The Intruder (5 page)

Jeremy was unconcerned. He was still at that age where calamity always seemed to happen to other people. After all, he hadn't killed himself when he jumped his bike over Miller's canyon; he never got gored playing rough with the goats; studying at night under his cheap, desk-top lamp hadn't ruined his eyes; and getting the implants wasn't going to make him crazy. It was just another in a series of exaggerated risks.

He laughed to himself as he recalled the string of warnings, and his resolution was set. He would have the visual functions activated as soon as possible. He sent a message to Dr.
Berry
's office to set up an appointment and then turned his attention back to the terminal. 

*
             
*
             
*

Later that night, Jeremy groaned and rolled over on the hotel bed. The 8th-floor window was open and the curtains were drawn, revealing Jeremy's pocket knife, resting on the sill next to the screws that had held the window shut. The cool spring breezes blew away the processed air of the hotel. 

He was dreaming of a spring day a year ago. He had awakened in Amy's arms. The sun was shining through the white curtains of their bedroom, just recently furnished by Jeremy's and Amy's families. It was the most peaceful morning Jeremy had ever known. There was no work to do, no breakfast to cook, in fact, nothing to think about but the joy of being with his new bride. He caressed her shoulder and she awoke with a sigh.

Community custom exempted newlyweds from all work for a full month. Neighbors, family and friends provided food and drink while the newlywed's devoted themselves to learning all about each other.

As far as Jeremy was concerned, it was the best bargain he was ever likely to make.

*
             
*
             
*

"Jeremy, I think you're rushing things," Dr.
Berry
said.

"I really think you should wait a week or two before getting the visual functions turned on," she said.

"What difference is a week or two going to make?" he asked, but his tone of voice said that he was sure of the answer.

Dr.
Berry
frowned slightly and shrugged. "Honestly, I can't say it will make any difference at all, but there are some neurologists who believe that the longer you let the brain get used to the implant's neural connections, the better chance you'll have of not rejecting the visual functions. But," she said as she saw the question forming on his lips, "it's just a theory. There's no solid evidence to support it, and there's really no reason why I can't turn on the visual functions today. In fact, if you really want it, I'm not allowed to refuse you.

"But I want to remind you of the danger of implant psychosis," she continued. "It's not something you want to fool around with, Jeremy. It is rare. Very rare, thank God, but it's a nasty business.

"If you start to get the symptoms, I want you to tell me immediately.
Immediately
, okay?" she stressed. "If we catch it in time, we can reverse it, but that's only before the patient becomes delusional. Then it's too late. So as soon as you notice anything odd in your vision you tell me. If you do get implant psychosis," she said in a stern voice, suddenly changing from caring doctor to public health official, "I'll have to have you restrained and probably drugged for the rest of your life. You'll be functional, in a minimal sort of way, but you'll be slow and dopey."

Jeremy's confidence wavered for a moment, but he set his jaw and looked Dr.
Berry
in the eye.

"I'm ready. Let's do it. What do I need to do?"

Dr.
Berry
sighed. "Just wait here, I'll be back," she said.

*
             
*
             
*

A minute later Dr.
Berry
returned pushing a small cart with a strange device on top. It reminded Jeremy of the eye-examining station Dr. Elizah had back in the Community, except this one was horizontal. The patient laid his head down, face first. A mask, like a ventilator, was in the center, and a complicated eye piece was at the top left, just below the padded, curved bar on which, Jeremy assumed, his forehead was to rest. On the left side, protruding up a few inches to about temple level, was an instrument similar to the hand-held device Dr.
Berry
had used to insert the audio implant.

"I thought the thing was already in my head and you just flipped a switch to start it," he said, trying not to sound afraid of the evil-looking device. "What's all this for?" he asked.

"We can just 'flip a switch' after the implant has been installed for several months, like it is with most people. If you want the visual functions now, we're going to have to help things along, which means manually installing some of the microfilaments." The look on her face told Jeremy this was supposed to scare him; that she wanted him to back out. "You can still wait, you know."

It can't be that bad,
he thought. "So what do I do?" he asked, expecting that he was just supposed to lay his face down on the device and get zapped, like the day before. Dr.
Berry
raised her eyebrows and shook her head slightly.

"This procedure is a little more involved," she said. "We knock you out for a few minutes and strap you into this thing -- tight, so you won't move. It injects a series of microfilaments through the implant and into your optic nerve and the vision centers of your brain. The microfilaments are coated with thorohydrizine, which speeds up the connection time. By the time you wake up, they're pretty well connected.

"Are you ready?" she asked. Jeremy nodded.

"Place your forehead on the top bar and your chin on the bottom. Make sure the ventilator fits snugly around your face and breathe deeply."

Jeremy glanced at Dr.
Berry
and then did as he was told. There was no odor to the knock-out gas he knew he was inhaling, and he didn't even notice getting sleepy before he passed out.

*
             
*
             
*

When he came to he had a dull pain in his temple and his head was swimming. He tried to pull himself up but a hand restrained him.

"Don't try to move yet," a female voice explained. "In a minute you can lie on your back. After your head clears, Dr.
Berry
will give you your first implant lesson."

Jeremy felt nauseated and didn't want to speak. He relaxed against the pads on the implanting device and opened his eyes, expecting to see a wicked piece of medical equipment inches from his face, but he saw nothing at all.

"I can't see," he said, hoping he wouldn't throw up, and suddenly afraid that he had gone blind.

"The room is dark," the woman said. "Don't worry, you're fine. The microfilaments are all in place, but your eye will be sensitive to light for about an hour. Here," she said, placing one hand behind his head and another on his shoulder, "let's try to sit you up very gently, okay?"

He complied, again feeling a rush of dizziness and nausea, but it cleared soon enough. The nurse gently lowered him onto his back. 

"Rest here a few minutes. I'll be back to check on you soon."

He heard a soft click and noticed a pale green light around the floor boards -- just enough for the nurse to see her way out. He closed his eyes and thought about nothing, wandering somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness.

*
             
*
             
*

"How do you feel?" Dr.
Berry
's voice broke the silence. Jeremy wasn't certain if he had been sleeping or not.

"When I lay still I feel okay, except for a dull ache on the left side. I'm not sure if I should try to sit up."

His youthful confidence was subdued now. He didn't feel like the brash young man who wanted to charge ahead. He felt like the sick school boy who wants to be pampered.

"Don't sit up yet. Let's see how you do with light first. Are your eyes open?"

"Yes."

"Tell me if they begin to hurt," she said as she slowly raised the intensity of the ceiling lights. Jeremy looked steadily at the instrument table against the side wall. He remembered that a few of the handles were different colors, and he wanted to watch them change from shades of gray in the darkness to their natural colors as the light increased, but he never got that far.

"Ah, that's beginning to hurt," he said when it was just light enough for the white walls of the room to appear a dull gray.

"That's good. Try to sit up now, slowly, and see how you feel."

He took a deep breath and cautiously sat up, keeping his hands ready to catch himself if he fainted.

"I'm okay. Better than I thought," he said. "Does everybody go through this when they get these things?"

"Not everybody does it this way, remember? If you're patient, and let the implant secrete the microfilaments at its normal rate, there's no discomfort at all.

"Are you ready to start with some basic lessons?" she asked.

Jeremy nodded and then shook his head, confused.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Your lips are red."

Dr.
Berry
looked confused by the comment.

"You can't see colors in the dark. You stopped turning up the lights when everything was still black and white, but I can see colors now." He wondered if the implants had altered his vision.

Laughter and surprise touched the corners of Dr.
Berry
's eyes.

"That's because I didn't stop turning up the lights. I just set them on a more gradual increase."

Jeremy nodded and laughed at himself. "Okay, I'll stop playing junior detective."

Dr.
Berry
reached for his temple with her index finger. He noticed a subtle, fresh, floral scent as her arm passed by.

"Okay, this is the start-up switch and the emergency off button," she said as she rubbed her finger around the circumference of a lentil-sized disk. "Put your hand here so you can feel it." He did, and could just feel it under his skin.

Dr.
Berry
pushed his finger down, compressing the switch. There was a sudden buzz in his head, followed by a moment of dizziness and confusion while Dr.
Berry
's hands gently held his head still.

"It's alright," she said, much as she had the other day. "Just relax. Everything's fine. It'll pass."

The sensations that filled his head when the implant turned on were like nothing he had experienced before. It felt as if he were extremely drunk, and yet more wide-awake and alert than he had ever been. His head swam, but he felt as if all his senses were more keen, more acutely aware of everything they felt. Nothing in his line of sight changed, but he was sure he could discern more colors and detail in everything he saw. Even the skin of Dr.
Berry
's arm seemed to hide a myriad of hues and shades that he had never experienced before, and every pore and hair on her skin was sharply in focus. 

But almost as suddenly as it began, the altered vision faded and colors returned to normal. The sensation was not unlike a rush of adrenaline, which sharpened the senses for a time, but quickly faded. He wondered if he had really seen those things, or if it was a trick of the implant. He was tempted to think that for a moment he saw things as they really were, and was now disappointed that his normal vision had returned.

As the odd sensations faded, he noticed something that looked exactly like the screen of Dr.
Berry
's workstation floating in the air about two feet in front of him. He reached out to touch it, and then stopped, realizing it was an image from the implant.

"So you can see it," Dr.
Berry
said. "Good. I'm going to ask you a series of questions about what you see. Are you ready?"

Jeremy nodded.

"Is it moving or still?" she asked.

"Still up and down, jiggling slightly left to right."

"You'll learn to control that. Is it translucent or opaque?"

"I'm not, ... I think it's translucent, but it changes. When I try to look at it, it seems opaque, but I can look straight through it if I try."

"Very good. Can you read the date and time in the upper right-hand corner?"

"Barely.
Eleven ten a.m.
June 5th, 2065
, I think."

"Very good. Now I'm going to lead you through some of the set-up programs, but that means I need to be able to see what you're seeing, or rather, what you're supposed to be seeing."

She picked up a portable terminal from the cart that held the implanting device and powered it up. Jeremy watched the screen as Dr.
Berry
keyed in a series of commands. The screen on the terminal changed to match what he was seeing in his own, internal monitor. It was odd to see both screens at the same time.