Micro. Michael Crichton

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СКАЧАТЬ fighter jet to glue onto an aircraft carrier. But if so, it was like no fighter jet he had ever seen. This one had a blunted nose, an open seat, no canopy, and a boxy rear with tiny stubby flanges: no real wings to speak of.

      “Do you mind…”

      Amar was already heading for the big magnifying glass by his workbench. He put the object under the glass, and turned it carefully. “This is quite fantastic,” he said.

      Peter pushed his head in to look. Under magnification, the airplane—or whatever it was—appeared exquisitely beautiful, rich with detail. The cockpit had amazingly intricate controls, so minute it was hard to imagine how they had been carved. Amar was thinking the same thing.

      “Perhaps laser lithography,” he said, “the same way they do computer chips.”

      “But is it an airplane?”

      “I doubt it. No method of propulsion. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just some kind of model.”

      “A model?” Peter said.

      “Perhaps you should ask your brother,” Amar said, drifting back to his workbench.

      Peter reached Eric on his cell phone. He heard loud voices in the background. “Where are you?” Peter said.

      “Memorial Drive. They love us at MIT. They understand what we’re talking about.”

      Peter described the small object he had found.

      “You really shouldn’t have that,” Eric said. “It’s proprietary.”

      “But what is it?”

      “Actually, it’s a test,” his brother said. “One of the first tests of our robotic technology. It’s a robot.”

      “It looks like it has a cockpit, with a little chair and instruments, like someone would sit there…”

      “No, no, what you’re seeing is the slot to hold the micro-power-pack and control package. So we can run it remotely. I’m telling you, Peter, it’s a bot. One of the first proofs of concept of our ability to miniaturize beyond anything previously known. I was going to show it to you if we had time, but—listen, I’d prefer you keep that little device to yourself, at least for now.”

      “Sure, okay.” No point in telling him about Amar.

      “Bring it with you when you come to visit us,” Eric said, “in Hawaii.”

      The head of the lab, Ray Hough, came in and spent the rest of the day in his office, reviewing papers. By general agreement it was considered poor form for the graduate students to discuss other jobs while Professor Hough was present. So around four o’clock they all met at Lucy’s Deli on Mass Ave. As they crowded around a couple of small tables, a lively discussion ensued. Rick Hutter continued to argue that the university was the only place where one could engage in ethical research. But nobody really listened to him; they were more concerned with the claims that Vin Drake had made. “He was good,” Jenny Linn said, “but it was a sales pitch.”

      “Yes,” Amar Singh said, “but at least one part of it was true. He’s right that discoveries do follow new tools. If those guys have the equivalent of a new kind of microscope, or a new PCR-type technique, then they’re going to make a lot of discoveries quickly.”

      “But could it really be the best research environment in the world?” Jenny Linn said.

      “We can see for ourselves,” Erika Moll said. “They said they’d pay airfare.”

      “How’s Hawaii this time of year?” Jenny said.

      “I can’t believe you guys are buying into this,” Rick said.

      “It’s always good,” Karen King said. “I did my tae kwon do training in Kona. Wonderful.” Karen was a martial arts devotee, and had already changed into a sweat suit for her evening workout.

      “I overheard the CFO say they’re hiring a hundred people before the end of the year,” Erika Moll said, trying to steer the conversation away from Karen and Rick.

      “Is that supposed to scare us or entice us?”

      “Or both?” Amar Singh said.

      “Do we have any idea what this new technology is they claim to have?” Erika said. “Do you know, Peter?”

      “From a career standpoint,” Rick Hutter said, “you’d be very foolish not to get your PhD first.”

      “I have no idea,” Peter said. He glanced at Amar, who said nothing, just nodded silently.

      “Frankly, I’m curious to see their facility,” Jenny said.

      “So am I,” Amar said.

      “I looked at their website,” Karen King said. “Nanigen MicroTech. It says they make specialized robots at the micro- and nano-scale. That’s millimeters down to thousandths of a millimeter. They have drawings of robots that look like they’re about four or five millimeters long—maybe a quarter of an inch. And then some that are half that, maybe two millimeters. The robots seem very detailed. No explanation how they could be made.”

      Amar was staring at Peter. Peter said nothing.

      “Your brother hasn’t talked to you about this, Peter?” Jenny asked.

      “No, this has been his secret.”

      “Well,” Karen King continued, “I don’t know what they mean by nano-scale robots. That would be less than the thickness of a human hair. Nobody can fabricate at those dimensions. You’d have to be able to construct a robot atom by atom, and nobody can do that.”

      “But they say they can?” Rick said. “It’s corporate bullshit.”

      “Those cars aren’t bullshit.”

      “Those cars are rented.”

      “I have to get to class,” Karen King said, standing up from the table. “I’ll tell you one thing, though. Nanigen has kept a very low profile, but there are a few brief references in some business sites, going back about a year. They got close to a billion dollars in funding from a consortium put together by Davros Venture Capital—”

      “A billion!”

      “Yeah. And that consortium is primarily composed of international drug companies.”

      “Drug companies?” Jenny Linn frowned. “Why would they be interested in micro-bots?”

      “The plot thickens,” Rick said. “Big Pharma behind the curtain.”

      “Maybe they expect new delivery systems?” Amar said.

      “Nah, they have that already, with nano-spheres. They don’t need to spend a billion dollars on that. They must be expecting new drugs.”

      “But how…” Erika shook her head, puzzled.

      “There’s more,” СКАЧАТЬ