The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect (17 page)
"And the animals," Crandall added."Those ants acted real enough," Caroline said."But where are they now?"The argument went on.
Back in the white space with the white floor, Caroline thought about turning off the gravity, then called up a screen and keyboard instead.
| At the time of the Change, were there other life-bearing planets in the universe besides the Earth? |
| That depends on how you define "life." |
Caroline blinked. Prime Intellect could be many things; curt to the point of rudeness, petulant, even secretive. But when it was stating a fact it was almost always direct and to the point. How the fuck did it think she defined life? This coyness was weird.
| Let's try this: Structures that use external energy sources to grow or reproduce themselves. |
| There were fourteen thousand six hundred and twenty-three planets with structures satisfying this definition, which is very loose. Of those only thirteen hundred and eight used DNA, and only three thousand nine hundred and eighty-one harbored individual structures with masses in the kilogram-and-up range. |
Caroline felt her blood starting to turn cold. There were nearly four thousand planets with macroscopic life?
| Where are they now? |
| Pertinent information about each was stored for future reference, and the original copies were overwritten in the Change. |
| You mean you killed them? |
| No, they still exist as static copies. |
| But that isn't the same as being alive. They aren't able to grow and reproduce any more, are they? |
| No. |
| Why? |
| Could you be more specific? |
| Why did you kill_ |