Amped
Authors: Daniel H. Wilson
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Daniel H. Wilson
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by
Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and
in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
DOUBLEDAY
and the portrayal of an anchor with
a dolphin are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company for permission to reprint “The Hammer” from
THE COMPLETE POEMS OF CARL SANDBURG, Revised and Expanded Edition
by Carl Sandburg. Copyright © 1969, 1970 by Lilian Steichan Sandburg, Trustee. All rights reserved.
Book design by Michael Collica
Cover design and illustration by Will Staehle
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilson, Daniel H. (Daniel Howard)
Amped : a novel / Daniel H. Wilson.—1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Human experimentation in medicine—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3623.I57796A83 2012
813’.6—dc23
2011052318
eISBN: 978-0-385-53516-8
v3.1
For Genieve Wilson
General Biologics
™
Neural Autofocus MK-4
®
User’s Manual—
US
Version
The Neural Autofocus MK-4
®
Brain Implant
The Neural Autofocus MK-4
®
Brain Implant is used to send electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain as well as to sense brain activity.
Figure 1
.
The implant consists of an
electrode
array
(A)
placed on the brain surface, a subdermal
processing
unit
(B)
, a biologically charged
capacitor
(C)
, and a
maintenance
port
(D)
that is located above the ear (adjacent to the temporal lobe).
The central purpose of the Neural Autofocus MK-4
®
is to increase your ability to concentrate on mental and physical tasks by sensing brain wave states associated with inattention and stimulating the brain wave state toward beta one (focused attention).
Figure 2
.
In addition, the unit can serve as a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) for users who wish to operate an externally worn medical exoskeleton device, powered prosthetic limb (or limbs), or microelectric retinal implant device.
In the first months of use, your Neural Autofocus MK-4
®
Brain Implant will develop an accurate model of your brain function. In response to the unit, your own neural circuits will adapt, strengthening existing pathways associated with concentration and motor function. This feedback process will continue throughout
the lifetime of the implant device. Please note that these changes
are irreversible, even if use of the implant is discontinued.
Monthly application of bio-gel
®
via the maintenance port is crucial to prevent infection or foreign body rejection. Our patented bio-gel
®
is also guaranteed to minimize the incidence of neural scarring, which can degrade electrode efficiency.
Congratulations! With proper care, your new Neural Autofocus
MK-4
®
Brain Implant will improve your life for years to come!
Note: As with all types of surgery, neural implantation carries some risks. Talk to your physician about warnings, precautions, and possible hazards. Viral or bacterial infection is a life-threatening condition. Call your doctor right away if you experience symptoms of infection, including stiff neck, confusion, fever, local redness, swelling, discharge, or seizures.
We can change ourselves.
Think of the possibilities.
—
CARL SAGAN
PINION OF THE
C
OURT
v.
BOARD OF EDUCATION
MR. CHIEF JUSTICE ANFUSO delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question in this case is whether users of implantable technology (e.g., Neural Autofocus
®
units) are guaranteed a right to education under the Fourteenth Amendment. The respondent Board of Education asserted that implanted students wield an unfair intellectual advantage over nonimplanted students and faculty, interfering with the fair administration of education.
The case of
Brown
v. Board of Education,
347 U.S. 483, established that public institutions may not discriminate against students based on their immutable characteristics. We hold that the use of implantable technology constitutes an
elective
surgery,
and that there is therefore no protection for implanted citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Therefore, we hold that implanted citizens are not a protected class.
It is so ordered.