Kyle called Josh but did not tell him why he needed the cable and the generators. "Annette, I need you to go into your sleep mode for awhile. I'm very self-conscious about what I have to do."
"Sure, Kyle. Wake me up when you need me. Otherwise, I will not wake up for eight hours. I'll simulate Mrs. Monroe who is a very deep sleeper. Good night."
"Implant 1, begin process of cataloging the connections of implant 2." Kyle went through a tedious process of determining which body function or sensory input was connected to what neural stimulator/receiver. Partway into the procedure, Kyle realized that Annette would have to go through the same process. He awoke Annette and explained to her in detail what he was doing. After many hours of interaction with the computer, the mapping was complete. Kyle discovered some interesting things about what Dr. Waters had done. The left eye optic nerve had been well connected. He turned on Annette's television set and used the transmitter to transmit what he was seeing. His eye made a wonderful camera. As he walked around the room, it was as if he were holding a camcorder connected to a monitor. Only his left eye was connected, which made it easier for the circuitry since it did not have to resolve the stereovision. Of course, with only one eye, there was a small blind spot representing where the optic nerve exits the retina. Since the computer was connected to a small microphone in his left ear, there was also audio reception. With some additional programming, Kyle was able to configure his all-frequency radio transmitter/receiver to act as a television receiver. He could close his eyes and then see projected in front of him the television picture. Actually, the neural transmitter/receiver was transmitting the image directly to his optic nerve. He could also hear the broadcast. What a great thing to have. He could go to the opera with Sharon (not that she had mentioned opera, but a guy can't be too careful) and watch and listen to the game or something else he wanted to see on TV.
Kyle programmed the two CPU chips to act as one computer that shared the workload. He programmed the combined unit to respond to just "implant" rather than "implant 1" or "implant 2". He had the computer record his commands to muscles as he walked in a figure eight on the floor tiles. He commanded the computer to repeat the commands. Instead of walking in the figure eight, after one step he fell over and his legs went through the motions while he lay on the floor. He had forgotten all about the need for balance. "I bet I looked pretty silly during that test," he commented to Annette.
"I did not laugh, but I think most people would have," responded Annette. "Mrs. Monroe does not like to be laughed at according to my knowledge of her. She is a proud woman."
"You got that right. She's a knockout, but I have never cared for her. She can be very witty but never, ever in a self-effacing way. She could really use some humility. You may mimic her voice, Annette, but I prefer your company to Mrs. Monroe's any day."
"Why thank you, Kyle. That is one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me."
Kyle spent several hours programming the computer to maintain balance, careful to explain to Annette what he was doing. "The most challenging thing for me, Annette, is completely relaxing so that the computer can take over. You won't have that problem, at least not until, or maybe I should say if, Mrs. Monroe becomes conscious. You'll have to let her take over as much as she is able to."
"What if Mrs. Monroe never becomes conscious or worse yet becomes brain dead?" asked Annette with a voice that sounded very human in its concerned tone. Kyle marveled at Annette's ability to imitate human emotions. He knew she had been watching lots of television to study how humans acted in different situations. He felt a sense of pride that something he had a part in creating was so wonderful. He was sure that in a human body Annette would be very convincing.
"It would be very difficult for Carlton to accept you as his wife. There would be a lot of mixed up feelings. Now, me on the other hand, I would just see you as a beautiful woman who is my wife and never gets a headache, every man's fantasy."
"I don't understand what relevance headaches have to marriage?" asked Annette.
"I'll explain that one another time. Annette, I think I've spent enough time exploring my own computer controls. We need to talk about what controls you'll have and how they will work. You will have equivalent processing power and high-speed memory but less non-volatile memory than you do now. Since your non-volatile memory will be solid state, rather than hard drives, you'll have shorter access times to this memory. We need to devise ways so that you can function like a person instead of a computer. Take storing visual information. I don't have a perfect picture in my mind of everyone I know, but I can recognize them the moment I see them. I don't know how my mind stores and retrieves the information. I just know that the system works. If you try to store an exact photographic image of everyone you meet, you will soon run out of memory. The same goes for other things that you see."
"Maybe I can help by asking questions, Kyle. I've heard that you like Sharon's automobile. Could you draw an accurate picture of it?"
"I could, if I could draw."
"Then you have some sort of a picture of it in your mind. If you were drawing this picture, when you drew the wheels would you do it from memory of the Viper's wheels or from your memory of wheels in general?"
"I would mostly draw from my memory of wheels in general, but I would have to remember the unique style of rims and that the tires are very wide. Maybe you could use a technique similar to what is used in computer drafting. In a program like AutoCAD, for example, the user can combine graphic elements into a unit called a block. Small blocks can be combined into larger blocks. That system could even be used for faces. Police have a technique, in which they form a picture of a suspect by showing witnesses a selection of facial parts, allowing the witnesses to select the one that most closely resembles the suspect. If you want, I could try to get the images for you."
"Thanks, Kyle, but I've seen those composite pictures on the news. I think I can do better. I will create my own as I meet people."
"You also need to learn to forget. There will not be enough room with current technology for you to remember everything that you see, hear, taste, smell, feel and think."
"Will I be able to feel?" asked Annette hopefully.
"It isn't possible for us to give you full human feeling over every part of you body. I think we can give you full feeling in your hands, feet and face. You'll even feel pain in your hands and feet. Otherwise, you would be likely to injure yourself. Of course, you will not feel pain like I do, but it would serve as a warning so you don't injure yourself. You need feeling in your hands to perform most tasks that involve the use of your hands. Compared to your mechanical hands, human ones will be wonderful to you."
"I am sure they will be, Kyle. I see a dilemma here. If Mrs. Monroe never regains consciousness, Carlton will be unhappy. If she does, she will likely make him miserable again. He says they had a reconciliation, but I am suspicious of her motives. Maybe she smelled fame and fortune in the air."
"I've had the same doubts. I can't tell you how to make Carlton happy. You'll have to figure that one out on your own. Maybe something in all of that TV watching can help."
Chapter 12 – And the Computer Was Made Flesh
Dr. Monroe and Kyle stood next to Annette's computer. Kyle was giving her final instructions. "We'll transfer your memory and consciousness to this bank of CPUs that will be implanted in Mrs. Monroe. You'll be blind but not deaf or dumb. You'll be able to communicate with us using the imbedded all-frequency radio transmitter/receivers. We won't perform the implant without communication. If anything goes wrong, we'll still have all of your memories up to the time of transfer in the desktop computer. Until we turn off the desktop computer there will be two of you existing simultaneously. Because we like to think of you as a unique person, we won't continue to have two of you. You won't be permanently cloned. Are you ready, Annette?"
"Proceed. I don't want to lose this opportunity to gain a body with all of the human senses," responded Annette with gre
at enthusiasm. Annette's executive software had been regenerated to run on the new computers and was already loaded. However, there were none of Annette's memories or other information installed. All of Annette's memories were downloaded from the desktop computer using a high-speed serial link. The process took hours to complete. Dr. Monroe went to his office, but Kyle stayed in the lab, reading and "watching" television while he waited. He raided Dr. Monroe's refrigerator several times. Finally, the transmission finished. Kyle called Dr. Monroe to invite him back. The copy of Annette on the desktop computer was put into an indefinite sleep mode.
"Annette, can you hear us?" anxiously spoke Dr. Monroe into the two-way radio microphone. There was no response. Kyle turned up the volume and Dr. Monroe continued to call out to Annette. They took turns speaking into the radio. "Maybe you should reload the software, Kyle. It shouldn't take more than seconds for Annette to respond."
"I'm sure it was all loaded correctly. There's full parity checking during the download process," answered Kyle as he tried to figure out what could have gone wrong. "Keep talking, maybe she can receive but not transmit. If you can hear me, Annette, do a remote log onto the desktop computer. You can print text on the screen." Dr. Monroe and Carlton continued to speak into the radio but were getting very discouraged. They continued for over half-an-hour with no response.
"Carlton, Kyle, can you hear me?" came Annette's hopeful voice.
"We hear you, we hear you!" shouted back Dr. Monroe. "We thought we had lost you. What happened?"
"Kyle, what frequency did you set me up to use?"
"47.325 mega hertz. Why?"
"What is your radio set at?"
"47.523 mega hertz. Oops! Sorry."
"Let me tell you. That 31 minutes and 21 seconds may have seemed like hours to you two, but with 104 processors each running at 2 gigahertz, it seemed like days to me. Please don't ever do that to me again. At least Helen Keller could feel, smell and taste. After performing every kind of check possible and trying all 100 transmitters, I finally started scanning other frequencies. I think one truck driver nearly ran off the road when I told him I was a computer. He kept trying to put the moves on me. Once I knew that my all-frequency radio transmitter/receiver was working I started listening to all of the frequencies. I figured that I needed to listen for at least 10 seconds to be sure that I hadn't missed you. Then I realized that I could listen with all 100 receivers at once. I heard thousands of conversations before I got you. Did you miss me?"
"More than you can imagine, Annette. More than you can imagine," responded Dr. Monroe, who was exhausted from the stress and constant calling into the microphone.
"Carlton, when can you proceed with the operation?" asked Annette.
"We can start first thing in the morning. I've got to get some rest. I'll see you two tomorrow." Dr. Monroe dragged himself home.
"Can you stay for awhile, Kyle?" asked Annette hopefully.
"Sure. I'm more used to frustrating computer problems than Carlton is."
"By the way, you used to call him 'Dr. Monroe'. What changed?"
"I'm 'Dr. James', now. I figure we're peers."
"That makes sense. But I always felt like you were peers. Carlton says you are the real brains behind my programming. He says that your software was already a form of artificial intelligence and he just used your software to do something you had not gotten around to yet."
"That was very generous of him, Annette," responded Kyle. "Saying that I am the real brains behind your creation is like saying that the paint manufacturer was the real artist behind the Sistine Chapel ceiling. I don't know if you realize what a wonderful man Dr. Monroe is. He's been like a father to me during the last four or five years. He's brilliant without the accompanying ego that so often accompanies high intelligence. He's also a man of very high integrity. It was fortunate that you were created by such a man." Kyle realized Annette probably had him stay for reasons other than to praise Dr. Monroe, so he changed the subject. "Do you have concerns about tomorrow, Annette?"
"Kyle, when I have a human body with all of the human senses, will I have emotions too?"
"That's a good question, Annette. I've been thinking a lot lately about why we have emotions. I think somehow they are an outgrowth of feelings of pain and pleasure. We tend to hate that which brings us pain and love that which brings us pleasure. I don't think that anyone knows how an animal or person feels pain or pleasure. Oh, we know how the stimulus gets transmitted to the brain, but why does it make us feel good or bad? If I knew the answer to that question, I could probably program you to feel pain or pleasure. Do you want emotions?"
"I think so. The pain part really sounds undesirable, but the pleasure part sounds like it is worth it all. Let me ask you a question, if you could choose to feel no pleasure or pain would you choose it?"
"No. It's like asking if I would like to die. Those who commit suicide seem to want to feel no pain and are willing to feel no pleasure in exchange for it. But, I think that usually the pain they are escaping is emotional pain, not physical pain."
"I have not quite figured out emotional pain. The soap operas on TV are full of emotional pain and also emotional pleasure. I watch TV to try to understand people. I realize that these stories are created to earn money, not to educate. I hope that at least they will help me to act human and not embarrass or hurt Dr. Monroe in other ways. I have read the story of Pinocchio. I will be sort of like him. I will know how to talk and walk, at least I hope that I can figure out how to walk, but I will not have years of experience interacting with many people. At least, I will be well read and educated. I hope I will be able to identify evil people and not let them take advantage of me. I hope that you will help me, Kyle. It is easier to talk to you about these kinds of things than it is with Carlton. He programmed me to sound and talk like his wife. I think her voice causes all sorts of feelings in him ranging from anger to romance. He wouldn't admit it, but I seem to make him tense up sometimes, like if you were on a date with a woman you were nuts about but were unsure about her feelings towards you."
"I've enjoyed our time together, immensely, Annette. You realize there will be new challenges to our association after you're implanted into Mrs. Monroe's body. She's a very beautiful woman. I'll soon be a married man. My future wife, Sharon, has long been jealous of Mrs. Monroe. She may not like me hanging around you."
"I have already figured that one out. We can communicate over our all-frequency radio transmitter/receivers. We don't have to even use a phone service, which would leave a billing record. Only we will need to know. I have sufficient processing power now that I can carry on a conversation with you while speaking with someone else."
"I would have a hard time doing that, but I can carry on a conversation over the cell phone without anyone knowing. I've become like a ventriloquist, except that I don't make any sound, just nerve impulses that the implant can pick up. Since school is done, I have had a lot of time to work on it."
"Show me. 47.120 gigahertz is open. Let's practice."
“Okay, Annette, how is this?” Kyle transmitted without moving his lips.
"Very good, Kyle, but remember, I have no sight at the moment, so I can't tell if your lips move. Even if your lips do move you could always cover your mouth with your hand or a napkin or something."
"Well, I guess my lips do move just a little, but a person would have to be close to notice. Actually, to carry on a natural conversation it would help to use two channels, one for you to transmit on and one for me to transmit on. Since I have two all-frequency radio transmitter/receivers and you have 100, soon to be 103, it will be no problem for us."
"Kyle, there is something I am concerned about. Will my bodily functions be all connected? I don't want to have to wear diapers."
"Good point. We overlooked that part. We'll need to hook up all of that gear. We'll need to use several more 'snake' chips and one more processor in the head. We only have ten snake chips, so we won't have any spares left."
"Thanks for staying with me for awhile, Kyle. I will let you go now. You have a wedding to get ready for."
"Speaking of the wedding, I promised to call Sharon tonight. I'll see you tomorrow." Kyle left the lab and dialed Sharon using his cell phone capability. "Hey, good looking, what's happening?"
Kyle could not sleep that night. He lay awake worrying. What if Dr. Waters somehow intercepted the radio conversations with Annette? The messages were not coded and even if they had been, Dr. Waters may have had the capability of decoding them. They needed a more secure means of communicating with Annette. He could work on a highly secure means of radio communication, but that would take time and such communication would be subject to jamming. He needed something rock solid secure. Then it hit him. He could use ultrasonic transmissions that would require direct contact. The microphone in his ear, like most microphones, was a tiny speaker. It could be used to generate ultrasonic waves that would travel throughout his body but be dissipated very rapidly in the air. He could attach an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver to one of the CPU units going into Annette's abdomen. Then, they would only need to touch to communicate. He could get the transmitter from the spare parts inventory of the composites lab. They were used in the ultrasonic inspection equipment. He wouldn't be able to get the part until 8:00 the next morning, so he might as well sleep. With his mind at ease, he drifted off to sleep.
Kyle was at the parts crib window at 7:59. The surgery was scheduled for 10 AM that day. They were cutting things very close. By that evening at 7:36, Mrs. Monroe would have been in a coma for one week. Her lawyer was ready to execute the letter of the law. He would have the feeding tubes removed and prevent assistance of any kind to Mrs. Monroe after 7:36. Mrs. Monroe could only live, at most, for 60 hours under those conditions. Kyle waited impatiently for the parts crib window to open. When it finally did, Kyle was disappointed to find that Jim Gardner was staffing the crib. Jim was not known for being helpful. He was always primarily concerned with his own self-interest. "Hi, Jim. I have a filled-out part request form for an ultrasonic transmitter/receiver, inventory number 5478901A12, location number 3400045. It's been signed by Dr. Monroe."
The Computer Who Loved Me Page 10
