Code of Silence

Code of Silence - Chapter 25

The piercing morning sunlight was intense. A warm shaft of light stretched across Khan's fold-down tray and caused passengers on the other side of the aircraft to squint, shielding their eyes from the glare. He could feel the warmth on the back of his hands and partially closed the window blind to block out the rays. The breakfast he'd just been served was a welcome relief after an uncomfortable night's sleep. He never could get a good rest on a flight, regardless of how sumptuous the airline's seating was. There were just too many strangers crammed into one small space for him to be able to drift off into a proper and refreshing deep sleep.

He reflected on his trip to the USA following the AI conference in London. It was funny how events had taken over, he thought. He hadn't expected to travel abroad during the term break, having planned instead to visit relatives. He was then going to head back to campus early to use the downtime to catch up, work on the latest transatlantic project he was involved with and to enjoy the peace without students being around. He'd enjoyed a busy and successful conference and received glowing feedback from the academic community on the presentation he'd given on the first day. Khan prided himself on being one of the leading lights in the field of artificial intelligence and voice synthesis, and always got a buzz when his participation in such events drew praise from his peers.

But his lasting memory from the conference was of Theo Varkanopolis. He recalled how Theo had approached him even before the term had started, and how he had been impressed with, even a little envious of, the work that Theo had eventually shared with him. Theo hadn't required much input from Khan, but often used the lab and its facilities during any spare time after lectures. Khan had been able to help with coding problems that Theo was struggling with at times, and he quickly grasped things, although never fully revealed what he was working on. This frustrated Khan immensely, but intrigued him at the same time.

While he was the man in charge of all things academic within his faculty at the university, he'd always found himself on the fringe of things outside of education. The exciting things, the things that made people famous or rich, or both. In Russia, after co-founding a video game phenomenon, he eventually parted company with his then close friend Andrei Petranov. They had seen the future differently and Khan still regretted not taking a firmer stance. Things could have been very different if he had. The same had happened in the USA when he was part of the NASA and government sponsored group at CITS. It had all gone smoothly until the budgets were squeezed, costs were slashed and he was eventually forced to leave, returning to the UK where he fell back into mainstream higher education.

When he'd met Theo again at the conference, he was astounded by the transformation that had taken place in the young man since the last time he'd seen him. He'd gone from being an awkward fresher student who was trying to cope with his studies and the fact that his father had suddenly gone missing in Russia, to being a confident and articulate entrepreneur in the midst of launching some revolutionary voice technology, which he'd been working on right in front of Khan all along.

Theo, the Vvox software and all that it encompassed were truly impressive, winning the coveted accolade of 'Best New Technology Breakthrough' at the conference. This was an award usually bagged by major corporations from all corners of the world. Yet there was Theo, a fledgling student of his, walking away with it on the first attempt. Khan had spent some time with Theo on the stand on the second day. Rather than offering advice or being called on to resolve technical debates on coding, he was resigned to being an impressed bystander, like so many others who attended the conference and witnessed Vvox. Khan now had an intimate understanding of the Vvox technology, having studied it closely at the show, and could see its incredible potential.

He'd been inspired, so when he was approached after his talk by the company that organises the global AI technology conferences and gatherings, he jumped at the opportunity he was presented with. It was an all-expenses paid trip to the USA, San Francisco in fact, a city he knew well from his time working there previously. It was a long way to travel for just a week, but he had the time and they had the money, so he grasped the opportunity with both hands.