Press Conference at Bell Labs
The conference room in a quiet New Jersey suburb was dimly lit, but the air hummed with anticipation from journalists eager to stream the bold news advertised across the Fediverse.
All they could see were the strange objects strewn across a table. Some were sleek, but others looked as green as plants.
Suddenly the door opened and Dr. Leia Kovich entered. She was the president of the labs division, a woman with silver hair and fiery determination. She stood at the head of the table with a grin on her face.
"Welcome everyone," she began, her voice a warm melody. She talked faster than usual, revealing her excitement. "Today, we stand on the cusp of an entirely new era in communication. This is the start of an era where nature and technology don't conflict, but cooperate."
She turned towards the devices on the table. One was a canister glowing a soft green.
"This, I am proud to announce, is the start of our Mycelium Network. This is an organic telecommunications system that harnesses the power of fungal networks. With this, we can quickly spread a living web which spans the globe."
A murmur rippled through the room. A journalist furrowed his brow and raised his hand.
"Dr. Kovich, how exactly does this network work?"
"Imagine," she replied energetically, "a vast, interconnected web of fungal hyphae, microscopic threads which weave through the soil. They connect to trees, plants, and entire ecosystems. We here at Bell Labs have spent the last decade researching how to tap into this natural network. We are now able to consistently encode data into electrical signals which travel through this hyphae at lightning speed."
She paused, waiting for their eyes to stop glazing over. "This Mycelium Network is ten times faster than commercial fiber optics. But it also boasts a bandwidth capacity which dwarfs any existing technology. Because it's organic, it is self healing, adaptable, and doesn't require nearly as much human-generated energy."
Another journalist, her eyes wide with wonder, spoke up. "But is it safe? Can we trust a living network to handle our sensitive data?"
Dr. Kovich nodded. "Data is encrypted before and after using the network. But that's no different from current networks. Yet this network does not rely on traditional ISPs. It is entirely decentralized, without the usual gatekeepers. This makes it virtually impossible to hack. And its natural biodefenses make it able to adapt to biological hacks as well."
A tech reporter took his hands of his keyboard long enough to interject. "What about signal degradation over long distances? How does the network maintain integrity across continents?"
Dr. Kovich turned in his direction. "That's our last breakthrough which makes the whole thing possible. We have developed a proprietary bio-amplification technique which uses the natural electrical signaling in the hyphae to boost and regenerate signals at key junctions, ensuring consistent data transmission over thousands of miles. These are all natural, tiny repeaters at a scale that factories could never imagine."
The journalists were now drawn into the wonder of this invention. They gave a round of applause, still not quite sure what this was. Yet they were sure this a monumental day and a glimpse into the future.
"Now," she announced with great enthusiasm, "let's move beyond theory and experience this network firsthand."
The lights dimmed and the green light on the table grew brighter.
"We've established a live connection with our research station in the Amazon Rainforest, thousands of miles away. Not only will we be able to communicate video in real-time, but we'll go further. We will push the boundaries of what's possible today."
On the wall, a holographic window flickered to life. At first glance it was not more complicated than the tchotchkes found in gift shops. However, the thing being displayed was not a hard coded object but a full person. The image was not crisp, and monochrome, but it startled the audience when the person began waving to the crowd.
"Greetings from the Amazon!" came a voice played over the speakers. "I am Dr. Ronald Mancini, and I'm happy to be here to demonstrate a few unique capabilities of our Mycelium Network."
That voice, in high definition, led the journalists to notice the faint surround sound of insect buzzing and bird tweets in the background.
He held up a small device in his hand. The resolution of the hologram was large enough that the audience could see a mobile computer.
"This device is capable of capturing the complex chemical signals emitted by the plants around me. In a way, it is translating the language of nature into data we can understand."
As he spoke, the hologram grew more complex. Graphs and charts suddenly appeared overhead, showing patterns and colors representing the intricate communications of the world unseen.
"With the Mycelium Network's unprecedented bandwidth, we can transmit this massive amount of data instantaneously, allowing us to monitor the health of the ecosystem in high resolution at all times. This will give us a new look at the world. Imagine the possibilities when we can do that level of real-time data. We could identify disease before it spreads, identify mechanical failures, or even predict natural disasters before they occur."
Dr. Kovich interrupted, as there were other TLs from Bell that had their own demos which stretched the possibility of what was possible with this new transmission network: remote collaboration of scientific research, large-scale observations of microscopic organisms, animal translation, even a brief experiment in shared sensory experiences. Journalists were able to come up one-by-one to personally experience the warmth of the Amazon sun and the gentle breezes.
Finally, the day came to an end. The lights came back on and the world went back to normal. Still, the room was buzzing with excitement and wonder. The journalists were eagerly scribbling notes on everything they experienced, to turn into content later that night in their Jersey hotels.
"Thank you everyone, and I hope you have a good evening. And one more thing," Dr. Kovich announced. "This is only the beginning. The possibilities are endless."