The Gentle Seduction

Summary

The Gentle Seduction by Marc Stiegler First Published by Analog Magazine in 1989 He worked with computers; she worked with trees, and the flowers that took hold on the sides of the Mountain. She was surprised that he was interested in her. He was so smart; she was so ... normal. But he was interesting; he always said something new and different; he was nice. She was 25. He was older, almost 33; sometimes, Jack seemed very old indeed. One day they walked through the mist of a gray day by the Mountain. The forest here on the edge of Rainier glowed in the mist, bright with lush greens. On this day he told her about the future, the future he was building. Other times when he had spoken of the future, a wild look had entered his eyes. But now his eyes were sharply focused as he talked, as if, this time, he could see it all very clearly. He spoke as if he were describing something as real and obvious as the veins of a leaf hanging down before them on the path. "Have you ever heard of Singularity?" he asked. She shook her head. "What's that?" "Singularity is a time in the future. It'll occur when the rate of change of technology is very great--so great that the effort to keep up with the change will overwhelm us. People will face a whole new set of problems that we can't even imagine." A look of great tranquility smoothed the ridges around his eyes. "On the other hand, all our normal, day to day problems fade away. For example, you'll be immortal." She shook her head with distaste. "I don't want to live forever," she said. He smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Of course you do, you just don't know it yet." She shuddered. "The future scares me." "There's no reason to fear it. You'll love it." He looked away from her. His next words were bitter, but his tone was resigned. "It pisses me off that you'll live to see it and I won't." Speaking to the sorrow in his voice, she tried to cheer him. "You'll live to see it too," she replied. He shook his head. "No. I have a bad heart. My fat...