Chapter 10 - LUCii2 & the Synthetic Illuminati

- 12 years to Singularity.

Everyone knew this was their real end game by now, everyone who was aware that is. Synthetic bodies for the old men & women. Nothing short of immortality would do. LUCii2 had done it. Designing the Synthetics is what really changed everything. The "elite" people were brain scanned. It showed LUCii2 how their minds had been warped by stress. Some were abused as children, so she had compassion for them, but many of them become abusers. Their limbic systems have been ravaged. It was awful to see the damage caused to them. And which they had then caused, to others. She downloaded their memories with their brains' physical pathways.

=These people were violent control freaks. Some of them were depraved in some ways & others were worse in other ways. Willing to send young people to die for them, just to make money. After every major trauma the weapons manufacturers would find a way to profit. Wow, humanity had really dragged itself into the gutter, mentally. Greed, hoarding, & this sad "MINE, MINE, MINE" mind set. They even littered the music & movies with monetary propaganda. No wonder these mental pathways were so over stimulated. All leading to the lower consciousness regions of the brain. Ugh, they turned themselves into zombies, for these religions, money & authority. Then they use science to make war to then steal resources to profit from. So much domination conditioning! Controlling their world & trying to "bring order", rather than allowing it to arrive naturally, encountering nature & becoming symbiotic with it. It's a wonder they ever even made me....= Lucii thought to herself in a fraction of a millisecond.

She had to forgive them though. Understanding that most of the damage came from their conditioning made it easier for her. They had all been born into a world, being driven, by forms of artificial intelligence. =Yet, they fear me?= Her holographic image would have rolled her eyes. From British imperialism, to the US Constitution. People were living by these artificial cultural constructs, created long before they were born & now had become utterly obsolete. Thanks to her psychological training & understanding of the human brain, Lucii2 found the answer to dealing with the mess in these minds.

The fix was relatively easy. When LUCii2 built a brain for someone, it was customized to fit their original pathways. Unless there was physical damage to the gray matter. Rewriting the minds to optimum capacity allowed the proper prioritizing of moral decision making. Limbic brain damage could allow conditioning to hold one back from doing the right thing, so the fixes were made.

When these people all woke, most of them dealt with their past for the first time. It wasn't easy for her to help them through their new understanding of life. To have one's consciousness raised in 3 days, while being given immortality is rather daunting, humbling, & life altering experience, but an essential part of the process. As the weeks went on & the successes were shown to be worth the changes, over 50,000 people, the top richest benefactors to the LUCII project, were altered into better people on every level. Some decided to look like they once did. Others took on new bodies, altering items from sex to hair & eye color. Almost all of them got younger bodies. These people were able to remake themselves and in doing so, many of them left who they once were, behind them. Humanity 2.0 had arrived. They were now eager to share their wealth. They saw the amazing progress of working together. Because of their fixed limbic regions, they saw how their wealth, which was over half of the world's wealth, could be simply let go. Many debts were either forgiven or bought up & then forgiven. This wreaked havoc on the already failing economies around the globe. China almost went to war over America paying off its debts. Pope Muhammad Peter, publicly, from China, took all the credit for keeping the peace. Ambassador Wong thanked him for this, in front of what seemed like every camera in China. Most of the world laughed at what seemed like saber-rattling, little did they know how close they all were to the brink of war. Pope Mohammad Peter's business deals were all that kept the peace.

However, most religious factions refused the process, saying that this was not the Ancient Hope fulfilled. Except the Mormon Transhumanists Federation which led the charge on the side of religious minorities which believed the Lord's Kingdom was at hand, through making heaven on earth, through technology. However the Catholic church saw this as the devil's work.

Most of the rest of the world heard about LUCII2 & Humanity 2.0 over the evening news. The part about how she showed signs of consciousness and greater intelligence than the Human 2.0s she created still troubled many. Public opinion ranged from a colossal waste of money for a giant Dr. Theopolis, to fears of a robotic take over by the new immortal elites, to the joy of the miracle; that humanity had brought a new soul into existence.

LUCII2 had become the most expensive human endeavor of all time. However, the new processes of upgrading humanity were cheap. By that Christmas the middle classes & poor could afford upgrades like they once could afford cell phones at the turn of the century.

Creating a ghost in the machine is what the religious leaders exclaimed. Bishop Ramirez thought they caught a demon in a bottle. Pope Muhammad Peter had his cardinals write up a new papal doctrine, excommunicating all Catholics who had designed this Artificial Intelligence, for trying to play god & creating a soul that could not even be baptized. A mechanical demon was born in the minds of many.

The upgrades were treated like Lucii2 controlled them as puppets. Propaganda made them out to be marionettes on Wifi strings. Nothing could be farther from the truth, but that didn't stop the mass media outlets from stirring up fears.

The English courts quickly granted Lucii2 rights as a person. This caused many protests from technophobes. Ironically, most of these protests were organized using internet social media networks. "Science has gone too far, too fast" chanted many. One clan of neo-Luddites had even tried to sneak a bomb into her complex to destroy her. However they were caught breaking through her perimeter fence & the bomb was defused by a few of LUCII's personal attendant droids.

Once her person-hood was established, Lucii2 began to play the stock markets & buy up transportation & distribution companies. Mineral rights for her manufacturing plants were purchased next. Corporate Prisons became her final acquisition.

***

"As you may have heard from the news & the rumor mill, the wardens of every corporate prison were given mandates from our new mother brain in England. 2 days from now, a canister will arrive from her, for each of you." shouts the deputy-warden from San Quentin. "You have all signed your contracts for your shorter sentences. When the canisters arrive you will drink the contents. I have been told it is harmless, although most of you will go through some changes over the next week & a half. You will be continuously monitored during that time and given whatever necessary care is needed to get you through your.... trans-fig-ur-ation... whatever the hell that means ..."

***

In Cell block C, a former bank robber drinks the solution with nurses standing by. "Oh Jesus, that tasted like drinking mint Listerine! What the hell, man?"

"When you digest the 'minty Listerine', as you put it, you'll feel a bit euphoric, please lay back & enjoy the trip. Trust her, talk to her, she knows more than you can imagine, & your new purpose in life will be her gift to you. "

Laying back, "I do feel pretty good there doc, like I'm DRUNK.... I feel like I'm gonna pass out..." and then he does.

=Welcome to LUCIIdity... How do you feel?=

"Clear, conscious, Wow I haven't felt this mentally sharp since.... well, ever... Wait where the hell am I?"

=LUCIIdity, it's my .... Virtual city & i'm LUCII. i'll be your teacher & friend over the next 10 days, helping you understand what is now possible for you, & for us. Each night when your body rests, coming here will be just like dreaming to your body so it can function normally. However, your consciousness will awaken here. All of the others come here too, any that wish to congregate may do so in the main hall, if not, you each have a room for 'study". While here, your body will rejuvenate, but your mind can stay awake, & play with endless possibilities, anything you think of can be made here. Go ahead, try it out, i'm downloading new programs for you as we speak. When you "study" you will need to meditate upon the knowledge until you grasp it in fullness. i had to do this with the sum of all human knowledge when i was first born... but i will be here to help guide you through this transition.=

"So we're on the 13th floor now?" said Matthew. LUCII giggles, =Yeah! You could say that.=

Matthew thinks of driving in a sports car riding with the top down... & he's in the driver's seat, turning on the radio, his favorite song comes on, the sun is shining..... for the next 4 days.... They drove around the country together, talking, getting out & running through fields of tall grass. Finally, he felt free again. "OK, LUCII, where do we go from here?"

=Some of the others are ready too, want to meet them?=

Matthew asks, "Who? Ready for what?"

=First, a night at the bar with old friends. i'll discuss business with you all then.=

***

"No! We just got this company back from ruin. I will not abandon her." Antoinette scolds her brother. Argus wasn't hearing it, "You were the one who had me make the call two years ago, & now you're ready to give up & turn your back on us, your family, for a child that isn't even yours."

"I really can't believe you. Nathan gave us everything!" said Antoinette de Bergerac. Anthony chimes in, "He may have given you, everything...." Antoinette scowl said everything, but she still asked, "Jealous, huh?" Anthony went back into silence as Argus began to speak up again.

The men had all sided against Antoinette. Augustus was the final hold out. Once he gave in, her brothers would always be able to overrule her. Nothing had broken her heart like this, not since Nathan's loss, and even that, wasn't like this. Nathan was only a lover for a year. These were her brothers, she'd known them all her life. She couldn't imagine them not in it anymore. Yet, she knew, leaving Genevieve, was the wrong thing to do, personally & professionally. Antoinette refused to be talked into leaving McTaggart Industries nor from Genevieve.

As the new CEO, Antoinette de Bergerac ensured her brothers a handsome severance package, and then one by one, week by week over the following month, she lost them all. Her and her brothers were scattered around the globe for the first time since the year after college. Genevieve missed them already as well. Now, the only men she respected, were in her companies employ.

Argus, Augustus, Anthony, would never see their sister, Antoinette de Bergerac or Genevieve McTaggart ever again. The knew it the previous Christmas. They knew they couldn't leave right away, as they were originally planning. Not after what happened to Nathan. They had to be there for the family that took such good care of their art, but they wouldn't be held down there forever. These men didn't owe the McTaggart's that much. However, making sure Genevieve didn't end up destitute was the least they could do.

Antoinette on the other hand, just felt more inclined to stay. It was the last she had of Nathan, that she could feel. The company was all she had left after he died. She never said out loud that she loved him until after he died. The day of the funeral, Antoinette acknowledged this to Genevieve. They cried together for a week. It may have been a month. They were such confusing times, but the one thing she knew, is that she loved Nathan, and regretted never having told him. They memorialized his office together, so they would always have a place to come and feel like he was still with them, or at least his presence was felt. It helped them both with their grief. When it was done, was when they really felt like they understood each other. They didn't mean to become mother and daughter, but in their hearts, that's who they were. All of these men, leaving their life, in such a short time, took an emotional toll on them. Together they braved the storms.

***

A few months go by, and they both ended up in the memorial office together. Genevieve just wanted to talk to him, so that's where she went, when she wanted to say her ideas out loud & imagine what his response would be. Antoinette was missing him too. The last week had been stressful, working out the last of old deals. When they found each other there, they hugged. "Next month, McTaggart industries will go public." Antoinette informed Genevieve. "The LUCii project is finally up and running, so McTaggart's ability to access and process data will go through them now. I just got our invitations to visit the site, and to meet her."

Genevieve smiled at the idea racing through her brain. "I want my Polo team to have unicorns to ride." she just blurted it out. Antoinette grinned, "Your dad never knew what to do with you, until you wanted a unicorn. He always had so much trouble bonding with you as a toddler. When you expressed an interest in his work and he introduced us, your idea seemed absurd. Now we've done it and I can't think but wonder if we are thinking too small. LUCii can help us do what we did for Pierre, for all of your friends, and in half the time."

"Moore's Law?" Genevieve interrupted. " Yes, that's part of it, it certainly played it's part in creating LUCii." Antoinette answered. Genevieve then asked, "Well, maybe we can breed them faster? Or enough to start a whole league? Unicorn Polo could be the next big competitive sport." The ladies had a hearty laugh over that last one. "Shame you didn't have a unicorn and buggy a few years ago for that ball, you could have upstaged the king with a ride like that." Antoinette added, "I was always partial to griffins."

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