Core Beliefs - Chapter 44 - Neuro Analysis

Core Beliefs – Chapter 44 - Neuro Analysis

Thanksgiving morning arrived. Matt and Ling had arisen early and had taken a walk in the fields behind Armonia House. On their way back, Ling spotted Eldridge’s truck pulling up, with Elvin driving, and behind it, in Doug’s rig, were Doug, Ellie, and Charley.

Eldridge’s truck had something in it. Matt couldn’t make it out from where he stood. By the time they reached the house, it was apparent that a sizable tent was being set up. Laughter and jokes filled the air as the menfolk unfolded, stretched, and tried to figure out where things went.

Ellie was constantly shouted, “No, not there. That goes over here,” and sure enough, it did.

Matt and Ling watched for a minute, wondering if they should offer to help when Charlotte called them to breakfast. At the table sat Susan. She gave Ling a hug and a kiss, then kissed Matt on the cheek. The kiss caught him off guard, but brought a smile.

Breakfast was good, but it was clear that Charlotte was about to put everyone to work. She even set the kids to tasks.

All the women had kitchen duties. Ling confessed that she was not a good cook. Charlotte responded that Ling knew how to handle a knife, and they had lots of things to peel, celery to cut, and any number of other critical tasks that did not require her to touch the stove. Matt joined in, and before long, the group finished their tasks, and the food was cooking.

Suchet and his family arrived. Matt and Ling hurried out to greet them. Suchet’s wife was a beautiful woman, petite at 5 feet 2 inches and very slim. Her flawless dark skin and a quiet, warm smile.

Suchet introduced her; her name was Pavitra, and Matt commented on how beautiful she and her name both were. The two girls were identical twins. A bit shy at first, as Suchet introduced them, they were Iyla and Kamna, young images of their mother, except taller. Matt smiled and told them he was honored to meet them and hoped that they could become good friends.

The girls giggled, shook his hand, and then darted off to find the other kids.

Joe and Cynthia arrived soon after, followed by the rest of the Coblentz family.

It was time for the feast. Charlotte was right; even the main dining room would have been crowded with a feast for sixteen, but the tent was perfect. They had set folding tables two-wide and three-long so that all the food could fit on the tables and everyone could sit comfortably around them.

The food was in place, and everyone was seated when Charlotte asked, “Matt, would you like to bless this gathering and the food?”

Matt paused. “Charlotte, thank you, but I think today it would be right for Chris to ask the blessing.”

Chris slowly rose and looked around the table.

“Friends, they call this day Thanksgiving. We know the tradition, and how it started, but today I would like to draw your attention to something I think is more meaningful.” His eyes sparkled as he gazed about the room. “We have experienced a tumultuous year. Many days filled with chaos, days filled with pain, days filled with fear, and times our faith has been at the point of failing. Yet, we are all here.

“I would like you to think about this house. This house is not only a building, a structure, and a home. It is a symbol. It is a symbol of restoration. Restoration that goes beyond repair and the physical structure. It is a restoration reaching the soul, making you look as much inside yourself as outside.

“Restoration is not easy. It is painful and requires sacrifice, commitment, and love. Restoration is not pleasant to look at while underway. Often, you have to tear things apart to rebuild them, making them better than they were before, but restoration does make us better.” He took a deep breath. “Restoration brings to us wholeness and a peace that proves that what we believe and what we dream are not fantasies but are realities waiting to be revealed. Most of all, restoration requires us to have the help of others. We cannot do it alone.”

Chris raised his glass. “It is in this spirit that I tell you we have much to be thankful for today. For all that was lost and is now restored, we are thankful. For old and new friends, we are thankful. For the promise of a better future, we are thankful; for hope, love, joy, and friendships proven through the trials of fire, we are thankful. Finally, for this food and this feast, we are thankful, so toast with me, dig in, and enjoy!”

Glasses raised, clinked, cheers erupted, and Matt sensed a bond with these people that drove straight to the center of his heart. Charlotte was right. It was the best Thanksgiving ever.

***

Matt and Ling drove Susan to the airport on Friday afternoon to catch her plane. Mother and daughter were talking and laughing. Matt knew that Ling had found another joy in her life, and that made him happy.

Back at the Big House, Ellie and Doug were waiting for Ling’s return.

“Dr. Chang,” Doug said, “Ellie and I have something that we think you might be interested in.”

“What might that be?”

“You will have to come to the Silo for us to show you,” Ellie said.

“Let’s go,” Matt said.

They piled into Doug’s SUV and were soon descending the elevator.

Once settled in the control room, Doug spoke. “As you know, we started getting data on Matt’s progress after the nanobots had been implanted. What you don’t know is that Marcus arranged for us to eventually get the entire data file.”

Ling was surprised at their interest in the imager data and leaned forward in her chair.

“Ellie was the one who spotted the initial patterns,” Doug said. “She realized that Matt’s brain was sorting and arranging memories, going through a self-diagnosis of his mental and physical systems.”

Matt felt a little awkward as these people discussed him as if he were a car engine in for a tune-up.

“Ellie,” Doug went on, “felt that she saw enough to generate logic that would quantify the information and provide a model that could show the relationships in the neurons firing and probable functions being performed based on interactive areas.”

“Ellie, that is very intuitive,” Ling said, “and could be of tremendous value in evaluating patients.”

“Thanks, Dr. Chang,” Ellie jumped in, “but anybody could compile stats. Doug had the bigger idea, and that’s what we want to show you.”

Doug stepped to a keyboard and tapped the keys. Three monitors sprang to life.

“The first monitor is the original data as generated by the neuroimager,” Ellie said. “The second is my model documenting the data and quantifying the information.

“As you can see, in this section of data, there is a particular area showing far more activity than other areas.

“The third Monitor is Doug’s creation, which actually identifies the function. Note how the data is completely collated and values assigned that interpret if Matt is lifting his hand, blinking his eye, breathing, or extracting memories. Still, we think the best part might be the interpretation of the cognitive functions.”

“That’s why we’re glad you both are here,” Doug said. “What we want to do is run a section and see if what you and Uncle Matt remember is the same as what the program interpreted.”

Ling straightened in her chair, listening intently. Doug and Ellie spent an hour reviewing data associated with physical movement. Several events, and Ling was able to verify. Next, they went to the times when Matt communicated directly with Ling telepathically.

After several confirmations, Doug said, “Well, here is the reason we asked you to come.”

He keyed a few more strokes, and a fourth monitor sprang to life. The monitor was larger and had a split view. On one side of the screen was a three-dimensional, translucent, color image of the brain.

Ling looked at it, amazed at the detail. On the other side, there were three columns labeled function, cause, and effect.

“This is a composite of the data and the two programs,” Doug continued. “What you have is a blow-by-blow of everything happening in 3D.”

They started playing with the data; the brain lit up in different colors, displaying neural activity. Ellie rotated the image to present the best viewing angle.

“We’ve color-coded everything so you can tell visually what type of action the neurons are involved with,” Ellie said, “input source, emotions, happiness, anger, calculations, memory retrieval, as well as physical functions.

Ling watched, mesmerized. The details and precision overwhelmed her.

“On the right in the columns,” Doug said, “is a text output of the display, giving you the interpretation. What we hope is that if we are anywhere close to right on this, you should be able to link it directly to the neuroimager and not just record data but also do live-time analysis.”

Ling rose, stepped forward, and peered closer at the screen, glancing between the segments. The interpretation appeared to be very accurate. It hit her how powerful this was. This was not a toy or a science project. This software could provide information instantaneously, enabling quick and accurate diagnoses and, in turn, immediate and appropriate treatment.

She stepped back to her chair and almost collapsed into it, lost in thought for several minutes.

Matt touched her on the arm. “Are you alright?”

Ling looked at him, smiled, and then gazed at Doug and Ellie.

“I thought that the imager was a breakthrough, and it is, but this opens so many possibilities that, in one step, will advance neurology by decades. I know you hoped this would be useful. What I want to tell you is that it enables proper patient treatment in minutes, not weeks. It eliminates hundreds of inconclusive tests and turns hypotheses into realities. The value this has to the medical profession is immeasurable!”

She sucked in a breath and blinked. “You two are the most brilliant young people I have ever known. Just this year, you have contributed more to the benefit of humankind than tens of thousands of PhDs. I am so proud of you both.”

Ellie giggled and punched Doug in the arm. “I told you she’d like it!”

As they drove back to Armonia House, Matt realized he had his first marketable product from M&E Enterprises.

On Saturday, Matt and Ling drove back to St. Louis. All through the trip, they talked about the imager and the software. By the time they arrived home, Matt had a game plan.

The next three weeks were a blur as Matt, Ling, and Marcus conferred on how to package, present, and introduce the imager and software. Once the decision was made, the next step was to establish production facilities.