A Paradox in Retrograde (39 page)

"Then neither are you a psychiatrist, am I correct?"
"That is correct."

"I would answer that question, with a question. I assume you
all are learned men. You then must be familiar with current
standard model of the universe. Do you recall that there was a
time when the field of Cosmology was a highly fractious one?
For those of you who do not, for where there now is one there
were once were two competing fields. One was Astronomy and
the other was Quantum physics. Members within each field
with good reason felt that their dogma was somehow correct.
That's because they both were correct. These two fields worked
parallel to each other for centuries until great discoveries reconciled their differences. It is now known and commonly accepted that there is only one set of laws for everything. The result
of this synthesis of thought was to create a far richer and complex vision of the state of the universe. That is why I have
come before you today to help you to see that we may in fact
be on the cusp of a similar synthesis. The question then is, are
you prepared to open your minds to new possibilities?"

Doctor Hendrix again spoke, "You forget Doctor Amida that
this here is not a scientific witch hunt, but rather an ethics
board. Our primary concern is not only for the wellbeing of this
patient but for future patients as well. However for the sake of
argument let us for the moment focus on the needs of this patient. The question that we are asking is, does the risk of harm to
your patient, out way the potential benefit to him? If you can answer that adequately we may be more likely to make a favorable
decision."

"I think it does. I know you are all aware of what lies ahead for
Hector Ananda. In his case it would seem that he is doomed to
die for a crime, that by the standards of your profession that he
could not be responsible for. If only we were able to cure him we
may prove conclusively that this patient is redeemable. We could
be leading the way to a place where we may eliminate this kind
of evil from our society for good."

"Doctor how well informed is your patient about the procedures
he is about to endure? I would like to hear it from the patient himself, in his own words. Can he speak?"

Though Hector was still in chains he proudly stood up and stared
into the view screen before him. "Yes I do have some things I
would like to say to you. Firstly I would ask a question to you. Is
the reason for your hesitation in this matter due to some abstract
notion between that of right and wrong? If it is, I cannot defend
it, for I have done a good deal of soul searching.As I am here
before you now, there are only several short monthsbefore I am
scheduled to be executed under the law. So my concerns as you
may understand are of a more practical nature. The way that I see
it is that when my sentence is carried out, all your questions regarding my rights as a human being will have been rendered null
and void. I may have now for the first time a meansthrough
which I can escape from the maze that I find myself in. Before I
die I should like to use every opportunity to bring a sense of clarity to what has brought me to this position. By your own admissions your treatments have not swayed me from my socalled delusions. I still stand by what statements I have made since being
brought here against my will. To my knowledge I have been here
for no more than several weeks. To your records as I understand
them, I have been entrusted to this facility for well over two
years. If what I say is true, then perhaps your procedures will
bring me back to where I belong. However if these things are
false there is a good chance that I should be brought fully into
this world with a greater understanding of the crimes you say I
am guilty of. And if as you fear it does not work at all, or if I am
somehow injured in the process, what will it mater, for I am a
condemned man."

For a moment there was silence as they drank in what had been
told to them. Doctor Hendrix again spoke, breaking the silence.
"Mr. Ananda, these are powerful words you have left us much to
think about. I am personally inclined to accept that you do whole
heartedly believe these things that you say. However it is our responsibility as members of this board to adjudicate your case to
the strictest ethical standards. Having said this, we should like a
day or two to review your case files before we render a decision.
Doctor Amida you will be made aware of our decision through
Doctor Jamison as soon as it has been determined. This ethics
board has concluded this phase of the process. Until then, have a
good day gentlemen." The view screen then went blank. Those
there assembled rose quietly from their seats and left the room.
Dr. Hendrix being the last to leave the room turnedto Jamison
and gave him a nod and a wink.

In the intervening weeks their time at the lab wasfilled with
preparations. Now nearly two months later in thesevery rooms in
which Hector had first met Robert Amida, they againmet. Today
in comparison, Hector’s perception of this man and his world
now appeared wholly different. There were after all some reasons
to feel optimistic. He had bought into the notion that the potential
to regain the life he had known and perhaps to findanswers to
those nagging holes in his memory was real. He would have to be
a believer for what would be done to him to gain this, even by
twentieth century standards would have seemed barbaric. The
tests themselves would naturally require the subject to be conscious, but just so. This though potentially stressful, paled in
comparison to the hours of torturous preparation work that lay
ahead. Hector therefore for the sake of science and his freedom
would dutifully endure many a painful and degrading experiment.
It was a mercy then that he did so in a kind of twilight sleep. The
team of medical doctors that worked on the project had assured
Robert that though Hector would be able to feel some of the pain
he would retain no memory of it. This it was believed would
spare him from the painful trauma that would arise from remembering. Though Hector was a criminal in the eyes of the law and
therefore possessing no rights, Robert refused to scar him for the
sake of a cure.

Despite the dull ache in his head Hector was in good spirits. He
was there in the preparation room ready for what was to come.
He had made it so far, without a hitch. He took little notice to the
fact that, for the first time in a long time his hands were unburdened by mechanical restraints. It however made little matter for
he was restrained now by a suite of administered drugs that were
slowly pushing their way through his system. The walls, floors
and ceilings seemed to collapse into an off white one dimensional
plane. The silent spaces between his heart beats grew longer and
deeper. In this state it was necessary that he lay perfectly still. Far
above him the echoes of the med techs voices trailed off to a
whisper.

Though Hector now was at the center of a flurry ofactivity, having been made virtually deaf, dumb and blind to hissenses he
would likely remember very little of it. Existing in the pharmaceutical equivalent to sensory deprivation chamber, his mind
straddled between the twin realms of consciousness. Teams of
surgeons then by using the most delicate tools yetinvented, had
begun to strategically graft a sophisticated set of sensory implants
in direct contact with his brain. There at its most basic molecular
level its actions for the first time would be quantified. After days
of this intricate micro surgery he showed no measurable signs of
distress. Given the clean bill of health by his doctors, the go
ahead was given for the next stage. While the last checks on the
experiment chamber were being completed he was given a day to
further stabilize.

On the day of the first experiment Hector lay in a hospital bed
within a special room just outside of the experiment chamber. A
team of specially trained surgeons and technicians now began the
task of calibrating the array of direct internal contact sensors that
now studded his head like a pin cushion. Through this web of
sensors and processors the intricately woven response signals
produced there in real time would be read, streamed and interpreted. These responses to stimuli would then be recorded in their
native format, analyzed and encoded directly by an array of sensors within the chamber specifically engineered for this purpose.
To ensure a clean read, one by one the sensors were checked and
calibrated. After this lengthy verification procedure had been
completed his doctors then indicated that his implants were operating at optimal performance. A pair of gowned med techs carefully transferred him from his bed in the preparation room onto a
gurney. From there it was a short trip into the experiment chamber.

The chamber itself was a master work of technology. From without, it appeared to be merely a metallic sphere. However there
were held within three levels of concentric synchronized containment; each one more being more sophisticated than the next. At
its heart was a quantum field generator. It appearing not unlike a
bronze sarcophagus was designed to hold Hector safe. Its purpose
beyond shielding his body from the potentially dangerous pulsating fields and temporal waves held there within, but also to create
the proper conditions in which to detect the extra dimensional
displacement of an entangled state. For proper mapping of a third
theoretical quantum, both sets of arrays must be in a state of perfect synchronization. To achieve the appropriate harmonics, just
beyond the outer chamber walls around the quantum field generator, row after row of concentrically aligned electromagnetic field
generators were clustered. There these generators created a magnetic field capable of maintaining the proper stability. Beyond
this stood a blast rated confinement bubble. Capable of withstanding enormous internal as well as external forces, it was the
last barrier to the outside world if something were to go wrong.
Straddling atop all of this stood a circular observation platform
upon which sat the shielded control room. There wall size monitors displayed synthesized reams of preliminary data streaming at
a rate of many thousands of petaflops per second.

Robert was there to oversee it all unfold. The space around him
seemed to seethe with energy as the sound of the processors filled
the air. Powering within their matrices was the potential computational equivalent to one million artificial neural nodes of the previous generation. This was then by far the most powerful computer ever constructed. To power this massive machine it was necessary to arrange that the required energy would be temporarily
shunted from multiple sources. This was made possible only because of the level of low keyed excitement that it generated
among highly placed technocrats. By all accounts it was an important project, and many eyes were upon them. This attention
was for the most part warranted for in and of itself, it was a truly
unprecedented achievement. It however grew pale in comparison
to what those most closely involved hoped would come next. The
fact that this experiment was on the cutting edge of science could
only add to this sense of excitement. As far as they were aware,
they would be the first to attempt such a feat.

Through a meter wide lens that separated the control room from
the chamber Robert observed the goings on below. There within a
pristine clean room Hector floated ghostlike. Behind a set of hermetically sealed Mylar curtains he laid suspended from a custom
stainless built steel armature. Slowly the armaturewas being lowered inch by inch into a specially shielded capsule. Made from a
translucent aluminum alloy and lined with leaded crystal glass it
was designed to filter out any extraneous signals that may hamper
the experiment. As he watched he imagined that here at its basic
level one could not clearly designate a place where the arts of
medicine had ended or where those of technology had begun.
With the capsule having been placed into position the armature
folded and receded back into the structure above. The capsule
was then carefully fastened into the sarcophagus like generator
chamber. The technicians after completing their duties locked
down the generator access port and exited the chamber. Robert
watched on the monitor as the last one out closed the door behind
him and screwed the locking mechanism down tight. To sooth his
nerves he took several more minutes to run some final diagnostic
tests on sensors. He took a deep breath and examined the room
around him as if drinking in its ambiance for future reference. He
muttered a few words to himself before initiating the chamber
field generators. "Nothing will be as it was, for with this one experiment we will usher in a new era."

At first the observations on the monitor showed that oscillations
caused by the wave generators seemed to cause some undue turbulence within the static field. Once its rotation rate had reached
optimal levels, this turbulence was replaced by a smooth fluidic
toroidal form. Robert then began making the methodical adjustments required to make these fields perfectly attuned to one another. He hit a switch that then prompted the release of a subtle
neurotoxin into Hectors blood stream. In response, almost immediately his body began to jerk and his closed eyesrolled rapidly
in their sockets. Downward his consciousness drifted until at long
last he found a dark and shadowy land populated bythe ghosts of
his past and the specters of the future. Calmly he walked among
them unfettered by the stress of unending war that for so long had
plagued him. There suspended at the calm eye of this magnetic
storm Hectors mind rambled through a fit of restless daydreams.
Here in this place, there were enough memories to fill a hundred
lifetimes and yet space to grow and explore. He experienced
there a peace he had not known since his long ago youth. His
mind was beginning to be remotely conscious of the first of glimmers of its entangled selves existing beyond the void. In that
place under the most exquisitely tuned conditions a tiny tear between these membranes that held separate the realms of probability was torn. For one brilliant instant all of Hectors splintered
lives were made evident to him in one crystallized singularity of
thought.