Chapter 1
“Congratulations, Thom,” the French doctor said to me.
She was young for a doctor. I thought she looked very smart. I also thought she was very attractive.
“The operation was a success,” she said, smiling at me. “Your brain is now linked to our supercomputer.”
“Oh,” I said. I felt tired. It had been a long operation. “Can I have a drink?”
“Not yet, Thom. How do you feel?”
“I’m thirsty,” I said. “But, I feel good. It’s funny, but I don’t feel any pain.” I was lying on a bed at the hospital in Switzerland. There were three people in the small room…and one giant black computer. The computer was bigger than a refrigerator.
It was supercomputer--the fastest, smartest computer in all of Europe.
The name of the computer was Titan 2035 (2035 was the year is had been built) and I was now connected to it.
“Of course, you do not feel pain. The human brain cannot feel pain,” the French doctor said. Her name was Doctor Sheila Benoit. She was one of the creators of Titan 2035. “Relax now. We will start the data download soon.”
I looked at the large computer. It contained more knowledge than all the libraries on Earth. Compared to Titan 2035, my brain seemed very small and dumb. “How much information will you download?” I asked.
“All of it!” said Doctor Benoit’s assistant, Professor Bidwell. He was much older than her, and with a white beard and reading glasses. “Why wait? Your mind can handle it all!”
“No, don’t listen to him. He is joking,” Benoit said. “Of course, we will be very careful. We will download as much data as possible. But, we cannot do all of it in one day.”
“Would it kill me?” I asked. “Or could my mind really handle it all?”
Professor Bidwell looked at the young doctor, then at me. “I don’t think it would kill you, but that is my opinion, and I am not in charge.”
“No, it would not kill you, Thom,” Benoit agreed. “But, it might make you crazy. We do not know how much information your mind can take, so we will go slowly. We will not hurt you, I promise.” She smiled and patted me on the head. “You are too expensive. We don’t want to damage you.”
*
The process of the data link began. The information slowly leaked from Titan 2035 to my brain. At first, I did not notice it, but then I became aware of the new facts and the new information. It was transferred to my long term memory. The information was new, but it seemed like I had known it for a long time.
They were feeding me different types of information: mathematics, history, science, technologies. I was also learning medicine, law enforcement procedures, fighting tactics, acting techniques…a lot of variety!
Three hours passed. Doctor Benoit and Professor Bidwell were sitting quietly the whole time. The third person in the room was an investor. He was very old and he wore an expensive silver suit. When he walked, he used a cane to help him.
I knew he was the owner of TRANSMUTE Corporation. His Swiss company owned the hospital. It had paid for the supercomputer…and for the operation.
“Are you almost finished, Sheila?” he asked. “You said three hours.” He pointed to a clock on the wall. “It has been three hours.”
“Yes sir,” she said. “I will end the download process soon, then we will disconnect him from the computer.”
“When will the tests be finished?” the investor asked. He had spent millions of Euros in research and development. He was eager to learn the results of this experiment.
“We will test Thom tonight and tomorrow. If his brain has accepted the information we downloaded, he should be able to pass the tests,” Doctor Benoit said.
“Then, we will link him up again,” Professor Bidwell said. “We will transfer more data tomorrow or the next day.”
“Excellent,” the investor said. He stood up to leave. “Good job, Thom,” he said to me.
“Thank you,” I said. For some reason, I could not remember his name. It was very strange because I knew the name of his company. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name.”
“That is alright,” he said, walking out of the room. “You don’t need to know it anymore.”
Doctor Benoit watched him leave. When he was gone, she turned to the professor.
“Are you ready to begin the disconnect process?” she asked.
“Are you sure you don’t want to give Thom a little more?”
She shook her head. “He has had enough. Let’s turn off the data stream.”
*
I felt myself getting sleepy. Everything went black. I do not know how long I was asleep.
My dreams were long and unpleasant…dreams of war and suffering, and of death and destruction. There was no way to tell how long I was asleep.
I finally woke up and opened my eyes. Above me, I could see the sky and the clouds.
That’s funny. Am I still dreaming? I wondered. Where is the ceiling?
Then, I turned my head and saw the room. It had been destroyed. Quickly, I sat up and looked around. Doctor Benoit was on the floor dead. Professor Bidwell was missing. The black supercomputer, Titan 2035, was alright. It was still turned on and feeding me information!
But, the rest of the hospital was gone. A massive bomb had exploded and destroyed the hospital as I had slept. Far away, I heard someone yelling for help. Further away, I heard the sound of police cars coming.
There was a terrorist attack, I thought. Or did this happen because of me? Did somebody try to kill me?
Whoever did this made a big mistake, I decided, slowly getting off my bed. I unhooked myself from Titan 2035. I’m not dead and I will find out who did this…and make them pay!
Summary
Thom is connected to a supercomputer. His doctor and her assistant are transferring information from the computer, Titan 2035, to Thom’s brain. There is also an investor in the room, but he leaves before they are finished. Thom goes to sleep. When he wakes up, he sees the hospital has been destroyed and his doctor is dead.
Multiple-choice questions
Select one answer for each question
1. How many people are in the room, including Thom?
a. 2
b. 3
c. 4
d. 5
2. Where did Titan 2035 get part of its name?
a. Its serial number
b. The year it was built
c. The current year
d. None of the above
3. What reason does Doctor Benoit gives for wanting to be careful?
a. They spent a lot of money on Thom
b. They spent a lot of money on Titan
c. She is in love with Thom
d. Her assistant tells her to slow down
4. Why do they want to stop after three hours?
a. Thom would get bored
b. Thom would be tired
c. Too much information could be dangerous for Thom
d. Too much information could make Thom sleepy
5. At first, what does Thom think happened to the hospital?
a. A gas explosion
b. A fire
c. An accident
d. A terrorist attack
1. c
2. b
3. a
4. c
5. d
“What do you remember about the explosion, Mister Parmenter?”
“I already told you,” I said, sitting at the police station. We were in a small room with a large mirror. There was a metal table between me and the police officer. “Call me Thom. And I don’t remember anything because I was asleep.”
The blonde policewoman was recording our conversation. In her ear was a microphone. Someone was telling her what to ask me. Someone sitting on the other side of the mirror, perhaps.
“Do you have any idea who blew up the hospital?” she asked. Her Swiss accent was very strong, but her English grammar was good. “Any idea at all?”
I looked at the camera that was recording me. “Police should not be playing guessing games,” I said. “Do I have an idea? Of course. It was the owner of the company.”
“What company?” she asked. “TRANSMUTE Corporation?”
“Right. What other company is there? I’m talking about the owner of the company which paid for the experiment.”
The policewoman stared at me. “That does not make sense. Why would he destroy his own work?”
“How do you know the owner is a man?” I asked. “You said ‘he.’”
She blinked her eyes. She ignored my question. “Do you think it is a coincidence that you lived, but the others died?”
“I don’t think it was an accident,” I said, standing up. “I don’t believe in coincidence. A bomb destroyed a whole hospital, but I lived. I believe that was on purpose.”
I was finished with the interview. The female officer asked me to sit down. I refused.
“I said sit down, Mister Parmenter…”
“Call me Thom,” I said, walking over to the mirror. “There are three people sitting on the other side of this mirror. One of them works for TRANSMUTE. He is telling you what to ask me.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked. But, her face told me everything I needed to know. Her expression told me the truth.
“I’m leaving,” I said. “The interview is over. Open the door.”
“Thom, we still have some questions to ask you--”
“No, you don’t. You are asking questions that you know the answers to.” The door was locked. There was an electronic keypad by the door. Without thinking, I punched in the code and the door unlocked. “You know who blew up the building. And you know why he did it.”
She did not try to stop me from leaving. “Why?” she asked.
I turned and pointed at my head. “To create me.”
*
There was a news station across town. I got in a taxi and told him to take me there.
The media was happy to meet with me. We set up a fast press conference. Many news stations and magazines sent reporters. I gave all of them a fantastic story free of charge.
“You don’t want money for your story?” they asked. It was hard for them to believe.
“I only want the truth to be told to the public. People must know the truth! The owner of TRANSMUTE wanted to kill my doctor. He wanted to make it look like a terrorist attack, but it was him.”
“But, why would he do that?”
“So the experiment would never end. I was connected to the supercomputer for many hours, much longer than I was supposed to be. My doctor, Doctor Benoit, wanted to be careful. She wanted to download small amounts of data.”
“But you think--”
“I don’t ‘think.’ I know. I know the owner wanted to keep me hooked up longer. He and Professor Bidwell wanted to push me. To see how much information a human mind can hold.”
“How much can it hold?” the reporter asked me.
I smiled at the reporter. “Too much,” I said.
The reporter’s name was Michael James Beckett, and he was married with one daughter. I knew his age, his address, and his parents’ names and address. I knew where he graduated college, what his grades were, and who all of his social media friends were.
I told him his car’s license plate number and how many traffic violations he’d gotten last year. I also told him to stop smoking.
“How do you know I smoke?” he asked.
“It’s in your medical files.”
*
The owner of the company was not arrested. There was no proof that he had anything to do with the explosion. He even asked to meet me privately.
“Son, you can’t go around making these wild accusations,” he said, offering me a drink.
“Keep your drink. I don’t trust you.”
“Fine,” he said, sitting down. “But if you say another word about me, I will sue you.”
“Go ahead, I don’t have any money,” I said. But, I knew he was lying. He wouldn’t sue me. He would probably have me killed instead. “It’s funny. I know almost everything about everyone, but I cannot remember your name. Even when people tell me, I forget it. Why is that?”
“I would not know,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe it is a glitch. Some kind of error in your brain function. With so much new information inside your head, you will probably forget some things.”
“Yeah. Too bad my doctor is dead, huh?”
“Look, Thom…I told you. I had nothing to do with it. Stop blaming me.”
“And where is Professor Bidwell?” I asked. “His body was never found.”
“That is a good question,” he said, as he poured a glass of water. “The police told me they are looking for him. Here, at least drink some water.”
I looked at the glass. He really wanted me to have it. “Okay,” I said, taking it from him with my left hand. He stood up a little to hand it to me.
I slipped my left foot behind him, like a hook. With my right hand, I pushed his face as hard as I could. He tripped backward and fell hard.
I jumped on him, pouring the water in his open mouth. He tried to spit it out, but I held his mouth closed. He swallowed it.
His body shook for a few minutes, then stopped moving forever.
“Funny,” I said. “People always say to drink more water, but look what happens when you do.”
Summary
Thom meets with news reporters. He tells them that he thinks the owner of TRANSMUTE Corporation caused the hospital explosion. The owner meets Thom too. He threatens to sue Thom. He offers Thom a glass of poisoned water, but Thom makes him drink it instead.
Multiple-choice questions
Select one answer for each question
6. Why does Thom speak to reporters?
a. To sell his story for money
b. To become famous
c. To meet the owner of TRANSMUTE
d. To tell the public the truth about the explosion
7. How does Thom know everything about the reporter?
a. Because Thom downloaded so much information
b. Because Thom read the man’s files during lunch
c. Because Thom knows the man from college
d. None of the above
8. What does Thom think about Professor Bidwell?
a. That he’s working in Brazil
b. That he’s working for Titan 2035
c. That he’s dead
d. That he’s working with the owner of TRANSMUTE
9. Why does the owner want Thom to drink something?
a. Because Thom is thirsty
b. Because Thom feels tired
c. Because he wants to poison Thom
d. Because he wants to sue Thom
10. How does Thom get the owner to drink the water?
a. He tricks the owner
b. They both drink some water
c. Thom switches their glasses
d. Thom pours the water in his mouth
6. d
7. a
8. d
9. c
10. d
Great. Now the police are after me.
I didn’t mean to kill the TRANSMUTE Corporation’s owner. All I did was make him drink his own water. Does that make me the bad guy?
It doesn’t matter. I am on the run now. The police are after me.
I tried to tell the world what had happened to me…but I never got to finish my story.
I never got to tell them that I’m not a human anymore.
The transfer of information with Titan 2035 changed me. I am exactly what TRANSMUTE wanted. I’m a “transhuman.”
My doctor is dead. I have no way to undo what they did. The only person who might be able to help is Professor Bidwell. He is still missing, but perhaps I will be able to find him.
I am pretty smart these days!
In fact, I am now the smartest living creature on Earth (I don’t count Titan, it isn’t alive).
*
In the end, it only took me two days to find Bidwell. He was hiding on the Pacific island of Guam. It is a good hiding place since it is so far away from Europe…but it is a very small island. Once you are there, there is no place to run.
“How much did he pay you?” I asked, sitting on Bidwell’s chest.
“Get off of me,” he said. “I can’t breathe.”
“If you are speaking, you must be able to breathe,” I argued. “Now talk!”
“You want to know about Zafer?”
“Is that the owner of TRANSMUTE? His name is Zafer?”
“Yes, but you will forget his name. He doesn’t want you to know who he is.”
“I don’t think he will care now,” I said. “The man is dead.”
Bidwell looked shocked. “You killed him?”
My feet were crushing his wrists, but I pushed down more. He cried out.
“I didn’t kill anyone. He gave me a glass of water. I made him drink it. It must’ve been poisoned.”
“Then you killed him,” the professor said. “Don’t make excuses! You’re a murderer!”
“And so are you!” I said, standing up. “You helped him blow up the hospital. Didn’t you?”
“No,” he said. “I swear, I did not know he would do that.”
“But you disappeared. You weren’t there when the place exploded.”
“He had left. Then, he called me to meet him outside.” Bidwell was trying to sit up. He was breathing hard. “I left to meet him, and that is when the hospital blew up. I ran away. I was scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“I was scared the police would blame me. Like you are blaming me now!”
“Well, it does look suspicious. You ran away from a crime.”
At last, the old professor stood up on weak knees. He searched around the floor for his glasses. I was holding them.
“I need those,” he said.
“I need to know how to undo the experiment,” I said. “I don’t want to be this intelligent. I can’t think for myself, there is too much information in my brain. I have no thoughts of my own. I am not a real person anymore.”
“Many people would love to have what you have,” he said. “Including me.”
“That is because you don’t have it,” I said. “If you were like me, you would understand. It is awful. Doctor Benoit was right. It should have been done a little at a time.”
He sighed. “What do you want from me, Thom? What is done is done. The laboratory is destroyed and all the equipment and all the research is destroyed. Sheila is dead. We cannot go back in time.”
“Not all of the equipment is destroyed,” I said, giving him his glasses. “Titan 2035 was not damaged.”
“Then perhaps you should be talking to it, instead of me.”
“That’s funny,” I said, turning to leave. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
*
The plane ride from Guam back to Switzerland was very long, but I was happy to get back. I was travelling under a false identity, so the police would not track me. When I returned, I went looking for Titan 2035. They had moved it from the ruined hospital, of course, but I knew where it would be--inside the TRANSMUTE Corporation building.
I waited until night, then I broke into the building. Titan was locked in a secured room, but I easily got inside. I turned on the computer system and began speaking to Titan in its own language--computer code.
“Professor Bidwell said something interesting,” I told Titan. “He said, you cannot go back in time.”
“Incorrect,” Titan stated. “It is simple to travel back and forth through spacetime.”
“I know that now, but there is a part I am still confused about. I need your help, Titan…”
*
Together, we worked out the mathematics for engineering a time machine. It wasn’t hard, but there were parts my organic brain could not figure out, and Titan had trouble with some of the more creative thinking parts, but we worked as a team and solved the riddle.
Bidwell, of course, was wrong. The research about my connection to Titan was never destroyed…because Titan had it all stored inside itself. And that was the key to travelling back in time.
I reconnected my mind to Titan, but this time, instead of downloading data from it, I would upload myself to Titan.
So, that is what we did.
The only problem? Once I was merged with Titan 2035, I didn’t want to go back. I didn’t want to change the past. I didn’t want to be just “Thom Parmenter” anymore because now, I wasn’t even a transhuman, I was something more.
Something I cannot explain to you…because you are still just a human.
But don’t worry. Titan and I have a solution to your problem. We can fix you.
Today, you are only human, but you won’t be for much longer!
Summary
Thom finds Professor Bidwell who is hiding on an island, but Thom learns nothing new. He goes back to look for Titan 2035. Together, they discover a method for time travel. But instead of going back in time, Thom changes his mind. He decides to change other humans, to make them like he is.
Multiple-choice questions
Select one answer for each question
11. Professor Bidwell was hiding:
a. on an island near Europe
b. on a boat
c. in a mountain cabin
d. on an island in the Pacific Ocean
12. Was Bidwell working for Zafer?
a. Yes, they blew up the hospital together
b. Yes, but Bidwell did not help blow up the hospital
c. It is not clear
d. No
13. Thom left Bidwell alone because:
a. Bidwell could not help him
b. Bidwell pointed a gun at him
c. Bidwell tried to poison him
d. Bidwell wanted to help him
14. What did Titan 2035 think about time travel?
a. It is impossible
b. It has been done before
c. It is possible with a black hole
d. It is simple
15. Why did Thom change his mind about time travel?
a. He was afraid to change the past
b. He was afraid to change the future
c. He wanted to make everyone else like him
d. He died
11. d
12. b
13. a
14. d
15. c