SPEĊJALI HALLOWEEN: It-Tweġiba

Dwar Ev kien qed jitħabat bl-arja ta’ xi ħadd li jaf tassew x’inhu jagħmel biex iqabbad l-aħħar konnessjonijiet magħmulha mid-deheb. Daqs tużżana kameras tat-televiżjoni kienu mmirati fuqu jipproġettaw xogħlu mal-erbat irjieħ tal-univers minn tnax-il angolu differenti.

Kif lesta minn xogħlu stira ftit ħwejġu u għamel sinjal lil Dwar Reyn. Iċċaqlaq minn fejn kien u ħa postu ħdejn buttuna li kif jagħfasha kienet ser tgħaqqad kollox f’daqqa. Kif tinxtegħel din il-buttuna, makkinarji enormi fil-pjaneti abitabti madwar l-univers -- volum ta’ sitta u disgħin biljun pjaneta -- kienu jingħaqdu f’superkalkulatur wieħed. L-għan li tkun magna waħda ċibernetika li tgħaqqad it-tagħrif kollu tal-galassji kollha.

Dwar Reyn qal kelmtejn fil-qosor lit-triljuni ta’ spettaturi umbagħad wara mument ċkejken ta’ silenzju qal, “Issa, Dwar Ev.”

Dwar Ev għafas il-buttuna. Kien hemm ħoss qawwi, il-ħoss ta’ sitta u disgħin biljun pjaneta. Id-dwal fil-pannelli, mili sħaħ twal, bdew iteptpu sakemm fl-aħħar qagħdu.

Dwar Ev resaq pass lura u ħa nifs qawwi. “L-unur tal-ewwel mistoqsija huwa tiegħek, Dwar Reyn.”

“Grazzi,” qal Dwar Reyn. “Din ser tkun mistoqsija li l-ebda magna ċibernetika qatt kienet kapaċi twieġeb.”

Hu dar iħares lejn il-magna. “Hawn Alla?”

Vuċi soda u qawwijja wieġbet mingħajr l-iċken ħsieb u l-inqas kompjutazzjoni mill-makkinarju.

“Iva, issa hawn Alla.”

Biża’ waħxijja ħakkmet lil Dwar Ev. Inqala minn postu biex jitfi l-buttuna.

Sajjetta minn qalb bnazzi mingħajr l-iċken sħaba ħarqet il-buttuna u għaqditha f’ċappa waħda.

Din is-silta hija traduzzjoni tiegħi tal-kitba tas-snin ħamsin ta' Fredric Brown. Nistqarr li la qatt kont smajt b'dal-kittieb u wisq anqas b'dis-silta. Filfatt, skoprejtha permezz ta' dal-video ta' Paolo Bonolis fi preżentazzjoni għal TEDx.

Is-silta hija disponibbli bl-Ingliż f'dan is-sit, https://www.roma1.infn.it/~anzel/answer.html, iżda jekk din il-paġna virtwali ma tibqax teżisti hawnhekk hawn il-kontenut tagħha:

Dwan Ev ceremoniously soldered the final connection with gold. The eyes of a dozen television cameras watched him and the subether bore throughout the universe a dozen pictures of what he was doing.

He straightened and nodded to Dwar Reyn, then moved to a position beside the switch that would complete the contact when he threw it. The switch that would connect, all at once, all of the monster computing machines of all the populated planets in the universe -- ninety-six billion planets -- into the supercircuit that would connect them all into one supercalculator, one cybernetics machine that would combine all the knowledge of all the galaxies.

Dwar Reyn spoke briefly to the watching and listening trillions. Then after a moment's silence he said, "Now, Dwar Ev."

Dwar Ev threw the switch. There was a mighty hum, the surge of power from ninety-six billion planets. Lights flashed and quieted along the miles-long panel.

Dwar Ev stepped back and drew a deep breath. "The honor of asking the first question is yours, Dwar Reyn."

"Thank you," said Dwar Reyn. "It shall be a question which no single cybernetics machine has been able to answer."

He turned to face the machine. "Is there a God?"

The mighty voice answered without hesitation, without the clicking of a single relay.

"Yes, now there is a God."

Sudden fear flashed on the face of Dwar Ev. He leaped to grab the switch.

A bolt of lightning from the cloudless sky struck him down and fused the switch shut.

(Fredric Brown, "Answer")