4. Jabari Explains Mission

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4. Jabari Explains Mission

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Jabari motioned gracefully toward one of the two chairs that seemed to materialize out of the floor itself, the fluid motion of their creation echoing the elegance of the rest of the room. I obliged and sat as invited. Ve took a seat opposite to me.

“I was informed that you have been making a good progress on the Samian-ri 23 area,” ve said.

“It's an honor working there, sir. Being part of something as monumental as the Dyson Sphere project in Samian-ri 23 fills me with immense satisfaction.”

"Your proficiency in algorithmic manipulation and systems operation has been duly noted," ve articulated. "Your code execution skills demonstrate a high degree of complexity management."

"I appreciate the recognition, sir. But I don’t do more than my job requires."

"Understatement doesn't serve your capabilities justice. Were these skill sets an outcome of your own syraki optimization or acquired adaptively?" ve inquired.

“Most of it was adaptation, sir, but with some hacking of my own. I have spent too many time in runs demanding for parallelism of such, which ended up tuning my syraki.”

There was silence. For a moment, ve looked deeply into my eyes.

“Real-Life Theravada can offer you much more than a position as a roboticist,” ve said finally.

“I am curious on what that offer might be.”

"Mr. Mike, while the specifics of the mission I'm about to entrust you shall remain confidential, its importance cannot be overstated. The scope of this task is unlike any other, and the ramifications of its success or failure are immense."

Ve looked down, to vis hands, and for a time ve remained that way as if reflecting on what ve was about to say.

"Throughout the annals of time, humanity has cast its gaze upon a succession of 'last frontiers,' each a poetic muse in its own right. Consider the unending savannas that beckoned our earliest ancestors, or the oceans—vast canvases of mystery and lore. Imagine the vertiginous allure of mountains like Everest and K2, and the enigmatic depths of unexplored forests and jungles. Contemplate the austere beauty of the Sahara and Gobi deserts, and the icy riddles waiting in the Arctic and Antarctic realms. Delve into the enigmas of the unfathomable depths of the seas, realms darkness. Each, in its moment, was the ultimate horizon—a challenge, a question, a call to adventure.”

"In time, each of those once-daunting frontiers yielded their secrets to the unquenchable thirst for discovery. The savannas were crossed, the oceans charted. Lofty mountains bowed to the will of their conquerors, their summits engraved by the soles of intrepid climbers. Forests and jungles unfurled their hidden scrolls, deserts gave up their cloistered sanctuaries, and even the icy fortress of polar realms felt the footsteps of explorers. Even the abyssal depths were illuminated by the lanterns of submarines and our aquatic cities. And now, our collective gaze turns to the expanse above, where stars twinkle like distant beacons. Space, the celestial tapestry of cosmic wonders, stands as the true last frontier—a realm that beckons and challenge us to venture into the great unknown. And this way it had remained for the past millions of Earth years."

Ve made a pause.

“But there is a problem with that,” ve continued, “space is not the last frontier, Mr. Mike.”

I was befuddled by that. At first I imagined ve was employing some allegory, but vis eyes denounced me otherwise.

“Sir, I cannot fathom how could anything be more impressive than the Universe itself. There are so many planets, stars, and galaxies that we don’t even know. Although we may have achieved a vast knowledge compared to our forefathers, it is still nothing facing the sheer mysteries still hiding.”

Ve sighed, and a faraway look crept into vis eyes.

“I used to think exactly like you, Mr. Mike. Until now I have been dedicating my life to not just improve the lives of syrakis, but to expand our reach far beyond. You see, in my life I had been privileged to witness wonders I could never have believed to be possible. I’ve seen as syrakis advanced from late-stage humans to complete virtual beings. I’ve witnessed how algorithms became the center of our existence, how a very inefficient biological paradigm evolved by the power of hypercomputation. I’ve seen as the mysteries of Physics unfurl like the pages of a book, and the very first warp-drive prototype to tear the fabric of space-time. I’ve seen as our nenthors built space vessels, stations, and colonies, and from just the solar system we expanded across the stars. I’ve seen entire planets being terraformed, and I gazed upon the very heart of a black hole. I’ve watched the constructions of our first IG-Bridges, and how they allowed us to reach distant galaxies. I’ve seen how the Brains' Cage evolved, from a mere storage unit, to the heart of a virtual empire outstretching billions of light-years across the deepest anomalies ever to be imagined.”

Ve sighed.

“Still, Mr. Mike, all that… all that is nothing when compared to the true last frontier.”

“And what would that be, sir?”

“Even if I tell you now, would that make any sense to you? Have you ever heard about the allegory of the cave?”

“No, sir.”

“In Plato's story, prisoners are chained inside a dark cave, facing the wall. They've been there since birth, never seeing the outside world. Shadows are cast on the wall by objects behind them, lit by a fire. The prisoners take these shadows to be the only reality. One prisoner is freed and sees the outside world, realizing the shadows were illusions. When he returns to tell the others, they don't believe him, because the cave is all they've ever known.”

I mused over vis words.

“Mr. Mike, you are now given a unique chance, to shine among the first to explore this new world. Your place in history will be among names such as Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, James Cook, Roald Amundsen, Robert Peary, Edmund Hillary, Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong, Fernando Sidorov, and Haruka Tanaka. Your contribution could place you the latest in this lineage of great explorers, whose discoveries forever changed our understanding of our world and beyond.”

I was silent for a moment, considering the gravity of what ve had just told me. It was a lot to digest. My thoughts began to drift, contemplating the legacies of the explorers whose names had just been mentioned.

"I appreciate the offer, sir, and it's not lost on me how significant this opportunity is. But, if you don't mind my asking, how can I, or any syraki for that matter, make a discovery of such importance anymore? Most scientific discoveries these days are made by algorithms, and all relevant ones belong to them. Of course we could compete, since we are, also, algorithms, but what good would it do us when the Complex is too much better in their hands?"

“This is specifically the issue, dear Mike. For long we have been too much dependent on artificial intelligence, but here we have found a space impossible to even the most advanced one.”

That surprised me. I could not gather what ve was talking about, for artificial intelligence was so omnipresent in the Complex that I could not think of any scenario as such.