Discovery

by Douglas E Roff

  “Wow. This is unreal,” said Adam. “Anyway, what’s all this about New Jersey? What’s got you all excited, Rod?”

  Edward interrupted, “We’re getting there son. Just let us explain the technology first and if you need to know more about your part of the equation, we can discuss it. So, just listen up for a moment.”

  Adam reclined again in his chair, this time prepared to listen to Edward’s story. He had expected something big and important but not this. Adam’s mind was mostly linear in his thinking, like a computer. He was being asked to grapple with a whole set of factors he hadn’t expected. But, now he was here with most of the conspirator’s present.

  He didn’t expect this to be pleasant.

  It was not.

  Chapter 3

  Edward began, “This begins maybe ten or twelve years ago with two seminal projects developed independently by Mom and Pops. Mom was working on a new approach to nanite technology that had never before been considered. Until her breakthrough, the focus was on replicating large machines by simply reducing size. Think vacuum tubes to transistors to printed circuit boards.

  “Basically, this is just miniaturization by making components smaller and smaller using existing materials and technology. Up to a point, this works out well as the size of an object can get small enough and still perform with a high level of functionality. You can think of presently existing robotics, drones and even cell phones in this context. There is a commercial use for the technology and the technology is relatively easy to manufacture under controlled conditions.

  “But take the latter away, relative ease of manufacturing and you have a commercial problem but not necessarily a technology problem. You may have a niche need and an important one, but the technology may not now or ever be commercially viable. High cost, limited uses and lack of potential market size may be factors there.

  “Further, some technologies may be highly useful and extremely commercial but fall into a category of processes, products and technology that a government would specifically prefer not to see commercialized. Think some sophisticated spyware, weaponry and defense technologies.”

  “And burglary tools,” said Adam. He was making a point but via his normal route of petulant sarcasm.

  He was roundly ignored by all present. Misti shushed him.

  “So, who inquires into non-commercial but otherwise useful applications? Think tanks, sometimes; universities, their professors and grad students looking for the next research grant – and governments. Big well-funded governments that have special needs, big wallets and time and money to waste if the technology is a bust or is presently developmentally premature.

  “This is the environment within which Mom and Pops were independently addressing speculative technology and materials development, without a clear goal for use in mind. Mom decided some time ago that engineering miniaturization employing existing technology and materials had its limits and she believed those limits could be met within a decade or so. So new thinking was required to break through the old paradigms of existing models.

  “Oddly, her entire thinking changed one day while waiting for a colleague who was late for a lunch date. She was in a reception area at one of the conference room facilities at the Institute waiting for Dr. Anita Sparks from Harvard to conclude a guest lecture. As you know, Mom isn’t keen on leaving her home and workshops, so casual lunches with friends and associates is simply not normally ever on her itinerary. This was a completely fortuitous set of circumstances.

  “So, she waited and to pass the time she picked up a back copy of a science journal, the feature article of which described new advances in computer technology. The article was about hardware advances, specifically dealing with memcomputers: a new way of constructing computer hardware which simultaneously uses less energy and is infinitely faster than current hardware formats.

  “The upshot of reading the article was her breakthrough. The key to her engineering problem lay not in making existing items smaller through further miniaturization employing existing techniques but in developing new materials at the molecular level which could be programmed and combined and, if needed, recombined. Such material would have to sip electrical energy rather than feast upon it and any application would require specialized programming that could be downloaded or uploaded wirelessly. The same materials could perform a specific function, then be recombined to do a completely different function. After an initial download of software to begin a task, the object could then be reprogrammed to perform a completely different task using the same materials by recombining them.

  “Everything she needed to design this new model was available to her – she hoped. The programming, of course, would be done by you Adam. That part was never in doubt. But the far more complex task, and the one she couldn’t solve by herself, was the materials issue.

  “That issue was one she knew nothing about except for what it had to do. She wasn’t even sure what the architecture of the material would look like, but she could describe in detail its functionality. She could describe how and why and just how much electricity would be required to make the material combine and later recombine as programmed. She could envision its magnetic properties as well as other attributes that it had to have. Things like electrical storage and software programming, weight and weight distribution and wireless functionality. Added to that were stealth capabilities and if all these could become a reality, she could reinvent spy craft, research, medicine and a host of new fields yet to be explored. The applications would be profound and its commercial utility beyond imagination. Consider: a machine that can be programed to change size, shape and functionality remotely, anywhere on, in, over or under the planet. Or in space.

  “Mom put this down on paper, marked it classified and submitted it to the NSA and its related siblings in government for research and funding. The standard clauses in the agreement that were signed six months later and reserved commercial application to her, more specifically to our family trust, with the proviso that if perfected, the NSA would have to give permission for any commercial use, licensing or application. No patents would initially issue, and the technology would be protected under the rubric of national security as a state secret. The NSA agreed to share the fruits of her labors with CSIS and other Canadian intelligence agencies, although she considered it extremely unlikely that the NSA would ever hold to its bargain. The NSA does not always play fair with their cousins in the sandbox nor consider commitments to its consultants as much more than loose guidelines. Still, she would take the moral high ground, irrespective of the futility of the exercise.

  “As the process was not to be patented, Mom decided that certain matters would remain ‘in the family’, from the specialized software driving the technology to the key processes of materials manufacture, to failsafe mechanisms she would share with no one, not even Agustin.”

  Adam interjected, “And where does Pops fit in here?”

  “Pops was tasked with designing the component materials based on the parameters Mom proposed.”

  Adam observed, “Pops is a chemist, a biologist and occasionally a toxicologist. He doesn’t make bricks.”

  “He does not make bricks; that is true. But he does make tiny little building blocks. Industrial toy components, so to speak. If you can imagine how chemicals interact and bond and then manipulate them chemically, magnetically or thermally, or all the above, then you have the tools for a material manufacturing process on a tiny, tiny scale. Which is why it has taken nearly six years to finally construct a working prototype that we could finally beta test in the field away from Barrows. Just last week.

  “Pops went through something like eleven hundred iterations of a base formula that could achieve simple combinations. Some of the component materials hadn’t yet been invented when he started his research, and some have only become available in the past few years. A small, but critical few, were developed solely for this project and without disclosure of what the materials
were to be used for by independent labs. The cost of development was astronomical, and the process is still basically in its infancy. The prototype Cindy and Rod used last week in New Jersey was simple and minimally functional. It worked well enough to accomplish a couple of tasks but will begin to break down after ninety days or so. At least that’s what we think presently. We believe it may be just enough time to get what we need from the highly secure location we couldn’t otherwise access.”

  “Which was?” Adam asked.

  “We’ll get to that momentarily. If you want the full picture and all those agonizing implications you so often seem to fancy, you need to listen up.”

  The edge in Edward’s voice was one Adam had heard many times before in his life and he recognized the verge-of-annoyance tone immediately. There was no point in forcing the issue, so he acceded to his fate – or was it newly acquired patience? Misti rose from her seat on the arm of the big chair, moving slowly around to sit on the chair nestling comfortably against her hubby, making space between his legs. Adam broke his gaze with his father preferring instead to wrap his arms around her slight frame, enveloping her fully in a tender hug. Edward firmly held Adam’s gaze but by then Adam’s attention was elsewhere.

  Adam looked up and said, with impatience, “Then go. I’m all ears.” Misti looked up from her vantage on her perch, her eyes now briefly meeting his. She smiled at Adam in her most calming and feminine way, then slowly reclined comfortably. Her hands reached reassuringly for his, holding tight and communicating approval or disapproval just by the slight pressure she applied.

  Adam visibly relaxed. They now both held Edward’s gaze.

  “Mom’s basic design was like a child’s wooden toy building block, with three perforations centered east/west, north/south and front/back. When electrified, current would run through the perforations on a stream of silver molecules, centered and held in place by a powerful, for its size, electro-magnetic field. The outer surface of the block would be coated or otherwise comprised of material that could be manipulated, combined or recombined by programming built into the design. The computer and power source components would have to be separately integrated into the design and these two aspects of the overall design took Mom years to complete - at least for the prototypes. Design, in part, had to follow the fabrication of specific materials, so which preceded the other was difficult to say. Design was proposed for materials, then materials altered to solve a problem resulting from design. And so, it went, year after year.

  “While Mom continued trying to solve component design and engineering problems, Pops was simultaneously faced with his own serious issues with materials fabrication. Working with outside laboratories, he was making progress on the basic constituent elements for multi-use and recombinant material that could accomplish not only the electromagnetic requirements that Mom’s design necessitated, but also the need for stealth. The key to everything would be the capacity of the material to generate a magnetic field, store electricity and combine in such a way to provide basic computing functions wirelessly. An interruption in the generation or receipt of wireless commands would likely mean that the device would simply disintegrate into pixie dust. Indeed, subsequent testing amply demonstrated this to be the case.

  “Mom also focused on the issue of device mobility. Many designs for existing devices were patterned after insects, organisms or animals. But this was simply not feasible in a situation where mobility was required but movement easily detected, particularly in high security situations where atypical intrusions were most likely considered and planned for. Insects, biological or mechanical, would not be allowed in a clean room. Securing information without detection was considered a high priority, especially where countermeasures were subsequently intended. So mechanical flies, mosquitos and other faux creatures as an option were initially considered and then discarded. Even if these prototypical designs could work to gain entry to a secure area, what then? Listen to conversations? Watch activity? No, the real payoff would be to gain access to internal computer networks and communication devices that couldn’t be accessed by hacking into an externally linked system.

  “Although we didn’t know it at the time, the lab facility in New Jersey was a closed intranet and network, an air gap. Nothing linked from the outside into the research facility, so no amount of NSA spy craft would be able to penetrate the security protocols. Indeed, we now know that even internal network links are hard wired, not wireless. Network security at the lab is state of the art and an unsolvable problem using existing technology and techniques, absent someone on the inside. Even this, which we have now come to learn, is impossible and consideration of it as an option was abandoned early on anyway. We didn’t initially fully understand who worked there or what, specifically, they all did.

  “Mom then turned her attention to power source for the Probe, as she began to call it. Initially, it was proposed that full power had to accompany the Probe, much like a battery. However, this suggested size which was incompatible with other aspects of design and functionality. That left only the notion of a renewable power source that could replenish electrical power, be stored simply and efficiently and still power the Probe at a size that could otherwise permit the required functionality.

  “And what was that functionality? First, stealth. It had to look like something it was not and be capable of changing its external appearance as the Probe moved through the Plant. Second, electrical storage. Third, mobility. Fourth, computing capacity, memory and programmability. Fifth, wireless reception and transmission without detection. Sixth, ability to change shape and function. Seventh, self-destruction or disintegration to avoid device detection at any stage in the life cycle of the Probe. Eighth, if possible audio capability. Ninth, if possible, video capability.

  “Just how much of that functionality could be achieved in the short term would determine the success of the immediate data collection project and, potentially, the future of funding. In the end, the technology and materials fabrication worked, at least to the degree necessary to penetrate the lab, avoid detection and obtain the data on the secure internal network. We are in and downloading data, thanks to the precise execution of the physical implementation of the technology by Rod and Cindy.

  “The actual plan by which the Probe was launched toward the Plant for building intrusion was researched, designed and executed by Rod and Cindy over a six-month period of trial and error.

  Adam smiled, “So you’re not just a technology salesman and finance bimbo?” He looked at Rod and Cindy, sitting quietly and stoically, reading nothing in their faces. “More secrets?”

  Edward continued, partially answering Adam’s question and assertion. “Everyone in this family plays a unique role suited to education, experience, talent and desire. No one has ever been told what to do or pushed in a direction that was unwanted. Rod and Cindy can do many things and can in fact do them quite well. But what they really are tasked with has nothing to do with technology sales compliance or investment, money management or finance. The genesis of Rod’s work lay in our summers abroad, helping to solve archeological mysteries and occasionally engaging in physical confrontation.

  “The genesis of Cindy’s present work lay in her own summer camps while the rest of us were away. There was no plot or grand design involved; mostly it just happened to turn out the way it did and some of the results were quite unintended. In the end, though, it’s the unique combination of all our skills that makes what we have done possible. Without each skill at a very high level, none of our projects could have been completed successfully. And I don’t just mean this project, I mean all of our projects.”

  Edward paused, waiting for a reaction, then continued.

  “Misti is a new piece but there are others. I have dissociated many of those pieces to avoid interpersonal confrontation and conflict. Those who can be tasked and work better on their own - independently - do so. Those who work better in concert with others are teamed.

 
Adam said, “So I’m an example of working independently?”

  “You are. You may not like what I am about to say but your genius has never been enhanced with other senior collaborators. Upstream, no. But downstream, yes.”

  “I don’t follow.”

  “Think of designing a new and innovative vehicle engine and chassis. It’s all under the hood, so to speak. Others can come in and design or manufacture the rest of the car and make it look pretty but that’s mostly cosmetic to the core functionality of the vehicle. You innovate, then visualize applications like no other. Writing derivative use applications, however, is a different story. You could do that too but other very talented, but often far less talented folks than you, can write code for specific applications. You can’t afford to waste your time with that – too mundane.”

  Adam couldn’t help but smile as he squirmed in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable with all he was hearing. “I’m not sure whether to be honored or angry. It sure seems like a compliment but at the end of the day it seems like I provide the blueprint that others follow. But I still don’t know what or why. Maybe I wouldn’t approve. What about that?”

  “A matter of perspective, by and large. Whatever you might want to know about your work that I initiate, or Mom or anyone else, I would gladly and readily tell you. But truthfully, I can’t think of a single instance when you have ever asked who or what a project is for. You want to know the specific task, the parameters of that task and something about application but you have never once asked about the implications of your research, the results or who the project is for. Not once.”

  “Neither have you ever offered it, Dad.”

  “And in the offering, would that have informed your work? Would you have done a better job? Would you have been more efficient? Doubtful. Until now, you were just never that interested. I don’t think it’s my job to guess what you want to know. If you want to know, it’s up to you to just ask.”