Trading Reality (18 page)

‘Granted, today’s clunky machines aren’t much of a threat, but they don’t create a genuine virtual reality. You can easily tell you’re wandering around in some cartoon world. But soon virtual reality won’t seem much different from real reality. And that will be dangerous for all sorts of reasons.

‘People will prefer virtual reality to the real one. You’ve only got to see the spread of pornography on the Internet to see what will happen. I’m no prude, but we’re not talking about art, or freedom of information here. We’re talking about psychopaths and perverts raping and torturing for half an hour before bedtime. And once these guys have got all juiced up on virtual reality, they’re going to start doing the same sort of thing in the real world.’

‘But surely that’s only a small minority?’

‘You say that, but you’d be surprised how many supposedly normal men will rape and torture given the opportunity, especially if there’s no social control to stop them. We’ve all heard how much damage an ill-disciplined army can do to helpless peasants in wartime. The Gestapo had wives and children. These tendencies have been buried deep in men for centuries. It used to be war that brought them out. Now it will be VR.’

‘OK,’ I said. ‘I agree virtual pornography and violence should be controlled. But what about the rest of us? All those good uses we can make of VR?’

‘When you spend much of your life in a virtual world, you’re losing the essence of your humanity. You’re pulled out of the natural world, the environment, the ecological system, the family, the community, into something totally artificial. Society will break down in a whole range of fundamental ways as we stop being people and become pleasure-consuming appendages to computers.’ Doogie was talking fluently, the anger rising in his voice. ‘But do you know what pisses me off most?’

‘What?’

‘Who do you think will choose these virtual worlds? It won’t be the ordinary user. Oh, no, it’ll be some huge corporation like Microsoft, or News International, or else the government. We’ll all be brainwashed. Oh, it’ll be subtle, but we’ll be told what to want, what to think, how to behave. We’ll all live in a Silicon Valley/Hollywood world of sickly emotions and flabby pseudo-liberal sentimentality. That’s today. In thirty years’ time, some dictator somewhere will be controlling our minds in ways Goebbels could only have dreamed of.’ He shuddered. ‘God. Imagine if Thatcher could have got into all our heads through VR.’

Doogie’s eyes were shining. He spat the word ‘Thatcher’, loading it with all the contempt that you would expect from someone who had spent the last ten years protesting. Yet, he spoke with intelligence and eloquence. It was clear he had thought through all this, and believed it completely. The frightening thing was that it didn’t seem so far-fetched to me either. I was silent for a moment.

‘OK. I can see you don’t like VR. But what’s all this about preventing the public from gaining access to it.’

‘I’d like to destroy every VR machine in the world and stop any more from being made,’ said Doogie. ‘But that won’t happen. VR is with us now, we can’t make it go away completely. But if we can restrict its use to professionals then we can try to prevent it screwing up the people. That’s BOWL’s first priority.’

‘I see. And who is BOWL?’

Doogie paused. ‘We’re a group of people who can see the future and don’t like it.’

‘Do you have an organisation? A leader?’

‘No. We keep in touch.’

I nodded to the computer. ‘With that?’

He shrugged.

‘And does BOWL believe in violence to achieve its objectives?’

I stared hard at Doogie as I asked this. He held my gaze. His dark eyes were alight. ‘That’s up to each individual member to decide,’ he said.

‘And you? Would you use violence to stop VR?’

Doogie was silent for a moment. He turned towards the couple in the photograph on the mantelpiece. ‘Sometimes you have to use violence to protect what’s yours. What you believe in.’ His voice picked up. ‘Governments, industry, big companies, they use people, ordinary people. And when they’re no longer any use, they throw them on the scrap heap. They’ve done that for centuries with our bodies. Now they’re going to start fucking with our minds. You bet I’ll fight that. I’ll fight that in any way I can.’

He paused. When he spoke again, he was more controlled. ‘Well, you asked me what I thought about virtual reality. Now you know. Are you going to keep your machines away from the public? I still have that letter, you know.’

His dark eyes bore into me, challenging me, mocking me.

‘What was Richard’s answer?’

‘He didn’t give me one.’

‘Did he talk to you about it at all?’

‘No, I didn’t hear a word from him,’ Doogie muttered. ‘But I’m not surprised.’

‘You didn’t meet him somewhere to discuss it? Kirkhaven, for instance?’

Doogie looked at me scornfully. ‘I’ve just had to put up with this shit from the police, I’m not going to take it from you, too. I didn’t kill him. I didn’t start the fire.’ He paused, and smiled. It was a nasty, twisted smile. ‘But, you know what, I’m glad he’s dead. I’m glad his evil little company is going under. He gave me all that shit about being a small group of talented individuals pushing back the borders of science. He just wanted to make a shit-load of money just like everybody else. He didn’t care that VR would poison our society, screw up the minds of millions.’

Something snapped. I leapt to my feet. ‘Don’t you dare talk about my brother like that! He was . . .’

Suddenly there was a deep growl at my legs. The dog was on its feet, hackles raised, gums pulled back from its teeth.

I shut up and stood still.

Doogie smiled. ‘Stay, Hannibal!’ he commanded. ‘FairSystems is finished. You’d better face it. Now why don’t you two just piss off back to your factory while it’s still standing?’

Rachel stood up carefully and left the room. I followed, keeping my eyes on the dog.

‘Can you believe that?’ I said as we descended the stairs. ‘What he said about Richard? The bastard!’

‘He’s a very angry man,’ said Rachel.

‘And I don’t like his dog much, either.’

Rachel shuddered. ‘It bit Keith once. Just nipped him. He’s still got the scar.’

‘Yeah, well I’ll tell you something. There’s no way we’re going to give in to his demands. He can do what he likes with that bloody letter!’

I looked over at Rachel, hurrying along next to me. ‘What are you smiling at?’

‘You sound just like your brother.’

We got in the car, and drove off. ‘There’s one thing I don’t understand,’ she said.

‘What’s that?’

‘Why Doogie hasn’t published the Bergey letter already. He gave Richard a week. Richard obviously ignored him. So why didn’t he publish?’

A good question. I didn’t have the answer.

‘Do you know what really happened to that boy on the motorbike?’ I asked.

‘No, I don’t. The accident puzzled me. We’ve put huge efforts into testing our equipment. It really shouldn’t cause accidents like that.’

‘Have you investigated it?’

‘No. Once Bergey withdrew his threat to sue, we let it drop. We didn’t want to stir anything up.’

‘Shouldn’t you check it out?’

Rachel looked at me coolly. ‘You’re not MD yet.’

‘Look, if one of our machines killed Jonathan Bergey, we need to know.’

‘OK,’ she said, reluctantly. ‘I’ll check it out.’

We drove on in silence for several minutes as I stop-started through the traffic-lights of Edinburgh’s suburbs. As my anger subsided, I began to think over what Doogie had said. ‘Some of that stuff about the risks of virtual reality makes sense.’

‘Ah ha,’ said Rachel, looking out of the window.

‘What did Richard think about VR?’

‘He thought it was a good thing. Richard was an optimist about human nature. He just saw the ways mankind could benefit. Doogie’s a pessimist. To him mankind is bad, and VR will make things worse.’

‘And you? What do you think?’

‘I suppose I’m somewhere in between,’ she said. ‘Doogie’s right, it can do good and it can do harm. My job as a scientist is to increase the breadth of human knowledge. I can’t be responsible for what people do with that knowledge. If there is a problem, it’s with society, not VR.’ She turned to me. ‘I’m going to see my brother next week. Do you want to come?’

I was surprised by the invitation, but I knew there must be a reason for it. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘Do you mind me asking why?’

She smiled. ‘You’ll see.’

I took the plane down to London that afternoon, leaving the car at Edinburgh airport. I knew I would be back some time soon.

I was still shaken from seeing Doogie. The raw anger, the scarcely suppressed violence, that bloody dog, all combined to give me a feeling of anxiety.

And what if what he’d said was right?

As the plane lifted off the runway, leaving Kirkhaven and Glenrothes behind, I thought about what was happening to me. I was becoming enmeshed in Richard’s life, and it was a process that I didn’t want to fight. I was intrigued by the prospect of becoming acting managing director of FairSystems, even if it were only for a few months. It would be difficult – very difficult. But it would be a challenge, a chance to prove myself away from the familiar world of trading. I was flattered by the trust that my father, and especially Sorenson, had put in me. If Sorenson thought I could do it, I could do it.

The more I thought about it, the more sense it seemed to make. I was still convinced that the best thing to do would be to sell the company, but clearly I would have to wait three months before I would be able to persuade my father to go along with that. Without his twenty per cent behind me, a sale could be tricky, if not impossible. In the mean time, as managing director, I would have some control over the fate of the company. If it did go down the pan, at least I would have had the chance to do all I could to save it.

And it would be something I could do for Richard.

‘Why not?’ said Karen. ‘It sounds like a good idea to me. I’m sure you’re up to it.’

‘I’ll try to make it down at weekends,’ I said.

‘Well, it would be great if you could, but it sounds as though it might be tough to get away. Don’t worry about me. I’ll survive. It’s only three months.’

I suppose I had secretly hoped that Karen would throw herself prostrate on the floor, and beg me not to leave her. Even a little regret at my absence would have been nice. Still, she was being understanding.

‘How will you swing it at Harrison?’ she asked.

‘I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Bob will have to let me go. He can’t afford to lose me. I’m sure Ed’s up to it, it may even do him good to trade without me around.’ I squeezed her. ‘Are you OK? You look tired.’ She was pale, and her eyes were puffy.

‘Do I? I’m having trouble steeping.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘It’s ever since Richard died. I’m not sure what it is exactly. I think when someone that young dies, it just makes you think of your own mortality.’ She touched my hand. ‘I’m sorry. That’s sort of selfish, isn’t it? And I know it must be much worse for you.’

‘No, that’s OK. It’s hard for a lot of people. And I did ask.’

We were silent for a moment.

‘Work doesn’t help,’ she said. ‘It’s doom and gloom in our area. All politics and no business. But I’m trying to keep my head down and write tickets.’

‘I’m sure that’s the best thing to do.’

‘I hope so. It seems to be working. Bob Forrester has said one or two nice things to me recently.’

‘Good. You’ll be all right. Don’t worry.’

‘Yes, I suspect I will. I’m worried about Sally, though.’

‘She’ll be OK,’ I said without conviction.

Karen looked pensive, but then brightened up. ‘Oh, one funny thing happened. You remember that guy Peter Tewson from BGL Asset Managers?’

‘Yes, I think so. He spoke to you at that party?’

‘That’s right. Well, he keeps asking me out. He says he’s got tickets for the ballet next week. I mean, it’s difficult to say no. He is one of my top clients, after all.’

I recalled the studious fund manager I had met briefly that evening. I was relaxed. ‘Well, don’t say no on my account.’

She laughed. ‘I won’t. But he’s
so
boring. And he’s virtually a child.’

I frowned. That was a bit extreme. ‘He’s about my age,’ I protested.

Karen looked embarrassed. ‘You know what I mean. He looks a lot younger than you.’ She was only a bit older than me, but she sometimes acted as if the age difference was ten years. It irritated me, and she knew it.

‘Well, I’m just glad it wasn’t that other guy. You know, the one who ran BGL’s London office. He seemed very taken with you.’

‘Ah yes. Henri Bourger. Now, he’s much more my type.’ She grinned slyly at me.

‘He has such impeccable taste in architects,’ I said.

‘I know. That building was extraordinary, wasn’t it?’ Karen laughed. ‘Their building in New York is just as ugly.’

‘Well, if I catch you with any Swiss smoothies while I’m away, you’ll be in big trouble.’

She smiled, and took a gulp of her wine. ‘Actually, it seems almost as if I’m in big trouble now.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Harrison Brothers has been crawling with Scottish policemen. They’ve been asking lots of questions.’

‘Really?’

‘Oh yeah. They’ve been checking up on all my customers to see if any of them own FairSystems stock. Or if I’ve spoken to them about it.’

‘I suppose I’m not surprised. They’re checking into everything. You are involved in the US equity markets after all.’

‘Well, I don’t think any of my guys had even heard of FairSystems. It’s stupid. I mean, I know next to nothing about the company.’

‘I told the police that. Maybe now they’ll believe me.’

‘Yes, well I hope they stop. It doesn’t do my name in the market much good to have people asking those sorts of questions.’ She sipped her wine. ‘When do you plan to go up to Scotland?’