Chapter 348 - BTA (1/2)
”What? You're pregnant?” Captain Tang exclaimed over the phone.
”Yes,” Halia confirmed, ”That's why I would like to request for an 18-month break from the force. Will that be OK, Captain?”
She needed to give birth and spend some time with her child too, so 18 months sounded reasonable.
Halia knew it was a lot to ask. Especially when she had only been transferred to the SPU not long ago. But, she and Captain Tang had grown quite close during this time and she had helped him crack a couple of big cases, so she hoped he would take it into consideration.
Captain Tang sighed, ”I'm honestly happy for the both of you. But, we have a small problem. You're currently the first and only 'Brain Tap Agent (BTA)'.”
”Brain Tap Agent?” Halia asked.
”Yes, that's what Dr. Li has decided to name people like you. He will be presenting your results to a secret branch of the UN next week. It's been almost 7 months of testing and we haven't seen any adverse effects so he is confident about it. If this technology is approved, it will be strictly monitored and used. And, it will probably be restricted to top international security agencies only. So, it's highly likely that you will be the only mainstream BTA in China, or they will transfer you to an international agency like Interpol. It would have been nice to use your help for a little longer, but I understand the situation you're in. All I can ask is, if we urgently need your help, or if you suddenly remember something useful, please provide your assistance,” Captain Tang requested.
Halia immediately nodded her head, ”As long as it doesn't involve anything physical, I am always available to help!”
”OK, I'll notify Dr. Li of your break later. In the meantime, please stay safe,” Captain Tang said before he hung up.
Halia breathed a sigh of relief as she looked at Jackson. She didn't realize how important she was to the SPU, but the captain was right, no one else had the abilities that she had.
However, Halia didn't truly understand how special she was. Sure, her abilities were surgically provided to her by Dr. Li, but she had no idea that Dr. Li's 'Brain Tap' didn't work on just anyone. It had been mentioned to her on the day that she signed her contract that she was chosen because she had an exceptionally good memory. How good, though?
Countless psychological experiments had shown in the past that, on average, the longest sequence a normal person could recall, without previous exposure, contained about seven items. This limit became known as the 'brain's working memory'. But, when it came to Halia, she managed to recall 50 numbers accurately before she started making mistakes! These results were never shown to her, but it was the main reason why she was selected. Without a good memory, the effectiveness of the Brain Tap would be greatly reduced. Just like in the case of the 50 numbers that Halia recalled. Imagine those 50 numbers made up a password and that password was given to just an average person with average memory. If they couldn't recall all 50 numbers in the right sequence, what use did it have?
Perhaps, one day, someone would discover a way to make the Brain Tap work on the average person, but for now, Halia was an important asset.
So, when Dr. Li heard Halia was going on a break, he immediately panicked. ”Where is she right now? I need to gather a bit more data from her before I present to the UN!” he said.
”She is in Korea, but she will be flying back to China in a few days,” Captain Tang replied.