WetWeb (27 page)

Franklin looked puzzled but continued to write what Anand was saying verbatim.  Writing
,
but not understanding. Anand could see that Franklin did not comprehend him, so he explained again.  This time more quietly.  In simpler terms, helping Franklin understand his dark secret. 

Anand said,
“When people you talk to everyday
;
people you work with
,
people you meet
- y
ou think they are aware, but they are not.  They are deeply anesthetized with Somnambutol and they are being controlled remotely via Synaptic Integration over the WetWeb.  Now
,
do you see the problem?”

Anand reached across the table and gripped Franklin firmly at the wrist so he would stop writing.  He waited until Franklin was looking at him directly
,
and then Anand made
himself
clear. 

He said,
“Human Synapse
h
osts are being controlled by Warmbots. The
living are
hosting their bodies to the dead.”

“Like a King in a Shakespearian tragedy, the curtain will close on humanity, and in that final act, our end will come, ultimately and ironically, because of that which made us great; our ingenuity”

- Hans Hoobler

Anand stood together with the technology and biology teams in the back of the assembly hall.  This room was the largest on the compound and it was full beyond capacity.  Everyone wanted to be there.  Everyone even loosely associated with the project wanted to be in the room when the first organic robot came online.  History was in the making.

The crowd was naturally segregated by the colors that they were wearing.  The technicians and scientists were clustered in the back of the assembly hall
,
all wearing clean white lab coats.  Occupying the seats in the middle of the room were the olive and tan uniforms of the military men.  Filling in and forming a perimeter around the outside of the room, standing near the walls
,
were the dark blue suits of the civilian staff
; the
lawyers and non-military Government officials.  On a small platform at the front of the assembly hall the three colors sat together
,
white, olive
,
and blue.  Each
wore
the uniform of their cadre; the leaders of each of the teams led the assembly
,
Christopher Mark, General Mueller
,
and Al McKnight. 

Al McKnight approached the podium confidently.  When he spoke his presence was commanding.    

Today we bear witness to a landmark in scientific research and human endeavor.  At this place and on this day, biological sciences and computer technology have combined together
,
and this integration is leading us into a new frontier.  The way forward for humanity is now
,
through our new understanding of integrated computers and biology.  What we witness here is only the beginning; a crude prototype.  But
,
it shows us the way.  It shows us the possibilities.  It shows us a glimpse into the future.

A glimpse into a future where young men no longer risk life or limb in distant battlefields, where dangerous
,
or menial tasks are done for us, where people are free to think, create
,
and live; while the hard work and heavy lifting is done for us.

Anand was only half listening to McKnight’s speech.  It was one for the history books, but Anand knew the real historic moment had already passed.   The warmth and closeness generated by the crowd combined with the lack of sleep from the last three days put Anand into a dreamy trance.  Listening to McKnight’s steady voice carried him back to a few hours earlier to when McKnight, Mark
,
and Anand gathered privately together in the surgery recovery room. 

* * * * *

The clock is reading 4:38
A
.
M.  Anand collapsed into one of the stiff sterile chairs, he
was
exhausted.  McKnight
was
standing by impatiently
,  waiting
to be convinced.  He pace
d
the room and nervously tap
ped
his
foot
. 

Christopher Mark’s message
,
summoning Al McKnight to the operating theatre
,
was a repeat of the message Anand had sent only moments before. 

Mark had said,
“We are ready to try.”

The organic robot was lying upon the stiff table.  It was covered in a white sheet.  There was no cable connecting it directly to the Synapse Suit this time.  A machine was monitoring heart rate and respiration
,
but the rest of the biological support systems and technology interface devices had been removed.  This time, the organic robot would work like any other Synapse
h
ost via a remote connection to the Synapse Suit.  This time, the organic robot would stand
,
or fall
,
via its remote connection to the WetWeb.

When Christopher Mark entered the room he nodded to Anand and McKnight
,
and then stepped over to the Synapse Suit.  Mark removed his clothes and squeezed into the suit.  Head first, then shoulders, arms, torso
,
and legs until he was fully engulfed and only the back of his head and top of his shoulders were visible.

Anand stood and disconnected the heart rate monitor from the organic robot’s arm
.  T
hen
he
lifted and folded the white sheet. 

Al McKnight was surprised, he said
,
”
What happened to the face?”

The organic robot was lying naked on the table.  Its body retained a grey lifeless hue despite the fact that they had restored normal heart rate and respiration.  The face was completely removed.  In its place was a metal plate with rough holes drilled where the mouth and nose should have been.  The holes in the metal plate formed a crude
grill and allowed the intake of
air into the lungs.  Additionally, a single video lens was mounted
in the space
where the eyes should be
,
creating a Cyclops like appearance.

“I had it removed,” Anand said matter-of-factly, and then he added,
“We needed the space.  All of the computer components are behind
the
faceplate in the cranial cavity.  Removing the face solved some problems.”

“I love it,” McKnight said
,
“With the face removed it stops being a dead body and looks more like a robot.  I think there might be a domestic market for this.  It could be a butler, a cook, a nanny.”

Anand laughed at the suggestion that the organic robot would be used as a domestic servant.  He thought McKnight was joking and then realized he was not.

An uncomfortable moment followed
,
but McKnight was too excited
.

H
e prodded Anand to begin the demonstration saying,
“Never mind that
,
let’s
see if this works.  General Mueller will be here in a few hours.”

Anand settled back down in the uncomfortable chair. 

He said,
“We are ready.  Tell Chris what you want to try.”

“OK,” McKnight said raising his voice to make sure Christopher Mark could hear him from inside the Synapse Suit. 

“Chris, make it stand.”

The creature lurched up from the bed in a single jerking motion
.  T
he stiff grey arms
were
swinging about spasmodically.

McKnight looked at Anand and asked,
“Is it going to work this time?”

“We will know in a minute,” Anand answered.

The organic robot’s legs swung off of the table and it pushed itself up and onto its feet in one swift movement.  It teetered back and forth, until it was successfully standing.  It looked unsteady.

“Can you make it walk?”  McKnight called out to Mark.

The organic robot lifted its right foot off of the ground, but in doing so became unbalanced and toppled over landing in an undignified heap on the hard tile floor.

McKnight looked dismayed.

“Wait…
wait
,” Anand said before McKnight complained, then Anand said, “Let’s see what happens now.”

The proto-type Warmbot twisted onto its belly and then was up on its hands and knees.  It lifted its hands to catch hold of the operating table and pulled itself up, first up into a kneeling position, and then up onto its feet.

“Do you see?” Anand said, “Its learning.”

Once the organic robot was back on its feet
,
Anand performed an exaggerated and highly stable walk across the room by carefully planting one foot in fro
nt
of the other.  When he got to the wall, he turned slowly and repeated the careful walk back to his starting position.  The organic robot seemed to be watching through its video lens eye.

Anand said
,
“OK Chris, try now.”

The organic robot began to walk.  Haltingly at firs
t, finding its balance, and then
it improved
.  S
oon it was walking across the room repeating the path that Anand had demonstrated.

“It’s the learning program,” Anand explained
,
“It needs visual feedback that it can incorporate into its database.  It uses the information is sees and experiences in order to improve its performance.  Eventually, it will be able to perform any variety of tasks.  It improves over time.”

“I see,” McKnight said.

“There is one more thing I would like to try,” Anand said and then to Chris Mark,
he
said,
“Chris
,
go ahead and Synap off, let’s see what happens.”

McKnight and Anand watched the organic robot
,
which was standing still while Chris Mark emerged from the Synapse Suit. 

As Mark was toweling dry, Anand explained,
“The organic robot is now operating autonomously.”

“How?”
McKnight asked.

“It is a side benefit from the learning program,” Anand said.

“Once it observes a behavior pattern, the behavior is recorded into the database, then the needed pattern can be recalled and repeated on demand.  It has learned how to stand, so the stand program is running over and over again.  It no longer needs a remote user inside a Synapse Suit to tell it to stand anymore.”

“It’s on Auto-pilot
,
” Al McKnight said.

“Quite right, quite,” Anand confirmed.

Anand addressed the organic robot with a commanding voice,
“Walk
!
”

The organic robot resumed walking about the room.  It retraced its steps
,
exactly
as it had done
from the previous demonstration.

“Is there a limit on what it can learn?” McKnight asked.

“Only the capacity of the hard drive we installed replacing its brain,” Anand answered.

“That is not really the limitation,” Chris Mark added
,
“Once we integrate the system into the WetWeb network it can store learned behavior patterns remotely and share information across to other organic robots that are connected to the same network.  We can store an unlimited number of learned programs.”

Anand continued, “We programmed it to continuously look for new behavior to add to its data store.  It will watch us and mimic what we do.”

“It will soon be able to operate completely independent of the Synapse Suit,” McKnight said with growing understanding.

“I think so,” Anand agreed, “But
,
it will only re-enact
to
behavior that it has observed or learned.  It will never be able to do anything new.  It is not capable of original ideas.

The three men watched in quiet as the Organic Robot continued to pace back and forth across the room.

* * * * *

“And so we are there,” Al McKnight continued his speech
. 

H
is voice swell
ed
as the end
of his speech
neared, distracting Anand from his memories of the night before and re-focusing
him
into the here and now.

McKnight ended his speech, “We have arrived. 
Together we are standing on the threshold of a new era where computer technology and life sciences are intimately and irrevocably interconnected.  With this achievement, we mark the end of the information age, and welcome the birth of a new period of human endeavor
-
the
age of organic-technology has begun.
”
 

The organic robot
that
st
ood
motionlessly on the raised platform now became a prop for McKnight.  Chris Mark had already completed a series of demonstrations both with and without the Synapse Suit.  The audience was awed
,
and General Mueller was beaming contentedly.  Mueller knew that first and foremost the
o
rganic
r
obot was a weapon. 
A weapon that he would use to win the war in the desert and also the war of public opinion.
  Where the
E
xo-
S
uit and the Synapse Soldier had failed, the Organic Robot would succeed.  Mueller looked at the organic robot again while McKnight droned on. 

They had dressed it in a tan jumpsuit that gave it a military look.  The face plate had been polished so that the steel surface gleamed with the reflected light from the bright fluorescents of the assembly room.