The Human Division #11: A Problem of Proportion Read Online Free PDF Page B

looking at things.”
    When you’re a brain in a box, philosophy is what you have.
    “There’s a bomb in your box,” Wilson said. “It’s attached to the power buffer. As far as I can tell, it has a monitor that tracks power input. The Urse Damay ’s power system is integrated with its emergency power systems so that when the first goes down, the second is already running and there’s no interruption of power to critical systems, including your box. But if we remove your box from the system entirely, the monitor is going to register it, and the bomb will go off.”
    It would kill me.
    “Yes,” Wilson said. “Since you asked me not to lie, I’ll tell you I suspect the real point of the bomb is to make sure the technology of that box you’re in isn’t taken and examined. Your death is an incidental result of that.”
    On second thought, maybe you can lie to me a little.
    “Sorry,” Wilson said.
    Is there any way to remove me from the box?
    “Not that I can see,” Wilson said. “At least, not in a way that keeps you alive. The box is, if I may say so, an impressive piece of engineering. If I had more time, I could reverse-engineer the thing and tell you how it works. I don’t have that time. I could take you out of the box—the part that’s actually you—but I couldn’t just then take that part and hook it up a battery. The box is an integrated system. You can’t survive without it.”
    I’m not going to survive long in it, either.
    “I can reattach the batteries we’ve removed from the system,” Wilson said. “It can buy us some more time.”
    Us?
    “I’m here,” Wilson said. “I can keep working on this. There’s probably something I’ve missed.”
    If you tinker with the bomb, then there’s a chance you’ll set it off.
    “Yes,” Wilson said.
    And when the power goes out, the bomb will explode anyway.
    “I imagine the bomb will use the energy in the buffer to set itself off, yes,” Wilson said.
    Do you dismantle bombs on a regular basis? Is this your specialty?
    “I do technology research and development. This is up my alley,” Wilson said.
    I think this is you lying to me a little.
    “I think I might be able to save you,” Wilson said.
    Why do you want to save me?
    “You don’t deserve to die like this,” Wilson said. “As an afterthought. As a brain in a box. As less than fully yourself.”
    You said yourself this box is an impressive piece of technology. It looks like whoever did this took some effort to make sure it couldn’t be taken. I don’t want to insult you, but given that you’ve had only a very little amount of time with this box, do you really think you’re going to find some way to outwit it and save me?
    “I’m good at what I do,” Wilson said.
    If you were that good, you wouldn’t be here. No offense.
    “I’d like to try,” Wilson said.
    I would like you to try, if it didn’t mean you possibly dying. One of us dying seems inevitable at this point. Both of us dying seems avoidable.
    “You asked us to help you,” Wilson reminded Rayth Ablant.
    You did. You tried. And even right now, if you wanted to keep trying, it’s clear I couldn’t stop you. But when I asked you to help, you helped. Now I am asking you to stop.
    “All right,” Wilson said, after a moment.
    Thank you.
    “What else can I do for you?” Wilson asked. “Do you have friends or family that you want us to contact? Do you have messages for anyone I can send for you?”
    I have no real family. Most of my friends were on the Urse Damay. Most of the people I know are already gone. I have no friends left.
    “That’s not entirely true,” Wilson said.
    Are you volunteering yourself?
    “I’d be happy if you considered me your friend,” Wilson said.
    I did try to kill you.
    “That was before you knew me,” Wilson repeated. “And now that you do, you’ve made it clear you won’t let me die if you can help it. I think that makes up for your earlier indiscretions.”
    If you are my