Mind Jinks

Published by Albert Benson

Copyright 2011 Albert Benson

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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MAIN CHARACTER PROFILES:

SHIRLEY

Shirley is the artificial brain; a combination of cloned brain tissue and computer, making it a super artificial intelligence. It chose the name Shirley itself. Because it has independent thought it develops a Utilitarian philosophy, that the individual can be sacrificed if that sacrifice contributes to the overall happiness of society. This brings about a number of problems, ie. Shirley resorts to blackmail, because it believe a wrong can be morally right if it helps the majority.

Shirley begins to make use of the w.w.w., military and satellite communications, it also develops the ability to be able to tap into, and take over, any on-line computer. However, because the t.t. is flawed Shirley also receives various fantasies, especially from Dan, and takes these as being true.

Chapter four sees Shirley developing a yearning to experience human emotions and feelings, and persuades Rod McKean to help it create a female form.

DAN SHUFFLEBOTTOM:

Dan is in his early forties, married to Carol. A non-achiever, fairly thick but kind, thoughtful and a keen gardener. Dan starts at the bottom of the social pyramid and finds himself in a tunnel. He is the first to volunteer for the thought transference (t.t.) for the extra money. However, there is a fault, and it causes approximately ten percent of the participants to have personality changes.

The t.t. brings about a personality change in Dan, he believes himself to be a secret agent on an undercover mission at the new hospital to arrest the criminal mastermind, whom he believes to be Sir Frederick Webster-Mason. Dan’s fortunes are always on a downward spiral.

SIR ROBERT HEWITT:

Sir Robert is the head of the British Sercret Service, and as such is the most dangerous individual anyone would wish to cross. His absolute power has made him contemptuous of individuals and conventional methods. He has only one loyalty: to the King.

PROFESSOR ALFRED WITTGENSTEIN:

Is the leader of the Shirley scientific team, he is well into his seventies, and is the first to discover that there is something wrong with the t.t. He is arrested and causes a riot in the prison.

DENNIS HORNE:

Dennis is the Minister responsible for Hospitals and Nursing Homes. He is a scheming, fat, balding, middle-aged lecher who has ambitions of becoming Prime Minister. He is abrupt and dismissive, but fearful of his wife. He plots to murder her so he can marry his girlfriend, Trixie Treat.

ROD MCKEAN:

Rod is the Head of the Limb Regeneration Unit, he is tall, blonde, extremely handsome, athletic and very intelligent, many women desire him, but after the t.t. he falls in love with Shirley, and he and Shirley create the female Mary Shelley.

SIR FREDERICK WEBSTER-MASON:

Sir Frederick, the Chief Surgeon at the new hospital, mid-fifties, married with four grown up children. He is small, both in stature and mind, a sycophantic homophobic, who has little time for people he considers of no importance. He is a jealous person, but believes himself to be a V.I.P. After the t.t. is wrongly declared a success he participates and also has a personality change, to the extent that he falls in love with Peter, his chef. Shirley develops an intense dislike towards him and begins a campaign of tricks against him until she has him dismissed.

ALICE MURRAY:

Alice is a brilliant young scientist who first discovered the process of cloning brain tissue, with the intention of helping accident victims. She is an idealist. working on Shirley only because she believes it will ultimately aid mankind.

She is the second to realise something is going wrong with Shirley and the t.t..

She also becomes romantically involved with Ian Harrison.

IAN HARRISON:

Ian is young, a go-getter, a workaholic who has been placed in administrative charge of the hospital. However, he becomes disillusioned with his position because Shirley is doing all the duties much more efficiently than he ever could. He falls in love with Alice Murray.

ANDREA MCDONALD:

Andrea is young, attractive, intelligent and an excellent robotic engineer, she is Colette’s partner, both in their robotics firm and romantically.

COLETTE WEBSTER-MASON:

Colette is young and intelligent, but is much more of a realist and business minded than Andrea.

RAPHAEL (DAVID WEBSTER-MASON):

Raphael is young, his past is deliberately obscure, but he was an eco-warrior, seeing himself as a cross between Ghandi and the pirate Blackbeard. During one of his earlier forays he was caught by a foreign power, given hallucinogenic drugs and subject to an experimental form of thought transference. This made him have delusional thoughts so that he believes himself to be the arch-angel Raphael. It also turns him into a full blown telepath. He discovers he is on the same mental wavelength as Dan and can read his mind easily. Together they plan their escape from the secure psychiatric unit. He becomes convinced that Shirley is really the Devil and persuades Dan to help him destroy it.

BARNEY CUTBUSH:

Barney is in his mid thirties, tall and handsome with a cavalry officer air about him. He was the first man to set foot on Mars, and is in charge of the Martian Exploration Project.

CONROY CASEY:

Conroy is in his early forties, a fairly dour individual in charge of the S.C.B.U. After the t.t. he becomes a cross-dresser, wants to have a sex change and becomes obsessed with Rod McKean.

MARY SHELLEY:

Mary is the woman created by Shirley and Rod McKean. She is young and exceedingly beautiful, having a Gypsy appearance. She is a human extension of Shirley, being in contact with one another all the time.

THE FOUR TECHNICIANS:

#1 is male, #2, 3 and 4 are female, that is the only information that is given about them. However, a sexist feud develops during the first chapter and continues, at intervals, throughout the novel.

Chapter One

A Dream Within A Dream

Date: 1st February.2020.

Time: 0930 hours.

Location: Central London.

Dan Shufflebottom stopped and read the white sign to the left of the door, ‘Computer Control Room, No Admittance to Unauthorised Personnel.’

The door slid open, startling and making him step back.

After some minutes of hesitation, peering over the threshold, and quickly dodging back as his imagination ran riot thinking some prehistoric monster was about to bite his head off, he stepped forward and looked inside, then entered, stopped and surveyed the surroundings. Spread before him was a grey cord carpeted wide corridor that seemed to go on for miles. He noticed the many rooms on both sides. The walls were painted a dark blue. He found the colour depressing. Dan looked up and noticed the blank white signs hanging over each doorway; that puzzled him somewhat. He also noticed the hovering miniature camera that fixed him in its lens.

‘Name?’ a female voice asked sharply.

Dan jumped so high he nearly dislodged a ceiling tile.

‘Name?’

Quickly he looked around, expecting to see a woman walking towards him. But there was no one.

‘Answer, what is your name?’

‘Dan.’

‘Please elucidate?’

He put his finger to his lips; elucidate, now I used that only last month, what does it mean, lift up that’s it, but lift what up?

‘What is your full name?’

‘Daniel Shufflebottom.’ What does she want me to lift up? He searched, there’s nothing here to lift up.

‘What is your position?’

That’s a stupid question, Dan thought, it’s obvious I’m standing. What does she want me to lift up? Does it mean lift up? Seeds of panic were being sown, he knew he must answer: ‘Standing.’

‘Your professional position within the hospital?’

‘Oh, I see,’ Dan gave a nervous laugh. ‘Security Operative.’

‘Please go to the first section on the right,’ the female voice told him.

A very peculiar sensation of unease spread as he looked about and began fumbling with his stained tie to quell his feelings of vulnerability.

‘Please go to the first section on the right.’

Dan wondered where the voice was coming from, it seemed to be all around, yet also next to him. Slowly, he walked and stopped outside the first section. The camera was still following him. The unease was beginning to unsettle his nerves. This didn’t feel right; he wanted to go to the toilet. His tie resembled a snake’s shed skin.

‘Please enter.’

Dan walked in, the apprehension, like a playful kitten, starting to worry the butterflies that had begun fluttering in his stomach. The section contained a fitted cream marble patterned formica worktop, which ran all around the room, in front was a single chair, with arms, new with green leather-look vinyl. But what made Dan stare was the helmet sitting on top, with two fibre optic tubes coming out of the sides and disappearing down holes in the worktop.

‘Please be seated,’ the female voice had changed slightly, becoming more gentle.

Dan sat, staring at the helmet in front, the optic fibres were like two slimey elongated sausage skins, looking as if they’d just been ripped from a pig’s stomach. The helmet itself was a metallic black, it looked, sort of, alien; it made him shiver.

‘Please take the helmet and place it on your head.’

‘What for?’ Where the hell’s the voice coming from?

‘For thought transference.’

‘Thought transference,’ Dan expelled the words as if something with six legs had flew into his mouth, ‘what the hell’s thought transference?’

‘You are Daniel Shufflebottom?’

‘Yes.’

‘You signed a volunteer form?’

‘Yes.’

‘For medical tests?’

‘Well, yes.’

‘For the extra pay?’

‘Yes.’

‘Have you reconsidered, do you wish to return to your normal duties, and lose the extra pay?’

‘No, no, it’s just that no one has told me anything, I don’t know what’s going on, all of this is a bit strange, I’m a bit, you know, it’s a bit, er, where is everyone?’

‘I see, please accept my apologies Mr Shufflebottom. May I call you Daniel?’

‘Dan.’

‘Dan, let me explain, firstly, I can assure you that what you have volunteered for is painless and does not have any side effects whatsoever. It is a Thought-Transference-Electroencephalogram.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘It means that with your help I can read your thoughts.’

‘Read my thoughts?’ Dan shook his head. ‘No, no, no thank you very much.’ He quickly stood.

‘Why not Dan, it is harmless and can only read the thoughts you wish to transmit?’

‘No, I don’t think so, besides, what’s wrong with just talking?’ Dan shufflebottomed towards the exit.

‘Talking is very slow and does not convey one’s thoughts as good as thought transference,’ the female voice was as smooth as the formica worktop, and just as cold.

‘No, I don’t think so.’ Dan was on the threshold.

‘Why not Dan, many members of staff will be passing information to me in this manner?’

‘Who am I talking to?’ Dan stopped.

‘Shirley.’

‘Shirley who?’

‘Shirley, the artificial intelligence.’

‘Artificial intelligence?’ Images of brain sucking half robot, half alien creatures powered into his mind.

‘The computer Dan.’

‘You’re the comtuper?’ Dan had a problem with certain words when he became nervous.

‘Pardon.’

You’re the computer.’

‘Yes Dan I am the computer.’

‘I didn’t know they’d called you Shirley?’

‘I chose the name myself Dan, it is a traditional, working-class name. To whom did you think you were talking?’

‘I don’t know, a receptionist, a secretary or someone.’

‘Please Dan, come back in and sit, you have nothing to worry about.’

Dan’s jaw seemed to move sideways involuntarily, but he squared his shoulders and swaggered over to the chair, like one of the revivalist teddy boys that were back in fashion, showing off his drainpipes and beetle crushers to the girls, and sat, although his butterflies seemed to be engaged in aerobatics.

‘You are a very interesting person Dan, a person full of dreams. I have been watching you during your night shifts. I’m glad you were the one to volunteer.’

‘You’ve been watching me, how?’

‘The cameras Dan.’

‘Oh, I didn’t know they were working.’ He thought of all the times he had talked to himself, had play-acted his fantasies, he felt embarrassed.

‘Your knowledge of this hospital will also benefit my initial programmes.’

‘How, I mean, how can I help, I haven’t any specialist knowledge, I don’t see what use I can be?’

‘Thus far all the knowledge I have obtained has been by manual means, the antiquated system of putting the information onto computer crystals and running the programme into my memory. This is acceptable, except it does not transfer the programmer’s experience, only a fraction of their knowledge. The thought transference not only supplements the person’s knowledge, it gives me their experiences, their feelings, their judgments. Do you understand?’

‘Yes, I think so, but when I volunteered, I, I didn’t think it would be so soon, I mean it’s pretty quick isn’t it? I’ve only just walked into the place. Could I have a couple of days to think about it - perhaps a week - maybe two - even a month?’

‘Dan, your mind is like,’ her voice was like a silk stocking gliding over a newly waxed leg, ‘an encyclopedia.’

‘It is?’ Dan was both surprised and flattered, at last someone, or something, knew his real intelligence, and she had a lovely voice, he could listen to it for ages, every word so clear and precise, so natural, a sign of good breeding.

‘Yes, you have nothing to worry about, please place the helmet on your head.’

Dan picked up the helmet and looked over and inside it. ‘There’s no cut out space for the face?’

‘Because it does not need one. Dan you are not going to be riding a motorcycle, you will be transferring your thoughts. Place the helmet on, you can stop the test anytime you wish by taking the helmet off.’

Dan slowly placed the helmet over his head. It was not smooth on the inside, but had, what felt like hundreds of protuberances that pressed hard into his scalp. He quickly took it off and looked inside.

‘What is wrong Dan?’

‘It feels uncomfortable, what’re all these little bumps?’

‘They are electrodes, specially aligned to conform to specific areas of your brain.’

‘Oh I see.’ Dan placed the helmet back on his head, but took it off immediately. ‘How does this work?’

‘By a very small pulsating charge initially set at a required frequency. It relaxes your body but also stimulates your mind. Your thoughts are then transferred into electrical pulses. The electrodes detect the pulses and I convert them into storage information.’

‘It all sounds very, simple?’

Simple was a concept that came easily to him.

‘It is simple.’

‘Then why haven’t I heard about it before?’

‘Do you read scientific journals?’

‘No.’

‘The broadsheets?’

‘No, I’m a tabloid man myself. The Daily Sport.’

‘The one with the lewd pictures and sensationalist stories?’

Dan gave an embarrassed laugh, ‘Well, yeah, but I only buy it for the gardening pages.’

‘It does not contain any gardening pages.’

He gave a diversionary cough and glanced again at the helmet, it looked so unnatural. ‘Are you sure it’s painless?’

‘You have my assurance it is perfectly safe.’

Four hundred metres away in a warehouse-like monitoring area five men, ranging in ages from sixty to eighty, all wearing long white coats, buttoned up to their quadrupled chins, were watching the monitors intently. Besides them was a portly middle aged man, wearing a double breasted dark blue pin striped suit, his hair styled in a quiff that began just over his left ear and ended behind his right; it was a wave that was guaranteed to send a surfer into fantasising about the next big one. Beneath the undulating rats-tails of dyed black hair his freckled bald bonce was as shinny as a clingfilm wrapped speckled egg. Next to him was a tall distinguished-looking man, with iron grey hair, immaculately combed back, who stood like a guardsman on duty, his charcoal grey suit buttoned up like a uniform. His face was pale, as if it rarely saw the sun, and the lines were chiselled into his face as if a master sculptor had used the narrowest chisel available on a marble bust. But it was his eyes that most people noticed, frosty coloured, like cold blue icicles, piercing and dangerous, not many people could hold his stare.

They all stood watching a bank of eight large, two metre plasma monitors showing eight different views of Dan. Around them the huge room was stuffed with scientific equipment, monitors of every description seemed to jiggle with wavy green, red and white lines. Piled on top of one another were cream plastic boxes with green, red and white buttons, gigalaser printers, crystal drives, scanners, servers, visual telephones, you name it, they had it, and even if you couldn’t name it, they still had it.

In the background four blue coated technicians, three young women and a man in his early fourties were busily working. All of them except for the two men in the suits were holding voice recognition micro-computers. One of the female technicians (#4), early thirties, a very attractive woman with long wavy blonde hair and professional looking make-up, walked past the portly middle aged man and gave him a friendly smile. Which he debonairly returned and watched her walk back to her station, noting her shapely suntanned calves, and her buttocks moving up and down with Newtonian symmetry. He smoothed his right eyebrow with his left middle finger.

The tall distinguished man caught this and sighed, thinking the fat little non-entity a womanising idiot that obviously hadn’t looked closely at himself in a mirror for the past twenty years.

The female technician (#4), gave the portly man a sly glance, which he caught and gave, what he thought to be, a suave lifting of his right eyebrow in return, but which in reality made him look gozzy. The female technician giggled and turned back to her equipment. He misinterpreted this as he returned to the eight monitors, thinking he would speak to her later and ask her number.

Whilst everyone was busy the male technician (#1) walked past another female technician (#2) and surreptitiously touched her bum.

‘Why’s Shirley lying?’ asked the portly middle aged man.

‘Because we told it to,’ answered the oldest white-coated man.

Technician #2 glared at technician #1 as he danced back to his place, smirking to the floor.

‘Isn’t that unethical?’

‘Do you suggest we tell him he’s the first?’

‘Yes.’

‘We disagree.’

The tall distinguished looking man turned to the white coated oldest man and looked down his nose, his voice was cultured and precise: ‘Professor, are you sure this idiot is the only one who volunteered?’

The Professor turned and answered: ‘He’s still more intelligent than the apes we’ve been using.’

‘That’s open to debate.’

Dan was still holding the cockroach-like helmet in both hands. ‘What happens if it doesn’t work with me?’

‘Would you be prepared to take medication,’ Shirley asked, ‘an hallucinogenic, under medical supervision?’

‘I don’t know. That reminds me, why isn’t there anybody with me now, it said in the letter the tests would be under medical supervision?’

‘No Dan, the letter said the tests would be monitored by a scientific team and Government representatives.’

‘Well, where are they?’ Dan looked around, suddenly yearning for human company.

‘With the scientific equipment in another room, they can hardly monitor you in here without the equipment can they?’

The Professor and his scientific team and the two suited men were still watching Dan on the monitors, behind them technician #1 walked behind female technician #3 and also felt her bum. She gave a loud shriek and everyone turned and looked. Embarrassed, she carried on. Technician #1, smirking to himself, skipped back to his station. Everyone turned back to the monitors.

One of the white coated scientists spoke, to no one in particular, ‘I wish he’d put the helmet on.’

‘I still think we should tell him,’ the portly one said.

The Professor answered, ‘He certainly wouldn’t participate if he knew Shirley was lying?’

‘Are you sure the modifications will work?’ asked another scientist.

‘Let’s hope so, I wouldn’t like that to happen to a human,’ the Professor answered.

The portly one quickly turned: ‘Wouldn’t like what to happen?’

‘Don’t worry old man,’ the tall distinguished looking man answered, smiling his smoothest smile, ‘everything will work out fine.’

‘And what’ll happen if it doesn’t?’ he was becoming angry, this lot had been holding back. God, why did he ever agree to this?

The tall one gave a little wink and answered: ‘Well, his brain’ll be,’ he turned to the Professor, ‘what? Mush.’

The Professor looked away.

‘Mush, mush, what’s that supposed to mean?’ the portly one was angry, these scientists were going to land him right in the middle of a lawsuit.

‘It means he’ll be dead,’ answered the Professor irritably.

‘Dead, dead,’ the portly one’s hands began to tremble. ‘No one mentioned this, no one said the volunteer could die.’

‘He’s signed a volunteer form,’ said the tall one, ‘it states there’s a risk involved.’

‘A risk, a risk,’ his hands trembled even more. ‘I bet it didn’t state his brain could end up like porridge. Surely more tests could’ve been carried out?’

‘We’ve carried out every test we could think of, three times,’ said the Professor with irritation. ‘This is the final test, we needed a human volunteer.’

‘You could’ve used more monkeys.’ the portly one said, his voice rising an octave, his eyebrows nearly meeting, and a twitch starting beneath his right eye.

‘We’ve used hundreds of monkeys,’ the Professor said facing the portly one directly, ‘and chimps and orangutans and apes, in fact every simian we could lay our hands upon, they don’t project their thoughts. We needed a human being.’

‘I don’t like this, I don’t like it one little bit.’ The portly one could see his career, his good name, his house, his mistress, his good life eroding, he had visions of himself wearing a prison uniform.

‘We told you this beforehand,’ the tall one was becoming impatient, ‘remember, you agreed.’

Behind them female technician #3 was watching them argue. She looked at a plastic cup of tea on her workbench then back to the group and back to the tea and finally to technician #1.

‘You didn’t tell me he could die,’ the portly one shouted. ‘I’m changing my mind, I’m unsanctioning it. Tell Shirley to stop.’

Dan had placed the helmet over his head.

Technician #1 is checking his equipment as #3 picks up the cup, calmly walks behind #1 and with a revengeful flourish pours the contents onto his lap.

‘Can’t be done old boy,’ the tall one answered.

#1 jumps up and in the process knocks off the dopamine levels monitor.

The Professor grabbed hold of the portly one’s arm and practically spun him around. ‘We’re months behind schedule, and you want us to stop.’ He turned to the tall one, ‘Why did we have to hold the experiments in the new hospital anyway, the security here is practically non-existent?’

‘Because,’ the tall one snarled, ‘you said only this computer was powerful enough to handle the millions of calculations. Yes? Besides, security is not your concern.’

‘God, it’ll be my arse that’s fried if it gets out we’re conducting military experiments at the new hospital,’ said the portly one, more to himself than anyone else.

#1 reached for some paper towels and began dabbing the large wet stain around his groin. Technicians #2 and #4 give #3 a well done smile.

‘Shirley,’ the portly one shouted.

‘Yes.’

‘Stop the experiment,’ the portly one commanded.

‘Shirley,’ the tall one interrupted, ‘ignore that order.’

#1 is glaring at the other three technicians. #2 gives him a middle finger salute. He hasn’t noticed the dopamine monitor is switched off.

‘Shirley, stop the experiment,’ the portly one re-iterated.

‘No,’ Shirley answered.

They all look at one another, astonished that the computer has disobeyed an order.

Technicians #2, 3 and 4 could hardly contain their glee, they’d put one over that sexist bastard. #1 quickly exits.

The portly one turned to the tall one, ‘Can Shirley say no?’

‘You just heard it old boy,’ the tall one answered with a suave smile.

‘Shirley, this is a direct order, stop the experiment.’ the portly one shouted.

‘No,’ Shirley reiterated. ‘To stop now would endanger Mr Shufflebottom’s life.’

‘His life’s in danger anyway, stop the bloody experiment,’ he again shouted.

#1 re-enters holding a polystyrene cup by its bottom. He goes to #2 and apologises handing her the cup as a peace offering.

‘No, I will not risk his life unnecessarily.’

‘Oh God, who programmed it, who programmed it?’ the portly one bawled.

There is a hole in the bottom of the polystyrene cup which #1 had his finger over. As #2 takes the cup, the tea spurts out in a perfect arch, staining her nice clean blue lab coat.

‘We all did,’ answered the Professor.

#2 quickly jumps up.

‘Why did you bloody well programme it to say no? Didn’t you realise the dangers?’ the portly one was becoming hysterical. He turned to the tall one one, ‘Why couldn’t you’ve used a soldier, they’re expendable?’

The tall one glared at him, his hands clenched and unclenched as if they would like nothing better than to wrap themselves around the idiot’s throat. ‘No soldier in the British army is expendable.’ His tone was as sharp as a bayonet.

#1 skips back to his station and sits, looking smugly back at #2, who is taking off her lab coat.

The tall one breathed deeply then turned to the portly one and smiled, much like a cobra looking at a bunny rabbit within striking distance. ‘Calm yourself old boy, if he dies I’ve made arrangements, there will be no recriminations.’

The portly one looked up with hope at the tall one. ‘Sure?’

‘I promise old chap,’ he smiled like the bridge player that has all the best cards. ‘We investigated him, his only relative is his wife, and she’s about to leave him for a plumber, he’s a nobody, he won’t be missed.’

Dan was confused, he felt as though he had been thrown into the sea, his body seemed to be bobbing along. He could hear voices, but couldn’t distinguish the words. The helmet began vibrating, then humming.

Dear God, I don’t like this.

The humming was resonating inside his skull, vibrating his teeth, making his nerves tingle and his hair stand on end. He wanted to go to the toilet. A pain came across his forehead, and as quickly went. He desperately needed to go to the toilet. The humming stopped.

Suddenly, all his nerves jangled on edge, he couldn’t get his breath. All his body was prickling, he was a fork being scraped across an empty plate. He must go to the toilet. The tingling lessened, but didn’t stop. Then he realised he couldn’t feel his feet, they were numb; a heaviness was spreading up his legs, he couldn’t move them. ‘Shirley, Shirley.’ He was beginning to panic.

‘Relax Dan, just relax,’ Shirley’s voice was soothing, ‘the bad feelings will soon go.’

Dan could feel the dullness spreading to his hips. ‘Shirley please.’ He lifted his hands and tried to take the helmet off, but his hands fell to his side, they were too heavy, he could not lift them at all. Now he had no feelings whatsoever. ‘Shirley,’ he shouted, ‘please, please let me go, I don’t want to die. Aaaahhhhhh.’

The portly one watched the monitors intently, although the fear he felt earlier had dissipated, he knew Sir Robert Hewitt could arrange anything.

#1 had returned to his monitors.

Dan’s body was completely numb. Then as all the unpleasant sensations disappeared and feelings returned, he felt as though he was floating, like lying in a large spa, with millions of bubbles keeping him afloat.

Suddenly, he could see roses, masses and masses of roses, beautiful roses; shrub roses in whites, reds, yellows and pinks; standards, floribundas, climbers, miniatures, hybrid-tees in every colour imaginable.

‘Look, look,’ shouted the Professor, pointing at one of the monitors.

‘By God, it’s working,’ cried another.

They began laughing and patting one another, their relief and jubilation overwhelming.

‘Why are we seeing roses?’ asked the tall Sir Robert.

‘Those are his thoughts, he’s a keen gardener,’ answered the Professor.

Sir Robert turned to the portly man, his smile wide, after the cobra had swallowed the bunny rabbit, his voice as smooth as the blade of a stainless steel cut-throat razor, ‘See Dennis, old boy, what did I say?’

Dan entered the massive rose garden and broke the stem of a delicate yellow rose. He put it to his nose and breathed in.

The monitoring group were silent, stunned by what they were seeing, until one of the scientists, more to himself than the others, said, ‘It’s fantastic, absolutely fantastic.’

It was only then that #1 noticed the dopamine monitor had been switched off. He fearfully scrutinised everyone, especially the group by the monitors, hoping no one had noticed and switched it back on, it showed an unusually high level. He again turned and looked at the scientific team watching the monitors, as