Chapter Thirteen
Disappointment
“Sandra’s already checked her out,” Matthew said as Ben stood next to him by Jayne’s bed. “Her pulse and blood pressure are fine, and as you can see, she’s breathing normally.”
Ben stared at Jayne Middleton. Apart from the cable connected to her head, and the drip feeding into her arm, she looked perfectly healthy and alive. And as Matthew had said, she was breathing normally.
“It’s going to work, isn’t it?” Ben said in a subdued voice.
Matthew sighed. “I hope so, Ben. Everything has gone to plan so far.” Matthew folded his arms as he stared down at Jayne with Ben. “The implant is working fine. The Crays have programmed it with the neural pathways that control Jayne’s body. That way the implant can always keep her alive no matter what.”
“What are the Crays doing now?” Ben asked him.
“Nothing. They’re idle, and have been for a couple of days.”
Ben looked up at Matthew. “Only the implant is keeping her breathing?”
Matthew nodded. “That’s right, that is what it was supposed to do,” he replied. “Up to now, one of the Crays has been using the information they both learned about Jayne’s neural pathways during the first week to slowly reform them. And even while the other Cray was identifying the connections between Jayne’s brain and the rest of her nervous system during the second week, the first Cray has continued with the process of stimulating and refreshing her neural pathways. That refreshing has gradually caused the pathways between each neural cell to be reformed. For the last two days the implant has been supplying the energy to continue that refreshing process. During that time I’ve been running lots of diagnostic tests on it. I wanted to be sure that everything was working right before the ventilator was switched off today.”
“And you don’t need the Crays at all anymore?”
“No, they’ve done their job. Jayne’s brain itself is now the storage medium for her neural net once more. I can even unplug her from the Crays.” Before Ben could protest, Matthew leaned forward and pulled the cable from the socket in the back of Jayne’s head. Jayne continued to breathe unaffected.
Ben stared at Jayne. He was genuinely amazed at what Matthew had been able to do, but he couldn’t help having that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. “So what happens now?” he asked.
“We wait and see if she wakes up.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
Matthew shrugged his shoulders. “Then I’ve failed, I suppose. I can still write up my thesis, I think I’ve got enough to get my Phd. But I’ll always feel sad that I couldn’t get her back.”
Ben patted Matthew on the back. “You’ve done far more than you’ll need for any Phd, Matthew,” he said with a smile. “I’m going to the monthly board meeting this week, so I’ll be away for a few days. But you can be sure that I’ll let them all know what a damn fine job you’ve done here. Keep at it, Matthew! Remember, you’ve still got another week and a half left!”
Matthew smiled as Ben left, but the smile quickly faded.
A week and a half left.
When Jayne had started breathing on her own, Matthew had been full of enthusiasm. But as the hours passed, and Jayne didn’t stir or awake, he became more and more depressed. Everything had been going so well that he had come to believe that he was going to succeed. The implant was working fine, her neural net had been reformed and was being refreshed, all she had to do was wake up. But still she lay there, unmoving, unthinking.
After Ben left, Matthew spent the rest of the day and the whole night with Jayne, waiting and hoping for some change. But it was no use.
The following morning, Sandra carried out a brain scan with the help of a MedTec technician. They even used equipment that MedTec produced themselves. They repeated the test every two hours, but always the results were the same. There was no brain activity other than the rhythmic waves produced by the refreshing process.
Matthew couldn’t understand it. He had checked everything over and over again, and it was all working fine, but still nothing was happening. It was such a very basic process. The implant acted like a starter motor with Jayne’s brain as the engine. It continually refreshed the neural pathways until Jayne’s brain finally came to life. But Jayne’s brain refused to start. The implant kept cranking, but there was no life in the engine.
The door opened and Sandra came in. “Any change?” she asked as she came to stand next to Matthew. He shook his head.
Sandra looked at Matthew sadly. He hadn’t shaved and he looked a right mess. Although he was still sitting at his keyboard, he no longer typed on it. In fact she hadn’t seen him touch a single key the whole day. He looked really down.
“Maybe we should talk to her,” she suggested.
“What?” Matthew looked puzzled as he stared at Sandra.
“Talk to her,” Sandra repeated. “It’s normal practice with people in comas. You try and stimulate them by talking to them, or playing their favourite records, or just reading to them. It sometimes works quite well.”
Matthew grinned and suddenly sprang from his chair and hugged Sandra. “You’re a genius!” he exclaimed, and began to dance her round the room despite her protests. “An absolute genius!”
“Stop it, Matt! Somebody might come in!” Sandra said, growing redder by the second.
Matthew stopped dancing her about and held her at arm’s length. “I love you, Sandra! You’re a genius!” He suddenly kissed her. “External stimulation! That’s exactly what she needs! This place is dead! It’s too quiet! That’s why she won’t wake up! Get some tapes, Sandra! Any tapes! Your favourite tapes! And CD’s! I can play CD’s on my mini-computer! I’ll get a tape deck and some big speakers! Really big speakers!” Matthew grabbed a now very shocked and embarrassed Sandra by the hand and ran towards the door, pulling her with him. “Come on, Sandra! By the time we’ve finished, this room is going to be booming louder than a Ford Escort on Saturday night!”