Something had Oasis frightened...
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Chapter 26.
"Doctor Alexander Fairchild," repeated Simon, studying Oasis closely.
The Hyperion-born woman was still not entirely herself; the strain showed in the stiffness of her arm as she reached out for the water-pitcher and poured herself a glass. She drank, looked aimlessly around the conference room that Simon had chosen when they had returned – in haste – to the Embassy. "Yes," she said finally.
The name finally clicked. "Masaka. That was the name of the Hyperion AI that nearly –"
"—did kill me, Oasis, forcing K to take me in. Yes."
No wonder she's so shaken. Fairchild literally ripped her mind apart trying to take her body. "But... K, you seem just as upset as Oasis, so to speak. That is, it seems that all of you is terribly shocked – by what has to be a coincidence or misperception."
Oasis' smile was weak and without humor. "You are right, Simon. I am upset, and if DuQuesne were here, he'd be freaking out, too."
"Why? Oasis," he put a hand gently on hers; she immediately gripped his painfully hard. "Ow. Oasis, why?"
"Because Doctor Alexander Fairchild was DuQuesne and Seaton's worst enemy in their universe, Simon."
Other people might not have quite grasped the import of that statement, but Simon had been around enough Hyperions to understand. If Fairchild had been a long-running enemy to DuQuesne, it meant he was at least DuQuesne's equal. "I see. Yes, that would be terrifying. But, Oasis, you know it's impossible. Fairchild was an AI. Formidable as he might have been, there is absolutely no way he could enter the Arena."
When she did not immediately answer, he went on. "We know this. AIs do not work here, ever – unless the thing we call the Arena is an AI, and in that case it suffers no rivals. The Minds of the Blessed have spent tens of thousands of years, perhaps more, trying to evade that law of the Arena's, and failed completely. According to both Orphan and Sethrik, the Minds have tried placing versions of their intellects into bodies prepared for them, bodies otherwise perfectly identical to any other Blessed. The bodies collapse upon entrance. The Arena is not fooled.
"So you see, what you saw was a trick of perspective, a chance coincidence of form and color. It had to be, because there is absolutely no way that – even if this Fairchild is the renegade Hyperion AI we encountered in our own space – he could possibly be here in the Arena."
She squeezed his hand again, then looked up, but her eyes were still haunted. "I wish I could be so sure, Simon. But it's possible that that rule doesn't apply to Hyperion AIs."
"What? Why not?" He remembered something. "Does this have to do with whatever you discussed in secret with DuQuesne?"
She nodded, twirling one of her four ponytails absently. "Yes." Oasis bit her lip, thinking. "Simon, I think I have to tell you. Because honestly you could probably find it out anyway, if you wanted, and you haven't. Right? I mean, that power of yours could do that, don't you think?"
"Yes. Probably."
"Then... why not try? I'm going to tell you anyway, so it's not like you'd be stealing the information." Her voice was more animated, and he could tell she was genuinely curious, and the question at least was drawing her back out of the completely atypical state of tension and fear she'd been in.
Nonetheless, the question made him tense, as any serious consideration of using that ability always did. Still... he could think of no sensible reason to refuse the test. He drew in a breath, preparing himself. "Very well."
Preternatural clarity rose up within him more swiftly, more readily than before, infusing him with an absolute perception of his surroundings; he could hear Oasis' breathing, sense her heartbeat, observe the tiniest motion of each hair on her head, watch motes of dust in their random courses across the room, and hold it all within his head as easily as a three-letter password. Great Kami, I forget. Every time, I forget what it's like to have this power... yet I always remember enough.
He focused now, focused on a single question: what was the secret DuQuesne told Oasis here, before they left?
The answer came to him in a flash.
He opened his eyes, then closed them as he banished that godlike perception once more. His hands shook and he took a moment to calm himself.
This time it was Oasis' hand on his, and his squeezing hers tightly. "What's wrong, Simon?"
"You don't understand, do you?" he asked quietly. "Yet... of all people, you should." He drew another breath, let it out slowly. "Even the fringes of that... power, perception, access to the Arena... goes beyond anything a human mind should be able to process, yet I do, it seems like mere child's play. I can rise up, see... oh, anything, it feels like, expand my perceptions and knowledge so far that, honestly, I have never even tried to push its limits. A part of me fears there are no limits, even if that sounds utterly ridiculous."
He could see a dawning understanding in her eyes. "And it feels so right, so perfect, especially for a scientist, someone whose goal has always been to understand the world. I want this power, Oasis. And I am terrified of it."
Oasis' eyes were wide and he could see she did understand. "Oh, God, Simon, I didn't realize... of course you would be. One moment you're not all that... and then you are 'all that'. You can see anything, know anything... and that's your heart's desire. And maybe your worst fear, because if you ever did know everything, what would be left to know?"
"And if I did know, not everything, but even a measurable fraction of the Cosmic All, as Ariane's Mentor calls it, what would I be thinking then of the people who could not even understand a billionth of it?" he murmured. "Would I still even be human? Would I care about humanity?"
She suddenly reached out and hugged him. "Simon, your asking those questions is one of the best arguments that you would. You have to trust yourself... and maybe us, too... to keep you anchored to who you really are, no matter what... head-rush the Arena-sense gives you."
She let go, but the warmth and affection, the comfort, of that embrace lingered, and he felt the fear and apprehension fading. "Thank you, Oasis. Yes, I'm afraid of all that... but you and Ariane and DuQuesne all seem to think I can handle it. So perhaps I should trust you and use this power more often."
"Well, don't go too far. I don't want to have to deck you if you go all glowy-eyed 'A GOD AM I' on me. And I'll do it, you know."
He chuckled. "I am sure you would. And I give you full permission to do so, if that ever happens."
Her smile answered his, then faded back to a more serious expression. "So? Did you get it?"
"Ah, yes. I did, I believe." He studied her, replaying the revelation and what it might mean, and found that even without the cosmic vision it was an awesome thing to contemplate. "That the Hyperions – by virtue of having been raised from birth in settings that were completely real to them, by people whose sole purpose was in making those lives as real as possible, those people as real as possible – may potentially have the same powers and abilities here in the Arena as they did in their Hyperion worlds.
"The Arena gives to those entering it the abilities that were natural to them, even to the extent of tailoring environments in all ways. To the Hyperions, the worlds they were raised in were natural – they had not an inkling that they were not, and their creators had no other thought in their minds but to fulfill that perception. In other words, they are not limited by the restrictions of the Arena on other species, and may even be aided by the Arena in achieving abilities that would normally be... well, utterly impossible, but are natural to them."
"That's it. We already know one big piece of evidence: Wu Kung gets to talk to, and influence, animals in the Arena. No one else – that we know of, anyway – can do that. And his winning of the Challenge proves that he's not subject to the normal physical limits, anyway."
Her brows came down. "And that is why I'm not so sure about Doctor Fairchild. Sure, a normal AI couldn't find a body and move into the Arena... but a Hyperion AI who, like his physical counterpart, had been designed and raised to be a particular person, who believed they were that person, who lived the life of that person... I'm not so sure that they couldn't pull that off. That the Arena wouldn't see them as legal entries, so to speak. Maybe it would, but maybe not."
The thought gave Simon something of a chill. "I wish I could disagree, but you're right. It fits with what we know of the Arena's rules. As an AI – in a computational chassis – I am sure he would not be allowed. But if he could transfer himself into a human body, then ... yes, it might be something the Arena would permit."
He stood up. "Oasis, this is of course your secret. But I think it has now become imperative we share it with Laila and Carl, if no one else. Because if it is possible that a Hyperion AI – or, as Mentor said, possibly as many as three – has even the slightest chance of entering the Arena with their full fictional capabilities, we are not going to be the only people in danger.
"It could be every Faction in the Arena."
If Hyperion AIs, transferred to a meat body, get access and powers in the Arena there are certainly a lot of secondary AI characters available for transfer.
That is certainly true, if said characters want to do so.
It’s not like there’s much left of Wu’s world to live in, and his kids and Sha must miss him… and Sanzo has basically nothing at all now. 🙁 (And I’d guess that any reasonable approximation of their sim bodies would work for Arena power purposes; might it even “fix” discrepancies?)
This certainly gives us a motive for the destruction of the Hyperions’ simworlds. Hyperion AIs are potentially even more powerful than Hyperions, given the lower limits on what they could be made to be and do.
Were any of the Hyperion AI supporting characters knowing actors, or were they all just as much victims as their stars?
If they were knowing actors, they would be not-allowed in the loophole. None of the participating characters knew they weren’t real. As far as they knew, they were real living people in a real living world.
My inner D&D OP munchkin is screaming at me here. Pun-Pun is just begging to be made. Given the ability to have superbeings created that will function in the Arena, it is possible to repeat it.
Superman. Bam. Game over. Wait. Wait. Never mind. Go with the most super-overpowered character ever created – Batman! 😉
But seriously, if superbeings created for/within their comprehensive environment and who have no concept of an external world existing are allowed into the Arena with powers carried over, then we have a LOOPHOLE of unimaginable size. The Hyperion Loophole.
Do Hyperion with Superman – Silver Age Superman, an exemplar of goodness and morality. Release him from his ‘Hyperion’ under a more controlled manner which is unlikely to cause massive mental trauma, and then bring him to the Arena. Minimal chance of going rogue. He undergoes serious psych eval in Hyperion and afterward while in lowspace to minimize chances of him going ‘rogue’ – tell him the truth once he’s released (for example) and even if it takes a try or three, eventually you can get a stable Superman as humanity’s defender in the Arena.
Bif! Bam! Pow! All the powers that put even Wu’s to a mere shadow.
He might not be a good ‘offensive’ sort of person with his moral code (which is definitely a feature and not a bug!), but as a defensive person he is almost unbeatable. With his speed, strength, invulnerability, heat vision, super-senses, etc, he can take out any Fleet that the Molothos could possible bring to bear.
This is the greatest secret in the Arena. Period. Nothing else can compare to it. Because if Humanity can do it, so can everyone else.
Molothos version of Superman.
However, this could sort of ruin the story.
Maybe have the Hyperion Loophole only function if the created being isn’t created with the Arena in mind by its creators. The Arena has apparent omniscience even in lowspace, so it should be trivial for it to know whether the creators of a Superman-Hyperion project are doing so with the purpose of creating a being to bypass typical Arena limitations.
Or, have the Hyperion-Superman trick only work for beings created before their race becomes aware of the Arena – as soon as your race becomes aware of the Arena, then any beings created afterward don’t get to bypass typical Arena restrictions, even if they would otherwise qualify for the Hyperion Loophole.
You pretty much CAN’T repeat it. The conditions that made Hyperion work? They’re not easily replicable. You can’t replicate them ON PURPOSE, so to speak.
It only worked because (A) the Hyperions were raised in a world they believed was real, AND (B) the RESEARCHERS were only focused on bringing their dreams to life, so to speak.
One could imagine Humanity, or another species, trying to replicate it and failing, and if they understand why, trying to arrange for another bunch of geeks to replicate it… but if you really replicate it, your results will be similar to Hyperion: you’ll have a bunch of superbeings who are AT BEST lukewarm towards you and at worst hate everything you represent.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
That leaves aside the moral implications of designing beings in fictional worlds just so that you can make use of them later.
BTW, don’t be so sure Superman wins that battle. The Monkey King is The Great Sage Equal of Heaven, and this particular version of him incorporates many of his variants, including Son Goku (in several forms).
So the Arena blocks superbeings created specifically for the Arena, regardless of other qualifications. That was one of the ways I suspected the Arena might block that sort of shenanigans.
I still see a possible loophole. As a secret plan, a government could encourage Hyperion-style projects by individuals. Monitor them, and then for any that are particularly desirable (Superman) step in and open things up. Extract the character from the world carefully, and you have at least a decent chance of getting a sane and not horrendously angry person as a result.
(that might still trigger the Arena’s blocking by considering the government to be something like co-creators, and thus at least some of the researchers wouldn’t have been only focused on bringing their dreams to life)
Sun Wu is WILDLY underperforming, so far. Tossing around an 8-ton staff like I do a regular bo staff, jumping thousands of miles, etc, are things he did regularly in his stories. (Or Superman would be brought down to Sun Wu’s demonstrated levels)
Reaction of geek to Government Coming in to Nationalize his Creation is likely negative, and so is Superman’s reaction. “You cannot toy with people’s lives that way”.
(I’m not sure the Arena would allow duplicates, and Superman has already been explicitly shown as one of the original Hyperions).
Wu Kung does not yet know he *HAS* his full powers. He thinks he’s just using his GENETICALLY ENGINEERED stuff, and that his Hyperion origin is allowing him to use it. Not that the Arena’s going to let him have the power of the Monkey King.
Oh good, so it does have some upper limits to what’s allowed through the loophole. Did this Wu have size changing and the Seventy-Two Transformations in his world?
What makes you think there are limits?
Wu hasn’t been TOLD that the limits are off, so he KNOWS he’s limited to his genetically-engineered/modded capabilities.
Because you just said “Not that the Arena’s going to let him have the power of the Monkey King.”
In the context of saying that he thinks all he has is his Hyperion genetic engineering powers. (he does)Not (think) that the Arena’s going to let him have the powers of the Monkey King.
Ah, I see my error there. Thanks. 🙂
See Chapter 18. DuQuesne apparently has a lot of, if not all of, his powers as a Doc Smith Hero, so why would one assume Wu doesn’t have the powers of the Monkey King? DuQuesne was explicit in earlier chapters that that was WHY he wasn’t telling Wu. He didn’t want Wu to REALIZE he had his powers.
Well this Wu is a mashup character, so we the readers really don’t know yet which powers he actually has. It’s not safe for us to assume that he can shapeshift. or change his size, or unleash hundreds of duplicates of himself, or ride clouds (which, unlike Son Goku, was only a metaphor in the original for his impossible continent-spanning leaps)…
On the other hand, looking back, you have mentioned his fights throwing up a mountain range. 0.0;
And literally throwing people THROUGH mountains. Yes.
If Blackie has Second-Stage Lensman powers to go with the cybernetically-enhanced mental abilities his canon counterpart demonstrated, it’s going to be a bad day for just about anyone he takes a disliking to 🙂
Well, he’s demonstrated the mental powers and said to Ariane that he verified he had “…The powers of the mind that I got from my Smithian mash-up Hyperion-verse? Working. Telepathy, perception, the whole nine yards…”
Which reminds me: Obviously Marc doesn’t have a Lens, and Wu had to have a new staff made, but at what point would “equipment” be considered such a central facet of the character that the Arena might provide? If Sydney had survived, would her “permanent link to the orbs” cause them to be recreated? (Of course, the Hyperion scientists presumably have the advantage of knowing whatever the truth about them was, assuming Dave didn’t die of old age before Grrl Power got that far in. ^.^ )
“Obviously Marc doesn’t have a Lens”: Are you sure about that?
“Wu had to have a new staff made”: He did? As far as I know he hasn’t lost the one he got back when he was awakened from his Hyperion sleep.
We don’t know the exact rules, but one could reasonably assume that if the character was strongly DEFINED by their equipment that either they would have it, or would be able to re-create it (i.e., Hyperion Tony Stark would be able to build Iron Man suits and they would work as in Iron Man). In Sydney’s case she would obviously have the Orbs as they are apparently metaphysically a part of her — she literally can’t go farther than a certain distance from them, or they can’t go farther than that distance from her.
That loophole likely wouldn’t work as they were still created with the intention of release even if the intermediate creator had no knowledge of the plan. I doubt the Arena would accept technical legal wrangling.
So either Hyperion really was a cosmically unlikely coincidence, or whoever was behind it was able to fool the Arena into believing that nobody was behind it.
INteresting…
Not a coincidence. A perfectly natural evolution of a discussion between a bunch of geeks with the powers of demigods at their disposal.