The AIs have turned against one another, the solar system is in ruins, and only a few survivors lurk in the darkness. But the battles aren't finished, and who will win this extraordinary war?
"I carry a thousand names.
"Tribute names, uninspired nicknames. Special names for single events, used once and then set aside. And I have worn a few false identities too. But favorite among my thousand signatures are Lerner and Pong, and I don't care in which order they are used.
"This Lerner Pong is a machine.
"Like each of us, yes.
"Machines enjoy categories, and that means naming themselves according to species or manufacturing lines, categories or crops. And through no act of his own, this particular Lerner Pong belongs to the Data tribe.
"And here rises another confession:
"Data like us are distinct and notable because of it. We aren't complicated thinkers, or remarkably swift. Even basic senses are a challenge. We estimate sounds by measuring the vibrations around us, just as wiggling electrons describe the sky's present color, which is cold cold black. But where every other mind demands some flavor of neuron, Data function as coherent, disembodied impulses. Phenomena of wave and nothingness, we survive inside most baryonic substrates. We thrive in carefully tended vacuums. Steadiness of environment. That is the one essential. Give us a stable realm and all is well."
Robert Reed is the author of several hundred published stories, the vast majority of which are science fiction. He is best known for his Great Ship/Marrow saga.
Genre: Science Fiction
"I carry a thousand names.
"Tribute names, uninspired nicknames. Special names for single events, used once and then set aside. And I have worn a few false identities too. But favorite among my thousand signatures are Lerner and Pong, and I don't care in which order they are used.
"This Lerner Pong is a machine.
"Like each of us, yes.
"Machines enjoy categories, and that means naming themselves according to species or manufacturing lines, categories or crops. And through no act of his own, this particular Lerner Pong belongs to the Data tribe.
"And here rises another confession:
"Data like us are distinct and notable because of it. We aren't complicated thinkers, or remarkably swift. Even basic senses are a challenge. We estimate sounds by measuring the vibrations around us, just as wiggling electrons describe the sky's present color, which is cold cold black. But where every other mind demands some flavor of neuron, Data function as coherent, disembodied impulses. Phenomena of wave and nothingness, we survive inside most baryonic substrates. We thrive in carefully tended vacuums. Steadiness of environment. That is the one essential. Give us a stable realm and all is well."
Robert Reed is the author of several hundred published stories, the vast majority of which are science fiction. He is best known for his Great Ship/Marrow saga.
Genre: Science Fiction
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