Post by architeuthisdux1 on Dec 9, 2006 13:13:22 GMT -5
short, low-quality story
Ben Roberts' brain has been damaged. A company called GAM offers a new procedure to fix it, but something goes wrong that will change him.
The brain is one of the greatest gifts of creation. It dictates thought, speech, action, emotion, all things of the body. When one is damaged, all precaution is taken to restore it, as in the case of Ben Roberts. Ben’s brain had been damaged in an explosion. Basic skills were alien to him without that part, and it needed to be restored. Fortune favored been, for GAM had just created a device that could replace that portion of his brain.
This was a completely experimental and therefore dangerous procedure, but it was chosen anyway, for Ben’s family and friends wanted him to be restored. The process was very complicated, and it was called, “Automated Neurological Replacement.” The doctors at GAM explained to his family that the procedure placed a large computer chip in his head that would easily cooperate with the rest of his brain and body. Then, the necessary information would actually be downloaded to the chip through a computer, and here the family hesitated.
Mrs. Roberts asked, “What if there is something wrong with the computer, or if it gives false information?”
The doctor, named Fred Barnes, said to her, “Mrs. Roberts, I assure you the computer that will be used has been checked dozens of times over by leading computer experts, and the “brain” has been verified by neurologists to work. If there is anything wrong, which is highly unlikely, we will simply remove the chip from his brain and start over.” But Fred was lying. It was more complicated than that, the chip could not simply be removed, it interacted with his body, and carelessly jerking the chip out would cause permanent and serious damage to his brain and body. He reassured himself, however, thinking, “Nothing will go wrong. The computer has been checked hundreds of times. Nothing will go wrong.”
Dr. Barnes statements to his patients’ family had considerable effect in comforting them. They decided to carry on with the procedure, and so they brought Ben to GAM, and then Ben was wheeled to the Neurological & Psychological Research Department. Waiting there was the same doctor who had prior spoke to them. The doctor was cold and expressionless, and neither frowned nor smiled upon them. Ben was taken by a nurse, and the family was ushered upstairs, so they could look down from a glass window at the surgery. A few minutes after they were settled up there, faces glued to the glass, the surgery began.
To start, they cut a small hole in his skull, and began to insert the chip that the family had heard so much about. This portion of surgery would be relatively easy. It was done successfully, however, and then the microsurgeons were called upon to hook up the artificial nerves of the chip with the real ones in his brain. If any mistake were made here, the whole surgery would be pointless, for the artificial brain would simply sit in his skull and have no function, and therefore just be added weight. This was done successfully as well, although it took an immense amount of time. Every nerve had been meticulously linked together.
Now, the revolutionary and highly experimental part of the procedure was next. The scientists at GAM had kept it a secret, how they were able to transfer the information from the computer into the “compu-brain” as they had dubbed, and then allowed the brain to process the information and work with the rest of the body. All the family was able to see were the scientists hooking up cords from Ben’s brain to a computer. Although the family’s eyes were already glued to the glass, it seemed now that they had been cemented to it. They stared down with a mixture of wonder, fear, and nervousness.
The cords had been successfully connected from his brain to the computer, and now, it was the information that needed to be downloaded into his brain. The scientists began to access a program in the computer, designed only for this procedure. The download began successfully, Mrs. Roberts and her family could barely make out on the computer thousands of lines of code running down the screen, as if they were eager to make themselves present in Ben’s brain. For about fifteen minutes, nothing went wrong, and then, the one thing could go wrong, did.
A rival company of GAM called the World Scientific Institute that had been developed about five years after GAM had been created. They had been their only actual competition, even though GAM was far ahead of them. They had created only a few wide-use products, while GAM had revolutionized the world with hundreds of work-easing inventions. WSI had been very jealous of their rival’s success, and would offer a large sum of money to anyone with inside information. It just so happens that a key developer of this project had quit during the early stages for unknown reasons, and WSI had picked him up for a hefty pay. He had access to the computer, and knew almost everything else about the project. WSI could not allow their rival to make this development commonplace, therefore, they had hacked into the computer database of GAM and, when they saw the specific program in use, had loaded a virus into it.
The results of this action were unseen during the procedure; the virus had been snuck into the code. The only tangible evidence of anything wrong was a slight twitch in Ben. The doctors disregarded this and kept going. After all of the data had loaded into his brain, the doctors signaled to the family, giving thumbs up. The Roberts family was ecstatic. They told Ben to stand up, something he had not been able to do ever since his accident. Ben obeyed, and the Roberts family rushed down into the room and met him, beaming. Ben did not show any sign of emotion, nor did he greet them, he just stood there, a blank look on his face, staring at his family as if he had never seen them before. They said, “Ben, it’s us! We’re your family.” HE did not react, but walked forward.
The Roberts stared at the doctors, and asked what was wrong. They simply shrugged, and then pointed at Ben, who was walking out of the door. They all followed, the scientists, the Roberts, everyone, everyone, that is, except for one of the computer specialists, who thought that the computer could be at fault. He looked through the lines of code, starting from the bottom, and then quickly found an anomaly. There was something hidden in the code, a program that would distort any computer device. The man, named George, immediately knew what had happened, and he knew that the brain was malfunctioning, and there was no way to fix it. The compu-brain controlled his motor skills. Therefore, he would occasionally be able to walk, but more often, he would be reduced to an even worse state than before.
He had to warn the scientists, but the GAM complex was so vast, he could only rely on sheer luck to go in the right direction, unless, of course, they were close enough to be seen or heard. This was the case, and he ran to the group, Ben at the lead, still walking, and everyone else following him. He came up to the group, and Mrs. Roberts explained that he had spoken during the walk, he said, “I can walk again!” This excited everyone further, and so they continued to follow. Besides this, nothing of importance had occurred. Fred stood in front of the group and said to them, “Ben’s brain has been loaded, not only with vital information, but also with a virus. I am sorry, but this will disable him even further than before,” and right as he said this, Ben fell down. He lied on the ground, not dead but useless.
Mrs. Roberts, with help from other members of her family, lifted Ben up and stared angrily at the scientists and walked away. They went back to the room and sat him back in his wheelchair, without even a silent protest from Ben. They wheeled him quickly out of the Neurological and Psychological Research Center, and then quickly out of the GAM complex and into the car. Before they got into the car, however, Ben came out of his wheelchair, and said, “No! I can walk! Don’t put me in here!” And he stood up. He walked a few feet away from the car, and then fell down pitifully once more. From that day onward, the Roberts family made it their one goal in life to expose the cruelty of the Global Advancement of Mankind, but failed nearly every time. GAM offered no settlement, no payoff, nothing. They instead denied the occurrence of the thing, because nothing had really changed about Ben because he came in, so there was no evidence of anything ever happening. The Roberts could not take on the scientific giant that had done so much for the world, but instead, became very interested in the World Scientific Institute. They did not know, however, that the WSI had been the cause of their misery in the first place.
Ben Roberts' brain has been damaged. A company called GAM offers a new procedure to fix it, but something goes wrong that will change him.
The brain is one of the greatest gifts of creation. It dictates thought, speech, action, emotion, all things of the body. When one is damaged, all precaution is taken to restore it, as in the case of Ben Roberts. Ben’s brain had been damaged in an explosion. Basic skills were alien to him without that part, and it needed to be restored. Fortune favored been, for GAM had just created a device that could replace that portion of his brain.
This was a completely experimental and therefore dangerous procedure, but it was chosen anyway, for Ben’s family and friends wanted him to be restored. The process was very complicated, and it was called, “Automated Neurological Replacement.” The doctors at GAM explained to his family that the procedure placed a large computer chip in his head that would easily cooperate with the rest of his brain and body. Then, the necessary information would actually be downloaded to the chip through a computer, and here the family hesitated.
Mrs. Roberts asked, “What if there is something wrong with the computer, or if it gives false information?”
The doctor, named Fred Barnes, said to her, “Mrs. Roberts, I assure you the computer that will be used has been checked dozens of times over by leading computer experts, and the “brain” has been verified by neurologists to work. If there is anything wrong, which is highly unlikely, we will simply remove the chip from his brain and start over.” But Fred was lying. It was more complicated than that, the chip could not simply be removed, it interacted with his body, and carelessly jerking the chip out would cause permanent and serious damage to his brain and body. He reassured himself, however, thinking, “Nothing will go wrong. The computer has been checked hundreds of times. Nothing will go wrong.”
Dr. Barnes statements to his patients’ family had considerable effect in comforting them. They decided to carry on with the procedure, and so they brought Ben to GAM, and then Ben was wheeled to the Neurological & Psychological Research Department. Waiting there was the same doctor who had prior spoke to them. The doctor was cold and expressionless, and neither frowned nor smiled upon them. Ben was taken by a nurse, and the family was ushered upstairs, so they could look down from a glass window at the surgery. A few minutes after they were settled up there, faces glued to the glass, the surgery began.
To start, they cut a small hole in his skull, and began to insert the chip that the family had heard so much about. This portion of surgery would be relatively easy. It was done successfully, however, and then the microsurgeons were called upon to hook up the artificial nerves of the chip with the real ones in his brain. If any mistake were made here, the whole surgery would be pointless, for the artificial brain would simply sit in his skull and have no function, and therefore just be added weight. This was done successfully as well, although it took an immense amount of time. Every nerve had been meticulously linked together.
Now, the revolutionary and highly experimental part of the procedure was next. The scientists at GAM had kept it a secret, how they were able to transfer the information from the computer into the “compu-brain” as they had dubbed, and then allowed the brain to process the information and work with the rest of the body. All the family was able to see were the scientists hooking up cords from Ben’s brain to a computer. Although the family’s eyes were already glued to the glass, it seemed now that they had been cemented to it. They stared down with a mixture of wonder, fear, and nervousness.
The cords had been successfully connected from his brain to the computer, and now, it was the information that needed to be downloaded into his brain. The scientists began to access a program in the computer, designed only for this procedure. The download began successfully, Mrs. Roberts and her family could barely make out on the computer thousands of lines of code running down the screen, as if they were eager to make themselves present in Ben’s brain. For about fifteen minutes, nothing went wrong, and then, the one thing could go wrong, did.
A rival company of GAM called the World Scientific Institute that had been developed about five years after GAM had been created. They had been their only actual competition, even though GAM was far ahead of them. They had created only a few wide-use products, while GAM had revolutionized the world with hundreds of work-easing inventions. WSI had been very jealous of their rival’s success, and would offer a large sum of money to anyone with inside information. It just so happens that a key developer of this project had quit during the early stages for unknown reasons, and WSI had picked him up for a hefty pay. He had access to the computer, and knew almost everything else about the project. WSI could not allow their rival to make this development commonplace, therefore, they had hacked into the computer database of GAM and, when they saw the specific program in use, had loaded a virus into it.
The results of this action were unseen during the procedure; the virus had been snuck into the code. The only tangible evidence of anything wrong was a slight twitch in Ben. The doctors disregarded this and kept going. After all of the data had loaded into his brain, the doctors signaled to the family, giving thumbs up. The Roberts family was ecstatic. They told Ben to stand up, something he had not been able to do ever since his accident. Ben obeyed, and the Roberts family rushed down into the room and met him, beaming. Ben did not show any sign of emotion, nor did he greet them, he just stood there, a blank look on his face, staring at his family as if he had never seen them before. They said, “Ben, it’s us! We’re your family.” HE did not react, but walked forward.
The Roberts stared at the doctors, and asked what was wrong. They simply shrugged, and then pointed at Ben, who was walking out of the door. They all followed, the scientists, the Roberts, everyone, everyone, that is, except for one of the computer specialists, who thought that the computer could be at fault. He looked through the lines of code, starting from the bottom, and then quickly found an anomaly. There was something hidden in the code, a program that would distort any computer device. The man, named George, immediately knew what had happened, and he knew that the brain was malfunctioning, and there was no way to fix it. The compu-brain controlled his motor skills. Therefore, he would occasionally be able to walk, but more often, he would be reduced to an even worse state than before.
He had to warn the scientists, but the GAM complex was so vast, he could only rely on sheer luck to go in the right direction, unless, of course, they were close enough to be seen or heard. This was the case, and he ran to the group, Ben at the lead, still walking, and everyone else following him. He came up to the group, and Mrs. Roberts explained that he had spoken during the walk, he said, “I can walk again!” This excited everyone further, and so they continued to follow. Besides this, nothing of importance had occurred. Fred stood in front of the group and said to them, “Ben’s brain has been loaded, not only with vital information, but also with a virus. I am sorry, but this will disable him even further than before,” and right as he said this, Ben fell down. He lied on the ground, not dead but useless.
Mrs. Roberts, with help from other members of her family, lifted Ben up and stared angrily at the scientists and walked away. They went back to the room and sat him back in his wheelchair, without even a silent protest from Ben. They wheeled him quickly out of the Neurological and Psychological Research Center, and then quickly out of the GAM complex and into the car. Before they got into the car, however, Ben came out of his wheelchair, and said, “No! I can walk! Don’t put me in here!” And he stood up. He walked a few feet away from the car, and then fell down pitifully once more. From that day onward, the Roberts family made it their one goal in life to expose the cruelty of the Global Advancement of Mankind, but failed nearly every time. GAM offered no settlement, no payoff, nothing. They instead denied the occurrence of the thing, because nothing had really changed about Ben because he came in, so there was no evidence of anything ever happening. The Roberts could not take on the scientific giant that had done so much for the world, but instead, became very interested in the World Scientific Institute. They did not know, however, that the WSI had been the cause of their misery in the first place.