guiding us, manipulating us, how can we trust it? We may have replaced fossil fuels with cold fusion, but does that mean every decision the Watcher makes is the right one for us? I don’t think so. Marion’s wrong in helping to fight DIANA. She’s on the wrong side. I don’t think much of the Watcher’s world.”

“Why not?” Mary asked softly. “Our world is just begi

Marion dropped her voice.

“The Watcher is right to take control. It is making the world a better place.”