Sheba, with she Sphinx in attend, came to a place of exquisite biodiversity between the plantations of mono-culture who, slowly or fastly, strip the earth.
If I can sample every plant and animal moment that is available and feed it into my quantum computer, whilst delivering a sprinkling of AI structure to the test and reassemble, depending on the request or question, then we may see something new.
Take this receptacle, dear Sphinx, and fill it with herb and secretion, I shall go this way and fill a set of tube tests to make all the colours change.
They separated there in the forest diverse and collected and organised until they had a thousand thousand thousand types.
Sheba walks between upright thorn stems with a line of ants and tree hoppers marking time endlessly. Sheba chose a small portion of each and every, a leaf here, a leg there, an eye colour, two pieces of rough bark, distil the rain, strain the dusts that fall, extract of ingredient not found, mould and microorganism.
With a thousand tiny bottles, the size of my fingernail, placed in ranks and marked with sticky label and indelible pen. Sheba fell asleep beneath the tree. A jaguar came and curled also at her feet.
Mean the Sphinx visits and old friend, in the swimming pool of an big leaf, high up towards the canopy, an arrow frog of long ago acquaintance.
I am tasked, dear Frog, said Sphinx after pleasantries, with the discovery of an elixir to make the world feel better after a night out, take away the sting of a scuffed knee and shrink the invasive tumour, all in one pill. Is there a thing as such?
Well, said the bright yellow frog, also, coincidently, the size of my fingernail, that is a bit of a stretch even for us pharmaceutical frogs. I have heard of a frog that, once kissed can do princely things, but that is a maybe. The best I can, will be a parade of pharma frogs that will present for your sampling.
That will be it, said she Sphinx.
Soon a long row of a thousand frogs of colours, often beyond words, sat in a row upon a, and he Sphinx was able collectively to sample each in a special design to give.
I am well satisfied dear frog and will be forever in your debt.
Not forever, said the frog, only until I am in need of your repayment. I shall email you.
Sphinx retuned to Sheba who still asleep with a jaguar at her feet. Sphinx herself curled there to wait.
In the rain, in the morning, in the light, in the forest, in case, indeed, Sheba woke with the water drops fresh upon her cheek. The jaguar had left earlier in the half-light that was its best.
She Sphinx never slept, her eyes always seeing the desert sands and passing persistent travellers going who knows where, to sell who knows what.
Let us feed the quantum laptop with these fine and divergent samples and throw a dash of AI afterwards, said Sheba, and she did it, throwing all the tiny sections, together, into the maw regions of the quantum where they might be dissected and evaluated, recombined a million times in a millionth of a second.
Results:
A paint that can change colour, tasty treats for reptiles. A mango with wings, several new materials, including unmeltable ice, sticky steel pudding, polysonar loaf, trimural blocks and fractile fingerprints. Also a material so soft that it makes you fall asleep, two new models of food mixer and a treatment for boredom.
These were of no interest to Sheba, but just when she was beginning to despair, a small pill popped out, in a foil wrapper, with a long list of instructions in really tiny writing. The kind of writing that got smaller when you put on your strong reading glasses through a magnifying shield. Sheba passed the instruction sheet to the Sphinx whose gaze was known to function at an atomic level.
Hm, started the Sphinx, there are a lot of words here that leave a lot to be desired in terms of plain meaning, but to cut some lengthy instructions short. This pill will cure all illnesses beginning with A or P.
I see, said Sheba, so now all we have to do is change all the names of illnesses.
Having recategorized the entire dictionary of illness, aches and pains, they took the pill and presented it to the Blue Knight, for empty box to furnish.
We are going to need one each, he said, after looking in appreciation.
I’ll get on to it right away, said Sheba.
The Guardians of the Cave 