Nanobots, Murder, and Other Family Problems

Wed 06/08 19:03:57 PDT

“So can it be done?” I ask Jeff. “Is there any way to get code into the implant phone without typing it in through the console interface?”

“Of course.” He keeps his eyes closed as he speaks. He still hasn’t done so much as incline his head in my direction since I came into his room. Can he somehow see me with his eyes closed like that? “We have an established procedure for it. You submit your tested code to Father, he verifies it is safe, and then he uploads it to your phone in his lab. You did not think that we retyped all the code that we wrote in class, did you?”

That’s exactly what I thought happened, but this makes more sense. “No, of course not,” I lie.

“But I gather from the way you phrased your query that you are interested in a less official channel.”

“Right. Less official.” I try to keep my voice casual. I don’t want to make it obvious how emphatically I don’t want Father involved. “Something I could do on my own would be more what I’m looking for.”

He goes silent for a long time. I suppose that he’s thinking, but with his blank facial expression, it’s hard to tell. I notice some floating motes in the air of his room like the dust you might see in a beam of sunlight. Except that the sun is already down, and Jeff always keeps his window shades shut anyway. Must be nanobots. I wonder if I ever accidentally breathe them in as I walk around campus. That can’t be good for you. I hope I don’t get cancer from living here. I guess if I do, Father can just cure it. He’s famous for that kind of thing.

“An interesting proposition,” Jeff finally says. “Obviously, you would need to carefully vet all the code that you ingested from external sources, but I can see situations where the potential value of an unmonitored solution might outweigh the obvious security risks. There are things that we might want to work on at some point in the future that may push beyond the boundaries Father feels comfortable with. His sensibilities are clouded by his attachment to existing norms and customs.”

I nod, not sure what he’s talking about.

“I’m glad you agree,” he says. “So many of us cling to Father himself more than to his ideals, whereas I think that even he would prefer that we attach ourselves to the ideals above the man.”

He saw my nod. He can see with his eyes closed. Interesting. I wonder what he wants to do that Father wouldn’t allow. Something weird or inhumane, probably. But if it gets him to help me, I don’t care. I’ll deal with whatever it is later.

“Certainly,” I agree, feeding his ego and trying my best to talk like he does. “We should put the greater good above mundane considerations like societal conventions.”

I nailed it. His mouth twitches up in a smile. It only lasts a moment, but it’s a rare thing for him.

“So, how could we do it?”

“The most accessible route would be to use the implant’s optical input as a text scanner system. I believe that would accomplish what you want. The labor involved would be significant though. There is no current mechanism in the implant software to add processing to the optical input. We would have to implement that. However, I have performed some preliminary research into something related. I was not planning to use it for text character recognition, but it might be adaptable for that purpose. It requires nanobots to work, not just the implant, but I could share the proof-of-concept code with you when you get your cloud installed. You would need to implement the image format conversion and optical character recognition on your own, but my initial research should make the task achievable.”

“By optical input are you talking about the data from our human eyes, or…”

I make myself trail off, since I don’t want to show my ignorance by mischaracterizing whatever he’s doing to see with his eyes closed.

“The cloud visualization system, of course. Unless you are intentionally seeking out a much more complex challenge. Parsing the input from the biological systems would be far more difficult.”

“No, no,” I say. “I’ll take the simpler route with the cloud visualization system.” Whatever that is.

So, once I get my nanobots, I can leverage Jeff’s code and whatever he’s doing to see without eyes to use the bots as a text scanner. That’s almost as good as being able to download things into the phone for what I was thinking of. Better in some ways. With this, I could scan in any text I see, whether it’s on a screen or on paper.

“You’re a genius Jeff,” I say, stroking his ego one more time. “Thanks.”

He enjoys the praise, though he only gives the tiniest smile. I think his facial muscles are as weak as the rest of him, which makes sense since he moves his face almost as little as he moves the rest of his body.

“It does seem like a great deal of effort to go through, though. Especially given your very limited experience with software development. It would be much easier to use the established channels.” He opens his eyes for the first time since I came in the room and rolls them in my direction. The look is terribly disconcerting. “You must have ideas on a grand scale for this effort to be worthwhile to you. I do hope you will share them with me at some point in the future. As I might one day be inclined to share some ideas of mine.”

He clearly doesn’t suspect that I’m only working on a perfect digital memory and a homework cheating system, but I’m not going to burst his bubble. I give him a conspiratorial smile instead. “I look forward to a fruitful relationship of mutual collaboration.”

He pauses a moment and his head finally moves as he gives me a small nod. Even that small movement seems to be assisted by his bots. The motion isn’t natural.

“While we’re talking about sharing code,” I add. “I couldn’t help noticing the routines you use for getting around. Would you mind sharing those with me as well?”

He goes silent for another long minute. I wait patiently, breathing slowly. Jeff clearly won’t be rushed on this or anything else.

“Most of us like to keep some tricks to ourselves,” he says when he speaks again. “But given the rate I’ve seen you progress in the lab, I believe that you will eventually be an exceptionally capable software developer. I do not mind opening up a portion of my source code, if you would be willing to do the same later on. I can provide you with some highly functional utility libraries that I have built for myself. They facilitate maintaining a larger cloud with minimal conscious supervision. As you have noted, I prefer using my mind over my body for my personal mobility. Doing that requires many more nanobots than most of the others prefer to run concurrently.”

“I appreciate it. Let me get my bearings with the starter cloud, then I’ll hit you up when I’m ready.”

“One caveat though.” he says, raising his finger. This must be important, he’s actually moving his hand.

“Yeah?”

“Do not share the code I give you with anyone else. Not everyone is as trustworthy or capable as you and I are. Especially, do not expose any of it to Marc. The last thing I want is to have him pestering me about how my complex routines work. For someone who has been taught the principles of software since he could write, he has an astonishingly poor grasp of basic concepts.”

I chuckle. “I’ve only been at it for a few months, and I feel like I already passed him up.”

“Indeed.” Jeff rises from his chair, the motions of his body all wrong. He walks me to the door of his room. No. Walks is the wrong word. He glides me to the door. I still can’t tell if his motion is from him standing on little nanobot rollers that I can’t see or if they actually lift him off the ground. Either way, his motion is unnaturally smooth, like a statue sliding across the floor.

“Noah,” he says as I’m halfway through the door. “I believe I have finally found in you a brother I can consider an intellectual peer. I am pleased that you have found your way back to our family, although I acknowledge that the events that brought you here must have been personally difficult for you.”

“Thank you,” I tell him. That’s as high a praise as I can imagine him giving, and more empathy than I thought he was capable of. “I feel the same way about you. It’s a pleasure to be in the company of a mind like yours. Have a good night, Jeff.”

His head gives a stilted, mechanical nod and the door swings itself silently shut. Jeff’s a funny one. He’s brilliant, but he’s as weird as he is smart. I do want access to his code, but I don’t plan to use his system of puppeteering his own body around. I don’t care how good I get with the nanobots, I’m never giving up my basic motor skills.