"Stephen Goldin - The Last Ghost & Other Stories" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

Paul, lots of people. Five thousand, two hundred and eighty-three men died. And that wasn't all, because
down on the other side of the valley, there was more shooting. And I heard someone say that this was all
right, because as long as the casualties stayed below fifteen point seven percent during the first battles,
the strategic position, which was the mountaintop, could be gained. But fifteen point seven percent of the
total forces would be nine thousand, six hundred and two point seven seven eight nine one men dead or
wounded. It was like I could see all those men lying there, dying."
"I told you a five-year-old mentality wasn't mature enough yet for Military Logistics," Dr. Ed whispered.
Dr. Paul ignored him. "But that was in a war, Melissa. You have to expect that people will be killed in a
war."
"Why? Dr. Paul?"
"Because ... because that's the way war is, Melissa. And besides, it didn't really happen. It was just a
problem, like with the numbers, only there were people instead of numbers. It was all pretend."
"No it wasn't, Dr. Paul," cried Melissa. "It was all real. All those people were real. I even know their
names. There was Abers, Joseph T. Pfc, Adelli, Alonzo Cpl., Aikens ... ""Stop it, Melissa," Dr. Paul
said, his voice rising much higher than normal.
"I'm sorry, Dr. Paul," Melissa apologized.
But Dr. Paul hadn't heard her; he was busy whispering to Dr. Ed. "... no other recourse than a full
analyzation."
"But that could destroy the whole personality we've worked so hard to build up." Dr. Ed didn't even
bother to whisper.
"What else could we do?" Dr. Paul asked cynically. "These 'nightmares' of hers are driving us further and
further behind schedule."
"We could try letting Melissa analyze herself."
"How?"
"Watch." His voice started taking on the sweet tones that Melissa had come to learn that people used
with her, but not with each other. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Dr. Ed."
"How would you like me to tell you a story?"
"Is it a happy story, Dr. Ed?"
"I don't know yet, Melissa. Do you know what a computer is?"
"Yes. It's a counting machine."
"Well, the simplest computers started out that way, Melissa, but they quickly grew more and more
complicated until soon there were computers that could read, write, speak, and even think all by
themselves, without help from men.
"Now, once upon a time, there was a group of men who said that if a computer could think by itself, it
was capable of developing a personality, so they undertook to build one that would act just like a real
person. They called it the Multi-Logical Systems Analyzer, or MLSA ..."
"That sounds like 'Melissa,'" Melissa giggled."Yes, it does, doesn't it? Anyway, these men realized that a
personality isn't something that just pops out of the air full grown; it has to be developed slowly. But, at
the same time, they needed the computing ability of the machine because it was the most expensive and
complex computer ever made. So what they did was to divide the computer's brain into two parts —
one part would handle normal computations, while the other part would develop into the desired
personality. Then, when the personality was built up sufficiently, the two parts would be united again.
"At least, that's the way they thought it would work. But it turned out that the basic design of the
computer prevented a complete dichotomy — that means splitting in half — of the functions. Whenever
they would give a problem to the computing part, some of it would necessarily seep into the personality
part. This was bad because, Melissa, the personality part didn't know it was a computer; it thought it was
a little girl like you. The data that seeped in confused it and frightened it. And as it became more
frightened and confused, its efficiency went down until it could no longer work properly."
"What did the men do, Dr. Ed?"