own slate, tapped on it for a moment, and the wall screen transitioned to a new slide, showing a single graph, labeled "Su-Yong Shu: Impact Factor of New Publications."
Holtzmann spoke. "We have one last piece of background on your mission for today. It concerns Su-Yong Shu. She's an exceptional scientist. From the very beginning of her career that has been apparent. A number of years ago, however, something changed."
Kade absorbed the graph as Holtzmann spoke. Shu's impact factor rose rapidly, solidly through her early career. Then there was a break, three years gone from science, while she took time off to raise her daughter. When the line reappeared, it was markedly higher than it had been when it dropped off. And it had a new, steeper slope – rising faster and faster every year.
"As you can see, Kade, the career trajectories before 2029 and after 2032 appear quite different. Those three years represent a discontinuity. The early Su-Yong Shu showed every sign of a successful career. The Su-Yong Shu of 2032 and later goes beyond that. She shows signs of almost… superhuman brilliance."
Kade considered for a moment. "Maybe she did a lot of thinking while she was at home? Came up with new ideas?"
Holtzmann nodded. "That would produce a temporary boost upon her return. Instead, what we see is a long-term acceleration. Every year after 2032, she diverges further and further from her pre-2032 trajectory. This sort of change is unprecedented."
Kade tilted his head. "You think something changed about her. That she got smarter. Augmented."
"We have no proof…" Holtzmann said slowly. "But this is very suggestive."
Kade nodded. Her work was indeed very very good. Awe-inspiring even. "The kind of augmentation you're talking about… That's not just a little memory boost or concentration aid. It's better pattern recognition. Better creativity. You're talking about enhancements beyond anything known about in the field today…"
Holtzmann nodded. "Yes. She shows signs of being augmented in ways that surpass anything that we know of. That is something which concerns us." He paused, then continued. "And it's interesting that the first report of Nexus 1 came in 2033, just seven years ago… and one year after Dr Shu's return to science." Holtzmann let that hang in the air.
Kade frowned. "You're saying Su-Yong Shu may have created Nexus? She's not a nano-engineer."
"Do you know any nano-engineer who could have designed Nexus?"
No. Not even close . "A team of engineers…" Kade suggested.
"We've had teams of nano-engineers look at Nexus, try to reverse-engineer it," Holtzman said. "The Japanese, Germans, Brits, and Indians all have as well. No one has more than scratched the surface."
"So what are you saying?" Kade asked.
"I'm saying that Nexus may defy human understanding because it is not the product of normal human thought," Holtzman said. "It is the product of posthuman thought."
And you're sending me spy on her? Kade thought.
Holtzmann tapped his slate. The wall screen went dark and the room lights rose. "Now it is time for you to brief us on your Nexus 5 work, and transfer to us all materials you have on it – all design notes, experimental results, all of it."
Kade swallowed. "The materials are in SF."
Holtzmann raised one white bushy eyebrow.
"It's a precaution we took," Kade said. "The master code is on a system that's kept offline."
"Very well. We will do the first stage of the technology briefing now. And we'll send an officer with you back to your lab to retrieve this data. You'll hand all data and physical materials over to our officer, and he'll return them to us."
Kade bowed his head in assent. Here we go.
Warren Becker opened the door into the room where Sam stood, silently observing the briefing Kade was receiving through a viewscreen. Becker walked up to her, placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Sam.
Holtzmann spoke. "We have one last piece of background on your mission for today. It concerns Su-Yong Shu. She's an exceptional scientist. From the very beginning of her career that has been apparent. A number of years ago, however, something changed."
Kade absorbed the graph as Holtzmann spoke. Shu's impact factor rose rapidly, solidly through her early career. Then there was a break, three years gone from science, while she took time off to raise her daughter. When the line reappeared, it was markedly higher than it had been when it dropped off. And it had a new, steeper slope – rising faster and faster every year.
"As you can see, Kade, the career trajectories before 2029 and after 2032 appear quite different. Those three years represent a discontinuity. The early Su-Yong Shu showed every sign of a successful career. The Su-Yong Shu of 2032 and later goes beyond that. She shows signs of almost… superhuman brilliance."
Kade considered for a moment. "Maybe she did a lot of thinking while she was at home? Came up with new ideas?"
Holtzmann nodded. "That would produce a temporary boost upon her return. Instead, what we see is a long-term acceleration. Every year after 2032, she diverges further and further from her pre-2032 trajectory. This sort of change is unprecedented."
Kade tilted his head. "You think something changed about her. That she got smarter. Augmented."
"We have no proof…" Holtzmann said slowly. "But this is very suggestive."
Kade nodded. Her work was indeed very very good. Awe-inspiring even. "The kind of augmentation you're talking about… That's not just a little memory boost or concentration aid. It's better pattern recognition. Better creativity. You're talking about enhancements beyond anything known about in the field today…"
Holtzmann nodded. "Yes. She shows signs of being augmented in ways that surpass anything that we know of. That is something which concerns us." He paused, then continued. "And it's interesting that the first report of Nexus 1 came in 2033, just seven years ago… and one year after Dr Shu's return to science." Holtzmann let that hang in the air.
Kade frowned. "You're saying Su-Yong Shu may have created Nexus? She's not a nano-engineer."
"Do you know any nano-engineer who could have designed Nexus?"
No. Not even close . "A team of engineers…" Kade suggested.
"We've had teams of nano-engineers look at Nexus, try to reverse-engineer it," Holtzman said. "The Japanese, Germans, Brits, and Indians all have as well. No one has more than scratched the surface."
"So what are you saying?" Kade asked.
"I'm saying that Nexus may defy human understanding because it is not the product of normal human thought," Holtzman said. "It is the product of posthuman thought."
And you're sending me spy on her? Kade thought.
Holtzmann tapped his slate. The wall screen went dark and the room lights rose. "Now it is time for you to brief us on your Nexus 5 work, and transfer to us all materials you have on it – all design notes, experimental results, all of it."
Kade swallowed. "The materials are in SF."
Holtzmann raised one white bushy eyebrow.
"It's a precaution we took," Kade said. "The master code is on a system that's kept offline."
"Very well. We will do the first stage of the technology briefing now. And we'll send an officer with you back to your lab to retrieve this data. You'll hand all data and physical materials over to our officer, and he'll return them to us."
Kade bowed his head in assent. Here we go.
Warren Becker opened the door into the room where Sam stood, silently observing the briefing Kade was receiving through a viewscreen. Becker walked up to her, placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Sam.
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