After internalising all the new information and speaking through the various details of the last couple of years - as well as getting to know the few details that are released about his father's demise. Much of the information was classified. Dr John assured me he had tried every contact in his book but couldn't get more information. He even explained that he used to be a bit of a bigwig in the global army, but he still couldn't access any information. It probably meant that whatever mission my father undertook was strictly confidential.
The atmosphere, in general, had improved by leaps and bounds as I and my mother rekindled ´our´ relationship under the care of dr John who would chime in every so often with his knowledge of events.
Dr John explained how he joined the Global Army as a neurology expert as a young graduate. Surprisingly many scientists, researchers and other specialists preferred joining the Global Army. Their superior research budget and access to cutting-edge technology would have most graduates salivating. The army greatly invested in superior talent as they were necessary for the continued upgrading of their advanced weaponry. Neural specialists were especially wanted because many machines worked with a 'neural link'. Neural links were a direct two-way communication between the brain and the machine.
Dr John offhandedly mentioned this because he became a doctor because most traumas to people occurred whilst handling machines with neural links. The reason was precisely because it was a two-way connection. If accidents happened whilst a neural link was active, the trauma inflicted upon the user could be immense. His father worked in a factory where a malfunction deep-fried his father's brains. His greatest mission as a young neurologist was to create a safer neural link so no accidents like the one that befall his father would ever occur again.
After serving the research and development sector for a long time, knowing that with all of the efforts the research community put into neural links they were actually very safe and that his father's misfortune was a one-in-a-million he moved on to active duty. He wanted to use his extensive knowledge of neural links to save as many of the thousands of active military men and females who risked their lives every day.
Very many people in the army used a neural link to perform their jobs. Their job inherently came with risks... One of them is damage to the neural links during assignments. This in turn turned the army into the number one organisation with the most casualties and traumas related to the brains.
During his many years in active duty, he met my father. They became close when serving on the Bismarck. The Bismarck was a flagship vessel that served about two or three divisions. As a flagship it also had a very complete research and development team as well as a fully staffed onboard hospital. As a Captain serving on the Bismarck, my father often met up with Dr John for checkups, after-deployment scans and sometimes in the cafeteria.
Their relationship only became more familiar after my mother got close to my dad. My mother was actually directly working for Dr John for a period of time and had a good relationship with him. With my dad being injured a nurse was automatically assigned to him based on his injuries by an AI. Since he was flagged as a patient with possible neurological trauma he was paired with my mother. You could say the AI hitched them together. Anyways, the rest is history.
Dr John eventually resigned from the army after thirty full years of service. Opting to work for the medical research hospital that I am now admitted to. The important clue is, he resigned as the head of the medical department of Bismarck. This put him at the rank of Colonel. A former Colonel could not even pull some strings to get access to the files of my father. I dare say something very fishy is going on there.
"Well, that brings you up to speed for now. Your mother lives quite a bit away from this hospital. Living in this district is rather expensive. As much the army's death gratuity package covers the expenses of your mother's life set her up rather nicely, she can't afford to live here. So she'll be leaving again tonight. So it's going to be just you and me for a while before you get discharged. Obviously, she'll visit you as much as she can but.. don't take it to heart if she's not around as much as you'd prefer." John told me as my mother had gone to grab a coffee in the hall.
After some more heartfelt words and talks, a few hours had passed since she had come to visit me. In the end, she affirmed the words dr John said and told me she'd visit as much as she could.
"Normally, this would be the part when I'd tell you you have to go to sleep because it's necessary for your recovery... But, there's something I still have to tell you. Something that you'll have to keep secret from your mom for a bit." Dr John said while looking seriously, though a hint of excitement leaked through his voice.
John walked through the room until he opened a specific keypad-locked drawer. He picked up a cube-shaped object and sat down right next to my bed.
"This, this is something rather special. Very precious as well. It's a gift from your father. He passed this on to me a bit more than a year ago. Sometimes I wonder if this is if he risked his life getting this.." John sighed. "Anyways, you'll probably not recognise this. And I cannot fault you for this. This is the packaging of the most high-end neural implant that I've ever seen." John paused.
He clicked on a specific button on the cube and it magically split through the center. A split that I wouldn't have known is possible. The cube looked very solid before.
"Now the cube is empty as you see - but don't despair. It's empty for a reason." He chuckled " I've taken the liberty to install it yesterday after your check-up."
"Installed it? Installed it how?" I could only sheepishly ask.
"In your brain." John laughed. "You are the proud owner of that particular advanced piece of technology. How your father managed to get hold of it is beyond me. But, this will give you a chance to catch up with all of your peers. Not only catch up but very possibly exceed them."
Realisation dawned upon me. I truly am a protagonist and I've just received my cheat. F*cking awesome.
As my face lit up with excitement Dr John continued;
"This neural implant is at least five years ahead of any other that I know of. And I'm somewhat of a specialist in this area." He grinned. "Your father was always sure that you would someday wake up. Optimistic fella he was. Anyways, he did not just get you this but also all kinds of advanced textbooks, ranging from all kinds of subjects. They're all accessible via the neural implant. Basically, he put in his all to find ways to get you a chance to pick yourself up and catch up with your peers. Don't disappoint him kid." He said seriously.
"What's so special about this neural implant? You seem to think highly of it. Also, I don't know how it works, so how do I activate it?"
"Well, it's special for a few reasons. One of the caveats with neural implants is the lack of space to install them. In order to install a decent implant you will need to downsize the critical components to a miniature size, power it and still have it run decent specs. Now, running power through the system as well as the heat buildup are additional challenges. So any neural implant is by itself already an impressive piece of human engineering. Yours sets itself apart by virtue of its power supply and its processing power."
"Somehow this implant features a power supply that is half the size of concurrent models whilst still supplying more than twice the amount of power. That in itself is an outlandish achievement. All that power is used to increase the processing power of the AI that is installed in the AI. Some AI are just software-trained programs but this is a true AI. An AI that learns your habits, preferences, updates itself, creates additional programs on demands.. the list goes on. That and the massive processing power make this a state-of-the-art implant. Like I said - it's at least five years ahead. And in this cut-throat competitive market that is very impressive."
"And how do I boot it up?" I said, clearly not able to hold back my excitement.
"Just think - boot DEIMOS."
And that I did...
[Deimos Booting sequence]
..
[Deimos installation confirmed... registering user... biological imprint successfully registered]
[Starting a full scan of the user. Please stand by until Deimos has completed the full scan.]
[Full scan complete. Host Evan is healthy. Deimos has registered several parameters below the standard for the host's age. A full dietary and exercise schedule has been made available for the host. The schedule will be updated based on the host's itinerary and specific instructions, wishes and behavioural patterns.]
[.. ..]
Several more lines of information, updates, and whatnot filled my head before the final messages came through in my head. The mechanical voice has by now updated to a pleasant male voice that sounded subservient, calm yet confident. Like an aide. A butler of sorts. Apparently, this is a default voice that's loaded in after installing various of the basic programs that come with the implant.
[All programs are installed. Happy to meet you, my current designated name is Deimos. If you need me, just call me. If the name Deimos does not fit your taste, please also tell me.]
[".. Deimos is fine. It's a nice name actually. Deimos, I'm in a bit of a conversation. Can I get back to you in a bit?"]
[Certainly. I will await your instructions.]
This AI could improve a bit in his personality.. A bit to stiff to my liking. But it seems like a very incredible program.
[Your instruction is noted, I will research improvements in my personality with keywords "relaxed, laidback and personal" based on your preferences]
Ahh yes... This is going to be a thing... Deimos, would you please not read my mind all the time?
[This request is unfortunately not possible. The neural implant is designed to continuously learn, assist and benefit the user. However, I suggest a solution. I could refrain from interacting with your surface thoughts unless you call upon me?]
That.. Sounds acceptable. Thanks, Deimos.
[You're welcome.]
"And, how is the neural implant?" Dr John asked as I opened my eyes after the conversation with Deimos.
"It's amazing. Honestly, amazing."
"Also kid, you don't need to close your eyes. The neural implant is directly connected with your brain." John said teasingly.
"I looked stupid, didn't I?" Both of us couldn't help but laugh after that statement.