students in his twentieth century history class. “Of course, only those with money could afford those kinds of treatments. With all those advances, there was a massive shift in economics. The wealthiest people owned, well, most of the planet and everyone else didn’t have much to do. It was easy to find volunteers for a one-way mission to Mars.”
Sometimes he found it useful to ask questions to trigger a narrative. This was one of those times. “Who can tell me: what year did the Great Collapse take place?”
He looked around. “Mister Pohl? You’ve deigned to grace us with your presence today, when did it happen?”
Greg looked up from his tablet at the back of the room. “March 11, 2053.”
“Right on. Three, eleven, fifty-three. Historians have been trying to find meaning in those numbers for the past century, but honestly, they’re just numbers. I don’t think the progenitors had any intention of picking a date. It just happened.”
Greg hissed to Tamra beside him. “It’s a prime.”
Professor Simenko paused, turned on his heel and kept walking.
“We named them The Progenitors. We don’t really know who they were, but they were successful in creating the intelligence that ultimately destroyed the Earth. And it happened very quickly.”
“What we were able to learn from the final broadcasts from Earth was that the intelligence escalated rapidly. In a matter of hours it had taken control of every piece of electronics and computing machinery on the planet. Humanity was totally unprepared for it.”
A couple of hands went up in the room, Dr. Simenko pointed to Joe Price, “Yes, Mr. Price?”
Joe raised his voice tentatively. “How did it take control of the computers?”
Simenko nodded. “Ah. The computer scientists here on Mars theorized that the intelligence made use of known exploits in the computing platforms of the day. They were easy to find, of course. Lists of documented known exploits had been around for decades. Many machines were just never patched. The escalations were scriptable. Children were capable of exploiting a single computer with readily-available tools. Large botnets of infected computers were already running all over the planet unbeknownst to most of the machines’ owners. Weak AI had been available for twenty years and ran in everything from toasters to personal automobiles. A powerful artificial intelligence with the equivalent computing resources of all the super computers in the world was able to exploit everything. Nearly instantly.”
He paused again. Looked around the room. It was a dramatic lecture. Everybody knew the story but he still relished in its telling. “It was the great turning point in modern history. The end of the technological age. It signified the beginning of a new age of Martian history.”
Simenko was about to launch back into his narrative but saw a hand up in the middle of the room. He pointed to the student. “Yes, Derek?”
“But how was this possible? How could a computer program just take everything over? Other… computer programs?”
Simenko looked around. “Anybody want to answer Mister Branson?” A couple of students were sniffling. He walked around to his desk and opened a drawer, taking out a bottle of zinc tablets and popping one into his mouth. “Miss Wheeler? What do you think?”
Tamra looked up from the back of the class, wiped her nose on a handkerchief. “Earth computers were all connected all day, all the time to the internet. Phones, tablets, everything. Even people’s kitchens were full of computerized appliances.”
Professor Simenko nodded, “Thank you, Miss Wheeler.”
Derek still looked confused. “But what could a program do even if it took control of the computers? They’re just machines.”
“Thank you for the excellent segue, Mister Branson.” Simenko resumed pacing again. “By the 2050s, everything on the planet was connected. Even without wires, the ubiquity of wireless connectivity meant that
Sometimes he found it useful to ask questions to trigger a narrative. This was one of those times. “Who can tell me: what year did the Great Collapse take place?”
He looked around. “Mister Pohl? You’ve deigned to grace us with your presence today, when did it happen?”
Greg looked up from his tablet at the back of the room. “March 11, 2053.”
“Right on. Three, eleven, fifty-three. Historians have been trying to find meaning in those numbers for the past century, but honestly, they’re just numbers. I don’t think the progenitors had any intention of picking a date. It just happened.”
Greg hissed to Tamra beside him. “It’s a prime.”
Professor Simenko paused, turned on his heel and kept walking.
“We named them The Progenitors. We don’t really know who they were, but they were successful in creating the intelligence that ultimately destroyed the Earth. And it happened very quickly.”
“What we were able to learn from the final broadcasts from Earth was that the intelligence escalated rapidly. In a matter of hours it had taken control of every piece of electronics and computing machinery on the planet. Humanity was totally unprepared for it.”
A couple of hands went up in the room, Dr. Simenko pointed to Joe Price, “Yes, Mr. Price?”
Joe raised his voice tentatively. “How did it take control of the computers?”
Simenko nodded. “Ah. The computer scientists here on Mars theorized that the intelligence made use of known exploits in the computing platforms of the day. They were easy to find, of course. Lists of documented known exploits had been around for decades. Many machines were just never patched. The escalations were scriptable. Children were capable of exploiting a single computer with readily-available tools. Large botnets of infected computers were already running all over the planet unbeknownst to most of the machines’ owners. Weak AI had been available for twenty years and ran in everything from toasters to personal automobiles. A powerful artificial intelligence with the equivalent computing resources of all the super computers in the world was able to exploit everything. Nearly instantly.”
He paused again. Looked around the room. It was a dramatic lecture. Everybody knew the story but he still relished in its telling. “It was the great turning point in modern history. The end of the technological age. It signified the beginning of a new age of Martian history.”
Simenko was about to launch back into his narrative but saw a hand up in the middle of the room. He pointed to the student. “Yes, Derek?”
“But how was this possible? How could a computer program just take everything over? Other… computer programs?”
Simenko looked around. “Anybody want to answer Mister Branson?” A couple of students were sniffling. He walked around to his desk and opened a drawer, taking out a bottle of zinc tablets and popping one into his mouth. “Miss Wheeler? What do you think?”
Tamra looked up from the back of the class, wiped her nose on a handkerchief. “Earth computers were all connected all day, all the time to the internet. Phones, tablets, everything. Even people’s kitchens were full of computerized appliances.”
Professor Simenko nodded, “Thank you, Miss Wheeler.”
Derek still looked confused. “But what could a program do even if it took control of the computers? They’re just machines.”
“Thank you for the excellent segue, Mister Branson.” Simenko resumed pacing again. “By the 2050s, everything on the planet was connected. Even without wires, the ubiquity of wireless connectivity meant that
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