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information, political power no longer holds the significance it once did. Sun
Microsystems, Texas Instruments, and CyCare Systems release reports on the
status of their own Truth Machine projects. All three companies say they
should have generic versions ready to compete with the ACIP as soon as ATI s
exclusive patent expires on August 10, 2049. An ATI spokesman states, We will
embrace the challenge of a competitive marketplace.
Once he had actually resolved to do it, the decision to kill himself had
calmed Pete; the stuttering, nervous shaking, and rocking had virtually
ceased, and he rarely heard the voices any more.
His life had settled into a strange yet comfortable pattern, the monotony and
tedium of his work set against the tension of his predicament. Competing
against time, he rarely abided distractions. In just four more years there
would be other Truth Machines and Pete intended to disappear before his crimes
could be discovered. He wasn t sure how he would end his life: maybe drown
himself in the ocean or somehow cremate himself as he had incinerated Charles
Scoggins.
However I do it, I ll leave no trace.
The Wests, Tilly, Jennifer Finley, and especially Ed and Liza Armstrong must
never learn that Pete Armstrong was a murderer. He plotted that his parents
would some day be revived from cryonic suspension, only to learn that their
son, the heroic savior of humankind, had tragically disappeared.
The next four years, the balance of his life, was now mapped out. He felt more
at peace than he had in decades, even as he tested his mental and physical
limits.
Only David could get him to take a break from his work.
JAMES L. HALPERIN
230
The invitation had appeared 10 days earlier on the multi-media screen in
Pete s office. The World Future Society, an association for the study of
alternative futures, is a non-profit organization founded in 1966. The Society
acts as an impartial clearinghouse for a variety of different views, and does
not take positions on what will happen or ought to happen in the future. You
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have been nominated by former United States President David West, and have
been elected by the general membership to receive the 2045 Futurist of the
Year Award, our highest honor. We would be proud if you would join us at 2:00
p.m. on June 16 at
FutureProbe, our annual meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to accept the
award.
He had commanded his wristband, David West, please.
(Note: I would just like to add that I have always admired the way Mr.
Armstrong has spoken so politely to machines. 22g CP)
David s face appeared, hair still dripping wet from his daily swim. The image
showed on both screens: the tiny one on Pete s wristband and the holographic
one that covered his office wall.
David saw that Pete had at least a week s worth of facial hair.
Is he growing a beard, or has he decided whisker-removal is no longer worth
the effort?
I know why you re calling, and yes, Diana and I will both be there. Will
you?
Pete s answer surprised David. I wouldn t miss it for anything.
There are literally hundreds of compulsive and intermittent mental
disorders known, all requiring different combinations of therapies. David had
no specific theories and had never even heard of IDD, but having had some
experience with compulsive behavior and its symptoms, intuitively knew his
friend was in trouble.
Something is seriously wrong with Pete.
Workaholics were addicts, just like David s compulsive-gambler father.
MediFact had long ago discovered that both addictions occurred more frequently
among highly intelligent people who had lacked certain kinds of parental
discipline as children. The newest cures for those pathologies had an
unfortunate side effect of slightly lowering the operative IQ of the patient,
and therefore were used only as a last resort. Generally, long-term therapy
was preferable to the cure, but David prayed that whatever was wrong with Pete
would require neither.
He was surprised when his friend had agreed to take a half-day off from his
work just to travel a few thousand miles and pick up an award, no matter how
prestigious. Aging research had become Pete s life. He was offered some kind
of
THE TRUTH MACHINE
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231
award almost daily and had never accepted one in person before. Even when
awarded the Nobel Science Prize, he had been too busy to go to Oslo to attend
the presentation ceremony.
Then why agree to come to this one? Perhaps for a chance to get together with
Diana and me in our old stomping grounds near Harvard. Or to take a break from
his mind-numbing 100-hour-per-week work schedule? Or, David hoped
, maybe Pete s become more aware of his workaholism and decided the trip is
exactly what his spirit needs.
Soon after the introduction of self-replicating tunneling machines and
molecular bonding techniques in the late 2030s, pneumatic subways had been
constructed throughout most of North America, revolutionizing the science of
transportation.
(Note: Legal and bureaucratic wrangling unfortunately delayed this cost-
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