Grandad was so sorry about what happened. He invited us over to his house for pizza. We all had way too much pizza, and a little bit of salad. When we had finished, he asked us to come down to his lab. Evidently, we had sold ourselves as guinea pigs for the price of a pizza. It was good pizza though. Yes, Grandad has a sweet lab in a special basement at his house. He asked if he could take some swabs and a little blood to do some thorough testing. Just to be safe. He even had a compact EEG machine.
I think Grandad suspected something that even DARPA hadn’t considered. Yeah, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) was involved. You’ll see.
The whole thing was very odd. But we trust Grandad. He took an alcohol swab and rubbed it on my arm and my brain felt like it lit up. Only way I can describe it. And Grandad had this look, like, what just happened? Well, now we know what happened. His “gift” switched on for the first time. He read my mind. Of course, we weren’t sure at the time exactly what had taken place. Time moved along as it does. Life seemed as though it was returning to normal.
It was summer time. School was out. We all had some extra time. At least for a few more days. All of us had jobs over the summer but those had ended since school would soon start. Mia had tried to get me to work at the daycare where she worked the last couple of summers.
Actually, it would have been easier work than my summer job. But the pay was good working as an intern doing materials testing at jobsites. To top it off, it was a chemical engineering intern project, so it fit well with my career goals. Here’s the thing, I didn’t mind the responsibility of running important safety tests on materials. That was true even though a testing error could result in people being hurt. I was getting proficient at my tasks by the end of the summer program. The intern lead wasn’t even reviewing my test results. Not in any detail.
I carried a lot of responsibility on that job. Yeah, the responsibility was heavy. And there were timelines and pressures, important people wanting the answers to the tests so they could move forward ... right now. Often as not, toward the end of my term, I was the one thrown to the contractor lions.
Pressure. We need to move this project forward little girl. Or else. None of that bothered me at all. But being directly responsible for people is so hard for me. It’s always been that way as far back as I can remember. That kind of responsibility terrifies me.
With that, there’s no daycare work in my future. I can freeze up. Making decisions in an emergency situation becomes so ... difficult. It’s not very logical I suppose. Responsibility is responsibility. Pressure is pressure.
Another thing I’ve noticed, despite my best attempts to avoid direct people responsibilities, it happens repeatedly. I get dragged into a situation where I have to be directly responsible for someone. Hate it. My... Where did that diatribe come from? Let’s get this moving again.
Like I was saying, we still had some days off. Summer time, what was left of it, and the living would be easy. Why not go bowling? It was a nice day, so we decided to walk. It wasn’t all that far to the bowling alley. But halfway there, Grandad pulled up in his command car. That’s what he calls it anyway. It’s a lifted diesel, chipped, 4-wheel drive crew cab Dodge Ram 2500. See, I know my trucks, Rock! He also has a Challenger SRT-8. Now that’s a sweet ride!
Grandad pulled up in his truck and rolled down the window. “Get in.”
He sounded all serious. We got in. It had been a week since the pizza party. So, August 13th. Grandad rushed us to his house and down to his lab. We kept asking what was up. He kept saying we would see. We arrived and rushed downstairs. Grandad showed us the data from all the tests he had been running. He explained the data too.
Grandad was excited. “All of us were covered with specialized nanites. From the lab explosion. The nanites are making complex microscopic factories and are ... systematizing. They are setting themselves up in complex patterns that show design and purpose. They seem to be focusing on our central nervous systems and cerebral cortex.”
Well, that didn’t sound so good, as I brushed at my clothes. “Get them off me Grandad.”
He looked sad. “Dear-heart, I’m not sure I can, and I’m not sure if I should either. Something amazing is taking place.”
Now, when Grandad calls me Dear-heart, there is usually some serious stuff going on.
What’s that Grandad? Yes, it’s true. When you call me Dear-heart, something serious is going on. That’s the true-up. No, I’m good, just had a sandwich. Thanks. Yup, back to the Journal.
Anyway, Grandad then gave us the story behind the story. The fancy new science lab that blew up was functional, and it was involved in real science. But it was also a front for a government project under the control of DARPA. That’s the government agency, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It’s tied to the Department of Defense.
It turns out, DARPA had an ultra-top-secret lab way, way, underground, beneath the new science lab. I guess the above ground lab was a way for DARPA to receive supplies and ship out DARPA project stuff without anyone noticing. It was also a good way for the government to allow a slow trickle of ...
