Wonder World: Ignition

AnalyticalEngine++;

The last nineteen months had been a whirlwind of creativity and innovation, and Sam couldn't remember ever being happier. Future Sight was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Sam worked directly under Mr. Fletcher with Emily and Dr. Linnea Hedlund, a recent med school grad specializing in neurosurgery, in the Advanced Research and Development lab. Alex spent most of his time in the lab with them, but honestly Sam didn't really mind. At first he was nervous around his boss and concerned that his micromanaging would interfere with their progress, but he shouldn't have worried. Alex was uncannily insightful, picking up advanced concepts quickly and following up with questions that made Sam pause and reevaluate the problem from a new perspective. Alex had even started to teach himself how to code, and was getting pretty good. Sam had never gotten the hang of small talk, but Alex was a savant. He made Sam feel at ease, getting him to talk animatedly about AI and even crack a joke every once in a while. 

And the technology they were building was so cool! Sam had spent the first six months developing a custom API that could interface directly with the human brain, allowing the user to give commands using just their thoughts. His analytical engine helped smooth out any kinks by adapting the code to each user's unique brain activity to make the whole process virtually seamless. The NaturalMuv Prosthesis had been their first major success. Emily's Synapse Fibers made the movement organic, while Sam's code made it so the user could move the prosthesis like it was their own limb, no extra input required. The only drawback was that the user needed hardware implanted in their brain to use it, but Sam had been working on a device that would be use EM waves to communicate instead of integrated electrodes, making the old implant obsolete. Of course that didn't stop Alex from insisting he have the implant installed by Dr. Hedlund as soon as it was ready so he could beta test their prosthetic legs, FDA be damned. But it was all worth it when Sam saw the look on Alex's face as he took his first steps in over a year. 

But merely replacing lost limbs wasn't enough for Alex, he had to improve on them. While the NaturalMuv was passed down to the "regular" R&D department, as Alex liked to call it, to be prepped for a consumer release he had Emily working nonstop on a Synapse Fiber Exo-Suit that would improve the wearer's strength and stamina beyond the levels of even the finest athlete. Sam had asked him why they were devoting resources to a project that they didn't have a contract for and probably couldn't sell on the open market, but Alex had just shrugged and said, "Because it's cool." Sam didn't really have time to worry about the Exo-Suit project because he was working around the clock to get his API ready for an ocular prosthesis that would eventually replace Alex's missing eye. 

Sam still hadn't found a great use for the predictive algorithm he had accidentally discovered almost two years ago. He used it occasionally to debug his code, but he still didn't feel comfortable showing it to Alex. It wasn't that he didn't trust Alex, more like he didn't trust his decision making. Alex had a tendency to make decisions quickly without fully contemplating the consequences and making contingency plans. Granted, this meant he was great at solving problems on the fly, but something as powerful as his code shouldn't be used rashly. No, it was much better to take this slowly and carefully, and the only person Sam trusted to do that was himself. What Sam really wanted was to feed the EM Brain Scanner data directly into the predictive algorithm, essentially allowing them to fully map a human brain and predict it's responses to stimuli in real time. That would make it one of the most powerful medical advancements of the last century. But in the wrong hands? Espionage, surveillance, blackmail ... definitely a good idea to keep it under wraps until he could figure out a way to use it responsibly.    

Today they were finally going to test his API to make sure it could successfully translate video input into information the brain can process. The actual prosthesis was still in development, so they were using a webcam that was sitting on the desk for now. Alex was kicked back in Sam's office chair, his mechanical feet resting on the desk. Sam double checked that his code was ready to go while Dr. Hedlund hooked the webcam up to Alex's implant. The implant itself was embedded in his right temple. Most of the device was internal, except for a small port that protruded through the skin behind his ear, allowing for external devices to be attached if the wireless connection failed. 

Dr. Hedlund finished installing the USB adapter and plugged in the webcam. "We are ready to go, Mr. Peterson," she said. "Mr. Fletcher, if there is any discomfort or if anything goes wrong, signal and we will hit the kill switch immediately."

"I still think it's weird that we can just plug a flash drive straight into my brain," Alex commented as he settled into Sam's chair. "Hey Sam, how cool would it be if I could just plug in some extra memory?"

"It's not out of the question. We would need to implement some sort of file storage architecture, but it wouldn't be too ..."

"Sam, I was kidding. Mostly. Everyone ready? I'm ready."

"Yep," said Sam.

"When you are, Mr. Fletcher," Dr. Hedlund answered.

"Alright then. Igor, throw the switch!" 

Sam cracked a smile and hit F5. His program took a moment to compile, and then started running. "OK," Sam said, "It should be working now. Let me know if ..."

"Holy shit this is weird!" Alex exclaimed.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Fletcher?" Dr. Hedlund asked anxiously.

"No, everything's fine it's just ... damn this is weird." Alex was turning his head from side to side, closing his good eye and opening it again while a child-like grin spread across his face. "It's just ... I dunno how to explain it. I'm looking at myself from outside of myself, but through my own eyes. It's so surreal. You guys have to try this!"

"I'd love to, but I don't really want to get shot in the face to do it." Sam said, his eyes never leaving the diagnostic feed. "OK, I'm ready to start motor functions when you are, Alex."

"Hit it."

"Hitting ..." Sam replied as he booted up the program that would connect the signals Alex's brain sent to his missing eye muscles to the motors on the webcam. "Alright, it's running. Try it out." The webcam turned to the left, then to the right.

"It's sluggish," Alex commented. "It kind of makes me nauseous."

"Yes, I expected as much," Hedlund commented as she watched Alex intently. "The final product will use small bundles of Synapse Fibers to move the camera and operate the aperture. It should reduce the discomfort caused by latency."

"OK, looks like the webcam trial was a success!" Sam said excitedly.  "Ready to get disconnected Alex?"

"Sure," he replied. Sam killed the program while Dr. Hedlund unplugged the webcam.

 "Hey Sam?" Alex asked while Hedlund fiddled with his implant.

"Yeah?"

"Any chance you could get a copy of your analytical engine loaded into the final product? I'd love to be able just look at something and get a full analysis."

"I guess so," Sam answered uncomfortably. "Why would you need it though?"

"Think how useful it would be! As long as I have a robot eye I might as well make it cool, right?"

"Yeah, I'll see if I can figure something out," Same said hesitantly. This would be the second project that Alex had expanded the scope of at the last minute, without giving a real answer as to why. First the Exo-Suit and now his eye. What was he up to? Sam decided to keep an eye on him, just in case. Alex would never do anything malicious with his tech. Right?

"Well, it looks like the software integration worked perfectly," Alex said as he stood up and stretched, breaking Sam's train of thought. "Nice work. Ready for the next project?"

"No rest for the weary."

"Exactly. So Draken Dynamics was working on some crazy advanced robotics and drone tech before they lost their funding. There's one project in particular I want you to take a look at. It's a humanoid drone designed for disaster relief. They had pretty high aspirations for it, flight, barrier projection ..."

"Barrier projection? What the hell is that?" Sam interjected.

"Looks like they cooked up some sort of electromagnetic field generator hoping they could use it to somehow repel objects or lift metals from a distance. Most of it went over my head, but I'm sure you can figure it out."

"Interesting, I'd love to take a look. Where's the data stored?"

"Uh, it's on the AR&D server, in the folder named Project Novatron."