Upgrading Humanity

Vance McClenton

Prologue
"You two wait here." Orrick said to the secret servicemen who seemingly never left his side as he crossed the threshold of the doorway. He had just entered the most secure section of the Central Science Center (CSC), often referred to as the S Cube because of its official name: the Special Scientific Sector (S3). Though most people believed the three S's actually stood for Super Secret Sector because only those select few individuals with the absolute highest security clearance were allowed access. "Valko, you're with me." "Yes, sir Mr. Vice President." Only 28 years old, a young but very highly regarded and even more highly skilled secret service agent, Bailey Valko, had been personally selected by Vice President Orrick himself three years ago as his chief personal security guard. In the three short years that Valko and Orrick had grown to trust each other immensely and gotten to know each other so well that they could anticipate what the other was thinking in most situations. They exchanged a quick glance and a slight smirk appeared on Valko's face. This is it. After tonight we'll have what we need to gain the ultimate control. The expression on his face immediately returned to the serious, determined one that he normally wore. As they walked down the hallway, agent Valko just behind and to the left of Vice President Orrick, their synchronized footsteps falling on the granite floor echoed slightly. The hallways was long and on each side there was a door every fifty feet, with a single elevator at the end. Passing each door as they headed to the elevator, Orrick thought about each of the many special projects that were underway behind each one. He knew about almost all of them, and had even personally championed many of them. There was one however that he kept up on more than all of the others combined. This was a very special project that he had set up by taking some of the best scientists from other projects and assigning them to work on upgrading the most influential inventions in the 24th century. The GITI (Godwin Information Transfer Implant) is a brain implant invented by the brilliant scientist Benjamin Godwin 44 years ago in 2282 while working towards gaining his Ph.D. in nanotechnology, made it possible to input information directly into the brain. It was tested extensively on animals before the first human volunteers received their GITI implants in 2285. Soon afterward, he worked with a team of specialists in electronics to create a device that could communicate with the implant wirelessly and securely by using an organic encryption method and a 42-character key unique to each implant and device pair. This device was eventually integrated with the most advanced personal computer and cellular phone technology to produce a pocket-sized device called a Mobile Computing Device (MCD). This device contained a touch screen and a keyboard, and acted as a

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Vance McClenton

computer and a cell phone in addition to the communicating with a person's GITI. It quickly became the one piece of technology that everyone carried with them all of the time. For the next 10 years, millions of people receive implants which had become affectionately known as GITI, pronounced like the word giddy. In 2290 the World President had decreed that every person between the ages of 3 and 75 was required to receive an implant, and within two years everyone who was younger than 75 years old had received an implant and every child was scheduled to receive an implant within a month of their third birthday. Every few years or so the implant's software would be upgraded to include the latest technology developed by the team lead by Dr. Benjamin Godwin who had been appointed as chief scientist of the ongoing GITI improvement project at the CSC. This was the project Vice President Orrick was most interested in, and where he and Agent Valko would be checking in on tonight. Valko sped up as they reached the end of the hallway and pushed the elevator button. The solid doors immediately slid open. "After you, sir" Valko said, stepping aside. Orrick stepped into the elevator and turned to face the door again, his hands clasped behind his back. Valko followed, placed his MCD into the receptacle in the control panel of the elevator, and pressed the button that would bring them down to the basement which was completely reserved for GITI-related projects. The heavy doors smoothly slid together and the elevator began descending. "I've been waiting months for this." Orrick said still looking straight ahead. Then turning his head to face Valko he said "as soon as we get confirmation that the project has been successfully completed, you know what to do." "Yes, sir." His words hung in the air as they continued down to the GITI projects level below the CSC. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened slowly. Valko retrieved his MCD from the receptacle and with a few taps on the touch screen opened the special application that allowed him to control virtually anything in the CSC from locks on doors, lights, and cameras to the thermostat settings in the different areas of the building - even the ventilation system. He opened the program he had created a few days earlier specifically for tonight, then moved the switch on the side of the device to lock it and placed it back into the holder on his belt with a click. Walking down the hallway to one of the larger laboratories on that level, Valko intentionally took deep breaths. He always enjoyed the air on this level. It was carefully monitored and kept at 73 degrees Fahrenheit, 50% humidity, and was composed of a mixture containing twice the amount of oxygen as normal air. He always felt comfortable

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and energized by it, which was the intended purpose since such important work was done here by some of the brightest minds in the world. Tonight however, the refreshing air was not the reason for his deep breaths. Rather, he was preparing himself for what he would soon have to do. The entrance door to the lab was like that of a safe, and contained additional security measures including a fingerprint reader, retina scanner, and voice analyzer that must all be entered simultaneously in order to gain access. Valko put his hand on the reader, looked into the visor of the retina scanner and said aloud "Bailey Valko." After a second or two they heard the sounds of the heavy door locking mechanisms. The door opened with a hissing sound from air rushing out because of the positive pressure in the room. This lab was 5,000 square feet in size and contained some of the most high-tech computers, machines, and devices in existence. From the entrance's raised platform one could see the entire lab. After entering the room as he stood on the platform, Orrick could saw that the 5 men who were chosen for this project (the only people who had access to this room besides Orrick and Valko) were all there waiting as they were instructed to do, sitting around the only conference table in the lab. "Good evening, Mr. Vice President" said Benjamin Haskell as Orrick began down the small row of steps from the entrance platform to the lab floor, agent Valko following close behind. Ben Haskell with his obvious expertise in both the GITI and MCD was chosen by Orrick to be the team leader for this project. Vice President Orrick had also hand-picked the other four team members himself. All very familiar with both the GITI and MCD technology and experts in their fields, the rest of the team was composed of an electrical engineer, a computer science and communications expert, and neurobiologist, and a nanoeletromechanical engineer. "I'm glad you all could make it." Orrick said taking his seat at the end of the oval-shaped table. Valko sat down in the chair to his right, suppressing a smile. Like they really had a choice. "I knew you would be glad to hear we finished our trials on implant modifications, but I have to admit I was a little surprised when you wanted to come see our results so quickly!" Ben said cautiously. It was 6 o'clock in the evening when he had sent a text message to Orrick informing him that they had finished their work on the project and were ready to present it to him. Orrick had immediately replied telling him to gather the team and be ready to present it to him tonight at 8 o'clock. "Well as you know, I don't like to waste time." said Orrick.

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Vance McClenton

The team members exchanged looks with each other as if to say no kidding. Three months ago each of them had received a call from Vice President Orrick informing them that they had been chosen to work on a top-secret project and were to report to the CSC the next morning, and that all arrangements would be made with their jobs and for their travel. Within an hour a black limo pulled up at their homes across the country. A pair of secret service agents walked up to their front doors and informed that they need not bring anything with them as everything would be provided upon arrival at the CSC. They were driven to the closest airport and flown to the CSC's private airstrip, all arriving within a few hours of each other early the next morning. Upon arrival, they were each escorted by another pair of secret service agents to their own private quarters within the CSC. The next morning each of them was led to a room one at a time where Orrick greeted them, told them they would be working on a special project for the next three months, and explained what their individual assignment was for the project. He also instructed them not to discuss any of their work with anyone for any reason. The only exception to this was that they could discuss pertinent parts of their work with the other project team members if absolutely necessary, but to keep as much of their work confidential as was possible. The only people who were to be told everything were Agent Valko and Orrick himself. "I trust you have all completed, tested, and verified your assignments successfully?" urged Orrick. "Yes, sir" they all said in unison. "Very well. I will meet with each of you individually for a debriefing." Orrick rolled back in this chair slightly and they all quickly stood from their seats as he stood up. "I'll meet with you first, Ben." Benjamin Haskell led the way as Orrick and Valko followed him to the small enclosed room in the corner of the lab. The room had no windows, was soundproof, air-tight (it had its own ventilation system), and a single door. It did however have a single phone that would ring through to the main operator of the CSC when the handset was picked up, from which they could ask to be connected to any phone number. The calls would be recorded and monitored of course and could be disconnected at any time if someone tried to convey any confidential information. It was intended to be used as a relaxation room where the scientists could go to take a break from their work to take a nap, call their families, listen to music, or simply sit or lay down and relax. Ben had brought a small table and two chairs into the room to prepare for the VP's arrival and subsequent presentations. Ben and Orrick entered the room and sat down at the table, while Valko closed the door behind them and stood outside. The other four team members returned to their respective areas of the lab and reviewed the reports they had prepared for Vice President Orrick.

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Vance McClenton

Sitting side by side, Ben began paging through his report explaining to Vice President Orrick the results of his part of the project. He explained how he had developed a way to add extensions on to an implant by using tiny robots. These tiny robots could be introduced to the human body by injecting them into the bloodstream with a special syringe. Then by having the subject stand inside a special machine that one of the other team members had created, the nanobots could be directed to make their way through the bloodstream to the subjects brain and connect themselves to any part of the implant and to each other to form tentacle-like extensions. He also explained how the implant could be made to send a small electric shock down any of the tentacles on demand. The other team members met with Orrick one by one, each presenting their parts of the project. One explaining how to machine worked to control the nanobots. One explaining the computer program he created to accept instructions from a person concerning how the nanobots should be arranged and then controlling the machine to carry out the instructions in the human subject. And one to explain how the different areas of the human brain are responsible for memory and emotions, and how by stimulating them with varying amounts of electricity, memories could be erased, emotions triggered or suppressed, etc. As they finished their presentations, they each gave Vice President Orrick their reports, a flash drive containing an electronic copy of their reports, any computer programs they had developed, and other supporting documentation. Being a very intelligent and well-educated person himself, by the time Orrick had finished meeting with each of them, he understood everything more than well enough to know that he could now move on with the next phase of his plan. As the last member of the team answered his last question, Orrick thanked him for his work and told him to send in Valko and tell the rest of the team he would be out shortly to officially close the project and instruct them as to what to do next. The scientist opened the door and stepped out to find Valko standing at parade rest just outside the door as he had been since Orrick and Ben had first entered the room. "Vice President Orrick would like to speak with you." Valko nodded and walked into the room shutting the door behind him. Orrick was standing at the opposite end of the room facing the wall, his back turned to the door. "You wanted to speak with me sir?" "They've done it" Orrick said, his back still turned to Valko. "We can proceed with the plan. It's time to bring phase one of the plan to an end and begin phase two." He turned to face Valko. "Do you have everything ready?" "Yes sir. I've prepared the program on my MCD so that all I need to do is push

Upgrading Humanity the Execute button to make it happen."

Vance McClenton

"Good. Go get something to put all of this in, it's time to go." "Yes sir" Valko replied, and left the room. Ben watched as Valko came out of the room and into the lab. He was talking to one of the other scientists and then opened his suitcase, took everything out of it and handed it to the scientist. Then he closed it, picked it up by the handle and walked back into the room. A few moments later, he and Orrick came out of the room, the suitcase being carried by Orrick. Valko signaled with his hand for everyone to come back to the conference table. When everyone had gathered around the table again, they all remained standing because Orrick was there standing behind his chair instead of sitting down as he had before. Ben noticed that Valko's demeanor had changed. Normally he looked confident, and steady as a rock. But now his eyes were shifting from person to person, and though he was standing with one hand holding onto his other wrist in front of him as he often did, the fingers on his free hand were rubbing against each other and the palm of his hand. I wonder why he's so nervous. "I want to thank you all once more for your excellent work over the last three months" said Vice President Orrick. "You've all done a great job. All that is left is for you to destroy anything you haven't given me, and you'll be taken back to your homes. Please do so before you leave the lab tonight." With that, the scientists all smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. They thanked the Vice President and he and Valko walked towards the exit as they all returned to their areas. While the other scientists were busy bringing their computers, papers, and other things to the incinerator to destroy them, Ben watched as Orrick and Valko out of the corner of his eye. Something just didn't seem right to him. Why did Orrick want to meet with them so soon? And why was Valko suddenly nervous? As Orrick and Valko ascended the stairs to the entrance platform where the main door was, Ben could see that Valko's right hand was reaching for his MCD. That didn't make any sense, you don't need your MCD to get out of the lab and there was no way to get a signal to outside of the CSC so he couldn't be getting ready to make a call or get online. He wouldn't dare to do anything like that anyway while he was with the Vice President anyway, especially since he was the only agent with him right now. Even in the CSC, he needed to pay full attention to his surroundings and the Vice President, that's what he was trained for - that was his job! Once they were in the hallway outside the lab, the vault-like door closed and locked as it always did. "Do it" Orrick said. Valko flicked the switch on the side of his MCD already in his hand, to unlock it. He

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touched the button on the screen that read Execute. A small window appeared on the screen asking for confirmation, and he tapped on Yes with his finger. The box disappeared and the light in the corner of his MCD blinked rapidly, signaling that the program he had created was running and the commands were being transmitted. "It's done" he said, locking his MCD once again and replacing it to the holder on his belt. "Good" said Orrick. "Let's go. We need to get outside; you've got work to do." He turned and began walking to the elevator. Valko followed closely. "Yes, sir. Consider it done."

*** After the Vice President and agent Valko had left the lab and the door closed, as Ben was getting his work together to bring over to the incinerator, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He started to notice that the temperature in the room was rising. He figured that it was probably just his own body temperature rising because he moving around so much getting all of his things together. He made his first trip over to the incinerator on the far side of the lab. He pushed the button to open the door, threw his things in, closed the door, and pushed the button to start the incineration process. The process only took five minutes to fully reduce anything that was put into it to ashes which were then blown into a separate container. As he walked back to his area of the lab, he started to feel a little dizzy. I must be more excited than I thought. He was only 65 years old (life expectancy had increased to 120 years of age in modern times), and still in pretty good shape, so he was confused about being dizzy just from a walk around from one end of the lab to another only carrying a couple dozen pounds of some papers and electronic equipment. Something is definitely wrong here. He looked around at the other scientists and they seemed to be more sluggish too. Two of them were even sweating quite a bit. He stood on his desk and reached up to where there was an air vent. Normally there would be a steady stream of lukewarm air coming out, but the air he felt was very warm. While he was up there he also thought he smelled smoke. He looked over to the incinerator to see if the door was open. He figured that maybe the safety measure that prevented it from starting its burn process if the door was open might have somehow malfunctioned. One of the other scientists had just started another burn process, but the door was fully closed. The funny thing is that the air inside the room seemed to be foggy. Because Orrick had told each of them to only share information with the other team

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Vance McClenton

members if absolutely necessary, they rarely talked to each other and even distrusted each other a little bit. "Hey guys. Is it hot in here?" Ben asked loudly still standing on his desk. Two of the scientists looked at him but didn't say anything, and the other two ignored him pretending not to have heard him as they were continuing to sort through their things. Fine. Ben got down off of his desk, grabbed his laptop and a 20 gigabyte flash drive and went into the relaxation room. He set his laptop and flash drive down on the table and picked up the phone. "CSC Operator..." came a voice from the receiver. "Hello, this is Dr. Benjamin Haskell down in the GITI Lab. I think there may be a problem with the ventilation system in here. It's hotter in here than it's ever been and I thought I smelled smoke a little while ago." "Hmm... Well none of the fire alarms have been set off. But I'll get someone to come check it out, alright sir?" "Alright, great! Do you know how long it will take?" "It shouldn't be more than 15 minutes or so." "Do they need to get in this room to check the ventilation and thermostat setting?" "No, sir. There is a utility room on that level where both the ventilation and thermostat settings for every room can be controlled." "Okay. Can I call back in 20 minutes to find out what's going on?" "Yes, sir. I'll make sure to have an update for you by then." "Thank you very much!" "You're welcome, sir." Ben hung up the phone and sat down at the table. He opened his laptop and started copying all of the files related to this project. Ben never trusted Orrick and he was also not about to destroy his latest work on the devices he'd spent the last decade working on. Ben was actually very computer savvy and had figured out a way to copy the files that were on the other team member's computers to his own. He set it up so that any file that was accessed each day would be automatically copied to an encrypted partition on his computer's hard drive at midnight each night. He typed in the password to access the encrypted partition on his hard drive and began copying all of the files to the flash drive. He would hide the flash drive in his belt on his way out of the CSC. He always wore a belt with a large belt buckle that actually had a small compartment in it just large enough to fit something the size of a typical flash drive into. In fact he always kept a flash drive in it that contained anything he was working on so he would have it with him as well as on his computer and usually an external hard drive too,

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just to make sure he wouldn't lose it in case his computer crashed or who knows what else could have possibly happened. It would be easy to hide this flash drive there so that when he took it off and sent it through the x-ray machine with his rings, shoes, and other things containing metal so he could walk through the metal detector without it going off, they wouldn't see it because it would be shielded by the metal of the belt buckle. As he was copying files to his flash drive, he put on some music to listen to. He finished marking all of the files he wanted to copy and pressed the button that would start the copying process. While his computer was working, he sat back and closed his eyes. The ambient music that was playing in the background was already having an effect on him. He could feel himself relaxing, his heart rate slowing, and the tension in his neck and shoulders beginning to melt away. He started thinking about how nice it would be to get back to his home. He played with the idea of calling his wife and telling her that he was finally coming home, but decided to keep it a surprise. He pictured opening the door and seeing his wife sitting on the couch watching one of her favorite movies. Or maybe she would be talking to one of ther friends on her MCD. Either way, he could see her jumping up and running towards him with her face lit up, ready to give him a big hug and a long awaited kiss. Beep. He opened his eyes and saw that his computer had finished copying the files. He looked at the door just to make sure no one had come in while he was daydreaming, and then unplugged the flash drive and put it securely into the compartment in his belt buckle. Fastening his belt buckle once more, he pulled his tucked-in dress shirt out a little to partially cover it. Everyone knew he always wore the pretty that belt with the conspicuous belt buckle so he wasn't trying to hide it. But he figured that if he covered it a little with his shirt, then it would be a little less conspicuous. After all, he didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to as he left it tonight. He reluctantly stopped the music and shut the lid of this laptop. He was much more relaxed now, but still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He stood up out of his chair and walked over to the door. He turned the handle of the door and felt hot air on his face and body as he opened it. I guess the maintenance guy hasn't fixed the thermostat yet. He stepped out of the room into the lab and noticed that there was definitely smoke in the room now! A split second later he saw one of the other scientists laying face down on the floor. He breathed in sharply at the surprising sight but felt like he was still holding his breath. He exhaled and took another breathe that still provided him no relief. He panicked and ran back into the relaxation room slamming the door shut behind him. He took a deep

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breath and the welcome feeling of cooler air into his lungs. Breathing hard, his heart racing, he regained his composure as he sat on the floor leaning on one arm. He could breathe now. Still a little dizzy, he got to his feet and stumbled to chair. He picked up the phone again and waited for the operator to get on the line. "CSC Operator..." came the familiar voice. "Yes, this is Ben Haskell in the GITI Lab again. There is definitely a fire down here! The lab is filled with smoke, the air is hot and the other scientists are unconscious! I'm in a sealed room, but I don't know how long the air in here will last me! You need..." "Sir" the operator said, cutting him off. "Try to stay calm. Did you say the other scientists are unconscious?" "Yes! I only saw one of them when I went out there, but I couldn't breathe even being out there for a few seconds before running back in here so I'm sure the others are unconscious too! Unless they got out..." "No sir, the door hasn't been opened in over a half hour when the Vice President left." "Then you need to get some medical personnel down here immediately, and vent this lab so we can breathe out there again!" "I can't do that sir. No fire alarms have been triggered as far as I can tell, but if you say there is smoke in the room then I can't risk feeding the flames with fresh oxygen. I already notified our emergency response team, and they're on their way. They have self-contained breathing units so they'll be able to get you and the others out." "No they won't! They won't be able to get in! The only people with access to this lab are the people already in it and Vice President Orrick himself!" "Then I'm going to need you to go open the door for them." Ben sighed loudly. "Okay. The door closes automatically ten seconds after being opened though so you'll need to let me know when they're at the door." There was no response. "Hello?!" Ben demanded. "I just got a call on the radio, they've just reached the door of the lab. Go ahead and let them in now." "Okay" Ben sighed. "Thank you." He hung up the phone and walked towards the door. Grabbing the handle, he paused to take a few deep breaths. Here goes nothin'. ***

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Vance McClenton

Outside the CSC, Orrick and Valko met up with two secret servicemen who waited at the door for them. They walked towards the motorcade waiting on the street in front. Valko intentionally lagged behind to let the Vice President and other two agents get a few yards ahead of him. He pulled out his MCD, pressed a button changing it to cell phone mode and dialed a number. He wasn't worried about this call from his own device. His MCD had the most advanced security measures available, making it untraceable. "Hello" came a deep, raspy voice through the speaker. "Operation Succession Plan is a go." He said, and hung up. He caught back up with the group ahead, walking beside the Vice President. Orrick glanced over making eye-contact with Valko who nodded. He looked forward once again, his face clearly showing his delight. "Good evening, sir." The chauffer for the Vice Presidential Coach said, Orrick only a few paces away from the car now. "You seem to be in pretty good spirits tonight! I guess this cold weather doesn't bother you huh?" "Well let's just say I enjoy the fresh air" replied Orrick, a smile still on his face. He lowered himself into the seat of the highly armored, though still stately black luxury sedan and the chauffer closed the door. Once the chauffer was in his driver's seat with his door shut, he turned to Orrick. "Back to the Gray HQ?" he said. The Gray as it was commonly called was really the GRA (Global Regulation Association) Headquarters, which was the headquarters of the one-world government that was formed at the end of World War III in the year 2250. Orrick nodded. "I should probably get some sleep. Big plans for tomorrow." replied Orrick. "Very well, sir." *** Ben flung open the relaxation room door and hurried to towards the entrance to the lab. He was walking quickly because he knew that if he ran, his muscles would become oxygen starved more quickly than if he walked fast, and wouldn't get him to the entrance much more quickly anyway. His eyes burned from the smoke, but he could still see pretty well because he crouched as he walked and the air was less smoky lower to the floor. He knew his way around the lab very well from having spent almost every waking moment of the last three months working inside it. As he reached the platform, he saw the other two scientists laying on top of it directly in

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front of the door. Why didn't they leave the lab? How could they not have stayed conscious long enough to open the door? They were both right here! He stepped in between them to get close enough to reach the bar on the door that was basically an oversized handle. He pulled down on it, but it didn't move. That doesn't make any sense. The big door was very heavy, but it was well designed and the handle had never been difficult to turn before. He tried again, putting most of his body weight on it - but it didn't budge. Then he saw a small red light on the side of the door that he had never noticed before. His chest hurt a lot. His lungs were pleading for air. He couldn't take it anymore and ran back towards the relaxation room. His eyes felt like they were on fire and just to add to his torment, they were watering badly now too! He made his way through the lab as quickly as he could, his vision severely blurred by the smoke and tears. As he got closer to the relaxation room, he tripped over something that as his foot hit it, felt like a duffel bag stuffed full of too many clothes. Realizing it was the scientist he had first seen the first time he looked out into the lab from the relaxation room. Summoning whatever strength was left in him, he got himself up, grabbed hold of one of the scientist's ankles and dragged him to the relaxation room. Luckily he had pulled the door closed behind him as he left to get to the lab entrance so there wouldn't much smoke inside, and hopefully there would still be enough oxygen in the air in the room for him to breath. He dropped the scientists leg, and threw the door open. Then grabbing the scientist's ankle again, he heaved him through he doorway and slammed the door shut as quickly as he could and then dropped to the floor. He exhaled forcefully as he fell which was followed by a series of rapid deep breaths of the life-giving air in the room. How could the door be locked from inside the lab? Still trying to catch his breath, he raised his head and opened his eyes seeing the vague image of the scientist lying next to him. He wiped his eyes so he could see more clearly and dragged himself the couple of feet across the floor to the scientist's head. Putting his fingers to the corroded artery on the man's neck, he felt nothing. Having been trained in first aid in school as everyone now was, he knew it was too late. Though he didn't exactly consider him a friend, the death of a man he'd seen every day and worked around for the past three months made him feel sick to his stomach. The feeling intensified as he remembered the two other scientists still in the lab had undoubtedly met the same fate. Ben gathered his composure and stood to his feet. His life was still in danger. The air in the room would run out sooner or later and he was determined to figure out a way to escape from the lab. Think Ben, think! How am I going to get out of here? Then it came to him. He remembered seeing agent Valko holding his MCD as he left the lab. No... Why would he lock us in here? Ben couldn't think of any reason why Valko would

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have locked them in the lab after they were just told to destroy everything and get ready to return to their homes the next day. But he didn't have time to try to figure it out right now. It was the only logical explanation. There was no reason why Valko would need to use his MCD for anything on this level. But he knew Valko was an intelligent man who knew a lot about computer programming, so he wouldn't be surprised if he had been able to create a program to override the electronically controlled lock on the door to keep it engaged. Ben walked to the phone and snatched up the receiver. "CSC Operator..." came the voice of the operator after a few seconds. "The lock on the lab door has been overridden so I can't even open it from in here!" said Ben. "I barely made it back to this room, and the other scientists are dead! You need to get your best programming expert down here to hack the control panel and defeat the override now! I don't know how much longer I'll be able to breathe in here, I can already tell that the oxygen in the air is running out." "Yes, sir! Just try to relax and breathe slowly." "I'll do the best I can. But hurry!" Ben pleaded. "It's getting harder to breath by the minute..." *** The next morning as people woke up and turned on their TV's or radios, no matter what channel or station they had it on, they all heard the same thing: This is a special news report. There has been an attack on the President. While he slept, a group of rebels was able to infiltrate the World GRA Headquarters and in a stunningly efficient manner, by using a highly advanced portable electromagnetic wave generator they rendered the security systems of the entire building in operable. They were also able somehow to overwhelm the secret service agents who were guarding the president and assassinated him while he slept. The rebel group that attacked the President were all killed in the gun battle that ensued once additional secret service agents arrived on the scene shortly after the initial attack. Once again, the President has been assassinated and the rebels responsible were all killed. Seven secret service agents also died in the gun battle, and three others were injured. This was not the first assassination attempt made on the President since his instatement as World Leader nine years ago, however none of the past attempts were nearly as effective. The GRA spokesman reported that they will be found and punished as quickly as possible, and that this now the number one priority for the GRA Police.

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As a result of last nights unfortunate events, former Vice President Orrick will take the position of President and World Leader. His first order of business this morning was to promote Secret Service Agent Bailey Valko to the position of Chief of Police for the special taskforce being assembled to find this group of rebels and bring them to justice. This may come as a surprise to many since Agent Valko is only twenty five years old; however he was the Vice President's most trusted guard for the last three years. And now that President Orrick has made this the GRAPe's top priority, he trust Agent Valko to lead the charge. As if the assassination of the President wasn't enough, a tragedy also occurred at the CSC Headquarters last night in which the GITI lab where four scientists, apparently working on a project to improve the design and function of the GITI implant were killed. They are believed to have died from asphyxiation from low oxygen levels in the air made worse by smoke somehow having filled the lab. The lock on the lab door malfunctioned, trapping them in the room. The names of the scientists have not yet been released; however one of the scientists working in the lab is believed to have been Dr. Benjamin Haskell, inventor of the GITI Implant and Co-inventor of the MCD. This is unrelated to the assassination of the president as far as we know, but an investigation is already underway and is being carried out by the special task force now being led by Chief Valko. We'll bring you more on both of these stories as additional information is released.

Chapter 1
Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock! "Dad, someone's here!" Kira called out from the kitchen where she was pouring some pretzels into a bowl as one of the snack for the party. "Can you let them in, I'm still getting dressed. It's probably Ron, he's always early!" replied Liam. Ron had been Liam's best friend since the time they were freshmen in high school. They had always competed in school and were at the top of their classes in both high school and during their undergraduate years in college. Ron's interests were more in the areas of leadership and politics, in contrast to Liam's love of science and technology. But their personalities complimented each other so well that they hit it off the very first time they had met during tennis practice in high school and had remained best friends ever since. Kira walked over to the door and opened it. "Wow Liam, you've changed! You're a lot younger and prettier than a few days ago!" joked Ron.

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"It's nice to see you too, Ron." said Kira as she grinned sheepishly. "Dad's still getting ready, but come on in!" She opened the door further and stepped to the side so he could come through. After he was clear of the door, she closed it behind him and started walking back towards the kitchen. "I can only assume that since you're early, it's because you wanted to help get things ready right?" Kira said with a hinting tone of voice. "Well of course. I knew you two wouldn't be able to handle it on your own!" Ron said with a smile while hanging his coat in the closet. Then he slipped off his shoes and put them in the closet as well. He had of course been here many times before, and knew that Liam preferred that his guests remove their shoes before walking on the carpet - especially when there as snow on the ground outside. Liam used to always wear socks when in his cell and hated stepping in a wet spot on the carpet from snow that had been tracked in on someone's shoes, so he had recently began wearing slippers too. "I need to use the restroom first though, and that'll give me a chance to wash my hands too" said Ron. "Okay, no problem." Kira replied. She didn't need to tell him where it was since she knew that he already knew where it was. However, he didn't know where it was simply because he'd been there before. He knew where it was because the cell he lived in had exactly the same layout. One of the big changes that had happened after the creation of the one-world government knows as the GSA in order to end World War III, was the enormous reconstruction effort. Most major cities had been severely damaged from the war, and needed to be rebuilt. And because the new government did not want to show favoritism for one city over another, they decided to demolish all residential buildings and in their place, construct residential buildings with living spaces called cells. All one-bedroom cells had identical layouts, as did all twobedroom cells. The only three bedroom cells were contained in their own buildings with two cells per building, and were reserved for government officials, executives at major corporations, and other select VIPs chosen by a special committee in the government. Liam had gotten been given access to live in one of the three-bedroom cells because when he had managed a construction project for the government to expand the local GSA Headquarters a few years ago, he got to know and became friends with some of the governmental employees who worked there that just so happened to be selected to be on the housing committee. Ben also lived in a three-bedroom cell because he was a governor. Liam came out of his room and found his daughter Kira in the kitchen. He looked around, but didn't see anyone else.

Upgrading Humanity "Who was it?" he asked.

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"Oh you're finally dressed, huh?" Kira prodded. "It was Ron of course, just like you thought. He's in the bathroom." "Oh, okay. And I wouldn't be making fun of how long I take to get dressed if I were you Ms. I take two and a half hours to get ready in the morning!" Kira chuckled. "Well at least I have an excuse, I'm a girl!" "Yeah, I guess..." he said looking down. Liam had always had a great relationship with his daughter, Kira. She was his only child and from the moment she first opened her eyes while he was holding her on her birthday, she had been daddy's little girl. "What time is mom going to be home?" Kira asked. "She just called and told me she was going to go to the store real quick to get some more champagne because she invited a few of her friends to join us tonight. She should be back soon." Just then, Ron appeared in the hallway. "Liam, nice duds! Geez, who are you trying to impress? Oh, and I like the slippers too old man!" Liam was a few months younger than Ron, but had has started making fun of him ever since Liam started wearing slippers. Tonight, Liam was wearing a black dress shirt with thin white vertical pinstripes. The top two buttons were undone showing his white t-shirt underneath. Draped around his neck was a thin silver necklace with a simply designed silver cross that hung down just past where the first fastened button on his shirt. The silver necklace was barely noticeable against the white undershirt and the cross stood out against the black background of his dress shirt creating somewhat of an illusion so that the cross seemed to be almost floating over his chest. He had on black dress pants and a black belt with a small unassuming silver buckle, and black dress socks that were covered by his slacks but could be seen when he sat down. Of course Ron could not help but notice the same old brown slippers on his feet that he always wore. "Hey man, I'm just making sure my wife's friends see how lucky she is for having such a good looking husband. And leave my slippers alone! You'll change your tune when you step in a wet spot on the carpet later on!" retorted Liam. They stepped towards each other, extending their right hands for a handshake. After clasping hands, they pulled each other closer and put their other arm around the other's back for a half hand-shake, half hug. "I'm glad you could make it" Liam said. He released his hand and took a step back. "And you even got here half an hour early, imagine that!" "Hey, you know me..." replied Ron with a smile.

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Ron was a stickler for being on time in any situation. When any new staff member was hired at his office he would tell them "If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. And if you're late, youre fired." This was his way of making sure they knew that punctuality was very important to him, and he expected it from them too. He could always be counted on to be at least five minutes early for any appointment he made. If it was for something important he would usually arrive fifteen minutes early or more, and that included the New Year's Eve party that his best friend was throwing. "So do you know what the big announcement that President Orrick is making tonight is going to be about?" Liam asked Ron. Kira cut in. "Are you two going to chit chat all night or help me get stuff ready? We've only got another half hour before everyone's supposed to be here so they'll probably start arriving in twenty minutes or so" she prodded. The two men exchanged looks with each other and smirked. Liam stepped into the kitchen behind Kira. "I'm sorry honey, what do you need us to do?" he said putting his hands on her shoulders and kissing her on the side of her head. Kira closed her eyes and smiled. "Well can you finish pouring the snacks into bowls and unwrapping the plastic plates and cups and stuff so I can finish putting up the decorations?" she said sweetly. "Yes, maam." Ron said grabbing a bag of snack mix. Kira went to the dining room table and pulled decorations out of the bags she had brought. While Liam and Ron were busy in the kitchen, she used one of the chairs that was around the dining room table to stand on as she taped up silver and gold streamers to the walls and ceiling. Over the main hallway between the kitchen and the living room she taped a banner reading "Happy New Year 2326!" *** President Orrick's MCD buzzed quickly twice on the desk in front of him followed by a single beep signifying that someone was trying to establish a direct connection with him. It was one of the technologies available in some cell phones in the early twenty-first century to allow them to be used as walkie-talkies that was incorporated into the MCD because of its usefulness. Orrick picked it up and saw the picture of his personal assistant on the screen. He pressed and held in a button on the side of the device as he spoke. "Yes, Lisa?" "Sir, the head baker has finished the cake you requested. Would you like me to bring you a piece?" she asked. "Please do. Make it a big one. And have a piece yourself, I'm in a good mood." he

Upgrading Humanity answered.

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"That's very kind of you sir, thank you. I'll bring it right up!" Orrick looked back at his computer screen again. He was going over the speech he had written for the announcement he would be making to the world just after midnight tonight. Two days earlier he had his press secretary inform all of the major news stations that he would be making an announcement just after midnight Eastern Time on the night of New Year's Eve. He didn't tell him what the announcement would be about, but he did tell him that it would be extremely important and that every single person in every country should listen to it because it will affect them personally. A quite knock came at the door to his large, sprawling office. His assistant Lisa always knocked twice before opening the door just to let him know she was entering so he would have enough time to tell her to wait if he didn't want her to come in just then. She came through the door carrying a white plate with a big piece of cake in one hand, and a napkin and fork in the other. "Good evening, sir. I cut this piece for you myself" she said as she walked towards Orrick's desk. She set the plate, napkin and fork down in front of him and said "enjoy." "Thank you Lisa, it looks great." said Orrick eyeballing the huge piece of cake. "That will be all." "Yes, sir" she said as she backed away, turned, and left the room closing the door behind her. Orrick was already working away at the piece of cake by the time Lisa reached the door to his office. Devil's food cake and chocolate frosting was his favorite dessert. He always found a way to eat a piece on special occasions. Usually those occasions were holidays, receiving and award, or some other significant event. And even though tonight was New Year's Eve, he was really celebrating the completion of the special GITI project. It marked the realization of a plan he had devised over a year ago. During the next few days, the final stage of his plan would be put into action. *** People started arriving at Liam's cell around 9:30 pm, and his wife Valerie got home with a couple of extra bottles of champagne and a few dozen strawberries at 9:45 pm. In all there were eight people at Liam's New Year's Eve party. They made small talk, introduced themselves to the people they didn't know, and listened to music while watching the broadcast of the New Year's Celebration in Time Square just like everyone else in America was doing. The men chowed down on pizza while most of the women only ate a piece or two and then picked at the snack bowls. At five minutes to midnight, they all crowded

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around the big screen TV that was mounted on Liam's living room wall to watch the ball drop. "Pop the champagne, it's almost time to toast!" Liam said. "Already on it honey" came Valerie's voice from the kitchen. "I'll go get the strawberries" said Kira, as she headed towards the kitchen. Liam continued conversing with Ron and others and watching TV as the small timer in the lower right hand corner of the screen counted down to the start of the new year. Within a few minutes, Valerie and Kira had eight glasses of chilled champagne and two platters full of freshly rinsed cold strawberries sitting on the kitchen counter. There was only a minute and a half left until midnight. "Okay everyone, come grab a glass" Valerie shouted from the kitchen. Kira brought one of the strawberry platters to the living room and set it on the coffee table. After everyone had taken a glass of champagne and returned to the living room, Valerie followed carrying two glasses of champagne. She gave one to Kira and then picked up two strawberries with her free hand and stood next to Liam, offering one to him. "Thanks honey" he said taking one with his left hand. "5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1" everyone counted down with the timer on the TV, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" they all yelled in unison. They were all gathered in a circle around the coffee table, and they reached out to touch their glasses together. As others hugged and sipped their champagne, Liam and Valerie turned to face each other. They put the strawberry to the other's mouth with their left hands and took a bite of the one being offered by the other. They smiled and chewed the firm, sweet fruit and then linked their right arms around each other with their glass of champagne in their hand and took a sip from their own glasses at the same time. Then unlinking their arms and putting them around each other in an affectionate embrace, they kissed and told each other "I love you." "Eww!" cried Kira. "Get a room you love birds" Ron chided. "Hey, this is our home, we can do whatever we want here!" replied Valerie. "Yeah! If you don't like it, you know where the door is - don't let it smack you on the butt on the way out!" Liam joked. Everyone continued celebrating and laughing as they ate strawberries and drank champagne. The platter of strawberries in the living room was emptied quickly and Kira brought the second one from the dining room. "Here's some more strawberries for anyone who wants them" she said placing the platter on top of the now empty one.

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It was then that the special news bulletin alert appeared on the TV screen. It was accompanied by a series of beeps and noises designed to draw the attention of anyone within earshot of the broadcast. It worked well. "Hey, everyone be quiet, here it is!" Liam said loudly. They all stopped talking and sat down facing the TV. Everyone had heard about the special announcement that was going to be given by President Orrick just after midnight on New Year's Day. It had been mentioned in every newscast, in numerous commercials on every channel on TV, by every DJ on the radio, and in banner advertisements on the top 100 most visited websites over the last few days. As if that weren't enough, earlier during the day on New Year's Eve everyone in the world had received a text message on their MCD telling them that the announcement would be made shortly after midnight Eastern Time tonight. No one knew what it was about, but with all of the hype about it that had been going on over the last few days, everyone had been waiting eagerly to find out. *** As everyone was sitting and looking at Liam's TV, GRA Headquarters Press Secretary, Bill Kowalski, appeared on the screen as the special alert screen faded away. The speech was being broadcast from the enormous auditorium located within the GRA Headquarters. It was a large semi-circular room with a smaller concentric semi-circular raised platform coming out from the wall about 30 feet. Along the wall were court room-like benches where the highest ranking government officials were seated, with the President's seat being the highest one in the middle and each seat to the sides being progressively lower so that it resembled a large version of the Olympic podium. In front of the center seat, still on the stage there was a beautifully designed large podium made of Mahogany wood with hand-carved designs cut into the sides and stained a rich, deep brown color, topped with a thick coat of glossy varnish. Concealed from anyone viewing the podium from the front there was a flat surface like a shelf built in to the podium at a 60 degree angle, chest high on the back side of the podium where the speaker could place papers or an electronic tablet containing their notes. Special microphones designed to capture sound from a particular direction were also strategically built in to the podium so that they could not be seen from the front, and were aimed toward where a speaker would be while standing behind the podium. Around the circular portion of the room beginning 20 feet from the front edge of the stage and continuing to the far wall was a pitched floor and rows of stadium style seats capable of seating up to one thousand people. And along the top edge of the circular portion were special press boxes where each major news station had a large HD video camera, a