Page 38 of Chaos Theory
I look him up and down. Tall, blonde, fair skin, strong jaw.
‘Areyoua Viking? Is that why you come here so often and know so much?’
He just laughs at me. ‘I have no idea. I might have some Scottish blood in me somewhere, so I guess it’s possible, because the Vikings went to Scotland too. But far, far more likely for you to be a Viking than me. The Vikings married into Irish families, right? Went from raiders to traders, became peaceful profiteers. And nothing makes peace like a wedding. We Americans didn’t invent capitalism, you know.’
A memory floats back to me. Of course I knowsomeIrish history; you have to in this business. It’s just that Ireland has such alotof history, it’s hard to keep on top of it all. I do know that before the Vikings came, and later on the English too, Ireland had its own ancient system of law, called Brehon. Women could own land, get an education, become a doctor, choose who they married, and get divorced if it didn’t work out. But all that changed under the twin hammers of English law and the Catholic Church. Progress is not inherently good, I remind myself.
Out of breath after ninety-odd steps, we emerge at the top of the tower onto a small viewing platform. The whole city lies beneath us. This ancient town that’s constantly reinventing itself. Everywhere I look I see the yellow cranes of development, building vertically into tiny spaces. The city so small that the only place to go is up. Hotel after hotel squeezing into every vacant lot. Soaring rents making city living almost impossible. I’m grateful for my compact nook in the city’s inner suburb. But from up here, it all looks like a board game laid out for my amusement.
Josh notices my silence. ‘What’s on your mind?’ he asks.
He stands next to me, wraps his large fingers around the rail. A weak October sun turns his hair golden.
‘The future,’ I say, playfully.
He leans his elbows on the rail and smiles.
‘And here I was thinking you were going to say “the past”.’
‘I have to admit, I’m surprised that you’re so into history,’ I say. ‘I kind of assumed…’
We watch a seagull swoop down between buildings to settle on the river below us. My phone buzzes. I sneak a look at the screen, see a message from Shane:Pints later?I ignore it.
‘What? Because I make robots, I can’t have other interests?’
‘More that…you don’t like to dwell on the past.’
He laughs lightly. ‘Well, that’s true when it comes to my personal life, I suppose. The one thing about the past is – you can’t change it. But you can learn from it. That’s why I love museums.’
He turns his back to the view to face me. ‘So tell me about this future you were thinking of just now.’
Maybe the air is thinner up here. Or maybe Josh’s confidence is starting to rub off on me. ‘I just feel like…a whole new world might be opening up. And I think I might want to be a part of it.’
‘That’s exactly how I feel!’ He throws his arms out. I jump a little at his sudden enthusiasm. ‘And if things go well with Kobi, youcanbe a part of it.’
I laugh, drawn in by his excitement. ‘I do feel like I’m starting to make a little bit of progress with him.’
‘There you go then!’
‘As a matter of fact, Jen mentioned that there’s a big AI conference on in a few weeks’ time. Professor Mimi Lee is one of the speakers. Are you going, by any chance? It’s in Athlone, the Athens of Ireland.’ I know he probably won’t get this little joke about the unassuming Irish Midlands town, but I can’t help myself.
‘I don’t know who that is and I hadn’t heard about the conference,’ he says. ‘But I’ve always wanted to visit Athens. I’m open to going, if you think it sounds worthwhile.’
‘Maybe cage your expectations,’ I say with a laugh. ‘But there’s a whole lot of interesting topics on the agenda: ethics, privacy, bias, neuro-rights.’ I’ve been doing my reading.
‘I’m impressed,’ he says. ‘We do need people like you in the industry, asking questions. I’m not that person. I just make the robots. But people like you?—’
‘Don’t say “people like you”,’ I interrupt.
‘Fair enough. It’s just’ – he turns to gaze out at the city skyline again – ‘I can’t make any promises, but we could probably use someone like you at RoboTron.’
I’m giddy, and not just because of our dizzying height on this windy platform. I try to ground myself, act casual. But I feel emboldened.
‘Actually, now Iwillspeak of the past,’ I say, smiling. ‘I have another idea to help us figure out how Kobi might fit in.’
TWENTY-THREE
Monday, 2pm
