WetWeb (24 page)

Grey knew he would survive because he had the vehicle between himself and the sandstorm
. H
is thoughts were with the squad
; t
he men who were positioned out on the ridge
,
and Charlie who was up on top of the vehicle in the turret. These soldiers only had only their Exo-Suits for protection.

Leaving the Comm system open in hopes that he would hear something over the noise, he urged the squad to come back to the vehicle
,
“Move; move; move; back to the vehicle,”
h
e urged
,
calling out into the Comm system.

Lt. Grey thought for a moment he heard men screaming in response
,
but then he realized it was not a human voice.  It was the sound of the metal skin on the multi-purpose vehicle slowly peeling away. 

The sand had come. 

* * * * *

Franklin and Claudia had long since reached the end of their walk.  They stood together in front of her door in the center of the small circle of porch light that distinguished Claudia’s house from the rest of the neighborhood.
 
The moment might have seemed awkward considering, but Franklin was too interested in the details of the battle fought by her son in the desert war that Claudia was relating to him.  His interest in Claudia’s story eclipsed his discomfort with the social situation.

Jonathan Grey had appeared at her door.  He was here, on the very same porch where Franklin and Claudia now stood.  He appeared here one Sunday morning with no invitation and no introduction.

When Claudia opened the door in response to the bell, she expected to see one of her book circle friends who were now frequently calling on her.  Her book circle friends knew that she had received notice that her son was lost in combat
,
and they came around regularly to support her.  They were good friends.

But on that day, when she opened the door she was surprised to see a young man sitting in a wheelchair
.
  T
his encounter did not go as she would have expected. Claudia, to her surprise, was able to maintain her composure throughout their long discussions
,
and she listened with great interest to everything that Jonathan Grey had to tell her.

Jonathan Grey told her the entire story. He told her the details of the Synaptic Implant device and the introduction of liquefied Somnambutol into the Exo-
S
uit worn by Holden
Eckwood.
 
Grey told her about the failed convoy mission.  He described his previous mission where he himself was wounded, and his struggle to maintain a career in the military as a wounded combat veteran.  When the opportunity to return to combat via Synaptic
D
erivation was presented to him, he volunteered without hesitation.  He was so confident that his experience would make the difference for the new raw recruits. 

Claudia understood that it made Jonathan feel better to speak to her. Jonathan told her that he had made a promise to her son.  He said that he had promised to return his body undamaged.  It was a promise that he failed to keep.  Jonathan unburdened himself of a heavy knowledge that morning, and when he spoke, they both gain
ed
from it.

While he spoke about the circumstances leading up to the battle, Claudia poured hot tea.  When he described the complex array of military technology
,
that the squad utilized to understand the battlefield and form at tactical plan, Claudia prepared sandwiches.  And when he described the moment of realization, when he knew that he had led his squad into a trap, Claudia listened quietly and attentively.

When he was finished, she invited him to come back and visit with her again, and he promised he would do so.  But so far, he had not returned.

Claudia surprised herself that she was able to remain composed that morning.  She felt motherly towards Jonathan and wanted to help him
.  S
he wanted to let him see her strength, and she was grateful to learn the details about the last day for her son,
f
or Holden Eckwood.

At times, Jonathan Grey would become overwhelmed by emotion and Claudia would comfort him.  In the end, he asked her for her forgiveness because he felt responsible for the loss of her son
.  H
e felt responsible for all the men that were lost on the ridge that day. 

Claudia responded to this with the expected answer,
“There is nothing to forgive.”

Throughout that long morning, Claudia maintained her composure, except for one moment, it was the first moment.  When her surprise at seeing a young man in a wheelchair on her front porch became overwhelmed by realization of what this meeting was about.
 
In that moment, as she began to realize who he was and why he was there, as her emotions rose up into her eyes and blurred her vision. 

Claudia had to lean on the door for support when he said,
“My name is Jonathan Grey.  I was the one.  I was in control of his body on that day.  I mean, on his last day.”

* * * * *

Claudia was quiet now.  She had been talking for a very long time and Franklin had used the light from the porch to write what she told him into his notebook.  Now
,
she seemed to be done.  Franklin had the ending to the story of Holden Eckwood, the first Synapse Soldier.

Moths fluttered about them, attracted by the light. They stood together, but not touching.  They listened to the quiet of the neighborhood. 

Standing on the porch was cold and uncomfortable, but Claudia did not invite Franklin inside and he did not suggest it.  Franklin understood that she had originally planned to have this conversation with him inside her house, but the revelation that Franklin was a married man, the embarrassment at hearing this fact during the reading, had changed her plans. 

But Franklin was glad to hear her story, and Claudia was eager for him to write it down, even if they had to do so standing outside on the cold porch.  They both understood that Holden Eckwood played an important role in the book.  This would be an important chapter in the history of the WetWeb.

The night around them was quiet.  When Claudia finished talking they stood together and listened to the quiet.  There were no crickets chirping or owls calling.  The wind was not stirring in the dark trees.  All around them, the world seemed calm and empty.
 
Although it was cold and late
,
and the tale had been told completely, neither Franklin nor Claudia was in a hurry to say goodbye. 

Franklin, using a low voice, broke the silence and asked,
“Do you know what became of Jonathan Grey?”

Claudia inhaled audibly, as if she had just thought of something, as if she had just figured something out. She stammered and then started again.

She said,
“Yes, yes he did tell me what he was doing now and something else too.  Something that did not make any sense to me at the time, but now, after hearing you read from your book.  I am now remembering what he told me, and I think I understand what it means.”

Franklin waited
.
H
e let her collect her memories
.

W
hen she was ready, she said, “He told me that after the failure of the Synapse Soldier
experiment
,
that
the military had sent him back home
.  He was
now in charge of the honor guard and burial ceremonies conducted at the veteran’s cemetery. I remember, I told him that this was an important position, and he should be proud that he is bringing comfort to the families of the fallen soldiers. He quickly agreed, because this was not what he wanted to say.  There was more, he was anxious to tell me something else.  I’m not sure why.  He seemed to need to unburden himself completely.  He did not want to carry any secrets and he had no one else to tell.”

“What was it?” Franklin asked.

Claudia continued,
“He said that more and more lately, the honor guard at the veteran’s cemetery
was
only burying empty coffins.  He said the bodies of the dead soldiers were missing.”

We are ready to try.

- Christopher McKnight

“She did not like it if we called it hardware,” Anand said.

“Who?”
Franklin asked
.

“Dr. Singh… Sadhna
,
” Anand answered.

Whenever Anand started reminiscing about Dr. Sadhna Singh, Franklin focused his eyes on his notes and his writing.  Franklin felt uncomfortable because Anand’s emotions we
re running high and when h
e spoke of Sadhna Singh
,
the desperation and anguish in his eyes softened, and the clicking noise that accented his words occurred more frequently and became more pronounced.  Anand seemed to be using these memories to return to a safe and comfortable place and time. 

“The device itself
was
not made out of surgical steel or plastics as you might expect
,
” Anand continued
,

It is constructed of organic tissue that is grown in the lab or harvested from donors.  The device is organic.  During the assembly process, data loading
,
and storage we have to maintain it in a specialized plasma and saline solution.  The solution ensures the vitality of the organic components.  During the surgery
,
the device is interfaced into a host’s brain stem and at the same time the device is connected to the body’s blood flow.  The host’s blood replaces the maintenance solutions
,
and it is the host’s blood that is utilized to maintain the device once it is implanted.  The whole procedure is very similar to an organ transplant.  We need to use the same immunosuppressant drugs to ensure the device is not rejected by the host’s body.

So you can see it was incorrect to call it hardware like it was something extracted from a computer system.  Instead Sadhna coined a new term.  She called it Wetware. 

Anand thought about the moment, re-imagining the playful moment when Sadhna announced her new word to him from behind a girlish grin.

Presently Anand continued, saying,
“Later, when the technology team interfaced the device to our computer network
,
and the Synapse Suits
,
I dubbed our new network the WetWeb because I wanted to please Sadhna by expanding on her concept of WetWare.  It’s funny that all these years later, it is the term WetWeb that survive
d.  I
t is the term WetWeb that has entered into our common lexicon.”

Anand paused
.  H
e seemed to drift again; exploring well remembered intimate moments working side by side with Dr. Singh.  The story was stalling here
, and
Anand seemed in no hurry to continue.

Franklin was growing distressed by the lateness of the hour.  There was no clock on the wall.  No loud tick of a second hand to remind of them of the passing of Anand’s final moments.  Franklin dared not look at his watch, but he was keenly aware that this was their last interview.  Tonight both Anand Ramasubramanian and Al McKnight would be executed by order of the state.  The final chapter of the biography was already being written.  The crowd of protestors or curious were already gathering outside the prison, mingling with the Synapse Hosts controlled by remote content men who were sent by the media conglomerates to cover this story.  Franklin knew they were not ready to end the interview.  There was still more of the history left to tell.  There were many questions that remained unanswered. 

Franklin understood that at this rate, Anand would never finish before they heard the dreaded knock on the door
; b
efore the emotionless guards began leading him away into the world behind the thick glass window
, and
into the space that Franklin could not enter.  Franklin did not want to remind Anand of the hour or the urgency, but at the same time he felt the need to move things along
.

H
e said,
“I know about the Synapse Soldiers.”

“Hmmm,” Anand was not focused on the conversation.

Franklin repeated himself, “I said I already know about the Synapse Soldiers
, so
we can skip ahead.”

“What?”  Anand was back and aware now.  He seemed groggy and irritated, as if Franklin had roused him from a pleasant dream.

“Remember the book club where I read passages from my story, I mean your story
,
”
Franklin
said.

He
waited for a response but did not receive one, so he continued
,
“There was a woman there who loved to read books.  Old fashioned books.  When her son joined the military
A
lliance and was deployed into the desert wars, she asked him to write to her everyday; letters, written by hand, like in this notebook.”

Again Franklin waited for a response.  Anand remained quiet but attentive, so Franklin continued,
“She showed me the letters
.  I
t was a first person account from a real Synapse Soldier, the first Synapse Soldier to see combat.  So you see
,
I already know about this part of the history and what happened to the Synapse Solders, or at least one of them.”

“A woman?”
Anand questioned knowingly, “And she gave you his private letters
?
”

Anand was fully interested now and continued to by asking, “These letters were from her son you say
,
and he was a Synapse Soldier?”

“That’s right
,
”  Franklin
confirmed, “We can skip ahead a bit.”

“I don’t see how this is possible,” Anand said, “This was a highly classified program.  Tight security was all around.  The system developers, the surgeons, all of us were sequestered onto a campus.  It was like the Manhattan project.  The volunteer hosts were closely monitored.  Any letters sent by a Synapse Soldier would have been censored.  There is no way his Mother would have a firsthand account.”

“You
a
r
e
right about that,” Franklin agreed
,

The letters from her son were censored.  They did not include any information about the Synaptic Integration experiment.  But
,
he was a Synapse Soldier just the same.  I was able to read about his life in the military, boot camp
,
and then on the front lines.  I was able to understand his reasons for wanting to join the Synapse Soldier program.  And then
,
last night his Mother was able to fill in the rest of the details. You see the letters stopped coming, and then she got official word that her son was lost in combat.  But that is not how she knew the truth.  It later
arrived
when she received a visit from a Lieutenant who was in a wheelchair.  He told her the rest of the story. He told her the
story, and then she told me.  

Reading through the letters and listening to the firsthand account that was given to her by the wounded veteran gave me all I needed.  I have the whole story.  I wrote it down.  It is all here in the notebook.

Upon hearing this, Anand’s features darkened, and then his eyes misted.  The chains on his wrists rattled loudly as he lifted his hands together in order to push the tears from his eyes.

“They were all killed you know
,
” Anand said
,
 

All of the Synapse Soldiers
,
the young hosts
,
were killed.  The wounded veterans who had Synapped in to control their bodies were emotionally destroyed.  It was a complete disaster.  Sadhna was inconsolable.

Sadhna believed so much in this new technology and the program.  We all did.  We believed we were building something good, something noble.  Together we selected each
and every
one of them
,
personally.  Both the
s
oldier who would be the
host
,
and the wounded veterans who would control them
.  They
were all handpicked.  We were careful to select only the ideal candidates.  We interviewed them extensively
,
and when the time came, Sadhna operated on them personally.  She implanted the brain stem interface devices that my team had assembled.  Together we installed the Wetware into their necks.  When they were ready, we activated the network and integrated their brainstems into the WetWeb.  It was an intensely intimate process and procedure.  And there was so much hope.  There was so much confidence.  We were convinced that we were going to save these young soldiers from death in battle, and at the same time the personal self esteem of the wounded veterans would rise.

I remember General Mueller gave a grand speech about them, about how the wounded veterans were so proud to be going back into battle.

Anand trailed off.  Franklin, still conscious of the lateness of the hour prodded him along
.

Franklin asked, “What happened next?  This is not the end of the story.  I need to know the ending; I need to know how this ended.”

Anand was having trouble focusing on Franklin and his questions.   He took a deep breath and pushed his personal grief aside.  He reassumed the confident attitude of the narrator. 

He said simply,
“You are correct.  It is not over.  Not yet.”

* * * * *

“Disaster!”

General Mueller’s voice could easily be heard outside the conference room.  The growling words and expletives bounced off the white ceiling tiles and permeated throughout the lab and workstations like the colorless light from the overhead fluorescents.  Anand Ramasubramanian followed Christopher Mark down the narrow corridor and between crowded workstations.  They walked quickly, expertly navigating the thin alley between workstations.  The lab technicians, biochemists, neuro-scientists, system programmers
,
and data engineers situated around the laboratory were motionless
.  They were
intently listening to the drama reverberating from behind the conference room door.

The team was deep inside a military compound located in the high desert outside of Palmdale
, California
.  The building had no windows.  A red light was mounted at each workstation. The technicians and the ever present armed
security
,
were all trained that if the red lights mounted on at the workstations be
gan flashing in a silent alarm,
there was an information security breech
.  If this happened,
all data must be instantly secured or destroyed. 

Anand and Chris Mark had been working here along with the neuro-science team for the last six months.  Mark was the overall project lead and Anand was in charge of network systems. Dr. Singh was the neuro-surgeon and led the biological science team including the biochemists and genetic engineers.  Here in a secured military base
,
technology and
b
iology were coming together at last.

They operated under strict Top Secret military protocol.  No one was allowed to leave the compound
,
for any reason.  Contact with the outside world was limited and censored.  After six months, the eclectic team of Doctors, Surgeons, Scientists, Programmers
,
and System Engineers were all on edge.  The common denominator was they all wanted out, they want off the compound. 

They wanted to go home and back to their lives and their families.  The bombastic presence and loud exclamations from General
Muller
,
that reverberated through the work space
,
was agitating an already edgy team.  Christopher Mark and Anand decided that they needed to go into the conference room and attempt to calm or at least quiet the situation before they had a full scale revolt.

Anand watched Chris Mark open the door gingerly
,
and then followed him into the stuffy windowless conference room.  General Muller was striding up and down in the narrow walkway between the conference table and the back wall.  Situated at random, sitting uncomfortably and looking sheepish
,
were the members of the General’s staff.  Al McKnight was the lone member of the RSI team present.  He was sitting
,
cool
and
confidently, at the far end of the conference table.

When Al McKnight saw his partner Chris Mark
,
and then Anand enter into the room, he motioned them to sit next to him.  Chris Mark
,
followed by Anand
,
squeezed in between the chairs and the wall to find their seats and
they
join
ed
in solidarity with Al McKnight,