The Dane Commission (The Dane Chronicles) (13 page)

The field with the misspelling was
immediately highlighted, and he could not submit the form.

Ryan was startled when a voice emerged
from the monitor speakers.

“Mr. Dane, you have mistyped an entry
in the highlighted field. The most commonly used pain relief medication for
such an injury is cod-L122. Is this what you intended?”

“Yes, thank you SID,” said Ryan.

The field was corrected, and the
highlighted portion returned to normal.

After several more tries, he came to
believe it was as equally hard to break the manual input as it would be the
fully interactive SID version.

He decided to take a break, and walked
over to see Jim and David

“Hey guys, how’s it going?” he said.

“Wow, you look like the local bully
just took your lunch money,” said Jim.

“Yeah, that’s kind of how I feel. I
can’t catch a break on this ‘data collision’ project; and I think I’ve just run
out of leads.”

David spoke up, “I’m guessing the manual
input program didn’t help you much.”

“Well, it’s not over yet. But what it
proved to me is that the manual entry is not easy to break. The slightest
mistake is captured by SID, who intervenes and blocks the submission until it
gets corrected. It really is a very thorough, and very credible system,” said
Ryan.

Jim stood up, and stretched.

“SID’s pretty damn good,” said Jim,
“the SID program was written by a whole team of programmers, but the real work,
the really innovative stuff came from Dr. Steven Ranks a friend of Dr. Sid
Frances, the IntelliHealth founder. Ranks was only about twenty at the time.
He’s pretty much a hero to us.”

“Only 20, and that was about 25 years
ago now, so he’s still alive isn’t he?” Ryan asked.

David was interested now, “Yeah, but no
one ever hears from him anymore. The last project he worked on was the energy
source problem. He wrote the operating system for the first generation,
particle-smasher arrays. The ones that saved the planet. People talk a lot
about Dr. Frances, but because of Steven Ranks we’ve had clean power that is
strong and reliable ever since.” David was definitely a fan.

Ryan said, “Well, I’ve explored every possibility I can think of for human
error. I’ve looked in detail at the initial stage where our research scientists
prescribe treatments. I’ve also explored the hospital side and learned how
their staff receive the prescribed treatments and then carry them out.”

Letting out a short sigh, Ryan went on,
“I don’t believe I could break the system if I set out to try. The amount of
control on both sides is staggering.”

David said, “I understand what you’re
saying, Ryan. The IntelliHealth networks are strong everywhere.”
”Everywhere?” said Ryan.
Jim leaned against the partition wall, putting his hands in his pockets.

“That’s right Ryan, all of the
IntelliHealth facilities are set up in identical fashion. I learned that when I
first started here. Back then, this facility was one of the older ones, and we
were always asked for program templates to use at the new facilities. They said
that each facility would be run in the identical way, so that any researcher,
anywhere, could interact with and access resources at any other facility,
seamlessly. ”

Ryan was considering what Jim said.

“A system so solid and uniform that it
can’t be broken,” he almost whispered.

“And yet, someone is,” said David.

“What?”

“I just mean that because the errors
are still happening, it means that intentionally or not, someone is breaking
the system.”

The words echoed in his head.
‘Someone is breaking the system.’

CHAPTER 6

“When you're
drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have
the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream.
”
 
-
John Lennon

The next day Ryan reviewed his
progress.

Looking at his results from his
explorations into the Research and Hospital components, he had made an
excellent case for why these treatment errors, or ‘data collisions’ as Ben
called them, could never happen.
Something else was happening here.
He needed more information, and decided it was time to try something new. He
wanted to talk with some other IntelliHealth Facilities and see if they had
documented similar events.

He called Theresa to ask if Ben was available.
“Yes, you can see him now if you like.”

Ryan arrived at Ben’s office and
explained what steps he had completed in his investigation, and regrettably,
that he still had found nothing.
“Ben, I want to contact some other IntelliHealth Facilities and see if they’ve
ever documented a case like ours.”

Ben frowned, “Ryan, I have to say that
I’m not entirely comfortable with this idea. Spreading our problems over the
IntelliHealth System is something not to be taken lightly. The wrong words
could mean bad news for a lot of us.”

“I understand, but I’m stuck Ben. I
have explored and documented every logical point where error could conceivably
be entered into the system. All I’ve done is shown how strong and well
protected your system is.”

“Along the way, I’ve spoken to highly
qualified people on your staff, the research staff and the hospital staff.
These are individuals relied on by yourself and your peers. Their knowledge is
based on years of experience, working right here. They helped me to understand
the system from each of their perspectives, and I don’t believe it can be
compromised at any of their entry points,” said Ryan.

Pausing to pick his words carefully,
“My conclusion is that there isn’t a way to generate the type of errors we are
experiencing; at least not through the common activity that takes place every
day.”

Ryan knew he was on tender ground, and
wasn’t sure how far he could take Ben in this line of thinking.

Ben looked puzzled.
“Ryan, what are you suggesting exactly?”

“I’m not sure, but I believe something unconventional is happening here. It’s
why none of our tests are revealing anything.”
“How will talking to other facilities help?” he asked.

“I learned that they’re set up exactly
as we are, even employing the identical software. I believe they should be just
as susceptible to this anomaly. What if they are experiencing the same thing,
and just too afraid to talk about it?”

“Let me think about it,” he said as he
leaned back and sighed, “I will get back to you once I’ve had a chance to
thoroughly think through what you’ve said.”

“Thanks Ben, if you choose not to
approve it, I will certainly understand. I can go back to the beginning and
start putting together some new field comparisons for Jim to run.”

Ryan got up and started walking back to
his office. Ben was clearly frustrated and not interested in sharing it with
other IntelliHealth Facilities. Ryan thought he was probably afraid of the
scrutiny if the other locations came up negative. Still though, if Ryan were to
get any further in his investigation, he would need to learn if the problem
manifested elsewhere.

When he got to his office, he felt like
he needed a break, so he decided to switch gears. He sat down and pulled up the
treatment he’d found for the Rn186 virus. The number of trials had gone up
again. People in the city were still getting vaccinated. With his paranoia from
last night still twitching in his head, he decided to call Jeff and see if he
knew anything that would settle his questions.

“Hey Jeff, do you have a few minutes
that I could come and visit?”
”Sure Ryan, come on up.”

Ryan found Jeff in his lab washing some
sort of flask in a sink at the end of a lab bench.

“Jeff, thanks for seeing me,” he said.
”Hello Ryan, you called at a good time,” said Jeff as he walked over to shake his
hand “the students are all at a seminar, and we finally have peace.”

“I have a couple of questions, and I
know they might sound a bit strange. Frankly, I’m hoping you’ll be able to tell
me why I’m wrong. It’s possible my wife is right when she says I’m being a
little paranoid.”

They entered Jeff’s office, and he
turned to shut the door.
Curious now, Jeff said, “Sure Ryan, what have you got?”

Ryan hesitated for just a second,
feeling a bit awkward.
“All right, this is going to sound weird,” he said, “but, is there anything
wrong with the birth rate?”

Jeff clearly wasn’t expecting the
question, “Is this part of your investigation?”

“No, not exactly. It kind of sprung up
during
my investigation.”

“Well, it’s true that birth rates have
been in decline. And I know that some of our resources have been diverted over
the last few years to studying infertility issues. But this isn’t exactly news
Ryan; a gradual slowdown in the numbers has been happening for over two decades
now. Some are linking it to our extended life spans. The medical advances of
the last quarter century have allowed people to live healthier and longer, but
I’m sure they are still having babies, Ryan.”

“So falling birth rates is a phenomenon
that has been occurring over the last twenty years?”
“Yes, I believe that’s true.”

Jeff walked over to his ‘In-box’, and looked through his departmental mail,
“It’s funny you are asking about this. I just received a paper for review that
suggests the numbers of viable embryos will fall by large stepping stone leaps
over the next two generations. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, just the
summary. Frankly, I thought it was another grad student trying to make a big
splash.”

Relaxing a little, Ryan said, “Jeff, if
there was a problem it would be known publicly wouldn’t it? I mean, I watch the
news all the time, and I’ve never seen a story about declining birthrates.”

“Well, I see the lab assignments and I
know that many more IntelliHealth scientists are looking at fertility very
recently. Maybe it’s because this is relatively new information. What made you
even ask about it?” said Jeff.

“I found some information indicating
that IntelliHealth was treating 2.3 million patients with vaccinations for
Rn186. It caught my attention because I also saw a report saying that 2.3
million was the city census. I was interested, so I did a little digging and
started comparing annual census numbers. And now I’m here bothering you.”
Ryan was smiling his best
‘I’m really not crazy’
smile.

“Are you saying there is some sort of
correlation to the vaccinations for Rn186?” said Jeff.

“No, not really. It was just odd to me that IntelliHealth would have complete
records for inoculating everyone in the city. I thought that most people would
be getting their shots from other places like their local doctors or job sites.
Why would IntelliHealth have records on everyone?” said Ryan.

“Hmm, interesting. I don’t know. But
back to the birthrate question, if there was some sort of problem, I think
there are too many people working on it for it to be hidden for very long.”

“Well thanks Jeff, you’ve made me feel
a little better.”

“Anytime Ryan. If you like, I can call
you if I find out anything new.”

“Thanks that would be great. Take it
easy.”

Ryan went back to his office feeling a little better. Maybe he had simply
touched on an issue that was already being addressed, and if he hadn’t heard
anything in the news, maybe it just wasn’t newsworthy. Jeff worked with the
scientists in the labs; it was good to know that he wasn’t concerned. Still
though, he couldn’t help wondering if Jeff really knew the full story himself.

Back in the lab, Jeff went to the file
cabinet where he kept the most recent papers he’d received. He opened it up and
pulled out a paper titled,
‘Infertility, the Price for Perfection?’

He sat down to read the first section.

As Ryan was suggesting, had he like
everyone else, missed this? Could there be something huge happening all around
them, to which he’d been oblivious? He decided to discuss it with Bender at the
next opportunity.