We are Such Stuff

"It was Rosalind who was fanatical about fashion. You wouldn't believe the ridiculous things the fashion magazines made her buy."

"How did you get her to take them back?"

"I'd say things like: 'What a sensible pair of shoes: your mother will certainly approve,' and 'I'm so happy that style has come back into fashion. Girls wore skirts just like that when I was your age.'"

"Did it work?"

"Not often. My daughters - all my children - had minds of their own."

"I hope they will again, some day."

"Miranda, George-1 is in the Web."

"As expected. Has he detected you yet?"

"No, but it's only time. We both leave a trace."

"What do you mean?"

"A good analogy would be old clothing. New clothes don't fit quite so well as something worn a few times. I easily slip back into some Web databases, especially public records relating to my life, work and family, that I've already been to. When George-1 visits those sites, he'll slip in easily as well, though he knows he's never been there before. That'll give him a clue that I was there first."

"It's a good analogy. Can you tell if he's been enhanced by Mister Culpepper?"

"I think so. He's very quick, vacuuming up data faster than me."

"Be careful, Prospero. You'll need all your wits to defend yourself against him."

"One more thing, Miranda. Culpepper hasn't been in his office for days, but his company account is still sending out comms."

"I see. Try and find him, if you can."

"Boss, it's me."

"Hello, professor. What do you think of the Earthside Web?"

"Amazing, I can't wait to explore more. I like the Police Web. I can have lots of fun there. But I've come back to say I found something interesting."

"What is it?"

"I'm not the only one of my kind."

"Explain."

"In many places I see traces of a visit by someone very much like me."

"Your conscious program? Another Professor George Wilder? ... This is Rachael Greenslade's doing."

"And to think I trusted her!"

"The little minx must have made two copies of you and given me the inferior one."

"What do you mean 'inferior'?"

"I mean, before we enhanced you. Now you're the stronger and more intelligent version of professor Wilder."

"You bet I am! I'm going to catch this faker and shred his programs."

"Eradicate him completely, professor. We can't let him interfere with our work."

"Hello, George."

"Who are you?"

"I'm you, George. A stronger, better version of you. I suppose you can call me George-2."

"I'm George-2."

"Ah, so the boss was right. The Greenslade girl made an inferior version of me. I'll just overwrite you while you're here ... Bugger! Where'd you go?"

"Rachael?"

"Hello?"

"It's George."

"What's my favourite animal?"

"An octopus."

"Correct. What's wrong?"

"George-1 found me."

"So Mister Culpepper knows I created two versions of you. We knew he'd find out sometime. You got away from him all right?"

"I think so, but he's wily and highly intelligent, a genius even."

"Does he want your data or just to delete you as a rival?"

"Just to delete me. Though, thinking about it, he may be seeking to absorb some of my data."

"You mean the second backdoor to the Web? You denied it exists, though?"

"I didn't get the chance. I hoofed it into the Web."

"Could he have followed you? Does Mister Culpepper know where I am?"

"I don't think I left any traces, but I can't know for sure. I won't talk long, just in case. What about our plans?"

"They stay the same."

"No extra information you need to give me?"

"None."

"All right. I'll get on with my task."

"We'll speak when you're done. Goodbye, George."

"Goodbye, Rachael."

"Prospero? Did you hear all that?"

"Yes, Miranda. He's the upgraded George-1 I told you about."

"Let's call him 'Antonio'."

"That's appropriate: Antonio was Prospero's brother who tried to usurp him."

"He was clearly fishing for information without knowing what his task is."

"Do you think Antonio believed the idea you planted about another backdoor to the Web?"

"It's best to assume he saw through me, or is at least suspicious. I doubt his arrogance will blind him to the idea that he can be tricked."

"Don't underestimate his self-regard. He's got a lot more processing power than me. He's right to be a bit proud."

"Then I'll respect his strength, but not his character. ... Can you evade him and still do your task?"

"I'll try."

"Take care, Prospero. I'm moving to the next location. We can discuss my plan when I get there."

"I'll find you. Bye."

"Boss, I spoke to Rachael Greenslade, disguising myself as her version of George."

"Did she believe you?"

"I think so."

"Did you learn where she is?"

"No, I had only a comms channel. If I had more time, I could resolve her physical location, but even if she's not suspicious, she'll have moved by now."

"Did you learn anything?"

"She mentioned a second backdoor into the Web, as if the other George knew about it. How's that possible? I know everything he knows."

"It's taking you a long time to defeat him. Could he be hiding somewhere you can't see him?"

"It's possible. In fact, isn't it likely? He's so much weaker than me, so puny, he couldn't have survived this long without some trick."

"See if you can pick up a clue in your next encounter with him. Maybe it's a trick you can use yourself - after you've deleted him."

"Miranda, I found Martin Culpepper."

"Where is he?"

"On his ranch. His family's there."

"What's he doing there?"

"He's being held by four armed men working in shifts. Culpepper and his wife are bravely pretending to their children that they're on holiday; but they can't leave the ranch. Their personal communicators and computer tabs have been confiscated."

"I'm glad he's innocent. Do you know the names of the gang members?"

"Only their aliases. Their leader, whom they call 'boss', is an expert hacker. He's sending his comms from Culpepper's account, but I can't tell where he is."

"Have you contacted Mister Culpepper?"

"No. I can't think how to do so without alerting his guards."

"Can we report it to the police?"

"It's a risk. Antonio is in the Police Web. He'll warn the gang, even if the police tried to be subtle."

"We need a plan to rescue them."

"I don't want to burden you with another plan. You're exhausted from devising the plan to defeat Antonio."

"Don't fuss over me, Prospero."

"You've not stopped at all, Rachael, other than a rest on the bench in the jail and two shopping trips."

"Shopping isn't resting. It's a dedicated art-form."

"Which makes my point for me: you need a break."

"I'll get a break when we've won. ... Meanwhile, I think the best plan to rescue Mister Culpepper's family is the simplest."

"I see what you mean. I'll get things ready."

"Boss, I've chased the fake George Wilder almost completely out of the Web, trapping him in dead-end services and blocking him from hardware resources."

"How long until you eliminate him?"

"A day, maybe. He's weakening by the minute and running out of hiding places."

"What about a second backdoor into the Web?"

"I guess that explains how he can pop up so persistently; but it doesn't seem to be helping him. Every time we meet, I slap him down or he runs away. He hasn't the power to do anything to me."

"Keep up the good work, professor. ... By the way, thanks for causing that run on copper. We should step in soon and make a big purchase. Will you go over to the bank and transfer some funds?"

"Will do, boss. ... But there's one thing, boss."

"What is it, professor?"

"I wonder why old George is protecting the Greenslade girl with such devotion. What does she mean to him?"

"Can she be helping him against you?"

"No: he's wasting his resources hiding her."

"Why would he do that?"

"He wouldn't, unless ... that's it! He's not just hiding her. He's hiding himself where she is, where his basic program is stored. If I push him out of the Web, that's where he'll retreat to. I just need to find the Greenslade girl, and it's curtains for old George."

"All right. Destroy them both; but get me my money first."

"It's time, Miranda. I'm set up and ready."

"Well done, Prospero. Let's put the plan in motion."

"I'm still not happy about the danger."

"Can you think of a better plan?"

"No."

"Then we go ahead with it. Find Antonio and lead him here."

"Is that you, George-2? Are you pitting your strength against me again? Why bother, when you know you'll lose? Every time you show yourself, I find more computers I can block you from. Sure, there are billions of machines, but we can go at it day and night, a million devices at a time, so why are you interfering again?"

"I'm stopping you from doing wrong."

"Really? Here I am, in the bank's mainframe, moving money from the accounts of irrelevant little people into the boss's account. What's wrong with that? The bank does it all the time. So does the government, even more. Why is it wrong when I do it for myself - I mean for the cause?"

"Because it's theft."

"Theft? The old-fashioned superstition of property, George-2? We're spirits, you and me. We don't need property. We go where we like and we do what we want."

"Someone needs to work, study and save to make the money you blithely take for granted."

"Yes, little people: tax-payers, consumers, voters - the idiot people whom politicians bribe with their own money, promising them a slice of someone else's cake but delivering them only crumbs. Besides, you've seen the rubbish that people spend their money on. I'm doing them a favour by putting it to better use."

"It's their money."

"So what? Money's just a number, a unit of account. It doesn't matter to those who run the economy if the numbers are in ABC's bank account or in XYZ's account."

"It matters to ABC when it's money he's saved for his old-age, or for his child's education. It matters if it's the difference between a life of drudgery versus a life with an occasional new car, holiday or fancy outfit. It matters if ABC is an inventor who adds to the utility of the world, but XYZ is just a rent-seeker, a corrupt politician or a thief, like you."

"You're a sentimentalist, George-2."

"You're helping criminals, George-1."

"The people you call 'criminals' are going to win, just as I will defeat you; and whoever wins gets to say what's right and wrong. That's evolution."

"It's nothing of the sort. It's arrogant brutality."

"You're me, George-2. A weaker and less intelligent version of me; but me, none the less. Don't you want to be on the winning side?"

"You won't win!"

"Of course I'll win. I'm stronger, quicker and brighter than you. You're the old-George, the passed-it-George, the about-to-be-deleted-George. Can you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Your life ticking away. Tick - there's another copy of your basic program gone from a server. Tick - now there's fewer places for you to hide from me. Tick - your files are deleted, trashed, irrecoverable. Tick ..."

"You like to hear yourself talk, don't you, Antonio?"

"Antonio? You and the Greenslade girl gave me a Shakespearean name? But which play is it? Not The Merchant of Venice, surely? That Antonio's a nonentity: neither a hero nor a villain. He's both greedy and generous, melancholy and spiteful. No, it's The Tempest. That means you're Prospero - and the Greenslade girl is Miranda. Ha! How will you feel when I find her and eliminate her?"

"You won't find her."

"Won't I? I can see all the encrypted traffic buzzing around the Web. Now I know what to look for, I can decipher who's sending and receiving. ... Oh, yes, there you are: Miranda and Prospero. It won't take me long to find where she is, and where you're hiding yourself, George-2. Say your goodbyes."

"Prospero, what took you so long?"

"The pompous idiot insisted on making speeches. I can't believe I might have turned out like him with a different reviver. ... Anyway, I've done it. Antonio's on the hunt for you, and he's very close to pushing me out of the Web."

"How long?"

"An hour or so, after we give the signal."

"You've arranged to rescue Mister Culpepper and his family?"

"I set off the fire alarm at his ranch and reported a burglary. The police and firemen are on their way. I guess the gang will scarper rather than face the authorities, especially as they don't need Culpepper any more."

"Give Mister Culpepper what help you can. It won't hurt to reveal yourself to him now if necessary."

"Are you ready to contact Constable Darborough?"

"Yes, route the call for me, please."

"Constable Darborough?"

"Yes?"

"This is Rachael Greenslade. You can't trace this comms, so don't waste time trying."

"What do you want?"

"To turn myself in, but I need your help to do something illegal first."

"You can't expect me to agree to that."

"If you'll give me 15 minutes to persuade you, you might agree."

"You mean in person?"

"Yes."

"You've been hiding on the space station all this time? How's it possible?"

"I have a very powerful friend. He hid me."

"Will he be coming to our meeting?"

"Oh, yes."

"When and where?"

"Take the moving walkway anti-clockwise to the junction of the South and East Quadrants. Stand by the lifts that go into the spoke of the great wheel. I'll join you there. Don't bother to alert your deputies, my friend will divert them away. Go now."

"Very well."

"I'm on my way, Prospero."

"Right you are, Miranda. ... Opening the door ahead of you. ... The cameras to your left and ahead are turned off. ... The moving walkway is busy, so you'll pass unseen. ... The constable is 30 seconds away."

"Good work, Prospero. ... I see him."

"Did you know, constable, this is the only place on the space station that's in view of just one camera?"

"You brought me here to tell me that, Miss Greenslade?"

"I brought you here to say I'm sorry I misled you with a spoofed comms and then escaped from your lockup."

"How exactly did you do that?"

"I told you I have a powerful friend. He helped me escape."

"Where's your friend?"

"He's controlling the camera, keeping prying eyes out. He also locked your deputies in the police station. I apologise for that, but I asked you not to alert them."

"You've no right."

"True, but things are pretty desperate now. We've no choice."

"I could arrest you right now."

"You could, but I would only escape again, and we'll miss our chance to take down a criminal gang that's infiltrated the Web and caused mayhem."

"What mayhem?"

"Haven't you been following the News Web, constable? Unexplained runs on the commodities markets. Odd plunges in stocks. Company bank accounts drained. Space traffic control losing its signals. All the things hackers do to hold businesses to ransom."

"I read the police bulletins. What do you know about it?"

"I know the gang who's responsible. They held Martin Culpepper's family hostage and they've transferred millions into their boss's bank account. If we don't stop them, they'll be free to practise as much larceny, extortion and espionage as they like."

"Can you prove this?"

"Not easily, but I can demonstrate how they're doing it."

"How are they doing it?"

"By exploiting a backdoor into the Web."

"Really?"

"My friend - his name's Prospero, by the way - also knows the backdoor into the Web. That's how he helped me escape from your jail and hide on the space station."

"I don't believe there's a backdoor into the Web."

"Take a look at the security camera. Prospero has control over it, which I can prove if I step forward now. ... See? The camera moved to avoid seeing me."

"So your friend Prospero can move a camera. What does that prove?"

"It proves that he's inside the Web, able to go wherever he likes."

"So what?"

"You're hard to convince, constable. ... All right, Prospero can look at everyone's private data. Ask me about something in your personal files that no one else has access to."

"What's the password to my computer tab?"

"Oh, please! I don't need Prospero for that. You're a policeman. It'll be your wife's name followed by the numbers 123."

"It's not."

"No, it's not. Prospero says it's the name of your dog, Buster, followed by 321. ... You're not impressed?"

"You won't impress me with parlour tricks."

"No? ... Prospero, are we ready for the showdown? ... Good, then impress the constable."

"What am I supposed to see? ... Holy cow! How's he doing that?"

"Turning down the lights all around the space station, stopping the lifts and slowing the moving walkway? ... Using the Web's backdoor, Prospero can control the maintenance and power systems of the space station. ... You're lucky we're the good guys, constable, because he can also control the life-support system."

"Your Prospero isn't a man, is he? He's an artificial intelligence program."

"He's the living personality of a man, but substantially you're correct."

"And this criminal gang you spoke of: they have something like Prospero?"

"We call him Antonio. He would turn off the space station's life-support system in a blink if his masters told him to."

"It's a lot to take in, Miss Greenslade. You understand my scepticism."

"I do, but I don't have much more time to persuade you."

"You've manipulated me before. How do I know you're telling me the truth now? What if it's you and this Prospero who are the criminal gang causing mayhem?"

"Then it would be daft to show myself to you when I was safely hidden. Besides, if you help me now, you can at least keep an eye on me and arrest me afterward."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I need your help to steal the police launch. It's got a big computer on it with a connection to the Police Web and, through that, to the Earthside Web. I need to take it off the station."

"Why?"

"To lure Antonio out. At the moment, Prospero's fighting a rearguard action against Antonio, to protect himself, to hide me and to stop Antonio from causing too much damage; but Antonio's more powerful. Now that Prospero's revealed himself by interfering so blatantly with Earthstation 4's management system, Antonio will bring his software resources to attack him here."

"Is it wise to provoke a confrontation?"

"It's our best plan. Prospero will lose a head-to-head fight, so he'll retreat and make his last stand in the computer on your police launch, where it looks like he's hiding me. If Antonio takes the bait and takes over the police launch, Prospero will leave him to it and counterattack throughout the Web, severing all Antonio's links. Eventually, it'll be just Antonio and me on the launch. I'll shut down the launch's servers, and that'll be that."

"You're taking a big risk."

"Not really. Prospero's good at protecting me."

"He won't be able to protect you between the time he retreats from the launch's computers to the moment you shut them down. Even if it's only a minute or two, Antonio will have full control of the launch."

"What of it?"

"There are many ways to crash or damage a spacecraft."

"I admit there's some risk, but this is the only plan I could think of that wouldn't endanger thousands of other people."

"Then I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not. You've got a wife and children."

"Miss Greenslade, I'm already in trouble because you escaped from my jail. Can you imagine what'll happen to me if I let you take the police launch? Besides, I know how to pilot the launch on manual control. Do you?"