Maria
Rios-Gonzalez—“Hey baby,
I had to give you a call and let you know what that fool Jamaal
is trying to sell now. ... No, no, he’s right down on his corner,
in broad daylight. He’s got Neural-Boost, in the Luxor Lab
Corporation packaging and everything. ... No baby, I did not
spend your hard-earned money on anything. This is Jamaal, after
all. But it got me thinking about how we got Ricardo coming
up on his interview at Hilton Academy preschool next month.
It’s tough to get in there. I was thinking maybe we should
look into getting him some of that brain boosting medicine.
... I know, honey. I know what the brain drugs costs. But if
he can get into Hilton, our baby will have a future. He’ll
go places you and I never had a shot at. ... I know it costs,
don’t shout! But this is our kid, he deserves a chance. ...
Okay. We can talk tonight.”
Thank you,
David. This is a Sharon Cox, Channel 6 Special Reporter with
a report for our viewers on the Intelligence Enhancement
Drugs that we all have been hearing about of late. In 2055,
the Human Potential Project, the successor to the Human Genome
Project, was established by the United Nations to develop
technologies that would take advantage of the new understanding
of genetic coding that the Human Genome Project provided.
Many diseases and ailments were being eliminated at birth
with the genetic therapies that had been discovered. More
important, a number of medications were developed that greatly
enhanced the human intellectual potential. By 2077, pharmaceutical
companies around the world had full lines of intellect enhancing
products available.
Dwayne Johnson—“No
Sheila, the interview didn’t go well. The personnel guy was positively
zooming. He must be eating them brain drugs like candy. It’s
not fair! I spent two years taking marketing courses at City
Tech so I can get me a real job, and this guy is bored with me.
He was popping off facts and figures, then giving me dirty looks ‘cause
I can’t take it in and spit it back. It’s just not fair! I can’t
afford them super drugs, but nobody’ll hire me without ‘em. I’ll
be day manager of the Burger Pit until I’m old and gray. ...
I know sweetheart, I love you too. Look, I gotta get ready for
work.”
The neural
enhancement medications that emerged fall into two classes;
neural accelerators and synapse multipliers. Accelerators
increase the rate at which signals are propagated along nerve
fibers by as much as 20%. While that number may not seem
large, it permits the user to process information much faster.
When used in conjunction with educational programs, the user
is able to learn much more quickly.
Multipliers
increase the number of neural connections within the brain.
These drugs have many important uses today. Children suffering
from Down’s syndrome or people with certain forms of dementia
or brain injuries can overcome these ailments with this medication.
But the widest
use of both classes of medications, and the most profitable,
is among normal people. The brain drugs increase your IQ,
making you smarter. Among the pharmaceutical companies’ target
populations, the use of brain drugs has shifted the normal
bell curve of intelligence to the right by as much as two
standard deviations into what is considered the gifted or
genius range.
Sam Kelly—“What
newspaper did you say you were from? ... Oh yeah, I used to
get that. You wanted to talk to me about the brain drugs, right?
Well, they’re a godsend for me. I retired from the National
Chemical four years ago after 35 years. Last year, I just started
losing it. I don’t remember a lot of stuff that happened. My
wife Peggy had a hell of a time. I just started forgetting
stuff, I mean like who she was, or where I lived, or what year
it was. One time, I walked out the front door and got lost
three blocks from home. She had the cops out and everything.
... Huntington’s Disease my Doc calls it. The way he explained
it, my brain cells just wore out, started dying. It took a
couple of months, but the brain drugs turned it around. I still
have trouble walking, and forget where I put stuff sometimes,
but that’s nothing. Mind you, it’s god awful expensive. And
I don’t mind if you print that. I’m on Medicare, and the co-pay
still costs a quarter of my retirement check. But at least
I qualify. My brother-in-law has Alzheimer’s and Medicare won’t
pay for any brain drugs for that. Something about it not being
an approved treatment. ... No, there’s nothing they can do.
With him off work on disability, they can’t afford the brain
drugs by themselves. It’s a damn shame, too. George was a bright
guy, a manager over at National Chemical until the Alzheimer’s
kicked in. A damn shame.”
In 2072,
the Americans Civil Liberties Union filed suit in District
of Columbia Federal District Court to require the intelligence
enhancement drugs be made available to the public generally
without regard to income. They argued that because individuals
with limited incomes couldn’t afford them, this created a
disadvantaged class based on income, and by extension based
on race. The District Court dismissed the petition because
such treatments weren’t medically necessary in the cases
put forward by the ACLU. The Court ruled it lacked authority
to require medical insurers to bear the cost no matter what
advantages the individuals would gain. An appeal is pending.
Sally Anderson—“Joan,
you wouldn’t believe how well little Sammy is doing now. He was
really delayed until last year. Four years old and he was still
in diapers, and he wasn’t able to say single words. ... Yeah,
he’s been taken the brain drugs for a year now. You wouldn’t
believe the difference. He’s walking, he’s talking, he’s even
started learning his ABCs. ... No, he’ll never be a super brain
or anything like that, but he’ll be okay. ... Oh Jesus, it costs
a fortune. But I’ll tell you, if I had to do it over again, I’d
spend every dime I had. The day he looked up at me and said, ‘Mama’ was
one of the happiest days of my life.”
Last year,
the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Manuel Ortega,
spoke at the Pacific Rim Economic Conference in Tokyo. He
said, “The world is at the dawning of a golden age. Until
this century, human civilization only produced a da Vinci,
a Newton or an Einstein once a century, yet each of these
great minds shook the world with their brilliant insights.
Today, the United Nations Department of Neurological Enhancements
has identified five young people with tested IQs at equal
to these great minds. All have been treated with the new
wonder drugs since birth. One young lady in Shanghai is beyond
the capacity of standard intelligence tests to measure. We
literally have no idea what she will be capable of doing
as an adult.” The Secretary-General closed by promising, “Within
our lifetime, the world will be changed beyond recognition.”
Ronaldo Rios “Please
send an ambulance 1527 Georgia Street! I got a call from the
day care when my wife Maria didn’t pick up Ricardo. I rushed
home and found her. She’s passed out on the floor, I can’t wake
her. ... Yeah, I think she took something. She had a box in her
hand, Neural-Boost pills made by Luxor Labs. ... Yes, I’m sure
that’s what it is. That’s what the box says, and it’s got the
blister packs with all but two of the blue pills in it. She must’ve
taken them. She said something about trying to get some for our
son. She probably took ‘em to make sure they were okay. ... What
do you mean bootleg? I mean, the packaging looks real! ... How
would I know what’s in ‘em? They’re little blue pills, just like
on TV. ... Dammit, I need help! I don’t think she’s breathing
now. I gotta help her! Just send an ambulance!”
