Cerebral Long-term Active Muscular Paralyzer (CLAMP)
The huge man with the prison tattoos had the tiny woman bent over against the visitor's room table and was yelling something at her, all the while struggling to open the zipper at the bottom of his orange jumpsuit. His intentions were clear as the woman looked at the camera and nodded. Suddenly, and with a surprised yelp, the prisoner's arms dropped to his sides and the woman slid out from under his impressive bulk. In a few more moments, his legs began to quiver and he sat down on the floor with a puzzled look on his face. His hands lay limply on his lap as he fell slowly forward until his panicked face rested on his right leg. The woman looked up at the camera and gave a smiling 'thumbs up'.
"And so you see, Ladies and Gentleman, the CLAMP system will not only reduce the cost of prisoner and detainee housing and security very significantly, it will completely eliminate the danger of violent attacks on your respected, valuable staff members. Once installed in the Atlantean region of the skull of your targeted individuals, a technician level procedure by the way, their physical abilities can be limited based on your situation and requirements on a semi permanent basis, requiring a reset by the mainframe to return them to a normal condition. Zero injury risk, zero flight risk. Thank you for your interest in the CLAMP system. Good day."
I signed off the video image program and slid down in my chair, surprisingly tired from talking. I stared at the monitor as the screen-saver turned it off, and suddenly notice the figure of Alana standing in the reflection. I turned the swivel chair to greet her, and as I rose, she came to me and gave me a hug. I was a real stickler for proper procedures, and this was way out of line. As my mind raced to an eventual headline in USA Today 'Middle aged medical researcher indicted for hugging sexy intern', Alana backed away a step.
"Sorry, Professor. I know how you feel about that kind of stuff, but I'm just so proud of you that I couldn't stand it."
I turned on my most stony face and stared down at her, our 14" difference in height seemingly more exaggerated. "I believe the conclusion of these tests brings to a close your involvement as my intern, Ms. McKenzie. Am I correct in my understanding of your contract, which I will not ne renewing?"
Her eyes dropped. "Yes Professor, that is correct."
I lunged for her and scooped her up, spinning her around in a great bear hug. Her lovely green eyes flew open, puzzlement and a little panic more than evident.
I spun her around again, laughing in whoops of joy. "WE did it, munchkin; not me, but WE! Don't you get, it you wonderful creature? This is not my triumph; it's our triumph, you and I in equal shares. And the reason I am not renewing your contract is because I want to offer you a new one." I sat her down, a dazed smile on her face.
"I have the paperwork for the patents here on the table, and I've sent copies to the same attorney you've used before, so she can look them over.
"But why, professor? Why would you do that?"
"Alana, you were instrumental in the completion of this project. The memory of your brother drove you, and me, nearly to the breaking point. Without your dogged determination, I would have given up a hundred times. Your doctorate is complete, I've signed off on your dissertation, and I've added your name on the primary descriptive lines of all the patent documentation next to mine. Whatever comes of this project, and I expect millions and millions of dollars, and hundreds of lives saved to be just the start, we will share as absolute equals.
I would like you to help me open the Alex McKenzie Memorial Institute as my full partner, and co-chair of the Board of Directors. Please say yes, Alana."
Her face expressed joy, and sorrow and confusion in equal amounts, and as the tears fell, she nodded, "I'd be honored to work with you, Dr. Grey."
I held her close as she cried, and said, "Dr. McKenzie, Alana; my name is Owen."
We talked and scribbled and talked some more, until the dawn began to seep in through the armored windows of the lab. When I awoke, I was reclining in my Aeron chair, covered in a blanket with 'Care Bears" on it and Alana was asleep on the couch, one arm tucked underneath her. I got up to make some coffee, and after I'd washed my face and used the facilities, I headed back to the lab office with two steaming mugs. As I entered the vestibule, I stopped.
Alana was on the couch still, she was definitely awake. She was still reclining, but the arm that had been underneath her was now held in her other hand, and she was caressing her breasts through her blouse by dragging her apparently limp fingers across her nipples. I watched for a few seconds, finding the scene quite erotic. I made a little noise so she would know that I was coming through the airlock. She sat up on the couch, placing her limp hand on her lap and rubbing it with her other hand.
"Everything okay Alana?" I asked.
"Sure, Owen, although I awoke with my hand underneath me, and my arm's asleep."
"Well, that won't take long to wear off. I brought coffee."
"No, it won't take long," she sighed. Her nipples were plainly erect, and she shifted slightly on the couch, as if she were uncomfortable. Her hand lay limply on her lap, and she glanced at it frequently.
Our project for the day was a new version of the CLAMP system, this one for use in medicine. My thought was to make a temporarily applied version to mount on the skin near the base of the spine. The CLAMP functioned by disrupting nerve signals, preventing them from traveling to or from the brain. Not only does the CLAMP disrupt motor signals, it blocks sensory signals as well. This has far-reaching applications, not only for surgical pain, but chronic pain of all kinds, including everyday aches and pains. Not only could CLAMP totally block signals, it could be dialed down to have a more subtle control of all signals, or just the ones producing pain.
I had been busy in the nano-lab, where the CLAMP was built on the micro- and macroscopic level. M techs had completed a prototype for the temporary CLAMP, which Alana and I had agreed to call the CLAMP-T. I decided to mount it in collar, which was built out of a thin strip of wetsuit \material for stability and ease of application. It was self powered, which made it somewhat different from the original CLAMP, which would eventually obtain its power from the host body. Communication was wireless and had a range of only about 10 feet, which would be fine for clinical applications. I was looking through our list of volunteers when Alana spoke up.
"I'd like to volunteer to be the Alpha tester, if you don't mind, Owen."
I thought about it for a second. I didn't see why it wouldn't work. All our processes were taped and video-recorded, so it would just need to be vetted and transcribed later, which Alana could oversee.
"I don't see why not, Alana. It might even save some time, as well as giving you a new perspective on the process. Take off your lab coat and have a seat in the recliner. When Alana took off her coat, it appeared that she had prepared in advance for the experiment, as she was wearing a very tiny pair of panties and a small sports bra. I was impressed with her general condition; she appeared to be in excellent physical shape, with well-defined musculature and somewhat flattened, large wide breasts.
I began to record.
"This will be the audio-visual diary of the Alpha test of the CLAMP-T Prototype. The date is 5 October, 2021, and the local time is 1704 hrs. Test subject is Dr. Alana McKenzie, my partner and second in charge of the CLAMP Project. She is a Caucasian female of twenty six years, three months fourteen days of age. She is light complected, with red hair and green eyes, stands five feet, two inches and weighs (I paused the tape and asked her what she weighed, then converted it in my head) 43.713 kilograms. I am installing the CLAMP-T around her neck, with the electronic package centered on her spinal processes at roughly C2-3. the exact location would be far more important if this were the implantable version, but will suffice for this test.
I will engage the self diagnosing aspect of the program, which will identify all neural pathways which can be controlled, meaning voluntary systems primarily. The subject will note that as the test proceeds, she will experience various sensations throughout her body, including, but not limited to numbness, partial to total paralysis, blindness, deafness, difficulty or cessation of breathing and/or swallowing. These symptoms will be brief, and non-life-threatening. Does the subject acknowledge these instructions and give verbal approval?"
Alana nodded soberly and said, "I acknowledge and accept these instructions and wish to proceed with the test."
I engaged the laptop computer and identified the Bluetooth frequency on the collar. The learning cycle started at Alana's eyes, and I watched, fascinated, as they stopped tracking together, one wandering off to the left and the other rolled down, gazing into her lap. In a few seconds, they snapped into synch, and she looked at me and smiled. "That was intuhuhh." Her jaw dropped, and her tongue lolled as the system paralyzed her mouth and jaw. In a moment, she was able to talk. "As I was going to say, that was interesting." Her head suddenly dropped to her chest as her neck was processed. When she was able to raise her head again, she was smiling even more. She lifted her arms to shoulder height, and shortly her left arm fell to her side, then rose. Her right arm followed in a few seconds.
"I am feeling a narrow band of numbness, followed by obvious paralysis travelling down my chest. One section will go numb, then become paralyzed, then become mobile and regain feeling." Her hands rose to her breasts and pinched her nipples. She looked at me and said, "No feeling here, not pressure or temperature, or tactile. Getting hard to br... to breathe. Wow. My lungs just turned off, oops." She fell forward slowly, as her trunk muscles went away and then returned.
"My hips are numb, and I cannot lift my legs, although I can wiggle my toes, so the zone paralysis is verified Owen. Great job! Sensation is coming back into my hips and leaving further down. I can't move my legs or toes, but..."
"But what, Alana?"
