PRIONS

Inspired from the novel Centuries by A.A.Attanasio

'I have changed you. With this.' He opened his right hand, revealing
a bauble of moisture in his palm, and held it close enough for her to see
the sticky rainbows within. 'This is a special drop of sweat. It contains
several million prionic engines.'

'Prionic?' The word curled strangely on her tongue.

'Prions - tiny, infectious protein groups, smaller than viruses - '

Again, she sampled an unfamiliar sound with her voice, 'Proteins?'

'Amino acid chains - ' He laughed quietly at her puzzled expression.
'Ah, you will learn all this later, Nandi. And very quickly, too. For now,
it is enough that we talk about these tiny engines that I have taught my
body to make. They are as powerful as they are tiny. When they enter a body,
they go directly to the central nervous system - to the brain, and they
renovate it. They build neuroglial connections - very much like electrical
wiring. They light up whole regions of the brain that have been dark and lying
dormant. When the connections are complete, the brain becomes - smarter.'

She stared hard at him, and he gazed softly back, watching the awareness grow
in her until it forced the neccessary question, 'You have done this to my brain?'

'Yes.'

Rafe von Takawa & Nandi