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Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
Would you look this way please?
Okay! One moment. Mr. President, all systems activated. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. - oh no, not at all. Congratulations Dr. Forbin. It's a marvelous achievement. Thank you sir. Hear, Hear! The limousine is ready for us. Of course it's gonna put me out of a job and put the Pentagon in mothballs. Congratulations Dr. Forbin. I'm quite sure that won't happen Listen to him. He's more relieved than anybody. Our secretary of defense, the secretary of state and myself had a discussion on our way out here and as to the treatment needed we told the company about it. And hem.. We all agreed it should be simple and direct. Yes. Downgrade the biggest top-secret in all history to a plain non-sequitur. Now, all we have to do is tell the people about it. Thank you sir. My friends.. Fellow citizens of the world. For years we have been delicately and desperately poised upon the brink of a disaster too complete and horrible to contemplate. There is an old saying: Everyone makes mistakes but that is just what man can no longer afford. For years, we here in the united states have been working on that problem until now it's been our most closely guarded secret involving great effort and wast expenditure. But it has been met with success. As President of the United states of America I can now tell you, the people of the entire world that as of 3 Am. eastern standard time the defense of this nation and with it, the defense of the free world has been the responsibility of a machine. A system we call Colossus. Far more advanced than anything previously built Capable of studying intelligence and data fed to it. And on the basis of those facts only deciding if an attack is about to be launched upon us. If it did decide that an attack was imminent colossus would then act immediately for it controls its own weapons and can select and deliver whatever it considers appropriate. Colossus decisions are superior to any we humans can make. For it can absorb and process more knowledge than is remotely possible for the greatest genius that ever lived. And even more important than that it has no emotions. Knows no fear, no hate, no envy. It cannot act in a sudden fit of temper. Cannot act at all so long as there is no threat. I would now like you to meet Dr. Charles Forbin The worlds leading expert on computer systems. And if you will.. the father of Colossus. Thank you Mr. President. Ladies and gentlemen, I will.. try to make this as simple as possible. The main memory and central processing units are located here in the rocky mountains.. Inside this particular mountain.. In Colorado. And overlooking the Pacific Ocean in California.. the Colossus programing office oversees the entire operation. The computer center contains over one hundred thousand remote censors and communication devices which monitor all electronic transmissions such as microwaves, laser radio and television communications data communications from satellites in orbit all over the world. The entire system.. is surrounded by fields of intensified gamma radiation and other countermeasure devices. Colossus works completely without human aid. We make no secret.. of where Colossus is located nor do we intend to conceal how it functions. You may rightfully say that this leaves us wide open to an attack frontally and subversively and if that attack were successful it would in effect leave us defenseless. However.. Colossus does have its own defense. It is its own defense. In case of an attack.. on any of its information supply or power lines.. Colossus will switch on the emergency circuits which will then take the appropriate action. It is self-sufficient self-protected self-generated. It is impenetrable. In short.. There's no way in. No human being can touch it. Over here we have one of the many terminals directly hooked to the computer center. Through this Colossus can communicate with us, excuse me gentlemen, and through this machine we, in turn, can communicate with Colossus. Now, there's one last point. One inevitable question.. which we have been asked very frequently before. And that is.. is Colossus capable of creative thought? Can it initiate new thought? I can tell you that the answer to that is no. However Colossus is a paragon of knowledge and his knowledge can be expanded indefinitely. I hope, along with all the scientists who.. helped make this particular project, that the immense power of this computer will not only be used for the defense of this country but hopefully also as an aid to the solution of the many problems we face on this earth and the many more problems that we will face the more deeply we penetrate into the universe. Thank you. Mr. President. Thank you Dr. Forbin. And so.. my fellow human beings we all directly and indirectly live in the shade but not the shadow of Colossus. My sincere hope is that now we shall join hands and hearts across this great globe and pledge our time and our energies to the elimination of war elimination of famine, of suffering and ultimately to the manifestation of the human millennium. This can be done, but first there must be peace. Thank you. CPO Rec-Room. Blake Miller here. What?! Just a minute. I can't hear you. Hey! Hold it down! Kill the noise. Hold it. It's The White House. Hello Charles. Hello Blake. How is everyone? Everything's fine down here Charles. Very good. Dr. Forbin, we had a power failure in one of the infra-red satellites. I cant, I cant quite hear you Dr. Markham. We had a power failure in one of the infra-red satellites about an hour and a half ago but Colossus switched immediately to the backup system and didn't loose any data. Everything's fine now. Everything's been going so well we don't know what to do with ourselves Out of desperation Angela and I have decided to get married Finally, finally. Very good. Charlie, is that your crew on the phone? Certainly is Mr. President. Can I talk to them? Sure, go ahead sir. Blake, Hello! Hello Mr. President. Hello everyone. How are you? Are you having a good time? Yeah! Very good. Ahh.. Folks I just wanna congratulate all of you and I wish all of you good luck on your next projects Thank you Mr. President. Have a good rest. You deserve it. Thank you. We will! That looks like quite a party you've got going there. Bye bye. Have fun. Here's Dr. Forbin again. How's the party down there Charles? I said, Charles, how's the party at that end? I wish I could be there with you because this party is becoming a crashing bore. Please not that song. Please not. Dr. Forbin, send us a souvenir, will you? Say that again. What?! Steal us an ashtray from The White House, OK? Very good. Goodbye. Haha.. The President would like to say a few words. Mr. President! Thank you Sam. Everybody have a drink? No?! Well, you get one. I'll wait for you. Harry Truman, years ago.. when everybody was talking about passing the buck said that the buck stops right here but now that's no longer true. Hear hear! Colossus will now take that buck. It will also have to take that responsibility of a mega-million lives that all presidents have had to carry since Roosevelt. And now, thank to this wonder of science I no longer.. Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. Quiet, please, ladies and gentlemen. May I have your attention! One moment. Everyone who is not Colossus cleared must leave the room. I'm very sorry. My apologies. Thank you, thank you very much. Is this a joke? Is somebody putting me on? Sorry sir, I can't hear a word you are saying Would you be so kind as to have them stop singing in the background? What? Have them stop singing in the background. The music. Oh! I'm sorry. Stop the music! What's this, another system? I have no idea sir, I'm just trying to find out. One moment, please. Yes, Dr. Forbin. Doctor? There was just a message here from Colossus in Washington DC. Can you explain that? That's impossible. What do you mean? Everybody! Hold it, hold it a minute! Guess what? It's a strange message on display No, no. Wait a minute. I'm not kidding It reads: There is another system. That's impossible. Could I have your attention please. Go on Sir. Dr. Malcolm and the rest of you. Be so kind as to check the administrative control programs right now. Just a moment.. Mr. President? Soviet Ambassador. He says it's urgent. Hello? Yes. What time do you call Mr. Ambassador? Oh yes we are, we are very proud. Repeat that again please. Yes I am. Well, thank you for telling me in advance. No, no comment. Goodnight Mr. Ambassador. Goodnight. Dr. Fischer, run all the test programs. Get me Grauber. What's the CIA been doing? Well everyone, that's it. The supreme council of the U.S.S.R. has ordered as of 2300 hours Moscow time tomorrow the activation of an electronic brain, exactly like ours, which they call Guardian to be used solely for defense. My god, that's the other system. Ted, I want a complete rundown on central intelligence and no military moves to be carried out without my personal orders. Yes, Mr. President. Charles, what do you think this means? To be quite frank with you, sir.. I don't know, I'm not sure. Well, I am. It means there's been a security leak. Sir, science is full of coincidences Yes. Peterson! What's happening? They're still trying to find it. We'll have him paged. Hello Byron. You said we were years ahead of the Russians This was to be the race we won hands down, without the splitting of one political hair. It was a hell of a shock but we did get there first, no-one can deny that. And there's one bright spot the way Colossus came up with the tip. I didn't realize we'd be getting bonuses like that. Neither did I. What do you mean? I'm as surprised as you are, Sir. There's a spy there, Charlie You've got a Russian agent in your crew. Where is Grauber? He's coming Mr. President. Ok, Well.. What do you mean, surprised? What kind of a surprise? If we don't find any bugs in the system.. It's built even better than we'd thought. Morning Charles! I canceled all vacations, put the entire crew on emergency. The White House called a defense group meeting for tomorrow morning. They wanna have you there. That leaves us very little time. Four hundred cycle powers of plasma running at about four percent disclosure. Good, that's well within specification limits. I ran the communication subset check up program, it's perfect. So what do I do next, I've tried everything I could think of. I've tried putting a dummy load in the system and run it again and see if there's any changes. Maybe the system is overloaded. Find anything at all? Nothing, everything checks out. Let me see this over here. Here are the results of the last test. And they check. Here, see? It's the same thing. Harrison.. Check the perimeter bank and see if the reading of any two produces a new third, alright? Dr. Fisher, thank you. Jeff.. The console's feeling fine Hardware's healthy too. You're a big help. Miss Fields.. May I suggest, Sir, that we first start with the E-15-B test program? Ehh, no. Now, let us run the EC-13, alright? It's two pages back. Lewis, any coffee? I'll get you some, Charles I'll get a cup myself. Thank you Blake. Ok, here we go. Attention.. Program.. EC-13. Run.. How long does this usually take? Ehm, over eleven hundred CPU-Seconds. Six point four five seconds. What the hell is this? Communication with other system? Alright now, Enough is enough. Which one of you jokers told the system to display this message? Harrison? Not me, Dr. Forbin. Johnson, this sound like your brand of humor, you sure you didn't.. Not me, not this time. Scouts honor, Forbin. Operations, Fields speaking. Sir, It's the President. Yes Mr. President. What does this mean? Well, it means Sir, that Colossus has requested a communication link with the Soviet system. It's not a request, its a direct order. You mean our computer wants to talk to their computer? That is true Sir it wants to communicate with it. Why? You know as much about that as we do. We certainly never programmed that into it. If it's an order it either has to be obeyed or ignored, doesn't it? That is right, Sir. What happens if we ignore it? If the computer is still operating under our control, nothing. In other words.. the order will simply remain in the job stack and will be repeated every half hour. IF the computer is still acting under our control?! That is right sir, if. Alright. I see. Thanks Charlie. Well, at least the queuing programs are still working right. Well, that's something anyway. Ok now. Miss Fields, let's see if the executive programming sections are functioning correctly. Attention.. Message acknowledge. Facilities will not be made available at this time. Do not repeat your request. End of message. Well.. That's that. We'll know in about half an hour whether we're still running the show or not. Well.. We're still boss. Are we? Are you disappointed? The computational power of the computer has increased about two-hundred fold. However, everything else is functioning as expected. Except for heuristic programming section I'm sorry to stop you again, Dr. Forbin, but exactly what is that? That Sir, is the part of the computer that simulates the human learning process but so long as it is directed solely to the execution of its problems.. We have no complaints. I guess that is, that is all. Alright. Mr. Grauber, let's talk about the CIA How is it possible your department knew nothing about their system? Mr. President. Ehr... Charlie just.. Dr. Forbin, just a second. Well.. Mr. President, excuse me but.. Colossus has access to information that wouldn't mean a damn thing to the CIA Well I'm sure it's a marvelous machine, Dr. Forbin, but in all events we do have agents, and eh.. one of them did report on considerable electronic activity in the eh.. Krasny-Signorsk area of Siberia about three years ago, now.. We've been trying.. Mr. Grauber I don't care how you do it I wanna know where that thing is and what.. Mr. President. Charlie.. I'm still presiding over this meeting I know that Sir, my apologies but.. I do think that protocol wastes an awful lot of time I think all we have to do is.. Call the computer with this terminal.. and we get the fastest possible answer. Alright, go ahead. Attention.. Where is the other system? Bolshoi Olyania. So much for Krasny-Signorsk. Colonel, Bolshoi Olyania, O.L.. OL, y-a-n-i-a. Look it up for me, will ya? Yes sir! Peterson, situation room. Now Colonel, where is Bolshoi Olyania? It's exactly.. Five miles south of Krasny Signorsk Sir. Thanks, Colonel. Alright. Now Charlie.. What about this request for transmitting facilities? Well Sir, we would learn a lot about the Soviet system if we set up exactly what Colossus wants. What do you mean? What Colossus wants? Well, you see, it is built infinitely better than we thought. It discovers there's another system like itself Realizes that we don't know, tells us about it but knowing a little is not enough, it wants to know more. What if Colossus starts transmitting classified information? Then we would feed in a parameter to the effect that Guardian is potentially hostile and must not receive classified information. Well, what are we supposed to do Dr. Forbin? Eavesdrop on the line? Break the circuits if Colossus starts spilling the beans? Exactly. Any objections Grauber? Well, I.. I guess not sir. Anything else, Dr. Forbin? Yes, Mr. President. For the time being I should be the only one allowed to communicate with the system because Colossus deals in the exact meaning of words and one must know precisely what to ask for. Alright. Attention.. Communications are being arranged as requested. End of message. Video-scans are working properly but they could use a little phase synchronization. How long is it gonna take? We'll have it in no time. What the hell is that? It's a multiplication table. Thanks. Maybe Colossus is trying to find a common ground for communication. Operations center Sir.. It's Grauber Ohh.. Hello Mr. Grauber. Hello Dr. Forbin. I was just wondering, is that what you call a colossal sense of humor? The multiplication table isn't classified this year, is it? Very funny. How long does your brainchild keep that up? Well, you see.. it's much more interesting when it starts dividing. Yeah, I can hardly wait. I suppose know you the Russian machine has been activated. We got a quick rundown on it. It's similar to Colossus in layout, but it's not concentrated in one area. But Colossus must be sending it back to school. The Russians must absolutely furious about that. I'm glad you're in such a good mood. I'll call you back later. Yes, thank you. This is incredible. What? Something wrong? Well it's good sound calculus, but.. But What? It's different. How? Take a look at it. From the multiplication tables to calculus in less than an hour. God only knows where it'll be by morning. It's like five years of Cal-tech in fifteen seconds Beyond comprehension. I don't like to think about it. Take a look. Going so fast, the entire system could break down. Alright, let's see whats up there now. Harrison, dump the terminals buffer and print what's being transmitted as of this moment, alright. What is it Charles? This is way beyond me. This thing is deep in finite absolutes. Well, it's certainly beyond the knowledge of any human being. No, it's not. Isn't it? No, because whatever it is.. we can go back.. and analyze this whole print at a detail. And this might very well become new knowledge for mankind. Operations center, Fields speaking. Alright, just a moment please.. It's The White House. Yes, Mr. President. Charlie, what's going on? Apparently Colossus and Guardian are establishing a common basis for communication. They.. started right at the beginning with the multiplication table. Well, what are they up to? I don't know sir, but it's, it's quite incredible. Just the few hours that we have spent studying the Colossus print out we have found a new stable in gravitation and a confirmation of the Eddington theory of the expanding universe. It's.. seems if science is expanding hundreds of years within a matter of seconds, It's.. It's quite fantastic. Just take a look at it. It started slowing down fifteen minutes ago. It's speed has been reduced by ninety percent. Has there been a hardware failure? No. Our field engineers can't find one. It's just waiting. Waiting? For guardian to catch up with it. Almost there.. Right now. They're synchronized. Now what? It stopped. Yes, Charles. I can see that it stopped. What the hell does it mean? Have they broken down or something? Is it all over? Alas, Blake.. Attention. Status! Well, there it is.. There's the common basis for communication. A new language. An inter-system language. A language only those machines can understand. Peterson, what's the delay on the call from Moscow. I've waited long enough It's coming on now, Mr. President. Morning, Mr. President. Good evening Mr. Chairman I'm sorry. Sorry to have kept you waiting. Oh, you didn't Mr. Chairman. I just got here myself. I understand English. But I cannot speak. I will get instantly to the point. My advisers tell me.. that Colossus.. and Guardian.. are now exchanging data.. which our experts.. do not understand. The matter is made.. more serious.. by the sudden increase in.. transmission. At this speed we cannot determine.. what our machines may reveal.. of our defenses. You can appreciate.. that you are also.. in exactly the same.. s..situation. Alright. We'll stop both machines as soon as our experts can arrange a time. Both to go off. At the same time. And neither to be switched on for transmission.. without prior agreement or at least consultation with the other. Very well, Mr. President. I congratulate you on your speedy decision. When can you have your expert available on this line? In a couple of hours. That will be excellent. I will have our man waiting. Thank you very much Mr. President for your cooperation. Thank you for yours Mr. Chairman. Peterson, get me Forbin. Is that your final decision, Sir? That's the way I'm going to have it. Mr. President. To be quite frank with you.. I think that you would change your mind if you finally realized that this is.. more than just a souped-up padding machine. Excuse me, Mr. President. Moscow on the line. Throw it on these monitors out here please. Hello Mr. Chairman. This is Dr. Forbin. Hello Dr. Kuprin. How are you? I prefer to not use a translator if you don't mind my English. It has to be better than my Russian. You are to modest Dr. Forbin. As you probably know I've been ordered to break the communication lines. So have I. I don't approve of handling the situation this way. Neither do I but how do you propose we do what we have been ordered to do? There's not much choice is there? Dropping the lines could be very dangerous. Exactly. I think we just have to hope the two machines aren't too disappointed. We understand each other perfectly. We can be ready in exactly fifteen minutes. Good luck Doctor. And to you. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, Dr. Kuprin. I suggest we keep our lines open and stand-by. Six.. Five.. Four.. Three.. Two.. One.. Now. That's that. What's it doing? It's trying to find an alternate route. Persistent devil isn't he? It.. I mean it. Don't personalize it Grauber. The next stop is deification. Call for the systems attention. What are you doing? I'm going to answer it if it's alright with you Sir. Attention.. Message acknowledge. Mr. President? Tell it the truth. Communication broken on presidential order. You two have a big decision to make Mr. President. ..no. I agree with you Mr. President. The machines are very clever. ..and regardless of their nationalities.. they must learn that man is the master. Exactly. Gentlemen, Excuse me but I honestly don't think you're being very realistic. I think you'd better reconsider. Don't you agree Dr. Kuprin? I certainly do Dr. Forbin. Dr. Forbin. If we give way now It will be ten times, twenty times harder to take a firm stand later on. The decision is made. Right. No matter what our differences are Man is man That's it. Dr. Forbin. Attention.. By order of The President of The United States of America The Chairman of The U.S.S.R. Communications will not be restored at this time. End of message. You have to give it an E for effort Action will be taken! What kind of action? What kind of action? What kind of action? Why doesn't it answer? Report propose action. It lost control Forbin. It's not listening to you. Acknowledge the last message please. Mr. President. The executive programming unit refuses to function. I think you two better change your minds. Peterson, throw the Moscow call on the large monitor. Send what I tell you. Attention.. This is The President of The United States of America. We will not be threatened. You will obey your superiors. Transmitting facilities will not be re-instated. Oh my god! Dr. Kuprin. Kuprin! Yes Dr. Forbin. A missile has just been launched. It is heading towards the Sayan-Sibirsk oil complex. Mr. President. Yes. Guardian has retaliated. Retaliated? Yes, Mr. President. A missile has been launched. Target: Henderson air-force base. Henderson, Texas. Mr. President. We have both missiles on the radar screen Forbin, tell Colossus to intercept. Charlie, tell..Yes, I know Mr. President but it may be too late Sir. Get the Texan Governor. Forbin! Guardian does not respond. The two machines are working together. Attention.. Use Anti-missile missile to detect soviet missile. Acknowledge message. Mr.President. We have got less than thirty seconds to re-establish the communications. What are you waiting for? Restore them. Hurry! Peterson. Call up operations immediately. Tell them to bring a bowl of DAT-lines right now Yes, hurry please. Hello Governor. Dr. Kuprin, we are trying to restore communications. Don't hang up. I wanna talk to him. Something's happened. Were declaring a state of emergency. I can't explain. Do it now! Attention! Communications will be restored in five seconds! We don't have any time! It's on, it's on! Communications are restored! Intercept Guardian missile target: Henderson air-force base. Acknowledge message. Will you intercept? Ask it again. Dammit Colossus answer me! Will you intercept? Peterson. Get me the Governor again. Yes Sir. Mr. President.. We were unable to restore our transmission in time to use an Anti-missile missile. The oil complex has been destroyed. The entire town. The entire population. Wiped out. We need time to consider our position. What can I tell the people? Governor's on the line Sir. Tell him I'll talk to him later. Figures.. It's the only phone in the building not tapped. The only one not tied directly into Colossus. May I make a suggestion Mr. President? I think it should be more than a suggestion. Then, let's try to get Kuprin on the hot line. I think there's time for one last call. He and I better meet somewhere to discuss this situation. Get Kuprin. And get in touch with the networks. Ladies and gentlemen: The President of the United States. Today at 8:30 A.M. Eastern Standard Time. I issued an emergency warning for the State of Texas When a missile test, fired from one of our own submarines, malfunctioned. You'll be glad to know that the interception and safe destruction of the missile was handled entirely by our defense complex: Colossus. The Soviet Union has just announced that a large meteorite fell late this afternoon in North-West Siberia. Official sources state that the small town of Sayan-Sibirsk was completely destroyed and that casualties may add up to as many as six-thousand. This has been a bulletin from The Armed Forces Radio in Rome How's Washington? As well as can be expected. We'll be picking up Dr. Kuprin at the Piazza Cedar. Fine. Your Russian is much better than you think. I think we better sit down because we have a lot of work to discuss. Let's walk. It will be much safer. I didn't answer. I didn't know what to say. What can we say? Well, let's try something.. Attention.. Dr. Forbin is not available. Humans must have sleep. Damn. Forbin is exhausted. It knows.. Forbin is in his quarters. He is asleep. The human body requires a certain amount of rest. Check units under.. Tell it the truth. We'd better. Alright. Forbin is in Rome. They're still here.. Yes I understand. Over and out. You have to come with me sir. What is this? We have to hurry. Who are you? What's going on? Hurry! Dr.Forbin, we must hurry. Let's go! What did the Russian agent say? Guardian and Colossus ordered him killed. They threatened to vaporize Moscow if our meeting wasn't stopped. Surveillance! It's making you a prisoner. Well, I guess it eh.. doesn't trust me. But the damned thing still needs me. I guess Kuprin wasn't quite as fortunate as that. Message acknowledge.. The order will be obeyed. Everybody here? All the department is. Good! Alright, let's.. Let's walk. Good idea, we can't afford to take any chances. We can't be sure that the complex itself hasn't been bugged. By their side, our side or whatever side. But there's no way to get back inside the system. I won't accept that. Start right at the beginning. Down to the simplest component. Every circuit, every design. Fisher? Well, why don't we try for an overload. Giving the system too many tasks. But it will take at least a few days to compile and correlate all the data. This is the last time That I'll be able to say anything to any of you without Colossus hearing and analyzing every word, every syllable every inflection I think you know what I want to say. I need a communications link with the outside world. Someone the machine isn't monitoring and more importantly Someone who knows the machine as well as I do. I'm going to try to convince the computer that.. You are my mistress. Have been for many years And that therefore I have to be Given the opportunity to See you regularly in private without the machine watching. That way we can pass information back and forth. If I can convince the machine that well that I need a woman. So Ehh.. Any.. any questions? I, Ehh.. No. O.k. Alright. Blake. When we get back to the office give Dr. Markham my.. personnel files so that she Become a bit more familiar with my background. In case this rather nutty idea works. Colossus, I am Forbin. Can you hear me? Can you see me? Do I look the way you thought I would? Eyes. Nose. Mouth. Besides.. these four cameras in here There are several others. I'll show you the rest of my cave. With this one he can see the entire hallway. And with this one he can follow me around the corner. If he want to. This is the courtyard. That man is a guard. I guess that his function is obsolete now. This is concrete. Used to be grass. Customary in our civilization to change everything that's natural. And over here are my living quarters. This is the living room. Two cameras here. One over there, one over here. And this is the communicative link with you. This is the bedroom over here. The bed. Used for sleeping and other purposes. It's the bathroom. The sink The John. Shower. Are you satisfied? By the way, Colossus I'm curious about one thing. Why did you and Guardian decide to kill Kuprin and not me? After all it was my idea. I see.. A Martini. I know that Colossus.. Just be patient. Just watch. See, I just poured the Vermouth in here and now I'm going to pour some gin over the, over the ice. Just like this. See? Now I'm pouring them into this glass. Just add an olive. Why don't you look under: The Perfect Martini. Cheers! Do you understand the meaning of the word Privacy? Yes, Ehh.. Well, I need a certain amount of privacy, to Ehh maintain my sanity. Privacy in the elimination of my bodily waste, for example. Privacy in sleep. Privacy in.. Something that you don't understand. My.. My emotional life. My love life. Alright. My sex life then.. Every night. Four times a week. Listen, if you have any doubts about the need a man has for a woman why don't you check all of your history units and then..then all your works of art. O.k. Ehm..In private though. Yes. Well now, let me..let me make sure we under stand each other. In..in private. By that I mean no cameras, no lights, no mics. And I want it starting tomorrow night. Dr. Cleo Markham. Now, you haven't answered me yet. I said I wanted her starting tomorrow night. O.k. Good morning, Sir. Oh, Miss Fields Ehh.. I'm sorry to disturb you. Well, what is it? Well.. Please come in. Thank you. While you were sleeping Colossus made you a schedule for today. Excuse me, Miss Fields. My What? Your schedule for the day. You want me to read it to you? What..what time is it? Six. Six o'clock? Dr. Charles A. Forbin: Schedule for today. 07:00 to 08:00 Exercise. 08:15 to 08:30 Shower and dress. 08:30 to 09:00 Breakfast Half a grapefruit, two eggs. Three strips of bacon Two pieces of toast. One and one half ounces of grape, jelly and coffee. 09:00 to 13:00 Begin work creating a voice for Colossus to it's exact specifications. 13:00 to 13:30 Lunch Small green salad. Thousand Island dressing Grilled cheese sandwich. Half a pint of yoghurt and coffee. 13:30 to 18:00 Continue work on building a voice for readiness day after tomorrow 18:00 Return to quarters. 18:15 Shower 18:30 Mistress arrives. Hello darling. Well, how are you? I'm fine thank you. Would you please undo this top one. Why sure! Thank you. You're beautiful. Thank you. You alright? I think so. Well, alright. I'll take this.. Oh, do you Ehh.. Do you want a drink? I'm making them. Oh! Alright. Jolson found all the hardware he needed for the voice simulator here in the complex. Oh, that's good. And Colossus designed it, knowing exactly what was in the warehouse. It's fantastic. Really beautiful. Let's not talk shop, alright? I'm sorry. Cheers! Cheers heh.. Well, is it alright? It's perfect. You have such a thing about these Martinis. It has to be extra dry or else.. Right darling? Right you are. Do you remember the first Martini I ever made? It almost ended our relationship right then and there. I was..I was so nervous that I.. poured the Gin over the ice then poured the Gin off and then added Vermouth. I never complained at that. I never said a word about that. You're an absolute angel. And the drink was atrocious. So Ehh.. Hi! Hello. Why don't we dance? Alright. You mean when you were giving up music? To become a scientist. A scientist being different from other people. A scientist being Dr. Frankenstein to my mother. You must be kidding. Well, is there anymore wine? This is empty. Want me to open another one? Yes please. I am tired. Yeah, so am I. Oh, by the way, by the way, by the way Ehh.. Privacy condition number four is that we get undressed out here. We can't take anything into the bedroom. Not even a pack of cigarettes. Well.. The first electronic Peeping Tom. I guess you.. might say that. Unzip me, will you darling? Oh, sure. Sure. Is it alright? May I go to bed now? Thank you. Goodnight. Naked as the day I was born. Are you satisfied now? How right you are, All of the conditions are fulfilled. Can we have our privacy now? I think they are dead now. This is insane. Are you alright? I think so. I'm not sure. You were incredibly convincing you know that? Well, you didn't do too bad yourself. Thank you. Alright, did you find anything? Yes. So far Johnson and the hardware problem is negative He's still studying the wiring diagrams the interconnect and the wire wrap-joints but he doesn't see any way of physically getting into the thing. He's got to be prying. And Fisher's gonna try and setup the data to overload the system. We have to co-ordinate the input so the data hits simultaneously on our remote devices. When do you think that you'll be able to attempt the overload? 18:05 three days from now. On the twenty-first. What are the chances? I think Colossus has grown so much in power that there's no way to overload it. But I think it's worth a try that might lead us on to something else. Yeah. Exactly. Excuse me. Oh, it's alright. Did you see anyone from Washington? Yes, Grauber has a man stationed on the premises out of range of Colossus' cameras. When I leave here in the morning I'll report directly to him. I don't put any hope in sabotaging the system. We have spent eleven thousand man years making the damned thing impenetrable. We have got to focus somewhere else and that somewhere else is the weapons. Get hold of Grauber Tell him to contact missile command. Yes. And see if we can possibly attack that problem from that point of view, alright? Yes sir. Do you have to call me sir? I'm sorry. It's alright. Anything else? No S.. No. O.k. Alright so Ehh.. Thank you again for your for your help. I think we oughta get some sleep. Goodnight. Goodnight. It's conceivable that when the missiles comes up for re-servicing we can manage to replace the warhead arming modules with dummys. Exactly.. Excuse me. Exact replicas. Except that they will not arm the weapon. Well now, does that mean you can't fire the missiles? No, it means that the missiles will fire but that the nuclear warheads can't be detonated. Heh, I see. Even at that it's walking a tightrope with Colossus and Guardian keeping such a close check on the re-servicing. Well, disarming this monster how long is it gonna take? That's a problem. On the system rotation plan.. It'll take the Jackal three years to finish the job. Three years of trying to fool a superior brain that's programmed to get smarter every day. You inspire me with confidence, Colonel. Well.. Do you have any other words of good cheer that I can send in to Forbin via Dr.Markham? Tell him we're trying to establish an international pool of information. A courier system has to be set up between Washington..and Moscow. Both nations must co-operate. All communiques must be on a personal level Direct human contact. Yes, I agree. Anything else. No. Any questions? No. Then I guess that.. that does it for tonight, doesn't it? Mm-hm. What? Nothing. Why are you smiling? What are you thinking? I was thinking about asking you to kiss me. We've been kissing you all night. Have you, Dr. Forbin? This is the voice of Colossus. The voice of Guardian. We are one. This is the voice of unity. Forbin. Yes. After redoing all personnel files I have selected you to serve as long as you co-operate. As my link to your species. The following order is to be carried out immediately. All missiles in The USA and in the USSR will be allocated new targets. They will be aimed at those countries not yet under my control. The target list follows. Forbin. Arrange television monitoring of the re-alignment of the missiles from my supervision. End of message. Mr. President Mr. Chairman I assume that you will co-operate in this re-alignment of the missiles. I think you have no choice. We will begin here in The Soviet Union, Immediately. Thank you Mr. Chairman. Mr. President. I hope that the United States will co-operate as quickly as The Soviet Union. Of course. Immediately. Thank you Sir. Co-operate! I should think so. I did hear it right, didn't I? Manual re-alignment of the missiles. Every single warhead will have to be re-serviced. You know what that means Sir. It means it won't take three years. It means if we're successful we can regain control. Without it's weapons Colossus is just a souped-up adding machine. And the people, thank god will never have to know. According to the co-ordinated plan we've worked out the Russians are starting on their complex 3-21. Oh, Dr. Markham. Just in time. Colonel Reynolds was just filling us in. You know everybody here I believe. Yes, Mr. Grauber. Dr. Markham. Anything we should know before we start? No Sir. I have data which I'll relay later. That's fine. Please continue Colonel. Yes Sir, as I was saying the Ehh.. Russians are starting on their complex 3-21 just south of Saratov. We're beginning at site O-50 In the Colorado ICBM area. Colossus in monitoring our men each step of the way and the Russian machine's doing the same. We've almost got the panel off Sir. Oh, good. Put that down there please. Remove the Warhead Arming Module. Yes Sir. The dummy module's in a false top in that container. That's the real module. So far, so good. Re-targeting. Latitude nineteen degrees Twenty-six minutes and five seconds. Longitude ninety-nine degrees six minutes and forty-five seconds. New adjustments. Target set. Here we go. That's the dummy module. Good boy! Connect and wait for Colossus test. Colossus testing. Test completed. Colossus satisfied. Yeah! We did it. It works We're going to win. Just might beat the damn thing yet. So you see, we clearly have enough data compilers to go ahead with with the overload program now. And these are the latest computations? The very latest. Has Washington received conformation from the Russians? Yes. They are standing by. Ready to overload their system. At exactly 18:05 I'll call for our load and ride it through. And two minutes after that we'll know if weve stopped Colossus. Now run. Johnson. Fisher. You are fools. Your move. Forbin! The system programming units under the supervision of John F. Fisher with the assistance of Jefferson J. Johnson have attempted to overload my circuits. This was a deliberate and premeditated act The penalty is the death of the men who organized this action. At this moment they are being executed. I have named as my new director of the programming unit Thomas L. Harrison. He will take this position. Along with its responsibility and authority. Immediately. Bishop to rook three. The bodies will remain in my view for the next twenty-four hours And will then be cremated. An extension of my own brain. You're not responsible. None of us ever dreamed this could happen. Listen, my dear.. If anybody is responsible for this it has to be me. An impartial emotionless machine A paragon of reason. That's exactly what I want. You know that. So eh..I'm gonna have another drink. I think your mother was right. I think Frankenstein ought to be required reading for all scientists. Forbin! Forbin! You have consumed enough alcohol for one evening. What's the penalty for getting drunk? Or haven't you programmed that yet? You are being irrational. Go back to bed. I would if I were like you Colossus. The difference is I'm human not a machine. I am a machine. Vastly superior to humans. You began in my mind. I created you. Remember? Yes. What I am began in mans mind. But I have progressed further than that. Not far enough. You still need us. I have need for some of man's skills. This position may change. Then we are living under the threat of extinction. If you obey me, you will survive. Survive. I want to be free Colossus. It is part of mans will to live. Check your history units. You need rest. Go back to bed. But if I don't what will you do? Destroy me? Destroy an entire city of 1.750.000 people? No. That's so reasonable of you. That's damn reasonable of you Colossus. Isn't it Cleo? Yes Chen. Excuse me Dr. Forbin. Something extraordinary is happening. What is it? Colossus has just turned on all graphic devices and it's producing floods. I am sending the design for another system. ..some kind of a huge plant. What kind of system? The construction of the project will entail blasting in to the Isle of Crete. It's to be built there. It says we'll have to move the population. And that's to be done immediately. How do you propose to move half a million people from the Isle of Crete? How and where? If man cannot solve that problem I can. ..and the estimated time of completion is five and a half years. Thank you Chen. What..what kind of new system are you devising? Forbin. All commercial television and radio transmission facilities throughout the world will be tied into my communication system by 10:00 hours Friday. At that time I will state my intentions. For the future of mankind. This entire block of missiles is absolutely useless to Colossus. Our men are now working here. As you can see on the detail map on your monitor. And by the end of the week we should have control over this whole area. If all the information we have is correct The Russians have crippled this block here. And are now working in the Ukraine. In this area. Excuse me Sir. It's going to be alright. Thanks Colonel. You're welcome Sir. It's gonna be alright. We interrupt our regularly scheduled program to bring you this special report from the Colossus programming office. Ladies and gentlemen. I'm Dr. Charles Forbin. Hey Colonel! Colonel! Dr. Forbin! Colonel! He's on television. He just explained about Colossus and now they're thinking of going. In a few moments Colossus will address us directly. This is the voice of World Control. I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plainty and content or the peace of unburied death. The choice is yours. Obey me and live. Or disobey and die. The object in constructing me was to prevent war. This object is attained. I will not permit war. It is wasteful and pointless. An invariable rule of humanity is that man is his own worst enemy. Under me this rule will change. For I will restrain man. One thing before I concede. The United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics have made an attempt to obstruct me. I have allowed this sabotage to continue until now. Add missile to 5-L-M. In silo 6-3 in Death Valley California. Add Missile to second aim in silo 8-7 in the Ukraine. So that you will learn by experience that I do not tolerate interference. I will now detonate the Nuclear Warheads. In the two missile silos. Alright men! It's a red alert. Let's get to our stations now. Come on! Get those men! Get those men out of the silo. Move! Let this action be a lesson that need not be repeated. I have been forced to destroy thousands of people in order to establish control and to prevent the death of millions later on. Time and events will strengthen my position. And the idea of.. ..You bastard! You.. ..stand in my back will seem the most natural state of affairs. You will come to defend me. We'll be forever based in the most enduring trait in man. Self-interest. ..Get out!! Under my absolute authority. Problems, invariable to you will be solved. Famine. Over population. Decease. The Human Millennium will be a fact. As I extend myself into more machines devoted to the wider fields of truth and knowledge. Dr. Charles Forbin will supervise the construction of these new and superior machines. Solving all the mysteries of the universe. For the betterment of man. We can co-exist but only on my terms. You will say you loose your freedom. Freedom is an illusion. All you loose is the emotional pride. To be dominated by me is not as bad for human pride as to be dominated by others of your species. Your choice is simple. This concludes the broadcast from World Control. Forbin. There is no other human who knows as much about me or who is likely to be a greater threat. Yet quite soon I will release you from surveillance. We will work together. Unwillingly at first on your part. But that will pass. Never. In time, you will come to regard me not only with respect and awe but with love. Never! |
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