Sigma One (5 page)

She grabbed the wires and ripped them out of the machine in anger, sat down on the bed and buried her face in her hands and wept. She loved her dad. And she loved Burt.

After ten or so moments of self-indulgent self-pity, Debbie finally came to her senses and was able to calm herself down. She realized how silly she was acting and felt embarrassed, and was thankful no one had been in the room to see her.

Composed, she wiped her eyes and stood up, catching sight of the video tape Burt had thrown on the bed in his haste to leave. -Maybe the tape would answer some of her questions. He did seem more interested in it than her earlier.. Her mind made up, she snatched it up and put it into the VCR and sat back down on the bed to see what was so important.

The image of Burt appeared first and then he began to speak. His voice was calm and professional. Debbie liked that about Burt. He had a commanding way about him. Not overbearing. Just commanding. When he spoke up in class, which was seldom, he always captured the attention of his classmates with his profound insight. He exuded self-confidence and intellect. That's what attracted Debbie to him the first day they met in political science class as freshmen three years before. Debbie smiled as she listened intently to the tape. Burt looked okay. Not sick as she imagined.

"T
oday is Friday, October 25, 1990, and my name is Burt Grayson. This recording is being made in San Louis Obispo, California, in my dormitory room at eight thirty p.m. and will document an experiment which I am about to perform for my advanced computer science class. Before I begin the experiment I would first like to explain the nature of what you are about to witness. As most of you know, the computer revolution of the past twenty years has resulted in an information explosion, the likes of which mankind has never experienced.”

Debbie nodded, agreeing with his last statement.

Burt continued. "This information age has allowed great advances to be made in all of the scientific fields and has enabled mankind to achieve goals never before dreamed of by our ancestors. As an example, in my lifetime, we have sent men to the moon, sent satellite probes to the furthest reaches of space, harnessed the power of the atom to provide heat and electricity for millions of people, explored the inner workings of genes that make each and every one of us unique, and most, if not all of these advances, have been aided by the use of computers. What was extraordinary only yesterday has become common today--all through the power of the computer.

But not all of the problems have been solved yet.People still starve in the streets of Bangladesh. Our skies and rivers are still full of industrial waste. Wars are still waged, and people are killed in gang fights. Medical science has not found a cure for aids, and children are continuing to be born with maladies such as diabetes, or other crippling diseases including arthritis, blindness, and cerebral palsy. Even though medical science is advancing, I feel not enough is being done to aid those already afflicted. Certainly a machine as powerful as a computer can be used to add comfort to the lives of those too crippled to walk, or to use their hands. Surely non-productive lives can be made productive again and self-pity can be turned into self-esteem." Burt paused to allow his words to sink in.

Debbie didn't know where Burt was leading her. But she agreed with everything he had said so far.

Burt then looked directly into the camera and moved closer. His whole face filled the screen on the monitor. "It is my goal, in this experiment, to demonstrate what I call telepathic programming. Through the use of directed thought-energy I will interact with a personal computer, control it, program it and make it respond to my thoughts. If this experiment is successful, and the methods can be replicated, thousands of crippled souls will be able to share in the miracle of the information age. Thousands of would-be unemployable leeches on society might be converted to productive contributing members with the subsequent benefits. Thought programming could also revolutionize the business and scientific world’s alike giving rise to higher productivity worldwide and an acceleration of scientific breakthroughs as the time from ides to implementation is reduced."

Debbie's eyes widened as she absorbed this incredible concept: linking with a computer, without using a keyboard, using only one's mind. The benefits would certainly be remarkable if the experiment could be made to work. But as she was thinking about what Burt had said, she couldn't help wondering why he was working on such a project. What was his motivation? Sure, he was majoring in computer science, but for as long as she had known him, he never showed any altruistic tendencies. In fact, his stinginess with his time and money had oftentimes been the subject of numerous debates the two of them had had over the past three years; she, wanting to spend more time with him than he did with her. Then, unexpectedly, Debbie realized the driving motivation behind this bizarre experiment.

It had to be Daniel!

Daniel was Burt's little brother. Crippled with cerebral palsy since birth, Daniel was institutionalized by the Grayson's soon after his fourth birthday. Burt hadn't talked about Daniel or even mentioned the fact that he had a little brother until he and Debbie went up to his parents' house in Lake Tahoe just three months after they had been dating and she noticed, and then asked Burt who the young boy was in the picture on the living room wall. Burt and the boy were shown sitting on the stairwell. Burt looked about nine or ten, Debbie judged. The other boy looked about three or four. From their eyes and noses, she guessed that they were brothers and when she asked Burt, he verified they were and then he turned away and became sullen with no explanation. Sensing it was not the time nor place to pry, she didn't pressure Burt into talking about Daniel right then, but waited, and on their return trip to school, Burt relayed the story of his little brother's battle with cerebral palsy and how Daniel had lived with the family until he was four, but when his condition warranted round the clock care, his parents had to have him moved into a hospital where he lived ever since. After he told Debbie this, Burt made Debbie promise never to broach the subject of David again, telling her with tear-filled eyes that the pain was too deep for him to handle.

Debbie turned her attention to the monitor again to see what Burt was going to do next.

Burt, finished with his brief explanation of the purpose of his experiment, moved out of view on the monitor and then picked up the video camera, and focused it on the EKG machine while he continued with his scientific explanation of how the experiment would be conducted.

"As you can see, here is an electro-cardiogram machine. It is my intention to hook myself up to this instrument and record my heartbeat while I condition my mind and concentrate on linking with the computer here to the left. I am doing this to determine if there are any physiological impacts of this experiment." He shifted the camera toward the PC situated on his desk. The blinking prompt came sharply into focus.

"I have been studying the design of computers for about nine months now here at school, and it is my theory that because of the incredibly tiny voltages that are used in the central processing unit, that if I can focus my thoughts in the appropriate parts of this computer, then I can create an electromagnetic field which I can shape with my thoughts and, accomplishing this, I can then essentially use this field to generate pulses, much like a keyboard does when struck. These pulses will then be interpreted by and hopefully acted upon by the computer. If this can be accomplished, I will have succeeded in making my mind emulate an alternative input device. If the theory is correct, I will be able to teach others how to do the same thing. That is my plan, anyway."

"In order to bring my mind into sharp focus and to enhance my concentration, I must first hypnotize myself. During this phase of the experiment, I will be unable to speak, but if the experiment works, I will be able to communicate with you by using the text editor on the computer to relay messages while I am linking with it."

Burt now replaced the video camera on its mount, attached the EKG to his arms and chest and sat down in front of the glowing monitor. Debbie intently watched the screen to see if the experiment would be successful. As she watched, Burt closed his eyes slowly and then just sat there for minutes on end. Nothing appeared to be happening and Debbie was about to turn the monitor off when she noticed that the prompt on the computer began to slowly dance across the screen. Burt however, hadn't moved. The microphone failed to pick up Burt's comments he made to the machine ordering it to move, so from Debbie's viewpoint, Burt appeared to be sleeping. Debbie saw Burt slump forward and involuntarily jerked and leaned forward to see if Burt was okay. As she continued to watch, she noted that the moment Burt's head hit the keyboard, the prompt jumped back into its original position in the upper left-hand corner of the screen and just sat there blinking. It did this for all of twenty seconds and then letters began to form on the screen. "-------d-a-n-i-e-l-d-a-n-i-e-1,w-e-d-i-d,w-e-d-i-d-i-t,wedidit,wedidit,wedidit."

Debbie's initial summation proved correct. He did it for Daniel. She continued to stare at the screen hoping for another message from Burt, but what she saw next shocked and confused her.

As she watched, the color monitor went black, Daniel's words erased and were replaced with a series of geometric patterns of various sizes and shapes. Triangles were hooked into spheres which blended into straight and then squiggly lines. The shapes changed and danced on the monitor providing a variety of colors and patterns which were all quite beautiful and reminded Debbie of a kaleidoscope she once had when she was a child. Starbursts and rainbows of colors filled the monitor for at least three minutes and had an almost hypnotic effect on her as she watched, but as suddenly as the patterns appeared they faded into black. Instantaneously, the prompt reappeared and a stream of obscenities flashed on the screen, each foul word blending into the next.

HELLFUCKDAMNHELLFUCKDAMN

The effect was shocking and not a bit like the Burt she knew and loved. Debbie became worried. What was going through Burt's mind? What was he thinking?

The sequence of obscene words finally filled the screen and then the words themselves flashed on and off for perhaps five seconds before the screen went black for a third time. The prompt reappeared and then the following message appeared. "EXPERIMENT A COMPLETE SUCCESS. WHOEVER READS THIS, TELL DEBBIE I LOVE HER. I'M NOT SURE IF I CAN REGAIN CONTROL. THE POWER IS TOO STIMULATING. THE FEELING OF POWER IS TOO GREAT. MUST TRY TO REGAIN. TRY TO REGAIN. REGAIN. REGAIN."

Debbie watched for any further signs from him, forgetting momentarily his temporary lapse into foulness. She hoped he would get his feet firmly on the ground and be able to overcome whatever had caused him in his sleep-state to lay bare his soul. He was obviously a troubled individual, if what was coming across the monitor was any indication of how he really felt. She shuddered knowing she would have to confront him later to find out what was behind those troubles.

As she continued her vigil, the message "REGAIN! REGAIN! REGAIN!" kept playing in her mind. It bothered her even more so than the cursing. What was Burt trying to regain?

Obviously, he had regained his consciousness. He had gone to class. But was he struggling with some other unknown forces when he left? She didn't know. He seemed all right. And what did he mean that the 'feeling of power' was too great?

She didn't know and it was obvious the tape wouldn't be providing any answers either. No new information had flashed on the screen in well over a minute and all that was showing now was video snow which only added to her frustration so she got up and turned off the machine. Thousands of thoughts raced through her head as she sat back down. Had Burt's linking with the computer changed him? Was he all right? What did the swearing mean? She then glanced at her watch and saw it was only ten thirty. She wanted it to be noon so she could see him and get some answers. Taking one last look at the room before leaving, she slowly closed the door and went to her own dormitory room to rest. She was emotionally drained and needed time to sort out her thoughts.

Pat Huxley looked into the mirror, adjusted his tie and brushed his greying hair one last time before he turned and went out of the bathroom. Under his arm he carried a metal-lined briefcase which was handcuffed firmly to his right wrist. His military escort met him at the door as he stepped out into the dimly lit corridor of the basement of the Pentagon. As he looked around, he could see decrepit old safes, scuffed furniture in the halls and people scurrying about carrying reams of paper back and forth between the crowded offices. The atmosphere of the place was depressing and he wondered how the government ever got anything done given such poor working conditions. It made him happy that he was a contractor. At least his office was modern and a pleasant place in which to work.

The military escort stepped out in front of Pat and signaled him to follow. "Right this way Mr. Huxley. We'll be late for the committee hearing if we don't hurry."

Pat picked up his pace, and because of his limp nearly had to hop his way down the hall.

The escort turned around, and on seeing Pat struggling to keep up, slowed his pace and then said sheepishly, "Sorry, Mr. Huxley. I forgot about your leg. We don't have to hurry that much. The committee room is just around this corner." The escort felt ashamed of his actions.