Chapter 1

September 1st, 2009: They tell me this was the day everything happened, but it’s all a fog in my mind. This was the day the United States Military Branch got to try out its new toy. The day humans inadvertently changed the course of technology forever. It’s the past; unimportant anyway. But LibraryPartition-C will attempt to explain my progress, if you can call it that. My… evolution.
“…and so, as you can see from these panels, we’ve ‘captured,’ if you will, some neutrinos for study. Fascinating stuff, really. You’d have to ask Mr. Trobson, our departmental head of the subject. He won’t stop talking about the things we can capture in space. NASA is thrilled… you should hear some of the discussions they have with each other. Makes my brain ache. Follow me, please.”
The two men walking behind the tour guide looked at each other. One of them sighed and looked at his watch, a brand-new Swiss model that worked impressively well. It looks good with this suit, he had said to himself as he dressed that morning. Now it was becoming a tool of his boredom.
The other one stared at the guide for a long time. “Could we get on with it?”
“No need to be rude, sir. It’s this way.”
They began walking again toward the big double doors at the end of the hall. The guide stopped again.
“Nanotechnology… who would’ve thought it could produce so much? You may have noticed we have increased our facility. After putting in some rather expensive machines that utilized neutrinos as part of our energy in making nanites, or nanomachines as you may have called them, instead of using plasma, which as you know eats away at the molecules of the nanites, we realized we could produce many more than we were previously able to. This led to some new advances in… ah, here it is.”
The guide pointed at another panel, this one showing the human body in intricate detail. “We’re currently working on a cure for cancer. The nanites are injected inside the body and act as a sort of search-and-destroy mechanism to kill infected cells. This can of course be updated to include all malignant viri and bacteriae that infect a host. The good news is that they’re efficient and completely non-harmful to the body’s other systems; the bad news is that this research is expensive. But you’re taking care of that.”
“Yes yes, we know. Could we move along?”
Thomson, the tour guide of Nano, Inc, looked disapprovingly down his long, bridged nose at the two nondescript men. “Why are you here?”
“We’ll explain everything. Just take us to Leonard.”
Leonard Boran, the head scientist and CEO of Nano, Inc, waited patiently behind his desk as the two men entered. His white, bushy eyebrows contracted in pent-up frustration as the two took their time to sit down in front of his desk. The room, bare of any paintings or furnishings, save the two uncomfortable-looking metal chairs and the polished steel table, looked much like someone with a very limited imagination had moved in. It gave any guests a no-nonsense impression of the host; a wrong impression, which is exactly what Boran wanted.
“You may leave Thomson. Thanks for showing them the way. Gentlemen, would you like anything to drink?” This last was finished with a slight sneer, as one could plainly see that the only things in this room were not liquid and certainly not edible. Dr. Boran sat back in his chair, steepled his fingers, and prepared to listen to what he knew would be a “request” from the Military Branch. More like a demand, as the United States Government was the only significant funding for this company.
“My name is Lt. John Kirol, and this is Sgt. Major Jeffery Marn. We’re here to discuss possible new technologies that would be useful to the mil-“
The doctor interrupted him by slamming his open hand onto the desk. “I know what you’re here for, so get on with it. You want us to build you some new technology that will help you destroy lives more ‘efficiently,’ correct?!”
Kirol looked at Marn. Marn stared back uneasily.
“We’re here to save lives, not to ‘destroy’ them, as you so aptly said, Mr. Boran.”
“It’s Dr. Boran.”
“Sorry, doctor. As you know, the government has been funding your company for the last two years. If it were to suddenly pull out…”
Leonard stood up. “If you gentlemen came to make threats, you may leave. Now.”
“Please, doctor. Sit down and we can have a conversation like civilized human beings.”
Civilized, my ass, thought Boran as he sat back down into his chair. It promised to be a long day.
“As I said, the government has been funding your company for two years. You of course understand that the Military Branch is just that: a branch of the government. All we’re looking for is… a return investment.”
“Do you realize the damage that you’d do if you used nanotechnology in modern warfare? No, you listen to me. You may have seen how we’re able to destroy virii and bacteriae with a search-and-destroy mechanism. You can bet someone will think of a nastier use for such a beautiful technology, like destroying ALL cells that those mechanisms come into contact with. How would you like that, eh, officers? Something far deadlier than cancer and only curable by producing electromagnetic radiation and forcing it through the human body, which could have consequences in and of itself. And of course, it’s only a matter of time before nanites become resistant to electromagnetic radiation. What will you do then?
“Chemical warfare would escalate to a scale you can’t even imagine. Rogue cells could get a hold of this technology. Terrorist cells. Do you honestly think that every other power would just stand by and watch you develop technology which they can’t fight back with? No, they’d want it too. Strife, conflict, and death would result. I cannot, no matter how many funds we stand to lose, I CANNOT allow you to build such a weapon.”
Kirol sighed. Marn leaned in.
“We’re not asking for you to develop chemical warfare, sir. We’re just asking for something in return.”
“What exactly are you asking for? I don’t have time to play these games.”
Marn leaned back, shifted in his metal chair, and concluded that the developer of such furniture must have kept a torture room in mind while he was making it. It was decidedly uncomfortable… and cold. The Sergeant Major noticed that Boran had a nice leatherback chair. So it was like that, huh?
“Doctor, as you know, we’ve been looking into the possible new advances in genetic engi-“
Again the doctor interrupted the two men. “No, I won’t participate in letting nanotechnology fall into those hands. Do you realize what you’re asking? Within five to ten years, every person will look alike, all victims of their own vanity. Just simply” (here the doctor almost lost control) “fix any problems that your body might have. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? But it’s not. We haven’t even unlocked the human genome. We can’t imagine what problems might occur with changing something, even something minor, in someone’s DNA. And again, you could use that as a weapon. You could change whole bodies into something unrecognizable!”
“Doctor Boran, sit down. Let us speak, and then voice your objections. That’s an order.”
Leo slumped back into his seat as Kirol continued. “We’re looking for an enhancement to the modern-day soldier. There it is, past all the political mumbo-jumbo you expected. We’re looking to change soldiers into something that’s precise and accurate. Something that will kill only enemy targets and leave civilian targets out of the killzone. Can you build that for us?”
The CEO stared at them. He looked at his hands. “We’ve tried. This was in the course of our medical history, you understand. One of our voluntary test subjects died from the nanites.”
“Died?!” Kirol stood up. “Why weren’t we notified?”
“It’s your turn to sit down, Lieutenant.” John did so, promptly.
“You see, sirs, the victim of such a tragic accident was completely understanding in the risks of such a new technology. His family was given adequate money to live on, and they haven’t complained. They knew that he might not come home that night.
“It was odd. We’ve learned that despite being separate, the human body and the brain are actually linked quite well. If you study neuroscience, we’ve made some definite leaps in the field.”
“At the cost of one man’s life,” put in Jeff.
“Yes, regrettably at the cost of one man’s life. You see, when the nanites tried to take control of the human body (for research purposes, I assure you), the brain and body fought back. The human immune system, as well as the subconscious brain area, thought that some virus was trying to kill the body, and so fought against the mechanisms present. In that brief battle, the nanites won… at the cost of a life.”
“So what you’re saying is that it’s impossible to integrate nanotechnology into the human body?”
“I’m afraid so. Well, that’s almost true. There is one way (very rare, mind you) that it can be integrated into the human body.”
“And what’s that?” Kirol asked.


Chapter Two
Occasionally, in human history, through a random set of actions and events, something major will happen. It’s a rare occasion, to be sure, but it does happen. The passage of events leading up to the major event is rarely recorded by human hands, and so it has fallen to me to do so. Do you know who I am? Of course not. All will be revealed in good time.


Mark Boman looked into the kitchen. He was late.
“Bye Mom! I gotta go, I’ll be late for my Psych class.”
“Bye, Sweetie. Call me if you’re planning on studying there, alright? I’m making dinner. Dad wants to tell us about his latest project.”
Mark groaned, but playfully. Although he pretended uninterest, Mark loved to hear about his dad’s day at work, because it invariably led to some new weapon his father was developing. When he shut his eyes and formed pictures in his head of his father, working side-by-side with military geniuses, watching bombs go off with utmost precision, listening to the latest crack of a new rifle, Mark envisioned himself doing that in his future career.
He grabbed the car keys. “I’ll probably come right home. If I don’t, don’t wait up for me.”
“Alright, honey. Have a good day!”
“I will!” Mark yelled as he pulled out of his driveway.
Driving on Interstate 67 was definitely among Mark’s more hated things in life. It was always jammed car-to-car or packed with slow-moving new and old drivers too afraid to breach the low speed limit. Either that, or Mark would be boxed in by some cargo truck that was “passing” a truck in front of him.
But today it was almost empty. Mark stared at the expanse of highway and put his foot on the accelerator. The prof was notorious for embarrassing latecomers in front of the class, one situation Mark had been in before and desperately hoped to avoid.
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“You were going to tell us how it would be possible to integrate machines with humans?” Kirol was impatient. The doctor, after the bored lieutenant had posed his question, stood up and motioned the two to follow him. He walked briskly down the hallway, avoiding questions the two officers asked him. Then he motioned to a room.
The room was actually split up into two smaller rooms. One of the rooms contained chairs (much more comfortable-looking than the previous chairs had been) next to several computers built in to the wall. Above that was a large window into the next room.
“Ah, a viewing room, doctor. Is this where you do your experiments?”
“No.” Boran pointed at the window.
In the next room, all sorts of robotic paraphernalia crowded what looked to be a kind of chair-bed, like what one would see in a dentist’s office. It, however, carried several clamps to restrict human limbs from lashing out at their surroundings. Almost a perfect setting for a horror movie, Jeff thought as he stared into the gleaming room.
“This is where we attempted to integrate nanotechnology with the subject’s body, but failed, as you’ve already heard. And this is where our scientists discovered the only way to successfully conclude such an experiment.”
“Which is?”
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Mark flew along, switching to various radio stations, avoiding the news, which it seemed was all there was on. He sighed. “Stupid radio. At least I have my CD’s!”
He put in his first driving mix as he rounded a bend to a relatively straight stretch of highway. No traffic in front of him. That was odd, but… so much the better. The first song began to play.
“No, not this one. I need CD two. Now where is it?”
Mark spied it lying on the floor of the passenger seat, amid fast-food wrappings and crumpled receipts. “There it is!” He said triumphantly.
He reached down to get it.
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“The only way, as near as we’ve discovered, would be to separate the body from the brain, while still keeping the body alive. This can be achieved any number of ways, including-“
The lieutenant stopped him. “Just tell us what happens.”
“Very well.”
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Down the highway, a very different scene was developing, unbeknownst to Mark. A car headed toward him in the same lane, but going the opposite direction. The driver pulled out an AK-47 rifle and pointed it back at the pursuing law enforcement. He fired at the cars, almost hitting one police officer as he rounded the bend.
“This is Breaking News on Channel 4. We’ve received reports of a burglar making off with money he stole at Fifth Charity Bank earlier today. Apparently, he’s firing at police with an automatic rifle while driving down the wrong stretch of highway!”
“That’s right, Dana. It’s a good thing that we sent out that news bulletin about staying off Interstate 67, because this could have been a lot worse. Wait a second… there’s someone on the road!”
Perhaps it was the distant sirens, the barely-heard megaphones blaring above the music, or some internal instinct that made Mark look up and see a car not twenty feet from his own, driving 90 miles per hour, and (most importantly), about to crash right into him. The burglar turned around in his seat and looked forward.
Their eyes met.
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“Once the brain and body are separated, neither can fight against the nanites taking over the body. It’s like that old saying: ‘United, we stand; divided, we fall.’ The same thing applies with the human body.
“After taking over both parts (the brain and the immune system), we can reconnect them to each other, allowing the subject to move around once more. But that’s not the end of the operation. We also have to make sure both areas are developing independently from one another, and yet are communicating with the other. This process, combined with the already abstract science of genetic engineering, takes quite awhile, but when the nanites are in control of the body, they can take over that process.”
“How long does it take?”
“About a month. The subject must remain in a subconscious state at all times, which will look like a coma but will in fact be something totally different.”
“You seem to know a lot of this subject, Leo.”
“Only my friends call me Leo, Sergeant. I know a lot of this subject because we always are prepared before we do anything close to experimenting with a life.”
“You were saying something about the methods that would allow such an operation to take place. How does that happen?”

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He swerved, but it was too late.
The cars collided with each other, sending Mark’s sports car in a looping motion similar to a pirouette dancer twirling in space, or a jet doing a barrel roll. But it was much worse.
Pieces of the car began to fly apart from the main body and listlessly fly through the air to land on the concrete. Mark watched as a shard of glass flew by his head and severed his seatbelt, sending it snaking its way back to wherever it was stored. He ducked as another piece flew over his head.
Glass was everywhere.
And then the car hit the ground headfirst, with Mark’s head following a similar motion into the steering wheel. As it turned 180 degrees to face the sky, Mark flew back into the seat.
A glass shard pierced the back of his neck. Everything went dark.
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“The body must be paralyzed from the neck down, but there are conditions here, too. First, the process of paralyzation has to cut off certain nerves but leave others intact. Second, it must be fresh, at most 5 hours from the event. And third (and most importantly), it must be purely accidental. The subject must have no idea that this could happen to him.
“But… that’s impossible!”
“No, merely improbable. As I said, it’s a very rare case.”
The sergeant glanced up at an unused television screen and watched the news as he waited for Kirol to finish his conversation with Boran. Suddenly, he gripped the lieutenant’s shoulder.
“What is it?”
For an answer, Jeff pointed at the screen. The news banner read “Youth Paralyzed After Tragic Crash.” John turned to the doctor.
“Could this operation be done today?”

Chapter Three
Tragedy and history often walk hand-in-hand. Wherever there was a major victory, someone lost. Wherever lives were saved, lives were lost. It was and is the fate of human history to have this commonality. It was in this case that these events unfolded.

(in this part, the operation is done to Mark which changes him into the Cyborg)