431 YEAS OF DEATH: The origin

by Divya Singh

  ZA-vi: “She wants to know more about you. Explain everything to her all that you can since she has enough time to listen.”

  KEAH: “OK! Here it goes Miss! I am a cloned human. K-1.E-2.A-3.H-4. as we know of her was a basic model. That woman who died in 2252 i.e. KyliE AveliaH was your cryo doctor in 2231. She donated her cells and eggs to be preserved in case of future destruction of humanity.”

  “Till I was made I had knowledge of 130 more clones of her having been ever created. She tried all her life to awaken you up from cryo but was unsuccessful till her death. But I really do not know the details. There could have been more to it.”

  “But you had to be preserved again for some reason I do not have knowledge of. But it was made sure that some of her memory was implanted into our brains too in the cloning process, but my memories got struck in the subconscious i.e. forgotten in a way.”

  “My biological age is 21 but I look much older than that. There was some kind of mutation of a cancerous nature in our genes. Effected either deliberately or it could have evolved in us with time. Many clones of this basic model died of cancer. Earlier most embryos weren’t turned viable since the beginning, so the failure rate of turning them into a human was unimaginably high.”

  “So some procedure of genetic engineering was carried out in the stored cells pool and embryo banks to correct the defective genes. But we are really not sure that the solution is actually working. I am just 21, and I have a lot of life ahead to come to know about that.”

  “So that is how I came into being, without a biological mother or father. I am just a copy of a doctor who lived 200 years ago. I have been designed and brought up in a lab on this ship.”

  ZA-vi: “She wants you to tell her that why was cloning opted for?” ZA-vi asked her after I looked at him to convey my thoughts.

  KEAH: “Because after as we call it, an Apocalypse, humans were wiped out in large numbers from Earth, due mainly to major atmospheric and climatic changes, deprivation of food, habitats, crimes etc. In these 400 years as I told you earlier that women have lost their fertility and cannot have a child naturally, so copying the genetic essentials of earlier healthy living humans was not a bad idea. Actually it was the most favored solution of saving the race. It is like, losing a little than losing it all when you have time. So cloning although not perfectly achieved till now was the best shot they had at that moment. This is how the Earth is as much populated today although most is already lost.” I lowered my eyes for a second for thinking then again looked up towards ZA-vi.

  ZA-vi: “She asks what the apocalypse was.”

  KEAH: “I have also not experienced any of it and am so much used to this life that it all feels very natural to me. I have seen only this world in which I have lived and nothing seems out of place to me. It’s like not knowing the good, being too familiar with the bad! I have grown on this ship. But here is the part we have learnt from history-

  KEAH: “Global warming went up to a dangerous level. Sometimes it melted the remaining ice in hours, increased the water levels of the oceans hence shores and beaches were lost. Tsunamis were caused, earthquakes occurred, submerging the fertile cultivable lands into the saline ocean waters. Raised acidic levels of sea water killed most of the flora and fauna.

  “Due to the ocean water displacement, the seismic zones displaced causing frequent earthquakes and subsequent Tsunamis. Tides have taken away lands, converting them to unmanageable lands rendered unfit for the cultivation. Influential and well resourced people grabbed most of the lands and technology and helpless people were made to flee. Social structures collapsed, economies crashed, countries lost their entities. In simpler way, the humans doomed themselves.”

  ZA-vi: “And she wants to know, what was your implanted memory about?” Said he as I gestured to let him know what I was asking of KEAH.

  KEAH: “It was all related to medical procedures employed in cryogenics. It was all about the procedures attempted previously to wake you up from the cryo sleep, mostly all those which we employed and which subsequently failed. There were more people that she was trying to reanimate. But it looks like in my lifetime I could manage to meet only you. The implanted memories are recovered to a higher degree when the case is seen practically.”

  “I just feel that it is the way she wanted to pass this crucial information about who we have to reanimate and what processes failed to work at all on them. After we have accomplished fully on your case, may be by that time we will have a chance and opportunity to meet the others, she wanted to wake up.”

  “But other than you, I have some patients to attend to on this ship. None of them are implanted in my memories. All are absolutely new entities I don’t recognize from my implanted memories that I have got.”

  ZA-vi: “She is curious to know, whether she was woken up earlier.”

  KEAH: “I think not. But it could be the other way around too. Remember, my memories are implanted? They could be false, synthetic ones, fabricated by some cognitive psychologist or neuroscientists in lab and then implanted back into our minds. But till now the medical history I have stored in my mind has proven to be true, because I had exactly the same strictly accurate experiences with you as were stored in my memories.”

  ZA-vi: “Can you remember more about Doctor Kylie’s last attempt to be awoken up?”

  KEAH: “No. I don’t think I can now. But it is not impossible, rather it could happen under special circumstances or so I believe. Because when I was told that these memories were implanted, I already began to have a feeling that they were somehow false to some extent. May be one day I will be able to remember if it was a lie or was just truth repeated in my mind. In fact I have never thought about it much seriously.”

  ZA-vi: “But she wants you to try to remember. If you were made a perfect clone of the original Dr. Kylie memories are also transferred.”

  KEAH: “May be! But even if it would be remotely possible, I could remember only those events which occurred before she donated her cells for cloning.”

  ZA-vi: “That is enough for now, she says. But she also might intend you to remember one day. Then you should try to remember.”

  I looked at KEAH and tried to smile, she smiled back. I thought that things were really complicated. I wanted to know about me in this life, this new complex world I would have to try to catch up with and the purpose of my life now, the reason which did not let me die in peace.

  I could give away anything to know about this all. It was disturbing to know what KEAH told me. It wasn’t just her own story but also the world which she said had deteriorated to the circumstances which could afford only survival of life to people, they were not living but surviving. One part of me was blowing up out of curiosity and to dig in for more and the other had just started to mourn on whatever little information was provided to me. It was certainly not a beautiful world. I was appalled and aggrieved. I didn’t hope for this. I had thought many better and beautiful things about the future I was born into. I didn’t want to hear bad things but there wasn’t any backing out, but only surging ahead.

  It is really excruciating to know that they say that we have lost our habitable Earth to our stubborn lifestyles and attitudes, curiosity and taking pride in playing God. I would have never chosen to be reanimated in future, especially in this world. Death, I believed was the final solution to a life, its eventual destination. Have we now to create soulless creatures in order to repopulate the Earth?

  I never had thought that when I would wake up we would have wasted our Earth to such a dreadful extent. I am really seriously disheartened.

  ZA-vi: “You cannot be. You have to contribute whatever you can to it. Repentance is not meant for you; rather you were recreated for the action part of it.”

  I then nodded a little so that both of them were assured that I was not more worried than I should be. Moreover who knows what role I have to play in future, perhaps show them a hint of another direction they should go, stand by their side or even lead t
hem? I must not be weak or show it to anyone. Everyone has moments of weaknesses and mine was now, but it was not appropriate to display the same.

  But actually the Earth I had remembered in my memories and had envisioned was much more lively and beautiful that the one KEAH was telling me about. For me, future meant more beautiful, better and sophisticated life enriched with technology.

  I was excited to know where the humans would have advanced in 400+ years, when I lay dead inside a tank. I believed in science. I believed in marching ahead towards a utopian superior future. I had thought in all these centuries humans would have learned how to strike a balance between development and the cost of resources that we exploited as a means to achieve it. But the Earth they are telling me about breaks my heart.

  KEAH: “So Miss! You will be undergoing a surgery for hair transplant on Monday next week.” She said turning back to me. “I think then we will be able to call your case a successful reanimation. You can then go out to explore the world, perhaps after a few more tests and diagnoses, with approval of a doctor.”

  “But now you must rest and let the transplanted skin be accepted by your body.” She said injecting one bottle of a serum in my drip. Then she administered one more injection to me on my left arm and said-

  KEAH: “This will sedate you and I have given you a slightly higher dose of immunosuppressant. Now you have to recover quickly and start walking on the dock!” Said she, smiling at me.

  Chapter 10: New growing hair

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  With proper bed rest, medicines and a little patience my wounds, swelling and scars healed up and I began looking like a normal blue human. Doctors and KEAH visited me once a day and ZA-vi would not bear my side. Soon the day for hair transplant approached. All the doctors came so did KEAH. As the clock struck 10 am, KEAH administered local anesthesia on my scalp.

  KEAH: “This will make your scalp numb.”

  Then she introduced a small bottle of liquid on the drip bottle saying, “This will sedate you a little.”

  A1: “Madam! We have, black, Auburn and blonde hair. Which of these would you choose for yourself?”

  I was able to speak, though with a little difficulty-

  “Auburn!” I said.

  A1:“Auburn done!”He was handed over the follicle tray which he opened. The surgical knives were ready; I could hear metallic sounds of clink-clank of scalpels, trays and knives as I was lying on my stomach.

  I began losing my consciousness. They started to peel off my skin and sutured after placing follicle grafts as I dropped unconscious.

  When I regained my consciousness, I saw KEAH & ZA-vi before me, the most expected two as I come to senses ever.

  She showed me the screen which would reflect my image. Ok, I had 2-3 inch long hair. It was not quite pretty but I looked acceptable now. I had very sparse eyebrows too. I thought this must be trendy fashion of this era and I laid on my back again saying, “Great.”

  I: “Is this all hair I am going to have? Short hair?”

  KEAH: “No miss this are grafted follicles, they grow with time. Some of them may even fall out but the hair follicles will grow into newer stronger hair very soon which will last.”

  By now Shelly had arrived, along with, Von and A1 and he said-

  SHELLY: “Like every transplant the body’s immune system rejects foreign bodies, hair too and hair is the weakest of all the organs transplanted so hair strands also fall out. But given the dosage of immunosuppressants that we are giving to you the body will reject hair strands as little as possible.”

  It happened as the doctors and KEAH had projected. The skin of the face & neck healed up giving way to a smooth bluish complexioned skin. In next 5 days I got up from the bed rest and began eating with the mouth and started functioning like a normal being. I now had enough strength and will power to make it out of my room and wander the whole enormous ship I was living in till now. The most important and favorable part was that I had no longer need the help of my android who had completely forgotten our secret deal. Now they had just to give me a positive result and retinal scan approval and I would soon be frequenting all the floors of the ship, room by room.

  It was 8:00 am today. I got up too early as I was scheduled for some tests. Doctor Von and KEAH came in; ZA-vi was sitting by my side.

  Chapter 11: DISCLOSURE OF VON & REVELATIONS about the Contamination

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  Von said: “Hello madam! How are you?”

  I replied: “I just feel absolutely fine. So what brings you again here? I sense the final round of tests. It must be very exciting!”

  Von: “Yes you are absolutely correct. We will take you for final general, routine testing and pass you for going out of this room once and forever. I guess ZA-vi must have passed on details of rules on the ship. Anyways, I will give you my version of the rules here. Any Case like you, generally called a patient here is required to get an approval from a doctor authorized to give such an approval to a patient based on results of certain tests. Clearance of such tests is very important so that humans do not contaminate each other by different modes of contact. Not going into the tiniest details, but humans have risked their lives because of such contamination. So not taking chances any more, we have fabricated our own rules, like martial laws. We call these set of rules as PROTOCOLS. We are very cautious in ensuring that they are strictly followed and are placed as our top most priority. This is because we have reached a level near extinction, because of combination factors of climatic catastrophe, mutation and an inexplicable exile. Anyway after a patient gets an approval from doctors authorized like me, who wears a blue badge he/she can have their passkey.

  Von continues: “After you have the approval, you can use the elevator to reach to The Navigator who you have to essentially report to. The Navigator will after cross checking all the credentials brought to him, gives you a pass key. One can use the pass key to use the ship, for information, assistance and investigation.”

  I said: “That is quite a valuable piece of information Doctor Von. I will try to remember it all. But what you just said about contamination, climate catastrophe, and exile is disturbing. Will you please explain it all?

  Von: “I am a doctor madam; I have spent a big portion of my life time on this ship. Most of exile part and climatic catastrophe is inexplicable to me as well.”

  VON carried on: “It all happened gradually and my lifetime had been too short to understand, also I have not seen any of it myself. So it is all the theory we have been taught. I have been told just about all that KEAH had told you already. And if chosen as one amongst us she possesses the best knowledge, because her memory is implanted from all that had happened in these last 200 years. We lack that understanding which she inherited from the memory implant.”

  Von: “About the contamination, it is basically deformity in genetic material passed onto the present generations. It is a set of bad mutations, causing cancers, blood deformities, growth and bone deformations, structural anomalies on face and limbs, retarded mental growth, respiratory and cardiac problems; etc.”

  Von: “The exact & precise causes of the contamination are still unknown but there are various theories.”

  I asked: “Theories like Big Bang, Oscillating universe etc on the creation of universe?”

  Von with a smile, “I am impressed with the pace your brain is developing! Yes, I exactly! Like there are various theories about the creation of the universe, but one, Big Bang is the most acceptable, likewise there are various theories about how the contamination started and on the lines of the most acceptable Big Bang theory on universe, in the case of the contamination the In-breeding is the most acceptable theory.”

  I: “I would prefer it explained a little more.”

  Von: “About this theory the proponents say the some psychopath scientists made clones of
people on unauthorized channels. They introduced these clones so cleverly into the social strata that the people who recognized these original people only thought that these clones were their acquaintances or relatives as the case may be. The clones cohabited normally with the people as they were developed with a touch of a hyper active sexuality. Their makers wanted to change the world with the progeny of the clones. They would have thought that it would lead to some kind of human evolution, the creation of better superhuman race. And once it happened they would be uncrowned king makers. But they were wrong. It never happened. They only played with the fire. The genetics were deficient in that era. Their knowledge was never profound enough so as to be able to create a healthy clone. Their raw material was defective hence the product would have a negligible chance of efficiency. They infected a big portion of the race. The clone progeny had a destructive gene. It kept amplifying with generations. But the sexual psycopathy went on. This partly dragged human race to the precipice of extinction. We are only trying to salvage what is left of it. So our rules and patterns are transparent & strict, secrecy has made us suffer to this extent once. We have pledged to undo the bad and save ourselves from the darkness ahead.”

  I said: “I now begin to understand the gravity of hardships we are facing in this era I am born into. It is unbelievable that such a high degree of devastation has been inflicted in all the years I have been lying dead for.”

  I turned to ZA-vi saying: “You have been living for the longest period, could I use you for more information about contamination, that you have witnessed all these years.”

  ZA-vi: “No madam! I have not witnessed anything as I was entrusted with only one task of monitoring you. I can do only what I am programmed to do.”