Doctor Who_ Hope - Mark Clapham [44]
Maria spent an hour with Humberto, talking to him but receiving no reply. He lay, suspended in a web of dripfeeds and cables, unmoving. The view from the vast window was spectacular, the sharp blue curve of the Earth gleaming below them, but Maria paid it no attention. She talked to her son and watched for any sign of life, for a twitch of his remaining hand as she squeezed it, a flicker of recognition in his eye. But the undamaged side of his face was as blank as the side wrapped in bandages. As the two doctors had warned, the brain damage was severe.
Maria reemerged from Humbertos room, leaving a nurse to reapply bandages. She found Venni and Haigney floating in the corridor outside, waiting for her.
I am grateful to you for bringing me here to see my son, said Maria. But I doubt that is the only reason.
You are correct, said Dr Venni. He was a darkskinned man with a high forehead that creased with concern as he spoke. As our reports to you have explained, conventional treatment can do nothing for Humberto. However, there are more radical methods we can attempt. But these involve complicated issues.
Issues? Maria echoed.
Venni paused, making sure he said the right thing. We could attempt to revive Humberto by introducing new technologies to his body, by allowing a sort of liquid computer we have been working on to merge with his brain, hopefully repairing the damage. There is a strong chance this may lead to recovery, but Humberto would no longer be fully human. He would partially be that technology, and we could not allow that technology to do as it wished. Also, if something went wrong then that technology which is potentially very dangerous would have to be shut down, regardless of the consequences for your son.
You would have to kill him, said Maria. It was a statement, no more.
This technology is alien, said Dr Haigney, speaking for the first time. It may help your son we think it may be the only substance with even a chance of healing him. But if something goes wrong, then it will have to be destroyed. And if the operation is a success, Humberto will not be free to do as he wishes, he will be required to do as we say. If we perform this operation, it will be a high security military procedure. Your son will no longer be a man, he will be a military experiment.
Because of the waiving of rights involved, added Dr Venni, we will do nothing without your permission.
Maria thought of her son, lonely in his childhood sickbed, the joy he had taken in his work for the military, and how he was in a worse situation now than when he was confined as a child. Anything had to be better than this.
You have my permission, said Maria. When do you start?
Anji couldnt help wondering what it was like to be more than human, to have cybernetic extensions and additions. She raised her hand, imagining a steel fist in its place, able to crush boulders. But would it be able to feel, would she get any feedback from the hand? If she did, would it feel the same as a normal hand, or would those feelings be the electronic pulses that passed information around any computer system?
Her researches showed that Silver was alleged to have some kind of liquid intelligence flowing through his brain, a liquid data storage system that vastly enhanced his mental capacities. This raised further questions if data was constantly exchanged between the mechanics and the man, then to what extent was he human and to what extent computer? Could he see in binary, could he break down a smell or a taste into calculations, electronic synesthesia converting every sensation into computer code? And, presuming Silver hadnt been born with a baby robot fist and half a baby robot face, what was it like to wake up one morning more than just a man?
He is aware, but not quite awake. Something is stopping him from attaining total consciousness. Yes, there. Security software circling his thought processes, locking off his access to certain areas.
Software? He can see code? What is this?
He remembers