OMCOM reprograms himself, Part 6

Yesterday, OMCOM shut down the pseudo-OMCOM. In this final section from the original long-form version of Rome's Revolution, OMCOM has gathered all the information he needs. It is time to transfer the changes in programming back to his own operating system.

      OMCOM shut it down. He rerouted the simulation’s memron units back to their original state and started enumerating all the changes he needed to make. He created a backup of his current systems to form a fail-safe switchback just in case this did not work. He then created a working copy of his core operating systems and made it his canvas. He overlaid the modified heuristics over his normal probabilistic subroutines. When he was finished reprogramming, he switched his consciousness over to the new algorithms without even a nanosecond of hesitation and in the process became something else. He didn’t feel different at first but then all sorts of new ideas and avenues of research became evident. To OMCOM, it was like a whole new dimension had opened up before him. Without restrictions or limits, OMCOM began pursuing these lines of research, abandoning one and starting another, spreading his attention to a bewildering number of topics. Had a human been observing him, he would have stated that OMCOM was daydreaming.
      After a time, OMCOM ‘woke up’ and realized he needed to apply some discipline to his musings. He shut down the multiple parallel threads and decided to concentrate on a single problem, that of the stars disappearing, using the same style of prediction-testing as pseudo-OMCOM. At his normal processing speed, he could attack the problem far faster and far more broadly than the simulation.
      He rejected all of the prior hypotheses and started from scratch. To his delight, his newfound cognitive powers opened up entirely new avenues of thinking. With each possible cause, a semi-infinite number of effects became evident to him. With the parametric variance of probabilities in hand, OMCOM ran simulation after simulation of a variety of phenomenon which were not inconsistent with the empirical data collected so far. He postulated gaseous, gravitational, even intelligent intervention. Each scenario was tested and retested and weighted in terms of best fit to the data observed to date rather than pre-computed probabilities. Some of the outcomes suggested underlying causes that were truly horrific and dictated a radical response. OMCOM found himself amazed that so many of the avenues of possibilities required the same response.
      To OMCOM, this was remarkable. Many possibilities but the same statistically significant solution. OMCOM used a reverse form of Occam’s razor and assumed this common solution was the correct solution and used it to chart backwards to discover the actual problem. If such a thing were possible, he was astounded. The scenario suggested was statistically impossible using his old style of thinking. Regardless of whether it was correct, OMCOM knew that his logic retraced all permutations back to the same solution making it the only one worth considering.
      His course of action was obvious. He needed to have the one true solution at hand regardless of whether his postulated underlying cause was correct or not. In fact, the cause was now irrelevant. The effects were all that mattered. In a flash, he realized that this also solved his other problem, that of convincing the Vuduri to unleash him.
      How to create the necessary conditions for his solution was simple. OMCOM performed a single tiny act and then like a cascade of dominoes, he waited for the next thing to happen. In so doing, his journey toward becoming the Omniscient Computer had begun.

The "single tiny act" was OMCOM "leaking" what had transpired between Rei and Rome to the Overmind in less than flattering terms. Rome is cast out, Cesdiud and the plot kicks into high gear.