***
"Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not."
Protageras
“A zebra takes its stripes wherever it goes.”
Maasai saying
1.
"Okay, Herr Volk," the technician patted down the incision she had just made in the side of Greta Volk’s skull. "Subject's prepped and ready."
Dr. Irwin Frost handed Oskar Volk the injector tube, attached by hose to the containment chamber. "Steady even suction, Oskar. ANAD ready to fly?"
The technician, Doris Kraft, came back, "Ready in all respects, Doctor."
"Vascular grid?"
"Tracking now. We'll be able to follow the master just fine. You can replicate once you're through the blood-brain barrier."
"Watch for capillary flow," Dr. Frost said. "When her capillaries narrow, your speed will increase. And viscosity will stay up."
"Like slogging through molasses. ANAD's inerted and stable…ready for insertion."
The insertion went smoothly enough. A slug of plasma forced the master nanobot into Greta’s capillary network at high pressure. Volk tried to forget that this was his own mother he was working on. He got an acoustic pulse seconds later and selected Fly-by-Stick to navigate the system. A few minutes' run on its propulsors brought the Autonomous Nanoscale Assembler/Disassembler to a dense fibrous mat of capillary tissues. The image soon appeared on Volk’s panel.
"Ready for transit," he told Frost. "Cytometric probing now. I can force these cell membranes open any time."
Volk steered ANAD into the vascular cleft of the membrane. He twisted his right hand controller, pulsing a carbene grabber to twist the cleft molecules just so, then released the membrane lipids and slingshot himself forward. Seconds later, ANAD was floating in a plasma bath, dark, viny shapes barely visible off in the distance. The plasma was a heavy viscous fluid. Volk tweaked up the propulsor to a higher power setting and took a navigation hack off the vascular grid.
"ANAD’s handling real well, Doctor…handling like a dream today. Ventral tegmentum coming up. Just past the mesoencephalic nucleus. Looks like we're in."
Volk navigated ANAD through the interstices of his mother’s brain for the better part of an hour, searching for the tumor mass he knew was there. The oligodendroglioma had been growing and metastasizing in her brain for months. He had programmed the assembler to send an alarm when it encountered any kind of unnatural activity…the hospital’s oncologist Dr. Miriam Sinoglu was studying the acoustic returns carefully, offering Volk navigation instructions.
"Hopefully, the last treatment with contrast agent will show us the way," she told them. “Imagery shows a pretty serious peritumoral edema in the same region….” She was still pinching herself at what they were doing, probing Greta Volk’s brain in real time with a small robotic device. With any luck, ANAD would locate the tumor and began disassembling it in a few minutes.
At 1824 hours, ANAD sent the alarm.
“That’s our target,” Dr. Sinoglu told them.
The imager screen was at first murky, crowded with the spikes and cubes of dissolved molecules. Lumpy, multi-lobed sodium molecules darted across their view like shadowy ping-pong balls. Volk and Frost studied readouts from ANAD's sounder…something was there, hidden in the data traces on the scope. Volk fiddled with the gain on the imager, tweaking it, subtracting foreground clutter.
Above and behind the operating theater, behind the glass windows of the viewing gallery, Dr. Rudolf Volk watched the operation with scarcely a breath. His own wife was down there—he and Greta had been married for forty-one years last month—down there anesthetized with a cocktail of propolol, fentanyl, midazolam and sevoflurane—stricken now for eight months with a growing mass in her forebrain.
Dr. Sinoglu—all the neurologists and oncologists, really—had told them it was inoperable. Surgery was out. Radiation had been ineffective. Chemo wasn’t working. When Volk had asked his son Oskar about a medbot insertion—running the prototype ANAD medical nano-robot inside her brain and trying to destroy the tumor that way—Oskar just shook his head.
“It’s still in prototype. We’re having control issues. We’re having communication and programming issues. ANAD’s not ready for a live subject yet. It’s just too dangerous.”
“Oskar, this is your own mother. She’s dying anyway. What is there to lose? Can’t we just try it?”
That was just before the big discovery came from the Engebbe dig site in Kenya.
SOLNET Special Report:
“Ancient Robots”
The Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany is a pretty staid and stuffy lab for studying the beginnings of Man and the fossil and genetic evidence of our beginnings tens of thousands of years ago. Pretty staid and stuffy….that is, until today.
The Institute is housed in a complex of modern research facilities set in a wooded estate. From the outside, there’s nothing about the Institute that would indicate what really goes on inside or what kind of bombshells occasionally erupt from this secluded, almost pastoral setting.
Today, just such a bombshell landed, right in the laps of the Board of Directors of the Institute’s Department of Human Evolution. The bomb thrower, Dr. Rudolf Volk, made a presentation at this month’s Board meeting, a presentation about new finds at the Engebbe, Kenya dig site, new finds which, if confirmed, will radically and forever overturn what we know about Man’s ancestors and our origins.
SOLNET reporter Anna Kolchinova was there and files this report:
“The essence of Dr. Volk’s presentation is that we now have incontrovertible proof, physical evidence, that Man didn’t develop and evolve on this planet alone or unaided. Recent finds of fossilized micro robotic remains among ancient Homo Erectus bones at the Engebbe dig site have swept the world of archaeology and anthropology like a hurricane. Volk is a researcher in the Institute’s Department of Human Evolution and was here in Leipzig to present the details of his findings to the Institute’s Board of Directors.
“According to Dr. Volk, the robotic remains have been conclusively dated to be synchronous in time with the bone remains. The techniques used were a relatively new, more advanced form of radiocarbon dating, a method called quantum state spectrometry. According to Dr. Volk, the tests have been performed multiple times, by multiple researchers right here at the Institute and the results are consistent across all experiments and experimenters.
“It seems, to quote Dr. Marta Siebeck, an archaeologist on the Board here, that ‘we may be descended from ancient robotic creatures.’”
(Append Video Post 227):
“How is this even possible?” asked Dr. Max Schneer (NOTE: Dr. Schneer is current Chairman of the Board of Directors…AnnaK). “I’ve seen the dating charts, I’ve seen all the spectrographs…but that’s not my question, Dr. Volk. I’m asking you to take a larger view here, understand what you are suggesting with all this data: that somehow, flesh and blood creatures like you and me, formed of tissue and bone and blood, are somehow evolved from something that was made, a machine, a robot? Surely you understand the implications of this, even if it were proven true?”
Dr. Volk shifted uneasily in his seat, focusing on the tablet screen in front of him. Lines and spectra from the dating tests filled the screen. “Dr. Schneer, the implications, as you call it, of these spectra, are for other people to decide. I’m a scientist. All I can do is perform the science and make sure my methods are repeatable and above reproach and my data is clean. The test results you see were performed seven times by five different people in three different labs, separated by thousands of kilometers and several weeks in time. No one seriously questions the data anymore. What we all make of this data, how we interpret the data…ah, now that is another question altogether.”
Dr. Uwe Holweg, a physical anthropologist, glared back at Volk
like a disappointed parent at a child. “Rudi, you have to see what the data are suggesting. If any of this is true, it means the end of evolution by natural selection. It means what we are today is not the product of random mutations and selection pressures. It means you and I are programmed in some fashion. It means you and I are part robot ourselves, even if we are tissue and blood and bone. What does that do to Darwin? The old man must be spinning in his grave today.”
“I think that’s a fair statement to make,” Volk agreed. “It appears that Evolution is not so much by natural selection but by programming.”
“Yes, exactly…”Holweg went on, warming to the idea. “But what is the end state of this program? Who wrote the program?”
“And can we understand this program, like we understand Evolution,” added Siebeck. “Can it be altered? What would it take to do that?”
Volk really didn’t want to play speculative games with the Board. He wanted to present the facts and let the philosophers deal with the fallout. But the Board was off and running.
Holweg chewed on an idea, then stabbed the air with a finger. “The biggest question is who did the code that operated these robots?”
Volk just wanted to get back to the facts. “I have more data on specific fossil pieces from the dig…if you’d like to—“
But the Board had dropped Science for the moment and preferred to spin theories.
“Just think what this means for the great religions,” Holweg went on. He rubbed his hands like a child in a candy store, trying out theories like so many chocolates. “We’ve all seen the stories…SOLNET, WorldBeat and the others. And the two big theories--‘The Aliens Landed’ theory and the ‘Really Smart Homo Variant’ theory. Can either be proved? Is there a shred of evidence for either theory?”
“It’s clear,” intoned Schneer, facing the SOLNET cameras, his voice deepening into authoritative mode, “that the whole story of human origins has been upended. What Dr. Volk has given us is physical evidence that our understanding of our origins and how we came to be is a mistake. Indeed, if some media pundits are to be believed, Man himself is a mistake.”
Volk tried to interject some facts. “The fossils from Engebbe have been categorized into three main classes, as you can see…we have pieces that seem to be some kind of effector, perhaps with graspers….” He pressed buttons on his display controls and a 3-D image of the find danced in the air before the Board. “The second category we’ve called Sensor Devices—“
But Schneer wasn’t listening. “Maybe we anthropologists should be talking with the cosmologists. Surely the study of Life’s origins should include a study of current xenological theories and how Little Green Men may have come to Earth and seeded the environment.”
“Of course, that’s all speculation at this point,” Siebeck noted. “Dr. Volk, when can you go back to Engebbe? We need more evidence…this really is extraordinary…fossil evidence, geological evidence, even genetic evidence…you have some chemical and materials properties results for us?”
Volk took a breath, tried to collect his wits. The whole meeting was spinning out of control and Schneer, who was supposed to be in charge, was leading the revolt. “I do, Dr. Siebeck. We’ve done recent assays on some of the pieces. We’re finding octahedral and dodecahedral lattices of iron, silicon, germanium and some unusual elements that don’t even appear on our periodic table…we don’t know what to make of them.”
Volk manipulated the 3-D images and atomic structures rotated in space in front of the Board.
“We’ve got to have more evidence,” Schneer decided. “The Board will authorize funds for more trips to Engebbe. Dr. Volk, you mentioned some kind of crystal—“
“Ah, yes—“ Volk changed the display to show a new set of images. The lattices flickered out and were replaced by new structures, crystalline shards magnified millions of times. “We think these crystals may have been part of a processor core…this is controversial, but there are holes and pits suggesting some kind of electron transport mechanism…perhaps even a memory array of some kind. We need more evidence—“
Anna Kolchinova’s face popped into a small window on the side of the broadcast. “The Board met for most of two days at the Institute. It was one of the more chaotic and tumultuous briefings this reporter has ever covered. And in hours, most of the science world was in an uproar over the news. Headlines rocketed around the world—“ Here Kolchinova appended spinning, flashing images of headlines and captions—ANCIENT ROBOTS FROM AFRICAN DIG…BOTS DISPLACE APES AS MANKIND’S FOREFATHERS…PREHISTORIC BOTS MAY HAVE CREATED MAN…
Kolchinova went on, summing up the report from Leipzig. “It’s hard to tell where this story will go now. There are so many substories here…the science itself and the still unknown physical nature of the find and its relationship to Man today… increasing dependence on ANAD technology and the speed at which this technology evolves and takes over more and more of our lives….
“The Board has determined that more evidence is needed to support and extend Dr. Volk’s findings. More expeditions to Engebbe are planned but it should be noted that the dig site is also the location of some intense rebel activity and some ticklish and sensitive diplomatic negotiations may be needed.”
Kolchinova’s face hardened. “There are some who view these finds as an abomination, an affront to human dignity. There are others who consider these finds as the opening chapter of a great new adventure, an adventure leading to a better understanding of how Man came to be. Whatever your point of view, it can’t be denied that Man is no longer alone, here on Earth and elsewhere. Indeed, if Dr. Volk’s evidence can be corroborated, it’s clear that Man was never alone and that there is a direct connection between life on this planet and life elsewhere.
“That discovery, if it turns out to be true, can’t help but have the most profound effects on every aspect of what Man is about, even his own conception of himself and his place in the Universe. This is Anna Kolchinova, reporting for SOLNET, from the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany, saying good-bye…until next time—“
Solnet Report Ends
“That seems to be all of it,” Oskar Volk reported. He studied the imager with Dr. Sinoglu. “ANAD’s not sensing any more tumor cells in the area.”
Sinoglu hmm’ed and tried different resolutions on the imager. “I’d have to agree. Of course, we’ll have to do more scans, take some samples, make sure the tumor cells haven’t metastasized. But, for the moment, I’d agree. Your device seems to have removed the entire tumor mass…no more evidence of edema, no more anaplasia…this really is extraordinary what you’ve done—“
The door to the OR opened and Dr. Rudolf Volk came in, dressed in mask and scrubs. He’d begged and pleaded and the nurses had finally relented. “I have to see Greta, please, you have to let me be with her—“
“Dr. Volk, please—“
Oskar Volk wasn’t surprised his father had connived his way into the OR. He was like that. “ANAD handled like a dream…no more control and stability issues. Maybe it was that new code after all—“
Rudolf Volk cradled his wife’s face and kissed her gently on the forehead, difficult enough to do with all the tubes and braces supporting her head. “I guess we should call it old code, Oskar. Millions of years old. Dr. Sinoglu--?”
Miriam Sinoglu was short, dark-haired, daughter of Turkish immigrants. “It looks good so far, Rudi. The ANAD device seems to have gotten the tumor, physically eliminated it. But metastasis is always possible. Greta needs more scans and samples to be sure. And she’s got a long recovery ahead of her—rehab, more tests, it won’t be easy for her. We’ll have to watch the swelling for the next few days. There may be emotional or cognitive impairment. Aphasia. Ataxia. Facial paralysis. It’s too soon to tell—
“I don’t care,” Rudi Volk cradled her head softly. “At least she has a chance. And you’re here, Oskar…maybe if she does we
ll over the next few weeks, I can get back to Engebbe…there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
Oskar Volk was concentrating on navigating ANAD back to its injection point. “I just replicated a few copies of ANAD to leave behind, check for any stray tumor cells. Just think: a prototype medbot removes a brain tumor with help from operating code taken from a million-year old fossil. The old and the new, joining forces. That Solnet reporter will never believe this.”
2.