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"So, you're saying it's a smart bomb?"
"Oh, yes. Quiet smart." "It can guide itself in, hit precision targets, take out only what it's supposed to take out, and leaving a minimum of collateral damage?" "Well, I suppose, but I'd usually put those sorts of features in the purview of the delivery system. I'm sure with the correct delivery system it'll hit right on target." "Wait -- with the correct delivery system? I thought that the delivery system was the bailiwick of the smart bomb. You know, so we don't have to carpet bomb the living fuck out of some poor city just to kill who we want to kill. Plus we get to show all those cool videos on CNN... always a hit with the recruiting office." "I'm sure, I'm sure. But, no, that's not what this does." "Well, you leave me confused. And frankly, if I go back to the Pentagon confused, you're going to be looking into a rather scary oversight committee. " "Then by all means, let's not have you leave confused." "Please... tell me what your bomb does." "Well, to put it in a nutshell, when it comes time to detonate the bomb decides if it should blow up." "Like a friend-or-foe system? You've spent quite a lot of time and money and you just have a friend or foe identification system? We already have FOF systems built into the planes that drop the bombs..." "Oh, don't confuse those primitive systems with what we have here. Fie. Those systems merely detect the presence of a friendly transmitter somewhere in the target zone." "And this bomb of yours?" "Oh, top of the line -- top of the line. The BX111a is completely cognizant of its surroundings; geographically, temporally, socially, politically, and economically. Before any mission the BX111a is updated with the latest intel in all the relevant areas concerning the mission, and it evaluates everything through deployment, launch, ballistics and at the point of impact decides if it should explode or not." "I'm sorry?" "The BX is completely aware, self aware and socio-politically aware. When it comes time to detonate the bomb decides if going off at that place and time will make the world a better place. Should it sacrifice itself, and anyone in its kill-zone, for the benefit of humanity? This is more than just dynamite... this is more than just a peace-keeper... this will be the final arbiter of any conflict." "I don't quite know how this will go over at the Pentagon." "Oh, it doesn't end there. I'm sure that within a couple of years I'll be able to miniaturize it enough to fit it within guns. Can you imagine? Of course, I'll need the years to also work out some of the morality issues." "Morality?" "Well, part of the BX111a's configuration is its own self worth. When the BX explodes, it's taking its own life -- and considers whether such a sacrifice make the world a better place. The gun will have no such qualms. I originally thought maybe if I could make the bullets self-aware... but that would just make the problem worse. The bullets would have to self-terminate before striking the target to save it. So not only would the bullets have less time to determine if they should sacrifice themselves, they would also have to consider if they thought they were more or less nobel than the target they were aimed at. I don't know if I could make that altruistic a bullet." |