Page 121 - Psychoceramics and the Test of Fire

EtheRealization

I didn’t like venturing into a bar frequented by stage magicians and
their admirers. Prestidigital pranks were bound to be pulled on the
wary and unwary alike; how easy, I thought, to pull a coin out of a
drunk’s ear. But I went into The Rabbit Hole nonetheless, pockets
maximally emptied, from the clarity of a cloudless afternoon to the
fustian gloom and ambiguity beloved of tavern habitués. I had a job
to do, so it wouldn’t be wise to indulge myself in the ambience of the
place. And I had little need to behave like a normal patron: it was the
bartender I sought, and not for his sleight-of-hand mixology.
Hart Knox was not your average low-wage worker with advanced
degrees. After working his way through college by performing magic
tricks at children’s birthday parties, he had parlayed his computer
skills into a lecturer’s position and a leading role in a large
government contract at an Eastern university’s artificial intelligence
lab. He was a bright boy with prospects no dimmer. The purpose of
the award had been the usual institutionally-endorsed replacement of
labor with expert systems, the establishment of superhuman decision-
making software for automated weaponry, and multivariate analysis
in other complex real-time functions. But his interests roamed the
academic spectrum; he had trouble staying in the silo assigned him by
the research design. He believed that the technologies and
methodologies developed by his lab should be given the widest
possible application, ignoring all limitations of scope and any
proprietary restrictions. This did not endear him to the department
chair. A familiar story, no doubt illustrating a naturally selective
process at work weeding out those unfit to follow orders.
Knox was fascinated by the phenomenon of linguistic diffusion,
particularly as it was occurring in the modern world of
transcontinental migrations and universal telecommunications. He
saw in those conditions—the antithesis of pre-modern transmission
of culture between isolated pockets of low-tech humanity—a trend
propelled by an unstoppable dynamic. His first mistake was to get a
reputable journal to publish the resultant theory. I had a copy of it—
vintage psychoceramics. Here is an excerpt:

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