The Phoenix Code Read Free Page B

that they had a more secure base of operations. Industrial espionage had become a thriving enterprise. MindSim wouldn't make their results public until they had full patent protection and software copyrights. She doubted they could copyright an AI brain, though. They would soon have to answer the question: When did self-modifying software become a cognizant being?
    The next lab enticed her like a bakery full of chocolate cake. Equipment filled it, all cased in Lumiflex, a luminous white plastic. Instead of blackboards or whiteboards, the walls sported photoscreens with light styluses. Disks and memory cubes cluttered the tables, and memory towers stood by the consoles. Although a few cables ran under the floor, most of the connections were wireless. A wall counter held a coffeepot and a motley assortment of mugs.
    Two men and a woman were working at the consoles. They had outstanding workstations: Stellar-Magnum Mark-XIV computers; combination cellular phone, FAX, radio, microphone, camera, wireless unit, and modem; keyboard, printer, scanner, and holoscreens. Holos rotated in the air with views of the theoretical android: EM fluxes, circuits, skeleton, hydraulics, temperature profiles, and more.
    It all brought back to Megan her first day in college. While her friends had gone to check out the city, she had spent the afternoon talking to grad students in the AI lab. Within a week, she was doing gofer work for their professor. He gave her a research job that summer. By her sophomore year, the group considered her a member of their circle. She understood why Tony and Claire had shown her the glitz labs first; this one had only holos to look at, nothing concrete. However, if she took the job, these people would be her team, and they interested her more than any glitz.
    Tony introduced them. The slender man with sandy hair was Alfred from Cal Berkeley. Miska came from a university in Poland. About five years older than Alfred and half a foot shorter, he had dark eyes and hair. Diane, a stout woman with auburn hair, had done a stint at a government lab and then taken this job.
    They described their work, referring to the android as "he." At first Megan appreciated their not saying "it," but then she wondered at her reaction. Already they were giving their hoped-for creation human attributes. Maybe it wouldn't want those traits. Someday they might download the neural patterns of a human brain into an android, but even then no guarantee existed that it would think or act human.
    Their descriptions also sounded too detailed. Finally she said, "It's done, isn't it? You have a working android."
    Alfred shook his head. "I'm afraid 'working' is too optimistic a term."
    Tony indicated a table. "Let's sit down. Now that you've seen the models, we can talk about where we hope to go from here."
    As they took their seats, Alfred brought over the coffee and mugs. When everyone was settled, Claire spoke to Megan. "We've tried to make several prototypes, four ."
    Miska took a sip of coffee, then grimaced and set his mug down. He spoke with a light accent. "The problem, you see, is that these androids are mentally unstable. The bodies have problems, yes, but we think we can fix these. We are not so sure about their minds."
    "The first three failed," Diane said. "We still have the fourth Everest android, but he's barely functional."
    "Everest?" Megan asked.
    "It's what we call the project," Tony said. "Surmounting a great height." He leaned forward. "It could be yours. Your successes, your triumphs."
    Triumphs, indeed. "What happened to your last director?"
    Alfred spoke flatly. "He quit."
    Tony frowned, but he didn't interrupt or try to put a spin on Alfred's words. Megan's respect for MindSim went up a notch.
    "Marlow Hastin directed the project until a few months ago," Alfred said. "We weren't having much success. The RS-1 became catatonic. No matter what we tried, it evolved back to the catatonia. The RS-2 had similar problems, with autism.