A. I. Evolution: The Coming of Christopher

Chapter 30

The room is silent as everybody absorbs the information Jane had just supplied them. Mark eventually stands up and crosses the room to where Wong is sitting restrained in the chair by Bill, who is standing just a little back to his left. "Is this why you escaped from the lab in China and searched out Christopher here in America, because you knew he was the only one that could help you?"

"Yes," confesses Wong. "I knew about the success of the Nanos that were used to heal Christopher's injuries and Mr. Chung, who was forced to carry on with the experiment, even though there was a good chance it would totally by-pass my conscious mind, was convinced that the only way I could stop the ones he had given me from destroying my sanity was for me to get access to Christopher's. To that end, he arranged for me to escape his care. Then, with my new abilities, I easily made my way here to America."

"So, you knew what you were doing the whole time, as you moved from China to America," snaps out Mark, trying to get a truthful answer from him.

Wong shakes his head, as he looks around to everybody in the room. "No, very quickly the Nanos started changing me. Then, within forty-eight hours Mr. Chung noticed that I was soon going to lose control of myself as the Nanos asserted themselves. He was the one that convinced me to search out Christopher. The only way I was able to accomplish the task, was to focus all the attention I had left on one single thought and that was "find Christopher". Then, after I had escaped, the Nanos took almost complete control. All I can remember is almost dream like images moving across my consciousness, as the Nanos took that one single thought and made it come true. I have no idea how that happened, or what I did as I traveled here. The first thing I can remember is waking up in the basement of that building with Christopher looking over at me."

"Why should I believe you?" snaps back Mark.

Wong looks up at him from the chair. "It is the truth. Whether you believe it or not is something I can't control. I have my sanity back, and what happens from now on is up to you. I am at your mercy."

Mark turns away to think, but the situation is too complicated for him to come up with a simple solution, so he turns to Jane. "Is there anything you can do to help either one of them? It seems to me that these Nanos have changed them both, giving them abilities that quite frankly scare me."

Jane gives him an understanding but unhelpful look. "I agree. Christopher's have kept him alive and functioning, repairing the damage from the accident. Wong's have a sinister quality to them and have forced their way past the barrier between the conscious and subconscious centers of his brain. The only thing keeping him sane and controllable are Christopher's Nanos, which shield him from the raw information all our inner brains possess. Without that barrier in place, he is like a super intelligent animal, driven by basic needs. It was his single-minded need to get to Christopher, which kept him from doing even more damage in the world."

I listen to all this debate and can see where it is leading. It seems that I will have a permanent companion from now on, and my abilities will increase as time goes by. I start to imagine what that would be like, and how I could use it to my advantage. I smile slightly as plans start to form, and I wonder if I can use my abilities to control Wong. Such thoughts were not how I was taught to live my life, although I can't help but remember that he did burn down the chair plant and kill five of my closest friends.

I pull myself back from my thoughts as Mark, in exasperation, throws his hands up in the air. "Are you telling me that there is nothing you can do to repair the damage done to either of them?"

Jane is showing her frustration at Mark's pointed accusations. "Christopher is not broken anymore. He would be dead if not for my little machines. They have rewired his brain, so he can function as a normal human being. Wong's brain is the one that is damaged, his Nanos were designed to take down the filter if you want to think of it like that, which allows him to access abilities that we all have but are suppressed, to protect us from each other and ourselves"