be biologically stable. All that’s left, when it’s done, is a little wire that protrudes from its head. We attach a little transmitter to that, and it will look just like a rat again, wearing a small little hat.”
“And this little hat will let the rats share perception?” Reiko asked, incredulous. It was something that Mr. Okada had hinted at, during her interview the night before—the nature of the project. “That just doesn’t seem possible. The parts would have to be so small, and there are so many nerves in there.”
“That’s what makes a lot of our materials proprietary,” Mr. Okada responded. “It self-assembles with the nerves in the head, in a way that’s not disruptive of normal brain function. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t tell you much more about it than that. That’s what I have Nami and Saori for. Truly gifted people.”
The man named Toru, who was supposedly a sort of manager, pushed his way to the back of the room to be next to Mr. Okada and Reiko. He shook Reiko’s hand firmly as he reintroduced himself, and said, “It’s good to have you here, Reiko. We’re very close to a phase that we’ll be needing you in. We’re going to slowly add rats to the network and give them time to adapt. And you’ll be monitoring them the whole time you’re here. And then another group of rats, if that proves necessary.”
“The network?” Reiko asked.
“What did you tell her, Mr. Okada, that they’re sharing consciousness? Well, that’s a fine description in an abstract way, but it makes it sound really spiritual, doesn’t it? In reality, it’s more like the connection between computers, like a network. If you simplify the brain, it’s really just a huge hard drive, with the limitation that it can only be accessed by one person. I know you’re a psychologist, so I hope you don’t resent the simplification, but what we’re doing is just making the data more accessible, by broadcasting it. So each rat will be equipped with a receiver and a transmitter.”
In the background, the smell of burning continued, and the people there talked in whispers that were inaudible to Reiko.
Toru continued, “We don’t want to overload the little things, though. So we’ll be slowly doubling the amount of connections they have. Stopping around sixteen is the plan. We’ll have eight groups of two, then four groups of four, and so on. If we just added one at a time, the first few rats could adapt well, but it might be a tremendous shock for the last one added, experiencing a sixteen-fold expansion in ‘consciousness’.” He said the word as if he didn’t think that it directly applied.
“What’s your first impression,” Toru then asked, a look of genuine interest on his face.
“I think it’s crazy,” Reiko said.
“How do you think the rats will react?”
“I don’t know enough about what they’ll be experiencing, to answer that question confidently.”
Toru looked dissatisfied that she wouldn’t hazard a guess, but let it go. “I’ll set aside some time for Haru to tell you more about that, then, if you really want to know more about the technical side. He’s the programmer, so it might seem strange that he’d be the person to go to, but I promise that he is. After we’re done here, and you’ve had a good look at the rats, I’ll arrange for it.”
“They’re ready,” said a voice from the crowd at the table. They moved aside as much as they could, allowing the small group that had formed around Reiko to see. Two cages were brought from the corner, and one rat was placed into each. Reiko could finally see the extent of the modification, which looked just like a small, metal tack inserted into the rat’s temple. Space was cleared on the table to allow room for both cages to be placed next to each other.
“Go have a look at them,” Toru said, gesturing forward. A path cleared for her to the front.
When she was there, one of the electrical engineers, she thought it was
“And this little hat will let the rats share perception?” Reiko asked, incredulous. It was something that Mr. Okada had hinted at, during her interview the night before—the nature of the project. “That just doesn’t seem possible. The parts would have to be so small, and there are so many nerves in there.”
“That’s what makes a lot of our materials proprietary,” Mr. Okada responded. “It self-assembles with the nerves in the head, in a way that’s not disruptive of normal brain function. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t tell you much more about it than that. That’s what I have Nami and Saori for. Truly gifted people.”
The man named Toru, who was supposedly a sort of manager, pushed his way to the back of the room to be next to Mr. Okada and Reiko. He shook Reiko’s hand firmly as he reintroduced himself, and said, “It’s good to have you here, Reiko. We’re very close to a phase that we’ll be needing you in. We’re going to slowly add rats to the network and give them time to adapt. And you’ll be monitoring them the whole time you’re here. And then another group of rats, if that proves necessary.”
“The network?” Reiko asked.
“What did you tell her, Mr. Okada, that they’re sharing consciousness? Well, that’s a fine description in an abstract way, but it makes it sound really spiritual, doesn’t it? In reality, it’s more like the connection between computers, like a network. If you simplify the brain, it’s really just a huge hard drive, with the limitation that it can only be accessed by one person. I know you’re a psychologist, so I hope you don’t resent the simplification, but what we’re doing is just making the data more accessible, by broadcasting it. So each rat will be equipped with a receiver and a transmitter.”
In the background, the smell of burning continued, and the people there talked in whispers that were inaudible to Reiko.
Toru continued, “We don’t want to overload the little things, though. So we’ll be slowly doubling the amount of connections they have. Stopping around sixteen is the plan. We’ll have eight groups of two, then four groups of four, and so on. If we just added one at a time, the first few rats could adapt well, but it might be a tremendous shock for the last one added, experiencing a sixteen-fold expansion in ‘consciousness’.” He said the word as if he didn’t think that it directly applied.
“What’s your first impression,” Toru then asked, a look of genuine interest on his face.
“I think it’s crazy,” Reiko said.
“How do you think the rats will react?”
“I don’t know enough about what they’ll be experiencing, to answer that question confidently.”
Toru looked dissatisfied that she wouldn’t hazard a guess, but let it go. “I’ll set aside some time for Haru to tell you more about that, then, if you really want to know more about the technical side. He’s the programmer, so it might seem strange that he’d be the person to go to, but I promise that he is. After we’re done here, and you’ve had a good look at the rats, I’ll arrange for it.”
“They’re ready,” said a voice from the crowd at the table. They moved aside as much as they could, allowing the small group that had formed around Reiko to see. Two cages were brought from the corner, and one rat was placed into each. Reiko could finally see the extent of the modification, which looked just like a small, metal tack inserted into the rat’s temple. Space was cleared on the table to allow room for both cages to be placed next to each other.
“Go have a look at them,” Toru said, gesturing forward. A path cleared for her to the front.
When she was there, one of the electrical engineers, she thought it was
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