Raymond Long: author of fiction and non-fiction
Extracts from More Than Human:
"Miracles of Lithuanian science"
'Grand Duke Conrad emerged from hospital in Conradburg today more machine-evolved than ever before. Most of the Grand Duke's biological tissue has now been removed, while still more advanced computing power has been added to His Grand Ducal Highness's brain.'
The feed which Rachel viewed in her mind, being transmitted live from Lithuania, showed a shining silver robot with an approximately human shape. Rising from its top was something like a head. But there was no neck, and the 'head' was clearly incapable of turning. A suggestion of a face was sculpted on its front, unmoving, rather smooth and featureless compared to a real face. Below the 'head' were similarly smoothed and idealised chest and stomach muscles, with just a suggestion of a navel. A ripple of colour ran quickly down the silver machine's body from its crown to its feet. Then the camera zoomed in on the face. Rachel heard a voice which she recognised as Conrad's on the sound channel of the feed, though the robot's features remained immobile.
'This is the latest step in my personal evolution. For years we have struggled to fit more and more computing power inside the human head. Now I have taken the logically obvious step: increase the size of the head. My biological brain is surrounded by the most advanced computers, and in consequence I am now the most intelligent living being on this planet. Not only that - my brain case and life support form a unit that I can dock onto any body I choose to design.'
The camera pulled away, and a mechanical arm rose from the floor in front of the robot. On the arm's end was a large clamp, which locked onto the robot's shoulders and chest. The robot stepped backward, and its chest and belly and head stayed where they were. As the robot body and the head-chest separated, a cuboidal void was revealed in the body, perfectly matching the square edges of the head-chest's sides and rear.
The legs and hollow torso of the humanoid robot turned and walked away, leaving the silver box that was Grand Duke Conrad held up on the end of the arm rising from the floor. In the background, a large door slid silently open and something emerged. After a moment Rachel realised that it was a white horse, or largely one. Where a horse would have had a head and neck, something in the shape of a man's torso with heroically bronzed and muscled arms rose. But the middle of that torso was a square-edged void.
The horse-thing approached Conrad's suspended head-chest and docked with it. In a moment they were one being, a centaur. From the shoulders of the white horse rose the bronzed body, and the front of the body was the unmoving silver of Conrad's machine-body. The mechanical arm that had held Conrad disengaged and withdrew into the floor, and then in the twinkling of an eye Conrad's silver chest and head changed colour to match the deeply tanned skin, leaving only the eyes on the sculpted face silver. The join between metal chest and surrounding skin could no longer be seen, and the centaur reared on its hind legs, kicking its front ones in the air and flexing its muscular arms.
'Today I feel like being a centaur! In this guise the Grand Duchess and I will join the hunt!' Priska ran onto the picture from one side, wearing a sort of short tunic that left her gleaming metal arms and legs bare. She carried a bow in one hand and a quiver of arrows in the other. She leapt, pirouetted in the air, and landed effortlessly astride the centaur's back. 'And tomorrow I may take on any other shape I please! As many bodies as I can build, I can inhabit. There is no limit!' With those words Conrad turned and galloped away, and the camera panned to follow the Grand Ducal couple into their hunting enclosure in Conradburg, the scene of many broadcast hunts.
The scene on the feed changed to an external view of a metallic wheel hanging weightless against a background of black space and white stars, with the curve of Earth showing at the bottom of the picture. 'And now, Lithuanian Grand Ducal Broadcasting is delighted to bring you live coverage of Lithuania's first lunar mission, Silverhand One. No human being has walked on the moon during this century. Today, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is taking a giant step toward taking mankind back to the moon. Silverhand One, launched from Lithuania's city of Priskashaven in Earth orbit, is completely unmanned. On arriving in lunar orbit, Silverhand One's complement of completely autonomous construction machines will unload the vehicle's payload and build a fully functional base in moon orbit. From this base, Lithuanians will begin work on the first settlements on the lunar surface itself. No nation in history has ever progressed so quickly as Lithuania under the guidance of the machine-evolved Grand Duke Conrad and Grand Duchess Priska!'
As the announcer spoke those final words in tones of rapture, fire flared and a dart-like object moved away from Priskashaven, ponderous to begin with but rapidly gaining speed.