The Infinite when it was Two Digits Old

by Allen Fleishman

  David looked into her eyes, “Probably more than ever, baldy.” They both smiled at each other and she was wheeled out.

  In the operating room, Martin approached the anesthesiologist, “how would you like to get twenty thousand US dollars held in escrow by a Haitian lawyer to be given to you each year, for the next 5 years, if you see us remove a tumor?” The anesthesiologist nodded. The top part of the skull was removed as well as the thin tissue that held the cerebral spinal fluid. The carbon nanotubes matrix was laid over the brain and the wires led down her back to be inserted in a special sack holding the new experimental organic computer in her chest. The insertion of the computer was done from the chest wall after making only a two-inch incision. The anesthesiologist could not see the diamond embedded within the four-inch long carrot shaped computer. The entire operation took two hours.

  Phyllis was wheeled back to David in the recovery room, then her hospital suite. David looked at the bandaged Phyllis and she looked at him. She started to cry, “It didn’t work. It doesn’t work.”

  David held her hand, “Shhh, relax, it isn’t turned on yet. It also needs to be calibrated. Get some rest and we’ll start tomorrow.” The Ryans and Martin inspected their work and said she could leave after a day to recuperate. The next day, all six returned to their villa in Cap Haitien. The first task was the easiest.

  The next day in the villa, David put a virtual helmet on Phyllis. She saw a black bar move down the visual field of the mask. Phyllis was to keep her eyes as steady as possible. The bar then moved across and then up. The black bar was replaced by bars in different colors. Phyllis was then given a circle and asked to make it so it was round, using a mouse. The circle appeared in different sizes and colors.

  After removing the helmet, Phyllis looked at David, “so when will I see what the computer is presenting directly?”

  “You have been, for the last 3 hours.” David grinned.

  “But the helmet? I saw it clearly on the helmet.”

  David smiled. He reached behind him and got the necklace he had given to Phyllis many months before. “I’d like you to wear this again. As you know, it has small cameras, including special rigs, among the fake jewels on the sides and back.” He looked at her eyes as she put it on.

  She blinked, then closed her eyes and opened them. She started staring at her hand, moving it closer then further away. “This is incredible, simply incredible. I knew that with two eyes, we had binocular vision and we can see distances, 3-D, and all, but with all these cameras, not only can I see things so much clearer, but it’s like a completely new dimension. And I can see under my hand too. This new 3-D is so much better. And I can see behind me and my sides too. Full 360-degree vision. Ohhh.”

  David was grinning again, “I didn’t realize I needed glasses until my Dad unplugged the computer the summer before we met. The distance between the cameras is greater than your eyes, and with more than two images, you can get much better, clearer and even fuller three-dimensional vision. The bottom jewel also has a mini-spectroscope; it can actually do a crude chemical breakdown. But that’s another’s day’s lesson when we calibrate your nose.”

  Phyllis looked at David, “I must really look a sight.”

  David looked at her almost startled, “Never. You could never look any less lovely than you did when we first met.”

  Phyllis rolled her eyes, “Oh pul-eease, without any makeup, recuperating from surgery. I must look hideous.”

  David looked into her eyes. “Close your eyes for a second.” Phyllis did and suddenly she saw herself sitting in the chair, in the villa, but she had her short brown hair and was totally nude. “Stop that.” She felt herself blush. The image reappeared with her short brown hair, but wearing her Haitian outfit. “But that isn’t the way I really look, I don’t have my hair.”

  “But,” said David, “that’s the way I see you. All people put on their rose-colored glasses when they look at people. Charlie once told me how he grew a beard during the summer, and shaved it before school. His parents knew something was different but couldn’t tell what it was. They just saw HIM. I see clearer than any other person. You will always be the essence of you. When I look at you, I think of the millions of images I have stored. All are you.” Her image shifted to her sitting in the chair wearing the elegant gown she had worn in Italy with the wig. Phyllis opened her eyes and got dizzy, seeing out of her eyes and David’s simultaneously. David turned his perceptual link off.

  “Let’s try something. Stand up, walk to the wall, squat, bend down, stand on your toes and move around. Dance.” Phyllis did as directed. David asked her to try to make some additional movements, like making strange faces, moving her tongue around, moving her scalp, expanding and contracting her rib cage. “Okay, I think I got it. Try to relax and trust me. Let me take control, Okay. I’m going to have you go to the other end of the room, bend down, pick up a flower and pirouette back. Try not to fight me.”

  Phyllis felt her muscles move out of her control, she jerkily stood and started walking to the other side of the room and stumbled. “Sorree,” Phyllis said, “giving up control is easier said than done.”

  David smiled, “That was really good for a first time. The nerves of your muscles not only allow you to move but also give you extensive feedback. In fact, for every nerve controlling movement, there are four giving you feedback on where your body is. I turned your own movements off, do you feel my body? Try to get my body to walk to you.”

  “This is weird, really, really weird,” Phyllis’ eyes were bright with pleasure. “I feel your body. It feels so light and limber.” David took some steps to her, at first hesitant, then more easily, s/he touched her. “I’m feeling you touch me through your hand and my face. I never realized I felt so smooth.” S/he bent down from above her and kissed her. “Whoa, that really is weird. Incredibly electric. Do you feel it too?”

  She glanced down to the bulge on his thighs and realized that he did. David ‘disconnected,’ “I think that was enough stimulation for you. You just had the operation yesterday.”

  ***

  That night in their room, they lay in bed. David again let Phyllis feel his face and mouth perceptions, as he kissed her. It was the most erotic feeling she ever felt, as his tongue probed her mouth and simultaneously his mouth was feeling her tongue. She was feeling him feeling her. She was soon breathing harder and faster, getting more and more light-headed. They were kissing and probing tongues for ten minutes, she felt like she was soon going to lose control. David suddenly stopped, “I got it. I got it.” Phyllis felt the world suddenly being brought to a screeching halt. “It?” was all she could say in halting breaths.

  “Yes, a solution to both my problems. We’ll sing.”

  Phyllis raised herself onto her elbow. “Sing? David, has a capacitor busted loose in there. Sing? Uh, I thought I was ‘singing’ back there.”

  David had a wild smile, “Not ‘sing’ but ‘SING’. Did you ever hear California Dreaming by the Mammas and Pappas? Or a really good barbershop quartet? They have an incredible harmony. That was it - Harmony.”

  Phyllis was looking concerned, “Harmony. David I think we need to speak to Martin, you may not be feeling well. Should I wake him?”

  David was manic, “Phyl, I’ve been thinking, searching might be a better word, for a solution to two problems. Do you remember how we got the force fields going, but only for a few milliseconds? It kept on collapsing. I’ve been looking for alternative solutions for months now. You heard how Watson of DNA fame had a dream of snakes intertwining when he was trying to think of the structure of DNA molecules. How he used the dream of intertwining snakes to come up with the double helix? I’ve also been thinking of ways to get you to learn to give up control. I then hit on it: Singing. I know you’re thinking I’m crazy, hear me out.

  “Great harmonization have different voices, and they must be different, come together on exactly the same key. The sound is amplified, the frequencies merge, and it sounds gr
eat. It’s very different from turning one voice up to twice the volume. It’s not the same. We can do that with two or more force field loci. Your problem is letting go, you know like talking on the cell phone while driving, or walking and chewing gum. You do one automatically and think about the second. We’ll sing. I’ll first give you the words and music which you can hear, and then we’ll distract you with the first thing which pops up.” David grinned. “While we’re having sex, I’ll keep your mouth and vocal cords activated, while I’ll be otherwise, umm, distracting your brain.”

  Phyllis started to pout. “You were thinking of physics problems while we were kissing? I heard of thinking of baseball, but isn’t that a bit extreme?”

  “Phyl, honey, when you were kissing me, were you thinking of breathing, or telling your heart to pump? I constantly multi-process. I have to.” David looked serious, “Phyl, my brain really is different from yours. You know how the Outs are developing quad and hex-core computers. Well our standard computers have 512 cores. I’m used to using all of them, simultaneously. When I’m multiprocessing, I often don’t even use my own computer to do the thinking, sometimes dozens, all around this villa. That doesn’t mean that I’m not here, I am. But there’s a part of me that’s doing other things also, like breathing, or solving complex problems, just like you can tell your computer to solve problems while you’re talking to me.”

  David continued, “Okay, let’s try to sing together. Can you sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat in rounds? You know, when I finish the first stanza and I start the second, you start the first?”

  “Yes, but I sucked at that.”

  David smiled, “Not tonight. Just allow yourself to flow with it, automatically.” David started to sing. “Row, row, row your boat.” After the first stanza, he pointed at Phyllis.

  She started to sing, “Row, row, row your boat.” She also felt her body wanting her to sing, automatically correcting any mistakes. They sang, for the first time she found it easy to sing in rounds. David started to touch her. First, he slowly touched her on the outside of her arms. She was watching him and feeling the sensations. She sang, “Row, row, row your boat.” She kept on realizing that she was also singing. Her attention then drifted back to David’s gentle caresses. She heard herself sing, “Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily.” His fingers slowly moved from her outer arms to the inside of her arms. For the first time in her life, his light touch wasn’t ticklish. He then moved to her wrists, gently touched her face, then neck. She felt her breathing become more labored. She realized that they were still singing and almost broke the rhythm of the song. “Life is but a dream.” She then felt the fingers trace the outside of her breasts, then to her nipples and back to the outside. “Gently down the stream.” He caressed the undersides of her breasts, moving slowly back to her nipple. “Life is but a dream.”

  His fingers slowly moved down then focused on her clitoris. “Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily.” He then moved to stroke the inside of her thighs. “Life is but a dream.” Five minutes later she came. They were still singing Row, Row, Row your Boat, when he stopped the program.

  A minute later, after her breathing returned to normal, “I could see you’d make a great Teacher, but obviously not Elementary School.”

  ***

  David and Phyllis had closed their bedroom lights. Phyllis lay in the bed and couldn’t sleep. She thought, ‘It would never be right. I’m hideously scarred. I’ll never be smart like him.’ She quietly cried.

  David: Dad?

  Martin: What’s wrong? Is Phyllis alright? Should I come over? Let me get my bag.

  David: Uh, no. She’s fine, but she’s crying.

  Martin: Do you know its 12:30 in the morning?

  David: Of course.

  Martin: Stupid question. What’s wrong?

  David: I think she’s crying.

  Martin: Well, ask her what’s wrong.

  A few moments later David asked, “What’s wrong?” She was facing away from him.

  She stiffened. “Nothing’s wrong.”

  David: Oh, it’s nothing.

  Martin: Is she crying, or not?

  David turned his light on, reached over and touched her tear soaked face. “Nothing?”

  She said. “Nothing. Go back to sleep.”

  David: She said it’s nothing. But she’s crying.

  Martin: SOMETHING is wrong. Ask her. Or do I need to get out of bed to do it for you? Ask her. Sheest.

  David sat up. “What’s wrong? Is it something I did?”

  Phyllis turned over to face him, “David, how come you never talk about us? I .. I don’t know what I am. I think I’m more than just a friend with benefits. But what? Am I just your mistress? I think I can be, but I have to know.”

  David lay down. There was no response from David. He was still. Phyllis continued, “Ever since my mother was murdered, my life has never been the same. Nothing is permanent. Then I was on the run. There were days when all I had was on my back. All I felt was my fear. You and I even fled to Europe and were kidnapped. I thought we were real, but I know I look hideous – I’m bald and have these scars. And in my heart, I know that I can never keep up with you, David. Never be a real partner, like Joshua. I’m enhanced, but I’ll never be enhanced like you. Never. A weak trivial imitation.”

  Phyllis lay down, turned away from David, and silently cried. She was still in the quiet of the room. The light on his side of the bedroom was still on.

  David: She said she’s ugly. But I told her yesterday that she’s pretty. She’s also saying that she’ll never be as smart as me.

  Martin: You go over to her, take her face in your hand and tell her what you think of her, both physically and mentally. Do you think she’s ugly? Do you think she’s beneath you in all areas? Do you think she’s wiser than you? I can’t answer that for you. But you tell her the truth. Anything else both of you will immediately know is a lie. Think about it first before you say it.

  Phyllis thought, ‘he’s not saying anything. He’s not saying anything. It’s over. He wants out.’ The thoughts were racing through Phyllis’ mind. ‘Should I move out? David’s just lying there trying to come up with the words to end it.’ She was sobbing quietly. Suddenly, she felt the light touch of David.

  He said, “Phyllis, it’s not you, it’s not you at all. You are gorgeous, you always have been, you are, and you always will be to me.” David got up, walked around the bed, turned her light on, knelt by her side of the bed, and touched her face. David removed the cap she wore revealing the bandages. The bandages hid a scar starting at her temple hairline that went around the back of her scalp to the other temple. David gently held her head with the tips of his finger. “Phyllis, close your eyes.”

  Phyllis saw through David’s eyes, he was holding her head, but her head was free of stitches, covered with short light brown hair. She looked radiantly beautiful.

  “That’s not me. Not now.”

  “But that’s the way I see you with my eyes. I thought we talked about this yesterday. Hold on.” David turned on an Options page in her visual field. He went to a submenu that said David. He selected one, Phyllis’ vision cleared and she saw David, but it was David now ten years older. David’s face was fuller, broader, with slightly sharper features, but he still wore that half grin. “I felt you needed a more mature man. But who is touching you?” There was a silence, which filled the room. Phyllis’ field of vision shifted to David’s hands caressing her, she felt him play with the curls in her hair. She even felt the non-existent hair on his fingertips. David then wiped the tears from her eyes.

  “Phyllis, you know I love you. It’s the ‘you,’ your essence, I love.”

  Phyllis’ perception became her own again. David kissed her. His tongue entered her mouth. However, David was now a seven-year-old version of himself. Despite her tears, Phyllis laughed and pushed David away. “Stop that!”

  David became serious again, “Yes, our brains are different. They will always be different
. You will think differently than me. But isn’t that the curse of all men and women? You know ‘Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus’? Yes, no one born before Josh will ever have intelligence like mine. I once heard Sidney say I have a form of social Asperger’s syndrome, that I’m mildly autistic. But, that’s ok. Yes, I’m more intelligent, but I’ve always been very envious of your wisdom. You’ve been so much more astute than me. Do you remember when Andrea came over to our table? You had her pegged completely, understood her, handled her, and sent her packing in 2.3 minutes. When you first met Corey and Janet, they instantly loved you. I could see that. And do you remember that first meeting in Rome with the C H Electricity attorney?”

  “I was scared shitless.”

  “I know. But you got those Italian machismos, out of their paternalistic male-dominant, control-addled, brains and you walked all over them. You knew in your heart how to deal with them and did it. It wasn’t Persona 35A. It was you. Sure, I didn’t want to be the center of attention. I’m a social klutz. I was being selfish, but you were infinitely better than I would have been. I’m constantly screwing up with people. In some ways, I am better then you. In many, many other ways you are. You are the person I can never be.”