Absorption (16 page)

Brett considered the question seriously before saying, “Nobody’s done anything bad to me lately, and it’s unfair to poke anyone not trying to poke me. I may be forced to walk around in dangerous neighborhoods looking feeble and wearing expensive jewelry. There’s never an enemy around when you need one.”

The boy laughed but persisted. “Seriously, have you ever used one?”

“On a planet called Roundhouse, a long time ago. Before the system broke down, doctors were noncombatants as long as they didn’t carry guns. Even captured, they were exchanged easier than other prisoners – provided they carry only bladed weapons. It’s based on some ancient tradition involving surgeon’s knives and scalpels.”

“Why did the Federalists agree to fight according to those rules?”

Maybe the boy was older than he looked.

“We often do. Most human worlds have been out of touch with one another for hundreds of thousands of years. War is horrible enough without saying there are no limits because different planets have –”

The boy’s mother came up with loud apologies. “I keep trying to stop him from interrupting people, but he seems to make it a habit.”

“
He
didn’t interrupt me.”

The emphasis on the first word was slight. Before the boy was dragged away, Brett advised him that interrupting people should indeed be avoided, and he should not learn from the bad examples of people around him.

When he was gone Brett turned back to his companions. “I don’t know what’s the matter with adults today. Parents didn’t behave like that when I was a child.”

A misleading statement for the sake of a punch line. He didn’t need to talk about his youth. Perhaps someday with Ariel.

Then his tone grew more somber. “I’m pretty sure there’s a rule somewhere that I’m not allowed to accept gifts costing over fifty credits unless they’re very boring and official.”

Kenny replied, “You’re in luck. We hunted through second hand stores until I found this on sale for forty nine credits.”

“The owner didn’t know what he had. I’m really touched. No matter what the price was, a lot of work went into finding this. Thank you very much.”

For both the gift and the lie, Brett thought but did not say.

Muriel gave him padded headgear. It was like a skullcap of black flexible plastic, except it covered his entire skull. Presumably the holes allowed air to circulate.

Ariel gave him a white plastic rectangular box with a clip on one side. It had a few indicator lights, a red button, and a plate of glass the size of a quarter. Brett turned it over a couple of times, and then realized it was one of the boxes many people who had helmets wore clipped to their belts. It was a computer which would also boost the signals from his nanotechnology, and amplify incoming signals. She showed him how to configure the two devices to work with each other and with Brett’s nannies.

He asked her, “How soon until these work for me?”

Ariel replied with another question. “Can you ice skate?”

Brett shook his head.

Ariel said, “In about six weeks you’ll learn. It will take you a few days. I’ll come with you if you like. Using the nannies to learn skills involving the parietal, frontal, and prefrontal lobes of the brain will take longer.”

A waiter placed a tray with several dozen tiny shot glasses in front of Brett. Fortunately they contained different kinds of beer rather than hard liquor – he hadn’t planned to get drunk.

Before he could ask a question, Ariel explained. “We usually start with the sensory cortex – especially taste and smell. A little alcohol will help the system learn how your brain operates under various conditions.”

“Well, as much as I hate to drink on an empty stomach, since you all insist…”

The steak placed in front of him just then smelled good, so he was spared the necessity.

The lake wasn’t crowded. Brett leaned forward, angled his skates against the ice, and built up speed. As Ariel skated towards him, he took her outstretched hand. They pivoted around a spot near his elbow. When they had spun a hundred and eighty degrees they let go, each speeding back the way they had come.

From behind him came a gasp, a muffled thump, a brief scraping noise. He turned his feet, using the blades to shed speed and curve around. Tiny crystals of ice scattered the sunlight. He headed back towards Ariel.

After he had helped her up, Ariel frowned judiciously. “Not bad. Of course you started to learn to ice skate a couple of days ago, so you’re kind of a slow learner.”

Brett chuckled. Anyone could skate but it took grace to laugh about a fall. “Are you all right?”

She nodded. “Just a slip.”

Brett wasn’t quite satisfied. He couldn’t put his finger on the reason, something about the way she moved. He remembered what had caught his eye the first time they met. Something about the way she moved was graceful, but ethereal. “Good, but I meant more than just the fall. Is something bigger wrong?”

Ariel shook her head. “No. Maybe. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Brett studied her features. The ‘maybe’ hinted at ambivalence, but prying would push her away. After a few awkward moments he returned to the previous subject. “How long does an Oceanian with nannies take to learn ice skating?”

“Probably a couple of weeks – if they were already grown when they started. I was teasing you. The bottleneck for skating is certain ankle muscles. You have discipline, and the ability to endure a little pain now for more pleasure later.”

Brett wondered what she would be like alone at night, though he knew all the reasons why anything more would be foolish for both of them, and unprofessional for Brett.

When Ariel spoke again she was all business. “You’re doing very well. Your medical knowledge probably helps more with the sensory and motor cortexes than it will with the rest of the brain, because each brain has its own individual language. Still, you’ve done the easy part faster than most Oceanians.”

Of course most Oceanians were teenagers at the time they learned basic nanotech functions. Would their greater brain plasticity make it easier for them, or would youth make it harder?

Brett’s initial fears had faded slightly a couple of weeks after the infusion. Some days his new tool – and toy – felt so natural he needed to remind himself of his mission. Only rarely did reality come crashing down around him, leaving him wondering anxiously what had been taken from him so thoroughly he didn’t even remember it. The classes he took were open, encouraging the students to experiment, and even challenge the instructors with things heard or read elsewhere. If this was a vast conspiracy, it was subtle indeed.

Emotional exhaustion rather than logic ended the worrying. A kind of peace took its place. He enjoyed learning, especially since Ariel had offered to help him. Skating outdoors had sounded nice, but it was summer. They had taken a long distance pod under the ocean, where high speed magnetic monorails ran through tubes with the air evacuated to save power and increase speed. She had summoned a much nicer one than had taken Brett to Ulayn, with no sleeping facilities but a little table for an indoor picnic. Now the cold air stung his face, but the warm parka protected the rest of him. A few clouds broke the blue expanse of sky. Even the steam in the air when he breathed was crisply satisfying.

Standing still on the ice was in a way harder than skating. In synch they started moving again.

“Next you’ll learn a couple of visual and spatial skills. But the most important thing you’ll be doing is learning how to learn.”

As they skated side by side, Brett studied Ariel covertly. A few wisps of golden hair had escaped the hood of her coat. Certainly there was no need for her to spend all this time with him if she didn’t want to. Other people could have taught him. He ached at the possibilities which could never be explored. She could help him in his mission, so he was doubly determined she would never look back and feel used.

Ariel continued in an impersonal tone. It was almost like a lecture. Probably just as well.

“Absorbing verbal knowledge through nannies is one of the most advanced processes. It can’t just be spilled into your brain, because your brain grows its own connections and makes its own associations with other things you’ve learned. You read, you study, you remember, except you’ll do it a lot faster. The system knows you’re a licensed neurosurgeon, so you’ll have access to a few more overrides than most people.”

At first he wondered why they had come so far north rather than using an indoor skating rink, but this place spoke for itself. He saw snow covered evergreen trees in the distance.

He said, “Thank you again for taking the time to teach me all this. If there’s anything I can do for you, just say the word.”

“Well, there is one little thing.”

“I’d love to.” He bit his lip. “I mean, I will if I can. What would you like me to do?”

Ariel took a few moments to start. “I have a doctor’s appointment in a few days. Um, I didn’t ask Michael to go with me because, after he and Muriel had the big argument, but I was going to ask him anyway, only now it’s so late it would seem funny I hadn’t mentioned it before, and, um, anyway he and Muriel might fight again.”

Brett considered that speech, made quickly and without a pause for breath, as if explaining made Ariel uncomfortable. He liked Ariel’s voice, sweet but with an undercurrent of mischief, so he would take any ramble she gave him.

“Would you like me to go with you without your having to explain anything to me?”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you ever so much.”

She didn’t seem frightened or depressed, so hopefully nothing serious. He’d just agreed not to ask her about it.

“Sure thing,” Brett told her.

She rewarded him with a radiant smile.

Late afternoon sunlight slanted between the trees and came through the windows. A small swimming pool glittered invitingly in the grass.

Ariel caught the direction of Brett’s gaze. “Too small for laps, but five feet deep.”

He refused to be distracted. “Ariel, please tell me what’s wrong.”

She shook her head. “Nothing really. I just have a doctor’s appointment, and I feel like having someone with me. Muriel and Michael don’t get along.”

Brett wondered if he was projecting mystery into a straightforward situation. Then he remembered the wording of her request last week. She was hiding something. Or maybe he just had trouble dealing with the idea of a doctor making house calls.

Ariel stared at him speculatively, her light brown eyes meeting his. Did she see the wheels spinning inside his head?

She asked, “Do you know what this room is for?”

Not a parlor, Brett decided. The large white couch had a black and white checked blanket on it, and a pillow, as if someone slept there occasionally. A treadmill occupied a corner. Bedroom didn’t seem likely either. There was a matching loveseat, a black recliner, and some chairs. Six or seven people could sit here comfortably.

Ariel was sitting on the couch, her red dress and golden hair making a nice contrast with the white leather. She asked, “Looking for something?”

Brett shrugged. “I give up. What do you call this room?”

She replied, “I use this room to access the network.”

Brett knew some places had higher bandwidth access, but hadn’t heard of it in people’s homes. He glanced at the couch, she followed his gaze and explained.

“Some things you can learn while you sleep.”

Brett shuddered at the idea of being so vulnerable. “Does this have anything to do with your job – or your doctor’s appointment today?”

She was always evasive when he asked what she did for a living. For much of the day she had been subdued, and when her expression fell he changed the subject. “Do specialists often make house calls here?”

She smiled. “Muriel’s an old friend. You know her.”

Brett recalled what he knew about Muriel. A neurologist. If Ariel needed moral support, it probably wasn’t minor.

He asked her, “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “I’d rather not talk about it.”

Then she took his hand and squeezed it. “Thanks for being with me. I didn’t feel like doing this alone. Katrina and Kenny wanted to come with me, but then I would have felt like the three of them were ganging up on me. And of course I couldn’t bring Michael.”

Of course? Her friends ganging up on her? She already knew Brett didn’t understand. He would soon enough – or not. He hoped Muriel could be an objective physician as well as a friend.

Brett didn’t hear a doorbell, but the front door opened, presumably because Ariel willed it so. He heard footsteps, although Ariel didn’t call across the room.

The doctor paused a moment when she entered the room, perhaps surprised by his presence. She sounded sincere enough when she said, “Hi Brett, good to see you.”

After a moment, Muriel sat on the loveseat. She turned to face Ariel. “Since overuse of technology is part of the issue here, maybe we should speak aloud.”

Had Ariel been speaking to Muriel non-vocally? Brett understood this wasn’t usually done when two people were face to face, and might be considered rude with him in the room. He didn’t really mind, but she had wanted him present after all.