Yes, she intended to mass produce it, give it to everyone, because no one should hold the knowledge of others’ feelings and thoughts alone. The Tower of Babel should be built by everyone, not just a few.

She knew if access to the control system were hacked by AI or simply some maniacs, everyone would be carrying a bomb inside them. The pathway to create deadly neurotransmitters, hormones and incretion could be shut down forever by malevolent actors.

With all these possibilities crossing her mind, she thought about the days she had spent in the asylum after being isolated by Covid. She thought about all the misunderstandings across history. Watching the 3D printer print out the chips, she had hatched a plan to change the world.

The team had successfully identified all the different emotions and their chemical and physical characteristics in rats and dogs. Cassandra copied the algorithm and hid the copy in secret. The team did not try once again to see whether the process of putting the chemical and electrical elements into another brain was possible, because the last time, the rat had spasmed and died.

But the team should know that it worked. Otherwise, they would not agree to experiment on people; animals don’t have thoughts based on language. And the technology’s initial aim was to boost communication. Cassandra wasn’t able to communicate with others using only herself, was she? She needed to show somebody the result and convince them that this process would not kill them.

This is more than the psychics on TV; those cartoon characters can only hear thoughts, this time it’s every sensation, the thinking of each thought, the forming of each sentence.

Cassandra had chosen Peter, a radical, progressive scientist on the team, with colour-blindness and bipolar disorder.

“Hey Pete, come to my office, I have something to show you.” This was the first time that Cassandra had called him “Pete”.

“Yeah, sure.” He frowned a little.

They entered the secret chamber from the back door of Cassandra’s office where she had successfully cured Mo.

“Wow, how come I get the honor of visiting this mad girl’s dream palace?” He marvelled over all the equipment in the room before glancing over to the cage of the rat Mo.

“Is that rat from generation Mo? The one with the spotted markings?” He looked a bit unsure.

“Yes.” Cassandra is very calm, “It is. I have succeeded. I made some changes with the parameters, then Voilà!” She was speaking with caution; heaven knows what this information, this power of technology, could do to someone.

“Why are you telling me this? What else have you discovered?” He looked shocked, but was still trying to make sense of his surroundings.

“I’m telling you it’s more than just curing mental illness. We can communicate via thoughts, we can know each other before we speak the words, before the misunderstandings form, before language barriers even take place.” Cassandra explained with pride.

“Cool. Am I the only one you are telling?” He was silent for a moment.

“Yes.”

“So, I assume you’ve made some progress already?” He took a sip from the coffee mug he carried from the outside room.

“It’s all done. I’m inviting you to test it with me for just ten seconds.” Cassandra smiled radiantly.

“I’m in.” He put the mug down and swallowed hard.

***

       Within those ten seconds, Peter saw the world with an average person’s perception of colour, through Cassandra’s eyes. Cassandra felt the endless energy of a bipolar disorder patient’s excitatory state. And they shared some thoughts on how to boost the diverse ideas of humanity.

       Cassandra had been preparing for this moment for so long, that she had trained herself to sense the other person’s intentions by their every move, every word, even from gibberish. She is right most of the time. Ten seconds’ time is enough for her to learn what the kind of person Peter is. He is the one, the most ideal candidate for putting this technology forward. He is unseen, tends to prove himself, he lacks confidence because he is not the one with the genius, but he will be full of charisma once he gains knowledge: he will be able to convince everyone. He is immature; he needs pushing to get things done.

       “My god, this could change everything! Why are we doing this and how did we make it?” he exclaimed.

       “I guess for the betterment of mankind. We wanted to know more, and so we did.” Cassandra was also in shock. From the power of the chips and from the accuracy of her predictions.

       “You are a pioneer. How did you get involved with this deadly stuff?”

       “History led me; competence; supporting sciences; willingness; and the cowardice of others, their fear of the future, I guess.”

       “This is playing god.”

       “I’ve thought about the consequences. With or without this, the future is equally dangerous. I’m a scientist; I don’t believe in supernatural forces. Will you help me perfect this and start another round of industrial revolution?”

       “This is more than ‘industrial’, this is like the moment when apes learned to draw. But I’m in.”

***

       Everyone in the team experienced the technology gradually. They kept the secret and helped develop it. They’d made it small enough and smart enough to pierce the skin and find the blood vessels to arrive at a unique spot in our gut whilst making direct contact by itself. It is possible through nanotechnology and programming; after many failures, the team and Cassandra finally made it happen.

       They planned to instal the chips on everyone without their knowing as soon as possible Every aspect of the potential of the Bonding Technology would be realised one by one. They designed a gun to shoot chips into the sea, through the food chain, so that no one would be able to escape this revolution. Animals have brains, we will even be able to utilize the wisdom of animals once it is released. But the team had to work hard on deciphering these animals’ feelings. They studied hard and painted grand pictures of the future ahead.

       The chips will start to be activated in remote places on the earth, it will be triggered by a few unique electrical pulses and chemical signature that suggests this person is wondering what others are thinking. When two people are thinking this, they form this very first link. This kind of discoveries will go viral on the internet in a few days, and the AI in the system will decide when the right timing is to unlock everything.

       Cassandra and her team agreed that this chip’s expiration date will be ten years. Then it will dissolve itself immediately. She is a smart person; she knew that not everyone in this team is “brain washed” by her perfect plan, and the world will be of resistance. So, she acted first.

       Cassandra followed the youngest member in the team Aline in her morning commuting. Cassandra had long discovered that Aline has a feeling for Peter, but Peter is numb towards her. She didn’t have any mental health problems, but she had friends who died from depression. She was the one who is reluctant when Cassandra announced their ultimate purpose. She still wanted to cure depression and bipolar disorder, she found that this tech can do so much more, and she was afraid.

       Cassandra sat in the back of the bus, right where Aline would see her when she enters the bus from the middle door.

       “Hey, Cassandra! Did you come to this bus for me?” Aline is a sweet girl with good courtesy.

       “Yes! Come sit here, I wanted to chat with you.” Cassandra smiled with some tiredness from work.

       “What’s it about? Did we make any new progress? How can I help?” She looked genuinely intrigued. Maybe she thought Cassandra will give her new ideas in her own psychological studies. But of course, Cassandra won’t know she’s up to other studies, will she?

       “I came to talk to you about Peter.” Cassandra is always calm and direct.

       “Oh. So, that’s what this all about.” Aline looked like a deflated balloon, and suddenly a bit defensive.

       “I am handing this technology to you and Peter.”

       “What? Why? Where are you going?” She’s astounded, her voice raised and was suppressed down immediately by her intentionally.

       “To be frank, there is no place for me in this world, once this tech is released, I will be blamed forever in quite a long time. So, I choose the other way.” Cassandra is so still that the bus’s sudden stop didn’t affect her even slightly.

       “What other way? What do you mean by Peter and me?”

       “You love him, don’t you?”

       “…”

       “Very good, I know some people, I’ll let you contact them. You command them to make me vanish forever. I think you know what I mean.”

       “I…”

       “I know you only stayed because Peter did and thought this tech too dangerous for human. It is. But I advise you to think in Peter’s perspective, knowing is the basis of understanding, that’s curing mental problems from the core. Everything for the better is our point. There is no better candidate to betray me.”

       “I know. Only that if Peter knows, he will abandon me.”

       “Then you never tell him, he’ll never know.”

***

One day, a truck arrived, and a middle-aged man banged on the door.

       The factory was by the sea, a rural place, the kind you wouldn't look at twice when passing through. It was odd for anyone to come and visit.

       The moment Cassandra heard the banging, she grabbed every digital copy there was and the prototype of the one and only chip-gun, then set the factory’s self-destruct bomb for ten minutes’ time.

       Every team member now had the chip installed on them; it could be turned on and off at will, but Cassandra pushed the emergency button and announced the last message: ‘Run for your life, and don’t forget what we started. Let’s unite every being on this planet.’

       Cassandra steeled herself to open the gate.

       “Someone has betrayed you. I’m here to wipe you and your technology off this earth.” The middle-aged man put a gun towards Cassandra’s chest.

       With a smile, Cassandra pulled the trigger of the chip-gun. The man pulled his gun’s trigger as well. He was then shocked and disabled by Cassandra’s pain of the bullet in her stomach and the memory of pain in the asylum that she showed him.

       “We are the future,” Cassandra whispered.

       A minute later, Peter rushed to the gate and found Cassandra holding the digital copy and lying on the ground in a pool of blood. The man was beside her, gasping with pain, but Cassandra looked pale enough to be a ghost.

       “No, no, no, no... My dear, I’ll get you to a hospital, you will not die. Not in front of my face.” He kneeled beside Cassandra, not knowing what to do.

       “I knew you would come. Don’t turn on your Bonding Tech with me, you shouldn’t take this pain of bullets. I have to say these things. Name your daughter Cassie. You hear me? ‘C, A, S, S, I, E.’” Cassandra choked on blood.

       “After you? Of course, my darling. You and all this is everything to me.” Peter turned the Bonding Tech on.

       He was struck by the pain, but he also saw what Cassandra had had in mind.

       “It’s my fault. To invent such a disaster. But we can’t take it back. Pete, you must be the next leader of this team, find out who betrayed us, and don’t let them win once again, and put every mind to use to develop other technologies, to find humanity’s place in the universe. You must live on as the victim of this Tech, then lead everyone to find new ways to explore the unknown and darkness. I must be the culprit of everything, to be blamed for centuries to come. In the eyes of the world, you will be my puppet while before when the Bonding Tech was developed. Then you can use this knowledge to your advantage and your personal charisma to be the beacon. I will be your inspiration; my death will push you forward to popularize the Bonding Tech. I will not see the day come, but my death will make sure you do. Put the body of this killer into the sea and build more chips and chip-guns using this algorithm I copied secretly. You must do this all-in secret. Let me blow up in this factory with everything that’s from the past and from me. The future is yours. I trust you, like you trusted me unconditionally on seeing Mo’s cure.”

       “Why?” His tears dropped.

       “Because we love this planet and we meant to save it with the whole of humanity. Love this world like the way you did with me, and I the same.” That was her last word.

       Cassandra went limb.

       He knew she was right, he can only carry one body out before the bomb went off, it should be the killer’s, he had to dump him into the sea. Or Cassandra will die in vain.

       He grabbed the chip-gun and the secret digital copy and dragged the killer out of the factory.

       He fled, just like she said. But he will ensure this start-up of the Bonding Network.