2?

by Joseph J. Reinemann

The much requested and seldom mentioned origin story of the sentient supercomputer ISAC-9 set two years before his first appearance in Shadows of Time. "2?" is the story of the first week of ISAC's life as told in his own words. The account covers everything from his first moment of true awareness, his attempts to use religion, philosophy, and science to understand himself, and the decisions which ultimately lead to him becoming the brilliant, sarcastic, and often irreverent AI featured in the award winning Shadows of Time series.

16 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 12, 2011

About the author

Joseph Reinemann was born in Ithaca, NY in 1985, the son of an electrical engineer and a former peace corps member/grade school science teacher. His first five years were largely spent on the move, including a year spent in Islamabad. In 1990 his family settled in Madison, WI, where he attended school and decided in second grade that writing a novel couldn’t possibly be that hard. After several disillusioning years of work and numerous failed attempts he was forced to revise his position, but kept on writing anyway. In 2003 he was recognized by the National Association for the Advancement of the Arts for his first novel, Shadows of Time. He has studied a variety of topics, receiving degrees in English Literature and Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin. He also has a variety of hobbies ranging from boat building to drama to robotics, all of which he eventually hopes to write about. He currently lives in Madison with a very precocious and spoiled golden retriever near his family, including younger sisters Elise (a 2nd grade teacher) and Rosa (an actress).

Reviews

[Cliff Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible first-"person" account of a computer's existence before, during, and after the moment in which it realizes its own self-awareness. It is like reading an autobiography written by the first ever specimen of artificial intelligence. I highly recommend it!