‘That’s exactly what I’m saying, sir. But this is just the tip of the iceberg with regard to the possibilities that this technology can open up. Remember, we are talking about the areas of the brain that control lucid dreaming. Think about the process of a dream, as you experience it: your brain creates a world and populates it with characters, and then it drops you into a scenario that feels utterly real, no matter how fantastical the world of the dream may actually be. Of course, when you wake up you realise that you were dreaming, but when you are in the dream it becomes indistinguishable from reality until it ends. The dreamer, though, has very little control over what happens in the dream. This is why dreams sometimes turn into nightmares.
Now, the advantage of a lucid dream is that the dreamer knows that he or she is dreaming, and in addition to this has complete control over the dream. As it stands, very few people are able to experience lucid dreaming, simply because most people cannot consciously access the parts of the brain that control dreams. After decades of research though, we have finally discovered how to do this, and on top of that we succeeded in linking it to a network. With this technology, instead of simply watching a movie, people can be in the movie with their friends, and it will feel indistinguishable from reality. Instead of playing a computer game by staring at a screen and clicking on keys and a mouse or a controller pad, the user will be absolutely immersed inside the world of the game, feeling as if he or she is actually firing a rocket launcher or reallydriving a race car or flying a spacecraft. Reality will cease to matter – only the experience of what feels like reality will count. And we – you sir, your company, I mean – you will own that patent. You will own sole rights to this technology.’
The corners of Mr Ma’s mouth twisted upward into a smile, and then his crimson lips parted, and finally a husky rasping, verging on what sounded like choking, started to crumble from his mouth. The sound rattled the opulent marble and stainless-steel fittings of the room, and when it faded out Mr Ma gave Ms Fang a thumbs-up, and said a few words in sign language. Mr Wang then let out an abrupt burst of booming laughter, which was as loud as it was short. After he had cut off his laughter, he spoke with a radiant smile.
‘Mr Ma says that this is one of the best ideas he has ever heard. He is quite certain that the company will make billions from this, and that once this technology is released to the public, MANMO-M Technologies will become one of the most powerful technology companies on the face of the planet.’
‘We are quite confident of that ourselves, sir,’ Ms Fang replied, her face easing into an expression that was strangely calm and collected in the face of this almost rapturous praise. Mr Wang studied her for a moment, and then he spoke.
‘First question: Have you secured all of the necessary international and domestic patents for this technology?’
‘Every step of the process has been kept secret, and all advances immediately patented, sir.’
‘Are you absolutely and utterly certain that not a single byte of information about this project has been leaked?’
‘One hundred percent certain. Not even our closest family members or lovers know what has been going on behind the R and D doors of our department at MANMO-M Technologies Head Office for the last two decades. I swear this to you, sir, on my life.’
‘Have any team members been fired or quit since the start of the project? Any at all?’
‘None,’ she answered without hesitation. ‘We have taken on younger members though; bright and promising graduates from the necessary fields every year, as specified in our annual reports.’
Mr Wang nodded, frowning with deep concentration and stroking his jutting, impeccably shaved chin with his thumb and forefinger.
‘Don’t hire anyone else,’ he said with a soft yet unmistakable tone of authority. ‘We cannot afford to have a spy getting in on this. Absolutely not. This is going to be the defining technology of the early twenty-first century, and we must retain complete control and ownership.’
Mr Ma interjected with some enthusiastic sign language.
‘I have good news for you,’ Mr Wang translated. ‘This team is going to receive an immediate boost in funding. Name your requirement and you will have it. Whatever you need will be at your disposal.’
Ms Fang bowed to Mr Ma.
‘We are most grateful for your generosity, sir.’
‘One last question,’ Mr Wang said. ‘I can only assume that all of the research thus far has been conducted on animals. Experimenting with the brain and altering the areas of it which control dreaming sounds like a tremendously risky exercise to perform on human subjects. Am I correct?’
‘Of course, sir. All the initial tests were conducted on primates. Many died in the early stages, unfortunately. However, it is quite easy to procure new specimens, most specifically orang-utans from Indonesia. We have a very cost-effective deal with an Indonesian palm oil company, you see; they don’t want orang-utans in their plantations, and—’
‘Yes, yes, yes,’ Mr Wang interjected. ‘Mr Ma doesn’t care about details like that. The question I wanted to ask, before we pop the cork on the champagne bottle here, is this: have you or have you not conducted human trials?’
Ms Fang beamed one of her infrequent smiles at Mr Wang and Mr Ma.
‘We have, sir. With certain connections within the government, we have been given access to death row prisoners. We perfected the device and delivery method in the orang-utans after much trial and error, but we hadn’t factored in certain key differences in human and orang-utan physiology. The first few human subjects suffered from
