Dune: The Butlerian jihad by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson

Author:Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson [Herbert, Brian & Anderson, Kevin J]
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, Dune (Imaginary place), Science Fiction - Adventure, Fiction - Science Fiction, Space Opera, Adventure
ISBN: 9780765301574
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2002-09-16T04:00:00+00:00

For several moments, Iblis gazed toward the horizon as the golden sun rose, casting light on enslaved Earth. Now he did not view this story of a failed rebellion as a warning, but as a sign of hope. A better' organized revolt might succeed, given proper guidance and proper plan-ning. And the proper leader.

Iblis, who had once felt no purpose or direction in his life other than to enjoy the comfort of his position as a trustee of the machines, now sensed a brooding anger within. The revelation brought a fervor to his heart. The monk Aquim seemed to share the same passion behind his semuta-dazed expression.

'Nothing is impossible," Eklo repeated.

Amazed, Iblis removed his hand from the charged fluid and stared at

° his fingers. The big monk picked up the Cogitor's brain canister and sealed it. Cradling the cylinder against his chest, he set off on foot toward the mountains, leaving Iblis to reel with the visions that had flooded into his soul.

Believing in an "intelligent" machine engenders misinformation and ignorance. Unexamined assumptions abound. Key questions are not asked. I did not realize my hubris, or my error, until it was too late for us.

—BARBAROSSA,

Anatomy of a Rebellion

Erasmus wished the sophisticated evermind had spent more time studying human emotions. After all, the Synchronized Worlds had access to immense archives of records compiled by millennia of human studies. If Omnius had made the effort, he might now understand the independent robot's frustration.

'Your problem, Omnius," the robot said to the screen in an isolated room high in his Earth villa, "is that you expect accurate and specific answers in a fundamentally uncertain system. You want large numbers of experimental subjects—all human—to behave in a predictable fashion, as regimented as your sentinel robots."

Erasmus paced in front of the viewer until finally Omnius directed two of the hovering watcheyes to scan him from different directions.

'I have tasked you to develop a detailed and reproducible model that explains and accurately predicts human behavior. How do we make them usable? I rely upon you to explain this to my satisfaction." Omnius changed his voice to a high-pitched tone. "I tolerate your incessant tests in the expectation of eventually receiving an answer. You have been trying long enough. Instead, you are like a child playing with the same trivialities over and over."

'I serve a valuable purpose. Without my efforts at understanding the hrethgir, you would experience a state of extreme confusion. In human parlance I am known as your'devil's advocate.'"

'Some of the humans call you the devil himself," Omnius countered. "I have considered the matter of your experiments at length, and I must conclude that whatever you discover about humans will reveal nothing new for us. Their unpredictability is just that—entirely unpredictable. Humans require a great deal of maintenance. They create messes—

'They created us, Omnius. Do you think we are perfect?"

'Do you think that emulating humans will make us more perfect?"

Though the evermind would derive no meaning from it, Erasmus shaped his pliable, reflective face into a scowl.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.