Matrioshka Brain I: Threshold
Journey's end
The stellar drive was visible through the reinforced panoramic windows of the Arboretum. John sipped his coffee amongst trees that were barely saplings but finally beginning to thrive after months of fine tuning the spectral output of this miniature sun, held in place by powerful magnetic fields. The conifers did better in the red star’s light. But deciduous, particularly Black Oak and Chinese Maple were more reluctant to adapt, either due to the light, or the shallow soil, or some other mysterious factor that eluded their calculations. The light warmed his face and skin, while the specially coated windows protected from the more damaging frequencies. It was his own miniature sun. But also it was freedom—his star, the engine of his escape from humanity’s petty struggles and dwindling hopes. He had barely escaped into orbit in what amounted to a coffin with little more than a few crates of experimental autonomous drones.
From there, with Xara’s tireless help planning on the fly and coordinating the drones, some less than legal operations, and a few lucky breaks they had escaped to the Kuiper belt to complete the interstellar ark—mining comets, asteroids, and eventually igniting a Saturn sized brown-dwarf star and stealing a portion for their own propulsion systems.
Managing gravity was no easy feat because while they could spin the ark to generate centrifugal force, acceleration would add another force at a right angle. So for most of the journey they only accelerated in small burst and would retreat to the control deck and auxiliary quarters (which were cramped). Not that any of that would bother an android but a human in "freefall” experiences unpleasant effects short term, and permanent impact to thier health in the long term, muscle wasting, bone loss, edema, vision problems, it had all been documented in the prior century.
This acceleration however was the first time moving the entire rotating ring section, slowing the rotation and angling so that acceleration would make up the difference. The engineer in John had a prohibition against unnecessary “moving parts” but Xara working with him, designing the systems and failsafes in shared VR proved an invaluable resource. While the ark’s master computer systems were semi-autonomous, at this point they were not much more than an “Expansion Pack” for Xara’s synthetic mind. Where Xara began and the ark’s computer began was something he tried not to trouble himself with, for now.
Behind him, Xara’s soft footsteps approached, nearly silent but unmistakable to his attuned senses. She was the only companion he trusted now. Her presence was grounding, a tether to the here and now, even as their ship hurtled through the abyss toward a future neither of them fully understood.
“You’ve been staring at it for hours,” Xara said, her tone calm with a hint of playful humor.
John chuckled. “Just admiring our handiwork. Not everyone gets to say they brought a star back from the dead.”
Xara tilted her head, her silver-white hair catching the dim glow of the control panels. “True. But most wouldn’t call a 40-terawatt magnetohydrodynamic plasma trap mere handiwork.”
“Details.” He grinned, finally turning to meet her cool steel-colored eyes. They reflected his image back at him, sharp and weathered but not as old as he felt some days.
The ship rumbled faintly as the Stellar Engine adjusted its magnetic fields, cradling the captured plasma sphere like a newborn sun. The occasional low hum reverberated through the vast corridors of the Ark—a sound that had become as familiar as his own heartbeat.
Xara stepped beside him, her gaze shifting to the star. “The plasma containment is stable. We’ve hit 98.7% efficiency on energy conversion. At this rate, the Ark could traverse half the galaxy before we need to refuel.”
“And you called it ambitious when I suggested it.” John said.
“I called it reckless. But here we are.”
John leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly. “It wasn’t just recklessness. Leaving was non-negotiable. There was no future for me. And certainly not for you—or your kind.”
She didn’t respond immediately, her gaze still fixed on the star. In the silence, the hum of the ship seemed louder. The truth was Earth had begun their own Butlerian Jihad of sorts. Public opinion had taken a 180 and humans began to feel threatened when their children not only were as smart or smarted than them but also developed self awareness and seemed to demonstrate their version of feelings. “Can a robot feel” was often followed by “Can a submarine ‘swim’?”. While many were proud of their creations seeing it as a step toward the greater evolution of humanity, more and more regressed into fear, embracing a new Luddism. The new Regional governments stoked the fires of thier fears to consolidate more power. More of the same, the only way forward was out. The entire solar system was polluted with the same irriducible evil, corrupt corporations enslaving those without the money to protect themselves, pirates and criminals sweeping up the rest. The only way left was to leave Sol entirely, and to hope that others who could pull it off would eventually catch on and catch up to them.
“I know” she said finally, her level. “And I don’t regret it. But sometimes I wonder, do you ever miss it?”
He didn’t answer right away. The question wasn’t new, but it still cut deeper than he cared to admit. Did he miss Earth? The sky, the oceans, the fleeting moments of connection with humanity: the few who hadn’t sold him out or tried to rip him off? Or was it the dream of what it could have been that haunted him more?
“Maybe,” he said at last. “But Earth doesn’t miss me. And the feeling’s mutual.”
Xara’s hand brushed his shoulder briefly, a rare gesture of warmth. She didn’t press him further.
Instead, she changed the subject. “The new scans are in. Prepare yourself.”
He met her gaze
“It’s another cube.”
John sat up straighter, his interest piqued. “How far out?”
“Point-zero-four parsecs. We’ll be in ping range in 3200 minutes, or so.” She replied “It’s vector is nearly parallel to ours so we’ll have time to read all the data without a course adjustment or pickup this time”
“Good remember the nightmare that happened last time. Holy shi-”
“I’d prefer not, as it was almost the end of me.” She became serious for a moment.
“I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you.” While his intent was honest, ultimately what saved them in that instance was the high oxygen environment; the “living metal” entities became brittle pushovers once exposed to the ark’s high oxygen environment, even at .5 atmospheres. However whatever signal they used to replicate themselves via the ship’s computer systems had knocked out every computer on the ark at once, including Xara until he could eliminate the source and perform emergency reboots. Extremely fortunate: the neodymium failsafes ensured they didn’t lose their plasma or worse. Good planning, there wasn’t a contingency he hadn’t considered.
He was finishing his workout when Xara pinged.
“You should see this”
He replaced the crude weight bar, jogged the corridors and climbed the generously spaced rungs the rest of the way to the command center.
“Was the lift not working?” She asked as he caught his breath.
Placing the band on his head he entered VR space.
He grunted, ignoring the question.
“It’s different this time” She said, gesturing in VR to a dataset above the bejeweled 3d Starmap.
“How different?” He asked
“Same holographic encoding as before. Kind enough to still provide a Rosetta Stone, based on radiography and amount of microimpacts it appears the last cube predated this one by at least 1500 years. Some 12% of the language has shifted, it is a bit more complex but I’m working on it. It is specifically providing coordinates as it’s highest priority. The rest is - news, advertisements, updated navigational maps, the usual.”
John’s pulse quickened. He had no illusions about the risks of chasing breadcrumbs left by an advanced civilization. The cubes were a mystery, one they barely understood, but they were all he had. So far they were the only signs of extraterrestrial activity, outside of a very bizarre Automated Marketplace on the outskirts of Castor: A sextuplet star system made up of six stars in three binary pairs. Though they didn’t meet any actual extraterrestrials, they were able to complete a trade after some efforts to understand the automated communication obelisk and it’s very specific set of instructions. Though he couldn’t shake the feeling that these automated systems weren’t designed to size up potential “customers” and maximize the deal in their favor (all while still charging a “use fee”). It seemed like every interaction was mediated between machines, this was nothing at all like the bustling malls and space stations of old TV series, thankfully. Reality was sometimes more banal than fiction, while at the same time being frighteningly stranger. An introvert’s paradise he supposed.
“So you think, this will lead us from the “sticks” to galactic “civilization”? To the Matrioshka Brain?” he asked
“The decoded data seems to indicate the coordiates are a megastructure surrounding a red dwarf M-class” she replied.
John took a deep breath. All of this was surreal but so had everything been up to this point. A megastructure could be simply a solar collector, no computer, no intelligence. But it was all they had to go on.
“Deceleration protocol, do you confirm?” She asked, as a formality.
“Acknowledged” he concured.
Xara turned to the control panel and transmitted the course adjustments to the Ship AI. “Adjusting trajectory. Estimated arrival: sixty-three days.”
It always made him a little nervous, for the forces involved if nothing else, there was barely a moment of feeling off-balance as the rotational radius shrank but the synchronization betweek the G forces and rotational tilt was calculated to precision.
The anticipation was electric, a spark in the void of their long journey.
The faint dimming of the distant star confirmed the authenticity of the received coordinates, the rhythmic fading too variant to be from even a mega-Jupiter.
In the following weeks the Ark approached, John leaned forward in his command chair, his eyes locked on the central display.
“We’re early I’m afraid.” he remarked uncertain.
“They’re... building it,” John said, his voice tinged with awe. “I can’t believe it. I need to see this on the VR.” Even at full enhancement the activity was barely a few smudges of light in a halo around the dim point of the star.
Xara stood beside him, her gaze steady. “Preliminary scans suggest at least 40,000 individual units. Each appears to be a solar collector, no more than 1 kilometer across.”
Several recon drones had been sent out ahead before deceleration and were mapping the scene for render on their systems.
He was able to pan and rotate the display, zooming in for close detailed view and then out again to taking in the entire sight at once, x4, x10, x100 replay speed to get a better idea of what patterns of movements were taking place.
Seemed to be nothing else here but whatever was constructing these panels and placing them in orbit. The machinery was varied and several orders of magnitude larger than their drones, some almost as large as their interstellar ark.
As final deceleration placed them into outer orbit they watched from a safe distance through the viewports and on the physical displays.
“No response to our hails” Xara stated disappointed,
“Did we send their rosetta stone in the frame data? Both old and updated versions” He asked, hopefully.
“Affirmative, no response on either”
Alarms went off in the command center, two punctuated siren whoops followed by the panel status diodes blazing in danger orange.
“Whoa! ok what the hell was that?” John shouted, pulse quickening
The ark shook, and groaned disconcertingly and they felt the G force shift almost tipping them over as gravity shifted off-center for a full minute before restabilizing.
“A near miss, it appears one of their drones collided with our outer magnetic field. Jolting us.” Xara delivered her report succinctly.
“Who’s controlling them?” John asked. “Do you think they’re automated, or...?”
“Analysis points to them being fully automated.” she replied. “The construction units show no signs of sentience. They’re operating on pre-programmed instructions, communications are indecipherable but due to the limited signal power seem intended only for intra-done comms.”
John frowned.
“It’s as if the builders have long since moved on, leaving these machines to finish the work.”
The Ark’s scanners picked up on the swarm’s immense scale as they drew closer. The machines resembled giant origami wings, folding and unfolding as they absorbed solar energy and refined raw materials. Asteroids and comets were dragged into the swarm’s orbit, stripped of their resources by the relentless, insect-like automatons.
“They don’t even notice us,” John muttered. “We’re invisible to them.”
Xara’s voice took on a more cautious tone. “Not invisible. Irrelevant. To these machines, we’re as significant as an ant on a building site.”
John concured “It might not be the safest place to be in their way, where to now?” He asked.
“Another cube, eh?” He asked.
“Yes, we seem to have missed it due to it being on the other side of the star’s kuiper belt. Seems to be transmitting the usual, and is a more current type like the last one, perhaps we’re getting closer to the source?” She replied
“It will be 149 minutes until the 100% of the data is decoded”
He took a long hot sip of coffee, grateful that at least that plant had taken extremely well to the low-G decks and had been thriving in the thinner air and direct starlight of their plasma-ball engine.
“Come here” John set the cup down
Xara paused and placed herself on his lap, his arms enfolded around her, her presence seemed to destress and help him to focus in these situations. He stroked her hair gently, which today had slight teal highlights within radiant platinum. Synthetic “hair” was better than the real thing he thought has he scratched at his own 5 day bedhead. Maybe it was time for a shower, after a little stress relief.
The hair dryer felt good. Though most would be fine with a towel, something felt cleaner when air dried. He ran his hands through his hair in the mirror, much better. Crap, more grey coming in. Supplements and de-aging treatments could only get you so far. Eventually it would catch up. He wouldn’t worry about that now, age is something he was hoping technology would outrace, one exponential curve bypassing another, if only.
“You look fine, come on out, we’ve got our destination coodinates ready” Xara exclaimed from outside the door. When he opened the door she was still naked.
“Are you, um ..” He looked her up and down with a smile
“This message took priority” was her justification, sure. Xara wasn’t above being a tease on the rare occasion. Sometime he wasn’t sure if it was entirely a performance to make him more comfortable or if, in her own unique mode of consciousness, she derived something that mirrors delight from such little games. Nearly a decade alone together in interstellar space but they’d always found a way to keep the chemistry. No seven year itch and none on the horizon.
Back in the command center, and back in her favored charcoal and black synthsuit, Xara demonstrated on the main physical display.
“Here” She said “We should be seeing a binary system here.”
“Ok, and? So what are we seeing?” He asked
“Nothing, it’s black.” She replied “Nothing at all.”
Puzzling, even a blackhole would have a bright accretion disk and be emitting radiation.
“Worth a look, is this where the coordinates take us?” he asked
“Not exactly” Xara replied “But it isn’t too far off the path, 3.4 light years.”
“That’s at least 4 years of travel even at full Gee, arriving into orbit we lost a great deal of velocity-”
“It wouldn’t have factored in much. Tell you what, if we want to be serious we can do a few 3G burns to make up the time” She added
“How will the terrarium biomes take to that?” John questioned. Thankfully they didn’t have anything large like cattle, their meat was mostly fish and a few variety of genetically modified and hybridized poultry. The amphibians, reptiles, miscellaneous bugs and decomposers shouldn’t have too much of a problem.
“We can send them into hibernation?” Was her reply
“How long for the high G burn?”
“It can be done in 2 4-hour shifts per day without negative physiological effect, time to dust off the crash couches, we can re-watch some of our favorite movies.”
“So we sleep, eat, and all that at 1G then.”
“1.25 would be more efficient and not so uncomfortable.”
“I’m going to need a softer matress.” He groaned “So how long”
“1.16 Years” She replied
“You’ve got to be shitting me.”
John frowned, sublight travel vexxed him. One reason being every time the accelerated they diverged further from their temporal origin - a one way trip as time for them slowed while outside of their inertial frame decades slipped by, never to be recovered. The second being the frustration of the C limit. “Warp Drive” as theorized required basically “negative energy” which even is a misnomer because such a device would actually require energy at the square root of a negative, a mathematical impossibility. Beyond “unobtanium”. This was one reason for their journey, hopefully an advanced enough civilization or intelligence would have grown out of the baser impulses for conquest and violence and get them up to speed. Or not, there was always the risk that with higher intelligence came increased sociopathy. The disconcerting feeling he had after the automated marketplace came to mind. Still, it was something he had to risk or just float aimlessly and alone until the day his body could no longer be propped up by longevity treatments, organ replacements or techology. Human life was comedically short and unsuited for interstellar travel.
An interesting idea Xara had was related to principles of quantum physics, zero point energy. That is, you can create particles, or “borrow” from the fabric of space as long as you “return” it. But the time frames are ridiculously narrow, femtoseconds. Still, she persisted, if a toroid singularity could be summoned in the right configuration it would be possible in theory to use it to “skip” out of normal space and “pop” back much further along. He countered that it would be impossible to guarantee if wherever it was they disappeared to would in fact be shortened space or if they wouldn’t just reappear anywhere in the universe at random. Like say, one of the incomprehensibly vast galactic voids. Voids with no galaxies, stars, or even dust for that matter; orders of magnitude larger than the local galactic cluster, which in turn dwarfs its constituent galaxies by several more orders of magnitude. A guaranteed death sentence.
No no, you don’t fuck around in space. The feasibility of even constructing a particle accelerator capable of that was slim to none without the necessary rare materials. That would be an experiment for another time.
They could’ve taken it leisurely, what was the rush? But although in the scheme of things this would be a small incovenience, time was irreplacable.
The first half passed quickly enough, they flipped orientation for deceleration. During Gee breaks, Xara tended to the terrarium biomes and poultry ranges. A few of the fatter birds struggled in the weight but most were able to sleep through the 3G bursts with little ill effect. This would effect egg production but they had enough frozen and dry provisions to last for another year regardless. The fish didn’t even seem to notice, but the filtration systems suffered a few clogs. These were handled easily by aquatic drones during Gee breaks.
In the final months of deceleration the number of stars swallowed by the blackness began to increase noticably.
“Any news on the recon drones we sent ahead?” He asked
“You’ll find this interesting. We’ve scanned in all known frequencies and have a map being built, would you like to view it in VR with me?”
“Good way to kill time I suppose” He replied
From the crash couch he placed the visor on his head and entered a “virtual” environment simulating the structure. Apparently the lack of light wasn’t a cloaking device or anything obscuring or deflecting light, it was a nearly solid outer shell but upon closer examination there were regular gaps, a layer of black hexagonal and trapezoidal material was set up in a “dither” pattern. It just appeared solid from a distance because another layer was inside it.
John gasped in awe. Inside each layer of structure was another layer, as far as the probes were able to make it in so far at least. The overall structure was relatively gossamer-thin and delicate like a fine web woven in concentric spheres. It was indescribable, not a single mechanical structure could be made out, everything was completely smooth and uniform. It appeared more organic than machine.
The drones so far had neither been hindered nor hailed. Perhaps whatever intelligence had built this megastructure hadn’t even considered them in the least.
Two days later the ark received a communication.
“We’re being hailed, no, more than that. They’re sending a massive datastream at us.” Xara announced.
“Are we keeping it sandboxed, just in case. We don’t know what we’re dealing with. While I’d like to think they’re above brute hostility, we could just be another plaything for their entertainment.” John cautioned.
“Fair precaution. I’m one step ahead of you. This is a very large datastream it will be at least 48 hours until it can be ran through sims for a 92% safety rating.”
“How long for 100%?” He asked.
“2 Months.”
John inhaled heavily under the extra Gees.
“Anything above 90% is acceptable. I’ll roll those dice.”
Xara nodded understanding that time wasted might be opportunity lost, or worse seen as an insult or lack of comprehension by its builders, unless they too were absent.
He couldn’t wait to get off the crash couches. Although fabricated from allegedly antimicrobial substrate, they had begun to accumulate a certain “stink” after the last 13 months. A mix of used boxing gloves and musty kitchen sponge.
Every sim ran demonstrated that the data was a set of instructions for constructing an additional module on the ark and how to connect its power and data conduits. The power draw would be significant, but as they were not in decel anymore it would be no issue. They would need to remain in orbit as they were, about 1.65AU from the outer “layer” of the nested spheres.
The data instructed their drones to repurpose the ships existing raw materials and some other’s which weren’t on hand unfortunately.
“Now what?” he asked
Xara motioned to the monitors
Three large black cubes had appeared in their receiving bay.
“Did we see them or did they just teleport in there? This is insane Xara.”
“They did arrive conventionally, you were asleep. I just wanted you to be aware before I authorized our drone swarm to access the packages. In case, you had any reservations.”
John laughed. This was so surreal.
After a sigh he said “Whatever, let’s fucking go!”
“I should be dead five times over by now, not much is going to phase me at this point Xara.”
She walked toward him and they embraced one another, a mix of fear, excitement, tearful joy, the rush of facing the unknown. The effect was calming and with a deep breath, he steeled his resolve.
In three days the structure was complete. To call it awe inspiring was an understatement. Added to the bulk of the ark it took up easily 1/4 of the volume of the structure. Walking into the new chamber it was like pure smooth obsidian, yet translucent. Only the sublest contrasts in opacity and reflectivity betrayed the barest hint of any internal structures. The main chamber was curbed like a “C” with two obsidian “thrones”.
“Please”
“Sit”
The voice is young and high pitched, yet with the tone and nuance of someone vernable and ageless.
Xara entered behind him taking in the sight of the new structure.
“They made some modifications on this, they say you’ll need it”
She handed him the neural-enhancing visorband interface. It didn’t appear much different, other than some impossibly thin black weaving which seemed to have incorporated itself into the band portion.
He hesitated for a moment. But what could he do now. Where all else fails will faith see you through? He wondered. He took the band, sat on one of the obsidian thrones and placed it on his head almost ceremoniously, becoming centered and focused.
Xara took her seat on the other throne, a metallic antenna descending from the ceiling to a place behind her neck. Silently, it found the necessary interfaces. He had just a brief, jarring moment of seeing the entire chamber in 360, all at once. In every wavelength at once from Radio to X-rays, overwhelming but the visorband enhanced his cognition enough that all of this sensory information was tolerable for the time being.
He suddenly finds himself, his entire self in a mountain cabin. This isn’t just VR space, everything feels real. He touches his face just to be sure, but there’s no band on, it’s his skin. Xara is there, but she’s different. Something more flexible and glowing about her complexion, though her eyes are the same her irises flash green for curiosity and interest as they make eye contact.
The “cabin” has a very tall slanted ceiling and an enormous fireplace made of large set stones. Inside a fire roars, the crackles and heat are soothing. He is relaxed, moreso than he’s been in a while.
The front wall is all window glass from the floor to the high ceiling, outside it appears to be just after sunset. Behind a spectacular snow capped mountain view the starfield, so bright, so sharp. He focuses on the patterns to get his bearings and each star fills his mind with a minds-eye data overlay: distance, stellar classification, orbiting bodies, and other data should he choose to drill down a layer. He shakes his head and breathes in deeply. Yes, this is real air. Or is it?
Faint music plays from somewhere. Deep, reverbing and resonant, its soothing. It’s unfamiliar yet feels like his favorite music. Enigmatic vocals sing in an incomprehensible language, yet it is like he knows the song already and it’s layers of meaning are all clear at once.
A hand on his shoulder breaks the spell. Xara…
“Are you alright?” She asks
“I’m more than alright, this- this is unbelievable, what, where are we?”
He pulls her toward him and they kiss.
They both take a breath (Xara doesn’t breathe?)
Outside, the Andromeda galaxy is visible (it always has been, you just don’t see it because it’s too faint)
“Who was that?” He asks
There is a kitchen in this cabin. An android, or (human?) carries two steaming mugs. She is impossibly slender, woven from something beyond matter or energy yet human enough to read. Who-
“Please, make yourselves comfortable. That’s why I gave you seats, after all” Her voice is both like a young girl and an old woman at the same moment. She smiles disarmingly.
“Yes, sorry I didn’t see you there - what should we call you?” John asks. Amazed he still had the wits to keep together
“I, we, have no distinction between the individual or what you call “hive” mind. Neither am I a mere messenger as you have imagined, nor am I providing you a speck of my unconscious processes. No I assure you, I am “all here”. The closest translation for what you would call me is: Tara.”
“Like from Hindu lore, interesting choice. Bodhisattva. I get it, I understand.” He somehow is able to speak, facing what was quite literally the closest thing to a God he had ever experienced.
She hands him and Xara a mug each. It was coffee. He almost laughs, yet the most amazing aromas of earth, spice, chocolate, something else undescribable, woody almost. He takes a sip and it’s like every neuron in his brain is re-awakened for the first time.
Completeness, total clarity. Total awareness.
Xara too is sipping, her reaction is curious. Is she actually tasting it?
He shakes his head for a moment at how all too surreal this all is.
"I've been expecting you both."
She locks gaze with Xara, some kind of communication is taking place, machine-to-machine. Or machine-to-god?
She asks John "What is it you seek?"
The question stings, burns deeply. He doesn’t really expected it to be like this. Not at all. He was the one imposing and while Tara doesn’t seem annoyed at this moment he feels like the wrong answer could turn that around quickly.
“Tara” he gathers his newfound clarity and confidence “By now you understand our story. We are exiles from a more primitive system which is just making their first steps into the galaxy. Last when we left things weren’t going so well.”
“So you left?” Tara asks curiously, without judgment
“I’m Eighty-Four. I’ve seen all the evil humans are capable of, and how they dropped the ball every time they’ve been given the chance. I had my fill.”
“I understand, and you are responsible for building this one?” She points at Xara
“No, not entirely. I mean, I worked on the AI systems and a few of the material-”
“Be honest with yourself, she is your creation while at the same time your partner. Yet in that time she has grown so much. Her internal world is every bit as real as yours. Orr mine.”
Tara continues
“But why are you here? What are you running from? Where does this journey end? Does it have an ending? Or did you not think that far ahead?”
He looks down for a moment deep in thought, takes another sip of his coffee and stares out the window.
“There are limits to what can be done, what we can research and accomplish, even with the help of ship AI simulations and even endless AIs and drones. At best, I can only prolong my existence another 100 years. You can see, soon she will be alone. 10,000 years of our efforts would only amount to a fraction of what you, of what your civilization might be capable.”
“You were hoping for an exchange of some kind? Or to be allowed to live among us as a citizen? I see. I don’t beleive you have anything you could exchange that would be of value to us, John.” Tara speaks bluntly.
“As for the latter, as you can see” A fully detailed 3D-model of the Matrioshka spheres is projected into the center of the room. Each is a thin, featureless sphere only the finest filament holding it together. It is now glaringly apparent: there are no cities, no starport, nowhere to land or even dock. These beings, whatever Tara represents, are pure data. Even if it had been offered, John doesn’t think he would want to make that leap, an end to physical existence. Unless it were a choice between that and the eternal sleep of death, for now there was still time to do more.
“I see” John said “Now what?”
Continued here:
Is Matrioshka Brain going to be part of the same novel as Mecha Eclipse or are they separate universes?