"Yes, we must get to work on that as soon as possible," said Gizmo. "If you follow me I'll show you where you can work. All your equipment is already unpacked."
A few minutes later Kip was alone in a room. Somebody had clearly been busy on the plane because all of his paper documents had been digitised and placed on two of his external hard drives. Everything was connected and he found that he could communicate with his laptops in the same way as he did with his own interface. Forcing his mind away from the awful, terrifying things he had just heard, things that would have churned his stomach if he still had one, he turned his attention to the task at hand. There was obviously no going back for him now and, having gone through the trauma of waking up as a brain in a jar, there was no way he was only going to live for another five years, or risk being killed by some agent of GSKM even sooner than that. Nothing had yet been said explicitly but it was crystal clear to Kip that he was now inextricably involved in some kind of underground resistance movement and engaged in a war with GSKM. This was something he didn't have to think about - he was fully committed beyond any doubt. He was also, as a scientist, determined to get the most out of this experience and push the technology to its limits.
He focused on the work and his thirty years of experience in chemical science came to the forefront of his mind. He quickly read through the work Gizmo and his colleagues had carried out, as well as the original documentation from GSKM, and soon he knew all there was to know about the nutrition liquid. He wondered why he had never previously looked into the composition of the stuff that was keeping him alive but put it down the shock of the last couple of weeks and the time it had taken him to get used to the technology, not to mention all the thoughts about his future and how he would be able to go back to work. Well, if he had burned his bridges there, so be it. He had plenty of money, for which he mostly now had little or no need, and he could sell his house if he needed to. Gizmo was obviously massively wealthy and this ranch would have cost a small fortune so his new friends were well funded.
Now that he had met two other people in his 'condition', and been 'face to face' with a few 'normal' people, most of the shock had fallen away and he found himself thinking that sloshing around in a liquid was a crude and inconvenient way of keeping their brains alive. After all, humans hadn't evolved with their heads filled with liquid, so why had GSKM chosen to do it this way? Perhaps it was precisely because it made people vulnerable and so reliant on them, he conjectured. It made it relatively easy to 'pull the plug' should the need arise. And so his mind went in the direction not of improving the nutrition liquid but of doing away with it altogether. Surely it would be far more practical, and make them all far safer and more independent, if they constructed something that mimicked the human skull? It had been such a hassle for him to be transported here because his tank had to be kept level. Most of the nutrition humans needed was to keep their body and organs going, not the brain itself. His brain already contained all the chemicals and electricity it required to function, so why, in the absence of a physical body, did he need anything else?
He pondered all this for a few minutes and then began making some notes. It was unrealistic, he soon realised, to expect a detached brain to survive with no external nutrition supply, for some of the energy from the food humans eat goes to powering the brain - twenty percent, in fact. So he had to devise some method of getting that into the brain as efficiently as possible: attaching himself to some machine that mimicked the human body would immediately destroy all the advantages he possessed and render him even more vulnerable and dependent on others. GSKM had installed a portal in his brain via which the nutrition was extracted from the liquid in a similar way to which fish extract oxygen from water - the liquid never actually fed into his brain. Therefore all he had to do was find an alternative source of energy that could be fed into his brain via the existing portal, a source for which they would not be reliant on GSKM. It had to be something that would last a lot longer than five years and was easy to obtain. Then he took the thought experiment further.
"What if we used a source of energy that was totally renewable?" he thought. "It's the obvious route to take, then we would be reliant on nobody. Something that doesn't involve the inconvenience of having a heavy tank of liquid on your head... brain," he corrected himself. He thought for a few moments, then had to strongly resist the temptation to shout "Eureka!" at the top of his electronic voice.
Kip spent a few more minutes making notes and was preparing himself to tell the others when he heard a knock at the door and Gizmo entered. He was just about to ask how the hell he had managed to knock on the door when he realised that the sound had been electronically generated by the speaker on Gizmo's chair. He decided that he definitely liked these people - anyone who would add politeness to a voice synthesiser was the sort of person he could work with.
"Your new voice unit is ready. How is the work going?"
Kip could hardly speak he was so excited. "I think I've solved all our problems and markedly improved our overall situation. I'm sure it will work because it's so simple."
"Great. Follow me to Marty's workshop and then we'll gather everyone together."
Half an hour later and Kip was still getting used to the surreal experience of hearing his own voice again but he couldn't wait to share his idea.
"Okay," he began, "I'll skip most of the technical details for now but I believe that in no more than a few days we can all have not only an infinite, free supply of nutrition to replace these clumsy tanks of liquid but also be in a much better position to travel around and deal with any physical attacks on us." He explained the basic biology of brain nutrition and the GSKM portal that they already possessed. "I'm confident that if we connected these portals to solar panels then a couple of hours of sunlight per day would be all we need to totally replace the nutrition tanks. I've also realised that in getting rid of the liquid we don't have to remain as vulnerable as we are by being a brain in a jar - we can have a protective casing akin to the human skull. There's no reason why this casing couldn't resemble a human head but that's a purely aesthetic matter. The main point is that our brains would then be no more vulnerable than that of any other human being; in fact we could make the casing considerably stronger than a human skull. It could be covered in solar panels and then all we would need to do would be sit by a window for a couple of hours, or the panels could be removed by someone else and charged outside. So long as we are somewhere with some regular sunlight then we could be totally independent of any physical assistance, though obviously I will need help to construct the casing initially."
He paused and saw that Pixel's daughter had tears in her eyes.
"Kip," she said, "I can't thank you enough. This is just... amazing. Isn't it wonderful, mum?"
"It certainly is. Marty, is this all really feasible?" she sounded cautiously sceptical.
"I'm an engineer, not a biologist," he said, "but Kip is the expert so if he says sunlight will work then I have no reason to doubt him. It makes perfect sense. Our bodies need tons of water but I don't think the brain does. We could always leave a small amount of water in the casing as back up. But in practical terms building a casing of solar panels is child's play. And it shouldn't take long to rig up something that will convert the solar power into a form that can be fed into the brain portal. This ranch has thousands of solar panels, I'll use some of them for the time being. Once we have a casing ready to go it should only take a few seconds to disconnect the digital interfaces from someone's brain, put them in the new housing and then reconnect them. That shouldn't cause any brain damage."
"I hope not," said Kip, "but it's only right that I be the guinea pig as it was my idea. Spirit of science and all that," he said, adding a hollow laugh.
*****
A week later Kip, Gizmo and Pixel were all encased in their new 'homes'. Having a square head made them look like a robot from a twentieth century science fiction film but all had agreed that it was the most practi
cal shape to use, and anything was an aesthetic improvement on a brain floating in a jar of liquid. The Arizona midday sun was so powerful that an hour next to a window was deemed sufficient, but all three of them took to taking the sun as often as possible in order to charge the solar panels to maximum capacity. When this was reached it was estimated that they could survive with zero sunlight for up to three months. The panels also powered their chairs and portable screen and all their electronics. Marty was working on adding further solar panels to the back of the chair to increase capacity even further. So, unless they decided to spend a winter in Iceland, they seemed to be self sufficient for the foreseeable future. After a few days of getting used to their new 'heads' a meeting was convened.
"Kip," began Gizmo, "we can't thank you enough. However, the least we can do is fill you in on the full situation regarding GSKM and the danger we are in. Are you up to hearing it all now?"
Kip had the sensation in his brain of nodding his head, then realised his error and gave an audible answer. He hoped this confusion would go away before too long. He wanted to ask Gizmo about it but now wasn't the time.
"Yes, fire away. I feel so much better now that our brains... now that we are protected to such an extent. I can't say I'm a hundred percent used to being just a brain but I'm confident that will come to me in due course. Now that I've helped us I want to help some more. And I definitely want to know exactly what the hell GSKM are playing at and what their future intentions towards us are."
"Okay," said Gizmo, "there's a lot to get through and there are a lot of tough decisions ahead for all of us. It has taken a lot of time to ascertain this but Marty and a few other of my colleagues have travelled the world in search of the others. Whilst we have thus far been careful never to make direct contact, we have been able to confirm that there are only thirty eight of us left. Apart from the ones that GSKM have killed, all the others have died, it seems, as a result of conflict with people in their own family. You are new to this, Kip, but I'm sure you understand what a shock it must be for people when their husband, wife, brother, sister, child or parent comes home looking like us. Not everyone has been as fortunate as Pixel and myself in being surrounded by a group of understanding, supportive friends and family."
Kip let this new information sink in for a few moments. "You mean they were killed by people close to them? How could that happen. Actually, I don't think I want to know. No, I do. We're less vulnerable now than we were two weeks ago but I want to know what GSKM, or anyone else for that matter, can still do to us if they are of a mind to cause us harm for some reason."
"Okay," replied Gizmo. "A few people who, like you, lived alone simply had their nutrition tanks smashed and their electronics disconnected. They were then left to die over a period of days. Needless to say that prospect just doesn't bear thinking about. For those who had people with them GSKM had to be more sneaky. They used a variety of digital means to attack them - computer virus, a surge of electricity to fry their brains, there were several and the details aren't important now. We've known for a while that GSKM were conducting extensive remote surveillance on all of us, essentially monitoring all our communications, even seeing and hearing what we were with our eyes and ears on a screen at their HQ. The three of us are totally disconnected from that system now and this ranch is protected by military grade anti-surveillance technology. Even from a hundred yards away from this building, nobody could tell that we have any electronic devices at all in here, never mind that the three of us are present. GSKM cannot ever get to us in that way. I myself have been broadcasting false data feeds to them for some time, so they thought they were tracking me when in fact they were not. However, there are always new methods of counter-counter-surveillance being developed and, if they can find us physically, they can obviously still harm us, as well as anybody with us. Although it may put your mind at rest, Kip, to know that this ranch is protected by several personnel as well as a whole heap of technology. We're about as safe as we can be in here for the time being. However, we also have our brothers and sisters to consider. I know that sounds like outdated terminology but there are thirty five other people out there who aren't as lucky as us, and they are still supremely vulnerable to GSKM's machinations, not to mention the fear and hysteria of the wider public.
"Which brings us to the first of the many difficult questions we are faced with, Kip. Do we just hide away here for the rest of our lives and keep all this to ourselves, or do we contact the others? If so, what do we tell them, and what sort of assistance do we offer them? The second question is how do we deal with the fact that we are going to live for several hundred years and everyone we know is not? Could we ever be truly independent of all physical assistance. The third question is what to do about GSKM - do we just remain hidden from them or do we go on the offensive? The fourth question is the biggest of all - do we go public about what has happened to us? If so, what form will that take? You can imagine the shit storm that will unfurl when a photo or video of one of us gets out to the media and the general public, never mind what would happen if one of us actually went out on the street. It would be utterly unprecedented in the whole of human history. I'm not sure I can deal with that, or put my friends through it by association. On the other hand, is it really possible for us to carry on hiding ourselves from the whole world for hundreds of years? I'd like to know what you think on these matters, Kip, before I tell you the entirety of what we have discovered about GSKM."
Kip was silent for so long that Marty began to wonder if there something wrong with his technology, but eventually he spoke.
"I've always tried to keep morality and human decency in mind when doing my science," he said. "In that light, I don't see how we can in all conscience not contact the other thirty five and both tell them about GSKM's intentions and give them this dirt cheap protective technology we have just developed. Regarding the second question, I don't think that is a matter of immediate concern - we will only discover over the coming decades and centuries what this really means for us. Thirdly, I'm a scientist not a soldier or police officer or anything so I don't think I have anything much to contribute on that front. As for your final question, that is something I have been pondering since the first day I arrived home after the procedure. Any public revealing of ourselves would have to be very carefully managed, and we would have to ensure the safety of the others before embarking on such an exercise. Quite how that could be achieved I have no idea, I feel that is far more your area of expertise than mine. My only conclusion now is that, unless we do as you mentioned and hide here for the rest of our lives, I don't see how we possibly can avoid news of our existence getting out. Then, of course, there are the other thirty five people. I don't see how we can guarantee that one of them won't be found or give themselves away unless we all get together and manage things as one single group. There is also the question of how many more people like us GSKM intend to create. If they carry on doing these procedures indefinitely then the world is bound to find out about it sooner or later."
Kip noticed that Marty was looking at the floor and seemed uncomfortable. Something about his answer to the final question had troubled him, he thought.
"Marty," he asked, "have I said something wrong?"
The man looked up. "No, Kip, not wrong, it's just..." he looked over at Gizmo. "I guess it's time to tell them," he said quietly.
"Yes, I agree," said Gizmo, and even the electronic speaker betrayed the worry in his synthesised voice.
"Giz?" said Pixel. "What's going on? What haven't you told us?"
"We only discovered this information recently. I needed to get Kip here and sort out the nutrition problem before I could begin to think about how we're going to deal with it. This information affects everything that has been said so far, all the fundamental questions we are faced with." His voice faltered. "You tell them, I just can't say it."
"It's fine," said Marty, "not a problem." He took a deep breath. "We have been hacking into GSKM for years now bu
t, as you can all imagine, their security is immensely strong. We've always hit a brick wall that we couldn't get through, we couldn't get to the core of their system, to the deepest level of information. Recently we had some luck and managed to make a breakthrough. It then took a while longer to confirm from other sources the veracity of what we had found, so in fact it was only three days ago that we knew for certain the entire truth about GSKM's plans and why the procedure was really instigated." He looked over at Pixel's husband and daughter. "Jed, Swan, I'm sorry but this is going to be tough. You won't want to hear this but you have to."
Jed walked over to his daughter and took her hand. "We can take it, whatever it is, just tell us."
"Okay. GSKM's original reason for creating the procedure that made... look, I think we need to come up with a collective name for you or it's going to become confusing."
"Well," said Gizmo, "behind closed doors they refer to us a Jar Heads, so why don't we go with Jars for the time being? I know it doesn't really descriptively fit the three of us any longer but we can always invent a cool acronym for it later."
"Fine. So, they originally wanted to turn people into Jars as an experiment. They are trying to create the ultimate weapon, a computerised, robotic soldier but one with human intelligence and imagination. The human brain is way more complex and powerful than any computer yet invented, probably than any that ever can be invented, and it was deemed easier to do it this way than work with some form of artificial intelligence. And so they have been monitoring you all since your procedures to see how you adapted psychologically to such a drastic and radical change. For various reasons we don't have to go into, this experiment has been considered a failure. To sum up it seems that many of you have retained too much autonomy and ingenuity. GSKM hoped that you would all be so helpless that they would be able to easily manipulate you, to brainwash you into doing their bidding. They wanted an army of Jars who would carry out political assassinations and do anything they were told because their own situation was so awful that they had nothing to live for and would be grateful to be given a purpose, no matter how morally repugnant. The latest information we have is that somebody at GSKM HQ in New York has decided that the whole project should be discontinued. The physical appearance of Jars has been too repulsive to most people and has resulted in the violence that has killed many of them, and most of them have retained far too much independence." He paused, looking away from everyone and fixing his eyes on an empty spot on the far wall. "We now believe that they intend to kill all the remaining Jars over the next few weeks and cover up all evidence that any of it ever happened."
Brain In A Jar: Book 1 Page 4