Tantalum Mass

The world's foremost philosophers, biologists, historians, physicists, and religious scholars are meeting in Herning, Denmark, for a five-day conference called "The Summit of Meaning" to contemplate the age-old question, "What is the meaning of life?" This question has assumed additional urgency now because of two factors. The first is the recent implementation of a pervasive internet analysis and supervision service called
Project Dyrette to curb the hacking of government, military, and private networks which has crippled the world economy. An unanticipated byproduct of this centralized monitoring of the world's knowledge grid has been the evolution of a global sense of consciousness and even global identity. The second factor is that evidence is rapidly accumulating of life "off earth" on comets, moons, and exoplanets. This confluence of global identify and recent scientific discoveries has propelled the question of our existence and its meaning into the forefront of public discussion. How do we as a species fit in at the scale of the universe?

Two Midwestern internet programmers in their early twenties will confront a venture capitalist from California and a world-class political statesman who have taken over Project Dyrette with a scheme to control the world using tantalum, a lustrous blue metal sometimes used in medical implants. Their epic encounter will take these computer prodigies and their colleagues on an adventure from the Congo to the fjords of Norway. None of the other participants at the Summit of Meaning will know what is going on until it's too late. In the meantime, this eminent assembly will contemplate the question about what gives life meaning and a few will stumble across an answer in an unexpected place.

The generous host of characters in the story from around the world will delve into the philosophical, scientific, and religious foundations for meaning. They will also look at ways humans finding no meaning, have simply imposed it. They will learn about the latest developments in astrobiology and astrophysics, evaluate world religions, wrestle with logic for the existence of a deity, examine ancient texts, and analyze the latest archeological finds. In the end, many will develop close relationships that may not survive the worldwide
changes that await them.