Human (6 page)

"Here," Bayron continued, "let me show you how it works. Turn on that monitor there."

Hermelinda turned on a video monitor which had been installed over Smith's bed.

"Now watch. Look...you see all those numerical strings? That's actually his brainwave activity. Not all of it is speech though. If we filter out some of the known patterns and focus in on the speech center of the brain...there, look. Those are the digital fingerprints I was talking about. The computer is analyzing all of the strings to match them to patterns that we already have in there. When it matches a pattern, a word or concept should appear on the screen."

Smith was suddenly excited. He was going to be able to speak again. They were waiting for him, listening for a word. Any word. What should my first word be? He though fast.

Bayron and Hermelinda watched numbers unfold across the screen and then suddenly a word flashed across the screen: "Mama."

Bayron and Hermelinda stared at the word in stunned silence. A moment later, to Hermelinda's surprise, Bayron began to chuckle. "Look Hermelinda, he's said his first word!"

Hermelinda, now understanding Smith's joke, laughed through her tears.

A new word flashed on the screen.

"Spaceship."

Another six weeks passed and Smith was holding full conversations. Phase Two, which involved removing the biological speech center of Smith's brain was accomplished without incident, and it too now resided in a jar. Bayron, Hermelinda, Alice, and even Myra had become comfortable with Smith's new "voice" which sounded no different than a low-tech screen reader for the visually impaired, despite the vast difference in the technology. Occasionally Smith used a word that the emulator did not recognize. However, even when the machine got the precise word wrong, everyone in the inner circle had become skilled at interpreting Smith's meaning from the general concepts that the machine displayed.

When this would happen they would quickly tweak the machine to add the correct word.

Smith's biological brain would think the words, the emulator would translate the fingerprints into written text, and the screen reader would pronounce the words.

Even though there were no inflections or subtle intonations, or even facial expressions to assist his staff in interpreting shades of meaning, they were all able to recognize Smith's personality, wit, and intelligence.

There was no doubt that it was Smith.

"Good morning, boss. Are you up?" Hermelinda whispered.

"Yes, I'm here, lover."

"I need Myra here (whirlwind, express, racecar, clock)." Hermelinda knew that the list of seemingly unrelated words signified that Smith had articulated a fingerprint that the emulator did not recognize. But the concept was clear. Each of these words was related by the concept of speed. Hermelinda had gotten very good at this game.

"ASAP?" She asked already knowing she was right and already entering the word into the machine.

"Spaceship." Smith replied.

The words "spaceship" and "yes" still sometimes got mixed up, but it was generally easy enough to glean the meaning from the context.

"I'll call her for you."

Hermelinda picked up the phone on the wall to make the call. While she was on the phone, Bayron entered the room, his black spiral notebook tucked under his arm.

"Morning Smith," he said as he began checking his patient's monitors, intravenous tubes, and vital signs. "How do you feel?"

"I still have a headache" the computerized voice chirped.

"Better...worse?"

"Getting worse."

"Well they should go away after the next operation."

"I certainly hope so."

"As you know, I'm going to port all of your sensory input functions to the model. We'll be replacing your vision and hearing with mechanical replacements and processing the input with the model brain. That way, you'll be able to see again, and we won't have to worry about the fact that your ears are dropping so much information already.

"I'm still a little reluctant to take this step since your ears are technically still working. Weak, but working. The camera and microphone will feed data directly into the virtual brain thus completely bypassing your biological eyes and ears. The visual and aural data will be processed by the virtual brain. The risk here is that if the virtual brain processes this input any different than your flesh and blood brain, your flesh and blood brain may not be able to sort it back into images and sounds. You would effectively be deaf and blind."

"I'm already blind and I'm going to be deaf soon anyway," Smith said, "so your reluctance is uncalled for."

"Okay then, Smith, you know the routine. I need informed consent which means I have to tell you what you already know. Most importantly, we do not have sensors for tactile stimuli or for taste at this time. So once you are using the artificial brain to process your sensory input, you will no longer be able to feel or taste anything."

"Bayron, if you're trying to scare me, it's not working. I haven't tasted anything but the rot on my teeth or felt anything other than pain in months."

Hermelinda shot Smith a dirty look from behind Bayron's back which of course he could not see. Had he forgotten?

Smith corrected himself, "Actually, Doc, that's not entirely true. But that's none of your damn business. I may no longer have the ability to feel what I have felt, but I can't stand the thought of losing the memory of it, Herme." 

"Alright," Bayron said administering the sedative to Smith, "Here we go."

This procedure also involved two steps. In theory, Bayron could have replaced Smith's god-given eyes and ears with the mechanical ones without porting them directly to the artificial brain. Alternatively, he could have ported the natural eyes and ears to the artificial brain and added the camera and microphone in a separate step.

After much debate, the decision was made to do both at once so as to avoid any additional trauma to that region of Smith's brain. One surgery instead of two and using one shunt instead of two mathematically decreased the odds of failure by a significant margin. Furthermore, by limiting the intrusions into the tissue in this part of Smith's brain, the odds of being able to restore at least some hearing were much greater if for any reason the operation failed. For these reasons, the two-in-one operation was actually the more conservative way to go.

The entire operation took less than two hours to complete. When it was over another one of the holes on Smith's head had been tapped and another thick cord extended out of it, went up through a hook on the wall down across the floor and terminated at the computer station near Smith's bed.

"Now you can go to sleep, Mr. Smith," Bayron said into a microphone near the computer terminal.

Hermelinda was taken aback by the fact that Dr. Bayron had addressed Mr. Smith by speaking into the microphone and looking into the camera instead of at Mr. Smith.

They both reacted when they heard Smith's computerized voice. "Spaceship."

Bayron smiled. "Looks like its working, Hermelinda. Get some sleep. We'll do tests in the morning."

"I'll leave for a while as soon as Alice gets here," she said to Dr. Bayron while looking into the camera that was now Smith's eyes. She couldn't read these eyes. That made her shudder. She looked at Smith's face: motionless, atrophied, lifeless.

Alice walked into the room and said, "Hi, Honey," even though she was addressing Hermelinda's back.

Hermelinda yelped. Her heart skipped a beat before she realized that Alice had come in.

"Oh, Alice, you scared me," Hermelinda said. Hermelinda was gathering some personal belongings to take home with her. She didn't really want to go home. She never did. She kept a small flat, though she had been living in Smith's mansion for the better part of the past year. She kept a couple of keepsakes there. Some books, a television set. She didn't like to be alone. She took her time gathering her things and then she changed her mind. Who would care if she didn't go home. There was no one there anyway.

"If you don't mind, I think I'd like to sleep on the cot here tonight. I'm just too tired to drive."

"I promise to be quiet as a mouse."  Alice said in a whisper, and making a mouse face to emphasize the point.

Hermelinda unfolded the cot and took some bedding from the cabinet. She made the cot as comfortable as possible and climbed in. She was asleep before her eyes were fully closed. The microphone attached to Smith's brain picked up the gentle noise of her slow rhythmic breathing and he wished he could see her. But she was not in view of the camera and he was falling asleep quickly too.

Only Alice remained awake in the room. She inspected her patient and decided he might be cold. She put another blanket on him. She reviewed all of the monitors and inspected the new set of cables coming from Smith's head. It only took her a moment to recognize the camera was Smith's new eyes and that the microphone was his new ears.

From the monitors she could tell Smith was asleep. She turned the camera to face the sleeping Hermelinda. "He might as well wake up to something pretty," she said quietly to herself, "not fat old Alice."

Morning came fast for Smith who was excited to try his new eyes and ears. The first thing he saw when he awoke was an empty cot. Someone had moved his camera during the night. Then he heard Alice's voice: "You okay in there, Hermelinda?" From this he surmised that Hermelinda was in the bathroom.

"I'm okay Alice, just a little nauseous that's all."

"Good morning troops," Smith's computerized voice buzzed out mechanically obviating all the friendliness he had intended to convey in this greeting.

"Morning, boss," Alice said to Smith's face. Then she bent down to whisper in his ear. She had forgotten that his eyes and ears were on the table behind her.

"Boss, I tell you a secret."

"Alice, you have to speak into the microphone for me to hear you now."

"Right, right." She said. She turned to the microphone and bent so her lips were very close to it. "Hermelinda," she whispered into the machine, "I think she pregnant. That seem like morning sickness."

"Can you find out?"  Smith asked.

"Ooooh, he like the gossip. I bet I know who the Daddy is!  I'll find out. You'll see, I'm very resourceful." 

CHAPTER IV.

A light snow was falling near St. Petersberg, even though the bright sun created a sense of warmth. Sergei Kovaretsky did not like to wait for anything. He was generally an impatient man, but he was actually enjoying a moment of peace on this crisp and clear day in the park. He even felt a little disappointed when he saw Vakhrusheva walking slowly across the footbridge.

Kovartesky immediately steeled his demeanor. He could not let anyone think he was enjoying the day or was even capable of being happy. It was hard work to maintain a reputation as a dangerous man.

As Vakhrusheva approached, the two men exchanged nods. Vakhrusheva spoke with no further greeting. "I have just received a communication from our point of contact at SmithCorp. They already have speech, vision, and hearing done and working, Sergei. It looks very promising."

"It's, not time to celebrate yet my friend. These are just parlor tricks. The artificial brain is handling power management, input devices and output devices. Mechanics, that's all. I need the memories recovered. The rest is of no value to me. If I cannot recover the third code from Ashkot's brain, the entire arsenal is nothing more than... doorstops. Get me the codes, Vladi. I refuse to accept that they are gone forever."

"I will get the codes, Mr. Secretary."  Vakhrusheva replied addressing Kovaretsky by the title he held when he was in the Politburo.

"I know you will, Vladi. Who else could I trust with something like this?" Kovaretsky added.

His question needed no answer, nor did Kovaretsky expect one. The two men looked over the river Volga. The snow sparkled in the sunlight.

"But are you well, Vladi?" Kovaretsky asked, this time knowing there would be an answer to the question and also already knowing that the answer would be a lie. "Soon you will need to go to America."

Vakhrusheva spat over the edge of the bridge into the river below them. He was offended by the question. "Yes. I am well and I miss being in the field, Mr. Secretary. I am looking forward to my trip."

"Nonetheless," Kovaretsky said, "I have arranged for you to be assisted in New York. Upstate is not like the city. You will need someone who knows his way around. I have a man there, he can be trusted. He already knows we have someone on the inside. They have worked together before. It will be better for you."

"I work alone." Vakhrusheva said with a hint of insistence.

Kovaretsky laughed at the river. "You are not 20 any more, Vladi. I count on you for your mind now, for your instincts. But even I can see that you move slowly now. Accept this fact with dignity."

"The winter has come early this year." Vakhrusheva said, unwilling to accept Kovaretsky's assessment, but also unable to deny it."

Both men nodded and watched the snow fall on the river as it flowed under the bridge before they wordlessly parted ways.