Impact!

by Laurence Dahners

  Shan lifted Zage and carried him into the living room. “Kid, I swear you get heavier every time I pick you up!”

  Zage turned to look up at him and said curiously, “I am getting bigger. Don’t children normally do that?”

  “Um…” Shan grinned down at his serious son, “they do…” He thought for a moment. He didn’t want to injure his son’s self-esteem, but on the other hand the kid was overweight and was probably going to catch flak about it from other children soon. At two and three-quarters years old, he seemed too young to have to worry about his weight, but Shan worried about it. Kids could be mean and wishing it wasn’t so didn’t make them treat each other nicely. With resolve, he decided to be as straight with his son as he could. “But you’re heavier than most kids your age.” He shrugged, “People everywhere have been getting heavier and heavier for quite a while now.”

  “Do you mean I’m fat?”

  Shan glanced down at him, wondering if Zage had been insulted and said that in anger. However, Zage looked as if he were merely curious. Shan said, “Well, ‘fat’ is kind of a rude term, but yeah, a lot of your weight is fat. You’re not taller than other kids, just heavier. ‘Obese,’ is the medical term for it. They say there’s an ‘obesity epidemic’ because a lot more people are obese nowadays than there used to be.” Shan glanced up at the big screen in the living room and asked his AI to bring up the opening ceremony at the Olympics.

  Zage said, “Why am I fat?”

  Shan shrugged and looked back at his son, “Well, the short answer is that it’s because you eat more than you need to. When you eat, your body uses the food to help you grow and to give you the energy to do things. If you eat more than it takes for you to grow and do the things you do that day, your body stores the leftover food energy as fat.”

  Shan felt really weird to be talking to a child who wasn’t even three about something like this. He felt uncomfortable that he’d even brought it up because it seemed like Zage shouldn’t even have to think about dieting at his age. On the other hand the kid didn’t run around as much as Shan thought kids his age should—maybe thinking about his weight might motivate him to engage in a little more physical activity? Shan turned his attention to the screen for a moment. The athletes had finished marching into the Coliseum themed Olympic Stadium. Some chariots were carrying people dressed as gladiators around the track at the periphery. “Chariots of Fire” was playing and fireworks were going off. A little worried about how Zage might be taking his own father telling him he was overweight, he looked down at his son.

  Zage had been looking up at his own HUD. After a moment he looked down at his stomach, then up at Shan again, “‘Epidemic’ means a widespread outbreak of a disease that spreads from person to person. Did I catch obesity from someone else?”

  Shan’s eyes widened. For a moment he thought back to how he and Ell had worried about Zage for so long, first because he didn’t walk, then because he didn’t talk. Now Shan felt uneasy that a child Zage’s age was talking to him like… Like what, he wondered. Like a little adult, or maybe how a kid ten years old might ask surprisingly perceptive questions? Should a kid Zage’s age be saying things like, “widespread outbreak of a disease?” He snorted softly to himself, no he shouldn’t. A kid his age might be able to repeat it, but wouldn’t understand it. Shan had the distinct impression that Zage knew what it meant.

  To Zage he said, “Well, that’s what epidemic usually means. But, I think when they say ‘obesity epidemic,’ they just mean that a lot of people have become obese. So many people are obese that it seems like a disease that’s spreading from person to person, but really, it’s probably just because there’s so much food available nowadays and people don’t get much exercise.” He pointed up to the screen, “I thought we could watch the opening of the Olympics together. The Olympics is an event where the best athletes from all over the world get together to compete to see who’s the best. These people get a lot of exercise.” It’s too bad I can’t tell Zage that his mother is the world’s most famous athlete. Maybe that would inspire him to take up a sport himself?

  On the screen someone carrying the Olympic torch jogged into the Coliseum. The runner passed the torch to someone dressed in light armor and a Roman helmet, evidently to represent a gladiator. The gladiator jogged out into the middle of the stadium. Shan had his AI turn up the sound. The announcer said, “Tension is building here at the Coliseum as everyone wonders who’s going to carry the torch up to light the cauldron where the Olympic flame will burn for the duration of the games. The fact that the cauldron sits far above the wall of the Coliseum has led to speculation that an archer will light the cauldron with a flaming arrow, but as of yet there is no bow in evidence.”

  Out in the center of the stadium the gladiator who had carried the torch from the entrance stopped at a pedestal on which stood a short Roman column with a discus mounted on edge atop it. The announcer said, “A discus? A flaming discus would certainly be interesting, but certainly no one could throw a discus high enough to light the cauldron.”

  Holding the torch, the gladiator drew a sword and dropped it point first to stand in the turf. Two attendants stepped forward to catch greaves, vambraces, pteruges, and curiass, all of which fell away into their hands to leave a slender young woman wearing nothing but a helmet and a leotard.

  She reached up and lifted the helmet off, revealing strawberry blond hair.

  Momentarily speechless, the announcer suddenly said, “It’s Ell Donsaii! Much has been made of the fact that she has said she is not participating in these games. Although, at the last games her participation in both the gymnastic and the track and field events was kept a secret until the last moment. Could this be a signal that she is going to participate? And the question still remains, how is the cauldron going to be lit?”

  For a moment, it seemed to Shan that the world held its breath. Then his wife stepped forward and extended the torch towards the discus on the little column. The screen split, showing the disc on one side and the cauldron on the other. The center of the discus suddenly vanished and Ell leaned forward pushing the flaming torch through the port which had just appeared on the front of the discus. On the other side of the split screen, the torch appeared through a port at the edge of the cauldron.

  The cauldron burst into flames and applause thundered through the stadium. “Just like the rumors had it,” the announcer said, “Ms. Donsaii is not Italian. However, she is certainly an Olympian, and Olympia could be argued to be the host country of every games. Lighting the cauldron through one of the ports she invented in her life away from athletics was certainly an innovative way for it to be done!”

  Suffused with pride, Shan looked down at his son, wanting desperately to tell him that that was his mother up there on the screen opening this Olympic ceremony. Shan had been thinking that someday, when Zage knew who his mother was, Shan would be able to remind him of watching this ceremony featuring his mother. However, Zage probably wouldn’t even remember watching this when he got older, though Shan wondered if his precocious speech, reading, and comprehension indicated a brain that might actually remember big events from such a young age.

  He needn’t have worried, Zage had been studying his HUD rather than watching the events on the big screen anyway. It looked like Zage would just have to watch recordings of this Olympic ceremony, like he’d have to watch the vids of his mother’s astonishing performances in the two Olympics she’d actually entered. Shan smirked at himself for his backhanded and clumsy attempt to get Zage to watch his mother in the ceremony when he couldn’t even tell the boy it actually was his mother up there on the screen.

  Zage turned and looked up at Shan, “There’s some research showing that obesity might actually be an infectious epidemic. An ade…” He grimaced at the unfamiliar word, “adenovirus… called AD-36 makes lab animals obese. It’s commonly found in obese people also, which suggests that at least some people may be obese because they are infected with the virus.” His
eyes flicked momentarily towards his HUD, though it was so brief he couldn’t have gotten more information, only a reminder of what he’d already read. “There are also differences in the bacteria that grow in the intestines of obese and thin people. Gut flora might be affecting people’s weight as well, and they might also change in a contagious manner.”

  Shan blinked at his son. He’d been thinking that the fact that his son could read and use multisyllabic words was pretty astonishing at this age. These last few sentences, however, made him feel like those accomplishments were as nothing. Inside, he felt like his mind was gibbering. Outside he tried to appear calm while he wished that Ell could have been here to witness this in person. He wondered whether someday Zage might even outshine his mother. Taking a deep breath he said, “Well, that’s interesting. If obesity really is a disease that can be transmitted from one person to another, maybe you can find a cure for it someday.”

  Zage tilted his head curiously, “You don’t think someone else’s already working on that?”

  “Well, obesity has been around for a long time and nobody’s cured it yet.” He winked at his son, “Maybe they just need for someone smart like you to work on it?”

  Zage looked back at his HUD and murmured to his AI for a second. “Oh,” he said in his child’s voice without looking away from his HUD, “you’re right. There’s a paper here about the obesity virus from 2002. You’d think they would have done something about it by now wouldn’t you?”

  Shan found he had goosebumps. Of course, like any parent, he’d always thought his child was special, but he was pretty sure no other child had ever held a conversation like this before he’d turned three. Until today, he was pretty sure Zage had never had a conversation like this either… but, wow! To his son he said, “Sounds like a pretty good project for you then, huh? If you need any help, just let me know.”

  That night in bed, as Shan waited to fall asleep, his mind kept coming back to that conversation with Zage. He felt a sense of extreme wonder. Then he worried about his offer to help. He knew virtually nothing about biology, viruses, gut bacteria, obesity, or the human body! Although, he should know enough to help a three-year-old…

  Shouldn’t he?

  ***

  Austin, Texas—Governor White has conceded the presidential election to President Stockton. A little more than a year ago Stockton’s approval rating was so low that a change of administrations seemed a foregone conclusion. However, since that time Stockton was kidnapped and rescued, an event which gained her a great deal of public sympathy. Subsequently she ended her feud with Ell Donsaii, a posture which had been attracting significant ill will. Finally, the economy—driven by wholesale adoption of the new technologies which have been changing the world—has been booming. The luster of this thriving economy seems to have rubbed off on the incumbent president, at least sufficiently for her to win a reelection by a small margin…

  For Christmas, Ell and Shan and their two families gathered in Chapel Hill. Ell’s family, Kristen, Duncan and Gram were in theory staying in Ell’s little farmhouse while Shan’s family were staying in the house ‘Raquel’ and Shan had just purchased to the south of Ell’s farmhouse. It really had turned out to be a big house with plenty of rooms for everyone to stay in. They still needed to finish some remodeling, but it was already in good enough condition for visitors.

  The igneous bedrock under the new house had turned out to be perfect for tunneling out Ell’s new lab spaces without needing reinforcement. The trip through the tunnel from Ell’s farmhouse to the new house only took a couple of minutes. However, for the most part Kristen, Duncan and Gram actually stayed at the new house too, they just parked their cars at Ell’s farmhouse.

  The families so far were working hard to keep Zage from finding out about the connecting tunnels. Though it couldn’t be forever, for now they didn’t want Zage to know about his connection to Ell. She and Shan had agreed that they wanted him to have some version of a normal life. They didn’t want him guarded all the time. They didn’t want him thinking of himself as wealthy or growing up thinking that he was better than his friends because his parents had money. He was already different enough from the other children his age by virtue of the fact that he could read. Not just that he could read, but that he did read, voraciously and with a purpose.

  Since the day five months earlier when Shan had proposed the possibility that Zage might be able to “cure” the obesity epidemic himself, the boy had spread his interest from biology into microbiology and virology. For a while he had asked his parents for help understanding the sciences that fascinated him. However, when it became evident that all they could do was help him look things up, something his AI was perfectly capable of, he’d given up on them as useful sources of information.

  Like the parents of many prodigies, Ell and Shan were trying to balance ways to have Zage interact with children his own age, who he found boring, and finding someone with the mental capacity to provide him some challenges.

  On Christmas Eve the families gathered around the large dining table.

  “Lane,” Shan said to his youngest sister, “would you like to sit by your nephew for dinner?”

  Lane’s eyes widened and she recoiled a little. “I’ve never even done any babysitting. I wouldn’t know how to help him cut up his food or eat or whatever I’d have to do.”

  Before Shan could say anything, Zage said in an aggrieved tone, “You don’t need to feed me, Aunt Lane!”

  Startled, Lane stared at him for a moment, then said, “Well, I guess we should sit next to each other then.” She eyed the booster seat in his chair, “Do you need help getting up onto that?” she said, waving uncertainly towards the booster.

  “No!” he said emphatically, clambering up onto the booster seat by himself. Once in place he looked up at her with a mildly rueful expression, “You could push my chair in though.”

  The group of family members gathered around the table all appeared to be somewhat startled by the little conversation. Because of the past secrecy, the family hadn’t been getting together very often. Ell and Shan were trying not to make a big deal about Zage’s capabilities, so none of the others really realized how fast he was changing.

  Lane pushed Zage’s chair in as everyone took a seat.

  Fay Kinrais seated herself on the other side of Zage from Lane, thinking that Zage would certainly need some help and that Lane really wouldn’t know how to provide it. She frowned, even though Zage hadn’t used any big words, something about his speech seemed oddly mature to her. The family had been together for most of the afternoon, cooking their Christmas dinner, but she hadn’t spent much time with Zage yet. When she’d gone to check on him, he’d been focused on another one of his videos. Whereas the last time that she’d spent much time with him he’d been watching nature videos, today the videos seem to be about microbes. Looking down at him she thought that might be a place to start a conversation with him. “What kind of videos are you watching nowadays?”

  Zage turned to look seriously up at her, “Immunology and microbiology, especially virology.”

  Fay’s eyes widened, those words were certainly multisyllabic. She turned to look at Shan, could this be some kind of joke?

  Shan looked back at her blandly, though she could swear some kind of a twinkle was present in his eyes.

  Fay looked around the table, wondering if anyone else had heard what Zage had just said to her. Evidently so; other people were also looking a little bit startled.

  Ell, sitting next to Fay, said, “Potatoes?”

  Fay looked down at the bowl of mashed potatoes, then bemusedly took it. She dished some for herself and turned to Zage, “Would you like some potatoes?”

  Zage said, “If you can hold the bowl for me, I’ll dish some for myself.”

  Fay blinked, but held the bowl down next to his plate so that the serving spoon was near his hand. He picked it up and shook a small dollop of potato off onto his plate.

  Lane, who’d been
watching this, wondered whether this was normal. She hadn’t thought that most three-year-olds were able to serve themselves. Though it felt rude to be thinking this of her own nephew, she wondered whether his ability to serve himself contributed to the fact that he was so overweight. She took the bowl of potatoes and served some to herself.

  As the meal went on, Lane kept half an eye on her nephew. He ate the food he’d served himself, cutting up his slices of turkey with little difficulty. He hadn’t served himself a great deal of food, but Lane had no idea how much a three-year-old should be eating. Finished, he sat and watched the adults, seeming to listen to their conversations. At first she was surprised that he would find the things they were talking about interesting. But then he murmured something and his eyes tipped up to focus on his HUD.

  Lane grinned to herself. When she’d been a teenager she’d often tried to watch vids on her HUD instead of listening to the family dinner conversation. It looked like her nephew was going to be zoning the family out at an unusually young age. A moment later, Ell interrupted her conversation with Fay and leaned a little closer to say, “Zage, remember what we said about using your AI when you’re with your family?”

  Zage murmured something, presumably to pause whatever he’d been looking at on his HUD, and turned to his mother. “Mom!” he sighed, “Nobody’s talking about anything I care about.”

  Ell gave him a reproachful look. “Zage, you need to learn how to make friends, remember? And what should you do when no one is talking about something that you’re interested in?”

  Zage rolled his eyes. In a long suffering tone, he said, “Ask them about what they’re interested in.” Ell nodded at him. He turned to look seriously up at Lane, “What interests you Aunt Lane?”

  Lane stared at him for a moment, not at all sure that a three-year-old would or maybe should normally ask questions like this. She realized she didn’t even know if a normal three-year-old could ask such a question. But, she decided she should answer. It seemed like the polite thing to do. She kept it simple, “I like fashion,” she said, giving him a smile.