THE TRUTH MACHINE A Journey into the Near Future by James L. Halperin © Copyright 1996, James L. Halperin If you enjoy The Truth Machine or The First Immortal please consider posting a review on Amazon or purchasing copies at: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/- /0345412885/ref=ase_jameslhalpe or http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/- /0345421825/ref=ase_jameslhalpe The technological and political predictions dated after 1995, although based on extensive research, are fictional. Truth be told, to observe the future without altering it is a scientific impossibility. But if your views remain fluid, even a false vision is far more valuable than no vision at all. JAMES L. HALPERIN Intel 22g CP-TLMos Dallas, Texas—July 15, 2050 Silently, you sit in a courtroom as the evidence unfolds against you. You can only watch and listen—in frustration, fear, and disbelief. You cannot prove your innocence, because there is no Truth Machine. Instead you pray for a miracle, a divine intervention to save your life. But the miracle never comes. Later, as they strap you to a table to receive the lethal injection that will steal your every possession and dream, you wonder if even the people you love, and who love you, secretly believe you are guilty. That is not fiction. As recently as 26 years ago, before the Truth Machine remade our world, it happened all the time. As of March 1, 2024, Randall Petersen Armstrong, only 34 years old, had already built the world’s most profitable corporation, becoming the wealthiest person in human history. On that day, for reasons I will try to help you understand, he chose to commit one of the greatest frauds of this millennium. Yet fraud would not be his worst offense. It was only the first in his now-infamous series of crimes that, astonishingly, would remain undiscovered for 25 years. Since you plan to read these words, you’ll want to know who wrote them. I am an Intel 22g CP (22 billion instructions per microsecond contextual processor) from the series of 2046, specially designed for reportage. I’ve been programmed to write in journalistic style, so don’t expect scintillating metaphors or artistic imagery. If any show up on these pages, please assume they were added during editing, or that I am reporting someone else’s thoughts. What you’ll get from me are facts. When the photons strike just right, I’m even capable of some marginal irony or humor. But if you’d prefer to read a composition reminiscent of Hemingway, I suggest you stick with human authors, or at least the output of a 44g PIM (parallel internal memory) computer with full literary mapping applications. Frankly however, you might wish to endure my writings. Stationed in Dallas, Texas, I have been favored with exceptional access to Randall Petersen Armstrong and David West, the two most influential people of the 21st century. Their stories are complex, and I have accumulated many facts of which you’re certainly unaware. My owner, Mr. Thomas L. Mosely, became a reporter for the Dallas News Syndicate (at the time it was a “newspaper” called the Dallas Morning News) in 2 THE TRUTH MACHINE June 2010, long before I was manufactured. Over these past 40 years, Armstrong and West have granted him over 700 hours of one-on-one interviews, and I enjoy real-time access to all but the most private of their archives. Mosely also wrote the only family-authorized biography of Harold Edward Kilmer, who has come to symbolize the Swift and Sure Anti-Crime laws of 2005. Presumably, had Kilmer been given a scip1, he would still be alive today. Thus his tragedy eloquently demonstrates the value of the Armstrong Cerebral Image Processor (ACIP), otherwise known as the Truth Machine. With all this background, and the Armstrong trial so recently concluded, it would seem a waste for me not to write this narrative. The appeal decision won’t be rendered for at least two weeks, not in time to include before we disseminate this document. Updates will be available later, but may be unneeded. Since his trial has been the most widely followed news story of the third millennium, virtually every person in the world will learn of Armstrong’s fate at the same time. Thanks to his ACIP, Mosely and I have come to know Armstrong in a way that would not have been possible 26 years ago. Our goal is for you readers of The Truth Machine to understand him as well as we do. We both believe it would be best if the World Tribunal were merciful. Not to underplay the seriousness of his crimes; Armstrong has done you far more good than harm. In fact his invention may have single-handedly diverted the human race’s relentless march toward self- destruction. It seems illogical to kill him or even reduce his capacity to further contribute to scientific progress. Unfortunately the strict sentencing guidelines appear to offer little hope of leniency. But enough speculation; we will all know the Tribunal’s decision soon enough. 1 Few people today are aware that the word “scip” was officially added to our standard lexicon only 24 years ago. First conceived in 2010 by the ACIP development team as an acronym for Scan Cerebral Image Patterns (SCIP), it was adopted into our daily discourse as a noun, adjective, or verb. Scip is currently the 612th most commonly used word in the English language. 3 > > > ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ → JAMES L. HALPERIN REFERENCE POINTS You can skip this section if you’d like, but unless you’re a fellow machine, it might be better if you didn’t. Even when a history is accurately portrayed—as I assure you this will be—human readers often come away with misconceptions. Very few of you boast the perfect mnemonic abilities of computers (though I realize you have other valuable attributes). To diminish the confusion that springs from a combination of authorial omission and readers’ distortion, I will provide additional perspectives. For example, I’ll try to keep you informed of the ages of the people I discuss, but it’s easy to forget that a 50-year-old woman in say, 2010, was quite different from a 50-year-old woman today. Or if I describe a man in 2015 as being 5 feet 11 inches tall, you might think he was somewhat short in stature although actually as an adult male 35 years ago, he would have stood at average height. Also, because inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the dollar, $1,000 in the year 2000 was the equivalent of $41,500 in today’s dollars. Hence I have prepared three charts on age, height, and inflation, which appear in the Appendix at the end of this book. You might wish to refer to these charts during your reading. This history spans about 60 years and involves many people. The Table of Contents and Individuals Introduced, which follows this section, might also be a useful reference. Each chapter heading bears a date corresponding to the most important event described therein. What's more, every chapter appears in chronological order. I see no need to be tricky merely for the sake of drama. Drama is nice of course, but I’m more interested in clarity. Finally, next to the date at the beginning of each chapter I will list a few of the most important news events reported in the media that day. The added historical vantage point should help you better interpret this extraordinary story. ⎯Intel 22g CP-TLMos 4 THE TRUTH MACHINE TABLE OF CONTENTS AND INDIVIDUALS INTRODUCED Chapter 1 Chain of Fury Dr. Alphonso Carter Daniel Anthony Reece, Jr. Kendall DeLoach Chapter 2 Two Five-Sigma Events Judith Sonntag Randall Petersen Armstrong Leonard Charles Armstrong Ed & Liza Armstrong Cassidy O’Meara Harry & Tabitha Chapter 3 Two Worlds Collide Mark Burns Marjorie Ann Tilly Chapter 4 Blackstone’s Paradox Senator Travis Endicott Hall Dr. Marshall Imberg Chapter 5 Escape to Dallas David West (born Witkowsky) Bruce, Joanne and Philip Witkowsky Hon. Stanley Norris Chapter 6 Judgment Day Jennifer Finley Kevin Moffat Chapter 7 Harvard Yard Professor Howard Gaddis Skipper Chapter 8 Gut Course Charles Scoggins Chapter 9 The Goddess Diana Hsu Larry Dannon Chapter 10 The Inspiration Chapter 11 The Debates Audrey Whitcomb Chapter 12 Swift and Sure Senator Garrison Roswell Leo Boschnak Chapter 13 The Holy Grail Maxmilian Honeycutt Chapter 14 The Team Bill Tannenbaum Leslie Williams Carl Whatley Gene Hildegrand Haywood Thacker Chapter 15 Wall Street Alan Bonhert Chapter 16 The Trojan Horse Chapter 17 First Release Chapter 18 Lottery Chapter 19 Medical Network Dr. Sharon Rosenfield Chapter 20 Confidential Source Bryan “Dutch” Treat 5 > > > ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ ⎯ → JAMES L. HALPERIN Alison Kramer-White Thomas L. Mosely Chapter 21 Attorney General Justin West Chapter 22 Armageddon Averted Chapter 23 Cryonics Chapter 24 Senator West Hon. Joe Bob Barton Aaron Ben-Gurion Chapter 25 The Temptation Chapter 26 Four More States President Gordon Safer Chapter 27 Innocent Accused Harold Edward Kilmer Colin Douglas Smith Vice President Gail Connors Chapter 28 Frustration Warren Kenneth Fowler Chapter 29 Second Ballot Governor Matthew Emery Chapter 30 The First Official Scip Chapter 31 Obsession Chapter 32 On the Brink Chapter 33 The Second Official Scip Chapter 34 Quarter-Millennial Chapter 35 The Mandate Chapter 36 The Amnesty Laws Chapter 37 Smaller, Faster, Cheaper Chapter 38 Diplomacy Chapter 39 Retirement President Caroline Whitcomb The. Rev. Dr. Asia Jonas Chapter 40 A Bright New World Dr. Leroy Hood Dr. Maya Helene Gale Chapter 41 Future Probe Chapter 42 The Miracle Chapter 43 Leonard Leonard Gale Armstrong Chapter 44 Truth Machine Two Chapter 45 Michael Texas Atty.