Marathon
Upon entering the UMF city-state of Marathon, visitors are greeted by billboards proclaiming, “Welcome to Marathon, the city that thinks for itself.” While this claim is somewhat exaggerated, daily life in Marathon almost invariably involves interaction with a sophisticated neural net computer system. Marathon has a city-wide multimedia network which is connected to every communications device in the city. This mind-boggling information grid is monitored by a multitude of NNet system operators and a small group of human troubleshooters. Because of the tight integration of the information media in Marathon, almost everything is computerized. Video mail has replaced written letters. The city database has replaced the municipal library. Network terminals have replaced home computers. Even the physical ballot has been replaced with electronic voting. This highly integrated system has produced a constant, rapid exchange of ideas, leading to continuous technological improvements.
The Marathon network is the brainchild of Abaline Research, the largest and most powerful NNet manufacturer and trainer in the northern hemisphere. Abaline produces NNets for numerous applications, ranging from on-board vehicle computers to the near-sentient powerhouses that govern the Marathon net. As a show of goodwill, Abaline provides the city with its NNets at a fraction of their production costs. In turn, the city serves as a final test bed for their new neural net models.
Abaline Research first gained prominence during the design of the first military Gear, the Hunter Mark I. Abaline was contracted to create the sophisticated computer control system for the Hunter and applied its breakthrough optical neural net (ONNet) technology to the project. These astonishing learning computers gave the Hunter the computing power and flexibility it needed to automate most of the on-board systems. Since that success, Abaline has remained the leader in the field and applied ONNet technology to a wide variety of applications. The Marathon network is their showpiece, an example of the possibilities of widespread application of computer technology to everyday life. Abaline is aware that some of its ONNets are prone to malfunctions that resemble independent actions; in some cases, a few nets have achieved a degree of sentience said to be equivalent to a smart dog. Abaline has suppressed a lot of information about this phenomenon, both because it fears bad press because of unpredictable NNet behavior, and because it wishes to be at the forefront of the artificial intelligence research that could grow out of these “malfunctions.” Several learning NNets have been attached to the Marathon network for field tests.