Nexus (Ramez Naam novel)

Nexus is cyberpunk thriller novel written by American author Ramez Naam and published in 2012. The novel follows the protagonist Kaden Lane, a scientist who works on an experimental nano-drug, Nexus, which allows the brain to be programmed and networked, connecting human minds together. As he pursues his work, he becomes entangled in government and corporate intrigue. The story takes place in the year 2040.^[1][2][3]

The book tied for Best Novel in the 2014 Prometheus Awards given out by the Libertarian Futurist Society.^[4] It was also shortlisted for the 2014 Arthur C. Clarke award^[5]

Its sequel, Crux, was published in 2013.^[6] The third volume of the trilogy, Apex, was published in 2014.

The film rights to the book were purchased by Paramount in 2013.^[7]

Plot summary

The book begins with Samantha Cataranes (Sam), an agent for the Emerging Risks Directorate (ERD), a branch of the United States government, as she arrives at a party on a secret mission to search for Kaden Lane. Kaden is at the party testing Nexus 5, a new iteration of an illegal and experimental nano-drug that also includes an interlaced operating system for direct input and output of brain signals. After Kaden uses the drug to test Don Juan, a program for picking up women, he runs into Sam, using the pseudonym Samara Chavez. Sam discusses interest in Kaden's work. Kaden leaves the party, checks his sources on Samara Chavez, and, finding nothing out of the ordinary, invites her cryptically to be a part of a Nexus 5 study.

Sam comes to the study, another party with a few of Kaden's close friends and colleagues: Rangan Shankari, Ilya Alexander, and Watson Cole (Wats). Sam takes Nexus 5 after using a special mantra that rearranges her memories to hide her true purpose. Believing herself to be Samara Chavez, Sam thoroughly enjoys the drug induced experience. She connects her mind with Kaden and others at the party. She begins to lose control and discovers her true identity as an ERD agent. Kaden and the others discover who she is while she tries to fight her way out of the building. Wats, an ex-marine, fights Sam. Wats is unsuccessful at subduing her but Kade uses his connection to her mind through Nexus to knock her out.

When Sam awakes she threatens the group with prison. Sam promises freedom in exchange for Kade's help. Rangan, Ilya, and Wats attempt to escape but Rangan and Illya are caught. Wats successfully escapes. The ERD extract the group. The ERD uses a Nexus disruptor on Rangan when he awakes, finding that it successfully renders him in pain during the weapons activation. Kade finds no choice but to give in and agrees to hand over Nexus 5 and work with the ERD. The ERD describes a mission to spy on Su-Yong Shu, a brilliant Chinese neuro-scientist that is implicated in murder and brain control coercion. Kade agrees to the mission, him and the group are sent to retrieve the Nexus 5 data. On the flight and car rides Kade and the group install a backdoor into the Nexus 5 operating system.

Kade begins training for his mission. He learns how to rearrange his memories, creates a Serenity Package to calm his body, and is given tools against the Nexus disruptor that was used on Rangan. Rangan also creates a Bruce Lee program that Kade can use for hand-to-hand combat. Sam is required to have permanent integration with Nexus 5, despite her disagreement with Warren Becker, the Enforcement Division Deputy Director at the ERD.

Kade and Sam, now with the pseudonym of Robyn Rodriguez, travel to Bangkok for a conference that Kade is invited to by Shu. Wats follows in hopes of setting Kade free and spreading Nexus 5 to the general public.

At registration, Kade hears an inspiring talk from Somdet Phra Ananda, discussing a Nexus-like topic, and meets Narong, a PHD student. Narong invites Kade to a student mixer the following night. After returning to the hotel Kade finds a secret note left by Wats, informing him of escape if needed. Kade recognizes that he needs to stay and attempts to notify Wats. Wats never receives the message.

At the opening night reception Sam discovers Narong is a known associate of Suk Prat-Nung, a nephew of Thanom Prat-Nung, a Thai Drug Dealer. Sam decides it is important to continue to track Narong in hopes of catching the Thai drug ring leaders. Kade finds Shu and is invited for lunch the following day, later changed to a dinner as she meets first with Ananda. Kade also discovers that Professor Ananda is under the influence of Nexus.

After again returning to the hotel, Sam reviews tapes from the day and discovers the interaction between Ananda and Kade and that Ananda also followed Kade home. Sam also discovers that a note has been passed to Kade, however she does not know that it was from Wats.

Kade meets with Shu for dinner where she reaches into his mind to discover what he knows. Kade fights back and employs his mantra to rearrange his memories. Shu reverses the effect and discovers that Kade is working with the ERD. Kade discovers that Shu is very powerful, the first mind uploaded to a computer system. She is truly trans-human and has a desire to crush humans. Shu attempts to convince Kade to join her in fighting humans. Kade is tempted but asks for time to think about her proposal. She creates false memories so that Sam and the ERD will not discover their true conversation.

Kade and Sam attend the student mixer to meet with Narong. He invites them to an after party in another area. On the way they go to Sukchai, an underground black market for everything trans-human. Kade realizes that legalizing these products would protect people, while Sam struggles with what is right. At the after party, Kade and Sam are invited to a Synchronicity party with Narong to try Nexus and another drug, Empathek.

While leaving the party Sam and Kade are attacked. Sam defeats the attackers and calls for backup. The ERD backup arrives and extracts them. Sam confronts Kade about the interaction with Ananda, which Kade denies and arranges his memories to cover it up. Kade also attempts to notify Narong that the ERD is using him to get to Thanom Prat-Nung. Sam quickly discovers his attempt and is angered.

At the conference the following day, Kade is presenting his research poster when approached by Shu. He recounts the previous nights events and Shu denies it was her people. Shu again tries to convince Kade that he should join the side of the elite.

Later in the day Kade takes a call from Ilya that reminds him that technology in the hands of only the elite is dangerous. The following day, again at the conference, Kade talks privately with Ananda. Ananda describes Buddhism as a democracy and how technology and knowledge must be shared. Meanwhile, Wats discovers that Suk Prat-Nung set up the ambush on Kade and Sam. He also discovers a plot to ambush them again during their Synchronicity party and sends an email to Kade to warn him. Sam sees the email and notifies ERD to be available in case of an ambush.

At the Synchronicity party, Sam and Kade take Nexus and Empathek. They both use their mantras to change their memories. Sam, believing she is now Robyn Rodriguez, talks with Mai, a young girl that was born with Nexus abilities. Mai unlocks Sam's true memories and contributes to a great change inside Sam. Sam, overwhelmed by her sudden realization of the power of these drugs and released from her horrible past, talks with Kade. She releases his true memories and recounts her dark past. They both fall asleep.

Upon waking they find Thanom Prat-Nung and his guards in the room. Narong, under the influence of Nexus 5 and the ERD, draws a gun on Thanom. Narong is killed by Thanom's guards and the ERD sends three team of men into the building, open firing despite Sam's warnings of civilians. Mai and the other members of the party are killed. Sam kills several ERD agents. Kade activates the Bruce Lee program and also fights the ERD soldiers. Wats, watching the entire scene on the roof, also breaks through the ceiling to join the fight. Wats is killed. The ERD detonate explosions in the skulls of the soldiers. Sam and Kade escape.

Suk Prat-Nung still alive, with a few of his men, continues to fight Sam and Kade. Kade is captured while Sam defeats some of Suk's men. Kade uses Nexus 5 to control the actions of his captor, Suk, to escape. Suk is killed. Feng, Shu's driver and a super soldier clone, rescues Kade and Sam, bringing them to a monastery. Sam and Kade spend some time recovering at the monastery while the ERD searches for them. Sam discovers that Rangan and Ilya have been taken. He spends time meditating and talking with Ananda to help deal with his grief.

Meanwhile, an ERD recon spider robot discovers Sam and Kades location. After getting permission from the White House, the ERD sends in a team to retrieve Kade and Sam. On her way to the monastery, Shu and Feng discover the ERD helicopters on their way to the monastery. They get a message to the monastery. Kade decides to mass distribute the Nexus 5 instructions. The ERD capture Kade placing him bound on a helicopter. Sam forces her way onto the helicopter, along with Feng. Shu takes control of the helicopter with her mind and forces it to return to the monastery. Before arriving two Thai fighter jets destroy the helicopters just as Kade, Sam, and Feng leap into a nearby lake.

After returning to the monastery, the ERD recon spider robots shoots a neuro toxin at Kade and Shu. Feng cuts Kades right arm off to prevent the spreading of the toxin. Shu is killed.

Nexus 5 is spread around the world, despite the efforts of government forces. Warren Becker, the Enforcement Division Deputy Director at the ERD, commits suicide. Kade uses gecko genes to grow back his arm.

Futurism themes

The novel is heavily based in, and extends concepts in the author Ramez Naam's 2007 non-fiction work More Than Human: Embracing the promise of biological enhancement, in which the author argues for a technology like the fictional drug Nexus.^[3]

Precursors of mind-to-mind communication

A series of brain-computer interface experiments have been conducted in order to test the brains ability to communicate directly to an external device. These experiments are often directed at assisting, augmenting, or repairing human cognitive or sensory-motor functions.

An experiment conducted at Duke University led by a scientist Miguel Nicolelis discovered that by implanting electrode arrays into a monkey's brain they were able to detect the monkey's motor intent and thus able to control reaching and grasping movements performed by a robotic arm. On January 15, 2008, Dr. Nicolelis's lab went even further and had the monkey control a robot 600 miles away, walking on a treadmill in Kyoto, Japan.^[8][9]

Later work done by Phillip Kennedy and colleagues built the first intracortical brain–computer interface by implanting neurotrophic-cone electrodes into one man, Johnny Ray, a stroke victim unable to move muscles below his face. With the connection made, the electrodes can record the electrical impulses that travel across neurons when thinking occurs. Those signals are transferred to a transmitter embedded beneath the scalp. Amplified 1,000 times, the signals go to a computer, which translates them into cursor movement, allowing him the ability to communicate simply by thinking.^[10]

Other research has seen success with sensory data, including advances in cochlear implants and neural visual prosthesis.

Not only have advances been made in imputing sensory data to the brain, but also in retrieving data from the brain. Jack Gallant at UC Berkeley showed that by using an MRI machine they could construct a video of what the person was currently seeing.^[11]

Only a small amount of data is being used in these experiments, only about 256 electrodes (in contrast the brain has around one hundred billion neurons). A possible proposal from Rodolfo Llinás uses carbon nanotubes and if implemented could achieve higher volumes of electrodes, over a million.^[12]

Genetic enhancements

The genetic enhancements to boost strength, speed, and stamina, as described in Nexus, are likely already possible, argued so by Ramez Naam.^[13] Over the decades researchers looking to cure muscular dystrophy, anemia, and other ailments have shown that a single injection loaded with additional copies of selected genes, and delivered by a tame virus, can have lifelong impact on the strength and fitness of animals, ranging from mice to baboons.

Operating system backdoor

The Nexus backdoor that is created by Kade and Rangan in the novel is based on the Karger and Schell Multics backdoor, implemented experimentally by Ken Thompson, co-inventor of the Unix operating system.^[14]

References