The Singularity Trap Quotes
"Technically, this was safer than air travel. And he was going into space! This should be fun."
"Ivan concentrated on his breathing, and on not whimpering in fear."
"The child of climate-change refugees who lost everything when the ocean took their home, Ivan’s options were strictly limited."
"A moderately good strike could keep you going for multiple tours."
"It took a string of bad luck, running in the red for several tours in a row, to break you."
"To the Mad Astra and her crew. And may this tour be our big score."
"Ivan’s eyes watered, and he put every ounce of will-power available into the task of not coughing as he sat down."
"Ivan realized that he and Seth were going through the too-casual probing for common attitudes and opinions, the cautious circling of two people who might end up being friends."
"Trying to provide for a family puts a whole other level of difficulty into the equation."
"The odds, on a nine-month tour, would be in their favor. But with a sinking feeling in his stomach, Ivan acknowledged that odds only meant maybe."
"Honestly, sir, if the military got involved, and suspected a connection between the claim and the Pritchard Event, then they could conceivably attempt to interdict the Big Rock."
"Before hesitation could become paralysis, he stabbed the call button for the doctor."
"In three days, bidding closes on Big Rock. After that point, the bid winner is personally, if that’s the right word, invested."
"Turning into Iron Man?" Ivan laughed, but even he could hear the note of hysteria.
"It seems to be taking care to not cause you harm or even discomfort."
"The process could be completely benign, but at the end of it I’ll still be gone."
"Imagine going under with the fear that you might simply never wake up."
"I’ve had all the courses, of course. But I’ve never been up higher than sub-orbital."
"We are civilized, and we don’t do that. So we must find a way."
"But once the Mad Astra crew is aboard, we are all committed."
"The moment you walk into that isolation module, you are part of the quarantine, until we have this thing beat."
"We have set up the quarantine module in four levels. One is the level that you are currently in. At the moment, you are all equally suspected of carrying the infection, despite only one of you displaying symptoms."
"After a suitable interval, you will be moved to the second level, which is with the ICDC doctors, including myself. We will all be lab rats for the next phase."
"We’re hoping to get a bit of a head start by leveraging off what you’ve already accomplished."
"This had all the feel of a deliberate trap. But by humans? Or something else?"
"That would not be a military decision, Commander, therefore it’s not one that I can make. You’d have to go through diplomatic channels on that."
"If the politicos are going apeshit, we have a directive, direct from the office of the President of the United Earth Nations, to provide all pertinent information."
"We will, at some point, have to make a decision about him, regardless of your political or moral stance. I want you all to start thinking about this. Consider especially the uncomfortable scenarios, because those are the ones that will require hard decisions."
"However, in the worst case, we could be facing a species-ending threat. Under those circumstances, I will push the button myself, even if I’m personally within the blast radius."
"I’m not suggesting anything definite, yet. I am suggesting that Pritchard, as a problem, is not going to go away. And I feel confident in predicting that we won’t be turning him back into a human being."
"It’s possible there is or has been a leak of some kind. We’re looking into that. It’s fortunate that when the Mad Astra returned early they didn’t publicly announce their intention to do so. As far as public records show, the Astra is still out there checking asteroids for another two months, which means anyone attempting to extract information by data mining will discount it as a possibility."
"If this is what we think it is—extraterrestrial in origin—then it’s particularly galling that the ICDC is in charge."
"No virus, bacterium, or other biological pathogen, terrestrial or alien, has been detected."
"It’s new. Apparently whoever built our nanites are the same aliens who invented people and built the pyramids."
"We’re simply getting ready for the possibility that they might, purposefully or accidentally, unleash a plague on us."
"I can wait. I don’t really have a choice, do I?"
"I’ve had a couple of conversations. They’ve been what you’d call stiff."
"Our mandate is for emergent situations. This whole thing no longer fits that description."
"No one would blame you. Even in this day and age, everyone is still at least somewhat distrustful of the military mind."
"It’s what I’d do. It’s what you’d do if you had a family to worry about."
"Plus, you’ll have the normal, average people who are simply scared out of their minds and reacting badly."
"We don’t have anything that can examine reality at that level."
"This will be less risky than transporting fissionable materials, and people do that all the time."
"If the nanites get loose, it could be game over. For everyone."
"Are your Makers like me? I mean, the way I am now?" "Yes."
"Permanent quarantine, unless some new information comes along."
"So let’s have a non-binding vote. In favor of the nuclear solution? Against?"
"That’s not really our job. Or our decision, for that matter."
"You can’t blow up fissionables in an emergency—well, you know what I mean."
"If we get answers, then everything is fine. But if not, then we have to go to the next level."
"I’d trade it all—every last penny—to have my Ivan back."
"A forthright, self-confident statement was the way to go."
"Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated, as it turns out."
"Everyone who had anything to do with the Pritchard Incident is flagged for travel, and will be for a year."
"Money might be the root of all evil—oh, wait, no, it was the love of money."
"The goal seemed to be to welcome humanity into the, uh, Federation. But first, they had to survive if the Arts showed up."
"For the moment, I’m going to give all of you voice authority for the duration of the voyage."
"That’s complicated, so of course it’s not coming through very well."
"Promotions, disciplinary issues, logistics and supply, quarterly reviews, all the administrivia that he hated so much, but could do in his sleep."
"The Navy has a history of accepting faits accomplis if they’re successful."
"I think our only valid option is to double down. Success is the only outcome that will bring us out of this with our asses intact."
"What does patient mean when you’re immortal, anyway?"
"The interesting takeaway from the conversation was that the military hadn’t been trying to fake Ivan’s death so that they could study him. They’d actually tried to end him."
"And fail. Pretty sure your goal tree rates that outcome pretty low."
"There’s no scenario where the computer leaves us alone that comes out good from its point of view."
"The computer’s decision tree is deterministic—it has no conscience, no emotion, no empathy, and no ego. It’s ultimately driven by a need to maximize benefit for the Makers. Nothing else enters into the equation. The equation is everything."
"My choices are limited, Doc. If I were to cross my arms and refuse to budge, the computer would switch me off."
"As long as my family is okay, I don’t care so much what happens to me."
"The species that understands cooperation and can manage its own evolution has the best chance of survival."
"It’s deliberately designed to look rickety, like the original bridge, but those ropes are reinforced with carbon-fiber, and the planks are backed by a nanotube mesh. You couldn’t take this thing down with a hacksaw."
"We don’t, of course, know for sure that Pritchard can withstand and/or survive an attack by yourselves. However, everything from his original conversion to current events on several inner-system planets indicates quite clearly that we are dealing with a technology far in advance of our own."
"Therefore, the only option is to offer a Cooperator move and hope that the computer will relent."
"Celestial mechanics being what it is, we are committed to our destination."
"Absent some indication of their motives and plans, I can offer no insight or suggestions."
"Mars has started growing something that looks like the structures on Venus."
"The Navy has rejected our proposal. They will attack."
"The problem with military solutions is that they favor the strongest side, not the one with the moral right."
"We are, apparently, a bit of a pain in the ass, cosmically speaking."
"Your value to the Uploads is questionable at this time."
"Most Uploaded species, in fact, are self-actualized."
"Nothing personal. There’s a cost/benefit analysis, and a risk analysis."
"The takeaway, though, is that the bird has flown."
"We seem to consistently underestimate this character."
"It seems to me that I will be making most of the concessions."
"We benefit more in the aggregate than we each would individually."
"You only got one do-over like this per lifetime."
"You want to try to be like him, and people will remember you after you’re gone."
"Immortal, non-biological beings could be incredibly patient."
"We seem to have managed to come out of this whole thing better off than before."