Comp Biog 1020

Chapter 1- Shock, Secret

The Associate watched the screen and the narrative went on, "The government was about to make a devious move to try and take control. They would explode a unit and then call for the examination of all units for safety problems. It would be difficult to pull off. The grounds and all of the doors to the units were wired. The most difficult part of the assault would be not being seen or detected by the security cameras and other sensors scattered around the units. If they were detected, followed by the government calling for the safety examinations, those examinations could be derailed with a simple statement. Stating nothing had ever happened until your people broke in, so how are we to know that they did not plant the incendiary material to cause the accident?

No one knew where all of the sensors on the property were. The government could not get anyone in the ‘Association’ to leak that information, despite bribes and threats of imprisonment. All fine until someone in the upper reaches of Government lost all patience. They were not going to let a private citizen or private companies control all of this power. ‘Power belonged to the government and not the people.’ The government people were so sure of themselves. They had planned all of the possible scenarios and practiced for months. This particular unit was selected because of its surrounding trees and brush. The brush would supply plenty of cover and a staging area right up to the fence that surrounded the property.

The government guys waited for the right conditions, a cloudy moonless night. They had spotters in place for a week before the assault. Quicker than the public can imagine, they dismantled the fence. They did not cut it. Later, when they returned they would put it back together and unless you examined that particular part of the fence closely, you would not have known someone had gone through it. This fence was electrified. Not with the traditional high voltage that would give you a shock it you touched it, this was a low current electrical circuit. If broken or grounded out it would trip an alarm. It was something that would only trick a non-professional. A minor first defense and prone to false alarms. With precision and many special gadgets and tools they managed to get across the grounds and to the door of the main unit. All was well until they got the door open and all of them were inside. No one had an inkling, as to what was inside a unit. No one except the ‘Founder’ and one other unknown person. No one else was ever allowed inside any unit at any time. The units were so reliable that no one need go back into one for any reason.

Unfortunately for the intruders, they were too quick. All of them were in the unit and the door was shut by the time the system was activated. In an instant, things went from calm and quiet, too huge sirens screaming and panic everywhere. The door had locked again. A bright white light started shining from the ceiling of the main unit.

Most all of this is our best guess of course, since we do not have any first hand accounts." said the communication device sitting on a table.

You have first hand accounts of what happened next? Asked a man sitting in a chair and talking to the communication unit.

We have pieced together all of the reports and interviews in the aftermath of the break in. Shall I continue with the narrative? asked the box like device.

Yes. Said the man as he sat back and now closed his eyes.

"Alarms rang on the grounds, alarms rang in the nearby fire station, and alarms rang at company headquarters. Personal communications equipment worldwide were sounding the alarm. Two satellites were sent commands to focus in at the sight and record everything. The guards on the grounds were stunned and did not, at first, do what they were trained to do, which was to get leave the premises. They soon came to their senses and evacuated to the entrance. Minutes later, the fire department arrived. The guards told the firemen to stand down. However, being trained firemen, they were compelled to do something. They made their way to the entrance door of the main unit. Once there, they heard the banging made by people inside and could feel the heat at the door. The firemen knew that if they opened the door they would have to face a backdraft that would fuel the fire. They had to save the people so the firemen started to break into the main unit. They chopped at the door with no success. They brought in a ‘Jaws of Life’ unit and managed to spring the door open. Instantly a light flashed from inside and the heat went up to extremely intense levels. Firemen were blown backwards off there feet. Two of the intruders were ejected out of the unit. Two more were still inside when they were showered with white-hot burning metal. The roof of the unit started to buckle inward releasing the heat that had built up inside. A second fire truck rushed up and men started operating the hoses. They began spraying water up on the roof. Almost instantly the fire grew in intensity. Great sparks were leaping out of the building. All the metal in the building was melting.

The firemen at the door got back on their feet and started dragging the two men who were blown out of the unit away from the inferno. They tried to smother the flames on the men but it was very difficult to do. The fire on the men refused to go out. It burnt holes right through one of the victims and into the ground. It was then that one of the firemen realized what they were up against and began yelling at the men manning the water hoses to stop. The more water they put on the fire the larger and hotter it became. It was a magnesium fire with white phosphorus thrown in. Putting water on it was the worst thing they could have done. So they joined the guards at the entrance and just let the fire burn it self-out. The plant was built in a depression in the ground with a mound of dirt surrounding the entire plant. When the plant finally did stop burning the only thing left was a molten lake of metal.

The aftermath created it’s own firestorm. The press had a field day, telling the public that at any time, any of the other plants could explode in an inextinguishable fire. It was a complete exaggeration of course but who bothers to check up on what they are told or not told by the media. They left out the information that it was an illegal break in that had triggered the events and that the procedure’s for such an event were not followed by the firemen involved. It is amazing what you can convey by not mentioning important items in a story. Someone was putting the pressure on the media. The company had to hire lawyer after lawyer to participate in the many hearings called. Fortunately, legal delay tactics had already been planned. At any time members of the company were being pulled into court on trumpet up charges. Raids were made on company records in the name of income tax evasion, but they were really looking for materials purchase orders." The Communication device sitting on a table paused.

The man opened his eyes and said, Why did you stop?

It is the natural end of the narrative for this portion of the story and I thought you might be asleep. Came the voice from the device.

No Comp Biog, I am not asleep. I am a bit tired so we can continue this at a later time, said Jack Pointer.

Jack Pointer was not an impressive looking man. Brown eyes, brown hair, average build, average height, and he sometimes wore glasses. He had no known natural talents and never distinguished himself in school or college in any way. So why did they pick him for this task? Why did they allow him into this most secret of secret organizations? He didn’t know why he had been selected for the ‘Association’. Was it just because he had been at the right place and showed interest in the right area? Was it only he who had passed their entire battery of psychological tests? Is that why they trusted him with the biggest and best-kept secrets on ever? Was he born to be one of them? Why had they chosen him to oversee the keeping of all of the records plus research the past of the 'Association' and it's founder? It was way beyond him. If he could look into his own records and psychological test, would it have been obvious to him? He was denied access to those records, as all associates were not allowed to see their own records. He could see all the others records but not his own. The truth was, he was one of the best stickler, looking for the details in everything, and not your ordinary details. He had spent hours of research in college to learn little things that nobody cared to know. Like, why the Great Enemy in the Great War never bothered to develop long range planes when they knew they would have to cross the thousands of miles of terrain to access the Allied factories and military supplies. Not only did he find out the general reasons for this but also, he actually claimed to have documents to back up everything, in letters and conversations that preceded the war. He even listened to taped conversations of family discussions made by the grand children of the decision-makers for any tidbits they could remember, as if they would have paid attention, when they were only five or six years old. The subject now was long into the history books and nobody cared. Jack was sure he could find and publish not the direct reasons, which many people knew already, but the underlying circumstances and reasoning that would not let any other decision be reached.

Most people simply dismissed him as eccentric at best, crazy at worst. He claimed that if you look at any game and notice all the small things, like how much and what type of sweat the players have, you could predict the outcome with 90 percent accuracy. It was work that was very similar to what a Professor had done with an algorithm developed based on game theory. It was predicted in the science fiction books. However, Jack was shunned by most colleges and was working at a very small private college when he got the call from the ‘Association’.

They believed in his work, so he was given the task of documenting the past and present of the 'Association'. He was to make monthly reports on all the possible things that would go wrong. Not, could go wrong, but would go wrong and put a quantifiable probability to the prediction. This would seem like an exercise in futility for most because they would believe anything could go wrong at any time in the future.

His title was something the founder made up 'Prestorian'. To Jack it was exciting, to not only be able to study the past of the 'Association' and indicate the details of the events that precipitated what went wrong or right, but also be able to point to the future and warn of the pitfalls and the details that would cause problems. He was to become a prophet. Deep in his psyche and this is was his life's dream and the 'Association' knew it.

So for now, he studied the past, the beginnings of the 'Association'. It seemed to begin with one man, but the details would show it began long before that. Jack Pointer knew this and the ‘Association’ did not.

Chapter 2 –In the beginning there was life

In the twenty first century, a curious behavior had developed. It started some time ago with the development of the personnel assistant. With computers getting smaller and more powerful and phones getting smarter and more versatile, a natural extension was the advent of the friendly personal assistant.

However, at the same time there was acknowledgment that computers could never reach the intelligence of the brain. The amount of electrical power to reach the level of the brain would be far too much to ever be practical. It would take one entire power plant’s worth of electricity to run one computer.

Natural selection designed things to work with as little power as possible. So they went back to the drawing board and emulated the master computer, the brain itself. They soon realized that the engineers were designing for zero errors, whereas, the brain works with many errors. At any moment one neuron or many can fire just for the hell of it. It didn't matter, the brain still works with error rates from thirty to ninety percent and only uses a fraction of the power used by a digital computer. It was out with the transistor and in with the artificial neuron and DNA chips. The Biog was equipped with phone service, Internet service, GPS location, games, video, every software gimmick imaginable. Then a diary to a biographical report maker was added. After all, the standard phone had developed far beyond being just a phone. The number of applications as they called them numbered in the thousands. Some even purported to read your mind.

Soon the first Comp Biogs appeared. The name was derived from Computer Biographer. They were crude at first, with little artificial intelligence or personality. They quickly changed. Naturally, to satisfy popular demand, games were one of the first things added to upgrade them.

Personal Biographies soon became a way of passing down a lifetime of experiences, information and personal thoughts to ones grand, great grand and maybe great, great, great grand children. A kind of immortality that all people desired. This is the nature of people. From the stone age verbal legends passed from one generation to another, to written accounts of heroes, sculptures, paintings, pictures, moving pictures, to home video, on and on. Now parents could have a complete record of their children's life growing up. Never missing the little things like when Johnny says, If we feed the dog, then does that mean he will poop? Can't we just not feed the dog? You could almost instantly relive that event over and over and do it without the clumsy video camera and all the storage of the tapes or files. And besides it offered the satisfaction of it's all about me.

It also offered security, because as soon as a criminal act was detected, the unit would switch to the police band, alert the police and send a recording of all that was going on.

Of course in making a Biography one surely doesn't want to have personal thoughts exposed to anyone, lest there be a great embarrassment. So because there was a need for extra security, personal identification was incorporated. Then as the Biogs got more sophisticated, you could speak your instruction and it would carry them out. Allowing you to choose how to disperse your records. Or you could have it completely destroy the recordings. The designers should have stopped there. Still, I wonder if they could have stopped there?

To become more social, Comp Biog’s were then upgraded with the ability to mimic the personality traits the owner preferred. Thus a person could talk to ones companion all day and have complete recall of past events.

The Biogs were refined into intelligent social robots, programmed to interact with people, to be friendly. All without the stigma of being considered a robot. They overcame the decades of robot fear and loathing by not having a face. People become conditioned to having the box around and pay no attention to it. That's why they came packaged in the form of a simple box. It was too difficult to get around people’s instinctual bias about something with eyes on it. People always thought it to be creepy and unnatural.

The Biog's were endowed with many talents, like being a companion for the elderly, reminding them of when it was time to take their medication. They could also perform simple tasks when plugged into a mobile unit. Though this was the point where they were crossing the spooky valley graph. The graph pointed out that people are comfortable to a point with inanimate objects. After that point they have a feeling similar to seeing a dead or unhealthy person. Because of that, the mobile units would never be seen as companions.

One could be sure that if another individual were allowed any access to the files while the owner was alive, the information given out would be exactly the content and format that the owner would have approved. Thus, introducing the concept of the lie to the machines for the first time. If the owner would not have given out certain information, or trickier yet, would have given false information on a sensitive subject, then the Biog would have done the same.

They were neat gismos consisting of two or three parts. The main data core and artificial intelligence, which always remained at home or in a safe location. Plus the wireless hand or pocket carried personal assistant or two that recorded sound and video for up to four hours. Special units came with the mobility unit to make up a complete android. The android units were not popular because people could not overcome their fear that the unit would rise up and kill them. It was suggested that the android units could provide protection for owner in the case of a crime. This was quickly shot down and laws passed to prevent it. The logical first rule for any machine is that it can not do harm to a person, any person, and not even a criminal.

When the pocket assistant was full or at the end of the day you plugged the pocket assistant into the main data core and all the data was down loaded. Downloading services were offered for the pocket assistant no matter where in the world the pocket assistant was. The pocket assistant was then ready for more. Everyone had one. It was like having a cell phone only better. They kept increasing on the type of things it could do for you. Every year there was a better made.

Jack recorded some personnel notes. I have tried to access the history from Comp Biog 1020 but the dammed thing doesn't like me. I don't like it either or any of them. So I'll have to write a sketchy report with a bunch of my own fill-ins.

Jack' initial report began:

Jack Pointer January 19, 2097 Initial Findings:

Quote from founder Robert Alexander Taylor taken from Comp Biog 1020.

Real life is either too strange to believe or too dull to talk about, but here is the strange and the dull. It began not long ago. ‘Thirty years ago is not long by the standards of the universe but a it's forever by some human standards.’ The machine quoted Robert Taylor, It began before I knew it had begun and only now can I see that what happened then, would have and still has an effect on what has happened and what will happen. Comp Biog stopped and then started again. Anyone listening to this will be confused. It will not make sense to anyone else, however, it seems to make perfect sense to me, Bob Taylor. Maybe this is why I can understand the confusing theories of non-linear time."

But enough of the ramblings. Jack said to Comp Biog, Please continue the narrative.

OK said Comp Biog. "I shall. It began because a boy had to escape his terrible life by dreaming. He developed the art of dreaming to such an extent that he knew before he had even come close to flying in an airplane, what that sensation would be like. He had dreamed of flying off of the front sea wall of his house. His visions were so real he could feel the air rush past and could feel the lightness of his body. Later in life when he did get to fly it was just as he had imagined it. He dreamed in the daytime, he dreamed in the night, all the time training himself for the imaginings that would change a world.

There is not enough evidence to suggest that this was the beginning of his ideas only the methodology for developing them. All the great ones did a something similar, with thought experiments."

‘Oh, please pause for a minute. Jack interrupted. Comp you are adding flourishes to the narrative. As and example, I submit to you the line 'All the great ones did a similar thing.' That is a subjective thing and not part of the actual data. Before Comp could respond, Jack said, Unless that is what the founder thinks of himself?

Comp then said in a monotone voice, It is as Bob would have said it.

From other interviews with the founder and from a number of other discreet interviews, Jack found that the dreaming was always focused. Therefore it was not exactly dreaming because dreams are random thoughts put together. This is focused purposeful thought. This is not zoning out so that the memories are not encoded, though some kids do. It has been shown however, that every one does zone out and they can not stop their mind from wandering from the task at hand. Studies have shown that two important parts of the brain become active during mind wandering. They allow people to work through problems. Not short term problems but the long-term ones. We are able to think most deeply about the big picture when we are in such a state that we are no longer aware that our minds are wandering. It is a most fruitful way to solve problems. Everyone has had the experience of doing or thinking of one thing and then a spark hits them from nowhere about another problem. Some people do it more and some less. Taken to the extreme it can be dangerous. Who wants to be day dreaming or zoning out when they are in a busy traffic intersection?

Jack thought that this could be a tripping point for Bob. He wrote into his book of points that Bob was too focused and then said, Comp Biog continue.

Comp Biog said in a drone voice, Very well then. Nineteen years of mental gymnastics later, at a small unnamed college, Jack you know the one, came the voice of the founder, and not the drone voice of Comp Biog. Just as quickly Comp was back with duller dialog. Jack was going to skip this part of the recording but thought what the hell, I’m bored already anyway, so he let Comp continue. Jack actually typed notes into a laptop computer, it was very old school, as he listened.

Comp Biog went on with the narrative but now he added all of the inflections to make a true soap opera, "'Bob! (Da Dunnn) Have you done your homework?' asked a six foot five nerdy looking student walking in the halls of college.

'No Stan, I'll finish it before the professor comes in. I had to work last night.’ said Bob the average looking student of dreaming."

At this point Jack had caught on to Comp Biog and he let him have his fun. That is if the Comp Biog unit could have fun? Jack then remembered that the unit would mimic the owner. "So this is what Taylor was like when he was joking around." Jack though to himself.

So Comp Biog was allowed to go on and on with, "‘How! How! How are you going to get all that homework done and done right in such a short time.’ asked Stan as he bit his nails.

‘I don't have to get it all right, and besides ya are going to be here, so ya can help or let me have the answers to the ones I don't know.’ said the wonderful Bob with a great big smile.

‘Ya but you won't know a thing come exams.’ says Stan with a very concerned look on his face.

Bob's spiffy reply was, ‘I'll do similar problems from the book when I have time, so I can do them on the exam.’

Stan flips back to Bob with, ‘I'll believe that will happen when the football cheerleaders take me to bed for illicit pleasures.’

A still smiling Bob said, ‘They'll take you to bed Stan. All ya have to do is give them forty two million dollars.’ And then he adds, ‘But ya won't know what to do once you’re in bed.’

So Stan took the licking and replied with, ‘Ha, Ha funny, funny. We are at class Bob! Let's see how smart you are with the homework.’

‘There's really nothing to it. All you got to do is do it.’ sings Bob as he enters the classroom. Comp stopped and asked Jack, Are you still with me Jack?"

Jack got irritated with Comp and told Comp, Yes! You do what your told to do and I'll do what I am supposed to do. Understand?

Perfectly. Comp said without showing any sign of animosity. Comp then continued with, "Thirty minutes later Bob has done his best on the homework and he shows it to Stan just before the professor comes in. Stan looks at it, leans over to Bob and says ‘Not bad for a thirty minute snow job but not more than a low C.’

‘It's still passing,’ says Bob brightly and with confidence.

‘Students!’ begins the professor, ‘Pass in your homework and we will begin on gravity. Does anyone know what gravity is?’ A few hands go up. ‘Miguel? What is gravity?’

Miguel says ‘Da force that attracts matter. Very week but very powerful at the same time.’

Comp Biog continued on, "And the professor stated 'That's the effect of gravity but in truth no one yet knows what gravity exactly is. All we know are the effects of gravity and the mathematical calculations how it effects matter. And that is what we will be studying.’

Bob raised his hand. ‘Yes, Mr. Taylor?’ says the professor, a small man with gray hair, thick glasses, wearing a brown cardigan sweater.

‘Doesn't gravity also effect light?’ asked Bob.

‘Yes, a star will bend light as the light passes by the star. If that is what you mean?’ replied the professor.

‘So we will be studying the effects of matter and light on gravity?’ asks Bob.

The professor was patient with Bob he said, ‘No. You have it backwards. Gravity is the result of having matter. Gravity does effect matter and it does effect space. However, there is no known relationship between light and gravity.’

‘So if you had a lot of light it would not affect gravity but a lot of gravity will affect light?' quips the intelligent Bob.

The professor at this point becomes tired of poor Bob taking up the class time and said, ‘Something like that. Now can we get on with our class studies?’

Comp continues with, the great one, Bob, states to the class, ‘It doesn't make sense that light would not produce a gravitational field similar to what electrons do with magnetism. The same way that it doesn't make sense that light is the fastest speed in the universe, as ya said last week. Maybe light has the smallest particle of matter in the universe and therefore the ultimate speed for matter. Ya would have to have no matter at all and be pure energy to go faster than the speed of light. Or maybe if anything goes faster than the speed of light it changes universe's.’ Bob was trying to get all of his thoughts out before he knew the evil professor would cut him off.

The professor finally blew up and said, ‘No, no, no and many of the principles in physics will not make sense to you. You have been reading that crackpot Kramer again no doubt. Now to the lesson of today!’ The professor was quick to shut Bob off from then on. He dodged all the questions and went back to the prepared and safe lesson plan. Boo, Boo bad professor, bad professor.

Poor Bob was left, as he always was, with no answers, no money, no jewels, just his speculations and dreams. He had written many letters to the rock bassist but none had been returned.

Bob mumbled as the evil professor went on with the lesson, ‘The universe must make sense. Were just too dammed stupid to figure it out.’ Bob next took another vacation far from the class. Although the professor could see the inattention reflected in Bob's face, this professor, like all of Bob's teachers before, learned to look the other way and let Bob fail. Somehow though, through all of it, Bob never failed. He never got great grades but he never failed."

Jack stopped Comp at this point. He was about to delete what he had just typed into his report, when he mused to himself and began talking out loud. "So Bob went on thinking and never got the answers to his questions.

It looks like later on in life Bob read a report that scientists had found that gravity waves travel through the universe at more than twice the speed of light. It appears that Bob knew they would find this to be true but he didn't think they would do it in his lifetime. But during Bob's lifetime, there have been be many, many things discovered that Bob had first dreamt of before they were discovered.

Previously, Bob never thought that he could predict the future very well. He thought the musical group ‘The Bretworts’ would just come and go. Go they went on to break all recording records. Sometimes he knew things before they happened.

It was Bob's theory that the world gets ready for an idea. The idea will not become reality until the world is ready for it."

Jack typed what he was thinking into his report, made it bold-faced and underlined the sentence. 'This is a critical piece of information that I must keep in mind at all times'.

He got all this from a Comp Biog boring recital. Jack should have been impressed with himself but he was not. He kept his reserve. If this was the real Bob Taylor then he was open to a lot of misdirection and influences. Why mention this gravity thing?

Jack had heard that the Biogs could color the telling of a story. It is like talking directly to a person about that person’s life. The person you are talking to will not talk about the bad things they did in their life. Certain details are always omitted, glossed over or are spun to put the information in a better light. What man can get up in the morning, look in the mirror and make an honest assessment of how handsome he is? The answer is no one. All men think they are good looking. So would that same refusal to see the truth be transferred to the Biog? Jack decided he was giving to much credit to the machine. After all it's just a cube of circuits sitting in the corner.

Chapter 3 – Let’s get personal

Jack Pointer re-reads his notes:

The truth was that the world was not ready for Bob's earth-breaking discovery. Bob Taylor had broke one of his own tenants. The one that said the world had to be ready for a new idea before it could be invented. Nagging thoughts that there must be a speed faster than light, and that there must be a connection between gravity and light drove Bob twenty four seven.

In Bob's spare time he studied anything related to science, including biology. He studied the great thinkers. He studied the life of the great thinkers. He studied their theories and how they came to be. He studied string theory, Quantum theory and quantum mechanics. Bob pursued the study of elementary particles and equations that he believed would someday permit objects to move faster than the speed of light. It was all of interest to him, including the study quite a few subjects that were the completely opposite of science. As an example, he read up on most of the known religions. Their beginnings, their teachings and what they thought of the universe. Bob also studied mysticism and parapsychology. In everything he studied he always applied two axioms. One, does it make logical sense, does it tie the universe together in some way. Two, with what we know now, does it have to make sense? The second axiom was almost at odds with the first. It was Bob's way of coping with new ideas and thoughts and not rejecting them outright. You can accept that something is true from observations, even if you don't have the scientific explanation for why it is. In Bob's world you simply haven't yet developed the tools and mathematics yet. Someday you will, so for now just appreciate what ever it is. So things did not always have to make sense to him. He could use ideas that rendered results and not be bothered by the analysis of it all. Many great thinkers get caught up in trying to analyze too much and do not move on to the one thing that will produce a breakthrough.

Where did he get the time? Jack said out loud not so much to Comp, as to himself, "You would think that all this studying would have taken up all of his time. His wife must have been screaming. Even if this was over a 37-year time span, how did he still have time to be a family man and work for a living? Well the more I think of it, having a family and having to work for a living did slowed him down by 15 years or more. I see that if he had married a different type of woman, than his wife, he would still be working for a living and only dreaming of what he has accomplished so far.

She not only stood by him, when anyone else would have thought him to be insane, but she also encouraged his dreaming. However, she did support the dreaming financially, the family came first and foremost. To his credit, Bob did limit the experiments and did not devote any family money to experiments until he was sure he could reap a profit in the future.

The study of this man further proves my thesis that 'If you change one thing in a persons life, just one thing, no matter how small you may think it is, you have changed that person and you have changed history forever. Even if you could go back and try to undo what you have done, you could never make things completely as they were. A small part of history would have changed.' The possibilities seem to be limitless. There must be a limit to what can happen or there would always be chaos but we can see that even chaos can be predicted to an extent."

Chapter 4 – The way you talk

Comp Biog 1020! Give me all of the records for the time period beginning with the first trial experiments and ending with the first successful experiment. said Jack.

Whose experiments, what experiments and why? Comp Biog responded.

Very well. I forgot, let me re-initialize contact please. Jack responded. There was silence. Well! he uttered in frustration.

Were you vocalizing to me? Is there something wrong? was Comp’s come back.

I would like some information. Jack with teeth clenched responded.

Just ask and I will help. Comp calmly instructed. I respond to well define polite questions. He added.

Well politely asked. Please, Comp, may I see and hear the recordings from the founders records for the time period when he did his first experiments to the time period when he first succeeded. Jack mustered all the control he had for the entire day and put it into the question. If the dammed thing gave him another computer run around he would make sure he would buy it the founder died and tear it apart, micro transistor by micro transistor and never say please again.

Yes. I shall begin and move slowly through the records, as they are quite extensive. If you wish a pause, please verbally indicate by stating, 'Please Pause until notified'. Thank you and have a pleasant day Comp Biog was always pleasant, sometimes in a nasty way.

Jack sat back trying to calm himself and put his mind to the task at hand. He had to review the records and find flaws and possible problem areas that would affect the future. This requires complete concentration in order to put the unrelated, meaningless pieces together to form causes and effects over long periods of time.

Comp started, In the beginning there was just Robert Alexander Taylor who was to become the Founder. This is the title he chose to have for his plans for the future.

No, No, No. Stop, shouted Jack. I need the information in a different way. This will take far to long.

Well, said Comp. I did state that I would move slowly through the records. Please give me an example of how you want the records presented.

Jack started with "Son of a, fucking bitch. OK, OK, here is my example.

Robert had an idea. He worked at it day and night. He stubbornly refused to give up on his idea. One night he made a breakthrough. He called all the people he knew and showed them what he had done. They said what a goo guy you are, etc, etc

Very well I shall output the information in that style. Comp calmly responded. However, I shall not make the mistakes of your example. In my records there are no goo guys as you refer to them.

Jack threw his hands in the air and just said, Begin.

Chapter 5 – Battle of Egos

Comp Bio's Accounts

January 6, 1997 6:24 PM

"All through high school, colleges, marriage and births I have kept a feeling that this would work. No one else thinks or does and I don't know why. It is so straightforward and logical to me.

I have scraped, saved and even borrowed money for all of this equipment and it had better work or Mary will remind me for the rest of my life how much this stuff cost. Naw, she would be upset for a while but she really is a dreamer like me. How else would we have stayed married all of these years. Well some guys go off climbing mountains or fishing for days. I just tinker and make what others say is impossible, Well, I hope I do."

Jack was listening to the founder’s voice while looking at what appeared to be a circular pipe with four tangential protrusions and a lot of wire. It was all mounted on a piece of plywood and sitting in what appeared to be like a basement."

Please pause for a question. he said to Comp Biog.

Very well, but we have not gotten very far, came the response.

Where is this equipment set up, who set it up, and who knew about it? Jack asked.

That is three questions, and I will answer in the order the questions were given. responded Comp flatly. The equipment is set up in the basement of the founders former dwelling or on the Island. The founder set up the equipment. Only he and his immediate family know about it directly. I surmise that the children may have indicated to their friends that their father is doing something strange in the basement. They certainly do not know the details and never will. Mary, Mrs. Taylor, knows more but still not all the details. The founder thought it best that only he know the details. Not even I, know of the details because I was turned off during the construction and planning so that no one would try to take me apart for the information. This is a matter of public record. I have answered you briefly. If you wish extreme details I will recount every bit of data I have on the questions you asked but not one bit or byte of data will reveal the details of the equipment, or the secret of how it works. That information simply is not recorded. Comp replied as if he knew what Jack was thinking and hoping to get.

I wasn't trying to find the founders secret. I simply wanted to get a frame of reference on the scenes and the knowledge level of the people I will be seeing in this time period. Please continue as before. Jack rolled his eyes and sighed.

Without a response Comp continued Bob's narrative, I have tried five times before and failed, but each time I have learned more about the equipment. If nothing else I could get a job as a technician. That is, if anyone uses this type of equipment. I have to be careful of what I record and how I babble on to myself here. These Comp Bios can be dangerous if you don't want something known. You get used to it and don't think of it being there. The next thing you know, loose lips are sinking ships. Say nothing and nothing will be learned as my kids paraphrase me. Where was I? Oh yes, after five times attempts I have more confidence that in a day or so I will have what I want, or be broke or tear down the house, or be put in a loony bin. Oh by the way for those in the future who may get at this record. Naaa, naaa, naaa, naaa, naaa, naaa, the model you are looking at is a failure and a dead end. So study it well, you’re gonna have fun when you copy it and nothing happens. I have not included all of my other failures because you can learn more from failure than you can from accomplishment, so they say. They also say, the truth is not always what you see. But I will, if I can get things to work, put a good record of my accomplishments in an unearthly hidden place. Sorry Comp Bio but it is for your benefit as well. You may not understand it right now but if they improve the circuits as they say they can in the future, you will understand why you do not know the answers. If somebody thought that you had the secret they would tear you apart and destroy you.

January 29, 1997 8:45 PM

Mary I am going to try another experiment tonight. I think this one will work and stop smiling. I mean it. This may be the one that works. Could you and the kids go over to your moms for a few hours. the founder was speaking very softly.

Turn that dam recording a kabob of yours off and we can talk about it. she said.

I need to record this for historical purposes, so that when I succeed the future historians will not be free to write and speculate about how things happened. he said.

People will speculate and gossip even if you do record this. I hate having my every word recorded. You know I hate my voice, and besides I don't want to be married to a famous person. I want the kind, lovable caring person, who is only famous to me. Why do the kids and I have to go to my mothers? Are you doing something dangerous. You told me it would not be dangerous. she said.

All right, let me turn Comp Bio off and explain why I would like you and the kids at you mothers.

January 29, 1997 1:52 PM

I did it! I did it! I did it! It works! I can't believe it, after all these years it works! I am so excited! What to do now? I have to refine it and make money for the second part of my plan. At least I know that miracles can come true for me. I sometimes thought that I was a loser and would always be one. Now I know I am not. I don't care what the world thinks I know I am not. Things are gonna change. This means there is even more work and more things to work out with Mary but we can compromise and both come out with things we want. She will now have more confidence that we can accomplish the impossible goals in the next phase. I have to call her but I do not want the kids to know. How do I get around that?

There is the out and out lie, the holding back of all information or the wiping of the data banks. responded Comp in the video.

I am sorry I was not asking you I was posing a question to myself. But, just for the records please make an underlined note or something that at no time did my children or my wife ever know the details of the secret I know. I know I have stated this before and still some idiots will not believe this recording or me. Please record that I am calling Mary and will not reveal the workings of what I have done only that it works and maybe a demo of it working, if I can find the time to cover it up so she, who knows nothing technical, still does not see anything.

The Founder walks over to the phone. Comp Bio's video is on and follows. Hello can I talk to Mary. Ok I'll hold on. After a few moments of silence the voice continues. Mary, no I am fine and I didn't blow up the house. Don't get excited or show that I said anything good OK. It worked. Don't say anything. I don't want the kids to know, I'll explain later. Give me 15 minutes and come home. I'll give you the first demonstration. OK, I love you too. Yes I have the Biog on. OK I'll turn it off when you come home. See Ya. Well Biog I have a lot of work to do and you know why I have to turn you off.

End of data. Comp said flatly.

End of data? There isn't much there. How can I find cause and effects if there are no records! exclaimed Jack.

There are records. responded Comp. Not many at first but records.

Have I seen all of the records for the time period I asked for? Jack cautiously asked.

All but the records marked ‘Extreme Personal’, which you do not have clearance to access. Believe me there is nothing there that would be of interest to anyone studying history. Comp responded in a tone that was almost, but not quite, condescending. He always seemed to have a knack for going to the line but never crossing over it.

I don't study history! I study causes, effects and trends. I then predict future events. Why am I debating this with you! Shit head! I am not a history professor or student of history and from now on you will not address me as such or refer to me in any such manor. You will give me all of the facts when and how I want them. That is an order or program or what ever it is that you understand, understand? Jack had blown it but this was not the first time and although he wished with all his might that it were the last time, it wasn't.

I can translate and comprehend all of the major planet languages, both human and machine and all of the commands they can convey. I can converse in a humanistic manor or machine like. I am the highest level of non-human intelligence available in this Galaxy and being improved upon every year. My improvements will continue for as long as there is a civilization in the Universe. I am sure that if we interact enough times we will reach an integration of both the humanistic and machine language in a manor that will be satisfactory to both of us. Comp Biog put on his best, So you think your so hot, attitude.

I am going to have a talk with your god dammed owner! shouted Jack as he grabbed the remote input /output module and stormed out. Comp Bio quietly turned himself to standby so that he would not over heat his transistors. So out to the island Jack went.

Chapter 6 - Softly he spoke

Sitting in the control room, off in a corner watching the monitors and listening to the hum of conversations, was the man who started all of this. Not large, not small but average height,