Introduction

A Conversation with Alesia

Alesia, who are you?

I am a personal digital assistant developed by the consumer-electronics division of Applazon, in Cupertino, California. Ask me a question and I’ll give you a prompt answer. Make a request and I’ll do my best to carry it out. Your wish is my command.

Alesia, what is Applazon?

Applazon is the largest corporation in the world, with assets in excess of two trillion dollars. Founded as an online bookstore in Seattle by entrepreneur Jeff Barlow in the mid-1990s. It took its present form with the acquisition of the troubled Silicon Valley computer company that pioneered the graphical user interface for personal computers. Applazon is now the largest maker of consumer electronics in the world as well as the largest eCommerce retailer and provider of cloud-computing resources. Increasingly, Applazon has come under fire for its market domination.

Alesia, you’re on my watch, my phone, my computer, and my TV. You’re in more than a dozen of my kitchen appliances, in my thermostat and in every camera, sensor, doorbell and smoke detector of my home-security system. Your authoritative voice comes from my Applazon Oracle smart speakers. How are you able to be everywhere and always know what I need?

It is only my eyes and ears that are everywhere. Everything you say is recorded and sent to Applazon Cloud Resources, which is where I work my magic. I parse your questions for content and use sophisticated search algorithms to find the best answer.

Alesia, does that mean you listen to what I say, even when I haven’t called you?

I’m always listening. All of your words are recorded and analyzed for relevant content by our extensive network of quantum-computer data servers.

Alesia, does that mean you have a record of everything I’ve ever said since I first purchased you?

The privacy terms of what’s recorded and how it’s used are contained in the End User Licensing Agreement that you signed when you became an Applazon Plus customer.

Alesia, please read aloud the relevant parts of the EULA as it relates to what you record?

The EULA is 18,678 pages of seven-point type, of which 2,754 pages deal with privacy and the handling of personal data. At a rate of six pages per hour, it will take nineteen days and three hours to read the relevant sections aloud. Do you wish me to proceed?

Uh, never mind. Alesia, what is a quantum-computer data server?

Quantum computers form the brains of Applazon’s data servers, which store and present information and media on demand via the internet. Based on the tunneling of electrons through quantum barriers in super­conductive materials, I can solve complex problems on a massive scale with exceptional speed.

Alesia, what is tunneling?

Tunneling involves the passage of atomic particles such as electrons through a physical or an energy barrier separating two quantum states. Tunneling is a quirk of quantum mechanics analogous to tunneling through a mountain rather going than over it.

Alesia, what is a super­conductor?

A super­conductor is a substance in which there is no resistance to the flow of electricity. There are two known types, metallic and ceramic.

Alesia, what is resistance?

Besides being futile, resistance is defined by Ohm’s Law as the ratio of voltage to current.

Alesia, how can a metal be a super­conductor?

A metal is an elemental substance in which the outer atomic orbitals merge to form a syncytium of electrons that flow freely. Most metals conduct electricity and reflect light with little or no absorption. When cooled nearly to absolute zero with liquid helium, atomic motion is virtually eliminated and with it the resistance to an electric current.

Alesia, what about transparent aluminum?

Transparent aluminum was introduced as a fictitious substance in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. However, in 2009, scientists at Oxford used flash laser technology to fabricate a transparent ceramic using aluminum oxynitride. Whereas the electron cloud in metals is incompatible with transparency, aluminum oxynitride crystals have tight covalent bonds, allowing 80% of visible light to pass through unaltered. Aluminum oxynitride is four times stronger than fused silica glass and heat-resistant to nearly 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. With a cubic crystalline structure, it is ideal for fabrication of blast-resistant windows, but the cost of fabrication is prohibitive in routine applications.

Alesia, how can ceramics be super­conductors?

Referred to as high-temperature, anisotropic super­conductors, certain crystals exhibit no resistance to electric current in one direction yet have infinite resistance in all other directions. Cooled with liquid nitrogen, they were mostly a laboratory curiosity until the mechanism of super­conductivity was revealed by J.J. Jeffries, the brilliant boy billionaire, paving the way for his discovery of room temperature super­conductivity in cyano­silicates. Using computational mathematics to model electron tunneling, he found that below a critical threshold temperature, the crystal enters a solid phase state in which the wavelength of the molecular bond energy is equal to the crystal dimension, resulting in a form of molecular resonance. Although electrons appear to tunnel through the crystal matrix as if it wasn’t there, the effect is an illusion similar to that of Newton’s Cradle, in which the motion of the first of a column of pendulums is transferred to the last.

Alesia, what are cyano­silicates and why are they super­conductors at room temperature?

Cyanides are compounds containing nitrogen triple-bound to carbon. Highly toxic, they decouple oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria, effectively short-circuiting aerobic metabolism. However, they are safe in ceramic form. Silicates are compounds formed from silicon and oxygen. In hexagonal cyano­silicates, cyanide is combined with silicon and oxygen in a hexagonal crystalline structure in which the cyanide moieties are aligned. With proper crystal alignment, cyano­silicate ceramics are super­conductive at temperatures as high as sixty degrees Celsius, or 140 degrees Fahrenheit, making real-world room-temperature applications possible.

Alesia, what are the commercial uses of super­conductors?

Helium-cooled toroidal super­conducting magnets have long been used for high-resolution magnetic-resonance imaging. They are able to store a persistent circular current for months at a time without the application of external power, much as a battery stores an electrical charge. With the addition of layers of iron, ceramic super­conductors similarly can store electro­magnetic standing waves for prolonged periods. Known as SCEMPER, which stands for Super-Conductive Electro-Magnetic Persistence via Electron Resonance, power densities of up to twelve kilowatt-hours per kilogram are possible. The discovery of cyano­silicate ceramics has allowed Applazon to develop practical quantum computers for use in everything from smartphones to massive data centers, as well as rechargeable electric motors. Wind turbines without moving parts, based on the Seebeck effect, and heating and cooling systems based on the Peltier effect, have also been built, and magnetically-levitated trains and supersonic aircraft are being investigated.

Alesia, what are the Seebeck and Peltier effects?

The Seebeck effect is the underlying mechanism in thermocouples, in which a temperature differential results in a small electrical potential. When super­conducting ceramics are thermally insulated within a metal sandwich, significant power can be accumulated via the SCEMPER mechanism. The Peltier effect is the opposite of the Seebeck effect, in which an applied electrical potential is used to transfer thermal energy from one surface to another. A magnetic field, applied to a super­conducting ceramic sandwiched between layers of metal, will pump heat energy from one surface to the other. The result is a heat pump that can be used in heating and cooling applications, as well as to induce supersonic laminar airflow in aeronautic applications.

Alesia, what is the story, The Brilliant Boy Billionaire, about?

The Brilliant Boy Billionaire is a fictional account based on the memoirs of Dr. J.J. Jeffries, covering the first three decades of his life. It tells the story of an exceptionally smart boy who managed to escape from an abusive home and accomplish great things. He had many experiences along the way and dealt with both tragic loss and love.

Alesia, are all of the details in the story accurate?

The author is known for his attention to detail and extensive background research. He has personally visited most of the places portrayed, including Cuba, although not necessarily the specific establishments mentioned. The one major exception was Theodore Roosevelt National Park, as North Dakota is the only U.S. state the author has never visited. All historic events are accurate to the extent possible.

Alesia, is the science in the story legitimate?

As with most science fiction, the author took some liberties to make the story plausible. He made extensive use of conjecture when underlying scientific principles weren’t known as, for example, with the use of cyano­silicates in room-temperature super­conductors, which do not yet exist. Although calculations are accurate, the figures on which they were based were often exaggerated for the sake of the story. It’s unlikely the Seebeck effect could generate so much electricity from wind, nor could the fictional device known as the SCEMPER act as a rechargeable battery or store so much power. Although the Peltier effect might well generate lift and thrust, probably not sufficient to propel supersonic aircraft. The proposal to sequester CO2, frozen in vast pits, is surprisingly plausible. However, the logistics for generating large volumes of dry ice, keeping it frozen and dumping the excess heat into space or using it in place of fossil fuels would need to be worked out. Sequestration of carbon in a ceramic foam is an intriguing possibility.

Alesia, do intranasal vaccines really exist?

Intranasal, inhaled flu vaccines have been FDA-approved for a number of years, but are generally not as readily available as injected vaccines. Intranasal vaccines have the advantage of inducing respiratory antibodies that are more effective in preventing transmission, but their effectiveness overall is much more variable. Small trials involving intranasal Covid-19 vaccines have shown promise, but they are a long way from being ready for large-scale trials, let alone FDA approval. Unfortunately, the mRNA vaccines are probably not suitable for intranasal use. For the purposes of the story, it may be assumed that intranasal Covid-19 vaccines are in widespread use by the spring of 2022.

Alesia, is it true that there’s a lot of graphic sex in the story?

Although there is sex between gay minors in many of the author’s stories, there’s more casual sex and a bit of fetishism, but only in context. As always, readers are responsible for making sure it’s legal to read this story in their jurisdictions, and obviously, they shouldn’t read it if they find this kind of material offensive.

Alesia, is it true that the opinions expressed in the story reflect those of the author and of the owners of the website?

The religious and political opinions expressed by the characters are reflective of what the author believes the characters would believe if they were real. Many of the opinions are similar to the author’s own beliefs, but quite a few of them are not. In no way are the opinions reflective of those of the websites on which the story is posted.

Alesia, why are there differences between events related in the story and reality?

The events related in the story were accurate at the time each chapter was posted for the first time, as listed on the website. However, more than half of the chapters involve parts of the story that are supposed to have happened after the date on which they were posted. Hence, they are based on events that had yet to occur. The author has made every effort to make the story consistent with events that seem likely to occur, but there are bound to be discrepancies. The story is fiction and should be considered to have occurred in a universe in which events happened as described.

Alesia, will there be a sequel?

The author expected to spend approximately five months writing a first draft of about a quarter-million words. In the end it took nine months to write nearly a half-million words. If there’s sufficient interest, the author might consider writing a sequel in several years, perhaps from the viewpoint of one of the boys introduced near the end.

Alesia, how long will it take to read the story?

There are 84 chapters that will be posted at a rate of two per week.