by David Sloma
Suddenly, Charles felt like he was in a dream.
Things slowed down for him. He looked at the humans, as there was a strange light coming from them. He peered closer and found he was able to see through their bodies and into their DNA!
He stared at them, seeing how their genetic code was different from his. They had a distinctive pattern to their DNA that modern humans didn’t have; more of the “switches” were on, but there was something more.
Some of them had a symbol on certain strands of their DNA, like a marking, in the shape of three green circles intertwined, but not all of them had it. He looked from person to person, seeing the genes they each had, able to tell who was related to whom, and how the DNA of certain ones had been altered and changed.
But there were also odd mutations in some of them. It was as if parts of their DNA had been closed off or taken away. This fascinated him, and he studied their bodies as if his eyes were microscopes, as that's how they were functioning.
He could tell that something had interfered with their DNA. He thought, Cosmic radiation? He wondered what it could be, as from what he’d seen, this world was pristine. I must be back in time, before any kind of pollution…that does look like a dinosaur, and these look like cave people…but how?
He considered what else could have caused their genes to mutate so severely. It was like whole swaths of the code had been taken away. He was aghast at this, as he knew what this meant: someone had generically altered these early humans, his ancestors. But who? And why?
He looked behind the humans, at the sunlight hitting the wall. The dinosaur had gone, frustrated that it could not get to them, gone off in search of an easier meal. The day had progressed, and the sun was lower in the sky. Its rays illuminated the back of the cave, and he saw paintings on the wall.
Moving closer, he inspected the paintings, marveling at how fresh and brilliant they were. They must have done these very recently, he thought. They depicted what looked like UFOs coming from the sky, flying over the dinosaurs.
The pictures went on to show alien-like creatures with big heads, like large fetuses, coming from the ship and then carrying humans off into the ships. When the humans came out of the other side of the ships they looked different, with less hair on their bodies. And babies, half alien and half human, were being taken out of the ships by aliens and what looked like robots. He thought the aliens were the Greys he’d seen in movies.
Charles shook his head, not knowing how to process all of this. He looked around at the humans with so many questions in his mind. He spoke to them, but they did not understand him. They spoke to him, but their language was only grunts and clicks to him.
One of the men hoisted another one up on his shoulders, and he looked out of the hole. Seemingly pleased, the man on top spoke to the others. They got up and surged forward. They started to climb out of the cave one at a time, held up by those below and pulled up by the one outside.
Charles looked closer at the paintings now that he had a clearer view. The humans called to him, but he didn't want to leave the paintings, as there was more to see.
The scene started to fade out before his eyes, like a screen losing power.
He felt like his consciousness was starting to constrict, getting smaller, heavier, more dense and moving down. He felt like he was traveling fast, backwards. He closed his eyes and saw black. His body tingled, was like air.
Then, as suddenly as he had gone, he had returned.
His body felt heavy and sluggish. He opened his eyes to find he was back in the living room at the party. The others were still laughing around the TV in the other room and zoning out to the stereo in front of him. He was aware of music playing again. He remembered he’d taken LSD and laughed to himself at the wild trip he’d just had.
The host of the party, Stan, was staring at him from his relaxed position in a lounger. “How are you doing? Thought we might have lost you there!” Stan laughed.
“Uh, yeah…good…I was off tripping, I think it’s called…” Charles felt his mouth and throat dry. He needed a drink and was happy to find he still had a bottle of beer in his hand.
“That would be it! Did you see some cool stuff?”
“Did I ever…so crazy…I dunno what...” It was a huge effort to talk. He shook his head and drank some beer, trying to come back to regular consciousness.
“Yeah, me too. And the music! Wow! That’s some good acid!” Stan smiled big.
Charles closed his eyes and still saw flashes of colours. The music and voices around him remained a little strange. He lay down on the rug and let the music wash over him. “Think I’ll rest for a while…”
Charles didn't know if the DNA effects he'd seen during his trip were for real. He wondered if he could believe anything was real in a drug hallucination? Some of the DNA traits were correct, he noticed, but others he'd observed were new to him, like nothing he'd learned about in school.
Thinking of these things, he got up and tried to discuss them with Stan and the others, but they were having laughing fits over some cartoons on TV. So, Charles filed these things away in his burning brain and decided to check them out later when he was sober—if he could remember them.
But he was determined to remember, so he found a pen and paper and made notes. It was a strange sight, him sitting alone and writing notes quietly while the others howled with laughter and wandered around the house, sometimes singing and dancing.
When he finally came down, it was morning, and the dawn was breaking above the patio. Only Stan and Charles were left, lounging out in the chairs.
“So,” Stan said, “you've stepped outside of your limited viewpoint and into the land of the mystics. How does it feel?”
“I'm not sure. Is this what being a hippie is all about?” Charles asked.
“Part of it.”
“Well, I’m glad. It was wild. Thank you.”
“Welcome. I'm glad it was good for you.” Stan smiled.
“I’ve got a new appreciation for the universe, now. This is going to really help my work, I think.”
“I think so, too. Many researchers have been using acid under the radar for decades now.”
“Yes, I heard that Crick was on LSD when he deduced the double-helix of DNA...”
“Yep! Now you can see why I wanted you to loosen up. I thought you'd get something from it.”
“Yeah, do I ever!” Charles smiled. Now, if I can only put it into practice, he thought.
“So, are you going to tell me what happened on your trip?”
Charles thought for a moment. “Maybe...in time. I think I need…a bit to get my thoughts together.”
“No problem,” Stan said, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. “It takes some time to get back down to Earth.” He smiled softly.
“Are you back, yet?”
“No quite, thankfully!”
CHAPTER 20
It wasn't much later that a job offer came in from a private firm for Charles. He was glad, as his position as a physics teacher was getting to him. The school year was almost over, and he had been wondering what to do next—trying to decide if he could stomach another term there or not.
He was itching to do some real research work again and not go over past accomplishments for his students, nice as some of them were. He saw himself in many of them and didn't think most of them wanted to wind up like him, just teaching what he had learned without doing anything new. The younger him certainly wouldn't have wanted that for himself.
He unfolded the paper he had been keeping in his pocket. On it was the diagram and notes he had made at the party about his experiences while on LSD. He had seen inside and around the DNA strands, including some parts of them he'd not seen before under any electron microscope, nor in any textbooks. He'd have to ask some more senior scientists about this, or better yet, keep it to himself and investigate it when he had his new job. Maybe then, when he had access to a real lab again, he could find out if what he saw that
night at Stan’s party was real.
But those investigations would have to wait until he got settled at his new job and saw if his bosses were really open to him doing some of his own, self-directed research. At the job interviews, two of them for the same research position, they had said he would be able to set some of his own goals for projects. That was the main reason he had accepted the job, as he had several other offers. He made sure to get that in writing when they sent him the job offer letter, and to his surprise it was in there. He had called them back right away to say he’d be happy to take the job.
Also, there was a clause in the contract that any work he did for them would remain their property, but that was pretty standard for work of this nature. He could live with that as long as he was able to take the credit for any new discoveries, something they had agreed to if he made it known he was an employee of theirs.
Along with the job offer was the necessity for a background screening, as he would need a security clearance for the new job. The company he was going to work for was called Human Potential Dynamics, or HPD for short, and they did a lot of military and government contracts. But Charles didn't really care about that, as he knew they would have the best labs available to further his work in. If they wanted him to work on something that could be used as a weapon that would probably be the day he’d quit.
He handed in his letter of resignation to the university to give up his teaching position, and as soon as he'd put it on the dean's desk he felt like a free man again. He was kind of glad the dean had not been in when he stopped by, as he was sure the old dean would try and talk him out of it. Charles liked him, but his decision was firm; now that he had accepted the new job offer there was no changing his mind.
The dean did call him to discuss it, as Charles had expected. He even agreed to meet the dean for coffee, but Charles was not swayed. When he explained to the dean why he wanted to change jobs, so he could pursue what he saw as his vocation again, the dean understood that. There was also a twinkle in the dean's eye and a wry smile on his lips when he wished Charles good luck, saying he'd heard that Charles had expressed the same sentiment at Stan's party a few weeks back. The dean said he was sorry he missed it.
Wow, Charles thought, word travels fast in these circles! He was walking across the campus, likely for the last time, to go and clean out his office. I hope it doesn't travel to my new job before I even start or I could be sunk.
He started to worry as he packed up his things, not knowing what sorts of people he would be working with. They had seemed very straight-laced and “by the book” so he was a bit concerned. In fact, some of them seemed like they were the military type, probably ex-military and now working in the civilian science sector. Or, maybe still active military. But these days those lines were quite blurred, he knew. One never quite knew whom you were dealing with in such jobs. It was best to be conservative and cautious.
He drove to his first day at work at his new job and was once again amazed by the high security at the facility. Just like at the interviews, he had to park his car in the lot outside the gates of the building, then ring an intercom on the front gate. A woman's voice asked his name, and who he was there to see. He told her, then she said she'd be right out. Same drill as last time, he thought and waited restlessly.
A few minutes later a secretary met him at the gate, the same one he'd met a couple of weeks before. She asked to see his picture ID again, from where she stood behind the high bars.
“I guess you don't remember me from last time?” Charles smiled, handing his driver's license through the gate.
She smiled and looked over the plastic card. “I see so many people in this job.” She handed his ID back. “Thank you. Please follow me.” She opened the revolving door in the gate, a turnstile that only had room for one person at a time.
Charles picked up his briefcase and pushed through the turnstile, then followed her as she led him along the path inside the courtyard of the building. He looked at the high walls around the complex, tipped with razor wire. It certainly felt like he was entering a military installation, and at least a high-stakes lab, as it was. His heart rate went up as he walked further inside.
There was a lot of money tied up in a place like this, he knew, and more money to be made on the things they invented. There were massive precautions in place to make sure there were no security breaches or intellectual property leaks. The value on the discoveries made here could run into the millions, or even billions, he figured.
She led him first to his manger's office, who welcomed him in with a firm handshake and a big smile. His name was John Dacks and Charles liked him right away. He just hoped that wouldn't give John a reason to dislike him later, as some of his past bosses had; sometimes it was better not to be liked.
From there, John took him to the security office where Charles met their head of security, Walter Barnes, who definitely looked like an ex-military man, or even an ex-cop. The guy gave Charles a bit of the creeps. But Charles put on a smile when he shook his hand, hoping Walter couldn't sniff out his insincerity so easily.
Walter took his picture and printed it onto a key card, which he programmed to give Charles access to the places he was cleared to go. Charles was told that he had received a Secret level security clearance after his background check, but that was only enough to access a few of the labs and parts of the facility. The rest required a Top Secret clearance or better, Walter told him.
“There's levels above Top Secret?” Charles asked.
“Oh, yeah!” Walter scoffed. “You didn't know that?”
Charles shook his head as he put his security card onto his belt. “Nope. This is the first security clearance I’ve ever had.”
“Well, there are several levels above Top Secret, so now you know.”
“Maybe I'll get there one day.” Charles smiled.
“Maybe. Who knows? If you need to know, or they need you for the job, I'm sure you will.”
“What's your clearance level?”
“That's restricted information,” Walter said, getting up. “Just know I can go most anywhere in this facility that I need to. Have a good day, sir. And, welcome aboard.” He shook Charles's hand.
“Thanks,” Charles said, making for the door. He couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
He walked down the hallways with the squeaky white tiles, back to the wing where his office and lab were. He was glad to be out of the cramped security office, as the air in there was stale and Walter had bad breath. Charles thought, Curious that he said he could go “most anywhere”…does that mean there are places off-limits to him? Hmm.
CHAPTER 21
Charles worked at his new job for the better part of a year, learning the way things were done and how to fit in to the environment there. He passed by his first three months, the standard “probation” term just fine—though, he always wondered why companies hired people if they were not sure about them in the first place. Just another head-shaking thing about working in a big company, he decided.
The people at his job were similar to most jobs he ever held; some were idiots, some were fools, and only a very few were worth talking to. Those few he considered worth his time kept to themselves, mostly. At first he thought it was just because he was new, but there was something else in the air that made the people he worked with keep to themselves and be tight-lipped about anything work related. It was that the company did a lot of sensitive and secret work for different industries and branches of the military, so when a new employee came onboard they were an unknown quantity for some time—much longer than at a regular job without the classified elements.
Most of his work consisted of verifying the genetic work of others in the company, mainly on neural growths. They were brain cells of various animals used to learn more about making the next generation of computers, but he was starting to wonder if the work was really ethical anymore. He thought it was bad enough that animals were used for this, but to what ends would this resear
ch be put?
The experiments were steps along the way to creating an artificial intelligence, though these were biological, so they were still playing with actual living things here. He wondered at the fate of the cells in the culture dishes he had to analyze. Did any of them have consciousness? Wasn't that the goal of all the research?
He decided to take a closer look at some of the more advanced specimens and performed extra tests that he was not asked to do. This was not standard procedure, and he feared he might get in trouble for it, but he knew he could cover his ass if he claimed he had some questions about the samples that needed solving, like contamination issues.
He did actually suspect that the samples had come in contact with some cells from one of the researchers, as he found what looked like human DNA mixed in with one of the samples of a neutral growth.
When he did the test screening for human DNA, he was shocked to find out that not only was the contamination indeed human DNA, but the whole neutral growth appeared to be a type of human cells!
Charles stepped back from the table in a daze, looking up from the microscope in a hurry. He puzzled, Could this be correct? He double checked, then checked a few more times. The results remained the same.
It was from humans. All of it.
He had a hard time believing that it was all by chance. Maybe for the flake of skin he found in the sample, but not for the whole sample itself! There was just no way. No wonder the lab has a policy of not conducting any other tests than those that were asked for, he thought. It was like they didn’t want anyone straying off the beaten path. The only conclusion he could draw was that the use of the human DNA was deliberate, and he was not meant to find out about it. And, he couldn’t talk about it, either, due to his work confidentially restrictions.
But now he had found out, and he wasn't going to stop there. He kept a small piece of the culture as a sample and wrote up his report that all was normal. He didn't like to have to lie, but he knew that he had been lied to when he was told they were animal cells; someone didn’t want the truth known. In the course of his job, if he’d just done the standard procedures, he’d never have found out that they were human cells. So, if he didn't let on, then they wouldn't know that he knew.
