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it　is　difficult　to　anticipate　what　the　consequences　might　be。　That　is　the　subject　of　the　present　novel。
　　
　Michael　Crichton　
　LOS　ANGELES；　2002
　
　It's　midnight　now。　The　house　is　dark。　I　am　not　sure　how　this　will　turn　out。　The　kids　are　all　desperately　sick；　throwing　up。　I　can　hear　my　son　and　daughter　retching　in　separate　bathrooms。　I　went　in　to　check　on　them　a　few　minutes　ago；　to　see　what　was　ing　up。　I'm　worried　about　the　baby；　but　I　had　to　make　her　sick；　too。　It　was　her　only　hope。　I　think　I'm　okay；　at　least　for　the　moment。　But　of　course　the　odds　aren't　good：　most　of　the　people　involved　in　this　business　are　already　dead。　And　there　are　so　many　things　I　can't　know　for　sure。
　The　facility　is　destroyed；　but　I　don't　know　if　we　did　it　in　time。　I'm　waiting　for　Mae。　She　went　to　the　lab　in　Palo　Alto　twelve　hours　ago。　I　hope　she　succeeded。　I　hope　she　made　them　understand　how　desperate　the　situation　is。　I　expected　to　hear　from　the　lab　but　so　far　there　has　been　no　word。
　I　have　ringing　in　my　ears；　which　is　a　bad　sign。　And　I　feel　a　vibrating　in　my　chest　and　abdomen。　The　baby　is　spitting　up；　not　really　vomiting。　I　am　feeling　dizzy。　I　hope　I　don't　lose　consciousness。　The　kids　need　me；　especially　the　little　one。　They're　frightened。　I　don't　blame　them。
　I　am；　too。
　Sitting　here　in　the　dark；　it's　hard　to　believe　that　a　week　ago　my　biggest　problem　was　finding　a　job。　It　seems　almost　laughable　now。
　But　then；　things　never　turn　out　the　way　you　think　they　will。
　
　HOME
　
　DAY　1　
　10：04　A。M。
　Things　never　turn　out　the　way　you　think　they　will。
　I　never　intended　to　bee　a　househusband。　Stay…at…home　husband。　Full…time　dad；　whatever　you　want　to　call　it…there　is　no　good　term　for　it。　But　that's　what　I　had　bee　in　the　last　six　months。　Now　I　was　in　Crate　&　Barrel　in　downtown　San　Jose；　picking　up　some　extra　glasses；　and　while　I　was　there　I　noticed　they　had　a　good　selection　of　placemats。　We　needed　more　placemats；　the　woven　oval　ones　that　Julia　had　bought　a　year　ago　were　getting　pretty　worn；　and　the　weave　was　crusted　with　baby　food。　The　trouble　was；　they　were　woven；　so　you　couldn't　wash　them。　So　I　stopped　at　the　display　to　see　if　they　had　any　placemats　that　might　be　good；　and　I　found　some　pale　blue　ones　that　were　nice；　and　I　got　some　white　napkins。　And　then　some　yellow　placemats　caught　my　eye；　because　they　looked　really　bright　and　appealing；　so　I　got　those；　too。　They　didn't　have　six　on　the　shelf；　and　I　thought　we'd　better　have　six；　so　I　asked　the　salesgirl　to　look　in　the　back　and　see　if　they　had　more。　While　she　was　gone　I　put　the　placemat　on　the　table；　and　put　a　white　dish　on　it；　and　then　I　put　a　yellow　napkin　next　to　it。　The　setting　looked　very　cheerful；　and　I　began　to　think　maybe　I　should　get　eight　instead　of　six。　That　was　when　my　cell　phone　rang。
　It　was　Julia。　〃Hi；　hon。〃
　〃Hi；　Julia。　How's　it　going？〃　I　said。　I　could　hear　machinery　in　the　background；　a　steady　chugging。　Probably　the　vacuum　pump　for　the　electron　microscope。　They　had　several　scanning　electron　microscopes　at　her　laboratory。
　She　said；　〃What're　you　doing？〃
　〃Buying　placemats；　actually。〃
　〃Where？〃
　〃Crate　and　Barrel。〃
　She　laughed。　〃You　the　only　guy　there？〃
　〃No　。。。〃
　〃Oh；　well；　that's　good；〃　she　said。　I　could　tell　Julia　was　pletely　uninterested　in　this　conversation。　Something　else　was　on　her　mind。　〃Listen；　I　wanted　to　tell　you；　Jack；　I'm　really　sorry；　but　it's　going　to　be　a　late　night　again。〃
　〃Uh…huh　。。。〃　The　salesgirl　came　back；　carrying　more　yellow　mats。　Still　holding　the　phone　to　my　ear；　I　beckoned　her　over。　I　held　up　three　fingers；　and　she　put　down　three　more　mats。　To　Julia；　I　said；　〃Is　everything　all　right？〃
　〃Yeah；　it's　just　crazy　like　normal。　We're　broadcasting　a　demo　by　satellite　today　to　the　VCs　in　Asia　and　Europe；　and　we're　having　trouble　with　the　satellite　hookup　at　this　end　because　the　video　truck　they　sent…oh；　you　don't　want　to　know　。。。　anyway；　we're　going　to　be　delayed　two　hours；　hon。　Maybe　more。　I　won't　get　back　until　eight　at　the　earliest。　Can　you　feed　the　kids　and　put　them　to　bed？〃
　〃No　problem；〃　I　said。　And　it　wasn't。　I　was　used　to　it。　Lately；　Julia　had　been　working　very　long　hours。　Most　nights　she　didn't　get　home　until　the　children　were　asleep。　Xymos　Technology；　the　pany　she　worked　for；　was　trying　to　raise　another　round　of　venture　capital…twenty　million　dollars…and　there　was　a　lot　of　pressure。　Especially　since　Xymos　was　developing　technology　in　what　the　pany　called　〃molecular　manufacturing；〃　but　which　most　people　called　nanotechnology。　Nano　wasn't　popular　with　the　VCs…the　venture　capitalists…these　days。　Too　many　VCs　had　been　burned　in　the　last　ten　years　with　products　that　were　supposedly　just　around　the　corner；　but　then　never　made　it　out　of　the　lab。　The　VCs　considered　nano　to　be　all　promise；　no　products。
　Not　that　Julia　needed　to　be　told　that；　she'd　worked　for　two　VC　firms　herself。　Originally　trained　as　a　child　psychologist；　she　ended　up　as　someone　who　specialized　in　〃technology　incubation；〃　helping　fledgling　technology　panies　get　started。　（She　used　to　joke　she　was　still　doing　child　psychology。）　Eventually；　she'd　stopped　advising　firms　and　joined　one　of　them　full…time。　She　was　now　a　vice　president　at　Xymos。
　Julia　said　Xymos　had　made　several　breakthroughs；　and　was　far　ahead　of　others　in　the　field。　She　said　they　were　just　days　away　from　a　prototype　mercial　product。　But　I　took　what　she　said　with　a　grain　of　salt。
　〃Listen；　Jack；　I　want　to　warn　you；〃　she　said；　in　a　guilty　voice；　〃that　Eric　is　going　to　be　upset。〃
　〃Why？〃
　〃Well　。。。　I　told　him　I　would　e　to　the　game。〃
　〃Julia；　why？　We　talked　about　making　promises　like　this。　There's　no　way　you　can　make　that　game。　It's　at　three　o'clock。　Why'd　you　tell　him　you　would？〃
　〃I　thought　I　could　make　it。〃
　I　sighed。　It　was；　I　told　myself；　a　sign　of　her　caring。　〃Okay。　Don't　worry；　honey。　I'll　handle　it。〃
　〃Thanks。　Oh；　and　Jack？　The　placemats？　Whatever　you　do；　just　don't　get　yellow；　okay？〃
　And　she　hung　up。
　I　made　spaghetti　for　dinner　because　there　was　never　an　argument　about　spaghetti。　By　eight　o'clock；　the　two　little　ones　were　asleep；　and　Nicole　was　finishing　her　homework。　She　was　twelve；　and　had　to　be　in　bed　by　ten　o'clock；　though　she　didn't　like　any　of　her　friends　to　know　that。
　The　littlest　one；　Amanda；　was　just　nine　months。　She　was　starting　to　crawl　everywhere；　and　to　stand　up　holding　on　to　things。　Eric　was　eight；　he　was　a　soccer　kid；　and　liked　to　play　all　the　time；　when　he　wasn't　dressing　up　as　a　knight　and　chasing　his　older　sister　around　the　house　with　his　plastic　sword。
　Nicole　was　in　a　modest　phase　of　her　life；　Eric　liked　nothing　better　than　to　grab　her　bra　and　go　running　around　the　house；　shouting；　〃Nicky　wears　a　bra…a！　Nicky　wears　a　bra…a！〃　while　Nicole；　too　dignified　to　pursue　him；　gritted　her　teeth　and　yelled；　〃Dad？　He's　doing　it　again！　Dad！〃　And　I　would　have　to　go　chase　Eric　and　tell　him　not　to　touch　his　sister's　things。　This　was　what　my　life　had　bee。　At　first；　after　I　lost　the　job　at　MediaTronics；　it　was　interesting　to　deal　with　sibling　rivalry。　And　often；　it　seemed；　not　that　different　from　what　my　job　had　been。
　At　MediaTronics　I　had　run　a　program　division；　riding　herd　over　a　group　of　talented　young　puter　programmers。　At　forty；　I　was　too　old　to　work　as　a　programmer　myself　anymore；　writing　code　is　a　young　person's　job。　So　I　managed　the　team；　and　it　was　a　full…time　job；　like　most　Silicon　Valley　programmers；　my　team　seemed　to　live　in　a　perpetual　crisis　of　crashed　Porsches；　infidelities；　bad　love　affairs；　parental　hassles；　and　drug　reactions；　all　superimposed　on　a　forced…march　work　schedule　with　all…night　marathons　fueled　by　cases　of　Diet　Coke　and　Sun　chips。
　But　the　work　was　exciting；　in　a　cutting…edge　field。　We　wrote　what　are　called　distributed　parallel　processing　or　agent…based　programs。　These　programs　model　biological　processes　by　creating　virtual　agents　inside　the　puter　and　then　letting　the　agents　interact　to　solve　real…world　problems。　It　sounds　strange；　but　it　works　fine。　For　example；　one　of　our　programs　imitated　ant　foraging…how　ants　find　the　shortest　path　to　food…to　route　traffic　through　a　big　telephone　network。　Other　programs　mimicked　the　behavior　of　termites；　swarming　bees；　and　stalking　lions。　It　was　fun；　and　I　would　probably　still　be　there　if　I