The Lucifer Code Read Online Free PDF Page A

goes -many psychologists have wondered how Soames might have developed if he hadn't been so cursed.
    He would certainly have been less eccentric but it is doubtful that he would have become so phenomenally successful. It goes beyond irony that this brilliant young man who has lived all his life at the mercy of light should be the one to cage its power and harness its speed.
    From his early childhood, confined indoors to protect him from ultraviolet rays, Soames was obsessed with light photons, the subatomic quantum particles of electromagnetic radiation that made up the very thing that imprisoned him. Focusing his intellect on light, he was convinced by the age of thirteen that photons could be harnessed to process, store and transmit data.
    At sixteen Soames outgrew even the most gifted private tutors his parents hired to teach him at home, so he attended Cal Tech in Pasadena, one of the leading technical colleges in the world, graduating with top honours two days prior to his eighteenth birthday - younger then than most students applying for the course. But he hadn't enrolled to pass exams: he was looking for a partner. He was seeking someone of sufficiently high intellect to understand his concepts and someone with the requisite drive, social skills and character to do what he couldn't do - go out into the light and help realize his dream. That person was to be a Ph. D. student researching particle physics: Amber Grant.
    Many people, including Amber Grant, had thought of developing an optical computer, but their designs had relied solely on optical fibres, which, even had they worked, would have involved a dragon's nest of wires. Soames's approach was different: he proposed using sound to create the strong electrical field necessary to keep electron-hole pairs apart long enough to trap light and the data stored within it before sending it on its way again.
    Soames's vision and Amber Grant's dedication, plus a host of relatively minor modifications, each in itself worthy of a Ph. D., led to the invention eight years ago of the world's first practical optical computer. It made Optrix Industries, based in San Francisco, one of the fastest growing companies the world has ever seen.
    In addition to his role at Optrix, Bradley Soames increasingly spends time at his private technology innovation facility in Alaska: the VenTec Foundation . ..
    'The point is,' said Knight, when Fleming looked up, 'Soames wants to make a multimillion-dollar donation to your research.' She smiled. 'You know I'm always talking about the Christopher Reeve effect? Well, you can't deny that stem-cell regeneration of the damaged spinal cord is seen as the Holy Grail of neurological research, which makes it so much easier to get funding for Bobby Chan's genetic-engineering team in the west wing.'
    Fleming allowed himself a wry smile. 'Whereas my work in the east wing is still seen as a mechanical Band-Aid and not a real solution -even though, realistically, Bobby's team won't get any practical results for decades.'
    Knight laughed. 'Well, that perception's changing fast. Your breakthrough with Jake is making waves. And we've gotta capitalize on it. Bradley Soames is interested in the NeuroTranslator and he's willing to commit serious money to developing it.'
    Fleming knew this already: six months ago Soames had approached him indirectly, wanting him to transfer to VenTec. 'And in return for serious funding I have to examine his precious colleague with the NeuroTranslator? Apart from collapsing with a migraine, what's really wrong with her?'
    Knight tapped a manila folder on her desk. 'That's another reason you should see her. She's a researcher's dream. Her medical history's fascinating and, as a neurologist, you could learn a lot from her. Don't fight this one, Miles, you're on to a winner. She's only putting back your schedule by a day or so - a minor inconvenience in light of all the benefits she's going to bring.'
    Despite Fleming's reservations he was