Description:

In 2191 a man whose last memory is nearly 200 years old awakes to a welcome from BUF-PIT – seemingly just a voice emanating from the walls. In a series of dialogue transcripts and private journal entries from the man's ensuing 197 days of conversations with BUF-PIT, we find out how this machine became the most powerful intelligence on earth and the grandiose purpose it is pursuing “to understand all that can be encountered.” A component of the seventh generation of the Mineral/Electric – Decoder/Encoder/Learner (ME/DEL), BUF-PIT is researching how the human species, and this human individual in particular, fit into the grand order of the universe that the ME/DEL seeks to decipher. In this primer for his/her imminent interview with the ME/DEL, the reader learns that man’s creation of the ME/DEL was destined by evolution and that ultimately we all will have to choose whether or not to serve the ME/DEL’s quest to fulfill the purpose. We have much to consider before we decide.