by Dane, Max
As Josh explained they entered a small work area which Ryan thought was probably his office. There was a wide, narrow window over a long work console. Looking through, Ryan thought he could see into the next room.
“You can leave your things here, until it’s time to leave,” Josh said.
As Ryan was putting his satchel down, Josh picked a book at random from a shelf behind his desk, and stood it up in front of Ryan.
“So, you asked why it would take so long. Take a look at this book as an example.”
“If I asked you to describe this book to me, you might say it is mainly blue, and stands about twelve inches tall. You might add that is has 234 pages. If you looked at it again, you might say that it has 24 chapters, or that it averages 16.5 pages per chapter. Look again, and you might tell me that it was printed using black ink made from a particular dye extracted from a berry in some forest is Europe.”
”All of these details are important, but we haven’t even begun talking about the story it tells, or the writing style and language used.”
Josh returned the book to the shelf.
“My point is that, each scan will be very quick, but to generate a comprehensive description we must consider the question, ‘What are we looking for?’ Ultimately, the scan data will only be as thorough as we are capable of making it.”
“Josh, it sounds like you’re talking about a lot of scans.”
“And that’s why it takes so bloody long,” Josh smiled.
Josh opened a door to the adjacent room and led Ryan inside. The room was empty except for a single chair mounted to a post, rising from the floor. It looked comfortable enough. He motioned for Ryan to have a seat in the chair.
“Mr. Dane, do you have any more questions?”
“Actually yes; why is it necessary to be so thorough? I’m a new employee, but I’m not actually being treated for anything.”
“All IntelliHealth employees sign a form allowing for use of their medical data in general research for any and all reference studies. You must have signed one yesterday, or you wouldn’t be here now. It’s part of our mission to serve the betterment of mankind through advanced and innovative healthcare,” said Josh smiling, “Or something like that.”
Waving at the chair, Josh said, “For what it’s worth, I had to do it too. Now if you would be so kind, please have a seat.”
Ryan sat in the chair, and Josh turned to leave.
“If you need anything else Mr. Dane, please don’t hesitate to ask. I can hear you, so just call to me. Some people may find it slightly confining once the scan begins. It’s rare but if you need me to, I can stop, and we can take a break. Do you understand?”
Not really understanding, but comfortable enough, Ryan said, “Yes.”
And with that, Josh stepped out of the room leaving Ryan alone in the chair facing the opposite side of the narrow window. After a minute or two, he heard Josh through speakers overhead.
“Ok Ryan, we’re going to begin now. Please remain seated, and keep your hands and feet inside the circle on the floor.”
He looked down and saw that a glowing ring had formed around the chair. Suddenly the ring began to rise up becoming the top of a cylinder that rose until it was well over his head. Now he understood why Josh had called him the ‘man-in-the-can’.
It was exactly like that.
He was in some kind of can, open at the top and with a circumference of about 4 feet, or roughly open enough to allow him to sit and stand comfortably.
“Mr. Dane, are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Great. We’re going to start now, so try not to move too much. It’s okay if you need to scratch or shift, just know that whatever scan is being performed at that moment will probably re-start once you’ve settled again. It’s all automatic.”
“I’ll play some music for you, do you like the old rock?”
Somewhere, a band started playing something about a hotel.
Ryan thought to himself, ‘Man, this is going to be a long day.’
After an eternity of bad music, Ryan realized he had fallen asleep. Waking in the can, he felt disoriented and wondered what time it was.
“Josh?”
After a moment, “Yeah, I’m here Ryan, is everything ok?”
“Yes, I think so. I think I fell asleep; did that mess anything up?” he asked.
A very alert Josh replied happily, “No, in fact we were able to make it through the procedure without any of the usual breaks. In fact, I’m done an hour ahead of time. Just hold on another second for me.”
Suddenly the ‘can’ descended into the floor again. Across the room, the door opened and Josh appeared.
“You did great, and you’ll be happy to know that you have no apparent abnormalities.”
Ryan wasn’t really expecting a report, but all things considered, took it in good stride.
“Thanks Josh, that’s good news. What’s next?”
“Let's get your things and you can go home.”
Ryan stood up and followed him, still in a bit of a fog after the ‘nap-in-the-can’.
With less conversation this time, they made their way to the front entry area, and to the elevators. The doors opened, Ryan stepped inside.
“Mr. Dane, it was nice to meet you,” said Josh smiling, ”I hope you enjoy working here.”
This time Ryan was grateful the elevator took him to the garage without needing any direction. He made his way to his car, and started the stereo. The announcer said, “… and today we wrap up our oldies but goodies with a song my dad loved, Hotel California by the Eagles.”
Ryan turned the stereo off, started the car and drove home.
That night Ryan found himself at the dinner table answering more questions about his new job. His wife was interested in the hardware, comparing it to her own clinic.
“What model did they say it was?”
He tried to remember what Josh had said, “It had a long name, something about Neutrino and Positron emissions.”
Slightly annoyed Jean asked, “Well, what did it look like?”
“Well I’m not exactly sure. It kind of corkscrewed up out of the floor around me. The tech called me the man-in-the-can.”
Alex liked it already, “I want to do it too, Daddy!”
Jean said, “That sounds like very cutting-edge stuff. Ours still have beds that the patient lies on. So how many scans did they do?”
“Well, I don’t really know for sure. The technician said each scan and analysis took about a minute.”
He got up to re-fill his tea, trying to remember the details.
“I was in there for about three and a half hours, so-”
“What?” she said startled and a little concerned. She set her plate down.
“Ryan, why would they do that? The typical scans in my clinic last about 20 minutes, and only for the most complex analysis. That’s a lot of looking around inside of you, if you ask me.”
“Yeah, I was kind of surprised too, but when I asked about it, they said that all IntelliHealth employees agree to share their medical information with the research pool for use as reference material.”
“Oh, well that’s okay I guess,” she said relaxing a little.
Rising to take his dishes to the kitchen sink, he added, “At least they said that I had no abnormalities.”
“Yes, well no one asked me or Alex, did they?”
She smiled at Alexander, who smiled back, happy to be in on the joke.
Later that night Jean helped Alex with some artwork for school, something about the important role of trees. There were pictures of trees and a paragraph he had to write himself. Ryan listened from the video room. The news was describing a weather formation somewhere off the coast. His orientation was over, and tomorrow he would actually report for work. He couldn’t help but smile.
Things were getting better.
Ryan fell asleep on the couch, and stayed there until just before midnight when he woke to Jean
calling him.
“Ryan, you better come to bed before you start to have nightmares.”
He opened his eyes slowly and saw that there was a horror movie playing on the vid. Some teen was shooting at an alien with one eye.
’Always a bad move,’ he thought.
He stood up, turned off the receiver and went to bed.
CHAPTER 3
“Demonic figures and occult themes have disappeared from modern magic.”
- David Copperfield
It was 7:01 AM as Ryan pulled into the IntelliHealth parking lot. Dropping Alex off at school and making it to work this morning had been slowed due to some over-night rain. Hating to be late, Ryan had overcompensated, and had arrived noticeably early, equally bad, but better than being late. He parked and collected his things.
Across the parking garage he saw the elevators, waiting.
Overly smart and belligerent, they taunted him from across the lot.
More alert than last time and determined to win, he held his identification chip in his hand and slowly approached his shiny-metal adversaries. The doors opened on cue as he approached. As he stepped inside Ryan quickly waved his chip near the door, and like magic his numbers 1, 18, 75, 76, and 82 appeared. Before the doors closed, he pressed the glowing number 75. With an audible, ‘Yeah!” he punched the air.
He felt good all the way up.
Dropped off at the 75th floor, Ryan made his way through the cubicle forest, still quite empty at this time, and headed towards his office. As he approached, he saw a group of young men leaving, all dressed in matching grayish overalls. They were pushing an empty cart ahead of them. The last of them shut and locked his door. He arrived at his door just as they disappeared around a bend down the hall.
Curious, he turned back to his door, waved his ID ship, and the door opened. Inside he found a new computer monitor on his desk.
He sat down, unloaded his satchel, and turned to look at his new computer. Aside from the monitor itself there were no cables, with only the typical mouse and keyboard sitting in front. The new screen was large enough that it blocked out most of his only window. He moved the arrangement 90 degrees clockwise, and now he could see out again. As he moved the monitor, a small note fell off the bottom.
‘To begin, just say your name.’
Getting comfortable again, in a slightly louder-than-usual voice he said, “Ryan Dane.”
Instantly the monitor powered up. A wonderfully efficient start-up program flashed a picture of his face on the screen. He noticed that it was a live image, and looked closely for a camera on the monitor.
A smooth voice suddenly emerged from tiny speakers at the bottom.
“You are identified as new employee, 010155239, Ryan Dane, a member of the Information Use and Services Department.”
The image of his face minimized to the upper left corner.
The login program showed a list of steps and appeared to be checking them off on the left. In the middle there was a page of text that was titled Agreement of Confidentiality.
“Mr. Dane, please indicate your understanding and agreement with the IntelliHealth code of ethics and confidentiality regarding the sacred data held within the boundaries of the IntelliHealth Earth-net. This information must be held and used for the betterment of all mankind. No deviation from our mission will be accepted for any reason. To indicate your understanding and agreement, please say so now.”
Clearly, the program was waiting on him.
The speech Ryan just heard seemed a little over the top, and not too distant from Schnell’s orientation two days ago. Not sure what to say exactly, he considered his options.
‘I swear by my sword to only use the information herein for good!’
Or maybe something like, ‘For God and Country I shall obey!’
He even wondered if a pinky-swear would work.
He could go on.
But, in the end, he went with, “Yes, I understand and agree.”
Immediately, the voice responded, “I will now show you which data directories you are authorized to access.”
The text agreement disappeared and a new window showed a list of what looked to Ryan like directory names.
“You can access any of these directories, or recall the list by typing or stating ‘directory assist’.”
The list disappeared, to be replaced by a login screen with two fields. His ID was already filled in and read, ‘rdane00’. The password field just below was empty.
“You may not always work on a terminal with voice and facial recognition; therefore it is necessary that you also select a password at this time. Please say or type your new password now.”
He was on the spot for a password. Going with what he was used to, he picked a password he had used at his previous job. After typing it, the voice asked him to type it again, and then seemed happy with the results.
The computer start-up program showed him how to access electronic and video mail, where his working programs could be found and how to save his own data. The whole process was fairly intuitive, and overall not too different from what he was used to. They were even a little easier. Sure he still had questions, but they were more about what applications were available, then how to use them. The IntelliHealth people must have worked hard to build a system that supported their work, rather than act as a cyber-middle man.
It showed.
Outside the rest of the people had arrived and were bustling about. He thought he could smell hot coffee brewing somewhere. He realized he had been sitting at his desk for over an hour going through his computer’s orientation. Getting up, he headed to the front to find that coffee.
Theresa was there at her desk, but heavily engaged in some sort of complaint from a man who also looked like an employee. Voices were tense, but not overly aggressive. As he approached and saw the scene, he turned to leave but Theresa called after him.
“Ryan is there something you need?”
“I was just going to ask where that coffee smell is coming from, but I see you’re busy. I can find it.”
She pointed to one side, “Head that way, you can’t miss it. Also, Ryan did you get your computer?”
“Yes, it’s on my desk, and I’ve already been through the orientation,” he said.
“Very good, check your calendar. I’m sure different people will want to meet with you today to help get you started.”
“Ok, thanks.”
It was a good point. He should’ve done that during the start-up stuff earlier. Going right back to his desk, he logged back in, found his calendar and opened it up.
Sure enough, he had a meeting at 9:00 AM with his new boss, Mr. Ben James. Later it looked like he was to meet with some programmers, and then this afternoon he was visiting with Ms. Dorothy Allen, in the Patient Services Division.
With a few minutes to kill, he took a look around the office and found the coffee, and a bagel. Then at 9:00 he went up one floor and located Mr. James’ office. The door was open, and as he walked up to it, Ben stood and walked around his desk to shake hands with Ryan.
“There you are Ryan, welcome. Please come in, and have a seat. How are things so far? Are you getting your bearings yet?”
“Yes sir, it has been terrific, and everyone has been very helpful.”
“Wonderful, that’s good. Have you received your computer, and have you had a chance to get briefed on it yet?”
“Yes, on both counts. I’m ready to get started.”
“Excellent,” Mr. James said, “Today I want to explain a little more about the problem we have, and explain about the help you will get from Information Services. Also, Ryan please call me Ben, it will help move things along more quickly.”
Ryan pulled out a pen to take notes.
“Don’t worry about taking notes right now, Ryan. This meeting is more conceptual in nature.” Ben walked around his desk and sat back down.
“Basically, what SID said in your interview was correct. The problem does seem to be
limited in proximity, and it is indeed limited in scope, albeit, a very big scope. Let's start with the research component of this Facility.”
“There are many, many scientists working upstairs, each with their own research staff and labs conducting studies, and experiments constantly. The complete volume of their research data is immense, stored locally, and must be available instantly around the world for collaboration. Their data, when observed independently, shows no indication of any flaw or discrepancy. None.”
Ben stood up and walked to his mini-refrigerator to get a bottled water. He waved one to Ryan who shook his head, and without pausing continued, “Now consider the hospital component of the Facility. Each and every patient has a volume of information that describes them, and we are currently treating nearly 15,000 within these walls. The vast archive of patient data we hold is the foundation from which the research is derived and later executed.”
“Ryan, our interest in this project, and the reason you were hired, is to closely examine the point where the research queries for data and treatment, meet the volumes of patient information and care, and learn why there are occasional disagreements.”
