The Aegis Solution

by John David Krygelski

  "We had decided, after reviewing the available research, as well as the anecdotal evidence in the record, that telepathic communication is symbolic, rather than communication which possesses a vocabulary or grammatical rules."

  "Graphic or pictographic?"

  "Graphic," she replied.

  "So," Elias asked, "if little Bobby wanted to convey that he was hungry, he visualized eating."

  "Exactly. And, from what we can tell, very specific imagery. He would not only visualize eating, but would visualize what he wanted – an apple, for example. And not just a generic apple, but a very precise image of a green apple."

  "Interesting."

  "But Phase One was horribly frustrating. We were shooting in the dark, to coin a phrase. We had no idea if we were making any progress."

  "Why is that?" Elias inquired dutifully.

  "We weren't in the loop. We were observing the subjects as they appeared to develop the skills, but we had no way of monitoring, or listening in, to see if they really were."

  "Why didn't you bring in psychics? Wouldn't that have given you an adult who could provide you with insights into their progress?"

  "We tried that," Kreitzmann interjected. "I believe the field is filled with charlatans who pretend to possess the skill. Due to the, uhmm, unique issues associated with bringing people into Aegis, we were somewhat limited in our selection. Either way, they were no help at all."

  "I see."

  With a dismissive wave of the hand, Kreitzmann resumed, "Be that as it may, now that we are in Phase Two, we know that we were on the right track."

  "Why is that?"

  Bonillas explained, "The Phase One subjects are now old enough to work with the newest additions to the clinical test. By reason of their age and relative maturity, we can now not only observe, we can question and evaluate."

  Elias raised a single eyebrow questioningly.

  With a slight smile, Bonillas elaborated, "We have taken some of the most promising subjects from Phase One and taught them to speak. Now that they have developed the desired skill, they are learning to communicate with us using speech as a second language, as it were."

  "They are your interpreters?"

  "Correct."

  "With their feedback we are able to determine that our experiment is working. We are succeeding in developing a group of telepaths."

  "Amazing!" Elias exclaimed, trying to sound genuinely enthusiastic. He turned his eyes away from Bonillas and looked through the glass. He now realized that on the other side were children, from infants up to the age of elementary school, who had probably never heard a spoken word. As he watched, he noticed that they were, in some ways, behaving normally. They were engaged in parallel playing, coloring, building with blocks, and the other activities so typical of children in this age group.

  However, as he watched closely, he saw a young boy, perhaps five years old, who was sitting on the floor in one corner of the large room, assembling what appeared to be a bridge out of wooden building blocks. Elias watched him closely as the boy rummaged through the available pieces piled next to his project. After not finding what he sought, he glanced around the room, his eyes stopping at a location where another boy, slightly younger, was also working with blocks. Almost instantly, the younger boy picked up a long, green, flat board from his assortment of pieces and stood, walking the board to the first child and handing it to him. The entire process was completed without a word spoken.

  "Astounding, isn't it?" As Kreitzmann asked him the question, Elias realized that Bonillas and Kreitzmann had also been watching.

  Elias nodded without answering.

  "We see examples of that every day, and many of them much more complex and definitive than what you just observed."

  Elias remained silent, yet his mind whirled with images of kicking down the door which separated him from these children, gathering them up, and taking them out of Aegis, away from this laboratory and these people.

  No sooner had the thought formed than one of the oldest girls in the lab, who had been idly playing with a dollhouse, suddenly jerked her head toward the glass, her eyes fixing directly on Elias, and an expression of extreme fear transforming her face. Despite the fact that the glass wall was a one-way mirror, the little girl continued to stare at Elias and raised her arm, pointing her finger directly at him.

  Immediately, all of the other children in the lab turned to stare in his direction, their faces running the gamut from concerned to terrified.

  "What happened?" Elias asked innocently. He turned away from the accusatory stares and saw that Kreitzmann was watching him closely.

  "You must remember, these children are all telepaths with various levels of skill. What were you thinking a moment ago?"

  This was all so new to Elias. He was accustomed to concealing his thoughts from normal people, but not a group who could literally read his mind.

  Manufacturing an embarrassed grin, Elias concentrated on clearing his mind and said, "Honestly, the boldness of this research put me off for a moment. I was feeling sorry for these children. I'm afraid my mind wandered to a scenario where I would scoop them all up in my arms and take them out of here."

  "That is a normal reaction." As Bonillas spoke, Elias noticed that Kreitzmann was still eyeing him skeptically.

  "How we treat children in our world is so hard-wired into us that, at first, creating this environment for them seems harsh and cruel. But I think you saw from their reaction that the thought of being removed from here, and being thrust into the society outside, terrifies them."

  "I did see that."

  "And there are really two reasons for that terror, as far as we can tell. The first is that they are comfortable here. It is their home, and the world outside Aegis is a big unknown for them. Most children are frightened by the unknown."

  "And the second?"

  Before she could answer, Kreitzmann interceded. "Would you want to live in a world where you could read everyone's mind?"

  Elias chuckled. "There would be some upside to it, but no, I don't think I would."

  "Neither would they, at least not in a society where people, in the privacy of their own heads, feel free to be as harsh and cruel as they want."

  "Aren't you creating a group of people who can never fit in?"

  "Fit in? If you're talking about fitting in with the despicable environment outside these walls, I suppose you're right. But what I…we are creating is a new society. Once there are enough of them," Kreitzmann posited while motioning toward the children in the other room, "they can have their own society, a society without the hateful, mean-spirited aspect of humanity that terrifies them. You see, Patrick, that's really the point of all of this. So much of what we simply chalk off as human nature doesn't have to be. It is only human nature due to the paths we've taken in the past. On a different path, a path where everyone knows what everyone else is thinking, the world would be a better place; we will have essentially shut down the festering incubator called ‘the privacy of our own thoughts,' from which so many evil beliefs and deeds spring.

  "I believe that human nature will naturally choose a better course than it has, if we merely remove a few of the self-imposed limitations. With those gone, then our own normal adaptability will cause us to evolve into a more enlightened race."

  There was nothing Elias could say and still maintain his cover, so he decided to focus on the details of the experiment. "But haven't there been small children outside the Aegis environment who have been deprived of verbal input in the past, by accident? Did they develop telepathic skill?"

  "We wouldn't know," Kreitzmann stated. "If it occurred, they were probably isolated, not in a group who were all going through the same thing. And if they did exhibit the skill, but it wasn't reinforced as they aged, it would be abandoned or lost. The Phase One environment didn't just deprive them of verbal communication, it also set an example that telepathic communication was probably occurring, an example which would not have been present in th
e outside environment."

  Elias' interest was stirred. "Set an example?"

  "Yes. Using the same technique we've successfully utilized in other experiments, we created the virtual reality I mentioned earlier. Although we couldn't provide actual telepathic input to the children, we immersed them into interactions between others, actors really, who appeared to be communicating nonverbally. The subjects observed this example and came to the conclusion that it was the way to communicate. Their minds took it from there."

  "What I don't understand…."

  Kreitzmann interrupted. "This is only one of many projects I wish to show you, Patrick. After you get settled in, you may return and spend as much time as you like with Doctor Bonillas."

  A brief look of disappointment crossed Bonillas' face as Elias replied, "Of course. It's just that this is fascinating."

  Kreitzmann grinned. "If you think so, wait until you see the rest."

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  After they stepped out of Bonillas' lab and closed the door, Kreitzmann turned to Elias. "What you've just seen is our newest venture, and certainly the most embryonic, insofar as the progress we've made."

  As he spoke, he led Elias to a small alcove in the hallway, where he motioned for him to take a seat at a small conference table.

  When they were both seated, Elias remarked, "That was quite impressive."

  "Thank you. At the time it was proposed, I admit I was a bit skeptical. Although I firmly believe that the human body is vastly underutilized, as a result of growing up and developing with a lowest-common-denominator environment surrounding it, the psychic, or telepathic, facility seemed outlandish even to me."

  "I can understand that."

  "However, what it demonstrates is our underlying technique and driving philosophy. The presumption of science, and mankind in general, has been that evolution and human development constitute an upward linear path, that each step taken by every organism is a step toward improvement – betterment, if you will – of the species."

  "You don't believe that?"

  "I don't. Patrick, look around you. Not in here, but the outside world. Does it look to you as if we, as a species, are striving for perfection? No, my theory is that both evolution in the long term, and human development in the short term will always take the path of least resistance. That path is not the route to betterment, but the road to mediocrity."

  "So you think Darwin was wrong?"

  Kreitzmann laughed, the sound echoing off the walls of the empty corridor they sat beside. "No, I don't. I think he was right. That's the problem. He was too right."

  "Then I am really confused."

  "As are most, at first. This confusion stems from the fact that almost everyone tends to forget the very basic element of Darwin's work: procreation, pure and simple, the making of offspring. It is the biological imperative to reproduce. That's the cornerstone of his theory. The only mention of our development, our progress toward becoming something better, is if it benefits us in obtaining a mate and successfully having a litter of children."

  Elias had to admit to himself that the man was persuasive. His expectation of this meeting was, in his own mind, something out of a cheap science fiction movie, with Kreitzmann playing the role of the mad scientist, not that his cold exploitation of infants for the purposes of his research was not sufficient to firmly plant him in the category of "monster." It did. But Elias found him to be soft spoken, almost gentle in his approach to the topic. There was no psychotic, fanatical fire in his eyes, no imperious air in his demeanor. Elias did not sense a "God complex" from the scientist, simply an attitude of firm conviction.

  "Rudy, there are those who do excel in our society."

  "Yes, there are, including you, Patrick. But look at your own choices. Immersing yourself in a community which is biologically hard-wired to do nothing more noble than have children...is a distraction, at best. Remember, you felt a need to escape it to be able to focus on your work."

  "I don't know…."

  "Think back to middle school and high school. When I attended those stellar institutions, I was called ‘brain,' as though it was an insult. I'm sure that you, too, were one of the ‘brains' in that environment."

  Elias nodded that he was; this answer was true both for his cover as well as for himself.

  "Did that make you the most popular guy in school?"

  It was Elias' turn to laugh. "No. More like the least popular, until exam time came around, that is. Then all of the girls wanted to get together with me. But we are sounding like a couple of whining geeks, complaining that the jocks got the girls."

  "Geeks whine for good reason. That's my point. If evolution were a process that pushed or pulled the human race toward higher plateaus, would the females in high school be hard-wired to prefer the male who could throw the football, rather than the male who could calculate its trajectory?"

  "I guess that depends on what you view as a higher plateau. Evolutionarily, it would produce better football players."

  "I suppose you're right," Kreitzmann acknowledged, chuckling,"but I'm sure that you see my point. All of society is geared to encourage, produce, and even glamorize an act that is one of our most base, an act that essentially every animal and insect on the planet can perform. We eat. We sleep. We void ourselves of bodily waste. And we have sex and make babies. The message to people is basically this: Once that is done, once you have produced another baby, the evolutionary bells and whistles go off, considering that you've won the jackpot. You've accomplished what thousands of years of evolution directed you to do to fulfill your destiny. You're done, other than feeding the children, clothing them, and providing them with shelter – in other words, safely delivering them to the age of reproduction themselves.

  "You see, that's the problem, Patrick. Natural selection has worked too well. We are now up to our eyeballs in population. We have geared our entire society toward quantity, not quality. There is no social pressure to become a better human being. There is certainly no biological pressure to do so, either."

  "That seems a little harsh, Rudy. There are expectations. There are rewards for excellence."

  "There were!" Kreitzmann almost shouted. "Certain segments of the population have made attempts in the past. There was a class system – not perfect, by any means, but an attempt to create a distinction between the rutting rabble and those who were men of letters. Partially as a result of the abuses perpetrated by this upper class, but mostly due to the tremendous social pressure from the lower group, this system, this distinction, is erased and, in the minds of many, a cause of shame and embarrassment.

  "Now, it has become out of vogue to place a person such as you, a person who holds a doctorate, in higher regard than one may hold a factory worker, or even a prostitute."

  Elias took a deep breath and let it out slowly before responding. "I understand what you are saying, Rudy. We may differ on the degree, but I do see some merit in your viewpoint."

  "You'd have to, Patrick. You are far too intelligent to not."

  "Are you attempting to counter all of this, here in Aegis?"

  "I am. We are. My first attempts were in more normal settings such as universities and privately funded labs. But we could never obtain the lack of interference from the culture, true control over the control group, that we desired. Aegis is perfect."

  "Is it your goal to create a mini-culture within these walls? One that reinforces your vision for mankind?"

  A boyish grin came to Kreitzmann's face. "You make me sound as though I have a God complex. This is not," he declared, sweeping his arm around, "an attempt to manufacture a race which complies with some preconceived vision. This is an ongoing experiment to discover what those latent capabilities might be. At some point, more than likely without any input from me, a vision for a mini-culture, as you put it, will be reached by consensus. At that point, Aegis can become a seed, an incubator, for a better mankind."

  "Why without any input from you? And a consensus reached
by whom?"

  "I'll answer your second question first. The consensus can only be reached by those who have attained the plateaus, so to speak. And the answer as to why I wouldn't be involved is quite simple. I could no more understand things from their perspective than an ant crawling across the floor could understand this conversation. How could I possibly contribute anything meaningful to the dialogue?"

  Elias was, again, surprised by Kreitzmann's candor and almost self-deprecating perspective. "How will you achieve all of this?"

  "At first we will break it down into component skills. The telepathy you witnessed…the other experiments you will see soon. Each one focuses on one aspect or one skill of the human experience. The process will have some successes and some failures. The successes will be kept and moved forward...in a sense, graduated; the failures will be abandoned. As we build a pool of subjects who are superior to the norm in each category, we then move on to Phase Three."

  "Phase Three?"

  Leaning back in his chair, Kreitzmann tucked his hands behind his head in a relaxed pose. "Explaining Phase Three at this point would be premature. I haven't really described the first two phases or our underlying principles."

  "Okay."

  "We in this complex believe that the body, given a consistent example, will simply not know any better and will follow that example."

  "Certainly there are limitations."

  "There are, of course. But they are far higher than the level at which we all now operate. Most of our limitations are learned."

  With a slight grin, Kreitzmann asked Elias, "Do you know what is used in circuses to restrain an elephant?"

  "I would guess a steel cable of some sort, and a substantial anchor point to which it is attached."

  The grin broadened. "Actually, they use a regular piece of rope, tied around one of the hind legs of the beast, with the other end fastened to a wooden stake pounded into the ground."

  "Any elephant could easily break that or pull it loose."

  "Of course it can. But it won't."

  "Why?"

  "From the time it was a baby elephant, that is exactly how it has been secured. As a baby, an elephant tugs and pulls constantly at the rope and stake, struggling with all of its might. But it is not able to budge the stake or break the rope. It learns that it can't do it. Later, as it grows and becomes strong enough to easily either break the rope or pull out the stake, it never tries because it knows it can't."