Some of the developers on the team grumbled about scope creep. One even resigned, but he was easily replaceable; the Blue Brain Project had a waiting list twelve pages long. Still, rumors had begun to swirl about just what was going on behind those doors, and IBM sent an auditor out to investigate.

“Tell me about this project,” said the auditor. “You are attempting to simulate a human brain at the molecular level, correct?”

Markram frowned. “That was initially the goal of the project, yes.”

“Then tell me, where do you stand today?”

“The proof of concept was a success. We modeled a rat neocortical column that behaved as expected. And then we developed a way to allow the Blue Brain control over its own design.”

“And it works?”

“Oh yes. It was touch and go for a few weeks, but all of the problems seem to have been ironed out.”

“So tell me, doctor, why did your team decide to abandon the form of the human brain?”

Markram’s eyes gleamed mischievously. “Because, we can make something better. Much better.”