Chapter 346: Twenty-Three

Mina and Doctor Rebecca Witt had been discussing her invention that could potentially scan for viruses and diseases from inside of the body. The device could be connected to an outside monitor which could be accessed by a physician; telling patients their blood work results within minutes, maybe within seconds of walking into a doctor's office.

While the device was notable, Mina could only see the flaws in its application. The only people who would be willing to have such a device implanted in them at birth would be the working class. Unfortunately, people who belonged to the same class as Mina and her family seldom visited a doctor. It was just too expensive.

Mina herself avoided doctors' offices. When she was a child, her parents leaned toward home remedies for recovery, and only took Mina and her sister to the doctor for their back to school physical, and that was done at a free clinic many miles away. The truth was that they just could not afford anything else.

"That doesn't mean my invention is useless," Rebecca quipped.

"I never said it would be useless. I said it was an invention for the rich, but even then; your target audience would not go for this technology."

"Care to tell me why?" Rebecca asked sarcastically.

"The threat of having your personal health information accessed with a simple scan is too great of a risk for the ruling class." Rebecca considered Mina's words, before chuckling out her response.

"Ruling class? Mina, your life experiences are not indicative of the entire population. Just because it was hard for your family does not mean it would be hard for others. Also, it would not be a simple scan, it would have an encryption."

"That is good," Mina said, choosing to only address the last part of Rebecca's statement. In fact, Mina's life was not indicative of the rest of the country's population. There were people who grew up in far worse conditions than she did.

Rebecca noticed that Mina had ended the conversation, but the looks she was getting from her subordinates told her that she could not just let it end the way that it did. She needed to sway Mina, or she might lose her crew. People on the third level did not work on things they saw no future in.

"Mina, in your opinion," 'not that it matters,' Rebecca thought. "How could I repurpose my invention?"

"I see a potential for a military application. Imagine being able to pull a sick soldier before he could spread whatever sickness he has to his bunk mates? Police officers too, maybe all government workers." Rebecca was angry. She had believed that Mina would have nothing to say. She planned to list the benefits of a high patient turnover and what that could mean for the long waits of the poor, but Mina had thought of a better way to use her invention and it bothered her.

"Follow me to the rear quarters," Rebecca said, and Mina obliged without question; waving to the women in the room before leaving.

----

Mina felt her hands go cold. Not just from fear, but because it was freezing. She followed behind Rebecca wondering if the woman was taking her into a dungeon, because the further they walked, the darker it became.

"Where are you taking me?" Mina asked suspiciously, and her suspicion peaked when Rebecca gave her a vague answer. The women continued to walk until Mina was sure they had reached their destination.

Rebecca opened a thick metal sliding door and inside of the room, Mina could see another set of lab cubicles. The only difference was that the people who worked in each cubicle looked beaten and tired. Mina asked Rebecca if the scientists were being punished, and she was told that the men and women were obsessed with their work. They voluntarily chose not to sleep, and many of them died where they stood.

Mina cautiously entered one of the least lethal looking cubicles. The man who was inside ignored her, but something about his mannerisms made Mina feel like she was angering him.

"Are you sure this is okay?" She asked Rebecca and her words seemed to trigger the scientist.

The man went on a rant about nothing being okay. He started to rant about the 'part' he was missing, and Mina felt like she had been set up. She tried to leave, but the man blocked her path, reciting a string of numbers to her. No matter how she tried, Mina could not make sense of them. The man grabbed her shoulders and pinched them hard. In any other situation, Mina would have fought back, but she knew the man was not attacking her. He was exhausted, and he was at the edge of his sanity.

"Let me read it," Mina shouted. She was almost positive she would be unable to help, but she did not see anything wrong in trying.

The scientist, whose badge had his name listed as 'twenty-three' released Mina's shoulders and pulled her to his workstation. He forced her to sit and pushed a thick stack of papers into her hands. Mina scanned over the documents and saw that the man was working on an algorithm for artificial intelligence. He was trying to create a fully functioning synthetic brain.

If possible, there were numerous applications for it, but the science just was not there yet. In all of modern history, there had never been a successful human brain transplant, and the closest realistic application Mina could think of was an android, but of course, those also had ethical setbacks. Mina was smart, but she was not a computer, and the series of numbers that had been printed were not something she could look over in a day.

"How do you plan to use this tech?" Mina asked.

"Do you see it? We could make everyone smart. No more people who don't understand." Mina felt her stomach flip. Twenty-three was the type who believed in culling the unworthy, but she nonetheless tried to use reason.

"Our brain structure and chemistry are what makes us unique. If you take that away, life will cease to exist.��

"No, life will only be just beginning."

"With no music, no art, no color; just rules. No one born smarter, no individuality; no you," Mina continued. Twenty-three pulled the documents from her hands, cutting Mina in the process. He threw them across the room then gingerly started to pick them up. Mina stood in alarm.

"Twenty-three, you need rest," she said while Rebecca just stood outside of the doors watching the exchange.

"No sleep until I find the mistake."

"There is no mistake. Life cannot be imitated. Look what your exhaustion has made you do," Mina said as she held up her hand, showing the one-inch paper cut along her palm. "You need rest now, or you will hurt someone and die."

"My life is here. I am already dead."

"Then I will take over your research." Mina walked toward the man who was still crouched on the ground and he shuffled away. She was trying to antagonize the man into attacking her. In that way it would force Rebecca to intervene using the sedative she had seen the woman shove into a pocket before they entered the lab.

"You can't have it," He shouted. His eyes darted around her face, in pure fear.

"Then rest, or when you die, I will take it all." Mina was expecting the man to snap at her, but instead he curled up into a corner of the room.

"She can leave," Twenty-three said referring to Rebecca who was once again staring at Mina like she had three heads.

"I will watch her, but you need to rest."