The Before Short Story Series. Part 1 - Иван Перепелятник

2nd rank officer, Event Monitoring Department.

Sergey Semyonovich opened his department operational comms app: ‘Murashkin, Murashkin… where are you, Murashkin…’

‘Vlad, come to my office regarding your report on Tokareva.’

‘Good afternoon, Sergey Semyonovich. I’ll be right there,’ Vladimir answered over the speakerphone.

‘So what is this story, Vlad, please clarify,’ inviting him to take a seat opposite his desk, Sergey Semyonovich addressed his subordinate. ‘You’ve intrigued me. What can this Tokareva’s software complex do?’

‘Sergey Semyonovich, the PAX and we ourselves try to do the job in the best possible way, tracking all significant events. Those causing certain concerns are the first to be subject to a thorough analysis.’

‘Vlad, well, you… you did everything right—your report is to the point and straightforward. Now I need to figure out what kind of technology, what kind of risks, what the options are. These are the issues that are important now.’

‘Understood, Sergey Semyonovich. So, this is the case. This lengthy and confusing name of Tokareva’s new development—Prototype of the Interview software package for generating a visual and speech image according to the specified parameters of the individual who is not an active registered object at the time of the formation of the corresponding projection…’—implies the possibility of creating a digital copy of the person who no longer exists, a survey and a dialogue with this prototype.

It was like for a moment everything went frozen in the office.

‘What does that mean? Please explain, Vladimir,’ the boss said quietly, pulling up the chair closer to the table.

‘To say in fact and briefly, Sergey Semyonovich…’

‘Yes, Vlad, in fact and briefly.’

‘We are dealing here with a possibility of feeding digitized data about a deceased person to the system: photos, videos, information from social networks, medical data, data from state databases, including audio and video surveillance systems, and the like. All this digital data is digested by PAX, based on the algorithm developed by Tokareva and her team, and as the output we get the opportunity to fully communicate online with a digital projection, a digitized copy of the person from the past—someone who no longer exists.’

‘Yeah, let’s assume it’s clear,’ Sergey Semyonovich leaned back in his chair. ‘And does this voodoo technology work?’

‘According to the reviews and comments of Tokareva’s colleagues, which we collected online the other day based on the signal received from PAX, the answer is positive—yes, it works. Tokareva herself notes that at the current stage we can only talk about a prototype or only an early version of the emulation of the individual program, as she herself calls it. Her colleagues note, Sergey Semyonovich, that, despite the early stage of the work on this software model, the reliability of the resulting personality projection is high and reaches 80-85% accuracy.’

‘Really?! And how did they calculate it? How was it measured, would be interesting to know?’

‘They did surveys, starting with 100% reliable facts of the person’s biography, and up to the events to which the person was related, but which were not recorded anywhere. For example, some family events, work situations, and the like, that only family members or colleagues would know about. Thus, we can conclude that this prototype is already working and is a highly important tool and asset,’ Vladimir summed up.

‘Fine. That’s clear, Vlad. When is their meeting scheduled for—Bild and Tokareva?’

‘On August 19, Sergey Semyonovich. Here, in Moscow, in a week.’

‘Good. So, let’s do as follows. (1) I confirm the PAX recommendations regarding the inexpediency of a meeting between the German journalists and Tokareva. (2) It is necessary to develop a set of measures to keep safe the developed prototype and maximize the support of the laboratory, Tokareva and her team. (3) My first priority is to report this situation to Ilya Igorevich and coordinate our further actions. Please keep in mind, Vladimir,’ Sergey Semyonovich significantly pointed in Vladimir’s direction with his index finger,’—the red priority issue. All right then, let’s do it 100% accurately.’

‘There we are then! My God! Soon they will digitize us alive, so that’s the way it goes…’, having agreed the possibility of an urgent meeting to report the director of the PAX security service, Sergey Semyonovich started getting ready to go.

Interview about the Interview

‘So, Alexandra, apparently, you and I have succeeded after all!’ Thomas greeted the other party.

‘Apparently, yes, Thomas! Good afternoon!’ Smiling, Alexandra held out her hand to greet him.

A special Bild room for virtual interviews did not require any particular preparation from the participants. One only needed glasses and a tablet with a camera in front of the conversation partner. The computer did the rest of the work. The participants of the conversation saw and felt themselves located in a modern meeting room in the Bild building in Munich on the 47th floor of the editorial office. At the same time, they themselves could have been anywhere, even on the beach, and if one wanted to chat while relaxing with friends in the forest, you were welcome. Those taking part in the conversation, and the viewer would all see a perfectly realistic picture of the event with the personal presence of the participants in the Bild office.

‘I am glad that you could find an opportunity to meet with me and talk about your amazing, stunning and mind-blowing program, the Interview—so much it is now praised by the media around the world! But first of all, of course, I want to congratulate you, Alexandra, on this success. What you and your team have done is like a revolution in our world. A new stage in the development of society. Important historical events and the stories of people whom we honour or, on the contrary, would like to forget as soon as possible—everything will appear to us in a new way. All the hidden details and secrets will be carefully studied, myths and tall tales will be finally