Grinning, Humphrey lifted an arm, and Lou saw somewhat of an improvement, although not a great one.

The faint spill of light from the corridor partially illuminated a high-ceilinged room approximately the size of a two-car garage. Lou could see the outlines of boxes, stacked in towers and arranged in neatly ordered rows. When Humphrey used his extender to flip on the lights, Lou saw two ten-foot-long Corion-topped tables with storage units built underneath. A side-wall table with a built-in sink occupied one corner of the room, and opposite that was an antivibration table—a workstation specifically designed for vibration-sensitive imaging applications. There were some other items not boxed, including a small refrigerator, a freezer, and even an ice machine, but most of the supplies were still sealed inside their cartons.

In addition, there was a pair of large incubators against the far wall. And from what Lou could tell, both of them were functioning, and contained labeled petri dishes of microorganisms.

Humphrey wheeled around to face Lou.

“You like?” he asked.

“Humphrey,” Lou said, struggling to find his voice. “What’s going on?”

“Less exhausting if I write this.”

Humphrey set his hand around his joystick. His screen featured an alphabet and a large number of word combinations. His text was produced slowly, but accurately, and faster than even his verbal shorthand would have produced. Lou read patiently.

I told you I had many interests besides chess—mathematics, the Japanese game of go, physics, anthropology, classical music. When a person of great intelligence is chained to a computer and the Internet, there is no limit to the world available to him. Chief among my areas of expertise, the one I am much more adept at than any of the others or any board game, is microbiology. That bacteria eating away at your friend’s leg is known by those working on it as the Doomsday Germ. With your help, we are going to cure it.

Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

The French revolution’s régime de la terreur was a means to establish order during a period of turmoil, and was embraced equally by the populace and political establishment. If these so-called terrorist acts can create order, it is logical to conclude they should be employed to prevent the turmoil in the first place.

—LANCASTER R. HILL, LECTURE AT LEHIGH UNIVERSITY, FEBRUARY 18, 1940

Lou was stunned—absolutely incredulous.

Even though Humphrey’s chess demonstration and subbasement secret lair made some sense, Lou could not put them into context. His efforts to understand the man’s speech and to learn more of his strength and how he managed to get it together to come to work each day, had all at once been dwarfed by these new revelations.

Humphrey glided over to him.