She broke off when the intercom buzzed. She dashed off to answer and came back to say, "They're on the way up."
2
Two of them were at the door. One was Boris Kupfer, whom John had already spoken to - large and restless, with a clear view of bluish stubble on his chin.
The other was David Anderson, smaller and more composed. His quick eyes moved this way and that, however, missing nothing.
"Susan," said John, uncertainly, still holding the door open. "These are the two colleagues of mine that I told you about. Boris - " He hit a blank in his memory banks and stopped.
"Boris Kupfer," said the larger man morosely, jingling some change in his pocket,:'and David Anderson here. It's very kind of you, Miss - "
"Susan Collins."
"It's very kind of you to make your place of residence available to Mr. Heath and to us for a private conference. We apologize for trespassing on your time and your privacy in this manner - and if you could leave us to ourselves for a while, we will be further grateful."
Susan stared at him solemnly. "Do you want me to go to the movies, or just into the next room?"
"If you could visit a friend - "
"No," said Susan, firmly.
"You can dispose of your time as you please, of course. A movie, if you wish."
"When I said 'No,' "said Susan, "I meant I wasn't leaving. I want to know what this is about."
Kupfer seemed nonplussed. He stared at Anderson for a moment, then said, "It's confidential, as Mr. Heath explained to you, I hope."
John, looking uneasy, said, "I explained that. Susan understands - "
"Susan," said Susan, "doesn't understand and wasn't given to understand that she was to absent herself from the proceedings. This is my apartment and Johnny and I are being married in two weeks - exactly two weeks from today. We are the firm of Johnny and Sue and you'll have to deal with the firm."
Anderson's voice sounded for the first time, surprisingly" deep and as smooth as though it had been waxed. "Boris, the young woman is right. As Mr. Heath's soon-to-be wife, she will have a great interest in what we have come here to suggest and it would be wrong to exclude her. She has so firm an interest in our proposal that if she were to wish to leave, I would urge her most strongly to remain."
"Well, then, my friends," said Susan, "what will you have to drink? Once I bring you those drinks, we can begin."
Both were seated rather stiffly and had sipped cautiously at their drinks, and then Kupfer said, "Heath, I don't suppose you know much about the chemical details of the company's work - the cerebro-chemicals, for instance."
"Not a bit," said John, uneasily.
"No reason you should," said Anderson, silkily.
"It's like this," said Kupfer, casting an uneasy glance at Susan - "No reason to go into technical details," said Anderson, almost at the lower level of audibility.
Kupfer colored slightly. "Without technical details, Quantum Pharmaceuticals deals with cerebro-chemicals which are, as the name implies, chemicals that affect the cerebrum, that is, the higher functioning of the brain."
"It must be very complicated work," said Susan, with composure.
"It is," said Kupfer. "The mammalian brain has hundreds of characteristic molecular varieties found nowhere else, which serve to modulate cerebral activity, including aspects of what we might term the intellectual life. The work is under the closest corporate security, which is why Anderson wants no technical details. I can say this, though. We can go no further with animal experiments. We're up against a brick wall if we can't try the human response."
"Then why don't you?" said Susan. "What stops you?"
"Public reaction if something goes wrong!"
"Use volunteers, then."
"That won't help. Quantum Pharmaceuticals couldn't take the adverse publicity if something went wrong."
Susan looked at them mockingly. " Are you two working on your own, then?"
Anderson raised his hand to stop Kupfer. "Young woman, " he said, "let me explain briefly in order to put an end to wasteful verbal fencing. If we succeed, we will be enormously rewarded. If we fail, Quantum Pharmaceuticals will disown us and we will pay what penalty there is to be paid, such as the ending of our careers. If you ask us, why we are willing to take this risk, the answer is, we do not think a risk exists. We are reasonably sure we will succeed; entirely sure we will do no harm. The corporation feels it cannot take the chance; but we feel we can. Now, Kupfer, proceed!"
Kupfer said, "We have a memory chemical. It works with every animal we have tried. Their learning ability improves amazingly. It should work on human beings, too."
John said, "That sounds exciting."
"It is exciting," said Kupfer. "Memory is not improved by devising a way for the brain to store information more efficiently. All our studies show that the brain stores almost unlimited numbers of items perfectly and permanently. The difficulty lies in recall. How many times have you had a name at the tip of your tongue and couldn't get it? How many times have you failed to come up with something you knew you knew, and then did come up with it two hours later when you were thinking about something else. Am I putting it correctly, David?"
"You are," said Anderson. "Recall is inhibited, we think, because the mammalian brain outraced its needs by developing a too-perfect recording system. A mammal stores more bits of information than it needs or is capable of using and if all of it was on tap at all times, it would never be able to choose among them quickly enough for appropriate reaction. Recall is inhibited, therefore, to insure that items emerge from memory storage in manipulable numbers, and with those items most desired not blurred by the accompaniment of numerous other items of no interest.