Quantum Dots?

Connect the Dots



“I am saying that the future of Quantum Dots is to be realized far beyond a simple TV display or monitor for your computer or whatever, understand it will reach to and impact the human body in unimaginable ways, mark my words.” The professor closed his statement as the buzzer sounded ending the day's class.
Yawns finishing, grumbles and grunts with some overtones of chatter began as the classroom emptied. Tin, as he was nicknamed from his first attempt at public, he was four years old in the 6th-grade public school when a pretty young redhead girl named Niamah (pronounced “Nameeze” in Irish proper) from where she came, said to the ever intimidating far too intelligent young genius. “Hey, you are like the Tin Man, If you only had a brain!” Well it stuck as he quickly advanced in his small little community of North England far north of London, called Edinburgh. It was not to shy of Glasgow and other than, going north the last city for certain until, well until Scotland. Now his proper name was long gone and he actually at the age of sixteen changed it to Tin, Tin Man and that is what read on his his newly acquired drivers license. He sidled over to the professor Kinkey and asked a rather unexpected question of him. Professor, may I ask you something on the subject of our current studies? “Well of course Kin, what is turning in that brain of yours?” Kin took a breathe and said, “What if a good medium for QDs into humans might be a more obvious catalyst, not cells extracted, but something like saliva, or sweat? The mercapto-undeconoic acids may well be far less toxic and more balanced using a naturally occurring cells?” Kinkey widened his eyes and slowly moved his hand to the top of his head, rubbing imaginary hair that was once there, he says, “Interesting.” Looking at Tin he says, “Son, you are clearly overthinking on this assignment, though notably, but please unplug yourself, take a break and go get that young lady of yours, go to the city and stomp around, see a concert, and eat some good Boston food.” I promise I will see if I have some studies to give you but not today.” Kin, you concern yourself with the midterms next Monday, do not concern yourself with my opinions to the studies, okay?” and he walks away exiting threw a back entrance.

Kin walks back to his home, for now, a room at a former frat house turned flophouse and upon entering immediately sees his most known roommate Clarence. Clarence is a bit of tongue in cheek type of “Londoner” born in central London he has a “Well, how many steps to the bar?” kind of attitude with his bit of “hippie” raft about him that makes you feel always a bit perky when speaking with him.
“Hey! Tin!” he says with far too much vigor, but a “Fuck All’ sound that is very noticeable. Tin still spinning on the Quantum Dots and humans, TVs, and knowing he understands more than he has fished out of his spinning wheels, halts and looks at Clarence, eyeballing him he thinks, “Maybe ole Clarence is just what I need.” So he replies quite potently,
“Clarence my brethren, how are the shadows of the eastern States?” Clarence, puzzled as Tin was never responsive to his often drugged and intoxicated banter takes a deep breath and then closes his mouth and holds.
Blurting out he asked, “My young apprentice, has a song or sunny smile passed you in earnest today?’
Tin, knowing he was almost six years younger than he, took no notice to the apprentice comment and continued his almost celebratory cast and said, “Yes master Iabold, funny you mention, I do have a song in my heart and it is in much need of fueling, so to speak, so as to hold it ongoing for as long as is possible”.
Clarence sprang to his feet from the overstuffed leather chair he claimed as his and his alone. Dangling a glass of what appeared to be water, though Tin knew it was some cheap American vodka, it was a crude distillation of corn, inexpensive but effective liquor that he on any other day would never swallow. But, today, he knew from many readings in history, thinking mostly of people not unlike himself, genius, who had often consumed excessive amounts of alcohol and drugs as they deduced the many questions that eventually were answered. He had concluded, at a very young age that one day he would be mazed, and, undoubtedly turning to some sort of additive in order to find the way to an answer. Well, he was on to something, though could not find the path. Or?
Clarence comes over to him laughing and trying to spit out a few words. Clearly choking on a large mouthful of, or “pull” as it is called here in the states, thus sputters out, “You, my dear boy, let me fully understand, are saying you want to have a snort, or two?”

Tin looks him in the eye and without pause and says,” Please dear Clarence would you be so kind as to fill a glass, light up a smoke, pip me some pills to pop, and/or whatever you feel is a good smelting for your apprentice to learn properly the effects?”

He continued being laughable, “I so desire the wisdom to be gained of the vises you are so learned of, My Mistro.” The Mistro burst into laughter stumbling forward into Tin wrapping his arm around his neck and then embracing him into a very affectionate hug.

Clarence, in a very musty flannel robe like what a true American would take pride wearing at any hour of the day, reached into the pocket and pulls out a tiny piece of paper, a quarter the size of a “post-it note”.
Gently he takes a small piece and says to Tin, “Open wide”. Tin is like what the fuck, a tiny dot of paper? Clarence nods insistently until he opens up his mouth. Pressing the paper to Tin’s tongue quickly he hands him the glass of "water" and says, “Swallow a good drink of this young one, let the medicine go down, hurry up, no time for questions or interrogation, just do it!”
Without a word Tin took two quick, but large “pulls” from the glass. Knowing, or he thought he knew, the vodka rushed down as he stood strong in from Clarence. Suddenly the uncontrollable re-flux began and he started coughing. Quickly this became gagging, and he bent to the floor trying not to spew. Quickly Clarence slapped his back a few times, and oddly he felt much better.

Tin looks around the room and then, still coughing and goes to the old couch and falls back into it. Looking at the Mistro, trying to say something, but not in the form of a question.
Then he asks, “Do you miss England?” Clarence looks around the room with his eyes and then locks onto Tin’s amber eyes and says to him, “Tin, I miss my mother, but no I fully intend to stay here in the states until I die.”
Tin, thinks of his mother but only for a second and quickly thinks of his best friend and is like, “Yeah I can understand that there are some very good reasons to stay here.”

Tin begins to think in detail of his best friend, “She is a very intelligent, young overachiever like me." he says out loud but not meaning to. She is fifteen years old, long dark hair, green eyes, full lips, lovely olive skin, oh he was needing to see her now. He continues thinking and suddenly realizes Clarence is staring at him with one brow raised high. He asks him, “You were thinking of that lovely darling of your dreams, were you not?”
Tin snaps out of his little movie playing in his head and is like, “What?” Uh, yeah, I mean no, just thinking about this Quantum Dots studies we have been working on all semester with Professor Iabold, I can’t stop feeling the answer to successfully implementing them for use in humans is right in front of my face.”
Clarence scratches his three, or maybe five-day stubble and says to him, “No my dear understudy you were thinking about that delicious tart from heaven Emerald”. Tin defensively replies, “Okay, yeah I am gonna call her now and see how her day was,” then starts to move out of the room. Clarence abruptly barks, “No! You will sit here so I can keep an eye on you and it is not up for discussion.”
Tin jumped and turned sitting back down on the old sofa. Glancing at “the Mistro” he grumbles and then pulls out his phone and decides to text her instead. Not what he wanted. He is touching at his phone when big Casey walks in. Casey was a true American, loud, chiseled muscles, tanned, six feet four inches and every bit two hundred eighty pounds of southern hillbilly. He was as different from them as they were to each other. Clarence was an artist, a genius of music, acting, drawing, taking pictures, sculpting, wiping his ass, it all came out to be extraordinary. Casey was a pure engineer, if you said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could whatever?" Well, soon he build whatever and it was cool. Tin, Tin was a “bouncer,” it did not matter the “thing” Music? He could play it, combustion engines, he could re-build it, draw this face, he would sketch it out, work with programs and systems, if it interested him he would do it well. The truth was he never lasted on any one thing but for a short time and had to move on when or once he was satisfied “he could”.

Casey comes up to Clarence and reaches out to him saying, “Gimme a hug my brethren”! Without changing face Clarence stands up and falls into his arms without so much as a grunt. He lets him go and turns to Tin. Normally Tin was kinda sly escaping the hillbilly love from Casey but today, he knew that was not an option. So, Tin stands up eager with arms wide and fingers waving Casey to him. At this Casey says in his very deep and always powerful voice, “My brethren!” and picks him up hugging him to the point of passing out. Well, when Tin was let go he felt a sudden rush and feeling he had never before felt. It was similar to how he felt after having sex with Emerald, but not the same, not as good a feeling just a comparison mind you. He stumbles back into the sofa, much harder than he had planned.
Holding his arms out he was panting trying to catch his breath. As he did he suddenly noticed his hands, they were turning and almost dancing as he watched not realizing they were his hands and he had control of them. Once realized they stopped immediately and starred puzzling over the last few moments, or so he thought. As Tin watched in wonder at hands dancing so elegantly completely leaving the room consciously,
Casey turns to Clarence and says, “Did you give him some of that backwoods bat shit psychedelic chemistry set on paper stuff?” Grinning he replies, “No, I would never give that to him, he asked for it and took it.”
Casey watches Tin with a concerned look on his face considering whether to interrupt his ballerina's hands but decides the better of it. Clarence in his defense said, “He equivocally insisted I take him into the schooling of the vices well known and used by humans past, present, and assuredly future.” “Well you better not let anything happen to him, or let this be known outside of this house, he is a minor and we can’t lose our humble abode because of your poor judgment.”

That is when Tin snapped from his transient state and remembered where he was and what was going on. Casey plopped on the couch, it creaking and then a pop sound like something broke. Everyone looks at each other and then laughs and smiles.
Tin feeling quite strange grabbed for his phone to see if his best friend had texted back about her day. Looking at his phone there was a short answer from her “Yeah it was ok you ok?”
He thought a minute looking around and kinda felt of himself and decided he felt hella good actually. He gathers himself and looks at Clarence and decides to ask what the hell was on that tiny tip of paper.
Feeling quite astute he leans forward towards Clarence and asks, “What was on that paper dear sir, as I am feeling nothing of the grain alcohol and yet have a keen sense as I have never felt before”. He looks at him and erupts in laughter, not unlike himself, and said, “My dear Tin Man, you know of this substance." "As you, over year-ago helped me formulate it, therefore it is your doing as much as mine.”
Continuing Clarence laughing and talking finally composes himself and asks Tin, “Do you recall our Psych and Science class together?”
That is where the two, became intimate and thus find themselves here.
Clearing his throat he says, “Dimethoxyamphetamine lad, we worked on it for weeks, and oh it was worth it.” Tin recalling the class remembered that some interest, though very little, of that class was about the use of Psychedelics for treating depression and there was mention the DMA as it is called short, but he could not ever recall working on the manufacture of it. Then it hits him, “You slick pig cheeky oinking Westminsterish fuck all Londoner! you tricked me!” That was supposed to be an extra credit project so you wouldn’t fail Advanced Chemistry!” At that Clarence did fall on the floor overcome with hysterical laughter, rolling and holding himself tight to keep from pulling a muscle he never uses. Tin chuckling a little, though still rapping his ever-dancing brain around a truth looks at Casey, right in the eyes. Suddenly Casey burst out with a true hillbilly “HooHaw” sputtering out “I remember that shit! He had you jumping around and stealing shit from your labs!” He continued, as spit flew from his mouth, “You were so eager to help!” Taking a breath, “Hahahahahahaha, you seriously never stopped to think he was, he was.” Grabbing his own chest tries to speak, “He was making some serious drug shit worth hundreds, hahaha, thousands!” And at that the giant of a human fell hard to the floor next to Clarence, who was, still rolling around with tears streaming down and in between laughs, blurts of a sentence saying, “You, you, you were so eagerrrrr!" "To, to, to help! Hahahahahahaha!” Clarence looks at Casey, and then it was over, they both laughed so damn hard they couldn’t take a breath, much less think of anything other than Tin, trying so hard to help his fellow schoolmate and “British brother” not fail an imaginary Chemistry class. All the while manufacturing a highly potent and very illegal drug.
Tin was kind of hurt for a moment but seeing Clarence and Casey rolling in chortling in such amusement began to chuckle, then giggle, then he laid his head back and fully gave in and joined their blissful state, of uncontrolled guffawing.

This continued for minutes and every time they tried to end the hilarity, one of them would look the other in the eye, and said, “Okay, okay.” panting, and holding out their arms in a stopping gesture and wiping tears from their eyes, it would begin all over again. Eventually, they gained control of themselves though exhausted, all were in good spirits. A few moments pass and then Clarence, starring at the wall remembers something he wanted to ask Tin. “Hey Tin, so tell me why the sudden need to experiment with drugs, and well alcohol, you never, to my knowledge have consumed any before?” Tin debated on whether to really explain, or give a short answer. He decides to answer the question with a question. “Well, if I tell you both, do you promise to be of help, if you can, or to are you going to just rip on me for laughs.
Casey, pondering both Clarence’s and Tin’s questions speaks up looking at Tin and with his true Kentucky accented English asks. “Yeah, that is a damn good question Tin, is everything “aaight” with you?” He continued, “Y’all know you’re like a kid brother to me and I would always do anything for you, ya know?” Tin smiles and takes a breath. “Okay, in my bio-science class we have been learning about QDs, Quantum Dots, you know what those are, correct?” Casey says, “Yup, “artificial atoms” commonly used for like plasma screens but have hundreds if not thousands of applications and uses from industrial, tech, robotics, space, and certainly for medical, shit we are working them now creating from a two and three-dimensional electron or hole gases present in remotely doped quantum wells or semiconductor heterostructures mapping out what we hope to be a nano-quantum multi-processing artificial intelligence we calling QDAIs.” Casey, getting very passionate continued. “Basically our approach is kinda like ants, or even better termite colonies where each QD has, well, a function to carry out, but all the same can “think” for itself in order to change from the routine for the sake of the all of them and their purpose, or goal.

Casey's eyes sparkled as he spoke about his work with


a very wise person told me once, saying to "Listen closely." Do not put off till tomorrow, what you can do today. Never leave things half-finished..." That was as far they got with the words of wisdom. Though, know, I have always tried to live by these powerful statements and hold them, dear, to my heart..