wow," he chuckled. "I can see you now ."
"Excellent."
Steve was really grinning for the first time since his accident. For the moment, his woes were far from his mind. He gazed at the incredible light show, then laughed and mimicked a punctuated sound effect.
"What are you doing?" Alan asked, chuckling himself in confusion.
"Oh, come on, Alan." He repeated the sound effect. "Didn’t you ever watch ‘The Six Million Dollar Man?’ "
Alan gave one of his half-grunts. "Believe you me, young sir, those eyes cost a lot more than six million dollars." He reached for the light switch. "Think ‘standard’ to return to the normal spectrum. You’ll find that a bit easier than switching to thermal; it’ll also work if you think ‘default,’ ‘regular’ ... whatever you prefer. Whatever means ‘normal vision’ to you — your eyes will find a broad, basic concept like that fairly simple to read. It’s the specials that require more specific programming."
Steve complied as Alan turned the lights back on and reopened the windows. "How exactly are they programmed?"
"Your eyes are controlled cybernetically, but they cannot , of course, read your actual thoughts. What we did earlier was train them to recognize the impulses of your brain for your concept of ‘thermal.’ You could just as easily have chosen ‘ice’ as your trigger and pictured a snowy day, if that’s what you’d wanted — I had them set to your infrared bandwidth, so the implants would have thought that was how you saw the concept." He grinned. "For simplicity, I’d recommend you keep the training as literal as possible."
"So they now recognize what I think of as ‘thermal,’ and respond accordingly."
"That’s correct. The process isn’t really all that different from how a polygraph test works ... although much, much more sophisticated. Some of the implants’ abilities don’t need to be trained, such as the glare protection." Alan chuckled as he seated himself in the guest chair. "You’re the only person alive who could look straight into a nuclear explosion without being blinded ."
Steve grunted at the irony. He was looking at his hands, clicking his thermal vision on and off. He could even see the cooler temperatures where the IV fluid first entered his hand. "What other tests do we need to run?"
"That’s all for the time being — I merely wanted to confirm the implants were properly aligned before we proceed any further. You’re being released into our care tomorrow. Once we’re safely on Davison Electronics property, we’ll initiate and test some of those weapons we discussed." He hesitated a moment, then said, "It’s your company now, Steve."
Steve turned his attention to the older man. "What?"
"It’s in your parents’ will," Alan said gently. "Joseph told me once. You’re still subject to the rules and regulations of the PCA merger, but otherwise, it’s yours. It was originally intended to be split between you and your brother fifty-fifty, but ..." He cleared his throat. "The will hasn’t been read without you, of course, but I thought you’d want to know. Everything is yours."
His family had died, but now he was rich.
For a crucial moment, Steve thought he was going to vomit.
PCA
A couple of hours after Alan left, Steve grew restless. Now that he could see again, his hospital room suddenly made him feel claustrophobic in a way that even his temporary blindness hadn’t, and he decided to go for a walk.
Pulling his IV stand along with him, he stepped into the hallway. Although he’d been transported via bed and wheelchair through here several times, this was the first time he’d actually seen the place. When he first noticed the nurses’ station to his left, his impulse was to saunter in the opposite direction so as not to be noticed. Then he realized that he wasn’t under any orders to stay put, so he headed that way after all. Maybe he
"Excellent."
Steve was really grinning for the first time since his accident. For the moment, his woes were far from his mind. He gazed at the incredible light show, then laughed and mimicked a punctuated sound effect.
"What are you doing?" Alan asked, chuckling himself in confusion.
"Oh, come on, Alan." He repeated the sound effect. "Didn’t you ever watch ‘The Six Million Dollar Man?’ "
Alan gave one of his half-grunts. "Believe you me, young sir, those eyes cost a lot more than six million dollars." He reached for the light switch. "Think ‘standard’ to return to the normal spectrum. You’ll find that a bit easier than switching to thermal; it’ll also work if you think ‘default,’ ‘regular’ ... whatever you prefer. Whatever means ‘normal vision’ to you — your eyes will find a broad, basic concept like that fairly simple to read. It’s the specials that require more specific programming."
Steve complied as Alan turned the lights back on and reopened the windows. "How exactly are they programmed?"
"Your eyes are controlled cybernetically, but they cannot , of course, read your actual thoughts. What we did earlier was train them to recognize the impulses of your brain for your concept of ‘thermal.’ You could just as easily have chosen ‘ice’ as your trigger and pictured a snowy day, if that’s what you’d wanted — I had them set to your infrared bandwidth, so the implants would have thought that was how you saw the concept." He grinned. "For simplicity, I’d recommend you keep the training as literal as possible."
"So they now recognize what I think of as ‘thermal,’ and respond accordingly."
"That’s correct. The process isn’t really all that different from how a polygraph test works ... although much, much more sophisticated. Some of the implants’ abilities don’t need to be trained, such as the glare protection." Alan chuckled as he seated himself in the guest chair. "You’re the only person alive who could look straight into a nuclear explosion without being blinded ."
Steve grunted at the irony. He was looking at his hands, clicking his thermal vision on and off. He could even see the cooler temperatures where the IV fluid first entered his hand. "What other tests do we need to run?"
"That’s all for the time being — I merely wanted to confirm the implants were properly aligned before we proceed any further. You’re being released into our care tomorrow. Once we’re safely on Davison Electronics property, we’ll initiate and test some of those weapons we discussed." He hesitated a moment, then said, "It’s your company now, Steve."
Steve turned his attention to the older man. "What?"
"It’s in your parents’ will," Alan said gently. "Joseph told me once. You’re still subject to the rules and regulations of the PCA merger, but otherwise, it’s yours. It was originally intended to be split between you and your brother fifty-fifty, but ..." He cleared his throat. "The will hasn’t been read without you, of course, but I thought you’d want to know. Everything is yours."
His family had died, but now he was rich.
For a crucial moment, Steve thought he was going to vomit.
PCA
A couple of hours after Alan left, Steve grew restless. Now that he could see again, his hospital room suddenly made him feel claustrophobic in a way that even his temporary blindness hadn’t, and he decided to go for a walk.
Pulling his IV stand along with him, he stepped into the hallway. Although he’d been transported via bed and wheelchair through here several times, this was the first time he’d actually seen the place. When he first noticed the nurses’ station to his left, his impulse was to saunter in the opposite direction so as not to be noticed. Then he realized that he wasn’t under any orders to stay put, so he headed that way after all. Maybe he
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