Life After Death

Chapter 9

When we got back I cooked a supper of chicken, hash browns and beans. We enjoyed a glass of Pinot grigio with it. It seems that the owner has a very extensive wine collection.

The screen activated. “I see that you are enjoying my wine.” 

“I hope you don’t mind, sir.” 

“Not at all, Jack Siefert. I am incapable of enjoying it.” 

“We found a body in a car that had crashed in Pittsburg. The skeleton disintegrated when I touched it with my rifle barrel. I don’t understand how that’s possible.” 

“Collagen makes up most of the organic part of bone structure. If the bones were subject to mineralization, the protein would still be present and add stiffness. If, however, the organic tissues had disintegrated like the flesh of the individual, the bone would have been rendered fragile.” 

“If I follow you, all of the people that died will soon turn to dust.” 

“That is a reasonable conclusion, Jack Siefert.” 

“If whatever killed everyone infected us, what changes did it impart to our bodies?” 

“That’s a good question, Jack Siefert. Do you feel ill?” 

“No . . . I feel fine.” 

“That is a good sign.” 

I gestured to Diane. “Diane is knowledgeable about computers. She wants to examine your computer brain to see if it could be improved.” 

The reply took several minutes to emerge from the image being displayed on the screen. “You may proceed.” 

The screen darkened. 

“There you go,” I said. 

She gave me a smirk. 

We went to the computer chamber deep down below the main house. 

Diane was definitely impressed by the size of the computer. “This had to cost a fortune.” 

“That’s what I thought.” 

“I need to look at one of the circuit boards,” she said, walking over to a section that appeared to be unpowered. She opened the cabinet and pulled out a circuit board. She squinted at it at first but then looked at me. “This is way beyond anything that is current.” 

I looked at the circuit board and then at her. “What do you mean?” 

“Look at it. These are not like any chips I’ve seen.” She pointed at a one-inch square chip. “I think this is the processor. This is too small to be a processor unless it’s using a new unknown micro circuitry.” 

“What are you trying to say--that it’s too advanced?” 

“Yes.” She pointed to a series of chips that looked the same. “These are the memory circuits. I’ve never seen anything like them.” 

“Maybe these are new and not yet available to the public.” 

She frowned. “The public doesn’t use computers. Only the government and large businesses can buy them.” 

“Obviously, George could afford one of them."

“I think George has a special supplier. There are no identification marks on the chips. That means that they’re custom.” 

“How are we going to make any improvements to this thing?” I asked. 

“I would need circuit diagrams to do that.” 

A large screen lit up with a diagram. Diane looked at it for several minutes. “This is not transistor-transistor logic. It’s something else. I don’t even think it’s CMOS. It’s technology that I’ve never seen.” She pointed. “Look at the processor. It’s a multichip design with at least a dozen cores.” 

I had no idea what she was talking about, so I kept my mouth shut. 

Later that evening, we were sitting around a fireplace in the large living area enjoying a drink of wine when she brought up the visit to the computer. 

“I hate to say this, but I really don’t understand how the computer was built,” she said. 

“I don’t understand anything at all about it. It’s much too complicated for me.” 

“Unfortunately, we are completely dependent on it. It runs all of the robotic machines and keeps this place humming.” She gestured with her hand. 

“What can we do to keep it going?” I asked. 

She stared at me for a moment before answering. “We need to find more people. It will take more of us to keep this place going.” 

“That’s not going to be easy. We have no way of finding them.” 

“I have detected motion,” the image of George on a screen said. 

“Where?” I asked. 

“The vehicle has entered route 90 below Buffalo and is heading west.” 

“We’ll have to go out at night,” I said. “That could be dangerous.” 

“Where did it come from?” Diane asked. 

“Canada.” 

I stood up and paced. “What would be the best way to intercept it? We’ll need time to get to where it’s going.” 

“Maybe it would make more sense to follow its course before we try to intercept it,” she said. “Once we go out, we’ll have no means to determine where it goes.” 

“I take it that you want to wait until we’re sure where it’s going.” 

“Yes. What would be ideal is if it stops somewhere.” 

I sat back down. “You’re right. We could easily miss it if we go out at night.” 

She smiled. “That’s right.” 

I hated to admit that her idea made sense.