CHAPTER 23-2
1245 Words
Looking tired and frazzled, Dr. Canfield walked into the conference room and took a seat at the table directly across from Mara. She gave Ping and Sam, who sat on either side of Mara, a tight perfunctory smile. “Good morning. I hope the accommodations were comfortable enough for you to get some rest,” she said.
“Yes, thank you,” Ping said. “I don’t mean to be rude, but it appears that perhaps you didn’t.”
The doctor shook her head. “I got a couple hours’ sleep before the research lab woke me up to discuss this little item you gave me last night.”
She slipped her hand into her lab coat and pulled out the small cylindrical sample container which held the crystal Mara had confiscated. She put it on the table in front of her.
“What did they find out?” Mara leaned forward in her chair.
Dr. Canfield grabbed the sides of the container to twist off the lid. When Mara’s eyes widened with concern, she said, “Don’t worry. It has been deactivated.” Setting aside the lid, she poured the crystal from the container onto her fingertips. Pinching it between her thumb and index finger, she held it up.
“Deactivated? How can you deactivate a crystal?” Mara asked.
“It’s not crystal at all. It’s a diode, a programmable light-emitting diode,” Dr. Canfield said. She handed it across the table to Mara, who held out her hand. The doctor dropped it in her palm.
As Mara examined it more closely, she said, “An LED. You say it’s programmable. What’s it programmed to do?”
“The lab hasn’t had time to completely understand how it works, but it appears to be relaying commands into a specific portion of the neural networks of people exposed to its pulsing light,” she said.
“We never saw the crystals pulse. It simply refracted light in the same way any gemstone might,” Ping said.
“Just a trick of the senses,” the doctor said. “The intermittent transmission of photons is so rapid that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. It simply appears to be shining. That’s what makes the device so insidious. Its beauty draws the eye, and unfortunately the eye is the window to the soul.”
“That’s an odd metaphor for you to use. I thought the people here actually perceived sight through sensors in their skin,” Mara said.
Ping’s eyes narrowed. “And I was under the impression that that practice of religion had ceased after everyone had transitioned to synthetic physiology.”
“As far as how we see, our bodies gather the information differently than utilizing biological eyes, but our brains perceive what we see the same way you do,” the doctor said. “With regard to religion, it didn’t happen immediately. The decision to abandon our biological bodies in favor of artificial ones was controversial, especially for adherents of those sects who believed the body was sacred, a gift of God. Those individuals refused to transition, and they eventually died. Naturally the proportion of people who practiced religion among those who survived declined substantially, but some continued in their beliefs. Eventually even those stopped practicing religion, especially as we refined and enhanced our physiology over time.”
Mara knitted her brow. “What sort of enhancement would make people stop believing in God?”
“Addiction prevention,” the doctor said.
“What?”
“The first generation of people with artificial bodies did not have safeguards in place to prevent addiction to external stimuli. The programming that allowed for feelings of intense joy and ecstasy was not counterbalanced with the negative repercussions of overexposure to those feelings. In a biological body, you eventually become numb to, or overwhelmed by, too much stimuli, whether it’s s*x or drinking or gambling, whatever. For our ancestors, they just kept chasing the feelings because there was no reason not to,” Dr. Canfield said. “Of course society came close to unraveling.”
“I’m not sure I understand what this has to do with religion and what that has to do with the crystal—the LED, I mean,” Mara said.
“The enhancement to address addiction limited these feelings of ecstasy. One of the unintended consequences was the loss of religiosity. People couldn’t feel rapturous anymore, so religion fell by the wayside. Or so that’s the theory.”
“And how is this connected to the LED?”
“The guys in the lab say they think the LED is targeted at that part of the person’s neural net—the part that prevents addiction from developing.”
Ping leaned in and said, “So our conjecture yesterday about reprogramming people wasn’t so far off base.”
“I’m not sure I’d go that far,” Dr. Canfield said. “This appears to be turning off a function that prevents feelings of ecstasy and euphoria, not redefining what it means to be human.”
“Euphoria. That’s what they called it in the news streams. We assumed it was this.” Mara held up the LED. “They said some men who broke into a jewelry store were under the influence of Euphoria. A mental health warrant has been issued for the men. Does that mean the cops know about what the LED is doing to people?”
“Unlikely. However, we have contacted the authorities and informed them of our findings so far. They will probably want to take the diode to one of their facilities for further examination,” the doctor said, extending her hand to Mara. Mara returned the LED to her.
“Why would someone want to elicit feelings of euphoria and ecstasy in people? What could be accomplished by that?” Ping asked.
“Maybe they’re getting people to be religious again,” Sam suggested. “All that chanting and see-the-light stuff sure sounded religious to me. Coming from a family of cult leaders, that’s where I’d put my money.”
Dr. Canfield looked askance at him, but Mara shook her head. “It’s a long story. Let’s not go there. It won’t do much to shore up our credibility with you. What do you think could be accomplished by allowing people these feelings?”
“I assumed that whoever created the diodes would use them as leverage against anyone who might have become addicted to the feelings they cause. Whoever controls the diodes controls the addicts. Right?” the doctor asked.
Mara glanced at Ping. He nodded and said, “If Abby is interested in controlling the course of events in this realm, that might be an effective approach. However, I would not completely discount Sam’s theory. The chanting did feel like religious fervor, though that might have simply been enthusiasm for what they were experiencing.”
Dr. Canfield shook her head. “I simply cannot believe that. Culturally we have no point of reference to start worshiping something out of the blue, even if someone knocked down the mental barriers to allow feelings of euphoria.”
“I tend to agree. The crowd we encountered didn’t appear focused on an icon or a leader per se. We simply don’t have enough information to ascertain a specific motive,” Ping said.
Mara asked, “Is there something that can be done to prevent more people from being affected by this thing?”
“We’re looking into remedies, but that will take some time. In the meantime, the best thing to do is to prevent exposure—don’t look at the diodes—and that information is being disseminated via Sig-net as we speak,” Dr. Canfield said. She replaced the diode in the sample container and its lid before slipping it into her pocket. “Speaking of remedies, I have arranged for your receptacles and Quintivir treatments. I would suggest you not delay any further.”
“I’m not sure we’re quite ready yet,” Mara said.
Standing up, the doctor looked concerned. “You’re gambling with your lives by not getting the treatments. If you are uncomfortable about the procedure or the receptacles, I can have one of the attendants walk you through it, even show you the receptacles. Cam can go with you to help answer questions.”
Mara shook her head and said, “I not really concerned about—”
Ping interjected, “I think it would be an excellent idea for us to do a walk-through.” He patted Sam’s hands on the table and added, “I’m sure it would make your brother more comfortable. Isn’t that correct?” He looked at Sam.
Sam shrugged and said, “Sure.”
“Very well, I’ll have someone come by in a little while to show you around,” the doctor said.
- Writer
