ESP

Project Aegis. Report nº412 
Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Departments.
January 21, 2034

Naomi Bender: Nanotechnology Chief Researcher

Due to the last tests results, we confirm that the death of both primates was caused by minor errors on the inspection algorithm. The nanobots identified healthy tissues as affected, reacting against them. The chimpanzees’ vital functions collapsed long before the cancer could reach a terminal phase.
We keep working on it.

Project Aegis. Report nº473
Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Departments.
July 17, 2035
 
Paul Thompson: Biotechnology Chief Researcher.

I’m glad to communicate that the last tests on humans have developed succesfully. For 95% of the cases, the subjects have completely recovered from their diseases.
As soon as the corresponding adjustments are made, we believe it will raise to 99%.
Below the results are detailed, according to the number of subjects and their illness:

Totally cured:
4-Lung Cancer (2 of them with metastasis).
2-Prostate Cancer.
8-Pancreas Cancer (3 of them with metastasis).
8-Breast Cancer.
4-Acute Myelogenus Leukemia.
5-Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.
19-AIDS.
16-Malaria.
7-Systemic lupus erythematosus.
3-Ebola.

Deceased subjects(From their diseases, due to the lack of time):
1-Ebola.
2-Acute Myelogenus Leukemia (With metastasis).
1-AIDS (Complications caused by pneumonia).

From now on, the research will be focused on applying Aegis on neurodegenerative diseases. However, we approve its commercialization, as any future improvement could be applied later via software updates. We leave in the nanotechnology department’s hands any possible improvement related with the performance.

Extract from Paul Thompson’s TIME interview.
September 3, 2036.

To the naked eye, he looks like an ordinary man; someone wouldn’t be surprised to find him teaching in high school. But deep in his eyes, you can perceive the determination that has guided him through so many years of failures.
He shakes hands firmly, with a perfect smile, and despite his deep wrinkles he still keeps in his voice the same energy as a youngster who has just graduated.

TIME: Mr. Thompson, though you don’t like people to say it, you’ve lead what probably is the biggest medical progress in history. You are the Person of the Year, the American hero. And I haven’t got a doubt: the next Nobel Prize winner in Medicine. Do you know how many lives have you saved?

Thompson: Well, as you said: It’s true that I started the project, but I believe it would not be fair to keep all the merit. Aegis was possible thanks to the efforts of many persons: Naomi Bender, Alfred Nikolski, Koji Yamato… And many more. I want people to understand that this wasn’t a single man’s job.

TIME: No doubt, but you’ll agree that the heaviest burden was always on your shoulders. After all, the whole investigation was based on your ideas. And, if I am not mistaken, you had to request additional time in three occasions for the project not to be canceled. Later, they even diverted half of your team and sent them to other researches. So, there would be nothing left if it wasn’t for you. How could you overcome such setbacks?

Thompson: The point is I wasn’t alone. The colleagues I just mentioned were supporting me from the beginning, they were in the original team. But it’s true, as in any important job I was tempted to resign several times. The lack of results came together with personal problems, our budget was cut down once and another… There were really hard times. But my wife was always holding me back, that was vital for me.

TIME: You are probably up to date with these numbers, but our readers will be interested to know that at least 10 million people have totally recovered from diseases which were incurable almost two years ago. Cancer, AIDS, Malaria… How is it possible? Could you give us a brief explanation of how does Aegis works?

Thompson: Of course. The idea is about emulating the antibodies; we build a nanobots swarm programmed to eliminate certain elements, as they could be viruses or bacteria, or even carcinogenic cells. This way, the patient’s body is cleaned from many diseases, and moreover, he is protected from future afflictions, as the nanobots can stay safely in the body for an indefinite period.

TIME: However, you weren’t the first ones to devise this idea, neither the only team working on it. Why did you manage to implement a fully functional solution while others couldn’t?

Thompson: Well, I suppose we were very lucky, that’s important. We weren’t the team with the highest budgets, but I believe that our approach was different from other researchers, maybe the difference was there. I don’t pretend to say we were better, but our people were really good and very committed.

TIME: There are also opposing voices against Aegis. Have you read the novel: Prey?

Thompson: (He laughs surprised) Yes, of course, it’s one of my favorite books. But it’s absurd to worry about this, it has nothing to do. The learning ability of our nanobots is even more limited than their capacity of making decisions. Furthermore, they can only follow their basic program. They also have a security protocol which allow us to deactivate them instantly, so they can later be expelled.

TIME: Do you believe that we could talk about eradication of all the diseases during the upcoming years?

Thompson: That’s a difficult question. I’m not sure if that’s even possible. I wouldn’t say so much. Right now, apart from destroying pathogens, we are focusing on the possibility of repairing, for example, neural connections.
[…]

Report for the UN on the massive extinction of species and its relation with Aegis.
April 25, 2040

 Jeofrey Sanchez Livingstone (PhD in Microbiology from Harvard University. University College of London professor and director of the Lynn Margulis Center for Evolutionary Biology. Member of the NAS in U.S.A. and the Royal Society.)
 In collaboration with Joanne Briand (PhD in Medicine from Harvard University) and Giuseppe De Martino (PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Yale University)

After the United Nations Environment Programme requested an urgent research on the massive extinctions which have stricken Earths fauna during the last year, I present the conclusions of our study:
 
 First of all, we have verified the evident natural disaster which is still growing. The reach of such catastrophe can only be valued when it comes to an end, but we can assure that we face an extinction event comparable with those in the Jurassic or Cretaceous periods. Up until today, almost 25% of the species we knew have totally disappeared, and we estimate that at least 60 million people have died as a direct result from this, basically because of the food shortages.
 
 During the last months, we have inquired possible causes, analyzing the most extended theories, including those relating the subject with the growth of human generated pollution, or the eruption of several volcanos. However, none of these justify properly the current situation. Finally, as we present in the title, we conclude that it was essentially caused by the Aegis Artificial Immune System (AAIS), developed by Paul Thompson’s team.
 
 In order to reach this conclusion, we started the difficult task of placing the exact order in which the species have extinguished, and the links within them. As we were able to prove, the lack of information about the function of certain bacteria, or even the viruses in the evolutionary and food chains, was absolute. Thanks to our studies we were able to outline a scheme, maybe too late, about the importance that hundreds of pathogen organisms have in the global ecosystem.
 
 Therefore, we propose this hypothesis (evidences are attached in the next pages, as some parallel studies): The AAIS, known as Aegis, has virtually eliminated any trace on human diseases, and thus any pathogen microorganisms. As we further explain, those organisms form an unknown backbone of the food chain, substantial in any case. The problem is then on the Aegis effectiveness, which was even used on livestock and domestic animals, and which usually keeps functioning for free after the carrier’s death. So, with the sudden disappearance of hundreds of microorganisms, many others which depended on them also fell, starting a chain reaction which has produced severe imbalances, decreasing some species presence and increasing others. When everything collapsed, it extended to larger organisms like plankton, and later to a sizable number of seaweeds and terrestrial plants, advancing through the invertebrate families until reaching vertebrates. 
 
 As a solution, if we can call it so, we recommend an immediate action: The emergency protocol deactivation order of the Aegis systems must be emitted across the whole planet, applying the right frequency. This way, we would be able to stop the direct cause of the massive extinctions, so it is imperative in any case. After that, we can only hope for the catastrophe’s advance to stabilize, because nothing guarantees that it will stop. Either way, it will take centuries to reestablish the biodiversity we knew before.

Captain’s Yuri Ivanov private diary, on board of the ISS. March 3, 2042.

This is the last pencil. I know: it may seem absurd that I’m writing this by hand, but I like to believe that this pages will last longer that my tablet’s flash memory…

All my comrades have decided to go back, but I won’t. Down there it’s all wreaking havoc, there aren’t almost human populations… What am I saying? There aren’t almost any populations of anything. I suppose the fauna will recover one day; if life survived the Permian, it will get over this. But I don’t know if we’ll be able to see it. They think that it can’t get worse, and they prefer taking the risk, after weeks without receiving response.
Who knows, all my life has always turned around space, and here is where I want it to end. I suppose the oxygen supplies will last near a month or more, now that I’m alone. There’s enough food also, but the bad part is that I’ll have to ration the vodka. Anyway, I’ll enjoy the stars for a while and when the oxygen finishes I’ll go to sleep.
I might even take a last spacewalk.
I wonder what my mates will do if they survive. What will mankind do in a future… Will they be more cautious? Or if, on the contrary, new intelligent life will appear. How long will it take for someone to step on this space station again? Will it get smashed against the Earth’s surface before? Time will say.
But just in case someone reads this one day: Congratulations! I was wrong. I hope that the world might be a better place than when left.

Special thanks to Álvaro Gutiérrez Valladares, for helping me to correct the English version.