by D A Buckley
87 Sylvia
The Bicuspid Protocols
D. A. Buckley
Copyright © 2018
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. ANY SIMILARITY TO REAL PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, IS COINCIDENTAL AND NOT INTENDED BY THE AUTHOR.
NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED, STORED IN A RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, OR TRANSMITTED BY ANY MEANS ELECTRONIC, MECHANICAL, PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING, OR OTHERWISE WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER AND COPYRIGHT HOLDER.
CHAPTER ONE
Ken Yano had been the top salesman at Beluga Securities and Insurance for the past eight quarters running. He had all the bona fides; good looks, charisma, and he could talk circles around any man or woman he had ever met, and he knew his product line inside and out. This morning, the fifth of June, he was mesmerized with the view out of his outer ring office window. From his desk chair, when he positioned it just in front of his desk, he could see through the gap between the Punxsutawney Power and Water high rise and the Niagara Vacuum Cleaner building that was just as tall into a very narrow slice of the city park. There he was captivated by a pair of young lovers enjoying each other in a make-out session on a bench beneath a rather large flowering magnolia tree. What a picture of absolute bliss. Young lovers in love in the springtime. He simply could not understand, though, why the lady was prone on the bench until his view was cut off by the arrival of a fire truck and a rescue squad.
“Aw, spring,” he spoke to no one in his office, “the magic you work on the lover’s heart.” As he wheeled his chair back around his desk he perceived, ever so slightly, a small twinge of pain emanating from his upper left bicuspid, a tooth that had given him problems ever since his college days in Austin, Texas, when he was knocked unconscious during a football game with his alma mater’s arch nemesis the North Central Fire Ants. He wasn’t on the field exactly. In point of fact, he was the only male on the cheer squad. At a towering six foot, seven and strongly built he had the admirable quality of being able to throw a dwarf cheerleader, by the rather amusing name of Hu Yu, a full twelve feet up into the air. Miss Yu was, to say the least, a bit top-heavy and invariably came rocketing back into Ken’s grasp in a heads-down orientation which enabled him to catch her by her ankles. By swinging her between his legs, through the pendulum force of the resultant swing, he was able to propel her even higher. This rather delighted the spectators, on both sides of the field who would invariably scream “Hu Yu” at the top of their voices as she ascended the arc of her second ascent. It was during this second ascent, on a trajectory that enabled her to achieve a full fifteen feet in altitude, that she would emit an involuntary shriek which provoked from the crowd an earth-shaking group yell of, “Hu is that Yu!”
The crowd participation in the cheer activities almost always exceeded all interest in the game. Sometimes, as in this night, even the players on the field would be entirely distracted by the launching of this Chinese-American satellite into low earth orbit, and would sometimes run completely off the field in total disregard for whatever play was in progress because of their sincere concern for little Miss Yu’s safety. That fateful night, a wide receiver for the Fire Ants, Justin Richards, turned right instead of left with his eyes fully locked on the returning Hu Yu when he careened right into Ken. Hu landed on top of the heap at a crushing speed that sent her and Ken to the hospital in an ambulance. Minor injuries, as it was later reported in the town newspaper, were treated. They returned home to a hero’s welcome as the distracted receiver missed the game-winning pass that was then intercepted by an Austin pursuer who scored the only touchdown in the history of their college football program. The following extra point attempt was converted to a two-point run that miraculously succeeded in allowing a one-point win.
All over campus, the next day banners waved with this exaltation, “Who won the game? You Know Hu!”
Although recovery from the collision was fairly unremarkable it was about then that Ken began to have periodic bouts of pain in that particular bicuspid. A new dentistry had opened in his neighborhood not far from his house offering discounts to gain new patients. Even better, Ken thought, this dentist insisted on administering an experimental anesthesia. Ken never recalled ever feeling any pain but it seemed to always result in Ken losing his memory, sometimes for days at a time. His dentist assured him that some people have an unusual sensitivity to anesthesia and that, in rare cases, it played tricks on their memories. He was further assured that the effects were never permanent and were only a minor inconvenience.
Why would he not believe his dentist?
It was also during this time that his father was given a rather substantial raise at the oil, lube, and tire shop where he worked.
After graduating from college with a B. A. in Business Administration, Ken was recruited by a very persuasive recruiter from Beluga Securities and Insurance, known among its sales force as BS & I. This was a source of astonishment for Ken who had managed to achieve only a meager two-point-one Grade Point Average. But, he reasoned, it was not prudent to look a gift horse in the mouth and off to Pennsylvania, he went. Upon arrival at BS & I, he was delighted to see that Hu had also been recruited. Ken and Hu had developed an abiding friendship even off the field during their college days having both spent many hours in the waiting room of the same dentist back in Austin. Now, they saw each other daily as they were located in adjoining offices at Beluga. Hu was his main competition in selling insurance contracts primarily to government employees. Ken and Hu were both surprised at how easy it seemed to be to sell these instruments to a seemingly endless retinue of little-known government regulators, administrators, and line and staff careerists. Once they both sold their first policies it seems like every government employee in the country wanted to do business exclusively with them. Life was good.
“Morning Ken.” a disembodied but familiar child-like voice floated through the open door joining his office to Hu’s.
“Who’s there?” was the standard morning retort.
“Yes, I am,” came the overly confident and cheerful answer as Hu stepped around the blacked out bottom of the glass partition between their offices. Hu would then climb up on her desk chair and elevate it to her desktop by the electronic arm controls and continue the morning ritual. “Who’s gonna kick your butt this quarter in sales mister?” Hu would chide in a sing-song tone.
“Who, why Yu, that’s Hu,” Ken would encourage her. They both knew that they worked off of each other’s energy. Ken stood and walked into Hu’s office just as the boss, Mr. Porter Hause, stepped in behind him. Out of respect, Hu stood up in her chair and greeted Mr. Hause, “Morning Boss,” she beamed a bright smile as she spoke.
Ken, unaware that the boss had followed him into Hu’s office chuckled and said, “Now that’s the kind of respect a man could get used to. And, I might add, that I do deserve your respect, Hu. Why just this morning I was thinking to myself…”
“I’m not talking to you, moron. I’m talking to him,” Hu said as she pointed behind Ken.
“Oh, morning, Boss,” Ken smiled broadly turning around and without hesitation continued. “How was dinner with Mrs. Hause last night? Twenty-fifth anniversary. That’s a big one. Did she like the necklace you bought her? You know Millie is a beautiful woman, Boss. I often mistake her for one of the interns when she visits the office…”
“Oh, stuff it, Ken. I think you would shrivel up and die if you couldn’t hear your own voice every day.” Porter stepped fully into Hu’s office. “But thank you for remembering. Mill was quite moved by the cards and flowers from the both of you. You know,” Porter squinted his eyes while putting his right index finger to his temple, �
��every time I see you two you’re together…and I think, ‘When’s the wedding,’” he said with a chuckle knowing the onslaught that was certain to follow.
“Wedding?” Ken nearly shrieked. “Who would I marry? Little Miss Sunshine here? I’d rather marry Tiny Tim…and he’s dead.”
“That rumor is going around Ken.” Hu couldn’t resist an easy jab. “And I wouldn’t marry you if my only other choice was Sasquatch himself. And don’t think I don’t notice you checking me out all day long either.”
“I’m not checking you out, short round. The boss ordered me to keep an on eye on you in case you fall through the air conditioning vents in the floor.”
“Very funny jolly green giant,” Hu said climbing up on her desk. “Come over here and I’ll kick your keister all the way back to Texas…”
“All right, all right, I’m sorry I brought it up, “Porter insincerely complained. “How you two even work together is beyond me, and yet, you’re both the best producers in the office. Don’t let it go to your heads and for goodness sake don’t let up for a minute. This is historically a tough quarter Batman and Robin. The bar is set pretty high and everybody in the office has their eyes set on these two offices. So focus and get it in gear to put us over last year’s sales.”
“Well, I, for one, would appreciate a new face in the morning,” Ken lied. “By late afternoon I get a crick in my neck from always looking down.”
“Watch your butt there tin horn. You cast a long shadow but I’m gonna mow you down this quarter. I’m gonna hog-tie you, slap a brand on your rump, and spank you like your daddy,” Hu bragged while mimicking each threat with a corresponding hand gesture.
“Hey, Boss. I think I was just sexually harassed by this mini-salesman, er woman, here. What are you going to do about that?” Ken feigned offense.
“Me?” Porter brought his hands to his chest. “I’m going back to my office and call my wife and tell her what Hu just said. That’s hilarious. You tear me up Hu, you really do. But before I go I want to remind you both of the sales meeting at two this afternoon. Make sure you’re both there.”
“I don’t know boss,’” Hu answered. “I’ve been fighting a toothache all morning. I may have to see the dentist sometime today.”
Porter turned and looked knowingly at Ken.
“Well, yea,” Ken said. “Mine too. I don’t know why our teeth always seem to hurt at the same time. It’s weird, Boss, I know.”
Porter seemed to smile a knowing smile as he left for his office. Once at his desk he brought up his calendar and annotated both Ken and Hu as “Out of Office” for the next two weeks.
*****
“When was the recall transmitted?” Chief of Operations Dr. Mathis asked.
“Just over twenty-four hours ago,” Computer Technician Ramos responded.
“Alright,” Dr. Mathis sighed. “This is a priority mission - double the level.”
“Double? Are you sure, ma’am? We’ve never done that before?
“Double…now.”
Ramos’ fingers flew over the keyboard in a rapid staccato. “Ready to send, ma’am. I need your override code.”
“Code is Juliet-Two-Alpha, Epsilon-Three-Niner. Execute now.”
“Ramos’ fingers flew across the keyboard, on his monitor a window opened and he spoke aloud as he entered, “Juliet-Two-Alpha, Epsilon-Three-Niner.” He paused long enough to verify the entry was correct and then hit the Enter key rather emphatically and said, “Execute…now.”
*****
“Ow, Oh my God that hurts,” Ken and Hu cried out at the same moment. Ken was in the elevator returning from lunch and Hu was in the ladies room down the hall from her office. Both immediately took out their cell phones and called their dentist.
*****
Ken’s left hand was pressed hard on his left cheek. “Doc this really hurts. I must have one hell of a cavity.” As he lowered himself into the dentist’s chair his eyes squinted hard to block the pain. “I’m so glad you had an opening. I don’t think I could take this for very much longer.”
“Well, don’t you worry, Ken. We’ll have this under control in two shakes,” Dr. Mathis said with confidence. “Let’s get a little lidocaine in there first off.” Dr. Mathis inserted the needle into Ken’s gum and depressed the plunger. Immediately his eyes rolled back in his head and his hands fell limp to his sides. His face muscles relaxed and he actually began to snore lightly. With that two medical technicians entered the room. The chair back was lowered. One technician attached electronic leads to Ken’s head while the other opened his shirt and attached electronic leads from an EKG monitor. Dr. Mathis turned on the electro-synaptic modulator causing a large LED screen on the wall behind Ken to come to life displaying the synaptic activity of Ken’s brain as well as pulse, respiration, blood pressure and oxygenation. Various graphs and textual readouts displayed all the information that Dr. Mathis required.
“Well, it’s going to take about twenty minutes to calibrate and realign his synaptic patterns to transition mild-mannered Ken into super-soldier Jared,” Dr. Mathis said to one of the technicians. “Extractor, please.”
Taking the silver colored extractor, offered by one of the technicians, from its sterilized package Dr. Mathis pressed both sides of the tongs against Ken’s upper left bicuspid and snapped them into a locked configuration. Then a slight pressure on the small round activator button on the handle released a surge of just one-half of one percent of a volt of electricity generated at a very specific frequency, causing the porcelain cap to disengage from the otherwise perfectly healthy tooth below. This exposed a blue colored capsule nested snugly into a miniaturized data port within the body of the tooth. Dr. Mathis removed the capsule itself with a specialized set of forceps and placed it a stainless steel bowl offered by one of the technicians.
“Program capsule,” Dr. Mathis ordered. Taking the red capsule with the forceps it was then carefully inserted into the receiver from which the blue capsule had been extracted. Dr. Mathis then reattached the crown and another tiny volt of electricity locked it firmly onto the tooth. Dr. Mathis then inserted a rubber mouth guard and ordered Ramos to initiate the download. The graphs on the LED immediately jumped and Ken’s body convulsed upward as his jaw clenched forcefully on the rubber guard. After about twenty seconds Ken’s body returned to a relaxed and limp state in the chair and he returned to restful snoring.
“He’s receiving the operational information readily, Doctor,” Ramos reported from his monitor across the room. Turning and staring admirably at Ken, he spoke to no one in particular, “It never ceases to amaze me that less than one percent of the population can do this. What makes him so special? Is it a DNA mutation that we have yet to identify? Is it a brain deformity? Maybe it’s just diet? Whatever it is…it’s a gift.”
“Do I detect a note of jealousy?” Dr. Mathis asked while intently scanning the monitor in front of her on the wall behind Ken’s chair. “Feeling just a bit intimidated are we?”
“Absolutely, Doc. To be super-soldier here…absolutely.” Ramos stood from his chair and stepped closer to sleeping, Ken. “Even if there is a limit to how long he can do this, to switch back-and-forth from normal everyday Ken to AI enhanced superspy, just imagine what he must experience. Cognition increases of one-hundred-fifty percent. Visual, aural, and hepatic reception increases even greater than that. He can see better in the dark then I can see in the daylight. Doc, he can sense electro-static charges on the skin of people within fifty or sixty feet. He can feel people’s presence even through most walls. He can tell if someone is lying. He can tell if women are aroused. It’s better than ESP. He told me once that I had a heart murmur, Doc. Yea, yea Doc. I’m way jealous.”
Dr. Mathis looked at Ramos a few seconds and then turned her gaze at Ken lying unconscious in the chair. “I admit it, Ramos,” she said with a sigh. I am as well. I am always intimidated by him and the other one. It’s like being naked around them.” Dr. Mathis chuckled. “If I had his abiliti
es I could complete patient medical examinations just by looking at them in the waiting room. I’m glad we haven’t figured out x-ray vision yet, at least not for them.”
Dr. Mathis turned her gaze to a technician. “Okay, he’s stable. Give him two minutes and wake him up slowly. Give him the B-12 injection. His muscles need to dump some lactic acid from that convulsion.”
Just then the door opened and Hu walked in holding her jaw. The receptionist was trying to catch up to her and direct her to the office further down the hall. “Hi, Doc,” Hu’s little girl voice intoned. “Hey, that’s Ken. What are all those wires for? Is he alright, Doc?”
“He’s fine, Hu.” Dr. Mathis rose to block her view while glaring angrily at the receptionist then turned back to Hu. “I’ll be in with you in just a moment. Please go with Linda here to the room down the hall. Ken is fine, I promise.”
“Okay, Doc. Ow, this really hurts” Hu repeated as she rubbed her jaw and turned to continue down the hall.