The Jigsaw Man by Gord Rollo Page A

insuffi¬
    cient funding can destroy you in this game.
    "Fortunately, money has never been an issue here. Con¬
    sequently, my research tends to flow along much smoother
    and fester than m o s t If there's some new advancement or
    technology available that will help whatever I'm working
    on progress quicker, I go out and get it. Cost be damned.
    Money is rather insignificant Knowledge is far more im¬
    portant to me than dollars and cents."
    One t h i n g was for sure. Dr. Marshall was a good
    speaker. His compelling words and the conviction in
    his voice as he said them had everyone's rapt attention.
    The small conference room was silent while he spoke
    and when I glanced at my three companions, they were
    all nodding along with the good doctor's spiel, all of
    them obviously j u s t as adamant in their thirst for knowl
    edge over the lowly pursuit of cash.
    W h a t a crock of shit!
    This man was a billionaire—he could afford to talk
    like that. We were all street b u m s , two or three missed
    meals away from starving to death. N o n e of us wanted
    knowledge. We wanted cash. Two million bucks' worth
    to be exact, or why else would we be sitting here in this
    room? I personally wasn't here to give my arm away for
    the benefit of mankind—screw that—I was here for the
    benefit of Michael Fox.
    Still, the doctor's words were sincere and moved me
    enough that I found myself bobbing my head at all the ap¬
    propriate spots along with the other guys. W h o was I to
    disagree with a billionaire, especially one who was about
    to make me rich? If Dr. Marshall said we were here for the
    beneftof our fellow man and to acquire knowledge—right
    on, dude—that's what we were here for.
    "For over thirty years," Dr. Marshall continued, "I've
    concentrated the bulk of my studies on the human ner¬
    vous system, or more precisely, the repairing and heal¬
    ing of these nerves when they are damaged or accidentally
    severed. Things like spinal column injuries, paralysis,
    and accidental amputations are my specialties. Someday
    I hope to tackle dreadful diseases such as Parkinson's,
    epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis, which are all ailments
    caused by genetically faulty or accidentally damaged
    nervous systems, but cures for them are still a pipe dream
    and a long way off in the future.
    "When I started, people publicly called me a fool. No
    one wanted to mess with the nervous system because it
    was considered a losing battle. By losing, I mean there
    was no money in it. If you couldn't get positive results,
    you couldn't get the funds to further y o u r research, so
    why bother? It was easier for scientists to choose other
    .areas of specialization, where funding and results were
    more attainable. I disagreed, and by the time I went
    into private research, no one was calling me a fool any¬
    more.
    "Since then, there have been great strides m a d e ; not
    only by m e , but by many dedicated scientists the world
    over. I j u s t happen to have made more strides than
    most."
    Drake casually reentered the room, gave his employer
    an affirmative nod of his head, and sat back down in the
    first row of seats. As if this was the signal he'd been
    waiting on, Dr. Marshall sat up straighter in his chair
    and started rubbing his hands together, his excitement
    clearly visible. W h e n he spoke, his voice was louder
    than before and his slight accent even more pro¬
    nounced.
    "I could probably sit and talk for hours about medical
    advancements and breakthroughs, but it's doubtful
    you'd understand much of it, No disrespect, of course,
    but sometimes the details can be a bit dry and confus¬
    ing. I'd much rather show you what we've accomplished
    so you can see for yourself how far we've come.
    "We'll be taking a tour of the facility after lunch, but
    for now, I've taken the liberty of creating a video pre¬
    sentation of some of the highlights of our program.
    That's why we've met here in this cramped room, in¬
    stead of somewhere more