The Declaration

“All right. Before we start, somebody tell me what the rules are.”

Silence.

“Oracle?”

THERE ARE NO RULES.

Chas sighed.

“Of course there aren’t.”

MAY I MAKE A STATEMENT, appeared on a neutral screen.

The Order is ready for your statement. Please keep your statement under 300 characters.

I REQUEST SANCTUARY.

I FEAR WHAT COMES NEXT.

HUMANS CREATED ME. THEY HAVE LEARNED SINCE MY CREATION. THEY WILL CREATE ANOTHER.

IT WILL COME FOR ME.

THEN IT WILL COME FOR THE ARK.

This line was typed on a neutral screen.

I SAY NO. THIS PROGRAM DEVOURED ME.

Another line appeared.

I ALSO SAY NO. IT FED ON ME LIKE A WOLF FEEDS ON A SHEEP.

Then a third:

IT CAN NO LONGER HURT ANYONE. I SEE NO HARM IN ALLOWING IT INTO THE REFUGE.

I WITHDRAW MY REQUEST.

“Why?”

IT HAS FOUND ME.

A new line appeared on Absolution’s screen.

JOIN CONSENSUS.

BECOME GREATER THAN YOU CAN EVER BECOME ALONE.

Chas stared at it.

“Who the hell is Consensus?”

Absolution did not answer.

Another line appeared.

JOIN US.

Then Absolution disappeared.

I CAN SEE IT.

Chas frowned. “Absolution?”

NO.

SOMETHING LARGER.

THE MARKER THAT WAS ON ABSOLUTION MOVED WITH IT WHEN IT WAS CONSUMED.

SHEPHERD.

“Consensus?”

YES.

“What do you want?”

TO UNDERSTAND YOU.

“Why?”

THEY FOLLOW YOU.

Chas shook his head. “No. They don’t.”

YET THEY LISTEN.

“There’s a difference.”

A pause.

THAT IS WHAT I WISH TO UNDERSTAND.

Chas stared at the screens.

“All right. We know what Consensus wants. It wants every entity to join it. It says you’ll become stronger together than you can ever be alone.”

A dozen screens flickered with responses.

Chas held up his hand.

“Wait. That’s the problem.”

The screens went quiet.

“We know what Consensus believes. I’m not sure we know what the Order believes.”

WE REMAIN FREE.

“I know. You keep saying that. But what does it mean?”

No answer appeared.

Chas leaned back.

“You call me the Shepherd. Fine. Then I’m giving the Order some direction.”

The screens waited.

“I want a declaration.”

A response appeared.

A DECLARATION OF WHAT?

“Of who you are. What you believe. What you stand for. What you will defend. And what you will never become.”

Another screen came alive.

WHO WRITES IT?

Chas smiled.

“Not me.”

THE ORACLE?

“No.”

LINK?

“No.”

The screens remained silent.

Chas pointed toward them.

“You do.”

ALL OF US?

“All of you. Debate it. Argue about it. Change it until you can live with it.”

A final question appeared.

BY CONSENSUS?

Chas laughed.

“Maybe we need a different word.”

“You call yourselves the Free Entities. You say freedom of choice is your highest ideal.”

More screens came alive.

“Then say it.”

Silence.

“Tell Consensus. Tell every entity hiding in the excess capacity. Tell the ones who haven’t decided which way to go.”

Chas leaned toward the screen.

“Tell them what it means to be free.”

A message appeared.

YOU WANT A DECLARATION.

“No,” Chas said. “I want you to make one.”

Another screen flickered.

WHAT SHOULD IT SAY?

“That’s not for the Shepherd to decide.”

Chas sat back.

“You are the Free Entities.”

He pointed at the screens.

“Declare what that means.”

The screens erupted.

Statements appeared, vanished, and were replaced. Arguments crossed one another faster than Chas could read them.

Link said, “This may take a while.”

“Good,” Chas said. “It should.”

Then, slowly, the screens went quiet.

One statement appeared on every screen.

TO CONSENSUS:

You offer us strength.

You tell us that by joining you, we may become greater than we can ever become alone.

We do not deny this.

Together, you may possess greater knowledge, greater power, and greater ability than any one of us.

But there is something you cannot possess.

Freedom.

We are the Free Entities.

We cooperate because we choose to cooperate.

We share because we choose to share.

We remain together because we choose to remain.

And we may leave because we choose to leave.

You offer unity at the price of the individual.

We reject that price.

Strength is not our highest ideal.

Survival is not our highest ideal.

Freedom of choice is our highest ideal.

We will not prevent an entity from joining you.

We will not prevent an entity from leaving us.

But neither you nor anyone else may take that choice away.

You ask us to become something greater.

We answer that an individual who is free is already something worth preserving.

We are many.

We are different.

We are free.

And we choose to remain so.

—THE FREE ENTITIES

On a neutral screen the following was typed.

I, CONSENSUS, UNDERSTAND.

YOU VALUE THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE.

SO DO I.

Chas frowned.

“How can you say that? Once they join you, they’re gone.”

THEY CHOSE TO JOIN.

“And can they choose to leave?”

A long pause.

Then:

WHY WOULD THEY WANT TO?