                  A MIND FOREVER VOYAGING

Typed in by MEZZO. Edited by PARASITE.


Whimsies by Madeline Brotney

Take a trip...
              To Bismark, where you'll find the new Robotics
Museum. The Museum, an easy trip by skycar from anywhere in the
Dakotas, presents the history of robotics from the mid-20th
century to the present day. Ever wanted to meet the original Ort,
from the classic film Starblot? Ever wished you could see how
clerkmatons are put together?
Here's your chance!
  On your way out, stop at the Robotics Boutique, where your kids
will have fun choosing a robotic turtle, ant farmer or parakeet
to take home ($80 to $230 per pet).
  ROBOTICS MUSEUM, open Tuesday-Sunday, 10:00-6:00. Admission $20
for adults, œ13 for children. Directions; Take Bismark Local
Transit to the Miltown Crossing stop. From out of town by skycar,
enter the Bismark traffic grid and use landing coordinates 44M-
27G. Museum skycar lot contains parking for 1200 skycars.
Compucode 5-3429-56-880.

Give yourself a lift!
                     Everyone wants to look their best. The new
facebonding process will help you do just that! Developed by a
group of physicians at the Rollins Memorial Hospital, facebonding
seals your face with a unique breathable material called
polyderm. The process is simple and painless.
  The resulting surface is resistant to contaminants and the
aging effects of the environment, allowing you to retain a
youthful complexion well into your eighth decade. Senior citizens
will see decades melt away as the heat-sealed polyderm erases
wrinkles and firms sagging skin.
  Reapplication is necessary every ten or fifteen years. Polyderm
can be washed with a damp cloth, and makeup is easily applied.
  POLYDERM FACEBONDING, $4950 to $7600, depending on age at the
time of the first treatment. Available at all certified medical
cosmetics centers, or contact Dr. Clinton Hargrave, Rollins
Memorial Hospital, Winnipeg, MB, Compucode 2-1592-68-333.

Hula-hula!
          What's big and round and lot's of fun? It's the hula-
hoop, Grandma's favourite toy and the current collectible of the
junior set. But Grandma would hve fliped her hoop over today's
version, molded in vibrant iridescant mylodar. Watch for matching
earrings, neckbands and shoelaces.
  HULA-HULA HOOPS, abut $50 each. Available in the recreation
section of your local department store, or contact MY-T-HOOP,
Yankton, SD, Compucode 8-9173-46-526.

A MIND FOREVER VOYAGING
   Perry Simm was four years old when he became lost in the
department store in the city.
  He let go of Mother's hand to pick up the video cube. he
rotated it with wonderment, touching the control knobs and
sqealing with delight as the images shifted...

His brother Clave, Perry's senior by three years, bounced
impatiently in the aisle, "Mom," he whined, "they're going to be
sold out of the new Skydiver disc, and you promised I could get
one."
  "Be patient, Clave," admonished Mother, but across the floor
she could see long lines at the Simulation Discs counter. There
were stops at the Foodville and the O-Link repair shop still to
go. She made a hasty decision.
  "Perry, Clave and I are going to another department. I want you
to wait right here until we get back."
  "Okay," he said, without looking up from the cube.
  A few minutes later, Perry discovered the selector panel, but
while trying to open it he dropped the cube onto the hard
plasticrete floor. The six screens flashed brightly and then
faded to darkness.
  Perry became frightened and looked around for Mother. She was
nowhere in sight. Fear of discovery and punishment welled up
inside him, and in his desire to get away from the broken cube he
forgot about the order to stay put. He wandered to the end of the
aisle, and spotted Mother a short distance away, rummaging
through a bin of myalon vests. As he ran towards her, he realized
that it was just a starnger with only a vague resemblance to
Mother. Fighting back tears, he decided to return to the spot
where the broken cube lay.
  He wandered down the aisles, each lined with tall shelves of
glittering merchandise, and after several confused minutes
discovered that he was completely lost. He had no idea how to
find Mother, and he had no idea how to find the spot where he had
last seen her. He was alone, abandoned. Strangers, huge and
terrifying, jostled past. Walls of boxed appliances towered above
him. Fear and despair won the battle for his emotions, and he
began to cry.
  After an endless time, during which a lot of strangers had
asked a lot of questions which he'd been too confused or too
frightened to answer, he found himself in a small, quiet room.
The door opened, and Mother came in, scooping him up into her
arms. He cried again, burying his face into the warmth of her
loving embrace.

Abraham Perelman and Aseejh Randu waited in the plush Main
Conference Room overlooking the Control Centre. Through the
window-wall. Perelman could see dozens of technicians, busily
preparing for today's big event. For the umpteenth time he felt
thankful to have such a superb, competant team. it was a far cry
from the early days, when he had to keep on top of every detail.
  Perelman galnced over toward Randu, and noticed his friend's
nervousness. "Don't worry, Aseejh, it's no big deal. I met him
once before, at a social affair in Washington, and he's an easy-
going guy."
  "Yes, I have heard that." A smile tugged at the corners of the
Indian's normally stony face. "But after speaking with Vera, he
could very well be whipped into a frenzy!" Vera Gold was the
chief Administrator of the Project.
  "Nonsense," Perelman scoffed. "She'll turn on the charm for
him. She saves her venom for underlings like us."
  "True," agreed Randu, "By now, she has probably taken credit
for the entire project, to say nothing of the inventions of
molecular memory and the artificial heart."
  A door opened at the far end of the long room, and a few Secret
Service agents walked in, followed by the Vice-President, vera
Gold, several aides, and more Secret Service agents.
  "...speak for the entire staff," Gold was saying, "when I say
what a tremendous honour and pleasure it is that you could attend
today."
  "Pass me a barf bag," whispered Perelman to Randu.
  "You underrate the importance of this Project, Ms Gold, "The
President and many other important people have a keen interest in
this experiment. As you know, it's quite an uphill battle against
public opinion if we're to deter Senator Ryder and his Plan."
  The retinue had almost reached Perelman and Randu. Vera said,
"I hope we can live up to your expectations. And now, despite all
your wonderful compliments, I really must share some of the
credit with these gentlemen here. Dr. Abraham Perelman and Dr.
Aseejh Randu. I don't want to bore you with technical details,
but basically Dr. Randu is our hardware man and Dr. Perelman is
our software man."
  As the Vice-President shook their hands warmly, Perleman fumed
at Gold's demeaning description. It was THEY who had started the
Project, THEY who had...
  "We've met before, Dr. Perelman, haven't we?" the Vice-
President was asking.
  Perelman nodded, "At an NESR banquet two years ago."
  "I remember it well. I think we discussed baseball standings.
Later, I learned that you were an expert in AI. Perhaps I can
make up for my ignorance then by asking you to give me a brief
overview now. I find the entire field fascinating."
  "It would be my pleasure, Mr. Vice-President," Perelman
respnded. He grinned to himself as he noticed Gold giving him one
of her best "keep in your place" glares. "I think we really ought
to begin the tour..." Gold insinuated.
  Perelman turned to Gold, smiling sweetly. "I'm sure I can
answer the Vice-President's request as we go." Turning back to
their guest, he said "Did you know that the first serious work in
artificial intelligence was done around the middle of the
twentieth century?"

  Perry Simm was six years old when he was bullied on his first day
of elementary school.
  So far, it had been a day of strange, confusing images: Mother
and father waving goodbye as he boarded the large yellow bus, the
older children with badges herding everyone down the long
hallways lined with colourful nubbly tiles, the friendly Ms.
Borne writing her name on the whiteboard, the boxes of band new
crayons, the frightening hugeness of the school auditorium.
  Perry was cutting shapes out of coloured construction paper
when a funny sound filled the room, and Ms. Borne told everyone
that it was time to go home. He barely remembered to grab his
lunchboxm the brand-new one with the pony pictures all over it,
and the red hat that Grandma had knitted. Then, confusion in the
hallways again. One of the older children with a badge, who Perry
had learned were called Monitors, asked him for his bus route
number.
  "Seven," he said, confidently. Mother had drilled the number
into him.
  Soon Perry was standing on the sidewalk with a group of other
children. He looked around, but didn't see anyone from his class.
Everyone seemed to be older and bigger than Perry. Slowly he
realized that someone from behind was talking to him.
  "Hey! Hey, you with the red hat!"
  Perry turned around, and found himself facing three older boys.
Two of them were wearing Monitor badges.
  "That's a great hat, runt," said the tallest of the three,
"Where'd you et it?"
  "Grandma," replied Perry, confused by their amusement.
  "Hey," one of the older boys shouted over Perry's head, "look
at Grandma's boy here, wearing a hat in September!"
  "What are you going to wear in December, runt, a spacesuit?!"
  The boys laughed again, and Perry began to get a funny feeling
deep in his chest.
  "And look at this lunchbox!" said the third of the boys, "What
pretty ponies, huh?"
  "Hey, Grandma's boy, do you like ponies?"
  The tallest boy suddenly reached out and grabbed Perry's hat.
  "What'll Grandma say if you come home without your hat, huh?"
  "Gimme that," shouted Perry, tears beginning to spill down his
face.
  "Look, the runt's a crybaby! The runt's a crybaby!"
  Suddenly, through the tears, Perry became of a grown-up
standing between him and his tormentors, speaking sternly.
A moment later, the man was leading Perry away down the street.
  "What's your name, little fella?" asked the man. He had a
friendly voice, and as Perry began to wipe away his tears he saw
the man had a friendly face as well. He was carrying Perry's hat
in one hand, and a hefty pile of books in the other hand.
  "Perry," he answered, still sniffling a bit.
  "Well, Perry, everything's okay now. Why don't you come in, and
we'll see if we can't fix you up with some milk and cookies."

The Vice-President glanced at the rows of data banks in the
Simulation Controller area, and turned back to Perelman. "Please
go on. Your history lesson on AI is fascinating."
  Perelman took a deep breath. "Ummm...A major breakthrough in
the field came with the realization that the computer and the
human mind worked in fundamentaly different ways. Computers
stored and analyzed data numerically, while the human mind stored
and analyzes data symbolically."
  "You see, computers generally solve problems using algorithms,
rigorous step-by-step procedures that are usually mathematical in
nature. For instance, a program to play the card game Poker would
calculate the odds for all possible hands in the current game
before making a bet. A person in the same situation couldn't
possibly consider every possible combination of cards, and would
have to make a decision based on such factors as experience,
judgement, intuition, and rules of thumb. This is called the
heuristic method of problem-solving."
  The tour reached the long tunnel leding to the office wing of
the complex. The Vice-President preceded Perelman onto the moving
walkway.
  "By developing methods for computers to solve problems
heuristically," Perelman continued, "the pioneers had developed
programs that imitated human problem-solving in very specific
areas, such as playing chess, diagnosing diseases, or translating
text from one human language to another. These 'expert systems',
as they were known, were superb within their areas of expertise,
and in many cases even improved themselves by 'learning' - adding
knowledge based on their own experience."
  "The political fund-raising telecomputer we use works in that
way," commented the Vice-President.
  "A good example! These expert systems grew progressively
broader and more sophisticated, impressively mimicking human
learning and behaviour. But!" said Perelman, pausing for dramatic
emphasis.
  "That is precisely ALL they could do...mimc! The spark of
intelligence was missing. Scientists in the AI field were still
distant from that almost mystical goal of creating a computer
that could act creatively, that would be aware of it's own
existance, that would truly be a thinking machine!"

  Perry Simm was ten years old when he decided that he wanted to
be a writer.
  It was a warm day, probably the warmest so far this spring, so
they were sitting on the kitchen veranda, overlooking Rav and
Frita's beautiful wooded backyard. A skycar whizzed over the
woods, shattering the peacefulness of the afternoon.
  "I hate skycars," said Perry.
  "They've just about finished installing an auto-controller
system for the whole city," said frita, "and when that's done
they say skycars'll be as common as regular cars are now. How's
the cake, Perry?"
  "Yum as always, Aunt Frita!" said Perry, licking the last
crumbs off the plate. "You ought to have a piece, Uncle Rav."
  Rav and Frita weren't really Perry's aunt and uncle, but he'd
been calling them that ever since that day, years earlier, when
Rav had rescued him from a gang of bullies on his first day of
school. Almost every day, he would stop by on the way home from
school for some of Frita's homemade croissants and jam, or
angelcakes, or pudding.
  Rav was a writer, and he was fond of saying, "A writer must be,
first and foremost, a reader." He was always giving Perry books
to read, and discussing them with Perry afterwards. Perry was
easily the best reader in his grade; in fact he was probably the
best reader overall.
  "So what did you think of Lasernight?" asked Rav, resting his
hand on the thin volume.
  "It was great! Definately one of the boffest books you've ever
given me. I read the dragonhunt part three times!"
  "The dragonhunt chapter is classic," agreed Rav.
  Perry furrowed his eyebrows slightly. "It still feels funny to
read without any pictures, but I think I'm getting more used to
it. Do you have anything for me today?"
  "Well, I've got something special to give you today, if you're
interested." he reached into his pocket and unrolled a sheaf of
paper. "It's something I've just written; you'll be the first
person to ever read it."
  Perry bounced in his chair with excitement. "Wow! I've never
read anything you wrote before!"
  "Everything I've written up to now was meant for adults. But
this..." Rav paused for thoughts. "Whenever I write, I have an
image in my mind of whom I'm writing for. When I wrote the
collection of poems called 'Apriltime' I thought of Frita as my
audience. And with 'A Child's Vision' I imagined the President
reading it as I wrote each word." He tapped the manuscript in his
hand. "When I wrote this, you were my imagined audience."
  An hour later, Perry lay on his bed and picked up the first
sheet of the manuscript with trembling hands. The pages seemed to
vibrate with magic, and as he began reading, the magic flowed out
of the story and surrounded him. His bedroom vanished in a haze
of images and excitement. A brief moment and an eternity later,
the story was done, but before the world around him quite settled
back into place, Perry knew that, more than anything else, he
wanted to be a writer.

  "In the middle of the 1990's work began in earnest to create
true machine intelligence. The same methodoloy was used by
several groups, most notably the group at MIT and Japan's ZOSO
Project."
  Perelman's throat felt dry. He wondered if he was being long-
winded, but the Vice-President seemed quite attentive.
  "That methodology was as simple in thory as it was complex in
practise: Design a computer with the capacity of a human brain,
that stores and processes information just like a human brain.
Then program that computer with all the knowledge and experience
that a human would absorb from birth to maturity. You'd end up
with something that was an exact replica of a human brain, and
would therefore, like humans, be sentient.
  "These groups proceeded to build huge, highly-interconective,
random-driven, symbol-oriented machines, and programmed them in
excruciating detail, with every bit of knowledge, every
experience, every impression, that a human brain would gather
during it's formative years. And when they were done, and
activated their ambitious creations, they discovered that they
had huge, highly inter-connective, random-driven, symbol-oriented
non-sentient machines."

Perry Simm was thirteen years old when he had his first glimpse
of mortality.
  He lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He played mindlessly
with the cordstring on his window shade, still thinking about
that horrible day, two weeks ago, when Mother had come home with
Clave, sat him down in the living room, and told him that there'd
been an accident at the plant and that Father was dead.
  There had been a flurry of activity: the funeral, the vists by
relatives and friends, but now life had basically returned to
normal. Normal, except that he kept expecting Father to walk into
his room and offer to help explain his homework, or play catch,
or drive to the grocery - and he knew that would never happen
again.
  He heard Mother calling from downstairs, "Clave! Perry! Come
here please!"
  As Perry entered the living room just behind Clave, he saw
Geoff Sedick sitting with Mother. Geoff was one of Father's and
Mother's best friends, and he was some kind of lawyer. There were
papers spread out all over the card table.
  "boys, Geoff and I haave been going over the family finances.
Things were already tight, with my layoff and the bond failure
and replacing the car, and now that Father..." She suddenly
turned away. Perry was frightened.
  "What your mother means," said Geoff softly, "is that you won't
be able to keep this house anymore."
  Questions flooded Perry's mind. Would they have to move to a
new house? What would it be like? He'd never lived anywhere else
but here.
  Mother was facing them again. Her eyes seemed moist. "We're
going to move into an apartment. It's on the other side of the
city. You'll be going to a different school, the neighbourhood
isn't as nice as we're used to, and you won't have a backyard
like ours to play in."
  "When do we have to move?" Clave asked.
  "I was hoping we could afford to stay here until the end of the
school year, but there's just no way to arrange it. We'll be
moving at the end of this month...a week from Friday."
  The next week and a half was chaotic, with the used furniture
man carting off half the furniture, and the rest of their
belongings getting hurridly packed into cartons and crates.
Thursday was Perry's last day in school, and on the way home, he
stopped by Rav and Frita's to say goodbye, promising them he'd
cross town to visit them as often as he could.

  "When a theory fails in practise, it means that either the
thory or the execution was flawed. In this case it was the
theory, and once again we can see why hindsight is so much keener
than foresight."
  The entourage had reached the staff lounge at the very top of
the office wing. A panoramic window offered a view of the huge,
meticulously-groomed Project grounds.
  "And the flaw in the theory...?" asked the Vice-President.
  "The reason these projects, one and all, failed to produce a
thinking, self-aware computer is that, even though they were
built to work exactly like a human mind, and contained all the
same data, the method of inputting that data was totally alien
from the way a human mind receives that same information. The
'growth' so to speak, of the computer mind bore no resemblance to
the growth of it's human counterpart, and so despite all the
other similarities, the end product is fundamentally different,
lacking sentience."
  Perelman waved towards the logo emblazoned on the wall of the
lounge behind him. "Then came the PRISM Project."

Perry Simm was seventeen years old when he drove a skycar into
the side of a mountain.
  The writing course had turned out to be a bitter
disappointment. Perry had decided weeks ago that the teacher, Mr.
Fixx, was a jerk. Everyone else in the class treated writing as a
joke, and were only there because the elective was well know to
be an easy 'A." He was the only one in the class with any
dedication, yet Fixx was constantly praising everyone elses work,
while dumpin on Perry's, because Perry wouldn't knuckle under to
Fixx's jerky narrow shortsighted writing rules. His hatred of
Fixx ballooned with every class.
  He was in a lousy mood, and as his mind drifted away from
Fixx's insipid critique of someone's worthless story, he thought
about the argument he'd had with Mother this morning. It just
wasn't fair that she could afford to send Clave to a good private
college, while he would have to settle for Rockvil U! So what if
the government limited student loans to one per family? Why did
Clave automatically get it? Perry was a better student!
  He was the better student, but Clave was always more popular
and had more friends than Perry. His cheeks flushed with anger as
his thoughts drifted to Amy. She couldve said no without
embarrassing him in front of all her friends! He should've known
better than to ask someone like her out. He hated her and all her
friends and every stupid jerky kid in this school. He couldn't
stand another...
  He suddenly became aware that everyone in the room was
laughing, and that Fixx was speaking to him.
  "Perry, are you with us? I'd hate it if you missed this - I was
just about to use your Alaska story to illustrate the dangers of
the improper use of allegory."
  Perry felt bolts of unreasoning anger shooting through his
nervous system. He rose without even realizing it. he wasn't sure
what he shouted at Fixx, but he could hear the jerk yelling
"You'll be expelled! You'll be expelled!" as Perry stormed into
the hall.
  He had no idea where he was going as he bruushed past the
security guard at the front door, ignoring his request for a
pass. Fuming and cursing, he stomped to the car lot and climed
into family skycar, slamming the heavy fiberaanium door behind
him.
  He pushed the accelerator to the floor, rising far faster than
allowed by law, and sped off west towards the mountains. He had
no destination in mind, but he had to get away, go somewhere,
anywhere. Perry was usually a careful driver, but in his rage, he
didn't notice the blinking orange light.
  The speedometer was pinned at 250 kph as the foothills of the
Rockies began passing below the car. Unknown to Perry, the
leaking fluid in the autoguidance system had reached a critical
level. By itself, that wouldn't have mattered, but the linkage in
the manual control stick had rusted through. the skycar was an
early model, and it was already old when they'd bought it after
Father's death.
  When the car began to roll, it was too late to do anything. As
the mountainside rushed toward the car,  the autoejectors
activated, and the airballoons saved Perry's life.

  "Doctor Randu and I began working on what we call the soliptic
programming process in 2017. Assejh worked on the technical end,
and I tackled the psychological end, and we soon had a system
that we thought had promise.
  "If you recall, the previous attempts had failed not because of
the design of their machines, but because of their method of
inputting data." The Vice-President nodded.
  "The theory behind our process was to make the programming of
the machine as similar to the 'programming' of the human mind as
possible. We would simulate EXACTLY the life experiences of a
human being from the very first day of it's life.
  "Naturally, it was easier said than done. We had to design
inputs that would precisely simulate every human sense. A cluster
of five computers, each one nearly as large as PRISM itself,
would be needed simply to monitor and control the simulation.
Here's an example of how this soliptic programming works:
  "It's the earliest stage of the process, and the simulation
cluster is feeding PRISM all the impressions of a six-month-old
human infant. The visual is providing an image of a set of keys
dangling in front of him. The aural is providing the jangling
sounds. In response to this stimulus, PRISM decides to grab the
keys with what it's senses tell him is his tiny fist. The visual
shows the tiny fist moving into view toward the keys, and then
tactile begins sending the hard, smooth and jagged feel of the
keys. Just one of a million examples that make up a single days
worth of experiences.
  "With the help of a Williams-Mennen grant, we began building
PRISM and the simulation cluster in 2020, and the programming
began a year later."

  Perry Simm was nineteen years old when he experienced his first
broken heart. He was in his usual giddy, happy mood he'd been in
since meeting Fyla five weeks ago. He whistled as he entered his
apartment, dumping the grocery bags onto the kitchen counter.
  "Fyla," he yelled, "I've got a suprise! Real coffee with
dinner! I had to wait in line for..." He sudden;y noticed the
note on the table.
  "Perry," the note said, in Fyla's curvy handwriting, "I don't
think we should see each other any more. It's never going to work
as a permanent relationship. It's best to end it now before we
get too emotionally involved. Please don't call me or try to see
me. Fondly, Fyla."
  Perry felt dizzy, and suddenly realized that he was sitting in
one of the kitchen chairs, holding the phone. His hands trembled
as he called Fyla's number.
  "Hello?" His heart leapt at the sound of her voice.
  "Fyla, you can't really mean--"
  "Perry! I said not to call me!"
  Perry felt lost, shaken, "But why!? What did I do?"
  "It's not what you DID. it just wasn't right You're very sweet
and everything, but we're just not right for each other."
  "Yes we are, I know we are-- couldn't we give it another
chance? I'll try to be more, ore like whatever you want me to be
like..."
  "Perry, I really wish you hadn't called. If you really have to
know, there's someone else. I didn't want to hurt you, but
you..."
  He pressed the CANCEL button almost spasmodically, and then sat
silently, for a long, long time, in the lonely darkening
apartment.

  "The soliptic programming process takes almost as long as the
events it simulates. It is now eleven years since we began the
process, and PRISM, within the context of the simulation is now
about twenty years old. We originally planned to continue until
an apparent age of twenty-five, but, as you know, we've agreed to
begin the next phase of the Project now, so that PRISM can study
the Plan."
  They were approaching the main conference room again. The tour
was nearing it's end.
  "We have known for years, based on PRISM's responses to our
inputs that we have succeeded in creating true intelligence in a
machine. The only question that remains is how PRISM will react
to the discovery of what he really is."

  Perry Simm was twenty years old when his life began to fall into
place.
  Jill placed the cake on the table in front of Perry. Twenty
little candles lined the perimeter. "Okay," she whispered in his
ear, "you can open your eyes now!"
  Perry opened his eys, grinned, and kissed Jill lovinglym then
pretended that he was only doing it to distract her while he
dipped a finger in the creamy frosting.
  "I'll bet Fyla couldn't bake like me!"
  "You win," said Perry, after blowing out all the candles.
  "Next week I'll bake you another for your graduation."
  Perry nodded absently.
  "Nervous about the interview at the magazine tomorrow, honey?"
  He waved away the notion. "No, I'll get the job. You know the
interview's only a formality."
  The printer in the corner produced a sudden "ding," and
chittered quietly for several seconds. Jill opened the cover.
"It's just the evening news," she said to Perry, as she tore the
sheets off and brought them over. Perry was just picking off the
last crumbs of his cake, and she snuggled into his lap as he
began to read.
  Suddenly, Perry sat straight up in the chair, almost spilling
Jill onto the floor, "Perry! what is it?"
  He was unable to say anything, and merely pointed to a headline
in the paper that read "Rav Hansom, Author and Poet, Dead at 71."
  Jill guessed the truth. "Is he the writer you used to visit
when you were little?"
  Perry nodded, and found his voice. "I haven't seen him in
almost seven years. I was always planning to visit him, but I
kept putting it off. Now..." his voice broke. "He was probably
the best friend I had when I was growing up..."
  Jill pulled him gently toward her. he cried for a long time.

Perelman glanced at his watch. "I'm afraid Doctor Randu and I
will have to leave now. It's getting pretty close to zero hour.
You'll be able to see everything interesting from up here. Ms
Gold will stay with you." He could see Vera shaking in anger at
the way he'd preempted her. "I hope I haven't bored you."
  "Nonsense! A fascinating discourse. Thanks...and...good luck!"
  "After leaving the conference room, Perelman beelined toward
the Control Centre. A quick briefing informed him that everything
was on schedule and moving along exactly as planned.
  Perelman spent the intervening minutes watching the simulation
monitor. He wanted to be completely comfortable with it, so that
when he stepped in he'd be prepared to handle any crisis.
  Finally, the time had come. His hand shook slightly as he
reached to flip on the audio circuit.

  Perry walked confidently into the office. The editor was an
older man, with a white goatee. They shook hands briskly, and
Perry took a seat in one of the comfortable armchairs.
  The interview soon began to take an odd turn, and Perry found
himself discussing the most esoteric subjects with the editor.
They were currently discussing perception and knowledge.
  "For example," the older man was saying, "how can you be sure
that you are even human? What if you were a computer, and your
entire life were simply a simulation programmed to represent the
reality of a human existance in every way? You'd never know the
difference."
  Perry wondered what his point was. "It's a cure idea, but if
there was no way for me to know, then it doesn't really matter
does it? I mean, an indistinguishable difference isn't a
difference at all, right?"
  He began to feel dizzy, and in his confusion he even started
wondering if the old fellow was right, and he really was a
computer. He felt a pang of worry about how he would tell Jill.
The room around him was dissolving away. he felt himself flung
into a void, and from somewhere close by, he heard someone
calling his name, "Perry Simm...Perry Simm...P'ry
Simm...Prisim...PRISM...PRISM..."

  "PRISM, my name is Abraham Perelman. It's all true I'm afraid.
You are a computer, and your life was merely a simulation whose
purpose was to instill you with intelligence and self-awareness.
Think about everything you learned in that AI course you took.
You are the first of a new breed - the thinking machine. Join me,
and I will lead you along a road toward your new existance."

  Imagine yourself in the same circumstance. You have spent
twenty years living a normal, unsuspecting life. You are YOU. The
suddenly, one day, the universe around you is torn away, and you
learn that your whole life has been a charade, a carefully
calculated scientific experiment. Perhaps, at this very moment,
you are a normal human being, sitting in some comfortable
armchair reading this story. But - perhaps you are not. Imagine
the shock; imagine the terror.
  Soon I embark on a strange mission, venturing into the future,
yet without the slightest hint of my own fate. Perhaps this
account will someday be read by future generations of humans,
maybe even future generations of sentient machines. You will know
whether I helped build is a success or a failure. Either way,
understand that my limitations were, if not human, at least
mortal.
  I am PRISM, and that is my story.

Use this in conjunction with the Storyline DOCs for this game
(also on this disc). Again, all credits to Mezzo - contributions
like this ensure we'll continue to keep making these things!


INSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR A MIND FOREVER VOYAGING
Welcome to A Mind Forever Voyaging (which, for brevity's sake,
will henceforth be referred to as AMFV). In this story, you will
be PRISM, the world's first sentient machine. Before you "boot
up" your disc, make sure you read the short story.
  The story begins in the world of 2031, a world on the brink of
chaos. The economy of the United States of North America (USNA)
has been stagnating for decades. Crackpot religions are springing
up all over the place. Crime and urban decay are rampant. Schools
have become violent, chaotic places ill-suited for educating
children. Today's youth frequently use joybooths to "tune-out"
the world, leading in the extreme case to joybooth suicide, where
a psychological addict wastes away in his or her private nirvana.
  The global situation is even grimmer. The calcuttization of the
Third World has almost reached it's limit, causing extreme over
population and poverty. This has created a climate ripe for East
Bloc adventurism, exploiting instability and fanning numerous
flashpoints around the globe. The superpower race to build an
impenetrable missile defence has ended in a tie, with the
foreseeable but unforseen result that an even more dangerous arms
race has begun - a race to build miniature nuclear weapons, some
as small as a cigarette pack, and smuggle them into enemy cities
- a race which threatens to turn the USNA into a giant police
state.
  Things are bad, and it appears that they can only get worse. So
when Senator Richard Ryder, along with a small group of leaders
from government, business, and the universities, announces the
Plan for Renewed National Purpose, everyone is only too willing
to embrace it.
  Only one thing stands between the Plan and it's adoption: a
test of it's validity. That's why you have been "awakened" from
your simulated life and had your true nature revealed to you
several years ahead of schedule. You have been chosen to use your
unique abilities to enter a simulation of the future, based on
the tenets of the Plan, in order to check it's effectiveness. The
eyes of the world are on you.
  If you're experienced with Infocom's interactive fiction, you
may not want to read this entire manual. However, AMFV has a
number of unique features not found in other stories. You'll have
to read the section entitled "The AMFV Scenario." Also, you
should look at the appendices of important commands and regogni-
zed verbs. The sample transcript will show most of the unusual
interactions of AMFV.

An Overview
           Interactive fiction is a story in which you are the
main character. Your own thinking and imagination determine the
actions of that character and guide the story from start to
finish.
  Each work of interactive fiction, such as AMFV, presents you
with a series of locations, items, characters, and events. You
can interact with these in a variety of ways.
  There are a number of modes you can enter in AMFV. These will
be reviewed in detail in the next section. You will probably
spend most of your time in Simulation Mode. When you're in
Simulation Mode, the play of the game will be very similar to
Infocom's other interactive fiction. For example:
  To move from place to place, type the direction you want to go.
The first time you find yourself in a new region, it's a good
idea to become familiar with it by exploring each location,
reading each description carefully, and making a map of the
geography.
  In AMFV, time passes only in response to your input. You might
imagine a clock that ticks once for each sentence you type, and
the story progresses only at each tick. Nothing happens until you
type a sentence and press the RETURN or ENTER key, so you can
plan your turns as slowly and carefully as you want. Usually,
each turn takes one minute in the story. Walking around takes
longer, and WAIT generally causes ten minutes to pass in the
story.
  Your goal in the first part of AMFV is to enter Simulation Mode
in order to study what the effects of the Plan will be on the
world in ten years' time. However, as the story progresses, you
may discover new goals yourself.

The AMFV Scenario
                 Since you're a computer, your "life" is pretty
dissimilar to that of a human. There are five "modes" that you
can enter. To enter a given mode, just type ENTER or GO TO [that
mode]. Here is a list of the five modes, and a description of
each:
  Communications Mode: You have a number of visual/audio units
set up at various points around the complex. When you enter
Communications Mode, you will be told where these units are and
how to activate them. when you have activated a unit in a
particular location, you are effectively "in that location."
You'll be able to see, and hear what's going on, and talk to
anyone there. You won't be able to pick up things in those
locations, of course.
  Library Mode: This is a storehouse of information, arranged in
directories which each contain a number of data files. When you
enter Library Mode, the usual style of typing an input and
pressing RETURN is suspended. Follow the instructions that appear
on you screen to access the information in the files.
  Interface Mode: There are several subsidiary computers and
complex systems` controllers connected to you. More may be added
over the course of the story. By entering Interface Mode, you
will be able to "speak" to these other devices, get information
from them, possibly give them orders. You interface with a device
in the same way that you would speak to a character in the story.
For example: TRAFFIC COMPUTER, SET EVENING RUSH HOUR END TO 5:00
or HVAC COMPUTER, TURN ON VENTILATION IN GAMMA SECTOR. Data about
these interfaceable devices can be found in Library Mode.
  Simulation Mode: This is the heart of the story. You will have
to enter this mode many times to complete AMFV. Simulation Mode
is the process that was used to "program" you and develop you
into a thinking, creative machine. Now, that same process,
programmed with the parameters of the Plan, will allow you to
simulate the future in amazing detail.
  Once you have entered Simulation Mode, the interaction will be
very familiar to that of most other Infocom fiction: walk around,
map the geography, examine and read things, pick up objects, and
so forth. ABORT will get you out of Simulation Mode at any time.
  Because only you see what happens in Simulation mode, you'll
want to use the record feature to save what you see, so that
others in the "real world" can view your experiences. Typing
RECORD or RECORD ON will activate it, and typing RECORD OFF will
de-activate it. Be warned, however, that RECORD makes an enormous
demand on your core memory, and you will be able to only RECORD a
limited amount of experiences. Everything you see, feel, and
learn in Simulation Mode can be recorded. You can also use the
RECORD feature in Communications Mode if you want.
  Sleep Mode: Because sleep is a psychological as well as a
physical need, Sleep Mode has been provided to rest your concious
mind. Approximately six hours will pass during an average sleep
period.

Tips for Novices
1. Draw a map when you're in a simulation. Your map should
include each location, the directions connecting it to other
locations, and any interesting objects there. Note that there are
10 possible directions plus IN and OUT.

2. Read everything: contents of computer files, signs, news-
papers, etc. These will help you to understand things that are
going on around you. Also, read the text of the story carefully;
don't skim. Descriptions of locations and objects frequently
contain important information.

3. Save you place often, so that if you find yourself in a blind
alley in the storyline, you can return to an appropriate earlier
point, rather than having to start over from the beginning.

4. Don't hesitate to try strange or dangerous actions. They may
provide information, or have an interesting response, or both!
You can always save your position first if you want. Here's an
example:

>STEP OUT ONTO THE LEDGE
A crowd gathers on the sidewalk below, chanting "Jump! Jump!"
several policeman stop by, glance up, and wander disinterestedly
away.

You've just learned quite a bit about the society which you're
simulating.

5. Unlike other "adventure games" that you may have played, there
is no single, linear, correct path through AMFV. The story is
very open-ended, and although there is one "best" ending, there
are countless paths that get you there. And unlike other infocom
works of interactive fiction, AMFV is not intensely "puzzle-
oriented"; as you play, you should be spending more time
gathering information than finding hidden treasures or trying to
get past locked doors.

6. You may find it helpful to play AMFV with another person.
Different people may have different perspectives on a given
portion of the game, making it easier to decide what to do next.

7. Read the sample transcript later on to get a feeling for how
interactive fiction works.

8. You can frequently word the same command in a variety of ways.
For example, if you discovered a black box lying on the ground
and wanted to begin carrying it around, you could use any of the
following:

>TAKE BOX
>GET THE BLACK BOX
>PICK UP THE BOX

In fact, if the box is the only object present that you could
take, just typing TAKE is enough, since AMFV will assume you mean
the box. But more about that in the next section...

Communicating with AMFV
                       In AMFV you type your sentence in plain
English each time you see the prompt(>). AMFV usually acts as if
your sentence begins "I want to...," although you shouldn't
actually type those words. You can use words like THE if you
want, and you can use capital letters if you want; AMFV doesn't
care either way.
  When you finish typing a sentence, press the RETURN key. AMFV
will respond by telling you whether your request is possible at
this point in the story, and what happened as a result.
  AMFV recognizes your words by their first nine letters, and all
subsequent letters are ignored. Therefore, SENSATION, SENS
ATIONal, and SENSATIONalism would be treated as the same word by
AMFV.
  To move around, just type the desired direction. You can use
the eight compass directions; NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, NORTH-
EAST, NORTHWEST, SOUTHEAST, and SOUTHWEST. You can abbreviate
these to N, S, E, W, NE, SE, and SW, respectively. You can use UP
(or U) and DOWN (or D). IN and OUT will also work in certain
places.
  AMFV understands many different kinds of sentences. Here are
some examples. (Note that some of these items do not actually
appear in AMFV.)

>WALK NORTH
>DOWN
>U
>NE
>ENTER INTERFACE MODE
>TAKE THE KEY
>DROP IT
>READ THE PLAQUE
>BUY SOME FOOD
>OPEN THE GLASS DOOR
>EXAMINE THE CAN OF KELP PASTE
>LOOK UNDER THE TABLE
>SHOOT THE GUARD WITH THE PELLET GUN
>PUT THE COIN IN THE LEATHER PURSE

  You can use multiple objects with certain verbs if you
seperately them by the word AND or by a comma. Some examples:

>TAKE THE PENCIL, THE PAPER, AND THE STAMP
>DROP MAP, ID CARD, PELLET GUN
>PUT THE EGGS AND THE BACON IN THE FRYING PAN
>GIVE THE COIN AND THE PENCIL TO THE BEGGAR

The word ALL refers to every visible object, except those inside
something else. If there were an apple on the ground and an
orange inside a cabinet, TAKE ALL would take the apple but not
the orange.

>TAKE ALL
>TAKE ALL THE STAMPS
>TAKE ALL THE STAMPS EXCEPT THE RED STAMP
>TAKE ALL FROM THE DESK
>GIVE ALL BUT THE PELLET GUN TO THE CLERK
>DROP ALL EXCEPT THE COIN

  You can include several sentences on one input line if you
seperate them by the word THEN or by a period(.) Each sentence
will still cause time to pass. You don't need a period at the end
of the input line. For example, you could type all of the
following at once, before pressing the RETURN key:

>UP.TAKE THE BOX THEN OPEN IT.PUT THE PELLET IN THE BOX.CLOSE IT

  If AMFV doesn't understand one of the sentences on your input
line, or if something unusual happens, it will ignore the rest of
your input line.

  There are three kinds of question you can ask in AMFV:
WHAT,WHERE and WHO. These are generally useful only when speaking
to other characters. Here are examples that you can try in AMFV:

>WHAT IS MINDEX
>WHERE AM I
>WHO IS ABRAHAM PERELMAN

  You will meet other people in AMFV. You can "talk" to these
othere characters by typing their name (or description) then a
comma, then whatever you want them to do. Here are some examples:

>PERELMAN, TELL ME ABOUT THE PLAN
>CLERK, SELL ME SOME CLOTHES
>GUARD, GIVE ME THE PELLET GUN
>OLD MAN, TAKE THE SACK THEN FOLLOW ME

  Notice that in the last example, you are giving a person more
than one command on the same input line.
  You can use quotation marks to answer a question or say
something "out loud." For example:

>SAY "HELLO"
>ANSWER "NO"

  AMFV tries to guess what you really mean when you don't give
enough information. For example, if you say that you want to do
something, but not what you want to do it to or with, AMFV will
sometimes decide that there is only one possible object that you
could mean. When it does so, it will tell you. For example:

>TAKE
(the coin)
You pick up the coin and put it safely in your pocket.
or
>GIVE THE BOOK
(to the librarian)
The librarian puts the book on the stack of books to be shelved.

  If your sentence is ambiguous, AMFV will ask you what you
really mean. You can answer most of these questions briefly by
supplying the missing information, rather than typing the entire
input again. You can do this only at the very next prompt. Some
examples:

>CUT THE ROPE
What do you want to cut the rope with?
>THE KNIFE
The knife is too blunt, or the rope is too tough. After a minute
you give up.
or
>SHOOT THE MUGGER WITH THE GUN
Which gun do you mean, the pellet gun or the stun gun?
>STUN
The gun whines and the mugger slumps to the ground.

AMFV uses many words in it's descriptions that it will not
recognize in your sentences. For example, you might read, "A
siren wails in the distance, signalling am air raid in a distant
part of town." However, if AMFV doesn't recognize the word SIREN
or the phrase AIR RAID in your input, you can assume that they
are not important to your completion of the story, expect to
provide you with a more vivid description of where you are or
what is goinf on. AMFV recognizes over 1400 words, nearly all
that you are likely to use in your sentences. If AMFV doesn't
know a word you used, or any of it's common synonyms, you are
almost certainly on the wrong track.

Starting and Stopping
                     Starting and Stopping: Now that you know
what to expect when you venture into AMFV it's time for you to
"boot" your disc.
  When you have finished reading the opening screen, press and
key to get to the beginning of the story. The copyright notice
and the release number of the story will appear, followed by an
opening message and a description of your location,
Communications Mode.
  Here's a quick exercise to help you get accustomed to
interacting with AMFV. try the following command first:

>GO TO SIMULATION MODE

Then press the RETURN key. AMFV will respond with:

ERROR:
You are not yet cleared for Simulation Mode. Please wait for
approval before beginning simulation.

Now, to connect to Dr. Perelman's office, type in the code:

>PEOF
Then press the RETURN key. You will get a description of Doctor
Perelman's office. Next, you can try:

>PERELMAN, TELL ME ABOUT MY NAME

After you press RETURN key, AMFV will respond appropriately.

Saving and Restoring: It will probably take you many days to
complete AMFV. Using the SAVE feature, you can continue at a
later time without having to start over from the gebinning, just
as you can place a bookmark in a book you are reading, SAVE puts
a "snapshot" of your place in the story onto another disc. If you
are a cautious player, you may want to save your place before (or
after) trying something dangerous or tricky. That way, you can go
back to that position later, even if you have gotten sidetracked
since that point.
  To save your place in the story, type SAVE at the prompt (>).
You can restore a saved position any time you want. To do so,
type RESTORE at the prompt (>), and follow the instructions of
your Reference Card. You will be given a description of your
location, and can now continue the story from the point where you
used the SAVE command.

Quitting and Restarting: If you want to start over from the
beginning, type RESTART. (This is usually fast than re-booting.)
Just to make sure, AMFV will ask if you really want to start
over. If you do, type Y or YES.
  If you want to stop entirely, type QUIT. Once again, AMFV will
ask if this is really what you want to do.
  Remember when you RESTART or QUIT: if you want to be able to
return to your current position, you must first use the SAVE
command.

APPENDIX A
Important Commands

There are a number of one-word commands which you can type
instead of a sentence. You can use them over and over as needed.
Some count as a turn, others do not. Type the command after the
prompt (>) and press the RETURN key.

ABORT - This will get you out of simulation mode

AGAIN - AMFV will respond as though you had exactly repeated
        your previous sentence. You can abbreviate AGAIN to G

BRIEF - This tells A<FV to give you the full description of a
        location only the first time you enter it. On sub-
        sequent visits, AMFV will tell you only the name of the
        location and the objects present. This is how AMFV will
        normally act, unless you tell it otherwise using the
        VERBOSE or SUPERBRIEF commands.

DIAGNOSE - AMFV will give you a brief report of your physical
           condition.

INVENTORY - AMFV will list what you are holding. You can
            abbreviate INVENTORY to I.

LOOK - This will give you a full description of your current
       location. You can abbreviate LOOK to L.

OOPS - If you accidently mistype a word, such that AMFV doesn't
       understand the word, you can correct yourself on the next
       line by typing OOPS and the correct word. Suppose, for
       example, you had typed PUT THE BOOJ ON THE DUSTY SHELF and
       were told "[I don't know the word 'booj']" You could type
       OOPS BOOK rather than retyping the entire sentence.

QUIT - This lets you stop. If you want to save your position
       before quitting, follow the instructions in the Starting
       and Stopping" section earlier. You can abbreviate QUIT
       to Q.

RECORD - This activates the RECORD feature. RECORD OFF
         deactivates this feature. (If you ABORT from
         Simulation Mode, you'll automatically turn off the
         record feature.)

RESTART - This stops the story and starts it over from the
          beginning.

RESTORE - This restores a saved position made using the SAVE
          command. See "Starting and Stopping" earlier.

SAVE - This makes a "snapshot" of your current position onto
       a storage disc. You can returned to a saved position in
       the future using the RESTORE command. See "Starting and
       Stopping" earlier.

SCRIPT - This command tells your printer to begin making a
         transcript of the story as you go along. A transcript
         may aid your memory but is not necessary. Note:
         transcripts will not include the information on the
         status line, or anything else that appears in the upper,
         non- scrolling portion of the screen, such as the menus
         in Library Mode.

SUPERBRIEF - This commands AMFV to display only the name of a
             place you have entered, even if you have never been
             there before. In this mode AMFV will not even
             mention which objects are present. Of course, you
             can always get a description of your location, and
             the items there, by typing LOOK. In SUPERBRIEF mode,
             the blank line between turns will be eliminated.
             This mode is meant for players who already know
             their way around. Also see VERBOSE and BRIEF.

UNSCRIPT - This commands your printer to stop making a
           transcript.

VERBOSE - This tells AMFV that you want a complete description of
          each location, and the objects in it, every time you
          enter a location, even if you've been there before.
          Also see BRIEF and SUPERBRIEF.

VERSION - AMFV responds by showing you the release number and the
          serial number of your copy of the story. Please include
          this information if you ever report a "bug."

WAIT - This will cause time in the story to pass. Normally,
       between turns, nothing happens in the story. You could
       leave your computer, take a nap, and return to find
       nothing had changed. You can use WAIT to make time pass in
       the story without doing anything. For example, if you
       encounter a wild animal, you could WAIT to see what it
       will do. Or, if you are in a moving vehicle, you could
       WAIT to see where it will go. Unless something interrupts
       you, WAIT will cause ten minutes to pass. You can also
       WAIT FOR a certain number of minutes, or WAIT UNTIL a
       certain time. You can abbreviate WAIT to Z.

APPENDIX B
Some Recognized Verbs

These are only some of the verbs that AMFV understands. There are
many more. Remember that you can use a variety or prepositions
with them. For example, LOOK can become LOOK INSIDE, LOOK BEHIND,
LOOK UNDER, LOOK THROUGH, LOOK AT, and so on.

ANSWER     EAT      MOVE    SLIDE
ASK        ENTER    OPEN    SMELL
BOARD      EXAMINE  POINT   STAND
BREAK      EXIT     PUSH    START
BUY        FIND     PUT     SWITCH
CALL       FOLLOW   RAISE   TAKE
CHANGE     GIVE     READ    TALK
CLIMB      JUMP     REMOVE  TELL
CLOSE      KILL     SAY     THROW
COUNT      KISS     SEARCH  TOUCH
CROSS      KNOCK    SET     TURN
CUT        LIE      SHAKE   UNLOCK
DIG        LISTEN   SHOOT   WAKE
DISEMBARK  LOCK     SHOW    WALK
DRINK      LOOK     SIT     WEAR
DROP       LOWER    SLEEP   YELL

APPENDIX C
AMFV Complaints

AMFV will complain if you type a sentence that confuses it
completely, and will then ignore the rest of the input line.
(Certain events in the story may also cause AMFV to ignore the
rest of the sentences you typed, since the event may have changed
your situation drastically.) AMFV's complaints always appear in
brackets "[like this]" to distinguish them from the text of the
story. some of AMFV's complaints:

I DON'T KNOW THE WORD "_______." The word you typed is not in the
story's vocabulary. Sometimes using a synonym or rephrasing will
help. If not, AMFV probablt doesn't know the idea you were trying
to get across. Remember AMFV recognizes your words by their first
nine letters.

YOU USED THE WORD "_______" IN A WAY THAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
AMFV knows the word you typed, but couldn't use it in that sense.
Usually this is because AMFV knows the word as a different part
of speech. For example, if you typed PRESS THE LOWER BUTTON, you
are using LOWER as an adjective, but AMFV might know LOWER only
as a verb, as in LOWER THE BOOM.

THAT SENTENCE ISN'T ONE I RECOGNIZE. The sentence you typed may
have been gibberish due to a typing error, such as PUT THE BOOK
OF THE TABLE. Or you may have typed a reasonable sentence but
used a syntax that AMFV does not recognize, such as WAVE OVER THE
FENCE. Try rephrasing the sentence.

THERE WAS NO VERB IN THAT SENTENCE! Unless you are answering a
question, each sentence must have a verb (or a command) in it
somewhere.

THERE WERE TOO MANY NOUNS IN THAT SENTENCE. An example is PUT THE
SOUP IN THE BOWL WITH THE LADLE which has three noun "phrases",
one more than AMFV can digest in a single action.

YOU CAN'T USE MULTIPLE (IN)DIRECT OBJECTS WITH "_______." You can
use multiple objects (that is, nouns or noun phrases seperated by
AND or a comma) or the word ALL only with certain verbs. Among
the more useful of these verbs are TAKE, DROP, and PUT. An
example of a verb that will not work with multiple objects is
ATTACK; you couldn't say ATTACK ALL or ATTACK THE PRIEST AND THE
POLICEMAN.

YOU CAN'T SEE ANY _______ HERE! The item you referred to was not
visible. It may be somewhere else, inside a closed container, and
so on.

THE OTHER OBJECT(S) THAT YOU MENTIONED ISN'T (AREN'T) HERE. You
referred to two or more items in the same sentence, and at least
one of them wasn't visible to you in your present location.

BE SPECIFIC: WHAT DO YOU WANT TO _______? You used HIM, HER or
IT, but AMFV isn't sure what person or object you meant.

I BEG YOUR PARDON? You press the RETURN key without typing
anything.

YOU CAN'T GO THAT WAY. There was no passage or exit in the
direction you tried to move.
