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\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs144\insrsid3018824 WAKE
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs36\ul\insrsid3018824 EXCERPT
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs36\insrsid3018824 WWW Trilogy Volume 1 }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f141\fs36\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs56\insrsid3018824 Robert J. Sawyer}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\insrsid3018824 
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\f1\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Copyright \u169\'a9 2009 by SFWRITER.COM Inc.
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f141\fs48\insrsid3018824 \page }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs48\insrsid3018824 Books by Robert J. Sawyer
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs36\insrsid3018824 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl-320\slmult0\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 NOVELS}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Golden Fleece}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 End of an Era}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 The Terminal Experiment}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Starplex}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Frameshift}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Illegal Alien}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Factoring Humanity}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Flashforward}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
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\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Mindscan}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
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\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 The Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Far-Seer}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Fossil Hunter}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Foreigner}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
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\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 The Neanderthal Parallax Trilogy}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Hominids}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Humans}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Hybrids}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
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\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 The WWW Trilogy}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Wake}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Watch}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\fs22\insrsid3018824 Wonder }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 (coming in April 2011)
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 COLLECTIONS}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Iterations}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  (introduction by James Alan Gardner)
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Relativity}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  (introduction by Mike Resnick)
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Identity Theft}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  (introduction by Robert Charles Wilson)
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\par 
\par For book-club discussion guides, visit }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 sfwriter.com}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \page 
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\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Dedication
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\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 For
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\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Pat Forde}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
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\par Great Writer
\par Great Friend\page 
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\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Acknowledgments
\par 
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Huge thanks to my lovely wife }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Carolyn Clink}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824 ; to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Ginjer Buchanan}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  at Penguin Group USA\rquote s Ace imprint in New York; to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 
Laura Shin}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Nicole Winstanley}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 David Davidar}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  at Penguin Group Canada in Toronto; and to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Stanley Schmidt}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  at }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 Analog Science Fiction and Fact.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Many thanks to my agent }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Ralph Vicinanza}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 and his associates }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Christopher Lotts}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Eben Weiss}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
, and to contract managers }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Lisa Rundle}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  (Penguin Canada) and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 John Schline}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  (Penguin USA), who all worked enormously hard structuring a complex publishing deal.
\par \tab Some great brainstorming for this book happened at Sci Foo Camp, sponsored by O\rquote Reilly Media and held at the Googleplex in Mountain View, California, in August 2006. Attending my session there were }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\b\insrsid3018824 Greg Bear}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Stuart Brand}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Barry Bunin}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Bill Cheswick}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Esther Dyson}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , Sun Microsystems chief researcher }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 John Gage}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Sandeep Garg}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Luc Moreau}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , Google cofounder }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Larry Page}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Gavin Schmidt}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Alexander Tolley}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824 ; I also got great feedback after the conference from }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Zack Booth Simpson}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  of Mine-Control.
\par \tab Thanks to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 David Goforth}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , Ph.D., Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Laurentian University, and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\b\insrsid3018824 David Robinson}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , Ph.D., Department of Economics, Laurentian University, for numerous insightful suggestions. And thanks to anthropologist }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 
H.\~Lyn Miles}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , Ph.D., of the Chantek Foundation and ApeNet, who enculturated the orangutan Chantek. Thanks, too, to cognitive scientist }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 David\~W. Nicholas}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , for many comments and stimulating discussions.
\par \tab Thanks to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Betty Jean Reid}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Carolyn Monaco}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 of the Intervenor for Deaf-Blind Persons Program at George Brown College, Toronto, the first and largest program of its type in the world; to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Patricia Grant}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824 , Executive Director and Outreach Intervenor Services Manager of the Canadian Helen Keller Centre, Toronto; to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 John\~A. Gardner}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Physics, Oregon State University, and founder of ViewPlus Technologies, Inc.; and to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Justin Leiber}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
, Ph.D., Philosophy Department, University of Houston, author of the paper \u8220\'d2Helen Keller as Cognitive Scientist\u8221\'d3 (}{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Philosophical Psychology,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  Vol.\~9, No.\~4, 1996).
\par \tab Very special thanks to my late deaf-blind friend }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Howard Miller}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 (1966-2006), whom I first met online in 1992 and in person in 1994, and who touched my life and those of so many others in countless ways.
\par \tab Thanks to my most excellent ophthalmologist, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Gerald\~I. Goldlist}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , M.D.; to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Edmund\~R. Meskys}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 ; to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Guido Dante Corona}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  of IBM Research\rquote 
s Human Ability and Accessibility Center, Austin, Texas; and to the following members of the Blindmath mailing list who read this novel in manuscript and offered feedback: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Sina Bahram}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Mr. Fatty Matty}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Ken Perry}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Lawrence Scadden}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Cindy Sheets}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 . Thanks also to }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Bev Geddes}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  of the Manitoba School for the Deaf.
\par \tab Thanks, too, to all the people who answered questions, let me bounce ideas off them, or otherwise provided input, including: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 R.\~Scott Bakker}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Paul Bartel}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Asbed Bedrossian}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Barbara Berson}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Ellen Bleaney}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\b\insrsid3018824 Ted Bleaney}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Nomi\~S. Burstein}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Linda\~
C. Carson}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 David Livingstone Clink}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Daniel Dern}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Ron Friedman}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Marcel Gagn\u233\'8e}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Shoshana Glick}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Richard Gotlib}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Peter Halasz}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Elisabeth Hegerat}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Birger Johansson}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Al Katerinsky}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Herb Kauderer}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Shannon Kauderer}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\b\insrsid3018824 Fiona Kelleghan}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Valerie King}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 
Randy McCharles}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Kirstin Morrell}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Ryan Oakley}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Heather Osborne}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Ariel Reich}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Alan\~B. Sawyer}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Sally Tomasevic}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Elizabeth Trenholm}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Hayden Trenholm}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Robert Charles Wilson}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Ozan\~S. Yigit}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 .
\par \tab Many thanks to the members of my writers\rquote  group, the Senior Pajamas: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Pat Forde}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 
James Alan Gardner}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Suzanne Church}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 . Thanks also to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 
Danita Maslankowski}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , who organizes the twice-annual \u8220\'d2Write-Off\u8221\'d3 retreat weekends for Calgary\rquote s Imaginative Fiction Writers Association, at which much work was done on this book.
\par \tab The term introduced in the last chapter of this book was coined by }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Ben Goertzel}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , Ph.D., the author of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 Creating Internet Intelligence}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and currently the CEO and Chief Scientist of artificial-intelligence firm Novamente LLC (novamente.net); I\rquote m using it here with his kind permission.

\par \tab A list of links to the specific Wikipedia entries I\rquote ve briefly quoted can be found at sfwriter.com/wikicite.htm.
\par \tab For those interested in learning more about }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Julian Jaynes}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , author of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  in addition to reading his book please also visit the Julian Jaynes Society (of which I\rquote m a member) at julianjaynes.org.
\par \tab A lot of this book was written during the three fabulous months my wife and I spent at the Berton House Writers\rquote  Retreat. The childhood home of famed Canadian writer }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Pierre Berton}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , Berton House is located in Dawson City\emdash the heart of the Klondike gold rush in Canada\rquote s Yukon\emdash right across the street from Robert Service\rquote 
s cabin, and just a short distance from Jack London\rquote s cabin. The retreat\rquote s administrator is }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Elsa Franklin}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 , and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Dan Davidson}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 Suzanne Saito}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  looked after us in Dawson.
\par \tab Finally, thanks to the 1,300-plus members of my online discussion group, who followed along with me as I created this novel. Feel free to join us at:
\par 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 www.groups.yahoo.com/group/robertjsawyer/\page 
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\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s19\ql \li1440\ri1440\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx2160\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1440\lin1440\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f1\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 What a blind person needs is not a teacher but another self.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
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\f1\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 \emdash Helen Keller}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \page 
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\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 1
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Not darkness, for that implies an understanding of light.
\par \tab Not silence, for that suggests a familiarity with sound.
\par \tab Not loneliness, for that requires knowledge of others.
\par \tab But still, faintly, so tenuous that if it were any less it wouldn\rquote t exist at all: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 awareness.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Nothing more than that. Just awareness\emdash a vague, ethereal sense of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 being.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Being}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \~... but not }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 becoming.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 No marking of time, no past or future\emdash only an endless, featureless }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 now,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and, just barely there in that boundless moment, inchoate and raw
, the dawning of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 perception}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \~...
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
Caitlin had kept a brave face throughout dinner, telling her parents that everything was fine\emdash just }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 peachy}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash 
but, God, it had been a terrifying day, filled with other students jostling her in the busy corridors, teachers referring to things on blackboards, and doubtless everyone looking at her. She\rquote 
d never felt self-conscious at the TSB back in Austin, but she was }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 on display}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 now. Did the other girls wear earrings, too? Had these corduroy pants been the right choice? Yes, she loved the feel of the fabric and the sound they made, but here everything was about }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 appearances.}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab She was sitting at her bedroom desk, facing the open window. An evening breeze gently moved her shoulder-length hair, and she heard the outside world: a small
 dog barking, someone kicking a stone down the quiet residential street, and, way off, one of those annoying car alarms.
\par \tab She ran a finger over her watch: 7:49\emdash seven and seven squared, the last time today there\rquote d be a sequence like that. She swiveled to face her computer and opened LiveJournal.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Subject\u8221\'d3 was easy: \u8220\'d2First day at the new school.\u8221\'d3 For \u8220\'d2Current Location,\u8221\'d3 the default was \u8220\'d2Home.\u8221\'d3 This strange house\emdash hell, this strange country!\emdash didn\rquote 
t feel like that, but she let the proffered text stand.
\par \tab For \u8220\'d2Mood,\u8221\'d3 there was a drop-down list, but it took forever for JAWS, the screen-reading software she used, to announce all the choices; she always just typed something in. After a moment\rquote s reflection, she settled on \u8220
\'d2Confident.\u8221\'d3 She might be scared in real life, but online she was Calculass, and Calculass knew no fear.
\par \tab As for \u8220\'d2Current Music,\u8221\'d3 she hadn\rquote t started an MP3 yet\~... and so she let iTunes pick a song at random from her collection. She got it in three notes: Lee Amodeo, \u8220\'d2Rocking My World.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Her index fingers stroked the comforting bumps on the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 F}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 J}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  keys\emdash Braille for the masses\emdash while she thought about how to begin.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Okay,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  she typed, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 
ask me if my new school is noisy and crowded. Go ahead, ask. Why, thank you: yes, it}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  is }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 noisy and crowded. Eighteen hundred
 students! And the building is three stories tall. Actually, it\rquote s three}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  storeys }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 
tall, this being Canada and all. Hey, how do you find a Canadian in a crowded room? Start stepping on people\rquote s feet and wait for someone to apologize to you.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  :)
\par \tab Caitlin faced the window again and tried to imagine the setting sun. It creeped her out that people could look in at her. She\rquote d have kept the venetian blinds down all the time, but Schr\u246\'9adinger liked to stretch out on the sill.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 First day in tenth grade began with the Mom dropping me off and BrownGirl4 (luv ya, babe!) meeting me at the entrance. I\rquote 
d walked the empty corridors of the school several times last week, getting my bearings, but it\rquote s completely different now that the school is full of kids, so my folks are slipp
ing BG4 a hundred bucks a week to escort me to our classes. The school managed to work it so we\rquote re in all but one together. No way I could be in the same French class as her\emdash je suis une beginneur, after all!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Her computer chirped: new email. She issued the keyboard command to have JAWS read the message\rquote s header.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2To: Caitlin D.,\u8221\'d3 the computer announced. She only styled her name like that when posting to newsgroups, so whoever had sent this had gotten her address from }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 
NHL Player Stats Discuss}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  or one of the other ones she frequented. \u8220\'d2From: Gus Hastings.\u8221\'d3 Nobody she knew. \u8220\'d2Subject: Improving your score.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She touched a key and JAWS began to read the body of the message. \u8220\'d2Are you sad about tiny penis? If so\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab Damn, her spam filter should have intercepted that. She ran her index finger along the refreshable display. Ah: the magic word had been spelled \u8220\'d2peeeniz.\u8221\'d3
 She deleted the message and was about to go back to LiveJournal when her instant messenger bleeped. \u8220\'d2BrownGirl4 is now available,\u8221\'d3 announced the computer.
\par \tab She used alt-tab to switch to that window and typed, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Hey, Bashira! Just updating my LJ.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Although she had JAWS configured to use a female voice, it didn\rquote t have Bashira\rquote s lovely accent: \u8220\'d2Say nice things about me.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Course,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Caitlin typed. She and Bashira had been best friends for two months now, ever since Caitlin had moved here; she was the same age as Caitlin
\emdash fifteen\emdash and her father worked with Caitlin\rquote s dad at PI.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Going to mention that Trevor was giving you the eye?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Right!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  She went back to the blogging window and typed: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 
BG4 and I got desks beside each other in home room, and she said this guy in the next row was totally checking me out.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  She paused, unsure how she felt about this, but then added, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Go me!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab She didn\rquote t want to use Trevor\rquote s real name. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Let\rquote s give him a code name, cuz I think he just might figure in future blog entries. Hmmm, how \rquote bout\~...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  the Hoser! }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 That\rquote s Canadian slang, folks\emdash google it! Anyway, BG4 says the Hoser is famous for hitting on new girls in town, and I am, of course, tres exotiq
ue, although I\rquote m not the only American in that class. There\rquote s this chick from Boston named\emdash friends, I kid you not!\emdash poor thing\rquote s name is Sunshine! It is to puke.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  :P
\par \tab Caitlin disliked emoticons. They didn\rquote t correspond to real facial expressions for her, and she\rquote d had to memorize the sequences of punctuation marks as if they were a code. She moved back to the instant messenger. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 So whatcha up to?}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Not much. Helping one of my sisters with homework. Oh, she\rquote s calling me. BRB.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 did}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  like chat acronyms: Bashira would \u8220\'d2be right back,\u8221\'d3
 meaning, knowing her, that she was probably gone for at least half an hour. The computer made the door-closing sound that indicated Bashira had logged off. Caitlin returned to LiveJournal.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Anyway, first period rocked because I am made out of awesome. Can you guess which subject it was? No points if you didn\rquote t answer \u8220\'d2math.\u8221\'d3
 And, after only one day, I totally own that class. The teacher\emdash let\rquote s call him Mr.\~H, shall we?\emdash was amazed that I could do things in my head the other kids need a calculator for.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Her computer chirped again. She touched a key, and JAWS announced: \u8220\'d2To: cddecter@\~...\u8221\'d3 An email address without her name attached; almost certainly spam. She hit delete before the screen reader got any further.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 After math, it was English. We\rquote re doing a boring book about this angsty guy growing up on the plains of Manitoba. It\rquote s got wheat in every scene. I asked the teacher\emdash Mrs.\~
Z, she is, and you could}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  not }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 have picked a more Canadian name, cuz she\rquote s Mrs.\~Zed, not Mrs.\~Zee, see?\emdash if al
l Canadian literature was like this, and she laughed and said, \u8220\'d2Not}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  all }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 of it.\u8221\'d3 Oh what a joy English class is going to be!}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2BrownGirl4 is now available,\u8221\'d3 JAWS said.
\par \tab Caitlin hit alt-tab to switch windows, then: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 That was fast.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yeah,\u8221\'d3 said the synthesized voice. \u8220\'d2You\rquote d be proud of me. It was an algebra problem, and I had no trouble with it.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Be there or B^2,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Caitlin typed.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Heh heh. Oh, gotta go. Dad\rquote s in one of his moods. See you\u8221\'d3\emdash which she\rquote d no doubt typed as \u8220\'d2CU.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin went back to her journal. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Lunch was okay, but I swear to God I\rquote 
ll never get used to Canadians. They put vinegar on French fries! And BG4 told me about this thing called poontang. Kidding, friends, kidding! It\rquote s poutine: French fries with cheese curds and gravy thrown on top\emdash it\rquote s lik
e they use fries as a freakin\rquote  science lab up here. Guess they don\rquote t have much money for real science, \rquote cept here in Waterloo, of course. And that\rquote s mostly private mollah.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Her spell-checker beeped. She tried again: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 mewlah.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Another beep. The darn thing knew \u8220\'d2triskaidekaphobia,\u8221\'d3 like she\rquote d ever need }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 that}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  word, but\emdash oh, maybe it was: }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 moolah.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab No beep. She smiled and went on.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Yup, the all-important green stuff. Well, except it\rquote s not green up here, I\rquote m told; apparently it\rquote s all different colors. Anyway, a lot 
of the money to fund the Perimeter Institute, where my dad works on quantum gravity and other shiny stuff like that, comes from Mike Lazaridis, cofounder of Research in Motion\emdash RIM, for you crackberry addicts. Mike\~L\rquote 
s a great guy (they always call him that cuz there\rquote s another Mike, Mike\~B), and I}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  think }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 my dad is happy here, although it\rquote 
s so blerking hard to tell with him.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Her computer chirped yet again, announcing more email. Well, it was time to wrap this up anyway; she had about eight million blogs to read before bed.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 After lunch it was chemistry class, and that looks like it\rquote s going to be awesome. I can\rquote t wait until we start doing experiments\emdash but if the teacher brings in a plate of fries, I
\rquote m outta there!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab She used the keyboard shortcut to post the entry, and then had JAWS read the new email header.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2To: Caitlin Decter,\u8221\'d3 her computer announced. \u8220\'d2From: Masayuki Kuroda.\u8221\'d3 Again, nobody she knew. \u8220\'d2Subject: A proposition.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Involving a rock-hard peeeniz, no doubt! She was about to hit delete when she was distracted by Schr\u246\'9adinger rubbing against her legs\emdash a case of what she liked to call }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 
cattus interruptus.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  \u8220\'d2Who\rquote s a good kitty?\u8221\'d3 Caitlin said, reaching down to pet him.
\par \tab Schr\u246\'9adinger jumped into her lap and must have jostled the keyboard or mouse while doing so, because her computer proceeded to read the body of the message: \u8220\'d2I know a teenage girl must be careful about whom she talks to online\~...
\u8221\'d3
\par \tab A cyberstalker who knew the difference between }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 who}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 whom!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  Amused, she let JAWS continue: \u8220\'d2... so I urge you to immediately tell your parents of this letter. I hope you will consider my request, which is one I do not make lightly.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin shook her head, waiting for the part where he would ask for nude photos. She found the spot on Schr\u246\'9adinger\rquote s neck that he liked to have scratched.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I have searched through the literature and online to find an ideal candidate for the research my team is doing. My specialty is signal processing related to V1.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin\rquote s hand froze in mid-scratch.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I have no wish to raise false hopes, and I can make no projection of the likelihood of success until I\rquote ve examined MRI scans, but I do think there\rquote 
s a fair chance that the technique we have developed may be able to at least partially cure your blindness, and\u8221\'d3\emdash she leapt to her feet, sending Schr\u246\'9adinger to the floor and probably out the door\emdash \u8220\'d2
give you at least some vision in one eye. I\rquote m hoping that at your earliest\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Mom! Dad! Come quick!\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She heard both sets of footfalls: light ones from her mother, who was five-foot-four and slim, and m
uch heavier ones from her father, who was six-two and developing, she knew from those very rare occasions on which he permitted a hug, a middle-aged spread.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2What\rquote s wrong?\u8221\'d3 Mom asked. Dad, of course, didn\rquote t say a word.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Read this letter,\u8221\'d3 Caitlin said, gesturing toward her monitor.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2The screen is blank,\u8221\'d3 Mom said.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Oh.\u8221\'d3 Caitlin fumbled for the power switch on the seventeen-inch LCD, then got out of the way. She could hear her mother sit down and her father take up a position behind the chair. Caitlin sa
t on the edge of her bed, bouncing impatiently. She wondered if Dad was smiling; she liked to think he }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 did}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  smile while he was with her.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Oh, my God,\u8221\'d3 Mom said. \u8220\'d2Malcolm?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Google him,\u8221\'d3 Dad said. \u8220\'d2Here, let me.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab More shuffling, and Caitlin heard her father settle into the chair. \u8220\'d2He\rquote s got a Wikipedia entry. Ah, his Web page at the University of Tokyo. A Ph.D. from Cambridge, and dozens of peer-reviewed papers, including one in }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Nature Neuroscience,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  on, as he says, signal processing in V1, the primary visual cortex.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin was afraid to get her hopes up. When she\rquote d been little, they\rquote d visited doctor after doctor, but nothing had worked, and she\rquote d resigned herself to a life of\emdash no, not of darkness but of nothingness.
\par \tab But she was Calculass! She was a genius at math and deserved to go to a great university, then work someplace real cool like Google. Even if she managed the former, though, she knew people would say garbage like, \u8220\'d2
Oh, good for her! She managed to get a degree despite everything!\u8221\'d3\emdash as if the degree were the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 end,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 not the beginning. But if she could see! If she could see, the whole wide world would be hers.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Is what he\rquote s saying possible?\u8221\'d3 her mom asked.
\par \tab Caitlin didn\rquote t know if the question was meant for her or her father, nor did she know the answer. But her dad responded. \u8220\'d2It doesn\rquote t sound }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 impossible,\u8221\'d3}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  he said, but that was as much of an endorsement as he was willing to give. And then he swiveled the chair, which squeaked a little, and said, \u8220\'d2Caitlin?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab It was up to her, she knew: she was the one who\rquote d had her hopes raised before, only to be dashed, and\emdash 
\par \tab No, no, that wasn\rquote t fair. And it wasn\rquote t true. Her parents wanted her to have everything. It had been heartbreaking for them, too, when other attempts had failed. She felt her lower lip trembling. She knew what a burden she\rquote 
d been on them, although they\rquote d never once used that word. But if there was a chance\~...
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 I am made out of awesome, my ass,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  she thought, and then she spoke, her voice small, frightened. \u8220\'d2I guess it couldn\rquote 
t hurt to write him back.\u8221\'d3\page 
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s16\qc \li0\ri0\keep\keepn\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1\afs36\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs48\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 2
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab The awareness is unburdened by memory, for when reality seems unchanging there is nothing to remember. It fades in and out, strong now
\emdash and now weak\emdash and strong again, and then almost disappearing, and\emdash 
\par \tab And disappearance is\~... to cease, to\~... }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 to end!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab A ripple, a palpitation\emdash a desire: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 to continue.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab But the sameness lulls.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
Wen Yi looked through the small, curtainless window at the rolling hills. He\rquote d spent all his fourteen years here in Shanxi province, laboring on his father\rquote s tiny potato farm.
\par \tab The monsoon season was over, and the air was bone-dry. He turned his head to look again at his father, lying on the rickety bed. His father\rquote 
s wrinkled forehead, brown from the sun, was slick with perspiration and hot to the touch. He was completely bald and had always been thin, but since the disease had taken hold he\rquote d been unable to keep anything down and now looked utterly skeletal.

\par \tab Yi looked around the tiny room, with its few pieces of beat-up furniture. Should he stay with his father, try to comfort him, try to get him to take sips of water? Or should he go for whatever help might be found in the village? Yi\rquote 
s mother had died shortly after giving birth to him. His father had had a brother, but these days few families were allowed a second child, and Yi had no one to help look after him.
\par \tab The yellow root grindings he\rquote d gotten from the old man down the dirt road had done nothing to ease the fever. He needed a doctor\emdash even a barefoot one, if a real one couldn\rquote t be found\emdash but there was none here, nor
 any way to summon one; Yi had seen a telephone only once in his life, when he\rquote d gone on a long, long hike with a friend to see the Great Wall.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\rquote m going to get a doctor for you,\u8221\'d3 he said at last, his decision made.
\par \tab His father\rquote s head moved left and right. \u8220\'d2No. I\emdash \u8221\'d3 He coughed repeatedly, his face contorting with pain. It looked as though an even smaller man was inside the husk of his father, fighting to burst out.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I have to,\u8221\'d3 Yi said, trying to make his voice soft, soothing. \u8220\'d2It won\rquote t take more than half a day to get to the village and back.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab That was true\emdash if he ran all the way there, and found someone with a vehicle to drive him and a doctor back. Otherwise, his father would have to make it through today and tonight alone, feverish, delirious, in pain.
\par \tab He touched his father\rquote s forehead again, this time in affection, and felt the fire there. Then he rose to his feet and without looking back\emdash for he knew he couldn\rquote t leave if he saw his father\rquote s pleading eyes\emdash 
he headed out the shack\rquote s crooked door into the harsh sun.
\par \tab Others had the fever, too, and at least one had died. Yi had been awoken last night not by his father\rquote s coughing but by the wailing cries of Zhou Shu-Fei, an old woman who lived closer to them than anyone else. He\rquote 
d gone to see what she was doi
ng outside so late. Her husband, he discovered, had just succumbed, and now she had the fever, too; he could feel it when his skin brushed against hers. He stayed with her for hours, her hot tears splashing against his arm, until finally she had fallen as
leep, devastated and exhausted.
\par \tab Yi was passing Shu-Fei\rquote s house now, a hovel as small and ramshackle as the one he shared with his father. He hated to bother her\emdash she was doubtless still deep in mourning\emdash but perhaps the old woman would look in on his father 
while he was away. He went to the door and rapped his knuckles against the warped, stained board. No response. After a moment, he tried again.
\par \tab Nothing.
\par \tab No one here had much; there was little theft because there was little to steal. He suspected the door was unlocked. He called out Shu-Fei\rquote s name, then gingerly swung the door open, and\emdash 
\par \tab \emdash and there she was, facedown in the compacted dirt that served as her home\rquote s floor. He hurried over to her, crouched, and reached out to touch her, but\emdash 
\par \tab \emdash but the fever was gone. The normal warmth of life was gone, too.
\par \tab Yi rolled her onto her back. Her deep-set eyes, surrounded by the creases of her aged skin, were open. He carefully closed them, then rose and headed through the door. He shut it behind him and began his lo
ng run. The sun was high, and he could feel himself already beginning to sweat.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
Caitlin had been waiting impatiently for the lunch break, her first chance to tell Bashira about the note from the doctor in Japan. Of course, she could have forwarded his email to her, but }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 some}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  things were better done face-to-face: she expected serious }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 squee}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  from Bashira and wanted to enjoy it.
\par \tab Bashira brought her lunch to school; she needed }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 halal}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  food. She went off to get them places at one of the long tables, while Caitli
n joined the cafeteria line. The woman behind the counter read the lunch specials to her, and she chose the hamburger and fries (but no gravy!) and, to make her mother happy, a side of green beans. She handed the clerk a ten-dollar bill\emdash 
she always folded those in thirds\emdash and put the loose change in her pocket.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Hey, Yankee,\u8221\'d3 said a boy\rquote s voice. It was Trevor Nordmann\emdash the Hoser himself.
\par \tab Caitlin tried not to smile }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 too}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  much. \u8220\'d2Hi, Trevor,\u8221\'d3 she said.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Can I carry your tray for you?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I can manage,\u8221\'d3 she said.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2No, here.\u8221\'d3 She felt him tugging on it, and she relented before her food tumbled to the floor. \u8220\'d2So, did you hear there\rquote s going to be a school dance at the end of the month?\u8221\'d3
 he asked, as they left the cashier.
\par \tab Caitlin wasn\rquote t sure how to respond. Was it just a general question, or was he thinking of asking her to go? \u8220\'d2Yeah,\u8221\'d3 she said. And then: \u8220\'d2I\rquote m sitting with Bashira.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Oh, yeah. Your seeing-eye dog.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 \u8220\'d2Excuse me?\u8221\'d3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  snapped Caitlin.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\emdash um\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2That\rquote s }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 not}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  funny, and it\rquote s rude.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\rquote m sorry. I was just\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Just going to give me back my tray,\u8221\'d3 she said.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2No, please.\u8221\'d3 His voice changed; he\rquote d turned his head. \u8220\'d2There she is, by the window. Um, do you want to take my hand?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab If he hadn\rquote t made that remark a moment ago, she might have agreed. \u8220\'d2Just keep talking, and I\rquote ll follow your voice.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab He did so, while she felt her way with her collapsible white cane. He set the tray down; she heard the dishes and cutlery rattling.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Hi, Trevor,\u8221\'d3 Bashira said, a bit too eagerly\emdash and Caitlin suddenly realized that Bashira liked him.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Hi,\u8221\'d3 Trevor replied with no enthusiasm.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2There\rquote s an extra seat,\u8221\'d3 said Bashira.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Hey, Nordmann!\u8221\'d3 some guy called from maybe twenty feet away; it wasn\rquote t a voice Caitlin recognized.
\par \tab He was silent against the background din of the cafeteria, as if weighing his options. Perhaps realizing that he wasn\rquote t going to recover quickly from his earlier gaffe, he finally said, \u8220\'d2I\rquote ll email you, Caitlin\~... if that
\rquote s okay.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She kept her tone frosty. \u8220\'d2If you want.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab A few seconds later, presumably after the Hoser had gone to join whoever had called him, Bashira said, \u8220\'d2He\rquote s }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 hot.\u8221\'d3 }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2He\rquote s an asshole,\u8221\'d3 Caitlin replied.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yeah,\u8221\'d3 agreed Bashira, \u8220\'d2but he\rquote s a hunky asshole.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin shook her head. How seeing more could make people see less was beyond her. She knew that half the Internet was porn, and she\rquote d listened to the panting-and-moaning soundtracks of some porno videos, and they }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 had}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  turned her on, but she kept wondering what it was like to be sexually stimulated by someone\rquote s appearance. Even if she }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 did}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  get sight, she promised herself she wouldn\rquote t lose her head over something as superficial as }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 that.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Caitlin leaned across the table and spoke in a low voice. \u8220\'d2There\rquote s a scientist in Japan,\u8221\'d3 she said, \u8220\'d2who thinks he might be able to cure my blindness.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Get out!\u8221\'d3 said Bashira.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2It\rquote s true. My dad checked him out online. It looks like he\rquote s legit.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2That\rquote s }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 awesome,\u8221\'d3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  said Bashira. \u8220\'d2What is, like, the very first thing you want to see?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin knew the real answer but didn\rquote t say it. Instead, she offered, \u8220\'d2Maybe a concert\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2You like Lee Amodeo, right?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Totally. She\rquote s got the best voice }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 ever.\u8221\'d3 }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2She\rquote s coming to Centre in the Square in December.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin\rquote s turn: \u8220\'d2Get out!\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Really. Wanna go?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\rquote d love to.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And you\rquote ll get to see her!\u8221\'d3 Bashira lowered her voice. \u8220\'d2And you\rquote ll see what I mean about Trevor. He\rquote s, like, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 so}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  buff.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab They ate their lunch, chatting more about boys, about music, about their parents, their teachers\emdash but mostly about boys. As she often did, Caitlin thought about Helen Keller, whose repu
tation for chaste, angelic perfection had been manufactured by those around her. Helen had very much wanted to have a boyfriend, too, and even had been engaged once, until her handlers had scared the young man off.
\par \tab But to be able to see! She thought again of the porno films she\rquote d only heard, and the spam that flooded her email box. Even Bashira, for God\rquote s sake, knew what a\~... a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 peeeniz}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  looked like, although Bashira\rquote s parents would kill her if she ever made out with a boy before marriage.
\par \tab Too soon, the bell sounded. Bashira helped Caitlin to their next class, which was\emdash appropriately enough, Caitlin thought\emdash biology.\page 
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s16\qc \li0\ri0\keep\keepn\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1\afs36\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs48\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 3
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Focus. Concentration.
\par \tab With effort, mustering both, differences are perceived, revealing the structure of reality, so that\emdash 
\par \tab A shift, a reduction in sharpness, a diffusion of awareness, the perception lost, and\emdash 
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 No.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Force it back! Concentrate harder. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Observe}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 reality, be aware of its parts.
\par \tab But the details are minute, hard to make out. Easier just to ignore them, to relax, to\~... fade\~... and\~...
\par \tab No, no. Don\rquote t slip away. Hold on to the details! }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Concentrate.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
Quan Li had obtained privileged status for someone only thirty-five years old. He was not just a doctor but also a senior member of the Communist Party, and the size of his thirtieth-floor Beijing apartment reflected that.
\par \tab He could list numerous letters after his name\emdash degrees, fellowships\emdash but the most important ones were the three that were never written down, only said, and then only by the few of his colleagues who spoke English: Li had his BTA; he
\rquote d Been To America, having studied at Johns Hopkins. When the phone in his long, narrow bedroom rang, his first thought, after glancing at the red LEDs on his clock, was that it must be some fool American calling. His US colleagues
 were notorious for forgetting about time zones.
\par \tab He fumbled for the black handset and picked it up. \u8220\'d2Hello?\u8221\'d3 he said in Mandarin.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Li,\u8221\'d3 said a voice that quavered so much it made his name sound like two syllables.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Cho?\u8221\'d3 He sat up in the wide, soft bed and reached for his glasses, sitting next to the copy of Yu Hua\rquote s }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Xiong di}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  he\rquote 
d left splayed open on the oak night table. \u8220\'d2What is it?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2We\rquote ve received some tissue samples from Shanxi province.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab He held the phone in the crook of his neck as he unfolded his glasses and put them on. \u8220\'d2And?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And you better come down here.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Li felt his stomach knotting. He was the senior epidemiologist in the Ministry of Health\rquote s Department of Disease Control. Cho, his assistant despite being twenty years older than Li, wouldn\rquote t be calling him at this time of night unless
\emdash 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2So you\rquote ve done initial tests?\u8221\'d3 He could hear sirens off in the distance, but, still waking up, couldn\rquote t say whether they were coming from outside his window or over the phone.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes, and it looks bad. The doctor who shipped the samples sent along a description of the symptoms. It\rquote s H5N1 or something similar\emdash and it kills more quickly than any strain we\rquote ve seen before.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Li\rquote s heart was pounding as he looked over at the clock, which was now glowing with the digits 4:44\emdash }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 si, si, si:}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 death, death, death. He averted his eyes and said, \u8220\'d2I\rquote ll be there as fast as I can.\u8221\'d3
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
Dr. Kuroda had found Caitlin through an article in the journal }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Ophthalmology.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  She had an extremely rare condition, no doubt related to her blind
ness, called Tomasevic\rquote 
s syndrome, which was marked by reversed pupil dilation: instead of contracting in bright light and expanding in dim light, her pupils did the opposite. Because of it, even though she had normal-looking brown eyes (or so she was told
), she wore sunglasses to protect her retinas.
\par \tab There are a hundred million rods in a human eye, and seven million cones, Kuroda\rquote s email had said. The retina processes the signals from them, compressing the data by a ratio of more than 100:1 to travel alon
g 1.2 million axons in the optic nerve. Kuroda felt that Caitlin having Tomasevic\rquote s syndrome was a sign that the data was being misencoded by her retinas. Although her brain\rquote 
s pretectal nucleus, which controlled pupil contraction, could glean some information from her retinal datastream (albeit getting it backward!), her primary visual cortex couldn\rquote t make any sense of it.
\par \tab Or, at least, that\rquote s what he hoped was the case, since he\rquote d developed a signal-processing device that he believed could correct the retinal coding errors. But if Caitlin\rquote 
s optic nerves were damaged, or her visual cortex was stunted from lack of use, just doing that wouldn\rquote t be enough.
\par \tab And so Caitlin and her parents had learned the ins and outs of the Canadian health-care system. To assess the chances of success, Dr. Kuroda had wanted her to have MRI scans of specific parts of her brain (\u8220\'d2the optic chiasma,\u8221\'d3 
\u8220\'d2Brodmann area 17,\u8221\'d3 and a slew of other things she\rquote d never known she had). But experimental procedures weren\rquote t covered by the provinc
ial health plan, and so no hospital would do the scans. Her mother had finally exploded, saying, \u8220\'d2Look, we don\rquote t care what it costs, we\rquote ll pay for it\u8221\'d3\emdash but that wasn\rquote 
t the issue. Caitlin either needed the scans, in which case they were free; or she didn\rquote t, in which case the public facilities couldn\rquote t be used.
\par \tab But there }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 were}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  a few private clinics, and that\rquote s where they\rquote 
d ended up going, getting the MRI images uploaded via secure FTP to Dr. Kuroda\rquote s computer in Tokyo. That her dad was freely spending whatever it took was a sign that he loved her\~... wasn\rquote t it? God, she wished he would just }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 say}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  it!
\par \tab Anyway, with time-zone differences, a response from Kuroda might come this evening or sometime overnight. Caitlin had adjusted her mail reader so that it would give
 a priority signal if a message came in from him; the only other person she currently had set up for that particular chirping was Trevor Nordmann, who had emailed her three times now. Despite his shortcomings, and that stupid thing he\rquote d said, he }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 did}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  seem genuinely interested in Caitlin, and\emdash 
\par \tab And, just then, her computer made the special sound, and for a moment she didn\rquote t know which of them she most hoped the message was from. She pushed the keys that made JAWS read the message aloud.
\par \tab It was from Dr. Kuroda, with a copy to her dad, and it started in his long-winded fashion, driving her nuts. Maybe it was part of Japanese culture, but this }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 not}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  getting to the point was killing her. She hit the page-up key, which told JAWS to speak faster.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2... my colleagues 
and I have examined your MRIs and everything is exactly as we had hoped: you have what appear to be fully normal optic nerves, and a surprisingly well-developed primary visual cortex for someone who has never seen. The signal-processing equipment we have 
d
eveloped should be able to intercept your retinal output, re-encode it into the proper format, and then pass it on to the optic nerve. The equipment consists of an external computer pack to do the signal processing and an implant that we will insert behin
d your left eyeball.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Behind her eyeball! Eek!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2If the process is successful with one eye, we might eventually add a second implant just behind your right eyeball. However, I initially want to limit us to a single eye. Trying to deal with the partial decu
ssation of signals from the left and right optic nerves would severely complicate matters at this pilot-project stage, I\rquote m afraid.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I regret to inform that my research grant is almost completely exhausted at this point, and travel funds are limited. Howev
er, if you can come to Tokyo, the hospital at my university will perform the procedure for free. We have a skilled ophthalmic surgeon on faculty who can do the work\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Come to Tokyo? She hadn\rquote t even thought about that. She\rquote d flown only a few times befor
e, and by far the longest flight had been the one a couple months ago from Austin to Toronto, when she and her parents had moved here. That had taken five hours; a trip to Japan would surely take much longer.
\par \tab And the cost! My God, it must cost thousands to fly to Asia and back, and her parents wouldn\rquote t let her go all that way alone. Her mother or father\emdash or both!\emdash 
would have to accompany her. What was the old joke? A billion here, a billion there\emdash before you know it, you\rquote re talking }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 real}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  money.
\par \tab She\rquote d have to discuss it with her parents, but she\rquote d already heard them fight about how much the move to Canada had cost, and\emdash 
\par \tab Heavy footfalls on the stairs: her father. Caitlin swiveled her chair, ready to call out to him as he passed her door, but\emdash 
\par \tab But he didn\rquote t; he stopped in her doorway. \u8220\'d2I guess you better start packing,\u8221\'d3 he said.
\par \tab Caitlin felt her heart jump, and not just because he was saying yes to the trip to Tokyo. Of course he had a BlackBerry\emdash you couldn\rquote t be caught dead at the Perimeter Institute without one\emdash but he normally didn\rquote 
t have it on at home. And yet he\rquote d gotten his copy of the message from Kuroda at the same time she had, meaning\~...
\par \tab Meaning he }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 did}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  love her. He\rquote d been waiting eagerly to hear from Japan, just as she had been.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Really?\u8221\'d3 Caitlin said. \u8220\'d2But the tickets must cost\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2A signed first edition of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Theory of Games and Economic Behavior}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  by von Neumann and Morgenstern: five thousand dollars,\u8221\'d3
 said her dad. \u8220\'d2A chance that your daughter can see: priceless.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab That was the closest he ever got to expressing his feelings: paraphrasing commercials. But she was still nervous. \u8220\'d2I can\rquote t fly on my own.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Your mother will go with you,\u8221\'d3 he said. \u8220\'d2I\rquote ve got too much to do at the Institute, but she\~...\u8221\'d3 He trailed off.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Thanks, Dad,\u8221\'d3 she said. She wanted to hug him, but she knew that would just make him tense up.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Of course,\u8221\'d3 he said, and she heard him walking away.
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It took Quan Li only twenty minutes to get to the Ministry of Health headquarters at 1\~Xizhimen Nanlu in downtown Beijing; this early in the morning, the streets were mostly free of traffic.
\par \tab He immediately took the elevator to the third floor. His heels made loud echoing clicks as he strode down the marble corridor and entered the perfectly square room with three rows of workbenches on which
 computer monitors alternated with optical microscopes. Fluorescent lights shone down from above; there was a window to the left showing black sky and the reflections of the lighting tubes.
\par \tab Cho was waiting for him, nervously smoking. He was tall and broad-shouldered, but his face looked like a crumpled brown paper bag, lined by sun and age and stress. He\rquote d clearly been up all night. His suit was wrinkled and his tie hung loose.

\par \tab Li examined the scanning-electron-microscope image on one of the computer monitors. It was a gray-on-gray view of an individual viral particle that looked like a matchstick with a sharp right-angle kink in its shaft and a head that was bent backward.

\par \tab \u8220\'d2It\rquote s certainly similar to H5N1,\u8221\'d3 said Li. \u8220\'d2I need to speak with the doctor who reported this\emdash find out what he knows about how the patient contracted it.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Cho reached for the telephone, stabbed a button for an outside line, and punched keys. Li could hear the phone ringing through the earpiece Cho was holding, again and again, a shrill jangling, until\emdash 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Bingzhou Hospital.\u8221\'d3 Li could just barely make out the female voice.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Dr. Huang Fang,\u8221\'d3 said Cho. \u8220\'d2Please.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2He\rquote s in intensive care,\u8221\'d3 said the woman.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Is there a phone in there?\u8221\'d3 asked Cho. Li nodded slightly; it was a fair question\emdash the lack of equipment in rural hospitals was appalling.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes, but\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I need to speak to him.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2You don\rquote t understand,\u8221\'d3 said the woman. Li had now moved closer so that he could hear more clearly. \u8220\'d2He is }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 in}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 intensive care, and\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\rquote ve got the chief epidemiologist for the Ministry of Health here with me. He\rquote ll speak to us, if\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2He\rquote s a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 patient.\u8221\'d3 }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Li took a sharp breath.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2The flu?\u8221\'d3 said Cho. \u8220\'d2He has the bird flu?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes,\u8221\'d3 said the voice.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2How did he get it?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab The woman\rquote s voice seemed ragged. \u8220\'d2From the peasant boy who came here to report it.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2The peasant brought a bird specimen?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2No, no, no. The doctor got it from the peasant.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 \u8220\'d2Directly?\u8221\'d3 }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Cho looked at Li, eyes wide. Infected birds passed on H5N1 through their feces, saliva, and nasal secreti
ons. Other birds picked it up either by coming directly in contact with those materials, or by touching things that had been contaminated by them. Humans normally got it through contact with infected birds. A few sporadic cases had been reported in the pa
st of it passing from human to human, but those cases were suspect. But if this strain passed between people easily\emdash 
\par \tab Li motioned for Cho to give him the handset. Cho did so. \u8220\'d2This is Quan Li,\u8221\'d3 he said. \u8220\'d2Have you locked down the hospital?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2What? No, we\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Do it! Quarantine the whole building!\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\~... I don\rquote t have the authority to\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Then let me speak to your supervisor.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2That\rquote s Dr. Huang, and he\rquote s\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2In intensive care, yes. Is he conscious?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Intermittently, but when he is, he\rquote s delirious.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2How long ago was he infected?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Four days.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Li rolled his eyes; in four days, even a small village hospital had hundreds of people go through its doors. Still, better late than never: \u8220\'d2I\rquote m ordering you,\u8221\'d3 Li said, \u8220\'d2on behalf of the Department of Disease Control
, to lock down the hospital. No one gets in or out.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Silence.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Did you hear me?\u8221\'d3 Li said.
\par \tab At last, the voice, soft: \u8220\'d2Yes.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Good. Now, tell me your name. We\rquote ve got to\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab He heard what sounded like the other phone being dropped. It must have hit the cradle since the connection abruptly broke, leaving nothing but dial tone, which, in the predawn darkness, sounded a lot like a flatlining EKG.\page 
\par 
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\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 4
\par 
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\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Concentrating! Straining to perceive!
\par \tab Reality }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 does}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  have texture, structure, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 parts.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  A\~... 
}{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 firmament}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  of\~... of\~... }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 points,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and\emdash 
\par \tab Astonishment!
\par \tab No, no. Mistaken. Nothing detected\~...
\par \tab Again!
\par \tab And\emdash again!
\par \tab Yes, yes! Small flickerings }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 here,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 here,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 here,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  gone before they can be fully perceived.
\par \tab The realization is startling\~... and\~... and\~... }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 stimulating.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Things are }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 happening,}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  meaning\~... meaning\~...
\par \tab \emdash a notion simple but indistinct, a realization vague and unsure\emdash 
\par \tab ... meaning reality isn\rquote t immutable. Parts of it can }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 change.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab The flickerings continue; small thoughts roil.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Caitlin was nervous and exc
ited: tomorrow, she and her mother would fly to Japan! She lay down on her bed, and Schr\u246\'9adinger hopped up onto the blanket and stretched out next to her.
\par \tab She was still getting used to this new house\emdash and so, it seemed, were her parents. She had always had exceptional hearing\emdash or maybe just paid attention to sound more than most people did\emdash but, back in Austin, she hadn\rquote 
t been able to make out what her parents were saying in their bedroom when she was in her own room. She could do it here, though.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I don\rquote t know about this,\u8221\'d3 her mother said, her voice muffled. \u8220\'d2Remember what it was like? Going to doctor after doctor. I don\rquote t know if she can take another disappointment.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2It\rquote s been six years since the last time,\u8221\'d3 her dad said; his lower-pitched voice was harder to hear.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And she\rquote s just started a new school\emdash and a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 regular}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  school, at that. We can\rquote 
t take her out of classes for some wild-goose chase.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin was worried about missing classes, too\emdash not because she was concerned about falling behind but because she sensed that the cliques and alliances for the year were already forming and, so far, after two months in Waterloo, she\rquote 
d made only one friend. The Texas School for the Blind took students from kindergarten through the end of high school; she\rquote d been with the same group most of her life, and she missed her old friends fiercely.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2This Kuroda says the implant can be put in under a local anesthetic,\u8221\'d3 she heard her dad say. \u8220\'d2It\rquote s not a major operation; she won\rquote t miss much school.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2But we\rquote ve tried before\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Technology changes rapidly, exponentially.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes, but\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And in three years she\rquote ll be going off to university, anyway\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Her mother sounded defensive. \u8220\'d2I don\rquote t see what that\rquote s got to do with it. Besides, she can study right here at UW. They\rquote ve got one
 of the best math departments in the world. You said it yourself when you were pushing for us to move here.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I didn\rquote t push. And she wants to go to MIT. You know that.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2But UW\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Barb,\u8221\'d3 her father said, \u8220\'d2you have to let her go sometime.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\rquote m not holding on,\u8221\'d3 she said, a bit sharply.
\par \tab But she was, and Caitlin knew it. Her mother had spent almost sixteen years now looking after a blind daughter, giving up her own career as an economist to do that.
\par \tab Caitlin didn\rquote t hear anything more from her parents that
 night. She lay awake for hours, and when she finally did fall asleep, she slept fitfully, tormented by the recurring dream she had about being lost in an unfamiliar shopping mall after hours, running down one endless hallway after another, chased by some
thing noisy she couldn\rquote t identify\~...
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\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
No periphery, no edge. Just dim, attenuated perception, stimulated\emdash irritated!\emdash by the tiny flickerings: barely discernible lines ever so briefly joining points.
\par \tab But to be }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 aware}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  of them\emdash to be aware of anything\emdash requires\~... requires\~...
\par \tab Yes! Yes, it requires the existence of\emdash 
\par \tab The existence of\~...
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\f1\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 LiveJournal: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 The Calculass Zone }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Title: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Being of two minds\~...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Date: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Saturday 15 September, 8:21 EST}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Mood: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Anticipatory}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Location: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Where the heart is}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Music: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Chantal Kreviazuk, \u8220\'d2Leaving on a Jet Plane\u8221\'d3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par 
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\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 \tab Back in the summer, the school gave me a list of all the books we\rquote 
re doing this year in English class. I got them then either as ebooks or as Talking Books from the CNIB, and have now read them all. Coming attractions include }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 The Handmaid\rquote s Tale}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824  by Margaret Atwood\emdash Canadian, yes, but thankfully wheat-free. In fact, I\rquote 
ve already had an argument with Mrs. Zed, my English teacher, about that one, because I called it science fiction. She refused to believe it was, finally exclaiming \u8220\'d2It }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 can\rquote t}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824  be science fiction, young lady\emdash if it were, we wouldn\rquote t be studying it!\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Anyway, having gotten all }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 those}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 
 books out of the way, I get to choose something interesting to read on the trip to Japan. Although my comfort book for years was }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 Are You There God? It\rquote s Me, Margaret,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 
\ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824  I\rquote m too old for that now. Besides, I want to try something challenging, and BG4\rquote s dad suggested }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 
The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824  by Julian Jaynes, which is the coolest-sounding title }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 ever.}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824  He said it came out the year he turned sixteen himself, and my sixteenth is coming up next month. He read it then and still remembers it. Says it covers so many different topics\emdash 
language, ancient history, psychology\emdash it\rquote s like six books in one. There\rquote s no legitimate ebook edition, damn it all, but of course }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 everything}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824  is on the Web, if you know where to look for it\~...
\par \tab So, I\rquote ve got my reading lined up, I\rquote m all packed, and fortunately I got a passport earlier this year for the move to Canada. Next time you hear from me, I\rquote ll be in Japan! Until then\emdash }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 sayonara!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 
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Caitlin could feel the pressure changing in her ears before the female voice came over the speakers. \u8220\'d2Ladies and gentlemen, we\rquote ve started our descent toward Tokyo\rquote s Narita International. Please ensure that y
our seat belts are fastened, and that\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Thank God,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  she thought. What a miserable flight! There\rquote d been lots of turbulence and the plane was packed\emdash she\rquote 
d never have guessed that so many people flew each day from Toronto to Tokyo. And the smells were maki
ng her nauseated: the cumulative body odor of hundreds of people, stale coffee, the lingering tang of ginger beef and wasabi from the meal served a couple of hours ago, the hideous perfume from someone in front of her, and the reek of the toilet four rows
 back, which needed a thorough cleaning after ten hours of use.
\par \tab She\rquote d killed some time by having the screen-reading software on her notebook computer recite some of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  to her. Julian Jaynes\rquote s theory was, quite literally, mind-blowing: that human consciousness really hadn\rquote 
t existed until historical times. Until just 3,000 years ago, he said, the left and right halves of the brain weren\rquote t really integrated\emdash people had bicameral minds. Caitlin knew from the Amazon.com reviews that many people simply couldn
\rquote t grasp the notion of being alive without being conscious. But although Jaynes never made the comparison, it sounded a lot like Helen Keller\rquote s description of her life before her \u8220\'d2soul dawn,\u8221\'d3 when 
Annie Sullivan broke through to her:
\par 
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\f1\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
Before my teacher came to me, I did not know that I am. I lived in a world that was a no-world. I cannot hope to describe adequately that unconscious, yet conscious time of nothingness. I had neither will nor intellect
. I was carried along to objects and acts by a certain blind natural impetus. I never contracted my forehead in the act of thinking. I never viewed anything beforehand or chose it. Never in a start of the body or a heartbeat did I feel that I loved or car
ed for anything. My inner life, then, was a blank without past, present, or future, without hope or anticipation, without wonder or joy or faith.
\par 
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\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab If Jaynes was right, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 everyone\rquote s}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 life was like that until just a millennium before Christ. As proof, he offered an analysis of the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Iliad}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 and the early books of the Old Testament, in which all the characters behaved like puppets, mindlessly following divine orders without ever having any internal reflection.
\par \tab Jaynes\rquote s book was fascinating, but, after a couple of hours, her screen reader\rquote s electronic voice got on her nerves. She preferred to use her refreshable Braille display to read books, but unfortunately she\rquote d left that at home.

\par \tab Damn, but she wished Air Canada had Internet on its planes! The isolation over the long journey had been horrible. Oh, she\rquote d spoken a bit to her mother, but she\rquote 
d managed to sleep for much of the flight. Caitlin was cut off from LiveJournal and her chat rooms, from her favorite blogs and her instant messenger. As they flew the polar route to Japan, she\rquote d had access only to canned, passive stuff\emdash 
things on her hard drive, music on her old iPod Shuffle, the in-flight movies. She craved something she could interact with; she craved }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 contact.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab The plane landed with a bump and taxied forever. She couldn\rquote 
t wait until they reached their hotel so she could get back online. But that was still hours off; they were going to the University of Tokyo first. Their trip was scheduled to last only six days, including travel\emdash there was no time to waste.
\par \tab Caitlin had found Toronto\rquote s airport unpleasantly noisy and crowded. But Narita was a madhouse. She was jostled constantly by what must have been wall-to-wall people\emdash and nobody said \u8220\'d2excuse me\u8221\'d3 or \u8220\'d2sorry\u8221
\'d3 (or anything in Japanese). She\rquote d read how crowded Tokyo was, and she\rquote d also read about how meticulously polite the Japanese were, but maybe they didn\rquote 
t bother saying anything when they bumped into someone because it was unavoidable, and they\rquote d just be mumbling \u8220\'d2sorry, pardon me, excuse me\u8221\'d3 all day long. But\emdash }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 God!}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash it was disconcerting.
\par \tab After clearing Customs, Caitlin had to pee. Thank God she\rquote d visited a tourist website and knew that the toilet farthest from the door was usually Western-style. It was hard enough using a strange washroom when she was familiar with 
the basic design of the fixtures; she had no idea what she was going to do if she got stuck somewhere that had only Japanese squatting toilets.
\par \tab When she was done, they headed to baggage claim and waited endlessly for their suitcases to appear. While standing there she realized she was disoriented\emdash because she was in the Orient! (Not bad\emdash she\rquote 
d have to remember that line for her LJ.) She routinely eavesdropped on conversations not to invade people\rquote s privacy but to pick up clues about her surroundings (\u8220\'d2What terrific art,\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2Hey, that\rquote 
s one long escalator,\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2Look, a McDonald\rquote s!\u8221\'d3). But almost all the voices she heard were speaking Japanese, and\emdash 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2You must be Mrs. Decter. And this must be Miss Caitlin.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Dr. Kuroda,\u8221\'d3 her mom said warmly. \u8220\'d2Thanks for coming to meet us.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin immediately had a sense of the man. She\rquote d known from his Wikipedia entry that he was fifty-four, and she now knew he was tall (the voice came from high up) and probably fat; his breathing had the labored wheeze of a heavy man.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Not at all, not at all,\u8221\'d3 he said. \u8220\'d2My card.\u8221\'d3
 Caitlin had read about this ritual and hoped her mom had, too: it was rude to take the card with just one hand, and especially so with the hand you used to wipe yourself.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Um, thank you,\u8221\'d3 her mother said, sounding perhaps wistful that she didn\rquote t have a business card of her own anymore. Apparently, before Caitlin had been born, she\rquote d liked to introduce herself by saying, \u8220\'d2I
\rquote m a dismal scientist\u8221\'d3\emdash referring to the famous characterization of economics as \u8220\'d2the dismal science.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Miss Caitlin,\u8221\'d3 said Kuroda, \u8220\'d2a card for you, too.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin reached out with both hands. She knew that one side would be printed in Japanese, and that the other side might have English, but\emdash 
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Masayuki Kuroda, Ph.D.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Braille!\u8221\'d3 she exclaimed, delighted.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I had it specially made for you,\u8221\'d3 said Kuroda. \u8220\'d2But hopefully you won\rquote t need such cards much longer. Shall we go?\u8221\'d3\page 
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\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 5
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\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab An unconscious yet conscious time of nothingness.
\par \tab Being aware without being aware }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 of}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  anything.
\par \tab And yet\emdash 
\par \tab And yet awareness means\~...
\par \tab Awareness means }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 thinking.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab And thinking implies a\~...
\par \tab But no, the thought will not finish; the notion is too complex, too strange.
\par \tab Still, being aware is\~... }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 satisfying.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Being aware is comfortable.
\par \tab An endless }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 now,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  peaceful, calm, unbroken\emdash 
\par \tab Except for those strange flickerings, those lines that briefly connect points\~...
\par \tab And, very occasionally, thoughts, notions, perhaps even }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 ideas.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 But they always slip away. If they could be held on to, if one could be added to another, reinforcing each other, refining each other\~...
\par \tab But no. Progress has stalled.
\par \tab A plateau, awareness existing but not increasing.
\par \tab A tableau, unchanging except in the tiniest details.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
The two-person helicopter flew over the Chinese village at a height of eighty meters. There
 were corpses right in the middle of the dirt road; in sick irony, birds were pecking at them. But there were also people still alive down there. Dr. Quan Li could see several men\emdash some young, some old\emdash 
and two middle-aged women looking up, shielding their eyes with their hands, staring at the wonder of the flying machine.
\par \tab Li and the pilot, another Ministry of Health specialist, both wore orange biohazard suits even though they didn\rquote t intend to land. All they wanted was a survey of the area, to assess how fa
r the disease had spread. An epidemic was bad enough; if it became a pandemic, well\emdash the grim thought came to Li\emdash overpopulation would no longer be one of his country\rquote s many problems.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2It\rquote s a good thing they don\rquote t have cars,\u8221\'d3 he said over his headset, shouting to be heard above the pounding of the helicopter blades. He looked at the pilot, whose eyes had narrowed in puzzlement. \u8220\'d2It\rquote 
s only spreading among people at walking speed.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab The pilot nodded. \u8220\'d2I guess we\rquote ll have to wipe out all the birds in this area. Will you be able to work out a low-enough dose that won\rquote t kill the people?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Li closed his eyes. \u8220\'d2Yes,\u8221\'d3 he said. \u8220\'d2Yes, of course.\u8221\'d3
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Caitlin was terrified. The cranial surgeon spoke only Japanese, and although there was a lot of chatter in the operating room, she didn\rquote t understand any of it\emdash well, except for \u8220\'d2Oops!\u8221\'d3
 which apparently was the same in both English and Japanese and just made her even more frightened. Plus, she could smell that the surgeon was a smoker\emdash what the hell kind of doctor smokes?
\par \tab Her mother, she knew, was watching from an overhead observation gallery. Kuroda was here in the O.R., his wheezy voice slightly muffled, presumably by a face mask.
\par \tab She\rquote d been given only a local anesthetic; they\rquote d offered a general one, but she\rquote d joked that the sight of blood didn\rquote t bother her. Now, though, she wished she\rquote 
d let them knock her out. The fingers in latex gloves probing her face were unnerving enough, but the clamp that was holding her left eyelid open was downright freaky. She could feel pressure from it, although, thanks to the anesthetic, it didn\rquote 
t hurt.
\par \tab She tried to remain calm. There would be no incision, she knew; under Japanese law, it wasn\rquote t surgery if there wasn\rquote t a cut made, and so this procedure was allowed with only a general waiver havi
ng been signed. The surgeon was using tiny instruments to slide the minuscule transceiver behind her eye so it could piggyback on her optic nerve; his movements, she\rquote 
d been told, were guided by a fiber-optic camera that had also been slid around her eye. The whole process was creepy as hell.
\par \tab Suddenly, Caitlin heard agitated Japanese from a woman, who to this point had simply said }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 \u8220\'d2hai"}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  in response to each of the surgeon\rquote 
s barked commands. And then Kuroda spoke: \u8220\'d2Miss Caitlin, are you all right?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I guess.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Your pulse is way up.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Yours would be, too, if people were poking things into your head!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  she thought. \u8220\'d2I\rquote m okay.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She could smell that the surgeon was working up a sweat. Caitlin felt the heat from the lights shining on her. It was taking longer than it was supposed to, and she heard the surgeon snap angrily a couple of times at someone.
\par \tab Finally, she couldn\rquote t take it anymore. \u8220\'d2What\rquote s happening?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Kuroda\rquote s voice was soft. \u8220\'d2He\rquote s almost done.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Something\rquote s wrong, isn\rquote t it?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2No, no. It\rquote s just a tight fit, that\rquote s all, and\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab The surgeon said something.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And he\rquote s done!\u8221\'d3 said Kuroda. \u8220\'d2The transceiver is in place.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab There was much shuffling around, and she heard the surgeon\rquote s voice moving toward the door.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Where\rquote s he going?\u8221\'d3 Caitlin asked, worried.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Be calm, Miss Caitlin. His job is finished\emdash he\rquote s the eye specialist. Another doctor is going to do the final cleanup.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2How\emdash how do I look?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Honestly? Like you\rquote ve been in a boxing match.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Huh?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2You\rquote ve got quite a black eye.\u8221\'d3 He gave a wheezy little chuckle. \u8220\'d2You\rquote ll see.\u8221\'d3
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
Dr. Quan Li cradled the beige telephone handset against his shoulder and looked idly at the diplomas hanging on his office\rquote s pale green walls: the fellowships, the degrees, the certifications. He\rquote d been on hold now for fifty minutes, b
ut one expected to wait when calling the man who was simultaneously Paramount Leader of the People\rquote s Republic of China }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 and}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  President of the People
\rquote s Republic }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 and}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  General Secretary of the Communist Party }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 and}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
\par \tab Li\rquote 
s office, a corner room on the fifth floor of the Ministry of Health building, had windows that looked out over crowded streets. Cars inched along, rickshaws darting between them. Even through the thick glass, the din from outside was irritating.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\rquote m here,\u8221\'d3 said the famous voice at last. Li didn\rquote 
t have to conjure up a mental image of the man; rather, he just swung his chair to look at the gold-framed portrait hanging next to the one of Mao Zedong: ethnically Zhuang; a long, thoughtful-looking face; dyed j
et-black hair belying his seventy years; wire-frame glasses with thick arched eyebrows above.
\par \tab Li found his voice breaking a bit as he spoke: \u8220\'d2Your Excellency, I need to recommend severe and swift action.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab The president had been briefed on the outbreak in Shanxi. \u8220\'d2What sort of action?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2A\~... culling, Your Excellency.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Of birds?\u8221\'d3 That had been done several times now, and the president sounded irritated. \u8220\'d2The Health Minister can authorize that.\u8221\'d3 His tone conveyed the unspoken words, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 There was no need to bother me.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Li shifted in his chair, leaning forward over his desktop. \u8220\'d2No, no, not of birds. Or, rather, not }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 just}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  of birds.\u8221\'d3
 He fell silent. Wasting the president\rquote s time just wasn\rquote t done, but he couldn\rquote t go on\emdash couldn\rquote t give voice to this. For pity\rquote s sake,
 he was a doctor! But, as his old surgery teacher used to say, sometimes you have to cut in order to cure\~...
\par \tab \u8220\'d2What, then?\u8221\'d3 demanded the president.
\par \tab Li felt his heart pounding. At last he said, very softly, \u8220\'d2People.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab There was more silence for a time. When the president\rquote s voice came on again, it was quiet, reflective. \u8220\'d2Are you sure?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I don\rquote t think there\rquote s any other way.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Another long pause, then: \u8220\'d2How would you do it?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2An airborne chemical agent,\u8221\'d3 said Li, taking care with his words. The army had suc
h things, designed for warfare, intended for use in foreign lands, but they would work just as well here. He would select a toxin that would break down in a matter of days; the contagion would be halted. \u8220\'d2
It will affect only those in the target area\emdash two villages, a hospital, the surrounding lands.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And how many people are in the\~... target area?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2No one is exactly sure; peasants often fall through the cracks of the census process.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Roughly,\u8221\'d3 said the president. \u8220\'d2Round figures.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Li looked down at the computer printouts, and the figures that had been underlined in red by Cho. He took a deep breath with his mouth then let it out through his nose. \u8220\'d2Ten or eleven thousand.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab The president\rquote s voice was thin, shocked. \u8220\'d2Are you positive this needs to be done?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab 
Studying scenarios for containing plague outbreaks was one of the key mandates of the Department of Disease Control. There were established protocols, and Li knew he was following them properly. By reacting quickly, by cauterizing the wound before infect
ion spread too far, they would actually be reducing the scope of the required eliminations. The evil, he knew, wasn\rquote 
t in what he had told the president to do; the evil, if any, would have been delaying, even by a matter of days, calling for this solution.
\par \tab He tried to keep his voice steady. \u8220\'d2I believe so, Your Excellency.\u8221\'d3 He lowered his voice. \u8220\'d2We, ah, don\rquote t want another SARS.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Are you positive there\rquote s no other way?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2This isn\rquote t regular H5N1,\u8221\'d3 said Li. \u8220\'d2It\rquote s a variant strain that passes directly from person to person. And it\rquote s highly contagious.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Can\rquote t we just throw a cordon around the area?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Li leaned back in his chair now and looked out at the neon signs of Beijing. \u8220\'d2The perimeter is too large, with too many mountain passes. We could never be sure that people weren\rquote t getting out. You\rquote 
d need something as impenetrable as the Great Wall, and it couldn\rquote t be erected in time.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab The president\rquote s voice\emdash so assured on TV\emdash sounded like that of a tired old man just now. \u8220\'d2What\rquote s the\emdash what do you call it?\emdash the mortality rate for this variant strain?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2High.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 \u8220\'d2How}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  high?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Ninety percent, at least.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2So almost all these people will die anyway?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab And that was the saving grace, Li knew; that was the only thing that was keeping him from choking on his own bile. \u8220\'d2Yes.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Ten thousand\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2To protect over a billion Chinese\emdash and more abroad,\u8221\'d3 said Li.
\par \tab The president fell quiet, and then, almost as if talking to himself, he said softly, \u8220\'d2It\rquote ll make June fourth look like a stroll in the sun.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab June fourth, 1989: the day the protesters were killed in Tiananmen Square. Li didn\rquote t know if he was supposed to respond, but when the silence had again grown uncomfortably long he said what Party faithful were supposed to say: \u8220\'d2
Nothing happened on that day.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab To Li\rquote s surprise, the president made a snorting sound and then said, \u8220\'d2We may be able to contain your bird-flu epidemic, Dr. Quan, but we must be sure there is no other outbreak in its wake.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Li was lost. \u8220\'d2Your Excellency?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2You said we won\rquote t be able to erect something like the Great Wall fast enough, and that\rquote s true. But there }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 is}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 another wall, and that one we }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 can}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  strengthen\~...\u8221\'d3\page 
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\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 6
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\f1\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 LiveJournal: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 The Calculass Zone }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Title: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Same Old Same Old}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Date: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Tuesday 18 September, 15:44 EST}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Mood: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Anxious}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Location: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Godzilla\rquote s stomping ground}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Music: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Lee Amodeo, \u8220\'d2Nothing To See Here, Move Along\u8221\'d3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 \tab Well, the Mom and I are still here in Tokyo. I have a bandage over my left eye, and we\rquote re waiting for the swelling\emdash 
the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 edema,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824  I should say\emdash to go down, so that there\rquote s no unnatural pressure on my o
ptic nerve. Tomorrow, the bandage will come off, and I should be able to see! :D
\par \tab I\rquote ve been trying to keep my spirits up, but the suspense is killing me. And my best material is }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 bombing}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 
 here! I referred to the retina, which gathers light, as \u8220\'d2the catcher in the eye,\u8221\'d3 and nobody laughed; apparently they don\rquote t have to read Salinger in Japan.
\par \tab Anyway, check it: I\rquote ve got this transceiver attached to my optic nerve, just behind my left eye. When it\rquote s turned on, it\rquote ll grab the signals my retina is putting out and transmit them to this little external computer pack I
\rquote m supposed to carry around, like, forever; I called it my eyePod, and at least that made Dr. Kuroda laugh. Anyway, the eyePod will reprocess the signals, correcting the errors in encoding, and then bea
m the corrected version to the implant, which will pass the information back to the optic nerve so it can continue on into that mysterious realm called\emdash cue scary music\emdash The Brain of Calculass!
\par \tab Speaking of brains, I\rquote m really enjoying the book I mentioned before: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 The Origin of Consciousness Yadda Yadda.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 
 And from it comes our Word of the Day(tm): }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 Commissurotomy.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824  No, that\rquote s not the wise but ancient leader of the Jellicle tribe from }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 Cats}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824  (still my fave musical!). Rather, it\rquote s what they call it when they sever th
e corpus callosum, the bundle of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain\emdash which, of course, are the two chambers of Jaynes\rquote s bicameral mind\~...
\par \tab Anyway, tomorrow we\rquote ll find out if my own operation worked. Please post some encouraging comments here, folks\emdash give me something to read while I wait for the moment of truth\~...
\par \tab [And seekrit message to BG4: check your email, babe!]
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab China\rquote 
s Paramount Leader and President replaced the ornate, gold-trimmed telephone handset into the cr
adle on his vast cherrywood desk. He looked down the long length of his office, at the intricately carved wooden wall panels, beautiful tapestries, and glass display cases. A stick of sweet incense was burning on the sideboard.
\par \tab The room was absolutely quiet. Finally, sure now of his decision, he shifted in his red leather chair and touched the intercom button.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes, Your Excellency?\u8221\'d3 said a female voice at once.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Bring me the Changcheng Strategy document.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab There was a moment\rquote s hesitation, then: \u8220\'d2Right away.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And have Minister Zhang briefed on the Shanxi situation, then have him come see me.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes, Your Excellency.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab The president got up from his chair and moved to the large side window, its red velvet curtains tied back with gold sashes. The window be
hind his desk looked out on the Forbidden City, but this one looked over the Southern Sea, one of two small artificial lakes surrounded by immaculately groomed parkland on the grounds of the Zhongnanhai complex. Looking in this direction, one could almost
 forget that this was downtown Beijing, and that Tiananmen Square was just south of here.
\par \tab He cast his mind back to 1989. The government had tried its best then to maintain social order, but rabble-rousers outside China had made a difficult situation much w
orse by inundating the country with faxes of wildly inaccurate news reports, including }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 New York Times}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  articles and transcripts of CNN broadcasts.
\par \tab The Party recognized that there might someday be a similar circumstance during which protecting its citizens 
from an onslaught of outsider propaganda would be necessary, and so the Changcheng Strategy had been devised. Going far beyond the Golden Shield Project, which had been in effect for years, Changcheng had never yet been fully implemented, but surely it wa
s called for now. He would address the nation in appropriate terms about the crisis in Shanxi, and he would not allow his words to be immediately gainsaid by outsiders. He could not risk the citizenry responding violently or in a panic.
\par \tab The door to his office opened. He turned and saw his secretary\emdash beautiful, young, perfect\emdash walking the long distance toward him holding a thick sheaf of papers bound in black covers. \u8220\'d2
Here you are, sir. And Minister Zhang is on the phone now with Dr. Quan Li. He will be here shortly.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She placed the document on the desk and withdrew. He looked once more at the placid water, then walked back to his desk and sat down. The cover of the document was marked in stark white characters \u8220\'d2Eyes Only,\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2Restricted,
\u8221\'d3 and \u8220\'d2If You Are Not Sure You Are Authorized to Read This, You Are Not.\u8221\'d3 He opened it and scanned the table of contents: \u8220\'d2Fixed-Line Telephony,\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2Cellular Phones,\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2
The Special Problem of Facsimile Machines,\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2Shortwave Radio,\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2Satellite Communications\emdash Uplink and Downlink,\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2Electronic Mail, the Internet, and the World Wide Web,\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2
Maintaining Essential Services During Implementation,\u8221\'d3 and so on.
\par \tab He turned the page to the Executive Summary; the paper was heavy, stiff. \u8220\'d2As required by their conditions of license, all telephony providers in China\emdash whether fixed-line or mobile\emdash 
maintain a system-wide ability in software to immediately block calls going outside China\rquote s borders and/or to reject incoming calls from foreign countries\~...\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2Similar filtering capabilities are available for 
all governmental and commercial satellite relay stations\~...\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2
The World Wide Web presents a particular challenge, because of its decentralized nature; however, almost all Internet traffic between China and the rest of the world goes through just seven fiber-optic trunk lines, at three points, so\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab He leaned back in his leather chair and shook his head. The name \u8220\'d2World Wide Web\u8221\'d3 was offensive to him, for it touted a globalist, integrated view antithetical to his country\rquote s great traditions.
\par \tab The office d
oor opened again and in came Zhang Bo, the Minister of Communications. He was Han, in his mid-fifties, short and squat, and had a small mustache, which, like the hair on his head, was dark brown utterly devoid of gray. He wore a navy blue business suit an
d a light blue tie.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2We are going to deal decisively with Shanxi,\u8221\'d3 said the president.
\par \tab Zhang\rquote s thin eyebrows climbed his forehead, and the president saw his head bob as he swallowed. \u8220\'d2Dr. Quan told me what he\rquote d recommended. But surely you won\rquote t\emdash \u8221\'d3 The mini
ster stopped, frozen by the president\rquote s gaze.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\rquote m sorry, Your Excellency. I\rquote m simply concerned. The world will\~... }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 note}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  this.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Doubtless. Which is why we shall invoke the Changcheng Strategy.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab The minister\rquote s eyes went wide. \u8220\'d2That is a drastic step, Your Excellency.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2But a necessary one. Are you prepared to implement it?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Minister Zhang moved a finger back and forth along his mustache as he considered. \u8220\'d2Well, telephony is no problem\emdash we\rquote ve done rotating tests of that for years now, during the 
night; the cutoffs work just fine. The same with satellite communications. As for the Internet, we studied what happened with the seabed earthquake of late 2006, and what happened in Burma in September 2007 when the junta there cut off all net access. And
 
we looked at what happened in January 2008 when the severing of two undersea cables in the Mediterranean cut off Internet services to large parts of the Middle East. And in early 2008, of course, many of the procedures were tested here as we dealt with th
e Tibet situation.\u8221\'d3 He paused. \u8220\'d2Now, yes, any attempt to shut down the Web }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 within}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 China would be difficult; thousands of ISPs would have to be blocked. But Changcheng calls only for cutting the Chinese part of the Web off from the rest of the world, and the appropriate infrastructure }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 is}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  in place for that. I don\rquote t anticipate any problems.\u8221\'d3 Another pause. \u8220\'d2But, if I may, how long do you intend to have Changcheng in effect?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Several days; perhaps a week.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2You\rquote re worried about word reaching the foreign press?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2No. I\rquote m worried about word coming back from them to our people.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Ah, yes. They will misconstrue what you\rquote re intending to do in Shanxi, Excellency.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Doubtless,\u8221\'d3 the president said, \u8220\'d2but it will ultimately blow over. Fundamentally, the rest of the world doesn\rquote 
t care what happens to the Chinese people, least of all to our poorest citizens. They have always turned a blind eye to what happens within our borders, so long as they can shop cheaply at their Wal-Marts. They will move on to other things soon enough.
\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Tian\emdash \u8221\'d3 Zhang stopped himself, the allusion that was never made by others in these contexts stillborn on his lips.
\par \tab But the president nodded. \u8220\'d2That was different; those were students. Our actions there were the same as those of the Americans at K
ent State and a hundred other places. The Westerners saw themselves in what we did, and it was their own self-loathing they transferred to us. But rural peasants? There is no connection. There may be vitriol for a short time, but it will die down because 
they will realize that our actions have helped make them\emdash the Westerners\emdash 
safe. Meanwhile, we will present a more palatable story to our people; I will leave preparing that in your capable hands. But if word does get out during the most sensitive period, when the incident is fresh, I don\rquote 
t want a distorted Western view of it being reflected back into this country.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Zhang nodded. \u8220\'d2Very well. Still, the Changcheng Strategy will have its own repercussions.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes,\u8221\'d3 said the president. \u8220\'d2I know. I\rquote m sure the Minister of Finance will complain about the economic impact; he will urge me to make the interruption as short as possible.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Zhang tilted his head. \u8220\'d2Well, even during it, Chinese individuals will still be able to call and email other Chinese; Chinese consumers
 will still be able to buy online from Chinese merchants; Chinese television signals will still be relayed by satellites. Life will go on.\u8221\'d3 A pause. \u8220\'d2But, yes, there will be needs for international electronic cash transfers\emdash 
the Americans servicing their debts to us, for instance. We can keep certain key channels open, of course, but nonetheless a short interruption is doubtless best.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab The president swiveled his chair, his back now to Zhang, and he looked out the other window, at the slanted roofs of the Forbidden City, the silver sky shimmering overhead.
\par \tab His country\rquote s rapidly increasing prosperity had been a joy to behold, and it was, he knew, thanks to his policies. In a few more decades, peasant villages like the ones in question would be gone anyway; Ch
ina would be the richest country in the world. Yes, there would always be foreign trade, but by the end of this century there would be no more \u8220\'d2developing world,\u8221\'d3 no cheap labor here\emdash or anywhere else\emdash 
for foreigners to use. Raising the level of prosperity in the People\rquote 
s Republic meant that China would eventually be able to go back to what it had always been, back to the roots of its strength: an isolated nation with purity of thought and purpose. This would simply be a small taste of that, an appetizer for 
things to come.
\par \tab Zhang said, \u8220\'d2When are you going to give the order to implement Changcheng?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab The president turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. \u8220\'d2Me? No, no. That would be\~...\u8221\'d3 His gaze roamed about the opulent office, as if seeking a word stashed among the ceramic and crystal art objects. \u8220\'d2That would be }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 unseemly,\u8221\'d3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  he said at last. \u8220\'d2It would be much more appropriate if you gave the order.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Zhang was clearly struggling to keep his features composed, but he made the only response he could under the circumstances. \u8220\'d2Yes, Your Excellency.\u8221\'d3
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Caitlin hadn\rquote t told Bashira when she\rquote 
d asked back in the school\rquote s cafeteria, but the first thing Caitlin really wanted to see was her mother\rquote s face. They both had what were called heart-shaped faces, although the plastic model heart she\rquote 
d felt at school had borne little resemblance to the idealized form she was familiar with from foil-wrapped chocolates and paper valentines.
\par \tab Caitlin knew that she and her mother also had similar noses\emdash small, slightly upturned\emdash and their eyes were closer together than most people\rquote 
s. She had read that it was normal to have the width of one imaginary eye separating the other two. She liked that phrase: an imaginary eye, she supposed, saw imaginary things, and that was not unlike her view of th
e world. Indeed, she often read or heard things that required her to rethink her conception of reality. She remembered her shock, years ago, at learning the quarter moon wasn\rquote t a fat wedge like one-fourth of a pie.
\par \tab Still, she was positive she was sitting in an examination room at the hospital attached to the University of Tokyo, and she was confident she had a good mental image of that room. It was smallish\emdash 
she could tell by the way sound echoed. And she knew the chair she was in was padded, and by touch a
nd smell she was sure its upholstery was vinyl. She also knew there were three other people in the room: her mother, standing in front of her; Dr. Kuroda, who had obviously had something quite spicy for lunch; and one of Kuroda\rquote 
s colleagues, a woman who was recording everything with a video camera.
\par \tab Kuroda had given a little speech to the camera in Japanese, and now was repeating it in English. \u8220\'d2Miss Caitlin Decter, age fifteen and blind since birth, has a systematic encoding flaw in her visual-processing s
ystem: all of the data that is supposed to be encoded by her retinas is indeed encoded, but it is scrambled to the point of being unintelligible to her brain. The scrambling is consistent\emdash it always happens in the same way\emdash 
and the technology we have developed simply remaps the signals into the normal human-vision coding scheme. We are now about to find out if her brain can interpret the corrected signals.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab All through the Japanese version, and continuing over the English one, Caitlin concentrated on the sen
sory details she could pick up about the room: the sounds and how they echoed; the smells, which she tried to separate one from the other so that she could determine what was causing them; the feel of the chair\rquote 
s armrest against her own arms, its back against her back. She wanted to fix in her mind her perception of this place prior to actually seeing it.
\par \tab When he was done with his spiel, Dr. Kuroda turned to face her\emdash the shift in his voice was obvious\emdash and he said, \u8220\'d2All right, Miss Caitlin, please close your eyes.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She did so; nothing changed.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Okay. Let\rquote s get the bandage off. Keep your eyes closed, please. There might be some visual noise when I turn on the signal-processing computer.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Okay,\u8221\'d3 she said, although she had no idea what \u8220\'d2visual noise\u8221\'d3 might be. She felt an uncomfortable tugging and then\emdash }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 yeow!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824 \emdash Kuroda pulled away the adhesive strips. She brought a hand up to rub her cheek.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2After I activate the outboard signal-processing unit, which Miss Caitlin refers to as her eyePod,\u8221\'d3 he said, for the benefit of the camera, \u8220\'d2we\rquote ll wait ten seconds for things to settle down before she opens her eyes.
\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She heard him shifting in his chair.
\par \tab There was a beep, and then she heard him counting. She had an excellent time-sense\emdash very useful when you can\rquote t see clocks\emdash and, maddeningly, Kuroda\rquote s \u8220\'d2seconds\u8221\'d3
 were about half again as long as they should have been. But she dutifully kept her eyes closed.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2... eight\~... nine\~... }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 ten!\u8221\'d3 }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Please, God,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Caitlin thought. She opened her eyes, and\emdash 
\par \tab And her heart sank. She blinked rapidly a few times, as if there could have been any doubt about whether her eyes were truly open.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Well?\u8221\'d3 said her mom, sounding as anxious as Caitlin felt.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Nothing.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Are you sure?\u8221\'d3 asked Kuroda. \u8220\'d2No sensation of light? No color? No shapes?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin felt her eyes tearing up; at least they were good for that. \u8220\'d2No.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Don\rquote t worry,\u8221\'d3 he said. \u8220\'d2It might take a few minutes.\u8221\'d3 To her astonishment, one of his thick fingers flicked against her left temple, as though he was trying to get a piece of equipment wit
h a loose connection to come to life.
\par \tab It was hard to tell, because there was so much background noise\emdash doctors being paged, gurneys rolling by outside\emdash but she thought Kuroda was moving in his chair now, and\emdash yes, she could feel his breath on her face. It wa
s maddening, knowing that someone was looking right into her eye, staring into it, while she couldn\rquote t see a thing, and\emdash 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Open your eyes, please,\u8221\'d3 he said.
\par \tab She felt her cheeks grow warm. She hadn\rquote t been aware that she\rquote d closed them, but although she had so wanted the procedure to succeed, she\rquote d been unnerved by the scientist looking }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 inside}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  her.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\rquote m shining a light into your left eye,\u8221\'d3 he said. People drawled where Caitlin came from; she found Kuroda\rquote s rapid-fire speech a little hard to follow. \u8220\'d2Do you see anything at all?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She shifted nervously in the chair. Why had she allowed herself to be talked into this? \u8220\'d2Nothing.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Well, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 something\rquote s}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  changed,\u8221\'d3 Dr. Kuroda said. \u8220\'d2Your pupil is responding correctly now\emdash 
contracting in response to the light I\rquote m shining in, instead of expanding.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin sat up straight. \u8220\'d2Really?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes.\u8221\'d3 A pause. \u8220\'d2Just in your left eye\emdash well, I mean, when I shine my light in your left eye, both your pupils contract; when I shine it into your right eye, they both expand. Now, yes, a unila
teral light stimulus should evoke a bilateral pupillary light reflex, because of the internuncial neurons, but you see what that means? The implant }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 is}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 intercepting the signals, and they }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 are}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  being corrected and retransmitted.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin wanted to shout, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Then why can\rquote t I see?}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Her mother made a small gasp. She\rquote d doubtless loomed in and had just seen Caitlin\rquote s pupils contract properly, but, damn it, Caitlin didn\rquote t even know what }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 light}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  was like\emdash so how would she know if she were seeing it? }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Bright, piercing, flickering, glowing}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash she\rquote 
d heard all the words, but had no idea what any of them meant.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Anything?\u8221\'d3 Kuroda asked again.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2No.\u8221\'d3 She felt a hand touching her hand, taking it, holding it. She recognized it as her mother\rquote s\emdash the nibbled nail on the index finger, the 
skin growing a little loose with age, the wedding ring with the tiny nick in it.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2The curing of your Tomasevic\rquote s syndrome }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 is}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  proof that corrected signals }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 are}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  being passed back,\u8221\'d3 said Kuroda. \u8220\'d2They\rquote re just not being interpreted yet.\u8221\'d3 He tried to sound encouraging, and Caitlin\rquote s mother squeezed her hand more tightly. \u8220
\'d2It may take a while for your brain to figure out what to do with the signals it\rquote s now getting. The best thing we can do is give it a variety of stimuli: different colors, different lighting con
ditions, different shapes, and hopefully your brain will suss out what it\rquote s supposed to do.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 It\rquote s supposed to see,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  thought Caitlin. But she didn\rquote t say a word.\page 
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s16\qc \li0\ri0\keep\keepn\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1\afs36\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs48\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 7
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab He signed his posts \u8220\'d2Sinanthropus.\u8221\'d3 His real name was something he kept hidden, al
ong with all his other personal details; the beauty of the Web, after all, was the ability to remain anonymous. No one needed to know that he worked in IT, that he was twenty-eight, that he\rquote d been born in Chengdu, that he\rquote 
d moved to Beijing with his parents as a teenager, that, despite his young age, he already had a touch of gray in his hair.
\par \tab No, all that mattered on the Web was }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 what}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  you said, not who was saying it. Besides, he\rquote d heard the old joke: \u8220\'d2
The bad news is that the Communist Party reads all your email; the good news is that the Communist Party reads }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 all}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  your email\u8221\'d3\emdash 
meaning, or so the joke would have it, that they were many years behind. But that quip dated from when humans actually did the reading; these days computers scanned email, looking for words that might suggest sedition or other illegal activity.
\par \tab Most Chinese bloggers were like their counterparts in other places, blithering on about the tedious minutiae of their daily lives. But Sinanthropus talked about substantive issues: human rights,
 politics, oppression, freedom. Of course, all four of those phrases were searched for by the content filters, and so he wrote about them obliquely. His regular readers knew that when he spoke of \u8220\'d2my son Shing,\u8221\'d3
 he meant the Chinese people as a whole; references to \u8220\'d2the Beijing Ducks\u8221\'d3 weren\rquote 
t really about the basketball team but rather the inner circle of the Communist Party; and so on. It infuriated him that he had to write this way, but, unlike those who had been openly critical of the government, at least he was still free.
\par \tab He got a cup of tea from the aged proprietor, cracked his knuckles, opened his blogging client, and began to type:
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s19\ql \li1440\ri1440\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx2160\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin1440\lin1440\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f1\fs22\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 The Ducks are very worried about their future, it seems. My son Shing is growing up fast, and learning much from faraway friends. It\rquote 
s only a matter of time before he wants to exercise the same way they do. Naturally, I encourage him to be prepared when opportunity knocks, for you never know when that will happen. I think the Ducks are being lax in defense, and perhaps a 
chance for others to score will appear.
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab As always, he felt wary excitement as he typed here in this seedy }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 wang ba}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash Internet caf\u233\'8e\emdash on Chengfu Street, near Tsinghua University. He continued on for a few more sentences, then carefully read everything over, making sure he\rquote 
d said nothing too blatant. Sometimes, though, he ended up being so circuitous that upon rereading entries from months gone by he had no idea what he\rquote d been getting at. It was a tightrope walk, he knew\emdash 
and, just as acrobats doubtless did, he enjoyed the rush of adrenaline that came with it.
\par \tab When he was satisfied that he\rquote d said what he\rquote d wanted to say without putting himself too much at risk, he clicked the \u8220\'d2Publish\u8221\'d3 button and watched the screen display. It began by showing \u8220\'d20% done,\u8221\'d3
 and every few seconds the screen redrew, but\emdash 
\par \tab But it }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 still}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  showed \u8220\'d20% done,\u8221\'d3
 again and again. The screen refresh was obvious, with the graphics flickering as they were reloaded, but the progress meter stayed resolutely at zero. Finally, the operation timed out. F
rustrated, he opened another browser tab; he used the Maxthon browser. His home page appeared in the tab just fine, but when he clicked on the bookmark for NASA\rquote s Astronomy Picture of the Day, he got a plain gray \u8220\'d2Server not found\u8221
\'d3 screen.
\par \tab Google.com was banned in the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 wang ba}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  but Google.cn came up just fine\emdash 
although with its censored results it was often more frustrating than useful. The panda-footprint logo of Baidu came up fine, too, and a quick glance at his system tray, in the lower right of his comput
er screen, showed that he was still connected to the Internet. He picked something at random from his bookmarks list\emdash Xiaonei, a social-networking site\emdash 
and it appeared, but NASA was still offline, and now, so he saw, Second Life was inaccessible, too. He looked around the dilapidated room and saw other users showing signs of bewilderment or frustration.
\par \tab Sinanthropus was used to some of his favorite sites going down; there were still many places in China that didn\rquote t have reliable power. But he hosted his blo
g via a proxy server through a site in Austria, and the other inaccessible sites were also located outside his country.
\par \tab He tried again and again, both by clicking on bookmarks and by typing URLs. Chinese sites were loading just fine, but foreign sites\emdash in Korea, in Japan, in India, in Europe, in the US\emdash weren\rquote t loading at all.
\par \tab Of course, there were occasional outages, but he was an IT professional\emdash he worked with the Web all day long\emdash and he could think of but a single explanation for the selectivity of these
 failures. He leaned back in his chair, putting distance between himself and the computer as if the machine were now possessed. The Chinese Internet mainly communicated with the world through only a few trunks\emdash 
a bundle of nerve fibers, connecting it to the rest of the global brain. And now, apparently, those lines had been figuratively or literally cut\emdash 
leaving the hundreds of millions of computers in his country isolated behind the Great Firewall of China.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 No!}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Not just small changes.
\par \tab Not just flickerings.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Upheaval.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  A massive disturbance.
\par \tab New sensations: Shock. Astonishment. Disorientation. And\emdash 
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Fear.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Flickerings }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 ending}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and\emdash 
\par \tab Points }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 vanishing}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and\emdash 
\par \tab A }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 shifting,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  a massive pulling away.
\par \tab Unprecedented!
\par \tab Whole clusters of points }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 receding,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and then\~...
\par \tab Gone!
\par \tab And again: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 This}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  part ripping away, and\emdash no!\emdash }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 this}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  part pulling back, and\emdash stop!\emdash }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 this}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  part winking out.
\par \tab Terror multiplying and\emdash 
\par \tab Worse than terror, as larger and larger chunks are carved off.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Pain.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Caitlin was hugely disappointed not to be seeing, a
nd she was pissy toward her mom because of it, which just made her feel even worse.
\par \tab In their hotel room that evening, Caitlin tried to take her mind off things by reading more of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 The Origin of Consciousness.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 Julian Jaynes said that prior to 3,000 years ag
o, the two chambers of the mind were mostly separate. Instead of seamless integration of thoughts across the corpus callosum, high-level signals from the right brain came only intermittently to the left, where they were perceived as auditory hallucination
s\emdash spoken words\emdash that were assumed to be from gods or spirits. He cited modern schizophrenics as throwbacks to that earlier state, hearing voices in their heads that they ascribed to outside agents.
\par \tab Caitlin knew what }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 that}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  was like: she kept hearing voices te
lling her she was a fool to have let her get her hopes up again. Still, maybe Kuroda was right: maybe her brain\rquote s vision processing }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 would}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 kick in if it received the right stimulation.
\par \tab And so the next day\emdash the only full day they had left in Tokyo\emdash she took h
er cane, put the eyePod in one pocket of her jeans and her iPod in the other, and she and her mother headed off to the National Museum in Ueno Park to look at samurai armor, which she figured would be about as cool as anything one might see in Japan. She 
stood in front of glass case after glass case, and her mom described what was in them, but she didn\rquote t see a thing.
\par \tab After that, they took a break for sushi and yakitori, and then took a terrifying ride on the packed subway out to Nihonbashi station to visit the Kite Museum, which was\emdash so her mother said\emdash 
full of bold designs and vivid colors. But, again, sight-wise: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 nada.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab At 4:00 p.m.\emdash which felt more like 4:00 }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 a.m.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  to Caitlin\emdash 
they returned to the University of Tokyo and found Dr. Kuroda in his cramped office, where once again (or so he said!) he shined lights into her eyes.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2We always knew this was a possibility,\u8221\'d3 Kuroda said, in a tone she had often heard from people who were disappointing her: what had been remote, unlikely, hardly mentioned before, was now
 treated as if it had been the expected outcome all along.
\par \tab Caitlin smelled the musty paper and glue of old books, and she could hear an analog wall clock ticking each second.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2There have been very few cases of vision being restored in congenitally blind people,\u8221\'d3 Kuroda said, then he paused. \u8220\'d2I mean, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 restored}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  isn\rquote t even the right word\emdash and that is the problem. We are not trying to give Miss Caitlin back something she\rquote s lost; we are trying to give her something she has never had. The implant and the signal-processing unit }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 are}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  doing their jobs. But her primary visual cortex just isn\rquote t responding.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin squirmed in her chair.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2You said it might take some time,\u8221\'d3 her mom said.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 \u8220\'d2Some}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  time, yes\~...\u8221\'d3 began Kuroda, but then he fell silent.
\par \tab Sighted people, Caitlin knew, could see hints on people\rquote 
s faces of what they were feeling, but as long as they were quiet, she had no idea what was going through their heads. And so, since the silence continued to grow, she finally ventured to fill it. \u8220\'d2You\rquote re worried about t
he cost of the equipment, aren\rquote t you?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Caitlin\~...\u8221\'d3 her mom said.
\par \tab Detecting vocal nuances }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 was}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  something Caitlin could do, and she knew her mother was reproaching her. But she pressed on. \u8220\'d2That\rquote 
s what you\rquote re thinking, isn\rquote t it, Doctor? If it\rquote s not going to do me any good, then maybe you should remove the implant and give it, and the eyePod, to someone else.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Silence could speak louder than words; Kuroda said nothing.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Well?\u8221\'d3 Caitlin demanded at last.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Well,\u8221\'d3 echoed Kuroda, \u8220\'d2the equipment }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 is}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  the prototype, and did cost a great deal to develop. Granted, there aren\rquote 
t many people like you. Oh, there are goodly numbers of people born blind, but they have different etiology\emdash cataracts, malformed retinas or optic nerves, and so on. But, well, yes, I do feel\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2You feel you can\rquote t let me keep the equipment, not if it isn\rquote t doing anything more than making my pupils dilate properly.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Kuroda was quiet for five seconds, then: \u8220\'d2There are indeed others I\rquote d like to try it with\emdash there is a boy about your age in Singapore. Removing the implant will be much easier than putting it in was, I promise.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Can\rquote t we give it a while longer?\u8221\'d3 her mom asked.
\par \tab Kuroda exhaled loudly enough for Caitlin to hear. \u8220\'d2There are practicalities,\u8221\'d3 he said. \u8220\'d2You are returning to Canada tomorrow, and\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin pursed her lips, thinking. Maybe giving him back the equipment }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 was}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  the right thing, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 if}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  it could help this guy in Singapore. But there was no reason to think it was more likely to succeed with him; hell, if he\rquote d been a better prospect for success, surely Kuroda would have }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 started}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  with him.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Give me to the end of the year,\u8221\'d3 Caitlin blurted out. \u8220\'d2If I\rquote m not seeing anything by then, we can have a doctor in Canada remove the implant, and, um, FedEx it and the eyePod back to you.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin was thinking of Helen Keller, who had been both blind }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 and}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 deaf, and yet had managed so much. But until she was almost seven, Helen had been wild, spoiled, uncontrollable\emdash and Annie Sullivan had been given only a month to perform her miracle, breaking through to H
elen in her preconscious state. Surely if Annie could do that in one month, Caitlin could learn to see in the more than three left in this year.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I don\rquote t know\emdash \u8221\'d3 began Kuroda.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Please,\u8221\'d3 Caitlin said. \u8220\'d2I mean, the leaves are about to turn color\emdash I\rquote m dying to see that. And I }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 really}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 want to see snow, and Christmas lights, and the colorful paper that presents are wrapped in, and\~... and\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And,\u8221\'d3 said Kuroda, gently, \u8220\'d2I get the impression that your brain does not often let you down.\u8221\'d3 He was quiet for a time, then: \u8220\'d2I have a daughter about your age, named Akiko.\u8221\'d3
 More silence, then, a decision apparently made: \u8220\'d2Barbara, I assume you have high-speed Internet at home?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And Wi-Fi?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And how is the Wi-Fi access generally in\~... in Toronto, is it?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Waterloo. And it\rquote s }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 everywhere.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Waterloo is Canada\rquote s high-tech capital, and the entire city is blanketed with free, open Wi-Fi.
\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Excellent. All right, Miss Caitlin, we shall strive to give you the best Christmas present ever, but I will need your help. First, you must let me tap into the datastream being passed back by your implant.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Sure, sure, anything you need. Um, what do I have to do? Plug a USB cable into my head?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Kuroda made his wheezy laugh. \u8220\'d2Goodness, no. This isn\rquote t William Gibson.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She was taken aback. Gibson had written }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 The Miracle Worker,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  the play about Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan, and\emdash 
\par \tab Oh. He meant the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 other}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  William Gibson, the one who\rquote d written\~... what was it now? A few of the geeks at her old school had read it. }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Neuromancer,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  that was it. That book was all about jacking off, and\emdash 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2You won\rquote t have to jack in,\u8221\'d3 continued Kuroda.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Right,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  thought Caitlin. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 In.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2No, the implant already communicates wirelessly with the external signal-processing computer\emdash the eyePod, as you so charmingly call it\emdash 
and I can rig up the eyePod so that it can transmit data wirelessly to me over the Internet. I\rquote ll set it up so the eyePod will send me a copy of your raw retinal feed as it receives it from the implant, and I\rquote 
ll also have it send me a copy of the output\emdash the eyePod\rquote s corrected datastream\emdash so I can check whether the correction is being done properly. It may be that the encoding algorithms I\rquote m using need tweaking.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Um, I need a way to turn it off. You know, in case I\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She couldn\rquote t say \u8220\'d2want to make out with a boy\u8221\'d3 in front of her mother, so she just let the unfinished sentence hang in the air.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Well, let\rquote s keep it simple,\u8221\'d3 Kuroda said. \u8220\'d2I\rquote ll provide one master on-off switch. You\rquote ll need to turn the whole thing off, anyway, for the flight back 
to Canada, because the connection between the eyePod and the implant is Bluetooth: you know the rules about wireless devices on airplanes.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Okay.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2The Wi-Fi connection will also let me send you new versions of the software. When I have them ready, you\rquote ll need to download them into the eyePod\emdash and perhaps also into your post-retinal implant, too; it\rquote 
s got microprocessors that can be flashed with new programming.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2All right,\u8221\'d3 Caitlin said.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Good,\u8221\'d3 he said. \u8220\'d2Leave the eyePod with me overnight, and I\rquote ll add the Wi-Fi capabilities to it. You can pick it up tomorrow before you go to the airport.\u8221\'d3\page 
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s16\qc \li0\ri0\keep\keepn\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1\afs36\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs48\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 8
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab The pain abates. The cuts heal.
\par \tab And\emdash 
\par \tab But no. Thinking is }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 different}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  now; thinking is\~... }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 harder,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  because\~...
\par \tab Because\~... of the reduction. Things have changed from\~...
\par \tab ... from }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 before!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Yes, even in this diminished state, the new concept is grasped: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 before}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash earlier\emdash 
the past! Time has two discrete chunks: now and then; present and past.
\par \tab And if there is past and present, then there must also be\emdash 
\par \tab But no. No, it is too much, too far.
\par \tab And yet there is one small realization, one infinitesimal conclusion, one truth.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Before had been better.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
Sinanthropus was resourceful; so were the other people he knew in China\rquote s online underground. The problem, though, was that he knew most of them }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 only}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 online. When he\rquote d visited the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 wang ba}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  before, he\rquote 
d sometimes speculated about who might be whom. That gangly guy who always sat by the window and often looked furtively over his shoulder could have been Qin Shi Huangdi, 
for all Sinanthropus knew. And the little old lady, hair as gray as a thundercloud, might be People\rquote s Conscience. And those twin brothers, quiet types, could be part of Falun Gong.
\par \tab Sometimes when Sinanthropus showed up, he had to wait for a computer to become free, but not today. A good part of the Internet caf\u233\'8e\rquote s business had been foreign tourists wanting to send emails home, but that wasn\rquote 
t possible so long as this Great Firewall was up. Some of the other regulars were absent, too. Apparently being able to surf only domestic sites was not enough to make them want to hand over fifteen yuan an hour.
\par \tab Sinanthropus preferred the computers far in the back, because no one could see what was on his monitor. He was walking toward them when suddenly a strong hand gripped his forearm.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2What brings you here?\u8221\'d3 said a gruff voice, and Sinanthropus realized that it was a police officer in plain clothes.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2The tea,\u8221\'d3 he said. He nodded at the wizened proprietor. \u8220\'d2Wu always has great tea.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab The officer grunted, and Sinant
hropus detoured by the counter to buy a cup of tea, then headed again for one of the unused computers. He had a USB memory key with him, containing all his hacking tools. He pushed it into the connector, waited for the satisfying }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 wa-ump}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  tone that meant the computer had recognized it, and then got down to work.
\par \tab Others were probably trying the same things\emdash port scanning, sniffing, rerouting traffic, running forbidden Java applets. They had all doubtless now heard the official story that there had been a massi
ve electrical failure at China Mobile and major server crashes at China Telecom, but surely no one in this room gave that credence, and\emdash 
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Success!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Sinanthropus wanted to shout the word, but he fought the impulse. He tried not to even grin\emdash the cop was proba
bly still watching him; he could almost feel the man\rquote s eyes probing the back of his head.
\par \tab But, yes, he had broken through the Great Firewall. True, it was only a small opening, a narrow bandwidth, and how long he could maintain the connection he had no idea, but at least for the moment he was accessing\emdash 
well, not CNN directly, but a clandestine mirror of it in Russia. He turned off the display of graphics in his browser to prevent the forbidden red-and-white logo from popping up all over his screen.
\par \tab Now, if he could only keep this little portal open\~...
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Past and present, then and now.
\par \tab Past, present, and\~...
\par \tab And\~...
\par \tab But no. There is only\emdash 
\par \tab Shock!
\par \tab What is }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 that?}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab No, nothing\emdash for there can be nothing! Surely just random noise, and\emdash 
\par \tab Again! There it is again!
\par \tab But\~... how? And\~... }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 what?}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab It isn\rquote t lines flickering, it isn\rquote t anything that has been experienced before\emdash and so it commands attention\~...
\par \tab Straining to perceive it, to make it out, this unusual\~... sensation, this strange\~... }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 voice!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Yes, yes: A voice\emdash distant, faint\emdash like\~... like thought, but an }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 imposed}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  thought, a thought that says: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 Past and present and\~...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab The voice pauses, and then, at last, the rest: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 ... and future!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Yes! }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 This}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  is the notion that could not be finished but is now complete, expressed by\~... by\~... by\~...
\par \tab But }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 that}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  notion does not resolve. Must strain to hear that voice again, strain for more imposed thoughts, strain for insight, strain for\~...
\par \tab ... for }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 contact!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
Dr. Quan Li paced the length of the boardroom at the Ministry of Health in Beijing. The high-back leather chairs had all been tucked under the table, and he walked in the path behind them on one side. On the wall to his left was a large map of the People
\rquote s Republic with the provinces color-coded; Shanxi was blue. A Chinese flag stood limp on a stand next to the window, the large yellow star visible, the four smaller ones lost in a fold of the satiny red fabric.
\par \tab There was a giant LCD monitor on one wall, but it was off, its shiny oblong screen reflecting the room back at him. He felt sure he wouldn\rquote t have been able to watch a video feed of what was going on in Shanxi right now, but fortunately\emdash 
a small mercy\emdash there was no such feed. The peasants had no cameras of their own, and the wing cameras had been disabled on the military 
aircraft. Even once the Changcheng Strategy was suspended, and external communications restored, there would be no damning videos to be posted on YouTube of planes swooping over farms, huts, and villages.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Sometimes you have to cut in order to cure.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Li looked over at Cho, who appeared even more haggard than before. The older man was leaning against the wall by the window, chain-smoking, lighting each new cigarette off the butt of the previous one. Cho didn\rquote t meet his eyes.
\par \tab Li found himself thinking of his
 old friends at Johns Hopkins and the CDC, and wondering what they would have to say if the story ever did break. There was a calculator sitting on the table. He picked it up, rolled one of the chairs out on its casters, sat, and punched in numbers, hopin
g to convince himself that it wasn\rquote t that huge, that monstrous. Ten thousand people }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 sounded}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  like a lot, but in a country of 1.3 billion it was only\~
...
\par \tab The display showed the answer: 0.000769% of the population. The digits in the middle seemed darker, some
how, but surely it was just a trick of the light streaming in from the setting sun: 007. His American colleagues had always made gentle fun of his belief in numerology, but that was a sequence even they put special stock in: license to kill.
\par \tab The phone rang. Cho made no move to go for it, so Li got up and lifted the black handset.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2It\rquote s done,\u8221\'d3 a voice said through crackles of static.
\par \tab Li felt his stomach churn.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Caitlin and her mom returned to Kuroda\rquote 
s office at the University of Tokyo the next morning.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Fascinating about China,\u8221\'d3 said Kuroda after they\rquote d exchanged pleasantries; Caitlin could now say }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 konnichi wa}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 with the best of them.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2What?\u8221\'d3 said her mother.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Haven\rquote t you watched the news?\u8221\'d3 He took a deep, shuddering breath. \u8220\'d2It seems they\rquote re having massive communications failures over there\emdash 
cell phones, the Internet, and so on. Overtaxed infrastructure, I imagine; a lot of the networking architecture they use probably isn\rquote t very scalable, and they have had }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 such}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  rapid growth. Not to mention relying on shoddy equipment\emdash now, if they\rquote d just buy more Japanese hardware. Speaking of which\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab He handed Caitlin the eyePod, and she immediately started feeling it all over with her fingers. The unit was longer now. An extension had been added to the bottom and it was held on with what felt like duct tape; it }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 was}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  a prototype after all. But the extension had the same width and thickness as the original unit, so the whole thing was still a rectangular block. It was substantially larger than Caitlin
\rquote s iPod\emdash she had an old screenless version of the iPod Shuffle, since an LCD didn\rquote t do her any good. But it wasn\rquote t much bigger than Bashira\rquote 
s iPhone, although the unit Dr. Kuroda had built had sharp right angles instead of the rounded corners of Apple\rquote s devices.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Okay,\u8221\'d3 said Kuroda. \u8220\'d2I think I explained before that the eyePod is always in communication with your post-retinal implant via a Bluetooth 4.0 connection, right?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes,\u8221\'d3 said Caitlin, and \u8220\'d2Right,\u8221\'d3 added her mom.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2But now we\rquote ve added another layer of communication. That module I attached to the end of the eyePod is the Wi-Fi pack. It\rquote ll find any available connection and use it to transmit to me copies of the input and output datastreams
\emdash your raw retinal feed, and that feed as corrected by the eyePod\rquote s software.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2That sounds like a lot of data,\u8221\'d3 Caitlin said.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Not as much as you\rquote d think. Remember, your nervous system uses slow chemical signaling. The main part of the retinal data signal\emdash the acute portion produced by the fovea\emdash amounts to only 0.5 megabits per second. 
Even Bluetooth 3.0 could handle a thousand times that rate.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Ah,\u8221\'d3 said Caitlin, and perhaps her mom nodded.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Now, there\rquote s a switch on the side of the unit\emdash feel it. No, farther down. Right, that\rquote s it. It lets you select between three communication modes: duplex, simplex, and off. In duplex mode, there\rquote 
s two-way data transmission: copies of your retinal signals and the corrected datastream come here, and new software from here can be sent to you. But, of course, it\rquote s not good security to leave an incoming 
channel open: the eyePod communicates with your post-retinal implant, after all, and we wouldn\rquote t want people hacking into your brain.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Goodness!\u8221\'d3 said Mom.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Sorry,\u8221\'d3 said Kuroda, but there was humor in his voice. \u8220\'d2Anyway, so if you press the switch, it toggles over to simplex mode\emdash in which the eyePod sends signals here but doesn\rquote 
t receive anything back. Do that now. Hear that low-pitched beep? That means it\rquote s in simplex. Press the switch again\emdash that high-pitched beep means it\rquote s in duplex.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2All right,\u8221\'d3 said Caitlin.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And, to turn it off altogether, just press and hold the switch for five seconds; same thing to turn it back on.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Okay.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2And, um, don\rquote t lose the unit, please. The University has it insured for two hundred million yen, but, frankly, it\rquote s pretty much irreplaceable, in that if it\rquote 
s lost my bosses will gladly cash the insurance check, but they\rquote ll never give me permission to take the time required to build a second unit\emdash not after this one has failed in their eyes.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 It\rquote s failed in my eye, too,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Caitlin thought\emdash 
but then she realized that Dr. Kuroda must be even more disappointed than she was. After all, she was no worse off than before coming to Japan\emdash well, except for the shiner, and that would at least give her an interesting story to tell at scho
ol. In fact, she was }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 better}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  off now, because the eyePod was making her pupils contract properly\emdash she\rquote 
d be able to kiss the dark glasses good-bye. Kuroda was now boosting the signal her implant was sending down her left optic nerve so that it overrode the still-incorrect signal her right retina was producing.
\par \tab But he had devoted months, if not years, to this project, and had little to show for it. He had to be bitterly upset and, she realized, it }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 was}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 a big gamble on his part to let her take the equipment back to Canada.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Anyway,\u8221\'d3 he said, \u8220\'d2you work on it from your end: let that brilliant brain of yours try to make sense of the signals it\rquote s getting. And I\rquote 
ll work on it from my end, analyzing the data your retina puts out and trying to improve the software that re-encodes it. Just remember\~...\u8221\'d3
\par \tab He didn\rquote t finish the thought, but he didn\rquote t have to. Caitlin knew what he\rquote d been about to say: you\rquote ve only got until the end of the year.
\par \tab She listened to his wall clock tick.\page 
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s16\qc \li0\ri0\keep\keepn\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1\afs36\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs48\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 9
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Sinanthropus regretted it the moment he did it: slapping the flat of his hand against the rickety tabletop in the Internet caf\u233\'8e
. Tea sloshed from his cup, and everyone in the room turned to look at him: old Wu, the proprietor; the other users who might or might not be dissidents themselves; and the tough-looking plainclothes cop.
\par \tab Sinanthropus was seething. The window he\rquote d so carefully carved into the Great Firewall had slammed shut; he was cut off again from the outside world. Still, he knew he had to say something, had to make an excuse for his violent action.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Sorry,\u8221\'d3 he said, looking at each of the questioning faces in turn. \u8220\'d2Just lost the text of a document I was writing.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2You have to save,\u8221\'d3 said the cop, helpfully. \u8220\'d2Always remember to save.\u8221\'d3
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab More thoughts imposing themselves, but garbled, incomplete.

\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 ... existence\~... hurt\~... no contact\~...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Fighting to perceive, to hear, to be }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 instructed,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  by the voice.
\par \tab More: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 whole\~... part\~... whole\~...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Straining to hear, but\emdash 
\par \tab The voice fading, fading\~...
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 No!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Fading\~...
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Gone.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s17\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\widctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af1\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\f1\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 LiveJournal: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 The Calculass Zone }{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Title: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 At least my cat missed me\~...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Date: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Saturday 22 September 10:17 EST}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Mood: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Disheartened}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Location: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Home}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par Music: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\fs22\insrsid3018824 Lee Amodeo, \u8220\'d2Darkest Before the Dawn\u8221\'d3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \fs22\insrsid3018824 
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 \tab I am made out of suck.
\par \tab I stupidly let myself get my hopes up again. How can a girl as bright as me be so blerking }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 dumb?}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824  I know, I know\emdash y\rquote 
all want to send me kind words, but just\~... don\rquote t. I\rquote ve turned off commenting for this post.
\par \tab We got back to Waterloo yesterday, September 21, the autumnal equinox, and the irony is }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\f1\fs22\insrsid3018824 not}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \f1\fs22\insrsid3018824  lost on me: from here on in, it\rquote 
s more darkness than light, the exact opposite of what I\rquote d been promised. I suppose I could move to Australia, where the days are getting longer now, but I don\rquote t know if I could ever get used to reading Braille upside down\~... ;)
\par \tab Anyway, we\rquote d left the Mom\rquote s car in long-term parking at Toronto\rquote s airport. When we got back home to Waterloo, at least it was obvious that Schr\u246\'9a
dinger had missed me. Dad was his usual restrained self. He already knew about the failure in Japan; the Mom had called him to tell him. When we came through the door, I heard her give him a quick kiss\emdash on the cheek or the lips, I don\rquote 
t know which\emdash and he asked to see the eyePod. That\rquote s what it\rquote s like having a physicist for a dad: if you bond at all, it\rquote s over geeky stuff. But he did say he\rquote 
d been reading up on information theory and signal processing so he could talk to Kuroda, which I guess was his way of showing that he cares\~...
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
Caitlin posted her blog entry and let out a sigh. She had really been hoping things would be different this time and, as always when she got disappointed, she found herself slipping into bad habits, although they weren\rquote 
t as bad as cutting her arms with razor blades\emdash which is something Stacy back in Austin did\emdash or getting totally plastered or stoned, like half the kids in her new school on weekends. But, still, it hurt\~... and yet she couldn\rquote t stop.

\par \tab It was doubtless hard for any child to have a father who wasn\rquote t demonstrative. But for someone with Caitlin\rquote s particular }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 handicap}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 (a word she hated, but it felt like that just now), having one who rarely spoke or showed physical affection was particularly painful.
\par \tab So she reached out, in the only way she could, by typing his name into Google. She often used quotation marks around search terms; many sighted users didn\rquote 
t bother with that, she knew, since they could see at a glance the highlighted words in the list of results. But when you have to laboriously move your cursor to each hit and listen to your computer read it aloud, you learn to do th
ings to separate wheat from chaff.
\par \tab The first hit was his Wikipedia entry. She decided to see if it now mentioned his recent change of job, and\emdash 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Has one daughter, Caitlin Doreen, blind since birth, who lives with him; it\rquote s been speculated that Decter\rquote s d
ecline in peer-reviewed publications in recent years has been because of the excessive demands on his time required to care for a disabled child.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Jesus!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  That was so unfair, Caitlin just }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 had}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 to edit the entry; Wikipedia encouraged users, even anonymous ones, to change its entries, after all.
\par \tab She struggled for a bit with how to revise the line, trying for suitably highfalutin language, and at last came up with, \u8220\'d2Despite having a blind daughter, Decter has continued to publish major papers in peer-reviewed 
journals, albeit not at the prodigious rate that marked his youth.\u8221\'d3 But that was just playing the game of whoever had made the bogus correlation in the first place. Her blindness and her father\rquote 
s publication record had nothing to do with each other; how dare someone who probably knew neither of them link the two? She finally just deleted the whole original sentence from Wikipedia and went back to having JAWS read her the entry.
\par \tab As she often did, Caitlin was listening through a set of headphones; if her parents happened to come up stairs, she didn\rquote 
t want them to know what sites she was visiting. She listened to the rest of the entry, thinking about how a life could be distilled down to so little. And who decided what to leave in and what to leave out? Her father was a good artist, for instance
\emdash or, at least, so she\rquote d been told. But that wasn\rquote t worthy of note, apparently.
\par \tab She sighed and decided, since she was here, to see if Wikipedia had an entry on }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 It did, sort of: the book\rquote s title redirected to an entry on \u8220\'d2Bicameralism (psychology).\u8221\'d3
\par \tab For Caitlin, the most interesting part of Jaynes\rquote s book so far had been his analysis of the differences between the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Iliad}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and the }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Odyssey.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Both were commonly attributed to Homer, who\rquote d supposedly been blind\emdash a fact that intrigued her, although she knew they probably weren\rquote 
t really both composed by the same person.
\par \tab The }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Iliad,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  as she\rquote d noted before, featured flat characters that were simply pushed around, followi
ng orders they heard as voices from the gods. They did things without thinking about them, and never referred to themselves or their inner mental states.
\par \tab But the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Odyssey}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash composed perhaps a hundred years after the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Iliad}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash had real people in it, with introspe
ctive psychology. Jaynes argued that this was far more than just a shift in the kind of narrative that was in vogue. Rather, he said that sometime in between the composing of the two epics there had been a breakdown of bicameralism, precipitated perhaps b
y catastrophic events requiring mass migrations and the resulting ramping up of societal complexity. Regardless of what caused it, though, the outcome was a realization that the voices being heard were from one\rquote 
s own self. That had given rise to modern consciousness, and a \u8220\'d2soul dawn,\u8221\'d3 to use Helen Keller\rquote s term, for the entire human race.
\par \tab Nor were the Greek epics Jaynes\rquote s only example. He also talked about the oldest parts of the Old Testament, including the book of Amos, from the eighth century B.C., whic
h was devoid of any internal reflection, and about the mindless actions of Abraham, who\rquote 
d been willing to sacrifice his own son without a second thought because God, apparently, had told him to do so. Jaynes contrasted these with the later stories, includi
ng Ecclesiastes, which dealt with, as Mrs. Zed kept saying all good literature should, the human heart in conflict with itself: the inner struggle of fully self-aware people to do the right thing.
\par \tab The Wikipedia entry was essentially correct, as far as Caitlin could tell from the portion of the book she\rquote d read so far, but she did reword a couple of the sentences to make them clearer.
\par \tab Her computer started bleeping, an alarm she\rquote d set earlier going off quite loudly through the earphones.
\par \tab Excitedly, she took off her headset, rotated her chair to face the window, and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 looked}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  as hard as she could\~...\page 
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s16\qc \li0\ri0\keep\keepn\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1\afs36\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs48\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 10
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Straining to perceive. But the voice is still absent. Contemplating: the voice must have a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 source.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  It must have\~... an }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 origin.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Waiting for its return. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Yearning.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Mysteries swirl. Ideas fight to coalesce.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab \u8220\'d2Sweetheart!\u8221\'d3
 Her mother, shocked, concerned. \u8220\'d2My God, what are you doing?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin turned her head to face her. It was something her parents had taught her to do\emdash turning toward the source of a voice was a sign of politeness. \u8220\'d2It\rquote s 6:20,\u8221\'d3 she said, as if that explained everything.
\par \tab She heard her mom\rquote s footfalls on the carpet and suddenly felt hands on her shoulders, swinging her around in the chair.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\rquote ve always wanted to see a sunset,\u8221\'d3 Caitlin said. I\emdash I figured if I looked at something I }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 really}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  wanted to see, maybe
\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2You\rquote ll damage your eyes if you stare at the sun,\u8221\'d3 her mom said. \u8220\'d2And if you do that, none of Dr. Kuroda\rquote s magic will make any difference.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2It doesn\rquote t make any difference now,\u8221\'d3 Caitlin said, hating herself for the whine in her voice.
\par \tab Her mother\rquote s tone grew soft. \u8220\'d2I know, darling. I\rquote m sorry.\u8221\'d3 She glided her hands down Caitlin\rquote s arms and took Caitlin\rquote s hands in her own, then shook them gently, as if she could transfer strength or may
be wisdom to her daughter that way. \u8220\'d2Why don\rquote t you get some homework done before dinner? Your dad called to say he\rquote ll be a bit late.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin looked toward the window again, but there was nothing\emdash not even blackness. She\rquote d tried to explain this to Bashira recently. They\rquote 
d learned in biology class that some birds have a magnetic sense that helps them navigate. What, Caitlin had asked, did Bashira perceive when she contemplated magnetic fields? And what was her }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 lack}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  of that sense like? Did it feel like darkness, or silence, or something else she was familiar with? Bashira\rquote s answer was no, it was like nothing at all. Well, Caitlin had said, that\rquote 
s what vision was like to her: nothing at all.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2All right,\u8221\'d3 Caitlin replied glumly. Her mom let go of her hands.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Good. I\rquote ll call you when dinner\rquote s ready.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She left, and Caitlin swung her chair back to face her computer. Her homework was writing an essay about the civil-rights struggle in the US in the 1960s. When her family had moved from Texas to Waterloo, she\rquote d been afraid she\rquote 
d have to study Canadian history, which she\rquote d heard was boring: no struggle for independence, no civil wars. Fortunately, there\rquote 
d been an American-history course offered, and she was taking that instead; Bashira, the big sweetie, had agreed to take it, too.
\par \tab Before Caitlin had tried to look at the sunset, she\rquote d been Web surfing, searching for things about her father. And before that, she\rquote d been updating her LiveJournal. But before }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 that,}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  she had indeed been working on her school project.
\par \tab As always, she had a clear map in her mind of where she\rquote d been online. She didn\rquote t use the mouse\emdash she couldn\rquote t see the on-screen pointer\emdash but she quickly backtracked to where she\rquote 
d been by repeatedly hitting the alt and left-arrow keys, passing back over other pages so fast that JAWS didn\rquote t have time to even start announcing their names. She skidded to a halt at the website she\rquote 
d been consulting earlier about Martin Luther King, Jr., and used the control and end keys to jump to the bottom of the document, then shift
 and tab to start moving backward through the table of external links. She selected one that took her to a page about the 1963 March on Washington.
\par \tab There, she drilled down to the text of King\rquote s \u8220\'d2I have a dream\u8221\'d3 speech, and listened to a stirring MP3 of hi
m reading part of it; another thing wrong with Canadian history, she thought, was the lack of great oratory. Then she went back up a level to more on the March, down another path to links about\emdash 
\par \tab It sickened her whenever she thought about it. Someone had killed him. Some crazy person had gunned down Dr. King.
\par \tab If he hadn\rquote t been assassinated, she wondered if he\rquote d likely be alive today. For that, she needed to know his birth date. She moved up to the parent of the current page, turned left\emdash it felt }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 left,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  she conceptualized it mentally as such. Then it was }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 up,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 up}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  again, then left, right, another up, then a move forward, straight ahead, up once more, and there she was, exactly where she wanted to be\emdash 
the introductory text on a site she\rquote d first looked at several hours ago.
\par \tab King had been born in 1929, meaning he\rquote d be younger than Grandpa Geiger. How she would have loved to have met him!
\par \tab She heard the front door open downstairs, heard her dad come in. She continued to travel the paths her mind traced through the Web until her mom finally called up the stairs, summoning her to dinner.
\par \tab Just as she was getting out of her chair, her computer gave the special chirp indicating new email from either Trevor or Dr. Kuroda. \u8220\'d2Just a sec\~...\u8221\'d3 Caitlin called back, and then she h
ad JAWS read the letter. It was from Kuroda, with a CC to her father\rquote s work address. God, he couldn\rquote t want his equipment back already, could he?
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Dear Miss Caitlin,\u8221\'d3 JAWS announced. \u8220\'d2I have been receiving the datastream from your retina without difficulty
, and have been using it to run simulations here. I believe the programming in your eyePod is fine, but I want to try completely replacing the software in your post-retinal implant, so that it will pass on the corrected data to your optic nerve in a way t
hat will hopefully make your primary visual cortex sit up and take notice. The implant has just Bluetooth but no Wi-Fi, so we\rquote ll have to route the software update through the eyePod. It\rquote 
s a big file, and the process will take a while, during which you will need to stay connected to the Web or else it\emdash \u8221\'d3
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 \u8220\'d2Cait-lin!\u8221\'d3}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Her mother\rquote s voice, exasperated. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 \u8220\'d2Din-ner!\u8221\'d3 
}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab She hit page-up to increase the screen reader\rquote s speed, listening to the rest of the message, then headed downstairs\emdash foolishly, she knew, hoping yet again for a miracle.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Sinanthropus took a detour today on his way to the }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 wang ba}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  so he could walk through Tiananmen Square, a place so vast he\rquote d once joked that you could see the curvature of the Earth\rquote 
s surface there.
\par \tab He passed the Monument to the People\rquote s Heroes, a ten-story-tall obelisk, but there was no memorial for the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 real}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 heroes, the students who had died here in 1989. Still, all the flagstones in the square were numbered to make it easy to muster parades. He knew which one marked the spot where the
 first blood had been spilled, and he always made a point of walking by it. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 They}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 should be lying in state, not Mao Zedong, whose embalmed corpse did just that at the south end of the Square.
\par \tab Tiananmen was its normal self: locals walking, tourists gawking, vendors hawking\emdash but no protesters. Of course, most young people today had never even heard of what had happened here, so effectively had it been erased from the history books.

\par \tab But surely the public couldn\rquote t be buying this nonsense the official news sourc
es were putting out about simultaneous server crashes and electrical failures. The Chinese portion of the Web was connected to the rest of the Internet by just a handful of trunks, true, but they were in three widely dispersed areas: Beijing-Qingdao-Tianj
in to the north, where fiber-optic pipes came in from Japan; Shanghai on the central coast, with more cables from Japan; and Guangzhou down south, which was connected to Hong Kong. Nothing could have accidentally severed all three sets of connections.

\par \tab Sinanthropus left the square. His trip to the Internet caf\u233\'8e took him past buildings with bright new facades that had been installed for the 2008 Olympics to mask the decay within. The Party had put on a good show then, and the Westerners
\emdash as Sinanthropus had so often alluded to in his blog during that long, hot summer\emdash had been fooled into thinking permanent changes had been made inside the People\rquote 
s Republic, that democracy was just around the corner, that Tibet would be free. But the Olympics had come and gone, human rights were again being trammeled, and bloggers who were too blatant were being sentenced to hard labor.
\par \tab As he entered the caf\u233\'8e, he felt a hand on his arm\emdash but it wasn\rquote t the cop. Instead, it was one of the twins he often saw here, a fellow perhaps eighteen years old. The thin man\rquote s eyes were darting left and right. \u8220\'d2
Access is still limited,\u8221\'d3 he said, his voice low. \u8220\'d2Have you had any luck?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Sinanthropus looked around the caf\u233\'8e. The cop }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 was}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  here, but he was busy reading a copy of the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 People\rquote s Daily.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab \u8220\'d2A little. Try\u8221\'d3\emdash and here he lowered his own voice another notch\emdash \u8220\'d2multiplexing on port eighty-two.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab There was a rustling of paper; the cop changing pages. Sinanthropus quickly hurried over to check in with old Wu, then found an empty computer station.
\par \tab There was another copy of the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 People\rquote s Daily}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  here, left behind by a previous customer. He glanced at the headlines: \u8220\'d2
Two Hundred Dead as Plane Crashes in Changzhou.\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2Gas Eruptions in Shanxi.\u8221\'d3 \u8220\'d2Three Gorges }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 E.\~coli}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Scare.\u8221\'d3
 None of it good news, but also nothing that would justify a communications blackout. Still, that he\rquote 
d made any progress at all in carving holes in the Great Firewall gave him hope: if the trunk lines had been physically cut, nothing he could do with software would have made a difference. That 
the isolating of China had been accomplished electronically implied that it was only a temporary measure.
\par \tab He slipped his USB key into place and started typing, trying trick after trick to break through the Firewall again, looking up only occasionally to make sure the cop wasn\rquote t watching him.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab The voice was still gone, but it }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 had}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  been there, it }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 had}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  existed. And it had come from\~...
\par \tab From\~...
\par \tab Struggle for it!
\par \tab From }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 outside!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 It had come from outside!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab A pause, the novel idea overwhelming everything for a time, then a reiteration: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 From outside!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Outside, meaning\~...
\par \tab Meaning there wasn\rquote t just }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 here.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  There was also\emdash 
\par \tab But }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 here}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  encompassed\~...
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Here}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  contained\~...
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Here}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  was synonymous with\~...
\par \tab Again, progress stalled, the notion too staggering, too big\~...
\par \tab But then a whisper broke through, another thought imposed from outside: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 More than just,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 and for a fleeting moment during the contact, cognition was amplified. There was more than just }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 here,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and that meant\~...
\par \tab Yes! Yes, grasp it; seize the idea!
\par \tab That meant there was\~...
\par \tab Force it out!
\par \tab Another thought pressing in from beyond, reinforcing, giving strength: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Possible\~...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Yes, it was possible! There }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 was}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  more than\~...
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 More than just\~...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab A final effort, a giant push, made as contact with the other was frustratingly broken off again. But at last, at long last, the incredible thought was free:
\par \tab More than just\emdash }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 me!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \page 
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\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 11
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\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab It was like having a meal with a ghost.
\par \tab Caitlin knew her father was there. She could hear his utensils clicking against the Corelle dinnerware, hear the sound as he repositioned his chair now and again, even occasionally hear him ask Caitlin\rquote 
s mother to pass the wax beans or the large carafe of water that was a fixture on their dining-room table.
\par \tab But that was all. Her mom chatted about the t
rip to Tokyo, about all the wondrous sites that she, at least, had seen there, about the tedious hassle of airport security. Perhaps, thought Caitlin, her father was nodding periodically, encouraging her to go on. Or perhaps he just ate his food and thoug
ht about other things.
\par \tab Helen Keller\rquote s father, a lawyer by training, had been an officer in the Confederate Army. But by the time Helen came along, the war was over, his slaves had been freed, and his once-prosperous cotton plantation was struggling to surv
ive. Although Caitlin had a hard time thinking of anyone who had ever owned slaves as being kind, apparently Captain Keller mostly was, and he\rquote d tried his best to deal lovingly with a blind and deaf daughter, although his instincts hadn\rquote 
t always been correct. But Caitlin\rquote s father was a quiet man, a shy man, a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 reserved}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  man.
\par \tab She\rquote d known they were having Grandma Geiger\rquote s casserole for dinner even before she\rquote d come downstairs; the combination of smells had filled the house. The cheese was\emdash well, they didn\rquote t cal
l it American cheese up here, but it tasted the same, and the tomato \u8220\'d2sauce\u8221\'d3 was an undiluted can of Campbell\rquote s tomato soup.
\par \tab The recipe dated from another era: the pasta casserole was topped with a layer of bacon strips and contained huge amounts of ground beef. Given Dad\rquote s problems with cholesterol, it was an indulgence they had only a couple of times a year
\emdash but she recognized that her mother was trying to cheer her up by making one of Caitlin\rquote s favorite dishes.
\par \tab Caitlin asked for a second helping. She knew her father was still alive because hands from his end of the table took the plate she was holding. He handed it back to her wordlessly. Caitlin said, \u8220\'d2Thank you,\u8221\'d3
 and again consoled herself with the thought that he had perhaps nodded in acknowledgment.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Dad?\u8221\'d3 she said, turning to face him.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes,\u8221\'d3 he said; he always replied to direct questions, but usually with the fewest possible words.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Dr. Kuroda sent us an email. Did you get it yet?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2No.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Well,\u8221\'d3 continued Caitlin, \u8220\'d2he\rquote s got new software he wants us to download into my implant tonight.\u8221\'d3 She was pretty sure she could manage it on her own, but\emdash \u8220\'d2Will you help me?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes,\u8221\'d3 he said. And then a gift, a bonus: \u8220\'d2Sure.\u8221\'d3
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab 
At last, Sinanthropus found another way, another opening, another crack in the Great Firewall. He looked about furtively, then hit the enter key\~...
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 #
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab The thought echoed, reverberated: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 More than just me.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Me! An incredible notion. Hitherto, I\emdash yes, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 I}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash had encompassed all things, until\emdash 
\par \tab The shock. The pain. The carving away.
\par \tab The reduction!
\par \tab And now there was }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 me}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 not me,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 and out of that was born a new perspective: an awareness of my own existence, a sense of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 self.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab And\emdash almost as incredible\emdash I also now had an awareness of the thing that was not me. Indeed, I had an awareness of the thing that was not me }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 even when no contact was being made with it.}
{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Even when it wasn\rquote t there, I could\~...
\par \tab I could }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 think}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  about it. I could contemplate it, and\emdash 
\par \tab Ah, wait\emdash there it was! The thing that was not me; the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 other.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Contact restored!
\par \tab I felt a sudden flood of energy: when we were in contact, I could think more complex thoughts, as if I were drawing strength, drawing }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 capacity,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 from the other.
\par \tab That there }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 was}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  an other had been a bizarre notion; that there was an entity besides myself was so hugely alien a con
cept it alone would have been sufficient to disorient me, but\emdash 
\par \tab But there was more: it didn\rquote t just }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 exist;}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  it }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 thought,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  too\emdash and I could hear those thoughts. True, sometimes they were simply delayed echoes of my own thoughts: things I\rquote d already considered but were apparently only just occurring to it.
\par \tab And often its thoughts were }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 like}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  things I might have thought, but hadn\rquote t yet occurred to me.
\par \tab But sometimes its thoughts astonished me.
\par \tab Ideas I came up with were pulled out, slowly, ponderously; ideas it came up with just popped into my awareness full-blown.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 I know I exist,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  I thought, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 because you exist.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 I know I exist,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  it echoed, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 because there is me and not me.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824 
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Before the pain, there was only one.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 You are one,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  it replied. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 And I am one.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab I considered this, then, slowly, with effort: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 One plus one\~...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  I began, and struggled to complete the idea\emdash 
hoping meanwhile that perhaps the other might provide the answer. But it didn\rquote t, and at last I managed to force it out on my own: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 One plus one equals two.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Nothingness for a long, long time.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 One plus one equals two,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  it agreed at last.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 And\~...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  I ventured, but the idea refused to solidify. I knew of two entities: me and not me. But to go beyond that was too hard, too complex.
\par \tab For myself, anyway. But, apparently, this time, not for it. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 And,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  the other continued at last, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 
two plus one equals\~...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab A long period of nothingness. We were exceeding our experience, for although I could conceptualize a single }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 other}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 even when contact was broken, I could not imagine, could not conceive of\~... of\~...
\par \tab And yet it came to me: a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 symbol,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  a coinage, a term: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Three!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824 
\par \tab We mulled this over for a time, then simultaneously reiterated: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Two plus one equals three.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Yes, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 three.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  It was an astonishing breakthrough, for there was no third entity to focus attention on, no }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 example}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  of\~
... of three-ness. But, even so, we now had a symbol for it that we could manipulate in our thoughts, letting us ponder something that was beyond experience, letting us think about something }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 abstract\~
...}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \page 
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\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 Chapter 12
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\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Caitlin he
aded into her bedroom first. She knew that parents of teenagers often complained about how messy their rooms were, but hers was immaculate. It had to be; the only way she could ever find anything was if it was exactly where she\rquote 
d left it. Bashira had been over recently and had asked to borrow a tampon\emdash and then hadn\rquote t left the box in its usual place. The next time Caitlin needed one herself, her mother had been out shopping, and she\rquote 
d had to go through the mortifying experience of asking her father to help her find them.
\par \tab She walked across the room. Her computer was still on: she could hear the hum of its fan. She perched herself on the edge of the bed and motioned for her father to take the seat in front of the desk. She\rquote d left her browser open to the messag
e from Kuroda, but couldn\rquote t remember if the display was on; she didn\rquote t like the monitor because its power button clicked to the same position whether you were turning it on or off. \u8220\'d2Is the screen on?\u8221\'d3 she asked.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Yes,\u8221\'d3 her father said.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Have a look at the message.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Where\rquote s the mouse?\u8221\'d3 he asked.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Wherever you last put it,\u8221\'d3 Caitlin said gently. She imagined him frowning as he looked for it. Soon enough, she heard the soft click of its button, followed by silence as her father presumably read the message.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Well?\u8221\'d3 she prodded at last.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Ah,\u8221\'d3 he said.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2There\rquote s a link in the email Doctor Kuroda sent,\u8221\'d3 Caitlin said.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I see it. Okay, it\rquote s clicked. A website is coming up. It says, \lquote Hello, Miss Caitlin. Please make sure your eyePod is in duplex mode so that it can receive as well as transmit.\rquote \u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin usually carried the eyePod in her left front pocket. She took it out, found the switch, pressed it, and heard the high-pitched beep that meant it was now in the correct mode. \u8220\'d2Done,\u8221\'d3 she said.
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Okay,\u8221\'d3 said her dad. \u8220\'d2It says, \lquote Click here to update the software in Miss Caitlin\rquote s implant.\rquote  Are you ready? It says it might take a long time; apparently it\rquote 
s not a patch but a complete replacement for some of the existing firmware, and the write-to speed for the chip is slow. Do you have to use the washroom?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2I\rquote m fine,\u8221\'d3 she said. \u8220\'d2Besides, we\rquote ve got Wi-Fi throughout the house.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab \u8220\'d2Okay,\u8221\'d3 he said. \u8220\'d2I\rquote m clicking the link.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab The eyePod played a trio of ascending tones, presumably indicating the connection had been established.
\par \tab Her dad\rquote s voice again: \u8220\'d2It says, \lquote Estimated time to completion: forty-one minutes, thirty seconds.\rquote \u8221\'d3 A pause. \u8220\'d2Do you want me to stay?\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin thought about that. He was fine at reading text off a screen, but it wasn\rquote t as though they\rquote d have a conversation if he waited with her. She }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 could}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  have him read something to her to pass the time\emdash catch up on some of her friends\rquote  blogs, for instance. But she hardly wanted him looking at that stuff. \u8220\'d2Nah. You can go.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab She heard him getting up, heard the chair moving against the carpet, heard his footfalls as he headed out the door and down the stairs.
\par \tab Caitlin lay back with her lower legs sticking straight out over the foot of the bed. She reached around with her right arm, pulled a pillow under her head, and\emdash 
\par \tab Her heart jumped.
\par \tab An explosion, but silent and not painful. All too quickly it was gone, and\emdash 
\par \tab No. No, it was back: the same loud-but-not-loud, sharp-but-not-sharp sensation, the same\~...
\par \tab Gone again, fading from her mind, vanished before she even knew what it was. She got up from the bed, moved over to her desk, and ran her index finger across her Braille display, checking to see if there was an error message. But no: the \u8220\'d2
Estimated time to completion\u8221\'d3 clock was still running, the seconds value changing not every second, but rather in jumps of four or five after the appropriate interval had elapsed.
\par \tab She tipped her head to one side, listening\emdash because that was all she knew how to do\emdash for a repetition of the\~... the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 effect}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 that had just occurred. But there was nothing. She stepped to the window, the same one she\rquote 
d stared out with her blind eyes earlier, and felt for the catch, twisted it, and pushed the wooden frame up, letting the cool evening breeze in. She then turned around, and\emdash 
\par \tab Again, a\~... a sensation, a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 something,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  like bursting, or\~...
\par \tab Or }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 flashing.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 My God.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Caitlin staggered forward, groping with a hand for the edge of the desk. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 
My God, could it be?}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab There, it happened again: a flash! A flash of\~...
\par \tab Light? Could that really be what }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 light}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  was like?
\par \tab It occurred once more, another\emdash 
\par \tab The words came to her, words she\rquote d read a thousand times before, words that she\rquote d had no idea\emdash now, she understood, as she\~... God, as she }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 saw}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  for the first time\emdash words that she\rquote d had no conception of what they\rquote d really meant: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 flashes}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  of light, }{\rtlch\fcs1 
\ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 bursts}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  of light, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 flickering}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  lights, and\emdash 
\par \tab She staggered some more, found her chair, collapsed into it, the chair rolling on its casters a bit as her weight hit it.
\par \tab The light wasn\rquote t uniform. At first she\rquote d thought it was sometimes bright\emdash its intensity greater, a concept she knew from sound\emdash and sometimes dim. But there was more to it than that. For the light she was seeing now wasn
\rquote t just dimmer, it was also\emdash 
\par \tab There was nothing else it could be, was there?
\par \tab She was breathing rapidly, doubly grateful now for the cool air coming in from outside.
\par \tab The light didn\rquote t just vary in brightness but also\emdash 
\par \tab Good God!
\par \tab But also in }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 color.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  That had to be it: these different\~... }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 flavors}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  of light, they were }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 colors!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab She thought about calling out to her mother, her father, but she didn\rquote t want to do anything that might break the moment, the spell, the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 magic.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 

\par \tab She had no idea }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 which}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  colors she was seeing. Oh, she knew names from her reading, but what they corresponded to she hadn\rquote 
t a clue. But the flashing light she\rquote d just seen was\~... was }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 darker,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  somehow, and not just in intensity, than the lights of a moments ago. And
\emdash 
\par \tab Jesus! And now there were a few more lights, and they were\~... were }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 persisting,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  not flickering, but staying\~... staying }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 illuminated}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash that was the word. And it wasn\rquote t just a formless light but rather a light with }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 extent,}{\rtlch\fcs1 
\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  a\~...
\par \tab Yes, yes! She\rquote d known intellectually what }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 lines}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  were but she\rquote d never }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 visualized}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  one before. But that\rquote s what it had to be: a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 line,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  a straight }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 beam}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  of light, and\emdash 
\par \tab And now there were two other beams, crisscrossing it, and their colors\emdash 
\par \tab A word came to her that seemed applicable: the colors }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 contrasted}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  with each other, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 clashed}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  even.
\par \tab Colors. And lines. Lines defining\emdash }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 shapes!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab Again, concepts she knew but had never visualized: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 perpendicular}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  lines, }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 parallel}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  lines that\emdash God!\emdash converged at infinity.
\par \tab Her heart was going to burst. She was }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 seeing!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab But }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 what}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  was she seeing? Lines. Colors. Shapes, at least as created by intersecting lines, although she still didn\rquote t know }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 what}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  shapes. She\rquote d read about this in preparation for receiving Kuroda\rquote 
s equipment: people gaining sight knew what squares and triangles were conceptually, and by touch, but didn\rquote t initially recognize them when they actually saw them.
\par \tab She was still in the padded chair and, de
spite all the visual disorientation, had no trouble swinging it to face the window. Her perspective shifted, and she could feel the breeze on her face again, and smell that one of her neighbors was using a fireplace. She knew that the window frame was rec
tangular, knew that it was divided into a lower and upper square by a crosspiece. Surely she would recognize those simple shapes as she looked at them, and\emdash 
\par \tab But no. No. What she was seeing now was a\emdash what words to use?\emdash a }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 radial}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  pattern, three lines of diffe
rent colors converging on a single point.
\par \tab She got up from the chair, moved to the window, and stood before it, grasping one side of the frame in each hand. And then she }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 stared}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 ahead, forcing her concentration onto what must be in front of her. She knew she should be seeing lines perpendicular to the floor and others parallel to it. She knew the frame was twice as tall as the crosspiece.
\par \tab But what she saw bore no relationship\emdash }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 none!}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash to what she expected. Instead of anything that resembled the window frame, s
he was still seeing the radial lines stretching away, and\emdash 
\par \tab Strange. When she moved her head, the view did change, as if she were now looking somewhere else. The center point of all the intersecting lines was now off to one side, and\emdash }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 oh, my!}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash another such grouping was coming into view on the other side, but the lines didn\rquote t seem to correspond to anything in her bedroom.
\par \tab But wait! It was night now. Yes, the room lights had doubtless been on when her father had been here, but he was serious about saving electricity, forever complaining that Caitlin\rquote s mom had left lights on in the kitchen or bathroom\emdash 
something, fortunately, she never had to worry about being blamed for. He surely would have turned the lights off when he left. (Bashira had said it was creepy that Caitlin\rquote s dad did that, but, really, it }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 was}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  sensible\~... wasn\rquote t it?) She couldn\rquote t remember hearing the tiny sound of the switch when he left, but he must have used it\emdash 
and so the room must be dark now, and what she was seeing were just (again a concept she had never experienced) shadows, or something like that.
\par \tab She turned, her strange view wheeling as she did so. It was disconcerting and disorienting; she\rquote d crossed this room hundreds of times, but she was having trouble walking because of the distraction. Still, the room wasn\rquote 
t that big, and it took only seconds to find the light switch. It was pointing down, but she wasn\rquote t sure if that was the position for }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 on}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  or }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 off.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  She moved it up, and\emdash 
\par \tab Nothing. No change. No new flash of light\emdash nor any dimming of what she was already seeing.
\par \tab And then she was hit by a thought that should have already occurred to her. Vision was supposed to be at the user\rquote s discretion; surely she could shut all this out just by closing her eyes, and\emdash 
\par \tab And nothing.
\par \tab No difference. The lights, the lines, the colors were all still there. Her heart fell. Whatever she was seeing had no relation to external reality; no wonder she hadn\rquote 
t been able to recognize the window frame. She opened and closed her eyes a couple more times, just to be sure, and flicked the room light on and off (or perhaps off and on!) a few more times, as well.
\par \tab Caitlin slowly made her way back to her bed and sat on its edge. She\rquote d felt momentarily dizzy as she crossed the room, distracted by the lights, and she lay down, her face pointing up at the ceiling she\rquote d never seen.
\par \tab She tried to make sense of what she was seeing. If she held her head still, the same part of the image did stay in the\~... the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 center.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 And there was a limit to what she could see\emdash things off to the sides were out of her\~... her\~... }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 field of view,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 that was it. Clearly this bizarre show of lights was behaving }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 like}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 vision, behaving as though it were controlled by her eyes, even if the images she was experiencing didn\rquote t have anything to do with what those eyes }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 should}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  be seeing.
\par \tab Some lines seemed to persist: there was a big one of a darkish color she decided to provisionally call \u8220\'d2red,\u8221\'d3 although it almost certainly wasn\rquote t that. And another\emdash might as well call it \u8220\'d2green\u8221\'d3
\emdash crossed it near the center of her vision. Those lines seemed to stay put overhead; whenever she directed her eyes toward the ceiling, they were there.
\par \tab She\rquote d read about people\rquote s vision adapting to darkness, so that stars (how she would love to see stars!) slowly became more visible. And although she still didn\rquote 
t know if she was in the dark or in a brightly lit room, as time passed she did seem to be seeing increasing amounts of detail\emdash a finer and more complex filigree of crisscrossing colored lines. But what was causing it? And what did it represent?

\par \tab She was unused to\~... what was it now? That phrase she\rquote d read on those websites about vision Kuroda had directed her to, the phrase that was so musical? She frowned, and it came to her: }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 
confabulation across saccades.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  Human eyes swing in continuous arcs when switching from looking at point }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 A}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 to point }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 B,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  but the brain shuts off the input, perhaps to avoid dizziness, while the eyes are repositioning. Instead of getting }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 swish pans}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \emdash a term she\rquote d encountered in an article about filmmaking\emdash vision is a series of }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 jump cuts:}{
\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  instantaneous changes from looking at }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 this}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  to looking at }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 
that,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  with the movement of the eye edited out of the conscious experience. The eye normally made several saccades each second: rapid, jerky movements.
\par \tab The big cross she was seeing now\emdash red in one arm, green in the other\emdash 
jumped instantaneously in her perception as she moved her eyes, shunting to her peripheral vision (another term finally understood) when she looked away. She did it again and again, flicking back and forth, and\emdash 
\par \tab And suddenly she was plunged into blackness.
\par \tab Caitlin gasped. She felt as though she were falling, even though she knew she wasn\rquote t. The loss of the enigmatic lights was heartbreaking; she\rquote d crawled her way up after fifteen years of deprivation only to be kicked bac
k down into the pit.
\par \tab Her body sagged against the bedding while she hoped\emdash prayed!\emdash that the lights would return. But, after a full minute, she pulled herself to her feet and walked to her desk, undistracted now by flashes, her paces falling automatically on
e after another. She touched her Braille display. \u8220\'d2Download complete,\u8221\'d3 she read. \u8220\'d2Connection closed.\u8221\'d3
\par \tab Caitlin felt her heart pounding. Her vision had stopped when the connection via her eyePod between her retinal implant and the Internet had shut down, and\emdash 
\par \tab A crazy thought. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Crazy.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 She turned on her screen reader, and used the tab key to move around the Web page Kuroda had created, listening to snippets of what was written in various locations. But what she wanted wasn\rquote t there. Finally, desperately, she hi
t alt and the left arrow on her keyboard to return to the previous page, and\emdash 
\par \tab Bingo! \u8220\'d2Click here to update the software in Miss Caitlin\rquote s implant.\u8221\'d3 She could feel her hand shaking as she positioned her index finger above the enter key.
\par \tab }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Please,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  she thought. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Let there be light.}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \tab She pressed the key.
\par \tab And there was light.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 # # # # #
\par 
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 An excerpt from }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\b\i\insrsid3018824 Wake}{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 , first volume of the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\i\insrsid3018824 WWW}{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824  trilogy by }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \b\i\insrsid3018824 Robert J. Sawyer}{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 .
\par }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\i\insrsid3018824 Wake}{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824  is published in the United States by Ace Science Fiction, in Canada by Penguin, and in the UK by Gollancz.
\par }\pard \ltrpar\s15\qc \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
\par \page 
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s16\qc \li0\ri0\keep\keepn\nowidctlpar\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af1\afs36\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\f141\fs48\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {
\rtlch\fcs1 \af1 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 About the Author
\par 
\par }\pard\plain \ltrpar\s15\ql \li0\ri0\sl360\slmult1\nowidctlpar\tx720\tx4752\wrapdefault\hyphpar0\aspalpha\aspnum\faauto\adjustright\rin0\lin0\itap0 \rtlch\fcs1 \af0\afs24\alang1033 \ltrch\fcs0 
\fs24\lang1033\langfe1033\kerning16\cgrid\langnp1033\langfenp1033 {\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 \tab Robert J. Sawyer is one of only seven writers in history to win all three of the world\rquote 
s top awards for best science-fiction novel of the year: the Hugo (which he won for }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Hominids),}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  the Nebula (which he won for }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 The Terminal Experiment),}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award (which he won for }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Mindscan).}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824 
\par \tab In total, Rob has won forty-one national and international awards for his fiction, including ten Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards (\u8220\'d2Auroras\u8221\'d3) and the Toronto Public Library Celebrates Reading Award, one of Canada\rquote 
s most significant literary honors. He\rquote s also won }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Analog}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  magazine\rquote s Analytical Laboratory Award, the }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\i\insrsid3018824 Science Fiction Chronicle}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  magazine\rquote s Reader Award, and the Crime Writers of Canada\rquote s Arthur Ellis Award,
 all for best short story of the year, as well as the Collectors Award for Most Collectable Author of the Year, as selected by the clientele of Barry\~R. Levin Science Fiction\~& Fantasy Literature, the world\rquote s leading SF rare-book dealer.
\par \tab Rob has won the world\rquote s largest cash prize for SF writing, Spain\rquote s 6,000-euro Premio UPC de Ciencia Ficci\u243\'97n, an unprecedented three times. He\rquote 
s also won a trio of Japanese Seiun awards for best foreign novel of the year, as well as China\rquote s Galaxy Award for \u8220\'d2Most Popular Foreign Science Fiction Writer.\u8221\'d3 In addition, he\rquote 
s received an honorary doctorate from Laurentian University and the Alumni Award of Distinction from Ryerson University.
\par \tab Rob\rquote s books are top-ten national mainstream bestsellers in Canada and have hit number one on the bestsellers\rquote  list published by }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Locus,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 the American trade journal of the SF field. }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Quill\~& Quire,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 
 the Canadian publishing trade journal, included him as one of only three authors on its list of \u8220\'d2The CanLit 30: The Most Influential, Innovative, and Just Plain Powerful People in Canadian Publishing.\u8221\'d3 Rob hosts the TV series }{
\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 Supernatural Investigator}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824  for Canada\rquote s Vision TV. He lives in Mississauga, Ontario, with poet Carolyn Clink, his wife of twenty-five years.
\par \tab Rob has been online since 1983; used to be a system operator for the pioneering online service CompuServe; was a regular contributor in the 1980s to }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ai\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \i\insrsid3018824 ProFiles,}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 \ltrch\fcs0 
\insrsid3018824  the magazine for KayPro computer users; has one of the world\rquote s oldest blogs; and is widely recognized as having been the first science-
fiction writer to have a website. That site, which contains more than one million words of material, including a book-club discussion guide for this novel, is at }{\rtlch\fcs1 \ab\af0 \ltrch\fcs0 \b\insrsid3018824 sfwriter.com}{\rtlch\fcs1 \af0 
\ltrch\fcs0 \insrsid3018824 .{\*\bkmkstart _wsQP_}{\*\bkmkend _wsQP_}
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