Core Beliefs - Chapter 41 - Soon!

Core Beliefs – Chapter 41 - Soon

Ling had forgotten that the data feed from the neuroimager was still being sent to the control room in the Silo.

Suchet had studied it carefully and asked Doug to record everything. All other projects were on hold while they investigated as many aspects as they could.

Suchet continued to watch while Ellie reviewed the recorded data. A wild thought had entered her head—to write a program that would analyze the information.

Suchet and Doug were looking at the live feed when they saw the massive flare in the cerebral cortex.

“What was that?” Doug asked.

Suchet stared blankly for a few seconds.

“Ellie, can you find the surge point in the data and bring it up on the high-definition monitor?”

It took a bit for Ellie to isolate and copy the section. They froze the image. Suchet moved inches from the screen and studied it millimeter by millimeter for over an hour.

He gazed at the others. “This was different, specifically targeted. Matthew is trying to communicate.”

“What?” Doug said?

“His verbal and physical abilities cannot reach us,” Suchet pointed to the screen, “but somehow, he is trying to communicate. I must reach Dr. Chang immediately.”

He went to the computer and typed a message to Dr. Chang. “Urgent: At 10:02 a.m., we witnessed an anomaly in neural activity. After reviewing and evaluating, we believe that Matthew is trying to communicate. We will try to see if we can find a way to interpret the message.”

He transmitted, then returned to the monitor and continued dissecting the microelements of Matt’s neuron activity.

***

Ling had taken longer than normal in the shower. She felt refreshed and energized. Dressed, she headed back to Matt’s room and found Joe and Cynthia with Steve and Bernadette.

Cynthia turned and stared at her. “Okay, tell all. These two won’t say a word except that wonderful things have happened and that you will tell us what we need to know!”

“Please, Ling,” Joe pled, “I really need to know. How is my brother?”

Ling calmed them with a smile and started with the events three days ago, continuing straight through to the happenings of the morning.

She was about to tell them that Matt had spoken to her when the chime on the computer linked to the Silo went off.

“Steve, can you see what it says? Ling asked.

Steve strode to the computer screen and with disbelief in his voice, said, “It’s Dr. Suchet Kumar. He says that at 10:02 a.m. this morning, Matthew tried to communicate. He says they are going to work on a way to interpret the message.”

“Send a reply to Suchet,” Ling chuckled, “and tell him the message was received. Tell him it is ‘Soon.’”

Joe’s jaw dropped, and Cynthia was squirming like a million ants were crawling on her.

“Matt talked?” Joe asked.

Ling looked at Bernadette, then gazed straight at Joe. “I heard him, but it was not his vocal cords. He spoke directly to my mind. I was holding his hand and asked him when he was going to wake up. He said, ‘Soon!’”

She trembled and knew the memory of that event was as real as the moment it happened.

“But how could he do that!” Cynthia blurted. “That’s impossible!”

“I was here,” Steve chimed in. “I saw the flash on the neuroimager, and I tell you it is very real!” Almost in unison, everyone gazed at Matt and back to the monitor.

“I think if we look at the past three weeks,” Bernadette softly said, “we all know that the word impossible doesn’t exist. Mr. Lehman being alive is not possible, but he is. Building a world-class facility in a day was not possible, but it was done. Mr. Lehman going from technically brain dead to some of the most vibrant neuron activity ever seen is not possible, but it is real, and if Dr. Chang says she heard him speak to her, then how can we think, even for a second, that it is not possible.”

Bernadette’s eyes were bright, and her face almost glowed as she said, “This is a place of miracles. We’re breaking down the walls of ignorance and finding that whole worlds exist beyond the knowledge of our greatest thinkers. I, for one, believe that Mr. Lehman will wake soon, and when he does, the world will change for us all!”

Cynthia was silent. Joe closed his eyes for a moment.

“Young lady,” Joe said, “I, too, believe, and Ling, I believe you above all people. What you have done for Matt is miraculous, and in my heart I know that if there is anyone in the world he would choose to speak with, it would be you.”

The computer email went ding, interrupting them. Steve stepped over to the machine. “It’s Dr. Kumar again. He asked if the message had been telepathic?”

“Tell Dr. Kumar, yes,” Ling chuckled.

Steve typed the message. He softly mumbled while his fingers ticked the keys. “This will fry some brain cells. I bet those guys will be banging their heads against the wall to figure this out.”

Joe laughed. It was a very loud laugh. He smiled at Steve. “I will wager you they will figure it out. We call that group the Fantastic Four, and they have solved problems and created things beyond our ability to comprehend. We are in the midst of world changers. Mark what I say, my boy. A year from now, you will be able to say, I was there when the limits of science were wiped away by a few people committed to doing the impossible!”

It was a good afternoon, and Steve showed Cynthia and Joe how Matt was helping to heal his own body. Ling pointed out the active areas on the neuroimager and the roles each played in the brain and body’s function. They watched and wondered what would be next.

***

It had started with flashes, then images, and expanded into consciousness streams as Matt’s brain cycled through every cell regenerating memories. Slowly, he found himself.

Self-awareness developed as Matt processed millions of images, connecting them. Emotions rippled through his being, and Matthew Lehman learned his name anew.

He searched for meaning in the chaos. One thing kept coming back. The strongest, most powerful emotion, and the clearest image of all. Ling, she was more than an image. She wasn’t a memory. Ling was real, and though he could not touch her or feel her, he knew she was there. Each time her face appeared, it prompted an instantaneous response from the core of Matt’s being. Love, he felt it and knew it, and it was the force motivating him to push forward.

His consciousness had grown to the point where he made complex evaluations and decisions, and this consciousness determined that he must know everything about himself and order it so he could recall any moment, any image, and any memory at any time.

He searched cell by cell, collecting related images and assembling them into patterns, organizing them into unused cell clusters. As the regenerative DNA unlocked massive dormant areas, whole new universes became available.

In the process, he resurrected long-lost memories. Every school paper, every little league ball game, all restored. He was on a quest, and as the process continued, he developed a sense of time, allowing him to cross-link memories on a chronological scale.

Matt had no sense of time in his mind. Minutes, hours, and nanoseconds were only concepts, but the world of his memories measured it via time.

Other powerful memories emerged. Matt’s brother Joe, Chris and Charlotte Martin, his wife Marylyn, and daughter Elizabeth. He felt the joy of their memories and the rending misery of their loss.

He almost stopped, unable to deal with the anguish of those losses, but one force pulled him forward. It surged into him when he needed it most. It was not an older stored memory. This was new and powerful, and it came not from within. It was total and complete love, and he knew that beyond, another soul was reaching for him, and more than anything, he wanted to reach her, Ling.

He feebly called to her and once or twice sensed a connection that made him surge. New energy swelled in his mind, and he longed for more, needing to find a way to the place where she dwelled.

With the reordering accomplished, Matt recognized he had a body and needed to find it. Recalling memories of high school biology class and human anatomy, Matt experimented, transmitting signals through nerve paths, surprised as the responses triggered greater awareness.

He sensed certain commands generated muscular reactions and, bit by bit, visualized muscles to see if they would respond.

It was during this process that he experienced highly painful episodes and realized his body was not whole.

He pulled those rudimentary memories about anatomy and constructed a rudimentary mental image of his body.

Methodically, he examined himself, nerve by nerve, and identified areas that needed mending.

Matt manipulated blood and oxygen, opened capillaries, and manipulated muscle movements to break down dead cells and absorb them into the body. With effort, he suppressed most of the associated pain.

Other sensory inputs began manifesting themselves. Matt had just started to explore them when he heard her. It was Ling. He heard her. She spoke to him. His memory furiously raced to find references to what she’d said.

“What are these words?” he asked. “What do they mean?” It only took a millisecond for the realization to hit him.

“But my love, when are you going to wake up?”

It was real. Ling was calling to him. He did not fully understand what wake up meant, but he felt a deep, driving need to answer. He did not have an answer, so he made a promise.

Gathering all his faculties, he made one great effort to fling his thoughts into the unknown.

“Soon,” he said. That was his desire, and he was determined to find a way to open the portal that would let her into his world and him into hers.

***

It was November 1st. Several days had passed since Matt’s message, and Ling began to question if it had been her imagination. The neuroimager consistently showed increased activity in the occipital and temporal lobes, and the corpus callosum was also extremely active.

Ling felt that Matt was finishing the process of connecting the various segments of his brain with their functions and establishing links to his senses. Suchet confirmed that he interpreted the activity in the same way.