King of All I Survey
Chapter 113: Researchers’ Resort

Chapter 113: Researchers’ Resort

We built an entirely new research facility on a island we bought in Indonesia. Nikoi Island was an active resort on a private island just over fifty miles from Singapore. It cost us a ridiculous amount of money. There were more than 20 individual beach villas of various sizes that we would use as residences for the researchers. Additionally, there was a private restaurant, and several larger buildings toward the center of the island that we converted into a community center, medical suite, and research buildings.

Joe installed a jamming technology that could not be pinpointed by Earth technologies to block all cell phones, microwave beams, radio or other forms of communication to and from the island. Residents instead had handheld Interdimensional Communication Devices that were routed to Joe directly. He would freely connect them to any other device on the island, or to me directly. If information from outside was needed for the research, Joe would send it. We did not want any chance of our research or the presence of any of the alien science or technology to be communicated by the researchers or their families to anyone outside the project.

Professor Donaldson and his wife were living here as was Dr. Wagner with his dog, Millie. There were four other researchers living on the island. Two were single men, one was a married woman whose husband was here with her, and the fourth was a man in his thirties with a wife and two children. All had been thoroughly vetted by Joe for both background and psychological traits. We wanted people who could live comfortably in a remote, isolated location for a couple of years, who could honor secrecy agreements, and who were top notch researchers in the fields of physics or mathematics. We were paying them extremely well to move to this remote island for a two-year contract knowing that due to the extremely sensitive nature of the project they would not have outside contact during that time, except for limited monitored phone calls twice a week.

We would teach them a new branch of math which we had licensed from the Galactic Union along with advanced theoretical physics also developed by alien civilizations. Their goal was to figure out how to create weapons that could bypass all known alien shields, how to improve the shields to which we had access to prevent those same weapons, then how to bypass those new shields, and so on, as far as they could take it.

We assumed it would involve some manipulation of matter and energy in multiple dimensions to prevent or enhance interaction with other matter or energy existing in the same physical space simultaneously, but of course, we made it clear any and all approaches to the problem were welcome.

So far, Only Professor Donaldson had completed the math and physics direct implant learning. The four newer researchers had been nominated by Donaldson and Wagner and vetted by Joe before being accepted into the program. They had been here for about two days, and had not yet started the training, as we wanted to give them a little time to get acclimated to the surroundings before jumping into the work.

Wagner was older, and Joe had determined that the age of his brain would require a very slow throughput rate on the direct implant learning to avoid damage. Instead, we had opted to use advanced medical techniques to restore his body and brain to peak youthful condition to speed the process. That would also take time, but would not only make the training easier, but would give him many more years of productivity should he elect to stay with us after this project. He had insisted this unheard of rejuvenation be tested before it was used on him, so we started with his 14-year-old dog, Millie. The process was conducted in multiple phases. After seeing the level of our medical expertise (handled by machines controlled directly by Joe Torres, our advanced alien tech multidimensional quantum computing artificial intelligence), and seeing the effects of phase 1 on Millie, he had jumped right in and was one phase behind his beloved companion.

When we first met, I found I really liked Dr. Wagner. He was extremely intelligent and had an engaging personality with a strong humorous bent. We got along great together. I wanted to check in on him and Millie, just because I liked him and wanted to spend some time with him. I also wanted to get Donaldson back on track. After his implant learning, he seemed to get lost in daydreams as the wonders of the new math and physics captured his attention for hours at a time. He would just sit and contemplate the universe at the quantum level. He seemed a little overwhelmed by the new concepts and the real lack of understanding that Earth physicists had about the nature of time and space when compared to everything the alien civilizations had learned over a much longer scientific history.

Joe used a LITV transport module to drop me on the open deck of one of the empty beach villas. From here, I had a view of the sandy white beach that led down to the ocean. The ocean was shallow out for 50 or sixty feet, never getting more than three or four feet deep. After that it dropped off rapidly. There were giant rocks reaching up out of the water. Some stood as high as maybe seven or eight feet above the water level while others barely broke through the gentle waves. The air was much warmer than I was used to, probably close to 85 degrees at ten in the morning. A gentle ocean breeze helped a little.

Joe had imparted a map of the island to my memory telling me where everyone lived and where the common buildings were. Dr. Wagner and Millie were staying temporarily in the medical suite during their treatments. I hopped off the deck down onto the sand and headed for the building which housed the medical facilities.

When I arrived, I knocked on the door.

"Yes, come in!" I heard from the other side. I opened the door, and called out, "Hello," as I stepped in.

"Ah, Timothy! How are you?"

"I’m ok. How are you? Joe tells me you had your blood swapped out with youthful hormones and whatnot. How’s that working out for you?"

"Ha! The whatnot seems to be doing its job, I feel great. Joe keeps me from turning handsprings though. He says my bones and muscles are still too old for that, so I need to keep a lid on my youthful energy for a while, or I’ll break my fool neck."

Millie trotted over to me with her tail wagging vigorously. She was in the second phase, having already passed through the blood chemical replacement. She was now being treated with engineered virus-like constructions that would enter the cells of her circulatory system and repair shortened telomeres, damaged DNA, and other physical artifacts of aging, returning senescent cells to their youthful condition and efficiency. This, combined with the modified blood chemistry from phase one, would help oxygenate and energize the organs, promoting healing, increasing their function, and making them stronger in preparation for phase three. The circulatory system improvements would go a long way to restoring and buffering mental acuity as well. It was obvious that Millie was feeling these effects, although her joints were still arthritic with age, she seemed to move more easily, and her eyes seemed to have a sharper, more intent focus about them than I last remembered.

Dr. Wagner himself looked a million times better as well. Most notable was his coloration. Instead of the pale, almost blue-white color it had been, his skin had the bright flush of youth as they say. While he always had good energy for a man of his age, the ever-present bodily fatigue that slowed his motions was gone. He seemed to move with more ease, and his face had a more alert look to it, though it was hard to pick out any difference in his behavior.

Overall, even though it was the early part of the treatment, both doctor and dog seemed to be much improved.