Janet bitterly looked at Rebecca, “Becky, shut up.” Rebecca did a double take. Janet continued. “Do you have the faintest idea of the power that was put into our laps? We have truly computer enhanced intelligent animals, who know calculus, no less, even if they do poor Elvis impersonations.” Janet smiled. “They know C. H. of C H Electricity and Motors. Not even the President of the United States could get an audience with him. They have a personal working anti-gravity car. There are NO public anti-gravity cars. The only flying cars made are Ford emergency or police vehicles, not Fiats. I believe that kid when he said he drove here from Norway. You saw the car land. It’s too preposterous to be made up. They have money, gobs of it. They arranged this entire getaway – for our benefit in a day’s time, complete with clothes that fit me. Corey, take a glance at the packages Phyllis put down and see if it’s your clothes style.”
Corey got up and looked through the package. She looked very puzzled. “Not only is it my size, but they picked out my favorite Naturalizer shoe, in my color, and my brand of toothpaste too. And they only knew about me since this morning. How did they do that?”
Janet continued looking at Bill, “Think of the power to put this all together. Bill, they offered twenty million for your company, did you notice how trivially they mentioned that number, almost like they were throwing the money away, like it meant nothing to them. Even after the Joshua incident blows over, how much would it be worth? If they wanted to arrange a buyout of twenty million, before all of this, would you take it? Would you have hesitated? We don’t have any viable products in Phase II Bill. Hell, we’re still writing up the Phase I and pre-clinical results. They wouldn’t need to go to this trouble and the press to buy you out.”
Janet turned to Rebecca then her husband, “They offered to help Joshua. The only help I’ve heard to date was to unplug him permanently. And you know what that would mean, Josh’s death. I don’t know about you, but I’m staying here and I plan to apologize for our ungracious and parochial attitude.” Sidney Ryan nodded and put his hand on Janet’s shoulder. Corey walked over behind Janet and put her hand on Janet’s other shoulder.
“Well I’m not going to stay here overnight. I don’t want to wake up with electrodes in the back of MY neck.” Rebecca started to stand.
Bill gave her one look and said, “Becky, shut up and sit down. Forget those stupid Grade B horror movies and think for a minute. If they wanted to put electrodes in anyone, it wouldn’t be you. Those silly movies would select that sexy young woman Phyllis, not the middle-aged wife of an executive in the spotlight of the news. No offense, dear. Furthermore, none of the animals was hostile in the slightest. They were gentle. If Corey wanted to harm any one of them, or even kill them, all she needed to do was give a yank to those wires. You know what would happen if Janet disconnected Joshua. As Janet said, this place is practically humming with power. Did you see the cars full of guards? There may have been twenty of them. For some completely unknown reason, perhaps the progress that the Ryans have made with Joshua, they want to give, no throw money at us. Why, I have no idea, I think the research underlying Dr. Klein’s animals is decades ahead of the Ryans. No offence Janet, but that boy of yours has been in an autistic coma for four years, as complete a medical failure as there ever was. Didn’t you say Klein pioneered it twenty years ago?”
Bill turned to his wife, with a knowing smile. “Rebecca, did you think that this Phyllis woman was telling the truth when she said that she knew that reclusive genius Charlie Haines? I mean the car and all.”
***
David was lying on his back, with his feet over the edge of the bed, while Phyllis was trying to do a deep massage of his back muscles. Usually, he was able to relax it with a single mental subroutine, but somehow it was beyond him tonight. He had been in the room for an hour when he heard a knock.
David quickly put on his sweatshirt over his bare shoulders hiding the computer and cable, “Come in.” Phyllis unlocked the door.
Corey poked her head in. The tall black woman with the short hair and the business suit smiled, “I hope I’m not intruding.”
David sat up. “No, not intruding at all.”
In David’s room, there was only one chair by a small table and a single dresser. Corey remained standing after looking around. “We want to apologize, you seem to have gone to tremendous pains to help us and we spit in your face. I want to apologize to you and your father and Dr. Haines, for being ungracious and parochial. Although there is no excuse, we were all under tremendous strain. We, Sidney, Janet, Bill, myself, and even Rebecca think we were being complete asses. Could you find it in your hearts to forgive us? We were acting out of stupid fear and adrenaline. By the way, any idea what happened in Somerville?”
Corey watched Phyllis mutter something to herself, and then was lost in concentration. Phyllis looked up. “At three PM, the police arrived at the Ryan’s residence and attempted to take Joshua. It was a sham; they already knew from the news reports that the Ryans had fled. It was all for the cameras. The mayor made an announcement an hour later that they were doing all they could to help the poor little boy and track the Ryans. However, we’re certain that he was very relieved that it’s no longer his problem. There are no criminal complaints out, nor are there any federal warrants either. Nevertheless, there are forces being mobilized by the religious right and the Republicans to kick it back into high gear.”
David looked at Corey, “I would personally recommend that Joshua go underground as it were.”
Corey looked at both and nodded. Phyllis looked at her for a few seconds. Corey was a woman of average height, with mixed ancestry. Her skin was light brown, almost Negroid; her nose was also somewhat wider. However, her hair was black to very dark brown, with more than occasional wisps of grey, but straight. Her brown eyes had a slight oriental appearance. Phyllis asked, “Excuse me Doctor Rogers, but will your absence cause any problems? Do you need to make any phone calls?”
“Oh, no. The only one who might have waited up for me was my cat, and she died of old age two months ago. I guess I will have to tell my mother that I’m fine, but otherwise the people who I care about are all here.”
“I take it that you and Janet are close.”
“Very. I have a secret that I think I can trust with you. I assisted Janet and her husband in the original planning of the surgery. I also helped with the operation.”
David smiled, “I think you and my Dad would have a lot to talk about. Why don’t we go downstairs?”
Corey asked, “Should I personally apologize and get your father?”
David grinned and cryptically said, “No need.”
***
The entire group reconvened in the salon. Corey told the Ryans about the Somerville police, the mayor and the ominous threats from the fundamentalists. Rebecca had been watching TV in the corner; she confirmed the police raid, and the statement by the mayor. It was obviously national news. The news also interviewed religious leaders, who said that women, like Janet Ryan, were not fit to be mothers. The man-in-the street interviews were also uniformly against the Ryans.
After they all got together, this time David, Martin and Phyllis were seated. Janet started, “I’m so sorry I, we were so childish. We couldn’t have gotten away without your help. Thank you Martin, David, and Phyllis. The police would have custody of Joshua at this very moment. Dr. Klein your work on these animals is incredible. Did you do all the work on your own?”
Martin smiled, it was an incredible segue. “Actually I’ve been very lucky to get the assistance of someone with hands probably more skilled than mine. A good friend over the years, Dr. Mgumba. He’s an adult ape.” Moments later, the door opened and Dr. Mgumba, an adult four and a half foot tall chimpanzee, entered. Much of his fur was white. The ape was wearing a dark suit, with a pair of glasses in his the front pocket. All eyes fell on Rebecca. She squirmed for a second, “I didn’t say anything. Uhh, pleased to meet you Dr. Mgumba.” Rebecca stood and put out her tremb
ling hand. Dr. Mgumba took it and shook it gently.
Dr. Mgumba: It’s good to meet you too.
He was looking deep into her eyes as he spoke into her earphone.
David smiled, “I think we are in luck, we’ve been able to find some after dinner drinks and Masseur Le Cook, an adult hog, has been able to whip up some zablione, a light Italian dessert.” A robot entered with a tray, being lead by a hog. All eyes fell on Rebecca. “I didn’t say anything.”
After the drinks and desserts, which everyone raved about, the discussion fell back to the future. Martin began, “Well, we’ve been thinking. Our idea is that Bill should let all employees go - at least one is a mole. All disloyal employees would not be rehired. The severance pay would be four months salary. Individually, you should tell all your key people they have an all-expense paid vacation at the Bahamas for three months for themselves and their family. You should tell them that they are free to leave, but please don’t look for another position during the next 3 months. However, don’t give any offer to Margo Waite. We believe, we strongly believe, that she’s the one who broke the story about Josh and even took that picture that appeared in all the papers from her cell phone.
“In three months, Bill will start a new company which could focus on LPH research, and other orphan drugs. In addition, you can continue with your old research, if you wish. Your key people can then be rehired.”
Bill interrupted, “Who will support such research? We’ll never get any funding, especially for ultra-rare genetic diseases. The big pharmaceutical companies avoided that area like a plague.”
Martin smiled, “Just name your amount, one, ten, one hundred million. Charlie Haines will pay for it. You might have guessed that Charlie is guiding us. Second, many family practice physicians never do genetic testing, especially for very rare conditions. There is no cure for LPH so why bother telling a parent that their child is doomed. There was an orphan condition called Gaucher Disease which overnight became a billion dollar market for Genzyme. At the worse, it will be a charitable contribution for C H Electricity.”
Bill looked incredulous, “Are you sure you can convince the board of directors?”
Martin, David, and Phyllis all grinned. Martin said, “I have their ears. I will personally guarantee it.”
Janet looked at Martin, “What about Joshua?”
Martin again smiled. “Believe it or not, I have available the world’s leading authority on the topic. In fact he drove in from Oslo to consult on this matter.”
Sidney looked incredulously at David then Phyllis, “You know about computers?”
David said, “Only slightly better than anc… I mean, yes, I may look young, but there is no one, and I truly mean no one, who knows more about computer augmentation, than I. It’s my specialty.”
Janet looked a bit suspicious. “No offense dear, but you look rather young.”
Martin smiled. He swept his hands toward the enhanced animals. “David knows far, far more than I do.”
David paused and looked at Sidney and Janet, “What would you like to see in terms of progress in the next three months?”
Janet looked at David. Her eyes began to tear. “If he could look at me and be aware that I exist.”
Sidney said, “If he can be responsive to people. I’d worship the ground you walk on if he could lift his head and even sit up.”
David looked at both, “you realize that he will always have a computer attached. He’s still going to have all the Mongoloid features from the disease and it will eventually destroy him. But I will work on both of your requests. I’m positive I will succeed. However, there is one problem. We will have to hide his identity. That means hiding your identities. I’m also going to need to have unfettered access to Josh.”
Janet looked at David, “I don’t know anything about that. What do we need to do?”
Martin interjected, “Two things, could you get plastic surgery and rest, really rest, preferably out of the country, while this blows over? We can have Corey stay here and call you weekly, or more often, with status reports. And Bill, you will need to start all the paperwork for a new company, far from Cambridge. Remember the blank check.”
Bill looked at Martin and David and finally said, “I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but all this is one way. What do you want out of all this?”
David blushed, “Well, after I’m successful, in three months I do have one strange request.” David quickly added, “Which you’ll be free to refuse. No strings attached.”
Martin added, “Actually two.”
Phyllis shyly smiled, “Three.” Both Martin and David looked at her; Phyllis had a mischievous smile and a twinkle in her eyes.
Two days later, the group broke up. Arrangement had been made to take the Ryans to an ultra-exclusive spa in Argentina, where they would go to a plastic surgeon and where a new set of identities had been created. Janet would look ten years younger and Sidney, always a bit plump would be receiving plastic surgery as well. Martin and Corey drove the Ryans to the airport.
Bill was given a bank account number with funding to cover the severance pay and startup of the next company. Phyllis drove Bill and Rebecca home.
Corey spent many hours talking to Dr. Mgumba and Martin. She was fascinated in becoming a modern day Dr. Doolittle. It was a veterinarian’s dream comes true.
***
David’s first interaction with Joshua was to jack into the young child’s computer. After fifteen minutes, he unplugged. Phyllis, who had been looking on said, “Well?”
“They have no subroutines, no entertainment, the kid is begging for excitement. The Ryans never had access to a woman like my mother. I loaded in some programs dad first tried on me 17 years ago, modified greatly, of course. The first thing I’ll do is to map out his brain.
By the next day, David knew the child’s entire visual cortex, most of the locomotive areas, the affective areas, olfactory and many of the higher areas as well. By the third day, most of the brain, including many of the autonomic areas, was mapped. David told Phyllis that he was noticing that the boy was already playing with his subroutines. He also said that Joshua’s matrix had more and longer carbon nanotube electrodes than his own. The cost of the nanotubes had plummeted in the intervening years.
On the third night, David started doing isometric exercises on the boy, shunting out the brain, so the child could rest soundly.
On the sixth day, the remainder of the party, including the menagerie moved back to Larchmont. David, Phyllis and Joshua were in the Fiat with the smaller animals. Martin, Corey, and Mgumba with the other animals were in Martin’s larger car. One of the bodyguards sold the former pizza delivery car to a used car dealership in Munsey New York. The bodyguards cleaned all evidence of the last week from the hotel, including the fingerprints.
After setting themselves up in Larchmont, David led Joshua on visual expeditions. At first, Joshua had to activate a certain nerve/computer connection in order for the scene to change, then other nerves. It became a game of catch for the two. David added subroutines, which the child needed to manipulate. By the end of the second week, Joshua was looking around his crib. In the meantime, the child’s muscle tone improved due to the exercises.
David explained to Corey that if she told Janet or Sidney that Joshua was already awake both Ryans would be returning on the next flight. The TV was still playing news items about the Ryans, especially that Sunday morning. Janet and Sidney needed to get the operation and recuperate from it. Corey agreed not to tell the Ryans of their successes. In the meantime, she could be a stand-in for them. Corey sent pictures of the sleeping child and she had a video conference with them nightly. Although the child looked somewhat larger than before, it was disguised by the clothes.
By the end of the month, the child was sitting up and talking. The vocabulary grew at a double exponential rate. This was in large part due to Martin’s original idea of associating a visual image, with a tactile image, then the sound of
the word, and finally, the forced saying aloud of the word, by stimulating the appropriate parts of the body, like the lips and tongue.
By the middle of the next month, Joshua was standing and would barely shut up. Corey, Martin and Phyllis often took Joshua to the park to play. The child wore a turtleneck sweater to hide the computer.
The old computer was carefully swapped out and a newer one installed. It was one of David’s 128 core processing units, made from lattices of diamonds and nanotubes. It used David’s operating system. The memory drive contained ‘Knowledge of All Humanity’, although most of it was locked out to Joshua. During this process, Martin was able to turn the computer off for initially five seconds, without harming the boy.
By the end of the second month, Joshua was already running. Joshua had firm control of many parts of his computer software. He was actively exploring it.
The Ryans wanted to return to see their son and sent repeated e-mails to Corey. Corey was still vague, but promised that Joshua’s condition had improved. At two and a half months, the South American doctor felt that they had recuperated and were able to leave the spa. More importantly, the furor of the Ryan’s escape was no longer on the news. There were no outstanding warrants for them.
The Infinite when it was Two Digits Old Page 29
