Influx by Daniel Suarez Read Free Book Online Page A

know.”
    Grady recalled the face of the madman whose followers had so recently strapped him to a bomb.
    Hedrick saw the realization in Grady’s eyes. “Yes, Richard Louis Cotton—the public face of the antitechnology movement. Every once in a while his Winnowers strike at some scientist or lab. It’s just a means of control, Jon. Cotton’s movement is an illusion. A method of misdirection. You are all quite alive, after all.”
    Grady moved away from Hedrick warily. “Cotton works for you?”
    Hedrick sighed. “Not for me—the BTC. I know it’s upsetting, but everyone is fine.”
    “We’re not fine. Where’s Doctor Alcot? Where are Raj and Mike? I want to see them. Right now.”
    “That’s not possible, Jon. They’ve already come to terms with the BTC. Until you join us, you can’t join them.”
    “Join you? Why on earth would I join you? You’re abducting researchers and scientists. Concealing life-changing scientific breakthroughs. I’m not joining you.”
    “We do what must be done. And even then only when truly disruptive innovation occurs and containment risks are high.”
    “What ‘containment risks’?”
    “Some technologies are too dangerous to be allowed to spread on their own. Left to chance, technologies like fusion and antigravity would sweep away existing social systems. They would change every society they touched.” Hedrick gestured to several more exhibits lining the corridor. “Shall we continue?”
    “You’re going to add gravity modification to this museum of yours, aren’t you?”
    “You should feel honored. I know I do. Very few innovations require complete isolation. Yours is one of them. Our models suggest that mastery of gravitation is what’s known as a keystone. When combined with other advances—like fusion—gravity manipulation will catapult humanity to a much higher technological level. In this case, moving us for the first time into a Type One civilization—a society capable of moving entire planets. Of building warp drives. Capturing the entire energy output from our star.”
    “That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
    “Your modesty is admirable, but your contribution stands alongside those of the greatest minds in history. Think of this: the notion of a ‘fictitious force’—Newton’s second law. In a closed box, an observer would not be able to distinguish between acceleration and the force of gravity. Einstein himself attributed the apparent acceleration of gravity to the curvature of space-time. Inertial mass and gravitational mass were not just equal—they were the same force. Yet, combined with our knowledge of extra dimensions, we might be able to use your work to disprove the equivalence principle at a high level of precision—and that’s just one of many possibilities. You’ve made an unprecedented breakthrough.”
    “Extra dimensions?”
    Hedrick ignored the question as he gestured again to the gallery. “Your gravity mirror belongs here, and you should feel honored—very honored indeed.”
    “It isn’t an honor. I’d like to leave now, please.”
    “We greatly admire your work, Jon. We want you to do what other researchers”—he motioned along the displays in the gallery—“like those whose work is represented here, have done. Join us. We want you to be part of the BTC family. To continue your research, but to continue it with access to technology you can only now imagine. We can open so many doors of inquiry to you. We can show you scientific wonders.”
    Grady was still trying to process it all. He shook his head clear and walked farther along the gallery. At the next display he saw a hologram of cells, this time dividing and re-forming, as well as the image of a young person resembling an older person beside them. The plaque read:
    Immortal DNA strand segregation—June 1986: Lee, Chao Park
    He read the details. “My God . . .”
    “Immortality is just one of the things we’ve accomplished, Jon.” Hedrick gestured