CHAPTER 104: GOOD NEWS (4)

"If that’s the case, why not use them to expand your lab staff? Bring in more experts."

"Two reasons. One, each active template costs a thousand EP per second and I think it is important to prioritize super computer capacity over experts. And two, experts tend to be married to their pet theories and fight tooth and nail to protect their little fiefdoms. When I do bring in more people, I want them to join willingly and be young or have proven to still be flexible minded."

"Ah, that makes sense. I’ve certainly had to deal with my unfair share of hide bound, rigid minded old people. As for the EP costs, doesn’t that go away when you enter in linked self mode, like what you’ve been doing each night when we spend a day in here at max time ratio?"

"Yes, that is true, but only for soul bound people. For sapient templates, the cost remains."

"Ah! Right. So, do you plan to find more people to soul bond?"

"I’m not actively looking. I wasn’t when I found you and I wasn’t when I found Rina. If I meet someone I like and think would make a good addition to the team, I’ll ask them in a simulation. But I’m not going to go actively hunting for people right now."

"So, does this mean I shouldn’t export any of the improvements to my simulation software?" asked Rina.

"I think that would be best for now. It cannot be stolen if it doesn’t exist. Besides, where else are you going to run it except here?"

"True. I just, I feel kind of bad for Anjali. She’ll be using bad software."

"I’m sure she’ll survive. Maybe, when we have a better idea of the risks, we can publish some results that will help her. Just as long as doing so won’t hurt us."

"Okay. So, should I keep working on improving my software?"

"Yes!" he and Nora exclaimed.

"Please, yes," he continued. "Don’t just fix the bugs you found, make it better. My simulation ability isn’t convenient to use in all situations, so I think it would be great if we could develop our own simulation capability, one that will allow us greater flexibility. Being able to compare the results between your software and the ground truth provided by my simulation ability means you should be able to make rapid progress."

"You can say that again," she said, smiling. "The amount of progress I’ve made in just a few days is just amazing. And, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I wish we had even faster computers. The Cerebras in Madison’s server room provide the highest compute density on the planet right now, and yet they are already a huge limiter on what I can do with my software."

"Then design better computer chips. There are companies developing photonics, so use their tech. I can get any manufacturing equipment you need, so we can make our own computer chips."

Her eyes went wide, and she said, "Oh damn. Why didn’t I think of that?"

"That’s my line," he said with a smile.

"That’s his line," said Madison teasingly as she came into his office.

"But seriously," she continued, "isn’t chip design super hard?"

"Sure, but Rina is a genius, and if we need to, we can always consult with an expert or three."

"But, I don’t know anything about chip design," complained Rina.

"Sure, but you’re only nineteen and now you have twice as much brain power as you did before you got your PhD. With my ability to get you anything you need, you can probably learn more in just a few years than most experts took their entire lives to learn."

"Damn, you’re right. I’m still struggling to get used to all this. It’s like I know about it, but never factor it in when making plans or searching for solutions."

"I hear ya’," he said. "I’ve had it longer than you and I still forget about it sometimes."

For the next few hours, they hashed out a plan. Rina would split her focus between improving her simulation software and learning about chip design. Madison would start learning about the simulation software so she could help Rina. Nora would focus on expanding CRISPR capabilities and developing nanotech, and Jack would focus on learning as much as he could while trying to stay abreast of Nora’s progress.

Even after Nora, Rina, and Madison left his office, he had trouble focusing on his homework. Idea after idea kept bubbling up from the recesses of his mind. He’d played a few RTS games, and with the capabilities he had and the kinds of tech they could develop, he was beginning to see similarities between the tech tree of a RTS game and the kind of tech tree he thought they could develop. Did they want to develop AGI first, and use that to accelerate their technological advancements, or did he want to wait for Rina to develop better chips? Or maybe focus on nanotech and use that to improve chip manufacturing, so Rina had more options. Or just focus on all of them and try to establish a virtuous cycle. Each advancement fueling the next.

And what would happen when the world started coveting his technology? Corporations and governments would not just stand by and watch him grow. They would covet what he had, what they thought he had, and what they thought he might be able to develop in the future. His fascination with bunkers was starting to have a practical appeal.

Madison had set up an intranet for them and created a mirror of Wikipedia and several other knowledge base web sites. So, unable to focus on homework, he began researching candidate sites to establish his own personal empire. It was a long way in the future, but he was certain, at some point, he would have to establish independence from all other nations.

But, before he could do that, he would need a plan, one that could come to fruition before anyone realized what he was doing. If someone sees you building a fortress in your empty field, they can interfere or attack before you are ready. But if your fortress just, poof, appears out of the blue, what can they do? It’s too late and you are already prepared.