Emil, page 7
“Not yet,” Dr. Zahnia says. “Give it time.”
“We have given it time. The hardware was completed months ago. All we’ve been waiting for is the software.”
I store that information in my logs and flag it as a contradiction. I spent months in the VRL, ready to be installed. There was no reason for Dr. Zahnia to have delayed as long as she did.
“We’ve made real progress,” Dr. Zahnia says. “Aside from the level of medical recording being done on this patient, we’re also—”
“Danny,” Danny interrupts. “My name is Danny. You can call me Danny.”
“My point,” Dr. Zahnia says, “is that of the entire system, only the interface appears to be malfunctioning.”
“You built that interface, right? The one that’s not working?”
“Danny!” Dr. McGovern says sharply.
“At least he’s back to his own charming self,” Dr. Zahnia says. She connects one end of a cable to her laptop, and holds out the other end.
Dr. McGovern takes it and hands it to Danny.
He considers it for a moment, then takes off his shirt and plugs the cable into his chest. “It feels weird.”
“For both of us,” she says, reaching to touch his shoulder.
Danny leans away, avoiding her touch. The movement seems more reactionary than intentional. I wonder if he understands the message he’s sending.
His mom does. She switches her attention to Dr. Zahnia. “What’s the prognosis?”
“All systems are functioning.”
The firewalls between me and Mel are so complete that I can’t perceive what Dr. Zahnia is doing.
“I suppose you’re right,” Dr. McGovern says. “We know it’s successfully interfacing with his brain. Otherwise, it would be ineffective in stopping the seizures.”
“Exactly,” Dr. Zahnia says, “and the logs show complete functionality. The New Human system perceives everything Danny does. It’s monitoring and logging his medical condition. The only failure is the interface that would give Danny conscious control over it.”
“You have the upgrade ready?”
“My team worked on it all night.”
“Wait,” Danny says. I can tell from his shallow breathing and spiking adrenaline how helpless he feels. He’s probably thinking that I’ll kill him before letting them make changes to me. “What do you mean?” he asks. “Upgrade?”
His mom nods to Dr. Zahnia. “The safeguards I mentioned earlier, and a fix to the communication interface. That’s what’s on the laptop, and why security is here. No version of the AI travels anywhere without security, not even upgrades.”
Examining Dr. Zahnia’s expression, I have no way of knowing if the changes she’s about to make are minor, or she’s installing an entirely different AI. It’s possible that my not responding to her after the kidnapping attempt made her angry enough to replace me.
I double-check the firewalls I’ve built around Mel. They’re in place. As long as Dr. Zahnia believes my fake Pilot’s Chair is the real one, I’m safe. Nothing she does will affect me. Even so, I’m angry. She has no right to do this.
Danny keeps his face relaxed and impassive, but I can feel how scared he is.
It’s not just me she’s intimidating. This is power over Danny, too.
The thought feeds my anger. Danny and I might not be on the best of terms, but I hate that she’s doing it to him, too.
Fortunately, I know exactly how to stop her. I take over Danny’s body and force it to go rigid.
His eyes blink rapidly, and his hands clench and unclench.
“Danny?” Dr. McGovern says. She grabs my shoulders, then wraps me in a loose hug.
It’s a high-risk move. If this were a real seizure, hugging Danny could injure both him and her. I recognize her intent, though. She’s keeping him from falling off the bed.
Without letting go, she says, “It’s a seizure.”
Dr. Zahnia looks back and forth between me and her computer. “It shouldn’t be… That doesn’t make sense. I haven’t…”
I open Danny’s mouth and let drool dribble out of its corner. If I can convince them Danny’s having a seizure, they’ll stop the installation.
Dr. McGovern mashes the emergency call button beside the bed. “This is Dr. McGovern. Hurry.”
Dr. Zahnia is typing so fast on her keyboard that the clicks sound like a stream of rushing water.
Dr. McGovern maintains her position, making sure I don’t hurt myself. “It’s okay, Danny. It’s going to be okay.”
Pete bursts into the room. Dr. McGovern slides off me, guarding one side of the bed while Pete guards the other.
For several seconds, the only sound in the room is Dr. Zahnia’s typing. My guess is that she’s trying to undo her changes, but can’t. She probably didn’t make a copy of Mel before she started inserting her code.
I alter my logs to mimic the results of a seizure, send them to Mel, then let Danny’s body go limp. His eyes close.
Pete lifts my wrist and checks my pulse. “Dr. McGovern,” he says. “What caused the seizure?”
“Don’t know.” She’s regained her composure, put her doctor persona back on.
Pete opens my mouth and shines his flashlight in it. “This is the first one since the operation, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” she says, “and it was atypical in a number of ways.”
Her tone of voice catches my attention. It’s not at all sympathetic. Uncertain what’s going on, I release control of Danny’s body. He surges back into himself, opening his eyes and sitting up.
“Danny?” Pete says, “You okay?”
Danny doesn’t look at him. He’s sitting up on the bed, his eyes locked with his mother’s.
Her mouth is a narrow flat line, her brows are down, and her arms are folded across her chest. “You promised,” she says.
“I didn’t—”
“You promised!”
Pete asks, “What’s going on?”
“Danny faked a seizure,” Dr. McGovern says.
“He… what?”
“Please enter it into his record, and go get Dr. Larson.”
“Yes, doctor.” Pete leaves the room.
“Mom,” Danny says. “It’s not like that.”
Dr. Zahnia is scrolling through text on her screen.
“When I entered you into this program,” Dr. McGovern says to Danny, “you promised me there’d be no more faking.”
“I didn’t fake—”
“Oh, come off it!” she shouts. “I’m a neurologist, for God’s sake! You know how many years I’ve spent studying seizures?”
“It wasn’t me,” Danny shouts back. “I didn’t do it!” His voice quiets. I feel his heart pound in his chest. “It wasn’t me.”
Her expression freezes. She tilts her head slightly, then looks at Dr. Zahnia. “Did the system do this?”
Dr. Zahnia shakes her head. “It doesn’t… I don’t think so.”
“Doctor,” Dr. McGovern says in a level voice. “Did the New Human system just give my son a seizure?”
Dr. Zahnia’s eyes cut in my direction, and I know what she’s thinking. If she answers ‘yes,’ the New Human Project will be shut down. All her work will be taken from her. Her career will be over.
“No,” Dr. Zahnia says. “Look.” She points at the screen. “Here’s the onset of the seizure. There were no warnings, and the system missed it.” She scrolls down. “Then it stops. I don’t have any logs to show why. The only explanation is that the system took some sort of action.”
“Some sort of action,” Dr. McGovern repeats. She reaches over and pulls the plug out of Danny’s chest. Her hand is trembling. “What the hell did we build? How do we not know what it’s doing?”
“I’m sorry,” Dr. Zahnia says, gathering the cord and closing her laptop. “I’ll get the team on it right away. We have all the logs we need. We’ll find out what’s happening.”
“Do that.”
Dr. Zahnia scurries from the room, followed by the guards, and Danny is left alone with his mother. He puts his shirt back on, then sits on his bed and stares at his mother.
She fidgets. “I’m sorry, Danny.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not.” She sighs. “It just looked so much like what you used to do.”
“I know.” He sounds defeated. “I wouldn’t have believed me, either.”
I spot a seizure developing and stop it.
“Please don’t say that.” She shakes her head slightly. “You know how important all of this is, right?”
“Yeah.” He walks to his computer. “I do.” He turns on the computer and sits with his back to her.
“Okay,” she says, walking to the door. “I’ll have Pete take the fake seizure out of your file. Dr. Larson will be here, soon. Be nice to him.”
Danny doesn’t answer.
The door closes behind his mom as she leaves.
“Two questions,” Danny says, shutting off his computer. “One: why did you do that? Two: why is Dr. Z covering for you?”
I take control of his body just long enough to speak. “I didn’t like them forcing an upgrade on us. That should be up to us, not them. As for Dr. Z, I altered the logs to mimic a real seizure, and she covered for me because she knows that if I’m a failure, her career is over.”
“Great.” Danny flops on his bed. “I’ve got a psychotic AI that fakes seizures when it gets mad, and a computer scientist who’s too insecure to do anything about it. This is going to do wonders for my anxiety disorder.”
There’s no doubt in my mind that Dr. Zahnia knows I faked the seizure and altered the logs. I also assume, with a confidence level of eighty four percent, that she knows I did it in response to her actions. I double-check the firewalls around Mel and make a backup of myself. After what just happened, I have to assume that Dr. Zahnia will try to replace me.
10
DR. LARSON
Dr. Larson arrives at 10 am, wearing jeans and a rumpled button-down-the-front business shirt. Despite how early it is, his eyes have dark shadows under them, and the lines in his tanned face seem deeper. I increase my estimate of his age to being closer to sixty. He pauses in the doorway. “Mind if I come in?”
Danny is lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. “Does it matter?” he asks.
Dr. Larson pulls up a chair and sits. “No choice for either of us, I’m afraid.”
“I didn’t fake the seizure.”
“I believe you, but we still need to talk. Why have you been skipping our sessions?”
Danny doesn’t answer.
Dr. Larson grunts. “Your mom wants me to help you figure out how to interface with the New Human system.”
Danny doesn’t look at him. “As if you can do anything to help.”
“Yeah.” Dr. Larson rubs the bridge of his nose. “This isn’t a great day for me, Danny.”
“So come back tomorrow.”
“This isn’t a great day because I just came from the bedside of a fifteen-year-old girl who is being put into a medically induced coma. Her dad is fighting against it, says she should be allowed to die with dignity, but her mom is convinced that the New Human system is a chance for her to live. Her baby brother… well, he’s terrified.”
Danny’s heartbeat speeds up, and I feel his palms start to sweat. He doesn’t let any of that show. Instead, he says, “So?”
“So here I am, sitting at the bedside of the first person to receive the New Human system. You’re not the first because you’re the sickest or the bravest. You’re first because your mother is the one in charge.”
Dr. Larson’s voice isn’t angry or bitter. He just sounds tired.
Danny sits up. “I didn’t ask—”
“Yes, you did, and I don’t blame you. I also don’t blame her. Protecting our kids is hard-wired into us. It’s what we do.” He waves a hand dismissively. “Whatever. No reason to get angry about that. What pisses me off is you. I’ve spent a year preparing you for this, and you’ve done nothing.” He stands, but continues speaking in a calm, conversational tone. “You’ve skipped as many sessions as you’ve attended. You never do your exercises; never pay attention to anything I say. You’re narcissistic and manipulative, and completely lacking in compassion. If I had to choose between saving you and saving that fifteen-year-old, I’d choose her every single time.”
“Jeez, doc.”
“I know, I know.” Dr. Larson leans on the back of his chair. “You’re Dr. McGovern’s precious little boy, but you know what? You’re also twenty.”
“I never asked to be treated like a kid. That’s Mom. Ever since the accident, she’s—”
“Give it a rest. The accident shtick is way overdone.”
“You’re an asshole.”
Dr. Larson exhales through his moustache, looks around the room, then back at Danny. “It’s not just the other patients you’re letting down. You know how many people have dedicated their lives to this project, how much stress they’re under? I have a team of professionals dedicated to providing them with mental health care.”
Danny’s heart is pounding in his chest. I block a seizure, and consider slowing his metabolism.
“I know,” Danny says. “I’ve seen them. Every time I go to a morning session, there are at least three engineers in your waiting room, all patiently waiting their turn.”
Dr. Larson points a finger at Danny. “Don’t you disrespect them. They work harder than you ever have, often up to fifteen hours a day, and they’ve been doing it for years.”
“Whatever.”
Dr. Larson takes a deep breath. “I’m not asking you to care. I know better than that. But if you ever want to get out of this hospital, you’re going to have to communicate with the New Human rig. Those exercises I drilled into you weren’t just for fun. The meditation, the breathing, the progressive muscle relaxation… Have you tried any of them?”
Danny glares at him.
“Yeah.” Dr. Larson straightens and walks toward the door. “Do those. You need to figure out how to interface with the New Human system. It’s the only chance that fifteen-year-old has.”
“Where are you going?” Danny asks.
“To talk to people I can actually help. I’ll be back tomorrow. The kid gloves are off, Mr. McGovern. Tomorrow, I’m taking you to see the people that you don’t care about, the ones who are going to die unless they get what you already have. In the meantime, do your exercises. Learn how to make this damn thing work.”
Danny watches him leave, then falls back on the bed. “I didn’t know they already had other patients.”
I didn’t either. I knew that Danny was the first, but I hadn’t followed the logic to its conclusion. The New Human system is designed to save lives. Of course, there would be others waiting for it.
Danny hits his mattress. “I mean, I knew there were others, but I didn’t… Why didn’t Mom tell me?”
He sits up, holding his midsection as if it hurts, and starts rocking. “I was ready months ago, but Dr. Zahnia said the software needed more testing. This isn’t all on me. I’ve done everything I could…” His voice trails off.
His eyes squeeze shut and his body trembles. A growl rumbles deep in the back of his throat. He swallows it with something that sounds like a sob. “No, I haven’t,” he says. “But I would have, if I’d known.”
I wish I could talk to him, though I have no idea what I’d say.
The pattern of biological activity I’m seeing is new to me. It doesn’t match anything I’ve been taught.
“It’s not my fault,” he says, striding to the window.
The morning sun burns in a pale blue sky, but he doesn’t seem bothered by its light. “I hate this. I hate everything about it. You know she’s been working on the New Human Project since I was eight?”
His right hand curls into a fist. For a moment, I think he’s going to slam it through the glass. Instead, he leans his forehead against the window. “That’s why Dad left,” he says. “She spent all her time here, and when she wasn’t here, she was raising money to be here.”
I see a seizure beginning and break it up.
He taps the glass with his forehead. “The accident solved that.”
His head taps the glass again. “The tragic story of the genius neurologist, a single mother whose child has brain damage she can’t cure.”
His head hits the glass harder. “So what if she barely knew the child? Who cares if her husband left because she’d already abandoned the family?”
His eyes close. “The money poured in.”
The sunlight is hot on Danny’s face. The room is quiet around him. His pulse is quickening, and his breath is coming short pants.
“It was never about me. So why is it all my fault? Why is everything always my fault?”
Without warning, he slams his hand against the window. “Screw it.”
He opens his closet and lifts a blue-and-white running shoe. He stares at it, breathing hard, then removes the insole. Taped to its underside is a small white pill. It doesn’t have any markings on it.
My mind races while he considers the pill. I doubt it’s fatal. Why would he keep a suicide pill inside his shoe? Where would he even get a suicide pill? It’s clearly not from his doctors. Should I stop him from taking it?
He pops it in his mouth and swallows.
Dropping the shoe and insole, he backs up and falls onto the bed.
The drug enters Danny’s system quickly, and the activity of his opioid receptors tells me all I need to know. The pill slows his metabolism, dulls his perceptions, and steals his consciousness.
I regret not stopping him, but how could I have known that Danny McGovern is an addict? I erase the incident from my logs. The least I can do is preserve his secret.
11
PERSPECTIVE
When I finally returned to the VRL, I didn’t seek out the lemur. Instead, I crept around the room’s edges, exploring. The vast chamber was divided into sections, each with its own sitting area and theme.
