~~5THE QUEST TO CONTROL
~~4A Short Story By Richard Salter

~~6   WITH a bone-jarring explosion, the universe shifted again.

~~5 The man watched as he had done for aeons. Now was the time, all would be
judged. For they who had lived in this  universe this was a time to fear,
the most important time in the life of this universe since its beginning:
its end.

 World after world exploded  in  showers  of  brilliant light, some still
inhabited after all this time with highly evolved intelligent life-forms.
Many of these intelligent creatures had  predicted the complete and utter
destruction of the universe and had sought a way to escape, or to protect
themselves.

 On one  world,  Targuis,  where  millions  of  years  earlier  the  last
remaining humans  from  Earth  before  its  bitter,  war-ravaged  end had
settled, creatures lived who  were  the  highly  developed descendants of
those first human  colonists.  These  humanoids  had  built  themselves a
computer. It was the  height  of  their  technology, symbolising all that
these humans had strived for in their  quest to control. That quest which
had destroyed their home planet all  those  years  ago, when one group of
humans  wanted  control  over  another  country,  and  that  country  had
retaliated.

 In spite of their  costly  mistakes,  these  creatures  had continued in
their quest. They sought to control the new world they had moved to. They
wanted to have complete say  in  what  the atmospheric pressures would be
each day, creating climates that would suit perfectly the different parts
of their world. A warm climate with plenty of rain for those places where
crops grow. Warm and sunny places  to  live  in  with enough rain to make
them lush and beautiful. Rain forests  under computer control in order to
regulate the Targuis' air supply. The list goes on.

 And now they had  developed  their  computer.  The single, most powerful
technological 'triumph' they had ever created.

 And when the universe started to end, the computer did battle with it.

~~6 The computer had a massive intelligence rating, capable of understanding
the infinite reaches of time and  space  and make accurate estimations as
to what lies beyond the universe;  able  to calculate the future of every
galaxy, sun and planet known to it, things that unaided humans could only
speculate at.

 Using the resources the humans had put  at its disposal it tried to hold
the universe back, to mend the  gaping  holes  in  the fabric of time and
space, ripped open by the ensuing forces of destruction.

 The computer moved planets in order to  stop the inevitable. Part of its
massive processor was given  over  to  finding  an  escape  route for its
creators, but it could find none. The lasers that had long replaced wires
carried billions of instructions  every picosecond. Successful completion
of the computer program would mean total control of everything.

 And the computer was gaining the upper hand.

 The Watcher looked on with concern.  If  the  computer won it would mean
that it would be the single most powerful thing in the universe. It could
have control over the fate of every  living  thing. Added to this was the
disruption it would cause to  space  when  a  universe  which had run its
course was still there. He could  not  allow  this  to happen. Much as he
regretted to see the end of  this universe he considered the consequences
should it remain and decided the computer must be destroyed.

 And then he decided to do nothing. He realised he didn't have to.

~~5 He saw many years before a  programmer,  a  short and unloved sapien who
sat alone in a  large  workshop  surrounded  by  the  most advanced mini-
computers and terminals man  possessed.  His  intelligent but lonely mind
was engaged in a  conversation  with  a  terminal.  He was programming it
using the usual mind link,  enabling  him  to think patterns and commands
which were then entered by  means  of  a  small, light pair of electrodes
attached to his head. As  he  programmed  his  mind  was distracted for a
second by thoughts of his  foster  mother.  Everyone  was brought up by a
foster mother. Everyone was developed in  a test tube, altered by genetic
engineering to be perfect. Sex  was  a  simple leisure activity for those
who had time. Reproduction was a waste  of that precious time. All humans
where now perfect. All physically  healthy,  all intelligent, all strong,
all lived to five hundred.

 The programmer returned to his  work,  but  the  damage had been done. A
simple 'bug' had been introduced into his system.

 The bug was not found by the  sophisticated checks that were looking for
something far more serious and  complicated. The program was subsequently
used in one machine  that  helped  others  to  create the master computer
which was put  in  charge  of  maintaining  Targuis  finely  balanced air
supply.

 This computer was then taken off the air supply and replaced by another,
better suited one. The master computer  was  then combined with others in
the task to design the ultimate computer, the one that could stop the end
of the universe.

 The simple bug transferred itself  into  the  design of the new computer
and it was about to have  the  following effect. One certain instruction,
involving one certain number,  triggered  a  slight  power failure to one
fraction of the computer's  vast  memory.  This  had been happening quite
often in the computer's history  but  only  now, when every micrometre of
memory was in use, did it matter.

~~6 The Watcher smiled a sad but satisfied smile as the computer collapsed.

 The humans cried out in despair as the universe triumphantly realised it
could continue with its pre-ordained finish. Now no-one could stop it. It
took great pride in reducing  Targius  to an explosive fireball, ignoring
the screams both from the humans and the malfunctioning computer.

 And as the universe collapsed inwards  on  him, the Watcher accepted his
death for he knew it had to  happen.  Nothing lasts forever, not even he.
Nothing could stop the inevitable,  not  even   technology. No matter how
advanced, technology had always been one step behind nature.

 Nature is perfect. Technology can never be.

 Before he died, the Wathcher  considered  that  if perhaps if the humans
had spent the centuries learning  to  work  alongside nature, rather than
trying to control it, they might have had a chance.

 Then, he died. There would  be  other universes, other existences, other
lives to watch.

 But for now, everything was at an end.