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 vast 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 world’s 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.

What?!

Just a minute. I can't hear you.

Hey! Hold it down! Kill the noise. Hold it.

It's The White House.

Hello Charles. Hello Blake.

How is everyone?

Everything's fine down here Charles. Very good.

Dr. Forbin, we had a power failure in one of the infra-red satellites.

I can’t, I can’t quite hear you Dr. Markham.

We had a power failure in one of the infra-red satellites

about an hour and a half ago

but Colossus switched immediately to the backup system and didn't loose any data.

Everything's fine now.

Everything's been going so well we don't know what to do with ourselves

Out of desperation Angela and I have decided to get married

Finally, finally. Very good.

Charlie, is that your crew on the phone?

Certainly is Mr. President. Can I talk to them?

Sure, go ahead sir. Blake, Hello!

Hello Mr. President. Hello everyone.

How are you? Are you having a good time?

Yeah! Very good.

Ahh.. Folks

I just wanna congratulate all of you

and I wish all of you good luck on your next projects

Thank you Mr. President.

Have a good rest. You deserve it.

Thank you. We will!

That looks like quite a party you've got going there.

Bye bye. Have fun.

Here's Dr. Forbin again.

How's the party down there Charles?

I said, Charles, how's the party at that end?

I wish I could be there with you

because this party is becoming a crashing bore.

Please not that song. Please not.

Dr. Forbin, send us a souvenir, will you?

Say that again. What?!

Steal us an ashtray from The White House, OK?

Very good.

Goodbye. Haha..

The President would like to say a few words.

Mr. President!

Thank you Sam. Everybody have a drink?

No?!

Well, you get one. I'll wait for you.

Harry Truman, years ago..

when everybody was talking about passing the buck said that the buck stops right here

but now that's no longer true. Hear hear!

Colossus will now take that buck.

It will also have to take that responsibility of a mega-million lives

that all presidents have had to carry since Roosevelt.

And now, thank to this wonder of science

I no longer..

Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please.

Quiet, please, ladies and gentlemen. May I have your attention!

One moment.

Everyone who is not Colossus cleared must leave the room.

I'm very sorry.

My apologies. Thank you, thank you very much.

Is this a joke? Is somebody putting me on?