mc.prey-第75章

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a　assemblers　are　designed　to　cut　microfragments　of　silicon；　but　faced　with　a　pliable　substance　like　skin；　they　only　pinch　it。　It's　painful；　and　causes　microtrauma　of　a　sort　that　nobody　had　ever　seen　before。　Or　would　ever　have　suspected。　No　wonder　Amanda　didn't　have　a　fever。　She　didn't　have　an　infection。　She　had　a　coating　of　biting　particles　on　her　skin。　The　magnetic　field　of　the　MRI　cured　her　in　an　instant；　all　the　assemblers　were　yanked　away　from　her　in　the　first　pulse。　（Apparently　that　is　also　what　happened　to　the　guy　in　the　desert。　He　somehow　came　in　contact　with　a　batch　of　assemblers。　He　had　been　camping　within　a　mile　of　the　Xymos　desert　facility。）　Julia　knew　what　was　wrong　with　Amanda；　but　she　didn't　tell　anybody。　Instead　she　called　the　Xymos　cleanup　crew；　which　showed　up　in　the　middle　of　the　night　while　I　was　at　the　hospital。　Only　Eric　saw　them；　and　now　I　know　what　he　saw。　Because　the　same　crew　arrived　here　a　few　hours　ago　to　sweep　my　house。　They　were　the　same　men　I'd　seen　in　the　van　on　the　road　that　night。
　The　lead　man　wears　a　silver　bunny　suit　that's　antimagnetic；　and　he　does　look　ghostly。　His　silvered　mask　makes　him　appear　faceless。　He　goes　into　the　environment　first　to　check　it　out。　Then　four　other　men　in　coveralls　follow；　to　vacuum　and　clean　up。　I　had　told　Eric　he'd　dreamed　it；　but　he　hadn't。　The　crew　left　behind　one　of　their　sensor　cubes；　under　Amanda's　bed。　That　was　intentional；　to　check　for　residual　gammas　in　case　they'd　missed　any。　It　wasn't　a　surge　suppressor；　it　was　just　constructed　to　look　like　one。
　When　I　finally　figured　all　this　out；　I　was　furious　with　Julia　for　not　telling　me　what　was　going　on。　For　making　me　worry。　But　of　course；　she　was　diseased。　And　there's　no　point　in　being　angry　with　her　now。
　Eric's　MP3　player　was　cut　by　gamma　assemblers；　the　same　way　the　cars　in　the　desert　were。　And　just　as　the　MRI　was。　For　some　reason　the　gamma　assemblers　cut　memory　chips　and　leave　central　processors　alone。　I　haven't　heard　an　explanation　why。　There　was　a　swarm　in　the　convertible　with　Julia　that　night。　It　had　e　back　with　her　from　the　desert。　I　don't　know　whether　she　brought　it　intentionally　or　not。　The　swarm　could　collapse　into　nothing；　which　is　why　Eric　didn't　see　anything　when　he　went　out　to　the　car　to　look。　And　I　wasn't　sure　of　what　I　saw　when　she　pulled　away；　which　was　reasonable　enough。　The　swarm　was　probably　catching　the　light　in　odd　ways。　In　my　memory；　it　looked　a　little　like　Ricky；　but　it　was　probably　too　soon　for　the　swarm　to　be　taking　on　appearances。　It　hadn't　evolved　that　much；　yet。　Or　maybe　I　just　saw　an　indistinct　shape；　and　in　my　jealousy　I　imagined　it　to　be　a　person。　I　don't　think　I　made　it　up；　but　maybe　I　did。　Ellen　thinks　I　might　have。　After　her　car　crashed；　Julia　called　for　the　cleanup　crews。　That's　why　they　were　there　on　the　road　late　that　night。　They　were　waiting　to　go　down　the　hill　and　clean　up　the　site。　I　don't　know　what　caused　the　crash　itself；　whether　it　was　something　to　do　with　the　swarm　or　whether　it　was　just　an　accident。　There's　no　one　to　ask　about　it　now。
　The　facility　in　the　desert　was　entirely　destroyed。　There　was　enough　methane　in　the　main　laboratory　to　produce　a　fireball　in　excess　of　two　thousand　degrees　Fahrenheit。　Any　biological　materials　would　have　been　incinerated。　But　I　still　worry。　They　never　found　any　bodies　in　the　ruins；　not　even　skeletons。
　*　*　*
　Mae　took　the　bacteriophage　to　her　old　lab　in　Palo　Alto。　I　hope　she　made　them　understand　how　desperate　the　situation　is。　She's　being　very　quiet　about　their　reaction。　I　think　they　should　put　the　phage　into　the　water　supply；　but　Mae　says　the　chlorine　will　take　it　out。　Maybe　there　should　be　a　vaccine　program。　As　far　as　we　know；　the　phage　works　to　kill　the　swarms。　Sometimes　I　have　ringing　in　my　ears；　which　is　a　worrisome　sign。　And　I　feel　a　vibrating　in　my　chest　and　abdomen。　I　can't　tell　if　I　am　just　paranoid；　or　if　something　is　really　happening　to　me。　I　try　to　keep　a　brave　face　for　the　kids；　but　of　course　you　can't　fool　kids。　They　know　I'm　frightened。
　The　last　mystery　to　be　cleared　up　was　why　the　swarms　always　returned　to　the　laboratory。　It　never　made　any　sense　to　me。　I　kept　worrying　about　it　because　it　was　such　an　unreasonable　goal。　It　didn't　fit　the　PREDPREY　formulations。　Why　would　a　predator　keep　returning　to　a　particular　location？
　Of　course；　in　retrospect　there　was　only　one　possible　answer。　The　swarms　were　intentionally　programmed　to　return。　The　goal　was　explicitly　defined　by　the　programmers　themselves。　But　why　would　anybody　program　in　a　goal　like　that？
　I　didn't　know　until　a　few　hours　ago。
　The　code　that　Ricky　showed　me　wasn't　the　code　they　had　actually　used　on　the　particles。　He　couldn't　show　me　the　real　code；　because　I　would　have　known　immediately　what　had　been　done。　Ricky　didn't　ever　tell　me。　Nobody　ever　told　me。
　What　bothers　me　most　is　an　email　I　found　on　Julia's　hard　drive　earlier　today。　It　was　from　her　to　Ricky　Morse；　with　a　CC　to　Larry　Handler；　the　head　of　Xymos；　outlining　the　procedure　to　follow　to　get　the　camera　swarm　to　work　in　high　wind。　The　plan　was　to　intentionally　release　a　swarm　into　the　environment。
　And　that's　exactly　what　they　did。
　They　pretended　it　was　an　accidental　release；　caused　by　missing　air　filters。　That's　why　Ricky　gave　me　that　long　guided　tour；　and　the　song　and　dance　about　the　contractor　and　ventilation　system。　But　none　of　what　he　told　me　was　true。　The　release　was　planned。　It　was　intentional　from　the　beginning。
　When　they　couldn't　make　the　swarm　work　in　high　wind；　they　tried　to　engineer　a　solution。　They　failed。　The　particles　were　just　too　small　and　light…and　arguably　too　stupid；　too。　They　had　design　flaws　from　the　beginning　and　now　they　couldn't　solve　them。　Their　whole　multimillion…dollar　defense　project　was　going　down　the　drain；　and　they　couldn't　solve　it。　So　they　decided　to　make　the　swarm　solve　it　for　them。
　They　reconfigured　the　nanoparticles　to　add　solar　power　and　memory。　They　rewrote　the　particle　program　to　include　a　genetic　algorithm。　And　they　released　the　particles　to　reproduce　and　evolve；　and　see　if　the　swarm　could　learn　to　survive　on　its　own。　And　they　succeeded。
　It　was　so　dumb；　it　was　breathtaking。　I　didn't　understand　how　they　could　have　embarked　on　this　plan　without　recognizing　the　consequences。　Like　everything　else　I'd　seen　at　Xymos；　it　was　jerry…built；　half…baked；　concocted　in　a　hurry　to　solve　present　problems　and　never　a　thought　to　the　future。　That　might　be　typical　corporate　thinking　when　you　were　under　the　gun；　but　with　technologies　like　these　it　was　dangerous　as　hell。
　But　of　course；　the　real　truth　was　more　plicated。　The　technology　itself　invited　the　behavior。　Distributed　agent　systems　ran　by　themselves。　That　was　how　they　functioned。　That　was　the　whole　point：　you　set　them　up　and　let　them　go。　You　got　in　the　habit　of　doing　that。　You　got　in　the　habit　of　treating　agent　networks　that　way。　Autonomy　was　the　point　of　it　all。　But　it　was　one　thing　to　release　a　population　of　virtual　agents　inside　a　puter's　memory　to　solve　a　problem。　It　was　another　thing　to　set　real　agents　free　in　the　real　world。　They　just　didn't　see　the　difference。　Or　they　didn't　care　to　see　it。
　And　they　set　the　swarm　free。
　The　technical　term　for　this　is　〃self…optimization。〃　The　swarm　evolves　on　its　own；　the　less　successful　agents　die　off；　and　the　more　successful　agents　reproduce　the　next　generation。　After　ten　or　a　hundred　generations；　the　swarm　evolves　toward　a　best　solution。　An　optimum　solution。　This　kind　of　thing　is　done　all　the　time　inside　the　puter。　It's　even　used　to　generate　new　puter　algorithms。　Danny　Hillis　did　one　of　the　first　of　those　runs　years　back；　to　optimize　a　sorting　algorithm。　To　see　if　the　puter　could　figure　out　how　to　make　itself　work　better。　The　program　found　a　new　method。　Other　people　quickly　followed　his　lead。　But　it　hasn't　been　done　with　autonomous　robots　in　the　real　world。　As　far　as　I　know；　this　was　the　first　time。　Maybe　it's　already　happened；　and　we　just　didn't　hear　about　it。　Anyway；　I'm　sure　it'll　happen　again。
　Probably　soon。
　It's　two　in　the　morning。　The　kids　finally　stopped　vomiting。　They've　gone　to　sleep。　They　seem　to　be　peaceful。　The　baby　is　asleep。　Ellen　is　still　pretty　sick。　I　must　have　dozed　off　again。　I　don't　know　what　woke　me。　I　see　Mae　ing　up　the　hill　from　be