Wired (Wired, #1)

by Douglas E. Richards

Smith is lying to you: the rival who stole my treatment is behind the Ebola plot, not me.

Stakes this high bring out the aberrant personality types we spoke of like moths to a flame.

I was told that number is to the private cell phone of my boss at MacDill: Brigadier General Evan Gordon.”

“An ample supply of cash can prove just as useful in certain emergency situations as a weapon can,”

Griffin’s face reflected both eagerness and anxiety, in equal measure.

If any of this is true the implications are staggering,”

The decisions we make now could well play a role in stopping a bioterror threat and bringing the fountain of youth to the world.”

monitor your perimeter after you arrive.”

He caught movement from the corner of his eye.

warn you: without the details you’re going to find most of this hard to believe.”

“Intuition is just your subconscious putting together subtle clues and coming to a conclusion that your conscious mind hasn’t quite reached.

central premise of his assignment, that she was working with terrorists on a bioterror plot, had become laughably implausible.

He needed to keep the Greek myth of the Siren sea nymphs firmly in his mind.

still more likely than not that most of what she said was an elaborate fabrication.

The first level of optimization is beyond description. The second level is beyond imagination.”

It’s hard enough retaining the vestiges of altruism when you become convinced there is no afterlife.

the one exception to the “absolute power corrupts absolutely” rule?

“It’s only conclusive because of your bias. There’s no way I can prove I had nothing to do with those deaths.

“As I said before, our brains aren’t optimized for thought. Well, not surprisingly, our bodies aren’t optimized for longevity either.

“Decreasing the chances of survival for future generations.”

“They die. They just don’t age as we know it. Eventually accidents or predators or starvation kills them.”

One way is to look at cellular doubling times. Most people don’t know this, but most of your cells will only divide about fifty times

“Because I didn’t want to be responsible for knocking humanity back to the Dark Ages,”

when I’m talking to you my brain needs all the glucose it can get.”

considered what the world would be like once I did. The conclusions I reached were shocking.”

“Doubling the span of human life would be an absolute disaster.”

dramatic increase in pathologic rat behavior.

There are a range of possible scenarios,

Desh frowned. He had made the joke but had failed to consider its implications.

frustration. She was a modern day Midas, the king who was thrilled to be granted a touch of gold until he realized the devastating consequences:

a Private Investigator, had been hired to keep tabs on me.

goes to show that just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you can’t be incredibly stupid at the same time.”

I partitioned these memories behind an impenetrable mental wall.”

couldn’t retrieve them under duress. He dutifully reported this to Moriarty.”

The kind of power that Smith accused me of wanting.”

“That’s right. I took his laptop and a file I found with my name on it and went straight to the airport.

powerful don’t advertise, they just pull strings from off stage.”

he doesn’t have the knowledge base to succeed.”

It’s obvious he hasn’t given up on the fountain of youth.”

Not trusting anyone. Suspicious of everything.” She paused. “But I can’t stop Moriarty alone.

really am sorry for bringing you into all of this. It was selfish of me.”

I can change locations every month or so and still have a sense of home.”

How did you end up in the military?”

I joined up, not because he pressured me, but because he set such a good example.

Ironic: he had seen a lot of action in his career, but he died off-duty and out of uniform.”

“You must have read the after action report.”

When the stakes are high, the penalties can be high,” he said.

“I appreciate you agreeing to become my ally, but we both know you still don’t trust me a hundred percent.

Once you’ve been enhanced you’ll know that everything I’ve told you is true.

idea of altering the architecture of my brain.”