The Creegan Journals

Entry 2

"Welcome to Wonderland"

Part 2

While watching where he stepped, he maneuvered his way back through the rummage. Inside the laboratory he now began his search for anything that could help him remember anything else. Sifting through the file drawer he found nothing on file, it was as if someone had purposely cleared out everything of importance in the whole laboratory with exception of him buried in a cryotube. He decided that his only option for discovering anything at all was to search the computer, although he wondered if it too hadn't been cleared out. "Knowing my luck, I'll not find a damn thing!" he thought.

There was only one problem with checking the computer. And that problem happened to be the on again/off again power. He decided he would make an attempt to fix that problem and began hunting for the source of a power supply or a reliable alternative as the lights continued to flicker on and off. At least there was some power opposed to no power, because he realized he could have possibly died staying trapped in the cryo-tube. Of course at this moment that didn't seem like such a terrible thing.

There had to be a circuit breaker somewhere in here since it was obvious that this lab must have been wired separately from the rest of the building, which was either gone or being used for something else. This gave him an idea. He wondered if it could be possible to crawl through the vents and find somewhere where he could get something to wear or eat? Of course a whole new problem presented itself with this idea, he didn't have any money. If he did have money somewhere he couldn't remember where it was, and he definitely didn't know whether or not he could use standard US dollar currency here. "Probably not!" he thought. It seemed highly unlikely that his money would have been any good down a rabbit-hole anyway. He realized he needed to get above ground, he didn't know what everything up there was like now. But surely that is where he needed to be.

"Where did they hide it? Blast it - it has got to be here somewhere!" he wondered, after searching the entire laboratory twice over for an electrical circuit box, a generator, or anything that could help, and coming up empty handed. Becoming abnormally still with a blank expression on his face, he delved deep into his own mind. Being overcome with a sudden burst of adrenaline combined with fury he put his hands behind his head, paced back and forth trying to rationalize to himself what he should try next.

He flung his hands from his head, decided he just couldn't take it anymore and went on a rampage of destruction, destroying anything and everything in his path that hadn't already been destroyed, with the exception of the computer. He picked up the metal bar that he had used to spread the lab doors apart with upon waking up here earlier, and began slamming it with all his strength against the cryo-tube. He continually beat it and beat it without much effect, except for wearing himself out to the point where he collapsed to the floor. Lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling he attempted to catch his breath once more.

Watching the lights dance for awhile, he felt so weakened, his skin was begging to be scratched and he supposed that he needed to take a shower to wash the dried cryofluid from his skin. He imagined the intense frigidness chilling his blood, combined with the annoying skin irritation were both results from the improper exposure to dried cryofluid. He was having an allergic reaction that would only worsen if he didn't get it off his skin. And it was a hopeless situation since he didn't have any clean clothes to put on afterwards or even anything to dry on. Then he wondered if the shower room still even existed at all and laughed manically.

Falling into an abyss of depression, he just simply didn't care anymore. Was there any use in getting up from here? What was the use?

When the lights precipitately stopped flashing he wondered: "Could it be?" He sat up forward and bent his back and face around so that he was facing in the direction of the computer. "But for how long?" he wondered.

Jumping up, he made a run for it, and attempted to miss stepping on the various objects on the surface of the floor. Reaching the computer he booted it to be immediately greeted by a black screen with the dark purple Zagar logo slapped across the top of the screen prompting him for his username and password.

"Oh fuck! What's my username and password?"

He tried guessing at first by typing in various words that came to his mind. In return he kept getting access denied over and over again. He leaned forward in the chair, tapping his head against the keyboard.

"Can't I get a break?"

A memory flooded through his head and in it he was sitting before the same computer, only he was working on something and low music played over the computer's speakers.

"Hey Hun! Don'tcha think it's time for a break?” Jinx asked walking through the doors carrying something in her arms.

"You know everyone else is gone! It's just you and me!" she said excitedly as she walked up behind his chair.

"You know what that means don'tcha?" her arm extended, her hand dropped a cup of Jell-O pudding down in front of his face.

"Not right now! I'm on a deadline. If I don't get this done soon, I will not be able to propose this to the others on time!" he responded with his eyes glued to the screen while waving the pudding away.

He glanced away from the screen at her for a moment.

"Besides, if they walk in and catch us...you understand that it will cost us our jobs! Remember? That whole no relationship policy?"

"No, ya see, everyone thinks that I hate you - so they aren't going to expect a thang! Not one earthly thang! And, excuse me? What relationship? It's only sex!" she teased before walking a few feet away and unloading all the food she had in her arms out on a table.

"Like I said, I have to get this done!" he continued typing away.

"Awww... There's always tomorrow, know?" Jinx pouted. "Your looking so tired... so hungry... You’re too young to be so uptight and stressed all the time! C'mon let's eat and then relieve some stress!" she replied as she walked up behind him and started massaging his shoulders.

He ran a hand up over one of her hands on his shoulder and patted it: "Really! I'll be fine! I'm fine."

"I'm just really onto something here!" he continued saying as Jinx looked over his shoulder at the computer screen.

She rolled her eyes and pouted. "Didn't you hear a word of what I just suggested? You know: me - you - sex?"

Jinx's eyes enlarged. "Whoa, baby! I'll say!" she exclaimed. "Onto something? More like on something! You do know that you’re suggesting that a robot can run off of it's very own organic brain?" she laughed.

"Robots don't have organic brains! Honey, they are going to chew you up and spit you out if you present that!" Jinx finished saying, wrapping her arms around his neck and slightly bending over the chair to get a even better look.

"They might just do that!" he sighed. "They probably will in fact!" A short laugh escaped from his lips.

"But you see it is not as far-fetched as you may think. It's already been proven that by implanting electrodes into a living primate's brain that the primate can make a mechanical limb move by simply thinking the action." He looked at her waiting to know what she had to say about that.

"Yeah, I know! I've read about that research! But you’re not talking about running a machine off of some living animal's brain! You’re suggesting a machine running off of a "organic brain" that is lacking in the head and body department here!" she laughed.

"You’re talking about giving the scarecrow a brain!" she replied as she ran her hands through his hair making a mess out of it. "And the wizard couldn't even do that, baby!" She lowered her head beside of his and kissed his cheek.

"You’re not in Oz, Dorothy! And the Scarecrow here already has a brain - thanks!" He slightly turned his head staring her in the eyes, clearly amused with playfulness showing in his own eyes.

"I just propose that a machine could run off of any organic brain under the right conditions." He paused. "Maybe even one of my machines," he mumbled under his breath. "Maybe even Ace."

"Wait a minute, baby! Hold the phones! You’re really serious about this, aren'tcha?" Jinx stared back.

He nodded. "One of the problems I can't seem to find a way around at this point, consists of the compatibility between the mechanical wiring of the machine in question - which would otherwise be the central nervous system and the brain in question." He paused.

" I'm just stuck!" He nuzzled his face against hers.

"Yeah... but why would you want to invent a machine with a real brain?! And where are you going to get the brains, huh? People aren't just going to hand their brains over to you so that you can stick it in some robot! Anyway, I would think that wouldn't be the brightest machine anyway! Just look how dumb some people are! I say just throw silicon in there where you’re wanting to put this brain and program it to do what you want it to do!" she replied being quite serious now.

He laughed. "Oh, I've sparked your curiosity now. Haven't I? Okay: try thinking outside the box! The smartest human being only uses about 8% of what the human brain is capable of! We are flawed because we have animal impulses, but I am thinking that a machine already programmed, already endowed with a inner cpu, could find a way to fully access and make use of a brain equivalent to our own!" He lifted up one of her hands and started caressing it in his.

"The way I'm thinking? You wouldn't even have to have a brain from a human being. If we can grow a human ear off of a mouse's back, then I am thinking in time it is going to be possible that there is going to be another way to grow, or clone if you would rather call it that, a fully functional brain. What would be more impressive is if this machine I'm thinking about could grow its own brain. If it grew its own brain to begin with it would be fully compatible and who knows, it might even become capable of reproducing itself and maybe even evolving - given enough time." He lifted Jinx's hand to his lips and kissed it.

"It would be the perfect thing to include in, say that environmental control unit prototype that we are all working on? You know if we could all figure out how to do it!" He kissed her hand again. The fragrance on her skin invigorated his senses.

"You've - ahem - Cole have you told the Doc about this?" She slipped her hand out of his grasp and rolled his chair around so that she could fully face him.

"First Ace, and now the ECU? The thought of living machines is just creepy! Haven't you ever seen... Oh, what's that movie called!" Jinx seemed to be searching her mind.

"I know what you’re thinking! I'm not crazy, Jinx! And if anyone should agree with me on this, it should be George Bailey!" Cole seemed to almost be sulking.

He decided he should try to change the subject and fast: "Is 'Maximum Overdrive' the movie your thinking about?"

"Why do you say that?" she responded.

He thought: "Damn! Too late! I knew she was going to take his side! I shouldn't have even mentioned it!"

"Your unc's always seemed to me to be really in check with reality!" Jinx continued as she sat down on his lap in the chair, placing her hands gently on his shoulders.

"You just don't really know my uncle like you think you do... He is not just some nice old man who is over the department and working on environmentally apt solutions to environmental problems. He has performed some very unethical procedures!" He turned his head away, looking away from her searching eyes.

Jinx grabbed his face and jerked it around so that he was facing her. "Like what? I don't believe you Cole! He is like your father and anytime he is brought up in any conversation you act like a jealous brat! Why? What's the matter?"

"Well, like vivisection! And I am not jealous!" he muttered.

"Nothing is wrong! Everything is just fine!" He seemed to be pouting.

"Oh brother! Not this again!" she sighed.

"Baby, I know you don't like experiments on animals but when you’re involved in certain scientific fields you have to perform such experiments! That doesn't make you or anyone else a bad person! Haven't ya learnt that yet?" She said as she lent in and tried to kiss him.

He pushed her back a little bit. "Let me get this straight?... you think my ideals are over the top and I'm losing my mind because I am experimenting with automatons? I've always wanted to do something of vast importance that could improve lives and you think I'm crazy! But he can butcher a multitude of pound puppies and various other animals in heinous disgusting ways, which accomplishes nothing, in experiments that I would call anything but typical, and he isn't a bad guy? Did I mention that he is funding these experiments himself? And that some of his experiments have resulted in the most ungodly freakish mutations I've ever heard of?"

"Hey! I didn't mean it like that! I'm not putting you down! I know your not crazy!" she retorted and stared at him a moment in silence before throwing her arms around him in a hug "I'm sorry sweetie, I just didn't mean for you to take that as an insult. I don't care about your uncle, I just thought he was a descent guy!"

"He's not!" he snapped.

Cole sighed. "It's alright! And I'm sorry... It is just that... What if I told you that I've seen one particular result from one of my uncle's experiments that caught me off guard? A dog possessing a fully functional mechanical limb that it could control. The limb was fully integrated to fit into the dog's nervous system. A real progression from the monkey controlling the robotic joystick arm rigged up to a computer, wouldn't you say?"

She sat back and stared at him. "I would say that it's not possible! Not that it isn’t heading in that direction... If the doc could do that, then why hasn't he shared the information? A line of robotic prosthetic limbs would really help those missing in the body part area out! And make us all very rich!"

She paused, glancing down at his lap. "Speaking of body parts! Why don't you kiss me before you talk me to death?" she bit down on her own lips waiting in anticipation.

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