The Net 7.0

Oh! My son is not dead. You will see, he will recover, he'll be strong and he'll walk away from this hospital. And I'll be waiting for him. I'll recognize the eyes of my son, I'll recognize his embrace. So he and I leave this place. You will see.

  Everyone was silent in that room. Ubi looked from side to Frances, his eyes were half closed and his lips tightened up.

  - Will you let me see my son Louis? - Frances directed that question to Sophie.

  - Unfortunately this is not in my hands.

  - Then I'll find out who is entitled to allow it - Frances said. Let's see if a judge will not let me see my own son.

  Frances rose from his chair, put the handkerchief from her hand to her plastic bag and quickly left the room, leaving behind a very visible problem and delineated in all its complexity a drama.

  - You know - Omaha said just after Frances walked out from the room - The strange thing is that legally, that patient there - Omaha pointed to the screen where it appeared Hugh - is Louis, indeed the son of Frances.

  - You lost your mind - Sophie said surprised by that statement. Have you seen all those images of the transplant, how can you say that?

  - Simple - Omaha explained - legally a person is identified based on his body. Today we can rely on numerous tests, since the old-fashioned fingerprinting, through examination of the iris, three-dimensionality of the hand, total body structure (static and motion), blood, saliva, DNA, and many others, and in all these tests, without exception, the result is one, Louis, son of Frances. It's amazing! When you think something so simple and necessary as identify a person can really be done without errors, thanks to a high-tech, but the same high-tech defeats itself.

  Omaha was silent and Ubi felt the complexity of that he had made with Hugh.

  - Ubi - Sophie said - why haven't you communicated your intention to do the transplant to Frances? Why did all this in secret? What were you afraid of anyway?

  Sophie says without showing ulterior motives, a soft voice, as only female voice can be like, a friend talking to a friend. Somehow, this comforted him.

  - I do not really have time for that. Understand that this idea of transplantation was a momentum and that its execution is incredibly complex. So as I said, Hugh had no time, he really could die within hours or days. I had to devote myself one hundred percent with this task.

  - But what will actually be your defense for choosing to have the transplant done? - Asked Sophie to Ubi, frankly and going straight to the point.

  - There is an ethical statement that allows doctors to resort to unusual or experimental means, since it already approved, to save the life of his patient - Ubi argued calm - since it does not carry a greater risk to society or others, is fully valid.

  - But this statement must observe another, which says that no biotechnology can be used for any experiment in living beings, without first receiving the approval of the competent control agency. - Opposed Sophie.

  - I did not use any medication, or machine, or instrument, which is not legal, but only been duly approved. I did not invent anything, did not make new drugs, did not tamper with genes, and did not create robots, in fact, even the idea is not mine. It is true that I made an unusual composition of these elements, creating a new surgical technique, the brain transplant.

  - Still do not understand why you do it all alone? - Sophie asked incisive.

  - Oh! - Said softly and cramped Ubi. I think you're making a slip of understanding. If you see images of the file AIC2112 you really feel like I'm all alone, but note that most of those times I'm at the computer, and obviously, on the Internet, and also obviously, I am drawing on experts in many areas, asking questions, getting answers, researching, analyzing, finally, structuring the idea of transplantation in all its complexity.

  Sophie turned red, really, was a silly not to have realized what Ubi just said; hardly anyone was really alone in this world of communication. It should also be remnant of those caricatures of fear of science on the twentieth century, in which a scientist alone in his isolated island, invents a great evil, and becomes itself a great danger. But Sophie quickly recovered and decided to turn around.

  - Sure - Sophie said. But while you were contacting other experts did you tell to some of them about your problem? Did you tell to some of them that you really had the intention to make such a transplant? That it was no more fictitious question, but it's real thing, your son was dying and you were picking the research material in order to effectively carry out the brain transplant, did you talk about that?

  Ubi thought a while before answering.

  - Like I said I did not have much time for that...

  - But it was days before you perform the operation - Sophie interrupted - It's difficult believe that you didn't do that because you didn't have time.

  - Of course I could have spoken - Ubi replied dryly. It would be tremendously quick to tell everyone that I "would do the brain transplant," it is easy and fast, just that obviously it's not so simple. For every person that I said that, this person would want to hear all about, they would want to participate effectively in the operation, and it would start a huge discussion among several experts on this or that point. It would become a team, and all decisions would be taken by this team, and that spend a long time, Hugh had no time. Aside from that, I was not sure that I actually would do the transplant, I only was confident after consulting several specialists and reaching a conclusion that could be possible. Despite the risks, Hugh had more chance with a transplant than without it. See, before I decide for brain transplant, I tried to find another way to save the life of Hugh. But what are the options? Create genetically every organ that Hugh needed, besides prohibited for many organs, it would take too long, a couple of months at least. Another option of freezing of the brain of Hugh, to get time for his body heals, is also prohibited, and there are minimal chances to come out of this freezing process with life. The best chance to Hugh was the brain transplant. Thus I started creating the conditions to realize that idea. I just felt sure that I would do the transplant when I really started the operation. This is the truth. I was not sure before this point. I remember that on that day of the operation, Christmas day, I was all ready, gathered all the information that I'll need, and had already developed the software for the robot surgeons, but at time to start, I still had doubts. When it all ended, I really did not believe that I had done. Right now, I try believing this situation is real and not a dream that I wake up at any time.

  A long silence followed, it seemed now that the conversation flowed honest, everyone was more human, no longer seemed actors on screens, there was no vestige of the 'persona', even those million ghosts seemed imbued with a certain clarity, balance and not agitated as always the audience be.

  - Sorry to say - Sophie said after a while - but the reasons you give for not having communicated what you intended to do, seem more sentimental than logical or technical.

  - They must be, after all, I'm a human. - Ubi agreed.

  - But you understand there is a danger in it. - Sophie recalled.

  - Possibly, but it's the truth.

  Sophie was ready to end the meeting. But she remembered one other point she would like to clarify.

  - Tell me something, is it possible that anyone could perform this transplant?

  - I think anyone who has access to robot surgeons and a good laboratory for drug substances, would do - Ubi said. Of course it would have to find a patient and a donor, and this is most unlikely to achieve.

  - But as the idea, as for the plan? All this is so available on the internet? These experts that you consulted, they give the information requested without any care?

  - There is no reason to any expert hiding information - Ubi said - then why ask criteria to provide such information.

  - Let me see if I understand right - Sophie prepared to complete - meaning that many of the genetic practices that are prohibited to be experienced, move freely on the Internet?

  - Exactly - Ubi assured. Although it is not possible to ex
perience, make research experiments on many biotech areas, due to ethical and moral issues, yet nothing prevents any expert on developing ideas in these areas, but no one will dare to do the experiments prohibited.

  - You mean I can get endless reflections about personality change due to changes in the gene, even though it is forbidden to perform any experiment on this. What degree of depth and accuracy, would we have at such information?

  - I'll tell you that no expert has the courage to say - prepared Ubi. The fact is that this information has great accuracy, high probability of success. This is because when was created many obstacles to the development of biotechnology, braking it with pursuit of ethical and moral issues, the experts were trapped in the field of cogitation, and so they have developed numerous programs for computer simulations. I would say that today these simulations are very, very precise, so that you can build new simulation from results of other simulations, just as you would in the field of reality, from experimental results of the reality you make new acquaintances, and get new hypotheses and experiments to try. And I believe such method should not be prohibited.

  - Yeah, you're entitled to your opinion - said Sophie concerned - however, this can be a tremendous ingenuity in the face of a terrible danger. So on the Internet proliferate ideas, plans, and information that can lead many people to succeed in