Arthur C. Clarke - The Pacifist

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The Pacifist

Arthur C. Clarke

1956 King Size Magazines Inc.

I got to the "White Hart" late that evening, and when I arrived everyone was

crowded into the comer under the dartboard. All except Drew, that is: he had

not deserted his post, but was sitting behind the bar reading the collected T.

S. Eliot. He broke off from "The Confidential Clerk" long enough to hand me a

beer and to tell me what was going on.

"Eric's brought in some kind of games machine-it's beaten everybody so far.

Sam's trying his luck with it now."

At that moment a roar of laughter announced that Sam had been no luckier than

the rest, and I pushed my way through the crowd to see what was happening.

On the table lay a flat metal box the size of a checkerboard, and divided into

squares in a similar way. At the corner of each square was a two-way switch

and a little neon lamp: the whole affair was plugged into the light socket

(thus plunging the dartboard into darkness) and Eric Rodgers was looking round

for a new victim.

"What does the thing do?" I asked.

"It's a modification of naughts; and crosses-what the Americans call

Tic-Tac-Toe. Shannon showed it to me when I was over at Bell Labs. What you

have to do is to complete a path from one side of the board to the other-call

it North to South-by turning these switches. Imagine the thing forms a grid of

streets, if you like, and these neons are the traffic lights. You and the

machine take turns making moves. The machine tries to block your path by

building one of its own in the East-West direction-the little neons light up

to tell you which way it wants to make a move. Neither track need be a

straight line: you can zig-zag as much as you like.

All that matters is that the path must be continuous, and the one to got

across the board first wins."

"Meaning the machine, I suppose?"

"Well, it's never been beaten yet."

"Can't you force a draw, by blocking the machine's path, so that at least you

don't lose?"

"That's what we're trying: like to have a go?"

Two minutes later I joined the other unsuccessful contestants. The machine had

dodged all my barriers and established its own track from East to West. I

wasn't convinced that it was unbeatable, but the game was clearly a good deal

more complicated than it looked.

Eric glanced round his audience when I had retired. No-one else seemed in a

hurry to move forward.

"Ha!" he said. "The very man. What about you, Purvis? You've not had a shot

yet."

Harry Purvis was standing at the back of the crowd, with a faraway look in his

eye. He jolted back to earth as Eric addressed him, but didn't answer the

question directly.

"Fascinating things, these electronic computers," he mused. "I suppose I

shouldn't tell you this, but your gadget reminds me of what happened to

Project Clausewitz. A curious story, and one very expensive to the American

taxpayer."

"Look," said John Wyndham anxiously. "Before you start, be a good sport and

let us get our glasses filled. Drew!"

This important matter having been attended to, we gathered round Harry. Only

Charlie Willis still remained with the machine, hopefully trying his luck.

"As you all know," began Harry, "Science with a capital S is a big thing in

the military world these days. The weapons side-rockets, atom bombs and so

on-is only part of it, though that's all the public knows about. Much more

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Arthur C. Clarke - The Pacifist

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