by Dhtreichler
“Do we have to?” Oriana seems embarrassed.
“Since this is his ultimate orgasm, yes. Where are we?”
“The information you fed us has been extremely valuable,” Jermaine begins. “It’s given us pause to think about what we’re trying to accomplish somewhat differently. It can’t be just the sensors and the hardware with appropriate controls that respond to certain situations. We actually have to embed memories of different situations and sensations as part of the solution. We want…uh, A’zam in this situation… to… experience sensations through a memory that is triggered by and accompanies the physical sensation the sensors detect. In harmony the memories and the sensors should lead to a physical release that coincides with the memory of a particular feeling.”
“How is this different from the current software?” I haven’t heard anything new yet.
“Your current software is dependent upon you having memories that you seek out and experience. If your mind doesn’t call for a particular memory, you may not have a memory of a feeling accompany your physical release. In our package, we are embedding new memories, they aren’t yours. You never experienced an orgasm that felt like this memory. And that’s how we get to A’zam’s ultimate orgasm. We link the feeling memory bank with the physical triggers. The better a particular physical orgasm, the better the feeling memory that goes with it.”
“So A’zam will have memories of orgasms he never had, but he will experience orgasms he has now as if they were those orgasms.”
“Exactly.” Jermaine seems pleased he has solved the problem.
“And have you incorporated the need to court and set a mood and engage in slow and pleasing foreplay before being gentle and patient as I described?” I kick back, expecting I know the answer.
Jermaine looks to Oriana, “Not yet,” she confirms my suspicions. “We really wanted to get the basics down first.”
A’zam was right. Oriana hasn’t done it enough to fully understand the range of behaviors that lead to peak experience. Nor is she appreciating a turn on rather than a rush. “One of the key factors I discussed in that memo is that you really can’t separate the orgasms of a couple if you want to experience a peak or ultimate orgasm. The peak comes from being in synch, from a harmonious build to a simultaneous release. At least that’s what has been described to me by an expert.”
“Only one?” Jermaine pushes back.
I don’t respond to Jermaine’s question, “How are you inserting variability?” I wonder aloud.
“We’ve been looking at size as a determinant,” Jermaine leaps to a tangent. “If we make the device able to expand to fill up the available space then we think we can maximize the contact and heighten the experience through increased sensor density and interpolation.”
“Like a balloon,” I note. “We are using a similar approach elsewhere in the body. That’s a mechanical change. Isn’t that beyond your scope?”
“You told us to deliver the ultimate orgasm. That’s what we’re working.”
“Fair enough.” I concede. “What else can you tell me?”
“We’re experimenting with varying the duration, the intensity, response to different stimulation, heat, cold, you know the different aspects that can change the experience to either be a good one or a great one,” Jermaine summarizes for me.
“And you’re just working on the male side of the ledger.” I point out to confirm the situation.
“So far,” Oriana confirms. “But as you noted the software and systems work in relation to each other, so we are creating a female version that is more touch driven. Yes, we will get all the courting and foreplay turn ons in it, but what will trigger responses will be touches to certain key parts of the body.”
“What happens if you’re grocery shopping and inadvertently touch a key part of the body?” I have to ask. “Do you instantly have an orgasm standing right there in the vegetable department?”
“No.” Oriana is emphatic. “It’s triggered by a party of interest.”
“Male or female.” I confirm.
“Or a Klondike sled-dog if you wish,” Jermaine is tuned into what I’m saying.
“We may have a prototype by the end of the day,” Oriana offers.
“And remember your promise,” Jermaine reminds me he has first dibs.
ADJUSTMENTS
Suzette Bain of AppleCore External Affairs appears in my door. She is maybe thirty-five, attractive in a severe way. Maybe it’s the way she pulls her dark hair back tight to her head. The earrings are quite small, but precious stones I would think are real from a long look at her tailored suit and lacy blouse. Even the leather shoes and belt spell out M-O-N-E-Y. “Are you ready for the first one?”
I am reluctant to take this interview since the subject is AppleCore’s immortals program which I’ve acknowledged but not provided any details about. The reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle has published several speculative stories about what we might be doing since we have not confirmed anything, and this is the first on the record interview since. “You’ve prepared me well.” Three hours of preparation as a matter of fact.
We proceed to the conference room off the main lobby where procurement interviews prospective vendors. Meetings with community folks happen here as well. Since we rarely invite the media into our offices they seldom get a look at this room which has examples of our many products in glass cases along the walls. The table in the middle of the room is heavy wood and not inexpensive. I like the chairs. They used to be the most comfortable in the building, but I don’t feel comfort anymore so now they are just expensive chairs.
Since the Chronicle has been writing the most stories about me and the company, we, meaning Suzette, our General Counsel, Dietrich and I, decide we need to address the misconceptions and invite Daniel into the Lion’s den. Daniel Lynch in this case, as he is the reporter who was at the first press conference and voiced all kinds of conspiracy concerns.
He is waiting in the conference room along with a photographer, “Lacy, pleased to meet you.” We shake hands across the table, and a camera operator, “Juliette.” We also shake hands and then both Lacy and Juliette photograph my handshake with Daniel Lynch. I’m quickly scanning the articles he has written about me, so I can address points as the session progresses.
Daniel has a recording device on the desk already catching anything I say. He scans his questions and selects not the first but one further down the line. “Miss Washington. Why did your parents name you Sage? Was it a prescient moment?”
“Depends on whether they were thinking of me as a plant or the wise person.” I see Suzette smile. Guess I got through the first one without damaging my brand with External Affairs. Somehow, I doubt I will be so fortunate to have her smiling when we leave this room today.
“Obviously the plant since you’ve been spicing things up since you… what do you call it? Transitioned?”
I elect not to respond to his non-question.
“All righty.” Daniel puzzles how to proceed. “Guess Dr. Woodall hasn’t developed a sense of humor for you yet.”
Again, I wait for him to ask a real question.
Daniel decides to look at me, closely. I’m wearing a tailored suit, my hair is carefully combed, hanging about shoulder length. I’m sure if he had not come to that first press conference he could walk right past me on a street and not be able to pick me out of the crowd. But now I’m not so fortunate.
“If I didn’t know better I would think you are about twenty or so. Was that a conscious decision by Dr. Woodall? That all immortals look like my ungrateful college senior who’s finally going to graduate and get off my payroll?”
“You would have to ask Dr. Woodall if he knows your college senior son.” I’m getting tired of this cat and mouse, so I decide to change the interview into something different. “But let’s cut to the chase.” I note Suzette cringe. “When you made the arrangements for today, you asked to know more about AppleCore’s immortals program. Let me tell you wh
at we are willing to discuss and then maybe this can be more back and forth.”
“Please,” Daniel responds.
“You have the history of how I was selected to be the first to transition. AppleCore knew nothing of my medical condition, nor that I was offered the opportunity to extend my life. In fact, no one here, that I am aware of, even knew such a possibility existed. So, two months ago there was no immortals program at AppleCore. There were no immortals working here. No one even had human life extension in their portfolio.”
“What are you trying to say, Miss Washington? That you’re not part of some conspiracy to create a bifurcated society of immortals and mortals? I have several sources that are telling me you are. In fact, those very same sources tell me you’re the primary driving force behind a tidal wave of immortals that have already started coming to AppleCore.”
“Daniel, you’re a journalist, am I correct?” I can see Suzette out of the corner of my eye and she has lost the color from her face. Guess she’s not happy.
“I have been a proud card-carrying member of the local union of journalists and other malingerers for a quarter of a century.”
“So, your stock in trade is words. You select words to describe what you learn about the world.”
“Of course,” Daniel is less than impressed that I’ve moved the focus to him rather than AppleCore and me.
“So, selecting the words ‘conspiracy, bifurcated society, mortals and immortals, driving force and tidal wave’ are choices that you have made based on the information you have gathered in researching the stories you have already published, even though you have not, since the initial interview in Dallas, spoken to anyone at AppleCore about this subject.”
“Yes. I’m paid by the Chronicle a few dollars a month to select words from the vast array we have at our disposal that I believe most accurately portray something I am researching.”
“Just to confirm, you’ve not spoken to anyone at AppleCore in the last two weeks. Since the Dallas press conference at the UT Southwestern Life Extension Clinic Dr. Woodall operates there.”
“That’s correct.” Daniel admits. “But you’re wasting your time and my time going down this rabbit trail. We all know you’re hiding the biggest story on the planet at the moment, but hardly anyone is paying attention because you’ve covered it all up in your proprietary knowledge and trade secrets and competition sensitive classifications about what you’ve done in the last six weeks.”
“Why did you choose the word ‘conspiracy’?” I push back.
“It has to be,” Daniel proclaims.
“Why? Give me a definition of conspiracy that fits the known facts.”
“It’s a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. I would say you have a secret plan since no one seems to know what it is. Is it unlawful? I don’t know so I’ll give you that one, but if in fact it results in a bifurcation of society into mortals and immortals that will be harmful.”
“Judgment call on your part.” I insist. “Your definition doesn’t fit the known facts.”
“Here we go. Facts and known facts. Sure, there are facts we have and others we don’t. But you’re parsing words here and not giving the American people or the peoples of the world the story they’re looking for.”
“And what story is that? That there is now a capability to save the lives of individuals who would otherwise die because there is no known cure for many diseases?”
Daniel raises his hand, “Okay. Stop there. Are you insisting that AppleCore’s interest in Immortality is limited to...” he looks at his notepad as he reads, “Saving the lives of those who will die otherwise because there is no known cure for many diseases?”
“AppleCore’s interest is in the technology behind the ability to save lives through this procedure. Didn’t you ask at that earlier conference how many people will transition? At AppleCore we realize that society could be at an inflexion point. As Doctor Woodall has demonstrated with me, when the internet connection flows through here…” I point my finger to my head. “Rather than through a device probably made by AppleCore, then our markets are going to change. Does any of this make any sense to you?”
“My first reaction is to call bullshit.” Daniel thinks out loud. “But let your message sink in here for a minute. You’re saying that for AppleCore you’re an existential threat. As there are more and more like you, then there will be a new market for people who are hard wired to the internet.”
“Would you like me to quote any of your last seven articles on the subject of me? I can see them in my mind’s eye simply by thinking about the subject of Daniel Lynch, Chronicle reporter. Let’s see, yesterday you wrote, and this is a quote, ‘Sage Washington should be the smartest woman or man on the planet, but clearly that is not the case. She hides behind corporate policy to keep us from the information we need to understand what she will do to us over time. And while she alone may only represent a minor threat to us, when there are thousands and millions like her, there will be tens of thousands and hundreds of millions of us out of work.’”
“You’ve proven your point.” Daniel looks at his notepad to see what his next question should be, but I don’t wait.
“Daniel. Are you afraid of your shadow?”
“Of course not.”
“I would beg to differ with you. You know what you are. You know what your shadow is. You know what I am. A device designed and built by someone not so different than you. Someone who took different courses in college and went to work at a hospital rather than a newspaper. But at the end of the day, Dr. Woodall isn’t much different than you. You say you’re not afraid of your shadow, but you are clearly afraid of me. And yet your shadow simply follows you around on sunny days. I simply build more entertainment and communications devices so you can be plugged into the world whether the sun is out or not. I’m no more threat to you than your shadow.”
“I don’t agree with that. You can do things I can’t.”
“So, can your shadow. It can disappear. You can’t.”
“My shadow won’t kill me.”
“And neither will I unless the government gets a hold of me and changes me into something very different than what I am.”
“How do you stop that?” Daniel thinks he may have found the story within the story.
“I don’t. You do. You’re the one who writes the stories that form public opinion. If you don’t want the government building robots to fight the wars, then you have to expect they will deploy them. And let me give you a hint. They’ve been building military robots forever and none of them look like me.”
“Is AppleCore building government robots?”
“No. That is not in our product library nor is it on our technology roadmaps.” I answer to leave no doubt about something that will be easy to check. And I expect Daniel Lynch will check.
“But you suggested that as a technology company you want to… and I may not have this exactly right… you want to figure out how to build the body that houses the consciousness Dr. Woodall moves over?”
“Dr. Woodall already has suppliers. What AppleCore is investigating is how we build the bodies to have a greater range of capabilities, faster and, cheaper. How we upgrade to application specific capabilities for people who transition for whatever reason.”
“You make it sound like we’re one of your communicators,” Daniel sounds exasperated.
“The architecture to do what I’m suggesting isn’t so different.”
“You’re not making it sound very romantic.” Daniel is trying to buy time as I’m not giving him much time between questions and answers and I’m doing it on purpose. He consults his notes.
“Are you a romantic?” I’m trying to shift this interview into lower gear.
“What about the reports that only AppleCore employees are being transitioned?”
“I can’t speak to that because only Dr. Woodall’s team knows who they are transitioning if anyone since I went through. And it’s my understa
nding that he can’t discuss who has what kind of procedure done unless they sign releases and agree to talk with the media. It all comes down to a matter of governmentally guaranteed privacy.”
“But you know more than you’re telling me,” Daniel is like a dog with a bone.
“I’ve told you this before and I don’t like repeating myself, but… I have a responsibility to the shareholders, employees and customers of AppleCore. I can’t be too specific of any efforts we have underway as it may compromise us in competitive situations. And if you spent even a single day on this side of the street, you’d see that we are in competition for every resource, every technology and every customer dollar spent on what we and dozens of others sell. I’ve probably told you more than a prudent CEO would, but I’m trying to assure you that AppleCore is merely exercising its rights to explore new markets and technologies and determine how we may lead the next product revolution as we have done historically.”
“What about partnerships?” Daniel isn’t done with me although I’d like to be done with him.
“What about them?”
“Have you entered into any partnerships pertaining to immortals?”
“We are in constant talks with suppliers all over the world,” I respond wanting to keep my answer short and not specific.
“That’s not what I asked.”
“At such time as we develop products or applications that could be used by what you are calling the immortals market, I’m sure we will talk with any qualified supplier to help us supply that capability. Will any take the form of a partnership? I don’t know because it’s way too early to know what the best procurement route will prove to be.”
Daniel scrolls through his notepad. Shakes his head and finally looks up, sees the clock on the back wall and frowns. “I could use another hour and more transparency.”
“I’ll ask Dr. Woodall if the next version of me can be seen through.” I offer. Lacy and Juliette smile as they continue to take pictures.