Chapter 5: A Little Better Every Day

I was getting close to my first substantial software licensing contract. At least I hoped it would be substantial – while I was getting a decent initial payment, most would be in royalty payments based on the sales by Universal Systems Security incorporating my pattern detection algorithms.

We finally agreed on business terms. I had a conference call with their product managers and our respective lawyers. Clara Sheffield, my attorney, was a no-nonsense white-haired woman, who specialized in intellectual property law. She had an amazing repertoire of lawyer jokes, and rather than resenting them, delighted in hearing new ones.

Clara, whom I was paying an arm and a leg for every hour, restated the basic terms.

" ... Acker LLC will also be providing third-level support per previously agreed hourly schedule, for six months after the effective date. Support after the fact would be by mutual agreement.

"Acker LLC will receive $1500 per license for enterprise Intrusion Detection System (IDS) license, and $5 per desktop for the Ultimate Security Communicator, or any substantially similar products..."

They tried to get a few other concessions, but we got them down. Until their lawyer started, "we require an indemnification clause..."

I interceded. "Please realize Acker LLC is in essence a sole proprietorship. I am a university instructor. There is no way I can provide any meaningful resources for indemnification."

"Mr. Acker, this is customary in licensing any kind of IP. This is a non-negotiable requirement of USS."

I counted to ten and took a deep breath. "I regret we wasted your time, gentlemen. Perhaps we can do business at some point in the future. Have a good day."

"Please wait! We need to confer for a couple of minutes," the senior USS product manager said.

They put us on mute. Clara pressed the mute on our phone and grinned at me. "What are you paying me for? You seem to be doing fine. I think the USS attorney is getting a lecture on what his job is."

Before I could answer, I heard their microphones activate again.

"Mr. Acker, we decided to make an exception for this case, and forgo the indemnification clause." Their attorney tried to save face. I had no problem with that – they could have all the face they wanted. As long as they didn't want anything else.

"I appreciate that. In the interest of time, I will mention that we will not be able to provide exclusivity. I thought we covered that in previous discussions, but I assume that was a copy and paste error in your latest draft." I did not appreciate them trying to sneak in stuff that violated previous verbal agreements, and thought about warning that one more such attempt would cause me to walk away, but I reminded myself of the estimated value of the contract and held my tongue.

I heard them mute, this time only for a few seconds.

"We apologize for that error. We will correct it in the next, hopefully last, version," said their lawyer smoothly.

The negotiation proceeded with minor jostling about jurisdiction and publicity. Sooner than I feared Clara was saying "and if you get me the final draft by end of the day, I will review it by tomorrow noon."

Clara said "They really want your programs, don't they?"

"Apparently. I hope they are not going to be as sneaky in license payments."

"There is always a risk, but substantial underpayments are a material breach, and I doubt they want to go there. Still, if you do need to litigate, we can always help you!" She grinned like a shark.

Clara's firm had an excellent record in IP litigation. That was one of the reasons I was paying their high rates. That, and I really liked Clara's no-nonsense style. But it's their reputation that would keep the much bigger USS on their toes. Or so I hoped – suing your clients is usually the last resort in business.

Some of the more advanced and most fascinating spells in the Grimoire were the enhancements. From what I could tell, Nalu were expected to be naturally talented in perception and manipulation of plasm, as well as training those qualities through constant exercises. But beyond a certain point this ability could be further improved by modifying the body.

The enhancement spells could be used to improve many parts of the body, from purely physical to purely mental. The instructions were fascinating, suggesting familiarity with not only the physiology and genetics of humans, but those of many animals. They were complex, intricate, and were usually not performed on oneself. Alas, I didn't have any handy Nalu instructors, so I started sketching out how to do them on myself.

The enhancements were very complex, involving trillions of minute actions. However, in principle, using higher-order spells, I would be able to modulate plasm to change parts of my body. Of course, if I made a mistake, I would probably be in no shape to fix it.

But I was tempted. On one hand, I had the arrogance of all good programmers. I believed I could construct a program — in this case a series of plasm spells — that would do what I wanted. On the other hand, I really wanted the things the enhancements seemed to suggest. More strength without exercise; sharper memory, better senses. And a longer life. It really was a devil's bargain. And if I made a mistake, I wouldn't lose my soul; I would be crippled or dead. What a choice!

By the end of March, I was ready to try the first enhancement in the Grimoire. I would become stronger. The instructions went into detail of having to strengthen bones, ligaments and sinews before strengthening the muscles.

I spent a week in testing the construction of spells. Curiously, for all the physiological detail in the Grimoire, there were some elements they got wrong. I was reading anatomical books by the stack, and increasingly observing the plasm tints within my body. Now that I understood that I was seeing the tints using my visual cortex and not my eyes, I was able to focus inside of my body, and even behind me. It was still easier to "watch" in front of me, but the perception was not limited in any direction.

Finally, I decided to go ahead during the weekend. I thought two days would help me recover should there be any side effects, assuming I was conscious after the "operation". I did not want any negative thinking, but I double-checked my beneficiary designations, health directives and will. All was in order — if something should happen my parents would get everything, including my patents and license revenues. I considered calling them, but I decided they might hear something in my voice and they would worry. And should the worst happen, they would endlessly wonder if they should have done something. No, I would not call them.

I cleaned up my computer and paper files. Colt's Journal was sitting on my "to-be-read" bookshelf. All my notes on it were only on my computer, encrypted well enough that I doubt anybody would be able to decode them. The books on physiology and genetics were returned to the library. The kitchen was clean.

I sat in my favorite recliner, closed my eyes, and used my breathing exercise to calm down and slow my pulse. After about two minutes of last considerations, I energized the first of a series of spells. Like a chain of dominoes, the spells activated each other with increasing rapidity, until I could no longer follow them. I started feeling a buzzing in my bones, accompanying by almost intolerable itching. I gripped the arms of the chair, then wondered if my enhanced strength would crush them. I tried to relax my hands from their death-grips on the padded armrests. The buzzing and the itching subsided almost as quickly as they began. I sat for a while with my eyes closed, trying to feel my body from the inside, as well as looking at the tints of my muscles and bones. Their structure was slightly different, but I would need to look at tissue slices under a microscope to see the exact effect. Something I had absolutely no interest in doing, or allowing others to do.

Walking around my apartment didn't show any drastic changes. I felt a bit different, but I didn't jump with every step. I decided to go to the sports club and try a few exercises.

I was astonished with the results. There were students using many of the machines, so I had to be careful. I did not push myself, but I could use a lot more resistance with less effort than before. I was never into weight lifting, so my estimated weights were not phenomenal, but they were pretty phenomenal for me! The best part was, assuming everything worked as described in the Grimoire, my "muscle tone" would remain even if I never exercised again.