Back to school

The Jesuit University of New Fresno was, perhaps surprisingly, one of the premier pure research universities in the 'Verse. They specialized in physics, mathematics, astronomy, and cosmology. All related fields. The Jesuit order had a history that dated back at least a thousand years, to well before the Exodus. There were quite a few, often confusing, sometimes contradictory, stories about their origin and purpose. In contrast to what some would expect, given their origin as a Monastic religious order on Earth that Was, their universities had a reputation for strong academic values.

Still didn't quite explain why Professor Sinclair was here teaching. Not when she already had tenure at Feynman and at least two others: at 26. But here was where she was, so here was where I was - prowling the grounds of a premier university campus trying to find the Upton Hall of Mathematics.

I found Professor Sinclair in one of the lecture halls, giving a lecture on some aspect of advanced mathematics that was more than a little over my head. No surprise really. I'd had a solid formal education, but even with a Master's in Applied Technology the frontiers of theoretical mathematics were well beyond what most of us could even comprehend.

Forty minutes later, and I was waiting in her office waiting for her to come out of 'Lecture' mode. The professors here had a long tradition of wearing monastic robes that looked like they'd come from an Abby on Earth that Was during the medieval period. The reason was lost to history, though there was an official story that the robes took the focus off the Professor's presence to let the students concentrate on the content being presented. With Sinclair, the robes were probably more of a requirement than a tradition.

I'd seen holos of the Professor long before I came to New Fresno, but when she tossed the formal robe covering a t-shirt and shorts aside and settled into the seat behind the large wooden desk, I realized the images hadn't done her justice. A cascade of red hair, intense green eyes, a perfect face. Professor Sinclair wasn't just 'very pretty' as she appeared in the images. She was stunning. Teen-age fantasy poster model stunning. Invade your dreams stunning.

Without the robes, most of her students wouldn't have been able to concentrate on the lecture.

"Please, Colonel, take a seat," she said, cheerfully, motioning me to one of the leather covered chairs. "Sorry the lecture went a little long. Did you have a nice flight?"

It took a second for the fleeting "Elle est belle" moment to pass before I settled comfortably into a chair. "Please, Professor. Just Seana. No one calls me Colonel."

She actually blushed a moment, then laughed. "Oh! I'm sorry. I forgot that's a secret. Deal. You've got to call me Tawny though, ok? 'Professor' is just too stodgy. Coffee? I'll make some fresh."

I nodded yes and watched as she made coffee in an antique press that was probably older than the trees that had gone into her desk. Sinclair was known for her work in Crypto, but that wasn't why I was here. My interests were, if anything, even more esoteric than the convoluted mathematical world of keeping secrets secret.

"Thank you for meeting with me, Tawny. I know I was less than clear about the specifics when I asked to see you, but this isn't about your Cryptology work."

She smiled, pouring out two cups of coffee from the antique press. "Oh, it's ok Seana. I know. He told me. It's about the Machines and modeling their Artificial Intelligence."

I nodded, then paused. "Wait. What? He told you?"

Sinclair stopped, looked at me in a moment's confusion, then started to giggle. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't know you didn't know. Blue Man. Your friend. The AI. He was telling me about the issue you've had on the Rim with those von Neumann machines. He said you'd probably come talk to me about it. "

For a moment I was speechless. She knew Blue? I knew he wasn't restricted to just a single piece of kit, or location. As far as I could tell, he could go wherever the Cortex went. By now, he'd have instances of 'Self' scattered through the Cortex from Londinium to Miranda and most nodes in between. But Blue, historically, had kept his existence hidden. His very existence partially relied on the 'Verse as a whole not knowing about him. There were ways to keep him out, but they were complex and beyond the ken of most system operators. That people weren't taking active measures to "deal with" the most complex AI in human history was a testament to the fact that very, very, few people even knew he was there.

"Indeed, Tawny. I hadn't realized Blue was talking to you. To anyone, really. But yes. There aren't a lot of people I can consult on the subject and your mathematical modeling of machine consciousness is state of the art. I'd very much appreciate your input."

She smiled cheerfully, settling back into her chair and curling her legs up under her. "I'd be happy to. I don't get a lot of opportunity to work with real AI. Other than Blue, I mean," she said with a laugh, then leaned forward. "So, what have you got?"

I made it back to Wave Equation nine and a half hours later. Kari had coffee ready, but had been bored staying aboard the boat since we landed. AuroraBlue was curled up on the couch, asleep, after prowling campus for most of the day. And I was tired. Brain hurt, kind of tired.

Exhausted, really.

Exhausted, but it was worth it. I'd gotten even more than I'd intended. I wasn't sure whether Sinclair would be able to answer my core questions, but she was the best chance we had. I just had to wonder whether, ultimately, we really wanted to know the answer.