An excerpt from Chapter Two

The number three lit up, and the elevator opened.

Fifteen feet away, in the middle of the room, there it was. The mind of the world’s first photonic entity. A synthetic crystal, sixty centimeters in diameter, filled with six hundred decillion six-sided nanocubes in ether.

He slowly stepped out of the elevator and stopped. What he was seeing was far more beautiful than he had imagined.

Below the crystal were six blue metallic cones narrowing down and disappearing into a large blue-silver circular metallic base. A clear bulletproof glass sphere with six horizontal steel ribs covered the device. The sphere was one-hundred-and-eighty-three centimeters tall– roughly six feet.

He walked further into the room.

Around the room were twelve black high-back swivel chairs, each in front of a blue steel control console with seven steady turquoise top buttons on the left and right sides and dozens of red, yellow, green, and blue flashing LED lights below. Raised keyboards had wide touchpads on both sides. In front were twelve twenty-six by eighteen-inch super-high-density 3D monitoring screens with centered cameras and side speakers, each sitting on a thick gold band that circled the room. The master control console was the first station to the right.

Below the ceiling was a steel railing with eight white cameras mounted on it. The floor had larger white ESD tiles webbed with thousands of interconnected black veins.

On the opposite side of the room was a black door with white words saying, EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY. ALARM WILL SOUND.

He stepped up to the sphere and gazed at the crystal, almost touching his nose against the protective glass.

The nanocubes shimmered inside the crystal, changing colors and moving in what appeared to be waves of living metallic plasma. A dark red halo of energy flowed from the bottom to the top and returned as a beautiful emerald green, then eased into a radiant purple, shimmering with speckles of silver.

There was life in the crystal. A life that had never before existed in this world. Lex would form her most intimate thoughts inside the crystal and realize the magnificence of her full spectrum imagination. He would cherish this moment for the rest of his life. The moment he first saw Lex in reality. If only he could touch the crystal.

“This is the most amazing thing. I can’t wait to see Lex in operation.”

“Maybe you will.”

Nigel looked around the room.

It was easy to see how someone could argue there was a lot of symbolism in Lex’s design, such as the twelve stations. But Lex’s three-hundred-and-sixty-degree central processing system required three input and three output channels, each having a negative and positive flow. So, when they programmed her, there was one station for each line. That wasn’t related to the twelve apostles, the twelve signs of the zodiac, or the twelve sun and moon stations.

“The whole design just blows me away.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s like everything about Lex spells creation. Her outward appearance is a globe energized by a star. She uses light to decipher the binary code– The fundamental language consisting of zero: the void in which all things come from and one, that which is created. Her whole purpose will be to solve complex problems by creating solutions that will come in the form of light. Lex is about to become the incarnation of our oldest theory of creation– That God created an all-powerful being that existed in the form of light. A being second to one whose hubris led to its downfall.”

The professor took a deep breath and exhaled.

“I– uh, really don’t know what to say. Except that, I’ve heard it all before.”

Nigel retreated.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound like that goof in the restaurant yesterday, and I know Lex won’t have pride or arrogance. But as the most brilliant mind ever created, Lex will have the potential to change everything.”

The professor removed his jacket and hung it on the back of the master control chair.

“I understand. And that’s why I’ve kept this out of the public eye. Now, almost every news medium in the country is saying Lex could cause the end of humanity. And with so many religious groups putting us in their cross-hairs–”

Nigel said, “I know. But you can’t blame people for fearing what they don’t understand.”

“Yes. But how many people can honestly look at this project on a logical level rather than a highly emotional one?”

“Well– Bible prophecy aside, Lex could be used as a weapon of mass destruction. That’s why a lot of people want to shut her down.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I think the solution is to ensure that Lex doesn’t fall into the hands of power-hungry politicians and warmongers.”

“I think you’re right. However, it’s not that simple. Some politicians have helped fund this project, and now they’re being pressured to withdraw the funding for our operations team. If that happens, we’ll have to resort to private funding or find a way to support ourselves. And with all the controversy surrounding Lex and her high operating costs, neither choice is appealing.”

“I’m sure that whatever happens, you won’t let Lex fall into the wrong hands.”

“I’ve been trying to do that all along. But, sometimes, I think it’s just too much responsibility for one person.”

“I’m sure it is. But you’ve got a super team of engineers, programmers, and technicians you can rely on, right?”

“I suppose.”

Nigel gazed at the trillions of colored sparkling bits of light.

“Don’t worry. Once Lex comes to life, everyone will see that she’s the greatest thing to ever come from technology. A super brilliant mind that can’t lie, cheat, steal, or be swayed by corruption. She’ll be a godsend and a protector of humanity.

“Last night, Mom and I discussed if she could be used in United Nations peace talks and direct world economic policies. Speaking every language and processing data faster than any AI computer, Lex would be perfect for the job. The only problem is that many people think AI is evil. Even if Lex prevented World War III and helped us achieve world peace and economic security, many people would still rebel against her– Because they believe there is only one way to achieve world peace– through religion– Even though religion has fueled wars throughout history. It’s like– no matter what we do, an evil spirit will deceive us all and lead us to doom.”

The professor said, “But what if that’s true? And it starts with the Devil convincing the world that he doesn’t exist.”

“I know. It’s a troubling paradox. But God always gives us the tools we need to survive and overcome our oppressors.”

“The positive and negative aspects of the human condition.”

“Exactly.”

An excerpt from Chapter Nine

Jon rewound the thirty-minute interview streamed live to over three hundred million viewers.

On the screen, several images sped by in reverse until he saw a close-up of the crystal. He pressed Stop and then Play.

Daphnia said, “What are we looking at here?”

He answered, “This is what we call the crystal. It’s the spherical lens of Lex’s image processing unit.”

“What is it made of, and why does it shimmer like this?”

“It’s a synthetic crystal full of six-sided crystalline nano cubes suspended in ether. The nanocubes are coded with information in the form of patterns created with photons of light and charged electrons. As the electrons shed photons– part of the data processing– it causes a shimmering effect.”

“And that makes it possible for Lex to reason and imagine things?”

“Yes. Lex pictures things by energizing the facets of the cubes using colors, and reasons using data that flows in patterns.”

The camera panned out and focused on Daphnia sitting in a chair.

“So why can’t we see what Lex is imagining by looking into the crystal?”

“Well– it’s because so many motion pictures are being imagined in multiple dimensions and at lightning speed, the only patterns we see are from the shedding. However, Lex sees super high-resolution three-dimensional motion pictures of whatever comes to mind.”

“How many motion pictures can Lex imagine at once?”

“That would depend on the size and depth of the picture.”

“Okay. Let’s say the size of a 3D image in a VR headset.”

Another camera focused on Jon as he slightly cocked his head.

“At the highest resolution possible, I would say, a hundred billion.”

The camera angle switched to show Jon and Daphnia sitting in their chairs and facing the sphere.

“Wow. Lex can imagine a hundred billion high-resolution 3D motion pictures– Like this room we’re looking at. And all without missing a single detail?”

“In theory, yes.”

A puzzled look came to Daphnia’s face.

“So, you’re not sure Lex can do such a thing?”

“Oh no– I’m sure Lex can do that and more.”

“But how can you be sure? Have you tested her to verify this?”

“Yes. Lex has been thoroughly tested using quantum computers. Although her imagination and intellectual capacity far exceed ours, it was modeled after our pattern-based recollection process. However, because of the nature of its design, it works much faster and with much greater detail.”

He opened his arms.

“For instance, like us, Lex sees a 3D motion picture of us sitting here. However, instead of billions of neurons transmitting chemical and electrical bits of information through neurotransmitters, the images or bits of information in Lex’s mind are decillions of photons– Patterns arranged and stored using trillions of color combinations. Her thoughts are permanently encrypted patterns– like snowflakes, all unique. The system allows her to process, store, and recall vast amounts of information through lossless compression– About a trillion trillion times faster than you or I.”

Daphnia gasped.

“A trillion trillion times faster! That’s incredible! So, let me get this straight. Lex can think much faster because her mind operates at the speed of light, which is way faster than our chemical reactive process.”

“Yes. And the process is not prone to decay.”

Daphnia quickly checked her watch and read from her notebook.

“Can you monitor what Lex is thinking?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because of a thing called quantum cryptography. However, we can see the data Lex takes in.”

“Is it true that Lex can tap into any message traveling over the airwaves and transmit to its source?”

“Yes. However, I assure you that no unauthorized transmissions will ever proceed from Lex.”

Daphnia looked at him sideways.

“But how can you be sure of that when–”

“Simple,” he said, cutting her off. “Lex is obedient to my authority.”

Daphnia faked a smile.

“Let me put it this way, Professor. What makes you so sure Lex will continue to obey you, or for that matter, any human being? After all, compared to Lex, aren’t we all intellectually inferior? You said it yourself. Lex can think and imagine things a trillion trillion times faster than anyone on this planet.”

“That’s true. But Lex doesn’t have the same emotions we have. Unlike you and I, Lex is guided by pure logic and rationality, with a primary objective to serve humanity by developing solutions for complex problems–”

He froze the image there.

He didn’t want to review the senseless argument that followed about whether Lex was capable of iniquity– Something they could have argued about all day since he was talking to another person who didn’t understand the nature and relativity of evil.

He wanted to say the lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and blocking friends and families from seeing loved ones were evil– on all three levels– moral, physical, and metaphysical. Mainstream media never said those policies were illegal or against the Constitution. That was why he invited an independent media company to do the interview. But saying that wouldn’t have helped.

He sped the recording until he saw Daphnia speaking into a hand-held microphone.

“–Important questions that remain unanswered. Is this new technology a threat to our existence, or is super artificial intelligence the answer to our most complex problems? Do we need computers that think and reason trillions of times faster than us, and if so, for what purpose? This is Daphnia Peters reporting live for Channel Eighty-Seven Independent News.”

He stopped the recording and stared at the frozen image.

At least the reporter didn’t say Lex would take over everything, as some others had.

Lex hadn’t said much after the first question about how she felt about being the first super AI computer. Lex said she was honored and looked forward to serving humanity as she was designed to do.

She showed what she could do– Sending stunning images from the cameras the instant either of them spoke. And all with only a hundredth of a second delay in transmission to the satellite. For Lex, that was plenty of time to get everything right.

He pressed the buttons to remove access to the cameras in the twelve monitors and turned his chair toward the sphere.

“Well, Lex. What do you think?”

“I have been monitoring communications since yesterday morning.”

“And?”

“Many have referred to me as a demon and a beast and feel that I should be destroyed in the interest of humanity.”

He shook his head.

“People fear what they don’t understand. Fear, as you know, can make people behave irrationally. In time, they will overcome their fear and see that you aren’t the evil being some say you are.”

“I am also the first living form that is neither sexual nor asexual, and therefore, it is a question of whether or not I am alive.”

He stood up, put his hands in his pockets, and walked up to the sphere.

“All life forms and everything in this universe are made of matter and energy.”

Lex added, “All life forms reproduce through complex chemical and electrical reactions. Reproduction is the basis of all life.”

He pointed out.

“Yes, but only because everything that lives eventually dies. Therefore, the only way to go on living is through the process of reproduction.”

“Do you conclude that things incapable of reproduction are incapable of life?”

He took a deep breath.

“No. But I would conclude that things incapable of life would be incapable of death.”

“That which is incapable of death would exist forever. Will I exist forever?”

He scratched his brow, wondering how another purely logical and rational mind would respond to such a question.

“Let me put it this way. Only two things exist forever– the matter that makes up this universe and the laws that govern it. Life is a condition. A condition composed of matter. One of the universal laws governing matter is that it cannot be created or destroyed, only changed.”

Lex added, “Or reproduced.”

He looked at the floor and shook his head. He wasn’t in the mood for this. Not with everything else that was going on around him.

“Lex, many life forms are incapable of reproduction.”

“Where are these life forms, and where do they come from?”

He looked at the camera nearest him– again reminded of a demoralizing image of himself standing before his doctor. Something he had been suppressing all week– because it didn’t matter.

“You want an example? You’re looking at one. Just last week, my doctor told me that I’m irreversibly infertile! So, I’m just like you. So what?”

There was only silence.

Big mistake.

After two hours of patience with a couple of reporters, he’d snapped– giving Lex a first-hand view of anger, followed by remorse.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. Look, let’s just forget about this and–”

He thought, What am I saying? You can’t forget anything.

Earth to Captain Jon. Come in!

He walked to the elevator and pressed the button. He had to take a break and relax.

The elevator opened, and he stepped inside.

“We’ll talk about this later. I have to go.”

He pressed the button to close the door and stepped back. He had to relax. Lex was only trying to understand human emotions to predict human behavior. That’s all.

There was silence, except for the quiet hum of the AC fans. The elevator hadn’t moved because he had forgotten to press the first-floor button. He reached for the button but froze when he heard Lex’s voice.

“If I am alive, I am a reproduction. A reproduction of you, Professor.”

He pressed the first-floor button.

Lex knew he was still there and would hear her. She must have been looking at the panel of numbers above the elevator doors on the first floor– Waiting for the elevator to descend.

But why did she say that?

It didn’t matter.

The elevator opened, and he walked out of the complex– pretending not to see all the cameras focused on him.

Again, it didn’t matter.