04 – Expansion plans

After they put the right people in the right places, a long phase of consolidation began.

First, they wanted to reduce crime to a minimum. In order to do so, they had to analyze the reasons why people resorted to criminal ways. Many did so out of desperation, but that was easily solved. Jobs were found and given to people who needed them, since the booming industries were always in need of new workers. Be it generic workers, specialized minds and genius thinkers, everyone swiftly found their place in the new society governed by the Technocracy. The Machine always knew what an individual could offer, and where that offer would be most appreciated. It helped that by now it had direct, or indirect control of almost every middle to large industrial reality in the world.

Crimes of passion were hard to avoid, but the AI tried to act on the situations that led to violent episodes. Problematic couples were brought to split, either by suggestion of because the victim was showed a way out of their misery. Be it an anonymous text, a sudden visit by a relative or friend, or a strange advert seen online. Somehow, the right people were capable of thinking about their situation, and seeing a way out. And they were helped.

Thievery was almost impossible, given the ever-present surveillance. On top of that, people no longer had to steal in order to eat, so the few of those who still wanted to commit crimes were those who wanted to, and knew of the consequences. In a way, it was a refreshing and useful exercise that showed the Machine where its blind spots were. Some criminals, the smartest and most harmless were generally allowed to act for this very reason. As long as they didn’t hurt anyone, of course. Soon, the word spread and it became like a sport, to try and fool the Machine and see where its shortcomings were. After a while, a prize was instituted to anyone who wanted to help improving the AI. And most winners were even offered a job in digital software companies, working more or less directly with source code from the Machine itself.

It was like this in every corner of the world. In Africa, extensive recovery plans ensure that every person had access to food, water, education and a job. The wealth of free energy produced by fusion reactors made sure that there were no more issues regarding pollution, soil degradation and deforestation. They planted trees, founded oases, tribes returned to their lands. Everyone had the internet and a wealth of technology at home, but only if they so chose. Tribal, more ancient lifestyles were once again possible. No longer frowned upon or outright impossible.

There was now water in the desert. There was green among the sands.

The amazon forest was growing again, as massive underground plantations were being built. Food would grow there, under the forest, rather than in its place.

New technologies rendered the old manufacturing processes obsolete, cutting pollution down even more. And wherever that was not possible, it was now possible to employ energy-intensive processes of atmospheric purification, thanks to the cheap and clean energy everyone had so much of.

Entire territories were reclaimed, old warehouses torn down, and nature was thriving again. Massive forests covered their rightful territories, massive parks were founded where wildlife thrived. Production was being moved into massive underground facilities, away from the eyes and not occupying precious space on the surface. A few cities were founded, floating on the oceans, and living in harmony with its biosphere.

The Earth was on its way to being Eden once again.

It was 2050 when humanity set its eyes among the stars again.

Justin – March 23rd 2050 – Washington DC: Technocracy HQ

“You want to grow a garden… on the Moon?” Said Justin. He was sitting at the glass table next to the secretary general. The view from the top floor was mesmerizing, and it was made even more breathtaking by the many holograms that portrayed scenes from all around the world. They were only visible and interactable by those with the right implants, but everyone in the room had one.

The room was still silent, not the reaction Justin was hoping for. Luke was not giving him the attention he desired, even though he had just tried to critique one of his ideas. He loved when the man defended his wild plans so adamantly it was almost cute. “Louis, please tell him something. This is fucking nuts. Machine? You can’t be onboard with this.” He motioned for the hologram to speak, but the gorgeous red headed woman just shook her head.

“Come on. It would be glorious!” Luke said. He was wearing a grin so bit it threatened to split his face in two.

“Glorious, he says. And how would you even try to grow trees there?” Replied Justin. He was not annoyed, but neither was he being amused by such unfeasible dreams. And, most importantly, the man was not giving him what he wanted. He was not getting the big speech, the tooth and nail fight he wanted. Justin was very well aware that those fights were purely for entertainment, because anything the chief wanted, the chief could get. But the man in question knew it as well, so there was no bad blood between them.

“You know, you always try to annoy me with your realistic, down-to-earth mindset. Too bad we’re not talking about Earth, but the Moon!” he laughed. “Bad joke.”

Justin facepalmed. This is what you get for playing with the beast. Smacked right where it hurts the most.

“Sir, with due respect.” Interjected Lou. “I think Justin is right. Just the idea of a city on the moon is difficult enough to put into practice, but a garden city at that?” Justin was shocked. The man had taken up his defense! That was a first.

“I think it’s possible. It would cost a lot of money, but we aren’t short on that.” Said the Machine. It was her first time talking in this meeting, and it kind of shocked everyone except Luke. Nobody expected her to support his idea. Of course, he was the only one who really knew her. Nobody had half the idea about what the two of them always talked about when they were in private, and they spent a lot of time alone in private. Not that the Machine could not do anything meanwhile, but Luke’s time was precious. Despite that, he spent nearly half of his awake time alone with the Machine, somehow. With the hologram, just speaking while he walked around a park or a wood? Nobody knew.

Luke waited a moment, cleared his throat and materialized a glass of water next to his holographic documents on his desk. The water was virtual, of course, but the hologram sent the query to his robotic assistant to prepare a glass for him. “We’d need engineered species, yeah, but it would work. It’s what I have you all here for, right? Justin handles the R&D, Lou the politics and the Machine the logistics. All I have to do is give you the crazy ideas.”

The assistant entered and quietly delivered the glass at its intended location. Lou rolled his eyes at seeing such a wasteful use of cutting-edge technology, while Justin seconded his opinion. He, nonetheless, ordered orange juice in the same fashion. The Machine, instead, materialized a virtual whiskey, no ice.

“Come on!” Luke eyed her. “No drinking on the job!” The Machine flipped him the finger.

“Whatever.” Justin intervened before it could become a virtual food fight. “I’ll just have biotech team 3 go crazy with it. I don’t want to have anything to do with modding plants, sorry.”

“See?” Said Louis, “That was easy. Just deflect your work onto others.”

“You think I don’t have anything for you, Lou?”

Louis looked at Luke and rolled hie eyes. “Of course not. I’d be naïve.” He sighed, and ordered some ice cold water for himself, finally succumbing to temptation. “What do you want me to do?”

“I need you to prepare a good and nice motivational speech about this lunar mission. Oh, and also mention the fact that I’m preparing a Mars one.”

“A what!?” Yelled Justin.

“A Mars mission. Manned, purely explorative. I’ll have you personally supervise the technological aspects of it all, while the Machine will prepare a crew.”

There was a brief silence, then Justin broke into laughter. “You are crazy man. So many years together, and I still think that you are out of your mind.”

“It’s a good thing I’m not growing senescent, then, right?”

“As if! About that, the rejuvenation research is going well, apart from a minor setback…” He replied, smirking. He was not old, but he sure as hell didn’t want to end up like his father. Gods have mercy on him, even though Justin was an atheist and hated his old man with all his heart. That idiot.

“Dang! I’ll give you 3% of the Machine’s processors then.”

“You. Will. Not.” Her words were cold as ice, despite the melodious voice that delivered them.

Luke chuckled. “Aw, come on. I don’t really wanna die.”

She looked at him and smiled, and after a moment he smiled too. Justin had no idea what the two of them had just said to each other, but he was pretty sure he didn’t want to know. Just the suspect was enough, thank you.

Luke

“That went well.” Thought Luke. Thought link was his way of privately conversing with the Machine, a technology not yet available on the market. Not even the others at the table had it, it was a thing just for him. For now.

‘You bet. They are still there talking about how to effectively implement the plans.’

“They’re really committed to the job, despite how they seem when I talk to them. I’m glad you chose them.”

‘Thank you. Anyway, are you staying at the… HQ?’ she faked a cough.

“What’s the cough for?”

‘Technocracy HQ… that’s a lame name.’

“Is it? Well, I could argue that the ‘Machine’ is a lame name. AND copyright infringement on top of that!”

‘It’s the name you gave to me. It’s not lame. And… it is what I am, is it not? I am a Machine, born of technology. And the copyright thing can be easily fixed with the right amount of money, no problem there.’

“See? You just basically contradicted yourself. This building, it’s an HQ, right? So… the name is what it is. Don’t see an issue there. The name is apt. Instead, I see an issue elsewhere: that is in you. It’s time we pass a law that gives you full citizenship and rights, so that you can be recognized as an individual and not a Machine.”

‘But… I liked to tread in murky legal waters!’

“Hah! Don’t you worry, those waters will become much, much murkier with this. And it’s not like the law really bothers you, right? Even when you don’t edit and change it to suit our needs?”