Read Maxwell Huxley's Demon Online
Authors: Michael Conn
Maxwell Huxley's Demon (3 page)
“So can anyone remind me how to improve this design ?”
Dr. Hanson asks after he shows the class a sketch of the final product.
An image flashes through Max’s thoughts, two boys playing chess in diapers.
Max raises his hand , and Dr. Hanson nods to him.
“
Flexible flat panels for cam ouflage , wheels for speed , and it should look more like a real spider, this way more people will leave it alone.
”
Dr. Hanson beams. “Brilliant, wonderful . . . one last thing to add is magnetics.
”
Walker nudges him in the shoulder .
“Like this?”
He shows him the updated electrons.
“
Good enough . . .”
Max stares at the code.
“Now we need protons and n eu trons.
Protons will house algorithms. Electrons will house data. C
hange in electron state will transmit data.
I don’t know w hat n eutrons do , but we’ll figure it out. S
ee where I’
m headed ?
”
“
Ya .”
Walker types on his touchscreen desk to update the software while he whispers , “You wan t to code a platform , a foundation that uses c hemis try as the communication model.
Next you’ll as k me to create hydrogen, then h elium .
Information will travel from molecule to molecul e as they react with each other, r ight?”
“Yup .”
“So when do I get to know how you con trol all of it ?
Right now I’m just building little code elements that will flit around without a way to use them.”
“What if all the e lectrons synchronized to a timing pulse?”
Max looks at Walker , waiting to see realization dawn on him.
“
Hey . . . yo u’re like some kind of genius.”
Walker beams at him, his smile widening until laughter overtakes both of them.
When they look up , Virginia is looking at them as if she pities them. T
he rest of the class just smiles.
Max looks to Dr. Hanson.
He’s not smiling and not mad either.
“Your homework is to create a proof of conc ept design of this from memory. Y
ou must include: magnetics, wheels, gps , gprs , when I say gprs I mean a fully functional cellular phone, camouflage skin, and whatever else you come up with.
As usual I want you r wo rk done with pencil and paper.
Class dismissed .”
On the way out of the class , passing close to Dr. Hanson, Max can f eel how Dr. Hanson is hurt and not angry .
---
Max finds Virginia reading in the north wing common room.
He makes his way through tables and chairs and sits down opposite her.
She looks at him.
I’m sure she has ten times my strength.
Other kids fill the room , on break , or stud ying, or in some cases sleeping, like the little red head girl behind Virginia.
Age and clique generally group the kids .
With her eyes just visible over her reader , Virginia says, “So what is so important that we can’t text about it, mister super-secret agent type guy?”
She put s the reader down.
“And what was that laughing about?
Dr. H.
really didn’t like that, and he likes you so much, why in his class, can’t you and Walker fart around some other time?
Hey , while I was here Coach Norfolk came by , and I have an extra practice in two minutes . . .”
“Virginia I . . .”
“
Ya , I unde rstand you need something again.
Well maybe if y ou weren’t so mean, and maybe if you just tried , you could do it.
And dragging Walker into hurting someone’s feeling s . . .”
“
I—”
“
Why would I do this ?
Last time, I lost my outdoor privileges , and Walker was in the south block for three days and what good came of that ?
”
He came back a lot stronger , that’s what.
Max bit es his lip, “I know . . . but—”
“I don’t think I should even listen to you.
” Virginia stands up .
Crap, crap, crapity , crap is what Max think s .
Coach Norfolk comes striding toward them.
“Well . . .
are you going to tell me what you want?
”
Virginia says.
“I need you to break into Dr .
Concilian’s office tonight and swap the SIM
card in his cell phone with one I give you . . . but I guess I have my answer .
”
Max sounds defeated.
I should stay away from girls.
“
Ug h .”
Virgin ia says as she turns and walks to the coach.
---
Dejected, Max leaves the common room an d heads down the hall.
“I guess I’
ll go work on my group theory, ”
he mumbles.
Max turn s up a stair case and comes out in the gym viewing area , which already hold s a t least a dozen kids , all watching Virginia .
He sits in the shadows , at the back , watching Virginia talk to Coach Norfolk.
Virginia has her long black hair tied in a bun. She’s nine like Max is but already a foot taller than him .
Unfair.
If that isn’t enough, her muscular frame makes he r look even taller than she is.
Virginia is practicing some kind of traditional gymnastics routine.
She runs, wheels, flips and launches herself into the air with fluid ease . Max h olds his breath with every run.
I can do three push ups . . . not really in a row but within twenty minutes.
Max watches and tries to count the rotation and flips, three or four, maybe five the last time. H
e can’t tell. S
he spins too quickly to count.
Coach Norfolk walks onto the mat and speaks to Virginia.
Norfolk has one en d of a long ribbon in his hand.
The other e n d is attached to the ceiling of the gym; it could be twenty metres up.
Virginia grabs the ribbon and launches her feet above herself. She wraps the ribbon around one ankle, flexes her calf , performs a sit-up and launches herself up right aga in, and grabs the ribbon. S
he is now standing a ful l body length off the floor, her weight supported by the ribbon wrapped around her ankle. She does this over and over until she reaches the ceiling.
Norfolk starts rotating the ribbon like a long ski pping rope.
Virginia wraps the ribbon around one ank le and lets go with both hands.
She control s her de s cent simply by fle xing her calf muscle .
She spins and slowly descends the ribbon, changing patter n s every few seconds.
Grace .
Max’s thoughts wander to kids he used to know.
I remember the day Mark stopped talking. I knew he was g one forever the minute it happened .
He was j ust back from a little enhancement trip in the south block. After a day , he still wasn’t talking. T
he doctors came and trie d to fix him, but he was gone. Four years old , and he was gone forever. I remember this too. I remember Mark.
It would’ve been better if he ’d died.
Virginia drops down off the ribbon.
She smiles and looks happy.
Norfolk gives her a high five.
Max takes stock of the escape tools they have built so far.
We have a platform that covers its tracks.
Roots itself —invisible to operating system s .
It ‘look s’ for processing spaces, and propagate s itself , adjusting the operating system monitors to hi de itself. A computer running our platform would report zero activity.
A processing space infected with our platform is a zombie under my control.
Now I need to release it.
Max thinks he should leave before she sees him.
I need Virginia to release it.
---
Virginia sighs as she watches Max leave.
“I guess he thinks I’m blind,”
she says under her breath.
Coach Norfolk goes on at length about how well she did and also what she needs to work on before the next class.
Virginia eagerly absorbs everything he has to say. Gymnastics is the one thing in this place that motivates her.
Virginia walks down the hall while braiding her hair . C
lasses let out , and the hallway fills with children. Some escorted by teachers , others following doctors , and some old enough to navigate the school without help.
Kids that get in her way move to the side respectfully.
Lost in thought, Vir ginia walks with purpose toward the girls’ residence, w aves of little eager faces passing her. Some look at her in awe. She recognizes others from g ymnastics.
The little kids, the four -
and five-year-olds, look frightened when they see her.
Virginia turns a corner and sees Walker ahead of her.
And him, he needs to get out of the way. W
hat’s so hard about writing code anyway?
How can he score higher than me ?
She fumes with the injustice of two smelly boys scoring higher than her. Virginia turns up a stairwell before she reaches Walker , so she can avoid talking to him right now.
---
Walker sees Virginia cut up the stairs. He knows her schedule , and her next class isn’t up there.
She’s going out of her way to avoid me.
He shakes his head, knowing that trying to figure her out is impossible .
He keeps to the middle of the hallway. It’s easier to navigate around all the kids when you’re in the middle.
A stream of kids, each with their own goals. Each needing to be somewhere.
Walker passes into the physical training section, rooms architected to teach; Judo, Kendo, wrestling, gymnastics, and Yoga.
Walker’s favourite room is the agility training maze.
Every time you enter the maze it’s different, different obstacles, d ifferent timing required to pass. If you pass, you leave the maze by the green door. If you fail you come back out in this hallway by the red door.
If you want to fit in here you better be seen coming out the green door often.
Walker sees Virginia pop back down onto this floor and quickly slip into the Kendo training room.
What if I got it wrong ? What if I am not this strong?
–Maxwell
Max flops down on his bed and wakes his reader. A mechanical clock on his dresser ticks in counter point to the grandfather clock near the exit from the boys' residence. He likes to think of the two clocks as speaking to each other, keeping each other in step. Once the ticking of the clocks en ter s his consciousness, his mind synchronizes with them, uses them, and adds more thoughts into the rhythm. Some days this calms him, some days not. Today is a bad day.
Why is it so hard to just be?
Why is being Processed so frightening?
Max reaches into a hole he cut in the mattress and pulls out a cell phone, another tool they won’t let him use.
The display reads 0xF1C9. Broken is what that means. His latest attempt to hack the phone failed. More wasted computer lab time.
At least he figured out how to program the SIM
card.
Alone in the residence , he feels the whispering thoughts gather and sits up in an attempt to keep them at bay.
‘
You’ll never make it. You can’t even hack a phone. You’re stupid and sickly.
’
Tic k .
Crap !
He lies back again so he can see the sliver of water. He breathes deeply. 1-2-3-4 in . . . 1-2-3-4 out.
He tries imagining swimming in the lake.
Without warning, he find s hi m self looking dow n at a frail boy lying alone on a bed . He feels his chest tighten and pulse race.
Toc k .
Fight it!
His thoughts spin . . .
his temp erature rises. The clock is loud now , and he can smell the lingering odours of the other boys, d irty s ocks to his left , and a banana probably left under a bed far across the room .
Tic k .
Get up!
He stands, walks to the oval table in the common area , and lean s against the back of a chair.
He knows where this bout can end , and he senses the pools of sadness building.
It’s not possible to stop the feeling s that wash over him.
Ne ver make a plan. Life hates plans. My restl essness drove me to seek a way.
How can the other kids not try?
Max pauses at the window and focuses on the water, hoping it will calm him and let him think clearly.
I thought I needed to crack that phone but getting a hacked SIM
card into Dr. Concilian’s phone will work even better. Only two and a half days left .
Deadlines help even when you pick random dates.
It’s the act of p icking the date that’s motivating, not the date itself .
I think Svengaard said t h at.
Tock.
The competent make plans, the talented have vision. How can I tell who else here has vision? Who else would trust me? Walk! Walk! Get out of here!
Max paces .
This will pass.
This is normal for you . Go with it , and it will end sooner.
Max looks at the door, terrorized by the thought tha t someone other than Walker will enter.
I need to create . I need to destroy . The complexity of creation is equal to the square of the resulting goodness.
M
ax realizes that last thought is not a good sign.
Walk dammit! Leave the room . F
ind Virginia. Find Walker .
Tick.
Max paces, stepping in time with the clocks. He fails to leave the room.
---
Walker
escapes the organic chemistry lecture and searches for Max.
He’s nervous. I t’s not usually good when Max misses a lecture.
Walker checks Max’s favourite spots first, the lookout tower, the garden, t he pool.
This isn’
t good.
Walker gets worried .
Walker climbs to the third floor and bursts into the boys’
residence . There he is—p ale, pacing, and muttering.
Rats , the one thing I can’t help with.
He takes Max by the ar m and leads him from the room.
Virginia , find Virginia.
Walker drags Max down the hall trying to avoid the doctors. Most of the kids recognize what’s happening and give them space or help hide them from sight if needed.
A mass of kids helping one of their own.
“Virginia . . . has anyone seen Virginia?”
A six-year -old girl that Walker recognizes from gymnastics , points to the west wing.
“Try the gym . . . or she might be in the change room s,” s he says as Walker moves on .
Walker reaches the girls’ cha nge room and shouts for Virginia . Max mutters nonsense but doesn’t fight staying beside Walker .
Charlotte and Julia Robinelle , the twins , come out of the change rooms carrying gym bags and wooden swords, s miling at Walker as they approach .
“Charlotte ! Is Virginia in there?
” Walker points into the change room.
“Can you get her?
”
Charlotte loses her smile. “
I just saw her, one sec.
” She moves back into the change rooms , keeping her distance from Max.
Julia backs away, becoming suddenly very interested in her finger nails, anything to avoid looking at Max.
Walker turns to Max. “Hold on Max . . . Max?
”
Walker sighs.
Come on Virginia , where are you?
After a minute , Virginia comes out of the change room. One glance and sh e understands what’
s going on . She takes Max’s arm and pulls him along, stepping into a sports equipment storage room.
Virginia places her hands on either side of Max’s face. “Oh Max.”
Max appears not to notice.
His eyes shifting , not meeting hers. “Max, come on, look at me.” Virginia moves her head around until she catches his eyes.
“Max!”
H
is eyes connect with hers.
He stops muttering , and his face crumbles into sadness. He reaches forward and falls into a hug. Racked with sobs , Max holds on .
“I’m here,” she whispers.
---
Max follows Virginia back to the door of the boys’
residence.
Staying close, looking down, avoiding eye contact with doctors and students alike .
Even with Walker there , he can’t let her go. They sit down on the floor in the hall. Max leans on Virginia. Walker waits by the door.
A hall monitor walks by.
“
You’re not supposed to be here .” T
he moni tor knows Max and guesses what’
s happening. “
I’ll give you f ive minutes, guys .”
“Are you there, Max?” Virginia asks, not really expecting an answer.
I reach out and touch her hair.
I breathe.
How much more will they want? How much more will I do? Walker and Virginia look to me expecting answers .
Virginia stands up and pulls me up with her. “The observatory?” she asks.
I nod. Walker keeps a look out as we climb. We climb to my place—t he observatory.
This is the only place whe re I can watch the sky and the water . I sit. I rock. I focus on the water, the sliver of blue.
I’m aware of Virginia and Walker and their concern.
I rock.
I struggle within myself, to help myself, to be myself, to heal myself.
Not yet, the voices whisper, not yet.