Nano

CHAPTER 26

In the week since she had last seen Zach Berman, Pia worked harder than ever, pushing her new lab technicians and coming ever closer, she thought, to being able to declare that biocompatibility issues, at least with roundworms, had been solved by incorporating the polyethylene glycol into the microbivores’ skin. Prior to using the compound, the roundworms had shown a 30 to 40 percent immunologic response. Although weak, it had been significant. Afterward there had been none, even with a low level of the oligosaccharide polymer. The results had been so good that Pia began thinking about what animal subjects she should try next. She also continued to develop the spiraling technology for the anti-salmonella robots. That concept continued to be promising, although she was still not able to arrange time with the programmers.

Much of her downtime was spent with Paul Caldwell. They’d been on a few more hikes, including an all-afternoon, challenging affair on Sunday that left Pia tired and sore the following day, but still exhilarated by the views from the high Rockies route Paul had taken her on.

Her friendship with Paul was growing by leaps and bounds. It was such a relief to Pia to be around a man who liked her for herself. She was still reserved and knew she was aloof in other people’s eyes — maybe even his, to a degree — but it was easier to try to be involved in a relationship that wasn’t at all sexual. Paul insisted they drive into Denver on Tuesday night to go to a bar he knew. He claimed he wanted to show Pia off, so once more she got into her black dress.

Although reluctant to go at first, she ended up having a better time with Paul’s friends than she’d imagined. They were a mixed group in terms of their professions but shared a creative side that Pia appreciated. She didn’t feel creativity was her strongest suit, but she enjoyed it in others. Yet what she liked the best was that there had been no sexual pressure in the slightest, and hence no awakening of any atavistic fear in Pia’s psyche, a problem that Pia recognized in herself from her recurrent nightmares.

Paul had done some research on iris scanners on the Internet and talked in general terms to a couple of his techie friends. On Wednesday evening, he told Pia he believed it was definitely possible to fool a scanner, particularly a first-generation scanner, which was the kind generally in use, with a high-resolution photograph of an eye, or even of a whole face, including both eyes. If the picture was good enough, he didn’t think it mattered if the image was in two dimensions and not three, because the iris itself is flat. After a light supper of vegetarian lasagna that Paul had made, he and Pia tested a single-lens, high-resolution camera that could take close-ups as well as normal photos.

“Where did you get this camera from again?” asked Pia.

“It’s from a friend from medical school. Okay, an ex-boyfriend.” Paul looked over at Pia. It was the first time he had implicitly mentioned his sexual orientation. He felt Pia knew, and was as comfortable as he was in not considering it an issue. He noted that Pia hadn’t batted an eyelid.

“We still see each other occasionally. They use these cameras in the lab at his clinic. I don’t even know what for, but it is definitely high resolution and can even take pictures through a microscope. He told me once he got hold of this thing for some art project he was working on. And I’m borrowing it for a few days.”

“It looks normal enough to me,” said Pia.

And it did. It was a little boxier than a regular commercial camera, but Paul told Pia the operation was the same.

Paul wanted to do a test on Pia, so she sat on Paul’s couch and he stood in front of her with a light behind him.

“Keep still, miss, this won’t hurt a bit.” Paul made a leering face and Pia opened her eyes wide.

“Does it matter which eye?” she asked.

“I don’t think so. Anyway, that’s why we’re trying it out, to find out if it works. Okay, hold still.”

Paul took a number of pictures of both of Pia’s eyes in close-up and also of her face from as close as a foot and as far away as three feet. He told her that he was done.

“So where will you get these printed?” said Pia.

“On my printer here in my apartment. But it may not be necessary to print them, but rather just to leave them in digital form. What I’m thinking of doing is transferring the best image to your phone, and you can try that. Actually, we might even try using the camera in your iPhone. The resolution on the screen of a phone is really very good, particularly the iPhone.”

“Will it be good enough to fool the scanner?”

“We’ll see about that. Has a scanner at Nano ever not let you in?”

“Yes. As I told you, it was the scanner at the door to the bridge connecting the building I work in to the immediately neighboring building. It refused me passage.”

“And no security person was standing there?”

“No. No one.”

“Good.”

“You understand the science behind this, don’t you?”

“In general, I suppose from what you told me.”

“To review, it is based on the fact that irises are unique, like fingerprints. Even identical twins have distinct irises. What the scanner does is use mathematical and statistical algorithms on certain visible characteristics, and digitalizes them, and then compares them with its library of stored scans. In a place like Nano, the results of a scan are then compared with its list of people who have access at the particular scanner. It is then yes, you have access, or no, you don’t.”

“I appreciate your taking the time to do this,” Pia said.

“Hey, I’m enjoying myself. This is exactly the kind of computer stuff that I find interesting. I’m also kind of a movie buff, and it reminds me of that movie with Tom Cruise. What was it?”

Pia shrugged. She’d only seen a handful of movies in her life. Her life had enough drama. She never felt that she needed more.

“Minority Report!” said Paul, happy that he’d remembered. “Tom Cruise got his eyes switched out, which of course is going a bit overboard, which is what Hollywood’s all about…. Anyway, we’re not doing anything so drastic, thank goodness. But I think the system has a flaw that we can exploit, at least the system that is currently in use.”

“This is fun for you, I can see,” said Pia. “What did you do in high school, hack into ATMs?”

“What I did in high school is none of your business,” said Paul, but with a smile on his face. “Seriously, what are you going to do if this works? Whose eye are you intending to photograph? The only actual people you told me about at Nano are Berman and that Spallek woman I met. He’s the big boss and she’s a horror show. How are you going to get those pictures?”

“Now you’re asking too many questions,” said Pia. She hadn’t told Paul much about the development of her relationship with Berman, or what Berman had perceived as such. But she thought that Berman would be the most likely target, especially because of the nascent social connection she had with him. She knew she was playing with fire, but so be it. There seemed to be no other way if she was serious about finding out what Nano was up to. The other benefit of using Berman was that he undoubtedly had access to everything.

“This is all great fun for me, but to be truthful, I’m worried about you. My guess is that you will try to take a photo of Berman, which I also imagine you’re clever enough to pull off. But if you use this to get access to secure areas, you’ll be trespassing, and no one knows what the consequences of that might be.”

“I appreciate your concern,” Pia said. “And I recognize the risk. If I use this to get into areas where I’m not authorized to be and something happens, it’s not your fault. It is mine and mine alone. But let me say this: I would have learned about these iris scanners and how to get by them if you hadn’t helped. It just would have taken longer. I’m determined to get a look around Nano, particularly in the building next to where I work: the one connected to mine by the bridge.”

For a minute Pia and Paul stared at each other. Pia held the contact as long as she could before turning away.

“Can you at least appreciate what I’m saying?” Paul questioned.

“Absolutely,” Pia snapped. She looked back at Paul, her eyes blazing. “But don’t carry it too far if you want to stay my friend. I’ve had too many people making decisions for me in my life. I don’t need that anymore, and I don’t want it.”

“Fair enough,” Paul said. “I just wanted to get it off my chest.”

“Okay, it’s off your chest. Shall we move on?”

“Right!” Paul said. He stood up and walked over to his desk. Using a connector, he attached the high-definition camera to his computer. “Let me have your iPhone. Let’s see what we can do.”

There was no conversation while Paul played around with the images of Pia’s eyes and face. A sense of unease hung in the air until Pia broke the silence.

“There is something else I would like,” Pia said. When Paul didn’t respond immediately she continued: “What do you say about giving me a couple more of those Temazepam capsules.”

Paul eyes left the computer screen and moved over to Pia. “You’re getting as bossy as Mariel, if I may say so.”

“Sorry,” Pia said without sincerity. She didn’t think of herself that way, just that she was her own person and hated to be bossed herself.

“I have to say no,” Paul said. “You’ll have to get someone else to fill your drug needs if you want to remain my friend. That’s where I draw my line in the sand as well. I told you I wasn’t going to do anything illegal, so I’m not going to abet the misuse of controlled substances, especially when I think it puts you at risk. Once, maybe, without giving the idea the thought that I should have, but not twice.”

“Okay, okay,” Pia said, holding up her hands as if Paul needed to be calmed down. “Your point’s well taken. And I think you’re right. I don’t need any drugs. All I need is the camera and a bit of creativity.”

“The camera you can borrow.”

“And I might not even borrow that if I can’t fool the scanner with my own image.”