Today

Singapore was an awesome place for living. It was like living in the future, but the future was now, and you were the star. The country was an absolute goldmine for business, science, arts; its geographical and political position between the West and the East made it a playground for anyone looking to make it big. Western democracy on one side, Eastern state control on the other. And right in the middle? Singapore. Neutral, opportunistic, and thriving.

The world was basically a geopolitical chessboard, Niko knew, echoing the events of the 20th and 21st centuries. The Western Bloc, led by the United States and its allies, advocated still for democratic governance, free markets, and the individual as the ultimate decision maker. Opposing them, the Eastern Bloc, dominated by Russia and China promoted state-controlled economies and a collectivist ethos. Still, both blocs were dealing with their own internal headaches, but the rivalry was as intense as ever.

This wasn’t your grandfather’s Cold War. Sure, there was no direct military confrontation (mostly), but the cyber warfare, economic sanctions, espionage, and proxy conflicts were real and constant. The tech race was insane—AI, quantum computing, space exploration—with each side wanting to outdo the other. And let’s not forget the nuclear arsenals, always looming in the background, maintaining a precarious balance of power. Echoes of the Third World War some twenty years ago, which had shaken both sides to the ground, added to tensions.

Global institutions like the UN? They were pretty much useless at this point. But neutral countries, if they played their cards right, had all the possibilities to thrive. This was one of the reasons why Niko had chosen to study and live in Singapore in the first place, away from the turmoil in his home.

Getting into Singapore, though, had been a whole other story. The government didn’t make it easy. Even for someone as brilliant as Niko, it had taken a mountain of paperwork, a stack of recommendations and, let’s be real, more than a few bribes to get accepted. But once he was in, it was like hitting the jackpot. Singapore offered the perfect blend of stability and opportunity. For a while, it was smooth sailing.

Until it wasn’t.

Niko’s speech at Congress was an overwhelming experience. Despite his aversion to public appearances, he relaxed slightly while presenting, seeing the packed hall filled with astonished faces. He didn’t need to imagine the audience naked; their evident nervousness surpassed his own.

As he descended from the stage, Priya awaited him backstage.

“Way to go, Prof,” she said with a smile.

“Wow, it couldn’t have gone better.”

“Aren’t you a bit frustrated, though?”

“Why? This is literally the pinnacle of my career, Priya.”

“Because you didn’t get to use any of your fancy animations.”

Niko laughed. “Yeah, a little. I worked hard on those.”

“Also, it seems to me that out of all your discoveries, the ‘instant learning’ bit, got the most applause. I already imagined you shouting, ‘What about the medical applications, people?’” She sighed, feigning frustration.

“Ha-ha. Well, it is one of the most sci-fi things humans can imagine. Having a small device implanted that can make you smart? Or make you parler Français?”

“Isn’t the most sci-fi thing that you can imagine this being actually alien technology?”

“Shh,” he hushed her, putting a finger on her lips. “See you later, all right? I have some serious interviewing to do right now.”

Niko followed a security man to the interview room, where the press was waiting. As soon as he entered, a sea of light shone toward him, and hundreds of cameras pointed at his head. He involuntarily put his arms up as a protective reflex, reminding him of that one dark time he thought he had lost everything. When they had questioned him for three days straight back home. No sleep, no food, just enough water to survive, to make him answer their questions.

“Where are the others of your group?”

“What are they up to?”

“Since when were you planning the attack?”

“Where is your brother?”

It had stung him like a needle between his shoulder blades. His brother …

“Professor Tesic, Professor Tesic,” echoed throughout the room.

“Nikola,” he heard a voice next to him and came back to his senses. He saw Lee’s face. “Nik, are you okay?” Lee asked with a hand on the microphone. Lee must’ve come into the room just after him.

“I’m fine,” Niko said, taking a sip of water.

“You’re going to be great,” Ryan said and winked at him.

“Thanks, Ryan.”

Niko sat down and awaited the questioning to begin.

“Professor Tesic, Mark Davies from The Independent. I have the pleasure to begin with a couple of basic questions,” a middle-aged man with grayish, shoulder-length hair said while standing up. “It was an awe-inspiring presentation you just made, but at parts, perhaps not so easy to follow for laymen. May I ask you to sum up the most important results for our viewers at home?”

“Well, Mark, thank you for pointing that out. I did realize that I was getting a bit technical toward the end.”

Scattered laughter.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“But if I may summarize, this new technology will help many people, even with diseases that were not sufficiently treatable before. With the help of nanotechnology, we are able to implant numerous very small devices, or nanobots, you may call them, which assemble themselves into chips and connect with your nervous system. The nanobots know by themselves where to go and what to do, according to your personal needs. For example, if you have a neurological disease, we will be able to fight that disease by clearing out the bad particles, so-called plaques, that accumulate in your brain with age. But nanobots can also stimulate the cells when they need it.

“Secondly, we can help people who have had any kind of injury to their central nervous system, or CNS. As another example, with our help, people might be able to use their limbs again even after their spinal cord is damaged. And, last but not least, the nanobots are connected with and communicate with each other. This means that, in the future, you could exchange information with other people on the go.”

“How do they manage to do this?”

“We simply administer many preprogrammed nanobots into your bloodstream, and they cross the blood-brain barrier. Each nano-device knows exactly what function it has. For example, some of them are programmed to go into the hippocampus, where our memory is stored; some roam around and clear out plaques, making them accessible to our own immune system to clear them out. We are able to accomplish this because the body’s immune system cannot recognize these nanobots, thanks to a special coating technology our firm has developed.”

“Even after hearing this another time, it still sounds like science fiction, Professor. How long have you been working on this?”

“Well, there are two answers to this question. The first one is: all my adult life. The second is that a couple of years ago, we were able to make significant discoveries that made this progress possible. It was basically unimaginable before.”

“Are you talking about the research of the late Professor Edmundsson?”

Niko felt his throat dry up. “Yes, indeed. Without him, what we saw today wouldn’t have been possible.”

“It’s a tragic story, isn’t it? That he couldn’t see the end result of his work?”

“Yes, indeed, Mark. We were all devastated that he passed away so suddenly,” Ryan jumped in after giving Niko a glance.

Niko was upset. The scientific discovery of the century, and they were questioning him about bloody Edmundsson?

“We were sad, of course, to put Professor Edmundsson’s research with nanobots on hold, but we felt that we needed to concentrate our efforts on the CNS. Thankfully, Professor Ryan Lee here, one of my most trusted colleagues and friends here in Singapore, was able to take over and help me finish the project.” Niko turned around and saw Lee’s warm smile.

“Coming back to your presentation, Professor,” another reporter said, saving Niko from getting all sweaty. “In which areas can we use these nanorobots of yours?” She looked down at her notes while saying that. “And how do we know it’s safe?”

“Well, as I said before in my presentation, we have done thorough testing, first in animal studies for several months, and afterward, we conducted safety and efficacy tests on humans for more than a year. We have no doubt that the procedures are completely safe and highly effective. Some side effects included headaches, some people exhibited vertigo or nausea, but not many more than in the placebo group. So, this all led to the accelerated approval by most major health authorities out there.”

“Nonetheless,” Lee added, “further studies will be needed to assess the exact impact on the different diseases. We are starting with five Phase 3 trials as we speak; the first of which will be completed next year.”

“How do the nanorobots know what to treat?” another journalist shouted over other questions.

“Please, wait for your turn for questions,” Ryan answered.

“It’s okay, Ryan. Well, sir, the nanobots, which assemble themselves into these chips, know this because we program them to do what we tell them before implantation. Also, they have a sophisticated artificial intelligence system integrated, made by our colleague and CIO, Alessandro Lopez, so they roam the nervous system and check for any new developments, so to say. Your physicians can get this data back to their computer, but if the nanobots notice any kind of disease developing in your brain, the system is programmed to act by itself in a timely manner.”

“But how can you control these robots if they have artificial intelligence?”

“What if they turn against us?”

“Will you use them, too?”

The questions were now pouring in from all sides.

Niko had to remember to breathe first. He had, of course, known that this revolutionary concept would cause a huge stir. However, he had hoped that the focus would be more on the potential and less on the safety.

“The artificial intelligence is only built in as a supportive system to help with the speed of medical care and to prevent that we have to regulate every single parameter from a central working station. All chips have a backup program embedded into them, which will allow the end-user to control the devices themselves, or even turn it off, if needed.

“Furthermore, the program is built onto a decentralized ledger, to which only the user has access and which cannot be hacked or accessed by anybody else. To summarize, the user and only the user has final control over the chips and could, for example, turn them off anytime.”

Niko looked around and was happy with himself. The skepticism seemed to have eased down a bit.

“Professor Lee, what are your thoughts? And what was your role in this?”

Ryan exchanged glances with Niko before answering, “I came to this whole operation slightly later due to before-mentioned reasons. Nonetheless, I hope that my work was at least of some help to Professor Tesic.” He winked at Niko. “My main focus was the integration of the system software and AI into the chips, as well as the coordination of the operations.

“And what do I think of it? Well, mostly due to the fact that I helped build it, I think it’s goddamn amazing.”

Laughter in the hall. Ryan always had his way with crowds. Even the laziest students would show up to his lectures at STU. Niko was grateful to him.

“Okay, anyway, we have time for only two more questions,” Ryan said.

“So, when will we be able to use this amazing new technology?” another journalist stood up. He had a tall, slender figure with an extraordinarily wide face and puffy cheeks. His dark eyes stared at Niko with great intensity, and his expression reminded him somehow of a frenzied bulldog. Niko wondered if he had just appeared out of nowhere since he hadn’t seen him before in the crowd. And he would have surely remembered him.

“As said before, the technology will be ready to use in humans very soon. Our newly registered medical devices company, NAPPA Inc., will start taking orders immediately, and the production of the nanorobots is ready. As mentioned in my speech, our company is backed by several investors and governments to ensure the safety of the procedures but also our liquidity. I was appointed CEO, and my friend and trusted partner, Ryan Lee here, as CTO. In the future, I believe that we will find many more applications for this new technology. Okay, so, I think—”

“One last question,” the wide-faced journalist said, still standing. Then he said something that froze the blood in Niko’s veins. “How can we trust someone like you, Professor Tesic?”

“Excuse me?” Niko stood up and shouted involuntarily.

“Wait a minute, pal. Who do you think you’re talking to?” Lee also stood up.

The journalist, undeterred, continued shouting over the noise in the hall, which was getting louder and louder. “Professor, I have here a document from your home country of …” His words weren’t all heard over the increasing noise of the crowd. “… which says that you were imprisoned for revolutionary activities, disobedience, and treason. You spent two years in prison.”

The noise in the hall became deafening. Niko just stood there, unable to say anything.

“Listen here, I don’t know how you can call yourself a journalist, but I have worked with this man here for over ten years, and he has the highest moral, personal, and professional standards. The document that you have is full of shit. This press conference is over!” Ryan shouted into the microphone then took Niko’s arm, pulling him toward the back, ignoring further accusations that were coming in from the bulldog-faced journalist.

More shouting and screaming came from all sides. Lee had saved him again.

Niko suddenly felt a burst of nausea, guessing this was how it felt when your dreams were about to be crushed. It provoked some animal instinct inside him, which he hadn’t felt for many years, since the time the police had come to his parents’ home and taken his brother and him. All of them had thought he wouldn’t come back.

The animal instinct currently had only one goal—survival. And boy, oh boy, was he sweating.