The man left the soup on the floor, where Pia could reach it, and left. The folder contained a document about ten pages long. It was stamped CONFIDENTIAL in red and had a serial number printed like a watermark on each page. Pia skimmed through before tossing the document on the floor in the corner of the room. It was a business prospectus for potential investors outlining plans for Nano’s expansion through the year 2020. He’s trying to impress me, she thought. And a prospectus is supposed to prove that he’s a legitimate businessman. Do legitimate businessmen do this? she asked herself holding up a shackled arm. Pia’s head hurt too much for her to read what she was sure was Berman’s self-aggrandizing BS.

“If you want me to read this crap, let me out of here,” she yelled at the door.

Pia lay back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She didn’t feel well but didn’t want to sleep anymore. Some time passed and Pia remembered the soup the man had left her. She sat up, which made her head pound anew. After a minute her head cleared a little and she ate the cold soup. With her foot she pulled the prospectus to where she could pick it up. Out of sheer boredom, she read through it.

According to what Pia read, nanotechnology was going to change medicine forever. Tell me something I don’t know, thought Pia. Nanobots could eat plaque and fix clogged arteries. They could consume even the most rapacious of cancers and infection. They could attack the sites of inflammation; seal wounds; clean teeth, even.

One application was given more prominence in the document than any other. Nanobots could have an impact on the buildup of proteins in the brain of a patient with early-stage Alzheimer’s; they might even have prophylactic properties that would ensure a person at risk of the disease could be treated before the onset of any symptoms. Berman had told Pia about his mother suffering from the disease while she lived out her life in an assisted-living facility near Nano.

Of course, thought Pia in a moment of clarity, this is why Berman is taking so many chances, cutting so many corners. This is why he was desperate to get a ten-year march on his competition. Berman was how old? Late forties? If he was susceptible himself, the first changes may already be taking place in his brain. In ten years, they might be irreversible. Pia felt sure she was right. But what could she do with this information?

Pia thought about Berman’s motivation. Working to cure Alzheimer’s was a legitimate reason to pursue research. It could be vitally important, even noble work, but not when it was carried out as Berman was doing it. Pia finished her meal and drank some water. She knew there was nothing she could do until she saw Berman again.

Chapter 56

56.