This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Daniel H. Wilson
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by
Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and
in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.doubleday.com
DOUBLEDAY and the portrayal of an anchor with
a dolphin are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company for permission to reprint “The Hammer” from THE COMPLETE POEMS OF CARL SANDBURG, Revised and Expanded Edition by Carl Sandburg. Copyright © 1969, 1970 by Lilian Steichan Sandburg, Trustee. All rights reserved.
Book design by Michael Collica
Cover design and illustration by Will Staehle
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilson, Daniel H. (Daniel Howard)
Amped : a novel / Daniel H. Wilson.—1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Human experimentation in medicine—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3623.I57796A83 2012
813’.6—dc23
2011052318
eISBN: 978-0-385-53516-8
v3.1
For Genieve Wilson
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Part 1
Chapter 1 - The First Step
Chapter 2 - No Sirens, No Lights
Chapter 3 - Something Extra
Chapter 4 - The Rules
Chapter 5 - Speeding Metal
Part 2
Chapter 6 - Eden
Chapter 7 - Speed Cube
Chapter 8 - Night Life
Chapter 9 - Beyond the Fence
Chapter 10 - Coming Storm
Chapter 11 - Beasts and Gods
Chapter 12 - Dark Places
Chapter 13 - No Limits
Chapter 14 - Spotlighter
Chapter 15 - Trial by Fire
Chapter 16 - Wounded Supermen
Part 3
Chapter 17 - Here to Help
Chapter 18 - Vertigo
Chapter 19 - Dirty Move
Chapter 20 - Good Guy
Chapter 21 - Whole Hog
Chapter 22 - Under-Bridge
Chapter 23 - Potential Outcomes
Chapter 24 - Simulations
Chapter 25 - Bad Guy
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Books by This Author
General Biologics ™
Neural Autofocus MK-4 ®
User’s Manual—US Version
The Neural Autofocus MK-4 ® Brain Implant
The Neural Autofocus MK-4® Brain Implant is used to send electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain as well as to sense brain activity.
Figure 1.
The implant consists of an electrode array (A) placed on the brain surface, a subdermal processing unit (B), a biologically charged capacitor (C), and a maintenance port (D) that is located above the ear (adjacent to the temporal lobe).
The central purpose of the Neural Autofocus MK-4® is to increase your ability to concentrate on mental and physical tasks by sensing brain wave states associated with inattention and stimulating the brain wave state toward beta one (focused attention).
Figure 2.
In addition, the unit can serve as a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) for users who wish to operate an externally worn medical exoskeleton device, powered prosthetic limb (or limbs), or microelectric retinal implant device.
In the first months of use, your Neural Autofocus MK-4® Brain Implant will develop an accurate model of your brain function. In response to the unit, your own neural circuits will adapt, strengthening existing pathways associated with concentration and motor function. This feedback process will continue throughout the lifetime of the implant device. Please note that these changes are irreversible, even if use of the implant is discontinued.
Monthly application of bio-gel® via the maintenance port is crucial to prevent infection or foreign body rejection. Our patented bio-gel® is also guaranteed to minimize the incidence of neural scarring, which can degrade electrode efficiency.
Congratulations! With proper care, your new Neural Autofocus MK-4 ® Brain Implant will improve your life for years to come!
Note: As with all types of surgery, neural implantation carries some risks. Talk to your physician about warnings, precautions, and possible hazards. Viral or bacterial infection is a life-threatening condition. Call your doctor right away if you experience symptoms of infection, including stiff neck, confusion, fever, local redness, swelling, discharge, or seizures.
We can change ourselves.
Think of the possibilities.
—CARL SAGAN
OPINION OF THE COURT
No. 09-1153
SAMANTHA BLEX
v.
BOARD OF EDUCATION
ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
MR. CHIEF JUSTICE ANFUSO delivered the opinion of the Court.
The question in this case is whether users of implantable technology (e.g., Neural Autofocus® units) are guaranteed a right to education under the Fourteenth Amendment. The respondent Board of Education asserted that implanted students wield an unfair intellectual advantage over nonimplanted students and faculty, interfering with the fair administration of education.
The case of Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483, established that public institutions may not discriminate against students based on their immutable characteristics. We hold that the use of implantable technology constitutes an elective surgery, and that there is therefore no protection for implanted citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Therefore, we hold that implanted citizens are not a protected class.
It is so ordered.
