mc.prey-第67节

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　night。　It　had　e　back　with　her　from　the　desert。　I　don't　know　whether　she　brought　it　intentionally　or　not。　The　swarm　could　collapse　into　nothing；　which　is　why　Eric　didn't　see　anything　when　he　went　out　to　the　car　to　look。　And　I　wasn't　sure　of　what　I　saw　when　she　pulled　away；　which　was　reasonable　enough。　The　swarm　was　probably　catching　the　light　in　odd　ways。　In　my　memory；　it　looked　a　little　like　Ricky；　but　it　was　probably　too　soon　for　the　swarm　to　be　taking　on　appearances。　It　hadn't　evolved　that　much；　yet。　Or　maybe　I　just　saw　an　indistinct　shape；　and　in　my　jealousy　I　imagined　it　to　be　a　person。　I　don't　think　I　made　it　up；　but　maybe　I　did。　Ellen　thinks　I　might　have。　After　her　car　crashed；　Julia　called　for　the　cleanup　crews。　That's　why　they　were　there　on　the　road　late　that　night。　They　were　waiting　to　go　down　the　hill　and　clean　up　the　site。　I　don't　know　what　caused　the　crash　itself；　whether　it　was　something　to　do　with　the　swarm　or　whether　it　was　just　an　accident。　There's　no　one　to　ask　about　it　now。
　The　facility　in　the　desert　was　entirely　destroyed。　There　was　enough　methane　in　the　main　laboratory　to　produce　a　fireball　in　excess　of　two　thousand　degrees　Fahrenheit。　Any　biological　materials　would　have　been　incinerated。　But　I　still　worry。　They　never　found　any　bodies　in　the　ruins；　not　even　skeletons。
　*　*　*
　Mae　took　the　bacteriophage　to　her　old　lab　in　Palo　Alto。　I　hope　she　made　them　understand　how　desperate　the　situation　is。　She's　being　very　quiet　about　their　reaction。　I　think　they　should　put　the　phage　into　the　water　supply；　but　Mae　says　the　chlorine　will　take　it　out。　Maybe　there　should　be　a　vaccine　program。　As　far　as　we　know；　the　phage　works　to　kill　the　swarms。　Sometimes　I　have　ringing　in　my　ears；　which　is　a　worrisome　sign。　And　I　feel　a　vibrating　in　my　chest　and　abdomen。　I　can't　tell　if　I　am　just　paranoid；　or　if　something　is　really　happening　to　me。　I　try　to　keep　a　brave　face　for　the　kids；　but　of　course　you　can't　fool　kids。　They　know　I'm　frightened。
　The　last　mystery　to　be　cleared　up　was　why　the　swarms　always　returned　to　the　laboratory。　It　never　made　any　sense　to　me。　I　kept　worrying　about　it　because　it　was　such　an　unreasonable　goal。　It　didn't　fit　the　PREDPREY　formulations。　Why　would　a　predator　keep　returning　to　a　particular　location？
　Of　course；　in　retrospect　there　was　only　one　possible　answer。　The　swarms　were　intentionally　programmed　to　return。　The　goal　was　explicitly　defined　by　the　programmers　themselves。　But　why　would　anybody　program　in　a　goal　like　that？
　I　didn't　know　until　a　few　hours　ago。
　The　code　that　Ricky　showed　me　wasn't　the　code　they　had　actually　used　on　the　particles。　He　couldn't　show　me　the　real　code；　because　I　would　have　known　immediately　what　had　been　done。　Ricky　didn't　ever　tell　me。　Nobody　ever　told　me。
　What　bothers　me　most　is　an　email　I　found　on　Julia's　hard　drive　earlier　today。　It　was　from　her　to　Ricky　Morse；　with　a　CC　to　Larry　Handler；　the　head　of　Xymos；　outlining　the　procedure　to　follow　to　get　the　camera　swarm　to　work　in　high　wind。　The　plan　was　to　intentionally　release　a　swarm　into　the　environment。
　And　that's　exactly　what　they　did。
　They　pretended　it　was　an　accidental　release；　caused　by　missing　air　filters。　That's　why　Ricky　gave　me　that　long　guided　tour；　and　the　song　and　dance　about　the　contractor　and　ventilation　system。　But　none　of　what　he　told　me　was　true。　The　release　was　planned。　It　was　intentional　from　the　beginning。
　When　they　couldn't　make　the　swarm　work　in　high　wind；　they　tried　to　engineer　a　solution。　They　failed。　The　particles　were　just　too　small　and　light…and　arguably　too　stupid；　too。　They　had　design　flaws　from　the　beginning　and　now　they　couldn't　solve　them。　Their　whole　multimillion…dollar　defense　project　was　going　down　the　drain；　and　they　couldn't　solve　it。　So　they　decided　to　make　the　swarm　solve　it　for　them。
　They　reconfigured　the　nanoparticles　to　add　solar　power　and　memory。　They　rewrote　the　particle　program　to　include　a　genetic　algorithm。　And　they　released　the　particles　to　reproduce　and　evolve；　and　see　if　the　swarm　could　learn　to　survive　on　its　own。　And　they　succeeded。
　It　was　so　dumb；　it　was　breathtaking。　I　didn't　understand　how　they　could　have　embarked　on　this　plan　without　recognizing　the　consequences。　Like　everything　else　I'd　seen　at　Xymos；　it　was　jerry…built；　half…baked；　concocted　in　a　hurry　to　solve　present　problems　and　never　a　thought　to　the　future。　That　might　be　typical　corporate　thinking　when　you　were　under　the　gun；　but　with　technologies　like　these　it　was　dangerous　as　hell。
　But　of　course；　the　real　truth　was　more　plicated。　The　technology　itself　invited　the　behavior。　Distributed　agent　systems　ran　by　themselves。　That　was　how　they　functioned。　That　was　the　whole　point：　you　set　them　up　and　let　them　go。　You　got　in　the　habit　of　doing　that。　You　got　in　the　habit　of　treating　agent　networks　that　way。　Autonomy　was　the　point　of　it　all。　But　it　was　one　thing　to　release　a　population　of　virtual　agents　inside　a　puter's　memory　to　solve　a　problem。　It　was　another　thing　to　set　real　agents　free　in　the　real　world。　They　just　didn't　see　the　difference。　Or　they　didn't　care　to　see　it。
　And　they　set　the　swarm　free。
　The　technical　term　for　this　is　〃self…optimization。〃　The　swarm　evolves　on　its　own；　the　less　successful　agents　die　off；　and　the　more　successful　agents　reproduce　the　next　generation。　After　ten　or　a　hundred　generations；　the　swarm　evolves　toward　a　best　solution。　An　optimum　solution。　This　kind　of　thing　is　done　all　the　time　inside　the　puter。　It's　even　used　to　generate　new　puter　algorithms。　Danny　Hillis　did　one　of　the　first　of　those　runs　years　back；　to　optimize　a　sorting　algorithm。　To　see　if　the　puter　could　figure　out　how　to　make　itself　work　better。　The　program　found　a　new　method。　Other　people　quickly　followed　his　lead。　But　it　hasn't　been　done　with　autonomous　robots　in　the　real　world。　As　far　as　I　know；　this　was　the　first　time。　Maybe　it's　already　happened；　and　we　just　didn't　hear　about　it。　Anyway；　I'm　sure　it'll　happen　again。
　Probably　soon。
　It's　two　in　the　morning。　The　kids　finally　stopped　vomiting。　They've　gone　to　sleep。　They　seem　to　be　peaceful。　The　baby　is　asleep。　Ellen　is　still　pretty　sick。　I　must　have　dozed　off　again。　I　don't　know　what　woke　me。　I　see　Mae　ing　up　the　hill　from　behind　my　house。　She's　with　the　guy　in　the　silver　suit；　and　the　rest　of　the　SSVT　team。　She's　walking　toward　me。　I　can　see　that　she's　smiling。　I　hope　her　news　is　good。
　I　could　use　some　good　news　right　now。
　Julia's　original　email　says；　〃We　have　nothing　to　lose。〃　But　in　the　end　they　lost　everything…their　pany；　their　lives；　everything。　And　the　ironic　thing　is；　the　procedure　worked。　The　swarm　actually　solved　the　problem　they　had　set　for　it。
　But　then　it　kept　going；　kept　evolving。
　And　they　let　it。
　They　didn't　understand　what　they　were　doing。
　I'm　afraid　that　will　be　on　the　tombstone　of　the　human　race。
　I　hope　it's　not。
　We　might　get　lucky。
　
　Bibliography
　This　novel　is　entirely　fictitious；　but　the　underlying　research　programs　are　real。　The　following　references　may　assist　the　interested　reader　to　learn　more　about　the　growing　convergence　of　genetics；　nanotechnology；　and　distributed　intelligence。
　　
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　Ferber；　Jacques。　Multi…Agent　Systems：　An　Introduction　to　Distributed　Artificial　Intelligence。　Reading；　Mass。：　Addison…Wesley；　1999。
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