by Tony Corden
“Yes. I need to get back inside first. I’m probably the only one who can get to them.”
“Leah, I’ve been researching what happened to you. Even with a new chip you most likely will not regain your sight, or your hearing. I’m worried you’re being too optimistic.”
“Maybe. I’ve some ideas about that, but I need the chip first. Once I have that I’m hoping to reconnect with my PAI, Gèng. If I can’t do that, then I may need to face the future you see. Let me hope for a little longer before bringing me down to earth.”
There was no comment for a minute then, “Leah, it’s Lacey. I threw Jimmy out. I told him he can come back when he’s pulled his head out of his arse.”
“He was just trying to be realistic.”
“No, he wasn’t. He wasn’t being realistic. I have no doubts about you. I watched you when you arrived at the safe house, and I’ve seen all you’ve done today. It may take longer than you like, but I’ve no doubts at all that you’ll succeed. I won’t let Jimmy see you for several hours at least, so don’t even ask. I want you to have a break. Let your brain rest for a bit. I imagine the constant concentration isn’t helping it heal. I’ve read up on the medication you’re taking, and there’s probably a lot of damaged tissue in your head. You need to rest.”
“Thanks Lacey, I want to keep saying thank you for helping, but I know that would drive me crazy if someone kept saying it. I will rest, but I don’t want the medication that makes me sleep. I’d rather not sleep than hurt someone. Is John OK?”
“He’s fine. He was actually getting a little cocky with all the training he’s been doing in the multiverse. The beating was good for him. The rest of us will tease him for weeks about how he got his butt kicked by a little blind and deaf girl.”
After a few more minutes of simple chatting, Lacey helped Leah to the emptied bedroom to lie down.
7
December 21 2073
REAL WORLD
As Leah lay down to rest, her mind turned to Gèng. Over the last few days, she’d started trying to form words to ask Gèng something or just to make a comment. The words never achieved that extra cohesion she’d come to recognise as the precursor to speech. As she lay still, she tried again to form words, but again nothing happened. Leah wondered if Gèng had been successful at archiving herself. Leah assumed the Pod held an archived version, but without Leah’s chip as the interface, there was no way for Gèng to interact with the world. PAI’s were limited by design to work only through an implanted chip.
After trying for several minutes to say something, Leah began to make plans. She had a data chip stored in her room with the technical information on the Neural Enhancement chip she’d received. She needed to review the information and maybe discuss possibilities with Dr Roberts. If the information Nathan had thrown at her, and that which Jimmy had researched was correct, then there was nothing wrong with her ears or her eyes. Sound was still being relayed, but somewhere between her ears and her auditory cortex the nerves had been either damaged or destroyed. By the total silence, she was almost certain they’d been destroyed.
Leah’s brain had already formed new pathways using activated adult stem cells from her hippocampus when her nervous system upgraded her sensory system, and she hoped her body made similar adjustments and either repaired or replaced the broken links or the destroyed areas of her auditory cortex. She had similar hopes for regaining her sight and speech. Leah wanted to ask Dr Roberts if there was anything, in particular, that she should do to help initiate these possible responses.
After what Leah thought was an hour of planning, but in reality, was only six minutes, she tried to empty her mind of the problems hoping she’d sleep. Sleep came, but instead of the forced condition controlled by Kevin’s medicine, this sleep was interrupted time and time again as her nightmares woke her before she could thrash around. Time and time again, Leah would drop into sleep only to wake minutes later, shaking in terror. Most times she didn’t wake fully, and after a minute of drowsiness where her breathing slowed, she would drop back into her nightmares.
Finally, after a particularly terrifying dream which brought her upright on the mattress, her heart racing, Leah slowly stood and waited. She was sure someone was watching, and within moments a hand gently clasped hers and led her from the room. Lin brought her into the room with the braille equipment. Before letting Leah do anything, she made Leah drink a warm cup of tea and eat some fruit. As she ate, Lin sat with her, making sure to keep in contact with Leah’s skin at all times, just to let her know she wasn’t alone.
Fully awake, Leah lifted her hands in front of her and mimed using a keyboard. Lin led her to the keyboard and helped Leah use the interface to read messages. Thad had sent a message telling Leah how much he cared for her but also wanting her to know that he wasn’t prepared to sit on the sidelines for this. She received similar notes from Amy, Wisp and Kate. Leon and Peter had made similar comments as well as answering Leah’s questions and sending her their reports in written form because she couldn’t read charts anymore. There were devices to do that and Leon had agreed to have one purchased and shipped to her immediately.
Dr Roberts had answered some of Leah’s questions, but her most common answers were either, ‘I don’t know’ or ‘we’ll just have to wait and see’. She had answered Leah’s query about using the Pod to scan Leah to examine the damage. Apparently, the scanning function used the PAI and its connected microfilaments to facilitate the scan—without them, it was nowhere near reliable enough to get a good image.
Leah had just started to read through some of the information on the Neural Enhancement chip when John interrupted her. Using the braille equipment John said, “Leah, Olivia’s done as much as she can. The police want to interview you. Olivia has a court injunction against them requiring that you make a trip to the station. They are sending a police doctor and two detectives here for an interview. Olivia will be arriving within the hour, and then they will be here an hour after that. They will record the entire interview.”
“What does Olivia think will happen?”
“It depends largely on what you do or don’t tell them. Pointing a finger at the Kodomans will be unprovable without supporting evidence.”
“I have the evidence, but at the moment it is locked away inside the head of my right femur. Are they planning to charge me with anything?”
“No. Olivia is threatening to sue them for damages as you were in their care when you were abducted.”
“That’s a lot of money. Tell Olivia she can discuss the amount of possible lost earnings with Leon. I hope I’ll be on the road toward recovery before something like that comes to court, but the amount might keep the police in check.”
“I’ll let her know. Jimmy had a talk with John Welford. Not surprisingly, he is doing everything he can to help in any way he can. Jimmy wants to know if he can offer Welford his freedom if he helps pull this off?”
“I’d suggest a limited freedom. Welford can return to his life, but he’ll be watched. Any regression and that’s it, game over.”
“Agreed. Thad contacted me. He wants to travel up here. What do you think?”
Leah was quiet for a minute, then typed, “I don’t know. Part of me wants to have him close, but I know he’ll be a distraction.”
“I think a distraction would be good for you.”
After another long silence, Leah typed, “Maybe. I need to think about it, but I don’t really want him to see me like this. I know it sounds vain, but I’m pretty sure I’m looking pretty ugly at the moment. I’m worried about what he’ll think of me looking like this, and added to that, me not able to communicate except through a keyboard. I haven’t known him long, and it’s just hard to think about how he’ll react.”
There was a long silence from John’s side, then Leah read, “Leah, Jen here. John had no idea how to reply. Boys are kinda weird when it comes to feelings. He was going to tell you not to be a whiney baby but had the good sense not to press ‘send
’ before checking with me. Lin has him backed against the wall as she yells at him. Your mum has some serious skills at talking smack. Now, I want you to listen to me. You are beautiful. Sure you aren’t at your best, but if Thad can’t see past that then he’s a moron, and you can do much better. Besides, even all cut up, you’re still beyond pretty. If he does come, Mia and I will make sure you look OK. As for the talking via a keyboard: you also have really good tactile ways that you can use for communication. If you can’t think of anything, then I’ll type some options once I get your mum and dad out of the room.”
Leah felt her cheeks get hot as she tried hard not to think about what Jen might type. Even so, a smile slowly formed and she typed, “I can imagine just fine thank you very much, Jen. Please save John from my mum, his comment wasn’t actually too far off what I needed to hear.”
When Jen had sorted things out, John returned. “Sorry about that Leah, your mum and my fiancé have sorted me out. I’ll bring Olivia here when she arrives. Is there anything else that you need?”
“Let me talk with Aker. I need something made to protect me, and I don’t have any ideas. Maybe she can see a way to protect as well as support my back and shoulders.”
“I’ll do that. Anything else?”
“Have you talked with Sharon?”
“Only when you went missing. I let her know you were back, but I haven’t told her anything about your condition.”
“Can you update her? I imagine the rumours will start soon. If someone here doesn’t let it out, then once they know I escaped for certain, I suspect Nathan will try and control the narrative. If Sharon knows what the truth is she’ll be better prepared. See if you can get her ideas before the police arrive. Perhaps if we control what they know, and assuming Nathan’s source is in the police department, then we could possibly set Nathan up for a fall.”
“I’ll go see her now, and I’ll send Aker in. Do you want me to explain what’s happened?”
“No, that’s alright. I’ll do it.”
While Leah waited for Aker, she had a drink and then read more information on the Neural Enhancement chip. She’d just begun reading the section on the experimental options when her mum showed Aker in. After Lin showed Aker how to communicate, she let Aker type while she watched to make sure Leah was safe.
“Leah?”
“Hello Aker, I’m sorry I haven’t seen you until now.”
“What happened to you?”
“Kidnapped by the people who had my mum. I used the suit you made to help rescue my mother. I’m sorry I returned it all broken up.”
“Why do we need to talk like this?”
“What do you know about PAI chips?”
“I keep up to date with the technology. I don’t have one, but I probably know almost as much as anyone who does. One day I want one.”
“Look at mine. It’s all bandaged up but tell my mum I said you can have a look.”
It took a minute, and her mum questioned what she was doing, but Leah soon felt the bandage being unwrapped from her skull. In several places, the bandages had stuck, and Lin called Kevin. Unfortunately, he was answering an emergency situation at the Switch with Mia. Instead, Johan and Emily came to help. Emily was only allowed in after Johan had made sure she understood about patient confidentiality. Once the bandage was removed, Johan showed Emily how to clean the burns and re-bandage them. While they did that, Aker had a good look then moved back to the keyboard.
“I’ve heard of people having this done to them. I thought it destroyed all contact with the real world except pain.”
“It has, though I can feel what’s happening on my skin. As they did this, I was able to move a little and it seems I managed to stop the damage extending to my tactile senses. I can’t hear anything, see anything, smell anything, and I can’t talk.”
“Why are you showing me?”
“I promised to talk with you when I could, and this has been the first opportunity really. My mum had a small bomb implanted with her chip, and I needed to disarm that. I’d just finished that when I was kidnapped. I also want you to make me another suit.”
“How did you do the stuff you did before?”
“The only reason I’ll say anything is I promised, and your suit saved my life and that of my mother. The ‘never talk to anyone ever’ service package rule applies. You can’t even talk to people on this compound, not even if you know they know something. John is deadly serious about keeping this that secure. Can you agree to that?”
There was no movement under Leah’s fingers as Aker thought about the promise she was making. “I will tell no one.”
“OK. When I went for my chip, they made a mistake and put the wrong chip in. No one noticed the difference, and when the AI was loaded, it changed a series of parameters and the nanites which were inserted connected my neural system to my muscles via new artificial pathways. After suffering some major trauma, the two pathways became integrated. Different nanites added carbon fibres to my bones and muscles, and that was the reason I could move so fast and had increased strength.”
“How much stronger and faster?”
“A week ago, I was almost twenty times stronger. I haven’t done any checking since then.”
“Can you replicate what happened?”
“Technically, I probably could, but purposefully initiating the trauma which integrated the systems would be unethical by anyone’s standards. I do have a doctor involved in researching what has happened in case it can be replicated.”
“Any other upgrades?”
“That’s beyond the scope of our agreement.”
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes, but I’m not telling you.’”
“I’ve answered your questions. Will you make another suit with some additional enhancements?”
“What type of enhancements?”
“I need some additional support in the shoulder, back and neck area. I was shot last week which shattered some bones and tore a whole slew of muscles. I dislocated my knee escaping from the people who kidnapped me, as well as cracking some ribs and breaking some fingers and toes.”
“You are typing with broken fingers. Doesn’t that hurt?”
“More than I can possibly explain, but I still need to communicate.”
“Any other parameters?”
“Is there a way to protect my flesh but still let it feel what’s happening on the outside? I’d like a pair of gloves, for example. I need to protect my hands, but I’d also like to be able to read the Braille through the gloves. It would need to have a protective interface to stop me feeling the impact of a bullet, for example.”
“There are some very expensive materials that can be added to the outside and inside of a suit. They can be used on the ends of each finger.”
“I need it over my full body.”
“What I’m thinking of is sold in single square-centimetre-sized circles. It comes with an inner and outer layer and is connected via a whisker-thin optical cable. It has a rather sophisticated and specialised AI controller. It works similarly to the braille reader you are using but with added sensations like heat, cold, pressure, and humidity. I once bought five of these for a glove to be used for opening safes. Then, it cost me 100 VCr per circle. To cover a suit at those prices would be well over a million VCr.”
“Could you do it?’”
“If you can get me the materials, I can. How will it help?”
“You suggested the material could amplify the sensations. Well, I picked that up from the gloves. Does it do that?”
“It can be programmed to amplify or block a range of sensations.”
“If you see how I can move, and the range of my sensations, could you come up with a concept? I’d like it finished yesterday.”
“I can try. Who did this to you?”
“Don’t worry about that Aker, just see if you can help me.”
“I’ll help you, but you should know that when this gets out, and it won’t be because of me, then anyone who unde
rstands what happened will see it as a declaration of war on you. With your influence, a war on you is a war on all people in the negative-tax areas.”
Leah asked for someone to take her and Aker to the room set aside for Leah’s sparring. Johan was still in the room and said he would spar, but if Leah did anything to open the wounds he’d just bandaged, he would leave them for her to fix herself. Once in the room, Leah went through the motions on her own and then sparred for a few minutes with Johan. When they’d finished, she spent about twenty minutes discussing things with Aker. Aker promised to have something drawn up before the following morning and suggested Leah purchase between two and five thousand of the sensory circles. Leah sent the request through to Leon with the comment that price was no barrier if they could be at the compound within twenty-four hours.
8
December 21 2073
REAL WORLD
Leah had just finished taking her medication when Olivia arrived and sat opposite her. After some initial greetings, Olivia typed, “Leah, the police will want to talk to you.”
“Why?”
“They need to have something to report. They need to see you and see the damage, and they’ll want to know what happened.”
“What if I don’t want to say anything?”
“They can’t force you to give any answers, but they can make life hard.”
“Harder than this?”
“Yes, they could bring you in for questioning. Back them into a corner, and they’ll push back. Yesterday scared them. They’re being obliging because of that, but once it sinks in that the negative-tax community forced them into a corner, they will reconsider. If this flares up again, then the only option their leaders will accept is a hardline one. Australia handed their elected leaders carte blanche to do whatever they wanted almost fifty years ago. People back then wanted to be protected, and they sold their souls for that. If the leaders think people are going to begin demanding accountability again, then they will respond decisively to put that genie back in the bottle. Let’s face it, they hold all the cards, and some of the cards they hold are lethal.”
