Context: Dr. Christian Scollay, one of the lead scientists at A.T.X.D. Headquarters, has been assigned to find a way to block or fix the implant that was forcibly installed in Lance Corporal Laney Davidson by the SIGA Syndicate when she was a three-year-old child. Laney, for context, is the main character of book 3 - A.T.X.D. Stealth Angel; she is a former U.S. Marine recruited to the A.T.X.D. force and has incredible super-senses given by said implant. However, after superhuman SIGA terrorist Hannah Robinson - the main antagonist of this book - says a codeword which causes Laney to suffer a near-fatal seizure, her Team Leader Captain Ashley Miller is determined to find a solution to curb the implant's effects; Dr. Scollay is the only one who can cure it.
>>>>>>>SIO RESEARCH SECTION<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>DR. CHRISTIAN SCOLLAY’S REASSIGNED LAB & QUARTERS<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>12:25 PM<<<<<<<
Doctor Scollay’s gloved hands continued to type away at the terminal in his smaller, impromptu laboratory as he tried to ascertain a greater understanding of Laney’s genetic implant. More importantly, he’d been searching through the data from the Corporal’s medical scan and cross-referencing it with his own research files from the Dulce Site’s secure server to see if there was any way to keep the foreign material’s effects at bay. Scollay never was one for sympathy when science beckoned to him with a greater calling, but when the two went hand-in-hand and could tangibly benefit people both in the short term as well as the long term, the passion to complete the research burned much greater within the soul of the military scientist. And after reviewing Laney’s medical and psychological files, Scollay felt that he owed it to her to get this right despite not knowing the Corporal personally.
Scollay was just pulling up a digital strand of DNA coding onscreen and reviewing it with thorough determination when he heard the door-request chime play. Granting permission for entry without leaving his station, Scollay’s eyes continued to scan the genetic data while Ashley came in for an update.
“Doctor Scollay, anything to update me on?” Ashley requested.
“Your Corporal’s genetic implant is proving to be….quite the scientific challenge, Captain,” Scollay returned, again without taking his eyes off the screen. “I have been trying to ascertain the basic building blocks of how the implant’s algorithms, I mean its behaviors, are affecting Corporal Davidson and what could be used to….”
Scollay cut himself off rather abruptly, and that piqued Ashley’s attention. When she prodded a little more, Scollay briefly raised a hand to keep her quiet before he finally replied, “Of course….of course. How could I have been so stupid?”
“What is it, Doctor?” Ashley asked.
Scollay briefly got up and retrieved a manilla folder with some paper copies of his Dulce Base research before returning to his seat and looking again at the monitor.
“Doctor Scollay?”
“As I suspected,” Scollay returned with a sly twist of his bearded lip. “The implant is using neuroelectric signals transmitted or generated through its cells that jump directly to Corporal Davidson’s own brain cells in the frontal lobe. The fact that the implant is misaligned, however, means those signals can’t travel down the right pathways and thus cause a conflict with her voluntary nerve impulses but don’t actually shut them off.”
“But you and I agree it’s in Laney’s best interests that the implant is not properly connected, doctor,” Ashley calmly but warily protested.
“Except that such a misalignment is the cause of the seizure which she was medevaced for,” Scollay politely countered with an air of excitement, “a seizure which could have killed her. So if we are talking about what’s in your Corporal’s best interests, Captain, we need to find a way to prevent those signals from traveling to or anywhere within Ms. Davidson’s mind.”
“So we need to remove the implant?” Ashley tried to follow.
“No, Captain Miller,” Scollay warned with a more serious tone. “Not unless we want to turn little Laney into a vegetable. As I told you before, the implant has deteriorated and become fused within the Corporal’s cerebral tissue. Removing it, even with my surgical expertise, would be far too risky.”
“Then what do you suggest, doctor? Because I ran out of ideas a long time ago.”
“We must block the neural impulses transmitted by the implant,” Scollay proposed. He then showed the DNA coding on the screen to Ashley and carefully pointed out the A, C, G, and T protein patterns in two strands of DNA: one digitally analyzed from Laney’s implant, and the other recorded from her normal human tissue during the after-action medical scan in the infirmary. “To your credit, Captain Miller, you were on the right track that a surgery will need to be performed. But instead of reversing the process by which that implant got there, we must replicate it: inserting another strand of DNA in between the gap where the foreign material makes its connection with Laney’s genes.”
“So it’ll act like an electronic sponge at the genetic level and absorb the signal before it can affect Laney’s impulses,” Ashley deduced. “Sounds like it could work, but I don’t know who would have DNA that could block mental signals like that.”
“Captain Miller….the DNA must be Corporal Davidson’s, and Corporal Davidson’s alone,” Scollay cautioned again. “I told you earlier that SIGA had to practically cultivate this implant in a petri dish before it was inserted into Laney’s mind. That’s because it relies on deception: deceiving Corporal Davidson’s natural brain cells into thinking that the signals they’re receiving from the implant are coming from her own nerves instead of a foreign source. Like a computer virus that deceives the main operating system of its harmful potential; or a biological virus that deceives a human cell into accepting it like an ordinary protein.”
“So we need Laney’s DNA to be reinserted into this…gap you mention,” Ashley continued, again trying to make sense of Scollay’s expert knowledge.
“Precisely. If we can extract a small strand of Corporal Davidson’s DNA, and I am given a short while to make some minor laboratory adjustments to it, I might be able to deceive the deceiver. If done correctly, the next time the implant fires, it will think that it is directly interacting with Laney’s mind…”
“But instead it’s a false positive,” Ashley quietly exclaimed. “The implant will be wasting energy trying to send signals to a gene that portrays itself as the nerves and cells which it needs to connect to, but in reality the signals are just being disrupted and diffused before they can actually interact with Laney’s brain.”
“Exactly, Captain Miller,” Scollay complimented. “So all I need to begin with is a strand of Corporal Davidson’s human DNA, and the Corporal’s permission of course. With those two things in hand, my colleagues and I can begin the process of counteracting SIGA’s abusive treachery.”
“I like the sound of that, doctor,” Ashley complimented in return. “And I appreciate the enthusiasm.”
“And it’s not just what you think, Captain,” Scollay replied as Ashley began to leave.
“How so?” Ashley twisted on her toes and faced Scollay with curiosity.
“It’s true, I’ve been interested in studying your Corporal’s unique psychology since I first heard of her abilities. But when I got to actually reading the file on Laney Davidson, I realized there was something else pushing me to complete my research. Science often requires sacrifices, but I do not intend to condone ‘research’ whose efforts merely benefit myopic fantasies at the brutal expense of the subjects. And when children are involved, especially against their will and at the age at which poor little Laney received her implant, I make it my personal duty to right such blasphemic wrongs, using only my mind as the weapon with which I fight.”
“Spoken like a true warrior, Doctor Scollay,” Ashley confidently replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a part to play in this mission of yours. I’ll go see if there’s something in Corporal Davidson’s locker that can provide you with a specimen.”
“Please do, Captain Miller,” Scollay encouraged firmly. “Please do.”