A Strange Queue at a Princeton Data Centre Unfolds in Science Fiction

A long queue of men and women, including techies and academics, moved slowly down a corridor towards a large door at an Institute for Advanced Studies location in Princeton from the 1940s to 1950s. Polite young women wearing slacks, white shirts, close-cropped brown hair, earrings, and friendly smiles managed the line and firmly stopped people from leaving. The narrator reflected on historical figures linked to Princeton such as Veblen, Einstein, Gödel, Morgenstern, and Oppenheimer, alongside wild parties hosted by Goodtime Johnny featuring gourmet food and alcohol from Palmer Square.

The Data Centre

The door eventually opened to reveal a massive room filled with racks of millions of servers and the loud, high-pitched roar of cooling fans. When the narrator asked if it was a data centre, a young woman laughed and claimed she knew nothing about it, calling it way before her time. She then asked if the narrator had attended von Neumann's party.

The Reaction

The narrator noted that von Neumann died in 1957, while feeling a strong urge to confess everything about von Neumann, including game theory, computer architecture, nuclear-defence strategy, and memories of von Neumann screaming in night terror. Meanwhile, a man in a dark suit described as an IBM type panicked in front of the narrator and screamed that he had attended von Neumann's parties and danced the polka, while a short basement gamer behind him stated he was not born yet.

Context

This piece is published as a work of science fiction under the Nature Futures series, blending historical figures from Princeton's past with futuristic computing themes. John von Neumann was a real and highly influential mathematician who made major contributions to early computing and game theory. Works of science fiction frequently use historical settings and famous scientists to explore surreal or philosophical scenarios involving technology and human memory.