mc.prey-第39章

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　〃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　somehow　gets　around　the　engineered　resistance。　But　it's　bad　news　for　manufacturing。　If　we　have　infected　bacterial　stocks；　we'll　have　to　shut　down　production。　Otherwise　we'll　just　be　spewing　viruses　out。〃
　〃Frankly；〃　I　said；　〃shutting　down　production　might　be　a　good　idea。〃
　〃I'll　probably　have　to。　I'll　try　to　isolate　it；　but　it　looks　aggressive。　I　may　not　be　able　to　get　rid　of　it　without　scrubbing　the　kettle。　Starting　over　with　fresh　stock。　Ricky's　not　going　to　like　it。〃
　〃Have　you　told　him　about　this？〃
　〃Not　yet。〃　She　shook　her　head。　〃I　don't　think　he　needs　more　bad　news　right　now。　And　besides　。。。〃　She　stopped；　as　if　she　had　thought　better　of　what　she　was　going　to　say。　〃Besides　what？〃
　〃Ricky　has　a　huge　stake　in　the　success　of　this　pany。〃　She　turned　to　face　me。　〃Bobby　heard　him　on　the　phone　the　other　day；　talking　about　his　stock　options。　And　sounding　worried。　I　think　Ricky　sees　Xymos　as　his　last　big　chance　to　score。　He's　been　here　five　years。　If　this　doesn't　work　out；　he'll　be　too　senior　to　start　over　at　a　new　pany。　He's　got　a　wife　and　baby；　he　can't　gamble　another　five　years；　waiting　to　see　if　the　next　pany　clicks。　So　he's　really　trying　to　make　this　happen；　really　driving　himself。　He's　up　all　night；　working；　figuring。　He　isn't　sleeping　more　than　three　or　four　hours。　Frankly；　I　worry　it's　affecting　his　judgment。〃
　〃I　can　imagine；〃　I　said。　〃The　pressure　must　be　terrible。〃
　〃He's　so　sleep…deprived　it　makes　him　erratic；〃　Mae　said。　〃I'm　never　sure　what　he'll　do；　or　how　he'll　respond。　Sometimes　I　get　the　feeling　he　doesn't　want　to　get　rid　of　the　swarms　at　all。　Or　maybe　he's　scared。〃
　〃Maybe；〃　I　said。
　〃Anyway；　he's　erratic。　So　if　I　were　you　I'd　be　careful；〃　she　said；　〃when　you　go　after　the　swarms。　Because　that's　what　you're　going　to　do；　isn't　it？　Go　after　them？〃
　〃Yes；〃　I　said。　〃That's　what　I'm　going　to　do。〃
　　
　DAY　6　
　1：12　P。M。
　They　had　all　gathered　in　the　lounge；　with　the　video　games　and　pinba