still. Perhaps they missed it.
"Using gene manipulation and artificial enhancements, Ouranos and Gaia were created three years ago. Thanks to BBM's cell growth technology, they were aged and then the long process of giving them our knowledge began." As she spoke, Baraz noticed the light clamor in the room. "Strong, fast, intelligent, they are …"
"What are you saying?" one reporter shouted. "You made them in a lab?"
Karin's eyebrows twitched upward for a second before she reined them in. "Yes. Precisely that." Everyone turned to look at them at once.
"Why?" someone said.
Might as well move on to point two, Baraz thought. "The project began initially as an answer to Caesar Maxentius' life extension challenge." More rumblings in the room. "It was a means to expand BBM's horizons. Something we couldn't do while we remained in Attica, so we came to Doria. We pursued every available avenue in genetic research, freed from absurd government restrictions and cumbersome worker demands. By creating these people, we have exponentially pushed the bounds of our knowledge in medicine, chemistry, computers, …"
"Dr. Baraz," someone shouted, "how could you do this?"
She tilted her head in confusion. "I could explain, but it would be tedious …"
"No," he said, "how?" He emphasized the last word this time.
Karin nodded. "You mean to ask, 'How dare I?'"
There was a pause and then he said, softly, "Yes."
"When you hear the stories of people around the world suffering from simple ailments, ones we could cure in a day here … In a few years' time, we will have progressed so very far from where we are now. We will be able to share, with everyone, the medicine and knowledge we learn from these two."
"At a nice profit for you," someone muttered.
Baraz held up her hand, "We don't operate in a vaccum. This kind of research is not cheap. But, let me assure you, once we have perfected the processes at work here, BBM will do everything in our power to see that the world benefits. We have outreach programs already. You know that. Our medicines are regularly distributed in Scythia and Illyria for free. I intend to do the same for the technology we develop from Ouranos and Gaia." And there's point three.
"Do these people have … personalities?" a woman asked.
Karin looked toward them and Ouranos nodded. "Indeed we do." Cameras clicked.
"Um," the woman stammered, "what … what are you thinking right now?"
Ouranos grinned slightly. "That I have work to do. Work that I'd rather be doing." The room was silent. "Gaia?"
She stepped forward and said, "I'm thinking about work, too, but this is a welcome distraction."
A man stood up. "You're only three years old?"
"Yes," Gaia answered. "Our bodies were aged to about twenty-five to allow for maximum nervous system development and then the knowledge implantation began."
"'Implantation?' How does that work?"
Ouranos shrugged and said, "It sounds worse than it is. A special organic computer cable was plugged directly into our brains and information about many subjects, memories … They were transmitted to us and our brains stored that knowledge. Thanks to neural regeneration, we were able to absorb far more than three years worth."
Another man stood. "What kinds of memories? Other people's?"
"In some cases," Ouranos said.
"Usually it was someone in the lab who volunteered," Gaia said. "We got to see sunny days before we ever left our tanks. We smelled the air after a summer thunderstorm."
"Felt queasy on a sailing trip," he said. Gaia chuckled and Ouranos said, "Because we were given the same knowledge and experiences, it's like we did these things together."
Baraz smiled. They were doing better than she expected.
"Dr. Baraz," a reporter sat back down and continued, "this is … amazing. Obviously." Karin nodded. "Are they going to be … uh, turned over to Tiberia? For the Caesar's project?"
She took in a deep breath and put her hands on either side of the podium. "At first, that was the plan." There was murmuring in the room and she looked at the duo. "That all changed when they woke up. Immediately, I saw much more promise in keeping them here." A few reporters began to talk over each other but Baraz lifted her hands. "That's all for today. More information will be forthcoming. Thank you for your time." As the three walked off stage, flashes and more questions bombarded them. Mione parted the curtains and they entered the hallway quickly.
Baraz moved into the elevator and the others followed. She looked at both Ouranos and Gaia. "What do you think?"
He nodded and spoke first, "I believe it went well."
"They were, perhaps, a bit stunned by the news," Gaia said. "I'm sure their questions would have been better if they were more prepared."
Karin scoffed. "Don't give the media too much credit." Mione laughed. "Are you ready to get back?"
They nodded as the doors opened. Baraz and the pair exited while Mione rode the lift back up to the administrative levels.
In the clean room, Karin washed her hands thoroughly as assistants readied protective garments for her. Ouranos and Gaia went through a different door where they would be blasted with water and disinfectants. After a few minutes, they emerged in the lab and took their usual places on the exam tables.
Karin looked through the large faceplate of her suit across the main room. Twelve large canisters holding a thick, golden fluid lit the chamber. If she stared hard enough, she could discern the young beings within.
XVII
CAESAR
156 Years Before the End
The Caesar stood on the balcony and overlooked Viminal Square. Thousands of people lined every sidewalk and corner within sight. The cheers to the east were deafening and the leader turned toward them.
He stood, braced against the marble railings. The cables connecting him to his box were covered by his cape and the Praetorians behind him. He smiled and pretended to seem interested in all that transpired but his mind was elsewhere.
Doria. Dr. Karin Baraz. She and her team not only created artificially engineered bodies but they also developed brains that could have information inserted, including memories. It was the truest fulfillment yet of the Caesar's project. Not Donovan's robots. Not the living metal from that Nandian scientist.
"Was she on your watch list or not, doctor?" Caesar yelled two weeks before.
"She was, imperator," he answered, sheepishly. "But I regarded her efforts as inferior. Her expertise lied in the realm of cloning and I anticipated that her skill could go no further than the duplication of a body."
"You were in error," Caesar said. It didn't seem possible, but Donovan lowered his head more.
The closet on the other side of the room burst open. The man looked toward it and he watched the plastic and metal puppet of the Caesar lurch forth and stalk across the marble-patterned floor. He lifted an arm, partially obscured in a purple cape, and leveled a finger at the doctor.
"You have had years to solve this!" Though the machine's mouth was open, the Caesar's voice emanated from every corner of the room. "I am a tethered mannequin!" He pulled the cape from his shoulders and tossed it aside. "I am a child's toy soldier!" His fingers dug into the crease by his collarbone and he gripped the plastic panel. With a jerk, two parts of the chest came free and he threw them across the room. The metallic processors and machinery beneath were exposed and the Caesar held his hands under the hole to draw Donovan's gaze toward it. "I cannot … continue to pretend … that I am alive."
The doctor lowered himself to one knee and mumbled, "Yes, my lord."
"You have teased me with this body!" he yelled. "With my mind, I can scour the Matrix and keep watch over nearly anything and anyone …" Caesar bent low so he could see more of the doctor's face, "but my box can't stand the extra labor. Heat builds up. My processors become cluttered. I was taunted with the promise of nearly infinite control and you took tha
t from me as well."
"I beg your leave, lord, that I may continue my work."
He saw the waveform of Donovan's voice in his mind. The quivers and cracking were apparent. Caesar heard his fear and stood. He lifted the head of his puppet and said, "Go. Do not return until you have something to report." The doctor said nothing and backed out of the room.
Two weeks later, the Caesar's puppet stood again. The parade was only now beginning to reach the Square. Large screens were positioned strategically to show those beyond the curb what transpired. Millions at home could see it, too.
A Triumph. The first in more than fifty years. The last one was accorded to Caesar Maxentius IX himself, just four years before assuming office and fresh from his victory over the Atticans at Strand. He watched this one from his balcony … a break with tradition. Toma Marcus understood why, but the citizens wouldn't. Health reasons. That's what they were told.
Senators began their parade through the Square. Once the entire membership was standing before the balcony, they turned, pressed their fists against their hearts and bowed. The imperator also saluted with his fist yet he did not bow.
The Senators moved on and the trumpeters entered. They played and marched past until the white bulls came through. For a second, Caesar thought he may have missed the floats with the spoils until he remembered there were no spoils taken from Dogura or Jomon.
There were attacks from terrorists using Doguran ports. As ordered, the legions responded with force, destroying several
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