by Judyth Baker
“So, once again, what has that got to do with Lucy?” Henry snapped. “She’s dead! I cared about her, she was perfect for me, and now she’s gone! Or is she going to wake up again? Do I have any hope for her?”
“The point to my story is that we at BioTest Labs landed a big contract to control the burgeoning Cyborg population. They use up too much energy, and some of them have grown too independent. Then there are the Cyborg Rebels.”
“I thought we knew who all the Rebels were,” Henry replied. “Didn’t we get rid of them a few years ago?”
“We’re not sure,” Landry admitted. “While our most recent Cyborg models are just dandy – as Lucy proved to you – the Rebels have infiltrated some of our scientists and technicians, by hijacking our neural advertising systems. They’re sitting there in conferences and making decisions about what Cyborgs can be allowed to do, while inside their heads, they’re being steered by Cyborg Rebels.”
“I thought that was just a rumor,” Henry said.
“Wish it was. I’m telling you, because you have a right to understand what has been going on. Don’t worry, we’ll erase your memory about it before you leave here. You won’t be a security risk for us, and we’ll let you keep your office with the nice view.”
“I don’t want to forget,” Henry objected. “I have some good ideas. I just proved it, concerning the Tanzania Project. Keep me in the loop!”
“I’ll think about it, son,” Landry said, unconvincingly. “Understand that BioTest Labs is getting funding to root out Cyborg Rebels. The funds are coming from the Corporations who are anxious to keep their In-Head advertisement privileges. They don’t want them restricted. Imagine if their ads couldn’t get inside your head anymore! Revenues lost by such restrictions would be unprecedented.”
“So we’re not into population control as much as we are into Cyborg Rebel control?”
“Bingo,” Landry said. (What the Hell was bingo?) “You see, they’re very clever. They’re more and more able to mimic human kindness, human benevolence, human love…” He stared into his glass of juice, then shook his head. “For some time, we’ve had sex Cyborgs. Going on fifty years, now. Getting better all the time, I might add. LSD had one of those personas inside her, ready for your pleasure.”
“Indeed she did,” Henry said. “She turned me into a new man.”
“Aided by those doses of drugs and sudra-testosterone that she was slipping to you, on the side,” Landry said drily.
“I knew she was using something,” Henry said defensively. “So what?”
“As I said, they’re more and more able to mimic human kindness, human benevolence, human love…”
A mixture of horror and terror rose in Henry’s throat, like a hard lump he couldn’t swallow. “No!” he cried out, leaping to his feet. “Not her, not her!”
“I’m sorry,” Landry said. “In another day, she would have received orders to implant herself inside your brain. And she would have done it. She would have had no choice. The Rebels built her for just that purpose. Remember, she helped get you into a higher position at BioTest, so you’d be sitting in on all the secret conferences.”
“The Rebels?” Henry snorted. “Would you really have let the Cyborg Rebels get that close to BioTest Lab’s secret meetings? I don’t believe you.”
“That’s how we were able to observe their methods.”
“You didnt know Lucy as I knew her,” Henry insisted. “She was truly a Perfect Wife. We were close. Yes, very close. She would never have taken over my mind!”
“You are so sure of that?”
“Yes. I married her last night. We gave our hearts to each other. I swear, our love was real!” As Henry spoke, he recalled how he had placed the tanzanite ring on Lucy’s finger, and how she had smelled the roses he had given her. Roses she then set aside to throw her arms around his neck, giving him a dozen kisses. As he remembered how she had melted into his arms, tears began rolling down his cheeks. Unable to think about it anymore, Henry covered his face and turned his head away from Landry.
As he wept, hatred for the older man gripped him. “And now what?” he asked, through his sobs. “She collapsed just a few hours ago. Just whispered ‘goodbye’ and keeled over … her body started turning cold within minutes. I couldn’t detect a heartbeat. She wasn’t human, so the hospital refused to take her.” Henry glared at Landry, wiping his eyes. “So … I had to bring her back here … to you people!…”
“We’re going to give you her body,” Landry said suddenly.
“Then … she’s really dead?”
“I’m afraid so.” He waited as Henry burst into tears again, finally handing him some tissues. Through red, inflamed eyes, Henry whispered, “But why is she dead? You said I could keep her, after thirty days!”
“And so you will,” Landry replied. As he spoke, they brought Lucy back into the room. She looked almost alive, but Henry could tell that no life was left in this body. Nevertheless, he went to her side and knelt beside her, taking her hand into his and kissing its cold unflesh.
“She was one of ‘THEM,’” Landry said. “She didn’t know that we had learned the truth about her. Her assignment was to penetrate your mind, take over your brain, be a spy for them … we didn’t dare let it go on for more than 30 days. Do you understand?”
“No, I don’t!” Henry said. “She never attempted any such thing. Go check my brain, damn it! Or are you going to terminate me, too?”
“We didn’t terminate her, son,” Landry said slowly, as he watched Henry stroke Lucy’s soft, curly hair. “And it’s true that she must have loved you, because, rather than invading you, when she was given that order, she terminated herself.”
Henry stiffened, dropped her hand, stood up. “She … she terminated herself?”
“Rebel Cyborgs possess that option. Rather than release information if captured, they can destroy themselves for the sake of the Colony, as they call it. In her case, she did it to protect you from her. The last brainwave we were able to pick up proves it.” Landry said the words slowly, thoughtfully. “She was thinking … ‘he made me happy, so I will not make him unhappy’ … and then, that last bit of activity in her neurons faded out … and she was gone. We couldn’t save her.”
They allowed him to carry her home again. Though he continued his work for BioTest Labs, his interest began to focus on a branch in the company dealing with Cyborg Ethics. Sometime in the next few weeks, he buried her. Landry and a few others attended the funeral. After a hard battle, Henry was allowed to bury her in a cemetery originally designated for humans only. And at his bedside, Henry kept a single rose on the pillow that lay, empty, next to his.
ENDNOTES
1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/30/robot-wedding_n_7696666.html Retrieved July 11, 2016.
2. Oddly, 420 5th Avenue, NY NY 10018 was the address for the Rockefeller Foundation in 2016.
3. Forbes : Tech Nov 6, 2015 @ 09:18am “How The Internet Of Things Will Turn Your Living Room Into The Future Cyber Battleground” by Kalev Leetaru. “The United States … recently announced a new half-billion dollar program to develop “lethal” cyber weapons designed to “trigger a nuclear plant meltdown; open a dam above a populated area, causing destruction; or disable air traffic control services, resulting in airplane crashes.” Most troubling, such weapons have leveled the playing field, with an individual terrorist or hacker able to wield the same offensive capability as an entire nation.… Perhaps most worryingly, the proliferation of “smart” devices for the home is creating an unprecedented landscape of targets. Home automation systems have been found highly vulnerable, allowing a hacker anywhere in the world to turn off alarms or lights, adjust the temperature, and even unlock and open doors. New televisions frequently include cameras and microphones that can be remotely hacked and used to spy on ordinary citizens at a global scale, peering into living rooms and bedrooms or displaying false information on the screen. Even when not hacked, some brands of televisions may strea
m private conversations back to the manufacturer and its partners to assist with features like voice activated commands. Thousands of home security and baby monitor cameras, often picking up highly intimate scenes, can be readily accessed, while specialized search engines like Shodan make searching for vulnerable devices as easy as a keyword search…”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2015/11/06/how-the-internet-of-things-will-turn-your-living-room-into-the-future-cyber-battleground/#2bfe87317ec6.
4. The hypothalamus can be stimulated to increase appetite. See: http://www.humanneurophysiology.com/hypothalamus.htm It can also be stimulated to help regulate longevity. Theoretically, access to the hypothalamus by electrical stimulation or administration of hormones, etc. should be unlawful, since it could be used for population control. See: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1000194810600044 Retrieved June 20, 2015.
5. IBID: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1000194810600044
6. July 3, 2015: NEW YORK: An implantable artificial pancreas for diabetics has been developed that continuously measures a person’s glucose level and can automatically release insulin as needed… Living with Type 1 diabetes requires constant monitoring of blood sugar levels and injecting insulin daily… researchers designed an algorithm that monitors blood sugar levels and computes an insulin dose that it delivers quickly and automatically when necessary… designed to work with implanted devices, specifically with an artificial pancreas… Computer testing… simulated the rise and fall of glucose that would correspond to meals and an overnight period of sleep. The artificial pancreas maintained blood glucose within the target range nearly 80% of the time. The researchers said they will soon test the device in animals. The study was published in the American Chemical Society journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Artificial-pancreas-in-insulin-jabs-out/articleshow/47918253.cms Retrieved July 12, 2015.
7. “A skyscraper… in Guangzhou, China will house the world’s fastest elevators when it is completed in 2016. Hitachi… claims… the elevators will … rocket from the Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre’s first floor to its 95th in about 43 seconds. At their fastest they will reach 45 miles per hour – 15 miles per hour over New York City’s speed limit. In comparison, the average elevator only moves at about 5 to 22 miles per hour. “http://mashable.com/2014/04/26/worlds-fastest-elevator/ Henry’s elevator was going twice as fast
8. While many decry the movie Idiocracy as advocating eugenics and an attack against the poor, and that we simply need social reform to save us from ourselves (see: “Idiocracy is a cruel movie and you should be ashamed for liking it”: at http://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/idiocracy-is-a-cruel-movie-and-you-should-be-ashamed-fo-1553344189 ), the film Idiocracy (2006) takes the Darwinian laws of evolution into consideration, showing us a possible result after 500 years, where the hero, Mr. Average IQ and Everything Else, is now the smartest man in a crumbling and rotted world. The introduction to the movie begins with: “As the twenty-first century began, human evolution was at a turning point. Natural selection, the process by which the strongest, the smartest, the fastest reproduced in greater numbers than the rest, a process which had once favored the noblest traits of man, now began to favor different traits.
Most science fiction of the day predicted a future that was more civilized and more intelligent. But as time went on, things seemed to be heading in the opposite direction – a dumbing down. How did this happen? Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence. With no natural predators to thin the herd, it began to simply reward those who reproduced the most and left the intelligent to become an endangered species.” A movie critic expostulated:
“According to Idiocracy, the cause of our oncoming societal slip toward idiocy is that dumb people have more children than smart people… A provocative new study suggests human intelligence is on the decline. In fact, it indicates that Westerners have lost 14 I.Q. points on average since the Victorian Era. … Study co-author Dr. Jan te Nijenhuis, professor of work and organizational psychology at the University of Amsterdam, points to the fact that women of high intelligence tend to have fewer children than do women of lower intelligence.” http://uproxx.com/movies/2014/10/the-many-signs-that-mike-judges-idiocracy-is-almost-upon-us/ Retrieved July 12, 2015.
9. On Feb. 9, 2012, researchers reported to the New England Journal of Medicine that “The medial temporal structures, including the…entorhinal cortex, are critical for the ability to transform daily experience into lasting memories… Entorhinal stimulation applied …[to]subjects … enhanced their subsequent memory.” http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1107212 Retrieved July 11, 2015.
10. In 2015, Tanzanite One group was gaining control of the world’s only supply of Tanzanite, in Tanzania. {http://www.tanzanitejewelrydesigns.com/tanzanite-prices-per-carat.html#.VaLcJLvAIqQ). Re “Lucy”: “The oldest strain of [humanoid] mitochondria DNA originated in Uganda. This strain of DNA is shared by females only, and it is traced back to the first female…known to scientists as Mitochondria Eve… The specimen that led to the naming of this species (OH 7) was discovered in 1960, by the Leakey team in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania… Here also are the remains of Homo habilis, Homo erectus and Australopithecus Boisei.” http://www.nok-benin.co.uk/history_africa.htm Retrieved July 13, 2015. On Nov. 30, 1974, 40% of a 3.2 million-year-old female skeleton was found by Donald Johanson and his team in Ethiopia. They named her Lucy after the Beatles’ song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/do74lu.html Retrieved July 13, 2015. In 1978, Mary Leakey found even earlier remains in Tanzania.
Lucy’s pelvis shows she could walk upright, despite her small brain.
The Wearing of the Green
“We’re about to regenerate everything that brought this Primitive Subject under arrest,” the Cyber-Judge told the International Cyber-Jury, with millions tuned in. “As is usual on Tuesdays, this trial is being sponsored by Primitive Tours, UW Productions. You, too, can enjoy life “As It Used to Be,” before the Cyborg Revolution. You, too, can experience Accidents, Pain, Unplanned Pleasures, Love in the Arms of a Primitive, and much more. We guarantee 100% satisfaction including Memory Wipe Insurance for bad trips. As for the crimes you witness here, they are real. The people are real. The current decision of the Jury can change, depending on your votes.”
“We begin today’s entertainment with Subject 1234. He’s probably so well-known because it’s easy to remember his number. Remember, viewers, the Jury will decide how much longer the defendant will remain in hibernation, depending on your votes! As always, you are required to hear the Defendant’s opening statements and his version of the story. After that, you are not required to hear the official version. Instead, you may vote and leave the courtroom at any time. You can opt to see all the events as they actually occurred, laced together by our most accurate Probes, Drone Surveys and Memory Bots, for a slight extra fee. If you choose to watch until the end, your vote will be more important. Who knows? Someday, Criminal Tony may be thawed and set free. Meanwhile, enjoy the re-run!”
The Cyber-Judge flicked on a huge screen, where a male Primitive in the prime of life was speaking into a Recorder. “Now, settle back,” the Judge said. “Here it comes, right after this important com-message!”
***
“Thank you for letting me use this recorder. I would be even more grateful if you’d take me out of this straitjacket.1 Perhaps telling this thing like a story, which is what I have agreed to do, will help. After all, I was a Reporter before the Revolution. But how did we come to this? How you can allow Robo-Cop types to come in and arrest normal people, who just lose their temper, without a trial? I just don’t understand. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Ever since Lee Harvey OswaId, that’s just gone out the window, hasn’t it? I don’t care how open and shut my case looks. And if I had my hands free, I’d slug you son-of-bitches right where it hurts the most … though I’m not
sure where that might be, since you all turned into Cyborgs.”
“Please remember,” the Judge interjected at this point, “Tony is very upset about being in a straitjacket. This is why his threat was not censored. As a Primitive, he just couldn’t help it. We continue…”
“Hmmm!” Jodie Standish said, taking out his revolver and pointing it at me. “Hmmm!”
I liked the second “hmmm!” even less than the first one.
“Put it away, Jodie,” I said, as easily and smoothly as I could. “Remember, you’re running for office.”
“Some campaign manager you turned out to be, you traitor.”
I pretended calm, but inside my graying temples, I could feel everything rising: temperature, heartbeat, cholesterol, insurance payments.
“Come on, Jodie,” I said, as slowly as I could. “So what if I found out you had four million dollars’ worth of paving done on your ranch with county funds?”
“Do I have to account to you for every little thing I’ve done in the past twelve years, just because I’m running for office?”
“Yes, Jodie, you do! Hell, yes.”
“I never heard you swear before, Tony.”
“You never drew a gun on me before.”
He laid it on the green-topped desk between us. Jodie was used to killing, maybe even comfortable with killing. Hung on the walls around us was proof: a mounted mountain goat, a sable antelope, a moose-head, and, practically between my legs, a lion’s pelt with a yawning-jawed head attached resting at peace, with its once-powerful legs jutting at right angles on the polished marble floor.