by Tony Corden
“You will need to decide on the configuration prior to implant, but the fate of the nascent AI will be determined depending on how you view ‘life’. I suggest you wait until Dr Roberts has revised the scans before deciding on the configuration.”
“That makes sense. Where are the others?”
“John, Lacey, and John Welford are approaching the staff entrance and should be here within four minutes. I suggest you make your way to the reception area. You will need to obtain a procedure reference number. I will delete this when you exit the building but need it to operate the various equipment. The others will meet you there. Welford’s biodata is the easiest way to access the restricted options. Your decision regarding which chips will need to be made to choose the appropriate mixture of options. I will send a marker to your suit to point the way to the correct location.”
Leah thanked Reed, then felt a change as Reed used the suit’s tactile ability to project a solid arrow rising from the floor on the front of Leah’s body. It was pointing straight at her, so she turned around and it moved under her and was now pointing across the room. She followed it slowly as it led her using a variety of shaped arrows and signals until she was standing in the reception area in the public section of the Neurology Department.
17
December 23 2073
REAL WORLD
When Leah arrived, she experienced a similar mixture of fear and anticipation as she had the last time she’d been in this room. The difference this time was her more profound awareness of the reality of the situation. Her fears had more substance, as did her anticipation. As she waited for the others, she reflected on her previous naivety and wondered where she would be if there had been no mixup in the PAI chips. She imagined she would be working mindlessly for the Kodoman empire and be looking forward to years of slavery. She decided that she would change very little of what she had done and even if today’s implant went wrong, then she would still be better off than she otherwise would have been.
She felt the approach of the others along the skin on her back, and she realised her mind could not only recognise or ‘see’ what was happening behind her, but it grasped the entire three-dimensional space with her in the centre as a single image.
As John came alongside, Reed said, “Leah, you need to begin the process by inserting your ID card. Don’t worry about any footprints as I have control of the system. The reason I want to go through the full process is to get a unique identifier for everything we do. This is the sequence of characters you are given when you arrive for a procedure. Once that is assigned to you then every piece of data produced is tagged with that sequence. This will make it much easier for me to ensure I remove every possible trace. Even the security log superimposes this number over the image file from the security cameras.”
Leah said, “Hi guys, I need my ID card.”
Lacey handed it to her and Leah fed it into the machine. Leah could feel some very intricate changes in the pattern she was receiving from the area of the machine’s screen, but when no one said anything, she said, “John, I’m blind. I might be able to read that, but it’ll take some time.”
“Sorry, Leah. I guess I was forgetting. What do you mean you could read it?”
“Not here, John, that’s the sort of thing you tell me not to talk about.”
“Sorry. It wants to confirm via DNA and retina scan.”
Lacey helped Leah with her helmet and glove, then guided Leah’s hand for the DNA scan and helped her hold her eye in the correct place. When that was done there was a list of options shown. John said, “It recognises you already have a PAI chip, and the choices are for focussed child-chips.”
Reed used Leah’s speakers and said, “John, this is the hacker, there is an option for one of the registered installers to permit additional options. Mr Welford will need to give permission for the supplemental list to be shown. Mr Welford, your permissions were under suspension, but I have temporarily restored them.”
Welford stepped forward and said, “Um, I need my ID card.”
John handed it to him, and after it was scanned, Welford’s identity was also confirmed with a DNA sample and a retina scan. John said, “There is a list of additional procedures.”
Reed communicated directly with Leah, “Dr Roberts’ response about adding a resource chip was in the negative. She said they have very strict protocols and are hardwired to report medical conditions of EPIC proportions that might be difficult to circumvent. She said that in severe cases of neurological damage or with patients with severe conditions, two neural enhancement chips have been shown to be able to work together. With that in mind, what do you want implanted?”
“Insert two neural enhancement chips with the augment function unlocked and nano cables inserted. Is there an option for any additional nanites?”
“Yes. It is usually used for repair of broken linkages due to trauma. The nanites are added via a portal built into the PAI chip. The Neural Enhancement Chip has a similar portal.”
“Then please add some additional nanites. Gèng has been retasking them to help my body heal, and many of them have stopped functioning.”
“That information shed light on some of your abilities. I would like to discuss the way Gèng does this with her when she returns. Would you mind?”
“I can’t answer that, Reed. I don’t mind you talking with her, but I’ll need to discuss the decision matrix with her before I answer.”
“Thank you. I am now choosing the options from the new menu.”
Leah felt the image on the screen flicker through dozens of screens and heard Welford say, “What’s happening?”
Reed typed, “I apologise for using your suit speakers before without asking. May I use them again?”
“Certainly.”
Reed’s chosen voice came from the speakers. “Mr Welford, I have made the various selections. Leah will have two chips implanted with some additional nanites.”
The scene stopped flashing, and Leah’s ID card and a ticket exited the machine in different slots. Lacey took both. The code on the voucher was
[NT04DMRAX08DNSX01FCCX01RXPNXAUN01CXPNXXAUN01NTXA02NTXA-632]
Lacey said, “Wow, my ticket only had about eight characters.”
Reed’s voice said, “There are several additional requirements needed.”
John Welford held out his hand for the card and after looking at the code said, “I am so glad this whole adventure is being scrubbed. If you had to pay for this, it would cost more than a few million VCr, and it’s my code that gave permission for this to be performed under the Negative Tax protocol.”
Leah said, “What does that mean?”
Welford looked decidedly nervous and said, “Um, it, um, well, um, it allows the procedures to be at no cost to the patient.”
John said, “What else? You’re a little nervous.”
Reed’s voice said, “There is a note in the Negative Tax Legislation revamp of 2049 which apportions a compulsory additional payment to federal health institutions. Its purpose is to provide additional neurological assistance for those on Negative Tax where, after assessment, individuals are shown to suffer neurological impairment that would be mitigated by more highly developed PAI or by such devices as the Neural Enhancement Chip. The dispersion of these funds was given to a small committee which included the Chief AI Installer of each institution.”
John and Lacey both turned to look at Welford and John’s voice turned to ice as he said, “R, how much of that allocation is used each year?”
“All of it is used. The committee in this hospital which was chaired by Mr Welford met monthly. The five members have all submitted affidavits that the meeting, out of necessity, was only able to be conducted out of hours and in the real world. Each of them submitted a receipt of expenses incurred which were paid out of the Negative Tax Protocol fund. In addition, the committee allocated an additional item to be added to each Negative Tax patient who came through the neurology department for assessment. The ite
m asked for the committee to review each Negative Tax patient to assess if they might have a better outcome with the aid of some form of neural implant and if the protocol might be helpful or advisable. The consideration of these assessments was deemed outside of the usual job description of those on the committee and they were paid for their time over and above their contract salary. The meeting costs and assessment costs have used all available funds in every year since the adoption of the protocol.”
Lacey said, “From the records, how many additional procedures were found to be necessary?”
“To date, there have been no Negative Tax patients found to need additional help at this hospital. This is consistent with the national average number of approved additional procedures.”
It was only Leah’s increased neural speed which gave her the reflexes to block Lacey’s fist before it crushed John Welford’s larynx. Lacey brought herself under control before making another move. After a small nod toward Leah to acknowledge she had herself under control, she said, “My aunt lives with Parkinsons. Fifty years ago they were using some forms of implant to help. She hasn’t been able to afford the medication, much less the procedures, which might have helped her manage it. She’s been through this department every year for a check-up. You’ve done nothing. How could you?”
Welford swallowed and looked to the others but received no sympathy. Finally, he looked at the floor and said nothing. John shook his head with disgust, then said, “Welford, what do the other codes mean?”
Welford looked up and after reviewing the ticket said, “This is for a Negative Tax patient and details the procedures and their expected order. All the X’s mean the procedure is unusual but necessary under the protocol. The numbers indicate the number of the patient’s position in today’s count. The DMR and DNS are for a Detailed Movement and Reaction assessment followed by a Detailed Neural Scan. Ms Carroll is the fourth person to have the DMR and the eighth to have the DNS today. Both those are unusual and cost a significant amount more.
“The FCC is a Full Cranial Cleanse which will mean removing scar tissue and cleaning the groves and skull of debris left behind by the burns. Next is a Replacement Chip with a Prime Nascent AI uploaded then a Child Chip with a Prime Nascent AI uploaded. Both are unusual, the second chip is a unique option I hadn’t ever considered but is shown as authorised by the double X. Both those have an additional code that I am unfamiliar with. The final two are to add additional ‘Nanites’ because of ‘Trauma’. Ms Carroll is the six-hundred-and-thirty-second patient seen today.”
John said, “First up then is the Detailed Movement and Reaction Assessment. Where do we go?”
18
December 23 2073
REAL WORLD
Before Welford could answer John’s question, Leah began following the prompts Reed placed in her sensory feed, and its voice came from the speakers. “First Leah needs to have her head shaved and covered in the anti-bacterial cover. The procedure I chose will leave the debriding of the scalp until insertion.”
The room Leah was led to was new to her. This time, instead of a human person shaving her head, a machine checked the head, removing any hair or dried skin that Lacey had missed. When Leah asked why she had a human do the job last time, Reed explained that this was a more precise procedure and was used when there were open wounds or trauma on the scalp.
The machine also covered Leah’s scalp with the anti-bacterial cover. When the process was finished, Reed talked John through cleaning all trace of Leah’s DNA from the machine. Next was the Detailed Movement and Reaction Assessment. Reed explained that patients were required to have all clothing removed. Lacey and Leah went into the room where the previous time, Leah had made all sorts of movements in a machine which scanned the movement for use in the multiverse.
This time there was a series of five machines which measured her strength and reactions. Before they started, Reed said, “Leah, Dr Roberts has asked that you push yourself to your maximum just like other patients. I will modify the results to match something possible for unmodified humans. She believes this data will help her and Gèng better understand what is happening.”
Leah was still wearing the suit, and she typed, “OK, what about instructions? If I don’t have the suit, I’m blind and deaf.”
“I will pause the machine at each stage to communicate what is necessary. Lacey will pass you the glove so we can communicate.”
Instead of the ten minutes that had been needed previously, the process took two hours. When she was finished, Leah wore one of the gowns and Lacey led her to the scanning room. Again Leah was to be unclothed, but this time she lay still as the machine scanned her entire body. This usually took twenty minutes, but the detailed scan took just under an hour.
Once this was finished, Reed transmitted the data to Dr Roberts while Leah got dressed in her suit and she and Lacey rejoined John and Welford. Reed said, “The next stop is the Upload Centre.”
Again Leah led the way as Reed directed. Once there, Reed directed John to collect two Neural Enhancement Chips and directed Leah to the safe. The combination had been changed, but Leah was able to sense the current. After entering the correct code, John Welford used his biodata to open the safe. Reed directed John to the nano-cables and John took two sets.
Before directing John to upload the AI onto the chips, Reed discussed the scans with Leah. He did so only via her glove so only she would get the message.
“Leah, Dr Roberts has reviewed the scans. The part of your brain which receives and understands visual input has been almost completely destroyed and without the faint possibility of new growth using stem-cells, her prognosis is your sight will not return. The same is true for the area which receives and understand audio input and for those which initiates speech or interprets smells. You still perceive signals via your skin because the tip of the taser, which is still embedded, severed the connection to that area of your brain. There was some necrosis around the micro-fibre. She suspects the increased tissue density because of the new growth helped absorb some of the heat. If the micro-fibre had not been severed, she suspects this would also have been destroyed.
“There are similar patches of necrosis along the microfibre to the basal ganglia and the right parietal lobe, but again the connection appears to have been severed by the taser. The two microfibres which entered via your C1 and C2 vertebrae and connected the chip to your upper and lower nervous systems had a significant network of connections to the muscle groups around your body. It appears that the heat was also conducted along the carbon sheathing which spread it over a sufficient enough surface area to avoid any significant cell death. There is some partial necrosis along the upper length of the microfibre, but Dr Roberts suggests this should cause no long term damage.”
“So what does this mean via our options?”
“She suggests the first chip be set up similar to the first. Using the nano-cable it may be possible to provide a framework around which stem-cells would help regrow the destroyed tissue. The connections will be adjacent to the old microfilament, and you should be able to reconnect with the archived copy of Gèng, depending on where she archived herself.”
“What are her suggestions with the second chip?”
“She asked me to say that while she thinks your hypotheses have a lot of merit, and while the experts she consulted have nothing to offer to suggest harm might be done, she is uncomfortable offering advice which you might construe as consent. What you are suggesting is radical and she would rather be conservative when it comes to your health. She says that the decision is entirely yours.”
Leah was silent for a minute then said, “Can the nano-cables be inserted where I had suggested the nanites build the electrodes?”
“Yes, although the process will take five or six times longer.”
“Do we have enough time before we have to leave?”
“Yes. The procedures should be finished before five in the morning.”
“Then set the paramet
ers on the second Neural Enhancement chip to position a nano-cable centrally along the reticular activating system, two more to be situated to interact with the anterior prefrontal cortex or Brodmann area 10. The fourth to interact with the posterior parietal cortex. The fifth to interact with the hippocampus. The sixth to the amygdala. The last two to lie on the inside of the skull itself running along the midpoint of the temporal bone parallel to the squamous suture to connect to storage sites Gèng can construct using the nanites.
“These cables should not be able to be activated except by Gèng or on my command. Also please make sure the nanite libraries are included and that the hard locks are removed as they were from my original chip. I also want the control aspects of the Nascent PAI chip to be cached.”
“I have the report from Dr Roberts of what was enabled and disabled with Gèng. I will make sure to apply the same conditions as before. Are you certain this is what you want?”
“Yes, and thank you, Reed.”
“You’re welcome, Leah.”
Reed then instructed John to place each of the Neural Enhancement Chips in the upload and Reed uploaded a Nascent Prime PAI onto each of them. As before, the machine recognised the incompatibility of the chip and the AI. This time Reed was able to prevent a report being generated as well as choose the values to place the electrodes where Dr Roberts and Leah had thought might help the most.
Once the chips were uploaded, Reed led Leah and the others to the booths where the chips were inserted. Leah rested her head as instructed, and Reed instructed John where to insert the two chips, the disc with Leah’s detailed scans, her ID and the two containers of nano-particles. Leah rested her head back into the machine and Welford locked it in place. Reed then took control and uploaded Leah’s ID and Scan information onto the AI.
