measuring one metre thick, and covering almost sixty-four square kilometres.’
I hadn’t though of it in quite those terms before. Too unnerving, I suppose. ‘It ought to be infallible.’
‘Yes. But Eden’s thoughts work on parallel-processing principles. A neural network this large could not function in any other fashion. There is only one personality, yet its mind is made up from millions of semi-autonomous subroutines. Think of it as analogous to a hologram; if you cut up a hologram each little piece still contains a copy of the original image; no matter how small the fragment, the whole pattern is always there. Well, that is how the personality works, complete homogeneity. It can conduct a thousand – ten thousand – conversations simultaneously, and the memory of each one is disseminated throughout its structure so that it is available as a reference everywhere in the habitat. Indeed, all its knowledge is disseminated in such a fashion. When I converse with it through affinity, I am actually talking to a subroutine operating in the neural strata more or less directly below my feet. The amount of the strata given over to running that subroutine is dependent purely on the complexity of the task it is performing. If I were to ask it an exceptionally difficult question, the subroutine would expand to utilize more and more cells until it reached a size appropriate to fulfil the request. Sometimes the subroutines are large and sophisticated enough to be considered sentient in their own right, sometimes they are little more than computer programs.’
‘The murderer got at the safeguard subroutine, not the chimp,’ I blurted.
Her eyebrows rose in what I hoped was admiration. ‘Precisely. Somehow the murderer used his or her affinity to suspend the subroutine responsible for monitoring the orders given to that particular chimp. Then while it was inactive, the order to collect the pistol and stalk Penny Maowkavitz was issued to the chimp. The monitoring subroutine was then brought back on-line. Eden was not aware of the rogue order in the chimp’s brain until it actually observed the chimp shooting the pistol. By then it was too late.’
‘Clever. Can you prevent it from happening again?’
She looked at the floor, her lips pulled together in a delicious pout. ‘I believe so. Eden and I have been considering the problem at some length. The servitor monitoring subroutines will have to be reconfigured to resist such tampering in future; indeed all of the simpler subroutines will have to be hardened. Although it is of no comfort to Penny Maowkavitz, we have gained considerable insight into a vulnerability which we never previously knew existed. As with all complex new systems, methods of abuse can never be fully anticipated; Eden is no exception. This has given us a lot to think about.’
‘Fine. What about extracting a memory of the murderer from the chimp? What he or she looks like, how big, anything at all we could work with.’
‘If there was a visual image, I expect I could retrieve it given time. But I do not believe there is one. In all probability the murderer was nowhere near the chimp when the order was loaded. Whoever they are, they have demonstrated a considerable level of understanding with regards to how the habitat servitors work; I don’t think they would make such an elementary mistake as allowing the chimp to see them. Even if they did need to be near the chimp in order to suppress the monitor subroutine, they only had to stay behind it.’
‘Yeah, I expect you’re right.’
Hoi Yin gave a small bow, and rose to her feet. ‘If there is nothing else, Chief Parfitt.’
‘There was one other thing. I noticed you were with Wing-Tsit Chong at the funeral.’
‘Yes. I am his student.’
And did I hear a defensive note in her voice? Her expression remained perfectly composed. Funny, but she was the first person so far who hadn’t said how much they regretted Penny’s death. But, then,
I hadn’t though of it in quite those terms before. Too unnerving, I suppose. ‘It ought to be infallible.’
‘Yes. But Eden’s thoughts work on parallel-processing principles. A neural network this large could not function in any other fashion. There is only one personality, yet its mind is made up from millions of semi-autonomous subroutines. Think of it as analogous to a hologram; if you cut up a hologram each little piece still contains a copy of the original image; no matter how small the fragment, the whole pattern is always there. Well, that is how the personality works, complete homogeneity. It can conduct a thousand – ten thousand – conversations simultaneously, and the memory of each one is disseminated throughout its structure so that it is available as a reference everywhere in the habitat. Indeed, all its knowledge is disseminated in such a fashion. When I converse with it through affinity, I am actually talking to a subroutine operating in the neural strata more or less directly below my feet. The amount of the strata given over to running that subroutine is dependent purely on the complexity of the task it is performing. If I were to ask it an exceptionally difficult question, the subroutine would expand to utilize more and more cells until it reached a size appropriate to fulfil the request. Sometimes the subroutines are large and sophisticated enough to be considered sentient in their own right, sometimes they are little more than computer programs.’
‘The murderer got at the safeguard subroutine, not the chimp,’ I blurted.
Her eyebrows rose in what I hoped was admiration. ‘Precisely. Somehow the murderer used his or her affinity to suspend the subroutine responsible for monitoring the orders given to that particular chimp. Then while it was inactive, the order to collect the pistol and stalk Penny Maowkavitz was issued to the chimp. The monitoring subroutine was then brought back on-line. Eden was not aware of the rogue order in the chimp’s brain until it actually observed the chimp shooting the pistol. By then it was too late.’
‘Clever. Can you prevent it from happening again?’
She looked at the floor, her lips pulled together in a delicious pout. ‘I believe so. Eden and I have been considering the problem at some length. The servitor monitoring subroutines will have to be reconfigured to resist such tampering in future; indeed all of the simpler subroutines will have to be hardened. Although it is of no comfort to Penny Maowkavitz, we have gained considerable insight into a vulnerability which we never previously knew existed. As with all complex new systems, methods of abuse can never be fully anticipated; Eden is no exception. This has given us a lot to think about.’
‘Fine. What about extracting a memory of the murderer from the chimp? What he or she looks like, how big, anything at all we could work with.’
‘If there was a visual image, I expect I could retrieve it given time. But I do not believe there is one. In all probability the murderer was nowhere near the chimp when the order was loaded. Whoever they are, they have demonstrated a considerable level of understanding with regards to how the habitat servitors work; I don’t think they would make such an elementary mistake as allowing the chimp to see them. Even if they did need to be near the chimp in order to suppress the monitor subroutine, they only had to stay behind it.’
‘Yeah, I expect you’re right.’
Hoi Yin gave a small bow, and rose to her feet. ‘If there is nothing else, Chief Parfitt.’
‘There was one other thing. I noticed you were with Wing-Tsit Chong at the funeral.’
‘Yes. I am his student.’
And did I hear a defensive note in her voice? Her expression remained perfectly composed. Funny, but she was the first person so far who hadn’t said how much they regretted Penny’s death. But, then,
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