Quantum Man: Anything But Germaine
I don't enjoy my town. Every time I visit the cafe nearest to me, I'm left wondering why I bothered moving here. Why did I have to move from a quiet, quaint, low-population town of Hooplah, and into this rowdy party-city of Germanium. It was apparently a mining town back in the day, but now it was all neon lights, flashy fibre-optic signs, and solar panels outlining the beefcake district.
I headed into the cafe, trying to find a corner of this world to make for myself. As if a cat circling atop the foot of my bed, making a dent in the sheets, and curling up for a sleep, I circle the cafe with my coffee until I find a spot. My laptop cracks open, sticking out like a sore thumb in this city. Needless to say, it stuck out in the last city, too. That was for entirely different reasons, though. No one had a computer there, the only computer in the city was at the library, and people weren't exactly lining up to use it.
In this city, it was a different story. I was still the outlier, but only because the technology in this city was nearly alien to the rest of the PC world. Where most of the world utilized the silicone counterparts like chips and hard drives and motherboards, Germanium utilized its namesake.
Back in the 19th century, before the discovery of the uses of Silicone, Germanium was the foundation of the semi-conductor industry. With it's relative abundance, especially in this town, the country capitalized on it. Even after the rise of Silicone, the city of Germanium was determined to advance the industry with Germanium as the bread-winner.
So, here I was, in a city where women wore fibre-optic dresses, ran on synthetic energy supplements, dealt with regular 'toxic dumps' of their systems, and had no clue what a MacBook was good for. Sure, I wasn't exactly in the mood to date-- but who couldn't look? They used something like a Bluetooth, but it was impossible to see. With their cultivation of the nanowires, otherwise known as quantum wires, they were able to create unreasonably small electronics. They had to be monitored on a quantum level, these wires each approximately ten to the negative ninth meters in diameter.
That meant that when they were on the phone, which they often were, it was uncertain if they were talking to someone in person, or someone in the ether. Well, it was uncertain to me, at least. Nearly everyone in the city knew the rules of the city: no one is talking to you, no one is looking at you, no one is pointing at you, and no one is trying to interact with your nano-interface.
These were rules that I only recently began to understand. I would need to understand them more fully, though. I didn't know this at the time, but the man looking at me through the window was looking at me, walking into the cafe, sitting in front of me and my PC, and talking to me.
"You must be new here."
"I am." I would hesitate.
"Me and the firm have a proposition for you."
"Oh, 'the firm'? What firm is that?"
"Wow, you sure are new here. Well, let me back up, I'm Val Halihurt. What's your name?"
"Steve."
"Nice last name, Steve. We'll talk more about each other later. Let me explain what the firm is. I am one of the executives in charge of PR. Our company is in charge of making sure that this city remains the top if the Germanium industry."
That shouldn't be hard, I thought. To me, this entire city seemed keen on alienating the rest of the world with top-secret methods, out-dated techniques, or so I thought-- even their populace was out of touch with the world wide web as I knew it. Facebook and Twitter weren't their social networks of choice. I was still unsure as to what they used, up to this point at least.
He continued, "Our motto is 'Advance the quantum computer, evolve into the quantum man.' We hope to do this by branching out. We would like for your help with this."
"Okay... And what does that mean?"
"You'll find out soon enough, if you choose to join us. I have one question about your qualifications."
"Sure, should I pull out a resume?"
He ignored my quip. "How are your kidneys?"
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Four years later
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New York city was different from what I remember from visiting as a kid, so much of the sky was cosmic-looking. Everyone had a glow about them. I could sense the amount of energy emitting from all of the buildings. My eyes, though it was eleven at night, were cutting through the scenery for miles with ease. Compared to Hooplah, even compared to Germanium, this city was fiery with light. People were staring at me. I was staring at the high-end radio waves their bulky cell phones were emitting. I was making good use of the nano-optic infrared implants on my occipital lobe.
My present mission was underway: locate the subway ventilation units at the Orange line, and plant the Germanium 'Fresheners'. After the briefing, and the years of catch-up, training, and modifications, I had been sent back to the world I once knew. Sure, I may be acting oddly compared to some of the New Yorkers, but I was not as readapted as the native Germaniums. This is why he chose me, Val. He knew that I wouldn't be found out immediately on this mission. Even with my enhancements, I was just as odd as any drug-addled street-walker in the Big Apple.
I passed down the stairs, blinded momentarily by a ghetto-blaster on AM radiowaves, but stumbled closer to my checkpoint finally. Without the fancy brainframe that most of the Germaniums were equipped with, I had to use my eyes and remember the school field trip to the city. We took the subway, then. It was a great novelty.
Maps led me to the bathrooms. Then they led me to the maintenance closets. From there, I followed a janitor's map to the ventilation shaft.
"Here's to the future." I would offer the unhearing masses through the vents, watching their heat signatures pass in and out of sight.
I planted the 'freshener', and turned it on to spray every ten minutes for the next year. I was mobilizing the human race with the push of a button.
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Two years later
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"Welcome back to Dayline 5 on ABC. Tonight we observe the anniversary of the first account of the Renal Pandemic. New York was struck first, and thousands died of kidney failure. We're here tonight with Jordan Grain, the man still on life-support since the East Coast death rate finally declined. Hello, Mister Grain."
The marquee at the bottom of the screen scrolled on during the interview: A new strain of kidney clone found in grown organs, immune to renal hot-spots. "Hi there, thank you for having me." "You're really an American inspiration, Grain. How are things at Forbes?" The attacks in the Middle East are at a cease fire to commemorate this day. "Since the new rise of the Germanium cell, we're sure up to our necks in start-up companies..." Forbes top 10 industries include Germanium and Solar Cells. "Of course, and your family?" "Oh, they're well. Thank you." "Now, Grain. I would like to talk to you about what has been discovered in your kidney cells. These nephrotoxins have yet to be identified-- but your kidneys have recently revealed Germanium. Does that have anything to do with the rise of the industry, do you think?" "Well I would think so. It's a catch-22. The fact that we've been recently bombarded by the element to the point of a pandemic is tragic-- but our silicone resources are vanishing, and Germanium is an advancement into the future that we, as a race, are striving toward." The city of Germanium due to host the next Olympics in 2090. "We really appreciate you coming, Grain. We will be right back after these messages from our sponsor: "The G-Firm - are you living the quantum life?"
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Val sits with me on the penthouse patio in Germanium. We clink our glasses together. Without moving our mouths, we converse:
"Job well done, Steve."
"Thanks, good champagne."
"Only the best. You've implanted what remains of the East Coast population with what we need to adapt into the Quantum Man."
"No problem. Did you get those Germ Nano Healers for me and my wife?"
"Sure did, operations are open tomorrow."
"Cheers."
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