Page 13 of Dark Island: Rescue
"Of course, I understand." Petrov's voice dropped to almost a whisper. "I've been there myself, you see. Not through chemicals. Through mathematics. I solved an equation that shouldn't exist, and for three minutes and seventeen seconds, I could see every possible version of myself across infinite timelines. The asylum was actually quite restful after that."
The man was hopeless. He was a certified lunatic.
Losham shifted in his chair. "Doctor Petrov has reviewed all of Zhao's research files. His preliminary notes suggest several modifications to the enhancement compounds that could provide more stability."
"Who needs stability?" Petrov muttered, but then his expression shifted, becoming almost lucid. "But necessary, yes. Your soldiers are like radio receivers tuned to allfrequencies at once. Cacophony. What you need is selective tuning. Let them access the collective when needed, return to individuality when not."
"Can you do this?" Navuh asked.
Petrov met his gaze, and for a moment, Navuh saw something dangerous in those pale eyes. Intelligence so vast it had cracked under its own weight. "I can do anything with the right tools."
"Tell me what you need, and it will be delivered to you. Neurologists, chemists, psychiatrists. You can assemble a dream team of scientists."
Petrov scoffed. "I don't need or want any of them. I need just one man. My assistant, Dmitri Volkov. Brilliant boy. Well, not a boy anymore, I suppose. He's been in a labor camp for the past two years." Petrov took another long pull from his vodka bottle. "They arrested him when they took me to the asylum. Very unfair. He was only following my instructions."
Navuh glanced at Losham, who shook his head, indicating that he didn't know what Petrov was talking about.
The guy was either creating fantasies in his confused brain, or Losham's background check left something to be desired.
"What did you two do that landed you in an asylum and him in a labor camp?" Navuh asked.
Petrov smiled, and it was not a pleasant expression. "We were conducting an experiment in consciousness transfer. Specifically, whether human consciousness could be uploaded into a distributed network of biological processors."
"Biological processors?"
"Rats," Petrov said cheerfully. "We networked forty-seven rat brains together using micro electrodes and synthetic neurons. Then we attempted to upload the consciousness of a volunteer test subject into the collective rat-mind."
Losham's expression was carefully neutral, but Navuh could see the disgust beneath it. "Someone volunteered to do that?"
"Well." Petrov shrugged. "He was a convicted murderer, scheduled for execution. I thought it was quite humanitarian to offer him a chance at immortality, of sorts."
"What happened to him?" Navuh asked.
"Oh, the transfer worked beautifully for about six hours. He could control all forty-seven rats simultaneously, see through their eyes, and experience reality from forty-seven different perspectives at once. Revolutionary!" Petrov's eyes lit up with excitement. "Then the human consciousness began to fragment. Pieces of him in each rat, but no longer coherent. Fascinating, but ultimately unsuccessful."
"What happened to the man?" Losham asked.
"His body entered a catatonic state. Brain activity suggested he was still conscious, just distributed. The authorities didn't appreciate the scientific value. They called it an unethical and unauthorized experimentation on a human subject." Petrov shook his head. "So narrow-minded, so provincial. Dmitri was just a kid, a twenty-three-year-old doctoral student following instructions. They had no right to imprison him."
Navuh smiled. This was exactly the kind of amoral brilliance he needed. Someone who saw human consciousness as merely another variable to be manipulated, another problem to be solved.
"How do you propose to improve Zhao's formula?" he asked.
Petrov straightened in his chair, suddenly looking almost professional despite the vodka bottle clutched in his hand. "Zhao's compound creates uncontrolled neuroplasticity. The brain randomly rewires itself, creating new neural pathways that enable quantum consciousness perception. But it's chaos. What you need is a directed change." He stood abruptly and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. "Look here." He leaned over the desk and spread the paper out, revealing chemical formulas and neurological diagrams scribbled in barely legible handwriting. "We add a synthetic protein that acts as a guide for the new neural pathways. Instead of random connections, we create specific patterns. Patterns that can be activated or deactivated through secondary chemical triggers."
Navuh studied the diagrams. He understood barely a fraction of what he was looking at, but he was intrigued. "Can your modification allow for turning the enhancement on and off?"
"Better than that." Petrov's grin was manic. "We can create levels. Partial enhancement for regular operations, like increased strength and speed. Full enhancement for combat with access to the collective and shared tactical awareness. And emergency enhancement for critical situations, manifesting as complete hive mind integration,but only for limited periods to prevent psychological fracture."
"How long before you can produce a working prototype?"
Petrov scratched his head, further disheveling his wild hair. "With proper equipment and Dmitri's assistance? Six months for the initial formula. Another six for testing and refinement. But I'll need test subjects. Humans first, to establish baseline neural mapping. Then your immortals."
"Humans?" Losham interjected. "My lord, the formula killed every human test subject Zhao used."
"Because Zhao was an idiot," Petrov said bluntly. "He tried to force evolutionary changes that would take millions of years to develop naturally. Of course they died. We need to start smaller. Micro-doses to study the neural changes. Build up tolerance gradually. Map the progression." He turned back to Navuh. "I'll need at least twenty human subjects for the preliminary trials. Preferably young, healthy, with no prior neurological conditions."
"That can be arranged," Navuh said.
