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- Herausgeber: tredition
- Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
- Sprache: Englisch
The world is more efficient than ever. Everyone wears an Inoimplant in their head from birth. Where manual labor used to be necessary, a mere thought is now enough. The former policeman Siegfried Tegethoff is one of the last to lament the retreat of human labor. Then a man appears who should no longer exist. Equipped with the words of old masters and a brutality as if from long forgotten times, he declares war on the world.
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Seitenzahl: 519
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
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Book Description:
The world is more efficient than ever. Everyone wears an Inoimplant in their head from birth. Where manual labor used to be necessary, a mere thought is now enough. The former policeman Siegfried Tegethoff is one of the last to lament the retreat of human labor. Then a man appears who should no longer exist. Equipped with the words of old masters and a brutality as if from long forgotten times, he declares war on the world.
About the Author:
Joachim Angerer is an Austrian science fiction author. His first work "Becquerelsche Träume" was published in September 2017. Further works of the author are: "Gestaltete Wirklichkeit" (July 2021), "Becquerelsche Ränke" (October 2021) and "Die psychische Partie" (October 2022).
© 2022 Joachim Angerer
Cover: Liu Zishan / shutterstock
1st English edition
ISBN Softcover: 978-347-77262-5
ISBN Hardcover: 978-347-77263-2
ISBN E-Book: 978-3-347-77264-9
Printing and distribution on behalf of the author:
tredition GmbH, Halenreie 40-44, 22359 Hamburg, Germany
The work, including its parts, is protected by copyright. The author is responsible for the contents. Any use without his consent is prohibited. Publication and distribution are carried out on behalf of the author, who can be contacted at: tredition GmbH, Department "Imprint Service", Halenreie 40-44, 22359 Hamburg, Germany.
Total Technocrats
Joachim Angerer
Now it is man who fails because he cannot keep up with the progress of his own civilization.
José Ortega y Gasset
Table of Contents
Cover
Copyright
Title Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Acknowledgement
Sources
Total Technocrats
Cover
Copyright
Title Page
Chapter 1
Sources
Total Technocrats
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Chapter 1
"I didn't even know those things were still in use."
Juliette's voice sounded genuinely surprised. She stared at the old-fashioned cellphone with raised eyebrows. Accustomed to such reactions, Siegfried shrugged his shoulders. He ran his hand through his graying hair.
"Well, I guess I'm a little … old-fashioned myself."
A functioning cell phone was indeed an extremely rare sight nowadays. He wondered how many of these things still existed today - outside of museums?
At the station, only Siegfried still used one of these devices. In accordance with the regulations, his colleagues had long since handed in their outdated official cell-phones - if they even had one. Officially, he, too, should no longer have had his. But after a certain number of years of service, one enjoyed the advantage of tacit tolerance with regard to minor bending of the rules. Questionable, whether this special status should be understood as privilege or branding …
Well, as of today, this question was moot point anyway: no tightening of the rules of conduct, but Siegfried's age alone caused him to part with his beloved cell phone.
With a wistful look, he watched Juliette stow it away in a box, never to be seen again. Why did it feel as if he was witnessing the end of an era? The thought made him sigh.
"What's wrong?" Juliette sounded irritated.
"Oh … nothing," Siegfried waved it off. "I've delivered all my official items now, at least I think. Or is something missing?"
For a moment, Juliette's eyes seemed to wander absently into the distance. "No, everything done," she then explained. "The rest will be handled through I know everything. As soon as you leave the building, your database will be updated accordingly."
I know everything was the slogan used decades ago to advertise the first "Interactive Neural Omni-Interfaces", or shorter "I-N-O implants", or even simplyer "Ino".
I know everything.
I know everywhere.
I know everytime.
Siegfried remembered this slogan from his childhood very well. At that time, everybody was permanently bombarded with this advertisement, so you couldn’t forget it. There was literally no escape: Neither inside a building - where a screen advertising Ino was installed on almost every wall - nor on the streets, where an ad banner lurked every few meters.
Todaybanners and screens were nowhere to be found. For decades Ino had not needed advertising. Siegfried wondered whether the organizers of the marketing campaign, knew that the technology they had promoted would soon replace all other forms of media. Did they underestimate the consequences of their own success? Or did they resigne to the unstoppable nature of the technological progress? Eventually the marketing experts simply had the correct instincts - and wanted to cash in one last time.
"I know everything, huh? I haven't heard that phrase since I was a child," Siegfried remarked. "Today we're swimming in the data stream with Ino."
"Swimming in the data stream? It’s been an even longer time since they’ve said that." Juliette suppressed a giggle.
"It’s called Inoline today. I am Inoline, not: I‘m swimming in the data stream."
"Yes, all right, I'm old, I know" Siegfried waved it off. "But I'm still going to stick with data stream."
"Admittedly, this antiquated choice of words is somehow … charming … ", Juliette mused with an innocent look.
"Thank you." Siegfried nodded with a weak smile. "You're too young to be allowed to seem old-fashioned."
"Why old-fashioned?", asked Juliette furiously.
"Just because you use terms that hardly anyone knows anymore? Or because you know how to use a mobile? Who, apart from you, can still handle such a thing at all? I wouldn't call it old-fashioned to be able to do something that the majority is no longer capable of."
"Well, I guess it's all a matter of perspective." Resignedly, Siegfried shrugged his shoulders.
Juliette eyed him half-reprovingly, half-faithfully.
"Coffee?" she inquired, as if that ended the matter.
"Yes, with pleasure," Siegfried lied, although his colleague had made sure in advance that his daily need for caffeine was more than satisfied. She obligatorily offered coffee to almost everyone whom she was talking to. For understandable reasons, this was done out of boredom rather than politeness, because face-to-face conversations rarely took place, even among colleagues. Thanks to Ino, most people essentially used their mouths only for eating and breathing.
In this regard, too, Siegfried proved to be a kind of eternally old reactionary. But that was just fine with him. An overdose of caffeine could be considered a small price to pay for a - at least in his eyes - real form of communication. Even if it was just with a colleague.
"Here you are, sir," Juliette whispered in an acted submissive tone, handed him a cup and sat down behind her desk. With an inviting wave of her hand, she asked Siegfried to take a seat as well.
"Well, it's pure irony," Siegfried muttered, sinking into the chair placed in front of the desk and sipping his coffee. "Earlier generations of secretaries found brewing coffee for colleagues degrading."
"Oh, really?" Wide-eyed, Juliette stared surprised at him. "Was Ino as advanced then as it is now?"
Remembering back, Siegfried slowly shook his head.
"There were at least fewer possible applications. Back then, people simply still talked more to each other." Thoughtfully, he scratched his head. "Do they still say ear voice these days?"
"Yes." Juliette smiled. "Ear voice and Inovoice. If you’re referring to the second one, it’s called Inotransfer. I don’t know a second term for ear voice …" Tilting her head, she paused for a moment, as if thinking hard. "Maybe that word will die out soon, too. Have you heard of Inodive?"
Siegfried shook his head.
"Ino controls the whole body. Not only the voice, but also the gestures. So you only have to concentrate on your own thoughts …"
"Please! You'd better stop," groaned Siegfried. "I can't keep up anyway. In my days, you just swam in the data stream. So now you're already diving, as if …" Abruptly, he stopped. Again he had used the term data stream! One more habit he would not get rid off.
"Please, keep talking," Juliette urged, leaning forward and propping her elbows on the table surface.
"What was it like then?"
"Oh, well, the implants themselves weren't really that different from today's. They would have been hard to update." He tapped the back of his head. "However, there were still people who didn't wear one."
Juliette frowned thoughtfully.
"Ah, you mean old Pirov?"
"What, don’t tell me you knew him?"
Astonished, Siegfried raised his eyebrows, for Fjodor Pirov had been dead for many years - and retired for an even longer period of time before that! Curiously, his brown eyes examined Juliette.
Wrinkle-free face, long and thick hair, smooth skin on her hands. In short, she seemed much too young to have known Fjodor.
Certainly, with the use of appropriate monetary means, any age could be simulated nowadays - at least visually. But Siegfried did not put Juliette in this category. From financial reasons alone, because a secretary was not particularly lavishly paid.
The young woman noticed Siegfried's scrutinizing look, leaned back and grinned. "No, what are you thinking! I'm not that old," she declared, ostensibly scandalised. "I've only heard stories about him. Pirov is a bit of a … legend. Oddly enoughyou don't find much about him on Ino."
"Yeah, no wonder. He didn't really trust this technology."
"Is it true that he was a real craftsman?"
"Well, if you want to call it that."
Siegfried folded his hands over his slight beginnings of a paunch and smirked. "Real craft." There was something amusing about the phrase. I wonder what Fjodor would have said to that.
"Did I say something wrong?" inquired Juliette, a little piqued at his amused expression.
"No, no. You know, when you get older, you just like to indulge in reminiscences."
"So go ahead , tell me!"
Siegfried nodded thoughtfully and put down his cup.
"Fjodor ran a small woodworking shop at home. One, in which you still had to use your hands. Sometimes when he invited me over, he would show me how to carve wood. Or rather, how people used to carve wood when there were still carpenters."
Juliette blinked in irritation.
"Were there no robots in Pirov's days?"
"There were," Siegfried assured her. "Even back then, all furniture was made by machines. The only real difference was, that machines were not operated by other machines, but by people."
"But then why was Pirov running this workshop?"
"He called it his hobby."
"Hobby?" For a moment Juliette looked at him helplessly and then pointed to the back of her head.
"I don't understand. If you're looking for distraction, you can find it … here."
"Yes. But doing it yourself is just something … different."
In Siegfried's consciousness rose the memory of how he had, years ago, tried to - after Fyodor's death - reconstruct his visits to the workshop by using Ino: The file looked more like an oversized scalpel, and the workbench was made of stainless steel.
Although the strange result rather amused than frightened him, he refrained from repeating such experiments. What else should come out of it than a confused distorted image?
Ino dipped into his own memory, but old memories were usually incomplete and the gaps had to be filled by the data stream.
So the algorithm responsible at the time took the view that the workshop details missing from Siegfried's memories should correctly be replaced by those of an operating room.
"Real physical activity cannot be so easily simulated," Siegfried said, summing up his experience.
"You haven't tried it for a long time, right?", Juliette probed.
"No. Why should I?"
"The technology really has come a long way, Siegfried. For example, many spend their vacations using only Inomagine nowadays."
When Siegfried merely looked at his colleague in silence, she felt prompted to elaborate.
"That's what the Inopt or Ino application is called now. You just imagine the vacation spot you want, and the data stream takes you there."
Juliette stretched the words "Ino application" and "data stream" to such an extent that it was almost condescending. Siegfried knew, however, that she didn’t mean it in a bad way. He thoughtfully looked at his hands.
On the palms of his hands, as the last remnants of his handicraft activities, faint scars, were still visible. After Fjodor's death, at the time Siegfried was still young and had no receding hairline, the heirs quickly sold his house, so that Siegfried had not held a tool in his hands for years.
But still his skin remembered. At least this could not be simulated, right? If even vacation trips were now a thing of the past - then tools probably even more so. Just like his mobile phone. Lost in thought, he sighed softly.
"Siegfried? Aren’t you well?" Juliette asked with a worried expression.
"No, no." Taking a deep breath, he leaned back and waved it off. "I just realized that I must have witnessed the end of an era."
The end of another era, he added mentally, and gave a short muffled laugh.
"I guess it's really about time I retire."
Juliette scrutinized him. "Do you have plans yet?"
At that moment someone knocked on the door and exempted Siegfried from an answer. Surprised, he turned around. Through the half-opened door his colleague Maja peeked into the room.
"Hi, Juliette! Hey, there you are, Siegfried." She sounded half pleased, half annoyed. "Why didn't you answer?"
Embarrassed, Siegfried tapped the back of his head.
"Oh darn, Inotransfer. Sorry about that! But now that I'll have more than enough time, I guess I should probably look into that more."
Maja entered and closed the door behind her.
"My parents are also from the Omega generation. They're almost better Inoline than I am."
Her voice was so soft that one hardly noticed the underlying criticism.
"Well, the Omega generation," Siegfried muttered. This term, too, would probably disappear soon. It referred to the last people who were born without an Inoimplant.
The respective surgical procedure had to be performed on a brain that was not yet fully developed. In Siegfried's childhood, wearing an implant was already obligatory, but the necessary procedure had not yet matured to the required extent. The surgery could not yet be performed on unborn children. Therefore, Siegfried received his Inoimplant not until advanced infancy.
For the representatives of his generation, their implants generally remained foreign objects throughout their lives. He himself had to consciously activate it to use - like an invisible wristwatch that only showed the time when he took a deliberate glance at it.
Maja, on the other hand, considered her Inoimplant to be no less a part of her body than her arms or legs. Accordingly, it was difficult for her to understand the completely different situation of her much older colleague. Grateful that she nevertheless tried, Siegfried looked up from his seat and sought her gaze.
Her eyes seemed strangely fixed, as if she was mentally in another place.
People like Maja literally controlled Ino blindly. A single thought alone was enough to travel to a distant place. Another one brought you back in an instant.
In Maja's seemingly empty gaze there was something more compelling that made Siegfried sigh once again. Today, on his last day of work, she could really be a little more lenient!
Well, admittedly, he had always remained unyielding towards her in important lessons. So now his student was advancing to become his teacher.
Siegfried shrugged his shoulders in surrender. The next moment he rolled his eyes, as he always did whilst entering the stream.
"There you go! It's not that difficult," Maja's voice sounded in his head.
"For you, maybe," Siegfried grumbled.
"All right. I know your concerns," Maja interpreted his reaction correctly. "But it’s a really useful technology. People almost exclusively communicate with each other this way. The risk of someone eavesdropping is very low."
Siegfried doubted that. Theoretically, any wireless signal could be intercepted. Probably the encryption of Inotransfer had been cracked long ago. Nobody just didn’t admit it. After all, fixing such a serious security flaw would require a huge effort.
Maja giggled considering his thoughts.
"So you think in a few years everyone will have to walk around with a wire attached to the back of their head?"
Siegfried grumbled. "Would you please stop reading my mind?"
"Sorry, but you sent them. You can sort out what you want to share and what you don't. You know you can't read minds just like that."
"Guess I'm too old for this, too."
"Oh, come on! You never accepted my excuses either. Do you remember how I made a fuss about physical exercises in the beginning? Thanks to youI became a pretty fit policewoman after all."
He tried to imagine Maja visually. With Ino, you could effortlessly projectimages into the human consciousness - as long as you knew how. For Siegfried, however, even the exchange of words via Ino was an ordeal. He preferred to use his memory - the real memory.
"Look, here you have my current picture."
Maja in sportswear suddenly appeared in his mind.
"I sent my thoughts again, didn't I?"
Maja's image smiled warmly.
Siegfried looked at Maja's strong shoulders. Apparently, she had indeed followed his instructions.
Meanwhile, little emphasis was placed on physical fitness in the general service regulations. Thanks to the use of modern technology, field operations rarely proved necessary. Petty criminals usually surrendered voluntarily as soon as they were asked to do so by the police. Once a suspect had been identified, it was impossible to go underground, since the signature of each Ino implant could be easily traced. Once a perpetrator had been identified, his current whereabouts could simply be determined from the office. Of course, even the extremely low success rates did not stop everyone from breaking the law, but the clearance rate was consistently at 100%.
"Yes, you're in really good shape, Maja," Siegfried praised.
"Thanks. I passed your advice on to my apprentice, by the way."
"Oh, that's right, you're an instructor yourself now!
How's he doing?"
"Good. He is very disciplined and ambitious."
Only with difficulty Siegfried managed to hold back a cynical comment. Can might be ambitious, but in Siegfried's opinion, this aspirant was decidedly lacking in other desirable qualities.
Resentment stirred in him as he involuntarily recalled his first encounter with this young colleague.
With the best of intentions, he extended his hand to him in a friendly greeting - and received a lecture: shaking hands is no longer customary nowadays. Instead, people just nod briefly to each other.
Siegfried's curt reply was whether it was now also unusual to treat senior staff with respect.
Zeitgeist or not! In Siegfried's opinion, a newcomer owed his colleagues a certain amount of courtesy - and this principle should be considered timeless.
Maja's apprentice, however, did not apologize after the rebuke, but at first only stared silently at Siegfried.
"I'm afraid we got off on the wrong foot," finally escaped his lips without the slightest trace of insight or regret.
"I know you and Can have your … differences," Maja's voice answered. Siegfried flinched and cleared his throat. "I didn't send my thoughts along this time, though, did I?"
"No. Wasn't necessary."
"Well … good. It's not like I have to get along with him. You're his instructor. I just hope he doesn't cost you too many nerves."
"Have you finished all necessary things for today?", Maja changed the subject.
"Yes, I turned in all my official stuff."
"Okay, will you come to the kitchen then?"
"Just need to check my desk."
"Fine. See you in a bit."
Siegfried left Ino and blinked. After leaving the stream, his visual acuity always was a bit blurry at first, although he didn’t needed glasses in his everyday life so far.
Maja's absent look proved that she remained Inoline. With a blank expression, she waved goodbye to Juliette and left the office. Siegfried rose, nodded to Juliette and remained in the doorway, shaking his head, while he looked after Maja.
Ino contained an almost endless repertoire of possible applications. One of them consisted of a kind of interactive navigation system, through which the user could be literally guided by the data stream as long as his environment did not change. This seemed too risky to Siegfried, so he preferred to rely on his eyes.
Maja, on the other hand, did not seem to share these concerns. As if this were the most natural way to move, she strolled casually, albeit empty-eyed, along the corridor.
"What", Siegfried thought, "if there was an unexpected obstacle in the corridor?"
Ino's navigation system certainly didn't update fast enough to avoid a collision.
As he trudged to his desk, Siegfried peered down the corridor. In fast motion, he let memory impressions of the precinct corridor from the last few years appear in his mind. No, indeed! There had been no changes here in all that time.
Astonished, he raised an eyebrow. Not even a new picture on the wall! Apparently, this corridor formed the only stable constant in the world. Everything else changed and replaced its predecessors, just as Maja's apprentice now replaced Siegfried. Sure, from a purely technical point of view, Maja - albeit pushed by Can - moved up a notch in the hierarchy. She would soon take over Siegfried's position. This procedure thus corresponded completely to the normal course of events.
And yet the thought that an uncouth snob like this Can would one day take over his job filled him with unease. Siegfried, now an old and worn-out policeman, tried to shake off this unpleasant touch of negativity.
"I should be glad," he murmured softly to himself, "now I finally have time. Just for me. I had planned to engage myself more intensively with this new reality of Ino - instead I’m standing here looking back melancholically."
Siegfried smiled at his own words. It was true: mourning the past was no less foolish than denying it. It was time to think of the future instead!
He stepped behind the desk, reached into the top drawer and pulled out a wooden cube. Lost in thought, he turned the carving in his hand.
The thing had once cost him some bloody blisters. Involuntarily, Siegfried's gaze wandered to the rubbish bin next to his desk. This cube embodied another part of that past with which he now intended to close.
Thoughtfully, he lifted the piece of wood in front of his face and looked at it up closely. Throw it away? It would be a shame. He could give it as a present. Maybe Juliette would be happy about it. At least she would be amazed. If his old office cellphone delighted her so much …
"No!" he decided decisively and slipped the cube into his jacket pocket. There were too many positive memories associated with this piece of wood. Besides, it symbolized a kind of last memory of Fjodor. Yes, he had to try to keep up with the times. But to radically remove the past like an old skin? No!
Siegfried let his gaze glide over his desk one last time. Now that all his belongings had been removed, the light reflections of the ceiling lamp were reflected on the writing surface. The cleaning robots were doing a great job.
Not that the plate had ever been particularly occupied. Nowadays, the need for office materials was extremely limited. Fjodor's desk was still dominated by a monitor and keyboard back then. That was no longer necessary: Siegfried's computer presented itself in an extremely reduced form as a small box, next to the rubbish bin. Ino made it possible to enter commands using thoughts. Instead of connecting to an input or output device, the computer connected directly to the user's brain. Everything the computer generated in terms of images or text was projected behind the retina.
Siegfried thoughtfully stared at the square box. How long would it be before it, too, was rationalized away?
Computers were relics from a time when the data stream did not have sufficient information density. Now, however, Ino was omniscient. There were a few Inopts that exceeded the resources of a normal access right. Indeed everybody swam in the stream, but by no means with equal rights …
The speed at which a standard user could process data proved to be too slow for some applications. External computers with additional processing power provided a remedy. However, this was more of an emergency solution. For special tasks, Ino allowed access to mainframes that could process any amount of data in the shortest possible time. The classical computer owed its current raison d'être only to the small number of these, because someone with a higher priority level usually blocked access to one of the mainframes. One day, of course, Ino would be so highly developed that even at full capacity there would no longer be long waiting times.
Siegfried looked at the small box with pity.
How much time did the device have left?
With a certain melancholy, the old policeman looked around his office one last time. What would be gone for a few years? The desk? Or even its owner? Eventually, even the police would outsource their work entirely. Countless companies were already going ahead. Certainly some police officers would remain as an emergency reserve - but not many.
Already, original police work was being done by Inoscanners - those surveillance devices that automatically identified every passerby by his implant. In recent decades, they replaced the previously omnipresent cameras. Whereas at that time, identity could be concealed by clever masking, any form of masquerade was now pointless. Tracking down suspects was no longer an activity that required police officers, even in Siegfried's young years of service.
A metallic clang brought him up from his musings. One of the small cleaning robots was emptying its dust bag into the rubbish bin in the hallway.
Siegfried grinned. Pure irony that technology had replaced human cleaners, but did not threaten the existence of the simple rubbish bins. These simple metal cans would endure. No matter how advanced a society presented itself, it still produced garbage.
With a measured stride, Siegfried circled the desk.
In the corner stood another device that digitisation would not rationalize away anytime soon. Even in the future food would - at least in all likelihood - not cool itself independently.
Sighing, Siegfried opened the small refrigerator and took out the cake deposited there. Chocolate aroma rose to his nose. Balancing the cake pan in front of him, Siegfried strode down the hall towards the coffee kitchen. Once there, he surprised paused in the doorway. Astonished and honestly delighted, he let his gaze wander over the people present.
"How wonderful you all came!"
"That goes without saying," Maja said.
"Yes, it certainly is for you," he thought, stepping inside and placing the cake on the table.
Can nodded at him wordlessly. Maja had probably dragged him here. Siegfried's gaze wandered further.
"I'm glad you came," he turned to Tess. The woman, whom the one-meter-eighty Siegfried towered over by more than a head, did not raise hers. Without changing her expression, she looked right through her soon-to-be former colleague.
"Inoline", Siegfried thought, smiling mildly. Well, at least she was giving him physical presence. Only very rarely did he meet her Inoffline.
As the analyst on duty, Tess acted as a kind of link between the precinct and the data stream. She belonged to the privileged circle of those with permanent access to Carthage - the name of the local mainframe.
Of course, every privilege came at a price: all complex inquiries went through her. She thus personified a kind of modern seer. In other words, a medium in eternal contact with the higher intelligence in the stream.
"Well, old boy. Congratulations! The first step into the grave is always the hardest!"
Grinning, a colleague tapped Siegfried on the shoulder.
He grinned back. Sean. One of the most lovable people around here. Despite, or perhaps because of, his black humour.
"Well, it won't take that long in your case either."
Only five years separated the two. Probably the real reason why Siegfried felt most connected to him. They both originated from the old days. Even if Sean seemed to cope better with the present than Siegfried. Siegfried envied him a little bit for that.
"Oh, I feel quite fit. I'll hang in there for a little while longer."
Death - a frequent topic of conversation for Sean. Examining corpses was only part of his job, but at the same time it was the source of his humour. In fact, he was a jack-of-all-trades: In addition to his work as a forensic pathologist, he also worked as a laboratory technician and forensic pathologist. Chemistry, biology, medicine - Sean was involved in everything. Ino allowed this. Siegfried knew from Fjodor that in earlier times one expert was required for each field of work. Nowadays everybody could be an expert in everything. Even Sean was basically only an amateur.
According to his own statement, he had never performed an autopsy on a body himself. Dissecting robots took over this task. The securing of evidence was similarly automated. Sean's actual field of activity was limited to the evaluation of the examination results.
"I just hope I don't end up on your table one day," Siegfried whispered to his colleague.
"Don't worry. I'll only let my best robot examine you, of course."
This respnse reminded Siegfried why their relationship never matured into a close friendship: Sean's special humor could only be tolerated in small doses.
"Mister Tegethoff!" Ferrera, Siegfried's superior, jovially extended his hand to him. "Even though I am happy for you, I am sorry to let you go."
Smiling, Siegfried returned the firm handshake – also with affected politeness.
The very fact that Ferrera did not call him by his first name, signaled a certain distance between the two, which, however, in no way culminated in hostility. On the contrary, Siegfried felt gratitude towards his boss for his cool pleasantness. After all, he was his superior. In Siegfried’s view, Ferrera was the most respectful towards him - and even the most genuine - of all the policemen in the precinct. It was evident in the way he shook hands: short and strong.
"Boy, oh boy! You've got strength," Ferrera joked. "Better not tackle things too hard in your retirement."
Siegfried put his smile on autopilot. His boss was able to credibly fake politeness, but his attempts at humour were less successful.
When Siegfried turned to his next colleague, he was quite pleased to see that he was not swimming in the stream. But even though Can's eyes did not stare treacherously into space, they were directed not on his departing colleague, but on Siegfried's cake.
"What is … this?"
"A cake. As a farewell," Siegfried explained slightly annoyed. He would never get used to this rudeness! Then he noticed that not only Can's, but everyone's eyes were staring at his cake. Groaning inwardly, he angrily entered the stream.
"I haven't been able to locate a bakery that would produce anything like that," he heard Tess's voice. "My goodness! That wouldn't even come close to meeting any quality control standards. The thickness of the glaze varies by more than 100%. The dough composition also doesn't seem to me to be completely homogeneous. You'd have to send this to Sean's lab for a more accurate analysis."
"I think it's obvious who committed this crime," the forensic scientist joked. "Right, Siegfried?"
"Heck, you’re still baking by hand?" Can exclaimed.
"Oh, well, most … unusual," Tess commented.
"I'm glad that my cake arouses such enthusiasm," Siegfried acknowledged in a sarcastic tone.
"It's okay! To make you happy, I'll take a piece. It's your last day. Maybe mine too …," Sean sneered.
"Oh, guys, don't be like that! Siegfried also has brought another one with him," Maja interfered, to Siegfried's surprise. Confused, he went Inoffline.
His future successor, still Inoline, stepped to the refrigerator with a blank look and took out a tray.
A Sacher cake was revealed. With mirror-smooth shiny icing.
Wordlessly, Siegfried fixed his gaze on the perfect work of art and decided not to go Inoline again for the rest of the day - no matter what his colleagues thought.
Being considered a weirdo still seemed better to him than risking a quarrel. And that could hardly have been avoided if Siegfried had gone Inoline again. Bad words could be suppressed if necessary. Regarding to thoughts, the matter was more complicated.
Maja gave him a mischievous grin and jokingly nudged him in the side. Siegfried forced himself into a pained smile.
Surely, Maja only meant well. As her former instructor, he should even be proud of her diplomatic skills. But he could not easily swallow the disrespectful rudeness of his colleagues.
He watched in disgust as each of the guests greedily reached for a piece of Maja’s cake, while his homemade cake was spurned. Smiling softly, Maja cut two more pieces from the cake and handed one of them to Siegfried.
"Thank you," he grumbled, suppressing his anger with difficulty.
"Well, then …"
Wielding the cake fork like a scepter, Ferrera launched into a speech of thanks.
He spoke of Siegfried's great achievements …
… of his share in the fact that the clearance rate was still at 100% …
… and finally expressed his hope that this rate would be maintained even without Siegfried's valuable contribution.
For Siegfried's taste, his boss overdid it a bit with his flattery. But at least he made an effort. Which was evident just from the fact that he spoke with his ear voice.
He wondered if it was possible to use both Ino and ear voice at the same time. Siegfried resolutely convinced himself that this was not the case and that his boss was actually speaking only to him.
Strangely enough, the thought of this special treatment clouded his mind more than it pleased it.
After all, most of his colleagues only showed up pro forma for his farewell. Even in the best case scenario, they paid little more attention to Ferrera's speech than to Siegfried’s cake. A kind of flight reflex rose in him. Finally, he cleared his throat and looked around.
"Thank you all for coming. I'm afraid I have to say goodbye now, though. Got a train to catch."
He nodded to the group.
"Wait!"
With a small box in her hands, Juliette approached him. The next moment Siegfried found himself surrounded by his colleagues.
"What would retirement be without a parting gift?"
Smiling, she handed him the box. Surprised, Siegfried accepted the present, opened it cautiously, and the next moment looked in amazement at an elongated object. A wristwatch! Still popular as jewelry, even if this use was now its only purpose. Contrary to his original plan, Siegfried now briefly entered the stream to check the time. Of course, the clock did not show the correct time.
"Oh my goodness! Thank you all so much!"
This time he said it sincerely - and meant it.
He reached out his hand to Juliette, but she embraced him instead. Siegfried froze for a moment in surprise. When was the last time someone had hugged him? Juliette grabbed him by the shoulders and looked into his eyes.
"Take care of yourself."
Maja stepped up to him.
"I hope we’ll meet again?"
"Certainly," Siegfried promised, inwardly unconvinced.
"So long old boy."
Sean patted him on the shoulder one more time as he passed, stepped through the door, and hurried away down the hall.
The remaining colleagues walked past Siegfried without a word. Only Can nodded briefly, which Siegfried ignored.
Finally, he was alone in the room.
With a resigned shrug, he packed up his reviled cake. At least there he knew what he would have for dessert this evening. For the last time, he walked at a slow paceacross the corridor toward the exit.
As he left the building, he nodded to the Inoscanner. As if to say goodbye, a red signal light flashed briefly.
"Siegfried Tegethoff. Identified and signed out," reported a monotone voice in his head.
Even if you were not in the stream, Inoscanners transmitted their signals. Their voice carried too much weight not to be heard accidentally. Strictly speaking, even greater weight than the police they officially served.
Inoscanners didn't just identify people: by accessing the data stream of the Inoimplant, they distinguished victims from perpetrators and witnesses from suspects. Or in Siegfried's case, pensionaries from employees.
Thus, he was now officially retired. In front of the building, he looked at his wristwatch.
Exactly 12 o'clock. Despite the inaccuracy of the watch, this time seemed appropriate to him. Siegfried's years in police service were now behind him once and for all. A new stage of his life was dawning - at this very moment.
Chapter 2
The train pulled into the station with a deafening noise. Siegfried got on, let himself fall onto one of the seats and watched as the compartment gradually filled up. It seemed to take forever, although there wasn't exactly a big crowd on the platform.
When the doors closed again, only about half of the seats in the compartment were occupied.
Siegfried looked at his incorrect watch and tried to estimate the current time. Of course, Ino would provide him with precise information, but his thirst for knowledge proved to be not great enough for this claim.
There was no commuter traffic yet, so the afternoon had to be quite young. The relatively high position of the sun confirmed this assessment.
His last working day was thus significantly shorter than Siegfried had perceived it to be. The job as a police officer gave him mostly regular working hours - at least during the second half of his career, during which he performed his duties almost exclusively from his desk.
The thought that the last day of his professional life was at the same time perhaps the shortest of his career caused a peculiar annoyance in Siegfried. In a bad mood, he registered that the train was finally starting to move.
If this was not true irony: The entire environment was changing faster and faster, but this day seemed to pass as if in slow motion.
An elbow bumped against Siegfried's shoulder and jolted him out of his musings.
"Ow, watch out, please!" escaped him involuntarily. The young man belonging to the elbow, however, only dropped wordlessly onto the seat next to him. Siegfried eyed him reproachfully.
"There are plenty of other seats available, so no need to push."
But the man next to him paid no more attention to his indignant look than to his words. Instead, his eyes stared into the distance with a blank expression, as if his mind was far away.
With a sniff, Siegfried turned away. To be unintentionally unnoticed could pass as rude, but tolerable if necessary. But to be so bluntly ignored, as this guy was displaying? Hard to accept!
Suddenly, an incident from his early service days came to Siegfried's mind: He and his former instructor Fjodor, who was still a rookie at the time, were on patrol together. They surprised a thief who - believing that they would not notice him unless he looked at them - was planning to steal a bicycle right under their noses. His skin turned as white as a sheet when Fjodor took him in his police grip without much ado. Highly shocked, the thief let himself be arrested without resistance.
This long-ago incident showed Siegfried for the first time how to earn respect and what effect this had. Especially with regard to one's own self-image.
A moment later, he tried to revive this feeling of selfassurance within himself. He deliberately straightened up in his seat with his back pressed through and stared piercingly at his neighbor. The attempt at confrontation actually had a strangely invigorating effect on Siegfried.
Concentrating, he tensed his facial muscles, as a scowl proved more efficient in any case.
"Listen!"
Even those who were Inoline were not in complete isolation from the outside world. The state was rather similar to being highly absorbed in an occupation. Strong sensations reached the inside of the user. If one stared at the person intensely enough, he noticed this after a while and then usually left the stream irritated. Siegfried often practiced this trick successfully on his colleagues in the past - at a time when he was not yet prepared to accept him being ignored.
A few moments passed while Siegfried's gaze darkened. But his eyes soon glowed with more frustration than anger, because his seatmate refused to react with almost remarkable consistency.
Apparently a particularly stubborn case.
Enraged, Siegfried bent over to look the bully directly in the eye. But the look was not returned. Siegfried felt as if he were looking into the face of a corpse.
Even those who were swimming deep in the data stream showed at least occasional eye movements. Nothing happened here. No twitching of the small muscles, no fluttering of the eyelids, no wandering of the pupil. As if these eyes were made of glass! Involuntarily Siegfried winced. Was this guy really dead?
He looked at the supposed corpse with some concern. Rigor mortis did not set in after only a few minutes! Despite knowing better, Siegfried found himself briefly holding a hand in front of his neighbor's mouth and nose. There you go, a gentle breeze! Breathing was intact. Siegfried secretly called himself an old fool.
Of course this man was alive! He was probably even responsive. He just needed the right stimulation. For example, a bright light directly into the eyes - or perhaps a little pain …
Siegfried, in his indignation, actually toyed with the idea of hitting the impudent fellow. No, not firmly - only as small revenge. After all, this inconsiderate zombie had bumped into him!
Disgusted by his violent fantasies, Siegfried turned away, shaking his head. Why the heck was this idiot so important to him? Even in the case of his colleagues - his former colleagues - he had long since given up his efforts. Let this guy drown in the stream, if that's what the jerk wanted!
Drowning? That was the key word. Ino seemed to have literally devoured the guy. An inkling crept up darkly in Siegfried: He himself barely kept up with the current state of Ino, but if this zombie embodied the result of the future development, then …
His conversation with Juliette that morning came to mind. She had not exaggerated in her description. So that was this "Inodive"!
Whatever the thoughts of his seatmate were circling around - it was quite obviously not his real surroundings. He didn't even seem to be aware of his own body. But … how was that possible?
To his astonishment, Siegfried was gripped by curiosity. He had to learn more about this application or Inopt - or whatever it was called. For the first time that day, Siegfried voluntarily went Inoline.
The irony of the fact that he was using the very technology to look for its latest developments, did not escape him.
After all, he was rewarded for his breach of principle with efficiency: no sooner had he formulated the thought "What is Inodive?" than he received a comprehensive answer.
As Juliette correctly explained to him, Ino dive separated consciousness from the body, allowing the user to devote himself exclusively to selective thought processes. In the meantime, his physique was controlled by Ino - according to an algorithm tailored to the respective person and situation.
Groaning, Siegfried went Inoffline. In his opinion, this technology was given the rare, as well as dubious honor of being even more horrible in theory than in practice. And yet this horror seemed to have prevailed!
Siegfried let his gaze wander through the compartment. The young woman with a short haircut on the opposite bench, the suit-wearer one row over - even that mother there, holding her little daughter by the hand: They all showed this strangely motionless expression. And none of them seemed to move in a normal way, let alone pay the slightest attention to their surroundings.
How was it that he only noticed this now? Sobered up, he answered this question all too easily for himself: Basically, he was no less blind than his fellow passengers. He could have done research on Inodive earlier, but he paid no attention to it - as he generally did to his fellow human beings. During many a boring train ride, he passed the time by swimming around in the data stream without purpose or goal, instead of meaningfully informing himself about Ino's technical progress.
Siegfried had to admit to himself that he was content with the explanation that these Ino addicts were just doing something in the data stream.
What exactly it was about, he never asked himself.
Maja was right. The reason for his backwardness was not his age, but exclusively his basic lack of interest! Maybe he should go Inoline like everyone else in the compartment? At least in this way the illusion could be maintained that he was also familiar with this technology. To let this idea disappear again, however, it needed no more than a glance at his motionless neighbor.
At least one of the fellow travelers had to be Inoffline! It was impossible that he should be all alone! Searching, almost pleading, he let his gaze wander - and finally found what he was looking for.
Dressed in a long, black coat, a tall man stood there with his back to Siegfried - despite free seats.
His behavior almost gave the impression that taking a seat was beneath him. His arm moved, swung slightly back and forth on the grab handle, which of course might have been due to the train movements alone - so no proof that this stranger was indeed Inoffline.
Siegfried stared at him and registered his thinning and graying hair. He and the coat-wearer were apparently about the same age. Perhaps it was because of this similarity that Siegfried secretly hoped that the man, like him, was mentally outside the data stream. It was more likely that the stranger was just as absent as the other passengers.
That's when Maja's words came to Siegfried's mind: Her parents - although also of his generation - had adapted to modern technology and fit perfectly into the system. Well, unlike him. So it wasn't due to age.
A peculiar feeling of disappointment made Siegfried avert his gaze. Why did he become so strangely melancholic? From today on, he finally had all the time in the world! Enough to learn everything worth knowing about Ino. Or to simply ignore it.
No one had any expectations of him now. So to hell with Ino dive! If he decided to do so, he could also just sit back and relax and watch his fellow human beings withdraw into themselves!
Lost in thought, he raised his eyes to the ceiling of the compartment. His face was reflected in the round housing of the Inoscanner. He wondered what the scanner would discover when it looked into the mind of the person sitting next to him.
Officially, the devices determined the identity and location of all persons in the vicinity. In addition, three values, each varying from individual to individual, were continuously recalculated and, in case of doubt, decided on the guilt or innocence of a defendant:
Morale score, focus score, and aggression score.
The morality score indicated the degree of guilt. A high value signaled that the suspect was aware of having committed a crime.
The focus value, in turn, reflected the concentration of the wanted person at the time of the crime. From this, it could be deduced whether the perpetrator intentionally committed the crime he was accused of.
Finally, the aggression score determined the target's potential for violence.
By comparing these values with the reconstructed course of events, the guilt or innocence of a defendant could be decided beyond doubt. No one doubted the efficiency of this procedure anymore.
However, it was not known how these values came about. The evaluation of the results was - as is now common practice - exclusively automated. Not even the police had the right to access the corresponding databases, which - at the very highest security standard - were located in huge, autonomous data centers at a secret location.
Despite many years in police service, Siegfried did not know of a single case in which access to them had been authorized.
And even if this had happened, it would hardly have been of any use: With absolute certainty, the algorithm used by these data centers proved to be so complex that it was far beyond the limited comprehension of a human brain.
But one troubling question remained: Were the Inoscanners reading the minds of every person within their range of influence?
It was hard to imagine that they did not. How else did they obtain the data relevant to the calculation? How else could they decide between guilt or innocence?
Siegfried remembered how he used to wince at the thought that someone somewhere was anonymously reading what he was thinking. Today, however, he took this realization calmly.
Any acceptance of an innovation probably took time. And the introduction of the Inoscanners had actually proved its worth. After all, they were the only ones to thank for the extremely high crime-solving rate.
Moreover, there never seemed to have been any data leaks. Even Tess found nothing in her databases, although Siegfried urged her often enough to look for it.
Siegfried tried to draw the conclusion that one day he would accept Inodive just as he accepted the scanners.
He looked doubtfully at the zombie-like man next to him. No, damn it! It would still take a long time, until he came to terms with that! Resignedly, he took a deep breath and tilted his head back.
"Quo vadis humanis?!" he exclaimed, knowing that no one heard.
"Quo vadis HUMANUS!" a deep voice instructed him.
Puzzled, Siegfried peered in the direction of the unexpected answer. The man in the coat had turned around and fixed Siegfried.
If Siegfried had any doubts about whether he still fit into today's reality, such a question did not even arise due to the sight of this stranger:
Mighty whiskers were stretching imposingly from cheek to cheek. The clearly thinned hairline exposed a high and strangely raised forehead. The bright white scarf, knotted into a bow, formed a strong contrast to the black vest under the equally dark coat.
His entire appearance sent an unmistakable message, and even the pronounced crow's feet around the corners of his eyes seemed to participate:
I am not like you - and proud of it!
Involuntarily, Siegfried looked down at himself. Well, his appearance also proclaimed a message, but with a different content. While this whisker-wearer literally celebrated his otherness, Siegfried embodied the involuntary eccentric: Someone who did not really get along not only with society, but also with himself.
"Quo vadis humanus," repeated the deep voice.
The strong, penetrating baritone could not have been better suited to the tall figure. It forcefully underlined the strangely impressive aura of power and determination emanating from the stranger.
It was not the first time that Siegfried found himself confronted with such a dominant personality - an appearance that one involuntarily felt not only respect, but downright awe for. At the last encounter of this impressive kind, however, Siegfried had still been a young man.
When the stranger approached him with measured steps, Siegfried unconsciously moved closer to the backrest. At the bottom of his heart, he seemed to have remained an impressionable youth. Or did he only feel stunned amazement? In this time, when people voluntarily - and even gladly - allowed themselves to be guided by machines, he would never have expected to suddenly encounter a proud individualist!
"Can I … help you?" inquired Siegfried, trying to maintain his composure. The other was now standing directly in front of him, and his figure, at least one meter ninety tall, seemed almost to cast a shadow over his entire surroundings. To Siegfried's surprise, a mild smile played around his mouth.
"Quo vadis humanus," the stranger repeated again.
"Please?" breathed Siegfried, feeling at the same time an incomprehensible fascination.
"Oh, my lord, please excuse my bad manners."
The deep voice sounded gentle and friendly, almost friendly.
"I should have introduced myself to you first. Flavius Claudius Julianus. Pleased to meet thou."
With wide eyes, Siegfried stared at the hand stretched out to him. Flavius Claudius Julianus? Obviously a madman was standing before him!
"Well, is this in keeping with thy way of showing respect?"
The question sounded considerably less gentle.
"Well, I confess that I am not familiar with the ceremonial at the Roman imperial court," Siegfried explained mockingly. His counterpart did not make a face.
"Do thou presume to be a prophet just because thou take his name? No! One merely testifies to loyalty to an idea, an ideal.”
Siegfried rose from his seat with a furrowed brow. This guy was undoubtedly strange. At the same time, however, he was clearly the most interesting individual he had come across in a long time.
"Siegfried Tegethoff, pleased to meet you" he introduced himself and grasped the still outstretched hand with a determined grip. Julianus returned the handshake exactly as firmly as his appearance suggested.
"May I join thou?"
"Of course," Siegfried replied confused and sat down. His thoughts circled around Julianus' parable as he took a seat opposite him.
"You mentioned prophets," he finally added cautiously. "Do you believe in God?"
"God is dead," Julianus promptly replied.
The answer seemed surprising, yet predictable. With his lips pressed together, Siegfried turned his head in the direction of his young seatmate.
"Well, but faith in technology lives," he pressed out. Julianus waved it off.
"Well, that is not faith anymore. Once the soul looked contemptuously on the body and then that contempt was the supreme thing. The sould wished the body meagre, ghastly and famished. Thus it thought to escape from the body and the earth. Oh, that sould was itself meagre, ghastly and famished and cruelty was the delight of that soul! But that time has long passed."
With a snort, Julianus pointed to Siegfried's seatmate.
"There comes the time of the most despicable man, who can no longer despise himself. There comes the time when he will no longer launch the arrow of his longing beyond man – and the string of his bow will have unlearned to whizz!
He no longer wants to become rich or to rule. He has his little pleasures for the day and his little pleasures for the night. That is all he desires."
Siegfried raised his eyebrows. It wasn't that he didn't understand the words of his interlocutor. He just couldn't remember the last time he had heard someone talk like that.
