Utopia War

Chapter 11 - People Helping People Helping People

The doorway slid open to allow passage to Min-ji, Sparkle and Caesar. It closed behind them, and the magnetic lift shot up 200 stories in a fraction of a second while the anti-gravity field kept this process from liquefying the occupants.

There weren't any buildings this tall on Proxima, not ones that people lived in at least. People who wanted a view situated their houses near cliffs or atop mountains, or floated them in the air. The size of this building, however, was a deliberate statement. It had something to do with the status symbolism of what floor your living area was on, Min-ji hadn't really paid attention when Caesar explained it to them.

The entire top floor of the building was a penthouse belonging to the android Canny Benign.9.7.3. Canny, Caesar had pointed out, had the third highest reputation on Hercules. The lift opened up directly into Canny's foyer.

The entire living space was quite nicely appointed, although more orderly and clean that was entirely comfortable. There was also a symmetry to everything that passed over pleasing and went straight on to stark.The penthouse didn't give the impression of having been lived in. In the strictest sense of the term it hadn't been.

A simple domestic pseudo-intelligence manifested a hologram representing itself in front of the trio as soon as they arrived. The hologram was a mass of geometric shapes arranged in a vaguely human form. This was likely a default setting Canny hadn't bothered to change. It was slightly transparent, which in hologram terms communicated a lack of true sentience.

"Greetings, most welcome guests," said the hologram "If you will follow me to the parlor I can show you to your hosts."

It led them to the room where Canny Benign.9.7.3 was seated in a white chair. Canny's body was a fat metallic spheroid about the size of a human head. It had a single glowing sensor-eye that was what passed for its face. The eye glowed a welcoming pink.

In two identical chairs on either side of Canny sat a pair of Japanese Macaques.

"Good evening," said Canny, floating into the air and approximating a bow "I am Canny Benign.9.7.3, welcome to my home. The creatures to my immediate right and left are two of the seven monkeys that constitute the gestalt mind Vwwea."

"It's a word for a color that exists outside the human visible spectrum," the macaque on the left explained. It had a deep and even voice.

"It's good to meet you both, or all three of you. However you prefer. My name is Min-ji Cerulean and this is my associate Sparkle Amaryllis."

"Guard Dog," Sparkle corrected.

"I believe you already know our Mr. Janesdaughter," Min-ji continued.

"I am familiar with the man," said Canny "Please, have a seat."

There were many chairs and couches in the room, arranged meticulously in a fractal pattern, and the three easily found seats. Canny settled back down into the chair it had been seated in before.

"So," began the macaque on the right "It is my understanding that you are an ambassador from Proxima looking to increase her reputation, is that correct?"

"I'm looking to make myself useful," Min-ji agreed.

"Excellent," continued the monkey "We need the help of someone with your particular skillset to solve a problem that has been troubling us for some time. If everything goes as planned your help should cause a reputation tide that will lift all boats, so to speak."

"What did you have in mind?" asked Min-ji.

"There is an alien species that has settled on Hercules," said Canny "They're measurably more intelligent than the human baseline although their technology lags behind our own. This is likely because they didn't have the benefit of a benevolent singularity. The equivalent event on their world was a good deal more..."

"Apocalyptic," interjected the left macaque.

"Which is how they ended up on Hercules Ring. They are quite adept with our assembler technology and have used this talent to become very industrious and helpful. As a consequence most individual members of the species have very strong reputations. We want you to infiltrate their society, learn how they think, and then tell us what they want."

"What they want?" asked Min-ji.

"Or need," said Canny "So we can give it to them. The aliens are completely self-sufficient and don't seem to covet anything we produce. I don't know how much you know about the intricacies of our social system, but rep gain is weighted by a number of factors. The fact that they have put so much into the system and taken so little out of it means anyone who does figure out what they want and gives it to them will get several orders of magnitude more rep than usual."

"It's rare for individuals of our station to have an opportunity to meaningfully increase our social standing," said the left macaque "We're keen to take advantage of this one. And of everyone on Hercules we're best positioned to give the aliens what they want, whatever that may be."

The two were doing a good job of making helping people feel dirty.

"So you really just want me to find a way for you to help them?" asked Min-ji.

"You'll have to forgive her," said Caesar "She's from a Consensus Ring, she's still having a bit of culture shock. Thinks rep is currency."

"I assure you I have nothing but positive feelings and good intentions towards our alien neighbors," said the right macaque "Even if I didn't, however, the system is made to account for that. The only way I can help myself is to help others, as assessed by their own subjective interpretation. It would take a cleverer entity than I to figure out a way to exploit someone for rep."

"I know of 37, but they're all markedly less efficient than being genuinely helpful," offered Canny.

"There you are," said the macaque.

"Very well, that sounds like a fair deal," said Min-ji.

"I wouldn't dare propose any other," said the right macaque.

"What about me?" asked Sparkle.

"What about you?" asked Canny.

"Don't I get a job?" asked Sparkle.

"You're a team, right?" asked Caesar.

"Okay yes. We're a team," said Sparkle "I'm part of the team! Understood," Sparkle said the last word with solemn resignation, like a soldier going off to war.