It could have sensory purpose. Violet had confirmed that the slime was organic. But the temperature was being constantly measured by the IR scanner kept on an equipment tray in the corner. It had not varied by even 0.1°C in the last 3 weeks they have been measuring it. If you needed to monitor the temperature of something, then surely it must fluctuate at least by that amount over 3 weeks. Otherwise what is the point of monitoring it?
There was nothing other than temperature that could be monitored by the slime. The square block was either hermetically sealed or a solid block of metal. The slime was smeared on the surface. The slime had no access to anything inside. Jorge had gone over every inch of that cursed block, Ramesh knew.
Jorge had eventually ignored the slime. Whatever its purpose, the slime was common to many equipment in this habitat, let someone else figure it out. He had concentrated on the metal shell. He had measured it with the most sensitive ammeter and voltmeter. It had shown no electrical fluctuations, so no electrical or any electromagnetic signal was coming out of that metal shell.
The only thing that was coming out of the reactor was through those massively thick cables, providing perfectly stable DC current. One thing was certain, they were not using any primitive technique like heating water to drive a turbine.
That would have generated AC current. AC current can be converted into DC, but not this perfectly stable straight line. In any case, moving parts would have generated hum. They had used sensitive instruments and could confirm that nothing was moving inside.
Ramesh gave up and sat on the floor staring blankly at the reactor. He had not really expected to find anything that Jorge could not. His mind drifted towards his own struggles with the alien computer. He was growing convinced that the core of the Shaitan computer was a quantum computer.
It was definitely not a silicon based computer, a technology the humans used and understood well. There were telltale EM emissions from a silicon based computer, which Ramesh would have identified immediately. However ruling out silicon, automatically did not mean that it was a quantum computer.
There may be other ways to make computers in the universe, which the humans did not know about. However there were some points of similarity with human quantum computers. Since their original invention in the 1990s and the early 2000s, human quantum computers had to be chilled and kept in extreme cold.
The earliest human quantum computers were chilled to a fraction of a degree above absolute zero – minus 273°C. In recent years, with advancement in materials, humans had been able to run quantum computers temperatures that could be cooled with liquid nitrogen. Some of the latest developments in this field, which Ramesh himself was leading promised even higher temperatures, around minus 30°C.
The contraption that they suspected as the alien computer was also cooled, but only to -2°C. Still it was cooled and maintained at that steady temperature. That meant that there was specific cooling device inside that contraption meant to keep it at a lower than ambient temperature.
Shaitan engineers would do that only if that cooling was required for the proper functioning of whatever that contraption was. They had found no other piece of equipment in the entire habitat that was cooled. What else would require to be cooled? It had no opening, so it could not be a refrigerator. It was too small for that anyway.
The other two remarkable things about that contraption were the amount of wiring that went inside it, and the copious amount of slime on the contraption, and in fact that entire room. It felt like a room from some of the old horror movies that Ramesh liked to watch. The wiring had convinced them that it was a computer.
As Ramesh was thinking in an unfocussed manner, something was nagging him at the back of his mind, but the moment he tried to focus on it, it would go away. Then with a start he realized what was wrong with the picture he was seeing.
They had assumed that the huge amount of wiring was carrying computer signal in and out of the computer similar to human computers. If that was true, then there had to be similar wires, at least one running to this nuclear reactor as well.
Something had to signal the reactor to start and shut down, which meant a wire signal. There were none. The only thing that came out of the square block was that thick cable, and they had measured the output. It was rock steady flat line output. There were no signals coming out or in through that cable.
What had Jorge said all those years ago? ‘If you’ve eliminated all other possibilities whatever remains must be the truth’. Jorge had misquoted the famous words of Sherlock Holmes, but in this case it was more relevant. It was inconceivable that the nuclear reactor did not have something to control it. Looking at the so called Shaitan computer and the number of wires coming out of it, he had assumed that wires carried signals, just as in the case of human computers.
Since there were no wires here carrying any signals, it means wires may not be used by Shaitans to carry signal. They had checked the airwaves inside the habitat for radio and other electromagnetic signals, just in case the equipment was controlled by wireless signals, but they had detected no wireless signals either.
What else was on that reactor? Slime. Could organic slime carry complex signals? It was possible. The slime could carry electrochemical signals. The speed of transmission would be a bit slower than electrical signals over copper, but it would be more than made up by the richness of the signals in terms of many bytes being carried simultaneously due to the complex signals possible with electrochemistry.
Violet had indicated that given the anatomy of the Shaitans, and the slime on their skin, it was likely that they exchanged rudimentary messages using touch. Not through tactile means but through some kind of biochemical means. It would be literally like they would taste each other’s slime. It would be something which could be expected of creatures that have evolved in the dark.
She had however thought that those signals would be very rudimentary. Something like ‘I am hungry’ or ‘I am angry’ or ‘I want sex’. It would be something very similar to the function that is performed by pheromones in mammals including humans.
Violet had found elaborate and very sophisticated auditory mechanisms in her dissection of the Shaitans, and the two captured Shaitans had exhibited acute stimuli to sounds in a large frequency range. This had lead Violet to conclude that sound would be their primary means of communication and sensation, like bats. It was also expected of creatures that had evolved in the dark.
What if Violet was partially wrong? What if the slime tasting business was more important and sophisticated than what she believed? Ramesh was now excited, it was the first half decent idea he had come up with in the last two days. He wanted to explore it right now. He needed Dr. Violet Manning’s help for that.
Ramesh forgot that he was on Titan and jumped up to stand. He almost bumped his head on the ceiling. He was saved by the fact that the ceiling was quite high. He ran through the central corridor, to one of the empty up-sloping chambers that Dr. Manning had literally made her home. She had been sleeping here more and more. As a result she had a sleeping mat with a few personal items stashed in this chamber.
Ramesh rushed into the chamber only to realize, to his embarrassment that he had entered a wrong chamber. This was not the chamber occupied by Dr. Violet Manning. Worse it was not a vacant chamber either. In the corner, wrapped in a thermal blanket were two humans. In the dark he could make out Capt. Alex Parkinson. He could not see the face of the woman under the blanket, but there was only one blonde woman left alive on Titan.
“I am sorry… I am sorry. These damn rooms have no doors. I am sorry.” Ramesh babbled in deep embarrassment as he beat a hasty retreat from the chamber, his tan cheeks turning violet and ears turning red.
Leanna could not help but giggle out loudly at the embarrassed mutterings of the geek. “Well there goes the secret part of our ‘secret soirée’.” She said.
“You are not upset about it?” Alex asked puzzled.
Leanna pulled herself up effortlessly in the low gr
avity and twisted on top of Alex, planting a kiss on his lips. “Not really. Anybody who had her eyes open during the last few months would have known how you could not keep your eyes off me. Most of the women at the least and some of the men as well knew that I was somewhat partial towards you. I knew all the time that you were bursting to say something to me, but the courageous marine Captain lost his tongue the moment he would come near me.”
“You mean to say everybody except me knew!?” Alex expressed surprise. “If you knew how I felt, how come you never even gave me a hint?”
Leanna giggled again and asked. “And give up all the fun I had every time you came up to me and stuttered trying to muster courage to speak? It was so sweet to see you suffer like a teenaged boy every time we were together and you wanted to say something. I would not have given up those fun moments for anything. They were so sweet. I am going to remember as sweet memory the time when you finally were able to mutter out your love Alex Parkinson.”
“Thanks for being so compassionate about my sufferings.” Alex grumbled sarcastically.
Leanna kissed him again passionately and said. “A little suffering makes the love blossom sweetheart.” She slid back next to Alex and nestled in his arms and said thoughtfully after some time. “I feel bad for Cuifen though.”
“What about Lt. Ma?” Alex asked puzzled about the sudden change in topic.
Leanna turned again to look into Alex’s eyes and said with a smile. “You really don’t have any idea do you?” It was not a question but a sorry statement about his lack of perceptiveness. “Most of us women thought so.”
Alex was now burning with curiosity. “What is it Leanna? Is she also having an affair?”
Leanna could not help but laugh, but she grew a bit somber and sad as she said. “That would be a happy ending for that poor girl. She is deeply in love as only a woman can be.”
“So she is also having the same kind of problem as I did. I see. Who is the guy, maybe we can somehow help them out in their communication problem. Something no one did for me, despite so many of them knowing about it.” Alex said.
“It is a lot more complicated than that Alex. I am not sure it is right for me to talk to you about it at all.” Leanna said, thoughtful and sad.
“Alright… Alright… It is not like me to poke into other people’s private business anyway.” Alex said hoping to drop the subject altogether. He was surprised when Leanna climbed over him again, but this time touching their foreheads and wrapping her hands around his neck tightly. Tears were flowing freely from her cheeks. Her voice was cracked with emotion as she spoke.
“Alex, Cuifen is deeply and madly in love with a man, who loves someone else. He is not even aware of Cuifen’s feeling towards him. This is not some puppy love that Cuifen feels Alex. It is the love and the heart a woman gives only once in her life to one man. Her love is stronger and will last longer than the other woman who loves this man. I know this because the man Cuifen loves is you Alex. It is you.”
Chapter 3
Mimi and Sheba
Titan
June 2061
When Ramesh entered the correct chamber, Dr. Violet Manning was sleeping. Damn, this woman is even more stunningly beautiful in her sleep. Even a man like Ramesh, a steady and happily married man could not help but stare at what Ramesh thought must easily be the most beautiful woman he had seen. Staying for the last two decades in California, moving in high flying circles, he had seen his share of some world famous beauties including many movie stars.
Ramesh had to shake himself back from his reverie. He knelt down and gently touched Violet’s arm. She woke up slowly and sat up. She had been working non-stop for the last four weeks. She looked tired and there was a hint of dark circles around her eyes. Amazingly, it only made her look more not less beautiful.
“I will wait for you outside doctor.” Ramesh said as he started moving out of the chamber giving Violet some privacy to get ready.
“Thanks… is it fine with you if I call you Ramesh?” She asked. Ramesh nodded and begun to say that it was fine, but Violet continued before he could start speaking. “You see Ramesh, I have not had too many friends in life. In the last few months, I have come to look at all of you here in Titan, even the ones who are no longer with us, as something more than friends. It is a part of life I have not experience before. It makes me feel like better a human being. It would really mean something to me, if you and everyone else here calls me Violet.”
Ramesh was a bit queasy with emotional talk, as many men were. He however understood the pain of this beautiful but probably lonely human being. “I understand doc… Violet. You can be sure, that all of us also look at you as something more than just friend… I will wait outside.” With that he hurried outside to quickly escape the emotional conversation. He was well qualified to understand Violet’s pain. He was in the same boat for half his life, till he met Fluentez… and Jorge and Mischa.
Violet was out quickly and Ramesh excitedly explained his theory about the Shaitans and the slime, and the implication it may have about their sensory capabilities. Violet was circumspect, but she had seen how the engineers and the scientists were banging their heads on the Shaitan walls trying to figure things out. Especially Jorge and Ramesh. She decided to go along to help them, even if the chances of success was remote.
“We would need to set up a test to prove or disprove your theory. You have any suggestions on what that test might be?” Violet asked as she started to think up her own tests.
“Doc… I mean Violet, I am a certified Computer engineer and a fairly decent mathematician. My knowledge and training in chemistry stopped after the second semester of my undergrad college. That is the reason I have come to you. However if my basic understanding of organic chemistry doesn’t fail me, then in theory that slime on the nuclear reactor, and everywhere else for that matter can act as a conductor for tiny electrical signals.
If my understanding further serves me right, it should be able to transmit a very rich analog signal, which when converted to digital format would represent high bandwidth data. To be honest Violet, I have only thought that far, I don’t know how to proceed beyond that point.” Ramesh finished sheepishly indicating he was expecting all the answers from Violet.
Violet smiled and said. “And you have come to the right person for answers. First you are right, the organic slime is capable of transmitting micro electrical signals. We humans do it all the time in our body. We call it taste. Your tongue is doing it right at this moment. The various chemical it encounters in the mouth interact with a thin layer of slime, which transmits those chemical signal to receptor cells on your tongue.”
Ramesh gave a disgusted look at the mention of slime over his tongue. Violet gave a smile and said. “I know, biological processes sound icky, and look even more disgusting, but they keep us alive. If you could see the things going on inside your stomach, they would be even more disgusting that the Shaitan slime.
The saliva and slime on your tongue act like an electrolyte. If you don’t believe me, you can perform a simple experiment. I am sure you would have stuck an old 9 volt cell into your tongue as a child and would have gotten a shocking taste on your tongue.” Ramesh was trying to deny it, but Violet said.
“No use denying it Ramesh. You don’t find those old 9 volt cells around any longer, but you are old enough to have it around when you were a child. Every boy I know of has tried that experiment. It is one of those rites of passage you boys go through, daring to lick a battery.” Violet put her hands on her hips and gave Ramesh a knowing smile, and continued.
“The disgusting modification you can try on that experiment to prove my point that our own saliva acts like an electrolyte is this. Build up a large amount of saliva over your tongue, and then touch the battery over just the saliva, not the tongue. You will still get the shocking taste. It will be attenuated compared to pressing it directly on your tongue, but it will be there.”
“And the point of your icky discou
rse is…?” Ramesh asked testily.
Violet laughed at Ramesh’s discomfort and said. “You must be aware, that I have already detected what looks like taste receptors all over limbs of the Shaitan, and even some on the lower part of their bodies. I have theorized that these taste receptors are basic in function, not more complex than our own tongues.
However if your theory is right, then those receptors would have to be a lot more complex with a very elaborate and high bandwidth connection to the brain to be able to transmit high volume of complex signals to the brain. We can revisit the dissections I have done on Shaitan to check that fact out.
We also have the live Shaitans, we could check out the transmission of the signals through the slime theory with them. We may not be able to send complex signals, but we could send micro electrical pulses through the slime and see if they respond to that stimulus. How about we start with those two test first? If we prove those two, then it is worthwhile to proceed further, otherwise we have disproved your theory.”
“Sounds good to me doc, lead the way. It is your show anyway, I am just a spectator.” Ramesh said in good humor thankful that Violet had at least taken his theory seriously.
They reached Violet’s makeshift lab in the Shaitan habitat. There were two Shaitan corpse lying in the corner on the floor, where they had been dissected by Violet. There was a terminal lying close by. She went to the terminal and started looking through her files and her dissection videos. After some time she went to one of the opened up Shaitan corpse, and then at the other after inspecting a certain part.
Ramesh just stood at a distance, obviously not understanding anything she was doing. When she looked up and turned towards him, he asked “Well?”
“I think I will have to expand the definition and the area of a Shaitan brain. Every time I inspect these cadavers, I come up with something new. There is a whole lifetime of research to be done here. I have hardly started scratching the surface. It has been only since yesterday that I have really spent my full time on these dissections. I had been tied up with the pathogen research for all this time to determine if it was safe for humans to come into contact with Shaitan germs.” Violet lamented.
Wrath of the Shaitans Page 3
