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First, it must be acknowledged that Hermelin was an absolute genius. In 2088 he released the first version of the Sartre software, which revolutionised the whole field of Total Immersion Hologram Recreation. The man was only seventeen years old at the time. I know, this is the age of infant prodigies, where ten year-olds design and build rockets that take them to the moon, but even now, a decade later, one still meets TIHR experts who remain shocked by what Sartre can do. Long books are still being written about the implications of it, and they all quote the famous statement of Jennifer Toussaint, World President at the time, who said that Sartre 'Is the culmination of, and contradiction to, our culture's understanding of the concept of time'.
I was Hermelin's doctor. Not one of the highly-skilled engineers of the psyche who have been trying to untangle his brain for three years - I was merely the man he came to with a sprained ankle, or a persistent rash. When he registered with my practice in 2086 I gave him a thorough medical examination, and determined nothing more than that his general muscle tone was poor, that he was slightly deficient in Vitamin D, and that he was slightly anaemic. The first two problems were to do with his habit of spending practically all his time writing vast, five-dimensional computer programs, and never going out for a walk in the sun. I prescribed exercise and supplements. He took the supplements, but never got enough sun or exercise when he was under my care.
I had no hint then that my patient's work had to do with re-writing everything that was known about TIHR, a science and an industry that was then in its infancy. The experts will tell you that this was a key feature of Hermelin's career - he was always so far in advance of everyone else in his field that few could even see him, off in the distance. I did have some idea of his now-famous obsession with a nineteenth-century serial killer called 'Jack the Ripper'. When I paid him a home visit to treat him for severe gout (a complaint very uncommon in teenagers) I noticed that he had a whole wall of book-shelves devoted to the subject of this mysterious individual. I imagined at the time that he would have had many more books about 'Jack', in electronic form, stored on various devices.
I was Hermelin's doctor. Not one of the highly-skilled engineers of the psyche who have been trying to untangle his brain for three years - I was merely the man he came to with a sprained ankle, or a persistent rash. When he registered with my practice in 2086 I gave him a thorough medical examination, and determined nothing more than that his general muscle tone was poor, that he was slightly deficient in Vitamin D, and that he was slightly anaemic. The first two problems were to do with his habit of spending practically all his time writing vast, five-dimensional computer programs, and never going out for a walk in the sun. I prescribed exercise and supplements. He took the supplements, but never got enough sun or exercise when he was under my care.
I had no hint then that my patient's work had to do with re-writing everything that was known about TIHR, a science and an industry that was then in its infancy. The experts will tell you that this was a key feature of Hermelin's career - he was always so far in advance of everyone else in his field that few could even see him, off in the distance. I did have some idea of his now-famous obsession with a nineteenth-century serial killer called 'Jack the Ripper'. When I paid him a home visit to treat him for severe gout (a complaint very uncommon in teenagers) I noticed that he had a whole wall of book-shelves devoted to the subject of this mysterious individual. I imagined at the time that he would have had many more books about 'Jack', in electronic form, stored on various devices.