"Harry Harrison & Marvin Minsky - The Turing Option" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison Harry)

consortium. As early as the 1980s the Defense DepartmentтАФor rather one of its very
few technically competent departments, the Defense Advanced Research Projects
AgencyтАФhad identified HDTV not only as an important tool in future warfare but as
being vital for industrial progress in future technologies. So even after the years of
reduced budgets DARPA had managed to come up with the needed research money.
Once the funding decisions had been made, with utmost speed all the forces of
modern technology had been assembled on a barren site in the California Desert.
Where before there had only been arid sandтАФand a few small fruit farms irrigated by
subsurface waterтАФthere was now a large and modern research center. A number of
new and exciting projects had been undertaken, J. J. Beckworth knew, but he was
vague about the details of some of them. As Chairman he had other, more urgent
responsibilitiesтАФwith six different bosses to answer to. The red blink of his telephone
light cut through his thoughts.
"Yes?"
"Mr. Mura, our Japanese broker, is on the line."
"Put him on." He turned to the image on the screen before him. "Good afternoon,
Mura-san."
"To you as well, Mr. J. J. Beckworth. I am sorry to disturb you at this late hour."
"It is always my pleasure to hear from you." Beckworth controlled his impatience.
This was the only way to deal with the Japanese. The formalities had to be covered
first. "And surely you would not be calling me now if the matter was of no
importance."
"The importance must be assigned by your illustrious self. As a simple employee I
can only report that the spate of buying of Megalobe shares has been reversed. The
latest figures are on their way to me now. I expect them on my desk... momentarily."
For the smallest instant the image on the screen stilled, the lips did not move. This
was the first indication that Mura was actually speaking in Japanese, his words
swiftly translated into EnglishтАФwhile the movement of his face and lips were
simulated by the computer to match the words. He turned and was handed a piece of
paper, smiled as he read it.
"The news is very good. It indicates that the price has fallen back to its previous
level."
J. J. Beckworth rubbed his jaw. "Any idea of what it was all about?"
"I regretfully report complete ignorance. Other than the fact that the party or
parties responsible have lost something close to a million dollars."
"Interesting. My thanks for your help and I look forward to your report."
J. J. Beckworth touched the phone disconnect button and the voxfax machine
behind him instantly sprang to life, humming lightly as it disgorged the printed record
of their conversation. His words were in black, while Mura's were in red for instant
identification. The translation system had been programmed well, and as he glanced
through it he saw no more than the usual number of errors. His secretary would file
this voxfax record for immediate use. The Megalobe staff translator would later verify
the correctness of the translation the computer had made.
"What is it all about?" Bill McCrory asked, puzzled. He was a whiz at electronics,
but found the arcane lore of the stock market a complete mystery.
J. J. Beckworth shrugged. "Don't knowтАФmay never know. Perhaps it was some
high-flying broker out for a quick profit, or a big bank changing its mind. In any case
it is not importantтАФnow. I think we can see what your resident genius has come up
with. Brian, you said his name was?"
"Brian Delaney, sir. But I'll have to phone first, it's getting late." It was dark