Nano Contestant - Episode 1: Whatever It Takes (3 page)

“Mr.Davenport’s files have been successfully unlocked, sir.”

 
All of Matthew’s files and folders came into focus.

 
Skylar was excited. She began moving through the folders. “This stuff is amazing!” She scanned through each one briefly and then would swipe her hand through the air to go to the next one.

Roland plopped down onto the small leather sofa that was near the wall. “C’mon dad, get me into the games!”

Skylar stopped flipping through the folders and just began reading one of them. “Roland, this is it!” She filled the wall with the project summary document. “This is exactly what we need. Tiny nanobots that are made from hydrogen and oxygen molecules.”

“What? So, it’s nanotech made from water?”

“Well, yeah, I guess you could think of it like that. Think of it more like super-charged water with great capabilities and limitless potential.”

“Well, will it help us with the Tech Games?”

Skylar ignored him for a moment while she scrolled through the document. “Yes, I think it will. Basically, the molecules are charged up in a lab, and their electrons are synchronized. That’s the key here. The electron orbits must be exactly the same in order for us to be able to control them.”

“And how does that help us?”

“Still reading, hold on.” Skylar scrolled down a few more paragraphs. “Yeah, this is good. It looks like once the sync has happened, then the nanobots should be able to strengthen muscles, increase energy, maximize oxygen levels, reduce recovery times, control temperature levels and who knows what else? So, yeah, in theory, you could be faster and stronger.”

“But Sky, is it enough to be
competitive
?”

“Not sure yet. Still reading. Go find out the times of other Tech Games contestants, so we have an idea what we are looking at.”

Roland stepped over to the side screen and began checking out past contestants.

Skylar continued reading and looking at holographic lab experiments.

“Ok, so the race is a double marathon, making it 52.4 miles. The fastest time is about three hours. The slowest time that still qualified was seven hours.”

Skylar looked over at him. “Seven hours? Regular humans have been running double marathons in five hours since 2014. Why would it take a human with speed tech two hours longer?”

Roland pulled up a holographic map of the course from one of the past games. He let out a low whistle while he watched as the track was highlighted through the map. “It looks like the course is extremely rough: mountains, rivers, sand and ice.”

“I see.” Skylar went back to her reading. “Roland, your dad’s tech would actually put you in a completely new category.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, there’s the digitals, the hybrids and the nanotechs, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, all other nanotech was made with some kind of silicon or carbon material. What your dad has created here would be completely organic, just oxygen and hydrogen.”

“I remember him saying something about it being organic nanotech.”

“Roland, this is a big deal. This has never been done before. No wonder your dad wanted to keep this a secret from Pinnacle. This could be worth billions of dollars, if it were sold.”

“He didn’t want to sell it. He wanted to make it freely available to everyone, like an open source license or something.”

“Open source nanotech? That is definitely revolutionary. Something like this could make Pinnacle's business nearly obsolete.”

“Good. All the more reason to do this.”

C
HAPTER
S
EVEN
:

P
ROCEDURE

SKYLAR WAS QUIET as she read through Matthew’s notes. Suddenly, she clamped her hand over mouth and let out a groan.

“What is it, Sky?”

“Roland, I don’t think this is going to work.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just read over the installation procedure, and I don’t think it’s something we could do.”

“Sky, you know I don’t care what it takes.”

“Well, you haven’t seen
this
!” She swiped her hand through a few pages. Then she launched a hologram recording. “This is a simulation to show how the nanotech must be installed. Hobbes, walk us through it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The hologram showed a human head. “Organic Nanobot installation. Prerequisites. The subject must not undergo any kind of anesthesia for this procedure. The anesthesia will interfere with the nanobots being properly placed and will have an adverse effect on both the nanobots and the subject’s body.”

“Roland…”

Roland crossed his arms as he watched the hologram. “Shh, let me watch.”

The hologram zoomed into a closeup of the human eyeball. “Step one, the eyeball must be secured so that it does not move during the procedure.” The hologram showed a robotic arm as two small flat mechanized pieces slid underneath the upper and lower eyelids. Then they pulled the eyeball slightly towards the arm.

Roland grimaced.

“Step two, after the eyeball has been secured, a delivery needle must be readied for insertion to the retina.” The hologram displayed a second robotic arm with a syringe attached at the end of it. It slowly moved towards the center of the eyeball. “With the eyeball pulled taut, the delivery needle must be inserted all the way through the eyeball to the optic nerve.”

Skylar bit her bottom lip and squinted at the grisly hologram.

“Step three, during the delivery, the patient must remain absolutely still or risk permanent damage to his sight. Once the needle is touching the optic nerve, the delivery process may begin. The syringe must deliver at a slow pace in order to not overwhelm the optic nerve. Delivery rate should not exceed one hundred milligrams per minute.” In the hologram, the plunger on the syringe slowly pushed out the nanotech delivery solution.

“Sky, how many milligrams would I need?”

Skylar looked through the notes. “Says the dose is done by subject weight at one hundred milligrams per fifty pounds of body weight. So, if you are about two hundred pounds, you would need four hundred milligrams.”

“So, I would have to sit perfectly still for four minutes while this thing squeezed nanobots into my optic nerve?”

Skylar nodded.

“Step four, the delivery needle must be retracted.” The needle pulled out of the hologram’s eyeball. Step five, the nanobots will need to be jumpstarted and the subject’s heart must be sync’d with the electronic signature of the nanobots.” The hologram showed the subject laying on his back and being shocked with a device.
 

Roland pointed at the defibrillator. “What’s that?”

“That’s a defibrillator, sir. They were commonly used until around 2030 when they were replaced by medical robotic surge devices that allowed for a greater regulation of voltage.”

“Roland, you have to get jumpstarted after you have had a needle in your eye! Those defibrillators are old tech. They haven’t been used in eighty years. I’m not going to let you do this. We will find another way. ”

“Sky, we both know there’s not another way. All the other nanotech options are way worse.”

Skylar sighed and looked down at the floor. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I’m not going to. I trust my dad’s tech. If he chose to power it with eighty year old tech, I’m sure he had a good reason. Find an optics lab that can do the procedure.”

“Ok, I’ll see if I can find one that won’t ask too many questions.”

C
HAPTER
E
IGHT
:

U
NDOCUMENTED

SKYLAR PUT DOWN her headset and shook her head at Roland. “They won’t do it either.”

“Well, that’s ten Optics labs or surgical centers that you’ve called.”

“They won’t let us in for an undocumented procedure.” Skylar leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms.

“Maybe we are looking in the wrong place, Sky.”

“What do you mean? These are all places that do optics work.”

“Yeah, but they do
documented
optics work. Maybe we need to be looking for a place that doesn’t care about whether or not it is a documented procedure.” Roland swiped his hand in front of him. A hologram of a keyboard appeared beneath his fingers. He began typing in the air. “Ok, here’s a place:
Ivan’s Optics: Repairs and Implants
.”

“Ivan’s? Roland, be serious. We are talking about your sight here.” Skylar came over and stood next to Roland to get a better look at the results on the wall. “Their site doesn’t even say they do surgeries or procedures.”

“That’s why this is going to work. A surgery is medical. This Ivan guy is doing repairs and implants. He’s working on the gear, not the medical side.”

Skylar pulled up a map to find Ivan’s. “Roland, this is over in the ghetto Russian warehouse district. That’s not safe.”

“Found several forum posts about Ivan’s. Says he has done some good work with android optic installation and some other things.”

Skylar rolled her eyes. “Wonderful.”

“Sky, hand me the headset. I’m going to call him.” Roland adjusted the headset for his head. “How long do you think it will take to get the nanotech ready for the procedure?”

“Well, your dad’s notes say about half a day.”

Roland nodded and crossed his arms as he waited for the call to go through.

“Ivan’s Optics,” said the gruff voice that was thick with a Russian accent. Skylar could hear him clearly even through Roland’s headset.

Roland told him his name and gave him a quick rundown of what they wanted.

“Roland. Da. I do that. I have equipment. Don’t you worry. You trust Ivan!”

Roland asked if Ivan had a defibrillator.

“Da! You not worry though. Ivan not let paying customers die. You not need ‘fibrillator. You trust Ivan!”

Roland asked how much it was going to cost.

“Ivan give you best deal. Use equipment is thousand dollars, new needles are two hundred. You want new needles right?”

Roland raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I’d like new needles.”

Skylar threw her hands up in the air.

“Da! Good. Sterile important.”

“Finally something we agree on,” whispered Skylar.

“Plus Ivan’s time, costs about fifteen hundred cash. Oh, you want pain meds? That extra. I give you good pain meds.”

“No, I won’t need them.”

“Da! Good. You use Vodka, like me! Cheaper! Vodka better than pain meds anyway.”

“No, that’s ok. Fifteen hundred dollars cash? Sounds good. How about tomorrow afternoon at two? Make sure you have the defibrillator charged and ready.”

“Da! Tomorrow at two. Ivan will be ready. You trust Ivan and not need ‘fibrillator, but I have it ready for you.”

Roland hung up and let out a low whistle. “You hear all that? Tomorrow at two at Ivan’s.”

Skylar crossed her arms. “Oh, I heard every word. I think you’re completely insane for considering this.”

“Ivan’s all we got. So you better get working on getting the nanotech delivery solution ready.”

Skylar turned to go.

Roland grabbed her shoulder. “Hey, wait a minute.”

Skylar faced Roland. “What?”

Roland’s face was serious. “Promise me that you won’t tell anyone about my dad or our plan.”

Skylar nodded. “I promise.”

“I know we’ll have to talk about our specific plans later on, just make sure no one else is around.”

“Roland, you don’t have to worry. I know what’s at stake. I’m not going to say anything.”

Roland relaxed a little. “Thanks.”

C
HAPTER
N
INE
:

T
WO

SKYLAR AND ROLAND took a cab over to the Russian warehouse district where Ivan’s Optics was located.

The neighborhood took a dive fast just as soon as they passed the first warehouse. Graffiti covered nearly every wall. Rough looking dock workers loaded and unloaded hover cargo carriers. Most were burly and covered in tattoos. All looked like they were in desperate need of a bath, haircut and a shave.

They passed an alleyway where the police lights were flashing, and the police were arresting a drug dealer.

Finally, they pulled up in front of a dilapidated warehouse that had slightly less graffiti on it than the ones surrounding it. A fluorescent sign above the dock entrance said
Ivan’s
in bright red letters.

Small bits of broken glass and debris littered the walkway up to the entrance.

“Roland, we can still go back home.”

Roland got out of the cab and took hold of Skylar’s hand and started to pull her out. “C’mon, Sky. Let’s go.”

The warehouse door rolled up just before they could knock, and they were greeted by Ivan. He was a middle-aged man about six and a half feet tall. His full beard and long hair were streaked with grey. He wore coveralls and had a shop apron covered in stains and grime.

“You Roland?” Ivan wiped his hands on his dirty apron and held out his hand to shake Roland’s.

Roland’s hand was engulfed as Ivan shook it. “Yeah, I’m Roland. This is my friend, Sky.”

Skylar gave a wave, but then she hugged her box tightly in order to avoid a grimy handshake.

“She’s a pretty girl. Don’t see many pretty girls down here.” Ivan winked at Skylar.

Roland deflected. “Well, can we see the equipment?”

“Da, Da. Equipment in back. I have clean area.”

They followed Ivan to the back of the warehouse, where they could see a well-lit, enclosed area. The windows on the side showed a room that looked very out of place in the warehouse. It was bright, clean and well outfitted with optics equipment.

“Da, you are surprised, yes?” Ivan laughed heartily.

“Yes, very surprised,” said Skylar.

Roland turned towards Ivan. “Let’s go over the procedure again.”

Skylar watched as Roland went through each step, and Ivan nodded frequently.

“Da. We ready. You leave shoes outside clean room and go in and wait for me. I change clothes.”

Roland and Skylar left their shoes and went inside to the clean room. The patient’s chair was purely one of functionality, not amenity. It was perfectly L-shaped and had three restraints rather than cushions.