Errol was reprising the success of the promotional video for the new intake of apprentices.
Marius’s erstwhile line-manager cum PR guru had stagnated whilst he, the star ascendant, rose… and then kept rising. Press releases, talk show interviews, the occasional drip feeding of the “facts” surrounding his new boss’s meteoric elevation, – Neurodiverse Apprentice of the Year to CEO of Brigham Enviro-Solutions, – were worlds Errol appeared supremely comfortable in.
“Premise. Humankind is imprisoned by the physical, physiological, and cognitive limitations of the body – limitations that BES’s programme of human enhancement has overcome, channelled, mastered.” Errol was on a roll.
“Part 1. The application of biomedical engineering principles to the ‘physical’ biology of the nervous system, monitoring the brain’s chatter through micro-electrodes, identifying somebody’s motor intent, then how the brain encodes behaviour. Somebody please identify yourself ” Marius stood to polite applause.
“Part 2. ‘Physiological’; the benefits of a man /computer fighting machine. By implanting Neuroprosthetics in brain tissue the effects of traumatic brain injury and PTSD are reversed. Expensively trained expert fighters return to the military arena after minimal post -operative recovery”
“Part 3 ‘Cognitive’, the transfer of knowledge, thoughts and abilities from one person’s mind to another’s saves on expensive training programmes. Add cross-communication, between living and prosthetic systems, – arms, legs. Bingo”
The meeting concluded with the annual returns slide: – profits off the scale with a tsunami of lucrative contracts from governments, armies, private militias. Still Marius allowed himself the luxury of doubt. The “swarming squid” debacle had long disappeared in the memory hole that is a meld of money and success. Once the errant neural patterns of the xenebot robots had been isolated, transferred to the mainframe at Brigham Labs and the controlling programme corrected, the collective memory and behaviour of the squad-swarm of squid reverted. Leaving behind their unhealthy taste for fish and coral, they once again gorged on the ocean floor’s refuse mountains of single-use plastic, much to the delight of the BES investors and shareholders.
“Aaaren’t we the perfet dublact!” Errol was more than a little under the influence at the “Welcome to BES” party that evening and had grabbed Marius in an uncharacteristically affectionate neck hug.
“No grudges then Errol?”
“Cawsh not! Wotya take me for! S’luvly t’seeya succeed “
No-one had estimated Errol’s capacity for revenge.
Relaxing in the communal area at BES next day, Marius’s hand crept unbidden to his shaven scalp and scratched the protruding micro-wire electrodes. The invasion of his nasal passages by a sizzling smog of electric current had forewarned him of their imminent activation. He had ascribed the sensation that his limbs were turning to jelly to job-related stress. Drawn to the open under-sink cupboard, he dropped from the chair to the floor and crept towards it.
The astonished recruits watched as first he consumed the PVC piping, and then a plastic bottle containing bleach.
Bastard! He’s implanted me with the octopus nanotechnology.
