Here we are all again—limping, a few bruises, a bit burned and battered—and while we nurse our wounds, I thought I’d use these final pages to separate fact from fiction. Unfortunately for us all, there is a lot more of the former, and not nearly as much of the latter. So, dear readers, gird your loins.
Let’s first start with the past, the history touched upon in this novel. So, please cue up the Monty Python theme music, as nobody expects
The Spanish Inquisition
Most of the details in the novel concerning the long reign of the Inquisition are factual. A handful of priests were indeed burned at the stakes, and there was concern about the use and distribution of nóminas, magical amulets with the names of saints written upon them.
As to the bloody history of the text featured in this story—Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches)—much was covered in the foreword to this story. But I barely scratched the surface of the controversies, mysteries, and true horrors surrounding this tome. If you’d like to know more, there is a great National Geographic documentary, titled “Witch Hunter’s Bible.”
One pivotal figure of this time is the man who narrates the prologue, the Inquisitor Alonso de Salazar Frías. He earned the name “The Witches’ Advocate” due to his belief that most, if not all, accusations of witchcraft and sorcery were mere delusions or false testimony drawn from torture. He saved countless lives from his efforts, and because of his persuasive arguments among his own brethren, the Spanish Inquisition was one of the first organizations in Europe to outlaw the burning of witches.
But not all witches were persecuted; some were revered, which brings us to
Saint Columba
I’ve already mentioned some of the historical notes about this Catholic patron saint of witches at the start of the novel, so let me add that a cult did develop around this woman who accepted Christ yet continued her study of the natural world, who healed the sick—or in other words, who practiced witchcraft. Unfortunately, La Clave—the Key—is a fictitious organization, but I like to think there are those out there working in secret to battle intolerance, prejudice, and superstition. Or even better, doing it out in the open.
Let’s move on from historical witches to modern witchcraft (that is, science).
Artificial Intelligence
A long time ago, I read Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone, a nonfiction treatise about emerging diseases, specifically Ebola, and our poor ability to handle such biological crises. It was a terrifying read. Then I made the mistake of reading another such cautionary tale, this time concerning a technological crisis, one we are even less capable of handling. Many of the warnings about AI raised in this novel can be found in that book. In fact, when it comes to AI, almost nothing in this novel is fiction. So, for an absolutely nightmare-inducing read, check it out:
Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era, by James Barrat
But let’s move on to some specific details of this novel that were literally ripped from the headlines (or at least, scientific journals).
Mara’s Xénese Device
Of course, the shining sphere in this novel is fiction, but the essential components of her hardware are based on facts. I just took current advancements in the AI field and cobbled them together to create Eve’s physical home. Here are the three main components of her device and where you can read more about them:
Laser-driven computers: “Computing in a Flash,” by Timothy Revell, New Scientist, March 24, 2018
Neuromorphic computers: “The Key to Smarter AI: Copy the Brain,” by Justin Sanchez, Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2018
Quantum drives: “Job One for Quantum Computers: Boost Artificial Intelligence,” by George Musser, Quanta, January 29, 2018
Under this topic, it is worth highlighting Google’s champion of the Chinese game of Go: AlphaGo and its bigger brother, AlphaGoZero. Their ability to intuit moves in a game with a million trillion trillion trillion trillion more configurations than chess is astounding enough. But what is truly terrifying is that this program had taught itself this game, all on its own, in only three days. And there are even stronger programs on the horizon. So be afraid, be very afraid.
Next up—yep, we’re going there:
Time Travel and Quantum Theory
As mentioned above, a key component of Mara’s device is its laser-driven synapses. Ron Mallet, a theoretical physicist from the University of Connecticut, has postulated that ring lasers could have the same effect on spacetime and gravity as a black hole, allowing for binary code messages to be transmitted into the past. Other physicists have shown that the prop erty of quantum entanglement could be used to move messages into the past (or future)—and it gets even weirder with quantum teleportation (yes, that’s real, too).
Here are two bread crumbs to follow:
“Weird! Quantum Entanglement Can Reach into the Past,” by Clara Moskowitz, Live Science, April 30, 2012
“Is Communication from the Future Already Here?” Robert Torres, Epoch Times, January 11, 2016
Let’s move over to some of the medical science in this book. I’ve divided this section into two halves, one for each patient:
Kat’s Treatments
While Captain Bryant’s care and treatment may seem to defy reality, all of what appears in this book is backed by real medical science, either what’s currently being used in hospitals or under active research. I’ve broken her care into its component parts and share where you can read more about each item.
Communicating with locked-in patients: “First contact—with a trapped brain,” by Adrian Owen, New Scientist, September 16, 2017
How MRI is being used to read minds: “AI reads your mind to describe pictures,” by Timothy Revell, New Scientist, March 10, 2018
“This ‘mind-reading’ algorithm can decode the pictures in your head,” by Matthew Hutson, Science, January 10, 2018
Reviving patients in altered states of consciousness: “Roused from a vegetative state,” by Anil Ananthaswamy, New Scientist, September 30, 2017
“How to turn a brain on and off at will,” by Helen Thomson, New Scientist, December 26, 2015, and “Woken up with a brain zap,” by Helen Thomson, New Scientist, May 26, 2018
Neural Dust (yes, this is real, too): “Mapping the Human Brain with Neural Dust,” by Kyle Maxey, Engineering.com, July 23, 2013
“4 Steps to Turn ‘Neural Dust’ into a Medical Reality,” Eliza Strickland, IEEE Spectrum, October 21, 2016
Monk’s Treatment
Monk was due for an upgrade to his prosthesis after losing his hand in his first adventure with Gray. DARPA has been doing amazing work and has developed some truly astounding upgrades, from synthetic skin that can transmit the sense of touch to wireless arrays that can communicate wirelessly from brain to prosthesis. As fast as DARPA and other research institutes are making progress, I’m sure Monk’s current prosthetic hardware will quickly grow obsolete.
But there is also a threat from this integration of man and machine, namely that machines can be hacked. And when you’re wiring a brain with such gear (whether it’s Monk’s microelectrode array or Kat’s spread of neural dust), bad things might happen. Here’s one cautionary article:
“Experts: Artificial Intelligence Could Hijack Brain-Computer Interfaces,” by Dom Galeon, Futurism, November 20, 2017
Before I finish up, I thought I should play tour guide and mention a few of the locations featured in this novel.
University of Coimbra
Mara’s alma mater is an amazing place. The university’s Laboratory for Advanced Computing does indeed house one of the largest supercomputers on the continent, the Milipeia Cluster. But the coolest of all is the Julian Library on the campus. The facility indeed has a medieval prison (Pris?o Académica) built under it. It was once part of the original dungeons of the city’s royal palace and served as a university prison all the way until 1834. Best of all, though, the library does indeed have an efficient means of insect control to protect their books: a permanent colony of bats. And, yes, unfortunately, caretakers must cover the desks up at night with leather blankets to shield those surfaces from droppings, but it’s still cheaper than minimum wage for several hundred winged workers.
Paris