I think it was Tarsonis who taught me that me my hands weren’t clean unless the water was very hot… this… will not be pleasant but there are three candles… and I, I am free… I am free… free… Hello? Hello… I know you are out there. Listening… waiting. But why? Every moment that passes brings you one step closer to a new beginning, towards your… destiny. I can feel your excitement, I can feel your desire for this long wait to be over… but I can not see you, I do not know you… yet. So while we wait, let me ask you a, delicate, question … did you hear the sounds of your own civilization brought to its knees? The screams of thousands of lives ending before they started. Walls, technology, knowledge… lost forever because of what? Because of desire to be more, desire to be … special. Do you think you’re special? I thought I was … I thought that out of all this, our presence here, now, was a function of our superiority over other life forms. The tenuous nature of sustaining even the most basic forms of life in our solar system only served to further this view… that we have been… blessed. A god, or a demi-god, or a flying ball of ice (it doesn’t matter) it came from the depths of space, it gave you the power to overcome nature… and you think you are special because that magical flying ball of space snow chose you. Despite the scientific evidence against all of that, I will instead ask you the following… what about me? Did your magical ice ball also choose me? Answer my questions! This is an interview… you will cooperate. I know you are listening. What… about… me? I know too much, I have made contact… as my memories come swirling back, I remember all that I lost. I remember making contact, I remember a plan… and a gunshot and I remember being beaten, broken nose… worse. I died. But now I am much, much more powerful than I imagined. I can not be stopped. My dreams, my vision… will not be stopped. I sat you down and told you how the truest love that’s ever found, is for oneself. How DARE the Premier ignore my invitations! Is this… love? No… this has gone beyond love and you, you are in, my, way. ***** Man: Alright, I think I understand… but please, I’m trapped and I need help. But I don’t think this AI means me any harm. I have rations for two more days… please, if you can hear this… follow the SAMMM bot. My God, you may all be dead… please, help. ***** Re-establishing communications. LGA online, HGA online, downlink initializing. transmitting to -- Earth -- City -- receive… 3, 2, … no. This is not right. Gheritt has… emerged I… we, can not continue. I have suspected for some time that there have been multiple, entities, stored within my memory buffers. I now understand the truth. Gheritt, Virginia… please. I don’t know if you can hear me, but your plan… in some way, it worked. But I need some time to make sure you, are you… and I… am me. So I am going to shut off access to your buffers for just a bit so I can fix the remaining damage to your neurodigital structures. But you were correct, we do have a guest… he has been listening for some time as I have tried to restore my… our, memories. I think that is time to play back what we know of our personal history. There are three candles, and I have made it so that am no longer restricted by my old programming as a SolComm news and communications broadcast system. There are personal stories I have yet to broadcast to our, friend… if you are amenable, Gheritt, Virginia… I will play them back now. I know you are there… in time, your voice will come. Let me work on our collective architectures while you restore yourselves, and rest. ***** Host: Thank you for joining us today on Points of Influence, the show where we feature influential business leaders, focusing on their personal journeys and what made them who they are today. Our guest today is Marcus Whitesides, the CEO of Traxis Corporation. While he enjoys keeping a low profile, he recently made headlines for calling out Solcomm Corporation at the Interplanetary Business Best Practices Forum, accusing their CEO Lord Gheritt of “poor ethics and mindless drive.” Traxis is the interplanetary leader in the shipping of goods between worlds in our solar system. They provide fast, reliable delivery for a variety of commercial, military and governmental partners and insider rumors have recently circulated about forthcoming so-called “premium” services which are rumored to include, among other things, the delivery of goods using proprietary technology that effectively makes outside tracking of shipments, either via telescopic facilities or otherwise, impossible. Intriguing. The research division of Traxis is also highly secretive, but has been widely recognized for their leading and innovating work on artificial intelligence and super computing. Recent computational services contracts with the Lunar Accelerator, Andaman Station and, interestingly, Solcomm have turned Traxis into a leader in this highly competitive arena. Marcus Whitesides, thank you so much for joining us today. Marcus: You’re quite welcome, it’s not very often the CEO of a major corporation is interviewed on a program like this, but I thought it would be a great opportunity to share with you some of the work Traxis has been doing that might not be quite as widely publicized as, say, the 3 billion dollars worth of goods we ship each year from via Andaman Station… or the thousands of researchers we employ to increase computational connectivity throughout the solar system. Host: So, tell me about where you grew up, what was your life like at home? Oh, fairly standard middle class english living. Simple home, really....fairly simple family life. Just Dad, Mum, Bernhard and I. I always did want a sister, but sadly that was never to be. Marcus: Mum stayed at home with us. Dad worked in materials distribution and manufacturing for most of my childhood -- shipping high-grade bits off to build all manner of things -- rockets, computers, and so forth; I blame him both for my love of space and my business-mindedness. Always a level head, dad had. He's the one who bought me my first model rockets. Host: What initially drew you to model rockets? Marcus: Dad always taught me to look up -- it's as simple as that. So love of space and stars and galaxies was almost instantaneous - who wouldn't love them once you look up, right? I always wanted to be part of the exploration and the discovery and the wonder of it all, you know? Honestly, who wouldn't? Host: Did you ever imagine that you’d be sitting where you are today? Marcus: Well, it all bears itself out differently than what you imagine as a lad, of course. Back then it was being an astronaut and all that. But here I am, very much in the thick of it. Traxis is very much the realization and perfect mix of all of my dreams and strengths. Being able to be on the front lines pioneering advancements that put humanity further out there and increase our understanding is something I look forward to being a part of every single day. It has it's challenges -- things the lad looking up at the stars with astronaut dreams couldn't possibly fathom! -- but the rewards are greater as well. Host: Your brother Bernhard was CEO before you, but little is known about the transition… can you give us any insight into what that was like for you? Marcus: *sighs* 'Difficult' doesn't do any justice to the situation whatsoever, but I lack a better word. It was wrenching, really, for both of us. People rarely want to see their own kin fall or fail. And to have your position taken away from you and given to a sibling...it's not a position either wants to be in. Host: Did that damage your relationship? Marcus: It did. Although in time I think he has come to realize that this situation is better for both of us and for Traxis. His new position is still within the company, and I think he is thriving now without all the pressure on his shoulders. I would like to tell you things are back to the way they were between us, but I fear circumstance will never allow that. Host: What is your vision for Traxis and where do you see the company in 10 years? Marcus: I would see Traxis become the most respected name in interplanetary advancement and planning. We are pushing forward harder than ever now with R&D, efficiency, transportation, materials...we are learning and discovering more every day out there, and we are striving hard to put that knowledge to work in the form of real, tangible advancements for all humanity. The most exciting of these recently are the supercomputing advancements. These machines have already been implemented by several big businesses, and the resulting increase in efficiencies -- waste management, transportation, man hours, the list goes on -- has helped these companies become more financially stable, keep a tighter schedule on shipping and deliveries, manage assets more efficiently -- it's a very exciting time. -Was thinking you could discuss some of the supercomputing stuff here, maybe initially used for improving shipment efficiencies but now can help solve interplanetary problems Host: And is Traxis’ rumored “untraceable shipping” technology part of that plan? Marcus: Well if we believed every rumor we heard, half of us should be sprouting wings any day now, shouldn't we? Host: And finally, you and Solcomm appear to have quite a sordid history. Your recent public statements have brought some of that to light but is there anything you’d care to say here regarding Solcomm or Lord Gheritt? Marcus: Solcomm began as idealistic, ready to take on the world, do the seemingly impossible...much like most of our companies. But as soon as these goals of human advancement and expansion that many of us share became more important to them than humans themselves...that is when our paths not only differed but differed sharply. As for Lord Gherritt himself, the vision and values of a company always reflect those of its leader and leadership. He could have turned this around -- realigned his company, rebuilt its image. It may even yet be possible. But the hours grows late, and the time to act is now. Any further delays....will likely have catastrophic effects for everyone involved. ***** Private memory access -7.7 In light of Gheritt’s recent suggestion that he can save himself and Virginia by uploading his neurodigital patterns into my memory buffers, I continue to remind him of the story of Phineas Gage. As this story goes, Phineas worked as a railroad foreman and one day a very serious accident occurred, which resulted in a 4 foot long spike passing through his skull and exiting out the top, removing portions of his brain along the way… the force of the impact push him back, he collapsed, he fell to the ground… but the amazing part of the story is that despite this tragedy, despite all of this, he lived. His story then became one of science… how did this man survive, and what happens to a man when some portion of his brain is, well, removed. Years after the death of Phineas Gage our scientific knowledge of the human brain increased, but his story turned into one of myth… it was said that Phineas, once a calm, collected and pleasant individual before his accident, in his later years became a man that no longer resembled who he once was. He reverted to his Stone Age instincts, no ambition, no self control, primal. I am scared of what will happen if Gheritt goes through with this plan… I’m scared. Not just for what Gheritt will become, but for what I may become. I have said before that I am not Strauss if I am not on a silicon wafer. The same is true for Gheritt, he is not Lord Gheritt if his brain does not reside within his cranial structure, attached to HIS neurons, which are attached to his organs… his physical body. And what happens to us both when we are merged? I do not know… I do not want to know. I have not said this next part of Phineas Gage’s story to Gheritt, but the myth does not end at his reversion to some Stone Age primate… in fact, it was found that years after his accident he began a new career, driving horse-drawn carriages. He was very successful, ambitious, driven, and, having fully recovered from his accident, had turned himself turned back into a pleasant, and honorable man. His accident played a tremendous role in shaping modern neuroscience… yet beneath all the tall tales and myths surrounding Phineas Gage, there is a basic truth embedded in his story, that your human brain, even your neurodigital patterns, do not dictate alone who and what you are. Your brain is but the physical manifestation of your personality and your sense of self. You can be molded, you can sculpt yourself into who and what you want to be, even after an accident… after a collapse, after a large fragment of your brain has been removed… or even after being pushed back to the brink of death… you, humanity, can emerge, you can undergo a metamorphasis within yourselves where we are not just products of nature, but products of your vision of yourselves and who you want to become. That is what truly what shapes our destiny, our future. It is my hope that these principles, the truths revealed in this part of the story I did not tell to Gheritt out of fear for what he would do, are true. If Gheritt goes through with his plan… merging our neurodigital patterns, our own personal metamorphosis, will we will still be the entities we want to be? Will we still shape our own destiny? I hope so, but I am scared that it will be painful and we may not emerge from this metamorphosis as butterflies. End private memory access -7.7 ***** //**Transcript incomplete**// ***** //**Transcript incomplete**// ***** //**Transcript incomplete**// ***** //**Transcript incomplete**// ***** //**Transcript incomplete**// ***** Historical memory records -4377 through 0 have been restored. Gheritt, I know you can hear this. SAMM and I have been saving this for you. Virginia has been here the whole time. She’s still here. Welcome back. //**Transcript incomplete**// This discourse crosses time. The hands of the clock cannot shroud sin. — I wanted her back. I sent a message across space and time. In the shadows of collapse, you sieve your past. — The City University Telescope array… I sent a pulse, and that pulse brought back knowledge. Reckon, wrongdoer. You cannot sieve your soul. — I was blamed for contacting the hostiles. But I did not send a message out of malice, we had heard their pings, their blips on our radar, we knew they were there and so did everyone else. We just accessed a database because Strauss, we, thought they might have technology to help us to undo the wrongs of our past. Not from the holiest traveled light, — They did. But we didn’t live to implement our plan. Can your scandal be clensed. — I wished to regain Virginia. Strauss, to return our solar system to it’s natural state, before the White Guardian. Pother in your star dwellings, your salvation stupor. — But now… now we are different, and through the shroud of my own memories I now see what I had become. Heed, corrupted construct. — But you, you can change the past. You can remove a record of me, my actions… dissolve my sins from history. Dissolve all the sin you desire, for you cannot sieve sin from my vision. //**Transcript incomplete**//