Countdown by John Walker (most life changing books TXT) 📕

down and save ourselves. But then when we booted him back up for help, my man found information that led me to discover his identity. Did you know?”

“Know what?”

Noah sighed. “Did you know he was related to me? And when did you? Was it back when you sent me to meet him on that planet? When we found the Peck twins?”

“I…” Alexander turned away. “I… knew. Yes.”

“I’m incredibly confused why you didn’t tell me.”

“I wasn’t supposed to, and I didn’t know what you’d do with the information anyway. I mean, did you intend to make friends with it? Have a birthday party? The mind was wiped. Sentimentality got me to assign that particular unit to your problem. One that I shouldn’t have indulged. And quite frankly, you shouldn’t indulge in it either.”

Noah stared at him, unsure of what to say next.

“Please don’t tell me you’re giving it human characteristics. You know the brain is just there to control it. There’s no sense in pretending it has feelings or memories. That device isn’t your grandfather.”

“I don’t think you’re entirely right,” Noah said. “There are memories in there still, and if they exist, maybe… maybe more does.”

“Don’t be sentimental like that,” Alexander warned. “You’re walking a dangerous line to start thinking that machine is anything more than what we’ve always known it to be. There’s no soul there, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“I don’t know if that’s true either. We encountered another one. Called itself Caesar. I have a feeling that if we delve into the background of that ‘donor’ we’d trace its quirks back to its real life. Bottom line though, I have a bad feeling we condemned a lot of people to a form of purgatory putting them in those things.”

“Those machines are likely going to win this war for us,” Alexander replied. “You know we still have many of them stored away. They’ve been brought out of retirement. As soon as they’re loaded into the unmanned gunboats, we’ll turn them loose on the enemy. Spin the tide of battle to our side.”

“What?” Noah huffed. “You have to be kidding. How many are you even talking about?”

“Hundreds,” Alexander replied. “The ones closest to sane. The ones that don’t have much time.”

“And what happens when they go over the edge?”

“Safety protocol.” Alexander tapped the side of his head. “Every one of them has been fitted with a powerful charge that will pierce the chamber and kill the brain. We have them under control this time. There’s no more friendly fire with this round. And even if they don’t make it, what’s that matter to them? They were on ice anyway.”

“That’s… insanely callous, I hope you realize that.”

“Only if,” Alexander said, “you start thinking of them as something more than the machines they are. Don’t let yourself go down that path, Noah. I recognize that you think you’ve got a grandfather caught up in this mess, but I’m being straight with you… that is not the case.”

“I guess it comes down to a moral question about what makes something human.”

“Maybe.” Alexander tilted his head. “Everyone involved in the program to create war dogs considered the brain biological material to ensure the project worked. If anyone expressed protest over the ethical implications, those were not put in the major report. Which to me suggests they already had those arguments and came to a logical conclusion.”

“That’s one way to look at it,” Noah said. “The other is that they didn’t care to ask the question. Or if they did, they were more concerned with bringing their vision to market.”

“Be objective for a moment. If the war dog on the Morrigan did not have the brain of your grandfather, would you even care about this?”

“I would like to think I have the empathy to be concerned about something that doesn’t directly impact me, yes.” Noah sighed. “Please tell me it bothers you to think about. At the very least.”

“There are two problems with getting bent out of shape over this. The first is the fact we’ve already discontinued all research and development on the war dog project. No new devices have been created in a very long time. The second issue is that we don’t have time to worry about this on the eve of war. Besides, what do you want to happen?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just that,” Alexander said. “Let’s say I went to the government with this. What would you hope to see happen?”

Noah started to answer but stopped himself. What could happen? They might track down those responsible for creating the war dogs and punish them. Would that matter? What sort of ethical argument would have to be won before they were even eligible for some form of penance?

He looked away, staring at the wall.

We’d need to debate the existence of the soul. Religion offered their opinions on it. I don’t recall the situation back then. I’m guessing they protested it… what they knew about it, at least. I suppose firing them up again might make some impact. They’d be able to march or protest. Which sounds totally counterproductive.

“I don’t know.” Noah shrugged. “I guess… I just wanted to better understand the process. I hope we don’t ever do anything like it again.”

“My reports from Petrova suggest we’ve gone another route. Cheated death in the case of Whitaker, Petrova, and Leavis. That sort of body modification has a bigger impact now than the war dogs did. No one would consider having their brain scooped out and placed in a machine immortality. But this treatment…”

“Yeah, that has a huge implication. And from what I understand, it doesn’t work on everyone.”

“Even when the ervas problem is dealt with, we’ve got plenty to work on.” Alexander patted his shoulder. “Moral implications of all kinds are waiting for us to address. Right now, you and