“Two years ago, in a revolutionary breakthrough unannounced until now, NTI successfully uploaded an entire human brain into a functioning software form. We can now take the essence of any individual human being—his or her thought patterns, memories, proclivities, the entire operation of the neural network—and re-create it in software. That constituted phase one.

“Seven months ago we operationalized phase two: the downloading of the software into a nanite-assembled permanent silicon substrate that parallels the functioning of the biological brain. Once activated by the software, this silicon brain replicates the operation of the host’s biological brain.

“Tonight I am proud to announce the completion of the third and final phase. We can now transplant the new silicon brain into the human skull, providing the host with, in essence, a limitless span of brain life. We have achieved the merger of human and technological intelligence.

“We can now fulfill our ultimate purpose, the destiny that the cosmos itself has assigned us. We can seed the universe with intelligence, bringing into conscious awareness the very universe that gave us birth.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you…the first transhuman.”

As eyes scanned the stage for the announced spectacle, Nichols reached both hands up to the sides of his skull. He worked his fingers momentarily under his hair, then placed his palms alongside his head. He appeared to start pulling his head upward, but his true action quickly became evident. Nichols was lifting the top half of his skull away from his head.

Several women near the front shrieked. One fainted. The ballroom erupted into a cacophony of shocked exclamations and then quieted once more.

Nichols finished lifting the artificial skullcap off his head and held it to his side. He stood, sans the top of his skull, and smiled.

The hushed crowd beheld the metallic gray device that was Bryson Nichols’s brain.

“We didn’t find anything.”

Kate stared at the image of the hospital’s lab supervisor, unbelieving. “What do you mean you didn’t find anything?”

The man shook his head. “We ran the tests twice. We found nothing. No viral or bacteriological agents beyond those that are common to humans on the island. They pose no inherent threat of illness.”

“In any of the village samples? You’re saying these people weren’t infected with anything?”

“There was nothing in the samples that would produce a pathogenic response. As far as we can tell, these people’s blood was perfectly healthy when they died—as healthy as can be expected, given their living conditions. If there’s a pathogen there, it’s something we’ve never seen before—something we don’t know how to look for.”

Kate thought for a moment. “You did the tests on Abigail Caldwell’s sample again?”

He nodded. “Same thing. Nothing. Clean bill of health, just as before.”