Nexus

by Naam, Ramez

I have the means to extract you from your current situation. I can provide a new identity and a clean getaway. Other paths will end with you in an ERD prison or dead, regardless of what they may have told you. You are too dangerous for them to allow to wander freely.

  If you are ready to get out, choose "very unsatisfied" on the "overall experience" line of this comment card. I will then provide additional instructions.

  Assume your phone and all net access is monitored and that your clothes and self are bugged. Make no mention of this via any medium.

  This text will now disappear. Fill out the comment card to avoid suspicion.

  Wats

  Wats. Wats. Wats! He was alive. He was here.

  Kade went back and read the note a second time, the words disappearing as he did so, the original hotel evaluation appearing once again on the page. His heart was pounding. He activated the serenity package to calm himself, hoping that Sam hadn't noticed his sudden burst of excitement, and took the card over to the small writing desk.

  He found a pen on the desk, filled in other parts of the evaluation as he thought furiously.

  Is the ERD really going to jail or kill me no matter what?

  Room – Price/Value: He chose "Satisfied".

  How do I know this is really from Wats?

  Room – Comfort: Very Satisfied

  Could this be a trick? An ERD test? But then why say that I'll be killed or jailed either way?

  Room – Cleanliness: Satisfied

  If the note is real, can Wats really get me away?

  Room – Appearance: Very Satisfied

  But… Nothing's changed. If I run, it's jail for Ilya and Rangan and dozens of other people. They're all counting on me.

  Room – Bathrooms: Satisfied

  Shit. Fucked if I do, fucked if I don't.

  Staff – Friendliness: Satisfied

  No… It's other people who get fucked if I run. People I care about.

  Staff – Efficiency: Satisfied

  Well, shit.

  Overall Service: _________

  Kade's pen hovered over the line. It was really no choice at all. Maybe he would end up in jail or dead if he stuck with this mission. But if he bailed, friends of his would end up in jail for certain. He had to take the chance. The ERD held all the cards right now.

  Overall Service: Satisfied

  Kade sighed. It was the right choice.

  He stripped off the rest of his clothes, swallowed the other mint, and collapsed into bed.

  Wats. How do I reach him? Is he here just for me?

  Shit, shit, shit.

  He rolled over and closed his eyes.

  Kade knew what Wats had gone through, how the experiences he'd had, experiences made possible by Nexus, had changed him. He knew his friend believed that Nexus could change people, that it could end wars, that it could be a technology to make the world a better place. But not everyone was like Wats. Not everyone would respond that way. Most wouldn't be willing.

  And Nexus 5 just wasn't ready. It was too dangerous to put into most people's hands. It would be too easy to use it to control people, to abuse them. A scientist is responsible for the consequences of his work, as his dad had told him over and over again. Kade wasn't going to have some of the possible consequences on his head.

  Wats, if that was Wats, shouldn't have come. He was just putting his own life at risk.

  Sleep came at last, briefly, but his dreams brought him no comfort.

  14

  SURPRISING INTERACTIONS

  The opening night reception was held in the ballroom of the Queen Sirikit Convention Center. Scientists milled about in shirt sleeves and the occasional tie, mixing with orange-robed monks and formally dressed serving staff. Kade could feel Sam down the Nexus link across their phones. She was here somewhere, sharp and alert.

  Kade got a beer with one of his drink tickets and wandered about. He chatted with half a dozen scientists on a range of topics. Neural plasticity. The effects of religion on the brain. The similarity in neural impacts of music, drugs, and meditation. The theoretical limits of human intelligence.

  Someone walked past him, and he got a view of Sam. She was chatting with Narong, wine glass in hand, big smiles on their faces. Narong said something and she laughed. She put a hand on his arm, said something back, and then turned towards the restrooms. Narong watched her go, eyes glued to her ass.

  [kade] You have an admirer.

  [sam] Don't scare him off.

  [kade] Don't you have work to do?

  [sam] That's work, Kade. Your new buddy Narong is a known associate of Suk Prat-Nung. That name ring a bell?

  [kade] As in Ted Prat-Nung?

  [sam] Suk Prat-Nung is Thanom Prat-Nung's nephew. He's also involved in Nexus distribution himself, we think.

  Thanom "Ted" Prat-Nung. The Thai drug dealer. The one they'd said was possibly the largest dealer of Nexus on the planet. The one pictured in the photo with Su-Yong Shu in Thailand. Narong was connected to his nephew.

  [kade] You couldn't have mentioned this earlier?

  [sam] I didn't know until just now.

  [kade] ?

  [sam] Narong just matched an unidentified voiceprint that we have tagged as belonging to an associate of Suk's.

  [kade] Are you seriously voice-printing everyone you talk to?

  [sam] Yes. Matching all the faces if we can too.

  [kade] You people scare me.

  [sam] The people at this conference scare me a lot more.

  Kade wandered on. And then there was Su-Yong Shu, tall and elegant, surrounded by a gaggle of other neuroscientists, holding court, a large smile on her face and a glass of wine in her hand. Someone in the crowd said something and she arched an eyebrow. Her charisma was evident even from across the room. There was something about her. An intensity. A ferocity in the eyes and the smile and the laugh. It sent a chill up his spine.

  Kade was about to turn and walk away when Shu's eyes passed over him, and she raised a hand to wave him over. Kade felt his chest tighten. He'd practiced this half a hundred times. He could do this.

  Kade activated the serenity package, tuned it up halfway. He strolled towards the crowd around her, a relaxed smile on his face. As he walked he sent a single message to Sam, then suppressed all Nexus transmit functions within his brain. Mind-to-mind contact was to be avoided if at all possible.

  Kade got within earshot in time to hear Shu finish a thought in British-inflected English.

  "…opening plenary was refreshingly farsighted. The Thai are very lucky to have this leadership."

  The crowd had formed a ring around her and someone else. A well-dressed male. Kade knew that face. Arlen Franks. Director of the American National Institute of Mental Health. The source of the bulk of Kade's funding.

  "The opening speakers were talking about technology that's illegal," Franks said. "Posthuman technology, Professor Shu. They were embracing it."

  "They were talking about a very real transformation, Dr. Franks," Shu replied. "An inevitable one. Ignore that all you want. I, for one, applaud them."

  Definitely, Kade thought. That was the most interesting talk all day.

  "Scientists have to show respect for the law, Professor," Franks replied.

  "Perhaps the law should show respect for science instead, Doctor."

  "Hear, hear," someone said behind Kade.

  "We have an ethical responsibility–" Franks began.

  "Ethical?" Shu cut him off. "Laws that keep humanity chained and limited are ethical?"

  "They keep us human."

  Shu raised an eyebrow. "And who decides what's human?"

  "More than a hundred world leaders decided, when they signed the Copenhagen Accords."

  "More than a hundred!" Shu exclaimed. "And politicians at that! Oh, that makes me feel so much better!"

  A ripple of laughter went through the audience. Kade found himself chuckling. Franks pursed his lips in frustration.

  "Dr Franks," Shu went on more quiet
ly. "I agree with you that as scientists we must act ethically. But surely that means acting for the greatest good. The laws that exist now inhibit our ability to do so. There's so much we could do with more leeway in our research. There's a tremendous amount in medicine, and even more in augmentation. Who says that the current human condition is the right one? We could elevate ourselves. We could make a better world. We could give billions the choices of who and what to become, rather than trusting your 'more than a hundred'. Our fear has crippled us."

  Hear, hear, Kade thought to himself.

  Franks downed his drink. His face was flushed. "If you were in my country, Dr Shu, you'd find your funding cut off pretty quickly with talk like that."

  Kade frowned. A disapproving murmur went around the crowd.

  Shu smiled faintly. She shook her head. "Then I should be glad that I'm not in your country, Dr Franks." She nodded to him. "Good evening to you."

  The crowd around them began to disperse, dismissed by their queen.

  Shu turned to Kade. "Mr Lane, I believe?" She stepped towards him, hand outstretched.

  Kade smiled, took her hand, shook it. "It's an honor to meet you, Dr Shu."

  She smiled at him. "I've heard a lot about you. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work."

  "Thank you."

  "What did you make of that little exchange?" she asked.

  "I agreed with you one hundred percent."

  Shu nodded.

  He was ready for it when her mind reached out for his. She was probing gently, feeling for him, mentally caressing the space between them. Kade kept the Nexus in his brain locked down tight, let nothing leak back out.

  She said, "Kade, would you have lunch with me tomorrow? I'd like to discuss your work and where you want to go with it."

  My published work? Kade wondered. Or Nexus 5?

  "I'd be honored."

  "Oh, good," Shu said. "I see a lot of potential in you. I think you could go very far indeed." Her mind brushed his lightly, and he found himself thinking of what he could become, of his potential. Of where they could take Nexus, of augmenting his intelligence, of gaining the clarity and speed of thought that would allow him to unravel any problem, of a mind slipped free of the shackles that constrained it. He nearly gasped, caught himself instead. It was just a single flash of what he could become, seen through Shu's eyes.

  I will not respond, Kade told himself. There is no Nexus here.

  He wanted it. Wanted to become what she was showing him. Wanted to be free to improve upon himself, to become posthuman. He ached to reach out to her in turn, fought to control that urge.

  "I'll have my driver pick you up at noon, Kade, just out front."

  "Can't wait," he replied.

  Even with the serenity package, Kade needed a drink after his encounter with Shu. She moved on to work the crowd. He headed for the bar. He relaxed as the distance between them grew, allowed the Nexus in his brain to return to full transmitand-receive mode, cranked the serenity package down to a one out of ten. He felt Sam in his mind again. Curious, but waiting until after the event to debrief him.

  What would he tell her? That he agreed with Shu? That she

  was even more seductive in person than she was as a remote figure? That he wanted what she was offering? That he'd felt her mind brush against his? Kade shook his head and stepped into the queue for a drink.

  This time he wasn't prepared when it happened. Another mind brushed against his. Kade had an impression of still water, a deep, deep tranquility, the solidity of earth, a quiet amusement. And then surprise. The mind had felt him as well. It was behind him. And then it disappeared.

  Kade turned. Professor Somdet Phra Ananda was there in the drink line, hands folded in front of his ceremonial robes, his black eyes studying Kade intently.

  Kade stared back, mouth agape, dumbfounded. Was Somdet Phra Ananda currently under the influence of Nexus? Here and now?

  Ananda broke the silence. "Young man, what is your name?" His voice was sonorous, hypnotic. It was a voice that took its time, a voice full of patience and command.

  "I'm Kade. Kaden Lane. Uhh, your Eminence?"

  "'Professor Ananda' will do, Kaden Lane." Ananda slowly scanned Kade with his eyes, taking in details. "You're American." He pronounced it as a fact, not a question.

  "Yes, sir. I am."

  "Your clothing is disrespectful."

  "Uhh, sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect. It's just that my lab mate is a DJ and…"

  Ananda cut him off. "The line behind you is moving, young man."

  Kade turned, saw that a gap had opened, took a few steps to catch up, turned back to face Ananda.

  "What did you think of the opening plenary this morning?"

  Kade took a breath. "I agreed with you and the King almost completely."

  Ananda smiled. He nodded, almost to himself. "Your turn."

  "Pardon?" Kade replied.

  "The bar." Ananda gestured with his eyes. "It's your turn."

  "Oh." Kade turned and asked for a beer, reached into his pocket to fish out his other drink coupon, fumbled for a moment before he found it, gave it to the bartender, turned…

  And Professor Somdet Phra Ananda was gone.

  He blinked in surprise, peered around. No sight of the elder monk.

  What the hell?

  The reception was starting to wind down, he saw. Sam sent him a chat message asking if he was ready to head back. He was. They took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel. The traffic was lighter. The heat remained oppressive. Kade was too jet-lagged to care about the heat, too pensive about the day's events to worry about being spilled into traffic.

  [sam] Show me the conversation with Shu.

  Kade sighed. There was nothing for it. He opened to her, let her experience his memories of the conversation with Shu.

  [sam] Good. It's a good sign that she's asking you to lunch. Just stay cool, use that package in your head if you have to. And remember what's riding on this.

  Kade looked out of the little motorized rickshaw, watched Bangkok slide by in chrome and neon. The deeper he got into this situation, the more confused he was.

  Sam could sense his mood. Oh well.

  At the hotel, Sam walked Kade to his room. At the door, she offered him reassurance. "You're going to do great tomorrow. Just be yourself."

  Kade nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just tired." He was tired.

  Sam squeezed his arm and headed off to her room. Kade slipped into his own and sank down onto the bed, his mind spinning.

  Wats. Shu. Ananda. The ERD. What the hell's going on?

  15

  REPLAY

  Sam sat in lotus on the floor of her own room down the hall of the Prince Market Hotel, reviewing the day.

  Her surveillance devices detected no new bugs on Kade or in the room. No unusual behavior on the hotel net. Typical distribution of foot and elevator traffic within the hotel, on their floor, and just outside their doors. Typical time spent in their rooms by the maids, with no unusual behavior. No flagged individuals detected by faceprinting at the conference or the hotel.

  Still, Sam was worried. There had been two bursts of surprise from Kade over the course of the day. What were they?

  The first had happened around 5.20pm, just after he'd reached his room. She went back to the feed from the bugs in Kade's room, played the video. The room was still and silent. The bed was made, two mints on the pillow bracketing a comment card. Kade entered, tossed off his conference tote and shoes, ate one of the mints, filled out the comment card, ate the second mint, and then lay down for a nap.

  She called up her support team, requested a sweep of Kade's room tomorrow morning after they'd left for the conference. Someone would do a more detailed scan for bugs, transmitters, or anything else unusual. They'd pick up the comment card and the mint wrappers for analysis while they were there.

  The second incident seemed more straightforward. She'd made note of the time when she felt it. She scanned through camera data
from the conference center, found that time. It had been just moments after Kade had walked away from Shu. He'd gotten in line at one of the bars and then Professor Somdet Phra Ananda, coming from another direction, had gotten in line behind him. Kade had turned, presumably at something Ananda said, and they'd had a brief conversation.

  Had Ananda said something that had shocked Kade? She found another camera angle where she could see the senior monk's face, zoomed in so it filled a frame, projected it onto the wall. She zoomed in on Kade's face, projected that in a giant frame next to Ananda. Then she synced the audio from the bugs on Kade, played it, watched their faces.