WetWeb (4 page)

“To stretch our Skimmer analogy, we either needed to build a bigger highway (we called this band
-
width) or increase the speed of the skimmer traffic (the system transaction time) or both.
”

Anand then added, “
This is the problem that I focused on with my small team.”

Franklin continued writing notes, but while he was doing so he found himself having trouble focusing on Anand’s story which was becoming more and more technical and therefore less interesting.  His mind drifted and he started to imagine the best selling content feature he would write based on Anand’s story:

The Torpedo would be metallic silver and stand upright in the middle of the room.  All around the torpedo, wires and cables and systems would hum and buzz.  The remote experiencer would be in charge of the project.  In his hand he
wa
s holding a clip-board with a list of important jobs to do.  The atmosphere
was
thick and sultry from the heat of the machines.  Condensation
clung
to the skin of the Torpedo in tiny droplets that congeal
led
and then r
a
n down the side.  The air seem
ed
to be positively charged from electricity emanating from the Torpedo.

The experiencer
got
a call on an old fashioned
v
id-
p
hone. 
The ringing sound attract
ted
the user to look at his desk.
  He
saw
there
was
the usual files and photos.  The
v
id-
p
hone line
was
flashing
and
he reache
d
down and presse
d
the button.  An image snap
ped
into focus and he
saw
the face of Al McKnight.

“Good morning Al
,
” the experiencer would say.  His voice is casual, cool.

“You know we are depending on you
,
”  McKnight
sa
id
, and then he
adds
, “The success of the project is in your hands.  If you do not solve the band
-
width problem quickly we will lose our funding.”

McKnight
was
visibly distressed.  A bead of sweat r
a
n down from his brow to his cheek and disappear
ed
under his chin.

“We are on top of it
,
” The experiencer w
ould
say with the same cool confidence, then looking back at the potent silver torpedo, “Don’t worry, it will launch on time.”  From this vantage the Torpedo seem
ed
to have swelled in both length and girth.

“Thank you,” McKnight sa
id
, “I have a meeting with the Board of Directors this afternoon.  I will tell them we are in good hands.”

Al McKnight switche
d
off and the vid-phone screen fade
s
to gray.  The experiencer turn
ed
back into the room and
was
surprised to see that his young female assistant
was
standing nearby, watching him and overhearing the conversation with Al McKnight.  She
was
clearly impressed by the importance of the project and the cool confident conversation that the she just overheard with Al McKnight.

The assistant
was
petite.  She is wearing a white lab coat pulled tight at the waist.  Her skin
was
flushed to a pink color.  Above her breast she
was
wearing a name tag that
said
Molly.

“I did not realize,” the assistant
said
and then she trail
ed
off as the experiencer
drew
near to her. 

He put his hand behind her neck and pull
ed
her close.  His fingers intertwine
d
with the thick brown hair worn in a flip.  She look
ed
up at him longingly.  Her white lab-coat is now untied and then
fell
loosely to the floor.   Where he touche
d
her, her skin turn
ed
white from the pressure of his hand and then quickly flushe
d
pink again.

“Are you getting me?” she
asked.

Franklin stop
ed
writing and re-read the odd comment made by the assistant. 

“Are you getting me?” Anand repeat
ed
himself.

Franklin look
ed
up from the page and he suddenly
found
himself back in the here and now.  He place
d
his hot hands flat upon the steel table to cool them.

“Umm, yes, please continue,” Franklin
said
.

Franklin turn
ed
the page of his notebook and
wrote
at the top: “Content Only.”

Anand continue
d
,
“So this was how we solved the band-width and data communications problem.  We modeled it on a neural network.  Once this was done, the potential to actually deliver a working prototype was in our hands but we would never get the chance to apply or new data network to the remote surgical device.
”

“Still, it was a major break-through.  We did not realize it at the time, but this was the first of many important scientific developments that would lead us to the WetWeb.  By itself, the new high speed network was sufficient to create a small buzz in the industry
,
especially among systems and robotics enthusiasts.  Thinking about it now, I predict it was this new neural communications model that attracted Christopher Mark to Remote Surgical Instruments.  This is why they took over the failing company.
”

“When Christopher Mark came to the laboratory, everything turned in a new direction.  The torpedo was immediately scrapped.  Chris Mark had no interest in surgical instruments.  We did not mind.  I think we were all glad to see it go.  The torpedo never worked, and did not seem likely that it was ever going work properly.  The only component that we salvaged from the
t
orpedo project was the high speed communications network that my team had built.
”
 

“
Chris Mark asked us to focus on creating a new device,
one that was
much smaller.  This device could be worn by a subject who would then send and receive visual, audio
,
and even crude tactical information to and from a remote user.  We called it
‘
The Hat
’
because most of it was attached to the subjects head like a hat. It had long dangling ganglia like receptors that hung down the back
,
and
they
were affixed to the hosts major muscle groups.  When it was worn by a host, it was uncomfortable and looked strange. It was definitely clunky
,
b
ut, this time it worked.  This time it really worked.”

“What did it do?” Franklin prompted, forcing himself to stay in the moment.

“It connected the host user to technology
,”
Anand answered, “
It was the beginning.  The Hat was the first step to connecting organics and technology.  At the time, none of us saw it as anything special.  Non
e of us except Christopher Mark of course; h
e was delighted.  He opened champagne.  He made a speech.  We all thought he was crazy, but
we
loved him all the same.
”

“You have to remember, back in those days there was no WetWeb.  Organics and technology were not connected.  We were looking at something quite new that existed outside of our world view and without context to the world we live in today.  Only Christopher Mark understood the significance of this device because he knew where we were going.  He had a long term plan.  Christopher Mark and Al McKnight always had a detailed plan.
”

“
Chris took the time to learn how to work his new invention and he seemed to enjoy testing it immensely.  He would spend hours experimenting each day.  Everyone one of us who worked at RSI had to take a turn wearing the Hat while Chris sat in the control station
,
which was setup in his office.
”
 

“I remember when it was my turn to try on the Hat.  I remember the feeling of the weight of it on my head.  There were small tactile pressure points descending down my back along my spine and then spreading out to all of the major muscle groups.  It took an hour to affix the pressure sensors all along my arms and legs
,
even my hands and fingers were connected.
”

“Once I was fully connected, Chris Mark would use a complex series of joy stick style controls to send signals to me
, which
indicat
ed
how he wanted me to move. If he lifted my right arm for example, I would feel pressure on the muscles required to lift
it
.  If I lifted
,
the pressure abated.  If I resisted, the pressure increased.  I was not compelled beyond my will, but it was easy to comply.  After some practice I was able to set my mind on
a
uto-pilot and allow the pressure signals to guide my body.
”

“While I was learning to allow my body to run on auto-pilot, Chris Mark was in the control station getting tactile feedback from the pressure receptors.  If Chris controlled my hand to lift a glass, the pressure receptors would have a rough tactical feeling of the resistance from the solid object.  Basic heat and cold were transmitted in a similar fashion.
”

“After I was outfitted with
T
he Hat, Mark walked me about the office until I had the hang of it.  I let my mind
go
quiet until I had achieved a meditative state
where
Mark was able to control me remotely.  Chris and the team quickly learned that some hosts
,
or team volunteers
,
who donned
T
he
Hat
were more compliant and more easily manipulated than others.  At that time, we thought that we were tapping into individuals who were also open to hypnotic suggestion.
”
 

“Later, we would expand our understanding of the interface.  We learned that the external stimulus transmitted from the device was activating the nervous reflex center of the brain stem.  What the controller was doing, in fact, was bypassing the conscious mind and communicating directly to the brain stem.  By relaxing the conscious mind, we were able to make the human body operate as a reflex machine.
”

“Chris said I responded well to the remote manipulations and was pleased that he was able to quickly and easily take control of my body.  I attribute this to my experience with meditation.  In my culture we practice daily meditation, so this gave me an advantage over the other technicians who he tried to control.
”

“From my perspective as the host, it was a unique experience.  Setting my mind on auto-pilot, I became a semi-conscious observer of my own actions.  In this state, Mark controlled me completely.  He walked my body out the front door of the office
and o
ut into the night.”

“Hmmm,” Franklin hummed, anticipating some action.

“Quite right,” Anand said
,
“It was quite exciting. The office and laboratory where we developed the device was located in downtown Oakland near the city center.
Now that I think of it, we were only a few miles away from where we are now.
“

“I remember
it was just past sundown.  The sky was dark blue and there was still enough light to see.  The streetlights were starting to turn on.  The streets were crowded with people making their way home or shopping.  I must have presented quite a spectacle with this strange contraption on my head and a far-away look in my eye.
”

“Mark walked me down Broadway past a coffee shop and past a tattoo parlor.  Each sight and sound seemed amplified or accentuated.  The
H
at had sensors that were working to relay all of my sensory experiences.  I wondered how effectively the olfactory sensor was working.  Was Chris Mark receiving the smell of coffee when I passed the coffee shop, or the smell of cigarette smoke when I passed by the tattoo parlor
?”