Ramez Naam - Nexus

She said, "Kade, would you have lunch with me tomorrow? I'd like to discuss your work and where you want to go with it."

My published work? Kade wondered. Or Nexus 5?

"I'd be honored."

"Oh, good," Shu said. "I see a lot of potential in you. I think you could go very far indeed." Her mind brushed his lightly, and he found himself thinking of what he could become, of his potential. Of where they could take Nexus, of augmenting his intelligence, of gaining the clarity and speed of thought that would allow him to unravel any problem, of a mind slipped free of the shackles that constrained it. He nearly gasped, caught himself instead. It was just a single flash of what he could become, seen through Shu's eyes.

I will not respond, Kade told himself. There is no Nexus here.

He wanted it. Wanted to become what she was showing him. Wanted to be free to improve upon himself, to become posthuman. He ached to reach out to her in turn, fought to control that urge.

"I'll have my driver pick you up at noon, Kade, just out front."

"Can't wait," he replied.

Even with the serenity package, Kade needed a drink after his encounter with Shu. She moved on to work the crowd. He headed for the bar. He relaxed as the distance between them grew, allowed the Nexus in his brain to return to full transmitand-receive mode, cranked the serenity package down to a one out of ten. He felt Sam in his mind again. Curious, but waiting until after the event to debrief him.

What would he tell her? That he agreed with Shu? That she

was even more seductive in person than she was as a remote figure? That he wanted what she was offering? That he'd felt her mind brush against his? Kade shook his head and stepped into the queue for a drink.

This time he wasn't prepared when it happened. Another mind brushed against his. Kade had an impression of still water, a deep, deep tranquility, the solidity of earth, a quiet amusement. And then surprise. The mind had felt him as well. It was behind him. And then it disappeared.

Kade turned. Professor Somdet Phra Ananda was there in the drink line, hands folded in front of his ceremonial robes, his black eyes studying Kade intently.

Kade stared back, mouth agape, dumbfounded. Was Somdet Phra Ananda currently under the influence of Nexus? Here and now?

Ananda broke the silence. "Young man, what is your name?" His voice was sonorous, hypnotic. It was a voice that took its time, a voice full of patience and command.

"I'm Kade. Kaden Lane. Uhh, your Eminence?"

"'Professor Ananda' will do, Kaden Lane." Ananda slowly scanned Kade with his eyes, taking in details. "You're American." He pronounced it as a fact, not a question.

"Yes, sir. I am."

"Your clothing is disrespectful."

"Uhh, sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect. It's just that my lab mate is a DJ and…"

Ananda cut him off. "The line behind you is moving, young man."

Kade turned, saw that a gap had opened, took a few steps to catch up, turned back to face Ananda.

"What did you think of the opening plenary this morning?"

Kade took a breath. "I agreed with you and the King almost completely."

Ananda smiled. He nodded, almost to himself. "Your turn."

"Pardon?" Kade replied.

"The bar." Ananda gestured with his eyes. "It's your turn."

"Oh." Kade turned and asked for a beer, reached into his pocket to fish out his other drink coupon, fumbled for a moment before he found it, gave it to the bartender, turned…

And Professor Somdet Phra Ananda was gone.

He blinked in surprise, peered around. No sight of the elder monk.

What the hell?

The reception was starting to wind down, he saw. Sam sent him a chat message asking if he was ready to head back. He was. They took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel. The traffic was lighter. The heat remained oppressive. Kade was too jet-lagged to care about the heat, too pensive about the day's events to worry about being spilled into traffic.

[sam] Show me the conversation with Shu.

Kade sighed. There was nothing for it. He opened to her, let her experience his memories of the conversation with Shu.

[sam] Good. It's a good sign that she's asking you to lunch. Just stay cool, use that package in your head if you have to. And remember what's riding on this.

Kade looked out of the little motorized rickshaw, watched Bangkok slide by in chrome and neon. The deeper he got into this situation, the more confused he was.

Sam could sense his mood. Oh well.

At the hotel, Sam walked Kade to his room. At the door, she offered him reassurance. "You're going to do great tomorrow. Just be yourself."

Kade nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just tired." He was tired.

Sam squeezed his arm and headed off to her room. Kade slipped into his own and sank down onto the bed, his mind spinning.

Wats. Shu. Ananda. The ERD. What the hell's going on?

15

REPLAY

Sam sat in lotus on the floor of her own room down the hall of the Prince Market Hotel, reviewing the day.

Her surveillance devices detected no new bugs on Kade or in the room. No unusual behavior on the hotel net. Typical distribution of foot and elevator traffic within the hotel, on their floor, and just outside their doors. Typical time spent in their rooms by the maids, with no unusual behavior. No flagged individuals detected by faceprinting at the conference or the hotel.

Still, Sam was worried. There had been two bursts of surprise from Kade over the course of the day. What were they?

The first had happened around 5.20pm, just after he'd reached his room. She went back to the feed from the bugs in Kade's room, played the video. The room was still and silent. The bed was made, two mints on the pillow bracketing a comment card. Kade entered, tossed off his conference tote and shoes, ate one of the mints, filled out the comment card, ate the second mint, and then lay down for a nap.

She called up her support team, requested a sweep of Kade's room tomorrow morning after they'd left for the conference. Someone would do a more detailed scan for bugs, transmitters, or anything else unusual. They'd pick up the comment card and the mint wrappers for analysis while they were there.

The second incident seemed more straightforward. She'd made note of the time when she felt it. She scanned through camera data from the conference center, found that time. It had been just moments after Kade had walked away from Shu. He'd gotten in line at one of the bars and then Professor Somdet Phra Ananda, coming from another direction, had gotten in line behind him. Kade had turned, presumably at something Ananda said, and they'd had a brief conversation.

Had Ananda said something that had shocked Kade? She found another camera angle where she could see the senior monk's face, zoomed in so it filled a frame, projected it onto the wall. She zoomed in on Kade's face, projected that in a giant frame next to Ananda. Then she synced the audio from the bugs on Kade, played it, watched their faces.

Ananda stepped into line behind Kade, eyes fixed forward, lips pressed together in that perpetual serene half smile the senior monks wore, and then… The conversation was short, hardly more than a few words. Nothing in it seemed particularly shocking.

Sam looked at the times again. Interesting. It was hard to say the exact sequence of things, given that it had taken her a few seconds to react. Even so, it seemed as if the sense of surprise might have come before he turned around and had his brief conversation with Ananda.

Sam rewound the clock, added a third wall frame with a wider view of the area, played the scene again, one-quarter speed, with the two shots in sync, timestamp displayed at the bottom of each.

Ananda stepped into line behind Kade. His face was impassive. His mouth closed. He said nothing. Kade turned. Why? And as he turned, Ananda's eyes moved, changed from the faraway gaze of someone lost in thought or taking in all around him to the near-set focus on an object in one's immediate foreground. A second passed. The time stamp Sam had noted was on the screen now. Another second passed. Only then did Ananda's mouth open. Sam queued the audio from one of the bugs on Kade. Young man, what is your name?