One of my fondest memories as a kid is watching the movie FANTASTIC VOYAGE. In the movie, a group of scientists and their ultra-futuristic laser-packing “submarine” are reduced to cell size and injected into the blood vessels of a world diplomat in order to destroy a blood clot in his brain.
What would a FANTASTIC VOYAGE: Breast Cancer look like? I’m going to write a novel here, short chapter by short chapter and I’m going to include the latest research and I’m going to imagine the entire story here for your delectation. Likely it WON’T be once a month…
Dr. Olubunmi Nwagbara – Ohloo to her close friends, Dr. O to those who wouldn’t try her last name for fear of offending her – said, “Kim Lin Anzan has aggressive triple-negative breast cancer. We’ve tried the usual treatments, but it’s a rare form and it’s going to kill her unless we do something drastic.”
The New Zealander, Hirini Kenana replied, “So you’re proposing a radically new treatment.” He leaned forward, dark eyes flashing. Though there were no tattoos visible, Ohloo had seen photos of him wearing an A-shirt. As Kim Lin Anzan’s agent, he was often in the news. Wearing the conservative suit with a teal shirt and a matching floral print tie, the true markings of tā moko were mostly hidden except for a pair of arcs near his hairline.
Ohloo nodded. “I don’t see that there’s any other way to help her.”
He pursed his lips and leaned back, saying, “Or furthering your own career and fame, either.”
She considered taking offense, which seemed to be what he was trying to make her do. Instead, she shook her head, “While it would undeniably give my career a boost if it worked, it would kill me if it didn’t.”
“What?”
She studied him. If she couldn’t convince him that this was the only way to keep Kim Lin Anzan’s mission – and her body – alive, then she’d never even have the chance to talk to the woman herself. She said, “The submarine we would send into her bloodstream is a picomachine.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s bigger than a molecule – you know what nanotechnology is, correct?” He nodded slowly. “This is larger than nanotech, but still extremely small. And contrary to what the tabloids tell you, there’s no ‘brain upload’ of my mind into the submarine. I’ll have electrodes on my skull and a few more deeply implanted and the submarine has a pico-circuit board and radio with which I’ll be in constant contact. I will be, in effect, the pilot of the submarine as well as the chief medical officer.”
Hirini leaned forward, “Is there any way I could come along as crew?”
Ohloo leaned back. While it was theoretically possible, she hadn’t really given it much thought. There wasn’t any real limit to the number of frequencies the sub could receive, so there shouldn’t be any real limit to the number of “crew” who could accompany her. She leaned toward him, “I would caution you, Mr. Kenana, we would be intimately connected to the submarine. If it were damaged in any way, we would experience that damage as pain. If the submarine were destroyed, there’s a good chance that receiving that level of stimulus would damage or possibly destroy the parts of the brain where we were connected to it.”
“When Master Anzan dies, my job on Earth will be over.”
“You won’t carry her message on?”
He shook his head slowly, “I can’t. Her life IS the message.” He leaned forward again, “The message of peace, persuasion and surrender is the only thing that will save this world, Doctor Nwagbara. But it’s her message. I just help her with whatever she needs; I’m not an incarnation of the Buddha. She is.”
Ohloo said, “I’ll check into it.”
“Good. Because she’s convinced she only has a week left to live.”
Image: http://medgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/Fantastic-Voyage-200x290.jpg
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