obscure the inner third, and the eyelids sometimes hide the outer third. The middle band gives enough unique data for the calculation.”
“And these fifty or so circles, diamonds, swirls, and triangles are what made you an overseer?”
“They are. Let me show you the other sheets, and it will make sense.” Archie slid the next sheet in front of me.
I looked at the iris images on top. “This person had dark brown eyes, and it’s a painting, though pretty faded. Who is it?”
“Liu Shing. The previous overseer in my soul line. He lived in China twenty-one hundred years ago.” He pointed at the right hand image. “It is not the color that counts, but the difference. Watch.” He reached under the table and flipped a switch, causing the tabletop to light up. “If I line up the bottom circles on our light table, you will see what I mean.”
He lined up the plastic sheets, and I saw that the identity images matched up perfectly.
Then I got it. The chances of two people sharing fifty or more same-shape and identical-location marks were astronomically slim. These guys were really onto something here.
I looked up and nodded. “Now I’m impressed.”
He laid the next sheet on top of the other two. “I am not done. This was the first overseer under Darius, the girl from Scythia whose picture I showed you.”
Her soul identity matched the other two.
“And this,” he put the last sheet on top, “is the original Egyptian painting, person unknown.”
I looked at the composite image made by overlaying the four bottom circles. There was no question; the images and their locations on the four sheets of paper matched perfectly.
Archie stared at me. “You’re not convinced, are you?”
“Not yet.”
He nodded. “Let us go back to my office.” He put the sheets back in the box and the box back in the cart. Then he pulled the smart card from the wall. We waited until the delivery person came and rolled away the cart.
Back in his office, Archie settled into his leather chair. “You were not convinced,” he said.
I had been thinking about this as we walked back. “The technology is fine,” I said, “but I have questions on the process. Let’s start with the match. I don’t know if the seekers did the reading blindly, or if they had a target identity and they were forcing a match.”
“Our seekers learn to construct a rough identity in their minds,” he said. “They may check this against our catalog of long lost matches—these have the biggest rewards—and if they think they have a hit, they perform a full reading.”
I nodded. “How do you protect against fraud?”
“Our rules force every match to be validated by our match committee.”
That was a good start. Now to test its limits. “What’s stopping a reader from building a fake set of eyes that matches a well known identity?” I asked.
He smiled. “The match committee validation compares the eyes of the person with the iris images. No fake eyes are allowed.”
I nodded. “How big is this match committee?”
“Three members. All three must be in agreement for the match to count.”
I thought about this. “If I wanted to get a false match done, I’d have to make sure the seeker and all three members of the match committee were in on it. Four people would need to work together to fake a match.”
“That’s correct.” He smiled. “We have a good system.”
Not so fast, partner. I pointed at him. “But think about this—it only takes a single person to invalidate a match.”
Archie seemed disturbed by that suggestion. “Do you think that has been happening?”
I shrugged. “We have lots of areas to explore before we start making conclusions. For instance, how do you know for sure that the eye images actually belong to the person you ascribe them to?”
“Because the match committee validates the images against the real eyes.”
“But how do you know that the person is who he says he is?”
He paused, then shook his
“And these fifty or so circles, diamonds, swirls, and triangles are what made you an overseer?”
“They are. Let me show you the other sheets, and it will make sense.” Archie slid the next sheet in front of me.
I looked at the iris images on top. “This person had dark brown eyes, and it’s a painting, though pretty faded. Who is it?”
“Liu Shing. The previous overseer in my soul line. He lived in China twenty-one hundred years ago.” He pointed at the right hand image. “It is not the color that counts, but the difference. Watch.” He reached under the table and flipped a switch, causing the tabletop to light up. “If I line up the bottom circles on our light table, you will see what I mean.”
He lined up the plastic sheets, and I saw that the identity images matched up perfectly.
Then I got it. The chances of two people sharing fifty or more same-shape and identical-location marks were astronomically slim. These guys were really onto something here.
I looked up and nodded. “Now I’m impressed.”
He laid the next sheet on top of the other two. “I am not done. This was the first overseer under Darius, the girl from Scythia whose picture I showed you.”
Her soul identity matched the other two.
“And this,” he put the last sheet on top, “is the original Egyptian painting, person unknown.”
I looked at the composite image made by overlaying the four bottom circles. There was no question; the images and their locations on the four sheets of paper matched perfectly.
Archie stared at me. “You’re not convinced, are you?”
“Not yet.”
He nodded. “Let us go back to my office.” He put the sheets back in the box and the box back in the cart. Then he pulled the smart card from the wall. We waited until the delivery person came and rolled away the cart.
Back in his office, Archie settled into his leather chair. “You were not convinced,” he said.
I had been thinking about this as we walked back. “The technology is fine,” I said, “but I have questions on the process. Let’s start with the match. I don’t know if the seekers did the reading blindly, or if they had a target identity and they were forcing a match.”
“Our seekers learn to construct a rough identity in their minds,” he said. “They may check this against our catalog of long lost matches—these have the biggest rewards—and if they think they have a hit, they perform a full reading.”
I nodded. “How do you protect against fraud?”
“Our rules force every match to be validated by our match committee.”
That was a good start. Now to test its limits. “What’s stopping a reader from building a fake set of eyes that matches a well known identity?” I asked.
He smiled. “The match committee validation compares the eyes of the person with the iris images. No fake eyes are allowed.”
I nodded. “How big is this match committee?”
“Three members. All three must be in agreement for the match to count.”
I thought about this. “If I wanted to get a false match done, I’d have to make sure the seeker and all three members of the match committee were in on it. Four people would need to work together to fake a match.”
“That’s correct.” He smiled. “We have a good system.”
Not so fast, partner. I pointed at him. “But think about this—it only takes a single person to invalidate a match.”
Archie seemed disturbed by that suggestion. “Do you think that has been happening?”
I shrugged. “We have lots of areas to explore before we start making conclusions. For instance, how do you know for sure that the eye images actually belong to the person you ascribe them to?”
“Because the match committee validates the images against the real eyes.”
“But how do you know that the person is who he says he is?”
He paused, then shook his
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