Colossus: The Forbin Project

Would you look this way please?

Okay!

One moment.

Mr. President, all systems activated.

I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long.

- oh no, not at all.

Congratulations Dr. Forbin.

It's a marvelous achievement.

Thank you sir.

Hear, Hear!

The limousine is ready for us.

Of course it's gonna put me out of a job

and put the Pentagon in mothballs.

Congratulations Dr. Forbin.

I'm quite sure that won't happen

Listen to him.

He's more relieved than anybody.

Our secretary of defense, the secretary of

state and myself

had a discussion on our way out here

and as to the treatment needed

we told the company about it.

And hem..

We all agreed

it should be simple and direct.

Yes.

Downgrade the biggest top-secret

in all history to a plain non-sequitur.

Now, all we have to do

is tell the people about it.

Thank you sir.

My friends..

Fellow citizens of the world.

For years we have been delicately

and desperately poised

upon the brink of a disaster

too complete

and horrible to contemplate.

There is an old saying:

Everyone makes mistakes

but that is just

what man can no longer afford.

For years, we here in the united states

have been working on that problem

until now it's been our most

closely guarded secret

involving great effort

and wast expenditure.

But it has been met with success.

As President of

the United states of America

I can now tell you,

the people of the entire world

that as of 3 Am. eastern standard time

the defense of this nation

and with it, the defense of the free world

has been the responsibility of a machine.

A system we call Colossus.

Far more advanced

than anything previously built

Capable of studying intelligence

and data fed to it.

And on the basis of those facts only

deciding if an attack

is about to be launched upon us.

If it did decide

that an attack was imminent

colossus would then act immediately

for it controls its own weapons

and can select and deliver

whatever it considers appropriate.

Colossus decisions are superior

to any we humans can make.

For it can absorb

and process more knowledge

than is remotely possible

for the greatest genius that ever lived.

And even more important than that

it has no emotions.

Knows no fear, no hate, no envy.

It cannot act in a sudden fit of temper.

Cannot act at all

so long as there is no threat.

I would now like you to meet

Dr. Charles Forbin

The worlds leading expert

on computer systems.

And if you will..

the father of Colossus.

Thank you Mr. President.

Ladies and gentlemen, I will..

try to make this as simple as possible.

The main memory and central processing units

are located here in the rocky mountains..

Inside this particular mountain..

In Colorado.

And overlooking the Pacific Ocean

in California..

the Colossus programing office

oversees the entire operation.

The computer center

contains over one hundred thousand remote

censors and communication devices

which monitor all

electronic transmissions

such as microwaves, laser

radio and television communications

data communications from satellites

in orbit all over the world.

The entire system..

is surrounded by fields

of intensified gamma radiation

and other countermeasure devices.

Colossus works

completely without human aid.

We make no secret..

of where Colossus is located

nor do we intend to conceal

how it functions.

You may rightfully say

that this leaves us wide open to an attack

frontally and subversively

and if that attack were successful

it would in effect leave us defenseless.

However..

Colossus

does have its own defense.

It is its own defense.

In case of an attack..

on any of its information supply

or power lines..

Colossus will switch on

the emergency circuits

which will then take

the appropriate action.

It is self-sufficient

self-protected

self-generated.

It is impenetrable.

In short..

There's no way in.

No human being can touch it.

Over here

we have one of the many terminals

directly hooked

to the computer center.

Through this

Colossus can communicate with us,

excuse me gentlemen,

and through this machine

we, in turn, can communicate with Colossus.

Now, there's one last point.

One inevitable question..

which we have been asked

very frequently before.

And that is..

is Colossus capable of creative thought?

Can it initiate new thought?

I can tell you

that the answer to that is no.

However

Colossus is a paragon of knowledge

and his knowledge

can be expanded indefinitely.

I hope, along with all the scientists who..

helped make this particular project,

that the immense power of this computer

will not only be used

for the defense of this country

but hopefully also as an aid to the solution

of the many problems we face on this earth

and the many more problems

that we will face

the more deeply we penetrate

into the universe.

Thank you.

Mr. President.

Thank you Dr. Forbin.

And so..

my fellow human beings

we all directly and

indirectly live in the shade

but not the shadow of Colossus.

My sincere hope

is that now

we shall join hands and hearts

across this great globe

and pledge our time and our energies

to the elimination of war

elimination of famine,

of suffering

and ultimately to the manifestation

of the human millennium.

This can be done,

but first there must be peace.

Thank you.

CPO Rec-Room.

Blake Miller here.

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