The black-ops agent shook his head no.
“Well, that’s not important. My point is that this Ramanujan was unknown to the world, but was in a class all his own. A guy like that must be responsible for this. What else could it be? I bet he designed a worm and sent it to the computers of thousands of scientists. Don’t know why he’d do it anonymously, but that’s probably what happened.”
A slow smile crept over Jake’s face. “Very creative, doctor. I’m impressed. But I’m afraid this work was done by an intellect that couldn’t have arisen naturally.”
“Do you even hear what you’re saying? What does that even mean, couldn’t have arisen naturally?”
“You know what it means. It means the work required an IQ in the thousands.”
“In the thousands?” echoed Rosenblatt, rolling his eyes. “I guess that leaves out humans, doesn’t it. So are you suggesting this is the work of aliens?” he finished in amusement.
Jake stared intently at the physicist for several long seconds, but didn’t respond.
“I’m sure you’ve overestimated the work,” insisted Rosenblatt, his smile now gone. “Einstein was a low-level patent clerk when he helped usher in multiple revolutions in physics; revolutions that stunned the greatest minds of the day. Or was he an alien too?” He shook his head. “Every year breakthroughs are made that seem beyond the capabilities of human intellect.”
Jake steepled his fingers and considered the man in front of him. “The difference, as you well know,” he responded finally, “is that even though these breakthroughs seemed beyond human capabilities, other humans could understand them once they’d been made. At least a few.” Jake sighed. “But I’m done humoring you,” he said, his tone both weary and disappointed. “We both know the truth of what I’m saying.”
The black-ops agent slowly rubbed the back of his head and stared off into space in thought. Several seconds ticked by in total silence. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he said at last.
As the door opened daylight streamed into the structure, further evidence that Rosenblatt hadn’t been unconscious for long. The black-ops agent returned only a few minutes later, holding two plastic bottles of ice-cold water. He uncuffed Rosenblatt’s right hand, screwed the cap off one of the bottles, and set it in front of the tall, wiry physicist.
The man called Jake sat down across from his prisoner once again, took a sip from his own bottle, and considered the physicist carefully. “You’ve been lying to me, Dr. Rosenblatt,” he began disapprovingly. “I know that. But I’m willing to overlook the past in the interest of remaining friends. But trust me, actions have consequences. Lie again and you’ll be in a realm of misery few have ever experienced.”
Jake paused to be sure this had time to sink in.
“As a measure of my good will, I’m going to tell you a story. I have no doubt you’re familiar with it, but I want you to appreciate that I already know so much, it makes little sense for you to continue trying to be evasive. But I’m not telling you everything I know. Remember that the next time you consider lying to me.” He paused. “Okay then. This is a story about a remarkable woman named Kira Miller.”
Jake watched Rosenblatt’s face carefully, but the physicist showed no outward reaction upon hearing this name.
“Kira was a brilliant genetic engineer who found a way to alter the wiring of her own brain—for about an hour at a time. Pop a cocktail of genetically engineered viruses housed inside a gellcap and, presto, in the mother of all chain reactions her brain is rewired, and she has an IQ that’s beyond measure.”
Rosenblatt frowned in disbelief. “When you said you would tell me a story,” he said evenly, “I didn’t expect it to be science fiction.”
Jake’s upper lip curled into a snarl. “I’ve been more than patient with you, doctor,” he said icily. “But my patience isn’t endless. Don’t test my good nature any further.” He paused and then picked up as though Rosenblatt hadn’t spoken. “So after developing this capability, Kira Miller murdered several people and fell off the grid. Disappeared. She was known to be behind a lot of bad shit, like working with jihadists to wipe out millions of people. That sort of thing. A lot of people were sent looking for her, but none were successful. Then an ex-special forces operative by the name of David Desh was sent after her. Tough and smart and patriotic. And he found her. But as patriotic as he was, she turned him somehow. With an immeasurable IQ, we can only assume she knew which buttons to push.”
Jake stopped and took a deep drink from the water bottle he had been holding. Reminded that he had his own bottle in front of him, Rosenblatt did the same.
“Interestingly, every classified military computer in the land contains a report from unimpeachable sources showing that what I just told you is all wrong. That the evidence and accusations against her were totally false, and that she was never anything more than a misunderstood girl scout. That she was framed for it all. Desh too. Worse still, she and Desh were killed before this came to light.” Jake stopped and locked his eyes on Rosenblatt with an air of expectation, as though he refused to continue until his prisoner made some kind of utterance for him to gauge.
“But you don’t believe these records are accurate,” said Rosenblatt on cue.
Jake studied his shackled prisoner for a few seconds longer. “Correct,” he said finally. “In fact, I know these records aren’t accurate. Kira Miller and David Desh are still very much alive. Even without her IQ cocktail they would make a formidable pair. But with the ability to give themselves an insanely high intelligence the world is at their mercy. They could turn entire countries and governments into their playthings. We also know they’ve been recruiting a select group of others for unknown reasons. We suspect most of them are just dupes, unaware of Miller and Desh’s endgame—whatever that might be. Impossible to predict with mere human intelligence.”
Jake paused. “But despite our knowledge, we’ve never been able to identify any of their recruits.” He gestured suggestively toward the wiry physicist. “Until now, that is.”
“Me?” spat Rosenblatt incredulously. “That’s what this is about? You think I’m involved with these two people? I’ve never heard of either one of them before. Or of this magical elixir of yours.”
Jake ignored him. “They’ve done a remarkable job of covering their tracks,” he continued, almost in admiration. “Even more impressive when you consider they had no reason to believe anyone even knew they were alive. We finally realized our best hope was to find work that was being kept anonymous and that was too advanced to be done without Kira Miller’s IQ boost. We hacked into hundreds-of-thousands of computers, including those belonging to scientists and mathematicians who were tops in their fields, like you, and those used by employees of science-based companies and institutes. And we analyzed the contents of these computers. We used our most advanced supercomputers and expert systems.”
Jake paused and brought the plastic bottle of water to his lips once again. “I can’t begin to understand the techniques that were used to sort through it all,” he continued, “to determine if any of it represented a transcendent advance. But we succeeded.” He paused. “True, the system mostly generated false alarms, but your work was the real deal. A breakthrough of inhuman proportions.”
Jake raised a single eyebrow. “You may be interested to know the computer pointed us to one other man, in addition to you. Responsible for bits and pieces of work that didn’t really lead anywhere, but that were very advanced. The CEO of a private physics lab named Advanced Physics International in Davis, California.”